A wrapping apparatus which comprises:. means for supplying a band-like member, PA0 means for stretching the band-like member in at least lateral direction thereof, the lateral stretch means comprising a unit for running the band-like member to spread out the member so that it forms a sector (an unfolded fan) and a unit for detachably gripping the regions (or margins) of the band-like member respectively near the opposite widthwise ends thereof so that they are detachable from the running unit, and PA0 means for winding the stretched band-like member around an article for the wrapping thereof.. As one embodiment of the present invention, a method for wrapping an article with said wrapping apparatus is disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for wrapping an article with a stretch film and a method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional method of wrapping an article, a method for wrapping an article with a shrinkable film has been used, which comprises heating the article through a heating tunnel or the like and then wrapping the article by a shrinking force cause by heating. This method required a heating means and thus has raised the problem that a large heating tunnel is required for a large article, resulting in incurring high film and system costs.
In place of this method, a method for wrapping called pallet or stretch wrapping has been known and used in recent years. This method involves winding a film, while stretching it, around articles, or grass or a roll of paper stacked on a pallet, thus wrapping the article. In recent years, this wrapping method has been developed and contributed to the rationalization of transportation, storage, wrapping of articles. A wrapping method now in prevalent use, comprises longitudinally stretching a film with a winding tension exerted on an article and then wrapping the article with the shrinking force of the stretched film. There is also provided another method for wrapping an article comprising longitudinally stretching a film and then wrapping the article with an appropriate winding tension (Japanese Patent Publication Nos. Sho 59-52087 and 61-27254). A stretch wrapping (pallet wrapping) system does not require a heating means such as a heating tunnel. Since this system requires a less expensive apparatus cost, is suitable for wrapping a large article and has thus come to be widely used in recent years.
According to these conventional wrapping methods, in order to wind a film around the entire side surfaces of an article, the film must be wound to form multiple plies while they partially overlap each other because the film has a width which is smaller than the height of the article. When a normal 500-mm wide film is used, the film must be wound in 10-15 plies around an article having a height of 1 to 1.5 meters.
In order to reduce the number of turns or plies, a film having a larger width has been considered. However, a wide roll film is inconvenient for handling during its transportation and for mounting it on a wrapping apparatus. It is difficult to uniformly wind, in a roll-like manner, a wide thin (about 25 .mu.m) film with one or both surfaces being coated with an adhesive. It is also difficult to manufacture a wide film.
In order to generally reduce the amount of the film used, a film having a thickness as small as possible is desirably manufactured to reduce the wrapping cost. A film tends to be very stretchable and is coated with an adhesive. It is, therefore, difficult to manufacture a film having a thickness of 10 .mu.m or less whether it is large or small in width.
A lateral stretch system generally used in the film industry has been considered to stretch a film having a small width laterally to obtain a wide film. Any lateral stretch system, however, is not always suitable for pallet wrapping. For example, as lateral stretch apparatuses generally used in the film industry, a tenter apparatus and a tubular biaxial stretch apparatus are available. These apparatuses are expensive, require a large installation floor area, and are not practical for pallet wrapping needing simplicity and convenience. In a tubular biaxial stretch system, production lines must be stopped every wrapping cycle, and it is, therefore, difficult to maintain the internal pressure of a tube constant. It is also difficult to cut a soft, adhesive tubular film and develop it into a flat sheet. The tubular biaxial stretch system requires a certain running distance to develop the tube into a sheet and results in a bulky apparatus.
A variety of other easy-to-handle lateral stretch apparatuses in addition to the above apparatuses are proposed in the film industry. Of these apparatuses so proposed, hardly any ones are in practical use because it is difficult for them to carry out uniform stretching difficult. Slight stretch irregularity of a biaxial stretch film may cause a winding strain. A film having a winding strain results in a defective product.
A known easy-to-handle lateral stretch apparatus is a lateral stretch apparatus using a pair of rollers each having a roll surface constituted by a combination of protrusions and recessed grooves (Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 46-11599 and others). According to this apparatus, a lateral stretch magnification is small, and stretching is performed at a maximum magnification of about 1.5 times. In particular, if a roll film to be used in pallet wrapping is stretched at about room temperature, a large shrinking stress will be caused. For this reason, the roll film will immediately shrink after being stretched, and, therefore, the effect of lateral stretching is low. Even if the film is stretched laterally, the film is not stretched in the widthwise direction; there is therefore needed an independent step of stretching the film in the widthwise direction.
Another conventional easy-to-handle stretch apparatus is a stretch apparatus utilizing pulleys (BP 849,436). The present inventors have proposed a variety of pulley type stretch apparatuses (e.g., Japanese Patent Publication Nos. Sho 61-55456 and 57-30368). Still another conventional easy-to-handle stretch apparatus is exemplified by a stretch apparatus having a large number of grippers (Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 63-44049) and needle-like pins planted in the periphery of a rotary disc. Such a conventional rotary disc type lateral stretch apparatus cannot be applied to pallet wrapping because this apparatus allows a laterally stretched film to run horizontally in its longitudinal direction.
The conventional wrapping methods described above are excellent in air-tightness because articles are wrapped with films. For this reason, these wrapping methods are often not suitable for articles such as vegetables and fruits in the fields requiring air or moisture permeability and the fields requiring prevention of dew condensation. As a manufacturing problem, the film width is reduced after longitudinal or lateral stretching, thereby reducing wrapping efficiency. In particular, in lateral stretching, a remarkable widthwise shrinkage occurs after the film is stretched laterally.
There is also available a conventional method using a net-like material as an air-permeable wrapping material and stretching this material along its longitudinal direction. This method, however, results in higher cost than a method using a film. In addition, when an article is large in size, a greater number of turns is undesirably needed for wrapping the article because a net width is small. Therefore, the method using the net-like material is much less practical due to the consumption of a large amount of the material and a long wrapping time.

Apparatus for wrapping and method therefor


The present disclosure provides hetero-bicyclic compounds of formula (I), their tautomers, polymorphs, stereoisomers, prodrugs, solvates, hydrates, N-oxides, co-crystals, pharmaceutically acceptable salts, pharmaceutical compositions containing them and methods of treating conditions and diseases that are mediated by Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) activity, The disclosure also relates to the process of preparation of compounds of Formula (I).

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) belongs to tyrosine kinases, a subfamily of protein kinases that phosphorylate protein on the phenolic moiety of tyrosine residue. It is a non-receptor cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase and a key regulator for B-cell development, activation, signaling and survival (Schaeffer and Schwartzberg, Curr. Op. Imm. 2000, 282; Niiro and Clark, Nature Rev. Immumol. 2002, 945; Di Paolo and Currie, Nat. Chem. Biol. 2011, 7). Btk is expressed in all hematopoietic cell types, excluding plasma cells, T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. After activation by upstream B-cell antigen receptor or Toll like receptor-4, Btk induces PLC-γ2 phosphorylation, which ultimately results in activation of nuclear factor κB (NFκB) and nuclear factor of activated T cell dependent pathways. Additionally, Btk is crucial for number of other hematopoetic cell signaling; such as, Fcγ-mediated inflammatory cytokine production (such as TNF-α, IL1β and IL6) in monocytes/macrophages, IgE mediated signaling in mast cells, inhibition of Fas/APO-1 apoptotic signaling in B-lineage lymphoid cells etc (Jeffries et al. J. Biol. Chem. 2003, 26258; Horwood et al., J. Experimental Med. 2003, 1603).
Use of B-cell depleting protein based therapeutics (for example, Rituxan, a CD20 antibody) for the treatment of a number of autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases provides enough evidence for the role of B-cells and the humoral immune system in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and/or inflammatory disease. And as Btk is essential for B-cell activation, this also provides an indirect rational for the role of Btk in autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases.
Additional rationales for the involvement of Btk in various autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases come from Btk deficient mouse models; for example, Btk deficiency has been shown to result in a marked amelioration of disease progression, in murine preclinical model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). BTK deficient mice are resistant to develop collagen-induced arthritis (Jansson and Holmdahl Clin. Exp. Immumol. 1993, 459).
Pharmacological validation for the involvement of Btk in various autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases comes from two different class of Btk inhibitors, for example, (a) an irreversible Btk inhibitor (Pan et al, Chem. Med. Chem. 2007, 58), and (b) a reversible Btk inhibitor (Di Paolo, Nat. Chem. Biol. 2010, 41). Both the type of inhibitors have demonstrated efficacy in a mouse model of arthritis. PCI-32765 (an irreversible Btk inhibitor), has shown promising clinical activity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) (Burger et al, Blood 2010, 32 & J Clin Oncol 2011, 6508). Thus, small molecule Btk inhibitors are expected to be useful to treat disease processes that involve B-cell activation.
Several prior art literature describe the discovery of small molecule Btk inhibitors (for a recent review, Lou et al. J. Med. Chem. 2012). As for example, amino-pyrazolo-pyrimidine (WO2011046964A2) and imidazo[1,5-a]quinoxalines (Kim et al, Bio-org. Med. Chem. Lett., 2011, 6258) based compounds, which utilize its acrylamide functionality for covalent modification of the target protein, are published as irreversible inhibitors. There are literature prior art disclosing reversible Btk inhibitors, such as, substituted amino-pyrimidine analogs (WO2010123870A1); imidazo[1,2-f][1,2,4]triazine core based amide compounds (WO2010068810A2); various heterocyclic (e.g. imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazine, aminopyrimidine, 2-pyridone etc) amide derivatives (WO2010068788A1, WO2010068806A1); benzo[f][1,4]oxazepin analogs (WO2010122038A1); 3,4-dihydro-2H-isoquinoline or 2H-isoquinolin-1-one based analogs (WO2010100070A1, WO2013024078); phenylimidazopyrazine analogs (WO2010006970A1); 3,5-disubstituted pyrid-2-one analogs (WO2007027729A1); azaindazole compounds (WO2011019780A1); nicotinamide compounds (WO2010144647A1); carbazole carboxamide analogs (WO2010080481A1), pyrrolopyrimidine derivatives (WO2013008095).
Despite several discoveries in this area, there is no small molecule Btk inhibitor available in the market. The most advanced compounds in the clinical trials are irreversible inhibitors of Btk. Such an irreversible mechanism of action often encounters nonspecific binding with proteins including off-targets leading to safety concern particularly upon long term used such as off-target related adverse side effects, general hepatotoxicity and organ toxicity, antibody mediated reactions. Therefore, there is a need of Btk inhibitors with safer mechanism of action such as reversible mechanism of inhibition. These compounds will have medical application in the disease area of inflammation, autoimmune disorder and cell proliferation, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, transplant rejection, graft-versus-host disease, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, allergic diseases and asthma, type 1 diabetes, myasthenia gravis, hematopoetic disfunction, B-cell malignancies, systemic lupus erythematosus.

Substituted hetero-bicyclic compounds, compositions and medicinal applications thereof

Abstract: These compounds are useful in the treatment, prevention, prophylaxis, management, or adjunct treatment of all medical conditions related to inhibition of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk), such as inflammatory and/or autoimmune disorder, cell proliferation, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, transplant rejection, graft-versus-host disease, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, allergic diseases, asthma, type 1 diabetes, myasthenia gravis, hematopoetic disfunction, B-cell malignancies, systemic lupus, erythematosus or other disorders.


A modular rotating rectifier assembly for use with a brushless self-excited, liquid cooled, dynamo electric device such as a generator. The rotating rectifier assembly is positioned in a rotating hollow shaft of the generator and is coupled with a coolant circulating system for transferring heat from the rectifier assembly to the coolant flowing therethrough. The rotating rectifier assembly is positioned inside the shaft in close proximity to a central axis, longitudinally extending through the shaft, thereby minimizing the centrifugal forces induced on the diode components of the rotating rectifier assembly.

The present invention relates to rotating rectifier assemblies for use in dynamo electric devices.
Dynamo electric devices such as self-excited, brushless AC generators typically utilize a rotating rectifier assembly to rectify the output of an exciter rotor and to feed the resulting DC power to a main generator rotor. Rectifier diodes enclosed in a DO-5 or DO-4 case have been traditionally used in such rotating rectifier assemblies with varying degrees of success.
The self-exciting brushless generators typically include three generators placed in tandem along a common rotating shaft. These three generators are retained within a common generator housing. When the machine is cooled by oil conduction, a portion of the interior of the housing is retained in a dry air-filled or gas-filled state surrounding the main field, exciter filed and the PMG field. Remaining portions of the housing and generator assembly are cooled by means of a fluid coolant circulation system.
A problem arises with the rectifier assemblies since they are constructed of semi-conductor material and therefore create a weak link in the generator system. The reason for the diodes being a weak link is that they undergo severe mechanical and thermal stresses during the operation of the generator. The parameters of the stresses are very difficult to overcome with known semi-conductor materials. While a variety of configurations and orientations of DO-5 and DO-4 type diodes have been employed, many of the thermal and mechanical problems persist. One type of generator has even used surface mounted devices (SMD) in an attempt to overcome such problems. However, due to the characteristics of the semi-conductor material used in the SMDs, the problems still persist.
With regard to the mechanical and thermal forces acting on the rectifier assembly, such forces are developed due to the nature of the operating conditions of the generator. For example, since the rectifier assembly is generally mounted close to the rotating shaft about which the rotors are positioned, the rectifier assembly, rotating with the rotating shaft, encounters severe centrifugal forces. The thermal conditions also place stresses on the materials of the diode which push the limits of the performance parameters of the semi-conductor material.
FIG. 2 provides a hybrid view of two prior art rectifier assembly configurations. A generator 20 is shown in FIG. 2 which has a rotating shaft 22 with a central axis 24 extending therethrough. A parallel oriented rectifier assembly is shown in the lower portion of the figure. In the parallel oriented rectifier assembly, the diodes 28 are oriented with a minor axis parallel to the central axis 24. The parallel oriented rectifier assemblies experience a substantial degree of centrifugal force due to the distance between the diode and the central axis. In extremely high speed generators, ordinary diodes are unable withstand the high centrifugal forces resulting in such a generator.
One attempt to overcome the problem of the high centrifugal forces, was to mount the diodes perpendicular to the central axis, thereby compressing the diode material and preventing structural fatigue due to high centrifugal forces. While a degree of success was achieved by compressing the diode material, a substantial amount of space was utilized in the perpendicular orientation.
Another problem encountered with the prior art rectifier assemblies as shown in FIG. 2, is that they are positioned in the air or gas enclosed space in which the fields operate, when used in a "conduction" cooled generator. As a result, these rectifier assemblies are exposed to high temperatures and are unable to benefit from the fluid coolant system utilized in other areas of the generator system.
While such assemblies may be acceptable for use in generators which rotate at relatively low speeds and have sufficient space available for the required mounting of electrical connections, these assemblies become a weak link in a generator which rotates at a relatively high speed. For example, a state-of-the-art generator, which may be used for aircraft, may rotate at speeds exceeding 30,000 rpm to meet the load requirements of the specific application.
More specifically, generators utilized in aircraft or other high technology dependent vehicles require very high power density generators. As a result, one of the most critical factors to achieving a high power density is to provide a high rotational speed. High rotational speed reduces the overall size of the generator. Two particular parameters which limit the rotational speed are the windage, a power loss caused by air friction on rotating bodies and centrifugal loading, a force incurred by a rotating body.


An insert molding apparatus includes a first mold and a second mold. The first mold has at least two cavity plates which cooperatively define at least one receiving groove therebetween. At least two connecting elements each have its one end positioned in one of the at least two cavity plates while the other end passing through the other cavity plate for movably connecting the at least two cavity plates with each other. At least one elastic element is compressibly disposed between and against the cavity plates in such a manner such that the at least two cavity plates are capable of contacting with each other or separating from each other. The second mold is engaged with the first mold for compelling one of the at least two cavity plates to move toward the other cavity plate so that the at least two cavity plates are in contact with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insert molding apparatus, and particularly to an insert molding apparatus adapted for producing one-piece products obtained by coating insert components placed in the insert molding apparatus with resinous material and shaping the resinous material.
2. The Related Art
The insert molding technique is broadly used in various fields by putting insert components in an insert molding apparatus and then injecting molten resinous material in the insert molding apparatus to coat on the insert components for forming one-piece products.
The insert molding apparatus conventionally includes two cavity plates which form a plurality of inserting cavities therebetween for receiving the insert components therein. The distance between the two cavity plates is predetermined and cannot be adjusted, thus it is hard to place the insert components in the inserting cavities and further the insert components are easily deformed in the process of being placed in the inserting cavities. Therefore, an improved insert molding apparatus capable of overcoming the disadvantage is required.


A five-valve per cylinder internal combustion engine having a lens shaped combustion chamber that promotes a high compression ratio and which also reduces the likelihood of knocking. The engine includes a cylinder head having three intake valves disposed substantially on one side of a plane containing the cylinder bore axis and a pair of exhaust valves supported for reciprocation on the other side of the plane. The intake valves are disposed at acute angles to a plane containing the cylinder bore axis and containing the axis of rotation of the camshaft. The center of these poppet valves is disposed of on a plane also containing the cylinder bore axis and perpendicular to the first plane, while the remaining intake valves are disposed at opposite acute angles to this plane. The poppet valves are actuated by a camshaft journaled in bearing surfaces formed directly in the cylinder head and through tappets that are supported in bores formed integrally in the cylinder head. The bolting arrangement for the cylinder head and camshaft bearing caps facilitates machining and simplifies assembly. The timing of the drive of the camshaft for operating the intake valves can also be varied relative to the rotational position of the crankshaft so as to reduce or preclude knocking.

This invention relates to an engine combustion chamber and air intake device and more particular to an improved cylinder head and porting arrangement for an internal combustion engine.
The use of multiple intake valves for internal combustion engines is well known as an expedient for improving engine performance. Although four valve per cylinder engines (using two intake valves per cylinder) are common, there is an advantage to employing three intake valves and two exhaust valves for a total of five valves per cylinder. However, when five valves per cylinder are employed it is difficult to maintain low combustion chamber surface areas and high compression ratios. The reason for this is that the valve placement and the requirement to clear the head of the piston and permit adequate valve opening give rise to difficulties in obtaining the low combustion chamber surfaces and volumes necessary to achieve high performance and high compression ratios. As is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,529 entitled 4-CYCLE ENGINE, issued Apr. 28, 1987 and now reissued as RE 33787 on Jan. 7, 1994, it is possible through placement of the intake valves as generally disclosed in that patent to obtain high compression ratios and still utilize five valves per cylinder.
It is a principal purpose of this invention to provide an improved combustion chamber configuration that permits still further increases in the compression ratio without increasing the likelihood of knocking.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved combustion chamber configuration and intake port arrangement for a five valve per cylinder engine.
When using multiple valves it is the common practice to provide a pair of valves serving related ports that are disposed on one side of a plane containing the axis of the cylinder bore and wherein the valves reciprocate about reciprocal axes that are disposed at an acute angle to this plane. In order to increase the amount of valve lift without decreasing the compression ratio it has also been the practice to incline the valve stems and associated ports to a plane that is perpendicular to the first-mentioned plane and which also passes through the cylinder bore axis. The valves are disposed at opposite acute angles to this plane. As a result of this construction, when the valves serve the intake function, the flow which enters the chamber through the individual valves will tend to intersect in the cylinder bore. This has certain disadvantages. Specifically, it is not always possible to provide the desired flow pattern in the cylinder bore and interfering turbulence may occur.
The use of two intake valves disposed as in the preceding paragraph is also used in combination with engines having three intake valves per cylinder. The two valves having the disposition disclosed form side intake valves and a center intake valve is disposed between these two side intake valves and closer to the outer periphery of the cylinder bore on the side opposite the first plane. Again, this can result in undesired air flow in the combustion chamber and particularly turbulence or interference in the air flows from the individual intake passages.
It is, therefore, a further principle object of this invention to provide an improved engine air intake device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improve valve placement for an engine wherein large valve lifts can be accomplished without reducing the compression ratio and without causing interfering flow between the individual intake passages.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improve valve and associated passage arrangement for the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine.
When multiple valves are employed per cylinder in an engine, the construction of the cylinder head and valve actuating mechanism tends to become rather complicated. This can give rise to other problems such as problems in correctly locating the fastening hold-down bolts for the cylinder head.
That is, it is desirable to provide substantially uniform spacing around the cylinder bore for the cylinder head hold-down bolts and with multiple valve arrangements this can be at time difficult.
It is, therefore, a still further object of this invention to provide an improved hold-down bolt pattern for the cylinder head of a multiple valve internal combustion engine.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved bolting arrangement for such an engine.
The valves are normally operated by one or, more frequently, two overhead mounted camshafts. These camshafts may be journaled directly in the cylinder head or in components which form a portion of the cylinder head assembly. This requires a provision of additional bearing caps for journaling the cylinder head and at times the bearing arrangement and hold-down fasteners for the bearing caps can interfere with or obscure the hold-down bolts for the cylinder head itself.
It is, therefore, a still further object of this invention to provide an improved hold-down arrangement for a cylinder head of an overhead camshaft internal combustion engine.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved hold-down arrangement for the bearing caps of overhead mounted camshafts and the cylinder head of the engine wherein the hold-down fasteners can be conveniently formed and machining operations are simplified.
Because of the problems mentioned in connection with the complexity of multiple valve overhead valve cylinder heads, it has been at times the practice to employ a cylinder assembly that is made up of a number of castings that are secured to each other. Of course, as the number of pieces increases, the bolting arrangement, machine and cost of the cylinder head can become larger.
It is, therefore, a still further object of this invention to provide an improve cylinder head assembly for a multiple cam multiple valve engine wherein the cylinder head may be made of a single piece construction and yet afford ease of assembly and manufacturing.

Engine combustion chamber and air intake device


One or more embodiments of the invention set forth techniques to create a process in a graphical processing unit (GPU) that has access to memory buffers in the system memory of a computer system that are shared among a plurality of GPUs in the computer system. The GPU of the process is able to engage in Direct Memory Access (DMA) with any of the shared memory buffers thereby eliminating additional copying steps that have been needed to combine data output of the various GPUs without such shared access.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to graphics processing units (GPUs) and more specifically to sharing data among GPUs in a multi-GPU computer system.
Description of the Related Art
Current computer systems are typically configured with the hardware capability to support multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) through a compatible bus interface, such as PCI Express. Multiple GPUs in a computer system can share and subdivide a computationally expensive workload such as rendering a 3D scene. To increase processing efficiencies and memory management performance, each GPU is typically capable of engaging in Direct Memory Access (DMA) with memory of the computer system (also referred to herein as the system memory) that has been allocated to an application running on the computer system (i.e., also referred to herein as the application's address space). For example, an application running on the computer system can allocate a memory buffer in its address space and request that a GPU performing a particular task read input data needed to perform the task directly from (and write the output data results of the task directly to) the memory buffer. Such DMA capabilities eliminate an extra copying step that the application would have been required to perform in order to write the input data to a special memory location accessible by the GPU outside the application's address space. Typically referred to as "pinned memory," the memory buffer is specially allocated by an application to be non-pageable so that it cannot be repurposed by the operating system's virtual memory optimization techniques. Because any paging of the memory buffer by the CPU would not be recognized by the GPU, the GPU could read or write data into the memory buffer at a time when the CPU had repurposed the memory buffer due to paging, thereby corrupting data in the buffer.
Current pinned memory allocation techniques enable application developers to allocate a pinned memory buffer only to a particular process running on a particular GPU that requested its allocation (referred to herein as a "context"). However, an application developer creating multi-GPU aware applications will divide a workload among the multiple GPUs by broadcasting different subsets of the input data to multiple GPUs and desire to gather the output data into a single memory buffer. While each of the processes performing the workload on each of the GPUs may each have their own pinned memory buffer, to date, the application must still copy the results in each pinned memory buffer into a single consolidated memory buffer.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is a technique enabling a newly allocated context of a GPU to directly access pinned memory buffers of a computer system that have been allocated by other contexts from other GPUs in the computer system.

Method and system for providing shared memory access to graphics processing unit processes


A drive arrangement for a machine includes a first planetary gear set, a second planetary gear set, a third planetary gear set, a first motor, a second motor, and a third motor. The first, second, and third motors are drivingly connected to the first, second, and third planetary gear sets to simultaneously generate fewer than three separate output rotations.

Work machines such as, for example, track-type tractors and other heavy construction, agriculture, and mining machines, are used to perform many tasks. To effectively perform these tasks, the work machines require a power source that provides significant power to a drive arrangement. The power source may be an engine such as, for example, a turbine engine, diesel engine, gasoline engine, or natural gas engine operated to generate a torque output at a range of speeds. The drive arrangement may include individual motors driven by the power source and associated with individual traction devices of the work machine. These individual motors must be sized to transmit the entire torque output of the power source to the associated traction device, for if one traction device slips due to unfavorable traction conditions, the entire torque output of the engine will be absorbed by the non-slipping traction device. In addition, due to regenerative forces, it may be possible to load a single motor and associated traction device with the entire torque output of the power source and an additional amount of torque that is being regenerated from a traction device located on an opposite side of the work machine. As a result of these occasional high-torque and/or high power loading situations, these motors are typically oversized for a majority of the work machine operation. In addition to the high component cost of the oversized motors and related packaging issues, operation of these oversized motors during low-torque loading conditions is inefficient.
One attempt to reduce the cost and inefficiencies associated with oversized drive arrangements is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,946 (the '946 patent) issued to Dorgan on Dec. 8, 1992. The '946 patent describes an electric drive system having first, second, and third electric motors connected via left and right combining gear sets to respective left and right vehicle tracks. To propel the vehicle in low range operations (e.g., low speed, high torque), the first and second motors are energized, while the a brake is applied to the third motor. To propel the vehicle in high range operations (e.g., high speed, low torque), all three motors are energized. Regeneration of power may be available during high range operations. The use of three motors, rather than two, in high range operations results in a reduction of motor sizes.
Although the electric drive system of the '946 patent may reduce some of the cost and inefficiency associated with oversized motors, it may be operationally limited and inefficient. In particular, the third motor may only be used during high range operations. The largest amounts of torque are generated during low range operations that involve steering or traction loss. Because only two motors of the '946 patent propel the vehicle during low range operations, the two operational motors must still be oversized to accommodate the associated high torque loads. In addition, regeneration is most effective during steering operations of the vehicle, which most often occur during low range operation. Because regeneration is only available during high range operations of the vehicle described in the '946 patent, the electric drive system may lack efficiency.
The planetary drive arrangement of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above.


A semiconductor fabrication process is provided which prevents the cratering of the bond pads of an integrated circuit by including in a semiconductor process an etch stop layer which is formed between the field oxide layer and the first dielectric layer to prevent erosion of the field oxide while allowing etching and removal of the first dielectric layer to prevent cratering.

During the wire bonding operation in the assembly of semiconductor devices, or in the subsequent operations where stress is applied to the bond pad, cratering can occur in the structure under the bond because of the weakness in the dielectric structure immediately under the metal layer of the bond pad. Cratering occurs, for example, when the dielectric layer under the bond metal cracks causing the bond pad to separate from the integrated circuit, thereby causing a failure of the chip. Cratering may extend into the field oxide layer below the dielectric layer, or even into the silicon substrate. Thus, although the dielectric layer is necessary for the forming of other structures in the integrated circuit, the dielectric layer does not serve any useful function in the bond pad structure, and it is therefore desirable to subsequently etch the dielectric from under the bond pad to prevent cratering.
In the prior art bond pad formation techniques, a dielectric layer is typically formed on top of a layer of field oxide of the integrated circuit. The dielectric layer is then etched in the bond pad area to avoid cratering. However, during the etching of the dielectric layer, etching into the field oxide may also result. Any etching of the field oxide is undesirable since this typically causes performance, yield, or reliability problems. Also known in the prior art is the use of a polycrystalline silicon layer instead of the dielectric layer under the bond pad. However, because polycrystalline silicon is structurally weak, the same cratering problems also occur.
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a prior art bond pad structure. Bond pad 10 typically comprises the following layers arranged in the manner shown in FIG. 1: field oxide 20 over silicon 60, first dielectric (D1) layer 21 over field oxide 20, first metal layer 15 over first dielectric layer 21, second dielectric (D2) layer 22 over first metal 15 and first dielectric layer 21, second metal layer 25 over second dielectric layer 22 and first metal layer 15, and passivation layer 50 over second metal layer 25 and second dielectric layer 22.
FIGS. 2a-2k illustrate a prior art semiconductor fabrication process for forming bond pad 10. Referring to FIG. 2a, field oxide 20 is first formed over silicon 60. Following the step of field oxide formation, first dielectric layer 21 is then formed over field oxide 20 as shown in FIG. 2b. FIG. 2c shows the next step of forming first metal layer 15 over first dielectric layer 21. Then as illustrated in FIGS. 2d and 2e, first metal layer 15 is masked with mask layer 23, and then etched to define bond pad site 11.
The process steps shown in FIGS. 2b-2e are then repeated as shown in FIGS. 2f-2k for the formation of second dielectric layer 22 and second metal layer 25. FIG. 2f illustrates forming second dielectric layer 22 over metal layer 15. FIGS. 2g and 2h then show second dielectric layer 22 masked with photoresist mask 16 and etched to define bond pad site 11. FIG. 2i illustrates the next process step of forming second metal layer 25 over etched second dielectric layer 22. Then as illustrated in FIG. 2j, second metal layer 25 is also masked and etched to define bond pad site 11. FIG. 2k shows passivation layer 50 being subsequently formed over etched second metal layer 25 to form bond pad 10.
Ching, et al., Bond Pad Structure Reliability, IEEE/IRPS, CH2508-00, at 64-70 (1988) describes three bond pad structures. One structure comprises a first metal layer over a dielectric layer, the dielectric layer being formed over a field oxide layer, and the field oxide layer formed over a substrate layer. A second bond pad structure shown by Ching differs from the first described bond pad structure by the removal of the dielectric layer from between the first metal layer and the field oxide layer. A third bond pad structure depicted differs from the first bond pad structure by the formation of a titanium tungsten (TiW) layer between the dielectric layer and the metal layer. Ching indicated that of the three described bond pad structures the third bond pad structure with a TiW layer and the dielectric layer intact was the superior bond pad structure to avoid cratering.
With the prior art bond pad formation techniques, cratering can occur during wire bonding or during chip operation due to the inherent weakness of first dielectric layer 21. Dielectric layer 21 is typically selected from one of the following materials such as LTD (Low Temp silicon), BPSG (Boron Phosphorous Silicon Glass), or other silicon glass. Removing dielectric layer 21 prevents cratering from occurring on the integrated circuit. However, in the prior art semiconductor fabrication process, removing dielectric layer 21 may result in damaging field oxide layer 20, causing performance, yield or reliability problems with the integrated circuit. It is therefore desirable to provide a semiconductor fabrication process for preventing cratering without damage to the field oxide layer.

Crater prevention technique for semiconductor processing


In a DC regulated power supply realized as AC adapter or the like by a switching power supply, a reference voltage correction circuit, which estimates a voltage drop corresponding to a load current, corrects to increase an output voltage by changing a feedback reference value for regulation of the output voltage from a reference voltage source, in accordance with the load current sensed by the load current sensing circuit. Therefore, there occurs no negative effects that would be caused when output sensing wires are routed to a remote load. In addition, unlike the arrangement in which a reference-use rectifying circuit as well as a load-use rectifying circuit are provided, the arrangement of the switching power supply is not complicated. That is, in correcting a voltage drop, which occurs in power supply lines, corresponding to the load current, it is possible to easily perform a stable output voltage control unaffected by wire routing.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an electrical arrangement of a typical and conventional DC regulated power supply 1 used as the AC adapter. In the DC regulated power supply 1 that is a so-called switching power supply, an AC input voltage from a utility commercial power source 2 is first transformed to a DC voltage by a rectifier diode 3 and a smoothing capacitor 4. The AC input voltage from the utility power source 2 becomes the DC voltage of the smoothing capacitor 4. That is, both ends of the smoothing capacitor 4 become a DC power supply. Across the DC power supply (between the both ends of the smoothing capacitor 4) connected is a series circuit of a primary winding 5a of a transformer 5 and a switching element 6, and the switching element 6 is intermittently controlled by a pulse from a control circuit 7. This arrangement induces a voltage in a secondary winding 5b of the transformer 5. The induced voltage is rectified and smoothed by a diode 8 and a smoothing capacitor 9 and then supplied to a load 11 via the power supply lines 10.
Here, for a switching power supply of which a high degree of output voltage accuracy is demanded, the switching power supply (AC adapter) has. an output voltage sensor circuit 12 provided therein, and a voltage at the load end is practically received by the output voltage sensor circuit 12 via output sensing wires 13. Then, a comparator circuit 14 compares a sensing result of the output voltage sensor circuit 12 to a reference voltage from a reference voltage source 15. A comparison result of the comparator circuit 14 is transferred to the control circuit 7 via a photocoupler (not shown), for example, provided for the purpose of electrical isolation. The control circuit 7 changes the pulse duty factor of the switching element 6 depending on output voltage level. With this arrangement, the voltage at the load end is controlled to be a desired voltage.
Further, the output voltage sensor circuit 12 senses an actual voltage at the load end via the output sensing wires 13, not via output end of the AC adapter, thereby realizing a stable output voltage control unaffected by wiring lengths and wire routing of the power supply lines 10, with consideration given to a voltage drop caused by the wiring lengths and wire routing of the power supply lines 10.
However, in the foregoing conventional switching power supply, since the output sensing wires 13 extend closely to the load end, increase in the lengths of the power supply lines 10 results in an unstable control caused by noise and others. Further, in practical usage conditions, a further unstable control might occur since the inductance of cables (output sensing wires 13) changes, for example, for the reason that the output sensing wires 13 are tied together into a ring-like form.
Another conventional switching power supply that can solve such a problem has been proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 1992/261358 (Tokukaihei 4-261358; published on Sep. 17, 1992). In that conventional switching power supply, a voltage drop occurring in a cable (power supply lines) is corrected, without the aforementioned remote sensing using the output sensing wires 13. Specifically, on the secondary side of the switching power supply, in addition to a load-use direct current transforming section, an auxiliary direct current transforming section is provided. Further, in the conventional switching power supply, the voltage drop occurring in the cable (power supply lines) is corrected by capitalizing on the effects that no load current flows and no voltage drop occurs in the auxiliary direct current transforming section. More specifically, a difference between an output voltage to a load and a DC voltage of the auxiliary direct current transforming section is amplified, and the amplified amount is added to a reference voltage for feedback control, thereby correcting the voltage drop occurring in the cable (power supply lines).
The foregoing conventional switching power supply requires two direct current transforming sections, causing a complicated configuration.

DC regulated power supply having voltage correction


A front end alignment tool (10) for a front suspension system (12) of a motor vehicle (14) comprising an elongate bolt (16). A foot (20) is also provided. A structure (22) is for attaching the foot (20) to a first end (24) of the elongate bolt (16). An assembly (26) is for mounting transversely and in an operable manner the elongate bolt (16) onto either end shaft (28) and (29) of a pivot bar (30), for an upper suspension arm (32) of the front suspension system (12). A component (38) on a second end (40) of the elongate bolt (16), is for rotating the elongate bolt (16), so that the foot (20) will bear against a frame (42) of the motor vehicle (14). This allows adjustment and tightening of a bolt (44) and nut (46) through each of two apertures (48) in the pivot bar (30) and each of two adjustment slots (50) in a suspension arm frame mount (52) of the front suspension system (12) attached to the frame (42) of the motor vehicle (14).

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to automotive accessories and more specifically it relates to a front end alignment tool. The front end alignment tool is used to adjust the camber and caster on the front end to exact specifications with little effort.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous automotive accessories have been provided in prior art that are adapted to measure the alignment of front wheels on motor vehicles. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


A bedrock drilling and excavating apparatus receives power from a rotational power source to drive a drill to strike and shatter bedrock under the gravity of the apparatus and reciprocal vibrations of a pneumatic unit located on the apparatus. The apparatus includes a coupling device to couple with the rotational power source and an air intake vibration structure, a coupling sleeve which has one end coupling with the lower end of a coupling axle and a connector which further couples to the pneumatic unit, and a drill coupling to the pneumatic unit. The pneumatic unit drives the drill to vibrate up and down reciprocally to strike and shatter bedrock. The drill has a drill shell which is alterable according to the diameter of the service shaft without changing the diameter of the pneumatic unit. The drill shell has a plurality of conical drill gimlets mounted thereon in different biased angles to shatter the bedrock and improve drilling and excavating effect.

Drilling and excavating apparatus are generally being used on construction sites to drill and excavate the stratum. The stratum generally can be divided into soft stratum and hard stratum depending on the areas. In the countries of Southeast Asia (Such as Malaysia) the stratum usually is a hard type bedrock. The hardness increases as the depth of the bedrock increases.
The drills used in the conventional drilling and excavating operation such as the one disclosed in R.O.C. patent publication No. 356896 entitled "Improved structure for drilling sleeve" has a drill with a helical periphery. It may be rotated continuously to sink into the stratum. When drilling deeper into the stratum, the stratum becomes harder and drilling speed is slower. Sometimes drilling and excavation operations cannot be continued and have to stop. To remedy this problem, R.O.C. patent publication No. 415320 entitled: "Improvement for the drill of air hammer" proposes to use a pneumatic approach to drive the drill to generate up and down vibrations, and the drill has a high hardness steel ball to enhance the strength of drilling and excavation. During drilling and excavating operations, the drill is driven by the pneumatic air hammer to generate up and down vibration to shatter the bedrock. The drill structure of having the high hardness steel ball on one end is expensive. When the drilling diameter increases, the diameters of the drill and the air hammer also have to increase. The costs are higher. Moreover, to strike the hard bedrock through the high hardness steel ball is easy to damage the drill.
In addition, during operations, the steel ball on the plane of the drill strikes the bedrock vertically. It is less likely to create large cracks on the bedrock, and the drill is easily damaged. With the steel ball on the drill plane hitting the bedrock vertically, the longitudinal striking force causes dusts to drift vertically. The rotating drill that sinks deeply into the stratum often generates a great amount of dusts which spread like water fall. This results in an undesirable working environment and is harmful to the workers.
Furthermore, in terms of operations, the conventional drilling and excavating process of the bedrock mainly includes two stages: the first stage is to hoist the drilling and excavating apparatus by a heavy machinery and to drill the bedrock until reaching a selected depth, then withdraw the drill; the second stage is to sink an earth excavation barrel by the heavy machinery to excavate the shattered rocks and soils, then proceed the next drilling and excavating operation for a deeper stratum. The shattering operation of the first stage and the excavating operation of the second stage are repeatedly performed. To use merely a single heavy machinery to perform the operations, the hoisting head has to be replaced repeatedly. It will result in higher costs, increased operation time and greater risks. The heavy machinery used on the construction site usually is bulky and heavy. Operation is tedious and risk on the construction site is higher.

Bedrock drilling and excavating apparatus


A satisfactory sound volume sensation from a hearing point of view can be obtained, and an effective sound volume correction operation can be obtained with an algorithm as simple as possible. Correction step 0 (correction function off, level correction value 0) to correction step 16 (level correction value—16 dB) are defined. When a first condition that is defined in such a manner as to correspond to a state in which distortion occurs is satisfied, the correction step is made to proceed by one step from the current correction step (−1 dB is added to a level correction value). When a second condition that is defined in such a manner as to correspond to a state in which distortion does not occur is satisfied, the correction step is made to return by one step from the current correction step (−1 dB is subtracted from the level correction value).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound signal processing apparatus for adjusting a sound volume and a sound signal processing method for use with the sound signal processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various sound playback apparatuses having a function for correcting output sound by suppressing the volume of output sound are known. Such a sound volume correction function prevents, for example, the occurrence of distortion due to an excessive level. Furthermore, sound is not output at a larger volume than necessary due to an inadvertent sound volume operation, and a user does not experience annoyance. Also, a sound output circuit system, a speaker, etc., are prevented from being destroyed by an excessive signal input (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2001-77645 and 2002-84589).
In a case where the above-described sound volume correction function is mainly provided for the purpose of preventing distortion of sound and protecting circuits, etc., when, for example, a configuration in which the signal level is simply limited to a particular fixed signal level or lower, there are cases in which, for example, the sound volume suppression is more than necessary, and the sound volume sensation expected by the user is deteriorated. This situation leads to, for example, the sound being regarded as an unattractive playback sound by the user.
Therefore, the control for sound volume correction is required to be properly performed in such a way that both the distortion prevention effect and the obtainment of sufficient sound volume sensation from a hearing point of view can be managed. Also, an algorithm for such sound volume correction is preferably as simple as possible when the circuit size, the amount of memory usage corresponding to the size of a program, etc., are taken into consideration.

Sound signal processing apparatus and sound signal processing method


Techniques are disclosed for selecting a targeted portion of a digital image. In one embodiment, a selection cursor having central and peripheral regions is provided. The central region is used to force a selection or a deselection, and therefore moving the central region over a portion of the image causes that portion of the image to be selected or deselected, respectively. The peripheral region of the cursor surrounds the central region and defines an area where a localized level set algorithm for boundary detection is performed. This provides more accurate boundary detection within the narrowly-focused peripheral region and eliminates the need to apply the level set algorithm across the entire image. Thus moving the peripheral region of the selection cursor over a boundary of the targeted portion of the image applies the level set algorithm in that boundary region and increases the likelihood that the boundary will be detected accurately.

A wide variety of software tools have been developed to facilitate the process of manipulating different types of digital data. For example, image editing software applications have been developed to adjust, modify and otherwise manipulate digital images. Such software applications generally allow a user to make global manipulations to an entire image as well as localized manipulations that affect only a selected portion of an image. Making localized manipulations generally comprises a two-step: process of first selecting a portion of the image that is to be manipulated and then applying the desired manipulation to that selection. Such image editing software applications also often allow a user to copy and/or extract a selected portion of an image, which also involves making an initial selection of the portion of the image to be copied and/or extracted. There remain, however, a number of non-trivial limitations with such existing editing applications.

Selection editing using a localized level set algorithm


The invention relates to a crisper for preservation of food. The crisper (10) comprises a box (12) and a top (14)—When the crisper (10) is in a closed position the box (12) is air tight sealed to the top (14). A humidity control unit (16) is provided and adapted to allow humid air to exit the crisper via a 5 humidity control membrane (26) located in the humidity control unit (16).

When preserving food, the food to be preserved can be placed in a container having a controlled environment. Typically, a refrigerator can be provided with a crisper. The crisper is a box used to keep fruits and vegetables stored in an environment where the humidity favors the preservation of the fruits and vegetables.
Most fruits and vegetables prefer to have high humidity environment. One way to obtain a high humidity is to provide a sealed crisper. However, as has been realized condensation might build up in a high humidity environment. Such excess condensation can promote the decay of certain fruits and vegetables through physical or microbiological damage.
There is a constant desire to improve storage and preservation of food. Hence there exists a need for an improved crisper.


There is provided a method for producing a reliable metal/ceramic bonding substrate at low costs by forming a desired fillet on the peripheral portion of a metal circuit by a small number of steps. After an active metal containing brazing filler metal 12 is applied on a ceramic substrate 10 to bond a metal member 14 thereto, a resist 16 is applied on a predetermined portion of a surface of the metal member 14 to etch unnecessary portions, and then the resist is removed. Thereafter, unnecessary part of a metal layer 12b, which is formed of a metal other than an active metal of the active metal containing brazing filler metal 12, is etched with a chemical to be removed. Then, unnecessary part of an active metal layer 12a, which is formed of the active metal and a compound thereof, is selectively etched with a chemical, which inhibits the metal member 14 and the metal layer 12b from being etched and which selectively etch the active metal layer 12b, to form a metal circuit on the ceramic substrate 10. This metal circuit is chemically polished to form a fillet on the peripheral portion of the metal circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for producing a metal/ceramic bonding substrate. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for producing a metal/ceramic bonding substrate wherein a metal member is bonded to a ceramic substrate via an active metal containing brazing filler metal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a typical metal/ceramic bonding substrate used as an insulating substrate, cracks are easily produced in a ceramic member by a thermal stress based on the difference in thermal expansion which is caused between the ceramic member and a metal member by thermal shocks after bonding. As a method for relaxing such a thermal stress, there is known a method for thinning the peripheral portion (creeping portion) of a metal member, i.e. a method for forming a stepped structure or a fillet on the peripheral portion of a metal member.
In order to realize such a structure, there is known a method for forming a fillet on the peripheral portion of a metal circuit by steps of: printing a resist on a predetermined portion of a surface of a metal plate bonded to a ceramic member via an active metal containing brazing filler metal; etching unnecessary part of the metal plate to form metal circuits, and then, removing the resist; removing unnecessary part of the brazing filler metal remaining between the metal circuits; printing a resist on the surface of the metal circuits again to etch unnecessary part of the metal circuits again; and removing the resist, i.e., by carrying out a circuit pattern printing process and a metal circuit etching process twice, respectively.
There is also known a method for forming a ceramic circuit board having a metal circuit by removing unnecessary part of a brazing filler metal with a chemical containing an inorganic acid and hydrofluoric acid after a metal circuit pattern is formed on a ceramic substrate (see, e.g., Japanese Patent No. 2594475).
However, if the fillet is formed on the peripheral portion of the metal circuit by the method for carrying out the circuit pattern printing process and the metal circuit etching process twice, respectively, producing steps are complicated, and producing costs are increased by the increase of the number of steps.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2594475, since an etchant containing an inorganic acid and hydrofluoric acid is used for removing unnecessary part of an active metal containing brazing filler metal, there are some cases where a layer (which will be hereinafter referred to a "metal layer"), which is mainly formed of a metal other than an active metal of the active metal containing brazing filler metal, of two layers formed of the active metal containing brazing filler metal, i.e., the metal layer and a layer (which will be hereinafter referred to as an "active metal layer") which is mainly formed of the active metal and its compound(s), may be excessively etched (side-etched), so that there are some cases where it is difficult to form the fillet. In addition, the etchant containing the inorganic acid and hydrofluoric acid is easy to damage ceramics, so that there are some cases where reliability, such as heat cycle resistance, may be deteriorated.

Method for producing metal/ceramic bonding substrate


A simplified structure is disclosed for a dual-band, double-conversion superheterodyne receiver. All mixer-injection signals are generated by combining the outputs of two phase-locked frequency synthesizers driven by a single reference oscillator. The output of one synthesizer injects the receiver's second mixer, which converts signals from the first intermediate frequency to the second intermediate frequency. The output of the other synthesizer has two uses: (1) it provides first mixer injection needed to tune the receiver to a primary band, and (2) it is mixed with the output of the first synthesizer to provide the first mixer injection needed to tune the receiver to an alternate band.

The structure and operation of the superheterodyne receiver is well-known in the prior art, as described in Communication Systems (A. Bruce Carson, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, second edition, 1975, pages 207-211), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
As described by Carlson, a superheterodyne receiver comprises a preselector filter, a radio frequency amplifier, a frequency converter, an intermediate frequency filter, an intermediate frequency amplifier, and a detector. The preselector filter passes frequencies in the desired band which are amplified by the amplifier. The filtered and amplified signal passes to the frequency converter which converts the signal to an intermediate frequency. The frequency converter includes a mixer and a local oscillator. The received signal is applied to a first input of the mixer. A locally generated wave produced by the local oscillator is applied to a second input of the mixer. The mixer combines the inputs to generate an intermediate frequency signal. The mixer output, which is a fixed frequency signal, is filtered by the intermediate frequency filter to remove noise and undesired signals and then amplified by the intermediate frequency amplifier before passing to the detector. The detector separates the modulating signal from the carrier wave. This basic radio architecture to is called a superheterodyne receiver.
In superheterodyne receivers, it is desirable to use a low intermediate frequency to make amplification easier and to allow use of high performance filters that suppress adjacent channel interference. However, if a low intermediate frequency is chosen, a problem arises because of image response. If the carrier is below the oscillator frequency (f.sub.c =f.sub.o -f.sub.i-f), then a frequency separated from the desired carrier frequency by two times the intermediate frequency will produce the same result since the sign of the difference is not significant. This frequency, known as the image frequency (f.sub.s), will produce a spurious response at the receiver. This unwanted image response must be suppressed in the preselector filter. Suppression of the image response is easier the larger the value of the intermediate frequency. Thus, in single heterodyne receivers, a compromise value is chosen for the intermediate frequency.
More complex designs known as double-conversion superheterodyne receivers are taught in the prior art to resolve the conflict between adjacent channel suppression and RF image rejection that is inherent in the single conversion heterodyne receiver. In a double-conversion receiver, two mixers are used which translate the received signal to two different intermediate frequencies. The received signal is translated by a first mixer to the receiver's first intermediate frequency. The output of the first mixer is then filtered to suppress the image frequency and amplified before it is passed to the second mixer. Signals output by the first intermediate frequency amplifier are translated to a second intermediate frequency by means of a second mixer. At the second intermediate frequency, signals are filtered to further suppress adjacent channel interference, further amplified, and then passed to the detector.
With this arrangement, the first local oscillator must have the tuning range and degree of tuning resolution needed to accommodate the channel structure of the signals to be received. Moreover, the stability and spectral purity of the first local oscillator are important factors in determining the receiver's performance. In practice, however, the spectral purity and the stability of a tunable local oscillator degenerate as its tuning range increases and its resolution becomes finer.
In response to this unfavorable tradeoff, prior art receiver design has evolved according to two approaches. In the first approach, the tuning range of the first local oscillator--and therefore the tuning range of the receiver--are limited to a relatively narrow band of frequencies over which stability and spectral purity can be ensured consistent with a given fineness of tuning resolution. To extend the tuning range, prior art teaches the use of a plurality of separate mixer-oscillator pairs, one pair for each frequency band of interest. In the second approach, the amount and complexity of the circuitry is increased thereby increasing the cost of the receiver.


Disclosed are a drinking under influence (DUI) detection system and a DUI detection method based on an MQ3 sensor and an ultra wide band (UWB) radar. The system includes an alcohol detection module, a respiratory detection module, a signal matching module and a drunk driving alarm module, and each module cooperates to complete a detection. The MQ3 sensor-based alcohol detection module is used for alcohol signal capture, alcohol sequence processing and DUI threshold detection; the UWB radar-based respiratory detection module is used for respiratory signal capture, respiratory signal processing and passenger separation and positioning; the signal matching module is used for periodic signal alignment, sequence feature matching and drinker identity confirmation; and the DUI alarm module is used for a system alarm prompt, a data visualization interface and a DUI information uploading.

With a development of science and technology and social economy, vehicles have become a main means of transport for daily travelling of people, followed by an increase in traffic accidents, among which DUI is an important inducement of traffic accidents.
An ultra wide band (UWB) radar uses wireless carriers with a frequency bandwidth of more than 1 GHz. Instead of sinusoidal carriers, the UWB radar uses nanosecond non-sinusoidal narrow pulses to transmit data. UWB pulses used for positioning and ranging work in a frequency range of 6.5.8 GHz, and do not interfere with wireless transmissions in other frequency bands of a spectrum. This means that the UWB radar coexists with the most popular wireless forms, including satellite navigation, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The UWB radar has characteristics of a high data transmission speed, a low power consumption, an accurate positioning, a high security and simple realization of a system structure, and has unique advantages in detecting human vital signs. The UWB radar not only does not need any electrodes and sensors to touch a human body, so as to realize a real non-invasive detection, but also effectively penetrates a medium, solves problems that laser and infrared detections are seriously affected by a temperature and fail to block when encountering objects, and also overcomes the problems that an ultrasonic detection is interfered by a reflection of environmental impurities and fails to block by using a characteristic of detecting human life signals without being affected by the environmental temperature and heat. By using the related characteristics of UWB radar, an obstruction of foreign objects in the vehicle is avoided, respiratory signals in the vehicle are accurately obtained, located, and distinguished by corresponding processing, so as to extract a respiratory curve of each person.
A gas-sensitive material used in an MQ3 sensor (a semiconductor gas sensor for an alcohol detection) is tin dioxide (SnO2) with a low conductivity in clean air. When there is alcohol vapor in a sensor's environment, the conductivity of the sensor increases with the increase of an alcohol gas concentration in the air. A simple circuit may be used to convert a change of conductivity into an output signal corresponding to a gas concentration. MQ3 gas sensor has a high sensitivity to alcohol and may resist an interference of gasoline, smoke and water vapor. This kind of sensor detects an alcohol atmosphere with various concentrations, and is a special sensor suitable for many applications. A near-infrared spectrum alcohol detection technology with similar functions detects a transmitted light of a hand of a driver, and performs a spectral analysis on the transmitted light in a specific band to obtain an alcohol transmittance in a body of the driver. Due to the interference of a large number of non-target components in blood and a strong noise of spectral signals, technical data is noisy and scene requirements are high. At present, a blood alcohol concentration detection and a respiratory alcohol concentration detection adopted by traffic police require staffs to actively collect information, so the MQ3 alcohol sensor is more suitable for detecting DUI.

Method of detecting of driving under influence of alcohol based on MQ3 sensor and ultra wide band radar


A control system controls a hardware switch which receives a usage command for utilizing an auxiliary function of a vehicle and a software switch displayed with an information portion indicating the auxiliary function and a command portion for input of the usage command through a screen. When either of the hardware switch or the software switch is operated, information is provided for identifying the other switch that corresponds to the auxiliary function commanded by the operated switch.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a control system, a method and a program for controlling switches that operate auxiliary equipment provided in a vehicle.
2. Related Art
Diverse auxiliary functions provided in a vehicle, such as vehicle seat position adjustment and mirror angle adjustment, utilize various switches. Such switches include hardware switches for adjusting an auxiliary function through manual operation of a switch operator, and software switches in the form of a display image of a seat or a mirror on a touch display for operation of various auxiliary functions by touch (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-153684 for an example).

Switch control device and switch control method


An apparatus, kit and method for applying a French manicure to a user's own nails or those of a customer using a simple finger guide which permits the positioning of a finger relative to a reservoir of acrylic nail polish powder. In one form, the apparatus is comprised of a finger guide which can be removably associated with an acrylic nail polish powder-containing vessel. Alternative embodiments include those with a finger guide being integrally formed with the vessel/jar. A method for applying a French manicure using the apparatus of the invention is also contemplated. The kit includes a supply of one or more acrylic nail polish powders, a finger guide, and the necessary materials to cause the acrylic nail polish powder to be converted to a solid nail polish coating.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of cosmetology, and, more particularly, relates to devices and methods for easily, quickly and accurately applying French tip-style fingernail and toenail treatments.
2. Related Art
Decorating finger and toe nails is an art that has been practiced since as early as the ancient Incas. One style of manicure is called the "French" or "FrenchTip" manicure, and is designed to resemble natural nails. The French manicure is characterized by the use of a natural pink base color with a curved white tip, making it one of the most popular and well known color schemes to be used. French manicures are believed to have originated in 18th century Paris and are still enormously popular today.
Applying the French manicure effect, and, in particular, the curved white tip requires great care, and is a very tedious, labor and time-intensive exercise. First, a curved white tip is painted, and then the pink base color is applied thereover. There are a number of techniques that have been developed to create the curved white tip, but all require a manual application of either brushed on liquid or silica powder using hand and eye coordination.
One device to assist in the shaping of the line of demarcation between the pink base and the white tip is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,638,837 and 5,654,090 to Juhl et al. However, the devices of Juhl still require the manual painting of polish to create the white tip, and do not use the popular and more accurate silica powder based coloring agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,704 to Dombeck discloses a French manicure template which operates similar to the Juhl product, in that the curved white tip still must be manually painted on.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,484 to Lube, et. al. discloses a kit for performing a cosmetic nail treatment, which, again, requires the use of a brush to paint the white tip in the desired shape.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2011/0100389 to Tran discloses a French manicure scraper tool which is placed over the fingertip and provides a template around which to paint the curved white tip.
Finally, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2010/0313904 to Garinger discloses a template in the form of a shield member which exposes a portion of the fingernail to receive the curved white tip, and then requires the use of a secondary feature of the device to apply a second nail paint to the entire nail. The Garinger device is cumbersome and requires careful manipulation of the two structural features of the device to accomplish the task.
Presently, it has become popular to use acrylic nail powder to apply French manicures, which is even harder to apply in a consistent manner with existing apparatus and methods.
All of the devices known to the inventor require undue manual accuracy and time to achieve a professional looking result. Given the number of manicures and pedicures a nail technician performs each day, if the method of applying the curved white tip in a French manicure can be simplified, the accuracy of the resulting job can be improved, and the physical and mental concentration exerted, and the tedium experienced, by the technician can be reduced.
Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to make it easier on nail technicians and do-it-yourselfers at home to apply a French manicure.
It is also an object of this invention to increase the degree of accuracy and predictability of the outcome of a French manicure.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method which permits the rapid and consistent application of a French manicure.

French manicure application devices, kits and method

Ozsoy Organik Ternizlik Urunler Pazarlama Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi


A system is employed to operate a vehicle impounding facility for a municipality. A selection is received of a marked vehicle in a marked grid for titling, and an application for title for the selected vehicle is effectuated in the name of the municipality. A notation is received of a selected vehicle in a pending grid as being titled when the application for title for the selected vehicle has been approved and received. A scheduling is received of a titled vehicle in a select auction date grid for an upcoming auction. An assignment is received of a minimum bid value to a scheduled vehicle in a minimum bid guide grid in connection with the auction. Entry is received in a final auction grid of a purchase price for which a valued vehicle has been auctioned and a purchaser.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a system for managing an vehicle impounding facility, such as for example may be operated by or on behalf of a municipality. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to such a system that manages auctioning particular ones of the vehicles in the facility upon the occurrence of appropriate circumstances.
2. Description of Related Art
Many municipalities, other governmental agencies, and the like operate vehicle impounding facilities or the like, or have such facilities operated on their behalf, as may be appreciated. Typically, although by no means necessarily, a facility or the like (hereinafter, 'facility') is employed by a municipality or the like (hereinafter, 'municipality') to hold and/or store automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles (hereinafter, 'vehicles') that have been taken into custody by the municipality, for any of a variety of reasons. The reasons for such custody of such a vehicle may include but are not limited to: un-paid parking or moving violations associated with the vehicle, the vehicle has been employed in the commission of a crime, the vehicle has been involved in a traffic accident, the vehicle has been abandoned, the vehicle has been improperly left in a restricted area, the vehicle has been moved during an emergency, and the like.
In any case, once such a vehicle is in the custody of the municipality, such municipality is typically required to take a certain amount of care with respect to the vehicle, including being able to locate the vehicle and taking reasonable steps to protect the vehicle. Accordingly, the municipality operates as the facilities one or more impound lots or the like within which the vehicle is stored or 'impounded'. Typically, although not necessarily, the vehicle remains impounded until the municipality no longer requires possession of the vehicle. Thus, it may be that the vehicle is eventually released to an owner thereof or the like (hereinafter 'owner'), perhaps upon payment of appropriate fines, penalties, storage costs, and/or the like, and upon the owner establishing a claim to the vehicle.
Notably, though, it may be that the owner of the vehicle never claims the impounded vehicle and/or never makes payment for the impounded vehicle, among other things. In such a case, the municipality eventually begins a process where the non-claimed and still impounded vehicle is auctioned. In doing so, the municipality can be removed from the possession of and responsibility for the non-claimed vehicle, and also can re-coup at least some of the costs associated with impounding the vehicle, among other things.
As may be appreciated, the municipality cannot merely auction the non-claimed vehicle at will. Instead, the municipality typically follows a process both to give the owner of the vehicle a reasonable amount of time to claim the vehicle, and to establish the right to auction the vehicle, perhaps as shown by an appropriate title document for the vehicle. Accordingly, the auction process does not begin until a reasonable amount of time after the vehicle has been impounded, perhaps 21 or 30 days. Likewise, it may be that the municipality must perform reasonable attempts to locate and inform the owner regarding the non-claimed vehicle. Also, it may be that the municipality must apply for and receive the aforementioned title document for the vehicle.
As may be appreciated, such an overall impounding and auctioning enterprise can quickly become highly complicated and confusing, particularly as the number of impounded vehicles increases and as the auctioning process becomes detailed. Accordingly, a need exists for a computerized vehicle impound system designed to effectively manage vehicle impoundment for a municipality, and to eliminate problems and confusion associated with vehicle impound management. Notably, a need exists for such a vehicle impound system that can track and control each impounded vehicle in the possession of a municipality, from impoundment until disposition, be it by way of reclamation, auctioning, or the like. Likewise, a need exists for such a vehicle impound system that guides each non-claimed vehicle through the auction process. Moreover, a need exists for such a vehicle impound system that provides information on each impounded vehicle to qualified individuals.

Vehicle impound and auctioning management system


A closed type thrust dynamic pressure bearing is capable of generating enough dynamic pressure for axially bearing a rotating member at the time of start-up without damage to an end face of a flange of the rotating member. The flange of the rotating member is housed in a housing in a closed state. V-shaped dynamic pressure generating grooves are provided at upper and lower end faces of the flange, while a plurality of holes axially passing through the flange are provided radially inside an annular region where the dynamic pressure generating grooves are provided. The total sum of cross-sectional areas of the holes is at least 1/30 of the area of the annular region. Oil sumps are provided at a receiving surface of the housing opposite to the lower end face of the flange.

The present invention relates to a closed type thrust dynamic pressure bearing.
There has been available hitherto a closed type thrust dynamic pressure bearing which comprises a rotating member consisting of a shaft body and a flange provided at one end of the shaft body, and a housing for housing the flange of the rotating member in a closed state, where dynamic pressure generating grooves are formed at both axial end faces of the flange.
In this conventional closed type thrust dynamic pressure bearing, when the rotating member is installed vertically, the rotating member lowers due to gravity before activation so that the lower end face of the flange and the receiving surface of the housing opposite to the lower end face of the flange are brought into a contact state or into a state that only an extremely thin membrane of working fluid is present therebetween. In this state, with the rotating member activated, for example, V-shaped dynamic pressure generating grooves try to pull in the working fluid toward a radial center of these grooves simultaneously in both axial end faces of the flange. However, because the housing has the flange housed therein in a closed state, a negative pressure is generated between the upper end face of the flange and the housing, making it impossible to introduce the working fluid sufficiently to a place, particularly a radially inner portion, between the receiving surface of the housing and the lower end face of the flange where only a small amount of working fluid is present originally. Therefore, at the time of activation of the rotating member, there will arise a state that the working fluid is insufficient between the lower end face of the flange and the receiving surface. As a result, enough dynamic pressure for bearing the flange cannot he generated, disabling the thrust dynamic pressure bearing from fulfilling the function as a thrust dynamic pressure bearing, and damaging the end face of the flange.

Closed type thrust dynamic pressure bearing with through hole


The present invention provides a heater cable (10) that may be deployed in a wellbore to elevate the temperature of the wellbore above the temperature of the surrounding fluid and the formation. One or more fiber optic strings are included in or are carried by the heater cable. The heater cable carrying the fiber optics is placed along the desired length of the wellbore. At least one fiber optic string measures temperature of the heater cable at a plurality of spaced apart locations. Another string may be utilized to determine the temperature of the wellbore. In one aspect of this invention, the heater cable is heated above the temperature of the wellbore. The fluid flowing from the formation to the wellbore lowers the temperature of the cable at the inflow locations. The fiber optic string provides measurements of the temperature along the heater cable. The fluid flow is determined from the temperature profile of the heater cable provided by the fiber optic sensors.

This invention relates to utilizing fiber optic sensor strings with heater cables for use in oil wells and more particularly for determining the flow of formation fluid into the wellbore and to control the operation of the heater cables for optimum operations.
Heater cables are often used in wellbores to increase the temperature of the fluid in the wellbore to prevent the formation of paraffins and to prevent the oil from flocculating. Such phenomena cause at least some of the oil to become highly viscous, and often plugs the perforations. Such fluids can clog the electrical submersible pumps. Heater cables are also used to heat the formation surrounding the wellbores which contain heavy (highly viscous) oil to reduce the viscosity of such oil.
The heater cable usually is a resistance heating element. High current supplied from the surface can heat the cable to a temperature substantially higher than the formation temperature. In ESP applications, a heater current may be deployed below the ESP. In other production wells, heater cable may be installed along any desired portion or segment of the wells. It is desirable to determine the fluid flow from various production zones along a wellbore and to monitor and control the temperature of the heater cable so as to heat the wellbore only as required for optimum recovery and to reduce power consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,978 discloses a hot wire anemometer in which heat is supplied at a constant rate to a sensor element with fluid flowing past the element. The drop in temperature of the sensor element is used to give a measurement of the fluid flow. This method accurately measures the flow under a variety of flow conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,287 discloses a wireline device in which a hot film anemometer deployed on sensor pads measures the temperature of fluid entering the borehole. The fluid flowing past the sensor element produces a change in resistance that is used in a bridge circuit to give a measurement of temperature. This temperature measurement, when combined with a measurement of local ambient temperature, gives an indication of the rate of fluid flow into the borehole. U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,929 discloses a fiber optic thermal anemometer using a sensor element with temperature sensitive optical properties.
The present invention is an apparatus and method for monitoring the fluid flow from a producing well with a plurality of producing intervals. A cable that includes a number of fiber optic thermal anemometer sensors is deployed in the producing well with the sensors in the vicinity of the perforations in the casing or inlets from which fluid from the reservoirs enters the production casing. The present invention also provides temperature distribution along the heater cable length which information is utilized to control the operation of the heater cable.
The present invention provides a heater cable that may be deployed in a wellbore to elevate the temperature of the wellbore above the temperature of the surrounding fluid and the formation. One or more fiber optic strings are included in or are carried by the heater cable. The heater cable carrying the fiber optics is placed along the desired length of the wellbore. At least one fiber optic string measures temperature of the heater cable at a plurality of spaced apart locations. Another string may be utilized to determine the temperature of the wellbore. In one aspect of this invention, the heater cable is heated above the temperature of the wellbore. The fluid flowing from the formation to the wellbore lowers the temperature of the cable at the inflow locations. The fiber optic string provides measurements of the temperature along the heater cable. The fluid flow is determined from the temperature profile of the heater cable provided by the fiber optic sensors. In another aspect of this invention, the temperature distribution along the heater cable is used to control the operation of the heater cable to maintain the elevated temperature within desired limits. The heater cable may be selected turned on and turned off to provide only the desired amount of heat. This may be accomplished by selectively turning on and turning off the heater cable or by increasing and decreasing the electric power supplied as a function of the downhole measured temperatures.

Method of using a heater with a fiber optic string in a wellbore


A pump for carrying supercritical CO2 fluid or liquid CO2 capable of securing reliability by optimizing a bearing part. An angular ball bearing (8) comprises an inner ring (8a), an outer ring (8b), balls (8c) held therebetween, and a cage (8d) holding the balls (8c). Both the balls and the inner and outer rings are formed of a ceramic to form a totally ceramic bearing. Also, the cage (8d) is guided by the outer ring or the inner ring. Specifically, for example, when the cage is guided by the inner ring, the inner peripheral surface (8db) of the cage (8d) opposed to the outermost peripheral surface (8ab) of the inner ring (8a) is guided by the outermost peripheral surface (8ab) of the inner ring (8a).

Because supercritical fluid can continuously change the volume (density) thereof by regulating the temperature and pressure, values of various properties such as dissolution characteristic and the like can be easily controlled, which makes it possible to utilize supercritical fluid as a refrigerant. Additionally, because the viscosity thereof is low but the diffusivity thereof is high, supercritical fluid is expected to be used for washing; or is expected to be used as a refrigerant because the thermal conductivity thereof is high.
Being easy to get and good in handling and the like because of not having explosive nature, inflammability and the like, water, CO2 and the like are generally used as supercritical fluid. Especially, CO2 has characteristics that the critical temperature is 31° C. and the critical pressure is 7.38 Mpa; that the temperature and the pressure are low but manageability is superior, being compared with other materials; that CO2 is a gaseous body at the atmospheric pressure and the ambient temperature; and the like. Therefore, CO2 is made wide use of as an extracting solvent for materials which are easily affected by heat (such as foods, flavoring ingredients and the like) and as a cleaning agent and the like which utilize the drying characteristics and permeability thereof. Additionally, CO2 is generally used by being pressurized up to no less than 7 to 20 MPa in an extracting equipment or a cleaning equipment that employs the supercritical CO2.
Because a pump for carrying CO2 in such an equipment as mentioned hereinabove is used at high pressure, so-called sealless canned motor type of pump is adopted. In some cases, ball bearings are employed as the bearings and used in solution (supercritical CO2). However, when the pump is used for the food sector or semi-conductor sector, wear of the bearings cannot be permitted in order to prevent foreign objects (particles) from occurring inside the pump.
As an example of the pump, a turbo-molecular pump is disclosed in Patent Literature 1. In addition, a canned motor type of pump is disclosed in Patent Literature 2. As for the rest, a semi-conductor manufacturing method and a semi-conductor manufacturing equipment are disclosed in Patent Literature 3, which prevent heavy-metal contamination of extra-pure water being manufactured by an extra-pure water manufacturing system for manufacturing of semi-conductors.
Patent Literature 1: Patent Application Laid Open as H10-274188
Patent Literature 2: Patent Application Laid Open as 2000-9077
Patent Literature 3: Patent Application Laid Open as 2003-124177

Pump carrying supercritical fluid with ceramic bearings