A condensate separator especially for a portable smoke or gas analyzer includes a condensate chamber (26) formed inside a housing (20) and sealed off from the environment. A gas supply element (30) is inserted into condensate chamber (26) and a gas discharge element (40) is provided to discharge gas from the condensate chamber (26). A Peltier element (10) having a hot side (12) and a cold side (14) is mounted on housing (20) and serves to cool the test gas flowing through condensate chamber (26), with cold side (14) being inserted almost completely into condensate chamber (26) so that it is in direct contact with the test gas. An elongated unheated test gas tube (100) supplies test gas to the condensate separator.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a condensate separator, especially for a portable smoke or gas analyzer, and more particularly relates to condensate separator for a gas analyzer having a Peltier element in the condensation chamber, which is in direct contact with the test gas to cool the test gas below the dew point thus causing condensation.
2. Description of the Related Art
To analyze flue gases from furnaces and exhaust from gas engines, a test gas is drawn in through a test gas probe and fed to an analyzer. To achieve adequate analysis results, it is important for the test gas to be properly prepared. This process typically involves removing moisture and dirt particles from the test gas.
The test gas is conducted by the probe through a test gas tube to the analyzer. If condensate from the test gas precipitates in the test gas tube, the test gas flowing through the test gas tube may contact the precipitated condensate for a relatively long period of time. Consequently, components of the test gas such as NO.sub.2 and SO.sub.2 may become trapped by the condensate, reducing the effective concentration of such components in the test gas, and thus leading to a distortion of the measured values of these components.
One known way to avoid occurrence of this source of measurement error is to heat the test gas tube and to provide a cooled condensate separator between the sampling probe and the analyzer. By heating the tube, it is possible to ensure that the test gas flowing therein will be maintained at or above the dew point temperature so that moisture will not condense in the test gas tube. Condensate separation then takes place exclusively and completely in a short space along the gas flow path, namely within the cooled condensate separator connected downstream from the test gas tube. The length of contact between the test gas and the liquid condensate is therefore limited to the vicinity of the condensate separator itself, so that only small quantities of NO.sub.2 and SO.sub.2 are trapped by the condensate. The concentrations of NO.sub.2 and SO.sub.2 in the test gas stream after passing through the condensate separator thus are practically the same as the concentrations in the flue gas to be analyzed. One example of a known condensate separator is shown in German Patent DE 42 29 177 C1.
Although the condensate separator described above has proven itself in principle, it suffers from a number of disadvantages. For example, problems occur when this apparatus is implemented in a mobile gas analyzer, designed for example for use by heating technicians or chimney sweeps, since a relatively large amount of energy is required to heat the test gas tube and to cool the gas in the condensate separator. These high energy requirements reduce the effective operating time of mobile gas analyzers, which are necessarily battery powered. Accordingly, frequent battery replacement is required.
The reasons for this comparatively poor efficiency are diverse in nature. In particular, the housing surrounding the condensate chamber must be cooled as a whole, and high energy is required for the cooling process because of the high thermal capacity of the housing. Moreover, high energy losses occur as a result of the loss of heat to the environment, which can be eliminated to only a very limited extent by insulation surrounding the housing. These and other problems limit the usefulness of certain known portable gas analyzers.


An image sensor device and methods thereof. In an example method, a protective layer may be formed over at least one microlens. An adhesive layer may be formed over the protective layer. The adhesive layer may be removed so as to expose the protective layer. The protective layer may be removed so as to expose the at least one microlens, the exposed at least one microlens not including residue from the adhesive layer. The at least one microlens may have an improved functionality due at least in part to the lack of residue from the adhesive layer. In an example, the at least one microlens may be included in an image sensor module.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relates generally to an image sensor device and methods thereof, and more particularly to an image sensor device including at least one microlens and methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image sensor modules may include solid state image sensing devices or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CISs). Image sensor modules may detect an image of an object and output corresponding electrical signals using photoelectric conversion devices and/or charge coupled devices (CCDs). Image sensor modules may be utilized in a wide range of applications including, for example, digital cameras, digital camcorders, telecommunication terminals, camera phones, multi-media personal computers and surveillance cameras.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional image sensor module 70. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional image sensor module 70 may include a flexible circuit substrate 71 and an image sensor device 40 mounted on an upper surface of the flexible circuit substrate 71. The image sensor device 40 may include an image sensor chip 22 having chip pads 25 and microlenses 27. A protective plate 32 may be attached to the image sensor chip 22 with a photosensitive adhesive pattern 36. The protective plate 32 may include through holes 37, through which the chip pads 25 of the image sensor chip 22 may be exposed. Bonding wires 76 may electrically connect the flexible circuit substrate 71 to the chip pads 25 of the image sensor chip 22. A lens unit 77 may be formed on the upper surface of the flexible circuit substrate 71 at least partially surrounding (e.g., fully surrounding) the image sensor device 40 and may include a lens 78 for focusing an image on the image sensor device 40 and/or protecting the image sensor device 40.
The protective plate 32 may protect the microlenses 27 of the image sensor chip 22 at a wafer level, which may reduce contamination of the microlenses 27 due to fine particles present in a manufacturing environment of the image sensor module 70.
FIGS. 2 through 9 are cross-sectional views of a manufacturing process for the image sensor device 40 of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, a wafer 20 may be formed having a silicon substrate 21 and a plurality of image sensor chips 22 mounted on the silicon substrate 21. Scribe lines 24 may be formed between adjacent image sensor chips 22. Each of the plurality of image sensor chips 22 may have a plurality of chip pads 25 formed in a peripheral region of an active surface 23 and a color filter 28 formed at a central region of the active surface 23. Each of the plurality of image sensor chips 22 may further include an area 26 of the active surface (hereinafter referred to as one of an adhesive region, an attachment region, a bonding region and/or an intermediate region) between the peripheral region and the central region. A planarization layer 29 may be formed on the active surface 23 to cover the chip pads 25 and the color filter 28. Microlenses 27 may be arranged on the planarization layer 29 and indirectly on the color filter 28.
Referring to FIG. 3, a photosensitive pattern 38 may be formed to cover the microlenses 27. The photosensitive pattern 38 may include an opening 39 through which a portion of the planarization layer 29 on the chip pads 25 may be exposed. Referring to FIG. 4, the exposed portion of the planarization layer 29 may be removed to expose the chip pads 25. Referring to FIG. 5, the photosensitive pattern 38 may be removed with a removal process.
Referring to FIG. 6, a liquid photosensitive adhesive may be applied to the active surface 23 and may be rotated to form a photosensitive adhesive layer 35, for example having a uniform thickness. Referring to FIG. 7, the photosensitive adhesive layer 35 may be exposed and developed to form a photosensitive adhesive pattern 36. The photosensitive adhesive layer 35 may be removed using a conventional photolithography process. The conventional photolithography process may leave a portion of the photosensitive adhesive layer 35 (e.g., an adhesive residue) in the adhesive region 26. The photosensitive adhesive pattern 36 may thereby be formed as a square dam surrounding the microlenses 27. The height of the photosensitive adhesive pattern 36 may be greater than or equal to that of the microlenses 27.
Referring to FIG. 8, a protective plate 30 may be attached to the photosensitive adhesive pattern 36. The protective plate 30 may be aligned with the wafer 20, such that the chip pads 25 of the image sensor chip 22 may correspond to the through holes 37 of the protective plate 30.
Referring to FIG. 9, the wafer 20 having the protective plate 30 may be sawn along the scribe lines 24 with a sawing device 60. The wafer 20 may be separated by the sawing into a plurality of image sensor chips 22 each having a corresponding protective plate 32.
Referring again to FIG. 7, during the formation of the photosensitive adhesive layer 35, a residue 35a of the photosensitive adhesive layer 35 may remain on the active surface 23 and/or on the microlenses 27 after the above-described photolithography removal process. Since the microlenses 27 may each have a hemispheric shape and a curved surface, it may be difficult to spread a developing layer or solution to corners of the microlenses 27. Thus, the photosensitive adhesive layer 35 may not be completely removed.
The residue 35a may be cured during attachment of the protective plate 30 as illustrated in FIG. 8 and may thereafter remain on the microlenses 27, for example as a thin film or particles. The residue 35a may contaminate, damage and/or otherwise impair a functionality of the microlenses 27.
The image sensor module 70 of FIG. 1, including the microlenses 27 with the residue 35a as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 may not function properly due at least in part to the residue 35a. For example, a contaminated portion (e.g., the residue 35a) of at least one of the microlenses 27 may scatter incident light which may be received at the microlenses 27 after the photolithography removal process. A likelihood that light energy from the received incident light may be transferred to a photodiode below the microlenses 27 may thereby be reduced, which may degrade the performance of the image sensor device 40 of the image sensor module 70.


An orthopaedic implant for filling a bone void and a method of using the same. The orthopaedic implant comprises an open porous metal portion and a bone cement portion. At a first surface region, the open porous metal portion facilitates bone and/or soft tissue ingrowth into the pores of the first surface region of the open porous metal. At a second surface region, the open porous metal facilitates reception of the bone cement into the pores of the second surface region of the open porous metal. The open porous metal portion of the orthopaedic implant may also be formed of a plurality of porous metal fragments aggregated together with the cement portion of the orthopaedic implant. Additionally, the orthopaedic implant may be pliable and thereby capable of being molded to the shape of a void in a bone.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to filling voids in bones. More particularly, the present invention relates to orthopaedic implants having a porous metal portion and bone cement portion for filling voids in bones, and methods for using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bone voids may result for a number of reasons. For example, joint injuries or disease may result in the formation of defects and voids in a bone. Additionally, many orthopaedic surgical procedures require drilling into bone, thereby creating bone voids. Further, the locations at which bone voids occur, and the size of bone voids, are patient specific. Thus, the use of standard implants for filling bone voids may not be possible.


An articulating joint for an orthopedic brace wherein a moveable plate is rotatably connected with respect to a fixed plate. The moveable plate includes a plurality of adjustment apertures positioned around a first axis of rotation wherein one or more coarse limit screws are positioned within the adjustment apertures to limit the range of motion between the moveable plate and the fixed plate within a predetermined arc of rotation. Fine adjustment means are preferably positioned with respect to the fixed plate and obstruct a range of motion of the coarse limit screws. In addition, a brake is positioned to fix motion of moveable plate relative to fixed plate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an articulating joint for an orthopedic brace for use in post-operative rehabilitation and/or to combat the effects of chronic disease. More specifically, this invention relates to an articulating joint that permits adjustment of a fixed arc of rotation and/or a lockable fixed position for orthopedic braces to provide dependable and predictable movement for a patient.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional orthopedic braces, such as pelvic braces and knee braces, generally require an articulating joint to connect a first brace or cuff on one side of the affected joint with a second brace or cuff on the other side of the affected joint. For example, many conventional pelvic braces include a hip brace connected to a thigh cuff. The joint between the hip brace and the thigh cuff traditionally requires a limit to the range of motion or rotation that the patient may exert on the affected joint. As such, an articulating joint should be adjustable between a first point and a second point along an arc of rotation. More preferably, an articulating joint should be adjustable to permit and/or prevent abduction, adduction, flexion, extension and rotation.
Further, conventional articulating joints are generally compatible with only one type or brand of orthopedic brace. Thus, conventional articulating joints are not compatible with many of the existing orthopedic braces.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Articulating joint for an orthopedic brace


An emergency vehicle warning device and a vehicle warning system method for notifying a person (and plural) in a moving vehicle (and plural), an approaching emergency vehicle (and plural), including a transmitter for transmitting an emergency signal from an emergency vehicle and a receiver embedded in a siren and light vehicle warning device located near or attached to a traffic signal, and the receiving vehicle warning devise emits lights and loud siren sounds, which alert driver(s) of moving vehicle(s) and pedestrian(s), that the emergency vehicle(s) are approaching a nearby intersection; and the Emergency vehicle warning system comprising a transmitting means located in an emergency vehicle for transmitting an emergency signal indicating that the emergency vehicle(s) are approaching the intersection that is activated or starts and continues signaling when emergency vehicle(s) are on the move nearby in emergency conditions, a receiving means located in a siren and light vehicle warning device, such device located near or attached to a traffic signaling device or light, such receiving means for receiving the emergency signal from the transmitting means, and an alert means triggered by the receiving means to alert the driver of the moving vehicle(s) that the emergency vehicle(s) are approaching.

While prior art as described below has disclosed many concepts for attempting to improve emergency vehicle warnings there is no stand alone separate warning device to be mounted on or near a traffic light that when activated by on coming emergency vehicles specifically emits warning alerts to the drivers of vehicles and pedestrians in the area. The main concepts found in the prior art are those that teach having the emergency vehicles themselves control traffic lights themselves through signaling them directly which have the inherit problems that the decisions how to get out of the emergency vehicle path are actually taken out of the control of the pedestrian drivers and now fully dependant on the traffic light automation which could become confused from multiple signals from multiple on coming emergency vehicles that may even becoming from different directions or different roads that intersect or both. The instructions may not be able to physically direct all vehicles in all paths correctly through the traffic light instructions. The second most common solution has been systems that have the emergency vehicles contacting the driver's vehicles directly through transmitters and receivers for individualized notification. The problems in that concept are that firstly the normal procedure is not to look down at gps or monitors when driving as you have to watch the road so deaf drivers would not be helped here and it is not a uniform solution as no one will know who was correctly notified and who does not have a device in their car or has a defective device potentially causing chaos, whereas our invention will be utilized so that when drivers look at traffic lights to determine road instructions as they are usually accustomed to do they will easily also be able to view and in most cases hear our emergency vehicle warning invention.
The Darnall Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,782 teaches a signal and an alert directly to the personal moving vehicles surrounding the emergency vehicle As stated above The problems in that concept are that firstly the normal procedure is not to look down at gps or monitors when driving as you have to watch the road so deaf drivers would not be helped here and it is not a uniform solution as no one will know who was correctly notified and who does not have a device in their car or has a defective device potentially causing chaos, whereas our invention will be utilized so that when drivers look at traffic lights to determine road instructions as they are usually accustomed to do they will easily also be able to view and in most cases hear our emergency vehicle warning invention.
Darnall also describes an existing traffic light control system as follows:
It is known that 3M Transportation Systems has a system entitled the Opticom Priority Control System or other similar title. This system provides a method of turning intersection lights green in the path of oncoming emergency vehicles, providing the safest and quickest avenue for the emergency vehicle to reach the emergency scene or medical provider. It enables the emergency vehicle driver to control the intersections by controlling the lights in the emergency vehicle's path and the lights of the cross traffic cutting across the emergency vehicle's path.
The Opticom Priority Control System basically works with three components: First, an emitter (first component) is mounted on the emergency vehicle, usually on its roof. It sends a coded optical message to the detector (second component), mounted above the traffic signal. The detector converts the optical message to an electronic impulse and sends it to the phase selector (third component) in the intersection controller cabinet. If the traffic light is already green, the phase selector tells the controller to hold the light green until the emergency vehicle passes. If the traffic light is red, the phase selector requests the controller to provide an early green traffic light, cycling through a yellow light to avoid any confusion to motorists and pedestrians. Once the emergency vehicle passes through the intersection, the system returns the traffic signal to its normal operation. Such a system has been installed in more than 35,000 intersections across the United States and Canada, and has earned a track record over years of sustained quality performance.
As stated above inherit problems that could happen with this kind of system is that the decisions how to get out of the emergency vehicle path are actually taken out of the control of the pedestrian drivers and now fully dependant on the traffic light automation which could become confused from multiple signals from multiple on coming emergency vehicles that may even becoming from different directions or different roads that intersect or both. The instructions may not be able to physically direct all vehicles in all paths correctly through the traffic light instructions.
The Sorden Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,197, teaches a vehicle location system.
The Rode Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,874, teaches an Intelligent Vehicle Highway System for controlling vehicles moving down the road and refers to issues pertaining to the Global Positioning System and infrared technology.
The Beinke Patent, U.S. Pat No. 6,404,351 teaches of a emergency vehicle warning system allowing for communication between emergency vehicles and other vehicles to warn them and also communication between emergency vehicles and traffic lights to change the traffic lights from green to red and vice versa, utilizing radio frequency transmission and reception. As discussed above our invention solves the inherent issues arising from utilizing vehicle to vehicle transmission to warn and the utilization of transmission from emergency vehicles to directly control traffic signals themselves. Also our invention teaches utilizing better and more efficient means for transmission then radio frequency as our preferred modes of transmission.
The Serageldin Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,931, teaches a signal adaptive processor and includes an algorithm, which devise is installed in vehicles to detect and recognize siren sounds from approaching vehicles. Our invention solves inherent issues arising from utilizing vehicle to vehicle transmission and detection to warn including the requirement that each motorist is equipped with such a devise, that is additionally in maintained and good working order. This invention requires an additional added cost for each motorist in purchasing the additional unit and requires proper installation. For automakers it presents new added costs and challenges as well as responsibilities. An additional task is for governments and authorities to be able to monitor who has the devise and who still needs to install one. It suggests that only some motorists will have this added protection and the technology of detection of siren sounds and recognition of them all is still not absolute and is subject to false positives and negatives.
The Johnson Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,064, teaches similar but different methods for transmission from vehicle to vehicle and transmitting measurement information so the passenger vehicle can have the data to describe accurate distances between vehicles. The invention carries similar inherent issues as Serageldin that our present invention solves which are more fully described above.
The Joy Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,656, teaches of an audio range siren detector used to control existing traffic lights which could at times be unreliable as the technology of detection of siren sounds and recognition of them all is still not absolute and is subject to false positives and negative and controlling existing traffic lights as suggested above has inherent problems and issues as described above.

Emergency vehicle warning device and system


A medical image processing apparatus includes: an abnormal shadow candidate detecting section for detecting a plurality of types of abnormal shadow candidates in a medical image; and a correcting section for correcting a detection result of one type of abnormal shadow candidate by the abnormal shadow candidate detecting section based on a detection result of another type of abnormal shadow candidate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a medical image processing apparatus for detecting a candidate region of abnormal shadow by doing the image analysis on a medical image.
2. Description of Related Art
In a medical field, there is an occasion where a doctor interprets a medical image such as an X-ray image, an ultrasound image or the like, to find a lesion or to observe a course of a medical condition. So far, for the purpose of reducing burdens on doctor's interpretation of a medical image, the medical image processing apparatus called Computed-Aided Diagnosis (hereinafter, referred to as a CAD) which automatically detects shadow of a lesion as an abnormal shadow candidate by doing the image analysis on image data of the medical image is developed.
For the above-described CAD, a variety of algorithms are developed according to a type of abnormal shadow. For example, as a cancerous part of breast cancer, a type of abnormal shadow includes mass shadow, clustered-microcalcification shadow and the like. As an optimum algorithm for detecting mass shadow, a method using the Iris filter is suggested (see JP-Tokukaihei-10-91758A), and as an optimum algorithm for detecting clustered-microcalcification shadow, a method using the morphology filter is suggested.
Further, according to a type of shadow to be a detection target, CAD that is capable of selecting a detection algorithm of an abnormal shadow candidate is also developed (see JP-Tokukai-2002-112986A). In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, a detection is performed by each detection algorithm corresponding to a type of abnormal shadow, respectively.
However, if different types of shadow are overlapped in an image, for example, clustered-microcalcification shadow exists within mass shadow, since clustered-microcalcification shadow within mass shadow has little absorption difference of X rays compared to the case that the shadow exists in shadow of normal tissue such as a fat region or a mammary gland region, its contrast becomes extremely low. Further, in a region where different types of abnormal shadow are overlapped, quantum noise increases because the reached amount of X rays is low.
As descried above, although the contrast and the amount of noise in a region where different types of shadow are overlapped are different from these of the other regions, conventionally the detection of an abnormal shadow candidate is performed in all the image regions under the same detection condition. Therefore, abnormal shadow can not be distinguished within a region where different types of shadow are overlapped. As a result, the detection accuracy of an abnormal shadow candidate is low. Particularly, since the signal variance characteristic of noise and that of clustered-microcalcification resemble to each other, it is difficult to distinguish between the two, and there is a possibility of detecting a noise region by mistake.


A baby formula preparation system is provided including a blender with a blade assembly for agitating fluid within the blender upon the actuation of an associated blending mechanism. Also included is a pump assembly situated adjacent to the blender for pumping fluid within the blender when actuated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coffee makers and more particularly pertains to a new baby formula preparation system for preparing baby formula in a convenient manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of coffee makers is known in the prior art. More specifically, coffee makers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art coffee makers and the like include U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,694; U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,589; U.S. Pat. No. 1,774,980; U.S. Pat. No. 3,039,488; U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,031; and Foreign Patent WO 93/22042.
In these respects, the baby formula preparation system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preparing baby formula in a convenient manner.


A computerized simulation method for evaluating a tire performance is disclosed. Firstly, a simulation of a rolling tire is made by contacting a tire model with a road surface model, and chronological data about node points of the tire model which node points appear in the outer surface of the tire model during rotating are stored. Then, a domain of a fluid is defined, and a simulation of the fluid is made by the use of the chronological data, wherein a small gap is formed between the tire model and the road surface model, and the fluid domain is also defined in the gap.

The present invention relates to a computerized simulation method for a tire capable of evaluating performances of the tire relating to fluid such as air and water and capable of greatly reducing the computational time.
In recent years, a computerized simulation method for evaluating noise performance of a tire has been proposed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2010-0305746 A1.
In this method, during a tire model is rolling on a road surface model, physical quantities of air surrounding the tire model are computed to evaluate the noise performance of the tire.
In this method, during computing namely rolling, the fluid domain where the air is defined has to be changed according to the change in the shape of the ground contacting area of the tread of the tire model. Therefore, the shape and position of the ground contacting area of the tire model have to be computed in steps of a minute unit time, and then the fluid domain has to be defined according thereto, and then the fluid domain has to be computed for the physical quantities. Accordingly, a very long computational time is required to obtain the physical quantities.


A method of detecting whether a subject is afflicted with or at increased risk of developing liver cancer is carried out by detecting cleavage of a marker in a sample such as a blood sample from the subject. Suitable markers include but are not limited to, calreticulin, calreticulin precursor, protein disulfide isomerase family A member 3 (PDIA3), and cleavage products thereof. The cleavage, or extent of cleavage, can be as compared to that found in a control sample.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the major histological form of primary liver cancer, affects approximately half a million persons each year, making it the fifth most common malignancy and the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide.1 The etiology of HCC is mainly associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection.2 In the past decade, there has been a rising incidence of HCC and a progressive increase in HCC-related mortality in the United States and Western Europe.3, 4 The similarity between incidence and mortality rates is indicative of the rapid death after diagnosis in most cases of HCC, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%.3 The poor survival of patients with HCC is largely related to the lack of reliable tools for early diagnosis. At-risk patients with chronic viral hepatitis and cirrhosis are routinely screened for HCC with annual serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasonography (for healthy hepatitis B virus carriers) or with twice-yearly serum AFP and ultrasonography (for patients with cirrhosis of any etiology).5 However, the usefulness of AFP as a marker has been overshadowed by its inability to diagnose early-stage tumors efficiently;6, 7 AFP levels may increase transiently, intermittently, or permanently in patients with viral hepatitis without HCC. The lack of efficiency of AFP as a serum marker for HCC surveillance or diagnosis has led to assessment of other serological markers such as alpha-1-antitrypsin,8 des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin,9, 10 glycipan-3,11 or isoenzymes of gamma-glutamyltransferase.12, 13

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center


Provided are a method and apparatus for classifying a sentence into a class by using a deep neural network. The method includes respectively training first and second sentences by using first and second neural networks, obtaining a contrastive loss based on first and second feature vectors generated as output data of the training, and information about whether classes to which the first and second sentences belong are the same, and repeating the training in such a manner that the contrastive loss has a maximum value.

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are computer systems for implementing human-level intelligence, and autonomously learn, make decisions, and get smarter unlike general rule-based smart systems. The more the AI systems are used, the more recognition rates of the AI systems increase and the more accurately the AI systems understand user preferences, such that the general rule-based smart systems are increasingly replaced by AI systems based on a deep neural network.
AI technology includes machine learning and element technologies using machine learning.
Machine learning is an algorithm technology for autonomously classifying and learning features of input data, and element technologies are technologies for mimicking functions of human brains, e.g., cognition and decision-making, by using a machine learning algorithm such as a neural network, and include technological fields such as linguistic understanding, visual understanding, inference/prediction, knowledge representation, and operation control.
AI technology enables recognition and application/processing of human languages/characters, and are also used for natural language processing (NLP), machine translation, dialog systems, question-answering, speech recognition/synthesis, etc. In question-answering systems using AI technology, a question sentence of a user is structurally analyzed to perform, for example, answer type, intent, and subject/verb analysis, and a suitable answer is found from a database based on the analysis result. A question-answering system for executing a command of a user analyzes an intent by classifying an utterance input by the user, and processes the command by finding independent entities.
Currently, customer care chatbots for analyzing questions of users and providing suitable answers, based on AI technology are being used. For the customer care chatbots, etc., analysis of a category, in which a user desires to be answered, based on analysis of an utterance of the user is critical. When pre-stored questions are not sufficient, the utterance of the user may be misclassified into a wrong category differently from the intent of the user. In this case, the user may not receive a desired answer.

Method and apparatus for classifying class, to which sentence belongs, using deep neural network


An edit structure is disclosed that allows the input of a logic gate to be changed by modifying any one of the metal and via masks that are used to form the metal interconnect structure. As a result, a first permanent logic state provided by a tie-in circuit can be changed to a second permanent logic state by modifying any one of the metal and via masks that are used to form the metal interconnect structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the input of a logic gate and, more particularly, to an edit structure that allows the input of a logic gate to be changed by modifying any one of the metal or vias masks used to form the metal interconnect structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Logic circuits commonly include gates that have an input that is permanently connected to a logic high, or permanently connected to a logic low. Conventionally, the input of a logic gate was permanently connected to a logic high by connecting the input directly to a power supply line. Similarly, the input of a logic gate was permanently connected to a logic low by connecting the input directly to a ground line.
More recently, however, with sub-micron circuits, it is undesirable to permanently connect the input of a logic gate directly to the power supply line or the ground line. This is because the voltage and current spikes that can be present on the power supply line and the ground line can permanently damage the logic gate.
As a result, sub-micron circuits commonly use a "tie-in" circuit that connects the input of a logic gate to either a power supply line or a ground line. A tie-in circuit can be implemented in a number of different ways. One common method of implementing a tie-in circuit is as a polysilicon resistor structure.
FIGS. 1A-1D show views that illustrate an example of a prior-art tie-in circuit 100. FIG. 1A shows a plan view, while FIGS. 1B-1D show cross-sectional views taken along lines 1B-1B through 1D-1D, respectively, of FIG. 1A. As shown in FIGS. 1A-1D, tie-in circuit 100 includes a semiconductor material 110, such as a non-conductive region formed in single-crystal silicon.
In addition, as further shown in FIGS. 1A-1D, tie-in circuit 100 includes a polysilicon strip 112 that touches the top surface of semiconductor material 110, and a first isolation layer 114 that touches the top surfaces of semiconductor material 110 and polysilicon strip 112. Tie-in circuit 100 also includes a first contact 120 that extends through first isolation layer 114 to make an electrical connection to a first end of polysilicon strip 112, and a second contact 122 that extends through first isolation layer 114 to make an electrical connection to a second end of polysilicon strip 112.
Further, tie-in circuit 100 includes spaced-apart metal-1 strips 124 and 126. Metal-1 strip 124 has a first end connected to first contact 120, and a second end connected to the input of a logic gate. Metal-1 strip 126, in turn, is a two pronged structure that includes a base 126B that is connected to second contact 122, a first prong 126F, and a second prong 126S.
In the FIGS. 1A-1D example, first prong 126F is connected to a power supply line 130, and second prong 126S is spaced apart from a ground line 132. Thus, in the FIGS. 1A-1D example, the connection of first prong 126F to power supply line 130 defines tie-in circuit 100 as a "tie-high" circuit because one end of the circuit is connected to the input of the logic gate, while the other end of the circuit is connected to power supply line 130.
During the testing and evaluation of a semiconductor chip, it is often necessary to modify one of the logic circuits by changing the logic state that is permanently applied to the input of a logic gate. One common approach to changing the logic state that is permanently applied to the input of a logic gate is simply to change the tie-in circuit.
For example, to change the logic state placed on the input of a logic gate from a permanent logic high to a permanent logic low, the tie-in circuit can simply be changed from a tie-high circuit to a tie-low circuit. This change can be implemented by simply modifying the metal-1 mask so that first prong 126F is spaced apart and electrically isolated from power supply line 130, and second prong 126S is connected to touch ground line 132.
The FIGS. 1A-1D example illustrates a tie-in circuit where the end connected to the input of the logic gate, and the end connected to the power supply line (or ground line) are provided by the first metal layer (metal-1). Tie-in circuits, however, are commonly implemented with the ends connected to other metal layers. For example, the end connected to the input of the logic gate, and the end connected to power supply line 130 (or ground line 132) can be implemented in the fourth metal layer (metal-4).
FIGS. 2A-2D show views that illustrate an example of a prior-art tie-in circuit 200. FIG. 2A shows a plan view, while FIGS. 2B-2D show cross-sectional views taken along lines 2B-2B through 2D-2D, respectively, of FIG. 2A. Tie-in circuit 200 is similar to tie-in circuit 100 and, as a result, utilizes the same reference numerals to designate the elements which are common to both tie-in circuits.
As shown in FIGS. 2A-2D, tie-in circuit 200 is identical to tie-in circuit 100 except that tie-in circuit 200 also includes three more metal layers. More specifically, the metal-1 strips 124 and 126 are electrically connected to contacts 120 and 122, respectively, and electrically isolated from all other metal-1 structures.
In addition, tie-in circuit 200 further includes a second isolation layer 210 that touches the top surface of first isolation layer 114, a via 212 that extends through second isolation layer 210 to make an electrical connection to metal-1 strip 124, and a via 214 that extends through second isolation layer 210 to make an electrical connection to metal-1 strip 126. Further, tie-in circuit 200 includes spaced-apart metal-2 strips 220 and 222 that touch the top surface of second isolation layer 210. The spaced-apart metal-2 strips 220 and 222 are connected to vias 212 and 214, respectively, and electrically isolated from all other metal-2 structures.
Further, tie-in circuit 200 includes a third isolation layer 230 that touches the top surface of second isolation layer 210, a via 232 that extends through third isolation layer 230 to make an electrical connection to metal-2 strip 220, and a via 234 that extends through third isolation layer 230 to make an electrical connection to metal-2 strip 222. Further, tie-in circuit 200 includes spaced-apart metal-3 strips 236 and 238 that touch the top surface of third isolation layer 230. The spaced-apart metal-3 strips 236 and 238 are connected to vias 232 and 234, respectively, and electrically isolated from all other metal-3 structures.
Tie-in circuit 200 also includes a fourth isolation layer 240 that touches the top surface of third isolation layer 230, a via 242 that extends through fourth isolation layer 240 to make an electrical connection to metal-3 strip 236, and a via 244 that extends through fourth isolation layer 240 to make an electrical connection to metal-3 strip 238. Further, tie-in circuit 200 includes spaced-apart metal-4 strips 246 and 248 that touch the top surface of fourth isolation layer 240. The metal-4 strips 246 and 248 are connected to vias 242 and 244, respectively.
The metal-4 strips 246 and 248 are identical to metal-1 strips 124 and 126, respectively, with metal-4 strip 248 having a two pronged structure that includes a base 248B that is connected to via 244, a first prong 248F, and a second prong 248S. In the FIGS. 2A-2D example, first prong 248F is connected to a power supply line 250, and second prong 248S is spaced apart and electrically isolated from a ground line 252.
One of the disadvantages of tie-in circuits 100 and 200 is that each tie-in circuit has an input and an output that are associated with specific metal layers, regardless of which metal layer is used. The disadvantage of being associated with a specific metal layer is that if the tie-in circuit must be changed, then the mask associated with that specific metal layer must be changed, even if that is the only change to the mask.
For example, with tie-in circuit 100, to change the logic state placed on the input of a logic gate from a permanent logic high to a permanent logic low, the metal-1 mask must be modified so that first prong 126F is spaced apart and electrically isolated from power supply line 130, and second prong 126S is electrically connected to ground line 132, even if there is no other change to the metal-1 mask.
Modifying masks is an expensive and time consuming procedure. As a result, if the only modification to a mask was to change the state of a tie-in circuit, then the modification of the tie-in circuit becomes quite expensive.

Edit structure that allows the input of a logic gate to be changed by modifying any one of the metal or via masks used to form the metal interconnect structure


Footwear cleaning apparatus includes a housing with an opening for receiving footwear to be cleaned. A first cylindrical brush is rotatably supported about a horizontal axis for cleaning the bottom of the footwear yielding to its insertion movement into the housing but preventing rotation in the opposite direction. A pair of second cylindrical brushes are rotatably supported about generally upright axes oppositely positioned adjacent the path of movement of the footwear for cleaning the sides of the footwear also in a manner yielding to its insertion movement but preventing rotation in the opposite direction. A third cylindrical brush also positioned in the path of movement of the footwear for cleaning its upper surfaces is rotatably supported about a substantially horizontally disposed axis on an axle extending between upright mounting braces for rotation, yielding to insertion movement of the footwear but preventing rotation in the opposite direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shoe cleaning apparatus and, more particularly, to such apparatus which is portable and which utilizes the motion of the user""s foot to perform its functions and which does not require an external source of power.
2. Prior Art
Throughout this disclosure, the termxe2x80x9cfootwearxe2x80x9d will be used to refer to all manner of footwear, whether shoes, boots, galoshes, slippers, or the like intended primarily for wear out of doors. Furthermore, use of any singular term of type of footwear will be intended to mean any other type as well. When a person returns indoors after walking through ice, snow, mud, dust, or other material, the presence of which is not desirable indoors, it is desirable to clean the footwear either just before entry or upon entry to make certain the undesirable material is not tracked further inside.
Shoe cleaning devices which utilize brushes for cleaning the various aspects of a shoe are well known. In general, such prior art devices utilize brushes which are either fixed or power driven. In the former instance, the user may simply move his shoe against fixed brushes to accomplish the cleaning, while in the latter instance, the shoe may be simply held fixed against the power driven brushes. Devices of the first class are generally inefficient, presenting the same brushing surface to the shoe at all times, which results in undue wear of and quick contamination of the brushes. Devices of the second class are often expensive and complicated.
The present invention relates to footwear cleaning apparatus which includes a housing having front and top walls with an opening for reception of footwear to be cleaned and a base on which the housing is supported. A first cylindrical brush positioned in the path of movement of the footwear is rotatably supported about a substantially horizontally disposed axis for rotation in a manner to clean the bottom of the footwear yielding to its insertion movement into the housing but preventing rotation in the opposite direction. A pair of second cylindrical brushes are oppositely positioned adjacent the path of movement of the footwear. The second brushes are rotatably supported about generally upright axes for cleaning the sides of the footwear also in a manner yielding to its insertion movement but preventing rotation in the opposite direction. A third cylindrical brush also positioned in the path of movement of the footwear for cleaning its upper surfaces is rotatably supported about a substantially horizontally disposed axis on an axle extending between upright mounting braces for rotation, yielding to insertion movement of the footwear but preventing rotation in the opposite direction. The housing encloses the first, second, and third brushes at least at the sides and at the end opposite that for insertion of the footwear and so much of the top and front thereof as is not required for insertion of the footwear.
The present invention provides a device which differs from power driven devices in that it does not require its own source of power and which differs from fixed brush devices in that the brushes are not always fixed and do not present the same working surface at all times. The unit of the invention is not electrically operated and is intrinsically a safe product.
The apparatus of the invention is essentially a domesticated version of a shoe cleaner which has been available commercially for many years. The unit disclosed is capable of cleaning a broad range of shoe sizes, for example, sizes 2 to 16, and at a 90% rate of removal of the contamination.
A unit of the invention may be located on the outside of an entry into a building or it may be placed inside a hallway or foyer of the building or at any other location where needed. There are numerous other locations which would be desirable for the apparatus of the invention, for example, golf courses, bocci courts, tennis courts, bowling allies, hospitals, businesses and numerous other places and for many other uses. Another important place may be at beaches, pools, showers (to disinfect feet) and other areas where bare feet are typically exposed.
Brushes for the invention may be of nylon construction, for example, and it is preferable that the bristles for the brushes be of such a character that they do not hold contamination or spread any particles that are of contagious nature. With these brushes, a spray system can be optionally employed to deliver liquids such as, disinfectants, water or other products to a receiving surface. Furthermore, these nylon bristles may vary in thickness if one needs more or less consistency for certain operations or functions.
Accordingly, a principal feature of the present invention is the provision of apparatus having these characteristics and advantages, and more specifically, to apparatus which is portable and which utilizes the motion of the user""s feet to perform its functions and which does not require an external source of power.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of such apparatus that is sturdy and capable of long trouble-free use, that is compact and readily portable, and that is more efficient than comparable known devices.
A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a device incorporating brushes which operate in accordance with a novel shoe cleaning principle, namely, compliance with the movement of a shoe in a first direction and resistance to the movement in a second direction.
Yet another feature of the present invention is the provision of a device of the aforesaid type that ensures adequate cleaning of the under and side surfaces of a shoe, which normally are subject to the greatest accumulation of dirt, and which cleans the upper surface of the shoe as well.
Still a further feature of the present invention is the provision of a device of the aforesaid type that is self-contained and yet readily exposed for servicing.
Yet a further feature of the present invention is the provision of a device of the aforesaid type that permits the ready disposal of dirt removed from the shoes.
Other and further features, advantages, and benefits of the invention will become apparent in the following description taken in conjunction with the following drawings. It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory but are not to be restrictive of the invention. The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this invention, illustrate one of the embodiments of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention in general terms. Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the disclosure.


The present invention leverages spatial relationships to provide a systematic means to recognize text and/or graphics. This allows augmentation of a sketched shape with its symbolic meaning, enabling numerous features including smart editing, beautification, and interactive simulation of visual languages. The spatial recognition method obtains a search-based optimization over a large space of possible groupings from simultaneously grouped and recognized sketched shapes. The optimization utilizes a classifier that assigns a class label to a collection of strokes. The overall grouping optimization assumes the properties of the classifier so that if the classifier is scale and rotation invariant the optimization will be as well. Instances of the present invention employ a variant of AdaBoost to facilitate in recognizing/classifying symbols. Instances of the present invention employ dynamic programming and/or A-star search to perform optimization. The present invention applies to both hand-sketched shapes and printed handwritten text, and even heterogeneous mixtures of the two.

Computers have become an integral part of society. Every day people become more dependent on computers to facilitate both work and leisure activities. A significant drawback to computing technology is its "digital" nature as compared to the "analog" world in which it functions. Computers operate in a digital domain that requires discrete states to be identified in order for information to be processed. In simple terms, information generally must be input into a computing system with a series of "on" and "off" states (e.g., binary code). However, humans live in a distinctly analog world where occurrences are never completely black or white, but always seem to be in between shades of gray. Thus, a central distinction between digital and analog is that digital requires discrete states that are disjunct over time (e.g., distinct levels) while analog is continuous over time. As humans naturally operate in an analog fashion, computing technology has evolved to alleviate difficulties associated with interfacing humans to computers (e.g., digital computing interfaces) caused by the aforementioned temporal distinctions.
A set of structured keys is one of the earliest human-machine interface devices, traditionally utilized in a typewriter. This interface system was adapted to interact, not with mechanical keys and paper, but to trigger discrete states that would be transmitted to a computing system. Thus, a computer "keyboard" was developed, allowing humans to utilize an existing, familiar interface with unfamiliar technology. This eased the transition into the computer age. Unfortunately, not everyone who wanted to utilize a computer knew how to type. This limited the number of computer users who could adequately utilize the computing technology. One solution was to introduce a graphical user interface that allowed a user to select pictures from a computing monitor to make the computer do a task. Thus, control of the computing system was typically achieved with a pointing and selecting device known as a "mouse." This permitted a greater number of people to utilize computing technology without having to learn to use a keyboard. Although these types of devices made employing computing technology easier, it still did not address the age old methods of communicating—handwriting and drawing.
Technology first focused on attempting to input existing typewritten or typeset information into computers. Scanners or optical imagers were used, at first, to "digitize" pictures (e.g., input images into a computing system). Once images could be digitized into a computing system, it followed that printed or typeset material should be able to be digitized also. However, an image of a scanned page cannot be manipulated as text or symbols after it is brought into a computing system because it is not "recognized" by the system, i.e., the system does not understand the page. The characters and words are "pictures" and not actually editable text or symbols. To overcome this limitation for text, optical character recognition (OCR) technology was developed to utilize scanning technology to digitize text as an editable page. This technology worked reasonably well if a particular text font was utilized that allowed the OCR software to translate a scanned image into editable text. At first, this technology had an accuracy of about 50 to 60%, but today it has progressed to an accuracy of near 98 to 99% or higher. OCR technology has even evolved to the point where it can take into account not only recognizing a text character, but also retaining paragraph and page formatting and even font characteristics.
Subsequently, OCR technology reached an accuracy level where it seemed practical to attempt to utilize it to recognize handwriting. After all, why transpose handwriting to text via a keyboard if it can be directly digitized into a computing system? The problem with this approach is that existing OCR technology was tuned to recognize limited or finite choices of possible types of fonts in a linear sequence (i.e., a line of text). Thus, it could "recognize" a character by comparing it to a database of pre-existing fonts. If a font was incoherent, the OCR technology would return strange or "non-existing" characters, indicating that it did not recognize the text. Handwriting proved to be an even more extreme case of this problem. When a person writes, their own particular style shows through in their penmanship. Signatures are used, due to this uniqueness, in legal documents because they distinguish a person from everyone else. Thus, by its very nature, handwriting has infinite forms even for the same character. Obviously, storing every conceivable form of handwriting for a particular character would prove impossible. Other means needed to be achieved to make handwriting recognition a reality.
One of the earlier attempts at handwriting recognition involved "handwriting" that was actually not handwriting at all. A system of "strokes" or lines was utilized as input into a computing system via a "tablet" or writing surface that could be digitized and translated into the system. Although attempts were made to make the strokes very symbolic of a printed text letter, the computing system was not actually recognizing handwriting. In fact, this method actually forces humans to adapt to a machine or system being used. Further developments were made to actually recognize true handwriting. Again, if a system was required to match every conceivable variation of a letter to one in a given database, it would take enormous processing resources and time. Therefore, some of the first advances were made in areas that had at least a finite, even though rather large, group of possibilities such as mail zip codes.
Technology has continued to develop to reach a point where a system can accurately and quickly interact with a user. This has led to an increased focus on systems that can adapt readily to a multitude of users. One way of achieving this type of system is to utilize a "classification" system. That is, instead of attempting to confine data to "right" or "wrong," allow it to fall within a particular "class" of a classification. An example of this would be a user whose handwriting varies slightly from day-to-day. Thus, a traditional system might not understand what was written. This is because the system is attempting to make a black and white assessment of the input data. However, with a classification based system, a negative response might only be given if the handwriting was so varied as to be illegible. A disadvantage of this type of system is that the classifiers must be manually trained in order to increase the accuracy of the classifier.
Despite the vast improvements of systems to recognize natural human inputs, they still require that a user follow some type of linear space and/or time sequencing in order to facilitate recognizing a user's input. In other words, a user must follow a line such as a line of text or must draw an equation in a particular time sequence. If a user decides to annotate or correct a drawing or an equation at a later point in time, these traditional types of systems can no longer accurately recognize the input. Because of these limitations, traditional systems also cannot handle situations where inputs are scaled and/or re-oriented. The systems tend to be complex as well and require great effort to improve their performance.

Spatial recognition and grouping of text and graphics


A rigid container having a cushioned outer layer includes a fluid tube directed into a front wall of the container canted towards the floor, wherein the fluid tube is baffled, having a vent directed towards the top wall of the container. A modification of the invention includes chlorine tablet dispensing structure for effecting bacterial control within the container structure, as well as a flush-out conduit therefore.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to deer stand apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved deer stand urinal device wherein the same is directed to the construction of a portable urinal structure for use in a deer hunting environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various portable urinal structure is indicated in the prior art, such as exemplified by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,703,731; 4,091,476; and 4,270,231.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art wherein the portable urinal structure of the instant invention is directed to the muffling of sounds associated with a urinary function, particularly by hunters when positioned within a deer stand. The use of the instant invention prevents the associated noise directed to the urinary process, as well as the deer becoming aware of the presence of a human and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A coating for reducing brake pad noise is provided that includes about 40 to about 90% by weight of a phenolic thermal setting resin, about 1 to about 40% by weight of graphite, about 1 to about 40% by weight of molybdenum disulfide, and, 0 to about 40% by weight of fillers and pigments. The coating is applied to a brake pad and cured. A method for reducing brake noise is also provided which includes the steps of coating a brake pad surface with a coating including about 40 to about 90% by weight of a phenolic thermal setting resin, about 1 to about 40% by weight of graphite, about 1 to about 40% by weight of molybdenum disulfide, and 0 to about 40% by weight of fillers and pigments, and curing the coating. A method of coating a brake pad with a flame resistant brake pad coating is provided which includes the steps of electrostatic powder coating a surface of a brake pad with a coating which includes about 40 to 100% by weight of a phenolic thermal setting resin, about 0 to about 40% by weight of graphite, about 0 to about 40% by weight of molybdenum disulfide, and, 0 to about 40% by weight of fillers and pigments, and then curing the coating.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to brake pad noise reduction and, more particularly, to a coating for reducing brake pad noise, a method of reducing brake pad noise, and a brake pad coated with the coating. The invention also relates to a flame resistant coating for a brake pad.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional disc brake pads cause undesirable noise during braking, as shown in FIG. 1.
A conventional solution for reducing unwanted noise is to provide a separator plate as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,061 (Ogawa et al.). However, separator plates, such as the above, have many problems. They are very expensive to make because they must be sintered and machined which requires many process steps. Separator plates are relatively thick which must be compensated for by reducing the thickness of the brake pad or the backing of the brake pad. The sides of the brake pad are not protected by separator plates.


In one embodiment, stable and controlled circuit element biasing is provided in a circuit comprising a voltage source operable to output a first voltage, a reference voltage source operable to output a reference voltage, a circuit element biased, during operation, by the first voltage at a first end and by a second voltage at a second end, a voltage controller coupled to the second end of the circuit element, wherein the voltage controller is operable to adjust the second voltage based on a gain output, a gain controller operable to receive the reference voltage as a first input and the second voltage as a second input, wherein the gain controller is operable to generate, at an output of the gain controller, the gain output based on the second voltage and the reference voltage, and a feedback loop that extends from the output of the gain controller, through the voltage controller, and to the second input.

Circuit elements have operating ranges that define tolerable operating conditions for achieving the rated performance of the circuit elements. A circuit element operating within its operating range can be expected to perform as indicated in the rating of the circuit element. A circuit element operating outside of its operating range faces the risk of performing below its rating. In extreme cases, a circuit element operating outside of its operating range may break down, leading to a complete loss of functionality of the circuit element.
Even when a circuit element is operating within its operating range, there can be variations in the performance of the circuit element. This can occur, for example, when the circuit element is part of a high-speed system and there are sudden swings in operating conditions that still fall within the operating range of the circuit element.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially used in other embodiments without specific recitation.


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that detects a non-compliant router that incorrectly responds to all address-resolution-protocol (ARP) requests, including ARP requests and ARP probes for link-local IP addresses. This is accomplished by sending an ARP request asking for an Ethernet address associated with a link-local IP address, wherein the link-local IP address is a reserved link-local IP address, which should not be assigned to any device. If a response is received to the ARP request, the system determines that the response was sent by a non-compliant router that incorrectly responds to all ARP requests, including ARP requests for link-local IP addresses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting a non-compliant router that improperly responds to ARP requests for IPv4 Link-Local addresses.
2. Related Art
In order to participate in an Internet Protocol (IP) network, a network node, such as a computer or a printer, needs to be configured with an IP address. Additionally, in order communicate with another device using IP over Ethernet or similar media, the network node needs the ability to translate an IP address for the device into the corresponding hardware (e.g. Ethernet) address for the device. The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) solves this translation problem by providing an address-resolution mechanism which determines the hardware address for a given IP address, thereby enabling a network node to participate in an IP network.
IP addresses can be configured either manually by the user, or automatically with the help of another network node, such as a DHCP server. Unfortunately, a DHCP server may not always be available. Furthermore, it is cumbersome to have the user configure an IP address. Therefore, there is a strong need for a configuration mechanism by which a network node can automatically configure an IP address on its own.
IPv4 Link-local addressing (RFC 3927) provides such a configuration mechanism. In IPv4 link-local addressing, a configuration mechanism within a network node randomly picks a "candidate" IP address in a specified link-local address range and sends an ARP request to check whether the candidate link-local IP address is unique within the scope of the link. If the candidate link-local IP address is already in use by another network node, then the configuration mechanism picks another link-local IP address and checks whether that is unique. Once the configuration mechanism finds a unique link-local IP address, the network node uses it to communicate with other nodes in the network.
Unfortunately, some network routers are misconfigured to respond to all ARP requests, including ARP requests for any link-local IP address. If such a router is attached to a local network, it can interfere with the configuration mechanism by responding to ARP requests sent by the configuration mechanism, making it appear as if every single possible address is already in use. This can prevent the configuration mechanism from selecting an IP address.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates how a router can interfere with the process of assigning an IP address. During operation, node A selects a candidate IP address (step 102). Next, node A probes for the candidate IP address by performing an ARP request (step 104). The interfering router then responds to the ARP request (step 106). This causes node A to infer that another node already has the IP address, and to select a different candidate IP address (step 108). The system then returns to step 104 and the process repeats indefinitely. Consequently, node A is unable to assign an IP address.
Note that if such a router is configured to ignore ARP "probes," which are sent by a device that is attempting to assign a link-local IP address, the router can still interfere with normal (non-probe) ARP requests, which are sent to determine an Ethernet address associated with an IP address.
For example, FIG. 2 illustrates how a router can interfere with normal ARP requests. First, a node A sends an ARP request with the IP address of a device that node A wants to communicate with (step 202). Next, a router incorrectly responds to the ARP request, interfering with the response from the actual device that node A wants to communicate with (step 204). This causes node A to obtain the wrong Ethernet address. IP packets are subsequently sent to the router instead of to the desired device, where they are lost because the router either forwards them incorrectly, or simply discards them without forwarding at all.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for handling the above-described problems encountered while performing ARP requests.

Method and apparatus for detecting a router that improperly responds to ARP requests


A current mode controller for a series resonant power converter having a primary current, a conduction time and a pulse width modulator controller is disclosed. The current mode controller having a current ramp generator in electrical communication with the primary current and being operative to generate a current ramp having a voltage proportional to the primary current. A voltage ramp generator is in electrical communication with the power converter and operative to generate a voltage ramp. The current mode controller further includes a multiplier in electrical communication with the current ramp generator and the voltage ramp generator. The multiplier being operative to generate a time-dependent current ramp having an amplitude proportional to the conduction period of the power converter. A limited voltage ramp generator operative to generate a limited voltage ramp is in electrical communication with the voltage ramp generator. In this respect, the current mode controller further includes an adder in electrical communication with the limited voltage ramp generator and the multiplier and operative to generate a controlling ramp proportional to the limited voltage ramp and the time-dependent current ramp. As such, the adder is in electrical communication with the pulse width modulator controller such that the controlling ramp controls the conduction period of the power converter.

The present invention generally relates to power converter controllers and more specifically to a current mode controller utilizing a time compensated current ramp which prevents imbalance of the inverter current of the power converter.
Power converters are known in the art and typically serve to accept energy from an unregulated energy source, such as a voltage source, and generate a regulated voltage which is applied to a load circuit. A switching device is typically used to control the transfer of energy to the load circuit in order to provide the regulated voltage. The switching device typically has two modes of operation, fully on and fully off. The switching device is periodically turned on for a time interval to permit energy transfer for the purposes of maintaining the output voltage at a predetermined level.
Typically, the switching type regulating devices employed in power converters utilize semiconductor devices such as power transistors as the switching device. These devices are turned fully on, or saturate, or fully off during operation. When fully on, the semiconductor devices are conducting and little or no power is dissipated. When nonconducting or fully off, the semiconductor devices do not dissipate power. However, power is dissipated in the semiconductor devices during the time interval of switching from nonconducting to conducting and vice versa. It is during the switching time interval that a substantial amount of power may be dissipated in such a semiconductor device.
It is desirous to provide power converters of the switching type which are cost effective, occupy small amounts of space and convert large amounts of energy efficiently. In order to achieve this goal, high frequency/high power switching power converters with a series resonant circuit and sinusoidal operating current are used. In such series resonant power converters, the on switching device is only turned on when minimal or zero current is flowing through the resonant circuit. The off switching device is turned on based on load requirements. Typically, the current of the series resonant circuit is used to control the operation of the on and off switching devices.
However, a problem arises when using the current mode control because of imbalance between the conduction period of alternate half cycles of the series resonant power converter. Specifically, the conduction period of each half cycle is terminated when the current ramp (integrated sample of the primary current) reaches the level of the error signal. The error signal represents the error between the output voltage and a fixed reference. Any difference in the initial condition of the components of the series resonant circuit, at the beginning or alternate conduction periods causes a change in the primary current. The result is a difference in conduction times for the primary current to reach the same average value. In other words, there will be multiple inverter operating points for the same ramp amplitude. Additionally, the prior art current mode control of series resonant power converters suffers from control problems at light load conditions. This occurs due to the fact that the slope of the current ramp is very shallow at the beginning of the conduction cycle for light loads.
The present invention addresses the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art by providing a current mode, series resonant power converter which can be used over a very wide ranges of loads, including instances where no external load is provided. Additionally, the present invention provides a control which prevents the problems of conduction time imbalance associated with the prior art current mode controllers.
A current mode controller for a series resonant power converter having a primary current, a conduction time and a pulse width modulator controller is disclosed. The current mode controller having a current ramp generator in electrical communication with the primary current and being operative to generate a current ramp having a voltage proportional to the primary current. A voltage ramp generator is in electrical communication with the power converter and operative to generate a voltage ramp. The current mode controller further includes a multiplier in electrical communication with the current ramp generator and the voltage ramp generator. The multiplier being operative to generate a time-dependent current ramp having an amplitude proportional to the conduction period of the power converter. A limited voltage ramp generator operative to generate a limited voltage ramp is in electrical communication with the voltage ramp generator. In this respect, the current mode controller further includes an adder in electrical communication with the limited voltage ramp generator and the multiplier and operative to generate a controlling ramp proportional to the limited voltage ramp and the time-dependent current ramp. As such, the adder is in electrical communication with the pulse width modulator controller such that the controlling ramp controls the conduction period of the power converter.
In accordance with the present invention, the series resonant power converter has a drive signal and the current ramp generator has a rectifier operative to generate a rectified primary current and a first capacitor in electrical communication with the rectifier. In this respect, the first capacitor is operative to generate the current ramp from the rectified primary current.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the voltage ramp generator has a second switch in electrical communication with the drive signal of the series resonant power converter. Additionally, the voltage ramp generator includes a second capacitor in electrical communication with the second switch. Accordingly, the second switch and the second capacitor are operative to generate the voltage ramp in proportion to the drive signal. The limited voltage ramp generator of the present invention comprises an amplifier in electrical communication with the voltage ramp in order to generate the limited voltage ramp. In the preferred embodiment, the controlling ramp is configured to be compared to an error signal of the pulse width modulator.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a series resonant power converter. The method comprises generating a current ramp having a voltage proportional to the primary current and generating a voltage ramp. Next, a time-dependent current ramp is generated from the current ramp and the voltage ramp. The time-dependent current ramp has an amplitude proportional to the conduction period of the power converter. A limited voltage ramp is then generated from the voltage ramp previously generated. Finally, a controlling ramp is generated from the limited voltage ramp and the time-dependent current ramp. The controlling ramp is proportional to the limited voltage ramp and the time-dependent current ramp such that the controlling ramp controls the pulse width modulator controller.
In the preferred embodiment, the current ramp is generated by a current ramp generator and the voltage ramp is generated by a voltage ramp generator. The time-dependent current ramp is generated by multiplying the voltage ramp with the current ramp. The controlling ramp is generated by adding the limited voltage ramp with the time-dependent current ramp.

Time compensated current ramp for resonant power converters


An organic light emitting display including a demultiplexer on each data line that splits and supplies each data signal to a plurality of data lines, thereby decreasing the number of output lines required and reducing production cost. Further, voltages corresponding to the data signals are sequentially charged in data capacitors, while the charged voltages are supplied to the pixels simultaneously allowing the organic light emitting display to display an image with uniform brightness. Scan periods for supplying the scan signals do not overlap with data periods for supplying the data signals thus yielding a stable image. Also, the capacitance of the data capacitor is set to compensate the voltage drop in the first power source line, thereby displaying an image with uniform brightness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting display, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting display, in which the number of output lines provided in a data driver is decreased while the image is displayed with uniform brightness.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recently, various flat panel displays have been developed, which are substituting for a cathode ray tube (CRT) display because the CRT display is relatively heavy and bulky. The flat panel displays include liquid crystal displays (LCD), field emission displays (FED), plasma display panels (PDP), and organic light emitting displays among other types.
Among the flat panel displays, the organic light emitting display includes organic light emitting diodes that emit light by electron-hole recombination. These organic light emitting displays have a faster response time than the LCDs that require a separate light source.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional organic light emitting display. A conventional organic light emitting display includes a pixel portion 30 including a plurality of pixels 40 formed in an intersection region of a plurality of scan lines S1 through Sn and a plurality of data lines D1 through Dm. A conventional organic light emitting display also includes a scan driver 10 to drive the scan lines S1 through Sn; a data driver 20 to drive the data lines D1 through Dm; and a timing controller 50 to control the scan driver 10 and the data driver 20.
The scan driver 10 generates scan signals in response to scan control signals SCS transmitted from the timing controller 50, and supplies the scan signals to the scan lines S1 through Sn in sequence. Further, the scan driver 10 generates emission control signals in response to the scan control signals SCS, and supplies the emission control signals to emission control lines E1 through En in sequence.
The data driver 20 generates data signals in response to data control signals DCS transmitted from the timing controller 50, and supplies the data signals to the data lines D1 through Dm. The data driver 20 supplies the data signal corresponding to one horizontal line per horizontal period to the data lines D1 through Dm.
The timing controller 50 generates the data control signals DCS and the scan control signals SCS in response to external synchronization signals. The data control signal DCS is transmitted to the data driver 20, and the scan control signal SCS is transmitted to the scan driver 10. Further, the timing controller 50 rearranges external data Data and supplies it to the data driver 20.
The pixel portion 30 receives external first power from an external first power source line ELVDD and external second power from an external second power source line ELVSS. The first power from the first power source line ELVDD and the second power from the second power source line ELVSS are supplied to each pixel 40. Each pixel 40 receives the data signal and displays an image corresponding to the data signal. Further, the emission time of the pixels 40 is controlled by the emission control signals.
In the conventional organic light emitting display, the pixels 40 are placed in the intersection regions of the scan lines S1 through Sn and the data lines D1 through Dm. The data driver 20 includes m output lines to supply the data signals to m data lines D1 through Dm. That is, the data driver 20 of the conventional organic light emitting display should have the same number of output lines as the number of the data lines D1 through Dm. To have m output lines, the data driver 20 needs to include a plurality of data integrated circuits that increase the production cost. Particularly, as the resolution and the size of the pixel portion 30 increase, the number of output lines of the data driver 20 increases. Thus, the production cost of the organic light emitting display is increased.
Therefore, there is a need for organic light emitting displays that require fewer output lines and therefore fewer data integrated circuits in their data driver. There is also a need for an organic light emitting display that displays a stable image with high uniformity.

Organic light emitting display utilizing parasitic capacitors for storing data signals


A radiative cooling device, and a method of manufacturing the same, includes a reflective layer disposed on a substrate and responsible for reflecting sunlight having wavelengths corresponding to ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions; and a radiative cooling layer disposed on the reflective layer and responsible for absorbing sunlight having a wavelength corresponding to a mid-infrared region and emitting the sunlight as heat, wherein the radiative cooling layer includes a first radiation layer including an uneven pattern; and a second radiation layer disposed on the first radiation layer and having a refractive index different from that of the first radiation layer.

In general, energy consumption is required for cooling. General-purpose cooling devices such as refrigerators and air conditioners compress a refrigerant using energy and then perform cooling by absorbing heat generated when the compressed refrigerant is expanded. In contrast, radiative cooling is a technology that can cool without consuming energy.
For radiative cooling, absorption, reflection, and radiation of light in each wavelength band must be effectively controlled.
In most cases, a heat source is incident sunlight, and the heat of sunlight is distributed in wavelength ranges corresponding to UV-visible light-near infrared regions. When light corresponding to these wavelength ranges is reflected, inflow of heat through sunlight may be blocked.
When a material has a reflectance of 100% with respect to UV, visible light, and near-infrared light, this means that the material reflects 100% of the energy of incident sunlight and does not absorb the sunlight at all.
For example, the internal temperature of a black car, which absorbs a lot of light in broad daylight, increases rapidly, but in the case of a white car, which absorbs relatively little light and reflects a lot of light, the internal temperature thereof increases slowly.
When the surface of a car reflects all UV, visible light, and near-infrared light, inflow of heat energy by sunlight may be blocked.
All objects emit heat to the outside in the form of light, and the wavelength band of the emitted light is determined by the surface temperature of the objects.
Since the surface temperature of the sun is 6,000° C., the sun emits light corresponding to the UV-visible-near-infrared wavelength band to the outside.
A material having a surface temperature of several tens of degrees C. emits mid-infrared light with a wavelength of several tens of micrometers to the outside.
When radiation of mid-infrared light from the surface of a material is blocked or coating is performed using a coating material that reflects emitted light again, heat loss due to mid-infrared radiation may be reduced, and thermal insulation effect may be achieved.
Water vapor and carbon dioxide exist in the atmosphere of the earth, and these gases absorb some wavelengths of mid-infrared light emitted from the earth to the outside and suppress emission of mid-infrared light.
However, mid-infrared light of a wavelength of 8 to 13 μm, commonly referred to as atmospheric window, is not absorbed by the atmosphere of the earth, so the mid-infrared light is called as atmospheric window. Infrared light in this wavelength is not absorbed by the atmosphere and is emitted into space.
When all incident sunlight (emitted from the sun) corresponding to UV-visible light-near-infrared regions is reflected and mid-infrared light having a wavelength of 8 to 13 μm corresponding to the atmospheric window is effectively emitted to the outside, heat inflow may be blocked and heat emission may be maximized, and thus cooling of a material may be performed without energy consumption.
As a solar reflective material, a metal material that is transparent to sunlight and can effectively emit long-wavelength infrared light is mainly used. Accordingly, most radiative cooling devices have a metallic mirror-like color.
This metallic mirror-like color may be a disadvantage in the application of radiative cooling materials.
Radiative cooling devices may be used in automobiles, buildings, containers, etc. to reduce energy consumption required for cooling. However, since the color of the radiative cooling device is limited to the color of a metallic mirror. Thus, there is a demand for a radiative cooling device having various colors while having the same cooling performance.

Radiative cooling device and method of manufacturing the same

Korea University Research and Business Foundation


Provided is a method for manufacturing a ball joint including a ball-seat molding step for forming a ball seat assembly by using, as a core, a ball section of a ball stud, the ball section of which is integrally provided in advance at one end portion of a stud section, and insert-molding a ball seat made of resin to cover at least a portion of the ball section present on an opposite side to the stud section, and a housing molding step for insert-molding a housing made of resin by using, as a core, the ball section partially covered by the ball seat of the ball seat assembly.

FIG. 16 is a partial sectional view showing a periphery of a conventional ball joint (see Patent Literature 1).
A stabilizer link 101 includes ball joints 100J at both ends of a bar-shaped support bar 101a.
In the ball joint 100J, a ball section 110b at an end portion of a ball stud 110 is swingably and rotatably housed inside a cup-shaped housing 111 via a ball seat 112 made of resin.
In a vehicle, the ball joint 100J at one end portion of the stabilizer link 101 is coupled to a suspension, an arm, and the like (not shown in the figure) via the ball stud 110. The ball stud 110 includes a stud section 110s and the ball section 110b.
The ball joint 100J at the other end portion of the stabilizer link 101 is coupled to a stabilizer (not shown in the figure) via the ball stud 110.
According to traveling of the vehicle, as the suspension strokes, the support bar 101a of the stabilizer link 101 swings and rotates with respect to the ball joint 100J.
In the ball joint 100J, a dust cover 113 made of rubber is provided to prevent intrusion of dust, moisture, and the like into the inside. The dust cover 113 is provided to close a space between the ball stud 110 and the ball seat 112.
A ring-shaped recessed section 112o for fixing a lower end portion 113s of the dust cover 113 is formed in an upper part of the ball seat 112. In the ball stud 110, a brim section 110a1 and a small brim section 110a2 are formed. An upper end portion 113u of the dust cover 113 is fixed between the brim section 110a1 and the small brim section 110a2.
On the other hand, the ball stud 110 swings and rotates according to movements of the stabilizer and the suspension. Therefore, in an upper part of the ball seat 112 that covers the ball section 110b of the ball stud 110, a taper surface 112f1 of a concave conical surface expanded in diameter toward an upper side (a side of the stud section 110s opposite to the ball section 110b) is formed. The taper surface 112f1 is formed as a taper surface corresponding to swing amplitude of the ball stud 110.
Consequently, a flange section 112f including the taper surface 112f1 and the recessed section 112o is formed in the upper part of the ball seat 112.

Method for manufacturing ball joint and method for manufacturing stabilizer link