Assigning slots to nodes in a mesh network. Slot numbers are assigned to nodes in a wireless mesh network using a depth-first search combined with information on 2-hop neighborhoods for each node. Assigning slots using 2-hop neighborhood information allows slots to be safely reused. The slot assignment process may take process in parallel using different wireless channels for different subtrees rooted to a controller. Slot assignment may be repeated when the mesh topology changes. Reporting using the slot numbers allows for information from child nodes to be aggregated or filtered at parent nodes.

The present invention relates to wireless systems, and in particular, to the problem of assigning reporting slots to nodes on a wireless mesh network.
Wireless networks, such as those operating according to IEEE 802.11 standards typically provide wireless packet-based data services to clients in a network. These clients may include computers such as laptops, hand-held devices such as smart phones, scanners, and the like, as well as wireless infrastructure devices such as sensors and cameras. In one common implementation, a plurality of wireless access nodes, each typically a small purpose-built computer system with one or more wireless interfaces, also includes a wired interface such as IEEE 803.2 Ethernet, to connect the access node back to a controller, which provides access to network services, as well as optionally providing functionality such as authentication, security, advanced mobility, and the like. In such a network, clients establish a wireless connection with an access node. Traffic to and from the client is passed to and from the access node wirelessly, and to and from the access node and the controller through the wired connection.
There are circumstances in which it may be difficult or expensive to run a data connection between each wireless access node and a controller. Mesh networks are useful in such circumstances. In a mesh network, rather than having each node wired to a controller, wireless access nodes establish wireless connections with each other, with only a small number of access nodes having wired access to a controller. In such a mesh network, clients also establish a wireless connection with an access node. But rather than traffic going wirelessly from client to access node, and from there by wired connection to the controller, in a mesh network, traffic first passes wirelessly from client to a first access node, and then wirelessly from that first access node through one or more other access nodes in the mesh network, until the traffic arrives at a root node or mesh portal, a wireless node which also has a wired connection to the controller, and from there to the controller. The mesh connection between access nodes may be through the same radio system and/or same radio channels as used by client traffic, or a separate radio and/or band as used by client traffic.
As is known to the art, mesh networks may be self-organizing, and adaptive, shifting their interconnections as access nodes enter and leave the network, or other characteristics of the network or its operating environment change.
It is common to represent mesh networks as a one or more trees, with each tree rooted at a root node or mesh portal. Topologically, these trees are cycle-free. Each access node forming a tree in a mesh network therefore has one parent it reports to and zero or more access nodes reporting to it as children.
In operation of a mesh network, there may be occasions where it is useful to have all access nodes report back to the controller. This may be for status, local operating parameters, or in the operation of a sensor network, reporting sensor data collected by the nodes.
To do this, nodes in the mesh network must report back, through the mesh network. One approach to doing this is to use the already existing contention resolution mechanisms in the network and let reporting from nodes be a free-for-all.
A more orderly approach assigns a reporting schedule or sequence to nodes on the mesh network. Such a schedule based access method provides for reduced latency, reduced collisions, and lowers overhead in sending and receiving of packets. This problem may be equated to "flattening" the mesh network and assigning a reporting sequence to the nodes in the mesh.
What is needed is a way to assign a reporting sequence to nodes in a wireless mesh network.


A method and apparatus for vocally entering acoustic data and producing an output. In one embodiment, a note preset is identified and selected according to the vocal input signal, and auxiliary note information is also extracted from the vocal input signal. The auxiliary note information is used to generate synthesis engine parameters that modify the note preset to provide a complex note output. In another embodiment, feature vectors of note segments are used to select a preset file representing a particular instrument from a library of instrument preset files. A note preset is selected from the instrument preset file according to the note segment to create an output corresponding to the selected instrument or instrument group.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for entering musical data directly using audio input, and more particularly to the creation of an audio composition from acoustic information sung into a microphone by a composer.
Composers have traditionally created musical compositions by having several musicians learn the various parts of the composition according to the composer's instructions, and then play all the instruments simultaneously to produce the composition. Changes to the composition were time consuming and difficult, often requiring successive performances of the entire composition. Multi-track recording techniques allowed composers to record each musical part independently, and to superimpose each instrument's part onto a master recording. This technique allowed, among other things, a composer to play each instrument himself or herself, and to change individual tracks without having to re-generate the other parts. Early multi-track recording typically involved an elaborate sound recording facility. More recently, digital audio techniques have simplified the composer's task.
Music that is played on an instrument or heard with the ear is in an analog form. This analog form may be converted into a digital form, often with no loss of fidelity because the digital sampling rate, can be much higher than the highest frequency the human ear can hear. Once in digital form, the music may be manipulated or transformed in a variety of ways. For example, it may be compressed so that a long audio piece may be transmitted to another destination in a short period of time, and then expanded to reproduce the original audio sound, or, the pitch or other characteristics of the audio signal may be changed. Digital techniques may also be used to store audio information from various sources and then combine them to form a composition, similar to a multi-track tape recorder.
Modern day composers typically use a music keyboard or similar device to enter music into a digital audio device, such as a computer or digital mixing board, using traditional piano-playing techniques. Some keyboards can be configured to mimic various standard musical instruments, such as a flute or piano, allowing the composer to compose a piece without the need for the actual musical instrument, and without even needing to know how to play a particular musical instrument, as long as the composer can enter the desired notes through the keyboard. Unfortunately, entering notes through a keyboard often does not provide the audio complexity a composer would like to achieve. The mechanical gestures involved with entering notes on a keyboard or other input device, such as a wind controller, guitar controller, or percussion controller, typically do not capture the auxiliary information associated with a particular note. For example, there is no intuitive way to perform a tremolo via a piano-type music keyboard. Typically, this sort of information is added later in the compositional process, after the initial note entry.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an integrated compositional device that could produce a musical composition using a composer's voice as a unified input for entering notes and associated auxiliary information. It would be further desirable that such a device could be portable to allow compositions to be created in any location the composer chose, and that the device could play the compositions back, so that the composer could listen to and subsequently modify the compositions.

Device for acoustic entry of musical data


Permit applications for construction or property improvement projects can be processed for multiple jurisdictions at the same time through a networked system. A kiosk can be provided as a central point of interaction for the user. A property address is received from the user and compared with multiple jurisdictions to determine one or more jurisdictions in which the property address is located. Permit requirement information for each of the jurisdictions is output for the user. Permit application information is then received from the user. The permit application information includes electronic fee payment information. A permit application can then be transmitted to at least one of the jurisdictions. If the permit is approved, one or more permits are received from the jurisdictions. The kiosk or other device can print paper copies of the permits for the user or provide them in electronic format.

Municipalities such as towns and cities, as well as counties, states or other governmental jurisdictions commonly issue permits for construction and property improvement activities that have the potential to impact building safety, sanitation, environmental or other governmental concerns. Such a jurisdiction commonly requires a property owner or contractor who wishes to perform such a construction or property improvement activity to apply for and obtain a permit. For example, a city may require one to apply for and obtain a permit to repair or install plumbing lines and fixtures or electrical power wiring and devices in a home or other premises. Even relatively simple home improvement projects, such as the installation of a water heater, may require one or more permits from one or more jurisdictions. Such a home improvement project may require two or more types of permits, such as an electrical permit, a building permit, and a gas fitting permit.
The time-honored method of obtaining permits of the types described above involves the homeowner, contractor or other applicant visiting an office of the permit-issuing authority, filling out an application form, and submitting the form and an application fee. If the authority approves the application, the permit authority issues the permit in the form of a paper document. Improvements to this method have included on-line permit application systems that applicants can access via the Internet. Applicants can thus receive issued permits as electronic documents by e-mail or by downloading them from the system web sites. Applicants can print received permits in hardcopy form using a computer printer or store permits in electronic form on portable devices such as mobile smartphones and tablet computers.
To access an on-line permit application system of the type described above, the user generally must know or look up the name of the permit-issuing authority and know or look up the appropriate web site. Once logged into the appropriate web site, the user generally must know what type of permit is required, as such systems generally display a list of permit types from which the user is expected to choose. Although professional contractors may be familiar with permit types, a homeowner may be unsure of what types of permits are required and from what authority to seek them. Each jurisdiction that provides an on-line permit application system generally maintains its own web site for that purpose, and such web sites do not include references between each other. For example, an on-line permit application system maintained by a city generally does not refer the user to on-line permit application systems that may be maintained by the county in which that city is located.
Using the conventional method described above, a property owner, contractor or other prospective permit applicant must first identify each jurisdiction from which a permit might be needed for a particular project, then determine the authorities responsible for issuing such permits, and determine the type of permits offered by those authorities. The permit applicant may then determine which of these authorities offers an on-line permit application system and learn how to access and use each of them.
Another improvement has included an Internet-enabled kiosk installed in a home improvement store, through which applicants can access one such on-line permit application system operated by a municipal authority. Through an agreement between the provider of the kiosk and the municipal authority, the kiosk can electronically communicate with that authority's on-line permit application system to apply for a permit. The kiosk prompts the user to enter information including the user's name and address as well as the type of permit sought. The user can also enter payment information for the permit application fee, such as a credit card number. The kiosk forwards the permit application information, including the payment information, to the authority's permit application system via an Internet connection. If the permit application is approved, the kiosk receives the permit in electronic format and prints a copy of the permit that the user can take.
Another system is known in which a web site provides a single point of entry to the permit application systems of a group of nearby cities. A user can select a jurisdiction from a drop-down menu, and the system navigates the user's web browser to the permit application system of that jurisdiction.
It would be desirable to provide a permit application system that is easier and more convenient for property owners, contractors or other prospective permit applicants to use than conventional systems.

System and method for providing inter-jurisdictional permits


A method and internal combustion engine system are provided for keeping an exhaust gas aftertreatment system within its working temperature range during an idle or motoring engine operation mode of an internal combustion engine. The method includes sensing the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the internal combustion engine and/or of the exhaust gas; determining whether or not the sensed temperature value is in a predetermined temperature interval or below a predetermined temperature threshold; determining whether the internal combustion engine is in idle or motoring engine operation mode; in case the internal combustion engine is determined to be in an idle or motoring engine operation mode, controlling the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the internal combustion engine to be within the predetermined temperature range or below the predetermined temperature threshold by recirculating exhaust gas through a connecting duct by controlling at least one valve.

The present invention relates to a method and an internal combustion engine system for keeping an exhaust gas aftertreatment system ("EATS") within its working temperature range during an idle or motoring engine operation mode of an internal combustion engine, wherein the internal combustion engine is connected to the exhaust gas aftertreatment system and comprises a gas intake side and an exhaust gas outlet side, wherein the exhaust gas outlet side of the internal combustion engine is connected with the exhaust gas aftertreatment system via an exhaust gas duct and with the gas intake side via a connecting duct, the connecting duct providing a gas recirculation of the exhaust gas to the gas intake side of the internal combustion engine, and at least one valve controlling the recirculation of the exhaust gas. The present invention further relates to a computer program product related to said method above.
The present invention further relates to a retrofitting kit and a retrofitting method for retrofitting a vehicle having an internal combustion engine without any exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) possibility, namely a so called "non-EGR engine", with a temperature control system for controlling the temperature in an exhaust gas aftertreatment system connected to the exhaust gas outlet side of the non-EGR engine, as well as a computer program product related to said method above.
At current and future emission levels for internal combustion engines in vehicles, particularly for heavy duty diesel engines, aftertreatment of the exhaust gas has increased in importance for both emissions and overall fuel consumption. Also drivability and dependability of the vehicles are affected by the different methods used to fulfill these emission standards.
One of the known methods is the use of a so called exhaust gas aftertreatment system usually in form of a catalyst or particle filter. These catalytic aftertreatment systems are operated within a suitable temperature range, for example 250° C.-450° C., which is easily maintained during normal driving conditions of a vehicle.
However, under certain operating conditions of an internal combustion engine the actual exhaust gas temperature is too low for said temperature range to be able to be maintained. These operating conditions are hereinafter referred to in the description and the claims as "idle or motoring engine operation modes" and are described more in detail in the following paragraphs.
The "idle engine operation condition" describes all engine operation modes, where the engine is running at idle speed. Idle speed is the rotational speed the engine runs on when the engine is decoupled from the drivetrain and the accelerator of the internal combustion engine is released. Usually, the rotational speed is measured in revolutions per minute, or rpm, of the crankshaft of the engine. At idle speed, the engine generates enough power to run reasonably smoothly and operate its ancillary equipment (water pump, alternator, and, if equipped, other accessories such as power steering), but usually not enough to perform heavy work, such as moving the vehicle. For vehicles such as trucks or cars, idle speed is customarily between 600 rpm and 1,000 rpm. Even if the accelerator is released, a certain amount of fuel is injected into the internal combustion engine in order to keep the engine running.
If the engine is operating a large number of accessories, particularly air conditioning, the idle speed must be raised to ensure that the engine generates enough power to run smoothly and operate the accessories. Therefore most engines have an automatic adjustment feature in the carburetor or fuel injection system that raises the idle speed when more power is required.
The "motoring engine operation mode" is defined as an engine operation mode, where the engine is running above a certain rotational speed (rpm), but no fuel is injected into the engine. One example of a motoring engine operation mode is when the engine is dragging, i.e. when a vehicle—which is normally driven by the engine—is coasting down a hill. During that mode the accelerator is also released, but the engine remains coupled to the drivetrain and the engine is kept running by the drive force of the gearbox main shaft.
During the above described idle or motoring engine operation modes, the engine is in principle pumping fresh air at ambient temperature to the exhaust system, whereby, disadvantageously, the exhaust gas aftertreatment system is "air cooled" in an uncontrolled (and unwanted) manner.
This in turn means that the temperature in the catalytic exhaust gas aftertreatment system drops rapidly below 250° C., so that an effective exhaust gas aftertreatment cannot be provided any more. It has therefore been suggested in the state of the art, to supply hydrocarbons (i.e. fuel) to an oxidation catalyst arranged in the exhaust gas stream for increasing the temperature of the exhaust gas, in order to maintain the temperature in the exhaust gas aftertreatment system. For that it is necessary to raise the average temperature of the oxidation catalyst during normal driving. This means that the hydrocarbons have to be injected into the oxidation catalyst while the temperature of the oxidation catalyst is higher than 250° C. to compensate for periods when the engine is in an idle or motoring engine operation mode. Therefore, this method causes an increase in fuel consumption and, consequently, an increase in fuel consumption costs.
Additionally, if the temperature of the exhaust gas stream is too low, more hydrocarbons (i.e. fuel) are needed in order to maintain the temperature in the exhaust gas aftertreatment system. Increased emission control requirements have therefore often resulted in a loss of efficiency of the internal combustion engine. It is therefore important to provide methods which allow effective exhaust emission control without adversely affecting the efficiency of the engine and the overall fuel consumption of the vehicle.
Beside the use of exhaust gas aftertreatment systems, a further possibility to reduce the emission of the combustion engine, particularly the quantity of nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gases, is a recirculation of exhaust gases, so-called EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation). Thereby, a part of the total exhaust gas flow of the internal combustion engine is recirculated. Internal combustion engines equipped with such EGR systems are also called "EGR engines". The recirculated sub-flow of exhaust gas is cooled before fed into the gas intake side of the EGR engine, where it is mixed with incoming air before the mixture is introduced into the cylinders of the EGR engine. Cooling of the recirculated exhaust gas is a prerequisite for the EGR engines as recirculating hot exhaust gas would increase the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the EGR engine to a level which could damage the EGR engine. Moreover, recirculation of exhaust gas amounts in the range of 15-30% of the total mass flow through the EGR engine is required for yielding a sufficient NOx reduction.
In WO2007/032714, it has been suggested to use in an EGR engine, i.e. in an internal combustion engine system equipped with an EGR-system, the recirculated exhaust gas stream to maintain the temperature in the exhaust gas aftertreatment system. Since, as described above, maintaining the temperature is mainly a problem occurring during idle or motoring engine operation modes, it has been suggested to first detect that neither the braking system nor the throttle control mechanism of the vehicle is activated and that the vehicle is being driven at a speed in excess of a predetermined speed limit. Provided such conditions are detected, in the known system the exhaust gas flow through the EGR recirculation duct is then regulated with the help of an EGR valve arranged in the EGR recirculation duct in such a way that the main exhaust gas flow to the exhaust gas aftertreatment system is reduced to a level which is substantially less than 50% of said main exhaust gas flow to the exhaust aftertreatment system when the EGR valve in the EGR recirculation duct is closed. Due to the significant reduction of exhaust gas streaming through the exhaust gas aftertreatment system during these motoring engine operation modes, heat losses in the exhaust aftertreatment system are prevented.
Disadvantageously, the described method cannot be used for "normal" internal combustion engines having no exhaust gas recirculation means, i.e. so called "non-EGR" engines. These engines are widely used for vehicles having emission levels less than required for instance by the EURO 5 standard. A further drawback is that EGR systems comprise a plurality of elements, e.g. valves, sensors, exhaust gas cooler etc. which control the operation of the EGR engine and the amount of recirculated exhaust gas. These control systems are rather complex in their structure and operation already without such further control mechanism described in WO2007/032714. The implementation of such an additional control mechanism would increase the malfunction probability of the complete system of an EGR engine and also the overall cost of said system.
It is desirable to provide a simple and cost-effective temperature control method and system for use with a non-EGR engine which provides a possibility to keep the exhaust gas aftertreatment system within its working temperature range without increasing the fuel consumption and deteriorating the engine's efficiency.
The present invention, according to an aspect thereof, is based on the idea to connect an exhaust gas outlet side of a non-EGR engine with a gas intake side of the engine by means of a connection duct for recirculating exhaust gas from the exhaust gas outlet side of the engine to the gas intake side of the engine only during idle or motoring engine operation modes, and to control the recirculation of the exhaust gas only in dependence of a temperature of the gas sensed at the gas intake side of the engine and/or of the exhaust gas during idle or motoring engine operation modes of the engine. The advantage of this solution is that the internal combustion engine does not only pump fresh air at ambient temperature to the exhaust gas aftertreatment system, but a mixture of air and recirculated hot exhaust gas. Consequently, the unwanted forced cooling effect due to the fresh air in the exhaust gas mixture entering the exhaust gas aftertreatment system is considerably reduced and the exhaust gas aftertreatment system is kept within its working temperature range during the periods wherein the internal combustion engine is in an idle or motoring engine operation mode.
In contrast to the design and operation of known EGR engines, in the present invention the connection duct provides a recirculation of exhaust gases during idle or motoring engine operation modes only. Of course, due to the design of the inventive internal combustion engine system, one could think of recirculating a certain amount of exhaust gas even during "normal" engine operation modes of said engine, i.e. during engine operation modes other than idle or motoring engine operation modes, but this kind of recirculation is not sufficiently controlled for qualifying as emission control by means of an EGR engine.
As soon as the accelerator of the vehicle (for instance the gas pedal) in the present invention is activated, the recirculation of exhaust gases of the non-EGR engine is terminated, that means in particularly that the connection duct is closed so that exhaust gas cannot be recirculated anymore. This in turn means that a NOx reduction due to EGR—as provided with EGR engines—is not intended with the present invention and may only occur accidentally. Further, a sophisticated cooling and controlling of the amount of recirculated exhaust gas, which is necessary for the NOx reduction reactions taking place in EGR engines during normal engine operation modes, is not possible with the present invention.
NOx reduction can only be performed at relatively low temperatures. The higher the combustion temperature is the higher is the NOx amount. The recirculation of exhaust gas reduces the oxygen amount which in turn decreases the combustion temperature. However, recirculation of uncooled exhaust gas (as used in the present invention) increases the temperature in the engine and therefore contradicts the desired NOx reduction process used in EGR engines. Consequently, this has to be avoided for the known EGR engines. Additionally, in the present invention exhaust gas is recirculated only during idle or motoring engine operation modes and not during "normal" engine operation modes, i.e. during engine operation modes other than idle or motoring engine operation modes, so that a NOx reduction cannot be achieved.
As mentioned above, in the present invention, exhaust gas recirculation is performed solely during idle or motoring engine operation modes. This in turn means that neither a cooler in the connection duct nor a sophisticated control of the exhaust gas recirculation is required. Consequently, the recirculated exhaust gas is not cooled as required for EGR engines, but simply recirculated "as it is". In one of the simplest embodiments of an aspect of the invention, the connection duct can be equipped with a simple on/off valve which opens the connecting duct during idle or motoring engine operation modes and closes in all other engine operation modes. For not damaging the internal combustion engine due to too high temperatures, the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the combustion engine and/or of the exhaust gas is sensed, and in case the sensed gas temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature threshold, the connection duct is closed, even if the combustion engine is still running in idle or motoring engine operation mode.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the exhaust gas duct is additionally equipped with a pressure control valve, which is controlled to at least partly close if the engine is in an idle or motoring engine operation mode. In this embodiment, the pressure control valve has at least two functions:    i. It reduces the total amount of exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust gas aftertreatment system, whereby an inflow of "cooling" exhaust gas into the exhaust gas aftertreatment is reduced, and    ii. The pressure increase generated upstream of the pressure control valve by at least partly closing the valve propels the recirculation of the exhaust gas and preferably determines the amount of the exhaust gas that is supposed to be recirculated to the gas inlet side of the combustion engine.
According to a further preferred embodiment, in order to measure the gas temperature use is made of a temperature sensor which can be arranged for instance at gas intake side of the engine for sensing the gas temperature at the intake manifold of the engine and for controlling the recirculation of the exhaust gas.
As indicated above, keeping the aftertreatment system within its working temperature range during idle or motoring engine operation modes is achieved by two main concepts or, in a further development, by the combination of them:    i. Due to the recirculation of the uncooled exhaust gas, the operating temperature of the engine and thereby the overall temperature of the exhaust gas is increased, whereby the—unwanted—air cooling effect of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system during idle or motoring engine operation modes of the engine is reduced.    ii. Due to the at least partly closed pressure control valve arranged in the exhaust gas duct, the amount of exhaust gas flowing through the aftertreatment system during idle or motoring engine operation modes of the engine is reduced and the amount of recirculated exhaust gas to the engine may be controlled, which in turn also reduces the—unwanted—air cooling effect of the aftertreatment system during idle or motoring engine operation modes of the engine.
In contrast to known EGR engines, the inventive method and system can also be used for retrofitting existing non-EGR engines, since it does not influence the "normal" operation of the engine. This can be done by simply connecting the exhaust gas duct with an induction duct arranged at the gas intake side of the internal combustion engine by a connecting duct and arranging a gas recirculation valve, preferably in form of an on/off valve, in the connecting duct and, preferably, also arranging a pressure control valve in the exhaust gas duct. Vehicles that are equipped with non-EGR engines and that are capable of being retrofitted with a system according to an aspect of the invention usually comprise already a temperature sensor and a controller for controlling valves in dependence of the gas temperature and the engine operation mode which can be directly used for the inventive method and system.
It should be noted that since uncooled exhaust gas is fed to the gas intake side of the engine, the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the engine and consequently the temperature inside the internal combustion engine also increases. In order to not damage the engine, supply of uncooled exhaust gas is controlled in dependence on the sensed temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the internal combustion engine and/or of the exhaust gas. As soon as the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side and/or the exhaust gas exceeds a certain predetermined maximum temperature, supply of the exhaust gas is stopped or at least reduced until the sensed temperature of the gas at the gas intake side and/or the exhaust gas is again below the predetermined maximum temperature. This reduction or stop of the flow of recirculated exhaust gas may be achieved in that (i) the pressure control valve is opened completely or at least more than before the temperature of the gas at the intake side and/or the exhaust gas has reached its maximum temperature and/or (ii) the gas recirculation valve is at least partly closed or completely closed for certain time periods or time intervals, even if the engine is still in the idle or motoring engine operation mode. This in turn means that in such specific situations—where, due to the temperature of the hot recirculated exhaust gas, the actual temperature of the engine increases and gradually approaches, or even starts to exceed, the allowable maximum temperature of the engine—more of the exhaust gas or, in the extreme case, all of the exhaust gas will be forwarded to the EATS, which in turn may temporarily cool down the EATS to lower temperatures—in the worst case even to a temperature below its working temperature range. However, since the temperature of the internal combustion engine is relatively hot compared with the working temperature range of the EATS even in these specific situations, also the exhaust gas of the engine is expected to remain sufficiently hot. Consequently, even in situations where the recirculation of the exhaust gas has to be temporarily stopped or reduced during idle or motoring engine operation modes, an excessive cooling down of the EATS is rather unlikely to happen. As soon as the temperature of the internal combustion engine returns to its predetermined working temperature range, and provided the engine is still in the idle or motoring engine operation mode, the process of recirculating exhaust gas is restored.
As mentioned above, the recirculated exhaust gas flow is controlled by an appropriate control of the at least one valve, preferably the gas recirculation valve and the pressure control valve in dependence on the sensed temperature. Preferably, the gas recirculation valve may remain open during idle or motoring engine operation modes and the amount of exhaust gas recirculation and thereby the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the engine and/or of the exhaust gas may be controlled by the opening or closing degree of the pressure control valve. This type of feed back control of a valve or flow is often called "closed loop control".
According to a preferred embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the gas recirculation valve is a simple on/off valve, which is either open or closed. The advantage is that a simple on/off valve is easy to control, cheap in use, and robust. Thereby the malfunction probability of the system is decreased.
Additionally, since the amount of exhaust gas flow recirculated to the engine does not need to be controlled as in normal EGR systems, a simple on/off valve that is normally closed is sufficient.
However, it goes without saying that, instead of a simple on-off valve, also a controllable valve could be used, the opening of which is continuously adjustable between completely closed and completely open.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the predetermined maximum temperature of the intake manifold at the gas intake side of the engine is approximately between 100° Celsius and 150° Celsius, particularly approximately between 110° Celsius and 130° Celsius, and preferably approximately 120° Celsius. Thereby, it is ensured that the internal combustion engine is not damaged.
According to a further preferred embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the pressure control valve arranged at the exhaust gas duct is adapted to reduce the gas flow to the exhaust gas aftertreatment system by circa 20% to 70%, preferably circa 30% to 60%, and most preferred circa 40% to 50%. Due to this reduction of total gas flow through the aftertreatment system, the "air cooling" effect of the aftertreatment system is reduced.
How much the gas flow to the exhaust gas aftertreatment system is reduced is preferably dependent on the engine speed and the sensed gas temperature at the intake manifold at the gas intake side of the engine and/or the exhaust gas. In general, the aim is to maximize the exhaust gas flow recirculated to the engine without exceeding the maximum temperature of approximately 120° C. at the gas intake side of the engine. Then, the flow to the exhaust gas aftertreatment system is minimized and the exhaust gas temperature is maximized. To do this, the above described "closed loop control" is used, preferably in form of software, to control the amount of recirculated exhaust gas by means of the pressure control valve in such a way that the gas at the gas intake side of the internal combustion engine reaches—but does not exceed—the permitted maximum temperature (here: for instance approximately 120° C.).
Preferably, the gas recirculation valve is closed as soon as an accelerator of the vehicle (for instance the gas pedal) is activated, and it is opened as soon as the accelerator is released. The control of the gas recirculation valve in dependence of the activation of the accelerator is a simple and effective control mechanism covering both the idle engine operation mode and the motoring engine operation mode. Preferably, at low idle speeds, e.g. around 600 rpm, and no accelerator demand, in addition to the recirculated exhaust gas, fuel is injected into the combustion engine for keeping the engine running.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, vehicles having non-EGR engines can be easily retrofitted with the inventive system for maintaining the temperature in the exhaust gas aftertreatment system. Thereby, an already existing exhaust gas aftertreatment system or a retrofitted exhaust gas aftertreatment system can be used. For retrofitting the non-EGR engine a retrofitting kit can be provided which may comprise a system for keeping the exhaust gas aftertreatment system within its working temperature range, comprising at least a connection duct for the recirculation of the exhaust gas which can be connected to the exhaust gas outlet side of the internal combustion engine (for instance to an exhaust gas duct arranged at the exhaust gas outlet side of the engine) and the gas intake side of the engine (for instance an induction duct arranged at the gas intake side of the engine), wherein a gas recirculation valve is arranged at the connection duct, and a controller for controlling the valve in the above described manner. Further, the controller can also be in form of a computer program which is intended to run on a vehicle's on-board computer.
Additionally, a pressure control valve may be provided for being arranged at the exhaust gas outlet side of the engine (for instance at the exhaust gas duct arranged at the exhaust gas outlet side of the engine). Further, a controller may be provided which is adapted to control the gas recirculation valve to open and the pressure control valve to at least partly close in such a way that—if the combustion engine is running in either an idle or the motoring engine operation mode—the temperature of the gas at the intake side of the engine and/or of the exhaust gas is kept or maintained within a predetermined temperature range.
In case the vehicle is not equipped with a temperature sensor, the retrofitting kit may also comprise a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the gas at the gas intake side of the engine and/or of the exhaust gas.
According to a further embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the controller of the retrofitting kit can be an already existing central processing unit (CPU) or electronic control unit (ECU) in the vehicle, particularly an onboard computer which is programmable to control the valves according to the above described way. A "CPU" is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program. Particularly, in automotive electronics the term "ECU" is used as a generic term for any embedded system that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a vehicle.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a computer program product is provided, which comprises a software code to be implemented on a computer, preferably on an on-board computer of the vehicle, so that the computer is adapted to perform the above described method steps. Preferably, the computer program product can be part of the retrofitting kit.
Further advantages and preferred embodiments are defined by the attached claims, the description and the Figures.
In the following same elements or similarly functioning elements are indicated with the same reference numerals.

Method and internal combustion engine system for keeping an exhaust gas aftertreatment system within its working temperature range


The present invention provides a head-mounted display comprising: a body part including a display part for displaying an image; a fixing part, which surrounds a head part to allow the body part to be fixed to the head part and includes a front support part, a rear support part having an adjustable length, and a connecting part; a connecting frame that connects the body part to the fixing part to allow the body part to rotate and move with reference to the fixing part; and a band part, which has opposite ends fixed to the fixing part and is formed to elastically surround the head part, together with the front support part.

Terminals may be divided into a glass-type terminal (mobile/portable terminals) and a stationary terminal according to mobility. Also, the glass-type terminal may be classified into a handheld type and a vehicle mount type according to whether or not a user can directly carry.
As it becomes multifunctional, a mobile terminal can be allowed to capture still images or moving images, play music or video files, play games, receive broadcast and the like, so as to be implemented as an integrated multimedia player. Efforts are ongoing to support and increase the functionality of terminals. Such efforts include software improvements, as well as changes and improvements in the structural components.
A wearable glass type terminal which is wearable on a part of a human body is recently developed. A glass type terminal worn on a user's head may correspond to a head mounted display (HMD). A display unit provided in a glass type terminal such as an HMD may provide various conveniences to a user by combining with an augmented reality technology, an N-screen technology and the like beyond a simple image output function.
In the case of a head-mounted display worn on a user's head, a device for pressing the user's head is required for ensuring wearing stability. However, it is inconvenient for the user since the device stably fixed on the user's head needs to be removed when wearing and taking off the head-mounted display.
In addition, as a head-mounted display is commercialized, a user's need for a more convenient structure for wearing and receiving an image is increasing.


A battery reinforcement method for reinforcing a rectangular battery cell in which a battery element is disposed in a rectangular external packaging, the method includes enclosing the battery element between two rectangular external packaging sheets and sealing the rectangular external packaging sheets with a sealing part that extends along edges of the rectangular external packaging sheets so as to form the rectangular external packaging, and forming a reinforcing part outside of the sealing part on the rectangular external packaging.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery reinforcement method.
Background Information
Conventional systems are known in which multiple workpieces are stored in a rack, and the pitch of the multiple workpieces that are arranged in the rack is adjusted in accordance with the workpiece treatment step (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-183357). With the invention according to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-183357, the workpieces are substrates, and the workpieces are held in grooves that are formed in a substrate holding member in which the ends of the substrates fit.
On the other hand, with steps that involve processing battery cells, multiple battery cells are stored in the rack and are taken out and transported after adjusting the pitch, as necessary.


An overhead console (10) spanning the header above the windshield (150) includes support for a removable electronic device (120).

In modern times, vehicles, such as, e.g., trucks, buses, cars and the like, often include a variety of electronic devices for an assortment of purposes. By way of example, vehicles can often include one or more of the following electronic devices: citizens band (CB) radios; AM/FM radios; cassette players; CD players; DVD players; video players; cellular phones; global position system (GPS) devices; radar detectors; entertainment devices; computers; etc. Often, these electronic devices are ancillary electronic devices that are not required for the operation of the vehicle itself, but for other purposes (such as, e.g., for business use or operator convenience) during the time period in which the operator is within the vehicle.
However, along with this increase in the number of ancillary electronic devices comes the need for features and structures to accommodate these ancillary electronic devices. The requirements imposed upon vehicle dash boards, consoles and other interior elements have, thus, increased over recent years, becoming increasingly complex and costly. Among other things, consoles often need to accommodate a variety of ancillary electronic devices. Meanwhile, there is also an increasing need to provide vehicle operators with increased vehicle storage space. As the complexities of vehicle dash boards, consoles and the like increase so do the costs related to the manufacture of these components.
While the foregoing issues are germane to both family vehicles (such as, e.g., cars and the like) and commercial vehicles (such as, e.g., trucks, buses and the like), these issues are often more significant in the context of commercial vehicles because, among other things, commercial entities often have business needs to, among other things, a) limit costs, b) increase productivity, and c) reduce equipment down time.
With reference to FIG. 7, in some existing trucks of the present assignee, an overhead compartment 10 has been implemented for storage and for supporting a CB radio. In such implementations, the compartment 10 has a length in a lateral direction L that is substantially smaller than a width of the truck in which the compartment 10 is installed. In order to mount a CB radio (not shown), a mounting strap 15 (e.g., a strap that is manually attached using hook and loop fastening fabric such as, e.g., VELCRO fastening fabric) has been used to retain the CB radio. In order to mount the compartment 10 within a vehicle, the compartment 10 has been fixedly attached to a headliner (not shown) of the truck via a plurality of mounting brackets BK, which facilitate attachment to the headliner via bolts B.
While the system shown in FIG. 7 provides convenient overhead access for an operator, it is appreciated that there are a variety of limitations associated with such systems. Among other things, the present invention considers a) that it can be difficult to install a CB radio into such a system (which has limited manual manipulation room for the strap 15, the power connectors, etc.), b) that a substantial number of components (e.g., including mounting brackets, etc.) are required in such a system, and c) that a substantial number of components parts and associated costs are required to manufacture such a system. Thus, there has been a need to improve such systems to overcome one or more of the above and/or other limitations therein.
In addition to the foregoing background art, a variety of other systems and devices are also known. By way of example, additional background documents include:                a) U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,072, which shows an overhead "accessory support device for [a] vehicle windshield and [a] method of installing;"        b) U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,010, which shows an overhead "mounting system for equipment in police vehicles;"        c) U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,193, which shows an overhead "shelf for a vehicle cab;"        d) U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,190, which shows an "overhead instrument console;"        e) U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,460, which shows an overhead "long-distance truck cabin;" and        f) U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,987, which shows an overhead "container system for entertainment and communications equipment."
As set forth below, the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide notable advancements over those described in the documents outlined as well as other existing systems and devices.

Storage unit with electronic device mounting structure


A higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber includes an optical fiber and a first loss layer which is provided within the fiber and which attenuates a lower order mode propagating through the optical fiber while not attenuating a higher order mode which is higher than the lower order mode. A dispersion compensating fiber mode converter for a higher order fiber includes a single mode fiber; a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber; and a fused and extended portion which has been formed by fusing and extending the single mode fiber and the higher order mode fiber. The fused and extended portion converts between the LP01 mode of the single mode fiber and the LP02 mode of the higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber, more specifically, to a dispersion compensating fiber which reduces interference between lower and higher order modes (multipass interference: MPI) and diminishes wavelength dependence of the propagation loss in higher order modes. In addition, this invention relates to a mode converter for a higher order fiber for converting between a fundamental and a higher order mode in a wider band with low loss, and can be applied to a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber module, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
The rapid increase in demand for data communications has created the need for an optical fiber transmission system which can transmit a larger volume of data at a higher rate.
To accommodate such a need, a reduction in residual dispersion in an optical fiber transmission path has been required and dispersion compensating fibers have been employed.
In addition, since the number of wavelengths multiplexed on a single fiber has greatly increased, the power of optical signals propagating through the fiber has also increased, and prevention of degradation of transmission properties of the fiber due to a nonlinear effect is required. Therefore, an optical fiber having a large effective core area Aeff is desired for configuring an optical transmission path, and thus a dispersion compensating fiber with a large effective core area is desired.
Unlike the fundamental mode (the LP01 mode) used for conventional dispersion compensating fibers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,234 discloses a dispersion compensating fiber employing a higher order mode, i.e., the LP02 mode, which is higher than the LP01 mode.
Such a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber (HOM-DCF) has a substantially large effective core area due to its design, and has a large chromatic dispersion index (i.e., the absolute value of the chromatic dispersion per unit length). For example, a chromatic dispersion index of, for example, −200 ps/nm/km, has been attained.
In such a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber, interference between lower and higher order modes propagating therethrough cannot be eliminated. Therefore, a mode converter is needed at a junction between a single mode optical fiber and a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber in an optical transmission path in order to convert the lower order mode to the higher order mode so that propagation of the lower order mode through the dispersion compensating fiber is minimized.
As a mode converter, fiber couplers (Lin et al., "Design Theory and Experiments of LP01-LP11 Mode Converter utilizing fused tapered Fiber Coupler", Bulletin of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers C-I, Vol. J82-C-I, pp. 587-595, 1999), holey fibers (HF) (S. Choi et al., "A New Type of Mode Converter for Higher Order Mode Dispersion Compensation Based on The Tapered Hollow Optical Fiber", Proc. Conf. on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CTuAA2, 2001) and long period gratings (LPG) (S. Ramachandran et al. "Bandwidth control of long-period grating-based mode converters in few-mode fibers", Optics Letters, Vol. 27, No. 9, pp. 698-700, 2002) are used, and multipass interference (MPI) which is defined as the difference in insertion loss between lower and higher order modes can be suppressed to the order of −40 dB.
However, such a level of multipass interference is not sufficient for a practical application, and as long as a mode converter is employed, lowering multipass interference is difficult.
A higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber exhibits a large dispersion, has a large Aeff, and is used for long-haul transmission (e.g., S. Ramachandran et al., "1700 km transmission at 40 Gb/s with 100 km amplifier-spacing enable by high-order-mode dispersion-compensation", Proc. European Conf. Opt Comm., WeF-2.2, 2001).
One of the important technologies to achieve a practical application of higher order mode dispersion compensating fibers is a mode converter for converting from a fundamental mode of a single mode fiber (SMF) to a higher order mode of an HOM-DCF. As an example of such a mode converter, a converter employing a long period fiber grating and a holey fiber has been reported.
Furthermore, an LP01-LP11 mode converter which employs a fusion tapered fiber coupler using a combination of dual mode (LP01 and LP11) and single mode (LP01) fibers has been proposed.
However, such LPG converters are difficult to manufacture, and their conversion characteristic is susceptible to various environmental factors.
Furthermore, the conversion ratio of HF-type converters from the LP01 mode to the LP02 mode (hereinafter referred to as "LP01-LP02 conversion ratio") is low.
Furthermore, Lin does not describe any converters capable of converting to the higher order mode LP02.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber which reduces propagation in modes lower than a higher order mode, diminishes interference between lower and higher order modes, and further decreases multipass interference.
In addition to solving the first problem mentioned above, the present invention is directed to a higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber which diminishes wavelength dependence of the propagation loss at higher order modes.
The present invention is further directed to a mode converter for a higher order fiber which converts between a fundamental mode and a higher order mode in a wider band with low loss.

Higher order mode dispersion compensating fiber and mode converter for higher order fiber


Disclosed is a method for manufacturing thin sheets of high-strength titanium alloys. The method includes the steps of preparing initial blanks, assembling the initial blanks into a pack within a sheath, and heating and hot rolling the pack of the initial blanks in the sheath. The method is characterized in that, in the step of preparing the initial blanks, blanks having an (α-phase grain size of not more than 2 μm are produced by hot rolling a forged or die-forged slab to a predetermined value of a relative thickness hB/hF, where hB is a thickness in mm of the initial blank before said pack hot rolling and hF is a final sheet thickness in mm, and by heat treating the initial blanks followed by rapidly cooling; and in that the step of pack hot rolling is conducted in quasi-isothermal conditions in longitudinal and transverse directions, while changing a rolling direction by about 90° after a predetermined total reduction in one direction is achieved. The method provides big-sized thin sheets made of high-strength titanium alloys and having homogeneous submicrocrystalline structure where an average grain size is less than 1 μm. The sheets have the required mechanical properties suitable for superplastic forming (SPF) at temperatures below 800° C.

Well known is a method for producing thin sheets having thicknesses of from about 0.076 to about 1.0 mm (0.003 to 0.04 inch) and made of titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr) and alloys thereof (see the U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,945 published May 30, 1961). The method includes the steps of preparing a card blank, assembling a plurality of the blanks into a pack in an outer sheath (a steel case), heating the pack up to about 730-757° C. (from about 1345 to 1395° F.), hot rolling the pack, annealing the pack, cold rolling the pack at a reduction of from 10 to 60%, heat treating the pack, end cropping and end trimming the pack and separating the trimmed pack into component sheets, and finishing the sheets. The method allows to obtain required mechanical properties of the sheets in longitudinal and transverse directions by maintaining optimum temperature-deformation conditions of the process. The produced sheets have a grain size of 4 to 6 μm (microns) and greater. This method may be considered as the prior art closest to the methods claimed in the present invention.
However, the processing of high-strength alloys in the suggested temperature range is difficult and causes formation of microcracks and breaks in the processed material. In addition, the sheets produced by the above-described method can be used to form articles of a complex shape by superplastic forming (SPF) only at high temperatures (900-960° C.), which significantly complicates the technological process and makes the produced articles more expensive. Decrease of the SPF temperature below 800° C. causes an abrupt increase of stresses during deformation.
Also known from the prior art (see the U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,172 of Jan. 27, 1970) is a method for producing strips of a metal selected from the group consisting of commercially pure titanium, alpha stabilized alpha type titanium base alloys and alpha stabilized alpha-beta type titanium base alloys, which comprises: (1) unidirectionally hot rolling a body of said metal to reduce said body to an elongated hot band, said rolling being initiated at a temperature requiring a substantial amount of said reduction to occur in the alpha-beta field of said metal; (2) heating said hot band at a temperature above the beta transus of said metal to completely transform the crystal structure of said metal to the beta phase; (3) rapidly cooling said hot band from said temperature above the beta transus of said metal to a temperature below said beta transus to produce acicular type microstructure in the metal; and (4) subjecting said rapidly cooled hot band to the steps of rolling and annealing at temperatures below said beta transus to produce an elongated strip having a substantially completely recrystallized microstructure.
A method for manufacturing thin sheets of strength and high-strength titanium-based alloys is also known in the prior art (see the Russian Patent No. RU 2,179,899, IPC7 B21B 1/38, published on Feb. 27, 2002 and assigned to the present applicant). This method includes the steps of preparing card blanks, assembling the blanks into a pack in a steel case, heating the pack up to 880° C. and hot rolling the pack at a reduction rate of 60%, annealing the pack at the temperature of 770° C. for 30 min, straightening the pack, disassembling the pack into separate sheets, and finishing the sheets.
This method allows to obtain the sheets having α-phase grain sizes of 2-4 μm in their microstructure, which are quite sufficient for producing articles from these sheets by the SPF at temperatures of 900-960° C. This is an optimum temperature range in order to obtain necessary values of flow stress and elongation at a strain rate of from 10−3 to 10−4 sec−1.
However, decrease of the SPF temperature below 800° C. causes an abrupt increase in flow stresses up to 75 MPa (for a true deformation value of 1.1) and the sheets produced by this known method are therefore not suitable for the SPF at temperatures below 800° C.
The article manufacturing process using the SPF is commonly performed in special furnaces into which dies are placed and heated up to a deformation temperature of 900-960° C. A heated inert gas which creates a formation strain needed to shape the article is supplied under pressure to a workpiece through channels made in an upper die. Due to such high SPF temperatures, a lifetime of the tool (dies) is very short and energy consumption is extremely high. Therefore, a need to decrease the SPF temperature during the article manufacturing process down to 800° C. and below exists till the present time.
It is known that, in order to widen the temperature—strain rate interval during the SPF, α-phase grain sizes should be decreased (O. A. Kaybyshev. "Superplasticity of industrial alloys". Moscow, 'Metallurgy' Publisher, 1984). Particularly, it is known at the present time that, in order to reduce the SPF deformation temperature, it is necessary to obtain a workpiece having submicrocrystalline structure (SMCS) with a grain size of 1 μm or lower (see "Forging production" in Russian, 1999, No. 7, pp. 17-19). The workpieces or semifinished products having such grain sizes would allow to reduce the SPF deformation temperature by several hundred degrees, depending on an alloying (doping) level of the alloys.
One of the most technically acceptable ways to obtain this workpiece structure is to use a polygonal (many-sided) isothermal forging method. There are some difficulties, however, in implementation of the presently proposed methods in production quantities using the currently existing equipment.
Also known is a method for processing metal and alloy billets by thermomechanical deformation in one or several steps, which method provides refining of billet material microstructure by choosing load conditions (see the Russian Patent No. 2,203,975, IPC7 C22F 1/18, which is issued May 10, 2003 and corresponds to the International patent application publication WO 01/81026 of Nov. 1, 2001). The load conditions provide microstructure transformation during a deformation and/or heat treatment process. Quantity of the deformation steps and the type of load are chosen taking into account configurations of the initial and final billets and grain size of the initial billet. At the first stage, the billet is obtained by multicomponent loading, in particular, by loading of "torque—tensile (compressive)" type. Further deformation of the billet is conducted in a sheath. This method allows to obtain the billets mostly of a round cross-section and a grain size less than 0.5 μm.
A major drawback of this method is a low process manufacturability, limited shapes and sizes of the produced billets. Realization of the process in production quantities requires great investment costs to provide necessary equipments and tools.
Thus, the above analysis of the current patent and literature prior art has proved a necessity to provide a technological method for manufacturing, in production quantities and with the use of currently existing equipment, big-sized semifinished products made of high-strength titanium alloys and having homogeneous submicrocrystalline structure.

Method for manufacturing thin sheets of high strength titanium alloys description


An adapter converts a dumb charger into a smart charger. A first input interface interconnects the adapter with a first charging connector of a charger. A second input interface interconnects the adapter with a second charging connector of an electric device. A wireless communications interface provides wireless connectivity to the adapter that is initiated responsive to connection of the first input interface with the first charging connector of the charger. Control circuitry interconnects the first input interface with the second input interface via a signaling connection for providing communications between the first input interface and the second input interface. The control circuitry further provides a power connection for selectively providing a charging signal from the first input interface to the second input interface responsive to commands received over the wireless communications interface and the signaling connection.

The expanding uses of personal rechargeable electrical and electronic devices often require multiple rechargings of batteries within the devices during the course of daily usage. These devices include things such as mobile phones, tablets, personal entertainment devices, personal mobility devices and electric vehicles. With the advent of thousands of mobile phone applications, the rate of battery discharge in mobile phones has increased and popularize the use of portable power banks which accompanied the user to enable the charging of the mobile phone while the user continues their activity. However, in the case of larger sized tablet devices, these devices must often be left unattended at an electrical outlet. Similar problems are encountered with respect to portable medical devices such as a portable oxygen concentrator or respirator. These problems are also encountered with larger electrical devices such as an electric wheelchair or personal mobility device wherein the method of recharging the batteries of the device is restricted to charging at an electrical wall outlet. Depending on the user's state of disability the user may be confined to their electric wheelchair or personal mobility device for the time that the battery requires charging. The user would then have to wait within the chair during the entire charging process.
The aging of the population has seen a continued increase in the number of people with disabilities that can be alleviated by the use of rechargeable electrical devices such as portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) for people with chronic breathing difficulties, or electric wheelchairs for people with a mobility disability. Besides this aging population group, commonly referred to as the "Boomer" generation, many individuals may also be afflicted at younger ages due to injury, illness or birth disability.
Municipalities worldwide are responding to the need to provide transportation and pathways that are accessible by personal mobility device (PMD) users with wheelchairs or electric scooters. The main consumption of battery power by a PMD may begin at the destination point when the user engages in one or more activities that prompted the trip or journey in the first place. As an individual ventures out of his/her home, it is likely that they desire to visit more than one place around a particular destination point. For example, once the individual reaches a mall, they are likely to traverse the mall and visit various in-mall destinations. As the user visits the various places, the electric wheelchair or scooter is consuming battery power, and the PMD user must be conscious of the time passage. The level of residual battery charge may be used up causing the PMD to run out of battery power unexpectedly. When a PMD is drained of battery power, the user is greatly inconvenienced as PMDs can weigh 300 pounds or more and are much too heavy to push and manipulate manually. Additionally, the complete draining of the battery's power causes permanent damage to the battery which shortens battery life and which are expensive to replace. It is commonly recommended that the battery should never be drained below 60% of its capacity, and more recently, it has been recommended that such batteries be frequently charged and maintained close to full capacity. This creates a problem with public venues that are not equipped to provide electrical outlets for charging of devices, much less an electric PMD. Nor are the venue operators incentivized to provide electricity for free.
Similar types of problems arise with electrically powered cars when traveling longer distances from their homes. Electrically powered cars typically have a range of approximately 70-100 miles and some models with a range of over 300 miles. When going on longer trips or attempting to travel cross country, there is a similar need for periodic charging of the car in order to continue on the trip. Thus, some manner for preplanning and reserving charging opportunities would provide greater peace of mind to the electric vehicle traveler.
Although electric vehicles ("EV(s)") are becoming more popular, access to public charging stations remains the number one barrier to EV adoption. The high cost of installing and equipping EV charging stations ("EV Station(s)") with one or more EV chargers hinders the construction and deployment of EV Stations. In addition, most if not all EV stations are unmanned and thus the availability of the station's EV charger(s) is unknown until an EV driver arrives to use the chargers at the particular EV Station; as the equipment may be in use, or inoperative.

Method and device for converting standalone EV charging stations into intelligent stations with remote communications connectivity and control


A harvesting machine with a slope equalizing arrangement having a gearbox housing that is pivotally mounted to a pivot bearing. The gearbox housing having a sleeve that is pivotally received in a bushing formed in the pivot bearing. The gearbox housing is also provided with a mandrel to which is coupled one end of a hydraulic cylinder. The other end of the hydraulic cylinder is coupled to the pivot bearing. The gearbox housing has first and second parts. The first and second parts (66, 68) are assembled at a vertical interface surface that extends in the direction of travel. The mandrel being mounted to the second part.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a harvesting machine with a slope equalizing arrangement having a pivot bearing, a gearbox housing and a hydraulic cylinder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
DE-A1-41 31 433 discloses a slope equalizing arrangement for a combine. This arrangement contains a mount attached to the combine frame and a pivot arm. The pivot arm supports a final drive housing that can pivot vertically on bearings in the mount. The pivot arm contains a first leg that is bolted to the final drive housing and a second leg configured as a sleeve that is retained in the mount and is free to rotate. A journal extends from the leg connected to the final drive housing and is used for the connection to a hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic cylinder extends substantially in horizontal direction between the pivot arm and the mount and vertically pivots the pivot arm with the final drive housing. The final drive housing consists of a cast housing and a cover that can be connected to each other at a interface surface that extends transverse to the direction of travel of the vehicle. One leg of the pivot arm is bolted to the cast housing.
In another configuration a two-piece gearbox housing is used, in which the interface surface extends in the direction of travel. The pivot arm is bolted to the part that faces the center of the vehicle. In this embodiment the wheel hub is supported in bearings and is free to rotate in both parts of the gearbox housing.

Slope equalizing arrangement for a harvesting machine


A manual transmission mechanism adapted for use in an engine-driven automotive vehicle comprising a mainshaft and a countershaft, gearing arranged on each of said shafts, and synchronizer clutch structure which is arranged to accommodate a shift linkage mechanism for actuating the synchronizer clutch sleeve so the synchronizer clutch arrangement which makes possible a location of the driver-operated shift linkage in close proximity to the synchronizer clutch sleeves, permitting an efficient shift pattern for the driver-controlled shifter and permitting a simplified assembly of the linkage mechanism with minimum stack-up tolerance errors.

My invention relates to a transmission of the kind that I have disclosed in my copending patent application, Ser. No. 951,279 entitled "Multiple Ratio Manual Transmission" filed Sep. 25, 1992. My copending patent application is assigned to the assignee of my present invention. Reference may be made to the copending disclosure to supplement the description of my present invention.
A manual transmission of the kind disclosed in my copending application and other transmissions presently known in the art as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,222,281 and 4,799,399 comprise an input shaft, a mainshaft and a countershaft. The mainshaft and the countershaft respectively support torque transmitting gearing and cluster gear assembly gear elements. Synchronizer clutches are used to establish selectively each of several forward driving torque flow paths and at least a single reverse torque flow path. A driver operator shift lever is mounted on the transmission housing that encloses the mainshaft gears and the cluster gear assembly gear elements. The synchronizer clutches include clutch sleeves that are adapted to be shifted axially to establish and disestablish the torque flow paths.
A linkage mechanism for actuating the shift sleeves includes a shift fork for each sleeve. A mechanical connection is established between the driver-controlled shift lever and the individual shift forks by extensions or selector plates carried by each shift fork. The shift lever can be rotated in a plane transverse to the axis of the mainshaft or moved fore and aft in a plane parallel to the axis of the mainshaft as a mechanical connection is established and disestablished between the shift lever and the individual shift plates.
It is common practice in the prior art to provide a shift fork interlock that prevents shifting movement of one shift fork as a companion shift fork is selected by the driver and actuated as the driver shifts the shift lever in one direction or the other. An offset lever connected to one end of the shift lever is rotated or shifted axially by the shift lever as the selector plates and shift forks are selected by the operator. The shift forks may be mounted on and supported by a common shift rail arranged in parallel disposition with respect to the axis of the mainshaft.
In prior art constructions, it is usual practice to provide a motion controlling gate secured to the transmission housing. This establishes a motion pattern for the offset lever and the shift lever as the driver establishes and disestablishes the various transmission ratios. It also is common practice to mount the interlock mechanism on a stationary portion of the transmission independently of the mounting structure for the shift lever. Such arrangements introduce assembly problems because of the complexity of the shift linkage. Further, design tolerances that normally are associated in the design and manufacture of the transmission and the linkage mechanism introduce calibration errors that have the potential for misaligning the selector mechanism for the selector plates and for mislocating the synchronizer clutch sleeves.

Unitary ratio selector mechanism for a multiple ratio manual transmission


Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward underfill material including block copolymer. In one embodiment, an underfill material includes epoxy material and a copolymer including an epoxy-philic block and an epoxy-phobic block, wherein the epoxy-philic block is miscible in the epoxy material, the epoxy-phobic block is covalently bonded with the epoxy-philic block, the epoxy-phobic block is separated in a microphase domain within the epoxy material and the epoxy-philic block is configured to restrict thermal expansion or contraction of the epoxy material.

Currently, underfill material may be deposited between a die and substrate to promote adhesion between the die and substrate and/or to protect features of the die and substrate such as interconnect structures from environmental hazards. A coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the underfill material may be designed to match, to the extent possible, a CTE of the die and/or substrate in order to reduce defects such as cracks, delamination, or other defects associated with thermal expansion or contraction of the die and/or substrate. Techniques are being investigated to reduce CTE of underfill material for some scenarios. For example, one technique includes adding inorganic fillers to reduce CTE of underfill materials. However, addition of inorganic fillers may also increase a viscosity of the underfill material, which may adversely affect processing of the underfill material. A higher viscosity may render the underfill material unsuitable for deposition in some cases.

Underfill material including block copolymer to tune coefficient of thermal expansion and tensile modulus


Comments are flexibly bound to keyfigures of an in-memory database, through reference to dimension dependency table(s). An in-memory database engine creates a comment bound to a first tuple via a first comment table. The first tuple comprises a first dimension (e.g., Product). A user then requests a second tuple comprising a second dimension (e.g., Product Group) related to the first dimension. In response, the in-memory database engine references a dimension dependency table to determine dimension dependency information. Based upon that information, the engine transforms the comment to also be bound to the second tuple via a second comment table. The second tuple is then returned to the user together with the comment, even though the second tuple may not explicitly share dimensions with the first tuple. Embodiments may leverage the processing power and data proximity of the in-memory database engine, to efficiently transform comments by executing aggregation (e.g., join) operations.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Databases are useful structures for storing and manipulating pieces of information exhibiting complex relationships with one another. Some databases feature keyfigures that comprise assemblages of multiple pieces of data into larger data objects.
A keyfigure may comprise one or more dimensions in various combinations. A user may frequently switch between planning views that include different sets of dimensions.
It may be desirable to annotate a keyfigure with helpful comments from multiple reviewers, for retention and circulation along with the keyfigure. However, the flexible relationships between data objects and dimensions can hamper the implementation of such comment functionality, such that comments that may be relevant to another data object are not available to a reviewer.

Keyfigure comments bound to database level persistence


Two multiplexors select a first signal Ain and its inverted signal /Ain in the first half of a single cycle of a clock signal and Ain and /Ain, i.e., a differential signal pair, are differential-transmitted to two signal lines. On the other hand, the two multiplexors select a second signal Bin and its inverted signal /Bin in the second half and Bin and /Bin, i.e., a differential signal pair, are differential-transmitted to the two signal lines. Based on the transition probability of Ain and Bin or based on the mode information of a system, either Ain or Bin is selected and is differential-transmitted. As a result of such arrangement, when the transmission of one of Ain and Bin is not required, the other signal can continuously be differential-transmitted using an unoccupied signal line, which makes it possible to increase the rate of signal transmission without having to increase the number of signal lines.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to circuits and methods for signal transmission. The present invention pertains, more specifically, to improvements in the transmission of signal in a memory circuit or microprocessor which transmits in parallel a great number of signals in synchronisation with a predetermined clock signal, in a single semiconductor chip or between two semiconductor chips.
2. Technical Background
Conventionally, microprocessors that perform parallel signal processing or memory circuits, such as image memories, synchronous dynamic random access memories (SDRAMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), employ the following basic configuration for the drive of signal lines, in other words for the transmission of signals.
This basic configuration is illustrated with reference to FIG. 36. 100 and 101 are signal transmission lines each of which is formed by a single line. 102 and 103 are drivers, formed by inverters, for transmitting signals to the signal lines 100 and 101. 104 and 105 are receivers, formed by inverters, for receiving signals from the signal lines 100 and 101.
The operation of the configuration of FIG. 36 is illustrated by making reference to FIG. 37. For the case of the transmission of parallel signals in synchronization with a clock signal MCLK, an input signal Ain and an input signal Bin are taken in on the rising or falling edge of the clock signal MCLK (Ain and Bin are taken in on the rising edge in FIG. 37) and, at this timing, the drivers 102 and 103 are activated at the same time so as to drive the signal lines 100 and 101, whereby the input signals Ain and Bin are transmitted to the signal lines 100 and 101, respectively. On the other hand, the signals of the signal lines 100 and 101 are fed into the inputs of the receivers 104 and 105 on the rising or falling edge of the clock signal MCLK (the signals are fed to the inputs on the rising edge in FIG. 37) and, at this timing, the receivers 104 and 105 are activated at the same time so as to detect the signals of the signal lines, whereby a detection signal Aout and a detection signal Bout are provided from the receivers 104 and 105.
The conventional configuration, however, has some problems. For example, each of the signal transmission lines 100 and 101 is formed of a single line. As a result, signals of the signal line each indicate a potential difference between the post-variation potential of a signal line and the reference threshold voltage for signal identification of a corresponding receiver. For this reason, when taking into account power supply noise, it becomes necessary to set a greater potential amplitude for each signal line. As a result, greater electric power is consumed when transmitting signals. Additionally, there are effects of wiring delay determined by a multiplication product of the wiring capacitance and the wiring resistance of each signal line. The conventional configuration, therefore, suffers from the problem that a large amount of power is consumed, even in low-speed operations.
To cope with such a problem accompanied with the conventional configuration, a configuration is proposed in which signal lines other than the signal lines 100 and 101 are provided in the same number as each signal line 100 and 101 and, at the time of the transmission of signals through each signal line, the signals are differential-transmitted using a signal line and its corresponding signal line.
The potential amplitude of signal lines can be reduced by means of the foregoing configuration, which makes it possible to achieve power saving. In spite of such an advantage, the number of signal lines increases. If the number of parallel bits increases from 64 up to 128 in image memories or the like, this increases both the chip area and the product cost. For this reason, it is difficult for such a configuration to achieve small and low-cost circuits.

Circuit and method for signal transmission

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Disclosed are cementitious product, as well as cementitious slurry, and method of forming the product. To reduce density in the cementitious product, foam is included in the slurry and in the method of forming the product. The slurry includes cementitious particles, water, and air bubbles such as from compressed air. Instead of using detergent chemistry at the gas/water interface of bubbles, the present invention uses a surface modifying agent for the cementitious particles in the slurry. The modified particles act to produce stable foam in the slurry. As an example mode of introduction, the surface modifier can be added (e.g., as solid or solution) directly into a bulk cementitious slurry that forms the product. As another example, the surface modifier can be added in a separate solution with water, air bubbles, and cementitious particles that serve as additive to the main cementitious slurry, where the separate solution is then added to the main cementitious slurry.

Various cementitious materials are known to be used to prepare a number of different construction products. The cementitious material is normally combined with water and other additives as desired to form a cementitious slurry. The cementitious material is either reacted with water in a hydration reaction to allow for setting to occur in a desired shape, or the water is otherwise dried off to allow the aqueous cementitious slurry to harden in the desired geometry. Examples of such cementitious materials include fly ash, Portland cement, stucco (calcium sulfate hemihydrate in alpha or beta forms, or calcium sulfate anhydrite), and various forms of gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate), including landplaster and synthetic gypsum (typically as a by-product of flue-gas desulfurization at coal-fired power plants), and the like.
Such cementitious materials are used in forming construction products such as gypsum drywall used for interior walls and ceilings of buildings, acoustical tile, floor underlayments and capping, mold-resistant board, cement board, and exterior sheathing, to name just a few.
To reduce density in various cementitious products, it is known to introduce air bubbles into the cementitious slurry. If kept stable, the air bubbles transform into air voids when the product is dried. The air bubbles can be introduced in the form of foam prepared generally in a foam generation system as known in the art. Detergent, or soap, surfactants are diluted with water and combined with air in such foam generation systems. The detergents are employed to address the stability of the air bubbles by reducing the surface tension of liquid surrounding them. The foam containing air, water, and detergent is then added to the cementitious slurry to reduce density of the final product.
Existing foaming systems for use in preparing cementitious products have not proven to be fully satisfactory. Foam stability is often problematic, as foam can be wasted as bubbles break up in the slurry because of shear forces or contact with solids in the slurry. In addition, it is difficult to deliver other ingredients with the foam because the other ingredients can destroy air bubbles, thereby compromising efficiency in the manufacturing process.
Thus, there remains a desire for new techniques for introducing foam into cementitious slurries for making various construction materials.

Particle stabilized foam, and slurries, product, and methods related thereto


A multi-piece solid golf ball composed of a solid core, at least one intermediate layer, and a cover is characterized in that the core is made of a molded and vulcanized material obtained by vulcanizing a rubber composition containing (A) a base rubber which includes (a-1) a methacryloxy- and/or acryloxy-modified silicone polymer, and containing also an unsaturated carboxylic acid and/or a metal salt thereof, an organic peroxide and an inorganic filler, and has a diameter of 30 to 40 mm and a deflection under a 980 N (100 kg) load of 2.5 to 6.0 mm: the intermediate layer is made primarily of a thermoplastic resin and has a thickness of 0.5 to 2.5 mm and a surface Shore D hardness of 45 to 75; and the cover has a thickness of 0.2 to 2.5 mm and a surface Shore D hardness of 40 to 63 which is lower than the surface Shore D hardness of the intermediate layer. The golf ball has a deflection under a 980 N (100 kg) load of 2.0 to 4.0 mm.

The present invention relates to multi-piece solid golf balls having a solid core, at least one intermediate layer, and a cover.
Various improvements are being made in the compounding of golf ball materials so as to confer golf balls with an excellent rebound. But more is desired of a golf ball than just an excellent rebound; a range of other qualities, including a soft feel on impact and outstanding durability, are also desired as well. A major concern is how to provide to a high degree these different properties in a single golf ball. The ability to maintain a high rebound over a broad range in temperature is also important as one of these various properties desired in a golf ball.
Related art in which silicone components are incorporated so as to provide golf balls which are easy to mold and have both a stable flexibility and a high rebound over a broad temperature range includes golf balls in which a part of the ball is made of a composition containing at least one powder selected from among silicone rubber powders, silicon resin powders and composites thereof (JP-A 2001-170213, JP-A 2002-331046). However, there is room for further improvement in terms of obtaining golf balls that exhibit a stable rebound over a broad temperature range, yet also have a higher rebound. Additional art involving the incorporation of silicone powder within golf ball materials has also been disclosed (JP-A 2001-353233), but such art too falls short of satisfying the desires of golfers.
In addition to the above, other art that calls for compounding silicone components in golf ball-forming materials include the efforts, described in, for example, JP-A 60-258236, JP-A 61-258844 and JP-A 8-243191, to blend millable silicone rubber into a polybutadiene rubber or a cover layer resin, then to use a peroxide to effect crosslinking. However, it is not easy to microdisperse silicone rubber in polybutadiene rubber or to microdisperse polybutadiene rubber in silicone rubber. In the interest of improving certain properties, such as flow (injection moldability) during golf ball formation and durability of the golf ball, which are intimately associated with the morphology of the blended state between these two components, there exists a need for a way to achieve a better state of dispersion between the two components.
To address the desires of professional golfers and skilled amateurs, JP-A 7-24085 discloses a solid golf ball having a three-piece construction which is hard on the interior and soft at the exterior. JP-A 10-151226 describes such a golf ball which is also endowed with improved spin, flight characteristics and durability. Yet, even with these improvements, the golf balls often fall short of what is desired.
Multi-piece solid golf balls are also described in, for example, JP-A 2001-149505, JP-A 2001-149506, JP-A 2001-149507, JP-A 2002-315848, JP-A 2003-190330 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,889. However, further improvement in such balls continues to be desired.


A storage device for sports equipment having two containers which mount in a wagon and one of the containers has an adjustable cargo area and another of the containers has racks for holding baseballs and bats.

This invention relates, in general, to storage devices, and, in particular, to storage devices for sports equipment.
In the prior art various types of storage devices have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,612 to Buccioni discloses a storage device for sports equipment with removable storage containers and a wheeled cart and the device has handles to assist loading the device onto the cart.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,298 to Brown discloses a wheeled container for sports equipment with storage compartments for balls and bats.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,048 to Lortie discloses a wheeled container for sports equipment with storage compartments for balls and bats.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 401,727 to Weldeman et al discloses a wheeled container for sports equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 340,565 to Klopfenstein discloses a wheeled container for sports equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 338,306 to White et al discloses a wheelbarrow with removable dividers to adjust the storage compartment.
The present invention is directed to a storage device for sports equipment which mounts in a wagon and has an adjustable cargo area as well as racks for holding baseballs and bats.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved storage device for sports equipment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved storage device for sports equipment which is inexpensive and easy to maneuver.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved storage device for sports equipment which can be adjusted to store different sizes of sports equipment.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the annexed drawings.