A thermal type flow rate sensor comprising a sensor chip having a rectangular shape. The sensor chip is supported between supporting pins through ribbon-like leads connected to opposite ends of the sensor chip. The ribbon-like leads serve to correctly locate the surface of the sensor chip with respect to flow of fluid. The surfaces of the sensor chip is formed with a thin film heater. A heater portion of the thin film heater comprises a plurality of straight portions and a plurality of turn portions connecting the straight portions to each other. Each turn portion is formed in a smoothly curved shape to avoid the concentration of electric currents and is disposed at an end portion of the sensor chip which has a comparatively low temperature. This structure is effective in preventing generation of cracks in the turn portions. In addition, the plurality of straight portions are alternatively inclined to effectively utilize the surface of the sensor chip to form a long heating portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal type flow rate sensor disposed in fluid and arranged to generate heat when electric power is supplied so as to measure the quantity of heat deprived by the fluid, so that the flow rate of the fluid is measured.
2. Related Art Statement
In general, the quantity of sucked air into the engine is an important parameter about the operation state for an electronic-control internal combustion engine in order to control the basic fuel quantity and the basic ignition timing. Hitherto, a thermal type air flow meter having a resistor which depends upon the temperature has been put into practical use as an air flow meter for detecting the quantity of sucked air.
A conventional air flow meter is arranged to have a heat-generating resistor and a temperature compensating resistor, as sensors, supported in a branch passage formed in an air suction passage for dividing and passing a portion of sucked air. Furthermore, an equilibrium bridge circuit including the heat-generating resistor and the temperature compensating resistor is constituted, and the quantity of electric power to be supplied to the bridge circuit is controlled in a feedback manner so as to make the temperature of the heat-generating resistor to be higher than the temperature of the temperature compensating resistor by a predetermined degree. Therefore, the quantity of the electric current is adjusted so as to maintain the temperature of the heat-generating resistor even if the heat corresponding to the quantity of sucked flow is deprived from the heat-generating resistor.
As the resistors serving as the heat-generating resistor and the temperature compensating resistor, a resistor made of platinum wire as it is, a coil type resistor constituted by winding the platinum wire around a cylindrical bobbin and a resistor having an insulating substrate on which a platinum film is formed have been known.
In particular, as the aforesaid type resistor having the insulating substrate on which the platinum film is formed, the resistors disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-188901, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-236029, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-235020, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-269915, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-208412 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-34649 have been known.


An inverter capable of switching working frequency for activating a lamp. The inverter comprises a voltage converter, a feedback circuit, a control unit and a frequency switcher. The voltage converter transforms a DC input voltage into a second AC voltage according to a control signal. The lamp is activated and generates a feedback current. The circuit converts the feedback current into the feedback voltage. The control unit for generating a first working frequency includes a resonance circuit having a specific resistance and capacitance, and a control device for generating the control signal according to a reference voltage, the first working frequency and the feedback voltage in a predetermined period. Then, the switcher changes the specific resistance and/or capacitance for enabling the control unit to generate a second working frequency. The control device outputs the control signal according to the second working frequency and the feedback voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an inverter, and more particularly to an inverter capable of switching working frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the coming of the digital age and the popularization of the computer network, the display has been inevitably flattened and thinned. The inverter, which is a key component for activating a lamp in the flat panel display, determines the reliability and the stability of the lamp, and the performance of the inverter directly influences the display quality of the flat panel display. Due to the requirement in the market, the size of the display panel is getting larger and larger, and the length of the lamp is getting longer and longer. Thus, the working frequency of the lamp has a greater influence on the activation process. So, how to select a suitable working frequency has become a great focus in the industry.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional inverter. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional inverter 100 includes a power device 112, a transformer 114, a feedback circuit 130 and a control unit 140. The power device 112 receives a DC input voltage from a DC power 500, converts the DC input voltage into a first AC voltage according to a control signal, and then outputs the first AC voltage. The transformer 114 receives the first AC voltage, transforms the first AC voltage into a second AC voltage, and then outputs the second AC voltage to a lamp 600. The lamp 600 is activated by the second AC voltage and generates a feedback current. The feedback circuit 130 receives the feedback current and outputs a feedback voltage according to the feedback current. The control unit 140 includes a resonance circuit 142 and a control device 144. The resonance circuit 142 includes a resonance capacitor Ct and a resonance resistor Rt. The control unit 140 can generate a working frequency according to the resonance resistor Rt and the resonance capacitor Ct. The control device 144 receives the feedback voltage and generates the control signal for controlling the AC voltage outputted from the power device 112 to the lamp 600 according to the working frequency and the feedback voltage.
The lamp 600 requires different working frequencies in different working states. For example, at a transient period after the inverter 100 initially activates the lamp 600, the gas and the metal elements in the lamp 600 are activated but not stable. This problem becomes more serious especially in a low-temperature environment. In this case, a lower working frequency, such as the working frequency of 45 KHZ, is required to activate the lamp 600 such that the lamp 600 has a better performance. After the transient period, the lamp 600 reaches a steady state, in which the gas and the metal elements in the lamp 600 have been activated to reach a stable state. In this case, a working frequency higher than 45 KHZ is required to activate the lamp 600. For example, the working frequency of 50 KHZ is required to activate the lamp 600 such that the lamp 600 has a better performance.
However, the conventional inverter 100 can only activate the lamp 600 with the same working frequency. The designer for the conventional inverter 100 can only select either the frequency suitable for the initial activation of the lamp or the frequency suitable for the steady state of the lamp as the final working frequency. If the working frequency suitable for the steady state is selected, the lamp 600 tends to flicker due to the impedance matching problem in the aforementioned initial transient period. Thus, the waveform of the AC voltage is unstable during that transient period. If the working frequency suitable for aforementioned initial transient period is selected, the lamp 600 can work normally in a predetermined period after the lamp 600 is initially activated. However, the problems of unsymmetry of the waveforms of the positive half cycle and the negative half cycle of the AC voltage, the waveform distortion, and the uneven currents among several lamps would occur after that transient period. Thus, the problem of the insufficient luminance, the nonuniform luminance or the shortened lifetime will further be caused. The problem will become more serious especially when the dimension of the lamp 600 is getting larger and larger.

Inverter capable of switching working frequency


An inkjet ink is provided that has a greater organic content than prior art inks. However, it is not simply enough to increase the organic content; other factors must be considered as well. These include controlling viscosity and surface tension, as well as maintaining acceptable drytime. An inkjet ink composition that evidences reduced outgassing and reduces paper cockle and curl comprises about 25 to 50 wt % of one or more organic co-solvents, has a viscosity of 10 cp or less, and has a surface tension of 40 dyne/cm or less. Advantageously, using a higher solvent ink reduces cockle and curl. Cockle and curl are also reduced as the water content of the ink is reduced. The present invention uses the higher solvent inks in combination with underprinting. In underprinting, a fixer solution is first xe2x80x9cprintedxe2x80x9d on the print medium, followed by printing the inkjet ink thereon. There is a synergism to this combination. Together, weaknesses of both approaches are addressed. The advantages are a longer life pen, due to the reduction of outgassing of the ink, and reduced cockle and curl.

The present invention relates to inkjet printing, and, more particularly, to reducing outgassing of the ink caused by the die in the pen used in inkjet printing.
Ink-jet printing is a well-established technology, involving jetting ink either thermally, via use of a heated element that expels bubbles of ink from a firing chamber upon controlled activation, or mechanically, via use of a piezoelectric transducer that expels bubbles of ink from a chamber upon controlled activation.
The composition of the inks employed in ink-jet printing has undergone considerable modification, in an effort to improve properties related to the jetting operation as well as to improve the properties of the printed ink.
Commercially-available inkjet inks have a high water content for printing on plain paper, typically on the order of 70 wt % or more water. These inks generally print well on plain paper. However, high water content ink has the disadvantage of degassing in the pen and inducing a deprime as the pen fills with air. Solutions to the outgassing issue have been found by increasing the non-aqueous solvent in the ink. However, this solution often results in inks with decreased edge acuity and optical density as the inks penetrate and wick into the paper.
One problem of particular concern in thermal printing systems (e.g., thermal inkjet printers) is a condition known as xe2x80x9coutgassingxe2x80x9d. The term xe2x80x9coutgassingxe2x80x9d basically involves the formation of gas bubbles directly within the ink composition during temperature increases which are normally encountered in thermal printing systems. The gas bubbles are comprised of gaseous materials which were previously dissolved in the ink compositions as discussed below. Typically, ink materials which are delivered using thermal inkjet technology are heated to an average temperature of about 25xc2x0 to 80xc2x0 C., depending on the printing system being used, by the die, or substrate, on which the heating resistor is formed. At temperatures within this range, the solubility of any air or other gases dissolved within the ink composition will decrease substantially. This condition (which is especially true in connection with water-based inks designed for plain-paper printing) causes super-saturation of the ink composition with the dissolved gases. In turn, the equilibrium kinetics associated with super-saturation will cause gas bubbles to form in the ink.
Gas bubbles can form in the pen structure, preventing ink from reaching the firing chamber. Consequently, the bubbles choke off the pen, and the pen ceases to jet ink onto a print medium. One can use higher organic inks to deal with outgassing. This approach was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,315, entitled xe2x80x9cAnti-Outgassing Ink Composition and Method for Using the Samexe2x80x9d and issued to Donald E. Wenzel on Dec. 23, 1997. But there are some negative consequences to the straightforward use of the listed high organic solvents. Increased viscosity of the resulting ink leads to lower reliability, typically in short term decap and the firing frequency response of the pen. It also often leads to print quality defects on plain paper, such as poor edge acuity, strike-through, and increased dry-time.
More recent advances in inkjet printing have used underprinting with an ink or a fifth fluid, also called a fixer. Underprinting immobilizes the colorant, improving edge acuity, strike-through, and dry-time. However, a potential disadvantage of underprinting is increased paper cockle, due to the increased amount of water deposited on the print medium.
Thus, there is a need for an ink that, in combination with a fixer, re-tains high edge acuity and optical density while avoiding outgassing of the ink from a heated die in the pen. Such a combination should also evidence decreased paper cockle and curl.
In accordance with the present invention, an inkjet ink is provided that has a greater organic content than prior art inks. However, it is not simply enough to increase the organic content; other factors must be considered as well. These include controlling viscosity and surface tension. An inkjet ink composition that evidences reduced outgassing and reduces paper cockle and curl comprises about 20 to 40 wt % of one or more organic co-solvents, has a viscosity of 10 cp or less, and has a surface tension of 40 dyne/cm or less.
Advantageously, using a higher solvent ink reduces cockle. Cockle is also reduced as the water content of the ink is reduced.
The present invention uses higher solvent inks in combination with underprinting. In underprinting, a fixer solution is first xe2x80x9cprintedxe2x80x9d on the print medium, followed by printing the inkjet ink thereon. There is a synergism to this combination. Together, weaknesses of both approaches are addressed. The advantages are a longer life pen and reduced cockle and curl with acceptable print quality. Current embodiments have not used higher solvent content inks in their underprinting solutions.

Higher organic inks with good reliability and drytime


The present invention relates to a microwave oven. According to the present invention, a fixed heater 41 is installed on a ceiling of a cavity 31 of a microwave oven, and a pivotable heater 43 is installed to pivot upward and downward on its lower end in the cavity 31. When the pivotable heater 43 has been pivoted downward on its lower end, a grill 45 on which an object to be heated is seated is horizontally installed between a lower surface of the fixed heater 41 and an upper surface of the pivotable heater 43. A micro-switch 51, which will be pushed by the grill 45 and thus generate an actuating signal for pivoting the pivotable heater 43, is installed on a side surface of the cavity 31. According to the present invention, since the fixed and pivotable heaters 41 and 43 heat upper and lower surfaces of the object, respectively, and the pivotable heater 43 is pivoted according to whether the grill 45 is mounted or detached, it is possible to cook the object faster and more conveniently.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a microwave oven capable of uniformly heating an object by means of a plurality of heaters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A general microwave oven is to heat an object by irradiating microwaves into a cavity of the microwave oven. However, a latest microwave oven has employed heaters as another heat source in addition to the microwaves in order to heat the object in a variety of fashions.
FIG. 1 shows a major portion of a conventional microwave oven. FIG. 2a shows a major portion of another conventional microwave oven. FIG. 2b is a sectional view showing the interior of a cavity of the microwave oven shown in FIG. 2a.
As shown in FIG. 1, a main body 10 of the microwave oven is provided with a cavity 11 with an open front face as a space in which an object is heated by means of microwaves or heat of heaters. Further, a door 15 for opening and closing the cavity 11 is hingedly installed at a front plate 13 defining the front face of the main body 10.
A side of the cavity 11 in the main body 10 is provided with an electronic equipment installation chamber (not shown) in which parts for generating microwaves such as a magnetron and a high voltage transformer are installed. A control panel 17 is installed on a portion corresponding to the front of the electronic equipment installation chamber. The control panel 17 functions to receive a variety of signals for operating the microwave oven and to display a variety of information during the operation of the microwave oven.
In order to heat the object put into the cavity 11, a fixed heater 21 is installed in the cavity 11. The fixed heater 21 is mounted, for example, on a ceiling of the cavity 11 to heat a surface of the object, thereby complementing disadvantages in a microwave-heating fashion.
In addition, the conventional microwave oven shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b is provided with a pivotable heater 23, which is upward and downward pivotably installed at a rear portion of the cavity 11. That is, the pivotable heater 23, which is vertically installed adjacent to a rear surface of the cavity 11, may upward and downward pivot on its lower end through a predetermined angle according to food as an object to be cooked so that the distance between the pivotable heater 23 and the object decreases.
Therefore, radiant or convective heat from the pivotable heater 23 may be more effectively transmitted to the object to be heated in the cavity 11. In the meantime, the other constitutional elements except for the pivotable heater 23 of the microwave oven shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b are the same as the microwave oven shown in FIG. 1. Thus, like reference numerals are given to designate like other elements.
However, the conventional microwave ovens have the following problems.
As described above, the conventional microwave ovens heat the object (food) by means of the fixed heater 21 installed on the ceiling of the cavity 11 or the pivotable heater 23 installed to pivot through a predetermined angle on the lower end thereof at the rear portion of the cavity 11.
However, since the object to be cooked is seated on a lower surface of the cavity 11, a lower surface of the object cannot be heated by the fixed or pivotable heater 21 or 23. Therefore, there is a disadvantage in that the object should be inconveniently turned over in order to heat the lower surface of the object seated in the cavity 11 by using the heater 21 or 23.
In addition, the pivotable heater 23 should be pivoted upward and downward by hand or by a driving motor. In the case that the heater is pivoted by hand, there is inconvenience in that the pivotable heater 23 should be pivoted by hand whenever cooking is made using the pivotable heater 23. Furthermore, when the pivotable heater 23 is pivoted to be in a vertical state after cooking the object, a user may get burned by remaining heat caused from the pivotable heater 23.


A polymerizable thioxanthone according to Formula (I):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to specifically substituted polymerizable thioxanthones with high reactivity for LED exposure and increased thermal stability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Short run packaging printing is shifting from conventional printing techniques, such as offset printing, to digital printing, where inkjet is one of the preferred technologies. In inkjet printing, tiny drops of ink are projected directly onto an ink-receiver surface without physical contact between the printing device and the ink-receiver. The printing device stores the printing data electronically and controls a print head for ejecting the drops image-wise on an ink-receiver. Within ink jet for digital packaging printing, there is a clear evolution towards higher image quality and higher printing speeds in combination with LED curing. In order to satisfy these demands, a new print head design is required. These print heads require a specific ink design as they only can operate with very low viscous inks. The inks for high resolution, high speed short run digital packaging printing have to combine low viscosity, low migrating properties after curing and high sensitivity for LED exposure.
Polymeric photoinitiators are known to improve the low migrating properties after curing, but also to increase the viscosity. Even polymeric photoinitiators with a compact design, like the hyperbranched photoinitiators disclosed by EP 1616921 A (AGFA), increase the viscosity of radiation curable compositions too much for the new print head designs.
Polymerizable photoinitiators are also known to improve the low migrating properties after curing. For example, EP 2161264 A (AGFA) discloses polymerizable Norrish Type II photoinitiators having a benzophenone group or a thioxanthone group in inkjet inks that exhibit low extractable amounts of the photoinitiators and their residues after curing.
Thioxanthones suitable for low migration radiation curable compositions have also been disclosed in EP 2444429 A (AGFA), EP 2199273 A (AGFA), GB 2454579 (LAMBSON), WO 03/033492 A (COATES BROTHERS), JP 2004224993 A (NIPPON KAYAKU) and EP 2246330 A (SIEGWERK).
High sensitivity for UV-LED exposure, preferably 395 nm LED exposure, requires bathochromic photoinitiators. Thioxanthones are known as being particularly preferred photoinitiators for LED exposure.
However, it has been observed that in very low viscous radiation curable compositions, the type of polymerizable photoinitiator also influences the thermal stability and shelf life upon storage, especially when they exhibit improved curing speed. Fluctuations in viscosity have a large impact on the jetting performance and reliability of the new print heads operating with very low viscous inkjet inks.
Therefore, there is still a need for highly reactive photoinitiators, especially for LED curing, with an improved stability performance in radiation curable formulations.

Abstract: wherein A represents a thioxanthone moiety; R1 and R2 are independently selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen, an alkyl group, an alkenyl group, an alkynyl group, an aryl group, and a heteroaryl group; n represents 1 or 2; and R3 represents a moiety including at least one free radical polymerizable group selected from the group consisting of an acrylate, a methacrylate, an acrylamide, a methacrylamide, a styrene group, a maleate, a fumarate, an itaconate, a vinyl ether, a vinyl ester, an allyl ether, and an allyl ester.


The present patent application provides an oral nicotine-substituted cytisine atomized liquid and its preparation method. The oral nicotine-substituted cytisine atomized liquid includes the following components in mass percentage per 1 L of the oral atomized liquid: 0.1-10% of tobacco, 0.3-15% of cocoa extract, 0.1-0.9% of cytisine, 0.1-0.5% of TWEEN 80 and 75-90% of primer. The liquid can be obtained through the steps of weighing tobacco into an extraction tank, filtering the extract to obtain the filtrate, adding cocoa extract, cytisine and primer to the filtrate and mixing evenly.

Nicotine is an alkaloid present in the Solanaceae (nightshade) as well as an important component of tobacco. Nicotine is addictive or causes dependence, one of the most difficult drug addictions to get rid of that people find difficult to restrain from it. Repeated use of nicotine also increases heart rate and raises blood pressure and reduces appetite. Large dose of nicotine can cause vomiting and nausea, and even death in severe cases. Tobacco usually contains nicotine which makes smokers unable to quit smoking. However, current methods of smoking cessation generally employ nicotine-substitution method. Poor control still cannot reduce dependence on nicotine.
Clinical use of 0.15% cytisine aqueous solution for intramuscular or intravenous injections can treat reflex apnea induced by surgeries and various traumas, shock and neonatal asphyxia. Recent research reveals that this class of alkaloids also has many other pharmacological effects such as anti-arrhythmia, anti-microbial infection, anti-ulcer, elevation of white blood cell. In particular, the strong anti-cancer activity of these compounds can be used to produce smoking cessation medicine, emergency medicine and cough suppressants.
Cytisine has been sold across Eastern Europe under the trademark TABEX® as smoking cessation medicine since 1964. The use of cytisine in oral atomized liquids (electronic cigarette liquids) to substitute nicotine takes effect in getting rid of or not relying on nicotine. Current smoking cessation products, including electronic cigarettes, use nicotine to satisfy craving. However, nicotine is also extracted from tobacco and that the original meaning of smoking cessation is lost. Therefore, relapse of cigarette exists.
Oral nicotine-substituted cytisine atomized liquid, or known as electronic cigarette atomized liquid, is a popular alternative to cigarettes. Formulations and preparation process of electronic cigarette liquid, and its functions in healthcare have been reported in various literatures and patents. Chinese patent No. 200910310536.2 discloses an atomized liquid of an electronic simulated cigarette, a typical essence- and flavoring-formulated product, which comprises 25-90 parts of polyethylene glycol, 9-50 parts of propylene glycol and 0.3-52 parts of taste regulator. Chinese patent No. 200910104922.6 discloses an electronic cigarette atomized liquid, comprising 3-5% m/v of tobacco extract, 3-5% m/v of tobacco essence, 0-3% m/v of nicotine, 0.2-1% m/v of stabilizer, 3-8% m/v of thickening agent, 5-10% m/v of purified water, 50-70% m/v of propylene glycol, and optionally codeine phosphate, chlorpheniramine, or the like. Despite the use of tobacco extract, it is still a product formulated from tobacco extract and other essences and flavorings to imitate the taste of cigarettes. As more and more smokers adopt electronic cigarettes instead of cigarettes, some shortages of taking electronic cigarettes become more and more obvious. Smokers generally reflect that, although electronic cigarettes and cigarettes share similar shapes, textures and smoke, their aroma and taste are relatively different. In particular, they find difficult to adopt or get used to the aroma and taste of essence- and flavoring-formulated products. In addition, a common problem reflected by smokers is that aroma components of current electronic cigarette liquids are difficult to retain for a long time. The best ones can only be kept for about half a year, which "taste of cigarette" becomes very light or even gone. These shortages greatly affect the quality of electronic cigarette and restrict the prevalence and popularity of electronic cigarette.

Oral nicotine-substituted cytisine atomized liquid and its preparation method


A knife has a handle that slideably receives the respective handles of a fork and a spoon in one orientation only. The transverse cross section of the fork handle and the spoon handle is generally rectangular, with a longitudinally-extending step formed in each side to create a broad base and a slightly narrower upper part. The knife handle has a corresponding channel on each of its opposite sides and slidingly receives the fork handle on one side and the spoon handle on the other if the handles are correctly oriented. The steps formed in the handles of the fork and spoon are of small depth so that they are barely noticeable by users of those utensils.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates, generally, to eating utensils that are interconnected to one another for convenience.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inventors have developed numerous designs that enable the interconnection of knives, forks, spoons, corkscrews, can openers, and the like. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 284,442, 318,600, 937,613, 1,178,122, 2,470,492, 4,524,512, and 4,995,154. These designs have utility because they minimize the probability of losing an important utensil by ensuring that all needed utensils will be together at one location. This facilitates packing for picnics and the like.
If too many items are joined in combination, however, the bulk of the combination utensil renders it unwieldy and unsuitable for use. Thus, the most popular combination utensil item is the combination knife, fork, and spoon. Since the distal end of a spoon or fork is arcuate in configuration, the design of a combination knife, fork, and spoon is somewhat problematical. Some designs are difficult to use because it is difficult to reassemble the utensils after thay have been separated for use; some are not even easy to disassemble. Thus, they may be reassembled incorrectly after use. Others are expensive to fabricate and may also use large amounts of materials because of their design peculiarities. Thus, despite the differing approaches shown in the above-identified patents, an optimal design that is easy to assemble and disassemble, which saves materials, and which is inexpensive to make, has long eluded inventors.
Significantly, when the prior art is considered as a whole, it neither teaches nor suggests to those of ordinary skill in this art how an optimal design could be achieved.


A small intestine submucosa mesh is adapted for use in surgical abdominal closure routines. The submucosa mesh is incorporated into the normal surgical protocol for abdominal closure procedures. The submucosa mesh is applied to the abdominal incision area and maintains and enhances the stability and integrity of the abdominal wall closure, thereby preventing the onset or occurrence of incisional hernias. The submucosa mesh can also be applied to surgical closure procedures involving treatment of a hernia defect, such as an incisional hernia or other non-incisional hernia. The submucosa construct can also be adapted for use as a suturing component or bioretention suture. The submucosa construct can be adapted for use as part of a surgical strategy to facilitate wound healing, regeneration, reconstruction, and replacement of anatomical structures, such as tissues and organs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to surgical procedures and compositions suitable for use in surgical applications, and, more particularly, to the formation of a tissue graft construct employing a small intestine submucosa mesh and its use in various surgical protocols, such as abdominal closure incisions, hernia defect repair, and internal bioretention sutures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Medical procedures involving peritoneal access into the abdominal wall cavity typically need to address the incidence of incisional hernias as one possible future complication. It is known that 7% of patients having abdominal incisions will develop incisional hernias. This percentage increases with smoking, obesity, wound infections, malnourished patients, diabetes, and other known conditions.
A need exists to develop a surgical technology that mitigates the incidence of post-operative incisional hernias, which is cost effective, readily amenable to use in routine abdominal closure regimens, and does not necessitate any additional surgical procedures beyond what is already warranted by the abdominal closure specification.
Additionally, current retention sutures, such as those typically employed to facilitate an abdominal closure or otherwise treat an incision, are very painful to the patient since they are external and tend to pull on the abdominal wall. The conventional sutures also tend to dig into the skin, causing irritation, infection and unsightly scars.
A need therefore exists to develop a suturing technology that overcomes these problems.

Surgical method and composition utilizing submucosal tissue to prevent incisional hernias


In a powder body metering apparatus for metering a powder body such as a synthetic resin raw material or the like, a powder body discharge port (55) is formed in a lower portion of a metering container (17) of a metering apparatus (6) and is freely opened and closed by a case (50) provided with a porous body (19), the powder body metered by the metering container (17) is discharged from the powder body discharge port (55) of a lower tube (22) by horizontally oscillating the case (50) so as to open the powder body discharge port (55), whereby it is possible to easily meter and confirm a weight or the like of the powder body metered by the metering container (17).

The following two metering apparatuses have been conventionally known as this kind of metering apparatus.
A first conventional metering apparatus has a base plate having an inlet and an outlet provided through in a vertical direction, a slide plate provided in a lower surface of the base plate so as to freely move horizontally and having a through hole provided in a vertical direction, and a metering container in which an edge portion of an upper end opening is fixed to an edge portion of the through hole of the slide plate, and is structured such that the slide plate freely moves between a position at which the through hole meets the inlet of the base plate and a position at which the through hole meets the outlet of the base plate, the inlet of the base plate is closed in a state in which the through hole meets the outlet of the base plate, and the metering container has an upper tube, a lower tube which is fitted to and covers the upper tube so as to be freely adjustable in a vertical position, and a porous body provided in a lower end of the lower tube and not allowing a powder body having a set magnitude to pass through and allowing a gas to pass through.
A second conventional metering apparatus has a metering container having an inlet in an upper end and a horizontal outlet in an upper side portion, a check valve for opening and closing the inlet of the metering container, and an upward discharge pipe connected to the horizontal outlet, and is structured such that the metering container has an upper tube, a lower tube which is fitted to and covers the upper tube so as to be freely adjustable in a vertical position, and a porous body provided in a lower end of the lower tube and not allowing a powder body having a set magnitude to pass through and allowing a gas to pass through (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-148092).
The conventional metering apparatuses mentioned above have the following disadvantage.
Since the metering container is not provided with a powder body discharge port, it is necessary to completely take out the lower tube from the upper tube in the case of metering and confirming the weight or the like of the powder body metered by the metering container. Accordingly, there is a disadvantage that an operation is troublesome.


A sprinkler includes a housing disposed on a base, and a sprinkler tube coupled to a oscillating mechanism, for allowing the sprinkler tube to be rotated relative to the housing and the base by the oscillating mechanism, the oscillating mechanism includes a receptacle disposed within the housing, and a casing rotatably attached to the receptacle, and coupled to the sprinkler tube, for allowing the casing and the sprinkler tube to be rotated relative to the receptacle. A device may be used for swinging the casing and the sprinkler tube relative to the receptacle in reciprocating action, to allow the water to smoothly or swiftly flow out of the sprinkler tube in various kinds of water spraying patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sprinkler, and more particularly to a sprinkler having an oscillating mechanism for smoothly rotating or driving the sprinkler tube.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical sprinklers comprise a sprinkler tube including one end coupled to a water reservoir for receiving the water from the water reservoir, and the other end having one or more openings for allowing the water to flow out of the sprinkler tube in various kinds of water spraying patterns.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,023 to Hayes discloses one of the typical sprinklers including an impeller for rotating or swinging the sprinkler tube in reciprocating action, and having a heart-shaped cam member driven by a driving shaft, for engaging with a laterally extended pivot member, and thus for swinging the sprinkler tube in reciprocating action when the heart-shaped cam member is continuously rotated by the driving shaft.
However, the heart-shaped cam member may include a central recess and an opposite arcuate projection which may also be engaged with the driving shaft, and which may have a good chance to form two dead points between the heart-shaped cam member and the driving shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,241 to Guo discloses another typical sprinkler including a pipe having a number of outlet openings for outward flow of the water, and a number of rings rotatably engaged on the pipe and each having an orifice for selectively aligning with the outlet openings of the pipe and for selectively blocking the outlet openings of the pipe with the rings.
However, the rings are required to be rotated relative to the pipe with the hands of the users, and the water may fly everywhere when the rings are rotated relative to the pipe, such that the water should be cut off before the rings may be rotated relative to the pipe by the users.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional sprinklers.


The present invention provides a heating control method for a fuel cell vehicle, in which an additional heating source is used together with a typical electric heater to reduce power consumption and increase fuel efficiency as compared to the sole use of the electric heater. For this purpose, the present invention provides a heating control method for a fuel cell vehicle which comprises an electric heater for heating air supplied to the interior of the vehicle, and a heater core provided in a coolant line for cooling a fuel cell stack and heating the air supplied to the interior of the vehicle by heat exchange with the coolant discharged from the fuel cell stack. The method comprises: detecting a state of charge (SOC) of a battery when the interior temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature set by a driver and, if the SOC of the battery is above a predetermined lower limit, heating the interior of the vehicle by operating the electric heater by the power of a battery; heating the interior of the vehicle by operating the electric heater by the power generated by the fuel cell stack, if the SOC of the battery is below the lower limit; heating the interior of the vehicle using both the heater core and the electric heater, if the temperature of the coolant is above a predetermined temperature at which the fuel cell stack does not reach a normal operating temperature; and heating the interior of the vehicle using only the heater core while turning off the electric heater, if the temperature of the coolant is increased above a normal operating temperature of the fuel cell stack.

(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a heating control method for a fuel cell vehicle. More particularly, it relates to a heating control method for a fuel cell vehicle, in which an additional heating source, which uses waste heat of coolant of a fuel cell stack, is used together with a typical electric heater.
(b) Background Art
Internal combustion engines using fossil fuels have many problems such as environmental pollution due to exhaust gas, global warming due to carbon dioxide, respiratory diseases due to increased ozone, etc. Moreover, since the amount of fossil fuels left on earth is limited, they will be exhausted in the near future.
To address the above-described problems, various types of electric vehicles, such as a pure electric vehicle (EV) driven by a drive motor, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) driven by an engine and a drive motor, a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) driven by a drive motor using electricity generated by a fuel cell, etc., have been developed.
In an electric vehicle, an electric heater may be used to heat the interior of the vehicle (i.e., the passenger area), unlike an internal combustion engine vehicle which is equipped with a heater that uses hot water heated by waste heat of the engine.
In particular, pure electric vehicles (which use only an electric heater), hybrid electric vehicles (which use both engine waste heat and an electric heater), and fuel cell vehicles (which use only an electric heater) are not equipped with an engine nor do they have a mode in which the engine is stopped. As such, an electric heater is necessarily required to heat the interior of these vehicles.
One example of an electric heater that is widely used is a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater. The PTC heater is commonly used as a heating source in a diesel vehicle together with the waste heat of the engine. Since the PTC heater can rapidly generate heat, the interior temperature can be easily increased and the heating can be easily controlled by simple control logic/means.
However, when only the PTC heater (with a maximum capacity of 5 kW, for example) is used in environmentally-friendly vehicles (e.g., pure electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, etc.) for heating, it is necessarily driven by and consumes the power of a battery or fuel cell. Thus, the driving distance of the vehicle is reduced.
In the fuel cell vehicle, the PTC heater is operated by the electricity generated in the fuel cell vehicle, i.e., the electricity generated by the fuel cell or the electricity of the battery charged by the power generation of the fuel cell. However, because the fuel cell vehicle is not equipped with an engine, high capacity PTC heaters are generally used, which increase the power consumed for heating the interior of the vehicle (or increases the amount of hydrogen used as a fuel), thereby reducing fuel efficiency.
Moreover, in a conventional heating system using only a high capacity PTC heater, the interior temperature can be rapidly increased, but the maximum heating performance is insufficient. Further, when the vehicle-running wind is used as air for heating in a state where a blower fan is turned off during cold conditions (e.g., in winter) when the ambient temperature is low, the temperature of the surface of the PTC heater is rapidly reduced by heat exchange with the cold outside air even when the PTC heater is operated. As a result, cold air is introduced into the interior of the vehicle.
Another example of an electric heater that has been used is a heat pump system using CO2. However, use of such heat pump systems require a significant change in the structure of the vehicle, which is problematic in terms of high cost and mass production. Moreover, high pressure conditions which are required for the application of such heat pump systems may cause a safety problem.
FIG. 1 shows an example in which a PTC heater is controlled in three stages (1 kW, 3 kW, and 5 kW) according to a change in heating load required to heat the interior of the vehicle in cold conditions (e.g., winter). In particular, the amount of heat generated by the PTC heater varies according to the variation of the heating load to maintain the interior temperature within a predetermined range.
For example, if the interior temperature does not fall within the predetermined range during operation of the heating system, the amount of heat generated by the PTC heater (with a maximum capacity of 5 kW) is increased from 1 kW to 5 kW step by step as shown in FIG. 1.
As such, when only the PTC heater is used to heat the interior of the fuel cell vehicle, in this case the fuel efficiency is significantly reduced by the power consumption of the PTC heater.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Heating control method for fuel cell vehicle


A fast modulated lapped transform (MLT) method and architecture for image compression and decompression systems minimizes blocking artifacts associated with JPEG based discrete cosine transform (DCT) image compression systems. The MLT method combines fast block processing capabilities of wavelet transforms and fast block processing of DCT image compression systems. The modular and pipeline MLT architecture is fast by block processing but avoids the visual blocking artifacts that can be seen in most DCT-based compression systems. Improved MLT processors are implemented by an infinite impulse response filter operating on a product of the MLT window function and the input data stream. Forward and reverse MLT processors include a new fused multiply-add logic for fast computations and localized interconnections. The MLT processors can be combined into a bank of parallel processors in a one dimensional MLT architecture, which can be used for two-dimensional image transformation. The improved MLT implementation enables a modular architecture having a reduce number of multipliers and interconnects well suited for practical VLSI implementation.

Future multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing systems and image archives will benefit from effective, high-fidelity image compression techniques. The objective of image data compression is to represent the compressed image with as few bits as possible while retaining sufficient image quality following decompression. In evaluating the effects of compression upon image data, the qualitative and quantitative effects upon the images are considered as well as end user products that are derived from the imagery through the application of environmental retrieval algorithms. Spaceborne remote sensing systems, and the image data archives for those systems will benefit from effective, high-fidelity image compression techniques. Due to practical limitations in onboard storage capacity, downlink contact time, and downlink bandwidth, it will often not be possible to capture the imagery as it was originally acquired with its full spatial, spectral, and radiometric resolution. Onboard image data compression can be used to reduce redundancy in the original input imagery, so that only the real information content need be stored or transmitted. For instance, a spaceborne panchromatic sensor with a ground footprint of one meter, a fifteen kilometer swath and twelve bits per pixel encoding, has a raw data rate of 1.26 Gbps, which exceeds envisioned downlink bandwidths and which will rapidly fill onboard storage media. Adding a multispectral capability with a lower resolution of five meters would magnify the problem by twenty percent for five additional bands. Extrapolating this example, an ambitious hyperspectral sensor can generate raw data rates at many Gbps. Remote image and sound sensing systems can benefit from the availability of high-quality compression techniques. High-resolution commercial remote sensing systems would benefit from high-quality compression methods. The use of lossless compression methods are preferred, but often are not practical in image systems requiring reliable good image quality with compression ratios of at least ten to one.
Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art image compression decompression process operates on an original input image 10 first by image compression 12 providing a compressed image 14 subjected to image decompression to provide a decompressed image 17 reconstructed from the compressed image 14. The effectiveness of the compression decompression method relates to the decompressed image quality compared to the input image 10, and the amount of data compression. The image compression and decompression are inverse operations. Image compression process 12 includes forward transformation 20, quantization 22 and entropy encoding 24. The input image 10 is compressed by image compression including forward transformation 20, quantization 22 and encoding 24 of the input image 10 to produce the compressed image 14. The input image 10 is compressed into the fewest amount of data bits of the compressed image 14 for ease of storage and transmission. The image compression 12 compresses the input image 10 into a transformed, quantized and encoded output compressed image 14 preferably having high quality image data compression at a high compression ratio. The compressed image 14 is decompressed by the image decompression process 17 including decoding 26, dequantization 28 and inverse transformation 30 to reconstruct the compressed image 14 as a decompressed image 18. Preferably, the decompressed image 18 is a lossless version of the input image 10. However, image compression 12 and decompression 16 generates artifacts in the decompressed image 18.
The input image is scanned into the forward transform, for example, using a raster row scan, a raster column scan, zig-zag, or a peano scan. The scanned pixelized data is reformatted for processing by the forward transform. The forward transform provides transformed data which is typically floating point array data, for example, formatted in an IEEE format having a sign, mantissa and exponent of thirty-two bits. The transformed data is referred to as coefficients, which are then quantized typical using scalar divisors defining a bin width, followed by truncation to produce quantized data in integer form of nearly continuous finite discrete values. Transformation and quantization disadvantageously results in a loss of image information. The quantized data may be represented, for example, as a signed two byte word, denoted as a symbol which can be encoded resulting a compressed image of codewords which may be further packed for storage and subsequently unpacked prior to decompression.
The methods of gray scaled image data compression have been typically based on two different orthogonal transform methods, the block transform method or the wavelet transform. In a block transform compression method, an original input image is segmented into blocks of pixel data, and each block of pixel data is transformed into a respective block of transformed data followed by respective block wise quantization and encoding. Block wise transformation results in blocking artifacts. In a wavelet transform, an original input image is convoluted into an entire transformed image. In block transform or wavelet transform, a plurality of finite impulse response (FIR) filters may be multiple tap digital filters and used to generate a respective plurality of filtered images having respective frequency content based upon the FIR filters. The filters operate over a predetermined block size of a plurality of pixels data points on the serially shifted input pixel data. For each shifted input pixel, and transform output coefficient is provided based upon filtering the plurality of pixel data point within the block. Various spectral filters may be used. For example, a high frequency filter and a low frequency filter can be simultaneously used to respectively simultaneously generate a high frequency image and a low frequency image. The resulting images are then down sampled, for example, by two to remove alternating data points of each filtered image to reduce the number data points back into the original input image size, such that the transformation does not compress data, but typical requires additional storage because the floating point data requires more storage than the original gray scale byte. The forward transform can be reapplied to the transform data to sufficiently capture a high fidelity two dimensional image. For example, the forwards transform could operate by row raster scan of the original input image to produce a first transformed image which is then column raster scanned and transformed to produce the final transformed image which is based upon row and column transformation for improved transformed image quality.
An exemplar block transform is the Discrete Cosine Transform. (DCT) which is used in current international standards for still image and motion picture compression. Compression blocking artifact errors results from DCT based algorithms, which include the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) compression scheme. In the international data compression standard, MPEG II Level 3 contains the specifications for audio compression which uses MLT, also called the modulated discrete cosine transform, of block lengths six and eighteen. The DCT compression may include a split-radix approach, which is the fastest known DCT algorithm. For compression with a bit rate below 1 bit per pixel, the DCT disadvantageously results in objectionable blocking artifacts. In applying DCT method to obtain high compression ratios at bit. rates below one bit per pixel, the block boundaries defects often appear in the reconstructed decompressed images. Such defects are blocking artifacts. In the JPEG standard, a two-dimensional DCT is used for still image compression and decompression. However, at high compression ratios, the DCT based JPEG method has produced serious blocking artifacts in the decompressed images.
In the DCT compression method, the image is segmented into small blocks, such as an 8.times.8 pixel by pixel square, prior to compression. The net output sizes of the DCT are eight pixel by eight pixel blocks. The transformed coefficients from the DCT are floating point numbers. The quantization process converts the floating point transformed coefficients into positive or negative integers by first dividing each of the floating-point transformed coefficient by a corresponding integer in a quantization matrix, and then rounding off the results into integers. In the DCT transform domain, the coefficient at the upper-left corner of the 8.times.8 matrix is the lowest frequency term. The lower-right corner is the highest frequency term usually a small number. Taking advantage of human visual characteristics, many of the high frequency terms may be truncated by the quantization process with only a small loss of visual image quality. However, in the DCT method, the quantization causes the blocking effect.
The wavelet transform is a convolution transform of the entire image. The entire original input image is serially shifted into the wavelet transform to produce an entire transform image. The wavelet transform must convolve the image wise the entire image which requires large temporary memory stores and require serial slow processing. Even though the wavelet transform method does not produce serious blocking artifacts at a low bit rate, the wavelet transform processing speed in conventional implementations is disadvantageously slow because of the image wise convolution. The Modulated Lapped Transform (MLT) is a hybrid transform. The desirable property of the MLT is the advantageous high speed of the DCT and the reduced blocking artifacts of wavelet transform. The MLT employs a scan, which may be for example, a raster scan or a peano scan for inputing data into the MLT. The MLT uses a subband filter bank and the window used in MLT spans two DCT blocks, but the window shifts block-by-block. Thus, the MLT performs not only a fast DCT but also a blockwise convolution for reduce blocking artifacts. The use of overlapped windows in MLT obviates many of the blocking artifacts occurring at low-bit rates for the DCT compression method.
In both of the DCT and MLT compression methods, the image is segmented into small blocks, for example, 8 pixel by 8 pixel square, prior to compression. However, in the MLT, there are initially 16 pixels, in one dimension, being shifted into the MLT. These 16 pixels represent the overlapping of two 8 pixel blocks. Subsequently, the MLT retains the latter 8 pixels and inputs 8 more for transformation. The net output sizes in both DCT and MLT are still 8 pixel by 8 pixel blocks. The transformed coefficients from the DCT and MLT are both floating-point numbers. In both the DCT and MLT transform domains, the coefficient at the upper-left corner of the 8.times.8 matrix is the lowest frequency term. The lower-right corner is the highest frequency term usually a small number. In DCT method the quantization causes the blocking effect whereas in MLT method, the high frequency terms roll off much faster than the DCT method because of the use of overlapping windows. Thus, there are mare high frequency terms that have been saved from quantization. Consequently, the reconstructed image quality is superior when MLT is compared to DCT for the same bit rate.
The subsequent entropy encoding assigns a binary code to the quantized transformed coefficients. Such a lossless process is called entropy encoding because the length of the code is proportional to the entropy. The most probable lowest entropy sample is coded with the shortest code. A commonly used entropy encoder is the Huffman code, even though JPEG standard also allows for the Arithmetic code. However, these entropy encoders prefer one-dimensional input data streams. To convert the two-dimensional quantized block into a one-dimensional data stream for entropy encoding, a zig-zag scan pattern according to JPEG specification for DCT may be used for both DCT and MLT. The zig-zag scan increases the zero run length, thus increasing the compression ratio when the run is coded in the entropy encoders. The input to the entropy encoders are fixed-length binary numbers representing the quantized samples and run lengths. However the output from the entropy encoders are variable-length binary codes and a data buffer is needed at the encoder output. The data buffer regulates the output data rate for the fixed bandwidth channels, and generate data packets for error protection during transmission.
An MLT transform is typically defined by a transform kernel. The MLT transform kernel is the product of a window function W and a modulation function F both operating over a plurality of blocks of M pixels over a window of N pixels. The transform kernel W(n)F(k,n) is multiplied by input data stream X(n) for n pixels of the window for k pixels of each output block to provide a transformed output Z(k) summed for each element of the pixel input stream, that is, Z(k)=c.SIGMA.X(n) W(n) F(k,n), for n=1.fwdarw.N for each k=1.fwdarw.M, with a scalar c. The window function may be for example a half sin function, W(n)=sin (2n-1) (.pi./2N)!. The modulation function may be a discrete cosine function with a shifted phase, F(k,n)=cos(.pi./4M) (2k-1) (2n+M-1)!, where N is the window size, e.g. 16, M is the block size, e.g. 8, and n is the running index of the input stream, 1.fwdarw.N for the window size, and k an output pixel index, 1.fwdarw.M for the block size. A scalar c, and a normalization factor of square root of (2/M) are incorporated into the transform function. The input pixel is represented by X(n). The transform function can be expressed as a summation of a product of the window sin function and the modulation cosine function and the input pixel X(n) for n=1.fwdarw.N the window size and for each k=1.fwdarw.M, the block size. EQU Z(k)=c.sqroot.2/M.SIGMA..sub.n=1.sup.N {sin (2n-1)(.pi./2N)! EQU cos (.pi./4M)(2k-1)(2n+M-1)!X(n)}
The availability of a cost-effective VLSI hardware implementation can be applied to compression algorithms. Considerations implementation feasibility limit the usefulness of MLT method. The complexity of the VLSI architecture implementation is determined by the form transform function equation. The mathematical manipulation of the MLT transform equation into alternative form of expressions can be translated into alternative hardware architecture configuration.
One such mathematical manipulation of the transform function equation is to convert the kernel transform function of the sine cosine product into a sum of sine function using the trigonometric relation 2 sin (x) cos (y)=sin (x+y)+sin (x-y). The resulting MLT architecture is a fast MLT system comprising a front end infinite impulse response (IIR) filter operating the input data stream X(n) but disadvantageously consists of eight modules, with each module using six multipliers. Another such mathematical manipulation of the transform function equation is to decompose the MLT into a parallel butterfly bank of multipliers with many DCT modules. A fast DCT processor can be designed according to a Split-Radix DCT method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,425 by Hou on Apr. 18, 1995.
Even though the fast MLT and the fast DCT methods can process images at very high speed on a general-purpose computer or on a programmable digital signal processor, such a fast DCT processor is not tailored for VLSI chip implementations because of the complexity of the resulting equations. These two MLT implementations resulting from the respective mathematical manipulation of the MLT transform function require too many interconnects and too many arithmetic processing units. Important prerequisites of VLSI designs are the use the least number of multipliers and interconnections in order to decrease chip layout complexity and silicon area. Decreasing the number of interconnects and the number of multipliers would save valuable silicon areas in a VLSI chip and simplifies the layouts and routing, for cost effective practical production. Repetitive cost effective VLSI designs and layouts are enhanced by modular designs. These MLT designs are not modular because the interconnections are not local to the individual multipliers disadvantageously complicating the VLSI implementation.
An MLT image compression decompression algorithm can be implemented using various VLSI architectures realized from respective alternatives form of the manipulated transform equation. It is desirable in VLSI designs to use the least number of multipliers and interconnections in order to decrease the chip layout complexity and silicon area. Prior MLT algorithms require the use of many multipliers and interconnections between the multipliers. Consequently, the design of MLT unit will disadvantageously not be modular because the interconnections are not local to the individual multipliers. These conventional MLT algorithms use the FIR digital filters or the in-place Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) which of all disadvantageously require many multipliers and interconnects. The FFT filter disadvantageously requires that the input data length be an integer power of two. These and other disadvantages are solved or reduced using the invention.


A thrust control valve includes a nozzle having a gas supply chamber, a gas jetting chamber and a connecting passage therebetween. The nozzle has an upstream inner surface defining the gas supply chamber and a downstream inner surface defining the gas jetting chamber. The valve also includes a plug axially movably inserted into the gas supply chamber, the connecting passage and the gas jetting chamber. The plug has an upstream outer surface facing the upstream inner surface to define an upstream passage and a downstream outer surface facing the downstream inner surface to define a downstream passage. The plug can control thrust by simultaneously changing sectional areas of the upstream and downstream passages by an axial movement of the plug.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a constitution of a thrust control valve for controlling the thrust (propulsion) of a secondary propulsion engine, such as a thruster for controlling the orbit and attitude of a flying object, and the speed of the flying object.
2. Description of the Related Art
The attitude of a flying object that flies at high altitudes in the atmosphere cannot satisfactorily be controlled and the orbital control (diversion) of the same cannot satisfactorily achieved only by a control effort generated by a control wing. Therefore, the flying object is provided with a thruster that jets a high-pressure propulsion gas supplied from a chamber containing a propellant. The thruster is provided with a thrust control valve called a propellant valve for controlling the thrust generated by jetting the propulsion gas.
FIGS. 6A and 6B are typical views of a conventional pintle thrust control valve 1 in an open state and in a closed state, respectively. The pintle thrust control valve 1 has nozzle 5 and a plug 9. The nozzle 5 has a gas supply chamber 2 to which a propulsion gas is supplied, a gas jetting chamber 3 the propulsion gas is jetted, and a connecting passage 4 defined by a surface 6 and coaxially connecting the gas supply chamber 2 and the gas jetting chamber 3. The plug 9 is placed for axial movement in the gas supply chamber 2 coaxially with the gas supply chamber 2, the gas jetting chamber 3 and the connecting passage 4. The plug 9 has a taper tip having a taper surface 7. A passage 8 is defined by the surface 6 and the taper surface 7.
The plug 9 is moved axially by a drive system including a motor. The sectional area of the passage 8 is varied according to the position of the plug 9 to control thrust generated by jetting the propulsion gas. The product of the pressure P1 of the propulsion gas in the gas supply chamber 2, and the pressure-receiving area A of the taper surface 7 of the plug 9 is equal to a load F that urges the plug 9 axially away from the surface 6. The load F increases as the required thrust increases, and hence the drive system including the motor for driving the plug 9 is large (EP-A No. 489712).
FIG. 7 is a typical sectional view of another conventional differential thrust control valve 11. The differential thrust control valve 11 has a nozzle 15 and a pair of plugs 19a and 19b. The nozzle 15 has a pair of gas supply chambers 12a and 12b to which a propulsion gas is supplied, a pair of gas jetting chambers 13a and 13b through which the propulsion gas is jetted, and a pair of connecting passages 14a and 14b respectively defined by surfaces 16a and 16b and coaxially connecting the gas supply chambers 12a and 12b, and the gas jetting chamber 13a and 13b, respectively. The plugs 19a and 19b are placed for axial movement in the gas supply chambers 12a and 12b coaxially with the gas supply chambers 12a and 12b, the gas jetting chambers 13a and 13b and the connecting passages 14a and 14b, respectively. The plugs 19a and 19b have taper tips respectively having taper surfaces 17a and 17b. Passages 18a and 18b are defined by the surfaces 16a and 16b and the taper surfaces 17a and 17b, respectively.
The pair of plug 19a and 19b of the differential thrust control valve 11 are moved axially by a motor to change thrusts linearly. Since loads that act on the plugs 19a and 19b cancel each other, the torque to be produced by the motor is smaller than that to be produced by the motor of the conventional pintle thrust control valve 1 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. However, opposite thrusts are generated even in a state where any thrust is not necessary and hence the flow rate of the necessary propulsion gas increases (JP11-83396A).
FIGS. 8A and 8B are typical sectional views of a conventional floating-poppet thrust control valve 21 in an open state and in a closed state, respectively. This floating-poppet thrust control valve 21 has a nozzle 25 provided with a gas supply chamber 22 in which a propulsion gas is supplied, a gas jetting chamber 23 through which the propulsion gas is jetted, and a connecting passage 24 defined by a surface 26 and coaxially connecting the gas supply chamber 22 and the gas jetting chamber 23. This thrust control valve 21 also has a plug 29 axially movable in the gas supply chamber 22, the connecting passage 2 and the gas jetting chamber 23 to open and close the connecting passage 24, a poppet 30 fixedly connected to the plug 29 and provided with through holes 33, and a solenoid valve 31 for controlling pressure in a back space 32 behind the poppet 30.
In this thrust control valve 21, the gas supply chamber 22 communicates with the back space 32 by means of the through holes 33 of the poppet 30. The axial position of the plug 29 is changed by adjusting the pressure in the back space by adjusting the opening of the solenoid valve 31.
This floating-poppet thrust control valve 21 is unable to control the generated thrust linearly and hence the solenoid valve 31 is controlled by a pulse width modulation (PWM) drive system. Therefore, a control signal for controlling the solenoid valve 31 acts as noise on a guide signal for guiding the flying object. Thus, it is possible that the control signal reduces the accuracy of guiding the flying object (JP2000-283301A).


A spin modulator with phase tuning means which comprises, a spin array which consists of m×n matrix spin-transfer torque oscillators, a selection control means which selectively operates the spin-transfer torque oscillators according to an operation condition of the spin array, and a phase tuning array which includes m×n matrix phase tuning means, wherein the m×n matrix phase tuning means tune a phase synchronization operation of the spin-transfer torque oscillators according to the operation condition.

The bandwidth of conventional VCOs is so narrow that multiband communications need a plurality of VCOs that take long settling time to attain the required frequency after power-on.
A spin-transfer torque oscillator (hereinafter, "spin oscillator") which uses spin-transfer torque phenomena can be used for multiband communication apparatus by virtue of the frequency controllability by changing the amount of applied current of a single spin oscillator. Due to the short settling time of the spin oscillator, the spin oscillator can achieve high speed data transmission rate of 50 Mbps for FSK modulation or 500 Mbps for ASK modulation in the case of a single symbol modulation.
A spin oscillator can be integrated on a silicon substrate by the nanometer scale structure so that it has advantages of small size and mass production. However, so far, the spin oscillator cannot replace VCOs and is not to be used as a communication component because the output power of the spin oscillator is very low level of less than −40 dBm and its phase noise is high. The output power of less than −40 dBm limits the transmission distance and the required signal to noise ratio (SNR) cannot be achieved due to high phase noise characteristics.
Spin oscillators which are fabricated using nanoscale process show some problems of high fluctuation range of performance due to process variations and high fluctuation of the output power due to external force like magnetic field and the operational condition like the amount of applied current. Non-patent reference 1 discloses the simulation result which synchronizes two spin oscillators using a variable capacitor.

Spin modulator and spin-transfer torque oscillators having phase tuning means and modulation method thereof

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


An opto-electronic integrated circuit (OEIC) apparatus is disclosed for generating an electrical signal at a frequency .gtoreq.10 GHz. The apparatus, formed on a single substrate, includes a semiconductor ring laser for generating a continuous train of mode-locked lasing pulses and a high-speed photodetector for detecting the train of lasing pulses and generating the electrical signal therefrom. Embodiments of the invention are disclosed with an active waveguide amplifier coupling the semiconductor ring laser and the high-speed photodetector. The invention has applications for use in OEICs and millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs).

The millimeter-wave (MM-wave) region of the electromagnetic spectrum (defined herein to be radiation at wavelengths less than about 10 millimeters and having a frequency greater than about 30 GHz) is becoming increasingly important for many commercial and military applications. This is due to the lack of frequencies for new services in the microwave region of the spectrum, and also to the advantages to be gained from operation at higher frequencies. Furthermore, the MM-wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is at present relatively uncrowded so that wider bandwidths are available for signal transmission, and there is reduced signal interference. A number of other advantages are to be gained by operating at MM wavelengths. The use of MM-waves allows transmitted signal beams to be more directive in nature, and also provides a greater image resolution for radar or ranging applications. Additionally, the use of MM-waves allows the use of reduced transmitter power levels and smaller antenna sizes. As a result, system size and weight can be greatly reduced compared to equivalent microwave systems. Furthermore, transmission at MM-wave frequencies is improved compared with microwave systems due to a relative immunity to weather conditions. At MM-wave frequencies, the transmitted data can be greatly increased, increasing the channel capacity for communications and thereby lowering network system cost. And for many MM-wave applications, the directionality and limited range of signal transmission means that the same frequency bands can be allocated to many different localities without interference.
MM-wave technology has both commercial and military applications. The near-term applications are primarily in the areas of radar and communications; although very-high-speed signal processing and computing are expected to become of increasing importance as millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) and opto-electronic integrated circuit (OEIC) technology is developed. Areas of commercial application include data and signal processing, intelligent automotive systems for traffic control and safety; imaging radar systems for aircraft landing under low visibility conditions; vision for autonomous robotic vehicles; intrusion alarms; local-area and satellite direct broadcast systems for computer networks and personal communications; and fiber-optic communication links. Military applications include radar fuses for projectiles; "smart" extended-range weapons; adverse-weather weapon systems; electronic warfare; phased-array radar; global positioning systems; and defense satellite communications.
The development of new and improved sources of MM-wave radiation is essential to the development and application of the technologies listed above and to he development of future MMIC and OEIC technology. The most commonly used solid-state electrical sources of MM-wave radiation today are negative differential resistance diodes such as Gunn and IMPATT diodes. IMPATT diodes have been the most powerful and efficient electrical MM-wave devices for the frequency range of 50to 100 GHz. With increasing frequency above 50 GHz, however, the output power of IMPATT diodes decreases very rapidly due to a saturation of the ionization rate at high electric fields. Multi-quantum-well structures are being developed for IMPATT diodes to reduce this limitation; but these devices are presently limited to continuous-wave (cw) output powers of less than about 10 milliwatts at 100 GHz.
An advantage of the present invention is that an apparatus for generating a MM-wave electrical signal can be formed as a part of an OEIC or a MMIC wherein a mode-locked lasing pulse train at a frequency .gtoreq.10 GHz is generated by a semiconductor ring laser and converted by a high-speed photodetector into an electrical output signal at the same frequency.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a frequency of the electrical signal to be generated can be controlled by providing a particular size for a semiconductor ring laser used to generate the mode-locked lasing pulse train.
A further advantage is that electrical feedback from the high-speed photodetector can be used to reduce any optical jitter in the mode-locked lasing pulse train to stabilize a frequency of oscillation of the electrical output signal from the high-speed photodetector.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that an amplitude of the generated electrical signal can be controlled or increased by a optical waveguide amplifier located between the semiconductor ring laser and the high-speed photodetector and optically coupling the laser and photodetector.
Yet another advantage is that the apparatus of the present invention can be operated to generate an electrical signal at a frequency that is twice the frequency of the mode-locked lasing pulse train within the semiconductor ring laser.
These and other advantages of the apparatus of the present invention will become evident to those skilled in the art.

Apparatus for millimeter-wave signal generation


Presented is a touchscreen panel sensor film with alignment marks or product information assigned thereto, this sensor film being formed so as to improve in post-processing accuracy. The touchscreen panel sensor film according to this invention includes a transparent base film and a transparent electrical conductor pattern provided on at least one surface of the base film, and achieves the improvement of post-processing accuracy by having alignment marks or product information in a non-active area on the sensor film.

Nowadays, touchscreen panel devices are widely used as input means. The touchscreen panel devices include a touchscreen panel sensor, a control circuit for detecting a contact position of an object on the touchscreen panel sensor, electrical interconnects, and a flexible printed circuit (FPC) board. In many cases, these touchscreen panel devices are used with a display device such as a liquid-crystal display or a plasma display, as the input means for the various types of hardware, for example, ticket-vending machines, automatic teller machines (ATMs), cell phones, or game consoles, that each incorporate such a display device. In such hardware, the touchscreen panel sensor is disposed over a display screen of the display device; therefore, the touchscreen panel device can perform highly direct data input into the display device. A region of the touchscreen panel sensor that faces a display region of the display device is transparent, and this region of the touchscreen panel sensor is to constitute an active area in which the sensor can detect the contact position (approach position).
The touchscreen panel devices can be divided into various types according to the principles of detecting the contact position or approach position of the object on the touchscreen panel sensor. Touchscreen panel devices of a capacitive coupling scheme are catching attention nowadays for reasons of optical brightness, design quality, structural simplicity, functional excellence, and the like. In the touchscreen panel devices of the capacitive coupling scheme, an external conductor (typically, finger) whose position is to be detected generates a new parasitic capacity by coming into contact or near-contact with the touch sensor through a dielectric. The touchscreen panel sensor utilizes a change in that capacitance to detect the position of the object on the sensor. The capacitive coupling scheme is subdivided into a surface type and a projected type. Of the two types, the projected type, in particular, is receiving attention for its suitableness for multitouch recognition (multipoint recognition) applications or requirements, as described in JP 2007-533044T.
Touchscreen panel sensors of the projected capacitive-coupling scheme include a dielectric, a first sensor electrode, and a second sensor electrode, the latter two sensor electrodes being formed in different patterns on both sides of the dielectric. Typically, the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode, both including a grid-like array of electrical conductors, detect a position of the electrical conductors based on an electromagnetic change or capacitance change that occurs when an external conductor (typically, a finger) comes into contact or near-contact with the touchscreen panel sensor.
As described in JP 1992-264613A, such a touchscreen panel sensor of the projected capacitive-coupling scheme is generally fabricated by bonding together via an adhesive layer, a first base film with a first sensor electrode formed thereupon, and a second base film with a second sensor electrode formed thereupon. In the thus-fabricated touchscreen panel sensor, the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode are connected to an external control circuit via electrical lead-out lines (electrical conductors for lead-out) formed in regions external to active areas of the respective base films. When the touchscreen panel device is used with a display device, the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode are formed from transparent electrically conductive materials of low electrical conductivity. On the other hand, the lead-out lines disposed outside the active areas do not need to be transparent and are each formed on the base film by screen-printing a metallic material of high electrical conductivity.                [Patent Document 1]: JP2007-533044T        [Patent Document 2]: JP1992-264613A

Touchscreen panel sensor film and manufacturing method thereof


A system includes a vessel configured to contain a substance therein having a top end and a bottom end with a center-of-gravity for the vessel disposed between the top end and the bottom end, a frame connected to the vessel, a cable link connected to the frame configured to connect a cable thereto, and a cable support connected to the vessel or the frame. The cable support disposed above the center-of-gravity of the vessel with respect to the top end and the bottom end of the vessel. As the vessel moves from a first position to a second position, the cable engages the cable support such that a lifting force is translated from the cable and through the cable support to have the cable move the vessel through the cable support, the cable support attached to the frame or the vessel with the cable support disposed above the center-of-gravity.

Many industries involve moving, lifting, and otherwise handling larger scale equipment and vessels, in which this equipment must be handled in a safe and effective manner to protect the personnel handling the equipment, and the equipment itself. For example, in the oil and gas industry, separators are transported between various locations and wells to remove gas and water from an oil producing well before the oil is ready to be discharged for export. Separators are horizontal (e.g., horizontally oriented) or vertical (e.g., vertically oriented), and separators can be classified into two-phase or three-phase separators.
A vertical separator is transported in a horizontal orientation, and the separator is lifted from the horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation when the separator is at a desired location for use, such as when at the location of the wellhead. Separators vary in size and weight, such as up to about 30 ft (9.1 m) in overall height and weigh up to 24,000 lb (10,866 kg). A lifting device, such as a crane, or other associated equipment is used to lift and reorient the separator from the horizontal orientation to the vertical orientation for use. Due to the overall size and weight, this reorientation of the separator must be performed in a safe and effective manner for the safety of the handling personnel and to prevent damage to the separator and other equipment. Similar issues apply in other industries that relate to moving and lifting larger scale vessels having a large height to width/depth ratio with significant weight.

System and method to assist in lifting a vessel


A shock absorber includes a shock absorber body interposed between a vehicle body and a wheel, a cylinder connected to a wheel side and standing in a shaft center portion of the shock absorber body, a liquid chamber formed in the cylinder and filled with an operating liquid, an annular rod guide fixed to the cylinder and closing a liquid chamber's vehicle body side, a piston rod connected to a vehicle body side, penetrating a shaft center portion of the rod guide, and going into and out of the cylinder, an annular seal member held on a rod guide's inner periphery and in sliding contact with a piston rod's outer peripheral surface, and a relief portion formed on a piston rod's outer periphery and forming a gap between the piston rod and the seal member when the piston rod retreats from the cylinder by a predetermined amount.

A shock absorber for damping vibration of a vehicle, equipment, a structure and the like is known. The shock absorber is used for a saddle-type vehicle such as a bicycle, a tricycle and the like, for example. Such a shock absorber is composed of an outer tube and an inner tube going into and out of this outer tube. A telescopic shock absorber body which becomes an outer shell of the shock absorber is provided, and the shock absorber body accommodates a suspension spring for elastically supporting a vehicle body. Such a shock absorber generates a damping force for suppressing a telescopic motion of the shock absorber body.
In some cases, such a shock absorber is provided with a cylinder a rod guide, a piston rod, a piston, a piston passage, a damping valve, a free piston, urging means, and a relief portion which will be explained below.
The cylinder stands in a shaft center portion of the shock absorber body. In the cylinder, a liquid chamber filled with an operating liquid therein is formed. The rod guide has an annular shape, fixed to the cylinder and closes one side of the liquid chamber. The piston rod penetrates the rod guide and goes into and out of the cylinder with extension and contraction of the shock absorber body. The piston is held at a distal end portion of the piston rod and divides the liquid chamber into a rod-side chamber and a piston-side chamber. The piston passage is formed in the piston and has the rod-side chamber and the piston-side chamber communicate with each other. The damping valve applies resistance to the operating liquid passing through the piston passage. The free piston is in sliding contact with a portion on a side opposite to the piston rod side in an inner peripheral surface of the cylinder and closes the other side of the liquid chamber. The urging means urges the free piston to the liquid chamber side. The relief portion allows the operating liquid in the cylinder to escape to an outside of the cylinder when the free piston retreats by a predetermined amount against an urging force of the urging means. That is, it relieves the operating liquid.
In the above-described shock absorber, at the time of extension and contraction of the shock absorber when the piston rod goes into and out of the cylinder, the operating liquid in one of the chambers pressurized by the piston passes through the piston passage and moves to the other chamber. As a result, a damping force caused by resistance of the damping valve is generated. Moreover, in the above-described shock absorber, the urging means pressurizes the liquid chamber. As a result, in the above-described shock absorber, responsiveness of generation of the damping force is made favorable. In the above-described shock absorber, even if the operating liquid in the cylinder increases or swells, the relief portion suppresses an excessive rise of a cylinder internal pressure. Such a shock absorber is disclosed in JP2005-30534A, JP2010-270832A, and JP2011-117533A, for example.


The present invention is to enable a user to input authentication information without burden, such that the user only has to memorize part of the authentication information even when inputting lengthy authentication information in order to ensure high-level security. When an operation of inputting and arranging authentication information in an information arrangement region is performed in a state where an arrangement status of a specified portion in the information arrangement region is set in advance as partial-authentication reference information in a reference authentication information memory, a CPU detects an arrangement status of the specified portion from an overall arrangement status in the information arrangement region, and performs, as partial authentication, processing of matching the detected arrangement status of the specified portion and the arrangement status of the specified portion set as the partial-authentication reference information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an authentication processing device which performs authentication processing according to inputted authentication information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in an information processing device such as a PC (personal computer), a tablet terminal device, or a portable terminal device, when authentication processing such as identity verification is performed, a passphrase with a large number of characters is used, among passwords (authentication information) for use in authentication, whereby high-level security can be achieved and a significant reduction of the danger of violating authentication can be expected. However, the large number of characters disadvantageously makes it difficult for a user to remember the passphrase.
To overcome this disadvantage, a technology has been conventionally provided in which, even if a four-digit password is used, security can be enhanced by setting the input positions and the input sequence of characters in the password in advance (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. 2000-339084).
In the above-described technology, in the case of a password with a large number of digits such as a passphrase, a user has to memorize the input positions and the input sequence of the digits and input the password by recalling the input position and the input sequence for each digit. This puts a great burden on the user. Conversely, when the number of digits of the password is small, if a third party steals a glance at or secretly photographs the password with the last digit inputted, there is a danger that authentication is violated after repeating input errors several times.

Authentication processing device for performing authentication processing