A light fixture includes a housing, a light-emitting element, and a lens extending over the light-emitting element. The housing includes a support surface, and the light-emitting element is coupled to the support surface. The lens includes a refractor portion having an inner surface and an outer surface. The inner surface is positioned proximate the light-emitting element. The inner surface is oriented at an angle such that the light generated by the light-emitting element exhibits total internal reflection within the lens until the light reaches the outer surface.

The present application relates generally to light fixtures and particularly to a lens for a light-emitting element.
Conventional lighting fixtures include a reflector and a board supporting a number of LEDs. The board is in electrical communication with a power source. A lens, such as a refractor or a diffuser may be positioned over the LEDs.


A method and system for manufacturing integrated circuit devices having multiple memory units embedded therein. Initially, a single reusable configurable test circuit is fabricated within an integrated circuit device. A number and type of each memory unit embedded within the integrated circuit device are then identified. Finally, the single reusable configurable test circuit is configured, in response to the identifying of a number and type of each memory unit, such that only one test circuit is required for use with multiple integrated circuit devices having multiple diverse memory units embedded therein. The single reusable configurable test circuit can be placed within or outside a fixed core of the integrated circuit device. In addition, the single reusable configurable test circuit can include array built-in self test (ABIST) controller which includes a hierarchical memory configuration that includes a state machine, address counter, compare register and data pattern generator.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates, in general, to improved semiconductor devices. In particular, the present invention relates to a configurable self-test for integrated circuit devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
As integrated circuitry has advanced, more and more circuit devices, and consequently more circuits and circuit functions, can be placed on a single silicon wafer microchip. These circuits perform many different functions, and the circuits must be tested before they are utilized in particular products. As integration has increased over time, memory arrays have been incorporated with logic on the same silicon chip. The dense integration of logic circuitry, such as very-large-scale integration (VLSI), on silicon microchips has thus created immense problems for the test engineer. With advancing developments of VLSI semiconductor circuits, the number of circuit elements, such as gates, flip-flops, and memory cells, on an integrated chip, is expanding to very large numbers. This expansion has given rise to increasing problems in testing the chips, both in their original manufacturing test and during their use in the field.
The complexity and cost of test generation and fault simulation increases with an increasing number of circuit elements. It is well known in the art of integrated circuits that test generation and fault simulation cost for a chip grows approximately proportionally to the third power of the number of gates and flip-flops on the chip. Similarly, the length and execution time of tests increase with the increasing complexity of chips. Since the chip manufacturing cost is expected to decrease over time as production increases, the testing cost is a significant portion of the overall chip cost.
In order to manage functional testing of such complex circuitry, a VLSI chip must be divided into independently testable blocks. Defective VLSI circuits can then be screened utilizing a variety of tests. For example, to increase the speed of testing on-chip memory, the input and output (i.e., I/O) of the memory arrays have been multiplexed with primary I/O's so that the tester has direct control of the array inputs and can direct observability of the array outputs. One problem with such a testing approach is that testing of arrays must be performed serially if there are not enough I/O's on the chip to test multiple arrays in parallel. Such a method is expensive and also time consuming, and generally inefficient due to the fact that the chip cannot be tested in parallel. Performance degradation is also an artifact of this type of testing.
To alleviate this costly bottleneck on the tester, the concept of Array Built In Self-Test (ABIST) was introduced. ABIST is specialized logic, implemented on the same silicon with the memory array, designed to detect manufacturing defects in memory arrays. The ABIST logic writes and reads patterns to and from the memory array while incremementing and decrementing through the entire address range. Comparisons are performed after each read of the array to determine if the write and read operations were successful. Miscompares indicate a defect in the memory array silicon.
In previous ABIST testing designs, a separate ABIST testing unit was provided on an integrated circuit for each device sought to be tested. This approach provided the advantage of testing multiple arrays concurrently, such that test time was limited to the time necessary to test the largest memory array at the expense of silicon area taken by each ABIST controller. Thus, a separate ABIST controller was needed for each memory device.
Other ABIST testing designs provided for a single ABIST controller which could be utilized to test a variety of memory devices of varying sizes. However, the single ABIST controller could only be designed and utilized for a specific combination of arrays and fixed array sizes. Such an approach was limited because a mere change in a single array size could render the ABIST controller inoperable.
As integration continues to improve, the utilization of core-plus ASIC (C+A) or "systems-on-silicon" designs, well known in the art of integrated circuit testing, have increased, which in turn has increased the need for design reuse. This is particularly evident in testing designs such as C+A designs that require the utilization of a fixed core that has various sized memory arrays attached as needed for a desired application. However, in such cases, utilizing the older testing approaches discussed above in conjunction with designs such as C+A designs presents difficulties. The method of having separate ABIST controllers for each array wastes silicon area and requires a separate design for each different sized array. The method of providing a single controller for fixed array sizes reduces area but must be redesigned for each different sized combination. The same problems are also evident in non-core plus ASIC designs where time-to-market is an important consideration.
From the foregoing, one can appreciate that a need exists for an ABIST design that can be utilized for testing integrated circuit devices of different sized memory arrays. Such an approach is solved by the invention described herein, a single reusable configurable ABIST controller that can be utilized for testing a variety of different sized memory arrays, either within a fixed core or outside the fixed core.

Method and system for providing a reusable configurable self-test controller for manufactured integrated circuits

International Business Machines Corporation


Press members are fixed to operating shafts of cylinders and guides attached to supporting portions are fixed to a supporting frame and suction ducts are fixed to cylinders provided with the supporting frame. The press members are driven to suck a sacrifice board and a process board which are not flat on a suction table. The suction ducts are driven to remove chips and dust on the table, the sacrifice board and the process board.

The present invention relates to a press and suction apparatus of a numerical control router for pressing a sacrifice board or a process board on a suction table and for sucking chips and dust on the suction table or the sacrifice board.
Generally, when a process board is processed with the numerical control router, after a sacrifice board is positioned on the suction table, the process board is positioned on the sacrifice board. Because the sacrifice board and the process board may be warped and therefore not flat, the sacrifice board is not sucked on the suction table and the process board is not sucked on the sacrifice board. Therefore, when the sacrifice board or the process board is not sucked, because men press the sacrifice board or the process board on the table or on the sacrifice board, additional time is required for positioning the sacrifice board or the process board.
When the process board has a large warp and men cannot press the process board on the sacrifice board, time loss arises when the process board is removed and the next process board is positioned.
When the process board is processed, chips are scattered on the sacrifice board and the process board. These chips are sucked by hoses connected to a suction device provided with a process head. The operation of the process head becomes complex because the hoses and the suction device are moved with the process head.

Press and suction apparatus of a numberical control router


A diode includes a first semiconductor layer configured by a compound semiconductor containing impurities of a first conductivity type; a high dislocation density region; a second semiconductor layer which is laminated on the first semiconductor layer, which is lower in a concentration of impurities in a region of a side of an interface with the first semiconductor layer than that of the first semiconductor layer, and which has an opening in which a portion which corresponds to the high dislocation density region is removed; an insulating film pattern which is provided to cover an inner wall of the opening; an electrode which is provided so as to cover the insulating film pattern and to contact the second semiconductor layer; and an opposing electrode which is provided to interpose the first semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer and the insulating film pattern between the electrode and the opposing electrode.

The present disclosure relates to a diode and a method of manufacturing a diode. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a diode of a configuration in which electrodes are provided on both surfaces of a semiconductor layer which is configured using a compound semiconductor and a method of manufacturing the diode.
Gallium nitride (GaN), which is a compound semiconductor with a wide band gap, from the perspective of the physical properties thereof, is being focused on not only as a semiconductor material for optical devices, but also for power devices such as power supplies and inverters. This is because, in comparison with existing power devices which use silicon (Si), it is possible to realize a device of higher efficiency and higher performance.
In the manufacturing of such a power device system diode, generally, a gallium nitride layer is used which is epitaxially grown on a supporting substrate formed from different types of single crystal material such as silicon carbide (SiC), sapphire (Al2O3) and silicon (Si). In this case, a method of epitaxially growing a gallium nitride layer in a lateral direction in relation to a supporting substrate (epitaxial lateral overgrowth: ELO) is adopted as a method for obtaining a gallium nitride layer of favorable crystalline properties.
However, in a gallium nitride layer obtained using such epitaxial growth, a region containing a higher density of crystal defects than the other portions is generated as a threading dislocation region which penetrates the layer. Therefore, in a vertical device provided with electrodes in a state of interposing the layer, when such a threading dislocation region encroaches on the junction surface between the layer and the electrode, an ideal junction is not formed in the region and there is a concern that this will result in the occurrence of a leak current.
Therefore, a configuration is disclosed in which, in a gallium nitride layer obtained using epitaxial growth, a groove is formed in the region of a high threading dislocation density, a silicon nitride film is formed within the groove using patterning, and an electrode is formed to bridge over the silicon nitride film. According to this configuration, it is possible to reduce the influence of the threading dislocation while increasing the device surface area (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-184371 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-130927).


Embodiments of the present invention provide for a transmission circuit that includes a transmission line and a conductive via. The transmission line is electrically coupled to a first conductive via and a second conductive via. The first conductive via includes a first via stub, wherein the transmission line is configured to transmit a signal that is coupled to the first conductive via, and wherein the first via stub extends beyond the transmission line. The second conductive via includes a second via stub, wherein the transmission line is configured to transmit a signal that is coupled to the second conductive via, and wherein the second via stub extends beyond the transmission line. A transmission line stub is electrically coupled to the transmission line or to at least one of the conductive vias, wherein the length of the transmission line stub is configured to suppress a preselected frequency.

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is the generation of undesired electrical signals in electronic system circuitry when an electromagnetic (EM) wave in one electrical circuit, component or part is unintentionally transferred to another electrical circuit, component or part. As the size of electronic systems decreases, the density of electrical components in these systems increases, and the dimensions of circuit elements correspondingly decrease. As spacing decreases between circuit elements, the likelihood of interference from adjacent circuit elements increases. EMI is a common issue for most high frequency electronic products. With the increased circuit densities along with increased data rates, it is increasingly difficult to meet regulatory electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements.
Electronic product manufacturers take several approaches to minimizing EMI for EMC compliance. Shielding products to prevent EM radiation is a common technique. At the system or board level metal cages or metal covers may be installed to prevent the radiation of electromagnetic waves causing EMI. While commonly done, this can be an awkward and costly solution to meeting EMC requirements. In smaller, portable devices running with higher frequencies, metal covers or shields may be hard to implement. In printed circuit board (PCB) design, placement of high frequency devices may be planned to avoid devices sensitive to EMI. Careful device placement may reduce the size of card covers used to reduce EMI. Designs that focus on suppression of unwanted electromagnetic radiation can provide a more cost effective solution to reducing EMI. Suppression of EMI before is it transmitted outside of the system or enclosure is critical to EMC compliance.
The generation of excess EM radiation in devices is problematic to other components within the electronic device and to other nearby electronic devices. Unwanted signals generated from excess EM radiation, from within a device and from nearby electronic devices, leads to EMI in electronic devices. For this reason regulatory committees exist both nationally and internationally to monitor and define limits of allowable EMI for various electronic devices. Requirements and tests are defined for EMC that monitor EM radiation causing EMI between systems and components for electronic devices.

Reduced EMI with quarter wavelength transmission line stubs

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


The present invention concerns a method to perform a telecommunication between a caller terminal and a callee terminal identified by an identification code, such as a phone number.

It is common knowledge that, when dialing a phone number, the user never knows for sure which phone will ring because of different routing rules which can be applied to the dialed call, such as: immediate forwarding situation of destination, forwarding on busy situation of destination, "Do Not Disturb" situation of destination, call forwarding to private, cellular or general phone.
On a phone without a display, one only knows what the destination phone is after answer, at the callee's end, by asking the correspondent. On a phone with a display and in good situations, one may know which phone is ringing, but only when the destination phone rings. . .
Nowadays, there are essentially three different situations which can occur, as mentioned below.
Situation 1:
The user has a normal telephone without any indication about the called number. This is the most current situation.
Situation 2:
The user has a telephone with "Busy Lamp Field" functionality, allowing him to know if some other sets are idle or busy from a telephony point of view. This may give him some information on whether a call to these persons will ring their phone or not, but without being sure.
Situation 3:
Usually through a CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) application, the user may have the following information about other phones:                State of the phone: idle, ringing, busy, out of service . . .        State of the forwarding situation: no active forwarding, immediate forwarding to XXX, forward on no answer to XXX, forward on busy to XXX, "Do Not Disturb" . . .
Although the solution provided in situation 3 is the best one known, this solution cannot be considered as being satisfactory as this solution is indeed not available to most of the subscribers, but only for those using a CTI application, that means using a computer.
Furthermore, in none of the exposed situations, not even the most sophisticated solution 3, is the caller systematically and reliably informed in advance which phone/or groups of phones, will ring when he calls a given number.

Method to perform a telecommunication with dialing destination preview

Abstract: Method wherein it comprises the steps of: collecting routing information related to the identification code of the callee, after entering said code at the caller's terminal and before activating the telecommunication or establishing the telecommunication link, then displaying at least a part of said collected routing information at the caller's end, for example directly on the caller terminal and finally either activating the telecommunication in order to establish the telecommunication link corresponding to the entered code or cancelling the current attempt to establish a telecommunication link based on said dialed code.


A telephone handset that includes both a speaker and a secondary flux coil is provided. The secondary flux coil provides improved inductive coupling between the handset and a hearing aid. Due to the wiring configuration of the handset, the speaker and the secondary flux coil can be independently filtered, thus providing means for independently optimizing the performance of both the speaker and the secondary flux coil. Suitable filters include both passive circuits and digital signal processors.

In general, a person who is hearing impaired and who uses a conventional hearing aid can use a telephone handset in one of two modes. In one mode of operation, they use the telephone handset in a conventional manner, allowing the acoustic sound waves emitted by the handset's speaker (also referred to as a receiver) to be picked up by the hearing aid's microphone in the same way that the hearing aid's microphone would pick up the sound of an external source (e.g., another person in the same room). The hearing aid then converts the acoustic sound waves to an electrical signal that is processed prior to being converted back to sound waves and broadcast to the user via the hearing aid's speaker (also referred to as a receiver). In the second mode of operation, the hearing aid uses an electromagnetic induction coil to pick up an electromagnetic signal that corresponds to the acoustic sound waves produced by the telephone handset. The induction coil, which is typically integrated within the hearing aid, generates an electrical signal that is then processed by the hearing aid and converted to acoustic sound waves that are broadcast to the user. The hearing aid may include means for the user to select which mode of operation they prefer, acoustic or electromagnetic.
In recent years, a number of companies have undertaken efforts to improve upon the quality, performance and usability of telephone coupled hearing aids. In general, these efforts have been directed at four specific areas. First, various methods have been proposed to increase the strength of the electromagnetic signal produced by the handset. Many of these methods use a secondary flux coil, both as a means of increasing the electromagnetic signal and as a means of providing additional mounting flexibility. Second, a number of techniques have been used to improve upon the sensitivity of the induction coil that is integrated into the hearing aid. Third, improvements in signal processing, for example the use of multi-band digital signal processors, continue to improve upon the overall quality of the sound produced by the hearing aid. Fourth, a number of user convenience features such as automated mode switching have provided hearing aid users with a more user-friendly device.
Although a number of developments have been made that improve the sound quality and coupling efficiency of a hearing aid when used with a telephone handset, many users still find the performance inadequate. As a result, many people with hearing disabilities are unable, or unwilling, to use a conventional telephone. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a telephone that can provide a hearing disabled person with improved performance when electromagnetically coupled to their hearing aid. The present invention provides such a system.


A binder-containing granulated silicon carbide products for the manufacture of highly dense silicon carbide ceramic products and the SiC ceramic products which can be made from the novel granulated silicon carbide products, especially highly dense SiC high-performance pressurelessly sintered ceramics.

This invention relates to novel, binder-containing granulated silicon carbide products for use in manufacturing highly dense silicon carbide ceramic objects and to silicon carbide ceramic objects produced using the novel granulated silicon carbide products.
Due to its chemical and physical properties, silicon carbide is an outstanding material for many sectors of industry, for example for the semiconductor industry, the automotive industry, for chemical plant engineering, for the machine tool industry, etc. The properties of silicon carbide include high resistance to oxidation and corrosion, high thermal conductivity at high temperatures, a low coefficient of thermal expansion, high thermal shock resistance, heat resistance, hardness and abrasion resistance. It is particularly suitable for manufacturing highly dense articles for many industrial applications, for example highly dense sintered articles.
Various processes are known for producing sintered articles. The oldest process is hot-pressing, in which SiC powder is mixed with small quantities of additives which promote sintering, for example boron or aluminium, and sintered in graphite molds under mechanical pressure at high temperatures of up to about 2000.degree. C. under a protective gas atmosphere. A further process is pressureless sintering, in which submicronic silicon carbide powder, likewise with added sintering aid, is cold-pressed and then sintered pressureless at temperatures of up to 2000.degree. C. in vacuo or under a protective gas atmosphere. A third process is hot-isostatic pressing of SiC. For this purpose, an article cold-formed from silicon carbide is enclosed gas-tight in vacuo in an envelope of silica glass or refractory metal and compacted under a high gas pressure at temperatures of up to 2000.degree. C. In addition, hot-isostatic redensification of silicon carbide sintered pressureless is also possible.
The sintering of silicon carbide alone, however, frequently leads to sintered articles having a high porosity and a density far below the theoretical density of silicon carbide (3.21 g/cm.sup.3). Such porous sintered silicon carbide articles are highly susceptible to oxidation, especially at elevated temperatures, and their mechanical strength is low. In the prior art, the production of sintered silicon carbide articles is therefore carried out with added sintering aids and/or binders, since sintered articles having a better density and better oxidation resistance can be obtained in this way. Sintering aids which are used in many cases include a few per cent of aluminium oxide, metal oxides such as thorium oxide, yttrium oxide, lanthanum oxide or cerium oxide, boron, metallic silicon, tungsten carbide or the like. Examples of binders used in the prior art include organic resins such as phenolic resins or furfuryl resins, organic polymers such as, for example, methylcellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, high-molecular weight organosilicon compounds, namely organopolysiloxanes, organopolyborosiloxanes and polysilanes. The use of oxidic sintering aids or of the above types of binders for the manufacture of high-performance ceramics from silicon carbide is disadvantageous, however, since it is impossible to prevent oxidic and other impurities (for example decomposition products of the binder) from remaining in the resulting sintered articles. Oxidic impurities are especially undesirable in SiC-based high-performance ceramics. Moreover, even if the aforementioned silicon-organic compounds are used as binders, only ceramic products are obtained whose flexural breaking strength is insufficient for high-performance ceramics. Like the nature of the silicon carbide powder used, the additives which are added, especially the binders, also exert a decisive influence on the ceramic product. Therefore, there remains a need for granulated silicon carbide products having a defined composition and defined properties, which facilitate the manufacture of highly pure and highly dense high-performance ceramics from silicon carbide.

Granulated product composed of silicon carbide powder and silicon carbide ceramic formed therefrom


Methods and systems for controlling a bleed-off valve of a gas turbine engine are described. The method comprises maintaining a first bleed-off valve associated with a first compressor of the gas turbine engine at least partially open upon detection of an unintended engine disturbance causing a drop in pressure of a combustion chamber of the engine; monitoring a rotor acceleration of the first compressor; and controlling closure of the first bleed-off valve when the rotor acceleration of the first compressor reaches a first threshold for a first duration.

When certifying a gas turbine engine, various tests are run to determine how the engine recovers from certain disturbances, such as an engine surge or an engine flame-out. A positive outcome results when the engine is able to stabilize and fully recover from the engine disturbance. A negative outcome results when the engine enters into cyclical or deeper instabilities and is unable to stabilize and fully recover from the engine disturbance.
While existing techniques for engine recovery are suitable for their purposes, improvements remain desirable.

Systems and methods for controlling a bleed-off valve of a gas turbine engine


A fuel management system mounted on a vehicle is operative to feed individually or a mixture of grades of relatively low, intermediate, and high autoignition temperature fuels to an associated internal combustion engine. The system includes an on board separation unit (OBS unit) for receiving and separating intermediate autoignition temperature (IAT) fuel into low and high autoignition temperature fuels, LAT and HAT, respectively. The production rate of the LAT and HAT fuels by the OBS unit is controlled to substantially match the consumption requirements of the engine at any given time for the LAT and HAT fuels.

Both petroleum refineries and engine manufacturers are constantly faced with the challenge of continually improving their products to meet increasingly severe governmental efficiency and emission requirements, and consumers' desires for enhanced performance. For example, in producing a fuel suitable for use in an internal combustion engine, petroleum producers blend a plurality of hydrocarbon containing streams to produce a product that will meet governmental combustion emission regulations and the engine manufacturers performance fuel criteria, such as research octane number (RON). Similarly, engine manufacturers conventionally design spark ignition type internal combustion engines around the properties of the fuel. For example, engine manufacturers endeavor to inhibit to the maximum extent possible the phenomenon of auto-ignition which typically results in knocking, and can cause engine damage, when a fuel with insufficient knock-resistance is combusted in the engine.
Under typical driving situations, engines operate under a wide range of conditions depending on many factors including ambient conditions (air temperature, humidity, etc.), vehicle load, speed, gear ratio, rate of acceleration, and the like. Engine manufacturers and fuel blenders have to design products which perform well under virtually all such diverse conditions. This requires compromise, as often times fuel properties or engine parameters that are desirable under certain speed/load conditions prove detrimental to overall performance at other speed/load conditions. Conventionally, vehicular fuels are supplied in two or three grades, typically distinguished by their Research Octane Number, or RON. Generally, the selection of fuel grade is based upon the engine specifications. However, once the fuel is "onboard," it becomes a "one fuel fits all" and must be designed to accommodate diverse speed, load and other driving conditions.
Attempts have been made to overcome the limitations of providing only a single grade of fuel for driving an internal combustion engine. In such attempts, systems have been developed for providing multiple fuels of different RON numbers "onboard" a vehicle, for driving the associated internal combustion engine with individual ones or mixtures of the fuels in a controlled manner for meeting the engine's drive cycle conditions over a broad range of operating conditions of the engine. Although these prior systems do offer an enhanced performance of an internal combustion engine, it is clear to those of skill in the art that such systems require further improvement.

Multiple fuel system for internal combustion engines

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A beverage dispensing system includes a nozzle assembly and a valve system, the nozzle assembly including a nozzle body having a diffuser chamber, a mixing chamber, and one or more cooling channels formed therein, a diffuser disposed within the diffuser chamber, and a manifold having one or more cooling channels formed therein and being configured to receive a flow of a base fluid and a flow of a concentrate for mixing of the base fluid and the concentrate in the mixing chamber to provide a beverage, and the valve system including one or more valves for regulating respective flow rates of each of the base fluid and the concentrate to substantially achieve a target mix ratio of the base fluid to concentrate within the mixing chamber.

Dispensing systems have been developed for dispensing liquids, such as beverages. Different types of beverages have different characteristics and should be stored and dispensed in respective manners to achieve delivery of the beverage in a satisfactory manner. A satisfactory manner can include, for example and without limitation, serving the beverage at an appropriate temperature, at an appropriate pour, at an appropriate gas level (e.g., not over-carbonated, not under-carbonated (flat)) and a correct amount of head, such that the flavor, aroma, and visual presentation of the beverage is as intended.
Traditional beverage dispensing systems provide for storage of beverages and means for dispensing a beverage into a vessel. Some beverage dispensing systems reconstitute a beverage from base components (e.g., base fluid, gas, concentrate) on-demand. For example, some beverage dispensing systems are described as post-mix dispensers that mix a base fluid (e.g., gasified water) and concentrate (e.g., syrup) in a dispensing nozzle. However, and particularly in the case of reconstituting alcoholic beverages (e.g., beer), such post-mix beverage dispensing systems suffer from disadvantages, which can include, but are not limited to, dispensing beverages that do not meet a set of standards and otherwise fails to meet expectations in terms of, for example, quality and/or consumer satisfaction. As another example, some beverage dispensing systems are described as pre-mix dispensers that use so-called in-line mixing to reconstitute a beverage before reaching a dispensing nozzle. However, such pre-mix beverage dispensing systems also suffer from disadvantages, which can include, but are not limited to, a multitude of components, an overly complex assembly and operation of components, and, particularly in the case of reconstituting alcoholic beverages (e.g., beer), dispensing beverages that do not meet a set of standards or otherwise fails to meet expectations in terms of, for example, quality and/or consumer satisfaction.

Beverage dispensing nozzle with in-nozzle mixing


A method of treating trypanosomiasis in a mammal, which entails administering to a mammal in need thereof an effective amount of medicinal producting comprising a plant extract comprising one or more compounds of formula (I).

In Latin America, approximately 90 million individuals live in regions where Chagas' disease is endemic. Approximately 18 to 20 million individuals are already infected with the agent responsible for this disease: Trypanozoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi.
Chemotherapeutic treatments for this disease are at the current time based on two families of molecules: nitrofurans, for instance nifurtimox, and nitroimidazoles, for instance benznidazole. These compounds can be effective on Chagas' disease at the beginning of infection, but they are barely effective, or not at all, on this disease when Trypanosoma cruzi has become established in the organism and the disease has taken on a chronic nature.
At this stage, this disease is at the current time considered to be incurable.
Treatments with nufurtimox and with benznidazole are also confronted with the appearance of resistant strains of Trypanosoma cruzi, which further decreases their effectiveness in the primary phase of Chagas' disease. Finally, these two molecules have not insignificant side effects such as anorexia, vomiting, peripheral neuropathy and allergic dermopathy.
There was therefore a need for a treatment for Chagas' disease that is effective both in the first phase of the disease, where Trypanosoma cruzi is present essentially in the blood, and in the second phase of this disease, where Trypanosoma cruzi is essentially found in the organs: heart, digestive system.
Canthin-6-one is a known compound that was isolated from plants such as: Ailanthus altissima (Simaroubaceae) by Ohmoto et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull., 1976, 24, 1532-1536; Brucea antidysenterica (Simaroubaceae) by Fukamiya et al., Planta Med., 1987, 53, 140-143; Eurycoma harmandiana (Simaroubaceae) by Kachanapoom et al., Phytochemistry, 2001, 56, 383-386; Peganum nigellastrum (Zygophyllaceae) by Ma et al., Phytochemistry, 2000, 53, 1075-1078.
Canthin-6-one has been identified in an extract of Zanthoxylum elephantiasis (Rutaceae) by Mitscher et al., Lloydia, 1972, 35, 177-180.
Therapeutic activities of canthin-6-one or of plant extracts containing it have been reported in the following indications:
The treatment of malaria, by Kordona et al., J. Nat. Prod., 1991, 54(5), 1360-1367; as an antitumor agent, by Fukamiya et al., Planta Med., 1987, 53(2), 140-143; as an antifungal agent by Mitscher et al., Lloydia, 1972, 35(2), 177-180.
Zanthoxylum chiloperone, from where the canthin-6-one for the use of the invention is extracted, is known for its use in traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory, as an antipyretic, against rheumatism, and as a general antiparasitic.
However, nothing in the prior art implied that canthin-6-one was capable of constituting a treatment for Chagas' disease, both in its primary or acute phase and in its chronic phase.
A subject of the invention is therefore the use of canthin-6-one, of plant extracts containing it and of some of its derivatives, which will be defined below, for producing a medicinal product intended for the treatment of trypanosomiases, in particular the treatment of Chagas' disease.
Canthin-6-one was isolated from the bark of the trunk of a rutacea identified as Zanthoxylum chiloperone var. angustifolium.
This plant was harvested in Paraguay, close to Piribebuy in the department of Cordillera. An example of this plant was registered with the Herbarium of the Faculty of Chemistry of Asuncion in Paraguay under the number AF917.
Several extracts of Zanthoxylum chiloperone var. angustifolium were isolated by means of a method that will be described below. Canthin-6-one itself was also isolated from this plant. However, the invention can also be implemented using canthin-6-one isolated from the other plants that contain it, and that were listed above. Extracts of Ailanthus altissima, of Brucea antidysenterica, of Eurycoma harmandiana, of Peganum nigellastrum or of Zanthoxylum elephantiasis that contain it can also be used to implement the invention.

Use of canthin-6-one, plant extracts containing same and derivatives thereof in the treatment of trypanosomiases

Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement


Blends containing a vegetable fat or a blend of vegetable fats and at least 0.1 wt % of a composition comprising ursolic acid and oleanolic acid in a weight ratio of 1:00 to 99:1 display a number of benefits such as high crystallization rates. This modification of the crystallization rate can be used to achieve a number of beneficial effects in the final fat blend or in the final food product containing the blend.

The invention relates to the modification of fats or fat blends so as to improve the crystallization characteristics thereof.
Fats per se or in the form of fat blends often suffer from problems during crystallisation. E.g. the crystallisation rate often is low or the crystal form of the fats results into products that are not sufficiently hard or are difficult to filter.
In order to cope with this problem the prior art discloses to add crystal modifiers to the fats, such as polymers or hardened fat components. The polymers however are not food grade and thus have to be removed from the food product which is not always easy and, if possible at all, complicates the processing, adding to the costs and making the use thereof economically unattractive. Hardened fats are not always healthy because of their high content of saturated fatty acid and have a negative impact on the viscosity and mouthfeel of the products.
Moreover crystal modifiers that are effective and that simultaneously add health benefits to the food products have not been disclosed yet in the prior art.
Therefore we studied whether we could find crystal modifiers that are effective for improving the crystallisation and the hardness of the product resulting therefrom and that simultaneously will add health benefits to the final food product. This study resulted in the finding that by adding a blend of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid to a fat per se or to a fat in a food product the crystallisation rate of the fat could be increased while simultaneously the hardness of the fat composition could be increased. Further it was found that the addition of the ursolic acid/oleanolic acid mixture also improved other properties of the total composition, such as oral mouthfeel; heat resistance; aeration properties and drying times (when applied in ice-cream coatings).
The known health effects of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid remain in the fat composition and/or the food product made thereof.
Health effects of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid can be found in eg JP 09/040689; JP 09.067249; CN 1085748; JP 1039973; JP 03287531; JP 03287530; EP 774255; JP 07258098; JP 07048260; JP 01132531; FR 2535203 and 10 JP 1207262.
Therefore our invention concerns in the first instance a blend of a vegetable fat and/or a blend of vegetable fats and at least 0.1 wt %, preferably 0.1 to 10 wt %, most preferably 0.2 to 5 wt % of a natural health composition, wherein the natural health composition comprises a mixture of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid in a weight ratio of 1:99 to 99:1, preferably 10:90 to 90:10, more preferably 75:25 to 25:75.
It was found that very beneficial fat compositions could be obtained if the fat in above blend displays a solid fat content measured on a non-stabilised fat by NMR-pulse at the temperature indicated of: 5 to 90 at 5xc2x0 C.; 2 to 80 at 20xc2x0 C. and less than 15 at 35xc2x0 C.
Non-stabilised being defined as a fat that has been subjected to the following temperature profile before measuring the fat content by NMR pulse: melt at 80xc2x0 C. and cool to 0xc2x0 C. and keep at 0xc2x0 C. for 30 min, than warm up to measurement temperature and keep at that T for 30 min before measuring the N value. Very useful blends were obtained by making a blend comprising components A, B and C, wherein
A=a natural health composition, comprising a mixture of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid in a weight ratio of 1:99 to 99:1
B=a solid fat with a solid fat content at 20xc2x0 C. of at least 20, measured on the unstabilised fat by NMR-pulse, preferably at least 45, most preferably at least 60 and
C=a fat with a content of fatty acids with 18 C-atoms with one to three double bonds of at least 40%, which components A, B and C are present in amounts of:
at least 0.1 wt % A, preferably 0.1 to 20 wt %, most preferably 0.2 to 10 wt %
8 to 90 wt % of B, preferably 25 to 75 wt %, most preferably 40 to 70 wt % and
0 to 85 wt % of C, preferably 15 to 65 wt %, most preferably 20 to 50 wt %.
Although fats B and C could be selected from a wide range of fats we prefer to use fats B that are selected from the group consisting of palm oil, palm oil fractions, cocoa butter, cocoa butter equivalents, palm kernel oil, fractions of palm kernel oil, hardened vegetable oils such as hardened palm oil, hardened fractions of palm oil, hardened soybean oil, hardened sunflower oil, hardened rape seed oil, hardened fractions of soy, rape or sunflower oil, mixtures of one or more of these oils and interesterified mixtures thereof.
Fats C that are most preferred are fats selected from the group consisting of sunflower oil, high oleic sunflower oil, olive oil, soybean oil, rape seed oil, palm oil olein, olein fractions from other vegetable oils, high oleic vegetable oils and cotton seed oil.
The natural health composition can contain ursolic acid and oleanolic acid as the only components (eg by mixing of these components isolated from natural sources) however we found that we could obtain better health effects without effecting the physical effects of the blend of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid in a negative sense if the health component also comprises isoflavonoids and/or flavonoids in particular in amounts corresponding with 0.005 to 5% of the total amount of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid.
Compositions containing the health components can be obtained from natural sources such as fruit skins, in particular skins of apples, pears, cranberries, cherries or prunes. All-spice oil is another natural source for ursolic acid/oleanolic acid mixtures. The health component can be obtained by extraction with a suitable organic solvent such as acetone.
Part of our invention are also food products having a fat phase in it and wherein the fat phase comprises at least partly the blends according to the invention. Examples of preferred food products are spreads (low fat or full fat), dressings, mayonnaises, cheese, creams, ice creams, ice cream coatings, confectionery coatings, fillings, sauces and culinary products.
Above food products preferably comprise 10 to 90 wt %, preferably 20 to 60 wt % of a continuous fat phase. The physical effects we describe above are the most pronounced in these products.
The modification in crystallisation behavior also results in a number of other effects that are also beneficial. Therefore our invention, according to another embodiment also comprises the use of a blend of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid in a fat blend per se or in a fat blend of a food product wherein the blend of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid is used to modify the crystallisation behavior of a fat blend or a fat blend in a final food product to
(i) increase the hardness of the fat blend or final product and/or
(ii) to improve the plasticity of the fat blend or final product and/or
(iii) to improve oral mouthfeel of the fat blend or final product and/or
(iv) to improve the heat resistance of the fat blend or final product and/or
(v) to increase the speed of crystallisation of the fat blend or final product and/or
(vi) to increase the aeration properties of the fat blend or final product and/or
(vii) to decrease drying times of ice-cream coatings.
According to a last embodiment our invention also concerns a process to make a blend with the composition according to the invention, wherein
(i) skins of a fruit such as apples, cherries, prunes, cranberries and pears are extracted with an organic solvent such as acetone
(ii) an extract of a mixture of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid is isolated and after removal of the solvent a mixture containing ursolic acid and oleanolic acid is obtained this mixture of acids obtained in (ii) is blended with a fat in the ratios required to obtain the compositions according to the invention.


A control device for a fan motor (7) which cools a condenser (6) of a vehicle air conditioner includes a temperature sensor (12) which detects a temperature of an air that has passed through an evaporator (10) of the vehicle air conditioner; and a controller (2). The controller (2) functioning to calculate a reference value (Ds) of an airflow generated by a rotation of the fan motor (7); calculate a correction value (DUP, DUPT) of the airflow on the basis of the detected air temperature (Tair); set a target airflow (TDR) on the basis of the reference value (Ds) and correction value (DUP, DUPT) of the airflow; and control the rotation of the fan motor to effect the target airflow (TDR).

In a vehicle equipped with an air conditioner, a cooling fan which cools a radiator for cooling engine cooling water and a condenser of the air conditioner is usually provided. The cooling fan requires a large electric current to rotate, and hence when the cooling fan is rotated continuously at a high rotation speed, power consumption and noise levels increase.
Jikkai Hei07-038625, published in Japan in 1995, discloses a technique of controlling the rotation of a cooling fan in accordance with the outside air condition and engine operating condition in order to suppress the power consumption of an air conditioner to a minimum. In this conventional technique, rotation of the cooling fan is controlled on the basis of the discharge pressure of a compressor, the engine rotation speed, and the vehicle speed. Here, the discharge pressure of the compressor is determined from three parameters, namely the outside air temperature, the engine rotation speed, and the vehicle speed.


A method of verifying the integrity of a software application that can be executed on a host terminal includes (i) determining at least one series of control instructions forming an executable certificate for the software application, which can be executed by the host terminal during execution of the software application to be verified; (ii) on the host terminal, executing the software application to be verified, receiving the executable certificate determined during step (i) and executing the series of control instructions for the certificate which can be executed in the memory context of the host terminal; (iii) comparing the result thus obtained through execution of the control instructions with the result expected from an authentic software application; and (iv) in the event of a positive comparison, continuing with the execution of the software application to be verified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the verification of the authenticity of a software application executed on a host terminal without necessarily resorting to encoding/decoding keys.
2. Description of Related Art
It finds a general application in the authentication of software applications and, more particularly, software applications intended to be executed on a data processing apparatus, more especially a host terminal such as a digital television decoder, equipment for visualising multimedia contents, a micro-computer, a smart card, a personal organiser, a games console, a mobile telephone or the like.
Means of authentication are already known which permit the authenticity or the integrity of software applications loaded and executed on host terminals to be verified. Generally such authentication means use cutting functions and/or cryptographic algorithms which use secret data such as private or secret encoding/decoding keys hidden in the verification software of the host terminal. Most often, these secret data are protected by obfuscation techniques intended to make retroconception more difficult.
In practice, such authentication means loaded in the host terminals are just as vulnerable as the software applications, the authenticity of which they are intended to control. In fact, an experienced pirate can carry out malicious modifications to these authentication means in order, for example, to recover the secret data, delude the verification system or make it produce, in spite of itself, the expected results.

Software application integrity verification method and device


This invention relates to an aircraft comprising: a first propulsive unit having a first fan with an axis of rotation; and a second propulsive unit local to the first propulsive unit, the second propulsive unit having a second fan with an axis of rotation, wherein the rotational axis of the first fan is proximate to the surface of the aircraft relative to the rotational axis of the second fan such that the first fan ingests boundary layer air when in use.

Conventional state of the art propulsion systems for large civil aircraft typically include one or more gas turbine engines placed under the wings of the aircraft. However, some studies have indicated that so-called distributed propulsion, which involves having numerous smaller propulsion units preferentially arranged around an aircraft, may provide some significant benefits in terms of noise reduction and fuel efficiency when compared with the current state of the art propulsive arrangements.
One known option for distributed propulsion is to provide numerous propulsive units which are located so as to capture and accelerate slow speed boundary layer air which has formed against the surface of the aircraft. This can lead to a significant reduction in overall fuel burn with the maximum benefit of boundary layer ingestion being achieved when the low speed flow is not mixed with the freestream flow, but is accelerated to homogeneous conditions by the propulsion system.
However, delivering the required power at an acceptable level of efficiency by ingesting boundary layer air can be problematic for conventional propulsive systems, particularly where the propulsive unit is required to be larger than the thickness of the boundary layer air flow.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved propulsive device for ingesting boundary layer air.


A method of waste separation includes irradiating the waste by a source of radiation, capturing an image of the waste when irradiated by the source of radiation; where an item in the waste is provided with a pattern, the pattern being provided in or on a surface of the item, the pattern forming a repetition of dots, a code being stored in a sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, processing the image to detect the pattern; deriving the code from the sequence of adjacent ones of the dots of the pattern; separating in accordance with the code the item the pattern from the waste. The pattern may be a relief pattern. The relief pattern may comprise a pattern of bumps and recesses. The pattern, such as in a form of a relief, may also be applied to identify the item.

Consumer products are generally offered for sale in packages, the package may hold the item, protect the item during storage, enhance a visual presentation of the item, protect the item against aging, decay, etc. In particular food and beverage items are distributed in packages, such as bottles, blisters, trays, etc. Such packages provide for a large amount of waste materials as the package is used once and therefore considered rubbish once the food or beverage item has been consumed. Many approaches have been followed up to now in order to reduce overall amounts of rubbish. Two are briefly described below.
In many countries, deposit systems have been in use for packages such as bottles made of glass or plastic. When a consumer purchases the item, a deposit is charged for the package. When the consumer returns the empty package, the deposit is returned. Although re-use of the package or recycling of the package material may be provided by such a system, an overall efficiency is low, as the returned packages will require collection at the points of return (e.g. a supermarket deposit return station), sorting at the point of return, and return of the sorted packages to their thus providing for high transportation cost and logistic efforts. Furthermore, deposit systems may not be suitable or commercially feasible for all packages.
Another possibility is to provide collection bins where consumers can leave their empty packages. The collection bins may for example be provided per material category: paper, glass, plastics, etc. Further refined sorting may be provided by enlarging a number of collection bins in order to enable a more refined recollection: e.g. transparent glass, green glass, brown glass, paper, cardboard, textiles, batteries, shoes, etc. Although to some extent effective, this system still requires separate logistics streams for the selected items. Also, refined recollection schemes are virtually impossible to implement, as a consumer may not be able or willing to reliably and consistently distinguish and separate materials such as various plastic types (polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, etc.) from each other. Firstly, the consumer cannot always distinguish such materials from each other. Secondly, a correspondingly large number of waste collection containers would consume a large space (e.g. in shopping malls, on parking lots, etc.). Thirdly, a recollection of a correspondingly large number of different materials would make the recollection process more complex hence less economical.
During production of e.g. consumable goods, a desire to recognize the package may also arise. For example, in a bottle filling process, whereby bottles, such as PET bottles or other packages are filled, a recognition of the type of package may be desired, in order to verify that a package is filled with its matching product.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for determining driver efficiency in a hybrid vehicle includes the steps of measuring a hybrid vehicle parameter, and calculating driver efficiency based, at least in part, on the hybrid vehicle parameter. The hybrid vehicle parameter is influenced, at least in part, by an action taken by a driver.

Many of today's vehicles have one or more features to promote fuel efficiency. For example, many vehicles have overdrive or cruise control features. Also, hybrid vehicles today are configured to run in different operating modes, including some operating modes in which the hybrid vehicle uses electrical power, battery power, and/or other alternative power sources to improve fuel efficiency. Certain vehicles also include regenerative braking systems that help convert kinetic energy into electrical energy, and thereby further save fuel and/or energy. In addition, the actions of a driver of a hybrid vehicle can also play a significant role in fuel efficiency. For example, if the driver operates the hybrid vehicle so that the hybrid vehicle's speed or acceleration exceeds a desired range, or if the driver causes the hybrid vehicle to change speeds at large magnitudes very quickly, this can have an adverse effect on the fuel efficiency of the hybrid vehicle. However, it may be difficult for the driver to ascertain whether he or she is driving the hybrid vehicle in an efficient manner, and to ascertain how this can also be related to the current operating mode of the hybrid vehicle. This may be particularly difficult while the driver is operating the hybrid vehicle.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods to determine driver efficiency and an operating mode in a hybrid vehicle. It is also desirable to provide systems to determine driver efficiency and an operating mode in a hybrid vehicle. It is further desirable to provide methods and systems to determine driver efficiency and a relationship with the operating mode in a hybrid vehicle while a driver is operating the hybrid vehicle. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will be apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Methods and systems for determining driver efficiency and operating modes in a hybrid vehicle


Reception of a transmission in a radiotelephone system including an equalizer is improved by training the equalizer using a synchronization portion of the transmission having a data pattern chosen for its correlation properties and retraining the equalizer using a portion of the transmission transmitted for a different purpose. In particular, the portion of the transmission transmitted for a different purpose may be the digital verification color code transmitted during each burst in a digital cellular mobile radiotelephone system. Reception quality is increased by training the equalizer at more frequent intervals without increasing transmission overhead.

From the early days of radio, the non-ideality of the Earth's atmosphere as a transmission medium has been apparent. Radiated energy does not travel uniformly from the transmitter through the atmosphere to present a unified wave front to the receiver. On the contrary, portions of the radiated energy are reflected in many different directions by features of the terrain, non-uniformities in the atmosphere itself, and by man-made structures. Different portions of the radiated energy reach the receiver at different times along different paths resulting in a time-varying multi-path characteristic that produces, alternatively, destructive and constructive interference.
This multi-path characteristic causes a transmitted radio pulse to undergo different gain and phase variations resulting in reception of a distorted pulse. Pulse distortion from the channel medium causes interference between adjacent samples of the received signal resulting in a phenomenon known as inter-symbol interference. Inter-symbol interference can be viewed as a smearing of the transmitted pulse by the multi-path, causing overlap between successive pulses. Interference with a particular pulse can occur as a result of both past and future pulses, since the pulse is detected at the receiver after a mean path delay when the pulse is received with greatest strength. Portions of pulse energy from a past pulse that have experienced a greater than average delay may therefore interfere with a subsequent pulse, and portions of energy from a "future" pulse, i.e., a pulse that the radio receiver is not ready to detect, experiencing a less than average path delay may interfere with the present pulse being detected by the radio receive.
As is known in the art, inter-symbol interference may be greatly reduced using an adaptive equalizer. In one type of equalizer, for example, time-shifted versions of the received signal are combined with the received signal according to appropriate weights to cancel future and past interference. Such an equalizer may be constructed using a transverse filter including a tapped delay line. The appropriate weights according to which delayed signal replicas are combined with the presently received signal are arrived at during what is known as equalizer training. During equalizer training, a known sequence of symbols is transmitted and the output of the equalizer in response to the known sequence of symbols is compared to the known sequence itself. In an iterative process, an adaption algorithm optimized to minimize the difference between the detected symbol sequence and the actual symbol sequence sets the weights of the equalizer. If the weights of the equalizer are properly set, the error will be reduced to a minimum level and the equalizer will be said to have converged. If for some reasons the weights are not properly set, the error may actually increase and the equalizer will be said to have diverged.
In another well-known type of equalizer, the Viterbi equalizer, a set of complex-valued weights representing the impulse response of the communications channel is derived using a transverse filter in substantially the same manner as described above. Using the channel estimate, received pulses are detected according to the Viterbi algorithm to yield symbols of maximum likelihood given the channel estimate.
Radio channel conditions do not remain constant from one time to the next but are always changing according to atmospheric conditions as affected by the weather, etc. Accordingly, the equalizer weights have to be continually updated. Radio channel conditions change especially rapidly in a mobile radiotelephone system wherein the location of the receiver relative to the transmitter is constantly changing, perhaps at a high rate. Frequent retraining of the equalizer therefore becomes important in order to maintain sufficient reception quality.
At the same time, the transmission of known training sequences in the communications stream displaces the desired communications between the transmitter and receiver so as to increase transmission overhead. Transmission overhead reduces the effective available communications bandwidth. Bandwidth is of course a precious resource in a radiotelephone system.
Accordingly, what is needed is a way of frequently retraining an equalizer in a radio telecommunications system while minimizing transmission overhead.

Equalizer training in a radiotelephone system


A method for calibrating a communication channel coupling first and second components includes transmitting a data signal from the first component to the second component on the communication channel, and sensing a characteristic, such as phase, of the data signal on the second component. Information about the sensed characteristic is fed back to the first component using an auxiliary channel. An adjustable parameter, such as phase, for the transmitter is adjusted on the first component in response to the information. Also, a characteristic of a data signal received from the transmitter on the second component is sensed and used to adjust an adjustable parameter for the receiver on the first component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to calibration of communication channel parameters in systems, including mesochronous systems, in which two (or more) components communicate via an interconnection link; and to calibration to account for drift of conditions related to such parameters during operation of the communication channels.
2. Description of Related Art
In high-speed communication channels, which are operated in a mesochronous manner, typically a reference clock provides frequency and phase information to the two or more components on the link. A transmitter on one component and a receiver on another component each connect to the link. The transmitter and receiver operate in different clock domains, which have an arbitrary (but fixed) phase relationship to the reference clock. The phase relationship between transmitter and receiver is chosen so that the propagation delay seen by a signal wavefront passing from the transmitter to the receiver will not contribute to the timing budget when the signaling rate is determined. Instead, the signaling rate will be determined primarily by the drive window of the transmitter and the sample window of the receiver. The signaling rate will also be affected by a variety of second order effects. This system is clocked in a mesochronous fashion, with the components locked to specific phases relative to the reference clock, and with the drive-timing-point and sample-timing-point of each link fixed to the phase values that maximize the signaling rate.
These fixed phase values may be determined in a number of ways. A sideband link may accompany a communication link (or links), permitting phase information to be passed between transmitter and receiver. Alternatively, an initialization process may be invoked when the system is first given power, and the proper phase values determined by passing calibration information (patterns) across the actual link. Once the drive-timing-point and sample-timing-point of each link has been fixed, the system is permitted to start normal operations.
However, during normal operation, system and environmental conditions will change. Ambient temperature, humidity, component temperature, supply voltages, and reference voltages will drift from their initial values. Many of the circuits in the components will be designed to be insensitive to drift within a specified range, but the drift will need to be considered when setting the upper signaling rate of a link.
As the conditions drift, the optimal timing points of the transmitter and receiver will change. If the timing points remain at their original values, then margin must be added to the timing windows to ensure reliable operation. This margin will reduce the signaling rate of the link.
To improve performance, prior art systems perform a periodic calibration process. The periodic calibration process consumes resources of the communication channel, and therefore reduces the performance of the communication channel for its mission functions.
In many systems, the communication channel is considered asymmetrical, because one side has greater resources for supporting the calibration process than the other. For example, in a memory system, including a memory controller and one or more memory devices such as high-speed DRAMs, the memory controller may include the drivers that are adjustable in response to calibration resources, while the memory devices have lower-cost drivers that cannot be adjusted. In such a system, the memory controller must execute a calibration process considered open-ended, taking into account the asymmetrical nature of the communication channel, without active adjustments of signaling characteristics by the targets of the communication. Such calibration processes can consume greater channel resources than might be required for closed channels. Also, open-ended channels do not gracefully track shifts in clock frequencies of spread spectrum clocks nor do they function well in plesiochronous systems where the frequencies of the respective clocks on the two components are offset by a small delta.
It is desirable to provide techniques for calibration of communication channels which provide more efficient utilization of system resources, without requiring costly circuitry on both sides of the communication channels.

Communication channel calibration using feedback


The invention relates to a storage structure and hook system for securing recording media storage devices and the like. According to one aspect of the invention, the structure comprises a plurality of parallel pairs of elongated members, mounted and stacked end-to-end in a rectangular box-like configuration, at least one base parallel pair of members having a parallel extension member connected by like members at corresponding ends, and each disk being housed in a relatively flat, rectangular container with at least one slot at a selected side edge adjacent a corner thereof and suitably configured for reception of a mounting adapter, the adapter including a hook and a base, the hook being configured for engaging one of the members so as to suspend the container freely therefrom and the base being relatively smaller in width than the hook, the base including an arrangement of opposing notched prongs which, when compressed, allows ready passage into the slot and, upon expansion, readily engages interior edges of the slot so as to affix the adapter to the container, the base penetrating the container interior minimally.

In the wake of increasing miniaturization of computer technology, difficulties persist in storage of recording media storage devices. Conventional storage apparatus include simple structures such as racks on which compact discs, videotapes, or the like are placed. Various geometries have been utilized, ranging from simple rectangular structures to fixed or rotisserie circular towers.
An objective is to locate a maximum number of devices in a practically sized and proportioned structure, without sacrificing device accessibility. It is also desirable to simultaneously provide devices at least some degree of protection from moisture, undesirable temperatures, electromagnetic and other wave conditions, and breakage. A further objective is to provide a storage system which is readily adapted to existing media storage devices.

Apparatus and system for storage of recording media storage devices and the like


An enhancement-mode device includes: a substrate; a channel layer and a barrier layer successively formed on the substrate; an n-type semiconductor layer formed on the barrier layer, a gate region being defined on a surface of the n-type semiconductor layer; a groove that is formed in the gate region and at least partially runs through the n-type semiconductor layer; and a p-type conductor material that is formed on the surface of the n-type semiconductor layer and at least fills the inside of the groove.

High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) are one type of heterojunction field effect transistors. By taking an AlGaN/GaN heterojunction structure as an example, due to the presence of strong two-dimensional electron gas in the AlGaN/GaN heterojunction structure, AlGaN/GaN HEMTs are usually depletion devices, so that it is difficult to realize enhanced devices. However, in many cases, the application of the depletion devices is limited to a certain extent. For example, in the application of power switching devices, enhancement-mode (normally-closed) devices are required. Enhancement-mode GaN devices are mainly applied to high-frequency devices, the power switching devices, digital circuits, etc. It is of great significance to study the enhancement-mode GaN devices.

Enhancement-mode device and method for manufacturing the same


A grill device includes a first grill seat and a second grill seat movably connected to the first grill seat such that the second grill seat is movable between a closed position, where the second grill seat overlaps with the first grill seat in an up-and-down direction to define a grill space therebetween for accommodating a food to be grilled, and an opened position. The second grill seat has a fume collecting chamber which is disposed opposite to and in spatial communication with the grill space in the up-and-down direction when the second grill seat is in the closed position so that fumes generated during grilling are dissipated successfully and are spontaneously ventilated and exhausted without the need to provide a power activated impeller, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost and saving energy.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional grill device includes a first grill seat 11, a second grill seat 12 pivotably connected to the first grill seat 11 at rear ends, and a filter assembly 13 mounted in the first grill seat 11. The second grill seat 12 is movable relative to the first grill seat 11 between an opened position and a closed position. In the closed position, the second grill seat 12 overlaps with the first grill seat 11 to define a grill space 14 therebetween. The first grill seat 11 has a first housing shell 111 and a first grill plate 112 mounted on the first housing shell 111 and facing the grill space 14. The first housing shell 111 has a front chamber 113 for receiving the first grill plate 112, and a rear chamber 114 communicating with the front chamber 113 through a plurality of fume channels 115 and having a rear exhaust port 116 and a bottom mounting opening 117. The second grill seat 12 has a second housing shell 121 and a second grill plate 122 mounted on the second housing shell 121 and facing the grill space 14 in the closed position. The filter assembly 13 has an impeller 132, a filter member 133 and a porous plate 131 erectly mounted in the rear chamber 114, and a mounting base 134 disposed to close the bottom mounting opening 117. With the rotation of the impeller 132, fumes generated in the grill space 14 are forced to flow rearwardly through the rear chamber 114 and the filter member 133 and be exhausted from the rear exhaust port 116.
However, such structure of the grill device is bulky in a front-and-rear direction, adversely affecting the outer appearance and resulting in inconvenience during storage. Besides, the impeller 132 is needed to forcibly produce the rearward flow of fumes, which results in a relatively high manufacturing cost and power consumption, and renders disassembly and maintenance thereof inconvenient.

Grill device with a fume collecting chamber

Tsann Kuen (Zhangzhou) Enterprise Co., Ltd.


An electronic circuit substrate is sealed with a sealing material made of thermoplastic resin having a thermal-expansion coefficient close to that of a ceramic substrate by a compound filler dispersedly mixed in the sealing material. The filler includes at least two of milled fiber, glass fiber, and flaked filler.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic circuit substrate sealed by resin.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic circuit substrate incorporated in a device used in an outdoor environment is usually sealed with resin or the like as it is often exposed to a severe condition under an extremely high or low temperature and/or with high humidity. The substrate is usually sealed by a conventional method requiring a long time, wherein the resin is provided to the substrate under a state of liquid for coating the whole surface or the surface of a specific component of the substrate and solidified. The sealing resin thereby enables a use of the substrate under a severe external condition.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a circuit substrate sealed with a thermosetting resin by a conventional method. The reference numeral 1 designates a ceramic substrate, 2 represents a mounted package component, 3 represents a mounted chip component, and 4 represents a phenol resin used for sealing. In this method, the substrate 1 mounted with the components 2, 3 is dipped into the liquid phenol resin 4, and heated to solidify the resin 4.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a substrate sealed by injection moulding using a conventional thermoplastic resin. The reference numeral 5 designates a ceramic substrate, 6 represents a mounted package component, 7 represents a mounted chip component, and 8 represents a thermoplastic resin used for sealing. In this method, the substrate 5 mounted with the components 6, 7 is set inside a metal mould of an injection moulding device, and the thermoplastic resin 8 is injected thereto and then solidified.
However, in the above described first conventional method wherein a substrate is dipped into and coated with a phenol resin, it requires much time to thermally set the liquid resin. Also, the coating film of the resin sealing the substrate cannot be fully evened, which often hinders an automatic assembly line by a robot.
On the other hand, the second conventional method described above, wherein a thermoplastic resin is injected by an injection moulding device and solidified, requires less time for setting by application of thermoplastic resin. This method also facilitates introduction of an automatic assembly system due to more precise dimensions of the sealing resin formed by a metal mould. Since an engineering plastic has a high sealing effect, it is often used as a thermoplastic resin in this method.
However, there is a great difference in the rate of thermal expansion (linear expansion coefficient) between the engineering plastic and the ceramic substrate. Under a certain condition such as a heat cycle test or the like, the shrinking resin sometimes causes cracks on the ceramic substrate, leading to a decrease in productivity of the electronic circuit substrate. The heat cycle test is, for example, carried out within the range from -40.degree. C. to +150.degree. C. depending on each case.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A reformer that includes a housing including a tubular member and an end plate member hermetically joined to the tubular member. The housing defines within it a first fluid flow path and a second fluid flow path in a heat exchanging relationship with each other. A reforming catalyst is disposed within the first fluid flow path. The tubular member has a tubular end, and the end plate member has an abutting rim that contacts with and extends along the tubular end of the tubular member and that is folded together over an entire circumference thereof to define a folded hermetic seam between the tubular member and the end plate member. The reformer can be low-priced and its manufacture is easy and efficient.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reformer, a CO shift reactor, a CO reducer, a CO oxidizer, a CO methanation reaction vessel, and the like, used in fuel cells and other uses (hereinafter referred to as a reformer, collectively) and, in particular, to the structures of seams of the reformer, wherein tubular members compose an outer vessel of the reformer, various kinds of internal vessels are disposed within the outer vessel, and flow paths for various kinds of fluids, are united, gas-tight, with plate members that are abutted on the tubular members at their internal surfaces, external surfaces, or both the internal and external surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Seams in a conventional reformer are described in the following taking the generator-type reformer (a reformer in a narrow sense) disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1995-257901 as an example while referring to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of a heat-exchanging-type reformer.
In FIG. 11, the reformer comprises a gas-tight outer vessel composed of a bottomed outer cylindrical casing 1A as a tubular member and two end plates 1B as plate members closing both ends of the outer cylindrical casing 1A, or both the upper and lower open ends thereof. Fluid flow paths are formed by various tubes, as additional tubular members, and plate members and the like as the tube plates (partition walls) to be united with these tubes at their ends and are disposed within the outer vessel.
FIG. 2 illustrates a first fluid feeding pipe that introduces the material fluid, a first fluid, into the outer vessels (1A, 1B). 3 is a first fluid inlet manifold, and 4 is a first fluid flow path through which the first fluid flows after being introduced through the first fluid inlet manifold 3.
Each first fluid flow path 4 is of a double-tubular structure consisting of a bottomed tubular member, an outer tube 5, and an inner tube 6 contained in the outer tube 5 coaxially as a tubular member with both ends open.
7 in the Figure is a flow path for a second fluid, through which the second fluid from a second fluid feeding pipe 7A passes, while exchanging heat with the first fluid via the double tubes (the outer tube 5 and the inner tube 6) composing the first fluid flow path 4 until it is discharged from a second fluid discharge pipe 7B.
The second fluid flow path 7 is separated from the first fluid inlet manifold 3 by a first end plate 8 as a plate member. Similarly, the first fluid inlet manifold 3 is separated from a first fluid outlet manifold 9 by a second end plate 10 as a plate member separate from the one described above.
By the way, 11 is a bellows connecting the second end plate 4 and the inner tube 6. 12 is a reforming medium and 13 is a first fluid discharge pipe.
The operation of the reformer is now described briefly in the following.
The first fluid introduced from the first fluid feeding pipe 2 into the first fluid inlet manifold 3 within the outer cylindrical casing 1A flows into the first fluid exit manifold 9 after passing through a ring-shaped space formed between the outer tube 6 and the inner tube 5, or the first fluid flow path 4, 4, 4. The reforming medium 12 causing the first fluid as the material fluid to react to reformation is filled in a portion of the first fluid flow path 4, 4, 4, and the first fluid is shifted there to a reformed gas by the reforming medium 12.
The reformed gas thus obtained is sent to the first fluid exit manifold 9 through the inner tube 4 and then fed to fuel cells (not shown) via the first fluid discharge pipe 13.
From the second fluid feeding pipe 7A formed near the bottom of the outer cylindrical casing 1A, a high-temperature combustion gas, the second fluid, is sent out and introduced into the second fluid flow path 7. The combustion gas passes through the outer tube 5 while providing heat via the outer tube 5 to the reforming medium 12 contained therein, or heating the reforming medium 12 from outside, and is discharged from the second fluid discharge pipe 7B.
In the reformer, each seam uniting the first end plate 8 with the outer tube 6, or the second end plate 10 with the inner tube 5 (the seam formed via the bellows 11, in this instance) is formed gas-tight with welding so that the first fluid will not mix with the second fluid. Needless to say, the outer cylindrical casing 1A composing the outer vessel and the covering 1B are welded similarly.
In conventional reformers, every seam uniting tubular members including the inner tube 5, the outer tube 6 and the outer cylindrical casing 1A with plate members abutted on these tubular members including the end plates 8 and 10 and the covering 1B is formed with welding for preventing different fluids mixing, while attaining the formation of fluid leakage-free fluid flow paths.
Conventional reformers of a laminar type, for example, are reported on page 79 and page 202 of the proceedings of the third international fuel cell congress held in Nagoya Congress Center between the 30th Nov. and the 3rd Dec., 1999 under the co-sponsorship of the New Energy and Development Organization (NEDO) and the Fuel Cell Development Information Center.
However, it is difficult to apply automatic welding to the sections where tubular members and board members are welded because such sections include many relatively steep curves, as can be seen from the reformer shown in FIG. 11, thus making it unavoidable to rely on expert workers' manual welding, while making an automatic fabrication or a mass production of reformers and a reduction in the manufacturing cost difficult to attain.
Further, seams formed with welding have an additional problem in that the precision of fabrication is impaired due to the occurrence of weld strains at welded sections.


A cleaning device used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that provides excellent wear resistance and mechanical robustness. In particular, the cleaning device is a crosslinked elastomeric polyurethane cleaning blade that includes at least an end region contacting the surface of an imaging member to remove debris therefrom and comprising spherical silica nanoparticles dispersion present in the cleaning blade matrix by in-situ condensation precipitation process.

The presently disclosed embodiments relate in general to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and its subcomponents, and more particularly to an improved cleaning device that has excellent wear resistance and mechanical robustness and is used to remove or clean the residual toner and other debris from a charge retentive belt or drum surface of an image forming member.
In electrophotographic applications such as xerography, a charge retentive photoreceptor belt or drum is electrostatically charged according to the image to be produced. In a digital printer, an input device such as a raster output scanner controlled by an electronic subsystem can be adapted to receive signals from a computer and to transpose these signals into suitable signals so as to record an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the document to be reproduced on the photoreceptor. In a digital copier, an input device such as a raster input scanner controlled by an electronic subsystem can be adapted to provide an electrostatic latent image to the photoreceptor. In a light lens copier, the photoreceptor may be exposed to a pattern of light or obtained from the original image to be reproduced. In each case, the resulting pattern of charged and discharged areas on photoreceptor form an electrostatic charge pattern (an electrostatic latent image) conforming to the original image.
The electrostatic image on the photoreceptor may be developed by contacting it with a finely divided electrostatically attractable toner. The toner is held in position on the photoreceptor image areas by the electrostatic charge on the surface. Thus, a toner image is produced in conformity with a light image of the original beam reproduced. Once each toner image is transferred to a substrate, and the image affixed thereto form a permanent record of the image to be reproduced. In the case of multicolor copiers and printers, the complexity of the image transfer process is compounded, as four or more colors of toner may be transferred to each receiving substrate sheet or paper. Once the single or multicolored toner is applied to the substrate, it is permanently affixed to the substrate sheet by fusing so as to create the single or multicolor copy or print. Following the photoreceptor to the receiving substrate toner transfer process, it is necessary to at least periodically clean the charge retentive surface of the photoreceptor. In order to obtain the highest quality copy or print image, it is generally desirable to clean the photoreceptor each time toner is transferred to the substrate. In addition to the removing of excess residual toner, other particles such as paper fibers, toner additives and other impurities (hereinafter collectively referred to as "residue") remaining on the charged surface of the photoreceptor should also be completely removed and cleaned as well prior to the next printing cycle to avoid debris intererence with the recording of next new latent image thereon.
Various methods and apparatus may be used for removing residual particles/debris from the imaging surface of the photoreceptor. For example, a cleaning brush, a cleaning web and a cleaning blade have been utilized; these devices are operated by wiping the imaging surface to effect cleaning. After prolonged service in the machine, however, these devices become contaminated with toner and debris and pre-maturely lose their cleaning efficiency which requires frequent costly replacement in the field. The shortcomings and pre-mature failure of these devices, made way for the development of another prevalent and improved form of cleaning known as elastomeric blade cleaning.
Elastomeric cleaning blades made of rubberlike material and brushes are employed to remove residue/debris from a photoreceptor surface. A typical elastomeric blade, made of inexpensive/low-cost crosslinked polyurethane, is used to scrape residue/debris from the photoreceptor surface. In operation, a rotating cleaning brush may first loosen, dislodge and abrade the unwanted toner and other residue from the photoreceptor surface prior to the subsequent sliding/wiping action of the elastomeric polyurethane blade to clean up the photoreceptor surface and be ready for next latent imaging formation process.
The currently used polyurethane blade in the electrophotographic cleaning process is an isotropic material having a Young's modulus that does satisfactorily meet both the lateral conformability requirement and resonant frequency requirement needed for effective cleaning performance. However, the currently used elastomeric polyurethane blade to clean the residue toners/debris from the surface of an organic photoreceptor belt or drum, has also been found to have certain deficiencies in blade cleaning process which are primarily a result of frictional sealing contact that must occur between the blade and the photoreceptor surface. Dynamic friction is the force that resists the relative motion between these two bodies that come into contact with each other as the photoreceptor is in cyclic motion against the stationary blade. This friction between the blade edge and the photoreceptor surface causes wearing away of the blade edge and damages the blade's intimate contact with the surface, resulting in material failure and eventual loss of the blade's cleaning efficiency. Therefore, a mechanically robust elastomeric polyurethane blade that has improved wear resistance is urgently needed to resolve the issue for functional life extension.
Various approaches have been employed to deal with problems associated with photoreceptor cleaning and oxidation in copying or printing machine environments, including the following disclosures: U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,639, U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,657, U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,395, U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,081, U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,331, U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,408, U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,191, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,639, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,639, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an apparatus for cleaning residual toner and debris from a moving charge retentive surface of an image forming apparatus. The present embodiment includes a multiple blade holder for selectively indexing each individual blade into position for cleaning the moving photoreceptor. The blade holder contains a number of cleaning blades mounted radially from a central core; by rotating the holder about its longitudinal axis a new cleaning blade is moved by the indexing device into the cleaning position to replace a failed blade. The indexing device removes the failed cleaning blade and positions a new cleaning blade in frictional contact with the photoreceptor for cleaning.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,639, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a cleaning blade which is made from a thermoplastic material having a compounded additive for lubrication. The cleaning blade is used in an electrophotographic printing machine to remove residual particles from a photoconductive surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,657, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a blade member impregnated with inorganic particulates dispersed therein so as to reinforce the blade for improving blade life.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,081, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a blade member for cleaning a photoreceptor wherein an A.C. voltage is applied to the cleaning blade. Use of the A.C. voltage eliminates the need to bias the blade against the photoreceptor with a high frictional force and thus eliminates impaction of toner on the photoreceptor surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,331, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an offset electrostatic imaging process which includes the steps: (a) forming a latent electrostatic image on a dielectric imaging member, with the dielectric imaging member being prepared by coating an electrically conductive substrate with a porous layer of a non-photoconductive metal oxide using a deposition process; (b) developing the latent electrostatic image with a developer material which comprises a silicone polymer and from about 0.5 to about 5 percent by weight of a metal salt of a fatty acid; (c) transferring the developed image to an image receiving surface by applying pressure between the dielectric imaging member and the image receiving surface; (d) cleaning the dielectric imaging member using a first cleaning means which is effective to remove developer material residue from about the surface of the porous oxide layer; and (e) further cleaning the dielectric imaging member using a second cleaning means which is effective to remove developer material residue from the pores below the surface of the oxide layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,408, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an electrophotographic imaging member, which includes a conductive layer, a charge transport layer comprising an aromatic amine charge transport or hydrazone molecule in a continuous polymeric binder phase, and a contiguous charge generation layer comprising a photoconductive material, a polymeric binder and a hydroxyaromatic antioxidant. An electrophotographic imaging process using this member is also described.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,191, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a laminated doctor blade for removing excess marking material or other material from a surface. The blade comprises a relatively hard layer of a smooth tough material and a relatively soft layer of resilient material.

Cleaning device comprising in-situ metal oxide dispersion