When an engine is stopped in a state in which a supercharger is overheated (step S21: YES), a control device performs rotation processing for rotating a crankshaft of the engine under a condition in which the supply of fuel to the engine is stopped (step S23). After the rotation processing is ended (step S25: YES), the control device performs engine stop processing for stopping the rotation of the crankshaft (step S29).

In recent years, a hybrid vehicle provided with an engine including an exhaust gas type forced induction device that uses the energy of exhaust gas to pressurize the intake air has been developed. When the hybrid vehicle is travelling, the engine may be requested to stop even when the boost pressure produced by the forced induction device is high. In such a case, immediately after the supply of fuel to the engine is stopped in accordance with the request, the turbine wheel of the forced induction device continues to rotate for a while in the exhaust passage of the engine due to inertia. In such a case, gas having a high oxygen concentration is continuously supplied to a catalyst, which is located in the exhaust passage. This may increase the oxygen adsorption amount of the catalyst and lower the purification capacity of the catalyst.
Patent document 1 discloses a method for limiting decreases in the purification capacity of the catalyst. In this method, when stopping an engine as requested, the boost pressure produced by the forced induction device is lowered to decrease the rotation speed of the turbine wheel before stopping the supply of fuel to the engine. Accordingly, the rotation speed of the turbine wheel rotated by inertia immediately after the engine is stopped becomes low, and the amount of high oxygen concentration gas supplied to the catalyst is reduced. This limits decreases in the purification capacity of the catalyst.
In a hybrid vehicle provided with an engine including an exhaust gas type forced induction device, components of the forced induction device and the peripheral components of the forced induction device may become overheated if the engine is stopped while the vehicle is travelling. To avoid stopping of the engine when the forced induction device is overheated, operation of the engine is continued for a predetermined period from when the engine is requested to stop before stopping the supply of fuel to the engine. This stops the rotation of the engine crankshaft when the forced induction device is no longer overheated.


A novel transparent double-sided adhesive sheet for image display device is provided, that, under the constraint of holding down the thickness of the adhesive sheet to 250 μm or less, can relieve a distortion arising within the adhesive sheet after laminating even if a member has a stepped portion of 50 μm to 100 μm in height on the laminating surface.

In recent years, in order to increase the visibility of image display devices, the gap between an image display panel such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display (PDP) or an electroluminescence display (ELD), and a protective panel or a touch panel member disposed on the front side (viewing side) thereof, is filled with an adhesive sheet, a liquid bonding agent, or the like, to carry out suppression of reflection of incoming light or outgoing light from a displayed image at the air layer interface.
As a method that uses an adhesive for filling such a gap between constitutive members for display device, a method is known, whereby a liquid adhesive resin composition containing a UV-curable resin is filled in the gap and then illuminated with UV light to let it cure. However, such a method bears the problem that the operation when the liquid is filled being cumbersome, productivity is poor, and moreover, at locations that UV light has difficulty in reaching such as portions masked by a printed masking layer, curing the adhesive is difficult, and obtaining a stable quality is difficult.
In addition, the method of filling the gap between constitutive members for display device using an adhesive sheet is also known. For instance, as a transparent adhesive sheet that can be used suitably for laminating a transparent panel such as a protective panel or a touch panel to an image display panel, a transparent adhesive sheet is described in Patent Document 1, which is a adhesive sheet having at least one or more each of a first adhesive layer and a second adhesive layer having different viscoelastic behaviors and is provided with a constitution in which these layers are layered integrally, the value of the dynamic shear storage modulus G′ as measured with a temperature distribution at 1 Hz frequency being within a specific range.
A transparent double-sided adhesive sheet is described in Patent Document 2, which is a transparent double-sided adhesive sheet having a middle resin layer (A) and pressure-sensitive adhesive layers (B) as the front and back side layers, each layer being respectively a layer with one or more species of (meth)acrylic acid ester series (co)polymer as the base resin, the storage shear modulus (G′(A)) of the middle resin layer (A) at 1 Hz frequency in the 0° C. to 100° C. temperature range being higher than that of the pressure-sensitive adhesive layers (B), and, the indentation hardness (Asker C2 hardness) of the entirety of the sheet being 10 to 80.
In addition, as a thin (for instance, 30 to 50 μm-thick) adhesive sheet that is applicable onto a surface having a step or a protrusion, a UV-crosslinking adhesive sheet is described in Patent Document 3, which is a UV-crosslinking adhesive sheet comprising a (meth)acrylic copolymer of a monomer containing a (meth)acrylic acid ester having a UV-crosslinking site, the store elastic modulus of the adhesive sheet before UV-crosslinking being 5.0×104 Pa or greater but 1.0×106 Pa or lower at 30° C. and 1 Hz and 5.0×104 Pa or lower at 80° C. and 1 Hz, and further, the store elastic modulus of the adhesive sheet after UV-crosslinking being 1.0×103 Pa or greater at 130° C. and 1 Hz.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transparent double-sided adhesive sheet for image display device and image display device using the same

Abstract: Proposed is a transparent double-sided adhesive sheet for image display device which is used for the purpose of laminating an image display device constitutive member having on a laminating surface a stepped portion of 50 μm to 100 μm in height and a flat surface portion, and another image display device constitutive member, wherein a thickness of the maximum thickness portion of the adhesive sheet is 250 μm or less, and a gel fraction (a) at a position in contact with a stepped portion after laminating is 10% or greater and smaller than a gel fraction (b) at a position in contact with a flat surface portion.


A mattress unit for retarding the development of decubitus ulcers includes a fabric cover having therein a foam material, and includes an inflatable bladder and a control unit disposed within openings in the foam material. The inflatable bladder contains a foam material having spaced holes in it. The control unit includes a pump which can selectively supply pressurized air to the bladder, a valve which can selectively bleed air from the bladder, and a pressure sensor which can determine the current pressure in the bladder. The pressure sensor is coupled to an input of a control circuit which controls the pump and valve. The control circuit receives power from an AC/DC converter and is remotely controlled by a hand-held pendant, the converter and pendant each being physically separate from the mattress unit and being connected to the control circuit by respective cables.

In situations where an invalid or medical patient must spend a relatively long period of time confined to a bed, a frequent problem is the eventual development of decubitus ulcers, commonly known as bedsores. A variety of mattresses have been developed over the years to treat decubitus ulcers once they have developed. However, more recently, attention has been turned to the design of mattresses which can be adopted for use prior to the development of decubitus ulcers and which are relatively effective in retarding the development of decubitus ulcers. However, although preexisting mattresses of this type have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects. One common problem is that they are large and structurally complex, to the point where they are typically constructed as an integral part of an entire bed.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved mattress which is effective in retarding the development of decubitus ulcers, and which is structurally simple in comparison to existing units and utilizes relatively inexpensive components.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a mattress which is effectively self-contained and is comparable in size, shape and weight to a conventional hospital mattress, and which can thus be quickly and easily substituted for a conventional mattress on a conventional hospital bed without
incurring the cost and inconvenience of replacing the entire bed.
It is a further object to provide such a mattress which will operate reliably over a relatively long lifetime with little or no maintenance.
It is a further object to provide such a mattress which is highly modular and can be quickly and easily disassembled and reassembled, so that maintenance can be carried out in a short period of time and will involve replacement only of components which are in fact defective, thereby minimizing the expense of maintenance.
It is a further object to provide such a mattress which has therein an inflatable bladder, a control unit which controls the air pressure within the bladder being physically embedded within the mattress itself.

Mattress for retarding development of decubitus ulcers


A method of generating a cell function and timing model library in a standard library format includes the steps of (a) receiving as input a model source file, a technology dependent file, and a cell list data file; (b) parsing a functional description for each cell in the cell list data file from the model source file; (c) expanding parameterized timing data for each cell in the cell list data file from the technology dependent file; and (d) generating as output a cell model library in a standard library format from the parameterized timing data.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent application contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design. More specifically, but without limitation thereto, the present invention relates to a method for generating a cell function and timing model in a standard library format for a specific technology from a cell design description.
Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design tools are used to simulate a circuit design to detect and solve design problems until the design goals are achieved in theory before committing to the expense of physically manufacturing the ASIC. Current design methods require manually developing a cell timing model for a specific technology in a standard format for third party ASIC design software such as a Verilog model library. To migrate a circuit design to a new technology requires manually updating the Verilog model library. The manual effort required for developing and updating cell timing models is time-consuming and prone to introducing errors.
The present invention advantageously addresses the problems above as well as other problems by providing a method for automatically generating a standard cell timing model library from a technology-independent functional description.
In one embodiment, the present invention may be characterized as a method of generating a cell function and timing model library in a standard library format that includes the steps of (a) receiving as input a model source file, a technology dependent file, and a cell list data file; (b) parsing a functional description for each cell in the cell list data file from the model source file; (c) expanding parameterized timing data for each cell in the cell list data file from the technology dependent file; and (d) generating as output a standard cell model library from the parameterized timing data.

Standard library generator for cell timing model


A method and apparatus that reduces the inaccuracies in the tone map operation in the dark areas of an image.

Digital cameras and scanners create image information by converting light into electrical signals using a photo-sensor. Typically the photo-sensors are charged coupled devices (CCD). The CCD's typically have 3 color filters arranged over the surface to sample the light in three different colors. Typically these are red, green, and blue. Scanners typically use an internal light source to illuminate the page. Cameras may use only the ambient illumination or they may add illumination to the scene using a flash. The electrical signal created by each pixel in the CCD is a function of the illumination in the scene, the reflectance of the object in the scene, the pass band of the filter over the pixel, and the inherent sensitivity of the CCD to light. One of the goals of these systems is to reproduce the color of an object on a computer display and with printed output. The computer display typically has different output characteristics than printers. One method used to help match the display with printers is call tone mapping. U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,965 entitled "Synthesized higher precision look-up table from lower-precision look-up table" which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes how tone maps are used. One type of adjustment done with tone maps is "gamma correction". Gamma correction typically maps reflectance space with a power curve. This curve has the property of increasing the contrast of the image in the dark areas and decreasing the contrast in the light areas. The tone map operation can be done in the scanner or camera hardware, or the raw color data may be sent to a computer where the image processing (including the tone map operation) is done.
CCD's sample light and convert it into electrical signals. These electrical signals are then converted into digital information typically using an A-to-D converter. CCD's are typically fairly linear in response to the intensity of light falling on each pixel. The human eye is not linear in response to intensity. The human eye responds more to density, which is the log of intensity. Because of this phenomenon a given change in intensity will be much more noticeable to the human eye if the change occurs in a dark area as compared to a light area of an image. For example in a system with 8 bits of resolution or 256 levels of intensity and 0 as black and 255 as white, a 2-count change in intensity from 10 to 12 may be much more noticeable to the human eye than the same 2-count change in intensity from 200 to 202.
The number of levels of light that the CCD and A-to-D converters can create has increased in recent years. Older scanners and cameras typically had 8 bits per color (256 levels) for a total of 24 bits. Today CCDs and A-to-D converters create 10, 12 and even 16 bits per color. In addition to the increase in the number of levels, currently available CCDs have improved their signal-to-noise ratios. This means that more of the total number of levels are actual signal instead of noise. These changes have made reproductions of the dark areas of the images much more accurate.
Unfortunately these changes have also created some problems. One of these problems is the tone map operation. In the dark areas of the image, inaccuracies in the tone map operation may show up as slight unintentional color changes in the image. These inaccuracies in the dark area are exaggerated when the tone map is using a gamma correction curve. The human eye may be unable to detect a slight change in brightness, but the human eye is very sensitive to small color shifts in the dark areas of an image. These small changes in color in the dark area of images can reduce the usability of these images.
What is needed is a method and apparatus that reduces the inaccuracies in the tone map operation in the dark areas of the image.

Method and apparatus for reducing inaccuracies when processing color data with a tone map

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A radome shell for shielding a radio-frequency (RF) antenna, the radome shell comprising one or more layers of dielectric material. At least one layer comprises a plurality of repetitive gaps, and at least one of width, length and depth of the repetitive gaps is of an order of magnitude of a working frequency wavelength of the RF antenna or one order of magnitude smaller than the working frequency wavelength of the RF antenna.

As known in the art, a radome is a protective cover, designed to shield an antenna (e.g., a radar or communications transceiver antenna) from harmful effects of its surrounding environment, with minimal impact to the electrical performance of the antenna. Under ideal conditions, a radome shell or wall should be electrically invisible. In order to achieve such quality, proper design of a radome shell should match the radome configuration and materials composition to a particular application and radio-frequency (RF) range. In effect, a tradeoff exists between the radome's transparency and its physical qualities, including the rigidity of the radome's structure and the protection it provides to the antenna.
One type of a commercially available radome shell structure is referred in the art as "electrically thin". Such a structure may include a thin dielectric layer shielding the antenna. The dielectric layer may herein be referred to as 'thin' in relation to a typical wavelength of the application's RF frequency range. For example, an electrically thin layer may be in the order of 0.1 of the working RF wavelength. Electrically thin layers typically provide good RF performance (e.g., a low RF reflection coefficient), because signal reflections at the free-space/dielectric boundary are cancelled-out by out-of-phase reflections from the dielectric/free space boundary on the other side of the dielectric material. However, electrically thin layers may provide poor thermal isolation and inferior structural rigidity, especially in high-frequency (short wavelength) applications.
A second type of a commercially available radome shell structure is referred in the art as a "half-wavelength-thick" structure, in which the thickness of the shielding layer is set to be half the working RF wavelength (or an integer product thereof). This structure provides electrical properties that are similar to the electrically thin configuration because round-trip reflections of the RF signals between the borders of the shielding layer cancel-out.
However, optimal RF performance normally dictates that the width of the shielding layer is kept at a minimal width (e.g., a single half-wavelength) due to considerations of RF signal dispersion within the layer and due to considerations of non-tangent transmission/reception of the RF signal (e.g., when not using a concentric, round radome-antenna structure). Consequently, as in the case of an electrically thin layer, the shielding properties of half-wavelength-thick are diminished in high-frequency (short wavelength) applications.
A third type of a commercially available radome shell structure is referred in the art as a "sandwich" structure, in which a low-dielectric foam layer is sandwiched between two thin dielectric skin layers. In order to minimize RF reflection through the radome shell, this approach typically dictates the width of the foam layer to be ¼ of the working RF wavelength, and the width of the skins to be even thinner Consequently, this approach suffers the same disadvantages of structural instability, especially in high-frequency (short wavelength) applications, as elaborated herein in relation to the thin-layer and half-wavelength approaches.

Radome shell having a non-uniform structure


A method and computer program product, within an optimizing compiler, for precise feedback data generation and updating. The method and computer program uses instrumentation and annotation of frequency values to allow feedback data to stay current during the multiple optimizations that the program code undergoes during compilation. Global propagation of known precise feedback values are used to replace approximate and unavailable values, and global verification of feedback data after optimization to detect discrepancies is employed. The method and computer program also provides improved instrumentation to anticipate cloning when code is cloned during ceratin compiler optimizations and handles inlined procedures. The result is compiled executables with improved SPECint benchmarks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer program (i.e., software source code) compilers and more particularly to computer program compilers that perform optimizations.
2. Related Art
Compilation of a computer program consists of a series of transformations from source code through a series of intermediate representations and eventually resulting in binary executables. This series of transformations includes translation and lowering, inlining and linking, and optimizations at all levels.
Optimizing compilers attempt to analyze the software program code in order to produce more efficient executable code. Thus, aggressive compiler optimization is the cornerstone of modern microprocessors. Such compilers may perform one or more of the several types of optimizations which are known to those skilled in the relevant art(s) (e.g., dead code elimination, dead store elimination, branch elimination, partial redundancy elimination, procedure inlining, loop unrolling, etc.).
Ideally, each transformation of the computer program should be chosen to obtain maximum efficiency of the resulting executable binary code. Static analysis performed on the code at compile time can produce great improvements, but compile time indeterminacies prevent the attainment of maximum efficiency. Thus, dynamic analysis attempts to minimize the non-deterministic nature of compiler speculation by gathering information about the behavior of the program during run time.
Because compile-time indeterminacies prevent the attainment of maximum efficiency, one common optimization technique is feedback directed optimization. Feedback directed optimization involves compiling a program, executing it to generate profile (or "feedback") data, and then re-compiling the program using the feedback data in order to optimize it. Such optimization often results from making frequently executed paths of the program (i.e., "hot spots" or "hot regions") execute more quickly, and making other (i.e., less frequently executed) paths execute more slowly. In essence, feedback data measures dynamic data use and control flow during sample executions in an attempt to minimize the non-deterministic nature of compiler speculation.
Two methods exists for identifying these so-called "hot regions" of a program—sampling and instrumentation.
First, sampling is the periodic measurement of the targeted computer's register contents during execution of the program binary. Sampling thus identifies where most of the time is spend during execution of a particular computer program. The drawback of sampling, however, is that it only obtains information about the behavior of the binary. It is difficult to translate this data into information about the source code or any of the series of intermediate representations that are produced during the compilation process. An example of sampling-based code analysis is described in detail in Jennifer M. Anderson et al., "Continuous Profiling: Where have all the cycles gone?", ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, pp. 357–390 (November 1997), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Second, instrumentation is the insertion of extra instructions into the code during compilation in order to collect information at run time. The disadvantages of instrumentation follow from its intrusive nature. That is, instrumentation increases code size and slows down the binary execution time. Also, instrumentation may alter program behavior. From the compiler's standpoint, however, the primary advantage of instrumentation is that it provides data about the behavior of the code as it is represented at the moment of instrumentation. Conventional instrumentation schemes typically instrument the binary code of a computer program, although the source code and the intermediate representations can also be instrumented. Instrumentation provides run-time measurements for a snapshot of the code taken at the point during compilation that instrumentation was performed. An example binary instrumentation scheme is described in detail in Amitabh Srivastava and Alan Eustace, "ATOM: A System for Building Customized Program Analysis Tools," ACM SIGPLAN Notices, 29(6), pp. 196–205 (June 1994), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Sampling is faster than instrumentation and can be performed by the hardware. However, once run-time data has been obtained for a particular snapshot of the code representation, maintaining and updating that data to reflect any later compiler transformations is generally less difficult than projecting data obtained from sampling backwards through the compilation transformations.
Compilers typically represent any given program (i.e., the immediate representation) by a control flow graph. Compiler optimizations performed on the program result in changes to the flow graph, so that the program is represented by many different, though semantically equivalent, flow graphs during the compilation process. The problem, however, is that feedback data gathered during sample runs corresponds to only one instance of the program's flow graph. As a result, feedback data, when mapped to the flow graph representation, is correct at only one point during compilation.
When optimizations result in transformations of the flow graph, the associated feedback data often cannot be precisely and correctly updated in the new flow graph. As the compiler continues to optimize, the discrepancies worsen, hence defeating the original intent to deterministically measure the program flow.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and computer program product, within an optimizing compiler, for precise feedback data generation and updating for compile-time optimizations. The method and computer program product should perform instrumentation on the source code of the computer program and maintain accurate feedback data especially when dealing with inlined procedures in such programming languages as C++ and when code is cloned during ceratin optimizations.

Method and computer program product for precise feedback data generation and updating for compile-time optimizations


A gas bag for a vehicle occupant restraining system, which is adapted to be unfolded from a folded state into a deployed state by gases led into the interior of the gas bag, comprises at least one fabric part having edges which are connected together along at least a part of their length by a seam. This seam is formed by a plurality of stitches and at least one thread. The length of the stitches and the tension of the thread is so set that, in the deployed state of the gas bag, a plurality of discharge openings are formed between respectively adjacent stitches between two edges sewn together. A controlled discharge of the gases takes place through the discharge openings.

Gas bags for a vehicle occupant restraining system are known, which have discharge openings through which, with the gas bag in the deployed state, a part of the gas employed for deployment of the gas bag may be discharged.
By control of the discharge of gas from a deployed gas bag it is possible to obtain an optimum restraining action by the deployed gas bag in a manner adapted to the severity of the accident in an individual case and to the weight of the vehicle occupant. Discharging gas from the gas bag may be allowed for essentially in two different ways: on the one hand discharge openings may be provided in the wall of the gas bag, which are either opened at the outset or are opened by the pressure in the interior of gas bag, and on the other hand by having gas permeable regions in the fabric. A disadvantage in the case of discharge openings formed in the wall is the complexity of manufacture. Furthermore it is not possible to prevent certain fluctuations in the opening pressure in the case of discharge openings adapted to open when a certain pressure is reached.

Vehicle gas bag with discharge openings formed along a seam


Techniques are disclosed relating to analysis and reduction of crosstalk between signals. These techniques may be applicable in many fields, such as single-tube PCR or DNA melt analysis, PCR or melt data from neighboring wells of a multi-well plate, capillary electrophoresis data (e.g., DNA sequencing), gas chromatography, multispectral imaging, dual-color fluorescence correlation spectrometry, electrical crosstalk, etc. According to one embodiment, crosstalk between fluorescence signals from different species may be determined based on a correlation between the time derivatives of the fluorescence signals from the fluorescent species.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to analysis and correction of crosstalk between signals. In particular, this disclosure relates to a technique for more accurately determining the amount of crosstalk between signals, which may be useful in determining the levels of the underlying signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a well-known problem in many different technical fields that measured signals may sometimes exhibit crosstalk. Crosstalk can, for example lead to erroneous changes in the data from one channel as a result of changes in a neighboring channel, which may impede the ability to determine the levels of the underlying signals in each channel. Accordingly, determining the amount of crosstalk and how to accurately correct for it is an important issue in many different areas. This disclosure includes techniques of general applicability that may be applied in different situations according to various embodiments.
For example, this disclosure includes techniques that may be applicable in such varied fields as single-tube polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or DNA melt analysis, PCR or melt data from neighboring wells of a multi-well plate or other multi-well arrangement, capillary electrophoresis data (e.g., DNA sequencing), gas chromatography, multispectral imaging, dual-color fluorescence correlation spectrometry, electrical crosstalk, etc.
In one embodiment, this disclosure may be applied to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) devices used to amplify nucleic acid sequences. Some such devices may typically have multiple spectral channels to allow for multiplexed reactions. A problem sometimes encountered is that spectral overlap of the absorption and emission spectra of the fluorescent species (e.g., fluorophores) used to measure the real-time products of the reaction leads to crosstalk between the spectral channels. The signature of crosstalk in qPCR data is that a change in one channel's data can be seen in another channel's data. Crosstalk can reduce the effective limit of detection of an assay or lead to inconsistent or incorrect assay results.
According to one known technique, and as discussed in more detail below, crosstalk may be estimated statically based on determined characteristics of the measuring device. Such a method may have various drawbacks, however. The levels of crosstalk may in fact not be completely static, which can cause inaccuracies in the static estimate as the crosstalk varies. Accordingly, this disclosure provides various methods for determining crosstalk dynamically, based on analysis of the captured data.


An oil pump which delivers an operating oil to a power steering mechanism of vehicle is designed to reduce the power which is wasted during a high speed operation. A subpump of a reduced capacity having a number of revolutions which varies with a vehicle speed is provided, in addition to a vane pump which delivers an operating oil to the power steering mechanism. A discharged oil from the subpump is delivered to act upon the rear surface of the vanes to enable a pumping action of the vane pump when operating at low speeds while the delivery of the discharged oil to the rear surface of the vanes is interrupted to cease the pumping action of the vane pump, and is delivered to the power steering mechanism when operating at higher speeds.

The invention relates to a power steering system provided with a vane pump.
Generally, a power steering system is arranged such that oil discharged from a vane pump is supplied to or displaced from a power cylinder through a power steering servo valve, thereby imparting an assistance to a steering operation. The vane pump comprises a cam ring having a substantially elliptical cam surface, a rotor which is adapted to rotate inside the cam ring and a plurality of vanes adapted to move back and forth within radial slits formed in the rotor. A pumping function is provided by increasing and decreasing the volume of a pump chamber which is defined between a pair of adjacent vanes as the rotor rotates. During the rotation of the rotor, discharged oil is introduced to act upon the rear surface of the vanes so as to maintain the individual vanes positively in sliding contact with the cam surface of the cam ring.
In a conventional power steering system as described above, the discharge per revolution of the vane pump remains constant, and accordingly it is required to discharge a flow rate during a high speed operation, all of which results in an increased loss of driving horsepower. The introduction of the discharged pressure oil to act upon the rear surface of the vane causes the force, which urges the vane against the cam surface in a suction region to be increased, resulting in an abrasion caused by the relative sliding movement between the cam surface and the tip of the vanes. This made it impossible to chamfer the cam surface or to provide a suction opening in order to achieve a higher suction efficiency. The increased force with which the vane is urged against the cam surface increases the resistance presented to the sliding movement, thus causing a disadvantage that the driving horsepower is wasted.


The invention relates to a method for the production of a packaging for a CD-like storage medium, by means of a lower die, with a recess and an upper die with a working stamp corresponding to the recess. The invention further relates to the following method steps—a card of deep-drawable material is placed between the upper and lower die and an elastic body is placed between the card and the lower die or between the card and the upper die.

The invention relates to a packaging for a multimedia storage medium like a mini CD, a CD, a SupremeCARD, cut CD, a DVD, memory chips and other mass storage media (further called storage medium).
Such packaging is well known. As basis a card made from a fiber containing material is used, for example made from paper or cardboard. It is well known, to provide such cards with a bulge, whose shape corresponds to the storage medium to be contained. Reference is made the following publications:
(1) GB 23 49 359 A
This publication shows a card with an impression for containing a storage medium. The localization of the data storage medium (CD) takes place by means of a circular adhesive area 8. Instead of the adhesive film sector-patterned flaps 13 are intended.
(2) WO 00 66 368 A1
The packaging described here exhibits only in outlines an impression of undetermined depth. A securing against falling out of the storage medium is also missing here.
(3) FR 27 72 350 A1
This publication shows a card, which carries a storage medium in a way not specified in more detail.
(4) WO 00 56 555 A1
The same applies here, as with publication (3).
(5) DE 297 11 577 U1
The packaging represented here serves the purpose of containing a storage medium, while nothing is stated about the localization of the storage medium at the card.

Packaging for a storage medium in particular for a cd


Radio transmissions are spectrally contained to reduce adjacent channel interference by a method and apparatus for I,Q filtering of signals before quadrature modulation in digital cellular radio transmission systems such as communications systems following the GSM TDMA, IS-54 or IS-95 standards. The filtering is accomplished by multiple stage registers connected at their complementary outputs to identical resistor networks. The outputs of the resistor networks are summed to represent a smoothly transitioning analog representation of the digital voice or data transmission. The analog representation may be additionally low pass filtered to remove higher frequency components before quadrature modulation. Because rapid transmissions in the transmittal signal are avoided, adjacent channel interference is reduced.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and apparatuses for the realization of spectral containment of radio transmissions so that they do not cause adjacent channel interference and, in particular, for the realization of spectral containment of high bitrate digital transmissions such as TDMA or CDMA cellular telephone signals.
2) Discussion of Related Art
Technological advancements have permitted continuous improvements in reducing the size and cost while increasing the battery life of cellular portable telephones. This has made cellular telephones ever more popular. As a result, cellular telephone systems need to expand so as to provide service to ever greater numbers of subscribers.
Pressure on frequency channel availability has led to the development of digital cellular technologies such as the European GSM TDMA system, the U.S. IS-54 digital TDMA cellular standard, and the U.S. IS-95 CDMA standard. All the above systems are characterized by first converting speech to a compressed digital form which is then coded by more or less redundant coding and subsequently transmitted using one or more timeslots in a repeating frame period.
For example, the GSM TDMA system codes speech using convolutional coding and transmits the coded speech using one or two out of 16 timeslots depending on whether a half-rate or a full-rate channel is allocated. An IS-54 system also convolutionally codes speech and then transmits it using one or two out of six timeslots. An IS-95 system uses convolutional coding plus bit repetition and transmits the speech using 2, 4, 8 or 16 out of 16 timeslots depending on whether the speech sound is a voiced sound, non-voiced sound or silence/background noise. In all cases therefore, the bitrate of speech is first compressed to remove natural redundance and then the bitrate is increased by using intelligent coding to obtain a higher bitrate stream for transmission that is more tolerant of interference.
A transmitter for such digitally coded signals preferably comprises a balanced quadrature modulator. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art arrangement of a quadrature modulator for synthesizing an arbitrarily modulated signal. A digital signal processor (DSP) 30 calculates time-spaced samples of the real and imaginary parts of a desired complex modulation. The real part is given by the desired amplitude times the cosine of the desired phase angle, while the imaginary part is given by the amplitude times the sine of the phase angle. In this way both Amplitude Modulated (AM) signals or Phase Modulated (PM) signals can be generated, or signals comprising both, the result of which is generally known as complex modulated signals. The numerical samples calculated by the DSP 30 are transferred to a pair of Digital-to-Analog (D-to-A) convertors 31 that convert each numerical sample pair into a pair of analog voltages known as I (In-phase) and Q (Quadrature) signals. A sequence of such numerical samples generates I and Q waveforms but in a stepwise fashion.
The steps in the waveforms cause undesirable spectral components that would interfere with adjacent radio channels unless suppressed. Some techniques for D-to-A conversion provide interpolation between samples giving sloping waveforms between adjacent sample values, which reduces but does not sufficiently eliminate the undesired components. Consequently, I and Q smoothing filters 32 are necessary. These are low-pass filters that pass all modulation spectral components of interest but suppress the higher frequency components of the spectrum associated with the stepwise or piecewise linear I,Q waveforms from the D-to-A convertors 31.
The smoothed I,Q waveforms are applied to a pair of balanced modulators 33 together with cosine and sine carrier frequency signals, this arrangement being known as a quadrature modulator. The arrangement described so far and illustrated in FIG. 1 belongs to the well-known prior art.
In summary, the DSP 30 produces numerical I and Q waveforms representative of the desired digital or analog modulation and then D-to-A convertors 31 convert the numerical I,Q representations to analog I,Q modulating waveforms. Filters 32 remove discontinuities due to the finite time sampling and quantization of the numerical I,Q signals to produce continuous I,Q waveforms, thus avoiding spectral splatter into adjacent radio channels. The smoothed I,Q waveforms are applied to sine and cosine radio frequency-carriers using quadrature modulator 33.
It is important for accurate signal generation that (1) the two balanced modulators are accurately matched, (2) the levels of the I and Q signals are accurately controlled relative to each other, and (3) the balanced modulators have low carrier leakage or offset, that is, the output signal of a balanced modulator should be zero when its respective I or Q modulating signal is zero.
Since the I and Q signals vary from positive to negative, if a circuit is required to operate only from a single positive supply, then the zero point of an I or Q waveform cannot be defined to be zero voltage, but must be defined to be some positive reference voltage such as half the supply voltage. Then when an I or Q waveform swings below this reference voltage it will be interpreted as negative, and positive when it swings above.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to generate a reference voltage from the DSP 30 that is exactly equal to the voltage the D-to-A convertors supply with an input numerical value of zero. This problem is overcome by use of the balanced configuration shown in FIG. 2 and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,722, herein incorporated by reference, which uses special D-to-A conversion techniques to generate I and Q signals as well as their complements I and Q.
In FIG. 2, instead of using the D-to-A convertors 31 of FIG. 1, the numerical I and Q signals from DSP 30 are transferred to a delta-sigma (.DELTA.-.SIGMA.) convertor 41. This device is built according to known art to generate a high bitrate stream of binary `1`s and `0`s having a short-term average value proportional to the numerical input value. With a maximum possible numerical input value the bit stream produced would be 1111 . . . (the voltage of a `1` condition being equal to the chosen supply voltage) while the minimum numerical input value will generate the bit pattern 00000 . . . A half-scale numerical input will produce the bit stream 1010101010 . . . having an average voltage equal to half the supply voltage. According to an aspect of the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,722, extra invertor gates 42 are provided at the output of each delta-sigma convertor 41 to additionally generate the complementary bitstreams. That means when delta-sigma convertors 41 produce a bit stream 100100100100 . . . having a mean of 1/3 the supply voltage, the complementary bit stream will be 011011011011 . . . having a mean of 2/3rds the supply voltage. The difference between these two is 1/3-2/3=-1/3 of the supply voltage. If the convertor produces 111011101110 . . . having a mean of +3/4 of the supply voltage then the complementary signal 000100010001 . . . will have the mean of 1/4 of the supply voltage, so that the difference is 3/4-1/4=+1/2 of the supply voltage. Consequently, by using the difference between the convertor output signal and its complement to represent an I or Q signal, the value represented can be positive or negative even with a single positive voltage supply, and no reference voltage need be generated. The balanced mixers 43 are therefor provided with balanced, two-wire inputs rather than single-ended inputs, that are responsive to the difference in the signals on the two wires and unresponsive to the absolute or common-mode voltage (sum of the voltages) on the two wires.
High bitrate delta-sigma modulation bitstreams are simply converted to the analog voltage they represent by forming the moving average voltage over a large number of bits. This may be done using a continuous-time, low-pass filter having a bandwidth which is a small fraction of the bitrate, but still sufficient to pass all desired modulation components. For the balanced signal configuration developed in this invention, balanced filters 44 are interposed between the delta-sigma convertor outputs and the I,Q balanced modulators 43.
In summary, delta-sigma convertors 41 convert the numerical sample values from DSP 30 to high bitrate streams wherein instantaneous waveform values are represented by the proportion of ones to zeros in the bitstream, i.e., by the average mark/space ratio. The inverters 42 form complementary bitstreams such that the difference in mark space ratio forms a balanced signal that can more easily represent both positive and negative instantaneous waveform values. The high bitrate fluctuations are removed by balanced filters 44 to obtain continuous, smoothed I,Q waveforms which are applied to balanced inputs of quadrature modulator 43, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,722, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/967,027, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,523 which is also incorporated herein by reference. The parent applications disclose the advantages of using balanced I,Q signals representing a complex modulating signal waveform by means of high bitrate sigma-delta modulation streams and their complements.

Balanced tranversal I,Q filters for quadrature modulators


A cell for an electrical energy store is provided, including a cell housing within which there is arranged an electrode and on the outer side of which there is arranged a terminal which is galvanically connected to the electrode, wherein an electrical securing element is connected in a current path between the terminal and the electrode for the purposes of galvanic separation of the electrode and of the terminal. The cell is characterized by having the securing element arranged outside the cell housing. In this way, it is possible in a simple manner for the state of charge of the cell to be checked, and also for the cell to be discharged, from the outside.

The invention relates to a cell for an electrical energy store, having a cell housing within which an electrode is arranged, and on the outer side of which there is arranged a terminal which is galvanically connected to the electrode, wherein a protection element is connected in a current path between the terminal and the electrode, for the purposes of the galvanic separation of the electrode and the terminal.
A cell of this type is described, for example, in German patent document DE 10 2012 210 151 A1.
Customarily, a plurality of cells are mutually interconnected in series and/or in parallel, thereby constituting a battery or an accumulator, or an electrical energy store in general. Depending upon the number and the interconnection of cells, various voltages, currents and energy capacities can be achieved. In one exemplary embodiment, the energy store is a "high-voltage energy store," which is installed in an electric or hybrid vehicle, and is employed for the supply of energy to an electrical drive system of the vehicle.
An energy store is configured, for example, as a lithium-ion accumulator, and customarily comprises a plurality of cells, but at least one single cell which, as a fundamental component, dictates the electrical properties of the energy store. The cell comprises two electrodes, e.g., one of copper and one of aluminum, upon each of which an active material is applied, generally in a coating arrangement, for storing energy. Customarily, the two coated electrodes are mutually spaced apart from each other by a "separator." The electrodes are typically configured in a planar design, as plates or foils, and can either be arranged in a stack or mutually interwound. The electrodes are accommodated in a cell housing which, in particular, also provides mechanical protection. For the electrical bonding of the cell, each of the electrodes within the cell housing is typically connected to an outgoing conductor, which is brought out through the cell housing to the outer side thereof, where it is bonded with a terminal, i.e., a cell terminal. Energy can then be tapped-off or infed via both terminals. In an energy store comprising a plurality of cells, the cells are coupled at the terminals, and are mutually interconnected.
Specifically, in lithium-ion accumulators, but also in electrical energy stores in general, an electrical protection element is appropriately incorporated which, in the event of a failure or malfunction of the energy store, interrupts the electrical connection and prevents further damage, e.g., associated with the burn-out or explosion of one or more cells.
Thus, for example, in the above-mentioned German patent document DE 10 2012 210 151 A1, a battery cell is described having two electrodes which are arranged in a housing, each of which is connected to a terminal on the exterior of the housing. Within the housing, a fusible element is connected in the current path between one of the electrodes and the associated terminal, which constitutes an element of a current interruption device and which, in the event of an unacceptably high current, melts, thereby interrupting the current path.
In German patent document DE 10 2010 044 455 A1, conversely, a fusible element is described which does not constitute part of a respective cell, but which is employed as a connecting element, in order to effect the electrical interconnection of the terminals of two cells, thereby forming a serial or parallel connection of the cells.
In this context, an object of the invention is the disclosure of a cell which is improved with respect to the protection element.
The object is fulfilled according to the invention by a cell having the characteristics described in the independent claim. Advantageous configurations, further developments and variants are the subject matter of the sub-claims.
The cell is designed for application in an electrical energy store, i.e., a battery or an accumulator, e.g., a lithium-ion accumulator. The cell has a cell housing, within which an electrode is arranged, and on the outer side of which there is arranged a terminal which is galvanically connected to the electrode. An electrical protection element is connected in a current path between the terminal and the electrode, for the purposes of the galvanic separation of the electrode and the terminal. The protection element is arranged outside the cell housing.
The protection element is thus an external protection element to the cell. The arrangement of the protection element outside the cell housing provides significant advantages, particularly in comparison with a cell having a protection element which is arranged within the cell housing. The advantages are achieved specifically with respect to the handling of the cell following the tripping of the protection element. Firstly, from the exterior of the cell, with no further action and specifically by eye, it can be seen whether the protection element has tripped or is still intact. This is particularly advantageous in an energy store which is comprised of a plurality of mutually interconnected cells. Secondly, even after the tripping of the protection element, it is still possible to determine the state of charge of the cell, and to execute the controlled discharge thereof, where applicable. Although the terminal can no longer be employed for this purpose, as it is now separated from the associated electrode, the external arrangement of the protection element with respect to the cell housing is such that the bonding of the electrode from the exterior of the cell housing is still possible. As the protection element is connected to the electrode at one end, and this end, even after the tripping thereof, is galvanically connected to the electrode, an external terminal point is provided at this end, by means of which the state of charge of the cell can be controlled in a simple manner, and via which the cell can be further discharged thereafter, where applicable.
In general, the cell incorporates two electrodes, each of which is connected to one terminal of the cell, such that the cell has a two-pole configuration overall. The terminals thus constitute end points of a current path through the cell. The terminals are thus employed for the bonding of the cell, and specifically for the connection thereof with other cells. The electrodes are, for example, configured as coated metal foils or plates, which are arranged in a stack or are mutually interwound. A "separator" is customarily arranged between the electrodes.
The electrodes are arranged in the cell housing, i.e., are enclosed in the latter, and are thus specifically protected against external influences. Bonding of the electrodes is executed by means of the terminals which, to this end, are arranged outside the cell housing. Alternatively, the terminals are a constituent element of the cell housing, i.e., the cell is then directly connected by the cell housing thereof, which functions as a terminal. A combination is also conceivable, wherein the cell is connected on one side by the cell housing thereof, as one of the terminals, and by a further separate terminal. Customarily, one of the terminals is galvanically connected to the cell housing, such that the cell housing lies at the corresponding electrode potential. Conversely, the other terminal is electrically isolated from the cell housing. In one configuration, a bursting membrane is additionally arranged on the cell housing, which ruptures in the event of an overpressure in the interior of the cell, thereby resulting in a pressure equalization. The bursting membrane thus specifically constitutes a mechanical protection element, as opposed to the electrical protection element in the current path, which primarily serves for the electrical protection of the cell.
A respective electrode is connected to one of the terminals, preferably by means of an "outgoing conductor." The outgoing conductor is formed of an electrically-conductive material, and is specifically connected to the electrode in a fixed manner. The outgoing conductor is then connected to the terminal. Overall, the resulting current path runs from one terminal through the associated outgoing conductor and the electrode connected thereto, and from thence to the other electrode, via the outgoing conductor thereof, and finally to the other terminal. Depending upon the position and the configuration of the terminals, the current path is also routed through the cell housing, where applicable. The electrical protection element is arranged along this current path such that, in the event of a short-circuit or an overload, the current path is interrupted. In the normal state and duty of the cell, the current path remains closed by the protection element whereas, in the event of an overload, the current path is interrupted. An overload involves, for example, an excessively high voltage or an excessively high current. The short-circuit or overload is detected by the protection element, and the latter is then tripped, such that the current path is interrupted as a result.
The protection element is arranged in the current path such that, in the normal duty of the cell, a current flows in the protection element. The protection element is integrated in the current path between one of the electrodes and the associated terminal. For the protection of the cell, the protection element is then rated such that, e.g., upon the achievement of a specific maximum permissible current, the protection element is tripped. In general, the protection element has two sides, which are connected by means of a safeguard path, in which the interruption occurs in the event of tripping, such that the two sides are galvanically separated from each other.
Although, after tripping, the current path is interrupted, it is nevertheless possible, due to the special arrangement of the protection element, to check the state of charge of the cell from the exterior, without the necessity for the opening of the cell. To this end, in an appropriate further development, a current tap is connected in the current path between the electrode and the protection element, and is arranged outside the cell housing. Accordingly, that electrode which, by the tripping of the protection element, has now been separated from the associated terminal can still be contacted from the exterior, by the current tap. This is configured, for example, as a pin or a connection head, or in the manner of a terminal, and thus constitutes a pole of the cell. For the checking of the state of charge, an appropriate test device is then connected to the current tap and to the other terminal such that, with respect to the testing of the state of charge, the protection element lies outside the shortened current path which is now employed. The same applies analogously to the discharging of the cell, further to the tripping of the protection element.
Preferably, the protection element is configured as a fusible element, and is thus particularly simple and cost-effective. To this end, the protection element is configured, for example, as a sheet metal component with a safeguard path formed by a tapered section, the specific cross-section of which is such that the melting thereof proceeds in response to a correspondingly high current. Typically, the cross-section ranges between 1 and 5 mm2, although other cross-sections can also be appropriate, depending upon the application. The cross-section dictates a tripping current, with effect from which the protection element is tripped. For example, for the application of the cell in a consumer electronic device, the cross-section is rated for a tripping current in excess of 10 and up to 100 A. In automotive applications, for example, the cross-section is rated for a tripping current in the region of approximately 800 to 1000 A. The protection element is appropriately formed of the same material as the electrode.
Preferably, the cell is configured within the cell housing in a fuseless arrangement. In other words, no further electrical protection element, and specifically no fusible element, is arranged or provided within the cell housing. Electrical protection of the cell is thus executed exclusively outside the cell housing, thereby ensuring that the current path in the interior of the cell remains intact, even after the tripping of the external protection element. Moreover, cells having a protection element in the interior of the housing frequently have a disadvantage in that, upon the tripping thereof, and specifically upon the melting of the protection element, the outgoing conductor is no longer adequately mechanically secured. Inadvertent tilting of the outgoing conductor can result in the restoration of an electrical connection with one of the terminals. Advantageously, this hazard does not arise in a cell housing of a fuseless internal design.
In an appropriate configuration, the electrode is only galvanically connected to the cell housing by the protection element and, with the protection element in the tripped state, the electrode is galvanically isolated from the cell housing. Advantageously, it is thus ensured that, upon the tripping of the protection element, no inadvertent back contacting of the terminal can occur via the housing. This is of general significance in a cell, the cell housing of which is set to the electrode potential of the electrode, and is of particular significance where a fusible element is employed.
Thus, with the cell in its normal state, the cell housing is galvanically connected to the electrode. The terminal is then customarily mounted on the cell housing, and is thus bonded to the electrode. The connection of the terminal is thus achieved indirectly via the cell housing. Correspondingly, the electrode is connected to the cell housing via the protection element. To this end, the protection element is fitted to one side of the cell housing, is specifically attached thereto and, on the other side, e.g., by an outgoing conductor, is connected to the electrode. In the event of the tripping of a fusible element, there is, in principle, a risk that, by the formation of molten material, notwithstanding the separation of the two sides, the side which is bonded to the electrode, by the unfavorable formation of droplets, will continue to be bonded to the cell housing, and thus to the terminal. In the above-mentioned configuration, this is prevented, specifically by the special arrangement of the protection element in relation to the cell housing.
Preferably, the protection element is arranged such that the safeguard path, i.e., in the case of a fusible element the taper, is arranged with a sufficient clearance to the cell housing. By the term "sufficient," it is specifically understood that, between the protection element and the cell housing, an interspace is formed which is sufficiently large to accommodate and/or divert the molten material associated with tripping, with no resulting back contacting. To this end, for example, the outgoing conductor is arranged with a clearance from the outer side of the cell housing, and the protection element diverged from the cell housing in a stepped or ramped arrangement.
Appropriately, the protection element is protected by a cover, by means of which mechanical protection, particularly for the safeguard path, is specifically provided. Particularly in the case of a fusible element, the cover also appropriately serves to maintain the surrounding components in their intended position, and prevents any unintentional collapse or collision of the latter. Specifically, moreover, the cover advantageously executes a function for the controlled routing of the molten material, and thus prevents any spurious back contacting. The cover is specifically formed of an insulating material. The cover is configured, for example, as a cap, and is fitted to or plugged onto the protection element. Appropriately, the cover is removable, in order to permit the checking of the condition of the protection element in a simple manner. Alternatively or additionally, the cover is formed of a transparent material.
In a preferred configuration, the electrode is connected to the protection element by an outgoing conductor, which is routed from the interior to the exterior through a bushing in the cell housing. The function of the outgoing conductor is typically the contacting and retention of the electrode, which is configured, for example, as a stack of a plurality of metal foils. The outgoing conductor thus extends within the cell housing, customarily over the full width of the electrode. A bushing for the outgoing conductor is incorporated in the cell housing, for example in the form of a simple through-hole. The outgoing conductor is then routed through the bushing by a locating projection, e.g., a pin or a bolt. The locating projection is formed of an electrically-conductive material, and appropriately of the same material as the outgoing conductor.
Appropriately, the outgoing conductor and the protection element are permanently mutually attached, thereby resulting in a particularly robust, and specifically leak-tight arrangement. To this end, for example, the locating projection is configured as a rivet, and thus also serves for the attachment of the protection element and the outgoing conductor to each other and to the cell housing. Alternatively, the protection element and outgoing conductor, or alternatively the protection element and the locating projection, are configured in a one-piece arrangement, i.e., as a single component.
Advantageously, the bushing is sealed in relation to the outgoing conductor by a seal. As a result, first, any penetration of moisture or escape of the electrolyte is prevented. Second, specifically in conjunction with the above-mentioned separation of the electrode and the housing, in the event of tripping, the seal also ensures that the electrode or, more accurately, the outgoing conductor is not bonded with the cell housing. Additionally, the seal thus advantageously serves as an electrical insulator for the outgoing conductor in relation to the cell housing, such that these two components are only indirectly mutually bonded by the protection element. Appropriately, the seal is therefore formed of an electrically-insulating material, for example of PE, PP or PTFE.
Preferably, a clearance is maintained between the protection element and the cell housing by an insulator. The insulator is comprised of an electrically-insulating material. This also has an advantage, in that the current path is actually routed through the protection element, and no unwanted alternative current path is constituted. A further advantage is provided in that, in the event of the tripping of the fuse, there is no unwanted contacting with the cell housing. In a first variant, the above-mentioned seal functions as an insulator, and thus additionally as a back contact prevention device. To this end, for example, the seal correspondingly projects outwards from the bushing, and thus maintains a clearance between the safeguard path and the cell housing. In a second variant, the insulator is configured as a separate component, and is spatially arranged between the protection element and the cell housing. The protection element, the insulator and the cell housing, specifically a cover of the cell housing, are respectively configured with a planar design, and constitute a stack. In the second variant, the cell housing, considered from the electrode, is then still connected up-circuit of the protection element in the current path such that, upon the tripping of the protection element, the electrode is still bonded to the cell housing, and only the terminal is separated. The cell housing thus remains at the electrode potential, whereas all the loads which are connected to the terminal, however, are galvanically isolated from the electrode.
In a preferred further development, specifically as an alternative to a protection element which is configured integrally with the outgoing conductor, the protection element is configured as a separate component. The protection element is thus interchangeable. Accordingly, in a modular system, the cell is advantageously configurable with an appropriate protection element, in accordance with requirements in each case. In the assembly of the cell, from a plurality of protection elements, an appropriate protection element is then selected and employed. Accordingly, the protection element is modular. This is particularly advantageous in the context of investigations or tests conducted with various protection elements having, for example, different geometries and/or cross-sections.
In an appropriate configuration, the electrode is connected to the protection element by an outgoing conductor, and the protection element is interchangeably attached to the outgoing conductor and to the terminal by one connecting element, respectively. Advantageously, an interchangeable protection element is produced accordingly. Specifically, the connecting elements are standard components, e.g., bolts with counter nuts, thus permitting the realization of a particularly simple and cost-effective modular design. Appropriately, the connecting elements are respectively fitted through a bushing in the cell housing, as a result of which the overall arrangement is particularly robust.
Preferably, for the purposes of attachment, the connecting element by means of which the protection element is attached to the terminal projects into the cell housing, and is spaced from the latter by an insulating sleeve, i.e., the connecting element is electrically insulated from the cell housing. By means of this connecting element, the terminal and the protection element are thereby attached to the cell housing, but are not electrically bonded to the cell housing by any connecting element. Electrical connection is executed by means of the protection element, which is then specifically electrically bonded to the outgoing conductor by the other connecting element.
The insulating sleeve is configured, for example, as a hollow bolt with an internal thread for the connecting element. Appropriately, the insulating sleeve incorporates a head, which is arranged within the cell housing, and engages with the bushing from the rear, such that the connecting element can be screwed into the insulating sleeve from the exterior and, upon the attachment thereof, the terminal, the protection element, and specifically also the insulator are then compressed against the cell housing.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to a drawing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


The present invention relates to a device with a rotating fluidized bed in one or a succession of cylindrical chambers, in which injectors (12), distributed around the fixed circular wall (2) of said cylindrical chamber(s), inject along this wall, in successive layers, one or more fluids (13), which entrain the solid particles (17), passing through this/these chamber(s), in a movement of rapid rotation whereof the centrifugal force concentrates these particles along this wall, thereby forming a fluidized bed rotating around a central duct or a plurality of central ducts (3), through which the fluids are removed. The present invention further relates to a method of catalytic polymerization, drying or other treatments of solid particles in suspension in a rotating fluidized bed or of catalytic conversion of fluids passing through said rotating fluidized bed using a device according to the present invention.

Methods in which solid particles are in suspension in a fluid and thereby form a fluidized bed through which this fluid passes are well known. When the fluid is injected tangentially to the side wall of a cylindrical reactor, it can transfer part of its kinetic energy to the solid particles in order to make them rotate, and if the energy transfer is sufficient, this rotational movement produces a centrifugal force which can maintain the solid particles along the wall of the reactor, thereby forming a rotating solid particles, whereof the surface is approximately an inverted truncated cone, if the reactor is vertical. Such a method is the subject of Belgian patent application No. 2004/0186, filed on 14 Apr. 2004, in the name of the same inventor.
To obtain a high concentration of solid particles in a conventional fluidized bed, subject to the force of gravity alone, the fluid passing through the fluidized bed must exert on the solid particles an upward pressure lower than the downward pressure of the solid particles due to the force of gravity, and its upward velocity must therefore be low, thereby limiting the fluid flow rate which can pass through the fluidized bed and the difference in velocity of the fluid to that of the solid particles in suspension in this fluid.
In a rotating fluidized bed, in which the centrifugal force may be substantially higher than the force of gravity, the centripetal pressure exerted by the fluid passing radially through the fluidized bed may be substantially higher and therefore its flow rate and its difference in velocity to that of the solid particles may both be substantially higher, thereby improving the contact between the fluid and the solid particles and substantially increasing the volume of fluid that can pass through the fluidized bed and therefore also its capacity to cool, heat and/or dry the solid particles.
If the rotating fluidized bed is supported by a fixed cylindrical wall along which it must slide, the pressure exerted by the solid particles against this fixed cylindrical wall slows these solid particles down to an extent commensurate with the thickness, density and rotational velocity of the fluidized bed. The rotational velocity will decrease rapidly if the angular momentum of rotation is not maintained using rotating mechanical means, with the problems associated with the presence of moving equipment inside the reactor, and/or by the injection of fluid at high velocity, in the direction of rotation of the fluidized bed.
However, when a fluid jet is injected at high velocity into a large reactor, it is rapidly slowed down by its expansion in the reactor, depending on the conditions under which it is injected, thereby limiting its ability to transfer a significant momentum to the solid particles. This is why, unless other mechanical means are used to rotate the fluidized bed, it is necessary to have a very high fluid flow rate to be able to transfer to the solid particles the momentum necessary to maintain a sufficient rotational velocity to maintain them along the cylindrical wall of the reactor, and if the fluid density is much lower than the density of the particles, the devices for centrally removing these fluids may become very bulky, and may limit the height or length of the reactor. The quantity of fluid that must be injected to transfer the necessary angular momentum to the solid particles is very high and it may prevent the formation of a thick and dense fluidized bed and the proper separation of the fluid and the solid particles.
In fact, when a fluid is injected at high velocity, tangentially to the cylindrical wall and perpendicularly to the axis of symmetry of a cylindrical chamber traversed by a central duct comprising discharge openings for removing this fluid, the fluid can make several turns around this central duct before penetrating thereinto if the discharge openings are narrow. However, as soon as solid particles are introduced into this cylindrical chamber, they slow down the fluid to the extent commensurate with the ratio of the specific gravity of the solid particles to that of the fluid. Accordingly, the removal of the fluid becomes more direct, and this may even cause a reversal of the fluid flow along the central duct, downstream of the discharge openings, and generate turbulence which entrains the solid particles toward the outlet, thereby limiting the possibility of forming a thick and dense fluidized bed inside the cylindrical chamber.
In light of the above, it is clear that the formation of a rotating fluidized bed in a reactor faces various problems. It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved rotating fluidized bed device, and more particularly, a rotating fluidized bed device which at least partially solves the abovementioned problems. In particular, it is the object of the present invention to provide a rotating fluidized bed device in which the injection of one or more fluids is corrected, and in which the formation of the fluidized bed is improved.

Rotary fluidized bed device and method for using said device


Textile surgical articles are disclosed which are constructed in whole or in part from high tenacity low elongation fibers such as ultra-high molecular weight extended chain polyethylene high tenacity fibers. The products may be braided, woven or knitted, such as braided tapes, hollow braids and spiroid braids. The high tenacity low elongation fibers provide structures having greatly increased strength and decreased elongation, a combination of properties which is uniquely applicable and superior for repairing body tissue. The products may be plasma treated to reduce slip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to suture products for surgical repair of body tissue. In particular, the invention is directed to reinforced surgical repair products for repairing the human sternum after surgery.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Presently there are many known products for repairing human body tissue in areas where a repair may be required either as a result of an injury or during or after surgery. In particular, it is well known to utilize suture products in the form of elongated strands to repair human body tissue as well as utilizing two-part fasteners or metal staples for attaching body tissue after portions have been removed during surgery.
For example, sutures intended for repairing soft body tissue are usually constructed of a plurality of filaments and applied to the tissue with any number of surgical needles. More recently, a certain amount of emphasis as been placed upon repairing surgical bone utilizing an elongated surgical product either in the form of a flat band or in the form of a strand having the construction similar to a suture by simply utilizing a needle to penetrate the bone to apply the repair product to the bone in a manner which physically retains the separated bone portions together to promote permanent healing. One such example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,764 to Ebert which relates to a surgical bone tie having a needle connected to one end of a band such that the band may be looped and arranged to be appropriately looped around the bone portions requiring repair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,416 relates to a band assembly and method for sternum closing with which the sternum halves are brought to abutting closure utilizing a band having a needle at one end to facilitate looping the band in position to retain the sternum portions in adjacent butting contacting relation.
Numerous other products have been used to retain bone portions together to promote healing while numerous suture products have been used to retain soft tissue to retain healing.
While many attempts have been made to provide such products little emphasis has been applied to the physical strength characteristics of the components which form the actual suture or band product in order to provide the surgeon with precision control on the product. Moreover, control is required on the tissue to which the product is applied in a manner which will promote healing of the tissue, yet will not cause unnecessary cutting of the tissue when force is applied to the product and the force is in turn applied to the tissue.
A particularly desirable product for accomplishing these goals would preferably display substantial strength without significant elongation to facilitate retaining the tissue portions together. In the case of attaching separate bone portions of the sternum together after open heart surgery for example, it has been necessary to utilize metal wire filaments by looping the wire filaments around the sternum portions and actually twisting the filament ends together to form an attachment. The metal wire displayed sufficient strength to retain the bone portions together without elongation. However, the wire represented a relatively sharp non-absorbable foreign body which remains embedded within the body tissue and thus presents a potential source of infection or other complications as a result of its presence within the body. Moreover, the relatively sharp characteristics of the wire present a danger of cutting into the bone during the application to the sternum. The sharp wire also presents a hazard to the surgeon and operating room personnel in that the wire may penetrate surgical gloves and cut the surgeon or attendant personnel, thereby creating a potential site for transmission of disease.
While utilization of wire sutures has been used and accepted during open heart surgery there remains room for improvement in the products used for strapping the split sternum portions together. Desirably, it would be best to provide a known metallic product which not only provides the strength to elongation characteristics of the metal sutures but which may be utilized to form a tying product for soft as well as hard tissue, in a manner which will minimize the dangers of cutting of the tissue in the surrounding areas. The present invention is directed to such a product.

Method of using a surgical repair suture product


A tray (201) comprises electrically conductive material and has at least one hand-graspable fixture (203). This hand-graspable fixture comprises an electrical conductor (301) disposed in a location that is likely to be operably interacted with by a human who grasps the hand-graspable fixture. A capacitively-coupled RFID tag is then disposed on the hand-graspable fixture with a first antenna plate (303) being electrically coupled to the tray and a second antenna plate (304) that electrically couples to the electrical conductor. A corresponding tray receiving compartment (400) has a front lip (401) over which the tray must pass and upon which the tray will rest when properly disposed within the tray receiving compartment. One or more capacitively-coupled RFID tag reader antennas (402) are disposed proximal to the front lip. These antennas may be positioned to facilitate reading the capacitively-coupled RFID tag when the tray is properly disposed within the tray receiving compartment.

Trays of various kinds are known in the art and typically serve to support other objects. As one illustrative example, a modern fast food restaurant offers a variety of food products where at least some of the food products require just-in-time or near-in-time final assembly prior to provision of those food products to a given consumer. In some cases at least one or more of these ingredients are stored on a corresponding tray or trays to hold such ingredients in readiness for use when filling a given customer order. In some cases the ingredients may require special handling during storage pending such a need. For example, the ingredients may require special heating or cooling treatment and the tray will be configured to fit within a corresponding tray receiving compartment that offers the appropriate storage conditions.
Modern service-based enterprises often face significant challenges with respect to ensuring the efficiency and accuracy of their assemblage processes. The root causes for such difficulties are many and varied. Such assemblage may require the participation of a number of service personnel. This, in turn, can lead to mis-communications regarding what, exactly, is to be done to complete a given order. Efficiency requirements can also lead to problems in this regard when service personnel are allowed only a relatively brief period of time in which to complete their particular event contributions. Problems also often exist with respect to the knowledge base of such personnel and/or the frequency and/or regularity of training requirements that often attend the very high employee turnover rates that tend to typify many service-oriented enterprises.
As a result, in some cases a worker may select an inappropriate ingredient when filling a given customer order. In other cases, the worker may not return remaining unused ingredients as may be contained within or on a tray to the correct storage location. In yet other cases the worker may return such a tray to a correct general storage location but may not properly replace the tray within a corresponding tray receiving container. This, in turn, can lead to incorrect storage of the ingredients and possible diminution of the subsequent usability of those ingredients as a result.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

Radio frequency identification tag based tray and tray receiving method and apparatus


A thin-film semiconductor device or integrated circuit comprising an insulating substrate, TFTs (thin-film transistors) formed on the substrate, and multilayer conductive interconnections. The circuit has a first metallization layer becoming gate electrodes and gate interconnections. The surface of the first metallization layer is oxidized by anodic oxidation to form an insulating coating on the surface of the first metallization layer. A second metallization layer becoming source and drain electrodes or conductive interconnections is then formed on the insulating coating directly or via an interlayer insulator. An improvement in the production yield and improved reliability are accomplished.

In recent years, it has been attempted to form a semiconductor integrated circuit on an insulating substrate made of a glass or sapphire, because the parasitic capacitance between the substrate and the conductive interconnections is reduced, thus improving the operating speed. Especially, where glass materials such as quartz are used, no limitations are imposed on the size of the substrate, unlike silicon wafers. Also, glass materials are inexpensive. In addition, it is easy to provide isolation between devices. Furthermore, latchup which presents problems in the case of CMOS monolithic integrated circuits does not take place. These reasons apart, it is necessary to integrate semiconductor devices with liquid crystal devices (elements) or photosensitive devices (elements) in the case of a liquid crystal display or intimate contact type image sensor. Therefore, thin-film transistors (TFTs) are required to be formed on a transparent plate or substrate.
For these reasons, thin-film semiconductor devices have been fabricated on an insulating substrate. However, the conventional thin-film semiconductor devices are fabricated by the same manufacturing steps as are used to form a semiconductor integrated circuit, or a monolithic integrated circuit, on a semiconductor substrate and, therefore, a quite large number of masks are required for the fabrication. In the conventional monolithic integrated circuit, a single crystal of silicon forming the substrate is quite excellent in reliability and hardly suffers from deformation due to thermal treatment or other problems. Consequently, alignment error rarely occurs in mask alignment steps.
However, generally commercially available insulating substrates are inferior in reliability to silicon substrates. Especially, substrates made of glasses are deformed unpredictably by thermal treatment and so the designed masks fail to fit the substrates. In this way, mask alignment steps are sometimes very difficult to carry out.
Where a liquid crystal display or the like is fabricated, it is necessary to fabricate an integrated circuit in a much larger area than the prior art integrated circuit. This further complicates the mask alignment steps. Accordingly, there is a demand for a reduction in the number of mask alignment steps.

Method for fabricating a thin film semiconductor device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An output driving circuit has a first and second differential output nodes connected to a first and second external output terminals, respectively. A capacitance connection circuit is connected between the first and second differential output nodes. The capacitance connection circuit connects a capacitance between the first and second differential output nodes. The capacitance connection circuit then adjusts the value of the capacitance in accordance with a control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device and a differential small-amplitude data transmission device, and in particular, to a differential output driving circuit which has means for adjusting the slew rate of an output signal and which is applied to, for example, an output driving circuit in conformity to a USB standard.
2. Description of the Related Art
If a step voltage is applied to a data output circuit as an input signal, the speed at which an output voltage increases is expressed as ΔV/Δt where ΔV is a change in voltage and Δt is a very short time. The ΔV/Δt is generally called an output slew rate. If the output slew rate of a data output circuit built in a semiconductor integrated circuit device (LSI) must be adjusted to regulate an output waveform from the circuit, a slew rate control amplifier or a slew rate adjusting circuit is provided. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-58559 discloses an example of a slew rate control amplifier having a function to adjust the output slew rate. Further, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-158577 discloses an example of a slew rate adjusting circuit.
On the other hand, standards such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 and IEEE 1394 specify the value of the output slew rate as a part of the specification of a small amplitude data signal inputted as a differential signal. For example, the USB 2.0 standard specifies the value of the output slew rate as 500 pS. Accordingly, in designing a differential output driving circuit that outputs a differential signal, it is important to eliminate the impact of the degradation of an eye pattern waveform as much as possible all over transfer lines, the degradation possibly resulting from an impedance mismatch, a parasitic concentrated capacitance, or an external noise.
In the prior art, to adjust the above described output slew rate of a differential signal in accordance with the specification, the waveform of a driving signal is controlled which is inputted to a gate of a P channel MOS transistor located on a current discharge output side of a differential output driving circuit. However, a long design period is required to obtain a desired signal waveform, thus increasing a design cost. Consequently, it is difficult to realize desired LSI products in a short period.
As described above, the conventional technique to adjust the output slew rate of a differential output driving circuit built in an LSI requires a high design cost and does not allow desired LSI products to be easily manufactured in a short period. It has been desired that these problems be solved.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device and differential small-amplitude data transmission apparatus


Identifying cost-effective parking for an autonomous vehicle, including: identifying, by a vehicle parking module, a plurality of available parking spots for parking the autonomous vehicle; determining, by the vehicle parking module, a total cost associated with each of the plurality of available parking spots for parking the autonomous vehicle; and selecting, by the vehicle parking module, a target parking spot in dependence upon the total cost associated with each of the plurality of available parking spots for parking the autonomous vehicle.

Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for identifying cost-effective parking for an autonomous vehicle.
Description of Related Art
Autonomous cars are becoming closer to being a mainstream product. States are now passing laws to allow use of autonomous vehicles. These vehicles are very advanced and use a multitude of sensors and software to operate. As with current vehicles, autonomous vehicles may be parked in parking garages and other locations that may or may not require the payment of a fee.

International Business Machines Corporation


Techniques and apparatuses for determining an estimated cardiac output for a patient during dialysis treatment are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may include a memory and logic coupled to the memory. The logic may be configured to determine an upper body oxygen consumption for a patient, determine, during a dialysis process: a hemoglobin concentration and a venous oxygen saturation measured via an optical blood monitor operably coupled to an extracorporeal circuit of a dialysis system performing the dialysis process; an arterial oxygen saturation measured via a pulse oximeter operably coupled to the extracorporeal circuit; an arterial-venous oxygen content difference based on the arterial oxygen saturation and the venous oxygen saturation; and an upper body blood flow (UBBF) as (upper body oxygen consumption)/(arterial-venous oxygen content difference), and determine a treatment recommendation based on the upper body blood flow. Other embodiments are described.

Cardiac output is a measure of the effectiveness of the heart at circulating blood through the circulatory system. An abnormal cardiac output is a typical indicator of cardiovascular disease. The mortality rate of hemodialysis (HD) patients is elevated compared to the normal population, and a primary cause of mortality for that patient group includes cardiovascular disease (CVD). In addition, cardiac output CO may change during HD treatment, with a drop in cardiac output correlating with poor patient outcomes.
Accordingly, determining an estimate of cardiac output during an HD treatment may provide an important indicator of patient mortality. However, conventional processes for directly determining cardiac output may be invasive, time consuming, and/or labor intensive. For example, a standard indicator dye technique involves venous injection of indicator dyes and measurement of blood samples to measure the concentration of dye in the blood. In another example, a thermodilution technique involves injection of a thermal indicator into the circulatory system (for instance, in the right side of the heart) and detecting a temperature change as the thermal indicator moves through the circulatory system (for instance, at the left side of the heart). In addition, attempts at estimating cardiac output, such as using related or surrogate values associated with patient blood flow, have been shown in circumstances to be ineffective and inaccurate.
Accordingly, accurate and efficient determination of cardiac output during dialysis may facilitate safe and more proactive dialysis treatment and improved patient health. It is with these considerations in mind that the present disclosure may be useful.

Techniques for non-invasive determination of estimated cardiac output during dialysis treatment