A VCR includes circuitry for controlling a cable converter unit, circuitry for detecting the presence of a television signal, and control code transmission means for remotely controlling a cable converter unit. Advantageously, because the VCR is coupled to the output of the cable converter unit, the VCR can monitor the television signals received from the cable converter unit to ensure that commands sent to the cable converter unit from the VCR are executed. In one embodiment, infrared (IR) transmission of commands from the VCR to the cable converter unit is employed.

It is generally believed that many, if not the vast majority, of people are simply unable to program their VCRs to record a desired television program on a given channel, at a given time and data. VCR manufacturers have provided different programming schemes in an attempt to address this undesirable situation, with little success.
Early VCRs such as the VET 650 manufactured by RCA Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind., were programmed by means of pushbuttons mounted on the front panel of the VCR. The pushbuttons controlled the entry of time-on, time-off, data, and channel number data. Feedback was provided to the user by means of a front-panel-mounted LED (light emitting diode) display. While such systems accomplished the programming task, they were not perceived as being user-friendly.
Later VCRs such as the Panasonic model PV-4800 manufactured by Panasonic Company, Division of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, Secaucus, N.J., provided on-screen programming in an effort to make programming the VCR a less intimidating and confusing task. Nonetheless, users may still be confused by the numerous programming steps involved.
Panasonic VCR model PV-2812 employs a bar-code reader for programming the recording of television shows. In this system, a user draws a bar-code reader across the appropriate codes printed on a bar-code sheet. This solution is considered inadequate for several reasons. First, most newspapers do not print television schedule bar-codes. Second, such printed bar-code sheets tend to be relatively large pieces of paper which should be stored in a place, presumably near the VCR, where they will be readily available for programming. Third, the user must use yet another piece of equipment (i.e., the bar-code reader) in order to read-in the code for his desired television show.
When the user is a subscriber to a cable television system, his confusion concerning VCR programming may be greatly multiplied, because it is common practice in cable television systems to translate programs from their normal "air" channel to a different "cable" channel. For example, a television program broadcast on channel 29 may be received by a cable television subscriber on cable channel 09. Thus, when the channel listed in the channel guide of the local newspaper is not the channel upon which the desired television show is actually conveyed by the user's cable TV service, the VCR programming task may appear insurmountable.
Recently, a programming simplification system known as VCR PLUS.TM., manufactured by Gemstar Development Corporation, Pasadena, Calif., has become available. Briefly, the apparatus of the VCR PLUS.TM. system resembles a standard remote control handunit. The handunit is preprogrammed with the codes for controlling the VCRs and cable control boxes of many manufacturers. The handunit is then programmed by the user with a unique code comprising 1 to 8 digits, which code corresponds to a particular television show broadcast on a given channel, at a given time and date, and having a given duration. A television shown which is broadcast at the most popular viewing time (for example, 7 pm) may have a code which comprises only 1 digit. Conversely, a television show which is broadcast at the least popular viewing time (for example, 3 am) may have a code which comprises the full 8 digits. These codes are printed in the channel guide section of the viewer's local newspaper along with the normal time and channel information. After entering the unique 1 to 8 digit code for a particular television show to be recorded, the user places the handunit in a cradle mounted on his VCR to ensure that the handunit is in the proper orientation for transmitting data to the IR (infrared) receiver of the VCR and to the cable box. At the proper time, the VCR PLUS.TM. handunit transmits IR codes to the cable box to turn it on and tune it to the desired channel, and to the VCR to turn it on and program it to record the desired television show.
While at first glance, it appears that the VCR PLUS.TM. system solves the consumer's VCR-programming confusion problem, a significant problem remains. If the user is a cable television subscriber, the VCR PLUS.TM. system has no way of knowing which broadcast channels are assigned to which cable channels of the user's particular cable service. Thus, to use the same example as given above, a user who is a cable television subscriber must perform a channel-mapping procedure to inform the VCR PLUS.TM. handunit that channel 29 is actually received on cable channel 09. The VCR PLUS.TM. system provides a method of selecting each of its channel-programming positions to effect this one-time channel-mapping procedure. However, the task of selecting each position for channel-mapping is in itself somewhat confusing and time-consuming.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 695,026 discloses a programming system built into a VCR which includes VCR PLUS.TM. capability and autoprogramming capability. That application recognized that the channel-mapping procedure may be greatly simplified by using the autoprogramming feature to locate and program all active channels, and then by mapping in a channel guide list only those channels which are active, instead of requiring the user to select all 125 possible channel-programming positions.
There is a further problem that is encountered when users attempt to record a television show from some cable television systems in that these cable television systems require the use of a receiver unit, normally referred to as a cable box, or set-top converter. In these systems, many cable channels (i.e., the so-called premium channels) are scrambled (i.e., encoded or encrypted) and must be descrambled (i.e., decoded or decrypted) in the cable box. The cable box descrambles the premium channel and converts its RF carrier frequency from its assigned cable channel frequency to a cable box output frequency, normally that of channel 2, 3, 4, or 5. Thus, if the VCR of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 695,026 were directly connected to the incoming cable, and if cable channel 40 were a scrambled premium channel, programming the VCR to record cable channel 40 would cause the VCR to record a scrambled signal. That is, the usable, descrambled version of cable channel 40 only appears at the output of the cable box on one of channels 2, 3, 4, or 5. Unfortunately, if that VCR were to be coupled to the cable box directly, then the ability to tune and record all nonscrambled cable channels would be lost, because the VCR has no control over the cable box channel selection circuitry, unlike the VCR PLUS.TM. handunit.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 704,418 recognized that when a user has access to a cable system via a cable box, and to the cable system directly, that the VCR PLUS.TM. channel mapping feature may be automatically performed for premium channels from the cable box, thus simplifying the programming even more. Unfortunately, even with the system of Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 704,418, programs from two different premium channels cannot be recorded in sequence because that VCR cannot cause a channel change in the cable converter box.

VCR control of a cable converter unit with active signal detection


A device and method allowing evaluation of the contents of a sealed primary container by means of an integral sensor which is separated from the contents of the sealed primary container yet provides information on quality of the contents of the primary container without breaking the sealed system. The integral sensor device includes a biosensor retained within a plastic construct by a gated-pore membrane. Pores in the membrane open in response to an environmental change in the primary container allowing the contents of the primary container to contact the biosensor. Status of the contents of the primary container can be determined by inspection of the biosensor, visually or via a fiberoptic probe, through the optical window of the plastic construct.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to analyte enclosures to be used in conjunction with sensing devices. In particular, this invention relates to evaluation of the contents of a sealed primary container by means of an integral sensor which is separated from the contents of the sealed primary container yet provides information on quality of the contents of the primary container without breaking the sealed system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The background for this invention is presented in the context of human blood cells, because of their great societal importance and especially because of limitations of current procedures used for their storage. However, the invention could have been presented in a context of food storage and processing, production of valuable molecules by biofermentation, or industrial processing such as electroplating or acid/base treatment of products.
Typically, blood is obtained from donors and fractionated into components including erythrocytes, platelets, lymphocytes, and plasma. Erythrocytes and platelets are separately packaged as "units", which then are held at appropriate temperature and distributed for later transfusion into patients. Each unit is aseptically placed into a previously sterilized plastic bag and sealed therein. Despite careful attention to aseptic processing, there is a probability that a given unit of blood cells will be contaminated with microbes.
With erythrocytes, current FDA regulations limit use to within 24 days after collection in an effort to minimize risk to patients from infusion of a contaminated unit of cells. Often endotoxins rather than the bacteria per se cause the problem with erythrocytes. With platelets, there is similar concern about microbial contamination, but their use is limited to 5 days because of metabolic self-damage. A recent review (Blajchmann, 1999) noted that 1 in ˜2,500 units of platelets and 1 in ˜38,500 units of erythrocytes was contaminated with bacteria. A New Zealand study reported that 1 of 65,000 individuals will get very sick after transfusion of erythrocytes and 1 of 104,000 will die because of one specific organism. Data from other countries, including the USA, provide both higher and lower risk factors, but there is substantial hazard associated with use of erythrocytes and especially platelets (Lee, 1999).
Currently there is no acceptable method to determine if a unit of blood is contaminated just before transfusion of the contents into a patient. This is because sampling the contents requires opening the bag, with resultant risk of introducing contamination, and evaluation of the sample acquired. Because a laboratory setting is required, it is difficult or impossible to make a "use" or "non-use" decision in a few minutes. Clearly, a diagnostic method or device to allow a use or non-use decision without opening the unit of blood would have great utility if it had a very high probability of giving the correct conclusion.

Interrogation of changes in the contents of a sealed container


Accumulated dimensional variations in fuel cells and electrolysis cell assemblies can reduce the efficiency of the assembly and provide leakage paths for fuel and oxidant. An elastomeric compression pad comprised of an oil adsorbent sheet surrounding an elastomeric material with expansion pathways and electrical pathways, that utilize a conductive powder and elastomeric binder compensates for component dimensional variations, improves inter-cell conductivity, and allows high pressure operation up to about 3,000 psig.

An electrolysis cell is a mechanical assembly for electrolyzing water to hydrogen and oxygen gas. To meet hydrogen and oxygen production requirements, a plurality of electrolysis cells are often assembled in a single module or stack. FIG. 1 illustrates a bi-polar electrolysis cell stack where a plurality of electrolysis cells, cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3, are stacked and electrically connected in series. The major cell stack components are, sequentially: anode electrode 5, solid polymer electrolyte 7, cathode electrode 3, and cathode and anode chambers located in the frames 10 which surround the components. All of these components are thin, flat and rigid, with the anode electrodes 5 and cathode electrodes 3 having an active area of catalyst, 4 and 2 respectively, in contact with the electrolyte. In order to ensure optimum decomposition of the water to hydrogen ions and oxygen, formation of molecular oxygen, and conversion of the hydrogen ions to molecular hydrogen, uniform current distribution across the active areas of catalyst is required. Uniform current distribution requires uniform contact pressure over these active areas.
However, uniform contact pressure over the active areas of the anode and cathode electrodes is seldom attained solely through design since each component's dimensions vary within some specified limits due to individual component fabrication by various production methods. Standard electrolysis cells often show compounded component dimensional variations of about 0.007 to about 0.010 inches due to fabrication limitations, with additional dimensional variations of up to about 0.002 inches/inch due to differential thermal expansion during electrolysis cell operation.
An elastic component, known as a compression pad 9, is included in electrolysis cell stacks in order to attain the electrolysis cell stack requirements of uniform contact pressure over the active area of the anode and cathode electrodes, sufficient contact pressure to prevent movement of the electrolyte which causes degradation thereof, and fluid tight seals to prevent mixing of the product gases which can cause an explosion. To date, this compression pad 9 compensates for dimensional variations to maintain uniform contact over the active areas up to pressures of about 500 psig for an electrically conductive compression pad, and up to pressures of about 900 psig for an electrically nonconductive compression pad.
Although the compression pad can compensate for dimensional variations at pressures up to about 900 psig, more and more applications require increased gas delivery pressure capabilities, many beyond the capability of prior art compression pads. Increased pressure requirements were initially addressed by enclosing the entire cell stack within a pressure vessel to limit the maximum load across the compression pad to about 200 psig. In this configuration, the compression pad was vented to the vessel and the stack was operated in a balanced pressure mode, i.e. both gases were produced at approximately the same pressure of up to about 6,000 psig. The vessel plus the pressure controls associated with this configuration, however, added significant weight and expense to the system.
Electrolysis cell stacks without a pressure vessel are simpler, lighter, and less expensive than those requiring pressure vessels. In this configuration, the compression pad is totally sealed, i.e. not externally vented, and must withstand significantly higher pressure differentials, approximately equal to the sum of the highest internal pressure during operation (up to about 1,000 psig) and the compression required to maintain uniform electrical contact. This differential pressure can attain about 1,500 psig while the compression pad 9 can only effectively compensate for dimensional variations up to about 900 psig. Therefore, at high pressures, exceeding about 900 psig, the traditional material and design are only marginally useful as a compression pad.
What is needed in the art is a high pressure compatible, electrically conductive compression pad useful in maintaining uniform contact at pressure differentials up to about 3,000 psig.

Conductive elastomeric compression pad for use in electrolysis cells


Provided are a method of preparing a magnesium oxide structure and a magnesium oxide structure prepared by using the method. The magnesium oxide structure has meso-macro pores, a large specific surface area, and high strength, thereby enabling production of a catalyst with high catalytic activity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of preparing a magnesium oxide structure for use as, for example, a catalyst support or an adsorbent of carbon dioxide. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of preparing a magnesium oxide structure with meso-macro pores.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnesium oxides are an insulator having a wide band gap and are widely used as a catalyst, a carbon dioxide adsorbent, a refractory material, paint, a superconductor product, or the like. Typically, a magnesium oxide having a controlled nanostructure is obtained by thermal decomposition of various magnesium compounds, such as hydroxide, oxalate, carbonate, or nitrate of magnesium.
Conventionally, activities of solid materials are determined according to their initial chemical processes, and studies on magnesium oxides that are obtained through decomposition paths of various compounds such as magnesium hydroxide or magnesium carbonate report that these materials have high activity for adsorption and catalysis. However, a bottom-up process, which is kind of a method of obtaining a nano-structured magnesium oxide for heterogeneous catalysis, makes a controllable and reproducible use of nanostructures difficult, and thus, an improvement thereof is required.
Meanwhile, a catalyst support used for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and steam reforming may be prepared to have a meso-macro multiple distributed pores structure in order to have high permeability of a reactive gas and high activity of a catalyst. In addition, a catalyst support needs to have high strength for long-term use under high-temperature and high-pressure reaction conditions, and also needs to maintain a porous nanostructure. That is, when a catalyst support is formed of an inorganic material, calcining at high temperature is required to make the catalyst support have high strength. However, the high-temperature calcining may result in collapse of a porous nanostructure that is constructed to enhance catalysis and difficulty in forming macropores.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a method of preparing a magnesium oxide structure that enables the formation and maintenance of a nanostructure with a meso-macro pores even at high calcination temperature.

Method of preparing magnesium oxide structure with meso-macro pores

KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A golf ball retriever which can also be used as a trap rake. A head mounted upon an extendible handle includes a plurality of elongated spaced tines extending from pivoted arms. The arms are pivotal between a folded storage position and an extended open operative position and the tines are separated by a distance slightly less than the diameter of a golf ball whereby the retriever head may be "raked" through a water hazard to retrieve the balls. The rake-like orientation of the tines also permits the head to smooth sand traps.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a combination golf ball retriever and trap rake which consists of a head having a plurality of tines supported thereon affixed to an extendible handle. The tines extend in both an upwardly and downwardly direction whereby the lower tines will engage submerged golf balls and balls upwardly deflected by the lower tines will be retained by the upper tines. The tines are mounted upon pivotally supported arms for folding to a storage or carrying position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf courses often include water hazards, and a number of golf ball retrievers have been developed for salvaging golf balls which find their way into a water hazard. Most golf ball retrievers are of the pocket type wherein a cup is mounted upon an extendible handle for encompassing the submerged ball. Such devices require visual observation of the ball, and in many instances the submerged ball is not visible and is unretrievable with this type of device.
Rake-like golf ball retrievers having a plurality of fingers or tines for retrieving non-observable balls are known such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,721,755; 2,738,214; 4,216,831 and 4,774,804. However, such rake type retrievers have experienced limited success in that golf balls are partially buoyant, and when engaged by a rake the ball will often rise over the rake and escape retrieval. Pat. No. 4,774,804 discloses a rake having upper and lower serrations, but the configuration of the serrations are not sufficient to effectively retain submerged balls lifted by the retriever.

Combination golf ball retriever and trap rake

Michigan Business Consulting Services, Inc.


Provided is a power-generation control device capable of appropriately using a drive belt looped around a power generator and an internal-combustion engine mounted on a vehicle. The device monitors a difference between an actual generated current of a rotating electrical machine and an estimated generated current estimated from estimated power-generation torque for controlling power generation of the rotating electrical machine, which corresponds to a power-generation torque command, or the like. When a difference equal to or more than a predetermined value occurs between the actual and the estimated generated currents, the power-generation control device limits the estimated power-generation torque so as to be reduced, and further limits the estimated power-generation torque with use of learning limiting power-generation torque calculated based on the estimated power-generation torque at a time when the difference has occurred between the actual generated current and the estimated generated current.

In recent years, as a technology for reducing fuel consumption of vehicles, vehicles have been developed, which recover kinetic energy at a time of a decrease in speed of vehicles as electric power by power regeneration. In this technology, motive power is transmitted by a drive belt looped around an internal-combustion engine and a power generator. However, when power-generation torque is increased so as to obtain a larger power-regeneration amount, the drive belt may slip due to large force applied thereto.
When feedback control is performed with use of generated power as a command value, in the case where a belt slip occurs, the generated power decreases due to a decrease in revolution speed of the power generator, and a field current increases when feedback control is performed so as to maintain the generated power at the command value. Further, in the case where the grip of the drive belt is recovered, the original revolution speed of the power generator is recovered while the field current is output as a result of the feedback control performed so as to set the generated power at the command value with respect to the decreased the revolution speed of the power generator. Therefore, there is a risk in that the power-generation amount of the power generator rapidly increases to damage equipment. In Patent Literature 1, the above-mentioned point is referred to as a problem, and an apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 1 solves the above-mentioned problem by limiting, when the belt slip occurs, a field current to a field current value calculated from the revolution speed of an engine, that is, a revolution speed of the power generator at a time of recovery of grip so that generated power becomes a command value, thereby preventing a rapid increase in power-generation amount of the power generator.

Vehicle power-generation control device and control method thereof


A transceiver having a transmitter section and a receiver section. The transmitter section includes a modulator to superimpose information, i.e., data, onto the amplitude of a suitable carrier signal, such as a microwave frequency carrier signal. The receiver section receives data carried by the carrier frequency signal and, in a heterodyning system, downconverts the received signal to a suitable intermediate frequency signal. The modulator and the downconverter are formed on a single semiconductor body, or chip of silicon. The receiver section is adapted to receive signals over a predetermined overall bandwith having frequencies within a plurality of frequency channels, each one of the channels having a predetermined channel bandwidth; and, a sampler for sampling such received signals at a sampling frequency less twice the predetermined bandwidth. The sampling frequency is selected to convert the carrier frequency of a signal within a selected one of the frequency channels to a frequency within a predetermined intermediate frequency and to convert the carrier frequencies of signals of the un-selected one of the frequency channels to frequencies above other than the predetermined intermediate frequency. The downconverted signals are converted into corresponding digital signals. A demodulator includes a Hilbert-Transform-pair filter section. The receiver includes: a first automatic gain control circuit (AGC) and is responsive to an output of the digital signal processor, for adjusting the gain of the AGC circuit in accordance with the output of the digital signal processor; and, a second AGC circuit fed by the digital signals and the output of the digital signal processor, for adjusting the gain of the magnitude of the digital signals in accordance with the output of the digital signal processor.

This invention relates generally to radio frequency transceivers and more particularly to transceivers having the receiver section and a portion of the transmitter section thereof adapted for fabrication on a single chip of silicon.
As is known in the art, transceivers include a transmitter section and a receiver section. The transmitter section includes a modulator to superimpose information, i.e., data, onto a suitable radio frequency (RF) carrier signal, such as a microwave frequency carrier signal. The receiver section receives data carried by the carrier frequency signal and, in a heterodyning system, downconverts the received signal to a suitable intermediate frequency signal. Signals having frequencies above the intermediate frequency are then removed by a low pass filter. The data is then extracted from the intermediate frequency signals passed by the low pass filter using a demodulator.
As is also known in the art, it would be desirable to fabricate such transceivers using integrated circuit fabrication techniques. One technique used today is to form the portions of the transceiver which operate at microwave frequencies, (i.e., the modulator and downconverter) on a gallium arsenide, GaAs, chip and the portions of the transceiver which operate at the intermediate frequency, or lower (i.e., the demodulator) on a silicon, Si, chip. While such transceivers are useful in some applications, they are too large in other applications, and because they use GaAs, are relatively expensive.
As is also known in the art, one type of transceiver is adapted to transmit data on a selected one of a plurality of frequency channels and is likewise adapted to receive signals on a selected one of the plurality of signal channels. Further, in such transceiver, the received signals in a selected one of the channels are downconverted to the intermediate frequency and demodulated using two locally generated oscillator signals in quadrature phase relationship as when digital signal processing techniques are used to demodulate, or extract, the data from a selected carrier frequency signal. Accurately generating two quadrature phase local oscillator signals is expensive and difficult.
As is also known in the art, when digital signal processing is used, samples of the intermediate frequency signal are taken and then converted into corresponding digital signals. Further, the frequency spectrum of the sampled signals repeats at the sampling frequency and its harmonics. Therefore, if the receiver is adapted to receive signal over a predetermined band of a predetermined overall frequencies, or bandwidth, over which the plurality of frequency channels extend, the signals are sampled at a frequency, or rate, greater than twice the predetermined bandwidth in order to prevent aliasing, i.e., prevent frequency components of signals in an unselected channel from folding into the pass band of the low pass filter. This minimum sampling frequency is referred to as the Nyquist sampling frequency. It follows then that as the bandwidth over which the receiver channels extend increases, the Nyquist sampling frequency correspondingly increases thereby placing severe sampling frequency requirements on the sampler, or else requiring a limitation in the predetermined overall bandwidth of the transceiver.
As is also known in the art, the receiver section of such transceivers usually includes an analog automatic gain control (AGC) circuit to maintain the strength of the signal being processed at some predetermined level independent of variations in the strength of the received signal. In one AGC circuit, the intermediate frequency signal is fed to an amplifier. The gain of the amplifier is adjusted in accordance with the power of the demodulated signal. Thus, with such arrangement, the analog AGC circuit is used to adjust the strength of an analog signal, i.e., the intermediate frequency signal. As noted above, in some application, digital signal processing techniques are used in the demodulation process. There, the AGC'd analog signal is digitized then fed to a digital signal processor for demodulation. While such AGC'ing technique may be satisfactory in many such digital processing applications, in other such applications, the analog AGC circuit may not provide sufficient gain to prevent undesired computational round-off errors in the digital processing.
As is also known in the art, oscillators are used to generate a signal having a frequency selected in accordance with an applied control signal (i.e., a voltage controlled oscillator, VCO). One technique used to fabricate such VCO is with a ring of serially connected inverters as described in FIG. 3 of an article entitled "A 300-MHZ CMOS Voltage-Controlled Ring Oscillator" by S. K. Enam and Asad A. Abidi, IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits Vol. 25, No. 1, February 1990. Each inverter in the ring VCO includes an n channel transistor (nMOS transistor) connected in a totem pole arrangement to a p channel transistor (pMOS transistor). The gates of the NMOS and pMOS transistors are connected together to provide a common input for the inverter and the drain and source of the pMOS and nMOS transistors are connected together to provide an output for the inverter. The ring VCO has an inner ring with an odd number of inverters and an outer ring, fed by an output of the inner ring, having an even number of inverters. The outer and inner rings feed a pair of transistors having gates connected to a control voltage. The pair of transistors are arranged to provide a potentiometer which vectorially adds the signals produced by the inner and outer rings in a proportion selected by the control signal. The inner ring provides a signal which oscillates at the highest frequency of the VCO and the outer ring produces a signal which oscillates at the lowest VCO frequency. The pair of potentiometer-arranged transistors produce an output signal having a frequency intermediate between these two extremes. The frequency of oscillation is determined by the total propagation delay through each ring and the control voltage. More particularly, the transistors in each inverter circuit are driven periodically at the frequency of oscillation into complementary conducting/nonconducting states. Because pMOS transistors switch between conducting/non-conducting states slower than NMOS transistors, the oscillation frequency of the inner ring, i.e., the maximum frequency, is constrained by the gain-bandwidth capability of the pMOS transistors.

Radio frequency transceiver and subassemblies thereof


A penile prosthesis is provided, which includes at least one cylinder, a reservoir, and a pump including a pump housing, at least one reservoir channel fluidly coupling the pump housing to the reservoir, at least one cylinder tube fluidly connecting the pump housing to the cylinders, and a fluid passageway fluidly coupled to the cylinder tube and a transfer chamber. The pump also includes a pump bulb fluidly connected to the fluid passageway between the bypass input channel and bypass output channel along the length of the fluid passageway.

One common treatment for male erectile dysfimction includes the implantation of a penile implant device. One type of penile implant device includes a pair of cylindrical prostheses that are implanted into the corpus cavernosae of the penis. Typically, the cylindrical prostheses or cylinders are inflatable and are connected to a fluid-filled reservoir through a pump and valve assembly. With one such type of system, one tube extends from each of the two cylindrical prostheses and connects to the pump, and one tube connects the pump to the reservoir. The pump is typically surgically implanted into the scrotum of the patient and the reservoir is implanted in the abdomen, with the tubes fluidly connecting the components. To activate the penile implant device, the patient actuates the pump using one of a variety of methods that cause fluid to be transferred from the reservoir through the pump and into the cylindrical prostheses. This results in the inflation of the prostheses and produces rigidity for a normal erection. Then, when the patient desires to deflate the prostheses, a valve assembly within the pump is actuated in a manner such that the fluid in the prostheses is released back into the reservoir. This deflation returns the penis to a flaccid state.
In three-piece systems such as those described above, the reservoir can sometimes be unintentionally compressed by bending or other pressure in the abdomen, which can lead to an inadvertent and undesirable spontaneous inflation of the cylinders. This can occur because many pump designs are not intended to prevent movement of fluid from the reservoir to the cylinders when the pump is subjected to pressurized fluid from a compressed reservoir. For one example, a pump that includes various poppets, springs, and valve seats can provide for fluid-tight seals for prevention of certain fluid movement under normal reservoir pressures. However, these same fluid-tight seals may be broken or opened when subjected to increased external pressure from the reservoir, thereby allowing fluid to move to and inflate the cylinders. This cylinder inflation can be embarrassing and uncomfortable for the user.
With many penile implant devices or systems, due to the positioning of the pieces of each system relative to each other and the type of pumping mechanism provided with the system, some systems require relatively significant manipulation by the user to transfer fluid to and from the cylindrical prostheses. Such manipulation may be either time-consuming or difficult, particularly for users who have problems with dexterity or complicated instructions. Thus, it is desirable to provide an inflatable prosthetic penile device or system that is easy to activate for cylinder inflation and deflation, and that minimizes or eliminates the chances of spontaneous cylinder inflation.


A television (10) for use in a home cinema or surround sound system is provided with an additional audio input (58) for a center audio channel signal from a multi-channel surround sound receiver/amplifier (38). Through system control logic, a control and switching stage (28) within the television couples (72) the televisions internal audio channel signal processing and amplifier stages (GTV,ATV) in parallel to the input (58) when in the surround sound mode, at the same time disabling the audio signal path from the televisions tuner (60) to the audio signal processors (GTV,ATV) and setting (74) the volume level on all channels to a predetermined level to allow volume control (63) from the remote source (38). A home cinema system featuring such a television configuration is also described.

The invention relates to home entertainment systems, and to devices for use in such systems. In particular, the present invention relates to so-called home cinema systems comprising at least a television receiver or display screen device coupled with a multiple speaker audio system, as well as to a television receiver for use in such a system.
Home cinema (or home theater) systems allow the user to experience the sound quality of a good cinema set-up in their own home, with a properly set up system creating a 360 degree sound field placing the user in the centre of the action. Home cinema is not just a applicable to films as many television programmes are now broadcast in so-called "surround sound".
The speaker arrangement for a surround sound system typically comprises a pair of main (left and right) speakers, a centre channel speaker, and a pair of surround speakers; optionally, one or more powered subwoofers may be added for additional bass handling. The main speakers are positioned either side of the screen to allow the audio to move left and right with the image on the screen. The centre channel is particularly for a voice track to a video presentation, such that the characters voices are centred on the screen where they appear. Surround speakers carry ambient audio components of the soundtrack, such as reflections, reverberations and echoes, to enable the user to audibly differentiate the different settings for the displayed scene (e.g. in a small room, or a large hall, or outdoors).
There are currently two principal types of home cinema system, the most popular of which is Dolby Pro-Logic, whilst the newer system is Dolby Digital (also known as AC-3): note that "Dolby", "Pro-Logic" and "AC-3" are trade marks of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. There are some important differences between these two systems. Dolby Pro-Logic takes an encoded stereo signal and extracts the centre and surround channel signals, whilst Dolby Digital has five discrete digital channels allowing for much greater channel separation with less noise. Also, in Dolby Pro-Logic the surround channel is monophonic and limited in frequency response (100 Hz–7 kHz) whilst for Dolby Digital it is stereo and has a fuller range, providing a significant improvement. Furthermore, Dolby Digital is backwards compatible with any signal source that it is only encoded in Dolby Pro-Logic.
As will be appreciated, the installation of a high-quality surround sound system can be expensive. A further problem is the amount and complexity of cabling involved in connecting up all the speakers, although the problems of high initial outlay and cabling could be reduced for a user if some components could initially or totally be omitted. To these ends, it has been proposed to use the speaker or speakers built in to a television receiver (for stand-alone operation) to carry the centre channel: however, this can lead to control problems for the user, being required to adjust the main and surround channel settings at source, and the centre channel through the television unit controls.

Home entertainment system audio handling


A recording apparatus, which operates by using a fuel cell as a power source, for performing recording with a printing material, includes a printing material storing portion for storing the printing material; a fuel tank for storing a fuel to be supplied to the fuel cell; a power generation portion of the fuel cell, for outputting electric power generated by the fuel supplied from the fuel tank to the recording apparatus; a heating portion for consuming the fuel from the fuel tank; and a control portion for performing control so that an excess amount of the fuel can be supplied to the heating portion such that when the printing material in the printing material storing portion is exhausted, the fuel in the fuel tank is also exhausted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus which can operate by using a fuel cell as a power source.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fuel cells directly obtain an electric energy from a chemical energy by electrochemically reacting a fuel such as hydrogen or methanol with oxygen. Accordingly, there is an expectation that, as power sources having high power generation efficiency, the fuel cells have a wide range of applications to power sources for portable devices, distributed power sources for electric vehicles, institutional use, or domestic use, or the like.
In the fuel cells, since an energy density of hydrogen itself is high and an active substance on a cathode side is not necessary because oxygen is taken in from the external air, an energy capacity per volume and per weight can be dramatically increased compared to a conventional battery.
Of those fuel cells, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell employing a polymer electrolyte membrane having proton conductivity can be operated at about room temperature, and is particularly suitable for downsizing.
Conventionally, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-262592, there is a suggestion to use the polymer electrolyte fuel cell of this type as a power source for a printer (recording apparatus).
When the printer is operated by the fuel cell, even in an environment such as outdoors, in which ac power cannot be received from a commercial outlet, a printing processing can be performed.
However, the printer according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-262592 as the conventional example has the following problems.
That is, an amount of fuel used by the fuel cell changes depending on operating conditions of the printer, so timings at which the ink and the fuel are exhausted generally differ from each other.
Therefore, for example, when the fuel is exhausted during printing, power generation by the fuel cell cannot be performed at this time point, so there arises a problem of printer stop.
Further, for example, in a case where an ink cartridge and a fuel tank are used while being integrated into a single body, when one of the ink and the fuel is exhausted to be replenished with a new ink or fuel is to be performed, there arises a problem in that one of the fuel and the ink, which still remains, is inevitably discarded.
A further description thereof is made as follows. That is, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell performs the power generation by using hydrogen or methanol as the fuel and by reacting the hydrogen or methanol with oxygen in air. In order to realize this, the fuel has to be supplied.
In a case where the printer is operated by the fuel cell, when the fuel is exhausted during printing, the power generation by the fuel cell cannot be performed at this time point, and there arises a problem in that the printer is stopped and a printing operation is interrupted.
Further, for example, in the case where the ink cartridge and the fuel tank are used while being integrated into the single body, when the fuel which has been exhausted during printing is replenished the expensive ink is discarded, thereby causing an increase in running costs of the printer.
On the other hand, the fuel is normally less expensive than the ink. However, when a sufficient amount of the fuel is stored so that the ink is exhausted earlier than the fuel, the fuel has to be discarded when replacing the cartridge.
The discarding of the fuel consumes time and effort and involves high costs, thereby being extremely inconvenient.
Further, in a case of using methanol as the fuel, there is a need of taking a countermeasure for toxicity, so extra costs are further required.


A method and apparatus for communicating and utilizing control plane congestion information in a communication network that utilizes a source routed signaling protocol is presented. When control plane congestion is detected at a network element within the communication network, a congestion notification message is generated corresponding to the detected control plane congestion. The congestion notification is then provided to at least one additional network element within the communications network. The at least one additional network element can then utilize this knowledge of the congestion within the network to perform various network functions, including the routing a connection set-up message.

Communication between a calling party (source) and a called party (destination) may be established over a communications network. Such a communications network may use source routing protocols in order to establish connections over which such communication can occur. Communication networks that support source routing protocols typically include a number of individual switches through which calls are routed. A call set-up message is sent along a path between the source and the destination through a number of intervening switches in order to establish the call.
Signaling protocols can encounter congestion in the control plane used to carry such set-up messages. The control plane congestion can be the result of a number of different factors, including an overabundance of signaling traffic such as call set-up messages and/or control plane datagram messages, device speed mismatches within the communication network, or over-utilization of particular nodes or switches within the network.
In prior art systems, when a set-up message encounters a congested element or link within the network, no notification of such congestion is returned to the source node that issued the connection set-up message. As such, the source node may try the same path or a similar path for subsequent connection set-up. Such subsequent connection set-up messages may then encounter the same congestion encountered by the initial connection set-up message and may in fact compound the congestion. Repeated attempts to route connection set-up messages through congested portions of the network often result in unacceptable call set-up delays or in calls not being established at all.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that allows for avoidance of congestion in source routed signaling protocol networks.

Method and apparatus for congestion avoidance in source routed signaling protocol communication networks


The first control transistor is connected between a first input node for receiving a first input signal swinging between a first voltage and a second voltage and an intermediate node for outputting an output signal, and receives the second voltage at its gate. The second control transistor is connected between a second input node for receiving a second input signal swinging between a third voltage and a fourth voltage in synchronization with the first input signal and the intermediate node, and receives the third voltage at its gate. The voltage difference between the first voltage and the third voltage is smaller than or equal to the source-drain breakdown voltage of the second control transistor, and the voltage difference between the second voltage and the fourth voltage is smaller than or equal to the source-drain breakdown voltage of the first control transistor.

The present invention relates to a drive circuit for generating an output signal having an amplitude greater than the breakdown voltage of its element, and more particularly, to a drive circuit for outputting a control signal for controlling voltage boosting operation in a voltage conversion device that boosts an input voltage to output a boosted output voltage.
In recent years, in communication systems such as cellular phones, efforts toward thinner cabinets are actively going on. In this relation, in place of dynamic speakers conventionally used widely as speakers for sound reproduction, thin piezoelectric speakers have been increasingly adopted. To drive a piezoelectric speaker, a differential voltage amplitude of about 13 Vpp is generally necessary. Hence, a voltage of about 7V to 10V is supplied to an amplifier for driving the piezoelectric speaker as the power supply voltage. Portable equipment such as cellular phones generally uses a lithium-ion battery that outputs a voltage of about 4V. To use the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery as the power supply voltage for the amplifier for driving the piezoelectric speaker, therefore, the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery must be boosted about twofold. For this purpose, a charge-pump power supply device is provided which can be implemented with a comparatively simple configuration. Such a charge-pump power supply device is used, not only for cellular phones, but also in various technical fields.
FIG. 11 shows a configuration of a conventional charge-pump power supply device. This conventional charge-pump power supply device switches the connection states of a booster capacitance C91, an input node Nin for receiving an input voltage VC (power supply voltage, for example), a reference node Nref for receiving a reference voltage VL (ground voltage, for example) and an output node Nout for outputting an output voltage VH, by means of drive transistors T91 to T94, to thereby boost the input voltage VC and output the boosted output voltage VH. Referring to FIG. 11, first, at start of a charging mode, the transistors T91 and T92 are turned ON while the transistors T93 and T94 are turned OFF. This results in formation of a charging path as shown in FIG. 11, permitting charge corresponding to the voltage difference between the input voltage VC and the reference voltage VL to be stored in the booster capacitance C91. Thereafter, at start of a boosting mode, the drive transistors T93 and T94 are turned ON while the drive lo transistors T91 and T92 are turned OFF. This results in formation of a boosting path as shown in FIG. 11, permitting output of the output voltage VH (VH=2×(VC−VL)). In this way, the output voltage VH having a voltage value twice as large as the input voltage VC is outputted.
In FIG. 11, to turn ON the drive transistor T91, the reference voltage VL must be applied to the gate of the drive transistor T91. Contrarily, to turn OFF the drive transistor T91, the output voltage VH must be applied to the gate of the drive transistor T91. In other words, a control signal swinging between the output voltage VH and the reference voltage VL must be supplied to the gate of the drive transistor T91. Hence, a drive circuit for supplying such a control signal to the drive transistor T91, which operates using the output voltage VH and the reference voltage VL as its power supply voltages, must be configured to have a breakdown voltage higher than other drive circuits for supplying control signals to the other drive transistors T92, T93 and T94. To increase the breakdown voltage, however, a process step for increasing the breakdown voltage must be added to the fabrication process. Also, the circuit area will increase by increasing the breakdown voltage.
To solve the above problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-127615 (Patent Document 1) discloses a buffer circuit operating with a power supply voltage higher than the breakdown voltage of its element. FIG. 12A shows a configuration of the buffer circuit disclosed in Patent Document 1. A transistor M92, receiving a bias voltage VBP at its gate, controls an intermediate voltage V91 (drain voltage of a transistor M91) so as not to be lower than "VBP+|Vthp|". Likewise, a transistor M93, receiving a bias voltage VBN at its gate, controls an intermediate voltage V94 (drain voltage of a transistor M94) so as not to be higher than "VBN−Vthn". Note that "|Vthp|" and "Vthn" are respectively threshold voltages of the transistors M92 and M93. When this buffer circuit is used as a drive circuit for a charge-pump power supply device, the output voltage VH and the reference voltage VL of the charge-pump power supply device are supplied to the buffer circuit as power supply voltages as shown in FIG. 12A.
The operation of the buffer circuit shown in FIG. 12A will be described with reference to FIG. 12B. When input signals SP and SN become low (VBP and VL, respectively), the transistor M91 is turned ON while the transistor M94 is turned OFF. Hence, the output voltage Vout becomes high (VH). Also, the intermediate voltages V91 and V94 respectively become "VH" and "VBN−Vthn". Contrarily, when the input signals SP and SN become high (VH and VBN, respectively), the transistor M91 is turned OFF while the transistor M94 is turned ON. Hence, the output voltage Vout becomes low (VL). Also, the intermediate voltages V91 and V94 respectively become "VBP+|Vthp|" and "VL".
The maximum values of the source-drain voltages Vsd91 to Vsd94 of the transistors M91 to M94 are respectively expressed as follows.Vsd91=VH−(VBP+|Vthp|)  (1)Vsd92=(VBP+|Vthp|)−VL  (2)Vsd93=VH−(VBN−Vthn)  (3)Vsd94=(VBN−Vthn)−VL  (4)As long as these source-drain voltages Vsd91 to Vsd94 do not exceed the corresponding source-drain breakdown voltages of the transistors M91 to M94, the buffer circuit shown in FIG. 12A can output the output voltage Vout having a value higher than the source-drain breakdown voltages of the transistors M91 to M94.
However, in the buffer transistor shown in FIG. 12A, the bias voltages VBP and VBN and the amplitude of the output voltage Vout of the buffer circuit must be set considering, not only the source-drain breakdown voltages of the transistors M91 to M94, but also the threshold voltages "|Vthp|" and "Vthn" of the transistors M92 and M93. In particular, when such a buffer circuit is used as a drive circuit for a charge-pump power supply device, the amplitude of a control signal for a drive transistor will be restricted. As a result, the voltage value of the output voltage of the charge-pump power supply device will be restricted.
For example, assume that the source-drain breakdown voltages of the transistors M91 to M94 are all "Vabs" and that "|Vthp|=Vthn=Vth". Assume also that "VBP=VBN=VB=(VH−VL)/2" because it is inefficient to set the bias voltages VBP and VBN separately. In this case, the above expressions (1) to (4) will be changed to the following.Expression (1)→Vsd91=VH−(VB+Vth)  (1′)Expression (2)→Vsd92=(VB+Vth)−VL  (2′)Expression (3)→Vsd93=VH−(VB−Vth)  (3′)Expression (4)→Vsd94=(VB−Vth)−VL  (4′)
When "VL=0" is set for simplification, "VH=2×VB" will be satisfied. The above expressions (1′) to (4′) will then be changed to the following.Expression (1′)→Vsd91=VB−Vth  (1″)Expression (2′)→Vsd92=VB+Vth  (2″)Expression (3′)→Vsd93=VB+Vth  (3″)Expression (4′)→Vsd94=VB−Vth  (4″)
From the above expressions (1″) to (4″), it is found that the maximum value of the source-drain voltages is "VB+Vth". In the buffer circuit shown in FIG. 12A, the amplitude of the output voltage Vout will be largest when the maximum source-drain voltage value "VB+Vth" is equal to the source-drain breakdown voltage "Vabs". That is, the amplitude of the output voltage Vout will be largest when the following expression (5) is satisfied.VB+Vth=Vabs→VB=Vabs−Vth  (5)
Since "VH=2×VB", "VH=2×(Vabs−Vth)" will be satisfied. This indicates that the voltage VH supplied to the buffer circuit as a power supply voltage must be set considering, not only the source-drain breakdown voltages of the transistors M91 to M94, but also the threshold voltages of the transistors M92 and M93.
Also, assuming that the source-drain breakdown voltages of the drive transistors T91 to T94 shown in FIG. 11 are "Vabs", the maximum output voltage of the charge-pump power supply device will be "2×Vabs". However, when the control signal for the drive transistor T91 is generated by the buffer circuit shown in FIG. 12A, the output voltage of the charge-pump power supply device must be lower than "2 (Vabs−Vth)". For example, assume that "Vabs=5.0 [v]" and "Vth=0.7 [v]". In this case, the maximum value of the output voltage the charge-pump power supply device can output is "10.0 [v]". To use the buffer circuit shown in FIG. 12A as the drive circuit, however, the maximum value of the output voltage of the charge-pump power supply device must be made lower than "8.6 [v]". Thus, the voltage value of the output voltage of the charge-pump power supply device is restricted.

Drive circuit, voltage conversion device and audio system


A fuel system for use in an internal combustion engine includes a plurality of fuel injectors, each injector including at least one capillary flow passage, the at least one capillary flow passage having an inlet end and an outlet end, a heat source arranged along the at least one capillary flow passage, the heat source operable to heat a liquid fuel in the at least one capillary flow passage to a level sufficient to convert at least a portion thereof from the liquid state to a vapor state, and a valve for metering fuel to the internal combustion engine, a controller to control the power supplied to the heat source of each of the plurality of fuel injectors to achieve a predetermined target temperature, a sensor for use in determining engine air flow and a sensor for measuring a value indicative of degree of engine warm-up of the internal combustion engine.

In light of the evermore stringent emissions regulations that are planned to take effect over the next few years, including California Low Emission Vehicle II (LEV II), Federal USA EPA Tier 2, and European Union EU-IV, pre-catalyst engine-out HC emissions, especially during cold start and warm-up, are attracting significant efforts in research and development. This is due in large part to the fact that as much as 80 percent of the total hydrocarbon emissions produced by a typical, modern light-duty vehicle during the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) can occur during the first 120 seconds of the test.
These high levels of emissions are largely attributable to cold engine and exhaust component temperatures. Specifically, cold engine components necessitate fuel-rich operation, in which the excess fuel is used to compensate for the portion of fuel that has attached to the walls of the intake system and combustion chamber and, thus, is not readily combusted. In addition, a cold three-way catalyst cannot reduce a significant amount of the unburned hydrocarbons that pass through the engine during cold-start. As a result, high concentrations of unburned hydrocarbons are emitted from the tailpipe. It is understood that the over-fueling associated with excessive hydrocarbon emissions during cold-start could be eliminated through the use of gasoline vapor rather than liquid gasoline.
A variety of systems have been devised to supply fine liquid fuel droplets and air to internal combustion engines that work relatively well after engine warm-up. These systems either supply fuel directly into the combustion chamber (direct injection) or utilize a carburetor or fuel injector(s) to supply the mixture through an intake manifold into a combustion chamber (indirect injection). In currently employed systems, the fuel-air mixture is produced by atomizing a liquid fuel and supplying it as fine droplets into an air stream.
In conventional spark-ignited engines employing port-fuel injection, the injected fuel is vaporized by directing the liquid fuel droplets at hot components in the intake port or manifold. Under normal operating conditions, the liquid fuel films on the surfaces of the hot components and is subsequently vaporized. The mixture of vaporized fuel and intake air is then drawn into the cylinder by the pressure differential created as the intake valve opens and the piston moves towards bottom dead center. To ensure a degree of control that is compatible with modern engines, this vaporizing technique is typically optimized to occur in less than one engine cycle.
Under most engine operating conditions, the temperature of the intake components is sufficient to rapidly vaporize the impinging liquid fuel droplets. However, as indicated, under conditions such as cold-start and warm-up, the fuel is not vaporized through impingement on the relatively cold engine components. Instead, engine operation under these conditions is ensured by supplying excess fuel such that a sufficient fraction evaporates through heat and mass transfer as it travels through the air prior to impinging on a cold intake component. Evaporation rate through this mechanism is a function of fuel properties, temperature, pressure, relative droplet and air velocities and droplet diameter. Of course, this approach breaks down in extreme ambient cold-starts, in which the fuel volatility is insufficient to produce vapor in ignitable concentrations with air.
In order for combustion to be chemically complete, the fuel-air mixture must be vaporized to a stoichiometric or fuel-lean gas-phase mixture. A stoichiometric combustible mixture contains the exact quantities of air (oxygen) and fuel required for complete combustion. For gasoline, this air-fuel ratio is about 14.7:1 by weight. A fuel-air mixture that is not completely vaporized, nor stoichiometric, results in incomplete combustion and reduced thermal efficiency. The products of an ideal combustion process are water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). If combustion is incomplete, some carbon is not fully oxidized, yielding carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (HC).
The mandate to reduce air pollution has resulted in attempts to compensate for combustion inefficiencies with a multiplicity of fuel system and engine modifications. As evidenced by the prior art relating to fuel preparation and delivery systems, much effort has been directed to reducing liquid fuel droplet size, increasing system turbulence and providing sufficient heat to vaporize fuels to permit more complete combustion.
However, inefficient fuel preparation at lower engine temperatures remains a problem which results in higher emissions, requiring after-treatment and complex control strategies. Such control strategies can include exhaust gas recirculation, variable valve timing, retarded ignition timing, reduced compression ratios, the use of hydrocarbon traps and close-coupled catalytic converters and air injection to oxidize unburned hydrocarbons and produce an exothermic reaction benefiting catalytic converter light-off.
Given the relatively large proportion of unburned hydrocarbons emitted during startup, this aspect of light duty vehicle engine operation has been the focus of significant technology development efforts. Furthermore, as increasingly stringent emissions standards are enacted into legislation and consumers remain sensitive to pricing and performance, these development efforts will continue to be paramount. Such efforts to reduce start-up emissions from conventional engines generally fall into three categories: 1) reducing the warm-up time for three-way catalyst systems, 2) improving techniques for fuel vaporization and 3) capturing unburned hydrocarbons until catalyst light-off. Efforts to reduce the warm-up time for three-way catalysts to date have included: retarding the ignition timing to elevate the exhaust temperature; opening the exhaust valves prematurely; electrically heating the catalyst; burner or flame heating the catalyst; and catalytically heating the catalyst. As a whole, most of these efforts are costly and none address HC emissions during and immediately after cold start.
A variety of techniques have been proposed to address the issue of fuel vaporization. U.S. Patents proposing fuel vaporization techniques include U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,477 issued to Hudson, Jr. et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,937 issued to Clarke, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,032 issued to Asmus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,351 issued to Lewis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,655 issued to Oza, U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,518 issued to Cooke, U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,023 issued to Hunt, U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,247 issued to Hunt, U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,970 issued to Awarzamani et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,091 issued to Krohn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,826 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,303 issued to Nines, U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,289 issued to Thring, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,388 issued to Cikanek, Jr. et al.
Key practical challenges to providing vaporized fuel include the fact that metering fuel vapor is problematic, and thus most approaches to reducing cold-start emissions focus on metering the fuel as a liquid and then vaporizing it. Heated fuel injector concepts with fuel heaters or vaporizers added on at the outlet of the injector generally suffer from poor atomization and fuel targeting once the heater is turned off. Also, heated injector and heated impingement plates suffer from an intrinsic design challenge between minimizing the power required to the heating element and minimizing the vaporizer warm-up time. For practical purposes the heating time associated with both heated injectors and heated impingement plates are too long unless excessive electrical power is supplied.
Other fuel delivery devices proposed include U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,416, which discloses a fuel-metering device for use in a fuel cell system. The fuel cell system is intended to be self-regulating, producing power at a predetermined level. The proposed fuel metering system includes a capillary flow control device for throttling the fuel flow in response to the power output of the fuel cell, rather than to provide improved fuel preparation for subsequent combustion. Instead, the fuel is intended to be fed to a fuel reformer for conversion to H2 and then fed to a fuel cell. In a preferred embodiment, the capillary tubes are made of metal and the capillary itself is used as a resistor, which is in electrical contact with the power output of the fuel cell. Because the flow resistance of a vapor is greater than that of a liquid, the flow is throttled as the power output increases. The fuels suggested for use include any fluid that is easily transformed from a liquid to a vapor phase by applying heat and flows freely through a capillary. Vaporization appears to be achieved in the manner that throttling occurs in automotive engines.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,347 proposes a fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine wherein the system includes an electrical heating element for heating the fuel directly upstream of the discharge outlet. At engine temperatures below the normal operating temperature of the engine, the fuel is said to be heated to such a degree that a preponderant portion of the fuel to be injected is converted to the gaseous phase not later than immediately after leaving the discharge outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,347 proposes a supercritical or near-supercritical atomizer and method for achieving atomization or vaporization of a liquid. The supercritical atomizer of U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,347 is said to enable the use of heavy fuels to fire small, light weight, low compression ratio, spark-ignition piston engines that typically burn gasoline. The atomizer is intended to create a spray of fine droplets from liquid, or liquid-like fuels, by moving the fuels toward their supercritical temperature and releasing the fuels into a region of lower pressure on the gas stability field in the phase diagram associated with the fuels, causing a fine atomization or vaporization of the fuel. Utility is disclosed for applications such as combustion engines, scientific equipment, chemical processing, waste disposal control, cleaning, etching, insect control, surface modification, humidification and vaporization.
To minimize decomposition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,347 proposes keeping the fuel below the supercritical temperature until passing the distal end of a restrictor for atomization. For certain applications, heating just the tip of the restrictor is desired to minimize the potential for chemical reactions or precipitations. This is said to reduce problems associated with impurities, reactants or materials in the fuel stream which otherwise tend to be driven out of solution, clogging lines and filters. Working at or near supercritical pressure suggests that the fuel supply system operate in the range of 300 to 800 psig. While the use of supercritical pressures and temperatures might reduce clogging of the atomizer, it appears to require the use of a relatively more expensive fuel pump, as well as fuel lines, fittings and the like that are capable of operating at these elevated pressures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,076, a divisional of the application issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,347, also proposes a near-supercritical atomizer and method for achieving atomization or vaporization of a liquid, the claims of which are directed to its use in a burner. Staying below the supercritical point is said to prevent decomposition and/or no precipitation of components within the liquid or fluid in most applications. It is further proposed that by adjusting the heat input into the atomizing device, the liquid solution can be vaporized to various degrees. The device disclosed proposes that a distal end of a restrictor tube is coupled to a heating element to be controlled by a thermal control unit. The resistive heating element proposed for use may be a resistive tape heater of the type commonly employed for heating pipes of gas delivery systems. The thermal control unit is said to be of conventional design or may optionally operate in response to operating parameters of the engine, such as torque or RPM, to vary the degree of vaporization of fuel being ejected into the engine cylinder.
Objects and Summary of the Preferred Forms
One object is to provide a fuel system having improved fuel vaporization characteristics under most engine operating conditions, particularly cold-start and warm-up conditions.
Another object is to provide a fuel injector and delivery system capable of reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency.
It is a still further object to provide a fuel injector and delivery system that can supply vaporized fuel while requiring minimal power and warm-up time, without the need for a high pressure fuel supply system.
These and other objects will become apparent from the detailed description of the preferred forms set out below and now summarized as follows:
A preferred form of the fuel system for use in an internal combustion engine is intended to accomplish at least one or more of the aforementioned objects. One such form includes a plurality of fuel injectors, each injector including (i) at least one capillary flow passage, the at least one capillary flow passage having an inlet end and an outlet end, (ii) a heat source arranged along the at least one capillary flow passage, the heat source operable to heat a liquid fuel in the at least one capillary flow passage to a level sufficient to convert at least a portion thereof from the liquid state to a vapor state, and (iii) a valve for metering fuel to the internal combustion engine, the valve located proximate to the outlet end of the at least one capillary flow passage, a liquid fuel supply system in fluid communication with the plurality of fuel injectors, a controller to control the power supplied to the heat source of each of the plurality of fuel injectors to achieve a predetermined target temperature, the predetermined target temperature operable to convert the portion of liquid fuel to the vapor state; means for determining engine air flow of the internal combustion engine, and a sensor for measuring a value indicative of degree of engine warm-up of the internal combustion engine, the sensor operatively connected to the controller; and wherein the portion of liquid fuel to be converted to the vapor state is controlled with reference to sensed internal combustion engine conditions to achieve minimal exhaust emissions.
The fuel system is effective in reducing cold-start and warm-up emissions of an internal combustion engine. Efficient combustion is promoted by forming an aerosol of fine droplet size when the substantially vaporized fuel condenses in air. The vaporized fuel can be supplied to a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine during cold-start and warm-up of the engine and reduced emissions can be achieved.
One preferred form also provides a method for controlling a fuel system and delivering fuel to an internal combustion engine for a fuel system including at least one fuel injector having at least one capillary flow passage, a heat source arranged along the at least one capillary flow passage, the heat source capable of heating a liquid fuel in the at least one capillary flow passage to a level sufficient to convert at least a portion thereof from the liquid state to a vapor state, and a valve for metering fuel to the internal combustion engine, the valve located proximate to an outlet end of the at least one capillary flow passage. The method includes the steps of determining engine air flow of the internal combustion engine, measuring a value indicative of degree of engine warm-up of the internal combustion engine, determining a portion of liquid fuel to be converted to the vapor state by the at least one capillary flow passage, the determining step employing the measured values, controlling power supplied to the heat source of the at least one fuel injector to achieve a predetermined target temperature, the predetermined target temperature operable to convert the portion of liquid fuel to the vapor state so determined and delivering the fuel to a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine and wherein the portion of liquid fuel to be converted to the vapor state is determined to achieve minimal exhaust emissions.
According to one preferred form, the capillary flow passage can include a capillary tube and the heat source can include a resistance heating element or a section of the tube heated by passing electrical current therethrough. The fuel supply can be arranged to deliver pressurized or non-pressurized liquid fuel to the flow passage. The apparatus can provide a stream of vaporized fuel that mixes with air and forms an aerosol having a mean droplet size of 25 μm or less.
In another preferred form, a means for cleaning deposits is provided. The means for cleaning deposits enables in-situ cleaning of the capillary flow passage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fuel system for an internal combustion engine and method for controlling same


A cDNA encoding a 200 kD receptor, BT-R2, from the pink boll worm, Pectinophora gossypiella, that binds specifically to a Bacillus thuringiensis toxin has been cloned, sequenced and characterized. The minimum toxin binding fragment has been identified. The BT-R2 cDNA permits the analysis of receptors in pink boll worm and other insects that affect crop growth and development, as well as, design assays for the cytotoxicity and binding affinity of potential pesticides. The clone and other methods described herein, permit the manipulation of natural and/or introduced homologous receptors and, thus, to specifically destroy organisms, tissues and/or cells of the target host.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with uses of Bacillus thuringiensis toxins as cotton insect biocidal agents, as an example. Cotton insect pests reduced yields by almost 10% across the US in 1998. Insect damage reduced the overall cotton yield by more than 1.7 million bales and produced a financial loss of about $1.224 billion. One group in particular, the bollworm/budworm complex was the most damaging causing a 2.7% loss. The pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella Saunders ("PBW"), is a lepidopteran insect that causes severe damage to cotton and is the most destructive pest of cotton worldwide.
Bacillus thuringiensis is a gram positive, sporeforming bacterium that forms a parasporal crystal which contains insecticidal toxins (Bulla et al., Crit. Rev. Microbiol. (1980) 8: 147–204; Höfte and Whiteley, Microbiol. Rev. (1989) 53: 242. The effect of the toxin is mediated through binding to specific receptors on the apical brush border of the midgut microvillae (BBMV) of susceptible insects.
Biological control of cotton pests using B. thuringiensis formulations and transgenic plants has been in use for a number of years and is growing rapidly. Recently, transgenic cotton plants carrying the toxin genes of BT have been developed and sold commercially. Such transgenic plants have a high degree of resistance to the pink bollworm (Schnepf et al., Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. (1998) 62: 775). However, the introduction of any new insecticide into a pest management program immediately initiates a selection process for individuals that are resistant to the pesticide. As the use of transgenic crops expressing BT toxin increases, insect resistance is expected to become more widespread. Increased tolerance for BT toxins in several species of insects has been reported by several investigators while laboratory selection experiments have shown that the use of BT toxin formulations and transgenic plants can provoke the development of resistance in the pink bollworm (Bartlett, et al., Beltwide Cotton Conference (1995) 2: 766).
Concerns that BT toxin formulations or transgenic plants expressing the toxin genes may evoke emergence of either resistant or tolerant strains of insects has made the search for a better understanding of the interaction between the BT toxin proteins and their respective insect receptors a matter of considerable economic importance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,491, the present inventors disclosed the purification and cDNA cloning of a B. thuringiensis toxin receptor BT-R1 from larvae of the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta (M. Sexta). Recently, two BT toxin receptors have been identified, purified and cloned from the silkworm, Bombyx mori (Nagamatsu et al., Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. (1998) 62: 727).
Heretofore in this field, there has been no structural information concerning the structure and function of BT toxin receptor of the major cotton insect pest, P. gossypiella. Furthermore, to the inventors' knowledge, the minimum binding fragment encoding a consensus binding domain for BT toxin on the BT receptor has not yet been identified. Isolation of the minimum binding fragment could permit cloning and structural characterization of important yet uncharacterized BT toxin receptors from other insects of worldwide economic importance such as P. gossypiella.

The Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A signal reception apparatus in a communication system supporting a beam forming scheme is provided. The signal reception apparatus includes a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) configured to generate a second signal by amplifying a first signal according to a first gain value, a Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA) configured to generate a third signal by amplifying the second signal according to a second gain value, and an Automatic Gain Controller (AGC) configured to control the first gain value and the second gain value by considering a plurality of beam types supported in a signal transmission apparatus.

To satisfy an increasing need for wireless data traffic, communication systems have been developed to support higher data rates. A communication system may improve spectral efficiency and increase channel capacity to address the increasing need, for example, by various communication schemes such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) scheme, and the like.
However, it is difficult to satisfy a need for increasing data traffic in a communication system using the noted schemes for improving the spectral efficiency and increasing the channel capacity. Specially, an increase in use of a smart phone, a tablet, and the like and an increase of applications which use data traffic accelerate a need for increased data traffic.
In a communication system, there is a need for a Radio Frequency (RF) technology which may cover a relatively wide dynamic range and a RF element control scheme using an Automatic Gain Controller (AGC).
A structure of a related art communication system will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a structure of a communication system according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system includes a signal transmission apparatus and at least one signal reception apparatus. In FIG. 1, it will be assumed that a base station 100 is the signal transmission apparatus, a terminal 150 is the signal reception apparatus, and the communication system includes one base station and one terminal.
A relationship between the base station 100 and the terminal 150 may be expressed using various values, including PTX, L, G1TX, and the like. The value PTX denotes transmit power of the base station 100, and may be referred to as the transmit power PTX, the value L denotes path loss, and may be referred to as the path loss L, and the value G1TX denotes an antenna gain of the base station 100, and may be referred to as the antenna gain G1TX. The path loss L may be determined according to a distance D between the base station 100 and the terminal 150.
If a minimum path loss LMIN is considered, as path loss which occurs in a case that the distance D is a minimum distance DMIN, a maximum receive power PRX—MAX 101 of the terminal 100 is calculated as expressed in Equation (1).
If a maximum path loss LMax is considered, as path loss which occurs in a case that the distance D is a maximum distance DMax, minimum receive power PRX—MIN 103 of the terminal 100 is calculated as expressed in Equation (2).PRX—MAX=PTX+G1TX—MAX−LMIN  Equation (1)PRX—MIN=PTX+G1TX—MIN−LMAX  Equation (2)
In Equation (1), G1TX—MAX 105 denotes a maximum antenna gain used in the base station 100. In Equation (2), G1TX—MIN 110 denotes a minimum antenna gain used in the base station 100.
A dynamic range DR1 of an RF end included in the signal reception apparatus, such as the terminal 150, may be determined using a difference between the maximum receive power PRX—MAX 103 and the minimum receive power PRX—MIN 101. The dynamic range DR1 of the RF end included in the terminal 150 is calculated as Equation (3).DR1 [dB]=PRX—MAX−PRX—MIN  Equation (3)
A gain value which is used in a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), included in a reception circuit in the terminal 150, and a gain value which is used in a Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA), included in the reception circuit in the terminal 150, should be determined by considering the dynamic range DR1 calculated in Equation (3).
The gain value of the LNA and the gain value of the VGA are determined through a control operation of the AGC, and control operations of the AGC are based on average power measured for a signal outputted from a MOdulator/DEModulator (MODEM).
A structure of a related-art communication system has been described with reference to FIG. 1, and an inner structure of a terminal in a conventional communication system will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an inner structure of a terminal in a communication system according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 2, a terminal includes an LNA 201, a mixer 203, a VGA 205, an Analog to Digital converter (A/D) 207, a MODEM 209, and an AGC 211.
The LNA 201 and the VGA 205 may operate under a control of the AGC 211, and the AGC 211 controls an operation of each of the LNA 201 and the VGA 205 by controlling a gain of each of the LNA 201 and the VGA 205. The LNA 201 amplifies a power of a signal received through an antenna by multiplying the signal received through the antenna by a preset gain value, and outputs the amplified signal to the mixer 203. The mixer 203 down converts the signal output from the LNA 201 by mixing the signal outputted from the LNA 201 with a preset frequency signal, and outputs the down converted signal to the VGA 205. The VGA 205 amplifies the down converted signal output from the mixer 203 by multiplying the down converted signal output from the mixer 203 by a preset gain value, and the amplified signal to the A/D 207. The A/D 207 generates an In phase & Quadrature phase (I/Q) signal by converting the signal outputted from the VGA 205, i.e., an analog signal to a digital signal, and outputs the I/Q signal to the MODEM 209. The MODEM 209 de-modulates the signal output from the A/D 207 using a preset de-modulation scheme, and outputs the de-modulated signal.
The signal output from the MODEM 209 is input to the AGC 211, and the AGC 211 determines a gain value of each of the LNA 201 and the VGA 205 included in the terminal using an average power of the signal output from the MODEM 209. An operation in which the AGC 211 determines the gain value used in each of the LNA 201 and the VGA 205 will be described below.
After detecting a receive power of a signal received during a previous preset time interval TWINDOW, the AGC 211 maps a total range for a signal output from the VGA 205 to a total available dynamic range of the A/D 207 by controlling a gain value of each of the LNA 201 and the VGA 205. That is, the AGC 211 minimizes a quantization noise and a performance decrease due to saturation by generating a control signal which controls the gain value of each of the LNA 201 and the VGA 205, and by transmitting the control signal to each of the LNA 201 and the VGA 205. However, if the structure of the related-art terminal, as described in FIG. 2, is used in a communication system using at least two beam widths, signal distortion and a quantization error may occur.
So, there is a need for controlling a gain without signal distortion and a quantization error in a communication system using at least two beam widths.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Method and apparatus for controlling gain in communicaton system supporting beam forming scheme


A system and a method for comparing Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents includes providing two XML documents as XML objects to a comparison tool and providing a list of XML items to be either included or excluded from the comparison. The comparison tool provides an application program interface (API), which allows it to be plugged into any application. The adaptability of the comparison tool to any application and the ability to exclude items from the comparison, or limit the comparison to specific items, provide for a flexible tool that improves performance for a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to document management and, more particularly, to a system and a method for comparing extensible markup language (XML) documents such that certain elements and attributes are excluded from the comparison process.
2. Related Art
It is common when generating a document, such as a text file or spreadsheet, to draft, review, and revise the document multiple times before a final document is produced. In the electronic age, multiple drafts and revisions of a document may be saved as different versions on a computer or network in order to capture content changes and modifications made between drafts. Often, one may wish to compare versions of a document to determine what changes have been made. For example, if a document is being prepared by more than one person, changes made between versions may not be known to each person preparing the document. Software application comparison tools have been created to provide an easy mechanism for comparing documents and/or versions of a document to highlight changes made.
Current document comparison tools typically are file based, such that the tool or software component takes two flat, or text files, and compares the two files against each other. A common result of such a comparison tool may be a merged result of the two documents, with modifications denoted in a particular manner, such as, for example, deleted content may be struck through while added content may be underlined.
Shortcomings of such comparison tools include a limitation to a specific application or to a specific type of document, and the inability to limit the comparison process to specific content within the documents. Often, certain portions of a document are irrelevant for comparison purposes. For example, when versions of a document are compared, the comparison may yield different version numbers and timestamps, even though such differences may not be relevant to a user generating the comparison. On the other hand, a user may wish to know whether a change has been made in only a specific portion of a document, making any modifications occurring in the rest of the document irrelevant. No current comparison tool allows for a user to be selective in determining specific content for a comparison process.
Additionally, as stated above, most, if not all, tools are file-based executable programs, which generally are limited to a specific application or document type. Thus, a need exists for a comparison tool that may be flexibly used between different applications and document types, and that provides for a selective comparison between documents.

System and method for comparing extensible markup language (XML) documents


A resin-sealed semiconductor device, including a chip mounting die pad, porous fluorocarbon material located just beneath the die pad, beneath a die-pad supporting layer, gold lead wires, or in a sealing resin surrounding the other components, wherein any water vapor generated by the heat of soldering will be held within the porous fluorocarbon rather than crack the sealant under internal pressure.

Owing to the gradual miniaturization of electron instruments and to their constant improvement in recent years, resin-sealed semiconductor devices wherein semiconductor chips are sealed with a resin, such as an epoxy resin, have become widely used as thin and compact semiconductor packages and other devices of the surface-mounted type.
Resin-sealed conventional semiconductor devices generally have a semiconductor chip mounted on a chip-mounting component commonly referred to as a die pad, the electrodes of the semiconductor chip and the inner leads connected by thin gold wires, the components sealed with an epoxy-based or other resin and subsequently connected to conductive leads and coated with solder.
Japanese provisionally published Patent Applications 61-23348 and 63-54757 show techniques for manufacturing such resin-sealed semiconductor devices, including machining the undersurfaces of the tabs to relieve stress.
However, a serious disadvantage of conventional resin-sealed semiconductor devices similar to that described above is their poor thermal resistance during solder mounting of the package. Specifically, since vapor phase reflow soldering or infrared heating are generally used as the method for solder mounting of these semiconductor packages on printed circuit boards (PCB) and the like, not only the components to be joined by soldering but also the packages themselves are rapidly heated during such solder mounting and the water which is absorbed in the bulk of the resin and which has penetrated the semiconductor device during storage rapidly evaporates owing to said heating. The vapor generated diffuses along the interface either between the resin and the chip-mounting component or between the resin and the semiconductor chip. The components become detached from each other, and the vapor penetrates between the detached portions, increases its internal pressure, and causes cracks in the resin to form. Such crack formation becomes especially noticeable in compact and thin semiconductor devices. A resin, such as an epoxy resin, absorbs moisture during the period of storage which follows manufacture but precedes soldering. With formation of cracks, the resin-sealing effect is considerably reduced and the performance and life span of semiconductor devices are severely impaired.
Although the techniques proposed in the above Japanese provisionally published applications 61-23348 and 63-54757 are effective in preventing cracks from being formed on the lower surfaces of chip-mounting elements, these techniques do not prevent the formation of cracks on the upper and lateral surfaces, which cause wire breakage and other failures fatal to semiconductor devices. Additional disadvantages include a larger number of operations and higher production costs caused by the machining of the reverse surfaces of the elements.

Resin-sealed semiconductor device containing porous fluorocarbon resin


A floor care tool set includes generally complementary floor care tools, such as a broom and a receptacle for receiving items moved by the broom. To hold the tools together, such as when not in use, a clip is used to at least temporarily connect handles of the tools to one another. The clip includes an element such as a magnet that attracts the handle of one of the tools to hold the tool in place at the magnet. The clip may be attached to the other tool in a more permanent, but still removable, manner. The tools may also include grip portions that interact with one another to provide another location of connection. The clip can also be attached to a wall mount or generally inverted to be hung on a surface.

Floor care tools, such as mops, brooms, and other tools used to clean floors are used in a variety of home and commercial situations. Some tools, which may be referred to generally as complementary tools, include a broom and a dustpan/lobby pan tool set, which can include a handle attached to a dustpan. The broom, which includes a separate handle, is used to sweep debris, dust, particulate matter, trash, or anything else into the dustpan for disposal into another container.
To keep the broom and dustpan with one another, they may be tethered, attached, or otherwise kept together. Known systems tend to have poorly designed clips and methods to attach the components, which may prevent them from staying together. Separating the components increases the possibility of misplacing one or both of the components, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of their use.
Still further, known systems may not be able to be stored in a convenient manner. The components may be propped against a wall or in a corner, or may be crudely hung to a hook or other wall attachment.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system, method, and/or apparatus for combining multiple floor care tools having complementary uses. There is also a need in the art for a system, method, and/or apparatus to aid in storing the complementary tools that will keep them together in an efficient manner.