A vehicle body side molding apply fixture and control system is provided wherein the loading of the body side molding is easier than in prior application fixtures. Additionally, in a preferred embodiment, the body side molding can additionally apply the side emblems to the vehicle and the retainer which holds the body side molding to the body side molding apply fixture automatically opens after the prior retainer has been applied to the vehicle.

The present invention relates generally to a fixture and a control system thereof of an apparatus to apply body side molding to the side panels of an automotive vehicle and also to simultaneously apply the emblem to the side body panels of an automotive vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a body side molding apply fixture and control system as described above which has a pneumatically powered retainer for the body side molding.
Most automotive vehicles have side body panels which have connected thereto body side moldings. The body side moldings provide for two major functions. One function of the body side molding is to protect the vehicle from dents and scratches associated with the opening and closing of vehicle doors by vehicle occupants and other vehicles parked laterally adjacent. The body side moldings also protect the side panels of the vehicle from dents and scratches by other articles such as shopping carts or other objects. A second function of the body side molding is to enhance the aesthetics of the vehicle. In the past, body side moldings were typically physically interconnected with the body panel and required a rivet or other fastener and a penetration hole to be made in the body panel. The prior technique was considered undesirable not only due to cost but penetration holes in the panels of the vehicle can inadvertently give rise to the entrance of moisture and/or other contaminants which can accelerate oxidation of the sheet metal of the vehicle. Accordingly, most body side moldings are now adhesively connected to the vehicle.
Since the body side molding contributes to the aesthetics of the vehicle the correct installation of body side molding to the vehicle is a critical factor. An incorrectly placed body side molding can result in a negative impression of quality that a potential buyer may have even though the installation of the body side molding will not materially affect the vehicles functional characteristics. This is even more particularly important in four door vehicles since the molding on the front and rear door should be parallel and should have the correct angle with respect to the vehicle to give the vehicle the overall side appearance that is desired. Therefore, it is desirable that the installation of body side molding to a vehicle be accomplished without errors to the greatest extent possible. Accordingly, most body side moldings are placed to the side of the vehicle by a body side molding apply fixture. Prior to the present invention, the body side molding fixture require that an installer place the body side molding on a plenum or body side molding presentation table against the spring action of a retainer. Although this process was acceptable, it was fatiguing to the operator. Additionally, in most instances of the past, the vehicle emblem was placed upon the vehicle separately from the body side molding. It is desirable to provide a body side molding apply fixture and control system thereof which is easier to load. It is additionally desirable to provide a body side molding apply fixture and control system which additionally incorporates the emblem application with confirmation of the correct placement of the emblem in the fixture.
To make manifest, the above delineated and other manifold desires, a revelation of the present invention is brought forth. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a body side molding apply fixture and control system that frees the operator from having to load a body side molding to the fixture against the action of a retainer spring. The present invention provides significant ergonomic benefits to the operator by allowing the operator to load the body side molding to the fixture without fighting against the operation of a holding spring which was previously required. Additionally, the body side molding and apply fixture of the present invention allows the emblem which is typically a pressure sensitive adhesive back film to be simultaneously applied.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a vehicle body side molding apply fixture and control system wherein loading of the body side molding is easier than prior systems. It is further a purpose of the present to provide a body side molding apply fixture and control system as described above further encompassing application of a vehicle emblem to the vehicle.

Fixture for applying molding to vehicles


A device generates a service protection factor (SPFi) for links (N) on a link aggregation group (LAG), determines a traffic allocation bandwidth on the LAG for a service class based on the service protection factor (SPFi) and a congestion guard factor (CGFi), and restricts the traffic allocation bandwidth on the LAG. The service protection factor (SPFi) may guarantee a service availability target in the presence of link failure, and the congestion guard factor (CGFi) may protect against link overload that may arise from imperfectness in traffic load balancing across links in the LAG.

A link aggregation (e.g., as set forth in IEEE 802.3ad) is a computer networking term which describes using multiple links (e.g., Ethernet network cables and/or ports in parallel) as one logical port to increase the link speed beyond the limits of any one single link. Other terms used for link aggregation may include Ethernet trunking, port teaming, NIC bonding, link bundling, and/or link aggregation group (LAG). LAG will be used hereinafter to refer to link aggregation.
LAG is an inexpensive way to set up a high-speed backbone network that may transfer more datagrams (e.g., traffic) than any one single port or device can support. A "datagram(s)" may include any type or form of data, such as packet or non-packet data. LAG may permit several devices to communicate simultaneously at their full single-port speed. Network datagrams may be dynamically distributed across ports so that administration of what datagrams actually flow across a given port may be taken care of automatically with the LAG.
A LAG control protocol (LACP), such as the LACP set forth in IEEE 802.3ad, allows one or more links to be aggregated together to form a LAG. Once implemented, the LAG can be configured and reconfigured quickly and automatically with a low risk of duplication or rendering of frames.
Load balancing may be used across multiple parallel links between two network devices. One method of load balancing used today is based on an Internet Protocol (IP) header data address. Another method, which may be used for non-IP protocols and for double-tagged frames, is based on a media access control (MAC) address. A LAG may provide local link protection. Should one of the multiple links used in a LAG fail, network traffic (e.g., datagrams) may be dynamically redirected to flow across the remaining good links in the LAG. The redirection may be triggered because of dynamic hashing to surviving LAG links. The network device may send the datagrams to the surviving LAG links, and the network may continue to operate with virtually no interruption in service.
Some LAG designs use two equal capacity links (e.g., two (1) gigabyte-per-second (Gbps) links) in a LAG, and the two links may attempt to protect each other. However, current load balancing methods do not guarantee even distribution of traffic among LAG links. For example, a LAG with two (1) Gbps links has an aggregated capacity of (2) Gbps, but may not be able to support the aggregated capacity because the traffic may not be evenly assigned to the two links (i.e., one link may be congested and the other link may be under-utilized). Furthermore, current load balancing methods do not fully protect traffic during link failure. To protect traffic during a link failure, the traffic load per service class handled by the LAG may be adjusted for oversubscription (i.e., connecting multiple devices to the same port to optimize network device use) and/or may not exceed one link capacity. For example, in order to protect traffic if a link fails, a LAG using two (1) Gbps links may not commit to more than a (1) Gbps traffic load, and each service class may not go beyond its bandwidth designed for a single link. This may result in wasted bandwidth.

Bandwidth-based admission control mechanism


An insert in accordance with the present invention is attachable to a seat on a mining machine such as a continuous mining machine or a radial longwall. The insert has a cutting face, an inner end, an outer end, and a back adapted to be retained on a seat for retaining an insert. The back of the insert has a protrusion thereon, which may be in the shape of a longitudinal rib, and positioned adjacent each side of the longitudinal rib, a flat. The rib may have any desired cross section, but in the preferred embodiment the rib has an arcuate cross section, or V-shaped cross section. Also a stub on the inner end of the insert fits into a bore in the seat to position the insert during braising.

Mining machines, such as longwall mining machines and continuous mining machines have a rotating cutter with a plurality of carbide inserts at the outer ends of the cutter which strike against the wall of the mine to loosen stone and coal for later removal. In the course of operating such equipment, the carbide inserts gradually wear away. Furthermore, the carbide inserts are braised into seats on supporting body members and on some occasions, the braising which retains the insert to the seat fractures, and the entire insert is lost. When a mining machine loses or breaks one or more of the carbide inserts, the machine will commence operating unevenly, will vibrate, and will cause stress to other portions of the machine, such that the machine must be shut down and repaired.
The carbide inserts of such machines are braised to removable bit bodies and, therefore, the removable body for which the carbide insert has been broken must be removed and replaced by a new or remanufactured body after which the machine can be placed back in service. To minimize the cost of maintenance of such machines, the bit bodies having damaged carbide inserts are remanufactured, during which the broken pieces of the prior carbide insert are removed, and a new carbide insert is attached.
In the course of the use of a bit body, the cutting end of the carbide insert will become worn. Worn carbide inserts can be reground without removing the insert from the body to which it is attached, but the grinding process also results in the grinding away of a portion of the body behind the distal end of the carbide. As a result, remanufactured bodies frequently do not provide support behind the entire length of the insert, and fracturing of the carbide insert is more common in remanufactured bodies.
Furthermore, prior art carbide inserts are braised to the seat of a body by visually positioning the carbide insert on the seat of the body and clamping the carbide insert in the desired location. The carbide insert is then braised to the seat of the body, after which the clamp is removed. The visual positioning of the carbide insert upon the seat of a body results in some misalignment of the insert upon the body. Where an insert has not been properly positioned and braised to a body, it will be subjected to uneven forces and the entire carbide insert may break away from the body. Approximately seven percent of the failure of all carbide inserts occurs as a result of breakage of the braising caused by the misalignment of the carbide insert.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a carbide insert for a mining machine which would be self centered upon the body during the braising process. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a carbide insert which is reinforced along its longitudinal length to reduce the failure of remanufactured bit bodies.


An RTL description, such as a Verilog description, of an integrated circuit is derived from a C/C++ description by defining the integrated circuit as a generalized multiplexer having outputs and two groups of input variables X1, X2, . . . , Xs and Y1, Y2, . . . , Yn in which each variable X1, X2, . . . , Xs, is fixed and no output depends on more than one variable of Y1, Y2, . . . , Yn. An output vector is constructed by Exclusive-OR operations to find an index j for UU1=(BIT(0,j), BIT(1,j), . . . , BIT(Kxe2x88x921),j)). The Verilog description of the circuit is a function of the solution of the output vector, or a constant.

This invention relates to integrated circuit design, and particularly to compilers for developing a hardware description language of a circuit.
Integrated circuits (ICs) are often designed at a level of abstraction known as the registered transfer level (RTL), which is typically implemented in a hardware description language, such as Verilog HDL or VHDL. Verilog HDL is a hardware description language administered by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). At the RTL level of abstraction, the IC design is specified by functionally describing operations performed on data as they flow between circuit inputs, outputs and clocked registers. The Verilog HDL is both machine and human readable and is commonly used for development, verification, synthesis and testing of integrated circuit designs.
Most IC foundries require an RTL code describing the IC circuit to be fabricated. More particularly, the RTL code can be synthesized by the foundry to generate a gate-level description (netlist) for the IC. Synthesizing is performed using a technology library to map the RTL code into technology-dependent gate-level netlists, or mapped netlists. The RTL code is not technology dependent; the RTL code does not specify exact gates or logic devices to implement the design. The mapped netlist is technology dependent.
Many IC designers create IC designs using programming languages, such as C and C++. Code written in these languages is not easily synthesized or mapped to a given technology. Where an IC design is functionally described in C or C++, complex parsing is required to generate an RTL code, such as a Verilog HDL description of the circuit. Transformation from C/C++ to Verilog HDL is usually performed manually, meaning that process is highly labor-intensive. There is a need, therefore, for a compiler that transforms functional circuit models from languages such as C or C++, to an RTL description, such as Verilog HDL, so that the circuit design may be mapped, verified, modified, synthesized and tested.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an integrated circuit functional description is transformed to an RTL description by modeling the integrated circuit as a generalized multiplexer. The multiplexer is defined by two groups of input variables X1, X2, . . . , Xs and Y1, Y2, . . . , Yn, and a group of outputs. Each input variable of the first group, X1, X2, . . . , Xs, is fixed as X1=a1, X2=a2, . . . , Xs=as, where a1, a2, . . . , as are fixed terms. No output depends on more than one variable of the second group. Output U[i] is defined, represented by F(a1,a2, . . . ,as,BIT(i,1),BIT(i,2),BIT(i,3), . . . ,BIT(i,n)), where i is a bit position of a number k. An output vector is constructed as UU1=U[0]⊕U[K], U[0]⊕U[K], . . . , U[0]⊕[K]. If an index j exists for which UU1=(BIT(0,j), BIT(1,j), . . . , BIT(Kxe2x88x921),j)), an RTL description of the integrated circuit is constructed as
F(a1,atxe2x88x921,0,Xt+1 . . . ,Xs,Y1,Y2, . . . ,Yn)(Xt) OR F(a1,atxe2x88x921,1,Xt+1 . . . ,Xs,Y1,Y2, . . . ,Yn) Xt.
Another aspect of the present invention is the provision of computer readable program that is embedded in a computer usable medium. The computer readable program includes program code that causes a computer to form an RTL description of an integrated circuit.

Process, apparatus and program for transforming program language description of an IC to an RTL description


Herein is reported a nucleic acid comprising in 5′ to 3′ direction i) a first nucleic acid fragment encoding a polypeptide of interest without an in frame translational stop codon, ii) a second nucleic acid fragment operably linked to said first nucleic acid fragment which is beginning with the 5′ splice donor site of an immunoglobulin heavy chain CH3 or CH4 domain and which is terminated by the 3′ splice acceptor site of the succeeding immunoglobulin heavy chain transmembrane domain exon M1 and which comprises in frame translational stop codon and a polyadenylation signal, and iii) a third nucleic acid fragment operably linked to said second nucleic acid encoding at least a fragment of a transmembrane domain, wherein the second nucleic acid fragment has at its 3′ terminus the nucleotide sequence CTACCACCCCCTTCCTGTCCAG (SEQ ID NO: 29) or TGACCACGCCAATCGTGTCCAG (SEQ ID NO: 14) or CTACCACGCCAATCGTGTCCAG (SEQ ID NO: 31).

Expression systems for the production of recombinant polypeptides are well-known in the state of the art and are described by, e.g., Marino, M. H., Biopharm. 2 (1989) 18-33; Goeddel, D. V., et al., Methods Enzymol. 185 (1990) 3-7; Wurm, F., and Bernard, A., Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 10 (1999) 156-160. For the production of polypeptides and proteins used in pharmaceutical applications preferably mammalian host cells such as CHO cells, BHK cells, NSO cells, Sp2/0 cells, COS cells, HEK cells, PER.C6® cells and the like are employed. The nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide is preferably introduced into the host cell comprised in a nucleic acid, such as, for example, an expression plasmid. The essential elements of an expression plasmid are a prokaryotic plasmid propagation unit, e.g. for Escherichia coli comprising an origin of replication and a selection marker, a eukaryotic selection marker, and one or more expression cassettes for the expression of the structural gene(s) of interest each of them comprising a promoter, a structural gene, and a transcription terminator including a polyadenylation signal. For transient expression in mammalian cells a mammalian origin of replication, such as the SV40 Ori or OriP from EBV, may be included. As a promoter a constitutive or inducible promoter can be selected. For optimized transcription a Kozak sequence may be included in the 5′ untranslated region. For mRNA processing, in particular transcription termination and pre-mRNA splicing, mRNA splicing signals, depending on the organization of the structural gene (exon-intron-organization), may be included as well as a polyadenylation signal.
Expression of a gene is performed either as transient or permanent expression. The polypeptide(s) of interest may be a secreted polypeptide, containing an N-terminal extension (also known as the signal sequence), which is necessary for the transport/secretion of the polypeptide through the cell and into the extracellular medium, or may be a cytosolic polypeptide.
For the large scale production of a polypeptide a high producer cell line has to be established. After the transfection of a host cell line, such as CHO cells, NSO cells, Sp2/0 cells, BHK cells, COS cells, PER.C6® cells, or HEK cells, in general a plurality of clones with different characteristics are obtained due to, for example, the broad difference of polypeptide expressed from transiently transfected or stably integrated plasmids. For selection purposes the nucleic acid introduced into cells possesses additionally a selectable marker, e.g. a gene conferring resistance against an otherwise fatal substance.
After transfection and by growth in an appropriate selective medium a high producer clone has to be isolated. This is time consuming and consequently expensive. Several methods have been developed to handle this problem.
One of these methods is gene amplification. Therein cells deficient of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) are transfected with a plasmid/plasmid which contains a first expression cassette for the expression of the DHFR protein and a second expression cassette for the expression of a heterologous polypeptide of interest. By using a culture medium depleted of glycine, hypoxanthine, and thymidine selective growth conditions are established. For amplification a DHFR inhibitor, methotrexate (MTX), is added (Kaufman, R. J., et al., J. Mol. Biol. 159 (1982) 601-621; U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,134).
Alternatively reporter molecules, such as chloramphenicol-acetyl-transferase, luciferase, green fluorescent protein, or beta-galactosidase, can be fused to the heterologous polypeptide for which a high producer cell line is desired and used as an indirect selection marker. The selection takes place in the presence of an added exogenous substrate or cofactor.
A further method for the identification of a high producer clone is a linked transcription of a selectable marker gene and a structural gene encoding a heterologous polypeptide via an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). With this design the expression of the heterologous polypeptide can be correlated with the expression of the selectable marker.
Human immunoglobulins are produced by specialized lymphocytes, the B-cells. These cells do not only secrete immunoglobulins (sIg) they also present immunoglobulins on their outer cell membrane as plasma-membrane-bound immunoglobulins (mIg). These mIg's play an important role in the beginning of an immunological response. The presented plasma-membrane-bound immunoglobulins have the function of cellular receptors of their corresponding antigen.
Beginning in 1980 articles dealing with the origin of secreted and plasma-membrane-bound forms of immunoglobulins were published. Early et al. (Early, P., 10 et al., Cell 20 (1980) 313-319) reported that in mice two species of mRNA which encode the heavy chain of immunoglobulins originate from the same primary transcript of a single immunoglobulin p-gene. The formation of the secreted (sIg) and the plasma-membrane-bound (mIg) forms results from alternative splicing of the heavy chain pre-mRNA. For the sIg isoform all exons coding for the domains of the immunoglobulin and the intron following the exon encoding the C-terminal domain are retained in the mRNA and the polyadenylation signal locates downstream of the stop codon in the intron is used for cleavage and polyadenylation of the primary transcript. For the mIg isoform an alternative 5′ splice donor site after the exon encoding the C-terminal domain of the secreted form (i.e. CH3 or CH4, respectively) links the constant region with the downstream exons M1 and M2 encoding a transmembrane domain. In this case the sequence encoding the terminal amino acids and the stop codon of the secreted form, as well as the adjacent intronic polyadenylation signal for the sIg form are removed by the splicing process along with the intron.
For example, the ratio between the mRNA encoding the secreted immunoglobulin heavy chain form and the mRNA encoding the plasma-membrane-bound immunoglobulin heavy chain form is of from 10:1 to 100:1. This ratio is established mainly during pre-mRNA splicing. Translational and post-translational control mechanisms contribute only to a minor part (see e.g. Xiang, S. D., et al., Immun. Cell Biol. 79 (2001) 472-481).
The immunoglobulin bound to the cell's plasma-membrane has the same amino acid sequence and secondary structure as its secreted analogue. The difference is a C-terminal extension of the sIg's heavy chain comprising a transmembrane domain. This transmembrane domain has in general a length of between approx. 40 and approx. 75 amino acid residues. For murine and human immunoglobulins the transmembrane domain can be subdivided into three distinct structural regions: an N-terminal extracellular region of 13-67 amino acid residues, a central conserved transmembrane stretch of 25 amino acid residues, and a C-terminal cytoplasmatic region of 3-28 amino acid residues (Major, J. G., et al., Mol. Immunol. 33 (1996) 5 179-187).
Expression plasmids comprising an amplifiable selectable gene, a fluorescent protein gene, and a gene encoding a desired product in a manner that optimizes transcriptional and translational linkage is reported in WO 01/04306. In WO 01/38557 a method for screening multiply transformed/transfected cells to identify cells expressing at least two peptides or proteins of interest is reported. These two peptides/proteins are linked via an IRES (internal ribosome entry site) to a fluorescent marker gene.
Transgenic animals and cells that comprise an imaging marker transgene are reported in US 2003/0033616. US 2005/0032127 reports a method for the non-invasive selection of single living cells under gentle conditions from mixtures of cells or cell cultures with respect to a specific production performance by fluorescence-microscopic detection methods. A method for identifying and isolating cells which produce secreted proteins is reported in US 2002/0168702.
An expression plasmid consisting of a gene coding for a protein of interest which is functionally linked to a hamster promoter, a gene which codes for a fluorescent protein, and preferably an amplifiable selection marker gene is reported in US 2004/0148647.
A consensus sequence for 3′-splice sites was reported be Zhang, M., Hum. Mol. Genet. 7 (1998) 919-932.
In WO 01/92291 antibody and T-cell receptor libraries are reported. Methods and constructs for expressing polypeptide multimers in eukaryotic cells using alternative splicing are reported in WO 2005/089285. In WO 2005/040213 a modified cDNA for high expression levels of factor VIII and its derivatives is reported. In vivo transcription of a human antithrombin III minigene is reported by Prochownik, E. V. and Orkin, S. H. (J. Biol. Chem. 259 (1984) 15386-15392). Nussaume, L., et al. report the analysis of splice donor and splice acceptor site function in a transposable gene trap derived from the maize element activator (Mol. Gen. Genet. 249 (1995) 91-101). The genome-wide detection of alternative splicing in expressed sequences of human genes is reported by Modrek, B., et al. (Nucleic Acids Res. 29 (2001) 2850-2859). Danner, D. and Leder, P., report the role of an RNA cleavage/poly(A) addition site in the production of membrane-bound and secreted IgM mRNA (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82 (1985) 8658-8662). The efficient generation of monoclonal antibodies from specific protein domains using recombinant immunoglobulin fusion proteins—pitfalls and solutions is reported by Harris, C. L., et al. (J. Immunol. Meth. 268 (2002) 245-258). Zhu, Y., et al. report multigene lentiviral plasmids based on differential splicing and translational control (Mol. Ther. 4 (2001) 375-382).
Fallot, S., et al. disclosed alternative-splicing-based bicistronic vectors for ratio-controlled protein expression and application to recombinant antibody production (Nucl. Acids Res. 37 (2009) e134-e134). Wang, Z., et al. disclosed with respect to splicing regulation from a parts list of regulatory elements to an integrated splicing code (RNA 14 (2008) 802-813). Cartegni, L., reported about ESEfinder, which is a web resource to identify exonic splicing enhancers (Nucl. Acids. Res. 31 (2003) 3568-3571). WO 2013/092720 discloses a method of selecting a cell expressing a bispecific antibody comprising the steps of (a) generating a population of eukaryotic cells by transduction with a population of lentiviral virus particles, whereby each cell of the population of cells displays a membrane-bound full length antibody which is encoded by the lentiviral nucleic acid, and which specifically binds to two or more antigens or two or more epitopes on the same antigen, and (b) selecting from the population of eukaryotic cells a cell depending on the properties of the displayed membrane-bound full length antibody, whereby each lentiviral virus particle of the population of lentiviral virus particles comprises a bicistronic expression cassette comprising the EV71-IRES for the expression of the membrane-bound antibody.
In WO 2007/131774 is reported a nucleic acid comprising in 5′ to 3′ direction a first nucleic acid encoding a heterologous polypeptide without an in frame translational stop codon, a second nucleic acid beginning with a 5′ splice donor site and terminated by a 3′ splice acceptor site comprising an in frame translational stop codon and a polyadenylation signal, and a third nucleic acid encoding at least a fragment of a transmembrane domain, or a signal peptide for a GPI-anchor.

Method for selecting polypeptide producing cells


A control unit for a system and a method of operating a control unit have modules that are activated. Before activation of a certain module, inquiries are made to detect cross-dependencies with other modules that have already been activated. To do so, a first storage device and a second storage device containing this information are provided. A scheduler prevents modules which interfere with one another from being activated simultaneously.

A diagnostic device for an engine control unit is known from International Published Patent Application No. WO 97/13064, which describes various diagnostic function modules that are activated by a scheduler. The diagnostic function modules check the systems required for the operation of the engine. The scheduler can block certain diagnostic function modules when the diagnostic function module can be expected to indicate a fault on the basis of faults already discovered.

System and method for a control unit with a scheduler preventing simultaneous activation of modules from interference


A dog clutch control apparatus for an automated transmission includes a dog clutch transmission mechanism including a clutch ring, a clutch hub, a sleeve, an axial driving device, a dog clutch portion, a stroke position sensor, and a spline of the sleeve including high teeth and a low tooth, the dog clutch portion including clutch front teeth and clutch rear teeth, wherein in a rotation adjustment range, a control apparatus controls a thrust load of the axial driving device so that a first thrust load is applied to the sleeve, and the first thrust load generates a relative rotation between the sleeve and the dog clutch portion against a frictional force generated by contact between an end surface of each of the high teeth and a front end surface of each of the clutch rear teeth.

Conventionally, a powertrain of a vehicle includes a transmission which changes torque and/or the number of rotations of a driving apparatus including, for example, an engine and/or an electric motor, which is used for driving a driving wheel, so that the torque and/or rotations are transmitted to the driving wheel according to running conditions of the vehicle. There are some types of transmissions including, for example, a normally-meshed type transmission. For example, a known normally-meshed type transmission includes plural idler gears, each of which is fitted to, that is, provided at a rotary shaft connected to the driving wheel to be rotatable relative to the rotary shaft and not to be movable in a direction of a rotational axis, and plural gears, which are provided around a periphery of a counter shaft arranged to be parallel to the rotary shaft. The idler gears and the gears normally mesh with each other. According to the known normally-engaged type transmission, a sleeve is spline-fitted to the rotary shaft to be movable in the direction of the rotational axis, and the sleeve is arranged side by side with the idler gear. Engaging teeth (spline), which are provided at a joining surface of the sleeve which is joined to the idler gear, are brought to be engaged with engaged teeth (dog clutch teeth), which are provided at a joined surface of the idler gear. Thus, the idler gear engaged with the sleeve and the rotary shaft rotate integrally with each other. As the idler gear which rotates integrally with the rotary shaft and the gear of the counter shaft which meshes with the idler gear rotate in association with each other, torque and/or the number of rotations of the rotary shaft is transmitted to the counter shaft. A shifting operation is performed by selecting, from among the plural idler gears which include different numbers of teeth to each other, the idler gear that is to be rotated integrally with the rotary shaft and by bringing the sleeve into engagement with the selected idler gear. Depending on a timing at which the sleeve is pressed against the idler gear, there may be a case where the sleeve and the idler gear fail to engage with each other properly.
In such an instance where the sleeve is not properly engaged with the idler gear, according to JPH11-82710A (hereinafter referred to as Patent reference 1), torque with which the sleeve is pushed against the idler gear-side is once reduced, and after this, the sleeve is pushed against the idler-gear side again with a large torque in order to engage the sleeve and the idler gear with each other properly.
According to Patent reference 1, in a case where the sleeve is not brought into engagement with the idler gear, only an engagement operation is performed again. Therefore, without starting a shifting operation from the beginning, the sleeve and the idler gear are brought into engagement with each other.
According to the known shift control method described in Patent reference 1, however, a timer is used to determine that the sleeve is unable to be brought into engagement with a dog clutch of the idler gear. In a case where the sleeve does not reach a predetermined engagement position even though a predetermined time has passed, a reentry control, under which the sleeve is brought into engagement with the idler gear again, is executed. Thus, an entry control end time before the reentry, which is set by the timer, needs to be set at a value that is equal to or longer than a period of time for the sleeve to move to the predetermined position properly (that is, the period of time for the sleeve to engage with the dog clutch without being bounced back by the dog clutch). Accordingly, at a time point at which it is determined that the sleeve is unable to be brought into engagement with the dog clutch of the idler gear, the dog clutch is already pushed against the sleeve, and thus a difference in the number of rotations between the sleeve and the idler gear is already reduced to be minute or slight. Therefore, it takes time until the sleeve and the idler gear come to the next position at which the sleeve and the idler gear are engaged with each other. Alternatively, it takes longer time until the sleeve and the idler gear engage with each other next because the sleeve and the idler gear co-rotate with each other. As a result, a time for the shifting operation may be long.
A need thus exists for a dog clutch control apparatus for an automated transmission, which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.

Dog clutch control apparatus for automated transmission


The invention relates to pulse width modulator system (PWMS) comprising a modulator system input (MI),a modulator output (MO), an amplitude distribution filter (ADF) ,and a pulse width modulator (PMOD), wherein said amplitude distribution filter (ADF) establishes an intermediate output signal (OS) by modifying the level of the amplitude distribution of an input signal (IS) within at least one predetermined amplitude range of said input signal (IS), said input signal (IS) being received from said modulator system input (MI), and wherein said pulse width modulator (PMOD) provides a modulator output signal (MOS) on said modulator output(MO) on the basis of said intermediate output signal (OS).

U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,058 discloses a method of minimizing nonlinearities when amplifying pulse width modulated (PWM) signals. A problem of the disclosed invention is that it requires complex and power consuming compensation to be performed in the pulse width modulator. A further problem is that the compensation performed causes a worsening of the electromagnetic compatibility and interference (EMC/EMI) properties.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pulse width modulator dealing with nonlinearities of, e.g., amplifiers for pulse width modulated signals in a cost-effective way.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pulse width modulator with improved electromagnetic compatibility and interference (EMC/EMI) properties.


Optical modules are disclosed. An example optical module includes a substrate comprising a grating coupler, an optical connector removably coupled to the substrate adjacent the grating coupler to optically couple the optical connector and the grating coupler and an integrated circuit coupled to the substrate.

Some optical circuits (e.g. waveguides) fabricated on a substrate are directly coupled (e.g., pigtail coupling) to an optical fiber using an optical adhesive. The coupling enables light to be transmitted between the optical circuit and the optical fiber permanently attached to the substrate.
The figures are not to scale. Instead, to clarify multiple layers and regions, the thickness of the layers may be enlarged in the drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. As used in the specification and claims herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In other words, in the specification and claims herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are used to indicate "one or more" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


A screw vacuum pump is designed so that it is possible to reduce the load on the pump at the time of starting and evacuation of a gas under atmospheric pressure. The screw vacuum pump has male and female rotors rotating in mesh with each other around two parallel axes, respectively, and a casing for accommodating the rotors, the casing having a suction port and a discharge port, wherein the discharge port is formed so that V.sub.1 /V.sub.2 is in the range of 1.5 to 0.51, where V.sub.1 is a groove volume defined by the casing and the male and female rotors immediately after a gas has been trapped, and V.sub.2 is a groove volume immediately before the gas is discharged.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a screw vacuum pump and, more particularly, to a screw vacuum pump which is designed so that it is possible to reduce the load on the pump at the time of starting and evacuation of a gas under atmospheric pressure.
There has heretofore been one type of screw vacuum pump which has a pair of male and female rotors rotating in mesh with each other around two parallel axes, respectively, and a casing for accommodating the two rotors, the casing having a suction port and a discharge port. The operation of the screw vacuum pump comprises a process of sucking a gas from the suction port into a space defined between the rotors, a process of compressing the gas inside the rotors, and a process of discharging the gas from the discharge port.
An advantageous way of obtaining a high degree of vacuum in the screw vacuum pump having the above-described arrangement is to increase the built-in volume ratio, that is, the compression ratio. However, in such a case, excessive power is needed at the time of starting and when a gas of atmospheric pressure is evacuated from the chamber during the top-speed operation. The following measures have heretofore been used in order to cope with the above-described problem:
(1) A method wherein a throat is attached to the suction pipe to lower the pressure of the gas sucked into the pump.
(2) A method wherein a gas relief mechanism is provided for groove spaces where high pressure is produced.
(3) A method wherein the rotating speed is lowered by using an inverter or the like.
(4) A method wherein a motor of large capacity is used.
The conventional methods (1) to (4) suffer, however, from the following disadvantages: Method (1) causes a lowering in the pumping speed and hence takes much time to evacuate the chamber. Method (2) leads to an increase in cost and lacks reliability. Method (3) leads to an increase in cost because of the need for an inverter or the like to change the rotating speed. Method (4) lacks compactness and leads to an increase in cost because of the use of a motor of large capacity.

Screw vacuum pump with a reduced starting load


Apparatus for monitoring an externally applied parameter to selected products. The invention involves a housing enclosing a sensor, and a monitoring and output network. The sensor has a characteristic that varies in some predetermined manner with variation in the monitored parameter. The monitoring and output network involves a sensor which produces a signal representative of the monitored characteristic. Values associated with the signal are stored in a memory device for subsequent, selected retrieval.

The present invention relates to electronic monitor devices intended for disposable use in packaging. Such devices may monitor temperature, humidity, pressure, acceleration, and other parameters which may affect transported goods.
Temperature monitors are important in any industry involving products that are temperature sensitive. This includes such broad categories as food and beverages, medical and pharmaceuticals, biologicals, and industrial chemicals and adhesives. In addition to producers within these industries, monitoring the environment of products is important to distributors, suppliers, storage facilities, and large service providers such as hospitals, the military, and large restaurant chains.
Within each of these industries there are a variety of reasons for using an environment monitoring device. For example, such monitors may be used as an aid in controlling product quality, to monitor the performance of shippers, to minimize product loss due to temperature exposure, and to aid in identifying responsible parties in instances of product loss. It is known that substantial amounts of fresh produce are lost each year in the transportation phase of distribution, largely due to temperature variations during transport.
While temperature is a significant cause of damage to transported goods, it is not the only cause of damage. Other identified causes include improperly stacked boxes resulting in shock to the packaging, improper packaging materials leading to shatter, product damage during loading, and moisture loss. Improper handling often leads to in-transit vibration which may aggravate problems started at the packing house. It may be important, in a given field, to monitor any one or all of these factors to control shipping loss to goods.
Over the years, commercially available products have been developed to monitor temperature for transportation of goods. These products often include strip recorders that produce hard copy output. The classic strip recorder recorded temperature on a revolving drum, the speed of which could be altered depending upon the amount of time that needed to be recorded. Modern strip recorders are more likely to be digital and will store the information as it is recorded for later retrieval. For those devices, a specialized reader or a computer with a graphics capability printer is required to read out the recorded information. One commercially available product incorporating such a strip recorder is manufactured by Ryan Instruments, Redmond, Wash.
The Ryan monitors are relatively large, and are intended to be installed either in the environment of a transportation vehicle, or in large containers containing the temperature-sensitive goods. The Ryan monitors record temperatures in memory, and the recorded information is accessible by an external access device, such as a computer, by printout using a bimetal coil recorder, or by visual LCD display. Various models of Ryan monitors test for humidity, with similar forms of data output.
Control One, Inc., Stamford, Conn., manufactures a line of time and temperature monitors. These devices have internal recorders utilizing stainless steel or Teflon probes. Temperature readings may be taken as often as every four seconds, or as infrequently as once every 72 hours. These devices are generally housed in a closed housing unit which can be selectively turned on and off. In many shipping situations it is undesirable to enable the user to turn off an activated system, since it would facilitate fraudulent readings.
Both the Ryan and the Control One devices are preprogrammed by the manufacturer to read a broad range of temperatures, or an end-user specified range. Both manufacture devices which may be coupled to an external printing device, and some must be returned to the manufacturer for a secure parameter reading.
A third type of device is manufactured by 3M, St. Paul, Minn. These "product exposure indicators" give visual signals of temperature exposure. The devices are generally in the form of tags and labels which record the cumulative exposure time spent over certain temperatures. These indicators function by means of an irreversible physical change. If exposure occurs beyond a specific temperature level, these indicators detect and record the extended temperature elevation.
In an exemplary 3M device, each tag has a temperature set point, and visually indicates the temperature change by color change or indicator movement. Each tag has a series of viewing windows on the top surface, protected by a clear film overlay. When the activation temperature of the tag is exceeded, e.g., above 10.degree. C., a blue color appears in a window, and gradually moves across the tag windows with time. Movement of the color indicator is halted if temperature falls below the set point, and resumes again with temperature rise. The location of coloration shown through the viewing windows is a function of time and temperature. That is, a short period of exposure at a relatively high temperature will result in coloration comparable to a longer period of exposure at a lower temperature.
These types of devices do not enable long-term parameter monitoring against user-determined preselected parameters. It is important that the monitoring device be tamper-resistant, to prevent manipulation of the recorded readings. It is also desirable that the end-user be able immediately to take a reading of any temperature fluctuation. Cumulative measurements are not as useful as discrete event detection for those situations when short-term exposure to extreme temperatures is detrimental to the goods, such as pharmaceuticals or other biological materials.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a relatively accurate, dynamic and inexpensive way to monitor the temperatures to which products are subjected during shipment.


A suspension rolling tester is provided for measuring the movement of suspensions of wheels to be measured vehicle when the vehicle is rolled. The suspension rolling tester includes a roll input device and measuring devices, wherein the roll input device guides rear wheels or front wheels not to be measured of the vehicle to be measured in the non-restriction state, the measuring devices guide front wheels or rear wheels to be measured which are opposite to the wheels not to be measured, wherein the roll input device applies a rolling force to the rear wheels or front wheels not to be measured, and the measuring devices detect suspension data of the wheels to be measured when the rear wheels or front wheels not to be measured are rolled.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a suspension rolling tester for measuring the movement of suspensions of a vehicle when the vehicle is rolled.
2. Prior Art
In a vehicle such as an automobile, when it travels to the right or left, namely, when it corners, there occurs rolling in the vehicle which is different from a direct traveling thereof.
If such rolling occurs, a ratio of load movement of the right and left wheels is largely differentiated between the front and rear wheels owing to the difference of a spring constant in the suspensions of the coil springs of the front and rear wheels of the vehicle. The load movement ratio exerts an influence upon steering characteristics (under steering or over steering of the vehicle). When the rolling occurs, an alignment characteristic of the wheels is also changed to vary the steeling characteristic.
Accordingly, the movement of the suspensions when the rolling occurs, namely, the load movement amount and the alignment variation amount between the inner and outer wheels, i.e. the right and left wheels are respectively measured and these amounts are required to be always kept in a good condition (normal state) so as to permit the vehicle to travel safely.
There have been proposed various testers as measuring devices for measuring the movement of the suspensions.
In the case of a conventional measuring device for measuring suspension characteristic, the vehicle to be measured is carried in or conveyed to a garage, then it is generally fixed by a fixing means, and a vertical movement is applied to the right and left wheels of the fixed vehicle by a roll input device composed of a driving means such as a hydraulic cylinder which is installed in a pit formed by digging the earth to substantially a deep length, thereby rolling the suspensions of the wheels, so as to realize a condition as if the vehicle were actually rolled. The movement of the suspensions has been thus detected based on the result of measurement.


A cell includes an electrode plate group which is formed by laminating a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate with a separator interposed between them, and includes leads protruding toward directions opposite to each other from one side of the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate, collectors which are joined to the leads on both sides of the electrode plate group, and include connection protrusions formed so as to protrude outside, and a bag-shape battery case containing the electrode plate group joined to the collectors such that only the connection protrusions of the collectors are protruded outside. A battery module is constituted by placing a plurality of the cells in a prismatic battery case while the connection protrusions of the collectors of the cells are connected with each other, thereby making the current-carrying path between the electrode plate groups straight and short and increasing the output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cell, a connected-cell body, and a battery module using the same, and more particularly to a cell for reducing the internal resistance, a connected-cell body, and a battery module using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional battery module for providing a required electric power capacity by connecting a plurality of cells is constituted such that a plurality of individual prismatic cells are placed while longer side surfaces of their battery case are opposingly brought into contact with each other, end plates are provided outside of the battery cases of the cells on both the ends, and the cells are integrally connected by binding with a tie band. Also, leads are pulled out upward from the top ends of electrode plates in the individual cells, the leads are connected with terminals provided on a cover of the battery case, and then the terminals are connected with each other between the cells with connection plates.
As a result, since connection paths between the cells are long, and the number of connection points is large, resistance caused by constitution parts including connection parts becomes high. A ratio of this part resistance to a reaction resistance caused by a battery reaction among a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, and electrolyte reaches 40:60 to 50:50. Since this large internal resistance increases heat generation, increasing the output and enhancing life characteristics are seriously obstructed. Also, since the connection constitution between the cells is complicated, and the number of the parts is large, the cost also increases.
In light of the foregoing, the present applicant previously proposed a battery module 101 including a plurality of cells 102 as shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17. The reference numeral 103 denotes a prismatic battery case which is formed as a flat rectangular solid. This battery case is constituted by integrally connecting a plurality of battery cases 104 in prismatic shape including a short side surface and a long side surface while the short side surface is mutually shared as a partition wall 105. Openings on the top surface of the individual battery cases 104 are closed by a single cover 106. Connection holes 107 are formed on an upper part of the outside short side surfaces of the battery cases 104 on both the ends, and on an upper part of the partition walls 105 between the individual battery cases 104.
The individual battery cases 104 store an electrode plate group 108 constituted by laminating a rectangular positive electrode plate and a rectangular negative electrode plate with a separator interposed between them in addition to electrolyte, thereby forming a cell 102. The positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate of the electrode plate group 108 protrude from the sides opposite to each other to form leads 109a and 109b for the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate. Collector plates 110a and 110b are respectively connected with the side edges of the individual leads 109a and 109b by welding.
A connection protrusion 111 to be engaged into the connection hole 107 is formed at an upper part of the collector plates 110a and 110b. The connection protrusions 111 of the positive and negative collector plates 110a and 110b are connected by welding between the neighboring battery cases 104. Also, positive and negative connection terminals (terminal poles) 112 are installed into the connection holes 107 on the outer short side surface of the battery cases 104 on both the ends. Then, a connection protrusion 113 of the connection terminal 112 is connected with the connection protrusion 111 of the collector plate 110a or 110b by welding. Consequently, the plurality of cells 102 stored in the prismatic battery case 103 are connected serially, and a power is provided between the connection terminals 112 on both the ends.
In addition, communication passages 114 for equalizing the internal pressure of the individual battery cases 104, safety vents (not shown) for releasing the internal pressure in the individual battery cases 104 when the pressure increases more than a certain value, and a sensor installation hole 115 for installing a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of a cell 102 are provided on the cover 106.
With the constitution shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, the current-carrying paths from the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate to the leads 109a and 109b, and the collector plates 110a and 110b are short. On the contrary, since tips of the connection protrusions 111 on the top end of the collector plates 110a and 110b are connected with each other at the one point by welding as arrows in FIG. 18 show, the connection path is detoured, thereby increasing the length of the connection path. Further, since the connection point is one, the internal resistance increases. Also, as described above, since the connection path is detoured, large amount of current flows through the electrode plate group 108 close to the connection part of the collector plates 110a and 110b while small amount of current flows through the electrode plate group 108 far from the connection part as white arrows with black boarder show. Consequently, the distribution of the current flowing through the electrode plate group 108 becomes uneven, thus the entire electrode plate group 108 does not present uniform power generation capability, and consequently the loss increases.

Cell, connected-cell body, and battery module using the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A power converter includes at least one leg including a first string that includes controllable semiconductor switches, a first connecting node, and a second connecting node and that is operatively coupled across a first bus and a second bus. A second string is operatively coupled to the first string via the first connecting node and the second connecting node. The second string includes a plurality of switching modules wherein each of the plurality of switching modules includes a plurality of fully controllable semiconductor switches and at least one energy storage device. The power converter includes a system controller to control activation of the controllable semiconductor switches and switching modules such that a controlled electrical variable is maintained at a first predetermined reference voltage value and the average internal stored energy of the energy storage devices is maintained at a second predetermined reference value.

The invention relates generally to power converters and more specifically to multilevel configurations of converters.
The utility and importance of power conversion has grown with advantages being achieved in applications such as motor drives, renewable energy systems, and high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems, for example. The multilevel converter is emerging as a promising power conversion technology for various medium and high voltage applications.
Multilevel converters offer several advantages over conventional two-level converters. For example, the power quality and efficiency of the multilevel converter is better than that of two level converters. Also, multilevel converters are ideal for interfacing between a grid and renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) cells, fuel cells, and wind turbines. Transformer-less multilevel converters have been designed using a modular structure. Such multilevel converters typically include a plurality of power modules that are coupled between DC buses. The modular structure of the converters allows stacking of these converters to provide different power and voltage levels.
Multilevel power converters typically include a plurality of semiconductor switches and energy storage devices that are placed between the input and output terminals. The semiconductor switches and energy storage devices in the converter aid in providing regulated output power at the output terminals. The output power at the output terminals is dependent on the activation of the semiconductor switches and energy present in the energy storage devices.
Control systems and methods have been designed to activate the semiconductor switches such that the output power is maintained at a desired level while voltage observed across the dc bus is maintained at a substantially constant level.
A topology for a multilevel power converter is described in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 13/629,882, filed 12 Sep. 2012, which is herein incorporated by reference. It would be desirable to have a control system and method to most efficiently and effectively operate such a topology.

Power converter with a first string having controllable semiconductor switches and a second string having switching modules


A prior art optical transmitter for an optical communication system having a radio system connected thereto comprises a DFB laser, an optical modulator, a signal source, and an optical filter. This optical transmitter transmits light which is not modulated by an intelligence signal. It is disadvantageous in that the optical filter and the DFB laser must be matched. An embodiment of the optical transmitter according to the invention comprises a light source (1), an optical modulator (2), and a control unit (3) which controls the light source (1) and the modulator (2) in such a way that the light emerging at the output (5) of the modulator (2) is modulated with an intelligence signal.

A communication system and an optical transmitter with the features recited in the preamble are known from J. J. O'Reilly, "RACE R2005: microwave optical duplex antenna link", IEE Proceedings-J, Vol. 140, No. 6, December 1993, pages 385-391. The optical transmitter shown in FIG. 2 of that article forms part of an optical communication system illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein besides an optical receiver including an optical-to-electrical transducer, an antenna is provided at the receiving end. Between this antenna and a remote radio station (transposer), radio signals with a frequency of, e.g., 60 GHz are transmitted; the wavelength of these radio signals thus lies in the range of a few millimeters. The optical transmitter (dual frequency optical source) shown in FIG. 2 of that article comprises a DFB laser, an optical modulator, a signal source, and an optical filter. The light emitted by the DFB laser is a continuous-wave signal and has an optical frequency .upsilon..sub..degree. (carrier frequency). This light is fed into one input of the optical modulator, which is controlled by a control voltage (cw-drive signal V(t)) from the signal source. The control voltage V(t) is composed of a bias voltage and a sinusoidal voltage of fixed frequency .omega.. The control voltage V(t) as a function of time is given in Equation (1) of the article, and the electric field strength as a function of time which results at the output of the optical modulator is given in Equation (3). The emerging light has a frequency spectrum with two distinct frequency components (spectral lines) which are spaced by the fixed frequency .omega. of the control voltage V(t) either side of the suppressed optical carrier frequency .upsilon..sub..degree. , i.e., the two frequency components are spaced 2.omega. apart.
The optical filter following the output of the first optical modulator separates the two frequency components. It therefore has two outputs O/P1 and O/P2. To permit optimum separation of the two frequency components, the optical transmitter has a control unit which controls the DFB laser such that the optical frequency .upsilon..sub..degree. is always tuned to the optical filter.
The above-described optical transmitter thus generates two optical components which are not modulated by an intelligence signal. To enable such an optical transmitter to transmit light modulated by an intelligence signal, one (a first) output of the optical filter is connected to an optical modulator, and the other (second) output to a coupler. The optical modulator modulates the optical component emerging at the first output of the optical filter with an intelligence signal. This modulation is an external modulation. The frequency spectrum of the modulated optical component thus has only one of the two frequency components. This modulated optical component, which appears at the output of the optical modulator, and the optical component appearing at the second output of the optical filter are coupled into an optical fiber through the coupler.
Thus, the light propagating in the optical fiber is composed of two optical components: a modulated optical component with the first frequency and an unmodulated optical component with the second frequency. In the optical receiver, this composite light falls on the surface of a PIN photodiode, where the two optical components mix coherently to produce the desired millimeter-wave signal.
As mentioned, the optical transmitter comprises an optical filter and a frequency controller for the DFB laser. The optical filter must meet stringent selectivity requirements. Such an optical filter is therefore expensive. Stringent requirements must also be placed on the frequency control, so that the latter also involves high complexity, since the optical frequency .upsilon..sub..degree. of the DFB laser and the optical filter must be mutually stabilized. This optical transmitter adds significantly to the cost and complexity of the entire communications system.

Optical transmitter for an optical communication system in connection with a radio system


A hybrid network includes telephone and non-telephone network media. The communication devices communicate along the hybrid network according to a media access plan. The non-telephone communication devices do not have collision detection although the telephone communication devices do. The non-telephone communication devices have higher power and sensitivity levels than the telephone communication devices. In some embodiments, the media access plan includes a registration timeslot for the non-telephone communication devices.

The Home Phoneline Network Alliance (HPNA) has defined a set of standards of how to manage a data network transmitted over the phone lines in a home (rather than along separate data lines).
In HPNA v.2, the network devices are asynchronous network devices, sending messages when they sense that the network medium was available. The asynchronous network devices have collision detection (CD) abilities and can detect if another network device is transmitting at the same time that they do. If so, both network devices back off for a random amount of time after which, they retransmit the packet. Such a back off system works well for a small number of network devices, but, since the back offs are for a random amount of time, the HPNA v.2 network devices cannot guarantee quality of service for services with specific timing requirements, such as voice over IP (VOIP) or video downloads.
The most recent standard, HPNA v.3, defines a network that attempts to guarantee quality of service (QoS) requirements while being retro-compatible with the previous network devices. HPNA v.3 requires that its network devices operate synchronously, each network device being allowed to transmit only during the timeslots assigned to it. For this, at least one of the network devices has a scheduler to assign the timeslots so as to guarantee media resources to network devices, to prevent collision between multiple network devices using the same line and to ensure quality of service. The asynchronous network devices, either an HPNA v.2 network device or a non-HPNA network device, do not know the boundaries of the timeslots and thus, transmit whenever they sense that the medium is available. HPNA v.3 includes rules for handling such interruptions in the transmissions so as to minimize the effect such interruptions have on the quality of service.


A method for preparing a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample is provided which includes removing a portion of a substrate using a focused ion beam tool and securing the removed portion to a support structure to form a grafted structure. The method further includes forming an opening within the support structure to expose an underside of the removed portion and thinning the exposed underside using an ion beam miller tool. In some cases, the step of securing the removed portion to the support structure may include placing the substrate specimen upon a film attached to a mesh grid, positioning the mesh grid upon a framework comprising the support structure such that the substrate specimen is above the support structure, and pushing the substrate specimen through the film onto the support structure. A TEM sample resulting from such methods is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor device metrology, and more particularly, a method for preparing samples for TEM analysis.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
Fabricating a microelectronic device with one or more parameters outside the design specifications of the device may hinder or prohibit the function of the device, leading to a reduction in production efficiency and device quality. Consequently, the fabrication of microelectronic devices often includes analyzing microelectronic topographies at different stages of the process to insure that the devices formed therefrom meet their specified functionality requirements. In fact, as production volumes and efforts to improve process control increase in the integrated circuit fabrication industry, the ability to accurately analyze microelectronic processes and the materials associated with such processes in a timely manner becomes more critical. In general, the term "microelectronic topography," as used herein, may refer to a semiconductor substrate having one or more layers formed thereon, regardless of whether a functioning device has been formed from the topography or not. As such, the term "microelectronic topography" may generally refer to a structure used to fabricate a microelectronic device at any given point in the fabrication process. In addition, the "analysis of a microelectronic topography," as used herein, is not restricted solely to analyzing the upper surface of a wafer, but may include analyzing more than one layer and/or the substrate of the topography.
A microelectronic topography may be analyzed for a number of different properties. For example, a microelectronic topography may be analyzed for its electrical properties, composition, and/or physical thickness of individual layers and/or structures, to name just a few. Consequently, a number of different techniques may be used to analyze a microelectronic topography. For example, transmission electron microscopy cross-sectional analysis (hereinafter referred to as "TEM") may be used to analyze a microelectronic topography. TEM generally involves directing an electron beam at a microelectronic topography while a photograph is simultaneously taken. Both the photograph and electron beam are used to analyze the exposed layers.
There are a few different manners with which to prepare the sample of the microelectronic topography for TEM analysis. One manner is referred to herein as the "wedge method." The wedge method involves dicing a wafer into small fragments and polishing two opposing cross-sectional sides of a fragment to a target location. Subsequently, a portion of the polished fragment is etched to form an image region having a thickness of a few thousands angstroms and a large viewing area with which to analyze. Such a process generally offers a good image quality, but is very labor intensive. In particular the polishing process is an intricate and time-consuming process, requiring a highly skillful person to manually polish the sample against a variety of different polishing pads and frequently check whether the target location has been obtained. In addition to obtaining the target location, the polishing processes are used to form the fragment into a wedge-shape such that one end is thicker than an opposing end of the fragment. Although the formation of the wedge-shape provides some support, a sample prepared using this technique is still susceptible to breaking. Furthermore, the wedge method involves dicing an entire wafer into multiple fragments. As a result, the wafer cannot be used for purposes that involve a whole wafer.
Another technique for preparing TEM samples is referred to herein as the "FIB lift out method." The FIB lift out method involves using a relatively high energy focused ion beam to cut a fragment out of a wafer which is generally significantly smaller than the fragment cut out in the wedge method. In particular, the cutting technique employed by the FIB lift out method offers a manner in which to more precisely locate the target location of the wafer and, therefore, does not require the entire wafer to be diced. Consequently, the wafer may be used for other processing or samples. Moreover, the fragment cut out by the FIB lift out method typically only includes a portion of substrate and, therefore, is thinner than the fragment cut out in the wedge method. The thinner fragment is subsequently lifted from the wafer and immediately transferred to a carbon coated copper grid for analysis. In this manner, the FIB lift out method is significantly faster than the wedge method. On the other hand, however, the FIB lift out method does not allow further thinning of the sample to be conducted. In addition, the FIB lift out method causes significant damage to the crystalline structure of the substrate and generally does not produce a quality image or a large viewing area. Moreover, the FIB lift out method redeposits materials along the sidewalls of samples.
It would, therefore, be desirable to develop a method of preparing TEM samples that overcomes the aforementioned problems. In particular, it would be beneficial to form a TEM sample having good image quality without having a thick damaged crystalline structure or a thick redeposited layer. In addition, it would be advantageous to be able to perform energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis without the artifact of carbon film. Moreover, it would be beneficial to develop a method for preparing TEM samples in which the thickness of the sample can be thinned for multiple analyses. Furthermore, it would be particularly advantageous for such a method to be fast and uncomplicated.


A walker is made adjustable for various sizes of persons, including grossly obese persons. The walker includes two side support members, each of which has a front leg, a back leg, and a cross leg connecting the two legs. A braced sleeve assembly is positioned on the front leg of each side support member. The braced sleeve assembly has an elongated first sleeve dimensioned to slide over the front leg, an elongated second sleeve extending horizontally and inwardly from the elongated first sleeve, and a support brace extending at an angle from one sleeve to the other sleeve. The second sleeve has a set of spaced positioning holes. A releasable latch is mounted to the elongated first sleeve. The walker further includes a cross bar dimensioned to slide inside the second sleeves of the braced sleeve assemblies. Spring buttons on each end of the cross bar is mated with one of the spaced positioning holes of each braced sleeve assembly thereby allowing the distance between the side support members to be adjusted depending on which of the spaced positioning holes is selected. The walker's width is adjustable according to need. Further, the walker is capable of being folded to a compact state by releasing the latches to allow the side support members to revolve inwardly.

Walkers for assisting individuals who are crippled, disabled or otherwise weakened have been used for many years. The walkers serve primarily as an aid by which the individual can use the arms to take some strain off the legs. They also provide a stabilizing 10 means to those individuals who have an impaired sense of equilibrium.
Those walkers which have become most popular tend to have an open frame structure with two inverted U-shaped side members and a cross bar permanently connecting the side members together. In effect, the walkers have four legs which make the walkers very stable. The cross bar normally is itself very sturdy, sufficient to withstand the full weight of the average person. It is the framed nature of the walker which makes it stable in use. More recently, walkers have been made with latch mechanisms which allow 20 the walkers to collapse upon themselves to create a more compact structure for ease of storage and transport.
Health care institutions such as hospitals and physical therapy facilities need to have on hand several walkers to serve their patients. Those patients can range in height from short to tall 25 and in weight from slim to heavy. There are a significant number of overweight patients who can be considered grossly obese. Walkers currently commercially available all have height adjusting legs to accommodate different heights of patients. The same walkers typically come in three standard widths to accommodate three broadly classified weight groups of persons. The institutions must have a sufficient number of each of those walkers available on a daily basis to meet an unpredictable need. Past usage dictates to a certain extent the number of each of the three width category walkers which are needed. To ensure a walker need can be instantly met, the institution must have an oversupply of each of all three width categories of walkers. This creates a cost problem. It also creates a storage problem in that the walkers typically are used during daytime hours, but must be stored during the nighttime. The folding feature found on many walker models alleviates somewhat the storage problem. However, the cost problems associated with an excess in each of the width categories of walkers remains as does the consequent storage problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,330 discloses a walker which recognizes the need for a walker to have a width adjusting feature. The disclosed walker is useful to a limited extent. The patented walker can only handle medium weight persons because of the nature of its structure. It also is cumbersome to use and cannot be folded. It simply does not fully solve the aforementioned cost and storage problems.
In accord with a need experienced by many health care institutions for many years, there has now been developed a unique walker. The walker accommodates many sizes of persons. It most importantly can support the weight of persons who are obese. It can as well be stored or transported with ease due to a folding feature.


Systems and methods are described for verifying whether simulated phishing communications are allowed to pass by a security system of an email system to email account of users. One or more email accounts of the email system with the security system may be identified to use for a delivery verification campaign. Further, one or more types of simulated phishing communications may be selected from a plurality of types of simulated phishing communications. The delivery verification campaign may be configured to include the selection of the one or more types of simulated phishing communications from the plurality of types of simulated phishing communications. The selected one or more types of simulated phishing communications of the delivery verification campaign may be communicated to the one or more email accounts. Further, whether or not each of the one or more types of simulated phishing communications was allowed by the security system to be received unchanged at the one or more email accounts.

Cybersecurity incidents such as phishing attacks may cost organizations in terms of loss of confidential and/or important information, and expenses in mitigating losses due to breach of confidential information. Such incidents can also cause customers to lose trust in the organization. The incidents of cybersecurity attacks and the costs of mitigating damages caused due to the incidents are increasing every year. Organizations invest in cybersecurity tools such as antivirus, anti-ransomware, anti-phishing and other quarantine platforms. Such cybersecurity tools may detect and intercept known cybersecurity attacks. However, social engineering attacks or new threats may not be readily detectable by such tools, and the organizations may have to rely on their employees to recognize such threats. Among the cybersecurity attacks, organizations have recognized phishing attacks as one of the most prominent threats that can cause serious breaches of data including confidential information such as intellectual property, financial information, organizational information and other important information. Attackers who launch phishing attacks may attempt to evade an organization's security apparatuses and tools, and target its employees. To prevent or to reduce the success rate of phishing attacks on employees, organizations may conduct security awareness training programs for their employees, along with other security measures. Through the security awareness training programs, organizations actively educate their employees on how to spot and report a suspected phishing attack. As a part of a security awareness training program, an organization may execute a simulated phishing campaign for its employees, to test and develop cybersecurity awareness of the employees. In an example, the organization may execute the simulated phishing campaign through a security awareness training system by sending out one or more simulated phishing communications periodically or occasionally to devices of employees and observe responses of employees to such simulated phishing communications. A simulated phishing communication may mimic a real phishing message and appear genuine to entice an employee to respond/interact with the simulated phishing communication. The simulated phishing communication may serve the purpose of training an employee to recognize phishing attacks and to gauge the security awareness of the employee based on an interaction of the employee with the simulated phishing communication (for example, by clicking on a link in the simulated phishing communication or opening an attachment in the simulated phishing communication) for further security awareness training. Based on the responses of the employees, the security awareness training system may gauge the security awareness of the employee and accordingly schedule trainings based on the security awareness of the employee.
Many email platforms such as Microsoft® Office 365™/Exchange Online™, Microsoft® Exchange™ on Premises, Google G-Suite®, and Amazon Workmail provide email security systems with a wide array of features that are designed to stop malicious messages (such as phishing attacks) from reaching users. One example of such email security system is Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection™ (ATP). The email security systems may be configured to identify and stop phishing emails from reaching a user's inbox. As a result, the email security systems may identify some or all of the simulated phishing communications in a simulated phishing campaign as malicious and may modify the simulated phishing communications or may block the delivery of the simulated phishing communications to the user's mailbox when delivering simulated phishing campaigns via Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). The security awareness training system may be unaware that one or more simulated phishing communications from a simulated phishing campaign have been intercepted and may incorrectly categorize those simulated phishing communications as "not opened by user". Thus, the security awareness training system may assume that a user has passed a simulated phishing test because the simulated phishing communication was "not opened by user", when in fact the user never received the simulated phishing communication at all. As a result, the security awareness training system may assess the security awareness user as "good" and may provide a better risk score than the user actually deserves, which may subsequently lead to the organization believing that the user is a lower security risk than they actually are.
The email security system may also intercept simulated phishing communications and examine links within the simulated phishing communications to determine if they are harmful. This process may involve the email security system activating links within the simulated phishing communications in a sandbox (referred to as "robo-clicking" or "detonating" the links). The security awareness training system may categorize such simulated phishing communication as "user has clicked link" even though the user did not interact with the simulated phishing communication. In order to prevent the email security system from blocking delivery or otherwise modifying or interacting with the simulated phishing communications, a process called "whitelisting" may be used. The whitelisting process may involve providing the domain name or email addresses of senders to the email security system to "trust" emails coming from the domain name or the email addresses as "safe", and to allow the emails to intended recipients. As a result, the email security system may be configured to allow simulated phishing communications from the security awareness training system to be delivered to the user.
With evolving cybersecurity landscapes and introduction of new and more robust features to the email security system, for example with the introduction of new methods of detecting malicious emails, the whitelisting may be rendered ineffective and a need may be created for regular updating of the whitelisting. Regular updating may be onerous, require a lot of time of a system administrator and may add significantly to the existing workload of the system administrator. Additionally, some simulated phishing communications may be stopped by the email security system before the system administrator recognizes that the whitelisting is no longer effective, leading to development of a skewed perception of a user's security awareness as previously described. There is also the possibility of the email security system including features for post-delivery scanning and post-delivery removal of emails. Such features may negatively impact the reliability of delivery of simulated phishing communications.

Systems and methods for effective delivery of simulated phishing campaigns


A controller of a communications network enables endpoints or multiple networks to intercommunicate using multiple types of bearer format (IP, TDM, ATM, Frame Relay, etc.), and enables a bearer format conversion when necessary to carry bearer channel information across an interface of the network. The network may be packet-based or circuit-based and may include gateways and associated controllers which work in tandem to transfer format conversion parameters between endpoints or networks. The format control parameters are exchanged between various controllers, i.e., call control elements, to determine the appropriate format to forward the bearer channel information across the interface and to instruct the associated gateway of the required format conversion. The determination of the necessary format conversions may occur on a call-by-call basis, or by periodically detecting and storing format conversions associated with the various endpoints and intercommunicating networks. A corresponding method is also disclosed.

This invention relates to communication networks, but more specifically to a network controller and method that enables bearer format negotiation between interfaces of the network in order to facilitate communications between endpoints that support different transmission protocols.
Data transfers occur over channels of communication networks under various transmission protocols, either circuit-based or packet-based. An example of a circuit-based transmission protocol is Time Division Multiplex (TDM). In a TDM protocol, a data stream is conveyed over a physical carrier at a constant bit rate with appropriate framing bits to enable synchronized detection of data. Packet-based transmission protocols, on the other hand, include Internet Protocol (IP) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). ATM provides connection-oriented transport of data in fixed-length 53-byte cells while IP provides connectionless transport of data in variable length packets. Either protocol may be used to transport a bearer channel for multimedia, voice, video, or other real-time traffic.
A problem occurs when the bearer channel is passed between networks, or between endpoints and networks, that use different transmission protocols. If an originating endpoint or node connects to a network via an IP interface, and the network uses ATM in its backbone, and the terminating endpoint or node connects to the network via a TDM interface, then conversions must take place between the different transmission protocol types in order for the endpoints to communicate with one another. Further, when one network using one bearer format connects to another network using another bearer format, any communication channel passing between the networks must encounter a conversion between bearer formats.
There are numerous ways to handle this situation. One way involves providing parallel backbone networks for each type of transmission protocol, as well as gateways between the parallel networks to allow endpoints on different networks to intercommunicate. Each parallel network need only have a compatible interface to the other networks and endpoints that use the same bearer format. For example, multiple IP networks can easily interface to other networks and endpoints using IP as their bearer format. A gateway, on the other hand, may be required to interconnect, for example, an ATM-based network and a TDM-based network. Interconnecting incompatible networks via a gateway, while workable, has serious disadvantages. First, it is capital intensive, since multiple network types are deployed. Second, it is operationally complex since each network must be administered independently from one another.
In view of the foregoing, an objective of the present invention is to provide a network controller and method thereof that permit network access via multiple bearer formats.
It is another objective to enable a single-protocol network, such as ATM, that interconnects with networks or nodes that use other transmission protocols.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method of format conversion that enables end-users to choose a format that is most appropriate for their needs and equipment capabilities.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to enable a network to lessen loads on network resources (e.g., reduced processing power, terminations, operations processes, etc.) while performing the required functions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Network controller and method to support format negotiation between interfaces of a network


Methods are provided for manufacturing transdermal drug delivery systems containing supersaturated drug reservoirs, such that higher drug fluxes are obtained. The methods involve heating the drug reservoir components to a predetermined temperature. Generally, this temperature is higher than the depressed melting temperature of the polymer-drug admixture which will serve as the drug reservoir. In an alternative embodiment, wherein heat treatment of the reservoir components results in a system having two liquid phases, the predetermined temperature is calculated so as to be higher than the melting temperature of the pure drug. Drug reservoirs and novel transdermal delivery systems prepared using the disclosed techniques are provided as well.

The delivery of drugs through the skin provides many advantages; primarily, such a means of delivery is a comfortable, convenient and noninvasive way of administering drugs. The variable rates of absorption and metabolism encountered in oral treatment are avoided, and other inherent inconveniences--e.g., gastrointestinal irritation and the like--are eliminated as well. Transdermal drug delivery also makes possible a high degree of control over blood concentrations of any particular drug.
Skin is a structurally complex, relatively thick membrane. Molecules moving from the environment into and through intact skin must first penetrate the stratum corneum. They must then penetrate the viable epidermis, the papillary dermis, and the capillary walls into the blood stream or lymph channels. To be so absorbed, molecules must overcome a different resistance to penetration in each type of tissue. Transport across the skin membrane is thus a complex phenomenon. However, it is the cells of the stratum corneum which present the primary barrier to absorption of topical compositions or transdermally administered drugs. The stratum corneum is a thin layer of dense, highly keratinized cells approximately 10-15 microns thick over most of the body. It is believed to be the high degree of keratinization within these cells as well as their dense packing which creates in most cases a substantially impermeable barrier to drug penetration.
Relatively recent advances in transdermal drug delivery have enabled effective administration of a variety of drugs through the skin. These advances include the development of a number of skin penetration enhancing agents, or "permeation enhancers," to increase skin permeability, as well as non-chemical modes for facilitating transdermal delivery, e.g., the use of iontophoresis, electroporation or ultrasound. Nevertheless, the number of drugs that can be safely and effectively administered through the skin, without concomitant problems such as irritation or sensitization, remains limited.
The present invention is directed to novel drug delivery systems which have "supersaturated" drug reservoirs, and are thus able to deliver greater quantities of drug, at higher fluxes, than possible with prior transdermal systems. The novel delivery systems, by virtue of their supersaturated drug reservoirs, also reduce or in some cases eliminate the need for skin permeation enhancers. Further, smaller transdermal patches may be made using the inventive technology, i.e., patches that are at least as effective as prior patches in terms of overall drug release and drug flux, but are significantly reduced in terms of size.
None of the art of which applicants are aware describes transdermal drug delivery system having supersaturated drug reservoirs or methods for manufacturing such systems as disclosed and claimed herein. However, the following references are of interest:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,206 to Stricker relates to a method for preparing transdermal drug delivery systems containing the active substance in an amorphous form. Initially, a polyacrylate film is prepared by solvent casting. A drug solution or suspension is then applied to the film and the solvent is removed by evaporation. There is no disclosure concerning a heating step to dissolve the drug.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,509 to Haggiage et al. describes transdermal medicaments with the active ingredient dispersed in a drug reservoir in crystalline and/or solubilized form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,953 to Campbell et al. describes a method for making drug delivery systems containing liquid drugs capable of forming crystalline hydrates. The drug delivery systems are heated above the melting temperature of the pure drug, after preparation of the systems, to prevent crystalline hydrate formation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,669 to Chien et al. describes a transdermal drug delivery system for the administration of estradiol, wherein drug is microdispersed in a polymeric matrix disc layer which serves as the drug reservoir. The reservoir components are heated to a relatively low temperature, below the melting point of estradiol, during device manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,576 to Mantelle describes preparation of compositions for topical application, wherein drug is added to certain components, not including the bioadhesive carrier, and then heated at a temperature in the range of about 70.degree. C. to 90.degree. C. until all of the drug is dissolved. After the solution is cooled, the bioadhesive is added and the composition is applied to a backing material.
PCT Publication No. WO94/10984, inventors Horstmann et al., describes transdermal systems for the administration of estradiol, having drug concentrations in between the solubility of drug in the system when exposed to moisture and the solubility of the drug in the dry system. The system does not appear to be "supersaturated," if at all, until exposure to moisture. This is in contrast to the systems which may be prepared using the method of invention, which are supersaturated in the dry state. Hence, one would expect that systems from our invention would produce higher fluxes than those in this PCT publication.
Davis et al., "Effect of Supersaturation on Membrane Transport on Membrane Transport: 1. Hydrocortisone Acetate," International Journal of Pharmaceutics 76:1-8 (1991) and Pellet et al. "Effect of Supersaturation on Membrane Transport: 2. Piroxicam," International Journal of Pharmaceutics 111:1-6 (1994), present studies evaluating drug flux from supersaturated solutions of drug in propylene glycol/water formulations. Drug is first dissolved in solvent and then a supersaturated solution is made by added a second solvent thereto; no heating step is involved.

Supersaturated transdermal drug delivery systems, and methods for manufacturing the same