A filler pipe for introducing a fuel from a fuel inlet to a fuel tank. Connected to the filler pipe 10 is a bracket 14, which has a cross-section of a “hat” shape and is constructed by bottom wall portions 14-1 located at its ends and is under a face to face contact with an outer surface of the filler pipe 10 and an upper wall portion 14-3 located between the bottom wall portions 14-1 and spaced from the opposite outer surface of the filler pipe 10. The bottom wall portions 14-1 are welded to the opposed surface of the filler pipe. The bracket 14 has a wing part 14-5 extending integrally from the upper wall part 14-3 and having a free end 14-5′ welded to the opposed surface of a breather pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filler pipe for feeding the fuel from a fuel inlet to a fuel tank in an automobile.
2. Description of Related Art
A filler pipe is used in an automobile for feeding the fuel from a fuel inlet to a fuel tank. Such a filler pipe is combined with a breather pipe, which functions for venting the space above a liquid level in the fuel tank and is provided with a bracket for fixing the filler pipe together with the breather pipe with a vehicle body. Conventionally, such a filler pipe is made from a steel material, in which a painting or plating is necessary as a countermeasure to the problem of corrosion. Recently, from a viewpoint of reduction of weight, a filler pipe made of a stainless steel has been proposed. In a well-known manner, the stainless steel forms, on its outer surface, a passive layer of an increased corrosion resistance, by which a surface coating by a painting or plating becomes basically unnecessary. However, the stainless steel is accompanied with a problem of so-called crevice corrosion. The crevice corrosion is a phenomenon where a contact of a water with a crevice causes an electric potential difference to be created between the portion of the crevice of a low oxygen density and an out side portion of a high oxygen density, thereby creating a so-called corrosion battery as a kind of an oxygen concentration cell. In the corrosion battery, the crevice becomes as an anode, whereat corrosion is likely generated. The filler pipe is provided with a bracket for allowing the filler pipe to be fixed with the vehicle body. In the case where a fixture of such a bracket is done by a welding, the welding along the entire periphery of the mating surfaces between the filler pipe and the bracket is actually difficult, which would otherwise increase the labor cost unreasonably. Thus, to some extent, gaps are inevitably created at the welded portion, whereat corrosion is likely generated. As a measure to the crevice corrosion as occurred by welding, a coating with a paint is usually employed and a cation electrodeposition coating popular is suitable in view that a strong coated film is obtained at a low cost. U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,498 (Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication No. 2002-242779) discloses a cation electrodeposition coating to a filler pipe made of stainless steel.
In the prior art, a usual teaching for combating corrosion is a coating by paint. Namely, an application of paint is done in such a manner that the coated film covers a gap between the welded surfaces by the paint. However, the coating by the paint usually accompany with problems that a thickness of the coated film is varied and a flow of the paint is not enough to completely fill the gap, so that a possibility of a generation of the crevice corrosion is still left.
In order to completely prevent the crevice corrosion from being occurred, a two-piece structure is proposed, wherein the filler pipe and the bracket are coated with the cation paint separately, which is followed by a bolt connection of the bracket to the filler pipe. In this case, a space between the filler pipe and the bracket is completely filled by the coated film, so that any crevice corrosion does not occur. However, due to the resultant increase in the total number of parts, a cost is increased over that of the one-piece structure.


Systems and methods for animating from audio in accordance with embodiments of the invention are illustrated. One embodiment includes a method for generating animation from audio. The method includes steps for receiving input audio data, generating an embedding for the input audio data, and generating several predictions for several tasks from the generated embedding. The several predictions includes at least one of blendshape weights, event detection, and/or voice activity detection. The method includes steps for generating a final prediction from the several predictions, where the final prediction includes a set of blendshape weights, and generating an output based on the generated final prediction.

The animation of computer generated 3D content is becoming increasingly popular. 3D models and avatars are being introduced in many different fields and applications, such as (but not limited to) social media, live streaming, avatar puppeteering, animated emojis, teleconferencing, video chat, and multimedia content creation. However, the animation of 3D models can be technically challenging and can require extensive manual animation processes.

Systems and methods for animation generation


Polysilicon dendrites are grown by depositing silicon on a polysilicon rod or other substrate. Surface temperature is increased to a temperature at which needle-like dendrites develop due to the deposition of silicon from silicon-containing molecules in the surrounding reactor atmosphere. Thereafter, the surface temperature is gradually reduced so that silicon that deposits on the needle-like dendrites causes the dendrites to grow and assume a generally flared shape.

Polycrystalline silicon, or polysilicon, is a critical raw material for the electronics industry. It is the starting material for production of single-crystal silicon ingots for the semiconductor industry. These ingots are produced by either the Czochralski (CZ) or the Float Zone (FZ) method. The majority of polysilicon produced is consumed in the CZ process.
In the CZ crystal-pulling process, chunks of polysilicon are loaded into a quartz crucible. The chunks of polysilicon are of random size and shape. The crucible is filled and loaded into the CZ furnace. The polysilicon is melted and a single crystal ingot is withdrawn from the melt.
The yield of single crystal silicon is a function of the quantity of molten silicon that can be included within the crucible as well as the quality of the polysilicon added. In order to maximize the initial polysilicon chunk packing density within the crucible, polysilicon chips, granules or short rod pieces may be added to the quartz crucible. After a crystal is pulled from the melt, the crucible may be recharged with additional polysilicon chunk or chips to allow one or more additional pulls from the same crucible.
Recharging a crucible with polysilicon may be accomplished by feeding silicon chips or granules through a feeding apparatus into the crucible. It is desirable that this recharge feed material be small in weight and size in order that problems due to the disturbance of the melt surface by the falling silicon granules be avoided. The small weight and size also allow the polysilicon to be fed to the crucible though valves, tubes or other openings that are of minimal size thus avoiding heat loss and high equipment cost.
Contaminants added to the melt with the polysilicon can impact the yield of single-crystal silicon ingot by inducing defects and/or causing loss of structure. These contaminants can also cause poor device performance in the integrated circuits manufactured from contaminated silicon wafers. Contaminants are found on the polysilicon surfaces or come from the dissolution of the quartz crucible. The polysilicon surface-contamination typically originates from the breaking process used to form chunks. Excessive impacting to form the desirable small silicon chips or granules may result in higher levels of contaminants on the polysilicon surfaces.
The production of polysilicon rods by the pyrolytic decomposition of a gaseous silicon compound, such as silane or a chlorosilane, on a suitable filament substrate is a well-known process. The process comprises:                a) An even number of electrodes are attached to a base plate, each electrode can have a starting filament (starter rod) attached.        b) The filaments are joined in pairs by a connecting bridge. Each bridge is a piece of starter rod material and is joined to two starting filaments. Each set of two filaments and a bridge thus is an inverted, generally U-shaped member, commonly referred to as a hairpin. For each hairpin assembly, an electrical pathway is formed between a pair of electrodes within the reactor. An electrical potential applied to the electrodes can thus supply current required to heat the attached hairpin resistively.        c) The hairpins are contained in a bell jar enclosure that mates with the base plate to define a batch reactor allowing operation under vacuum or positive pressure conditions.        d) A gaseous silicon precursor compound of the desired semiconductor material and other gases, as necessary, are fed into the reactor.        e) The hairpins are electrically heated to a temperature sufficient to effect decomposition of the gaseous precursor compound and simultaneous deposition of the semiconductor material onto the hairpins, thereby producing generally U-shaped polysilicon rods of substantial diameter. The rods are generally circular in cross-section, except at the corners where the filaments are joined to the connecting bridges.        f) Any by-product gases and unreacted precursor compounds are exhausted from the reactor.
The principles of design of present state of the art reactors for the pyrolysis of silane and chlorosilanes are set forth in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,150,168; 4,179,530; 4,724,160; 4,826,668; and 6,365,225.
The temperature of the decomposition process is carefully controlled in order to maintain the rod surface relatively smooth while maintaining reasonable reaction rates and conversion of silicon precursor compounds to silicon. The surface temperature controls the roughness of the deposited layer of polysilicon as well as the reaction kinetics. Lower surface temperatures result in smoother rods because the deposition is uniform over the rod surface. However, lower temperatures slow the reaction kinetics resulting in a reduced deposition rate, as do lower concentrations of silicon in the reactor environment.
Higher surface temperatures increase deposition rate, but they also initiate selective deposition onto surface mounds. Under normal conditions, rod temperature is raised until the rod surface is covered with small mounds whose edges are fused with neighboring mounds and free of void spaces. This condition represents the fastest deposition rate (fastest reaction kinetic rate) while maintaining a rod surface free of void spaces. Such mounds are integrally attached to the rod and have an aspect ratio, as defined below, that is less than one (<1), typically 0.5 or less.
As chemical vapor deposition proceeds, the diameter of the silicon rod increases. Power is increased to maintain the silicon rod at an appropriate surface temperature. The total energy consumed to produce a unit mass of polysilicon depends upon the rod surface temperature, final rod diameter (power applied) and the rate at which silicon precursor gas decomposes to form silicon. If rods can reach the target diameter faster (due to higher reaction kinetics and higher deposition rates), the energy required to maintain the rods at temperature is reduced, decreasing the overall energy requirement to produce a unit mass of polysilicon.
The processing of polysilicon rods into chunks or chips is either a mechanical or a thermo-mechanical process. For Czochralski crystal growth, silicon rods are broken into chunks or chips using mechanical devices such as crushers, mills or hammers. In addition, thermally stressing rods aids in the breaking process. Typically, rods are broken into irregularly shaped chunks up to about 100 mm in size.
Mechanical breaking devices add contamination to the polysilicon pieces due to physical impacting. In order to produce the desirable smaller chips (10 to 30 mm), additional impacting is required, which impacting leads to higher levels of silicon surface contamination. This surface contamination, if great enough, must be removed by cleaning or acid etching or it can impact the yield of the single crystal silicon ingot. These cleaning and etching systems add cost to the polysilicon manufacturing process.

Energy efficient method for growing polycrystalline silicon


A peptide-containing composition includes a peptide and an alkaline mineral carrier, wherein an amount of the alkaline mineral carrier is 8 parts by mass or more based on 100 parts by mass of the peptide. A method for cultivating a plant includes applying a peptide-containing composition to the plant, a method for improving stability of a peptide includes mixing an alkaline mineral carrier with the peptide, and a method for storing a peptide includes storing the peptide in coexistence with an alkaline mineral carrier.

Glutathione is a peptide composed of three amino acids, which are L-cysteine, L-glutamic acid and glycine, and is present in not only human bodies but also many other organisms such as animals, plants and microorganisms. Glutathione acts for removal of reactive oxygen species, detoxification, amino acid metabolism, and the like, thus it is an important compound for organisms.
In organisms, glutathione is present either in the form of reduced glutathione (N—(N-γ-L-glutamyl-L-cysteinyl)glycine, hereinafter sometimes referred to as "GSH") in which a thiol group of the L-cysteine residue is reduced to be SH, or in the form of oxidized glutathione (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "GSSG") in which thiol groups of the L-cysteine residues of two GSH molecules are oxidized to form a disulfide bond between the two glutathione molecules.
GSSG has been known as a useful compound in the arts such as fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
Patent Literature 1 discloses that GSSG is useful as an active ingredient of a plant growth regulator for improving the harvest index, since GSSG acts for increasing the number of seeds or flowers of plant and the number of axillary buds or tillers.
On the other hand, Patent Literature 2 describes that glutathione (GSH or GSSG) has a property of lowering its quality due to influences of heat, oxygen, light, etc. which may result in the occurrence of unpleasant odor of sulfur or the decrease of the content in a formulation. Patent Literature 2 also describes that coexistence of glutathione with arginine significantly lowers the quality of the glutathione. Patent Literature 2 then proposes the coexistence of glutathione with arginine and an organic acid to suppress the decomposition of the glutathione during storage and improve the storage stability of the glutathione.
As described above, glutathione is a type of peptide. In order to improve storage stability of peptides, for example, Patent Literature 3 discloses a method for improving stability of physiologically active peptides by using as a drug carrier an amphipathic polymer assembly having a predetermined structure.    Patent Literature 1: International Publication No. WO2008/072602    Patent Literature 2: International Publication No. WO2009/099132    Patent Literature 3: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-238955 A (1993)    Patent Literature 4: International Publication No. WO2013/002317
The means disclosed in Patent Literature 2 for improving glutathione stability requires the coexistence of arginine and an organic acid. These components are relatively expensive, thus the means does not meet a demand to increase the storage stability of glutathione by less expensive means. Moreover, the organic compounds such as arginine and organic acid are chemically unstable in the long term as compared to inorganic substances, thus the means described in Patent Literature 2 is not always satisfied as a technique for improving the storage stability of glutathione.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a method for improving the stability of physiologically active peptides, however, as described above, the method requires the coexistence of amphipathic polymer assembly having a predetermined structure. The amphipathic polymer assembly is not easily available, and also, since it is an organic compound, it may not be chemically sufficiently stable. Thus, neither the technique described in Patent Literature 3 is satisfied as a technique for improving the storage stability of a peptide.

Peptide-containing composition and stabilizer, stabilizing method, and storage method for peptide


A system for demosaicing an image that is acquired by a color sensor, the system includes: (i) an interface for receiving intensity values for pixels of the image; wherein the intensity value of each pixel is indicative of an amount of light that was detected by a chromatically filtered sensing element of the color sensor; and (ii) a processor configured to: (a) calculate at least one chrominance value for a pixel in response to intensity values of neighboring pixels; and (b) compute a luminance value for the pixel in response to the at least one chrominance value of the pixel and to an intensity value of the pixel; wherein the processor is further configured to carry out the calculating and the computing for each pixel of a group of pixels of the image.

Commonly in digital imaging, color images that include color information for each pixel are generated from several color layers, wherein each of the layers includes only information acquired by a group of chromatically filtered sensor elements, wherein the sensing elements of the different groups of chromatically filtered sensing elements are located next to each other, in a process known as demosaicing.
Since in every location (which corresponds to a pixel of the final image), only partial color information that is acquired by a chromatically filtered sensing element is available, interpolation of the data of other sensing elements is required for a generation of a complete color image from the partial raw data received from the chromatically filtered sensing elements. It is noted that the process of demosaicing may be carried out either by a digital camera that acquire the sensor information, or on another platform (e.g. a personal computer).
While chromatically filtered sensing elements may be achieved in different manners (e.g. creating photosensitive sensing elements that are sensitive only or mainly to a certain portion of the visual spectrum), the most common technique of implementing chromatically filtered sensing elements in digital photography which is commonly used is the use of color filter arrays (CFA), which are located in front of an array of substantially identical sensing elements, wherein each sensing element receives light that is chromatically filtered by a certain portion of the CFA.
It is noted that different color sensors implement different filtering mosaics, wherein a relatively small pattern of chromatically filtered sensing elements (e.g. a 2×2 or a 4×4 pixels in a pattern) is repeated over a grid of pixels. Some known patterns are the Bayer filter using a recurring 2×2 pattern of three types of color filters (referred to as R, G, and B, as being generally related to Red, Green, and Blue channels); an RGBE filter that uses a recurring 2×2 pattern of four types of color filters (referred to as R, G, B, and E, as being generally related to Red, Green, Blue and Emerald channels); a CYYM filter that uses a recurring 2×2 pattern of three types of color filters (referred to as C, Y, and M, as being generally related to Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta channels), and so forth. It is noted that other patterns are larger (e.g. a 4×4 RGBW pattern that was developed by Kodak, and in which the W is generally related to a "White" channel). Additionally, it should be noted that other types of patterns that are not square grids have been offered and implemented.
FIG. 1 illustrates a Bayer filter pattern. It is noted that the Bayer filter pattern includes twice as much G chromatically filtered sensing elements compared to the number of B and G chromatically filtered sensing elements. It should be noted that when implemented, the different types of chromatically filtered sensing elements may be sensitive to more than one portion of the optical spectrum.
Colors of pixels in a color image are usually denoted using tuples of three or four components, that corresponds to different standards. Some standards use the component of the tuple to represent colors (e.g. red, green, and blue in the RGB model), while other use other representation (e.g. for chrominance and luminance).
Referring to some representations that utilize luminance and chrominance (also: luma and chroma), one component (or axis) represents luminance, and two other components of the tuple (or axes of the color space) represent chrominance; for example: YUV, YCbCr, (R/4+G/2+B/2, 3*R/4−G/2−B/4, −R/4−G/2+3*B/4), (G, R-G, B-G), (G, R/G, B/G). In last two examples the G channel is treated as luminance and color differences/ratios are treated as chrominance.
It is noted that during a process of demosaicing, several problems are known to arise in prior art solutions. For example, a problem of aliasing may arise, in which false colors are visible in high frequency areas. For example, in high frequency areas of pure black-and-white image, blue and yellow colors may be clearly visible in the demosaiced image. Most demosaicing algorithms transfer these false colors to the result image.
Several prior art demosaicing methods are known in the art, some of which are:                a. Anisotropic demosaicing methods, such as (a) bilinear interpolation (in which each missed value is estimated as a linear combination of neighbor pixels of the same color); (b) bi-median interpolation (in which each missed value is estimated as a median of neighbor pixels of the same color), and (c) spline interpolation (in which missed color values are interpolated by using local polynomial approximation).        b. Direction-sensing methods; this group of methods analyzes signal variance in several directions (up, down, left, right; sometimes diagonals). Missed color values are copied then from the neighbor pixels located in directions of smallest variance. 'La Roche-Prescott', 'Hamilton-Adams', 'Pattern Recognition', 'Pixels Grouping', 'Variable Number of Gradients' are known algorithms of this type (all of them are published in the Internet).        c. Filtration of false colors. This group of methods tries to filter out false colors by using chroma filters or by applying certain restrictions to chroma components. These algorithms, at first, estimate RGB colors by using some other method, then convert RGB to Luminance and Chrominance, and then refine the chrominance. 'Smooth Hue Transition', 'Freeman' are known algorithms of this type (all of them are published in the Internet).        d. Correlation between color layers. Most advanced methods of demosaicing are based on the assumption that all picture Layers (R-layer, G-layer, B-layer) are heavily correlated. These algorithms, at first, estimate G color by using some other method, then derive RB from G, then adjust G by using RB, then adjust RB by using G and so on. The number of iterations is between 3 and 8, or even more. 'POCS' (also known as 'Alternative Projections'), 'Optimal Recovery' are known algorithms of this type (they are published in the Internet).
It is noted that some algorithms (such as those mentioned above) are not used in CMOS sensors today, because it is difficult to make a number of iterations in the ISP pipeline.

Method, systems, and computer program product for demosaicing images


Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for providing enhanced user interfaces and functionalities for internet radio applications are presented. In some embodiments, a computer system may provide a user interface that includes one or more regions configured to control playback of an internet radio station. The computer system then may determine, based on music purchase history associated with a user account, whether a selected song associated with the internet radio station has been previously purchased. In response to determining that the selected song has not been previously purchased, the computer system may display a user-selectable control that enables the selected song to be purchased. On the other hand, in response to determining that the selected song has been previously purchased, the computer system may display a user-selectable control that enables the selected song to be downloaded.

Aspects of the disclosure generally relate to computing devices and computer software. In particular, some embodiments relate to enhanced features, improved user interfaces, and other user interaction technologies that can be implemented by and/or otherwise embodied in computing devices and computer software that provide internet radio functionalities.
Increasingly, people are using electronic devices to purchase and consume digital content, including books, music, movies, and applications. One way of consuming digital content that is becoming more and more popular is "internet radio." Internet radio generally refers to streaming music that is provided over the internet and/or other network connections to various computing devices, including desktop computers, laptop computers, and mobile devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers, and other mobile computing devices.
Some internet radio applications and services are similar to traditional radio services provided by broadcast radio stations, in that the music, advertisements, and/or other content that is broadcast and/or otherwise played is centrally controlled by a single entity, such as a disc jockey or "DJ," for a relatively large number of listeners. In other internet radio applications and services, the advertisements, music, and/or other content that is broadcast and/or otherwise played is selected for and played to a narrower, and sometimes individual, audience.
For example, some conventional internet radio systems may allow a user to create an internet radio station based on one or more content seeds. Like a traditional radio station, an internet radio station may represent a media channel via which a particular selection of songs and/or other content is provided, but for an internet radio station, the selection of songs that is provided may be defined based on the one or more content seeds. Typically, the content seeds are songs, albums, or artists that are selected by the user based on their individual tastes and interests. These conventional internet radio stations then may select one or more songs for the created internet radio station based on the content seeds provided by the user. The selected songs then may be provided to the user, for instance, via a streaming network connection.
While conventional systems can provide basic internet radio services, as discussed above, these services often require a great deal of configuration on the part of the user. In addition, these services might have only limited insight into a user's tastes, interests, and/or other preferences, including the user's music preferences. Further, while some conventional internet radio systems may be used as a way of advertising and/or offering music for sale to listening users, it may be inconvenient and confusing for users to purchase music using these conventional systems. Moreover, while some conventional internet radio systems may allow a user to share an internet radio station with another user, such sharing capabilities are typically very basic and cannot handle a user's future changes in preferences and/or configuration settings, which might affect a previously shared internet radio station.

Displaying a buy/download button based on purchase history


An apparatus and method provide MAC logic enabling the use of two or more reverse link rate controls at the same time in one or more sectors of a radio base station. That enables the base station to control reverse link loading via reverse link rate control, while assigning mobile stations to the type of reverse link rate control best suited to their needs. For example, the base station MAC logic may implement both a common rate controller that generates per-sector rate control commands, and a dedicated rate controller that generates per-user rate control commands and assign mobile stations having relatively lax reverse link service needs to the common rate controller, while assigning mobile stations having more demanding reverse link service requirements to the dedicated rate control. More than two rate controls can be implemented, and exemplary choices include per-user, per-sector, per-group, and scheduled rate control in any combination.

Evolving wireless standards, such as the forthcoming Release D of the IS-2000 standards for cdma2000 wireless networks, contemplate the use of increasingly sophisticated network entities to enhance performance and reliability while offering increasingly high data rates over a range of wireless applications and corresponding qualities of service. For example, it is expected that base stations, e.g., base station systems (BSSs), radio base stations (RBSs), etc., will be required to support a mix of voice and data users, and to support a wide range of forward and reverse link packet data rates and quality-of-service (QoS) requirements, all while maintaining efficient use of the limited forward and reverse link resources.

Generalized rate control for a wireless communications network


A method for transmitting logical information from a transmitter to a receiver via a single line, the receiver being connected to the transmitter by the line, the receiver placing a first signal on the line and the first signal being made up of alternating recessive and dominant levels, the transmitter placing a second signal on the line and the second signal being superposed on the line by the transmitter at least in the segments in which the first signal has a recessive level, the second signal being made up of a sequence of recessive and dominant levels, and the receiver determining from the second signal the logical information that is to be received.

From the literature, various methods and protocols are believed to be understood for communication between integrated circuits, for example for the purpose of configuration.
Serial interfaces such as SBI transmit data serially but regularly use a plurality of lines, in particular using a further line for synchronization in addition to the data line. Thus, in the case of the SPI interface, each participant is connected to the following three common lines: SDO (Serial Data Out) or MISO (Master In Slave Out), SDI (Serial Data In) or MOSI (Master Out Slave In), and SCK (Serial Clock). In addition, the participants are connected to a common ground.
The interface of the I2C bus, discussed for example in WO 03/005211 A2, is made up of two line terminals and a ground connection, with the possibility of selectively addressing individual participants on the bus.
Patent document US 2008/0282005 A1 discusses a method for communication between integrated circuits that is placed on an existing physical layer of the OSI model, and additionally provides for example configuration information in the associated communication layer. In this way, additional connections are saved.
Patent document DE 0588274 A1 discusses a further method for communication on a line. The transmitter releases the communication line, and the receiver sends pulses that the transmitter counts. At the same time, the receiver checks whether the pulse was correctly outputted on the line. When the number that is to be transmitted is reached, the transmitter again blocks the transmission line. The receiver knows the number of pulses and has thus received the number.
Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,716 A discusses a design for single-wire communication using an adapter that converts the signals onto a serial two-wire interface.
Patent document GB 2295039 A discusses a serial interface having a line that presupposes that the clock lines of both circuits are coupled and, if warranted, terminated in matching fashion.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,872 A, a serial communication via a line is discussed in which the line is held high by the receiver and the transmitter then, in a defined time interval, either pulls it to ground or leaves it in its high state. The receiver checks the status of the line and recognizes whether 0 or 1 was sent.

System and method for transmitting information from a transmitter to a receiver via a single line


A method of producing an organic-inorganic composite insulating material for electronic element comprises subjecting a mixture of an organic polymer or its solution and a metal alkoxide or its solution as a starting material to sol-gel reaction of the metal alkoxide in the presence of the organic polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic-inorganic composite insulating material which can be preferably used in various fine electronic elements and a method of producing same. The present invention also relates to a field-effect transistor comprising the organic-inorganic composite insulating material for electronic element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, organic semiconductor devices have been extensively studied aiming at the development of new application different from that of related art silicon semiconductor devices. Among these devices, organic thin film transistors (OTFT) formed on a flexible substrate such as plastic sheet have become of particular interest. Examples of the preparation of these organic thin film transistors have been reported. Thus, further enhancement of performance have been expected (see "Advanced Material", 2002, No. 2, page 99).
Of course, the enhancement of the performance of semiconductor layer is essential for the enhancement of the performance of PTFT. In addition, the selection of the structure and member through which the performance of semiconductor layer can be sufficiently drawn, particularly the enhancement of the performance of the insulated gate layer is indispensable. Further, since the preparation of the silicon oxide gate insulating film requires the highest temperature heat treatment at the silicon semiconductor process, it is required that the insulated gate film be prepared at a temperature as low as not higher than the heat-resisting temperature of plastic substrate (resin substrate).
On the other hand, in order to make the use of the cost advantage of plastic substrate, a simple process for the preparation of elements involving spreading such as ink ejection and spin coating or a process for the preparation of elements requiring no high temperature heat treatment is required.
The requirements for insulated gate film in OTFT on a flexible substrate are (1) no damage such as crack despite the bending of the substrate (flexibility), (2) producibility by spin coating or like method, (3) producibility at low temperatures, (4) chemical resistance, (5) high dielectric constant, and (6) high insulation resistance (electric strength).
Most of the materials of insulated gate film for OTFT on flexible substrate which have heretofore been reported are inorganic materials such as inorganic oxide and organic polymers. However, these materials can difficultly meet all the aforementioned requirements.
Insulating films made of these inorganic materials exhibit a high dielectric constant but lack flexibility. On the other hand, insulating films made of organic polymers are flexible. However, insulating films made of phenolic resin exhibit a relatively high dielectric constant but lack dielectric strength. Insulating films made of polyimide exhibit a strong chemical resistance but require a high temperature heat treatment to obtain its chemical resistance. Thus, insulating films made of organic polymers can meet some of these requirements but some other requirements. It is extremely difficult for these insulating films to meet all these requirements.
Japanese Patent No. 3,515,507 proposes that an organic polymer and an inorganic material be mixed to provide the resulting insulating film with flexibility and high dielectric constant. In accordance with this reference, a powder obtained by mechanically grinding a ferroelectric material such as barium titanate is dispersed in an organic polymer to compensate the dielectric constant of the resulting insulated gate film and hence lower the gate voltage required for the operation of transistor.
However, when this method is used, the thickness of the insulating film is limited to the size of the inorganic material thus ground. Further, since a solid material is dispersed in an organic polymer solution, an uneven dispersion is formed, possibly causing the generation of local electric field and concurrent dielectric breakdown during the operation of transistor. Moreover, since the inorganic material is merely present in the organic polymer and thus doesn't compensate the chemical resistance of the insulating film, the resulting insulating film cannot be subjected to any processes involving the use of solvents.
JP-A-2003-338551 discloses a technique of forming a thin ceramics film as an insulating film on the surface of silicon wafer by a sol-gel method allowing a low temperature treatment. In accordance with this technique, the resulting thin ceramics film can be prevented from being cracked, making it possible to efficiently produce electronic parts having a high reliability. However, the thin ceramics film is an insulating film made of an inorganic material that can be applied to silicon wafer, which is nonflexible and hard, but cannot be applied to flexible substrates.
On the other hand, in an attempt to obtain a uniformly dispersed organic-inorganic mixture system as an ordinary material technique, it has been practiced to prepare a composite film from a mixture of a solution of metal alkoxide which is a precursor of inorganic oxide and an organic polymer solution by a sol-gel method. In this case, it is expected that as the dispersion of organic polymer is made more on monomolecular level, the thermal stability of the organic polymer is enhanced more.
Referring to the mutual action of metal alkoxide with organic polymer, it has been reported that when a polymer or molecules capable of making hydrogen bond such as hydroxyl group or electrostatic mutual action are present in a metal alkoxide solution, a sol-gel polycondensation proceeds selectively on the surface of the compound to form a dried gel ("Advanced Material", 2002, No. 2, page 99).
However, the mixing of metal alkoxide and organic polymer has been limited to the doping of organic dye molecules as optical material with a high dispersion, the use of an organic polymer as a mold for the purpose of finally burning away the organic polymer to form a porous oxide film or the academic studies of mutual action of the two materials.

Organic-inorganic composite insulating material for electronic element, method of producing same and field-effect transistor comprising same


A system for dispensing a substance in a form of a bead on a surface in a progression direction includes a dispenser having: a leading edge, a contact portion comprising two contact points with the surface, and a trailing edge that extends between the two contact points and terminates therein. The system is configured to move the dispenser along a virtual travel plane, which is parallel to the path and passes through the two contact points, while maintaining the contact portion in communication with the surface as the substance is being dispensed. The system is also configured to monitor a leading portion of the bead and to generate a signal responsive to at least one characteristic of the leading portion, wherein the leading portion is located ahead of a portion of the leading edge in the progression direction along the path. The system is further configured to control, responsive to the signal, at least one of a speed of the dispenser along the path or a flow rate of the substance to the dispenser to provide a substantially uniform cross-sectional shape of the bead along the path.

When dispensing a substance, such as a sealant, onto a surface of, e.g., an aircraft part or aircraft assembly in an automated manner, it is often important to control one or more properties, such as the profile or shape, of the dispensed bead.
For substances having a consistent viscosity, a desired bead shape may be achieved by controlling the flow rate of the substance, e.g., with one or more flow meters. However, flow meters may cause interference with the dispensing process and may be difficult to clean, especially when working with substances having short cure times.
For substances with variable viscosities, achieving uniform application onto a surface by controlling the flow rate may not be possible. For example, the viscosities of certain substances may change based on factors, such as temperature, pressure, compressibility, cure time, etc. Because of these factors, controlling the properties of the dispensed beads of such substances is difficult by conventional means, discussed above, which may result in either excess amounts of the substance being dispensed, thereby wasting material, and increasing weight, and/or failing to meet specification or insufficient amounts of the substance being dispensed, resulting, for example, in a seal which is out of specification. Sealed joints that are out of specification must be reworked, which substantially increases manufacturing cycle time and associated costs.

Systems for dispensing a substance on a surface


A method and system are disclosed for providing functionality on a network. A mobile agent moves from a first node to a target node and, at the target node, performs as an application layer gateway.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems, in particular to network environments.
II. Background Information
Organizations use networks consisting of nodes connected by links to share device capabilities and information and to allow users to communicate and exchange information. A node may perform various functions; for example a node may run user applications and also act as a network management console. A node may be termed a host or a device, and may be a PC, workstation or laptop running a user application program, a router, an application layer gateway ("ALG"), a server, or any other device attached at some time to a network.
As network use and the complexity of networks increase, organizations wish to enhance the ability of processes to share data and functionality and to broaden the services delivered by computer networks. One method of enhancing network services is to use ALGs. ALGs are devices or modules placed in a network which manipulate, modify, filter, source, or sink data passing between nodes to provide a service, to enforce a policy or to perform other functions. An ALG may refer to the device functioning as an ALG or to a software module resident on a device which provides ALG functionality; the functionality of an ALG may be distributed over multiple devices or software modules.
For example, a web cache ALG may provide a service by storing Internet web pages which are used frequently on a local network but which are remotely available; the web cache obviates the need for continually requesting web pages from the remote web server. A firewall ALG may exist at the edge of a network and enforce a security policy by barring entry to certain kinds of network traffic—the firewall filters incoming packets so that only certain packets are allowed in to the network. A proxy firewall acts as an intermediary between a node on a network and a remote server, filtering the data passed between the two devices so network security and administrative control may be enforced. A media transcoder may accept a stream of traffic from a remote site representing, for example, audio or video information, and modify the stream of data by converting that information into a certain format before forwarding the information to a local client. A web translator may accept web pages in a certain language and modify the web pages to convert them to another language.
The potential and widespread use of ALGs has been limited because, currently, installing and configuring an ALG involves a certain amount of time and resources on the part of a system administrator. An administrator must physically visit a device which is to function as the ALG and install the ALG on that device. In addition, an administrator may have to physically install a device or piece of hardware which acts as an ALG. For example, to add a firewall to a network, an administrator may have to physically add a network node or a piece of hardware which acts as the firewall. Currently, altering the functionality of an installed ALG, moving an ALG from one device or location to another, or uninstalling an ALG requires time and effort. ALGs are not used as often as they could be due to these barriers. While an ALG is installed on a device it takes up the resources of the device which functions as the ALG. If the functionality of the ALG is needed for only a short amount of time installing and then un-installing the ALG may not be worthwhile. If the functionality of an ALG is required periodically it may not be worthwhile to permanently devote the resources of a device to the ALG. In such a case reducing the costs (in work hours and equipment) of installing and uninstalling ALGs would dramatically increase their use. Allowing ALGs to be easily installed, modified and uninstalled on various devices on a network would increase the use of ALGs.
Therefore, there exists a need for a system and method that enables easy installation, uninstallation, movement and modification of modules or components functioning as ALGs, without the need to physically visit a node and without the need to install additional hardware. There exists a need for a system and method enabling such modules or components to be easily created and configured, and which may be easily and quickly installed, without the need for physically visiting the device at which it functions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for dynamic application layer gateways


A rotary disc refiner includes a pair of spaced apart refiner discs for refining or grinding a material that typically is fibrous material such as wood pulp or the like. Pressurized vapor, typically steam, produced as a result of the refining or grinding is exhausted through a channel in the refiner disc which extends through the body of the disc. Preferably, the channel is located in a refiner disc that rotates. The channel includes a vapor inlet opening located preferably in the high pressure midsection of the refiner disc, a vapor outlet opening which discharges the steam to the relatively low pressure outer section of the disc, and a passageway behind the refining or grinding surface of the refiner disc connecting the inlet to the outlet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refiner for refining material for use in the production of paper, paper-related products and other products. In particular, the present invention relates to a refiner disc which includes an exhaust channel extending through the body of the disc for venting high pressure steam and/or other vapor during the refining process and a method for relieving pressure buildup between two opposed refiner discs through the use of such an exhaust channel.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A refiner is a machine that mechanically treats and breaks down wood chips and clumps of fibers into individual pulp fibers from which paper may be made. In a rotary disc refiner, pulp fibers are shredded between closely spaced discs. A refiner disc consists of a round steel or steel alloy plate which has a generally flat grinding surface comprised of a multiplicity of generally radial ribs forming generally radial grooves between them. Typically, a first disc is mounted on a rotor for rotation about an axis, and a second disc is disposed in a position opposing the first disc. Alternatively, the second disc may be mounted on an oppositely rotating rotor so that the two discs rotate about the same axis of rotation but in opposite directions. In either case, the relative motion of the ribs and grooves on the grinding surfaces of the two opposing discs rolls and tears, shears and grinds the bulk fiber material into finely ground pulp fibers.
In refining pulp, friction during the refining process produces a large amount of heat. Of course, pulp fibers have at least some amount of water content, and in some refining operations water or other chemical solutions may be added to the fiber mass during the refining process. Additionally, these fibers typically are transported to and from the refiner in a watery slurry. The temperatures produced during refining, however, are sufficiently high to vaporize the water and therefore a great amount of steam typically is generated during the process.
In analyzing the steam pressure versus the radius of the refining disc, peak steam pressure is typically located approximately at the midpoint of the disc. It is believed that steam pressure is highest in this area of the disc because the number of ribs and grooves is greater at the midsection. In looking at a typical refining disc, the radially interior portion of the disc is comprised of a relatively few widely spaced ribs and grooves for gross break-up of the bulk material. During the process, centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the disc causes the fibers to migrate from the center of the disc to the outer portion of the disc. At approximately the midsection, as well as the outer section of the disc, the number of ribs and grooves is increased, and the spacing between the grooves is much narrower in comparison to the center of the disc. The mid and outer sections of the disc are commonly referred to as the "refining zone" because it is in this area that the fibers are most finely ground. In any event, because the amount of friction is higher in the midsection of the disc, temperatures and steam pressures are also higher. It is also believed that steam pressure is highest at the midsection of the discs because that is the most confined area of the refining zone. The causes of peak steam pressure at the midsection of the refining discs is further explained and illustrated in, for example, B. J. Allison, et al., "Grey-Box Identification of a TMP Refiner," 1995 International Mechanical Pulping Conference, pages 119-24, and Per Engstrand, "The Impact of Chemical Addition on Refining Parameters," 1995 International Mechanical Pulping Conference, pages 281-86.
High steam pressure at the midsection of the refining discs causes a number of operational difficulties. First, high steam pressure generated during the refining process tends to force the discs apart thereby reducing the amount of force the discs actually applies to the fiber lessening their treatment. The force of the steam also causes the disc to oscillate to some degree as it rotates. Of course, larger motors and thrust bearings can be used to compensate for the energy wasted on simply forcing the plates together, but obviously at a higher cost. Second, high pressure steam in the midsection of the refining plate tends to blow some wood pulp out of the refining zone prematurely before it is adequately refined. In some cases the steam forms a back pressure which restricts the movement of wood pulp through the refining zone. Both situations can cause an inconsistency in the refined pulp fibers.
Others have of course sought to address the undesirable effects of high pressure steam generated during refining. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,995 issued to Ola M. Johannson on Dec. 20, 1994, discloses a refining disc having a number of dams in the grooves, and apertures in the ribs of the disc. The dams in the grooves block the radial movement of the pulp fibers, while the apertures in the ribs provide passages for venting the steam out of the refining zone. While the dams tend to reduce the amount of fibers being prematurely blown out the refining zone, the apertures in the ribs do not necessarily alleviate the very high pressure generated at the midsection of the refining plate. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,440 issued to Markku Perkola on Jun. 30, 1997, which discloses a series of deep arc-shaped channels on the face of the disc for exhausting steam. However, because the large channels take up so much of the space on the face of the disc, the amount of surface area for actual refining is greatly reduced. Consequently the overall effectiveness and consistency of the refining is greatly reduced. A second problem with Perkola is that a significant amount of insufficiently refined fibers are drawn into the deep channels and discharged from the refining zone prematurely.
Consequently, a rotary disc refiner for refining wood pulp which includes an effective means for venting steam from a high pressure zone of the refining disc to a low pressure zone, and which will not adversely affect the consistency of the refined fibers is desired.

Refiner disc having steam exhaust channel


A photovoltaic device having a semiconductor body with a pin junction, with reduced time-dependent deterioration, high reliability and a high photoelectric conversion efficiency is disclosed.. An i-type semiconductor layer constituting the semiconductor body is composed of a layer having a region containing germanium and at least one region not containing germanium. The at least one region not containing germanium is provided at least at the side of a p-semiconductor layer. The maximum composition ratio of germanium in the region containing amorphous silicon and germanium is within a range from 20 to 70 at. %, and the composition ratio of germanium in the above-mentioned region containing amorphous silicon and germanium is zero at the side of an n-semiconductor layer and increases toward the side of the p-semiconductor layer, with the rate of increase being larger at the side of the n-semiconductor layer than at the side of p-semiconductor layer, and the composition ratio of germanium at the center of the i-layer thickness is at least equal to 75 at. % of the maximum composition ratio of germanium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photovoltaic device with a region containing germanium therein, with a high photoelectric conversion efficiency and a high reliability, adapted for use as a solar cell or the like.
2. Related Background Art
The solar cell, a photoelectric converting device for converting sunlight into electric energy, is already widely used as a small power source in various consumer products such as desk-top calculators and wrist watches, and is considered as a promising technology as a substitute for the so-called fossil fuels such as petroleum and coal. The solar cell relies on the photovoltaic force generated by a semiconductor p-n junction, and is based on the principle of generating photocarriers, namely electrons and positive holes by the absorption of sunlight by a semiconductor such as silicon, causing said photocarriers to drift by the internal electric field of the p-n junction and outputting said photocarriers to an external load Such solar cells can be prepared substantially through a semiconductor manufacturing process. More specifically, the p-n junction is obtained by preparing a monocrystalline silicon ingot doped to p- or n-conductivity type by a crystal growing method such as the CZ method, slicing the obtained single crystal ingot to prepare a silicon wafer of a thickness of about 300 .mu.m, and forming a layer of a conductivity type different from that of said wafer, for example, by diffusion of a valence electron controlling material.
The currently commercialized solar cells are principally based on monocrystalline silicon in consideration of their reliability and conversion efficiency, but the production cost is high because of the semiconductor process employed in the preparation. Such monocrystalline silicon solar cells are also associated with other drawbacks; for example, they require a thickness of at least 50 .mu.m because monocrystalline silicon has a low light absorption coefficient because of an indirect band gap transition, and they are unable to effectively utilize short wavelength components because the band gap is about 1.1 eV, which is narrower than 1.5 eV, which is desirable for solar cells. The use of polycrystalline silicon may reduce the production cost, but the problem of indirect band gap transition still remains, so that the thickness of the solar cell cannot be reduced. Besides, polycrystalline silicon is associated with other problems, such as those resulting from crystal grain boundaries.
Furthermore, the cost per unit amount of generated electric power becomes higher than in the conventional power generating methods, because wiring for serial or parallel connection of unit devices is required for obtaining a large electric power, as large-sized wafers are difficult to prepare with the crystalline material, and because expensive instrumentation is required for protecting the solar cells from mechanical damages resulting from various climates they are subjected to in outdoor use. In development of solar cells for large power generation, therefore, cost reduction and device area extension are important issues, and investigations are being made for materials of lower cost or higher conversion efficiency. Examples of such material for solar cells include tetrahedrally bonded amorphous semiconductors such as amorphous silicon or amorphous silicon-germanium, II-VI compound semiconductors such as CdS, and Group III-V compound semiconductors such as GaAs or GaAIAs. Particularly, a thin film solar cell employing an amorphous semiconductor in the photovoltaic layer is considered promising because it can be prepared in a larger area, with a smaller thickness, and on an arbitrary substrate, in comparison with the monocrystalline solar cell.
However, such solar cells employing amorphous semiconductors still require improvement in the photoelectric conversion efficiency and reliability. A method for improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency is to reduce the band gap, thereby increasing the sensitivity for the light of the longer wavelength region. Since amorphous silicon, with a band gap of ca. 1 7 eV, cannot absorb and utilize the light of a wavelength of 700 nm or longer, there have been investigated materials of a narrower band gap, sensitive to the light of such longer wavelength region. An example of such materials is amorphous silicon-germanium, of which the band gap is arbitrarily variable from 1.3 to 1.7 eV by a change in the ratio of silicon-containing gas and germanium-containing gas employed during film formation.
Another method for improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the solar cell is based on the use of a tandem cell in which plural unit solar cells are laminated, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,498. Said tandem cell, originally applied to crystalline semiconductors including a p-n junction, achieves improvement in the power generating efficiency by efficiently absorbing the solar spectrum with photovoltaic devices of different band gaps, thereby increasing V.sub.oc., and this principle is likewise applicable to an amorphous or crystalline material. In said tandem solar cell, the devices of different band gaps are stacked to efficiently absorb different regions of the solar spectrum in order to increase the energy conversion efficiency. The so-called top cell, positioned at the light entrance side of the stacked devices, is designed to have a wider band gap than the so-called bottom cell, positioned under said top cell. In the case of the two-layer tandem cell, the top and bottom cells are respectively composed of amorphous silicon and amorphous silicon-germanium, as a preferred combination of materials.
Another drawback of solar cells based on amorphous semiconductors is deterioration of conversion efficiency, caused by light irradiation. This phenomenon is caused by lowered carrier drift-mobility resulting from deterioration of the film quality of amorphous silicon or amorphous silicon alloys by light irradiation, and is known as the Staebler-Wronski effect, specific to amorphous semiconductors. This phenomenon leads to a lack of reliability in large power applications, and is a major obstacle to the commercial use of such solar cells. Therefore, intensive efforts are being conducted for avoiding such photodeterioration of amorphous semiconductors, by improvements in the film quality and in the cell structure. The use of the above-mentioned tandem cell structure is an effective method for avoiding such drawbacks, and it has been confirmed that the deterioration of cell characteristics by light irradiation is reduced by a reduction in the free path of carriers through the use of a thinner intrinsic layer.
However, further improvement in the reliability of amorphous silicon solar cells is still required, as the drawback of photodeterioration has not completely been resolved, despite continued efforts for clarifying the mechanism thereof and avoiding such photodeterioration. The maximum efficiency in such tandem cells can be obtained by so-called current matching, in which the currents obtained by the different cells are made equal. A bottom cell composed of amorphous silicon-germanium can sufficiently absorb the light even with a small thickness because the band gap thereof is smaller than that of the top cell composed of amorphous silicon, but efficient power generation becomes impossible because of an imbalance between the top cell and the bottom cell after prolonged light irradiation, because the deterioration rate of the amorphous silicon-germanium constituting the bottom cell is larger than that of the amorphous silicon constituting the top cell. While in such stacked cell, the use of a thinner intrinsic layer is effective for preventing the photodeterioration because the light absorption of the entire device is reduced, it, however, leads to a decreased initial photovoltaic force. Thus, a photovoltaic device meeting the requirements of high reliability and high efficiency at the same time has not been realized.

Photovoltaic device with layer region containing germanium therin


A method of adaptively reassigning addresses of nodes according to changes in volume or a wireless network. The method includes receiving, at the node of the wireless network, information according to the changes in volume from a coordinator as a top level of the tree structure, calculating, at the node, a family tree indicating information and a location of the node in the tree structure according to an old logical address of the node and the information, and calculating a new logical address of the node according to the change in volume and the calculated family tree; and transceiving, at the node, a data packet according to the newly calculated logical address. Accordingly, overheads of the whole network for changing addresses may be reduced when changes in volume of the network occur, so that dynamic changes in volume of the network may be rapidly and actively implemented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of reassigning addresses and, in particular, to a method of adaptively reassigning addresses of nodes according to changes in volume of a wireless personal area network such as Zigbee network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a Personal Area Network (PAN) gains popularity and attention in contrast to a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN). The PAN allows devices owned by respective persons to form one network for the sake of convenience, which may be implemented in a wireless network field, so that it is referred to as a Wireless PAN (WPAN).
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.15, a Working Group 15, sets the WPAN as a standard of a short range wireless network. The IEEE 802.15 includes four Task Groups (TG) under the WPAN. IEEE 802.15.1, Task Group 1, deals with the famous Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15.2, Task Group 2, deals with coexistence of Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11) and Wireless PAN, IEEE 802.15.3 and IEEE 802.15.3a, Task Group 3 is in fact two groups: a Group 3 which deals with WPAN High Rate and a Group 3a which deals with WPAN Alternate Higher Rate. In short, both groups deal with high rate WPAN standards (20 Mbit/s or higher), and IEEE 802.15.4, a Task Group 4, also referred to as Zigbee, performs standardization on a low rate WPAN of 250 kbps or less.
In particular, in case of the ZigBee, standardization is conducted on a protocol stack, which operates above the IEEE 802.15.4 PHY/MAC layer for a wireless sensor network by the ZigBee Alliance, which is a federation of companies for building a low power monitoring control system with reliable and cost-effective features.
One of the main functions of the Zigbee network protocol is to allocate logical addresses for building a cluster tree. The cluster tree is formed by setting the ZigBee coordinator as a top level root and connecting all nodes within the ZigBee network as a sub tree structure to the top level root. When the ZigBee network is formed to build the tree, each node is allocated a logical address from its parent node. Such a 16-bit logical address is used within the ZigBee network instead of the old IEEE-64 bit address, to thereby reduce the packet size.
The ZigBee coordinator determines the number of maximum child nodes "Cm" each parent node may have and also determines the number of the maximum levels or depths "Lm" in the tree in order to allocate a logical address to each node when the Zigbee network is formed. Each parent node calculates the block size and Cskip, and receives an allocated logical address block to be used by its child node(s) from the ZigBee coordinator based on the determination of the Cm and Lm values.
After the network is formed by allocating addresses as described-above, the volume of the network may need to be changed by expanding or reducing the size of the network.
For example, when the number of maximum child nodes, which is initially determined, needs to be expanded from four to five or more in response to the change in network volume or when the number of maximum levels needs to be expanded from three to four or more, each address of the nodes allocated from the Zigbee coordinator must be changed when the network is formed.
However, a method of changing the values of Lm and Cm determined by the Zigbee coordinator when the network is formed is not taken into account in the conventional Zigbee network. Accordingly, in order for the Zigbee coordinator to change the values of Lm and Cm after the network is initially formed, all nodes within the Zigbee network must perform a new network join procedure to receive newly allocated logical addresses from the respective parent nodes.
According to this approach, even when each node skips the network discovery procedure to immediately perform the network join procedure, 2(n−1) times of packet transmission is required for a Zigbee network of n nodes, which causes network resources to be wasted. In addition, during the reassignment of addresses in accordance with the above-described procedure, the data packet transmission is not normally performed, which causes network overheads to be increased so that the whole data transmission becomes delayed.
Meanwhile, each node retains in an address mapping table 64-bit IEEE addresses of the other nodes but not its own 64-bit IEEE address and 16-bit logical address information mapped thereto. However, when Lm and Cm are changed, the logical address of each node retained in the address mapping table is changed so that the information of the address mapping table is no longer valid, which requires an additional packet to be exchanged in order to update the information of the address mapping table. Accordingly, additional network resources must be wasted.

Method for adaptively reassigning addresses of nodes according to changes in volume of wireless network


A highly immersive, interactive and addictive platform for shopping. The system may provide both an online and retail experience through an immersive environment that enables repeat transactions and enables add-on sales to offers that are completely unique for each customer. The interactive shopping experience generates one or more bundles to any actual or potential user purchase to create a dynamic and favorable shopping experience for the particular user. The bundles are customized for each user based on user history with a merchant, product data, and merchant data, In addition to customizing the bundles, the decision of whether or not to offer one or more bundles is made only confirming that the current time is desirable to make an offer of bundles to the particular user.

When purchasing some product, some shoppers purchase items online rather than taking the time to look at an item in person at a brick and mortar store having a physical location. With other products, some shoppers prefer to go inside a physical store to look at a product in person before purchasing it. Typical online shopping experiences allow a user to browse one or more products, select those products for purchase, and complete the purchase. A shopping experience at a physical storefront is similar, but items for sale that are seen in person are often not as easy to find and many products may out of stock—and therefore unavailable for viewing. Some merchants offer a coupon towards a product and offers sales to all customers on an equal basis.
Shopping online and through brick-and-mortar store is generally a very static experience. A user finds a product they are looking for, takes it to a virtual or physical checkout, and purchases the product. With the development of online shopping, there is often very little incentive for a user to come back to a particular retailer, and most online shopping experiences as well as brick-and-mortar experiences become a search for the best price. What is needed is an improved shopping experience provided to users to encourage them to continue shopping at a particular merchant.

Intelligent and interactive shopping engine


A method, apparatus, and computer readable medium is provided for a reverse single radio voice call continuity handover procedure, where an access transfer control function is only allocated dynamically during a call setup phase, if the access transfer control function is needed to support the reverse single radio voice call continuity handover procedure.

1. Field
Some embodiments of the invention relate generally to communication systems and particularly to internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) communication systems. Certain embodiments also generally relate to supporting single radio voice call continuity and reverse single radio voice call continuity.
2. Description of the Related Art
A voice call initiated by a user equipment (UE) that is anchored in IMS can be persisted as the UE moves between circuit switched (CS) radio domains and packet switched (PS) radio domains, and vice-versa. For example, a voice call initiated by a UE within a third generation partnership project (3GPP) second-generation (2G) or third-generation (3G) telecommunication system can be handed over to a 3GPP long term evolution (LTE)-advanced communication system, and vice-versa.
As a more specific example, a voice call that is anchored in IMS can be initiated by a UE within a 3GPP universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN)/global system for mobile communications (GSM) enhanced data rates for GSM (EDGE) radio access network (GERAN) CS telecommunication system and handed over to an IMS over evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (e-UTRAN)/high speed packet access (HSPA) telecommunication system, and vice-versa. Voice call continuity from an IMS over EUTRAN/HSPA telecommunication system to a UTRAN/GERAN telecommunication system for voice calls that are anchored in IMS when the UE is capable of transmitting/receiving only one of those telecommunication systems at a given time is referred to as single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC). Voice call continuity from a UTRAN/GERAN telecommunication system to an IMS over E-UTRAN/HSPA telecommunication system for voice calls that are anchored in IM when the UE is capable of transmitting/receiving on only one of those telecommunication systems at a given time is referred to as reverse single radio voice call continuity (rSRVCC).

Minimal access transfer control function requirements for single radio voice call continuity handover


A shut-off valve or connecting valve capable of connecting a fuel supply to a fuel cell is disclosed. The valve comprises a first valve component and a second valve component. Each valve component has an outer housing and a biased slidable member disposed inside the housing forming an internal seal. During the connection process, the two valve components establish an inter-component seal. Afterward, in one suitable embodiment the slidable member moves inward and opens the internal seal in the valve component to establish a flow path. In another embodiment, the slidable member moves inward and exposes a first filler and the first filler abuts a second filler in the other valve component to establish a flow path. In other embodiments, at least one valve component is sized and dimensioned to limit access to the internal seal.

Fuel cells are devices that directly convert chemical energy of reactants, i.e., fuel and oxidant, into direct current (DC) electricity. For an increasing number of applications, fuel cells are more efficient than conventional power generation, such as combustion of fossil fuel and more efficient than portable power storage, such as lithium-ion batteries.
In general, fuel cell technologies include a variety of different fuel cells, such as alkali fuel cells, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, phosphoric acid fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells and enzyme fuel cells. Today's more important fuel cells can be divided into three general categories, namely fuel cells utilizing compressed hydrogen (H2) as fuel, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells that use methanol (CH3OH), sodium borohydride (NaBH4), hydrocarbons (such as butane) or other fuels reformed into hydrogen fuel, and PEM fuel cells that use methanol (CH3OH) fuel directly ("direct methanol fuel cells" or DMFC). Compressed hydrogen is generally kept under high pressure, and is therefore difficult to handle. Furthermore, large storage tanks are typically required, and cannot be made sufficiently small for consumer electronic devices. Conventional reformat fuel cells require reformers and other vaporization and auxiliary systems to convert fuels to hydrogen to react with oxidant in the fuel cell. Recent advances make reformer or reformat fuel cells promising for consumer electronic devices. DMFC, where methanol is reacted directly with oxidant in the fuel cell, is the simplest and potentially smallest fuel cell, and also has promising power application for consumer electronic devices.
DMFC for relatively larger applications typically comprises a fan or compressor to supply an oxidant, typically air or oxygen, to the cathode electrode, a pump to supply a water/methanol mixture to the anode electrode and a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The MEA typically includes a cathode, a PEM and an anode. During operation, the water/methanol liquid fuel mixture is supplied directly to the anode, and the oxidant is supplied to the cathode. The chemical-electrical reaction at each electrode and the overall reaction for a direct methanol fuel cell are described as follows:
Reaction at the Anode:CH3OH+H2O→CO2+6H++6e−
Reaction at the Cathode:O2+4H++4e−→2H2O
The Overall Fuel Cell Reaction:CH3OH+1.5O2→CO2+2H2O
Due to the migration of the hydrogen ions (H+) through the PEM from the anode through the cathode and due to the inability of the free electrons (e−) to pass through the PEM, the electrons must flow through an external circuit, which produces an electrical current through the external circuit. The external circuit may be any useful consumer electronic devices, such as mobile or cell phones, calculators, personal digital assistants and laptop computers, among others. DMFC is discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,992,008 and 5,945,231, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. Generally, the PEM is made from a polymer, such as Nafion® available from DuPont, which is a perfluorinated material having a thickness in the range of about 0.05 mm to about 0.50 mm, or other suitable membranes. The anode is typically made from a Teflonized carbon paper support with a thin layer of catalyst, such as platinum-ruthenium, deposited thereon. The cathode is typically a gas diffusion electrode in which platinum particles are bonded to one side of the membrane.
The cell reaction for a sodium borohydride reformer fuel cell is as follows:NaBH4(aqueous)+H2O→(heat or catalyst)→(H2)+(NaBO2)(aqueous)H2→2H++2e−(at the anode)2(2H++2e−)+O2→2H2O(at the cathode)Suitable catalysts include platinum and ruthenium, among other metals. The hydrogen fuel produced from reforming sodium borohydride is reacted in the fuel cell with an oxidant, such as O2, to create electricity (or a flow of electrons) and water byproduct. Sodium borate (NaBO2) byproduct is also produced by the reforming process. Sodium borohydride fuel cell is discussed in United States published patent application no. 2003/0082427, which is incorporated herein by reference.
One of the most important features for fuel cell application is fuel storage. Another important feature is to regulate the transport of fuel out of the fuel cartridge to the MEA. To be commercially useful, fuel cells such as DMFC systems should have the capability of storing sufficient fuel to satisfy the consumers' normal usage. For example, for mobile or cell phones, for notebook computers, and for personal digital assistants (PDAs), fuel cells need to power these devices for at least as long as the current batteries, and preferably much longer. Additionally, the fuel cells should have easily replaceable or refillable fuel tanks to minimize or obviate the need for lengthy recharges required by today's rechargeable batteries.
However, a need exists for a connecting valve that connects and disconnects the fuel cartridge to the fuel cell and the refilling fuel container.


A returning spring of the electronic control throttle and a default spring for securing an initial opening degree (default opening degree) of the throttle valve have diameters different from each other, and both of the springs are held around a shaft of the throttle valve shaft and arranged between a gear attached to the throttle valve shaft and a wall portion of the throttle body. A shaft supporting gap of the throttle valve shaft is filled with an air leak preventing material, and a minimum opening degree for control of the throttle valve is set to a value larger than an amount of overshoot of the throttle valve occurring when opening degree of the throttle valve is changed from a maximum opening degree on control purpose of the throttle valve to the minimum opening degree.

The present invention relates to a throttle apparatus for an internal combustion engine and, more particularly, to an electronic control throttle device which controls opening and closing a throttle valve by driving an electric driven actuator based on a control signal.
In the electronic control throttle apparatus for controlling a throttle valve of an engine by driving an electric driven actuator (for example, a direct current motor, a stepping motor), a technology known is that an initial opening degree (default opening degree) of the throttle valve in an off state of engine key (in other words, at not energized state of the electric driven actuator) is set to a position larger than its full close position.
Here, the full close position does not mean a position for completely choking the intake air passage. Particularly, in a throttle device performing idling rotating speed control using only a throttle valve without any bypass passage for bypassing the throttle valve, the full close position is defined by classifying into a mechanical full close position and an electrical full close position to be described below.
The mechanical full close position means a minimum opening degree position of a throttle valve determined by a stopper, and the minimum opening degree is set at a position to slightly open the throttle valve from a position to completely choking the intake air passage in order to prevent the throttle valve from sticking. The electrical full close position means a minimum opening degree within a range of opening degrees used for control, and the minimum opening degree is set at an opening position slightly larger than the mechanical full close position in taking the mechanical full close position as the reference by controlling of driving the electric driven actuator (for instance, a position larger than the mechanical full close position by approximately 1°). In the electronic control throttle device, the electrical full close position (the minimum opening degree on the control purpose) does not always agree with an idling opening degree (an opening degree necessary for idling rotating speed control). The reason is that because the opening degree of the throttle valve is feedback controlled based on an idling rotating speed detected signal in order to keep the idling rotating speed to a target rotating speed, and thereby the opening degree can not be determined uniquely.
In regard to a full open position, there are a mechanical full open position determined by a stopper and an electrical full open position of a maximum opening degree on control. Therein, in a case of simply describing a "full close position", meaning of the word includes the electrical full close position as well as the mechanical full close position. In a normal control, the throttle valve is controlled between the electrical full close position (the minimum opening degree on the control purpose) and the electrical full open position (the maximum opening degree on the control purpose). By doing so, a part of the throttle valve does not hit on the stoppers for determining the mechanical full close position and the mechanical full open position at controlling the throttle valve to the minimum and the maximum opening degrees. Therefore, mechanical fatigue, abrasion and damage of the stoppers and the gear members can be prevented and sticking of the throttle valve to the stopper can be prevented.
A default opening degree (that is, the initial opening degree in an off state of engine key) is set to an opening degree of a position in which the throttle valve is further opened wider than that in the full close position (the mechanical full close position and the electrical full close position)(for example, a position larger than the mechanical full close position by 4 to 13°). One reason why the default opening degree is set is that an air flow rate necessary for combustion of pre-warming-up operation at stating-up of the engine (cold starting-up) is secured without any auxiliary air passage, (an air passage bypassing the throttle valve). During idling operation, as the engine is warmed up, the throttle valve is controlled so as to moved from the default opening degree toward the smaller opening degree. However, the lower limit is the electrical full close position. Another reason why the default opening degree is set is to cope with requirements for securing self-running (limp home) or for securing an intake air flow rate to prevent the engine operation from stopping even if the throttle control system is failed, for preventing the throttle valve from fixing to an inner surface of the throttle body with a viscous substance or ice.
As conventional examples of default opening degree setting mechanisms, various kinds of default opening degree setting mechanisms are proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-150449, U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,815 and the corresponding patent of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-500677, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-82238 and the corresponding patent of U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,179 by the same applicant of the present invention, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-89096, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-131771 and so on.
There are various types of default opening degree setting mechanisms. For example, one type is that a default opening degree is secured by setting the relationship between forces of a returning spring for acting a force toward a closing direction of the throttle valve and an opposed spring (called as a default spring or an initial opening degree spring) for acting a force toward an opening direction of the throttle valve opposing against the force of the returning spring so that the force of the default spring is larger than the force of the returning spring at the default opening degree position and so that a free end of the default spring is stopped by a default stopper at the default opening degree position when the engine key is switched off (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-500677).
Another type is, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-131771, that a fixing side engaging element to be fixed to a throttle valve shaft (this engaging element may be constructed by a throttle lever, or a gear for transmitting motor power may be used instead of the engaging element) and a moving side engaging element (a linking lever) idly inserted onto the throttle valve shaft and rotatable relative to the throttle valve shaft are provided, and the moving side engaging element and the fixing side engaging element are linked together with a returning spring so as to attract each other, and a force is applied using a default spring onto the moving side engaging element in a direction of opening the throttle valve to engage and rotate the moving side engaging element and the fixing side engaging element (the throttle valve shaft) together opposing against the force of the default spring when the opening degree is within the range smaller than the default opening degree (smaller than the default stopper position), and to rotate only the fixing side engaging element and accordingly the throttle valve shaft opposing against the force of the returning spring and preventing movement of the moving side engaging element by the default stopper when the opening degree is within the range larger than the default opening degree. On the contrary, there is a type that the moving side engaging element and the fixing side engaging element are linked together with the default spring so as to attract each other, and a force is applied using the returning spring onto the moving side engaging element in a direction of closing the throttle valve to engage and rotate the moving side engaging element and the fixing side engaging element (the throttle valve shaft) together opposing against the force of the returning spring when the opening degree is within the range larger than the default opening degree, and to rotate only the fixing side engaging element (the throttle valve shaft) opposing against the force of the default spring and preventing movement of the moving side engaging element by the default stopper when the opening degree is within the range smaller than the default opening degree.
The electronic control throttle device can more accurately perform air flow rate control suitable for operation of an internal combustion engine than a mechanical throttle device in which an amount of stepping-in of the accelerator pedal is transmitted to a throttle valve shaft through an accelerator wire. However, since the electronic control throttle device has the electric drive actuator and the default opening degree setting mechanism, number of the parts is increased and accordingly it is important how to make the throttle body small in size, light in weight and simple in structure and how to simplify the wiring (wire harness).
Further, the electronic control throttle device controls the idling rotating speed by controlling opening degree of the throttle valve, but has the following point to be improved.
In a case where idling rotating speed control is performed with the throttle valve in the electronic control throttle device, an opening degree larger than the mechanical full close position by a certain angle (for example, 5 to 1°) is secured at least as the minimum opening degree on the control purpose. Since a gap (sometime called as a shaft support gap) between the throttle valve shaft and a shaft inserting through hole provided in a wall of the throttle body which guides the throttle valve shaft to a bearing practically serves as a part of the intake air passage and the air flow rate (leak air flow rate) flowing through the shaft support gap can not be controlled, the minimum opening degree on the control purpose is set with taking it into consideration that the leak flow rate flows into the internal combustion engine.
However, according to the conventional set value of the minimum opening degree for the control purpose (the electrical full close position), when the throttle valve is closed from the maximum opening degree for the control purpose (the electrical full open position) toward the minimum opening degree (the electrical full close position, in the idling state), a magnitude of overshoot becomes larger than the minimum opening degree in the closing direction (the overshoot is approximately 1.5° at maximum) because the driving force of the motor (the electric drive actuator) is decreased at high temperature or at low temperature (that is, the torque of the motor is reduced at high temperature due to increase in the resistance of the motor, and the torque of the motor is reduced at low temperature due to decease in the battery voltage). As a result, as shown by a solid line {circle around (1)} in FIG. 17, the throttle valve hits on the stopper at the mechanical full close position (the diagonally shaded area in FIG. 17 indicates a state that movement of the throttle valve is blocked by the full close stopper.), and over-current flows in the motor likely to cause an erroneous fail-safe diagnosis (an erroneous diagnosis judging of occurrence of failure in the motor from the over current) or decrease in the lifetime of the motor.

Throttle apparatus for an internal combustion engine


A method and apparatus for providing corrected throttle valve opening data to the ECU for calculation of various engine parameters includes computing a throttle opening adjustment value H by subtracting a sensed throttle valve opening S from a actual throttle valve opening D at engine idle. An adjusted throttle valve opening K is computed throughout the range of throttle openings by adding the adjustment value H to the sensed throttle valve opening S. In this manner, an erroneous sensed throttle valve opening S is corrected by the adjustment value H. The process of determining the throttle valve adjustment value preferably is performed at the engine idle state and can be triggered by a physical trigger; by connecting and disconnecting certain electronic devices from the ECU according to a prescribed pattern; by shifting an outboard motor from a neutral to a forward or reverse state; or by other triggering means.

This application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 11-318549, filed Nov. 9, 1999, the entirely of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a control system for an engine, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for calibrating a throttle valve sensor in the control system.
2. Description of the Art
In all fields of engine design, there is an increasing emphasis on obtaining more effective emission control, better fuel economy and, at the same time, increasing power output. Efforts are being made to maximize the performance of individual engine systems in order to maximize overall engine performance.
Control systems are currently employed to control the various aspects and systems of the engine, such as air intake, fuel injection, timing, etc. Sensors are provided at various locations throughout the engine. These sensors detect specific engine conditions and transmit an electronic signal indicative of such conditions to an electronic control unit xe2x80x9cECU.xe2x80x9d The ECU controls the engine systems in response to inputs from the sensors. For instance, in some configurations, an engine speed sensor and a throttle valve position sensor are provided and respective signals from these sensors are used by the ECU to determine suitable fuel amounts during operation of the engine. The desired fuel amounts for specific conditions can be defined in a control map stored in the ECU and can depend upon both engine speed and throttle valve position.
Faulty sensor data can confuse the ECU and/or can cause the ECU to control the engine in a manner that does not maximize performance. It is thus important to obtain accurate sensor readings. However, due to errors during sensor assembly and to variations in power voltage, there is often a deviation between an actual throttle opening angle and a throttle opening angle detected by the throttle opening sensor. Because the ECU determines control based upon this erroneous reading, the ECU may direct delivery of fuel in amounts that do not optimal engine performance for the giving engine running conditions. Also, the ECU may not be able to correctly determine when the throttle valve is in the idle state.
The present invention involves the recognition of the above-stated problem and the further recognition that better engine control can be achieved by having the engine control system compensate for the inaccuracies in the sensed throttle valve positions due to errors during sensor assembly and to variations in power voltages.
One aspect of the present invention thus an internal combustion engine with an engine control system. The internal combustion engine includes a cylinder block defining at least one cylinder bore. A piston reciprocates within the cylinder bore. A cylinder head closes an end of the cylinder bore to define a combustion chamber together with the cylinder bore and the piston. An air induction system is arranged to introduce air to the combustion chamber. The air induction system includes an air intake passage and a throttle valve, and the control system includes a throttle valve opening sensor and a control unit. The control unit controls at least one fuel injector. The throttle valve is moveably disposed within the air intake passage and admits air in proportion to an opening degree thereof. The throttle valve opening sensor is arranged to sense the opening degree and to output a signal indicative of the opening degree to the control unit. The fuel injector is arranged to supply fuel to the combustion chamber. The control unit is configured to determine an amount of fuel to be supplied at least based upon the opening degree signal. The control unit has a memory having an actual opening degree of the throttle valve at an engine idle position stored therein and having a correction value stored therein. The control unit is further configured to determine the correction value as a difference between the stored actual opening degree of the throttle valve at engine idle and an opening degree signal sensed by the throttle valve opening sensor at engine idle.
Another aspect of the present invention involves a method for controlling an engine. The engine includes a fuel injector, an air intake passage having a throttle valve, a throttle valve opening sensor, and a control unit having a memory. The throttle valve is movable between an idle position and a second position. The throttle valve opening sensor is adapted to sense the opening degree and to output a signal indicative of the opening degree to the control unit. An actual opening degree of the throttle valve at the idle position is precisely measured and is then stored in the memory. The throttle valve opening sensor senses the throttle valve opening degree when the throttle is at the idle position and sends an idle opening degree signal to the control unit. A correction value is determined by computing the difference between the stored actual idle opening degree and the sensed idle opening degree signal. The correction value is stored in the memory. An adjusted throttle opening degree is determined by applying the correction value to the opening degree signal from the throttle valve opening sensor.
Further aspects, features, and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment which follows.