A method and device for testing an integrated circuit. The method includes selecting between a shadow latch data retention mode and a shadow latch test mode; performing a first test of an integrated circuit; storing, at the shadow latch if the shadow latch test mode is selected, information representative of a first test-imposed state; performing a second test of the integrated circuit; and generating a test equipment detectable signal if the first test-imposed state differs from a second test-imposed state of the tested latch.

Integrated circuits are required to operate over a large range of operational parameters, wherein operational parameters include, for example, temperature, humidity, power supply level and clock signal frequency. Many integrated circuits can properly operate at a certain combination of temperature, humidity, power supply level and frequency while fail at other combinations within the expected range of operational parameters.
Once a tested integrated circuit fails there is still a need to determine why it failed. This can involve determining which circuitry of the integrated circuit failed. Due to the complexity and size of modern integrated circuits this determination stage can be time consuming and very complicated. Typically, the analysis is based upon extensive knowledge of the design of the integrated circuit, the manner in which it has to operate and the like.
One prior art failure analysis method is known as latch divergence. Latch divergence uses a very long chain of latches within the integrated circuit. Data from this very long chain of latches is scanned out and compared to expected data values. This comparison can indicate which portion of the integrated circuit failed.
There is a need to provide efficient methods and devices for testing integrated circuits.

Device and method for testing integrated circuits


Current concentration in a channel region is reduced in a case where diffusion occurs of impurities from an element isolation region. A semiconductor element includes the element isolation region formed on a semiconductor substrate, a source region, a drain region, a gate, and the channel region. The gate is arranged on a surface of the semiconductor substrate between the source region and the drain region with an insulating film interposed between the gate and the semiconductor substrate. The channel region is arranged directly below the gate and between the source region and the drain region and is arranged adjacent to the element isolation region, and has a shape in which a channel length that is a distance between the drain region and the source region is shortened in the vicinity of the element isolation region.

In semiconductor elements used in imaging elements and the like, miniaturization has been progressed as the scale of the imaging elements and the like increases. Specifically, a semiconductor element has been devised that is miniaturized by using shallow trench isolation (STI) instead of the conventionally used local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) as an isolation region that electrically isolates semiconductor elements from each other. For example, a semiconductor device has been devised in which an element isolation region is formed by using the STI method, and then an impurity concentration on a source region side is configured to have a higher concentration profile than that in a drain region side during formation of a channel region of a transistor (see, for example, Patent Document 1). With this concentration profile, it is possible to form a transistor adaptable to different power supply voltages by reducing a current generated by impact ionization when drain bias is applied to reduce degradation of characteristics caused by hot carriers.

Semiconductor element and method of manufacturing semiconductor element

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


In one implementation a method of transmitting a multimedia file over a data network is provided that involves receiving from a device in a data network a first message in a first protocol that request first data associated with the multimedia file, the first data being useable by the device to establish a streaming session that involves a transmission of the multimedia file. The first message includes identifying data of a referring site. The method also involves transmitting to the device the first data and optionally the identifying data of the referring site and then receiving from the device a second message in a second protocol for the purpose of creating a streaming session associated with the multimedia file. A streaming session is then created for transmitting the multimedia file to the device. In another implementation a method is provided that involves receiving in a computing device from a referring site an identifier of first data associated with a multimedia file and identifying data of the referring site, wherein the first data is useable for establishing a streaming session for downloading the multimedia file. The method further involves transmitting from the computing device a first message in a first protocol that requests the first data associated with the multimedia file and receiving in the computing device the first data. Upon receiving the first data the computing device transmits a second message in a second protocol for the purpose of creating the streaming session associated with the multimedia file, the second message including the first data and the identifying data of the referring site. The computing device then receives via the streaming session, all or a portion of the multimedia file. In some implementations, the first protocol and the second protocol are the same.

The current trend in the market for playing audiovisual content embodying intellectual property rights, such as for example, movies or music, is oriented towards developing a series of DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies, whereby users pay to view content without receiving advertising as part of the content. This principle is the basis for so-called VOD (Video on Demand), virtual stores that sell content over the Internet, and payment or PPP (Pay-Per-View) IP televisions where payment is made to see certain content.
The content producers and distributors that use this principle of payment for content have suffered seriously as a result of the development of P2P networks (Peer-to-Peer) which allow the exchange of content files free-of-charge, whereby the user viewing the content does not pay any fee. There are currently numerous P2P networks, such as for example, eMule, Ares Galaxy and Bittorrent, which have been very widely disseminated. P2P transmissions are systems that take advantage of the upload bandwidth available from each user who receives a file, for sharing the file. As a result, each user that receives data from a file may send the same data to other users. This leads to the creation of a network of users who exchange data that makes up a file, instead of each user downloading the complete file from a provider site.
The owners of the intellectual property rights of files distributed over P2P networks have filed numerous lawsuits in several countries for the purpose of closing down P2P networks. In an effort to avoid the servers managing the P2P networks being shut-down by police or other official or legal bodies, P2P networks have evolved in two ways: technologically and legally. From a technological perspective, "pure" P2P networks have appeared in which there are no servers that can be shut down by a court or police action. These new networks employ new technologies, such as for example, DHT (DHT Distributed Hash Tables) tables, which enable networks to operate without any server; hence there is no central point where the officials can stop the operation of the network. Stopping a pure P2P network requires freezing all its nodes or a large proportion of them. This greatly impedes the effectiveness of legal actions aimed at shutting down these networks. From a legal perspective, new P2P networks have appeared, such as Bit Torrent, where the servers do not contain any file with intellectual property rights but only contain "bit torrent" files containing information about the P2P network points from which parts of a file which are covered by intellectual property rights can be downloaded, and it is debatable whether supplying a single "bit torrent" file is illegal.
The debate as to the legality of P2P networks must, in addition, take into account the legal uses of these networks, such as for downloading files whose owners have consented to the downloading: software demonstration versions, open code software, content under the Creative Commons license and others. For these reasons, the current legal situation regarding P2P networks is not very clear and varies from country to country.
In contrast to the payment for content system, which, as explained has been seriously harmed by the recent appearance of P2P technologies, there is conventional television which broadcasts openly, and for which users do not have to pay to view content. Conventional television employs an advertising system whereby the television channel offers advertisers a reserved space in its broadcasts for inserting advertisements, and the cost of each advertisement is a function of its duration and the forecast audience at the time it is broadcast. In addition, projections about the type of audience, that is to say, the profile of the projected viewer, make it possible to adjust the type of advertisement for each channel and time slot. This same advertising system is currently used in cable-type digital television, with the difference that because a large number of thematic channels are available, it is possible to foresee a more precise typical viewer profile for each channel.
The extensive propagation of the Internet and the sudden surge of P2P networks have not significantly affected this conventional system of television advertising, which continues to function without experiencing the sustained income falls which are affecting the sales of music and films in CD and DVD formats. There appears to be a quite extensive and accepted social behavior of viewing commercial television channels that interleave advertising into their content to finance broadcasts, and this model has greater social acceptance by users than a pay for content system.
There is considerable interest in applying the principles of conventional television advertising to the area of Internet downloads, that is to say a user accesses audiovisual content in exchange for viewing an advertisement. As has been stated, this system has greater social acceptance than the pay-per-view system and makes it possible to adequately remunerate intellectual property right owners.
However, for a similar system to function satisfactorily for Internet downloads, technical solutions are required that allow, on the one hand, the widespread dissemination of audiovisual content provided via the Internet and, on the other, to enable an agile participation of the different participants: download sites, advertisers, users and owners of intellectual property rights. Both conditions are necessary for a system like this applied to Internet downloads to be sufficiently effective and to allow it to be implemented in practice.
Companies advertising products or services on the Internet try to ensure that their website can be found as easily as possible by a user surfing the network and who is interested in their products or services. A known method to reach this objective consists of advertising the products on content websites that attracts users interested in a specific theme. These content websites can be, for example, thematic pages about video games, cinema, music, computer programs, etc. The advertisements are available as advertising insertions including a link, so that when the user clicks on one of the links he is redirected to the web page of the selling company that has placed the advertisement and the latter pays remuneration for the content web pages, as a function of the number of clicks made on the links.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,061 discloses an application of this method whereby advertisers deliver their advertisements to a server as advertising insertions for the latter to select which web pages are most appropriate for hosting each advertising insertion. The web pages that ascribe to this system contain a reference causing the browser of a user visiting said web page to contact the server, whereupon the latter sends an advertising insertion to the browser, for example as an advertising strip or "banner," so that the browser displays it on the user's computer screen. In selecting the advertising insertion that it sends to the browser, the server uses the information obtained from the user's browser, including identification of the web page that the user has visited, and information about the user (such as the Internet address from which he activates the browser and other data that the user has accessed to communicate). If the user clicks on the advertising insertion, the browser contacts the server again, and is redirected to the advertiser's web page by the server.
A more developed application of this method, which is more efficient with respect to the way in which the relationship between companies selling products or services, and the content web pages is organized, and also with respect to the technical implementation of the inclusion of advertising insertions into web pages and the remuneration according to the clicks made, is the Google "AdSense" system described in US patent applications published as US2004/0093327 and US2004/0059708. This system enables a web page to include advertising from several advertisers and to receive remuneration for it. The "AdSense" system analyses the content of the web pages that wants to host advertising insertions and decides which web pages are the most appropriate for each advertising insertion. The advertising insertions contain a link to the advertiser's web page. Each time a user clicks one of these advertising insertions, the web page owner hosting the advertising insertion receives remuneration from the advertiser. This AdSense system has a great advantage in that it enables companies to advertise on web pages whose content is related to its products and which will therefore be the most visited by users potentially interested in those products. Nevertheless, it has a drawback in that it does not effectively prevent fraudulent clicks produced when owners click on advertising insertions in their own web pages for the sole purpose of increasing the remuneration paid to them by the advertiser. Another form of fraudulent clicks consists of a company repeatedly clicking on the advertising insertion of another company for the sole purpose of quickly reaching the maximum budget fixed for that advertising insertion and causing its automatic deactivation. The fraudulent clicks problem seriously harms both the advertisers, who pay for useless clicks, and the owners of the web pages who host the advertising insertions. For this reason, some advertisers forego this system or are disposed to pay less for advertising insertions. Resolving this problem within the AdSense system would require detecting situations where a click is repeated several times from the same IP address and providing a procedure for deciding whether or not fraudulent clicks are involved. For reasons obvious to a person expert in this area, such a solution complicates the operation of the system. Another disadvantage of the AdSense system is that it does not respond to specific problems posed by the downloading of digital files with intellectual property rights.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,356 describes a system that offers a solution applicable to the distribution of software online with the option of trying before buying. This system permits the advertiser to only pay for clicks that have actually led to a software sale. To do this, when a user clicks an advertising insertion and is redirected to the web page of the software company, the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address of the web page hosting the advertising insertion is included in the redirection. This information is received and stored by the server hosting the web page of the software company, and is added to the digital file, when the user downloads it. Thus, when the user re-contacts the web page of the software company to purchase a software user-license, it is possible to know which web page contained the advertising insertion resulting in the license purchase. This system has not received market acceptance because it exhibits various drawbacks. A first drawback consists of the fact that it is not designed for universal application: each advertising company must implement its own way of relating to several content web pages and including advertising insertions in them. A second disadvantage with this system is that, to add the URL address of the referenced web page to the downloaded file, the file is encapsulated by "wrapper" and the information is added to the latter. The user does not directly download the digital file selected, but rather the wrapper containing it. This necessitates a recompiling process prior to downloading and therefore a waiting time is introduced that is excessively long in comparison to accepted download times on the Internet. A third disadvantage of this system is that it does not contemplate the case where the downloading is direct, that is to say, from a content web page offering downloads, such as for example, the www.tucows.com web page.
As has been seen, the known technical solutions are not satisfactory. For this reason, current audiovisual content distribution systems only offer the option of paying to view content, with the result, as before explained, that many users opt to download the content from P2P networks, thus denying intellectual property right owners the ability to receive remuneration.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,091 discloses an advertising method applied to downloading content via the Internet consisting of displaying an advertisement on the user's browser while he is downloading the content. The download is cut-off if the user interrupts the display of advertising on his browser. This method has the drawback that it is not very effective in practice, in that users are not accustomed to staying in front of the computer during the time taken by the download. With the technology currently available for the majority of users, the downloading of a 400 Mbyte video takes approximately four hours, in which case the user normally initiates a download and goes away to do other things. In addition, the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,091 does not make it possible to check that the user is actually viewing the advertisements. Even assuming that the user remains in front of the computer, he can minimize the browser window where the advertisements are displayed and continue performing other tasks on the computer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatus for transmitting multimedia files in a data network


A system and method which provides a complete software implementation of a detection process that is capable of detecting defective Floppy Diskette Controllers ("FDCs") without visual hardware inspection or identification. The approach taken includes a multi-phase strategy incorporating programmatic FDC identification, software DMA shadowing, defect inducement, and use of a software decoding network which allows the implementation of the invention to adjust to a wide range of computer system performance levels.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the detection of defective Floppy Diskette Controllers ("FDCs") where an undetected data error causes data corruption and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods implemented as a software-only detection mechanism which eliminates the need for visual inspection or identification of the FDCs.
2. The Background Art
Computers are now used to perform functions and maintain data that is critical to many organizations. Businesses use computers to maintain essential financial and other business data. Computers are also used by government to monitor, regulate, and even activate, national defense systems. Maintaining the integrity of the stored data is essential to the proper functioning of these computer systems, and data corruption can have serious (even life threatening) consequences.
Most computer systems include diskette drives for storing and retrieving data on floppy diskettes. For example, an employee of a large financial institution may have a personal computer that is attached to the main system. In order to avoid processing delays on the mainframe, the employee may routinely transfer data files from a host system to a local personal computer and then back again, temporarily storing data on a local floppy diskette. Similarly, an employee with a personal computer at home may occasionally decide to take work home, transporting data away from and back to the office on a floppy diskette.
Data transfer to and from a floppy diskette is controlled by a device called a Floppy Diskette Controller ("FDC"). The FDC is responsible for interfacing the computer's Central Processing Unit ("CPU") with the physical diskette drive. Significantly, since the diskette is spinning, it is necessary for the FDC to provide data to the diskette drive at a specified data rate. Otherwise, the data will be written to a wrong location on the diskette.
The design of an FDC accounts for situations occurring when a data rate is not adequate to support a rotating diskette. Whenever this situation occurs, the FDC aborts the write operation and signals to the CPU that a data underrun condition has occurred.
Unfortunately, however, it has been found that a design flaw in many FDCs makes impossible the detection of certain data underrun conditions. This flaw has, for example, been found in the NEC 765, INTEL 8272 and compatible Floppy Diskette Controllers. Specifically, data loss and/or data corruption may routinely occur during data transfers to or from diskettes (or even tape drives and other media attached via the FDC), whenever the last data byte of a sector being transferred is delayed for more than a few microseconds. Furthermore, if the last byte of a sector write operation is delayed too long then the next (physically adjacent:) sector of the diskette will be destroyed as well.
For example, it has been found that these faulty FDCs cannot detect a data underrun on the last byte of a diskette read or write operation. Consequently, if the FDC is preempted or otherwise suspended during a data transfer to the diskette (thereby delaying the transfer), and an underrun occurs on the last byte of a sector, the following occur: (1) the underrun flag does not get set, (2) the last byte written to the diskette is made equal to the previous byte written, and (3) a successful Cyclic Redundancy Check ("CRC") is generated on the improperly altered data. The result is that incorrect data is written to the diskette and validated by the FDC.
Conditions under which this problem may occur have been identified in connection with the instant invention by identifying conditions that can delay data transfer to or from the diskette drive. In general, this requires that the computer system be engaged in "multi-tasking" operation or in overlapped input/output ("I/O") operation. Multi-tasking is the ability of a computer operating system to simulate the concurrent execution of multiple tasks.
Importantly, concurrent execution is only "simulated" because only one CPU exists in a typical personal computer. One CPU can only process one task at a time. Therefore, a system interrupt is used to rapidly switch between the multiple tasks, giving the overall appearance of concurrent execution.
MS-DOS and PC-DOS, for example, are single-task operating systems. Therefore, one could argue that the problem described above would not occur. However, a number of standard MS-DOS and PC-DOS operating environments simulate multi-tasking and are susceptible to the problem.
In connection with the instant invention, for example, the following environments have been found to be prime candidates for data loss and/or data corruption due to defective FDCs: local area networks, 327x host connections, high density diskettes, control print screen operations, terminate and stay resident ("TSR") programs. The problem also occurs as a result of virtually any interrupt service routine. Thus, unless MS-DOS and PC-DOS operating systems disable all interrupts during diskette transfers, they are also highly susceptible to data loss and/or corruption.
The UNIX operating system is a multi-tasking operating system. It has been found, in connection with the instant invention, how to create a situation that can cause the problem within UNIX. One example is to begin a large transfer to the diskette and place that transfer task in the background. After the transfer has begun then begin to process the contents of a very large file in a way that requires the use a Direct Memory Access ("DMA") channel of a higher-priority than that of the floppy diskette controller's DMA channel. These might include, for example, video updates, multi-media activity, etc. Video access forces the video buffer memory refresh logic on DMA channel 1, along with the video memory access, which preempts the FDC operations from occurring on DMA channel 2 (which is lower priority than DMA channel 1).
This type of example creates an overlapped I/O environment and can force the FDC into an undetectable error condition. More rigorous examples include a concurrent transfer of data to or from a network or tape drive using a high priority DMA channel while the diskette transfer is active. Clearly, the number of possible error producing examples is infinite, yet each is highly probable in this environment.
For all practical purposes the OS/2 and newer Windows operating systems can be regarded as UNIX derivatives. They suffer from the same problems that UNIX does. Two significant differences exist between these operating systems and UNIX.
First, they both semaphore video updates with diskette operations tending to avoid forcing the FDC problem to occur. However, any direct access to the video buffer, i:n either real or protected mode, during a diskette transfer will bypass this feature and result in the same faulty condition as UNIX.
Second, OS/2 incorporates a unique command that tends to avoid the FDC problem by reading back every sector that is written to the floppy diskette in order to verify that the operation completed successfully. This command is an extension to the MODE command (MODE DSKT VER=ON). With these changes, data loss and/or data corruption should occur less frequently than otherwise. However, the FDC problem may still destroy data that is not related to the current sector operation.
A host of other operating systems are susceptible to the FDC problem just as DOS, Windows, Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2, and UNIX. However, these systems may not have an installed base as large as DOS, Windows, OS/2 or UNIX, and may, therefore, receive less motivation to address the problem. Significantly, as long as the operating systems utilize the FDC and service system interrupts, the problem can manifest itself. This can occur in computer systems that use virtually any operating system.
Some in the computer industry have suggested that data corruption by the FDC is extremely rare and difficult to reproduce. This is similar to the argument presented during the highly publicized 1994 defective INTEL Pentium scenario. Error rate frequencies for the defective Pentium ranged from microseconds to tens-of-thousands of years! The FDC problem is often very difficult to detect during normal operation because of its random characteristics. The only way to visibly detect this problem is to have the FDC corrupt data that is critical to the operation at hand. However, many locations on the diskette may be corrupted, yet not accessed. In connection with the instant invention, the FDC problem has been routinely reproduced and may be more common than heretofore believed.
Computer users may, in fact, experience this problem frequently and not even know about it. After formatting a diskette, for example, the system may inform the user that the diskette is bad, although the user finds that if the operation is performed again on the same diskette everything is fine. Similarly, a copied file may be unusable, and the computer user concludes that he or she just did something wrong. For many in this high-tech world, it is very difficult to believe that the machine is in error and not themselves. It remains typical, however, that full diskette back-ups are seldom restored, that all instructions in programs are seldom, if ever, executed, that diskette files seldom utilize all of the allocated space, and that less complex systems are less likely to exhibit the problem.
Additionally, the first of these faulty FDCs was shipped in the late 1970's. The devices were primarily used at that time in special-purpose operations in which the FDC problem would not normally be manifest. Today, on the other hand, the FDCs are incorporated into general-purpose computer systems that are capable of concurrent operation (multi-tasking or overlapped I/O). Thus, it is within today's environments that the problem is most likely to occur by having another operation delay a data transfer to a diskette. The more complex a computer system, the more likely it is that one activity will delay another, thereby creating an FDC error condition.
In short, the potential for data loss and/or data corruption is present in all computer systems that utilize the defective version of this type of FDC, presently estimated at about 50 million personal computers. The design flaw in the FDC causes data corruption to occur and manifest itself in the same manner as a destructive computer virus. Furthermore, because of its nature, this problem has the potential of rendering even secure databases absolutely useless.
Various conventional ways of addressing the FDC problem, such as a hardware recall, have significant associated costs, risks and/or disadvantages. In addition to a solution to the FDC problem, an apparatus and method are needed to accurately, rapidly, reliably, and correctly, identify any defective FDC. The identification of defective FDCs is the first step in attempting to solve the problem of defective FDCs. A solution method and apparatus for repairing a defective FDC are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,414 incorporated herein by reference.

Defective floppy diskette controller detection apparatus and method


A preferred siren including a base having a central axis and a peripheral wall circumscribed about the central axis to define an internal chamber. The peripheral wall includes a plurality of apertures in communication with the internal chamber. A rotor is disposed within the chamber and centrally aligned with the axis. The rotor includes a plurality of spaced apart fins radially disposed about the axis, each of the plurality of fins having an outermost portion at a peripheral edge of the rotor and an innermost portion located between the axis and the peripheral edge. An external housing cooperates with the base to enclose the rotor within the internal chamber, the external housing including a first plurality of ports and a second plurality of ports, the first and second plurality of ports being in fluid communication with the internal chamber of the base. A driver is coupled to the rotor and is powered by a supply of carbon-dioxide gas to rotate the rotor about the axis at a rotational speed such that external air is drawn through the first plurality of ports, into the chamber and out the second plurality of ports so as to generate an alarm sound having an intensity greater than 100 decibels (100 dB).

A known pressure operated siren has a structure that includes a base and an external housing that together forms a chamber to house an internal rotor. The rotor is driven by a driver that is disposed externally of the chamber and powered by compressed gas. Rotation of the rotor by the driver pulls external air into the chamber and expels it out of the housing. The manner in which the air flow is expelled from the housing generates a sound wave forming the alarm of the siren. For these known pressure operated sirens, their performance is limited in one or more of the following areas: intensity of alarm sound and duration of the alarm sound.


The present invention is directed to a Coriolis-type flowmeter having a dynamic counterbalance system which comprises a flowtube through which a fluid to be measured is permitted to flow; the flowtube comprising first and second ends; a counterbalance which is vibrationally coupled to the flowtube proximate the first and second ends; an electromagnet device for vibrating the flowtube and the counterbalance in opposition to one another; the flowtube having a first frequency response to the vibrating means and the counterbalance having a second frequency response to the vibrating means; at least one inertial mass; and means for selectively coupling the inertial mass to the counterbalance to thereby alter the second frequency response by a desired amount; wherein in the event the second frequency response is different from the first frequency response, the inertial mass may be coupled to the counterbalance to alter the second frequency response by the desired amount to thereby make the second frequency response approximately the same as the first frequency response.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for balancing a Coriolis-type mass flowmeter, particularly one which comprises a single straight flowtube, over all conditions and frequencies to which the flowtube may be subjected during operation of the flowmeter
Prior art Coriolis mass flowmeters typically include a flowtube through which a fluid to be measured is directed, electromagnetic force generating means for vibrating the flowtube in one of its modes of vibration, such at its 1st natural bending mode of vibration, and one or more transducers for measuring the vibrational deflection, or shape, of the flowtube. The vibrating flowtube causes the Coriolis forces which are generated by the flowing fluid to bear against the wall of the flowtube and thus alter the vibrational shape of the flowtube. The altered vibrational shape is measured by the transducers and provides an indication of the flow rate of the fluid, as is well understood by those skilled in the art.
The flowtube comprises end connections, such as conventional pipe flange connections, through which the flowtube is connected to a supporting structure, such as a fluid flow pipe, and to which other components of the flowmeter may be secured. These supporting structures and other flowmeter components, which together are referred to herein as the support structure for the flowtube, define boundary conditions for the flowtube which may influence the operation of the flowmeter. The vibrations in the flowtube react against the support structure through the end connections, and these reaction forces can excite the support structure and consequently drain energy from the vibrating flowtube and result in erroneous flow rate readings.
Several mechanisms have been employed in prior art Coriolis mass flowmeters to counterbalance these deleterious reaction forces. For example, one prior art flowmeter comprises a fixed counterbalance which is similar in shape to the flowtube and includes weights to simulate the density of the fluid to be measured. Thus, when the flowtube is vibrated against this counterbalance device, the reaction forces generated by the counterbalance device will nullify the reaction forces from the flowtube at the end connections. However, these meters were found to be highly sensitive to ambient vibrations and changes in the boundary conditions of the flowtube. Another prior art flowmeter comprises two identical parallel flowtubes. The fluid to be measured is directed through both flow tubes and the flowtubes are vibrated in opposition to each other. Therefore, the tubes remain in near perfect balance regardless of changes in the fluid parameters or the boundary conditions of the flowmeter. Consequently, any resultant reaction forces that may be present at the end connections of the flow tubes are negligible. However, splitting the flow stream into two paths creates a pressure loss and turbulence and can also result in one flowtube becoming plugged. Other more recent attempts to effectively counterbalance the reaction forces from the flowtube rely on fixed counterbalance designs, which as mentioned above have some sensitivity to changes in the boundary conditions.
The present invention addresses these and other limitations in the prior art by providing a Coriolis mass flowmeter with a counterbalance system for balancing the vibrating flowtube to thereby nullify the reaction forces that the flowtube would otherwise induce in the support structure. The condition of balance between the vibrating flowtube and the counterbalance requires that the reaction forces generated by these structures be equal and opposite, thereby canceling each other at the point where the structures are coupled. This will result in the vibration of the system (that is, the vibration of the flowtube and the counterbalance) being contained and therefore isolated from any changes in the support structure or boundary conditions of the flowtube. To achieve balance between the flowtube and the counterbalance during all phases of operation of is the flowmeter, the counterbalance system must be able to change its frequency response to match that of the flowtube, which itself can change drastically in response to changing fluid parameters such as density, pressure and viscosity. To accomplish this, the present invention essentially provides a variable mass/spring/damper counterbalance system that is controlled by a current to alter the frequency response of the counterbalance as necessary to match the frequency response of the vibrating flowtube.
According to the present invention, therefore, a Coriolis-type mass flowmeter for measuring the flow rate of a fluid is provided which comprises a flowtube having first and second ends, a counterbalance which is vibrationally coupled to the flow tube proximate the first and second ends, means for vibrating the flowtube and the counterbalance in opposition to one another, at least one inertial mass, and means for selectively coupling the inertial mass to the counterbalance. In this manner, the frequency response of the counterbalance to the vibrating means can be changed to approximate the frequency response of the flowtube to the vibrating means by coupling the inertial mass to the counterbalance.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the counterbalance comprises an elongated beam which is designed to have a mass and stiffness distribution along its length similar to that of the flowtube for a given condition, such as when the flowtube is filled with water. The counterbalance is therefore designed to vibrate in a similar fashion, at the same frequency, and in opposition to the flowtube and thereby create equal and opposite reaction forces at the first and second ends of the flowtube, which will result in a balanced condition. In the event the flowmeter may need to measure fluids other than water, however, the frequency response of the flowtube may be altered by such fluids to the extent that it no longer matches the frequency response of the counterbalance, thus resulting in an unbalanced condition.
The present invention addresses this problem by the inclusion of the inertial masses. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the inertial masses are disposed along the length of the counterbalance and can be coupled to or uncoupled from the counterbalance by application of a control current or signal. These inertial masses are suspended by a low frequency mounting system so that, when they are uncoupled, they contribute substantially no additional mass, stiffness, or damping to the counterbalance and therefore do not substantially alter its frequency response. If the flowmeter becomes unbalanced, one or more of the inertial masses can be either wholly or partially coupled to the counterbalance to add substantial mass and/or damping to the counterbalance and thereby alter its frequency response as necessary to match that of the flowtube. By controlling the coupling of the one or more inertial masses to the counterbalance, the requisite condition of balance can thus be restored xe2x80x9con the flyxe2x80x9d over any desired range of fluid conditions.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the inertial mass comprises a cylindrical steel support member which is fixed to the counterbalance and an iron or steel cylinder or xe2x80x9cbobbinxe2x80x9d which is mounted within the support member by one or more flexural members. The flexural members permit the bobbin to move relatively freely in the direction of vibration of the counterbalance but restrict the movement of the bobbin in the transverse direction.
The preferred means for coupling the inertial mass to the counterbalance comprises an electrical coil which is preferably wrapped around the bobbin and a Magneto-Rheological fluid (xe2x80x9cMRFxe2x80x9d) which is disposed in a gap between the bobbin and the support member. When it is desired that the mass be uncoupled from the counterbalance, no current is applied to the coil, and the bobbin is thus free to stay essentially motionless while the counterbalance vibrates. When it is desired that the bobbin be coupled to the counterbalance, a current is applied through the coil. Upon the application of the current, a magnetic field is produced in the gap which causes the MRF to stiffen, effectively coupling the bobbin to the counterbalance. In this coupled condition, the bobbin will vibrate substantially with the counterbalance. This additional mass then alters the frequency response of the counterbalance. By coupling or uncoupling one or more masses to the counterbalance, the desired balanced condition can be achieved regardless of the particular conditions of the fluid in the flowtube.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Dynamic counterbalance system for coriolis mass flowmeters


Novel tools and techniques for deterring unsolicited calls are described for deterring unsolicited telephone calls that include a service provider searching and determining that the originating telephone number is in a no-call list, and based on this determination, prohibiting the call from terminating (i.e., connecting with the destination telephone number). Penalties may also be imposed against callers (e.g., solicitors) for no-call violations.

For an average person, receiving an unsolicited call can be an annoyance and a frustration, especially if the recipient of the unsolicited call had previously indicated to the caller that he or she does not wish to receive future calls from the caller and/or if the recipient had previously put the telephone number of the unsolicited caller on a no-call list.
Currently, existing methods for protecting the average person against such unsolicited calls include call screening, anonymous call blocking, and caller compliance with a national "Do Not Call" list. However, such methods do not deter persistent unsolicited callers. Such callers can simply ignore Do Not Call lists, use a bank of phones having different telephone numbers from which to make unsolicited calls, employ non-anonymous caller ID names, and/or target other average people, who might not utilize any of these protective methods.
In addition, although national no-call lists are used, such lists are common to everyone within the nation. There do not appear to be any service providers that presently offer a subscriber a personal no-call list that allows the subscriber to add, remove, or otherwise modify/manage his or her personal no-call list, which is separate from the national no-call lists.
The embodiments disclosed herein are directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.


Methods and systems are provided for improving the operating range of an electric vehicle having an engine wherein waste heat generated during motor operation is transferred to pre-heat the engine. Engine starting is predicted based on the electrical torque demand of the vehicle relative to the actual and predicted electrical energy consumption of the electric vehicle. Prior to starting the engine to charge a battery of the motor, various engine components are pre-heated in an order that improves vehicle range while also optimizing fuel economy.

A range extender in a hybrid electric vehicle consists of a small internal combustion engine which drives an alternator to produce electrical energy. This electrical energy supplements the electrical energy stored in a battery or other electric energy storage device, which is used primarily to power the electric motor which propels the vehicle. Range extenders are used to extend the limited range of purely electric vehicles. Because current battery technology cannot provide the required electrical energy to give a pure electric vehicle sufficient range, an electric vehicle having a range extender offers a compromise between an internal combustion powered vehicle and a pure electric vehicle. An EV with a range extender is different than a HEV because the range extender engine is an auxiliary system, primarily used if the battery state of charge (SOC) is too low to complete the trip. This compromise improves vehicle performance and extends the vehicle's range while keeping emissions minimal.
The range extender engine may be selectively started if the SOC of the battery is lower than required to meet driver torque demand, or if the battery SOC is not sufficient for the vehicle to reach a desired destination. If the range extender engine is started at ambient temperatures that are lower than the optimum operating temperature for engine and emissions components, such as fuel injectors, combustion chambers, oxygen sensors, catalytic converters, etc., engine performance may be degraded. For example, the range extender engine may display lower than optimum fuel efficiency, or increased engine wear, when starting due to the need to idle and warm up before the driver demanded torque can be delivered.
One way to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions upon range extender engine start-up is to preheat the engine and/or other temperature sensitive components prior to engine start. However, due the difficulty of accurately predicting range extender engine starts, implementation of such preheating methods has proven error prone and inefficient.
One attempt to mitigate the unpredictable nature of range extender engine starts was developed by Tamor in U.S. Pat. No. 7,021,409. Tamor teaches a method for smoothly transitioning between modes in a parallel type hybrid vehicle by employing "anticipator" functions. The anticipator functions include predetermined mathematical relationships between system variables and predicted vehicle mode transition times. As an example, a vehicle controller may employ an anticipator function to predict, based on a throttle position and vehicle speed, if motor operation alone will soon be insufficient to provide an operator demanded torque, or if engine operation will be required at a future time.
The inventors herein have recognized potential issues with the above approach. As one example, the approach has a limited time range into which it can predict future engine operation (e.g., in the order of seconds of vehicle operation). This is because Tamor focuses on maximizing smoothness of transitions between operating modes in a parallel type HEV, such as between an electric motor propulsion mode and an engine propulsion mode. Such short range anticipation times may not allow sufficient time for preheating an engine or associated components, which may occur on the order of minutes. As another example, even with the anticipator function, the method of Tamor may not be able to accurately predict the engine start time. In particular, the anticipator function relies on current control variables such as current motor torque and vehicle speed to predict the start time. However, the future vehicle trajectory may vary significantly from the current trajectory based on the operator's drive history, weather conditions, road grade, etc. For example, if a driver tends to drive aggressively, including frequently applying brakes, a battery state of charge may fall faster than expected, causing the engine to be started earlier than predicted. As another example, if there is unexpected traffic, inclement weather, or an unexpected detour, the engine may need to be started earlier than predicted. If the engine start time is not accurately determined, engine preheating cannot be timely scheduled, causing engine performance to be degraded following start-up.
The inventors herein have realized that by using operator driving history, vehicle location, and current route information, a more accurate prediction of range extender engine start time can be made. For example, while a vehicle is operating in a mode which minimizes the duration of range extender operation, the range extender engine start time may be predicted based upon the time/distance remaining to reach a current destination, the anticipated vehicle power consumption along the present route (based on operator driving history and route conditions), the current battery SOC, and the power output of the range extender engine. In one example, the above issues may be addressed by a method comprising: while propelling a vehicle via an electric motor, adjusting a starting of pre-heating an engine based on an occurrence of peak torque demand exceeding electric torque capacity of the motor in a drive cycle. In this way, the start time of a range extender engine can be more accurately determined on time scales sufficient to allow for preheating, thereby reducing the issues associated with cold starting an engine.
As an example, a hybrid electric vehicle may be configured with an electric motor for propelling vehicle wheels. The vehicle may further include a range extender engine operated to provide just enough energy to enable the vehicle to reach a current destination with a battery SOC above a minimum threshold. Range extender engine operation provides electrical energy to charge a vehicle battery, or provide electrical energy for motor operation (thereby reducing the rate of battery SOC drop), while the motor continues to propel the vehicle. The vehicle further includes a heat exchange system for preheating one or more range extender engine components by transferring a portion of waste heat available at a plurality of waste heat sources to the one or more range extender engine components. In one example, waste heat sources include the electric motor, inverter, high voltage battery, transmission, vehicle brakes, vehicle seat heats, cup holders, vehicle lights (headlights taillights cabin lights), etc. The portion of total available waste heat used to preheat each range extender engine component may be based on a performance benefit expected to be achieved by said preheating, and further based on the current and predicted temperatures of the one or more range extender engine components. As an example, predicted performance benefits may result from a temperature increase in one or more of the range extender engine components, and may include, a predicted reduction in engine wear (resulting from reduced friction in a warmed engine versus a cold engine), a reduction in engine emissions, or an increase in engine efficiency. As an example, predicted performance benefits may result from a temperature increase in one or more of the range extender engine components, and may include, a predicted reduction in engine wear (resulting from reduced friction in a warmed engine versus a cold engine), a reduction in engine emissions, or an increase in engine efficiency. In another example a controller of the vehicle may calculate that range extender engine efficiency will be maximized by transferring all available waste heat to the combustion chambers of the range extender engine, as opposed to transferring the available waste heat equally amongst all range extender engine components, based upon a predicted future temperature of the other range extender engine components being above a threshold temperature, and thus not requiring preheating. In another example, the vehicle controller may determine that an equal distribution of the available waste heat between the catalytic converter and oxygen sensors maximally reduces expected engine emissions upon start up, and that no heat need be transferred to the range extender combustion chambers, as these chambers will quickly increase in temperature subsequent to range extender engine start. In yet another example, based upon the current temperature of the range extender engine fuel injectors being greater than a threshold temperature, no increase in fuel injector performance is expected upon preheating, and the vehicle controller may therefore allocate no waste heat to the preheating of the fuel injectors, but instead distribute the waste heat amongst the other range extender engine components. The controller of the vehicle may estimate the duration of preheating required for one or more range extender engine components to reach a threshold temperature, where the threshold temperature is a function of the maximum achievable temperature of said component given the total available waste heat, and further based on the optimum operating temperature (or temperature range) of said component. In one example, the threshold temperature of the catalytic converter may be selected based on the temperature at which the catalytic converter maximally reduces emissions, and further based upon the highest temperature to which the catalytic converter can be preheated based on the available waste heat, such that the threshold temperature is as close to the temperature at which the catalytic converter maximally reduces emissions as can be reached using the available waste heat. The controller may initiate said preheating based on a predicted start time of the range extender engine, such that the preheating is completed within a threshold of the predicted engine start. The engine start being predicted based on a current battery SOC, estimated vehicle power consumption along a current route, route conditions, time/distance remaining along present route until a destination is reached, and an average operating power output of the range extender engine. In one example, the range extender engine is started as late as possible along the current route, and operated continuously from the time of starting to the time the destination is reached, providing sufficient energy to prevent the battery SOC from dropping below a lower threshold.
In a more detailed example, based on a current battery SOC that can deliver 3 kW Hrs of useful energy, a time to reach a current destination of 2 Hrs, a total average power consumption along the present route of 2 kW, and a range extender power output of 2 kW, and further based on an adjustment factor of 1.25, which incorporates route conditions and operator drive history, the total energy required to reach the destination will be 1.25×2 kW×2 Hrs=5 kW Hrs. This implies an energy deficit of 5 kW Hrs−3 kW Hrs=2 kW Hrs, which will need to be provided by the range extender engine. Since the range extender engine provides an average power output of 2 kW, this means the range extender engine will need to be operated for 1 hour to enable the vehicle to reach its current destination, and further the expected time of range extender engine start in this example will occur in 1 hour, so the engine will be started 1 hour+the time to preheat the engine, before the predicted end of the trip.
In this way, a range extender engine start time may be predicted far enough in advance that a reduction in sub-optimal engine efficiency following engine start may be achieved via initiating preheating such that preheating is completed within a threshold time before said engine start. The technical effect of predicting a range extender engine start time based on a current battery SOC, estimated vehicle power consumption along a current route, route conditions, time/distance remaining along present route until a destination is reached, a power output of the range extender engine, and a minimum battery SOC threshold, is that a start time of a range extender engine can be accurately predicted far enough in advance of said predicted start time that range extender engine preheating can be initiated based on said predicted start time, thereby reducing a duration of sub-optimal engine performance following range extender engine start.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

System and method for a range extender engine of a hybrid electric vehicle


A load sensing system for sensing a load on a structure can include an optical load sensing element configured to change an optical state based on a force applied thereto, an optical source operatively connected to the optical load sensing element and configured to input an input optical signal to the optical load element, and an optical detector configured to receive a returned optical signal from the optical load sensing element. The optical detector can be configured to detect one or more frequency peaks of the returned optical signal and to use the one or more frequency peaks of the returned optical signal to correlate to a load value of the load and output the load value indicative of the load.

During the operation of an aircraft, numerous on-board components and subsystems are continuously or periodically monitored. Various methods for monitoring these components and sub-systems of the aircraft have been used. For example, sensors and/or transducers can be mechanically affixed to an aircraft at specific locations so as to produce signals indicative of various physical phenomena experienced at those specific locations. In certain systems, to interrogate structures of concern, one or more transducers can generate an acoustic signal and couple the generated acoustic signal to the aircraft at the specific location(s) at which the one or more transducers are affixed. Additionally, acoustic sensors can be affixed to locations of the aircraft and then can sense the acoustic condition at the affixed locations and generate signals indicative of the sensed acoustic condition. These signals can then be transmitted to an analyzer that interprets the signals received by the analyzer.
The analyzer can then compare the received signals indicative of the sensed acoustic condition with baseline and/or reference signals. If the sensed acoustic signals are sufficiently different from the baseline and/or reference signals, the analyzer can generate an alert signal and/or control the transducers so as to perform a more detailed probing of the acoustic condition of the aircraft to monitor the health of the aircraft. Such health monitoring scans can take a long time to perform if much detailed information is required. Such detailed health monitoring scans can require high power and/or energy to complete.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for improved fiber optic load sensors and systems therefor. The present disclosure provides a solution for this need.

Fiber optic load sensors and systems therefor


The disclosure provides a circuit structure for storage and retrieval of data, and related methods. The circuit structure may include drive transistor having a source terminal, a drain terminal, and a gate terminal coupled to a word line. A first resistive memory element coupled between the source terminal of the drive transistor and a first bit line may be in a first memory state. A second resistive memory element coupled between the drain terminal of the drive transistor and a second bit line may be in a second memory state opposite the first memory state. The structure may also include a read transistor having a source terminal coupled to the drain terminal of the drive transistor, a drain terminal coupled to ground, and a gate terminal coupled to a select line.

Resistive random access memory (ReRAM) is an emerging and appealing sector of digital memory technology. ReRAM technology may use programmable elements of variable resistance to indicate high and low voltages. Data can be entered into resistive memory elements by changing their electrical resistance, and data can be read from the resistive memory elements by measuring a voltage drop across the element after it is programmed. Resistive memory elements may include, e.g., a two-terminal electrical pathway formed by two conductive terminals separated by a thin layer of dielectric material. Resistive memory elements fall into two basic categories based on the conduction filament being formed; either through the diffusion of a conducting species (typically referred to as a conductive bridge, or CBRAM), or through the formation and passivation of oxygen vacancies (typically referred to as OxRAM). Depending on the direction of current flows across the dielectric material from one terminal to the other, the current may cause ions to form within the dielectric alongside one of the terminals. This formation/disruption may substantially decrease/increase the electrical resistance across the resistive memory element. A technical challenge associated with the use of resistive memory elements is controlling the current spike which is created when the resistive element changes state, especially from a high resistance to low resistance. The current spikes caused by reprogramming a resistive memory element, in some circumstances, may endanger the operation of the resistive element itself and/or other elements in the same circuit structure.

Circuit structure and memory circuit with resistive memory elements, and related methods


The protection circuit serves for the monitoring of output voltages of a power supply unit which has a normal mode and a standby mode. The protection circuit comprises a first switching stage (T1), coupled to the current input (1) of which are output voltages (U5–U8) which are present both in the normal mode and in the standby mode and coupled to the control input of which are output voltages (U1–U3) which are only present in the normal mode. A control signal (Us), by which the power supply unit is switched over between normal mode and standby mode, is coupled to the control input (2) of this switching stage (T1). As a result, by means of the control signal, the output voltages which are only present in the normal mode are blocked in the standby mode by the control signal, so that in the standby mode only the output voltages (U5–U8) which are coupled to the current input (1) are monitored.

DE-A-197 35 208 discloses a switched-mode power supply unit which has on the primary side switching means which bring about safe switching off of the switching transistor in the event of a secondary short-circuit. The occurrence of a short-circuit is in this case detected at a primary winding of a transformer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,567,252 discloses a protection circuit which is arranged on the secondary side and in which a number of output voltages to be monitored of a switched-mode power supply unit are connected to a switching stage via a diode and resistor network. The switching stage is connected to a control loop of the switched-mode power supply unit and switches off the switched-mode power supply unit if a short-circuit occurs.
Protection circuits of this type, which monitor a number of output voltages, are used in particular in switched-mode power supply units based on the isolating transformer principle. These produce a large number of stabilized output voltages for circuits that are used for example in television sets, video recorders and satellite receivers. Devices of this type usually have a normal mode, in which all circuits are activated, and a so-called standby mode, in which the least possible power is used and in which usually only circuits that are required to switch the device over to the normal mode by means of a remote control are active. The power supply units used in these devices therefore have output voltages which are only present in the normal mode and output voltages which are present both in the normal mode and in the standby mode.

Protection circuit for a power supply unit, and power supply unit with a respective protection circuit


A scanning unit for an optical position measuring device, the scanning unit having a structured optoelectronic photodetector that includes: a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of radiation-sensitive detector areas, which are arranged next to each other on the semiconductor substrate and a strip conductor, wherein at least a portion of the strip conductor is positioned across a surface defined by the plurality of detector areas and forms a connection with an associated detector area of the plurality of detector areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanning unit for an optical position measuring device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A scanning unit for an optical position measuring device is known from WO 99/08074 which, besides periodic incremental signals, also delivers at least one reference pulse signal at a defined reference position of a scale and at a scanning unit which can be moved in relation to the latter. At least one reference marker field is arranged on the scale and is integrated in an incremental graduation track, and the scanning device includes a detector arrangement which has at least three active detector areas arranged next to each other in the measuring direction. Two of the three detector areas constitute reference pulse signal detector areas and are used for generating a reference pulse signal, wherein the relative arrangement of the reference pulse signal detector areas in the measuring direction has been selected as a function of the structuring of the reference marker field on the scale. A detector area arranged between the reference pulse signal detector areas is used for generating at least one incremental signal.
As can be seen in particular in FIG. 3a of this publication showing an arrangement of active detector areas for the reference pulse signal areas, as well as for incremental signal detector areas, contact between the various active detector areas takes place at the front sides of the detector areas and, because of the many parallel line arrangements, the arrangement at the side of the detector areas requires a large amount of space on the printed circuit board, or on the semiconductor substrate of the photodetector, on which the active detector areas and the strip conductors making contact are to be arranged. Therefore this space required for the strip conductors on the side of the active detector areas cannot be used for the active detector areas on the semiconductor substrate for receiving the detector areas and the strip conductors.
However, it is of particular importance for creating the incremental and reference pulse signals to make the radiation-sensitive detector areas of the photodetector with the largest possible surface in order to couple in as much light as possible, which was received by the transmitted light or incident light methods, on the receiving side of the scanning unit. However, this is contraindicated by the miniaturization of the optical position measuring device, wherein the scanning unit should require the smallest possible volume, which results in that there is only a small surface available on the substrate for the detector areas. In connection with a relative and absolute measurement it is necessary to arrange the incremental signal detector areas, as well as the reference pulse detector areas, on this surface in such a way that a flawless detection and delivery of incremental and reference pulse signals is assured even under the most adverse conditions, such as heavy contamination.

Scanning unit for an optical position measuring device


A honeycomb structure includes a tubular honeycomb structure body having porous partition walls to define and form a plurality of cells and an outer peripheral wall, and a pair of electrodes disposed on a side surface of the honeycomb structure body. An electrical resistivity of the honeycomb structure body is from 1 to 200 Ωcm, each of the pair of electrodes is formed into a band-like shape extending in an extending direction of the cells of the honeycomb structure body, one electrode in the pair of electrodes is disposed on a side opposite to the other electrode in the pair of electrodes via a center of the honeycomb structure body, the honeycomb structure body is constituted of an outer peripheral region and a central region, and an electrical resistivity of a material constituting the outer peripheral region is lower than an electrical resistivity of a material constituting the central region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a honeycomb structure and a manufacturing method of the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a honeycomb structure which is a catalyst carrier and also functions as a heater when a voltage is applied thereto and which can inhibit an unevenness of a temperature distribution when the voltage is applied thereto. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a honeycomb structure manufacturing method which can easily prepare such a honeycomb structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, a product in which a catalyst is loaded onto a honeycomb structure made of cordierite has been used for a treatment of harmful substances in an exhaust gas discharged from a car engine. Furthermore, it has also been known that a honeycomb structure formed from a sintered silicon carbide body is used for purification of the exhaust gas (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
When the exhaust gas is treated by the catalyst loaded onto the honeycomb structure, it is necessary to raise the temperature of the catalyst to a predetermined temperature, but the catalyst temperature is low at start of the engine, which has caused a problem that the exhaust gas is not sufficiently purified.
Consequently, there has been investigated a method of disposing a heater made of a metal on an upstream side of the honeycomb structure onto which a catalyst is loaded to raise the temperature of the exhaust gas (e.g., see Patent Document 2).
Furthermore, it has been suggested that a honeycomb structure body made of a ceramic material may be used as "a heatable catalyst carrier" (e.g., see Patent Document 3).
[Patent Document 1] JP 4136319
[Patent Document 2] JP 2931362
[Patent Document 3] JP-A-2011-99405

Honeycomb structure and manufacturing method of the same


A digital video imaging system that captures the image of a single tooth of interest of a rotating gear is disclosed. The video imaging system detects the complete rotation of the gear and divide that rotation into discrete time intervals so that each tooth of interest of the gear is precisely determined when it is at a desired location that is illuminated in unison with a digital video camera so as to record a single digital image for each tooth. The digital images are available to provide instantaneous analysis of the tooth of interest, or to be stored and later provide images that yield a history that may be used to predict gear failure, such as gear fatigue. The imaging system is completely automated by a controlling program so that it may run for several days acquiring images without supervision from the user.

It is frequently necessary to carefully inspect rotating objects, such as those found in the automotive industry; e.g., tires, engine components, transmissions components, differential gears, or even parts moved along the assembly line. Another object requiring careful inspection is helicopter transmission gears because they are subject to demanding torque and load requirements that lead to fatigue failure. Additionally, the meshing of the transmission gears is the primary source of cabin noise and often necessitates personnel to wear hearing protection. It is desired to analyze these meshing gears so as to reduce the attendant noise thereof and to define specific events in the failure process to better understand and predict failures. Gear mesh diagnostics includes a diagnostic system to warn of conditions leading to failure.
Many different approaches have been proposed in the past for providing efficient and accurate systems for inspecting gears and one such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,735 ('735) which is herein incorporated by reference. The '735 patent discloses a gear testing method and apparatus for inspecting the contact area between selected tooth surfaces of a gear member, such as a spiral bevel or hypoid gear. The gear testing includes a coating device for coating a selected portion of the gear member with the material to form a footprint and a strobing device which is adjusted to illuminate and inspect one of the gears while the gears are still in rotation. It is beneficial to inspect a gear while it is being rotated because it may reveal a flaw thereof, such as a hairline crack, that may only be manifested while the gear of interest is rotating and meshing with a complementary tooth of a similarly rotating gear. It is desired that methods and an apparatus for performing gear inspection be provided without the need of any coating device so as to eliminate the attendant drawbacks thereof.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide for methods and an apparatus for inspecting a gear that has no need for any coating device and performs such inspection without any need to contact a rotating and meshing gear.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for an imaging system used to acquire temporal data in the form of images to construct a history of the possible failures of the rotating and contacting gears over time.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for images of a meshing gear operating under torque and load conditions so as to allow the ability to track a crack or pit developed in a gear and measure the progression or expansion of the crack or pit over time.
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide for an imaging system used for gear inspection having a digitized output that can be immediately analyzed and thereby provide valuable feedback at the time of any possible failure.
Moreover, it is the object of the present invention to provide an automated and computer controlled imaging system used for gear inspection that can be continuously run to acquire multiple images without any need for any supervision of the imaging system.

Video imaging system particularly suited for dynamic gear inspection

The United States of America as represented by Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


A wastegate valve for a bypass path for a turbocharger in an internal combustion engine, the wastegate valve comprises a valve seat defining a plane which is non-orthogonal to the principal flow axis for gases flowing along the bypass path and a valve member pivotable from an open position to a closed position, wherein in the closed position the valve member is seated on the valve seat, and in a fully open position the valve member is positioned to direct gases exiting the bypass path onto a leading face of a catalytic converter monolith for heating the monolith.

It is well known that there is a need and desire to decrease certain emissions from motor vehicles powered by internal combustion (IC) engines. The combustion of petrol and diesel produces environmentally deleterious emissions. Typically such emissions comprise hydrocarbons (HCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrous oxides (NOx) and particulate matter.
Over the years various modifications to IC engines have been made to improve efficiency and to reduce deleterious emissions. An important historical development to reduce such emissions involved the installation of catalytic convertors in the exhaust system of IC engine equipped motor vehicles.
In petrol-powered IC engines modern catalytic converters catalytically oxidise HCs and CO to CO2 and H2O, whilst reducing NOx to nitrogen, these are so-called three-way catalytic converters. Such converters typically comprise a ceramic monolith, or sometimes a metallic foil monolith, carrying catalytic precious metals such as platinum, palladium and so on. In diesel-powered IC engines a diesel oxidation catalyst is typically used, sometimes coupled with other treatment means for the reduction of NOx to nitrogen.
For a petrol powered IC engine to operate at optimum efficiency, it is usual that a non-stoichiometric ratio of fuel and air is used. Moreover, for optimum catalytic efficiency the catalytic converter must operate at an elevated (i.e. above ambient) temperature. Whilst most if not all catalytic converters have an optimum working temperature they also have a so-called 'light-off temperature' which is the point at which the catalysed chemical reactions become self-sustaining and the so-generated heat helps to heat the converter monolith to or towards its optimum temperature. Accordingly, at non-stoichiometric combustion mixes and low catalyst temperature there is a risk that emissions can be increased.
In order to heat a catalytic converter it is usual to use the residual heat of the exhaust gas. Clearly upon engine start up there is a significant period of time before the exhaust gas can heat the catalytic converter and other exhaust components (which have substantial thermal mass) sufficiently that the catalytic converter reaches its effective operating temperature. Until the temperature is raised sufficiently the catalytic converter will not be optimally effective and hence emissions will likely be higher than desired. Indeed, it is during the warm up phase of an IC engine that maximum emissions are generally experienced.
In certain vehicles it is known to provide a turbocharger in the exhaust system. Turbochargers are usually provided to enhance engine performance. However, to withstand the high temperatures of the exhaust gas immediately after the exhaust valves, components of the turbocharger, such as the turbine housing, may be cast from steels with high thermal inertia. Thus, turbochargers typically have a high thermal inertia and, because the turbocharger is usually positioned upstream of the catalytic converter, cause a reduction in exhaust gas temperature reaching the catalytic converter in, or just after, start-up conditions. Accordingly, until such time as the entire exhaust system reaches at least a degree of thermal equilibrium it is possible that the catalytic converter will not be heated to its optimum operating temperature and/or to the light off temperature and hence will not be as effective in reducing emissions.
Consumer pressure is driving manufacturers to produce larger motor vehicles, for example sports utility vehicles (SUVs), off-road vehicles, vans and the like, while legislative and social pressures are driving engine size down in an effort to limit fuel consumption and the accompanying emissions. However, a reduction in engine size will likely reduce the heat available to the catalyst, while the thermal mass of the intervening components (including the turbocharger, if present) is likely to remain the same or increase, further exacerbating the problem. For example, new emissions standards are likely to link the size (volume) of the catalyst to the size or weight class of the vehicle. Therefore, a larger SUV will have a larger catalyst volume than a smaller SUV and hence will require a greater amount of heat energy to achieve the required light-off temperature than the smaller SUV. A downward pressure on engine size for vehicles (e.g. SUVs) will exacerbate the heating problem for the larger vehicles.
To help attend to the catalytic converter heating lag issue it has been proposed to provide heating coils within the catalytic converter to heat the catalytic converter monolith up to, or towards, an optimum operating temperature. Clearly, such a solution is likely to add cost and complexity to an exhaust gas system. For example, deploying such a solution is likely to be problematic in terms of mass production. Moreover, in certain diesel vehicles where a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) is combined with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) local heating of the DPF without an associated air flow can lead to a combustion risk.
It is an object of the current invention to provide means to ensure low emissions from an IC engine, especially during start up, without resorting to the provision of heating coils within the catalytic converter.


A cooking apparatus enables a user to cook either by steaming or by boiling. The apparatus includes a burner having a base that is specially shaped to cradle a pot. An upper ring extends above the support surface of the burner for engaging the sidewall of the pot should the pot be tipped inadvertently. A removable basket fits the pot interior, the basket having a base that registers against the bottom of the pot and a vertically extending portion that includes hooks for receiving a bail that can then removably attach to the basket at the periphery of the pot. The burner includes an upper ring member that is supported above the bottom of the pot and a lower ring member that engages an underlying supporting ground surface. Struts extend between the rings are shaped and cradle the bottom of the pot and its sidewall respectively. A steamer plate can be removably attached to the basket at a position generally in between the top and bottom of the basket, the plate having an array of openings therethrough for enabling steam to travel through the openings to engage a food product contained on the upper surface of the plate. When the plate is removed, the support can be used to hold a poultry item during boiling or frying, such as a chicken, turkey, etc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to outdoor cooking devices and cooking accessories and more particularly to a natural gas fired outdoor cooker that is supplied with a source of fuel such as butane from a canister and that includes a stand, pot, and insert, the improvement including a special configuration of the burner that envelopes the lower end portion of the pot and a combination fryer/steamer apparatus that can be lowered into the pot so that the user can steam vegetables, seafood, shellfish and the like or remove a specially configured steamer plate when frying or boiling food items such as poultry, shellfish, etc. 2. General Background of the Invention
A number of outdoor cookers have been sold commercially for a number of years and are admitted as "prior art" type burners. These "prior art" burners have traditionally included a metallic frame that supports a burner nozzle, such as a cast iron burner nozzle. Such burner nozzles are commercially available and are used to fire most natural gas fired hot water heaters.
Examples of these prior art type outdoor cooking devices can be seen in the Jan. 1, 1996 brochure of Metal Fusion, Inc., of Jefferson, La.
The burner nozzle can be a cast iron hot water heater type burner nozzle or a jet burner arrangement that uses a single outlet centered in a cylindrically-shaped, vertically oriented metallic tube. The most common version of the prior art "jet burner" arrangement is seen in Metal Fusion's catalog as Model No. 9OPK. Another version of this type of cooker includes two spaced apart circular rings connected with struts and having a cylindrically-shaped wind guard or shroud. This type of prior art burner can be seen for example as Metal Fusion Model Nos. 82PK, 83PK, 85PK, 86PK, and 86PKJ.
For cooking some food items such as poultry items, it is sometimes desirable to fry the object in a basket that can be lifted from the pot. An example of this type of "prior art" arrangement is seen in the 1996 Metal Fusion catalog as Model No. 32TPK. For a combination cooking arrangement that includes a burner, pot and liner, the user typically places the poultry item in the basket and lowers it into boiling oil using a bail. In the prior art, bails have often been detachable from the basket so that the user can lower the basket into the pot and the contained boiling oil and then remove the handle or bail therefrom. This allows the user to eliminate the transfer of heat from the basket to the handle during the elongated cooking process.
A number of patents have issued that relate to cooking devices and utensils for use in combination with cooking vessels. The Walker U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,135 provides a utensil assembly and kit including same for cooking vessels used in preparing and supporting combustibles above the bottom of the cooking vessel and away from its inner walls. The utensil kit comprises a base supported above the bottom of the cooking vessel, a plurality of support attachments separately detachable and interchangeably mountable on the base for supporting selected combustible products, and releasable latch mechanism having two parts, one part disposed on the base, and the other part is disposed on each of the support attachments for engaging the base. One of the utensils is a poultry support attachment that fits inside the cavity of a chicken or other poultry enabling it to be positioned upright.
The Rappaport U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,169, discloses a poultry supporting device that sits upon a base in the form of a pan.
A rotisserie cooking arrangement is disclosed in the French Patent 2685862.
A roasting support for fowl is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,642. The apparatus includes a longitudinally extending rod that extends through the center of the turkey having an eyelet at its upper end.
A roaster for poultry and meat is disclosed in U.S. Pat. 5,301,602. The apparatus includes a vertical roasting apparatus wherein a predetermined amount of liquid for generating the moisture required to produce a high quality and flavorful roasting of the meat is included in a reservoir formed within the support structure itself and disposed internally of the poultry or meat being roasted.
A vertical spit for displaying roasting or warming is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,999.
A combination outdoor cooker and smoker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,154. The apparatus includes a cooker having a gas burner coupled to an external gas source through a control valve by a gas supply conduit.
An Austrian patent 217592 discloses a cooking device that has a central member upon which a turkey or chicken is supported during the cooking operation.
British patent 2205734A discloses a device for use in preparing and cooking kebabs that includes walls which are interconnected to define a tube member and into which a first end wall is slidably received to further reinforce the shape formed by the sidewalls and whose end position is determined by the engagement of lips projecting inwardly from the sidewalls. The sidewalls are appertured longitudinally for receiving a knife to cut food within the tube member.
One of the problems with outdoor cookers is flexibility. The user desirably wants a cooking device that can be used to accomplish multiple tasks. For example, many of the commercial available cooking arrangements for frying or boiling food are not satisfactory when the user wants to steam seafood.

Gas fired outdoor cooking apparatus for selectively boiling or steaming food items


A method includes receiving an indication that an event has occurred in a physical space being monitored by a monitoring device that includes a plurality of sensors. In response to the indication, the method includes sending one or more primary notifications of the event over a computer-based network to each of one or more persons primarily associated with the physical space being monitored. If, after a designated amount of time, none of the primary notifications have been viewed by any of the persons primarily associated with the physical space being monitored, the method includes sending a backup notification of the event over the computer-based network to one or more persons designated as backup contacts. The backup notification is logically associated with information that the one or more backup contacts can access about the event. The logical association can be embodied by a link (e.g., a hyperlink) in the backup notification.

Some traditional home security systems use sensors mounted on doors and windows. These systems can sound an alarm and some even include remote monitoring for sounded alarms. These systems, however, fall short on intelligence and interactive functionalities, especially in ensuring adequate and efficient allocation of resources to address any potential security issues that may arise during monitoring.

Backup contact for security/safety monitoring system


A foldable stroller which includes a frame having a front leg and right and left rear legs, right and left support rails movably coupled to a respective one of the right and left rear legs, an operator handle extending between the support rails. A locking assembly is secured to at least one of the support rails and biased toward a locking position that fixes the engagement between the support rails and the rear legs. The stroller includes a one hand folding mechanism that can be movably secured to an operator tray. The foldable stroller also includes a reclinable back having a plurality of recline positions that retains the last adjustment position when the stroller is moved between a folded and unfolded condition.

Foldable strollers are well known in the art. In many foldable strollers the folding mechanism is difficult to operate or cannot be operated using one hand. Therefore, there is a need for a more user friendly foldable stroller which has a folding mechanism that can be operated using one hand.
Foldable strollers having reclinable seatback supports are also well known in the art. However, there is a need for a foldable stroller having a reclinable seatback support that retains the last adjustment position when the stroller is moved between a folded and unfolded condition.
There is also a need for a stroller having a removable or pivotable child's tray to assist the placement of a child in the stroller or removal of a child from the stroller. In addition, there is a need for a removable child's tray insert to assist cleaning the child's tray.


A combustion engine component comprises an assembly of a belt pulley for driving auxiliary engine equipment and a torsional vibration damper. The assembly is adapted to be fixed on an engine crankshaft, wherein the belt pulley is of a so called decoupling type, arranged to be able to change its rotational angle relative to the crankshaft and the torsional vibration damper. The torsional vibration damper is partially positioned in a corresponding annular recess in the belt pulley, creating an annular cavity in the recess between the torsional vibration damper and the belt pulley. An annular seal ring is positioned in the annular cavity and is arranged to close off at least a part of the annular cavity from the air surrounding the assembly.

In modern cars it is essential to minimize the space occupied by each of the car components, especially under the hood, since the number and complexity of not the least auxiliary equipment needed has increased during the last decades and the design of the car leaves limited space. Many components have therefore been designed to share the space effectively under the hood, especially components being more or less cooperating with each other.
The demand for both comfort and durability has also increased, encouraging the engineers to find solutions both to noise elimination and to wear problems.
Two component types that have been redesigned in parallel in order to save space, both being mounted on the same crankshaft end, include on the one hand torsional vibration dampers, TVDs, and on the other hand belt pulleys for driving auxiliary equipment like generators, water pumps, a/c pumps and servo steering pumps. They thus can come as an assembly, ready to be mounted on the end of an engine crankshaft as one component.
The above mentioned two components can be relatively tightly arranged adjacent each other, but since a modern belt pulley intended to drive auxiliary components from the crankshaft is equipped with means for dampening or decoupling the vibrations and oscillations of the crank shaft from the belt and the auxiliary equipment, the TVD and the belt pulley must leave a little space in between, allowing the belt pulley to change its rotational angle relative to the TVD. There is a cavity between the two components in the assembly, and the cavity can be the source of noise within the hearing range for a human being when the engine is running. In order to dampen noise from this type of assembly it is known to place caps or houses over the entire assembly, a non-wanted space consuming car component.

Noise damping arrangement for a combustion engine component assembly


A flexible band tunable filter design is disclosed which is capable of selecting any single channel or multiple of adjacent channels in a waveband of an optical signal in an optical communication network. The flexible band tunable filter has particular application in wavelength division multiplexing communication networks.

The invention relates to optical communication, and, more particularly, to variable wavelength optical filters for use in optical communications.
A leading technology for use in next generation high-speed communication networks has been wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) or its variations such as Dense-WDM. See, e.g., M. S. Borella, J. P. Jue, D. Banerjee, et al., "Optical Components for WDM Lightwave Networks," Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 85, No. 8, pp. 1274–1307, August 1997, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. In a WDM system, multiple signal sources are emitted at different wavelengths and multiplexed onto the same optical medium, each wavelength representing a separate channel. Due to the dynamic change of traffic patterns and the demand for intelligent switching, it is advantageous to incorporate capabilities to select a specific channel or range of channels from the multiple wavelength bands carried by the optical network. Accordingly, tunability has been one of the most important challenges in a WDM optical network.
Conventional tunable filters have employed a range of techniques, such as Fabry-Perot interference, Mach-Zehnder interference, thin film interference, etc. See, e.g., J. M. H. Elmirghani, H. T. Mouftah, "Technologies and Architectures for Scalable Dynamic Dense WDM Networks," IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 58–66, February 2000; D. Sadot and E. Boimovich, "Tunable Optical Filters for Dense WDM Networks," IEEE Communications Magazine, p. 50–55, December 1998, which are incorporated by reference herein. Unfortunately, while conventional tunable filters have proven to be flexible in the selection of the wavelength of the passband (single channel or waveband) from the input optical signal to pass through, the width of the passband (number of channels) on the other hand has generally been fixed. Recently, more complicated solutions have been suggested and implemented, such as what are commonly referred to as "wavelength selective switches" (WSS). See, e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0186434, Ser. No. 10/140,116, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. Although highly flexible in their switching and tuning capabilities, wavelength selective switches are, in general, expensive and often have limited scalability.
Accordingly, there is a need for an approach that is more flexible than existing tunable filters but that is also more inexpensive and scalable than existing wavelength selective switch architectures.