The transposition circuit includes N input terminals (where N is an integer of 2 or greater) and N output terminals. This transposition circuit is configured such that when N packets of data for each matrix row are inputted in parallel to the corresponding input terminals, N packets of data are output in parallel for each matrix column from the corresponding output terminals. This transposition circuit generates data packets arranged as a transposed matrix and obtained from data packets in the form of an N×N matrix by interchanging the rows and columns of the original matrix.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to transposition circuit for transposing matrix data (data packets in the form of matrices) in order, for example, to perform discrete cosine transform or another procedure.
2. Description of Related Art
FIGS. 5(A)–5(C) are diagrams illustrating conventional transposition of matrix data. FIG. 5A is a block diagram depicting the structure of a transposition circuit. FIG. 5B is an image diagram depicting memory content. FIG. 5C is a timing chart depicting the operation of a transposition circuit.
A transposition circuit comprises a random-access memory (hereinafter "RAM") 10 and an address generator 12, as shown in FIG. 5A. RAM 10 is equipped with an input port and an output port. The address generator 12 generates a write address WA and a read address RA on the basis of a clock signal CK. Input data DI inputted to the input port of RAM 10 is written to the storage area in RAM 10 specified by the write address WA. To read data from RAM 10, the storage area in the RAM 10 where this data is stored is specified by the read address RA. The data thus read is outputted as output data DO from the output port of RAM 10. The address generator 12 can specify the write address WA and the read address RA separately. Consequently, RAM 10 allows data to be read and written independently and concurrently.
Such circuit architecture allows the read sequence of output data DO to be varied in conformity with the write sequence of the input data DI sequentially inputted in matrix format. Output data DO can therefore be converted to a transposed matrix format.
FIG. 5B depicts the storage areas of RAM 10. Numbers in the drawing indicate addresses of storage areas. In this example, data arranged as a 4×4 matrix is processed, so 16 storage areas designated by symbols 0 to 15 are provided to RAM 10.
Transposition of data arranged as a 4×4 matrix will now be described with reference to FIG. 5C.
During periods 0 to 15, the first 16 data d0 to d15 are inputted as input data DI to RAM 10 according the aforementioned sequence in sync with clock signals CK. The address generator 12 outputs write addresses WA 0 to 15 for the corresponding data d0 to d15. Data d0 to d15 are thereby stored to the corresponding addresses 0 to 15 of RAM 10.
During period 16, the address generator 12 generates address 0 as a read address RA. In accordance with this, data d0 stored at address 0 of RAM 10 is outputted as output data DO. During period 16, the address generator 12 also outputs address 0 as a write address WA. In accordance with this, data d16 provided as input data DI is stored to address 0 of RAM 10.
During period 17, the address generator 12 outputs address 4 as a read address RA. In accordance with this, data d4 stored at address 4 of RAM 10 is outputted as output data DO. During period 17, the address generator 12 also outputs address 4 as a write address WA. In accordance with this, data d17 provided as input data DI is stored to address 4 of RAM 10.
Similarly, during periods 18, 19, 20, 21, . . . the address generator 12 outputs addresses 8, 12, 1, 5, . . . as read addresses RA. In accordance with this, data d8, d12, d1, d5, . . . stored at addresses 8, 12, 1, 5, . . . of RAM 10 are outputted as output data DO. In these periods 18, 19, 20, 21, . . . the address generator 12 also outputs addresses 8, 12, 1, 5, . . . as write addresses WA. In accordance with this, data d18, d19, d20, d21, . . . provided as input data DI are stored to addresses 8, 12, 1, 5, . . . of RAM 10.
Thus, data d0, d1, d2, and d3 corresponding to the components in the first row of the matrix are first written to RAM 10 in the order indicated. Data d4, d5, d6, and d7 corresponding to the components in the second row of the matrix are then written to RAM 10 in the order indicated. Data d8, d9, d10, and d11 corresponding to the components in the third row of the matrix are subsequently written to RAM 10 in the order indicated. Data d12, d13, d14, and d15 corresponding to the components in the fourth row of the matrix are written after that to RAM 10 in the order indicated.
Data d0, d4, d8, and d12 corresponding to the components in the first column of the matrix are read from RAM 10 in the order indicated. Data d1, d5, d9, and d13 corresponding to the components in the second column of the matrix are subsequently read from RAM 10 in the order indicated. Data d2, d6, d10, and d14 corresponding to the components in the third column of the matrix are then read from RAM 10 in the order indicated. Data d3, d7, d11, and d15 corresponding to the components in the fourth column of the matrix are read after that from RAM 10 in the order indicated.
Matrix data inputted to the transposition circuit is thus converted to data arranged as a matrix obtained by interchanging the rows and columns of the original matrix.
Conventional transposition circuits, however, are configured such that a single data packet is read or written per period. A processing time of 2N2 periods will therefore be needed to process data arranged as an N×N matrix (where N is an integer of 2 or greater). A resulting disadvantage is that the processing time increases dramatically with increased matrix size.


A putter-fitting system that allows for quick and easy alteration of various aspects of the putter including, but not limited to, weighting, lie angle, and hosel style is described. Also described are a cam-based putter face release mechanism, a cam-based hosel release mechanism and/or an interchangeable striking surface insert.

Golf has become increasing popular through the years, and as a result more and more golfers are purchasing custom fit golf clubs. Custom fitting may be performed by a golfing professional, a fitting professional, or by a golf store employee. Many different fitting techniques can be employed to find golf clubs that are best suited to a particular golfers needs. One golf club for which a professional fitting has become increasingly popular is the putter. Putters can be customized in a large number of ways. For example, putters are available in a number of different styles offering different shaft lengths, different grips, different weighting in the club head and differently sized and shaped heads. However, more subtle alterations can have profound effects on a golfer's putting success as well. For example, alterations in the club face loft or style of hosel can significantly impact a golfer's feel for the putter. When custom fitting a putter to a golfer, it is desirable to allow a golfer to try out as many different putters as possible. Therefore, it is desirable to provide putters and putter-fitting systems that allow for quick and easy alteration of the putter being tried.


Scented electronic candle devices are described that facilitate operation and usage of a variety of features such as light or scent or movement of the flame, or a combination thereof. The disclosed features also include multiple settings for the variety of features. For instance, the scent feature can be activated or deactivated by multiple switches, remote, sensors, timers, or similar devices. In addition, the intensity of the scent features can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the amount of heat or air. Similarly the light feature can be activated, deactivated, or set on a timer. Additionally, the scented electronic candle devices can be equipped with rechargeable batteries that can be charged using a wireless charging station or by connecting the scented electronic candle device to an electrical wall outlet.

Traditional scented candles, when lit, provide a pleasant aroma in places such as homes, hotels, businesses, etc., The use of traditional scented candles, however, can be both hazardous and unappealing for several reasons. For example, a traditional scented candle effectively releases its fragrance only when its wick is lit. Lighting a traditional scented candle, however, can lead to risk of fire, damage to surface caused by hot wax, injuries suffered as a result of the hot wax or the flame, and possible emission of soot. A traditional scented candle can also be unappealing to a user who only wants to provide light to an area or to use the scent feature, but not both. As a result, scented electronic candles have become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional scented candles. Because scented electronic candles have no burning flame or hot wax, they are safer to use, especially around children. Further, scented electronic candles can incorporate a variety of features, such as light or scent, that can work independently or in combination. Such scented electronic candles can have a light source, a scent reservoir, and electronic circuits that control the operation of the scented electronic candle device.


To improve the low-temperature resistance of a blow-by gas treatment device. An air cleaner is connected through a carburetor to the intake side of a cylinder portion constituting an engine in a four-wheel buggy. A blow-by gas induction pipe is provided to connect a crankcase and one side surface of the air cleaner, so as to induce a blow-by gas from the crankcase to a return chamber defined in the air cleaner at one side portion thereof. An exhaust pipe extends rearwardly from the exhaust side of the cylinder portion along a part of the induction pipe, and is connected to a muffler. The muffler is located in the vicinity of the return chamber in the air cleaner, so as to warm the return chamber by the heat radiated from the muffler, thereby ensuring good returnability of the blow-by gas even at low temperatures. The exhaust pipe similarly warms the induction pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a blow-by gas treatment device which is excellent in low-temperature resistance for a riding type vehicle such as a four-wheel buggy.
2. Description of Background Art
A conventional blow-by gas treatment device is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5624257. This blow-by gas treatment device has a configuration such that a blow-by gas generated in a crankcase of an engine is induced through an induction pipe to a return chamber defined in an air cleaner to remove liquid components mixed in the blow-by gas in the return chamber, and the blow-by gas is next passed through a filter element provided in the air cleaner to be sucked into the engine.
In using an engine equipped with such a blow-by gas treatment device in low-temperature environments, there is a possibility that the return chamber and the induction pipe may be changed at low temperatures to cause a reduction in flowability of the blow-by gas therein. In particular, if a riding type vehicle may be expected to be used in harsh low-temperature environments it is desirable to be able to maintain good flowability of the blow-by gas, i.e., to ensure good returnability of the blow-by gas even at low temperatures.

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Kaisha


A system and method for optimizing database access for record linkage by tiling the space of record pairs are provided, the system including a processor, a segmentation and pairing unit in signal communication with the processor for segmenting database data into data segments and pairing the data segments into data quadrants, and a duplicate detection unit in signal communication with the processor for detecting duplicates for each quadrant; and the method including receiving database data, segmenting the database data into data segments, pairing the data segments into data quadrants, and detecting duplicates for each quadrant.

Record linkage for a database is the problem of finding pairs or sets of records that represent the same entity. For a large database that does not fit entirely into a random access memory, comparison of all possible pairs of records involves many database readings to bring data records that need to be compared into the memory. This can be an inefficient and time-consuming operation.
In previously considered techniques, each database reading would load those records into memory that were to be compared, such as those records that had the same blocking key value. There are several disadvantages of such methods. One disadvantage is that the number of such blocks is large and therefore the number of required database readings is great. Another disadvantage is that block sizes can vary in a wide range. For small blocks, this method leads to the waste of memory resources. For blocks that are too large, it leads to out-of-memory errors.
Accordingly, it is desirable to optimize database access for record linkage.

Optimizing database access for record linkage by tiling the space of record pairs


A parallel link robot (10) includes an additional actuator (13d) which is arranged between two driven links (22b, 23b) in parallel with these driven links, a power transmission shaft part (39) which extends coaxially from the additional actuator and transfers the rotational drive force of the additional actuator to a posture changing mechanism part (15), a universal joint (38) which links the shaft part (14) which extends from the posture changing mechanism part and a power transmission shaft part, and a linking/reinforcing part (61) which bypasses the universal joint and links together and reinforces the two ends of the cutaway part of the casing of the moving part (12).

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a parallel link robot which uses a δ-type parallel link mechanism which positions an end effecter three-dimensionally. In particular, the present invention relates to a parallel link robot with an additional actuator arranged between a pair of driven links.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a parallel link robot in the prior art which is shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-88262A. In FIG. 10, a parallel link robot 100 mainly includes a base part 110 which is contained in a housing 180, a moving part 120, and three link parts 200a to 200c which link the base part 110 and the moving part 120. At the bottom surface of the moving part 120, a mounting member 190 is provided. A not shown end effecter is attached to the mounting member 190.
FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of a parallel link robot which is shown in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 11, a link part 200b is comprised of a drive link 210b and two driven links 220b and 230b which extend from the moving part 120. These are linked together by spherical bearings 420b and 430b. Further, the front ends of the driven links 220b and 230b are linked by spherical bearings 440b and 450b to the moving part 120. These spherical bearings 420b to 450b are arranged so that the quadrilateral shape having these spherical bearings as vertexes becomes a parallelogram. In FIG. 10, the drive link 210b which extends from the base part 110 is connected to an actuator 130b which drives the drive link 210b. This actuator 130b is placed on the base part 110.
Referring to FIG. 11, a reinforcing link 310 links the two driven links 220b and 230b with each other through bearings. Furthermore, an additional actuator 130d is attached to a shaft 320 which extends from the center part of the reinforcing link 310 through a bearing. As shown in the figure, an output shaft of the additional actuator 130d is directed toward the moving part 120.
As shown in FIG. 11, a power transmission shaft part 390 which extends from the output shaft of the additional actuator 130d extends between the two driven links 220b and 230b in parallel with these driven links 220b and 230b. Furthermore, the power transmission shaft part 390 is connected to a shaft part 140 which extends from a posture changing mechanism part 150 through a universal joint 380. The posture changing mechanism part 150 performs the function of changing the posture of the mounting member 190. Due to this, the posture of the end effecter can be changed.
In this connection, the universal joint 380 has to be arranged on the line connecting the two spherical bearings 440b and 450b. In other words, the universal joint 380 and two spherical bearings 440b and 450b are positioned on the same line. To arrange the universal joint 380 as explained above, as shown in FIG. 11, a cutaway part C has to be formed in the edge of the moving part 120.
In general, to increase the reciprocating operations per unit time, the parallel link robot is required to operate at a high speed. To realize this, the driven links and moving part can be lightened in weight as much as possible. In this regard, when cutaway part C is formed, to secure the necessary rigidity, it is required that the moving part 120 be a certain degree of thickness. For this reason, there have been limits to the lightening of the moving part 120.
Furthermore, FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a moving part in the prior art. In FIG. 12, a mounting member 190 which can rotate around a rotary shaft 590 is attached below the moving part 120. At the rotary shaft 590, a first bearing 510 and a second bearing 520 are arranged. At a front end of the rotary shaft 590, a bevel gear 550 is attached. As can be seen from FIG. 12, the bevel gear 550 of the rotary shaft 590 is engaged with a bevel gear 560 which is attached to a front end of a shaft part 140. Further, at the shaft part 140, a third bearing 530 and a fourth bearing 540 are arranged. These bevel gears 550 and 560 form a posture changing mechanism part 150.
In this connection, the modules and shapes of the bevel gears 550 and 560 are determined in accordance with the speed ratios and transmitted power of the bevel gears 550 and 560. Further, if the bevel gears 550 and 560 are determined in shape, the positional relationship between these bevel gears 550 and 560 and the universal joint 380 is determined. For this reason, the positional relationship between the top surface of the moving part 120 and the bevel gears 550 and 560 cannot be changed.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, when the first bearing 510 and the second bearing 520 are arranged between the mounting member 190 and the bevel gear 550, a certain degree of space is required between the mounting member 190 and the bevel gear 550. For this reason, the casing of the moving part 120 becomes long in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 590 and the moving part 120 as a result becomes larger in size and increases in weight as well.
Further, FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a moving part in another prior art. In FIG. 13, a first bearing 510 and a second bearing 520 are arranged further from a bevel gear 550 when viewed from the mounting member 190. In this case, to make the load which is applied to the first bearing 510 and the second bearing 520 smaller, the distance between the first bearing 510 and the second bearing 520 has to be made longer. Alternatively, to enable the applied load to be withstood, the first bearing 510 and the second bearing 520 themselves have to be made larger. For this reason, the casing of the moving part 120 also would become larger in size and the weights of the moving part 120 and its related members would also increase.
Furthermore, a parallel link robot is sometimes used in the fields of food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc. In such a case, due to issues with sanitation, it is necessary to prevent fluid from building up when cleaning the parallel link robot.
The present invention was made in consideration of this situation and has as its object the provision of a parallel link robot which maintains a high rigidity while being provided with a light weight moving part.

Parallel link robot with additional actuator arranged at driven links


The present invention is an aqueous dispersible magnetic nanoparticle formulation with a high drug loading capacity used for sustained drug delivery. The formulated magnetic nanoparticles are composed of an iron oxide core coated with a long chain polymer, which provides aqueous dispersibility without the use of surfactant. A method is developed for the functionalization of magnetic nanoparticles for use in biomedical field.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are emerging as promising candidates for their applications in biomedical research encompassing of drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging, cell mechanics, hyperthermia, in vivo tracking of stem cells, tumor progression, nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) separation and cell separations, due to their ultra fine sizes, biocompatibility and superparamagnetic behaviour. Another important property which makes magnetic nanoparticles ideal for biomedical applications is their low toxicity. The MNPs can have high level of accumulation in the target tissues or organ due to their host cell tropism and biophysical nature, which helps for the most promising application of these magnetic nanoparticles in site-specific drug delivery.
For drug delivery, the magnetic nanoparticles are required to have high magnetization values, size smaller than 100 nm and narrow distributions of particle size. To these nanoparticles, a pharmaceutical drug can be loaded on to the surface which could be driven to the target organ and released there. An external localized magnetic field gradient may be applied to a chosen site to attract drug-loaded magnetic nanoparticles from blood circulation, by reducing their systemic distribution and offering a possibility of administering lower but more accurately targeted dose. In this process, the magnetic nanoparticles should bear superparamagnetic property i.e, they do not retain any magnetic property when the magnetic filed is removed.
Drug targeting to tumors and its other related pathological conditions, is desirable since anticancer agents demonstrate nonspecific toxicities that significantly limit their therapeutic potentials. For these applications, the size, charge and surface chemistry of the magnetic nanoparticles are particularly important, which strongly affects both the blood circulation time as well as the bioavailability of the particles within the body. It is envisioned that nanoparticles can be surface-modified so that it could to simultaneously function as contrast enhancement agent and drug carrier, allowing real-time monitoring of tumor response to drug treatment.
Surface coating is an integral part of all MNP formulations meant for biomedical applications. The colloidal electro stabilization arising from repulsion of the surface charge are not sufficient enough to prevent aggregation in the biological solution due to presence of salts and other electrolytes that may neutralize the charge. Furthermore, on intravenous injection the MNP is subjected to the adsorption of plasma protein or opsonization as a first step of clearance by the reticuloendothelial system (RES). Accordingly evading the uptake by RES and maintaining a long plasma half life is a major challenge for many MNP applications in drug delivery. So, a polymeric coating over the MNPs is required for providing steric barrier and to prevent nanoparticle agglomeration, thereby avoiding opsonization. Also these coatings provide a way to functionalize the surface of MNPs such as surface charge and chemical functionalization. Therefore, to improve their biocompatibility and injectibility magnetic nanoparticles are generally coated with hydrophilic polymers such as starch or dextran, polyethyleneglycol (PEG), streptavidin, poly-L-lysine (PLL), poly ethylene imide (PEI), and the therapeutic agents of interest which are chemically conjugated or conically bound to the outer layer of polymer. This approach is complex, involves multiple steps with a very little drug loading capacity, and the bound drug dissociates within hours. Fast release of drug from the carrier system may be less effective, especially in the tumor therapy, where drug retention is required for therapeutic efficacy. Entrapping the magnetic nanoparticles into other sustained release polymeric drug carrier systems such as nanoparticles formulated from poly-dl-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA), polylactides (PLL), polylactic acid (PLA), or in dendrimers results in significant loss in magnetization of the core magnetic material. Also in silica coated magnetic nanoparticles there is decrease in magnetization which has the limitation for the effective targeting in drug delivery system.
Various monomeric species such as bisphosphonates, dimercaptosuccinic acid and aloxysilane have been evaluated to facilitate the anchoring and attachment of polymers on MNP. But coating of the particle with monomeric species does not allow colloidal stability at physiological pH. Coating the particles with large molecules, such as polymers or surfactants containing long-chain hydrocarbons, helps to prevent aggregation of the particles in biological solution thereby offering more effective stabilization. Therefore, different research groups mostly use long chain polymer such as oleic acid and its salt for the stabilization of iron oxide nanoparticles. Gupta et al have synthesized magnetic nanoparticles by coprecipitation method using sodium oleate for forming stable dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles. Jain et al have developed oleic acid (OA)-pluronic (F-127) stabilized iron oxide magnetic nanoparticle formulation where they have entrapped some of the hydrophobic drugs which partitioned into it without any loss of magnetization. As in their study they found that after a coating of OA, still these formulations were not well dispersible in water, so they have used pluronic types of surfactants to get water based formulation. The pluronic acid anchors at the interface of the OA shell and give the aqueous dispersibility and easy load of hydrophobic anticancer agents. Experimental evidences show that higher doses of pluronic (F-127) have toxic effects towards human erythrocytes and there is an elevation of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood plasma.
Therefore, with an aim of getting colloidal stability of the magnetic nanoparticles without use of any surfactant, a different polymeric lipid molecule was used for coating of the MNPs. Synthetic lipid glyceryl monooleate (GMO) approved by food and drug administration (FDA), is an emulsifier, flavouring agent for the food industry and excipient agent for antibiotics. The ionic polymer GMO also possesses bioadhesive properties that can be used to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of the dosage forms by increasing the contact time at the targeted tissues. Glyceryl monooleate (GMO) is an unsaturated monoglyceride belonging to the class of water-insoluble amphiphilic lipids. Depending on the water content and temperature it forms different types of lyotropic liquid crystals. As water content and temperature increase, it system forms cubic phase via reversed micellar and lamellar phases. The cubic liquid crystalline phase is highly viscous, thermodynamically stable, and insensitive to salts and solvents and coexists in equilibrium with excess of water and resistant to physical degradation. The high viscosity of GMO provides sustained release of drugs due to slow drug diffusion or increased residence time in its solubilized form. The heterogeneous structure of GMO in water permits incorporation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs or a combination and their presence does not induce a change in lyotropic phase structure. GMO is a metabolite during lipolysis of triglycerides. Also, GMO itself is an object of lipolysis due to different kinds of esterase activity. Hence, the cubic phase made of GMO is biodegradable and, as such a potential candidate for use in drug delivery systems. GMO has a similar long chain polymer structure as that of oleic acid, mainly used in the formulation of MNPs. Keeping in view of these properties of GMO; we have coated the magnetic nanoparticles with GMO by replacing OA. We have developed a novel aqueous based ultrafine stable magnetic nanoparticle formulation with a coating of GMO without the use of any surfactant. The aqueous solubility of the particle is achieved by the complete removal of the un-adsorbed GMO during the washing process with the use of different organic solvents during the synthesis process. We hypothesize that, GMO coated MNP will be a ideal delivery system for the treatment of cancer as the hydrophobic drug would partition into the GMO coating and would provide aqueous dispersibility of the solutions without any loss of magnetization and at the same time drug loaded MNPs can be used as a novel drug delivery system with the help of external magnetic field.
Bioseparation
MNPs are beneficial in biomedical research for separating out the specific biological entities from their native environment in order to concentrate the samples for further analysis. It is possible due to attraction between an external magnetic field and the MNPs which enables the separation of a wide variety of biological entities. Use of biocompatible MNPs is one of the ways to achieve this. It is a two step process involving i) tagging or labeling of the desired biological entities with magnetic material and ii) separating out these tagged entities via fluid based magnetic separation devices. Labeling is achieved through the surface modification of magnetic nanoparticles with dextran, phospholipids and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) which provides the link between the particles and the target site on a cell or molecules. To aim for specific binding on the surface of the cells, the help of antibody and antigen specificity action can be taken into account. For active binding the cells are targeted with biological molecules such as hormones and folic acid. Precision binding of antibodies specifically to their corresponding antigens provides an accurate way to label cells e.g MNPs coated with immunospecific agents have been successfully bound to red blood cells HIV-tat peptides, lung cancer, bacteria, urological cancer cells and golgi vesicles. The magnetic separation of target cells from mixtures, such as peripheral blood, isolation of cancer cells in blood samples or stem cells in bone marrow has considerable practical potential in improved diagnosis in biomedical research. When combined with microfluidic technology, low-field magnetic separations could enable faster and less expensive processing of tissue samples for biomarker detection. Furthermore, MNPs can be biologically activated to allow the uptake of cells via endocytic pathways, thereby allowing certain cellular compartments to be specifically addressed. Once taken up, the desired cellular compartments can be magnetically isolated and accurately studied using proteomic analysis. There are two main challenges to make all the above-discussed biomedical applications come true: a) a good synthesis route for manufacturing monodisperse MNPs with diameters <10 nm; and b) a good method to functionalize the surface of the nanoparticles. The latter determines the ability of the MNPs to interact in a well-defined and controllable manner with living cells and to be used for the cell separation. We have functionalized acid groups on the surface of the GMO coated magnetic nanoparticles by the use of DMSA (2, 3 meso mercapto succinic acid) which can be further conjugated with the primary amine groups of any peptide or protein etc.

Water dispersible glyceryl monooleate magnetic nanoparticle formulation


A biomass pellet combustion system includes a primary burn chamber, a coal burn chamber, and a gas burn chamber. The primary burn chamber is configured to receive pellets from a drop tube of the biomass pellet combustion system. The coal burn chamber is configured to receive coals from the primary burn chamber. The gas burn chamber is configured to receive combustible gases from both the primary burn chamber and the coal burn chamber, wherein a secondary combustion process converts secondary combustion air and the combustible gases into exhaust gases in the gas burn chamber.

The present invention relates generally to biomass pellet heating appliances. More particularly, this invention pertains to a gravity fed biomass pellet heating appliance (e.g., stove).
Wood or biomass pellets used for heating purposes offer a certain level of appeal over traditional cordwood. They can be purchased by the bag (typically 40 lbs each) or in bulk. They are convenient, clean, and easy to store. A user pours them into a fuel hopper of a wood pellet burning heating appliance (i.e., pellet stove) with very little mess. They are also at an optimal moisture content at the point of purchase, so no drying time is required. In contrast, cordwood has to be cut, split, stored, and dried before it is ready to be used. This can be quite a laborious and messy process, and that mess is inevitably carried into the home or space to be heated. Additionally, it takes two years on average to air dry cordwood to optimal moisture content for use in today's high efficiency wood burning heating appliances. Therefore, pellet heating appliances are much more convenient due to the decreased labor, time, and mess. Pellet heating appliances are also much more convenient to suburban and urban residents because users do not have to have a source of trees to cut and process for use with their wood burning appliance.
While pellet burning heating appliances offer a level of convenience above cord wood burning appliances, there are still some negative attributes. Pellet burning heating appliances are a type of space heater that typically use a series of motors, blowers, and some level of control logic to burn wood pellets. This means that high efficiency pellet heating appliances require an electrical source to operate. Therefore, during a power outage or failure of the user's solar power system, the user and the space to be heated can be left without a heat source. Electrically operated heating appliances also have moving parts that can fail, requiring replacement for before resuming operation.
Some pellet burning heating appliances require regular maintenance several times a week and detailed cleanings up to several times a heating season (depending on usage). These periods of maintenance and cleaning are primarily to remove ash and deposits from the heating appliance. If this maintenance and cleaning is not performed, blockages can occur that cause the system to shut down and/or possibly damage the appliance. Since most pellet heating appliances are blower driven, they have an induced flame that can be violent which some users consider unappealing when compared to a traditional gas flame or cordwood flame. Most pellet heating appliances and cordwood heating appliances rely on room air fans to distribute heat into the space to be heated which replaces the warm radiating heat of a traditional wood burning heating appliance with forced air but is much more efficient at heating an entire space evenly.
One pellet heating appliance design, disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0186920, eliminates the need for electricity by relying on gravity to feed wood pellets to the combustion chamber and a strong natural draft to replace the electric blowers. This allows the heating appliance to radiate its heat more and eliminate the room air fan from the heating appliance. However, this design requires multiple maintenance and cleaning cycles per week in order to remain in a safe and efficient operating state. Further, this design does not provide aesthetically pleasing flames.


The present disclosure relates to a polycarbonate resin composition, which comprises: based on thermoplastic resin 100 parts by weight comprising (A) polycarbonate resin 60 to 80 wt %; and (B) polycarbonate-polysiloxane copolymer resin 20 to 40 wt %, (C) pearl metal particle 1 to 4 parts by weight; and (D) colorant 0.1 to 10 parts by weight.

(a) Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a polycarbonate resin composition, and more particularly to a non-coating polycarbonate resin composition, which satisfies excellent white pearl-coated feeling exterior and physical properties, required for vehicle interior materials, such as impact resistance, light resistance and chemical resistance without separate coating process when manufacturing a product with the composition, by mixing pearl metal particles and a whitish colorant to thermoplastic resin comprising polycarbonate resin and polycarbonate-polysiloxane copolymer resin.
(b) Background
Polycarbonate resin is widely applied for electric and electronic materials and vehicles due to its excellent impact resistance, thermal resistance, hardness and the like. In particular, in the case of vehicle interior materials such as center fascia, indicator panel and the like, the polycarbonate resin or polycarbonate-based alloy resin having excellent physical properties such as impact resistance, thermal resistance, hardness, coloring proprerty and the like are widely used.
Although the polycarbonate resin has excellent properties, it has a problem of deterioration of characteristics such as low temperature impact resistance, chemical resistance and the like.
On the other hand, among the polycarbonate-based alloy resin, polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer alloy (PC/ABS) resin is most widely applied as electric and electronic materials and vehicle interior/exterior materials.
The PC/ABS resin has an advantage of excellent low temperature and room temperature impact resistance as well as excellent thermal resistance, hardness, moldability and the like, but it has a limit on coloring property, and has a defect of deterioration of light resistance against ultraviolet ray (UV). To this end, for luxurious exterior, various color and protection from external attack factors such as UV, chemicals, moisture, heat and the like, painting and coating and the like have been applied to the surface generally. Such a coating process may have some drawbacks. For example, it may include high error rate and high generation rate of harmful volatile components. Additionally, there are many limits on recycle, and the cost increases. Therefore, recently, the demands on non-coated interior materials excluding a coating process according to increase of environmental friendly trend are increasing.
On the other hand, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-0050780 relates to a polycarbonate resin composition and a method manufacturing thereof. However, when using the polycarbonate resin as a vehicle interior material, there are problems that it may be difficult to embody coated-feeling exterior. Therefore, protection from external environment such as UV and the like, processes such as painting, coating and the like are required.
Accordingly, a polycarbonate resin composition, which has excellent white pearl-coated feeling exterior as well as excellent physical properties such as impact resistance, light resistance and chemical resistance without a separate coating process, thereby more suitable for a vehicle interior material, is needed.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that do not constitute the prior art to the instant application.


Circuit implementations and test methods enable the testing of lookup table (LUT) input paths, “stuck at” memory cell values, and carry chains. One method includes storing a first bit pattern in each LUT, configuring the carry chain to perform a wide AND function of the LUT outputs, and cycling the inputs of each LUT while comparing the carry chain output to an expected value and reporting the PLD faulty if a difference is detected. The carry chain is configured to perform a wide OR function, and the cycling step is repeated. The bit pattern within each LUT is changed to the complement of the first bit pattern by providing a series of shift commands or by otherwise storing new values in the LUT, and the configuring and cycling steps are repeated. The invention also provides PLD circuit implementations that can be used to perform the described methods.

Programmable logic devices (PLDs) are a well-known type of digital integrated circuit that can be programmed to perform specified logic functions. One type of PLD, the field programmable gate array (FPGA), typically includes an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) surrounded by a ring of programmable input/output blocks (IOBs). The CLBs and IOBs are interconnected by a programmable interconnect structure. Some FPGAs also include additional logic blocks with special purposes (e.g., DLLs, RAM, and so forth).
The CLBs, IOBs, interconnect, and other logic blocks are typically configured (programmed) by loading a stream of configuration data (bitstream) into internal configuration memory cells that define how the CLBs, IOBs, and interconnect are configured. The configuration data can be read from memory (e.g., an external PROM) or written into the FPGA by an external device. The collective states of the individual memory cells then determine the function of the FPGA. Some PLDs also support partial reconfiguration, i.e., loading a partial bitstream that can change the functionality of a portion of the PLD while other portions of the PLD continue to function.
One such FPGA, the Xilinx Virtex®-II FPGA, is described in detail in pages 33–75 of the "Virtex-II Platform FPGA Handbook", published December, 2000, available from Xilinx, Inc., 2100 Logic Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95124, which pages are incorporated herein by reference. (Xilinx, Inc., owner of the copyright, has no objection to copying these and other pages referenced herein but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.) A simplified diagram of the Virtex-II CLB is shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, a Virtex-II CLB includes four similar slices S0–S3. Each slice includes two 4-input lookup tables (LUTs) 101, 102 that can be configured to operate in any of three modes: lookup table mode, in which the LUT can provide any function of up to four inputs; RAM mode, in which the LUT provides a single or dual-port RAM of 8 or 16 bits; or shift mode, in which the LUT functions as a shift register up to 16 bits deep.
When in RAM mode, the write process is controlled by control signal generator 105, which provides control signal CS (which in RAM mode is a write strobe signal) to the LUTs (101, 102). (In the present specification, the same reference characters are used to refer to terminals, signal lines, and their corresponding signals.) Control signal generator 105 derives control signal CS from the clock CLK and clock enable CE input signals to the CLB. The RAM input data is supplied to the DI input terminal of each LUT 101, 102 by direct input terminals RAM_DI_1 and RAM_DI_2 via multiplexers DM1, DM2, respectively. Multiplexers DM1, DM2 are controlled by configuration memory cells (not shown).
When in shift mode, the shift process is controlled by the same control signal CS, which in shift mode is a shift enable signal. The shift input data for LUT 101 is supplied to the DI input terminal of LUT 101 from CLB input terminal ShiftIn via multiplexer DM1. The shift data output for each LUT is supplied by dedicated shift output terminal SR15. The shift input data for LUT 102 is supplied to the DI input terminal of LUT 102 from the shift out terminal SR15 of LUT 101 via multiplexer DM2.
Each LUT 101, 102 output signal OUT is read from the location in the LUT memory cell array addressed by the 4 input signals IN1–IN4. LUT output signal OUT is provided to an associated multiplexer MUX1, MUX2, which in turn provides a data input to an associated 1-bit register 103, 104. Direct input terminals Reg_DI_1, Reg_DI_2 also drive multiplexers MUX1, MUX2, respectively, allowing independent signals to be loaded into the registers via these direct input terminals. Multiplexers MUX1 and MUX2 are controlled by configuration memory cells (not shown). Registers 103, 104 are controlled by the clock CLK and clock enable CE signals and by other memory control signals (not shown).
The Virtex-II CLB also includes carry logic associated with each LUT/register pair. The output terminal OUT of each LUT 101, 102 controls a carry multiplexer CM1, CM2, which passes one of an externally supplied signal CM_DI_1, CM_DI_2 and an associated carry-in signal CIInt, CarryIn to a next carry multiplexer in the chain.
FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram of a portion of the Virtex-II CLB of FIG. 1, showing only those elements used in known test processes for testing the input structures of the LUT 201. The diagram of FIG. 2 includes LUT 201 and register 203, coupled as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows how several copies of the circuit of FIG. 2 can be used to test a portion of the LUT input structures using known testing methods. A "pseudo shift register" is created using the LUTs and registers of the CLB, each stage of the pseudo shift register including one LUT and its associated register. For example, a first stage of the pseudo shift register includes LUT 201a and register 203a, a second stage includes LUT 201b and register 203b, and an nth stage includes LUT 201n and register 203n. The LUTs are configured to implement buffers or inverters. Each register captures the output signal OUT from its associated LUT, and passes the registered value to the next LUT in the chain at each enabled clock signal.
To perform the test, a shift data input signal Test_In is applied to one input terminal of LUT 201a. Register 203a is enabled by clock enable signal CE, and clocked by a clock signal CLK to latch the output from LUT 201a. With each subsequent clock edge, the signal passes through an additional stage of the pseudo shift register. After n active clock edges, the test output signal Test_Out appears at the output terminal of the nth register 203n. This value is compared to an expected value. If the value is correct, the LUT input paths, registers, and interconnect resources used in this particular implementation are assumed to be functional.
However, this test method has its drawbacks. For example, suppose each LUT has K input terminals. Suppose further that each input terminal includes a wide multiplexer that selects one of M input signals from the interconnect structure to provide to the LUT. Using known test methods, at least K×M (K times M) test patterns are needed to determine whether or not each LUT input is fault-free. For example, in a Virtex-II LUT, K is 4 and M is 36. Thus, 144 different test patterns are required to test the input structures of a Virtex-II LUT.
Clearly, testing a PLD can be much more time-consuming than testing a comparably-sized non-programmable device, because of the number of possible configurations for each LUT. In fact, testing a PLD can be so time-consuming that testing becomes a greater expense than the actual manufacturing costs of the device.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide circuit implementations and test methods that reduce the time required to test the various structures in PLD LUTs.
Further, the test methods described in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3 do not necessarily detect "stuck at" faults in the memory cells implementing the LUT. If a memory cell is "stuck at" (i.e., permanently storing) a value that is the same as the value expected by the test, the fault is not detected. Therefore, additional "stuck at" tests are required to check for this type of defect.
Hence, it is further desirable to provide circuit implementations and test methods that can simultaneously test the input structures and the memory cells of a LUT, thereby reducing the test time and thus the final cost of the PLD.

Circuits and methods for testing programmable logic devices using lookup tables and carry chains


A surgical clip applier comprises a first arm (12) and a second arm (14) pivotable relative to each other and defining proximal ends (16, 18) for manually controlling the applier, and distal ends (26, 28); jaws (30) positioned between the distal ends such (26, 28) that pivot of the first arm (12) relative to the second arm (14) opens and closes the jaws (30); and a setting element (32) movably mounted in one (12) of the first arm and the second arm and extending into contact with the other (14) of the first arm and the second arm to define a maximum open position of the first arm (12) relative to the second arm (14), and wherein a change of position of the setting element (32) adjusts the maximum open position.

The invention relates to a surgical clip applier.
Surgical clip appliers are used to apply surgical clips or fasteners to tissues and other areas of a surgical site during the course of various surgical procedures. Clip appliers include automatic and manual appliers, and the present invention is directed toward manual appliers.
Known clip appliers include jaws which are used to hold a clip and a mechanism which is used to close the jaws so that the clip can be closed upon the desired location. These devices must be precise, reliable and user friendly for the surgeon. Producing these qualities, however, frequently requires the applier to be complicated and expensive, which is not conducive to a single-use item. In addition, the complex structures incorporated into such apparatus are problematic during cleaning and sterilization.
Another issue with known clip appliers is over-opening of the jaws. This is problematic because if jaws open too far, a clip held in the jaws can inadvertently be dropped, potentially within the surgical site with obvious complications resulting therefrom.
The focus of the present invention is to overcome the above-identified disadvantages.


An intersystem communication path (20, 67) can be established on an as needed basis. Already established paths are fully utilized before new paths are established. Already established paths can be automatically disconnected when no longer needed, or when existing calls can be merged on to fewer lines. Dial up lines can be mixed with dedicated lines. If desired, excess capacity can be guaranteed to accommodate high traffic conditions and/or other conditions that precipitate a likely need for communication services between systems.

The basic operation and structure of a land mobile radio system is well known. Land mobile radio systems typically comprise one or more radio communication units and one or more repeaters that transceive information via the RG communications channels. These communications channels are typically narrow band frequency modulated channels. Further, trunked communication systems are organized so that a group of users are served by a set of repeaters that support trunked communication resources within an RF coverage area.
When a subscriber unit leaves the RF coverage area of one communication system, another communication system may therefore provide necessary service. A well known technique for establishing a link between two users served by different communication systems is by means of a telephone interconnect call. In order to place a call, dual-tone multiple-frequency signalling is often used. This technique is cumbersome in the dispatch environment because it requires several seconds of delay to establish the connection, as compared with the conversation which itself may only last a few seconds.
Another method of interconnecting communication systems relies upon dedicated lines that link the communication systems continuously. These lines may be either analog or digital lines that are leased from a public utility, or that are privately owned. In a dispatch environment traffic is characterized by extreme burstiness with very low average utilization. Nevertheless, the infrastructure guarantees service to worst case traffic rather than average traffic. As a result, most of the time the infrastructure remains idle. Therefore, this method eliminates an initial connection delay, but only at the expense of maintaining connection for significant periods of time when not in use.
A third method of interconnecting communication systems is by means of a packet data network. This method provides an efficient method for intercommunication system communication; however, the transmission delay can be several seconds long, making this unacceptable for voice communication.
Therefore, current methods of interconnecting communication system sites are inefficient, cumbersome to use, and do not allow an integrated solution.

Method for supporting voice communications between communication systems


A method for processing carcasses of livestock, includes the processing steps of: positioning a hanging livestock carcass; making an incision along the spine of the positioned hanging livestock carcass; loosening the meat from opposite sides of the feather bones of the spine; and splitting the spine of the carcass. A device for processing carcasses of livestock is arranged for enabling the process steps.

The invention relates to a method for processing carcasses of livestock, comprising the processing steps of: positioning a hanging livestock carcass; making an incision along the spine of the positioned hanging livestock carcass; loosening the meat from opposite sides of the feather bones of the spine; and splitting the spine of the carcass. The invention also provides a device for processing carcasses of livestock enabling these process steps.
Livestock carcasses, especially pigs carcasses, are usually processed in slaughter lines in which the carcasses (or carcass parts) for processing are carried past a plurality of processing stations, normally transported hanging on their hind legs. The processing stations may be manned by personnel performing determined processes, but often several dressing operations are mechanised. In the prior art use is for instance made of robot arms that perform specific dressing processes automatically. One of the dressing processes is the introduction of a cut along the spine (back bone) of the carcass and subsequently cutting the meat from opposite sides of the feather bones of the spine, which combined cutting steps are also known as "back finning". Back finning is a processing step that is also addressed as the pre-cutting of loins. After "back finning" the spine of the carcass may be split to separate the carcass in halves. Dependent on slaughter demands these carcass halve may still be connected via the head or may completely parted.

Method and device for processing carcasses of livestock along the spine


Embodiments are disclosed that relate to increasing a temperature in a low temperature zone in a steam reforming reactor via a radiative heating shunt. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a steam reforming reactor comprising a reaction chamber having an interior surface, a packing material located within the reaction chamber, and a radiative heating shunt extending from the interior surface into the reaction chamber. The radiative heating shunt comprises a porous partition enclosing a sub-volume of the reaction chamber bounded by the porous partition and a portion of the interior surface, the sub-volume being at least partly free of packing material such that radiative heat has a path from the interior surface to a distal portion of the porous partition that is unobstructed by packing material.

In a steam reforming reactor, under high temperatures (e.g., 400-800° C.) and in the presence of a catalyst (e.g., nickel), steam may react with a feed gas (e.g., methane) to generate a reformate (e.g., hydrogen) which may be used as fuel in a hydrogen fuel cell, for example. Because the reaction is endothermic, a heat source is needed to maintain a temperature range at which the reaction can occur. Further, as methane is converted, the partial pressure of methane decreases as the gases travel through the reactor. As such, a higher temperature is needed for the reaction to occur farther from an inlet of the reactor than for the reaction to occur closer to an inlet of the reactor.
Thus, a heater may be coupled to a portion of an outer wall of a reactor in order to heat the reactor to temperatures necessary for methane conversion along a length of the reactor. Due to low convective transport coefficients within the reactor, heat is transferred mainly via radiation. The reforming reaction immediately uses this energy in the vicinity of the outer wall, such that less energy is available to heat the inside of the reactor at locations farther from the outer wall. This may result in a low temperature zone spaced from the outer wall of the reactor. Since a higher temperature is needed for conversion in portions of the reactor closer to the outlet of the reactor due to the low partial pressure of methane in these portions of the reactor, the low temperature zone may result in elevated methane slip (e.g., un-reacted methane leaving the reactor), thereby decreasing the efficiency of the reactor.

Radiative heat transfer via shunt in a steam reforming reactor


A disinfectant, sanitizer, germicide, mildicide, virucide, deodorizer, decontaminator and cleaning formulation for cleaning porous and non-porous materials in hospitals, institutions, farms, hotels, cruise ships, homes, schools and other environments is provided. The cleaning formulation comprises a first component including an aqueous alkaline solution containing a surfactant, a triamine, and a quaternary halide and a second component containing an aqueous stabilized hydrogen peroxide solution. The formulation is activated by combining and mixing the two components. The activated formulation can be applied to a surface to be cleaned and/or sanitized with standard techniques. The two components can also be provided as a disinfectant/sanitizer kit.

There is a need for improved means, including formulations and methods, for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and reducing potential sources of contamination in the home, and in facilities that deal with health services and/or products as well as those that deal with food products and/or services and the like. Such products should exhibit effective cleaning properties, kill a wide range of microorganisms, and generally decontaminate treated surfaces. Our homes and workplaces can also typically become contaminated with a range of harmful and/or unpleasant materials including pesticides, pet and human odors, and other toxic materials derived from building materials and the like. What is needed is a formulation capable of cleaning a surface, effectively eliminating microorganisms, and decomposing or neutralizing a range of harmful and/or unpleasant contaminates in a range of environments including hospitals, institutions, farms, hotels, cruise ships, homes, schools and the like without damaging the treated surface. The present disclosure addresses these needs.

Two-component cleaning and disinfecting system


In an image forming method, an intermediate transfer body made of an endless flexible member is rotated, and an image is formed on a surface of a transfer member by undergoing a secondary transfer of a developer image onto a second transfer position from the intermediate transfer body to the transfer member, the developer image undergoing a primary transfer onto a first transfer position from an image carrier to a surface of the intermediate transfer body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image forming methods and image forming apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus having the following structure and mechanism is known. That is, toner images, as developer images, each formed on a photosensitive body (image carrier), are sequentially overlapped (superposed) on an endless belt intermediate transfer body at multiple times for primary transferring. Multicolor toner images formed by stacking the toner images on the intermediate transfer body undergo secondary transfer to a transfer member (for example, a transfer paper).
In such an image forming apparatus, timing when the toner images transferred onto a surface of the intermediate transfer body reach a secondary transferring position where the toner images undergo secondary transfer is matched with timing when the transfer member is conveyed to the secondary transferring position, so that secondary transferring can be achieved by matching a head end of the toner image on the surface of the intermediate transfer body with a head end of the transfer member.
The timing when the toner image transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer body reaches the secondary transferring position can be calculated based on a set value of the perimeter length of the intermediate transfer body. However, the perimeter length of the intermediate transfer body may be changed based on change of environment such as temperature change or humidity change or degradation with time.
If the perimeter length of the intermediate transfer body is changed so as to shift from the set value, an error may be generated between the timing when the toner image transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer body reaches the secondary transferring position and the timing when the transfer member is conveyed to the secondary transferring position. This may cause a mismatch of the head end of the toner image on the surface of the intermediate transfer body with the head end of the transfer member.
Especially, when an endless belt flexible member made of a material such as synthetic resin or rubber is used as the intermediate transfer body, such a material may be expanded with time due to creep phenomenon. In addition, an error between both timings may become large because expansion and contraction of the material based on the environmental change is large.
In the related art, a technique is suggested where a toner image transferred to an intermediate transfer belt is detected twice by a sensor while the intermediate transfer belt makes a round (one rotation); the variation of the perimeter length of the intermediate transfer belt is determined from the time interval of a detection signal; and a timing for conveying the transfer member to a secondary transfer position is changed according to the variation of the perimeter length of the intermediate transfer belt. See, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2001-215857.
However, in the technique discussed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2001-215857, it is necessary to make the intermediate transfer belt go around at least one time in order for the sensor to detect twice the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer belt. Accordingly, the following problems may occur.
First, since image forming cannot be performed while the intermediate transfer belt makes a round, a time for image forming becomes long so that the productivity may be degraded.
In addition, before the toner image reaches a primary transfer position, it is necessary to remove toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt after the previous secondary transfer. However, if the intermediate transfer belt makes a round while the toner image remains on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for switching between removing or not removing the residual toner. This may cause an increase in cost and make the size of the apparatus large.

Image forming method and image forming apparatus for forming an image on a surface of a transfer member


A truss type actuator including two piezoelectric devices drives a chip member provided at a crossing point of the piezoelectric devices for moving along an elliptic or a circular trail. Only one piezoelectric device is driven for transmitting vibrations thereof to the other non-driven piezoelectric device. By selecting a frequency of driving signals, both of the piezoelectric devices are resonantly vibrated with a phase difference of 90 degrees.

This application is based on patent application Hei.11-153472 filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by references.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an actuator, such as a truss type actuator for generating an elliptic movement of a driven object by composition of displacements of a plurality of displacing devices where one displacing device is vibrated by vibrations of another displacing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A first conventional truss type actuator is shown in xe2x80x9cDevelopment of a Small Actuator with Three Degrees of Rotational Freedom (1st Report)xe2x80x9d by K. SASAE et. al., Journal of Precision Engineering Institution, Vol.61, No.3, 1995. In the first conventional truss type actuator, a chip member is provided at a crossing point of three lamination type piezoelectric devices. The piezoelectric devices are driven for moving the chip member so as to trail a spherical surface, so that a spherical driven member can be revolved in an optional direction. Since the piezoelectric devices are driven in non-resonance mode, the displacement of the piezoelectric devices are not so large and the driving efficiency of the actuator is relatively low.
A second conventional truss type actuator is shown in xe2x80x9cManufacture and Estimation of Thin Ultrasonic Linear Motorxe2x80x9d by S. NAGATOME, et. al., Collection of Lecture of Precision Engineering Institution, in Spring, 1998. In the second conventional truss type actuator, a steel plate is blanked so that two displacing portions cross at right angle. Piezoelectric devices are fixed on respective displacing portions. One of the piezoelectric device is resonantly driven for colliding the peak at the crossing point of the displacing portions with a driven member obliquely. Thus, the driven member is moved in a predetermined direction. Since the piezoelectric device is driven in resonance mode, the displacement of the piezoelectric device can be made larger. The peak of the steel plate, however, collides with the driven member linearly, so that acoustic noise and vibrations of the actuator are relatively larger. Furthermore, the steel plate and the driven member are heavily worn. Still furthermore, the actuator has no mechanism for detecting the displacement of the piezoelectric device, so that it is difficult to control the moving speed of the driven member.
An object of this invention is to provide an actuator having a simple configuration and high driving efficiency, and easily be controlled.
An actuator in accordance with an aspect of this invention comprises a base member, a first displacing device held on the base member and displacing by supplying of electric power, a second displacing device held on the base member and displaceable, a compound member for compounding displacements of the first and second displacing devices and a driver for supplying electric power to the first displacing member in a manner so that the compound member moves along an elliptic or a circular trail.
The elliptic or the circular trail of the compound member is conventionally obtained by driving the first and second displacing devices, and the conventional driver has two ways of driving systems for driving the first and second displacing devices. However, the configuration of the above-mentioned actuator can realize the elliptic or the circular trail of the compound member by driving only one displacing device. Since the driver needs only one driving system, the circuit of the driver cam be simplified and the electric power consumption of the actuator can be reduced.


Disclosed is a technique for modeling resistance of a conductive component of a device, where the component comprises multiple conductive materials. If necessary (e.g., for a complex conductive component), the component is divided into multiple conductive regions. For a given conductive region, current flow-through and current flow-in-and-terminate axes are determined and the conductive region is divided into layers. Relative electric currents flowing along the current flow-through axis in each layer and along the current flow-in-and-terminate axis in each layer are evaluated to determine a total resistance value for the conductive region. For a complex conductive component, these processes are repeated for all conductive regions and an overall resistance value is determined based on the corresponding total resistance values and, as calculated for each conductive region, a ratio of maximum electric current flowing in/out of the conductive region to the total electric current flowing out of the complex conductive component.

This disclosure relates to modeling parasitic resistances in semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to a method, system and computer program product for modeling the resistance of a simple or a complex multi-layered conductive component of a semiconductor device.
The parasitic resistance of a conductive component of a semiconductor device (e.g., a gate structure of a field effect transistor (FET), a local interconnect used in a source/drain region of a FET, etc.) will impact the performance of an integrated circuit and, particularly, the performance of very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits, such as ring oscillators, logic gates (e.g., NAND gates, NOR gates, etc.), etc., which incorporates the semiconductor device. For example, the relatively high resistance associated with the flow of current through a local interconnect used in a source/drain region of FET and/or the relatively high resistance associated with the flow of current through the gate structure of that FET can cause the FET to exhibit a relatively slow switching speed. Thus, during semiconductor device design (e.g., during FET design), accurate modeling of the resistances of conductive components of the semiconductor device (e.g., accurate modeling of the resistances of any local interconnect used in the source/drain region of the FET and of the gate structure of the FET) is very important.
Various techniques are well known in the art for modeling the resistances of conductive components in a semiconductor device. Unfortunately, accuracy issues can be associated with such prior art resistance modeling techniques when the conductive component comprises multiple layers of different types of conductive materials and, particularly, when the conductive component has a complex three-dimensional geometry. Specifically, in the case of a gate structure with multiple layers of different types of conductive materials (e.g., as seen in high-K metal-gate FETs, including planar FETs and multi-gate non-planar FETs (MUGFETS), such as double-gate non-planar FETs, also referred to herein as fin-type FETs (FINFETs), and tri-gate non-planar FETs), the prior art gate resistance modeling techniques do not provide accurate results because they do not account for the different types of conductive materials within the gate structure and the complex three-dimensional geometry of the gate structure. Similar accuracy issues can be associated with modeling the resistance of a multi-layered local interconnect used in the source/drain region of a FET (e.g., in the source/drain region of a high-K metal-gate FET). Therefore, there is a need in the art for a technique that can be used to more accurately model the resistance of a multi-layered conductive component of semiconductor device (e.g., a multi-layered gate structure of a planar FET, a multi-layered gate structure of a non-planar FET, a multi-layered local interconnect used in the source/drain region of a FET, etc.).

Method, system, and computer program product for modeling resistance of a multi-layered conductive component

International Business Machines Corporation


An automatic container coupling tool is disclosed, such coupling tool includes a coupling platform, a bottom engager and a top guiding protrusion oppositely extended from the coupling platform, the bottom engager has an engager neck, a pair of projecting lug extended from the engager neck to form a pair of holding cavity between the coupling platform and the projecting lugs, once the bottom engager is inserted into a corner fitting housing of a lower container, the bottom engager is rotated allowing the ceiling wall inserted into the holding cavity. The top guiding protrusion has a front guiding slope and a rear retaining shoulder, such that after the bottom engager is interlocked with the lower container, an upper container is perched onto the coupling tool, the opening edge of the bottom corner housing of the upper container will bias against the front guiding slop thus rearwardly shift the top guiding protrusion to snap onto the corner housing so as to couple the upper container onto the coupling tool as well.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a kind of coupling tool, and more particularly, relates to a kind of automatic shipping container coupling tool which is simple in structure, convenient and reliable in practices for detachably stacking shipping containers.
2. Description of Related Arts
Commonly, the shipping containers are stacked one another for achieving an optimized efficiency in transportation. To ensure the security, one or more couplers would be applied between any pair of overlaid containers. On the other hand, shipping containers are designed to fit standard size, and are prepared with corner fittings with international standard size. Each of such corner fittings has an exposed opening defined thereon for insertion of the couplings.
A coupling, or a coupler, is a mechanism for vertically connecting shipping containers during transportation. The design of such couplers is very important, since flexibility and convenience are maximized if the couplers could work together no matter what order they come in.
However, the conventional container couplers are inefficient and slow in practices for stacking an upper shipping container onto a lower shipping container. Commonly, a coupler comprises an upper portion and a lower portion respectively adapted for inserting into respective corners fittings of two containers. Generally, two containers are coupled in such a manner. In loading processes, the upper container is hung in the air by a crane, a coupler should be manually rotated to be inserted into the corner fitting holes for enabling the upper portion of the coupler well and securely received within a bottom corner fittings of the upper container. Afterwards, the upper container would be lowered by the crane enabling the lower portion of the coupler accommodated within a top corner fitting hole of a lower container. In such process, the lower portion of the coupler had to be manually rotated between a disengaged position and an engaging position for inserting through the corner-fitting opening. Vice versa, such couplers had to be manually rotated another time to be extracted from the corner fitting holes for releasing the upper container from the lower container.
Needless to say, considerable labor maneuverability might be required for handling the couplers in shipping process, and the safety issue would be one of the main arguments for how to couple and stack shipping containers. Besides inefficient and slow in practice, a prominent drawback of the conventional hand-coupled system is relatively unsafe to workers. Most of the cases, personnel would have to get in between containers, for either coupling or uncoupling procedures.
On the other hand, a conventional coupler is made up of many parts, which leads to a complicated structure of such kind of coupler. As a result, the maintenance and reparation of such kind of couplings would be difficult and expectably expensive. Therefore, a kind of innovative container coupling tool, which is simple in structure, and efficient reliable in operation would be definitely welcomed within the art.


Organometallic reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer reagents (RAFT reagents), processes of free radical polymerization employing the same and polymers with low polydispersity index obtained thereby. The process includes polymerizing at least one monomer with at least one initiator and at least one organometallic RAFT reagent to obtain polymers having terminal organometallic functional groups with low polydispersity index. In addition, the terminal organometallic functional group may be removed by subjecting the obtained polymer to elimination to provide the corresponding organic polymers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer reagents (RAFT reagents). More particularly, the present invention relates to organometallic RAFT reagents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with increased maturity of polymer technologies, polymer applications are involved in not only traditional plastics and synthetic resins industries but also high technology industries such as electronics, optoelectronics, communications and biotechnologies. Some relative polymer materials with specific properties are critical for the related industries. For example, photo resistant reagents for preparation of nano-type devices and nano-polymer hybrid materials for dramatically enhancing mechanical properties are all much sought after.
The properties of polymer materials are dependent on configuration. For example, polymerization degrees, molecular weight distribution and components thereof behave in relation to the performance of the polymer materials. The traditional active cation and anion polymerization methods can be used to control the polymerization degree of some monomers and narrow distribution of molecular weight, however, they are limited in their ability to precisely modify the configuration of polymer products. As well, the variety of monomers applied to the above polymerization methods is limited, and strict reaction conditions thereof also restrict use in related industries.
Free radical polymerization is a recently developed technique for controlled polymerization and is widely used in present industry. Nearly 50% of polymer materials such as styrenes, acrylates, methyl methacrylates (MMA) or acrylonitrile (AN) are polymerized in such way. In addition, reaction conditions of free radical polymerization are also milder compared to those of active cation and anion polymerization due to processing under organic solvents. After removal of oxygen gas and other stabilizers, the free radical polymerization can proceed in water.
Since traditional free radical polymerization methods are unable to control polymerization degrees of polymer products, wider molecular weight distribution of the polymer products is observed and the polydispersity index (defined as the ratio of the weight average molecular weight to number average molecular weight, Mw/Mn) is generally more than 2.
Accordingly, it is necessary to develop a novel polymerization method, in which polymerization degree of polymer products is controllable, in order to provide polymer materials with desired configuration and narrow molecular weight distributions and further explore application of polymer materials.
In 1998, CSIRO disclosed an active free radical polymerization method called reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer process (RAFT process) to prepare polymer products with narrow molecular weight distribution and further control the polymer chain length. The so-called RAFT process is a combination of general procedures for traditional free radical polymerizations with the addition of a fixed amount of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer reagent (RAFT reagent). In general, RAFT process controls most free radical polymerizations for alkene monomers.
However, it is very inefficient to polymerize some monomers, such as acrylate, through RAFT process, since such monomers produce polymerization only under very dilute solution conditions to provide polymer products with narrow molecular weight distribution. Since the above problem causes longer reaction time and incomplete reaction of polymerization, it is neither economical nor convenient.
Furthermore, demands and significance of polymer materials having terminal organometallic functional groups are steadily on the increase due to application thereof to dispersants, hybrid materials, optoelectrical materials and nanotechnologies. However, polymer materials having terminal organometallic functional groups are unable to be prepared through conventional RAFT reagents. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a novel RAFT reagent for preparing polymer materials having terminal organometallic functional groups with controllable polymerization degree.

Chain transfer reagent, free radical polymerization employing the same and resulting polymers

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A battery attachment apparatus (201) for attaching a battery (200) to an electronic device (100) includes a fixed latch arrangement and a contact arrangement. The fixed latch arrangement is carried on the electronic device (100) and the battery (200). The contact arrangement has a flat contact (220) carried on the battery (200) and a spring contact (310) carried on the electronic device (100). Upon mating the flat and spring contacts (220 and 310), the spring contact (310) deflects and urges the battery (200) into engagement with the fixed latch arrangement, thereby, securing attachment of the battery (200) and electrically connecting the battery (200) to the electronic device (100).

Portable electronic devices, such as wireless communication devices, are powered by a battery. The battery includes a housing and one or more electrochemical cells disposed in the housing. Contacts carried on the housing of the battery are electrically connected to the cells. The electronic device has contacts adapted to mate with the battery contacts and deliver power from the cells to circuitry of the electronic device. A battery attachment apparatus ensures mating of the contacts of the battery and the electronic device. One such battery attachment apparatus is shown and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/710,912 by Paulick entitled "Contact Arrangement," filed on Sep. 24, 1996, and assigned to Motorola, Inc. The device includes a recess for receiving a battery. Springs of the recess enable a good connection between battery and device contact arrangements. A battery cover is adapted to retain the battery within the recess.
In arrangements employing battery covers, it is known to provide a gap between the battery pack received in the recess and the underside of the attached battery cover to facilitate removal and attachment of the battery cover. This gap, however, provides an opportunity for the battery to shift in the recess when the battery cover is attached and, thereby, become electrically disconnected from the device.
Therefore, what is needed is an improved battery attachment apparatus that secures a battery to an electronic device without relying on a battery cover.

Battery connection apparatus employing fixed latching members


The invention relates to a tridimensional multifunction plotter, comprising a support of a tool which can move with a high precision following a predetermined tridimensional surface.. The mobile part of the machine comprises a multifunction head to which several devices like laser distance measuring devices, digital and analogic probes for the surveying and digitizing of a bidimensional and/or tridimensional surface, or tools of various kinds for making a tridimensional model starting from a surface defined through a CAD system.. A hardware-software subsystem is provided, parallel connected with the CPU of the machine, to obtain an integrated system which allows a direct connection of the machine with a CAD system so allowing the operator to input the various working parameters directly to the plotter, without the need of an external processing the data file generated by the CAM system, to convert it into a file compatible with the numeric controls of the machine.

This invention relates to a tridimensional plotter, that is to say a machine in which a tool support, in particular an operating head on which tools of different types can be mounted, can move following a tridimensional surface defined through a CAD system or detected and digitized directly by the machine through proper instruments which are also provided for being mounted on the abovementioned mobile support.


A method by an optical network unit ONU includes, for downstream transmission, using a first tunable laser for coherent detection on a sub-band basis to increase receiver sensitivity and reduce analog-to-digital conversion ADC and digital signal processor DSP requirements within the ONU, and for upstream transmission, using a second tunable laser and using an optical signal beating between the first and second tunable lasers to generate a tunable radio frequency RF signal source for upstream multi-band OFDMA signal generation thereby avoiding need for an otherwise more costly RF clock source within the ONU, enabling low-speed digital-to-analog conversion DAC operation and rendering the ONU colorless in both optical and radio frequency RF domains.

The present invention relates to optical communications and, more particularly, to a symmetric coherent orthogonal frequency-division multiple access-passive optical network (OFDMA-PON) configuration with low speed optical network unit-side ONU-SIDE.
Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) based passive optical network (PON) has emerged as an attractive solution and a candidate technology for next-generation fiber-optic access systems. Due to the strict cost constraints in such systems, especially from the optical network unit (ONU) side, direct photodetection has been employed to simplify optical hardware. However, in future PON, transmission speeds are expected to grow to 40+ Gb/s, while transmission distances and required ONU counts per fiber are also expected to at least double. Consequently, direct (non-coherent) photodetection will likely impose sensitivity limits on ONU-side optical signal reception that may render it unsuitable for certain future PON applications. Moreover, in the context of OFDM-PON ONUs, achieving 40+ Gb/s speeds with direct photodetection requires high-speed analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog (ADC/DAC) components, as well as high-speed digital signal processors (DSP). For certain applications, the high-speed ADC/DAC and digital signal processing DSP requirements can prohibitively increase both ONU cost and power consumption.
Various flavors of wavelength division multiplexed (WDM)-PON have been proposed to solve the problems described above. In classical WDM-PON, the problem is addressed by replacing passive splitters in the fiber network with WDM multiplexers and demultiplexers, and assigning each user a dedicated wavelength pair λi, DS/λi, US for downstream/upstream transmission. However, this approach would require dramatic and expensive changes to the deployed fiber distribution network. Moreover, the transmission speed on each wavelength would be limited to 1.25 Gb/s and the approach would prevent statistical bandwidth sharing to reduce wasted bandwidth resources.
A second type of WDM-PON that has been proposed removes the need for WDM multiplexer/demultiplexer installation by exploiting an ONU-side tunable laser to lock onto the upstream wavelength λi, US based on the downstream wavelength reference λi, DS that is pre-assigned at the optical line terminal (OLT). This tuning and locking feature is known already. In this way, colorless WDM operation is achieved without the need for reflective ONU-side optical devices or a fiber distribution network overhaul. Moreover, the use of the ONU-side tunable laser enables ONU-side coherent detection, which increases optical receiver sensitivity. However, to enable low speed ADC/DACs and DSP, this configuration also limits the transmission speed on each wavelength and prevents statistical bandwidth sharing among different ONUs in the PON. Consequently, speed limitations and bandwidth inefficiency are not solved by this approach.
Finally, in applicant's previous work, a source-free configuration with OLT-side coherent detection has been proposed for 40+ Gb/s/λ transmission with increased sensitivity. However, in this architecture, either high-speed ADC/DAC/DSP and/or expensive radio frequency (RF) clock sources were needed. Moreover, in the case of RF clock source use, different ONUs would need to have different pre-assigned clock frequencies. Consequently, the ONUs were not truly colorless (i.e. frequency independent) in the electronic domain, which is highly impractical from the deployment and management perspectives.
Accordingly, there is a need for a solution, that overcomes the above problems and challenges, wherein the receiver sensitivity limits and high-speed ADC/DAC and DSP requirements mandated by direct photodetection would thus be valuable for future OFDM-based PON, both from performance and cost perspectives.

Symmetric coherent OFDMA-PON configuration with low-speed ONU-side


A rotary action, self-priming positive displacement constant flow high capacity fluid pump is described. None of the pump parts touch in the pump chamber to minimize pump wear allowing for extended pump life. Since there are no touching parts in the pump chamber, the pump can be operated dry without the pump liquid being present without damage to the pump. The pump may be operated either clockwise or counter-clockwise without loss of positive displacement or reduction in fluids input or output. Due to the design of the pump, the pump is inherently low-maintenance and is highly resistant to clogging by debris and the like. Fluid pressure relief sections are provided by carving out of the inside portions of the housing structure to which the ends of the shaft are mounted to vary or improved pump performance.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pumps, and, more particularly, to liquid pumps of the rotary, positive displacement, and self priming pumps capable of being operated by hand or by the application of a source of rotary power such as a fuel-driven engine or an electrical motor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present pump is an improvement over a previously patented pump, U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,375 issued to Nachtrieb on Nov. 8, 1977 and which expired on Nov. 8, 1994.
In the prior art, positive displacement pumps and centrifugal pumps are used in moving fluids, typically liquids, from one location to another.
The centrifugal pump bases it pumping action by vortexually swirling the liquid to be pumped at relatively high speeds, and, thereafterwards, allowing the the liquid to pass through a ported chamber. Such pumps are noted for their simplicity and relatively long operational life expectancies. Nevertheless, a centrifugal pump is also noted for [it's] its pump inefficiency, has only a small lift capacity, and produces only moderate head pressure. As a result, centrifugal pumps are usually arranged in staggered, serial stages in order to produce the desired high head pressures. But, such multi-staged centrifugal pumps are expensive, relatively complex in design, and are usually less efficient than a single stage centrifugal pump.
The pump in Nachtrieb is also a rotary-type fluid pump. However, the prior art pump of Nachtrieb is limited to functioning as a semi-positive displacement, and is not self priming as is the present invention described hereinafterwards. Additionally, the instant invention is self-priming. Another major difference lies in the design of the vane structures. In the pump design of Nachtrieb, the vane structures are limited to using vanes which are rectangular in shape and are straight in the cross-sectional view thereof. In the improved pump disclosed herein, the key elements have been improved upon in that the vanes do not have flat faces, but are contoured instead, and the new and improved pump is self-priming. Additionally, the various fluid pressure relief sections carved out of the housing structure; namely, the inlet/outlet pressure release chambers, the side pressure release chambers, the center compression release channels, and the side compression release channels are modified to vary or improve pump performance which result in a semi-positive displacement pump which is not self-priming.

Self-priming positive displacement constant flow high capacity pump