A method and system for providing an augmented reality vehicle interface. The method and system include providing an augmented reality user interface. The method and system additionally include receiving an image of a vehicle with an image capturing device. The method and system additionally include identifying a user classification category of the user that is capturing an image of the vehicle. Additionally, the method and system include presenting an augmented reality image of the vehicle by overlaying one or more virtual user interface objects on the points of interest. The method and system also includes controlling vehicle features via the one or more virtual user interface objects.

Vehicle components and systems have become more functional over the years. In particular, the types of capabilities, settings, and options associated with the features have also significantly improved. The number of input devices that are presented and are available to the driver and passenger have also increased. Consequently, to operate and/or manipulate these vehicle features has become a more complex undertaking for a user. In addition, this increase has resulted in the crowding of the vehicle consoles, door panels, center panels, and dashboards with numerous push buttons, turning knobs, displays, and the like. Accordingly, users are finding that this crowding has resulted in a diminished cosmetic appeal of the vehicle. In addition, this crowding of inputs and outputs leads to more user confusion as to the location and operation of options that are available. This results in the unnecessary over complication of mundane tasks associated with many vehicle features.
Recently, vehicle manufacturers have been using graphical user interface systems to provide users with added functionality and versatility when controlling vehicle features. Such technology allows many functions of the vehicle to be accessed, manipulated, and utilized by user inputs on a touch screen. Many of these user interface systems utilize numerous interface menus for changing settings for vehicle subsystems. For example, manufacturers have provided various user interfaces that are associated to specific vehicle systems that include separate settings menus. However, as with the numerous physical inputs, these virtual systems tend to be confusing and in some instances cumbersome for the user to operate.
For example, the increase in the crowding of push buttons and turning knobs are replaced with an increase of confusing touch screen menus, touch input buttons, and complicated joy stick controlled interfaces. During instances when the user is attempting to change basic settings associated with vehicle features, this technology typically requires users to search between different interfaces, screens, and a variety of different settings menus to actually find the vehicle function settings that are desired. Many times the complexity associated with this approach causes users to abandon the attempt to find, understand, and change settings that are associated with the vehicle features. As a result, many of the settings that vehicle manufacturers have designed or introduced into their vehicles are never discovered or utilized by users.
In many instances, users turn to even more complex and lengthy paper or digital based vehicle manuals to try to understand the functionality associated with their vehicle, and to determine how to control the numerous settings. However, the complexity associated with trying to find an explanation within the voluminous vehicle manuals causes users unnecessary frustration as they cannot find the information they are searching for. In many cases when users do in fact find this information, they incur difficulty in implementing settings changes due to the complexity of the process detailed within these manual.

System and method for providing an augmented reality vehicle interface


A rear bumper protective device containing (i) a base layer of hanging flexible material having a top portion, side portions, and a bottom portion, and having a construction and thickness capable of reducing or preventing damage to a rear portion of a vehicle, and being of sufficient dimensions to at least partially cover a rear portion of a vehicle; and (ii) one or more stabilizing blocks protruding from the top portion of the base layer and positioned colinearly with or along a contour edge of the top portion and being of sufficient rigidity, thickness, width, and length to reduce curling of the rear bumper protective cover. The bumper protective device can include one or more securing features capable of attaching to a rear portion of a vehicle.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicle protective covers, and more specifically to bumper protection devices.
II. Background of the Related Art
Bumper protection devices for vehicles have become increasingly popular. This trend is due in large part to an increasing number of car owners who want to protect their vehicles from being scratched, marred, or dented in high congestion areas. The demand for bumper protection devices has markedly increased as congestion on the road and lack of space for parking have increased the incidence of vehicle-to-vehicle contact.
While bumper protection devices are well-known, most are cumbersome in nature, complicated, or time-consuming in their installation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,090,266 discloses a vehicle side protector fitted with high-density blocks and covered padded strips, wherein magnetic strips are included on each covered padded strip. U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,830 discloses a fabric shroud which suspends an impact-resisting bumper guard portion anchored to the tires or wheel wells by at least one elastic strap located on each opposing end of the bumper guard portion. The bumper guard portion contains a flexible cylindrical sleeve forming an inner cavity filled with a deformable padding material. The cylindrical sleeve also requires a number of tabs, each tab attaching to at least one elastic cord fitted with a hook. U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,086 discloses an external cushion protector specially designed for the rear of a parked vehicle. The protector requires magnetic strips, as well as segments of a thermoplastic foam of 1 to 5 inches, or greater, thickness.
Particularly in the case of hanging flexible plastic or rubber covers, there remains the persistent problem of undesired curling of the cover. Curling can occur independently of vehicle operation (e.g., with aging and exposure to the outdoor elements) or by vehicle operation (e.g., flapping in the wind while driving).
Curling is problematic in that it leaves a portion of the rear bumper unprotected. Where advertisements are being displayed on the protective cover, curling also has the undesirable effect of shielding all or a portion of the advertisement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,678 discloses a foldable dirt and grease protective cover for the rear of a vehicle. The cover is weighted down by use of a stiffener rod at its bottom edge to prevent it from flapping in wind blowing from side to side.
Application of a weight to the lower end of a hanging flexible cover may reduce flapping of the cover in wind blowing from side to side. However, such a weight may not prevent other types of curling or flapping in the absence or presence of wind. In addition, a bottom weight can have the adverse effect of making the protective cover prone to twisting or rotational motion when subjected to wind.
Therefore, there remains a need for a bumper protective device which is easy to install and resistant to a variety of curling, flapping, and twisting mechanisms. There is a particular need for a bumper protective device which can prevent such curling mechanisms without the use of a bottom weight.


A microwave container includes a container body and a lid. The container body has a bottom wall, a sidewall extending upwardly from a periphery of the bottom wall and ending at a rim. The lid has a top wall, a sidewall extending downwardly from a periphery of the top wall and ending at a brim. The lid is formed with a vent opening. The flap includes a proximal portion hingedly connected to the brim of the lid by a living hinge and an outwardly extending distal portion formed with a plug, wherein the flap is movable between a free-hanging position where the flap is hanging freely from the brim of the lid and a closed position where the flap is flipped about the hinge over a side of the lid and the plug is plugged into the vent opening.

Microwave containers are known in the prior art. A microwave container is used to contain food therein and can be placed inside a microwave oven for cooking or heating up the food. A vent opening is usually formed on the lid of the microwave container to allow the release of pressure and vapor that may be formed inside the microwave container during cooking or heating up of the food inside the microwave oven. Various mechanisms have been designed to open and close the vent opening of a microwave container. However, the conventional mechanisms for opening and closing the vent opening of a microwave container are complicated in structure. Hence, there is a need to provide an improved microwave container with a simple mechanism for opening and closing the vent opening.
The above description of the background is provided to aid in understanding a microwave container, but is not admitted to describe or constitute pertinent prior art to the microwave container disclosed in the present application, or consider any cited documents as material to the patentability of the claims of the present application.


A method of position estimation including: a signal detection step in which N (where N is an integer of 3 or more) sensors each detect a magnetic field which is in accordance with a position of a mover and output a detection signal as an electrical signal, the detection signals being displaced in phase by an angle obtained by dividing 360 degrees by N; a crossing detection step in which a crossing detection section sequentially detects a crossing at which each detection signal having been output through the signal detection step crosses another; a subdivision detection step in which a subdivision detection section detects a portion of the detection signal that connects from a crossing to another crossing which is adjacent to that crossing, as one or more subdivision signals; and a line segment joining step in which a line segment joining section sequentially joins the subdivision signals and estimates the position of the mover based on the plural subdivision signals having been joined, to generate an estimated position value signal.

Position detection devices which detect the rotary position of a rotor in a motor with magnetic sensors have been proposed before. For example, Patent Document 1 describes controlling the rotary position of a motor by using detection signals which are obtained from a photosensor and an encoder disk attached to the motor.

Position estimation method and position control device


A sensor may comprise a first electrode and a second electrode in mutual ionic communication with an electrolyte, a first socket disposed near a rear portion of a sensor element, a first lead disposed in electrical communication with the first electrode and in physical contact with the first socket and configured for electrical communication with a first terminal element, a second socket disposed near the rear portion of the sensor element, and a second lead disposed in electrical communication with the second electrode and in physical contact with the second socket and configured for electrical communication with a second terminal element. The first socket is disposed through at least one of an edge and an end of the sensor element, and the second socket is disposed through at least one of the edge and the end of the sensor element.

Sensors, in particular gas sensors, have been utilized for many years in several industries (e.g., in furnaces and other enclosures, in exhaust streams such as flues, exhaust conduits, and the like, and in other areas). For example, the automotive industry has used exhaust gas sensors in automotive vehicles to sense the composition of exhaust gases, for example, oxygen. A sensor is used to determine the exhaust gas content for alteration and optimization of the air to fuel ratio for combustion.
One type of sensor uses an ionically conductive solid electrolyte between porous electrodes. For oxygen detection, solid electrolyte sensors are used to measure oxygen activity differences between an unknown gas sample and a known gas sample. In the use of a sensor for automotive exhaust, the unknown gas is exhaust and the known gas, i.e., reference gas, is usually atmospheric air because the oxygen content in air is relatively constant and readily accessible. This type of sensor is based on an electrochemical galvanic cell operating in a potentiometric mode to detect the relative amounts of oxygen present in an automobile engine's exhaust. When opposite surfaces of this galvanic cell are exposed to different oxygen partial pressures, an electromotive force ("emf") is developed between the electrodes according to the Nernst equation.
With the Nernst principle, chemical energy is converted into electromotive force. A gas sensor based upon this principle may consist of an ionically conductive solid electrolyte material disposed between a porous electrode with a porous protective overcoat exposed to exhaust gases ("sensing electrode"), and a porous electrode exposed to the partial pressure of a known gas "reference electrode". Sensors used in automotive applications may use a yttria stabilized zirconia electrolyte with porous platinum electrodes, operating in potentiometric mode, to detect the relative amounts of a particular gas, such as oxygen for example, that is present in an automobile engine's exhaust. Also, a sensor may have a ceramic heater attached to help maintain the sensor's ionic conductivity at low exhaust temperatures. When opposite surfaces of the galvanic cell are exposed to different oxygen partial pressures, an electromotive force is developed between the electrodes on the opposite surfaces of the zirconia wall, according to the Nernst equation:
  E  =            (                                    -            R                                                                        T                          4                    F                    )                  ln                    (                              P                          O              2                        ref                                P                          O              2                                      )                            where:        E=electromotive force        R=universal gas constant        F=Faraday constant        T=absolute temperature of the gas        PO2ref=oxygen partial pressure of the reference gas        PO2=oxygen partial pressure of the exhaust gasDue to the large difference in oxygen partial pressure between fuel rich and fuel lean exhaust conditions, the electromotive force (emf) changes sharply at the stoichiometric point, giving rise to the characteristic switching behavior of these sensors. Consequently, these potentiometric oxygen sensors indicate qualitatively whether the engine is operating in fuel-rich or fuel-lean conditions, without quantifying the actual air-to-fuel ratio of the exhaust mixture.
In planar sensors, leads embedded in the sensor element may be used to electrically communicate with the electrodes and/or heater. A wire that is external to the sensor element may be in electrical communication with the leads through the use of via-holes. These via-holes are filled with a precious metal paste that when fired connects the leads to contact pads located on the external surface of the sensor element. In a subsequent step, a connector joined to the wire may be connected to the contact pads. As sensor elements employ more leads, however, this interconnection becomes increasingly complex. Moreover, additional leads relate to the use of more via-holes, which further relate to the use of more precious metal used to fill additional via-holes and make the associated contact pads.
There thus remains a need for sensor elements having an improved electrical interconnection.

Ceramic device, sensor device, method of making the same, and method for sensing gas


An image pickup apparatus is disclosed which is provided with a distortional-aberration memorizing element for memorizing distortional-aberration information about an objective lens, a state-of-objective-lens detecting circuit for detecting a state of the objective lens, an image correcting circuit for reading out distortional-aberration information about distortional aberration occurring during photography from the distortional-aberration memorizing element on the basis of information supplied from the state-of-objective-lens detecting circuit, and electrically correcting a distortion of an image due to the objective lens with a predetermined image height in a photographed image selected as a datum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in an image pickup apparatus such as a video camera, a still camera or a silver-halide camera, an image reproducing apparatus for reproducing an image recorded by such an image pickup apparatus, and a video system formed by a combination of these apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an image pickup apparatus, the distortion of a photographic image occurs due to the distortional aberration of each individual photographic lens and a distortion which cannot be completely eliminated in every stage of the design of the photographic lens remains in an image as a residual distortional aberration. As one method for electronically eliminating the residual distortional aberration, it is known that an electron beam is made to scan in distorted form on the basis of the distortional aberration of a photographic lens in an image pickup apparatus using an image pickup tube such as the Plumbicon.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Hei 2-252375 discloses another proposal to obtain image data from an image pickup device such as a CCD and correct the image data in the form of a digital signal.
However, the above-described conventional example has a number of problems. For example, since correction of image data is performed with the center (optical axis) of an image plane selected as a datum, on the basis of the focal length of the photographic lens, i.e., as shown in FIGS. 25(a) and 25(b), no image data present in the peripheral portion of the image plane is employed in the case of correction of a negative (barrel form) distortion, as shown in FIG. 26(a). In contrast, in the case of correction of a positive (pincushion form) distortion, image data present in the peripheral portion of the image plane is lost as shown in FIG. 26(b).
Another distortional-aberration correcting method has been proposed with respect to a camera provided with a solid-state image pickup device. According to this method, pixel signals are read out from the solid-state image pickup device in accordance with the geometrical deformation of an image which occurs in a photographic lens, and the read-out pixel signals are subjected to interpolation so that the distortional aberration of the image is corrected. However, in a case where a zoom lens is used as the objective lens, if correction of the distortional aberration of the zoom lens is to be performed at each photographing position thereof by using signal processing, an enormous amount of computing processing and an extremely long computing time as well as a large-scale signal processing circuit are needed for the signal processing. For this reason, although the utilization of this proposal is considered in an extremely limited field, such as a broadcasting station, which needs high-quality images, the aforesaid proposal has not currently been popular.
An art of carrying out electronic zooming by performing signal processing of a signal obtained from an image pickup device, such as a CCD, has also heretofore been known.
According to the known art, since it is necessary to position an image of an object to be electronically zoomed, in an electronic-zoom frame provided in the center of an image plane, the electronic zooming is not very useful in photographing a moving object to which the electronic zooming seems able to be advantageously applied. This is because it is necessary to move the entire image pickup apparatus in accordance with the movement of the object so that an image of the moving object can be positioned in the electronic-zoom frame at all times, with the result that an image shake easily occurs due to the movement of the entire image pickup apparatus.
For example, such an image pickup apparatus having an electronic-zoom function is arranged to perform coordinate transformation so as to enlarge an original image which is not electronically zoomed, as shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 56, to a size equivalent to an electronic-zoom frame in which an object selected as a target is to be positioned. By performing the coordinate transformation, the image pickup apparatus can provide an enlarged image such as that shown in the right-hand portion of FIG. 56.
However, the above-described conventional example has the following problem. Since a photographer cannot obtain image information outside of the electronic-zoom frame while the electronic-zoom function is operating, the photographer encounters the problem that an object, particularly a moving object, occasionally leaves the image plane or that another foreign object suddenly enters the electronic-zoom frame and appears in the image plane. For this reason, it is difficult for the photographer to fully utilize the electronic-zoom function.
As is known in the art, the so-called electronic zoom is intended to achieve an apparent increase in the telephoto effect of an optical system when the optical system is set to its telephoto end, and to attain a large zoom effect without increasing the size of the optical system.
By sequentially executing the electronic zoom and optical zoom (or an optical zooming operation) capable of varying the focal length of the optical system, it is possible to achieve an effect equivalent to the zoom range of a zoom lens having a zoom ratio equal to a multiplication of the zoom ratio of the optical zoom and that of the electronic zoom.
For example, if the optical system has focal lengths of 8-80 mm and the electronic has a zoom ratio of 2 times, it is possible to obtain a lens having focal lengths equivalent to 8-160 mm.
However, in such an electronic zoom, although it is possible to enlarge an image, it is impossible to enlarge an angle of view. Accordingly, although it is possible to achieve "an increase in the telephoto effect", it is impossible to realize "an increase in a wide-angle effect".
Although a lens system may be beforehand designed to have a wide angle of view, there is the problem that the lens system becomes large.
A plurality of means for shifting the focal length of the lens system toward its wide-angle side have recently been proposed in light of the problem.
One well-known method for shifting the focal length of the lens system toward the wide-angle side is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Sho 59-204817. In this method, an afocal converter made up of lenses having negative and positive refractive powers is disposed forward of the optical system so that the wide-angle effect of the lens system can be increased.
However, since the afocal converter is made up of two or three lenses, there is the problem that if the afocal converter is disposed forward of the optical system, the entire lens system increases in size.
According to another known method, a negative lens is inserted forward of a principal optical system, and the close-up photography capability of the principal optical system is utilized to achieve an increase in the wide-angle effect of the lens system.
However, if the focal length of the lens system is discontinuously converted from its wide-angle end toward a far wider-angle side, there is the problem that no photography can be performed at any angle of view between the wide-angle end and the far wider-angle side.


A cover for a battery compartment in a medical device such as an ambulatory pump that is used for infusing a medicinal fluid. The battery compartment cover includes a lever that is pivotal between an open and a closed position. The lever is connected to a plunger that applies a compressive force against an O-ring, which is trapped between a shoulder on a washer through which the plunger extends and an end of the plunger. When the lever is pivoted to its open position, the compressive force on the O-ring is released, enabling the battery compartment cover to be removed from the opening into the battery compartment. However, when the lever is pivoted to its closed position, it draws the plunger outwardly, applying a compressive force to the O-ring that causes the O-ring to expand radially outward, sealing the opening into the battery compartment against the intrusion of water or other liquids and securing the battery compartment cover in engagement with the opening.

Many portable electrically powered devices use electrical storage batteries as a source of electrical current to energize electronic circuitry and electrical motors included in the devices. The batteries are typically disposed within a battery compartment formed in a housing or enclosure of the device. It is common to secure the batteries in a battery compartment of a portable device with a cover having tabs disposed along its periphery that engage the sides of the compartment opening or fit into slots disposed adjacent the edges of the opening. Since housings and battery compartment covers are frequently made of plastic to ensure low cost and light weight, it is not uncommon for the tabs on the battery cover to break with usage or become ineffective in securing the cover in place.
For some types of portable devices, it is important that the housing be either watertight, or at least water resistant. A simple snap-in-place battery compartment cover is generally not capable of providing even a water resistant seal. One solution to this problem is to use a cover that is threaded into mating helical threads formed in the opening of the battery compartment and which includes an "O-ring" that is compressed when the cover is tightened, to form a watertight or at least a water resistant seal. However, threaded covers are much less convenient to remove and replace than snap-in-place battery compartment covers. In addition, some types of plastic used for housings do not have the proper friction characteristics to perform well when threaded into engagement with a mating threaded part. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a cover for a battery compartment that effects a watertight seal with a housing, but which is readily removed and resealed following servicing of the batteries. Such a cover should preferably be formed of plastic or other low cost material, but should not be easily broken.
A specific application for such a cover exists in connection with sealing a battery compartment in an ambulatory infusion pump. Because some users may need to use the infusion pump in wet environments, e.g., while taking a shower or bathing, it is important that the housing be watertight. Prior art ambulatory infusion pumps have not provided a watertight seal for the battery compartment and thus have enabled water to leak into the interior of the housing, causing damage to internal electronic circuitry and components. A need for a simple, easily usable watertight battery compartment cover has led to the development of the present invention. No prior art battery compartment cover is known that meets all of the requirements noted above.

Watertight battery compartment cover with latch actuated o-ring seal


When an ECM activates as powered from a generator, a decision unit determines occurrence of instantaneous interruption and reactivation of the ECM, if engine speed detected by an engine speed sensor immediately after activation of the ECM is found to be not smaller than a predetermined number of rotation Y. When occurrence of the instantaneous interruption and reactivation is actually determined, the ECM terminates operation of the engine. On the other hand, if occurrence of the instantaneous interruption and reactivation is not determined, the ECM detects, using a maximum value detection unit, a maximum value of pressure in the intake pipe detected by a pressure sensor, within a predetermined range of crank angle after activation of the ECM, stores the maximum value into a memory for later use as the atmospheric pressure, and uses it for control of fuel injection by an injector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine start control system which is convenient when used for manually starting an engine with the aid of a recoil starter or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some types of engines used for outboard motor employ an ECM (Engine Control Module) for controlling fuel injection by an injector. The ECM in this case is configured to use the atmospheric pressure as one parameter for regulating the fuel injection.
Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration aimed at detecting the atmospheric pressure without using the atmospheric pressure sensor, wherein the atmospheric pressure is detected by a pressure sensor for detecting air pressure in an intake pipe, based on a pressure detection signal of the pressure sensor detected when the control unit (ECM) is powered ON, while a crankshaft stays still.
In particular, marine vessels hardly encounter a situation such that the atmospheric pressure sharply changes (for example, travel towards highlands) in a single operation, so that information of the atmospheric pressure only at the start of operation will suffice. Accordingly, there will be no need of equipping a dedicated atmospheric pressure sensor, if the atmospheric pressure may be known from the pressure in the intake pipe as described in Patent Document 1, and this will give a large cost merit. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-247706
The configuration described in Patent Document 1 is, however, premised on installing a battery. In a configuration without the battery, the ECM will be activated as powered from a generator which operates in association with rotation of a crankshaft of the engine. In other words, the ECM will not be activated unless the crankshaft rotates, so that it is unable to detect the atmospheric pressure based on the pressure detection signal of the pressure sensor, when the crankshaft stays still, as described in Patent Document 1.
For the configuration without the battery, there is now one possible idea of determining the atmospheric pressure, by detecting the maximum value of pressure in the intake pipe, when the ECM is powered from the manually-cranked generator at the starting using the recoil starter. In the manually cranking, that is, in a period before the engine starts to rotate under its own power, the pressure in the intake pipe becomes negative relative to the atmospheric pressure in the intake process, and peaks at the time of switching from the exhaust process to the intake process, showing the maximum value almost coincides with the atmospheric pressure.
By the way, electric power generation by the generator sharply decreases when engine speed decreases particularly in low speed region. The engine speed also decreases in the compression process. For this reason, only with a weak force of pulling of the recoil starter, the ECM would once activate as powered from the manually cranked generator, but would stop in the compression process since the power generation would decrease due to lowered engine speed. On the other hand, even under such extremely low speed, the engine restarts if combustion occurs (first explosion) in a specified timing beyond the compression dead top center. As a consequence, the power generation of the generator elevates again, and the ECM reactivates. As described in the above, an event encountered herein is that the ECM is once activated, then stops, and is reactivated as triggered by first explosion. In this specification, the event will be referred to as "instantaneous interruption and reactivation" of ECM, hereinafter.
For the case where the instantaneous interruption and reactivation of ECM occurs, the reactivated ECM will determine the atmospheric pressure by detecting a maximum value of pressure in the intake pipe after the engine began to rotate under its own power. However, after the engine began to rotate under its own power, the pressure in the intake pipe, and even the maximum value thereof, becomes negative relative to the atmospheric pressure, showing no agreement with the atmospheric pressure.


Described herein are various embodiments of systems and devices operable to detect individual oxygen delivery events at a user body region which are associated with external oxygen boluses administered to a user. Such devices and system may be useful, for example, in assessing the efficacy of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or intubation.

Pulse oximetry is often used in health-related systems to monitor blood oxygenation. This typically works by emitting near-infrared (NIR) light into tissues, measuring the corresponding transmitted or reflected light at two distinct wavelengths, typically for oxyhemoglobin and/or deoxyhemoglobin, and deriving from changes in absorbance a corresponding change in concentration of oxyhemoglobin and/or deoxyhemoglobin, for instance, in the form of an estimate from relative variations, calibration or via index-tables. Various devices rely on pulse oximetry to notify users or healthcare professionals of blood concentration abnormalities detected.
It is known that the accuracy of pulse oximetry is affected by several factors, including poor circulation, skin pigmentation, skin thickness, skin temperature, current tobacco use, and use of fingernail polish, for example. On Feb. 19, 2021, the Federal Drug Association (FDA) released a Safety Communication entitled "Pulse Oximeter Accuracy and Limitations: FDA Safety Communication" which warned healthcare practitioners of these confounding factors and indicated that pulse oximeters are least accurate when oxygen saturations are less that 80%. The FDA concluded that pulse oximeters should be recognised as providing only an estimate of blood oxygen saturation, with at least a 4% variance.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art or forms part of the general common knowledge in the relevant art.

Optical device, system and method for monitoring blood-borne chromophores


A method and system for reclaiming aggregate from concrete waste material includes crushing step and means of compression-crushing lumps of concrete waste material into a crushed mixture, and sorting the crushed mixture by size thereof, grinding step and means of rotating the crushed mixture sorted to grind it with a grinding member which rotates in an opposite direction to the rotating direction of the crushed mixture sorted, thereby peeling mortar from gravel, crushed stones and sand of the crushed mixture to obtain a mixture of gravel, crushed stones, sand, cement and mortar, and product separating step and means of separating the mixture of gravel, crushed stones, sand, cement and mortar into gravel and crushed stones, sand, cement and mortar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for reclaiming aggregate from concrete waste material and a system therefor, which are capable of separating high quality aggregate such as gravel, crushed stones and sand from concrete waste material produced in construction sites to reclaim the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, concrete waste lumps produced in construction cites have been crushed and recycled as roadbed material or back filling material. However, they have only limited uses, so, the concrete waste lumps which had not been recycled have been abandoned. This causes a problem in the disposal of industrial wastes.
The above concrete waste lumps include aggregate such as gravel, crushed stones and sand, unreacted cement or the like, which cause difficulty in recycling the concrete waste lumps. To overcome this difficulty, sufficient removal of mortar attached to aggregate is required. This requirement, however, has not been satisfied as yet so that effective recycle of the aggregate, unreacted cement, or the like has not been performed up to the present.
To solve these problems, there have been proposed several methods. One example of these methods is disclosed in Japanese Patent application laid-open No. Hei 5-170498. With this method, concrete waste lumps are compression-crushed and sorted by size thereof, and then dry-crumbled and re-crushed at high density under high pressure to peel mortar from aggregate of the concrete waste lumps and separate mortar from the aggregate. However, only by the dry-crumbling technique, mortar cannot be peeled from the aggregate sufficiently, whereby the resultant aggregate do not conform to a legal standard. To conform the resultant aggregate to the legal standard, it must be mixed with a virgin material. This makes it difficult to reclaim high quality aggregate such as gravel, crushed stones and sand, which is solely usable, so as to cause various problems.

Method and system for reclaiming aggregate from concrete waste material


A method serves to process output signal of a measuring transducer in a force-measuring device, in particular in a balance, wherein the measuring transducer produces a measuring signal representative of a load acting on the device and the measuring signal is filtered in a variable analog filter and/or, after processing in an analog/digital converter, the measuring signal is filtered in a variable digital filter, in order to remove unwanted signal components that are caused by disturbances affecting the force-measuring device, in particular by changes in the weighing load. The measuring signal is monitored in regard to the occurrence of a change in the weighing load and after a load change has been detected, at least one filter parameter of the filter is reset and then varied as a function of time in accordance with a prescribed time profile fc(t), so that the filter is opened after a load change has been detected and then closed again to the point where a predefined filter characteristic has been attained which is determined by the end value of the at least one filter parameter. By using this method, it is possible with simple measures to realize noticeably shortened transient settling times of the force-measuring device after a load change has occurred.

A method of processing the output signal of a measuring transducer is disclosed. A force-measuring device, in particular a balance, which is equipped with a measuring transducer whose output signal is being processed according to the method of processing the output signal of a measuring transducer.
The measuring accuracy of a force-measuring device, for example a balance based on the principle of electromagnetic force compensation or strain gauge technology (see reference [1], "Bauen Sie Ihre Qualität auf solidem Grund!" (Build your Quality on Solid Ground!), company publication, Mettler Toledo GmbH, January 2001, pages 14-15) is determined by numerous influence factors which are described in [2], "Wägefibel" (Weighing Primer), Mettler Toledo GmbH, April 2001. Particularly undesirable are disturbances caused by mechanical factors such as vibrations or shocks, which is the reason why already balances using analog signal processing were equipped with filters serving to remove disturbances in the signal.
Reference [3], CH 673 529 A5 discloses a balance with an active low-pass filter which is designed to suppress signal disturbances in the form of unwanted AC components that are superimposed on the DC signal produced by the weighing cell and sent through a signal line to an analog/digital converter. The unwanted signal components are tapped off the signal line at the signal output terminal of the weighing cell, their phase is changed by 180° by an inverter, and the inverted AC disturbance component is fed back into the signal lead at the input terminal of the analog/digital converter, wherein the signal lead itself has an ohmic resistance between the aforementioned tap-off node and feed-back node. Consequently, the disturbing signal components are canceled by matching signal components of opposite phase.
Reference [4], DE 10024986 A1, describes an electronic weighing transducer with a digital signal-processing unit in which a DC component in the output signal of the weighing transducer is determined by means of a filter with a low-pass characteristic, and the weighing result is determined from the filtered DC component. At the same time, a shock- and vibration-dependent signal is determined and dependent on the latter the DC component of the measuring signal is altered.
According to reference [4], the foregoing concept avoids drawbacks that occur with the solution disclosed in [5], U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,941. According to [5], the time constant of the low-pass filter in a differential dosage-dispensing balance is changed dependent on the disturbance component in the signal. In this arrangement, the time constant of the low-pass filter is lengthened in the case of large disturbances in order to achieve a stronger filtering effect. However, as stated in [4], the concept described in reference [5] causes the weighing transducer to react sluggishly to changes while increasing the reproducibility of the measurements only to an insignificant extent. If the time constant is selected too large, this will further result in a long settling time for transient oscillations that accompany changes in the weighing load.
Further methods as well as balances in which said methods can be used are described in references [6], US 2004/0088342 A1, and [7], U.S. Pat. No. 6,271,484 B1, wherein the signals produced by the measuring transducer are processed by means of variable digital filters.
With the method described in [6] the characteristic of the filter being used can be adapted individually to the oscillatory properties of the measuring system that is being controlled by the method. The damping of the filter can therefore be increased to any desired degree within a selected frequency range.
According to the method described in [7], a test is made to determine whether the amplitude of the vibration-related signal disturbances lie within a permissible range. If this is not the case, the filter characteristic is changed until the signal disturbances are within the permissible range again.
In particular the last-described method requires a high amount of computing power and, due to the time constant of the servo loop, hardly allows a fast enough adaptation to rapid amplitude changes of vibrations and oscillations as soon as they occur.
The oscillations of rapidly changing amplitude which occur with changes of the weighing load are, however, corrected only to an insufficient extent with the existing solutions, some of which are very complex and expensive, if there is a simultaneous requirement to realize a short settling time for transient oscillations after a change in the weighing load. Because in the previously practiced solutions, the aim was in most cases to achieve a compromise between the strongest damping of oscillatory disturbances combined with the longest response time on the one hand and the weakest damping of oscillatory disturbances combined with the shortest response time on the other hand, none of the results achieved so far in regard to response time as well as in regard to the filtering of disturbances in the signal have been good enough to meet the most stringent requirements.
The disclosures of references [1] to [8] are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Method of processing the output signal of a measuring transducer, and force-measuring device


A fuel injection system during operation of an internal combustion engine with at least two separately stored fuel types is supplied with at least one first fuel type. With the supply of a second fuel type or with the change from the supply of the first fuel type to the second fuel type, the fuel volume conveyed by the injection system is determined and dependent thereon the presence of a given fuel mixture ratio is verified.

The present invention relates to a method for verification of at least one given fuel mixture ratio in a fuel injection system during operation of an internal combustion engine with at least two separately stored fuel types, wherein the injection system is supplied with at least one first fuel type.
The use of vegetable oils as biomass fuels offers ecological and economical advantages as compared with fossil fuels. Vegetable oils are obtained from renewable raw materials, which mean that during combustion they are essentially carbon dioxide neutral, free of sulfur and, as opposed to conventional fuels, biologically degradable. Furthermore, the discharge of particles during combustion is reduced drastically in comparison with diesel.
Due to the different chemical and physical fuel properties of vegetable oils as compared with diesel fuels or bio diesel, specially developed vegetable oil engines or modified series production diesel engines must be used in order to operate standard automobiles with vegetable oil. However, such a use of natural vegetable oil as a fuel causes considerable technical difficulties especially in modern series production direct fuel injection diesel engines.
Conventional fuel injection systems of nearly all standard series production diesel engines feature for example one fuel line or supply line from a fuel tank, in particular a diesel tank, to an injection system and one return line from the injection system back to the fuel tank. During operation for example of a series production diesel engine the volume flow in the circulation from the fuel tank through the injection system and back to the fuel tank is on average a multiple of the actual quantity of fuel used by the series production diesel engine per time unit. The fuel circulating thus in the injection system serves to lubricate the mechanical parts and also transports the operating heat out of the injection system. In many fuel injection systems the returning fuel is therefore used additionally to heat a fuel pre-filter, for example.
In new types of fuel injection systems with a radial piston pump and especially in systems with the "common rail" or "pump-nozzle" or "pump-line-nozzle" technology, on the other hand, the fuel circulating in the injection system is used especially for cooling. Due to mechanical work and the configuration of the components supplying the fuel, operation of such a fuel injection system results by principle in a thermal power of several kilowatts, which is compensated by means of the fuel circulation. Before returning to the fuel tank, the heated fuel frequently passes through a heat exchanger or return condenser. Such a return condenser maintains thermal stability in the injection system. Furthermore, gas bubbles that have formed in the fuel or inadvertently admitted air are continuously removed from the injection system by means of the return line.
For the use of fuels with more favorable properties for the injection and combustion in the engine at higher fuel temperatures, it has proven useful to bypass the fuel tank—wholly or partially—during the return of the fuel to the forward flow (short-circuit return). This process is used to influence the flow properties of fuels with highly temperature-dependent viscosity and can additionally be based on the gradient of the bubble-point curve, the ignition temperature or other chemical or physical properties. DE 197 36 283 describes a fuel supply system in which a return line to the tank is provided to protect the fuel from overheating based on its viscosity.
Furthermore, methods for operating an internal combustion engine with two separately stored fuel types, for example with diesel fuel and vegetable oil, are known, in which a diesel engine is supplied with either diesel fuel or heated vegetable oil depending on the temperature of the engine's cooling water. Such systems are referred to in the literature as 2-tank systems. DE 202 08 590, for example, describes a 2-tank system in which the fuel is heated by means of a cooling water-operated heat exchanger and an electric heating source, wherein the vegetable oil is preferably heated to 70° C. DE 38 00 585 likewise describes a temperature-dependent switching of the fuel supply for operating an internal combustion engine with two separate fuel types.
The now widespread direct fuel injection diesel engines have significantly higher operating requirements for the complete combustion of the injected fuel than is the case with pre-combustion chamber or whirl chamber diesel engines. In addition, the applicable and future emissions standards are a decisive factor in the design of new diesel engines and corresponding injection systems. Due to the current emissions standards it is necessary to keep the nitrogen oxide and soot emission levels of newly developed diesel engines as low as possible.
For this purpose, exhaust return flow systems are known in the art and are installed in a multitude of commercially available diesel vehicles. In such exhaust return flow systems a lower oxygen concentration is provided for the combustion process by mixing exhaust gas with the intake air. This avoids local peak temperatures during the combustion process, which contribute to the thermal formation of NO (Zeldovich NO). The goal of preventing nitrogen oxide is in direct conflict with the formation of soot, since the soot is not sufficiently oxidized at a low oxygen concentration.
A further measure for reducing the nitrogen oxide emissions is the controlled dynamic adjustment of the injection (at times also several injections per cycle) or of the start of supply to "retard", i.e. at a position of the piston before or after top dead center that is reached at a later point in time. The exhaust behavior can also be affected by the injection pressure. A lower injection pressure causes the formation of larger droplets, which in turn results in a higher soot content.
The technical design and the regulation of a fuel injection system are optimized for the use of regular diesel fuel in modern direction injection diesel engines. Exhaust return flow, retard, etc. are achieved for example by an electronic control during operation of the vehicle based on the current operating parameters and comparison values that are optimized for diesel operation. Now, if pure vegetable oil is used instead of diesel fuel, for example, such measures can frequently cause malfunctions or serious engine damage.
Current tests of corresponding conversion systems for the operation of series production diesel engines with vegetable oil have shown that serious problems occur especially with direct injection diesel engines, in particular with "common rail" and also "pump-nozzle" diesel engines. For example, the complete combustion of the vegetable oil is frequently not ensured under certain operating conditions, in particular during a cold start or when the diesel engine is operated under a moderate load. Such unfavorable operating conditions occur regularly and frequently especially with automobiles, commercial vehicles and agricultural machines. Possible consequences of incomplete combustion are the entry of unburned vegetable oil in the motor oil, resulting in the formation of clumps due to polymerization. This causes a breakdown in the lubrication system. In addition, changes in the injection nozzles ("coking") cause a defective injection pattern, which can result in serious damage to the piston heads, the piston rings and the valves.
Without internal modification to the engine, i.e. only with changes in the peripheral units of the engine and in the fuel supply system, such direct injection series production diesel engines cannot be converted for operation with pure vegetable oil with any appreciable degree of reliability, long-term stability and convenience, also taking into account regularly occurring unfavorable operating conditions.
Both for the cold start and the warm-up phase of such a diesel engine and during certain operating conditions, it has proven technically advantageous and desirable to supply the fuel injection system with pure diesel fuel, pure vegetable oil or a mixture of vegetable oil and diesel fuel. Even a small percentage of diesel fuel in a mixture with vegetable oil significantly reduces the viscosity of the diesel-vegetable oil mixture as compared with pure vegetable oil and generally also distinctly improves combustion in the internal combustion engine. For this purpose, a defined mixture ratio of the fuel mixture located in the fuel injection system based on the respective operating condition of the diesel engine is necessary.
Particularly during the starting process of a diesel engine it is necessary that the injected fuel be immediately ignitable and completely combustible. Especially during a cold start after being parked for an extended period and after cooling of the diesel engine accordingly, the fuel in the injection system should be replaced wholly or at least partially with diesel fuel. This process is referred to as "flushing" and preferably is also carried out before shutting off the engine, while the engine is still running. For this purpose, the diesel engine is supplied only with diesel fuel for a specified duration, which continuously increases the proportion of diesel in the fuel mixture in the injection system. Due to the design of the injection systems, flushing is essentially a dilution process and only to a small degree a displacement process. The proportion of vegetable oil in the overall quantity of fuel within the injection system during the flushing process can therefore be described in good approximation based on an exponential decay curve, which depends only on the supplied quantity of diesel fuel for a given injection system.
If the fuel or the fuel mixture is supplied as described above in a short-circuit return flow, the supplied quantity of diesel fuel corresponds exactly to the quantity of fuel injected into the combustion chambers. Knowledge of the consumption of the vehicle makes it possible to estimate the diesel concentration based on the distance traveled or the time that elapses after initiation of the flushing process. Typical distances for a "sufficient" flushing process are 5-10 km before shutting off the engine.
For the purpose of supplying diesel fuel more quickly, the flushing process can be implemented so that a return flow to the tank is ensured. Then the quantity of diesel supplied is determined not only based on consumption, but additionally by the quantity of fuel returning to the fuel tank. The latter is by far the dominating factor in this process.
A measurement of the time or distance after initiation of the flushing process does not allow for reliable information on the current mixture ratio of the fuel mixture in the injection system under otherwise non-constant external conditions.
The volume flow into the fuel tank corresponds to the volume pumped by the injection system and depends on a number of parameters. The exact determination of these parameters is not directly possible. At best, average values can be estimated over extended periods, by averaging the relevant parameters. A typical magnitude for the volume flow through a distributor injection pump during operation is for example approximately 60 liters per second. Therefore, a flushing process under suitable ambient parameters can be completed in less than one minute.
The exact determination of the percentage mixture ratio of the fuel types is not always necessary for this purpose. However, it is particularly important to be able to reliably determine a point in time for the flushing process at which a pre-determined mixture ratio has been reached during operation of the diesel engine, after the supply of fuel has been switched from one type to another. In addition, it is necessary to be able to set a selectable mixture ratio of the fuel types during operation and to be able to automatically maintain the set mixture ratio, without resulting in mixing of the fuels in the fuel tanks.
It is an object of the present invention therefore is to provide a method for verification of the presence of at least one given fuel mixture ratio, in order to enable, during operation of an internal combustion engine, the reliable verification of a given fuel mixture ratio and the setting and maintaining of this fuel mixture ratio and the determination of the load condition of an internal combustion engine.

Method for verification of at least one given fuel mixture ratio


A method of making a drop emitting device that includes a fluid channel layer, a diaphragm layer having a laser ablated bonding region, and a plurality of electrical components attached to the laser ablated bonding region.

The subject disclosure is generally directed to drop emitting apparatus, and more particularly to ink jet apparatus.
Drop on demand ink jet technology for producing printed media has been employed in commercial products such as printers, plotters, and facsimile machines. Generally, an ink jet image is formed by selective placement on a receiver surface of ink drops emitted by a plurality of drop generators implemented in a printhead or a printhead assembly. For example, the printhead assembly and the receiver surface are caused to move relative to each other, and drop generators are controlled to emit drops at appropriate times, for example by an appropriate controller. The receiver surface can be a transfer surface or a print medium such as paper. In the case of a transfer surface, the image printed thereon is subsequently transferred to an output print medium such as paper.
A known ink jet drop generator structure employs an electromechanical transducer that is adhesively attached to a metal diaphragm, and it can be difficult to adhesively attach components to a metal surface.


The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrative embodiments of an impact protection device that comprises the following elements: a machine, a protective structural member, and a fluid holding member. The impact protection device is designed to protect a user from an impact to the protective structural member by dissipating a portion of the kinetic energy of the impact. Machine operation translates into a controlled movement between elements of the impact protection device that deform the fluid holding member, thereby displacing a fluid. This controlled movement also dictates a throttling profile that regulates the amount of damping; thereby managing the portion of kinetic energy dissipated. The machine can be a mechanical assembly incorporating levers, cams and or computerized controllers.

Safety equipment, such as helmets, generally reduce effects of impacts or shock to a user's body, e.g., a top and/or side of a user's head as may be encountered during a collision event. Protective equipment often relies upon a hard outer casing with an impact-energy absorbing padding or a strap based suspension placed between the outer casing and the user's body. If a user wearing a hard shelled helmet suffers a major blow to the helmet, the impact of the hard shell meeting a hard surface generates a shockwave and a high impact force, that can be mitigated (to a limited extent) by deformation of the outer casing, the inner shock-absorbing material, and/or the straps in a typical suspension inside the hard casing and in contact with the user's head.
With respect to the head, various mechanisms responsible for brain injuries are understood to include focal type injuries that generally result from a direct impact to the head, sometimes resulting in cranial fracture. Other mechanisms include coup injuries that result from impacts to the same side of the head, whereas, contrecoup injuries result from impacts to an opposite side of the head. At least some injuries result from a displacement, e.g., a linear translation, of the brain within the skull. Still other injuries, including Diffuse Axonal Injuries (DAI), result from a rotational acceleration of the head and/or severe acceleration and/or deceleration that causes traumatic shearing forces, e.g., tissue sliding over tissue. DAI is believed to be one of the most common and devastating types of traumatic brain injury.
Some have disclosed energy absorbing protection systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,497 to Garcia et al., discloses an inflatable trajectory altering and blast energy absorption system having a plenum with walls that are spaced apart from one another and including means for altering a trajectory of a projectile entering the plenum. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,997,218 to Garcia et al., discloses an inflatable body armor system that include an inflatable flexible/sealable plenum that include a variety of lines, shaped objects and/or fabric sheets dispersed in the plenum to alter a trajectory of a projectile entering the plenum. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,863,320 to Kelly et al., discloses an athletic helmet including impact-absorbing pads that define an interior volume and include a valve to restrict a flow of a fluid from the interior volume to the exterior.
Others have disclosed shock reduction buffers. For example, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0250548 to Stuhmiller et al., discloses a cushion for use in a helmet or body armor to mitigate shock loads (i.e., blasts or blunt impact) against the human body. According to Stuhmiller, the matrix has a plurality of deformable fluid pockets that can be reconfigured (e.g., emptied). Stuhmiller further discloses a vent that connects each fluid pocket to at least one receiver pocket, and a valve imbedded into the vent to control fluid flow through the vent, such that when a cushion receives a shock load, fluid in the cushion is transferred to reconfigure the cushion for mitigation of the resultant forces. For example, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0251332 to Stuhmiller et al., discloses a device for mitigating shock loads that utilizes load-fitted and form-fitted fluid capsules, each fluid capsule including a valve through a membrane to allow fluid flow between fluid capsules when a pressure on the valve exceeds a predetermined level.
Although these and other conventional impact absorbers have worked well, they have failed to provide protection against both high and low degrees of impact imparted on a protection device, such as a helmet, over the extended life of the protection device. The impact force is often so great that the user's helmet may even initially bounce back upon impact, thrusting the user's head away from the blow, subjecting the head and neck regions to additional injury causing forces. If the impact is severe enough, it may lead to a concussion (striking of the brain matter to the skull with moderate force) or worse. In some instances, a user can experience a, so called, focal type of injury, e.g., resulting from a lateral movement of head when the shell is impacted, alone or in combination with a rotation of the head, in which the head experiences a rapid acceleration and/or deceleration.

Fluid-actuated impact protection system and method


Switching losses at high line in variable-input Class-D resonant DC-to-DC power converters regulated by changing the duty cycle of the switching transistors are avoided by making the turn-off time of the discharging switch dependent upon the current in the resonant transformer primary circuit, thereby preserving bidirectional zero-voltage switching. Losses due to asymmetrical high current pulses in one arm of the rectified output can be mitigated by use of MOSFETs as synchronous rectifiers to take the place of rectifying diodes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high-frequency resonant DC-to-DC power converters, and more specifically to such a converter in which output voltage regulation is maintained by adaptively varying the on time of two switching devices controlled by asymmetric pulse width modulation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The evolution of present-day DC-DC converter technology focuses primarily on improvements in power density, efficiency, electromagnetic interference reduction, and thermal management. Silicon semiconductor devices are preferred as the main power elements because they are relatively inexpensive, are readily available, and come in many forms suitable for a large variety of designs. There is, however, a practical performance limit for conventional soft-switched topologies using such devices as the switching frequency is increased to improve power density. Consequently, full resonant topologies have become a desirable substitute for conventional modulator-controlled pulse width modulation (PWM) topologies.
One conventional type of resonant converter is the Class-D converter. Class-D converters have some unique advantages: 1) the maximum switching voltage across the switching devices is clamped to the input voltage, so when metal oxide silicon field effect transistors (MOSFETs) are used as the switching elements, devices with lower conduction resistance and lower withstanding voltage can usually be used; 2) when MOSFETs are used, the body diode is topology-friendly; 3) the maximum voltage across the transformer body is lower, thereby facilitating the transformer insulation design; 4) the waveform is partially sinusoidal, which results in lower harmonic content; 5) the resonant inductance can be integrated with the transformer; and 6) no large-value secondary choke is required for energy storage.
Class-D converters are typically operated on a 50--50 duty cycle in which each switching transistor is driven for slightly less than 50% of the operating frequency cycle, leaving short dead times in each cycle during which soft switching (i.e. switching at zero voltage and/or zero current to minimize dynamic losses) can occur. A Class-D converter operating in this mode at a fixed frequency is incapable of output regulation. Consequently, regulation in these converters is usually achieved by varying the switching frequency, a method which is not usable in synchronized circuits such as are common in the telecommunications industry.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,541 to Jain discloses a resonant converter which regulates output by varying the respective duty cycle of two switching transistors while keeping the frequency constant. This method of asymmetrical PWM of a resonant converter achieves output control by generating a variable-amplitude AC fundamental component in the power transformer input.
There are, however, two problems with this approach. One is that the topology of U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,541 requires a large capacitor in parallel with the MOSFET switch through which the resonant circuit discharges, in order to maintain lossless zero voltage switching of both switches. Large capacitors are an impediment to miniaturization and are therefore undesirable. If this capacitor is omitted, however, the MOSFET which charges the resonant circuit will not switch at zero voltage when the duty cycles of the two switches are made highly unequal in order to regulate the converter's output in the face of large input voltage variations. Such non-zero-voltage switching causes large power dissipation losses.
Another problem with variable duty cycle control is that the regulating asymmetry of the gate drive, which becomes more pronounced as the input line voltage increases, reflects to the secondary side of the isolation transformer and causes a very significant current magnitude difference between the rectifiers on the two secondary windings. This in turn causes a huge power dissipation on one of the rectifier arms, and consequently a large drop in efficiency at high line voltage (if low line is chosen as the 50% duty cycle condition).

Adaptive pulse width modulated resonant Class-D converter


A transmission/reception device is provided merely as an embedded system, and a domestic appliance control program and/or an industrial appliance control program is/are transferred from the transmission/reception device to an external control apparatus, and the latter is used to control the appliances. In addition, the appliances contain at least one sensor for recording state information about the respective appliance, the recorded sensor variables being transferred to the external control apparatus.

Household appliances and industrial appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, heating systems and so on, are provided, for reasons of cost, with simple control elements, such as rotary switches or pushbuttons, and simple displays, such as light emitting diodes, luminous symbols, digits, liquid crystal display elements, which are normally adequate for normal use of the household appliances and industrial appliances.
These control elements, which represent a simple user interface, are not designed for the scenarios and situations below, however.    a) Fault states:            If a fault arises in the household appliance, only inadequate information can be displayed to a user of the household appliance or industrial appliance, for example by displaying a prescribed symbol sequence, for example in the case of a washing machine "Err27" on a liquid crystal display, if there is one, or by using a flashing warning lamp.        In both cases, the type of fault and a correct reaction to the occurrence of the fault which a user might take can be communicated to the user only very rudimentarily and inadequately.            b) Basic configurations:            Individual user-definable changeover of factory states on the household appliances or on the industrial appliances is often not possible at all or is possible only in a very complex and hence user-unfriendly fashion, for example by simultaneously pressing a plurality of pushbuttons or particular key combinations or by pressing prescribed key sequences.        In this complex manner, it is possible, for example on known appliances, to set a time of day, the type of beeping noises when a prescribed task has ended, for example when a wash program has ended on a washing machine, or the volume of signals output by the household appliance or by the industrial appliance, etc.            c) Data querying:            There is normally no provision at all for querying system states for the household appliance or for the industrial appliance. For example, a user of a washing machine has to date not normally been able to query the degree of filter soiling, the degree of calcification or a flow rate for water in the washing machine.        Besides such maintenance queries, there are also often regular useful-data queries, such as a query regarding the consumption of water, power, heating power, which, on the basis of the prior art, normally needs to be done manually by a service engineer.
One possible solution to this problem is to fit or provide large-format data display units and keyboards or touch sensitive screens (touch screens) in the household appliance or in the industrial appliance. This solution is normally too costly, however, which means that often only the control elements described above are provided for normal operation of the household appliance or industrial appliance.
The resultant drawbacks for the user of such an appliance are particularly as follows:    a) Lack of state querying options:            Since it is not possible to query a state for the household appliance or for the industrial appliance, it is not possible to identify impending system failures or maintenance cases for the household appliance or industrial appliance early, which results later, when the appliance actually fails, in an increased time involvement, financial involvement and possibly increased material involvement for rectifying the damage.        Particularly in the industrial environment, the time involvement on account of failure of an industrial appliance may be particularly critical.            b) Inadequate fault displays:            Since the fault displays in the household appliance or in the industrial appliance can often be comprehended by a user only after studying the associated appliance manual or not at all, costly and time-consuming employment of service personnel occurs more frequently than would actually be necessary.            c) Complicated and missing configuration changes:            The complicated procedure for changing a setting on the household appliance or on the industrial appliance restricts user convenience to a considerable degree, and hence the sales value of the household appliance or industrial appliance is reduced considerably.
When complex and hence expensive user interfaces are fitted, such as a large-area screen, a large keyboard, a trackball, touch sensitive surfaces etc., the following drawbacks result, in particular:    a) High production costs arise, which increase the price of the household appliance or of the industrial appliance disproportionately as compared with competitors' products.    b) In most instances of application, the user requires only the simple control elements described above, such as pushbuttons or rotary switches, which means that the user interfaces may even be found to be irritating to the user for the critical cases of maintenance or monitoring of the appliances. In the case of a video recorder or a remote control, for example, it is thus normal for rarely needed functions to be hidden in a complex fashion beneath additional panels or by rearranging the design of the appliances.
Particularly in the case of remotely controllable household appliances and industrial appliances, prior art requires that the control apparatus and the household appliance or industrial appliance to be controlled be specifically tuned to one another. In particular, it is necessary to ensure appropriate application control software on the control apparatus and the capability of communication between the control apparatus and the household appliance or the industrial appliance.
One frequently occurring problem in this regard is the compatibility between the external control apparatus, on the one hand, and the household appliance or industrial appliance, on the other.
The physical layer based on an inherently known communication layer model, particularly the OSI communication layer model (Open Systems Interconnection communication layer model), which is the basis for the wireless communication to take place between the control apparatus and the household appliance or industrial appliance, has standard communication protocols defined and in use for it, such as Bluetooth, IEEE802.11x, RKE, etc.
Within the communication layer model at the level of the application layer, i.e. an application which is to be controlled, the prior art normally presupposes that both appliances, i.e. the external control apparatus and the household appliance or industrial appliance, have specific, mutually tuned communication software and control software for the respective communication partner.
This presupposes that the external control apparatus, on the one hand, and the household appliance or industrial appliance, on the other, are tuned to one another in detail before they are started up.
This requires a high level of complexity and results in a low level of flexibility for the household appliance or industrial appliance. In order to be able to control an application associated with the household appliance or industrial appliance by using the external control apparatus, the prior art frequently requires the associated household appliance control program or industrial appliance control program to be stored in a memory device in the external control apparatus prior to initial startup, in order to be able to execute the household appliance control program or industrial appliance control program within the external control apparatus when the application is being executed as required and in order to able to transmit appropriate control signals to the household appliance or to the industrial appliance in order to control the application.
For this reason, there is a high memory requirement in the external control apparatus, and controlling a multiplicity of different applications as required may involve the external control apparatus reaching its capacity limits.
In addition, before a household appliance or industrial appliance is controlled for the first time, the associated application in the household appliance or in the industrial appliance and the external control apparatus, preferably a remote control, need to be tuned to one another in order to provide the requirements for later control of an application in the household appliance or in the industrial appliance. This is complex and difficult and frequently needs to be performed by an expert with technical training.


A plurality of n-channel FETs in predetermined combinations are grouped two by two into pairs, and their respective gates and sources are connected to each other in a crossing manner, thus forming a first current mirror circuit connected to a higher-potential side power supply. A second current mirror circuit constituted by another plurality of n-channel FETs, diodes, and a variable resistor, which is connected to a lower-potential side power supply, is connected to the first current mirror circuit connected to the higher-potential side power supply, thereby forming a reference voltage generating circuit which generates a constant voltage. Further, three other pieces of n-channel FETs biased by this constant voltage, a diode, and the like constitute a light emitting element driving circuit for driving a light emitting element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a current mirror circuit composed of n-channel field effect transistors, and reference voltage generating and light emitting element driving circuits using this current mirror circuit.
2. Related Background Art
In an integrated circuit mainly composed of bipolar transistors such as those of ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), the current flowing through the circuit is substantially determined by the base potential of the transistor connected to its lower-potential side power supply V.sub.SS. This potential is generated by a reference voltage generating circuit, which is typically based on a current mirror circuit. Namely, as shown in FIG. 6, its higher-potential side power supply V.sub.DD is provided with a first current mirror circuit composed of a pair of PNP transistors Q1 and Q2, whereas the lower-potential side power supply V.sub.SS is provided with a second current mirror circuit composed of a pair of NPN transistors Q3 and Q4, in order to determine the base potential V.sub.B of the second current mirror circuit, i.e., reference potential V.sub.REF, in response to the current I.sub.C determined by the first current mirror circuit.
In order for a circuit equivalent to that of FIG. 6 to be composed of field effect transistors (FETs), it has conventionally been necessary for a p-channel FET (p-FET) to be used in the first current circuit disposed on the side of the higher-potential side power supply V.sub.DD.
The p-FET, however, has been disadvantageous in that it has inferior high-frequency characteristics and lower gain as compared with an n-channel field effect transistor (n-FET). Consequently, in order to secure a necessary current, a wider device area is required, thus making it difficult to improve the packaging density when n-FETs are integrated into a circuit, for example. Further, no p-channel Schottky field effect transistor (MESFET) has been realized yet, since it has not been able to raise the Schottky barrier between metals and p-type semiconductors.
In view of these problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a current mirror circuit which is composed of n-channel field effect transistors and which can be connected to the side of a higher-potential side power supply. It is another object of the present invention to provide reference voltage generating and light emitting element driving circuits using this current mirror circuit.

Current mirror circuit and reference voltage generating and light emitting element driving circuits using the same


Disclosed herein is a service center and method designed to promote the use of a battery-powered, electric vehicle which allows a discharged battery to be easily and quickly replaced in the electric vehicle and then recharged for use in another electric vehicle. The service center and method uses a plurality of universally-adaptable batteries capable of being used in most, if not all, battery-powered, electric vehicles. The batteries are designed to be lifted into or lowered from a battery receiving space formed on the bottom of an electric vehicle. During use, the electric vehicles are driven into a service center. The batteries are unlocked from the vehicle and then conveniently removed and transported to a recharging unit located in the nearby recharging center. A second, recharged battery is then removed from the recharging unit and transported to the electric vehicle. The second battery is then installed and locked in position in the electric vehicle. By using the service center and method, the heavy electric battery is easily handled and the lengthy waiting time for recharging the battery is eliminated, thus making it possible to travel unlimited distances in the electric vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to facilities used to promote the use of battery powered electric vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
New technological developments have been made to electric vehicles making them a viable alternative to combustion engine powered vehicles. Typically, electric vehicles are powered by lead-acid batteries which must be charged for several hours between uses. While new batteries are being developed, they still remain very heavy, store a relatively small electric charge, and require long recharging periods. Unless new batteries are developed which overcome these drawbacks, use of electric vehicles will continue to lag behind combustion engine powered vehicles.
The invention disclosed herein addresses several of these drawbacks by providing a means to quickly and conveniently exchange a discharged battery in an electric vehicle and replace it with a recharged battery. The discharged battery can then be recharged and exchanged with another discharged battery in another vehicle.
Currently, there are numerous devices and methods for removing a discharged battery or battery pack from an electric vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,597 discloses a quick exchange battery apparatus which includes a pneumatic carrier that moves across a horizontal platform to remove the discharged battery pack from a vehicle and then replace it with a charged battery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,423 discloses the use of a forklift used to lift and remove the discharged battery from the vehicle. Other types of systems use a block and tackle hoist arrangement.
The problems associated with the above apparatus and methods is that they are not convenient and are too time consuming to use. As a result, such apparatus and methods do not promote the use of electric vehicles.
A means is needed which enables a discharged battery to be conveniently and quickly removed and exchanged in an electric vehicle. Such a means should include the use of standard shape and size batteries which are universally adaptable for use in many different kinds of electric vehicles, and can be easily removed from the vehicle and replaced with a recharged battery, and can be quickly recharged on site and then used in another electric vehicle.

Electric vehicle service center and method for exchanging and charging vehicle batteries


An optical scanning system adapted to physically adjust scanner settings in response to control feature readings is disclosed. The scanner and methodology finds particular use in reading of biopolymer arrays. The system may operate in any of a number of ways such that optimal data from scans is obtained. It may also be possible to use the system as a tool to aid in manufacture of arrays by providing feedback to a manufacturer regarding the signal produce for a given batch of samples tested.

Optical scanners find use in performing detection for various experiments, assays and the like. They are often used in array analysis systems for detection of surface bound binding complexes in genomic and proteomic applications, often in connection with microarray devices.
Array use sometimes involves "target" spots of DNA (or RNA) bound to a substrate. Each spot, or sample, of DNA constitutes a separate experiment. To conduct an experiment, "Probe" DNA or RNA which has been labeled with a fluorophor is then introduced to the surface of the slide and is allowed to hybridize with the target DNA. Suitable fluorophores including fluorescein, lissamine, phycoerythrin, rhodamine (Perkin Elmer Cetus), Cy2, Cy3 (green), Cy3.5, Cy5 (red), Cy5.5, Cy7, FluorX (Amersham) and others, as are well known (see Kricka, 1992, Nonisotopic DNA Probe Techniques, Academic Press San Diego, Calif.). Excess probe DNA that does not bind with target DNA is removed from the surface of the slide in a subsequent washing process.
Such an experiment allows the binding affinity between the probe and target DNA to be measured to determine the likeness of their molecular structures; complementary molecules have a much greater probability of binding than unrelated molecules. The probe DNA is labeled with fluorescent labels that emit a range of radiation energy centered about and including a certain wavelength when excited by an external radiation source of a shorter wavelength. The brightness of emitted radiation is a function of the fluor density in the illuminated sample. Because the fluor density is a function of the binding affinity or likeness of the probe molecule to the target molecule, the brightness of each sample can be mapped as to the degree of similarity between the probe DNA and the target DNA present. On a typical microarray, up to tens of thousands of experiments can be performed simultaneously on the probe DNA, allowing for a detailed characterization of complex molecules.
An optical scanner is used to retrieve such data as is available. Generally, fluorescence-based micro-array scanners incorporate the ability to deliver multiple laser excitation wavelengths so that fluorescence data can be obtained from the sample at two or more emission wavelengths by detecting two or more fluorescent dyes. Many DNA micro-arrays are utilized in connection with a two-wavelength scanning method, where the results of one wavelength scan are used as control values and the results of the other wavelength scan represent the desired experimental result. Such an approach is employed in Differential Gene Expression assays.
Typically, pairs (or increasing numbers) of fluorophores are chosen that have distinct emission spectra so that they can be easily distinguished by the scanner. However, as the market and applications mature, and a larger variety of suitable dyes become available, the demand for alternative excitation wavelengths and emission bands will increase. U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,934 is directed to systems suited to accommodate such future needs, thereby providing background for potential applications of the present invention.
Whatever the case, the present invention involves approaches for achieving full data acquisition. In order to properly interpret data obtained from a plurality of scanned channels, it has been appreciated that the intensity of the recorded signal for the different channels should be averaged or normalized. Otherwise, as in Differential Gene Expression tests, sample data and control data will be skewed relative to each other. It has been appreciated that system asymmetries can produce unbalanced results between channels that should otherwise produce an equivalent intensity based on some metric.
To account for this, a number of approaches have been developed by which normalization or channel balance may be attempted. One approach described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,712 is to set average signal intensity for the scanned channels to an equivalent value after the data has been obtained, thereby scaling the other results obtained. Another procedure described therein involves normalization between channels using the intensity ratio of genomic DNA spots.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,344,316 describes another software or post-data acquisition processing approach. Here, a system is described in which the signal intensities obtained from scanning oligonucleotide control probes that are perfectly complementary to a labeled reference are used as a mathematical devisor for feature intensity readings taken by each corresponding channel.
In contrast, U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,390 describes a system which operates by performing a partial scan and then adjusting each channel so that the brightest detected features are, on average, set to a predetermined maximum unsaturated value. This system implicitly relies on the assumption that a full scan of an array will yield results consistent with the partial scan results.
Each of these approaches has its drawbacks. The image post-processing techniques involving software manipulation of data that can result in loss or clipping of high-end or low-end data which is not acquired due to setup inadequacy (i.e., non-optimal detector gain or excitation source power settings). The system described in the '390 patent also relies on assumptions that may result in failure to acquire what data is available. Furthermore, by balancing channels in view of the most intense readings obtained, the likelihood of error is increased since maximum intensity features will generally be the least common signal received.
Another disadvantage of what is taught by the '390 patent is that the brightest red and green features will not necessarily have a known ratio. When running an experiment with a two-color array, the differential expression of the sample on various probe features is what is being measured. Therefore, the brightest features of red and green may not have a ratio equal to or substantially equal to 1 even while the ratio of the average red and average green features is equal to 1. As such, the channels may actually be set out of balance by the regime taught in that patent. This will skew scanner results rather than appropriately normalize them.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a scanner system more closely tied to the details and/or realities of data acquisition in which potential data is not lost, and in which reliable data—not merely prospectively representative data—is used to balance or equalize the experimental channels using adjustments in the scanner. The present invention meets this need. Other needs and advantages presented by the present invention may also be apparent to those with skill in the art upon review of the following disclosure.


Methods and apparatus for manufacturing operations using opposing-force support systems are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a track assembly adapted to be attached to a workpiece, and a carriage moveably coupled to the track assembly. The carriage includes a tool support adapted to receive and support a manufacturing tool. An opposing-force support assembly is operatively coupled to the carriage and is adapted to be secured to the workpiece. The opposing-force support assembly at least partially counterbalances a manufacturing force exerted on the workpiece by the manufacturing tool.

The fabrication of large structures may involve the drilling of a large number of holes in the components of the structure. Conventional structures that require a large number of drilling operations include, for example, aircraft, missiles, ships, railcars, sheet metal buildings, and other similar structures. In particular, conventional aircraft fabrication processes typically involve the drilling of a large number of holes in wing sections of the aircraft to allow these sections to be attached to each other and to the airframe.
A variety of devices have been developed to facilitate drilling operations involving the drilling of a large number of holes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,763 issued to Jack et al. discloses a drilling system that includes a pair of rails temporarily attached to an aircraft fuselage. A support carriage is slideably coupled to the rails and supports a drill assembly. A template attached to the aircraft fuselage provides an index for the desired locations of the holes that are to be formed in the aircraft fuselage. As the carriage is moved along the rails, a locking mechanism (or trigger) interacts with the template to securely position the carriage for a subsequent drilling operation.
Although desirable results have been achieved using the prior art drilling systems, some disadvantages have been noted. For example, the performance of prior art drill assemblies may be reduced when operating on relatively lighter, more flexible structures. In such cases, drill thrust may become too high and may cause undesirable bending or structural deflection of the workpiece, which may in turn result in reduced hole quality. Also, on such relatively light, flexible structures, the forces applied by the drilling system on the structure may require careful control to avoid overexertion against the structure. This may slow the manufacturing operation and reduce throughput. For the foregoing reasons, an unmet need exists for an improved support assembly for performing manufacturing operations, including drilling operations.


A Gamma voltage generating module for supplying a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixel units, each including comprising a main pixel region M and a sub pixel region S. The Gamma voltage generating modules have a reference voltage unit source to a first divider resistance string for dividing the reference voltages to form Gamma voltages corresponding to 0-255 gray scales, and supplying the Gamma voltages to the main pixel region M; and a second divider resistance string, coupled to the reference voltage unit, for forming Gamma voltages corresponding to 0-255 gray scales, and supplying the Gamma voltages to the sub pixel region S. The first divider resistance string and the second divider resistance string, the Gamma voltage generating points at least at gray scales of 0, Gx, Gx+1 and 255 connect with the reference voltages. Also discloses a liquid crystal panel comprising the above Gamma voltage generating module.

A Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is a display device with a thin plane, formed by a certain number of color pixels or black and white pixels and disposed in front of a light source or a reflective panel. The liquid crystal display is favored by everyone and becomes a mainstream display due to its low power consumption, high-definition, small size and light-weight etc. The liquid crystal display is widely used in various electronic products like a computer device having a display screen, a mobile phone or a digital photo frame and so on, and wide visual angle technology is one of the developing focuses of the liquid crystal display at present. However, if a side visual angle or a squint angle is too large, color shift phenomenon may occur in the wide-visual-angle liquid crystal display.
As for the problem of color shift in the wide-visual-angle liquid crystal display, a 2D1G technology is employed in the field at present for improvement. The so-called 2D1G technology is a technology, wherein dividing every pixel unit in the liquid crystal panel into a main pixel region and a sub pixel region of which areas are different from each other, and the main pixel region and the sub pixel region in the same pixel unit connect to different data lines and the same gate line. By inputting different data signals (different gray scale values) into the main pixel region and the sub pixel region, different display brightness and squint brightness are generated, thereby decreasing the color shift generated by viewing from the side or at a squint angle. One pixel unit has one gray scale value, by setting gray scale values of each of the main pixel region and the sub pixel region, the combination of the gray scale values of the main pixel region and the sub pixel region can achieve the purpose of decreasing the color shift.
In the actual hardware device, the liquid crystal display panel is driven by a gate driving module and a source driving module respectively providing a scanning signal and a data signal to the liquid crystal display unit, a voltage difference between different data signal voltages and the common electrode voltage causes different rotation angles of the liquid crystal, thus a difference in brightness will be generated, that is to say, the display of the liquid crystal panel forms different gray scales. In the liquid crystal panel, a relationship curve between a data signal voltage and a gray scale is called Gamma curve, take a 8-bit liquid crystal panel for example, it can display 28=256 gray scales, which are corresponding to 256 different Gamma voltages, and the Gamma voltage is 2 to the N-th power parts divided from the changing process from white to black. Therefore, in the 2D1G technology, it is needed to generate two groups of Gamma voltages of 0-255 gray scales.

Gamma voltage generating module and liquid crystal panel

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.