A method for producing a plastic tank having one or more reinforcements. The method includes forming at least one part of the tank wall with a semi-finished panel made of plastic having at least one outer layer composed of a first thermoplastic, forming a reinforcement for the tank wall with at least one fibre-reinforced structural component comprising a matrix composed of a second thermoplastic that is weldable to the first thermoplastic. The fibre-reinforced structural component is then applied to a predefined region of the at least one outer layer of the semi-finished panel. The fibre-reinforced structural component is then fused with the outer layer of the semi-finished panel by applying heat to the semi-finished panel and the applied fibre-reinforced structural component. The fused fibre-reinforced structural component and semi-finished panel is then formed into a final shape. Optionally, the formed component is then connected to at least one other part of the tank wall to form the complete tank wall.

For some time in motor vehicle construction, tanks, especially plastic tanks, have been manufactured not only from metal but increasingly also from plastic. Plastic tanks of this kind are easy and inexpensive to produce, but the mechanical strength of plastic tanks is not sufficient for all uses.
Particularly when operating low-emission vehicles, such as partial zero emissions vehicles (PZEV), there is a need for operating strategies for tank systems which provide constant pressures up to 400 mbar and pressure peaks of minus 210 mbar and plus 560 mbar, which can lead to large deformations in certain zones of the tank system. Particularly in the case of tanks with shell material composed of plastics, concatenations of pressure and temperature peaks in certain operating states of the system can result in large relative movements of the tank shell due to elastic and plastic deformations, and these must be limited by structural measures.
In some cases, therefore, plastic tanks, especially pressurized tanks, must be constructed with reinforcing measures.
Known supporting concepts generally use points of support that are fixed with respect to the body in order to limit deformations of the tank blister. For tank systems that are under pressure, these measures are not sufficient, however, and additional measures must be used to reduce deformations. Often, the shell thickness of the tank blister is increased, or reinforcing welded-on internal components are used to limit deformation. Such measures entail significant sacrifices in terms of the tank volume and thus limit the functioning of the system.

Method of manufacturing a plastic tank with reinforcements


A control system implementing a hybrid energy storage system (ESS) optimization strategy is disclosed. The hybrid ESS optimization strategy may be implemented in a machine that comprises a power system that includes a plurality of power sources and a power controller that includes one or more processors. The power controller may receive information related to a set of brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) maps associated with the plurality of power sources, determine a performance indicator using a cost function associated with the plurality of power sources, and generate a command to operate the power system based on a power distribution that minimizes an energy cost to operate the power system based on the information related to the set of BSFC maps, the performance indicator, and a load associated with the power system.

Mobile machines, such as marine vessels, often include power systems in which multiple power sources (e.g., one or more engines, one or more batteries, and/or the like) are harnessed together to drive one or more primary loads (e.g., propulsion) and one or more auxiliary loads (e.g., heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting, pumps, and/or the like). In many cases, the multiple power sources may have different operating ranges, speeds, efficiencies, expected useful life, and/or the like. The power sources can be mechanically connected to the load(s) or electrically connected to the load(s) by way of generators. In some applications, the load(s) of a machine can be driven both mechanically and electrically in a hybrid arrangement. For example, a hybrid system may include one or more combustion engines (e.g., gasoline engines, diesel engines, dynamic gas blending (DGB) engines) and an energy storage system (ESS) that can use energy captured at an earlier time to handle at least a portion of the load(s) associated with the machine in order to optimize fuel consumption, reduce emissions, increase system performance for transient response, perform peak shaving to maintain system stability, reduce total ownership and operation costs, and/or the like. However, due to variability and fluctuations in the load(s) to be driven by the power system, different capabilities of the multiple power sources, and/or other dynamic variables, determining an optimal distribution of a power demand among the multiple power sources can be a challenging task.
One attempt to allocate power and energy among different power sources is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 10,170,912 that issued to Mathiesen et al. on Jan. 1, 2019 ("the '912 patent"). In particular, the '912 patent discloses a marine vessel with an Energy Control System (ECS) that automatically adapts to a power plant configuration and type of motor generator sets (MGSs) and energy storage units, such as batteries or capacitors, and calculates the total amount of available load ramp at any particular instant (kW/s). The calculated total load ramp values are sent to a Dynamic Positioning (DP) control system and used so that changes in thruster command signals provided by a Thrust Allocation Optimization (212) are always harmonized with changes in the maximum load ramp signals. The '912 patent also discloses that the system automatically takes into account a change in dynamic or available instantaneous power capacity based on characteristics of the connected MGS and battery units, since the dynamic capacity of the battery may vary substantially based on the charge/discharge rate for the battery.
While the ECS described in the '912 patent may automatically adapt to a power plant configuration and type of MSGs and energy storage units, such as batteries or capacitors, and calculate a total amount of available load ramp in a marine vessel power plant at any particular instant, the '912 patent fails to disclose a technique to determine a dynamic optimization map that provides an optimal power distribution for power sources included in the marine vessel power plant based on different operating conditions, information related to the health and/or remaining useful life of the power sources, and/or other dynamic variables.
The hybrid ESS optimization control system of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art.

Hybrid energy storage system optimization strategy with intelligent adaptive control


A method for cleaning a semiconductor substrate is provided. The method initiates with transferring the semiconductor substrate into a chamber. Then, a first side of the semiconductor substrate is cleaned according to a first cleaning technique. A second side of the semiconductor substrate is simultaneously cleaned according to a second cleaning technique. The semiconductor substrate is then transferred from the chamber. A system and apparatus for simultaneously cleaning opposing sides of a semiconductor substrate are also provided.

The present invention relates generally to surface cleaning and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for applying a hybrid cleaning scheme to opposing sides of a substrate.
Megasonic cleaning is widely used in semiconductor manufacturing operations and can be employed in a batch cleaning process or a single wafer cleaning process. For a batch cleaning process, the vibrations of a megasonic transducer creates sonic pressure waves in the liquid of the cleaning tank which contains a batch of semiconductor substrates. A single wafer megasonic cleaning process uses a transducer of a size generally less than the area of the wafer substrate above a rotating wafer, wherein the transducer is scanned across the wafer, or in the case of full immersion a single wafer tank system is used. In each case, the main particle removal mechanisms with megasonic cleaning are due to cavitation and acoustic streaming. Cavitation is the rapid forming and collapsing of microscopic bubbles in a liquid medium under the action of sonic agitation. Upon collapse, the bubbles release energy which assists in particle removal through breaking the various adhesion forces which adhere the particle to the substrate. Acoustic streaming is the fluid motion induced by the acoustic wave transmission through the fluid.
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a batch megasonic cleaning system. Tank 100 is filled with a cleaning solution. Wafer holder 102 includes a batch of wafers to be cleaned. Transducer 104 creates pressure waves through sonic energy with frequencies near 1 Megahertz (MHz). These pressure waves, in concert with the appropriate chemistry to control and inhibit particle re-adhesion, provide the cleaning action. Because of the long cleaning time required for batch cleaning systems, as well as chemical usage, efforts have been focused on single wafer cleaning systems in order to decrease chemical usage, increase wafer-to-wafer control, and decrease defects in accordance with the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) requirements. Batch systems suffer from another disadvantage in that the delivery of megasonic energy to the multiple wafers in the tank is non-uniform and can result in 'hot spots' due to constructive interference, or 'cold spots' due to destructive interference, each being caused by reflection of the megasonic waves from both the multiple wafers and from the megasonic tank. Therefore, a higher megasonic energy must be applied in order to reach all regions of the wafers in wafer holder 102.
FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a single wafer cleaning tank. Here, tank 106 is filled with a cleaning solution. Wafer 110, supported by carrier 108, is submerged in the cleaning solution of tank 106. Transducer 104 supplies the energy to clean wafer 110. The cleaning solutions are typically designed to modify the zeta potential between the surfaces of the wafer and a particle removed from the surface of the wafer through the acoustic energy supplied by transducer 104. The cleaning solution concentration should be maintained within a fairly tight range in order to maintain a suitable zeta potential between the surfaces. However, for features such as lines, contacts, spaces, vias, etc., defined on a surface of the substrate, the particle may redeposit on the surface of the substrate due to the inability to maintain a specific cleaning solution concentration, i.e., replenish the cleaning solution, within the region defined by the feature. Another shortcoming of the single wafer cleaning tank configuration is that the side of the substrate not facing the megasonic transducer does not see the megasonic energy. Since upwards of 90% of the megasonic energy is absorbed by the substrate, the opposing side is effectively shielded form the megasonic energy. As a result, in order to clean the opposing side, the substrate must be flipped or transferred to an additional cleaning station. Consequently, the throughput is reduced because of the additional processing.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a method and apparatus to provide a single wafer megasonic cleaning configuration that is capable of cleaning both sides of a substrate effectively and simultaneously.

Method and apparatus for simultaneously cleaning the front side and back side of a wafer


Composite pan end connections for composite beam-joist construction are disclosed. Two versions of the composite pan can be fabricated on a standard break machine. A third version disclosed makes use of a standard steel stud. All three versions provide an economical, easily installed horizontal platform secured to the top chord seat angles of either conventional or composite open-web joists. In addition to economy in fabrication, and ease of use, the resulting rectangular shape of the concrete slab over the beam is structurally more efficient than heretofore obtainable.

Currently most commercial buildings and some apartment complexes are constructed making use of steel supported concrete floors and roofs. Traditional methods employ steel joists, usually being placed parallel to one another, being secured at each of their ends to structural building members such as steel or concrete beams or girders. Each joist end rests on these members, the beams generally running perpendicular to the placement of the joists. The steel joist themselves are usually of the open-web design, each one consisting of a zigzag shaped rod connecting a joist top chord and a bottom chord which run a spaced distance apart and parallel to one another. Both the top and bottom chords are comprised of opposed angle iron members affixed together by means of the apices of the connecting rod. The bearing end of each joist is further comprised of a pair of flange connected seat angles extending laterally from each opposed angle iron so as to form a pair of U shaped channels at each joist bearing end. Corrugated metal decking is then placed on top of the joists, and finally concrete is poured over the corrugated decking and the joist ends and top surface of the beams or girders.
An important step in concrete steel structures is to insure a fully composite structure is created between the concrete, joist ends, and top surface of the beams. Benefits of composite structure include stronger, stiffer concrete slabs; lower building costs due to less weight of the beams and joists; decreased sound and vibrations transmission; floors more resistant to bounce and wind deflection. To accomplish this shear studs are affixed adjacent the joist ends on the top surface of the beams and metal pans are secured between the joist ends, the edge of the corrugated deck, and the top surface of the beam. Concrete is now poured over the combination of the composite pan, shear studs, joist ends, beam top surface, and the top surface of the corrugated decking. The composite pan forms the end connection for this composite beam-joist system, and causes the concrete to haunch down onto the beam surface, making it composite with the concrete slab.
The present invention discloses novel and useful composite pan structures, which will be fully described and illustrated below.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a superior composite pan, composite beam-joist construction.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rectangular and therefore structurally more efficient shape of the concrete slab on the beam.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a simplified and economical method of manufacture for a composite pan.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a composite pan for both conventional open web joists as well as composite open web joists.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a composite pan for operator positioning either above or below the joist top chords.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a composite pan that can be formed on a standard break machine.

Composite pan for composite beam-joist construction


A method for analyzing an object includes modeling the object with a differential equation, such as a linear partial differential equation (PDE), and sampling data associated with the differential equation. The method uses a probability distribution device to obtain the solution to the differential equation. The method eliminates use of discretization of the differential equation.

Solutions of differential equations have been obtained either analytically or numerically. For example, the calculation of differential equations is conditioned on several assumptions of ideal situations. However, in reality, variables or data that are used to solve differential equations are oftentimes noisy or erroneous, which results in inaccurate solutions to those differential equations.


A method and system for providing improved handling of tractors and trailers (or any powered vehicle and storage devices towed thereby) with a staging area. One invention relates to the provision of automatic locking or unlocking of a trailer door when the trailer leaves or enters the hub, respectively. A RFID signal strength evaluation scheme is also provided, which monitors successful RFID-to-antennae communications under various weather conditions, in order to determine an optimum read process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coordinating activities associated with the movement of vehicles into and out of a staging area, and more particularly, to systems and associated methods for automating vehicle inventory and dispatch procedures at such a location.
2. Description of Related Art
Within a transportation network, staging areas play a critical role in attempting to ensure that goods are transported throughout the transportation network in an efficient and reliable manner. As used herein, a "staging area" can be defined as any processing or exchange point within a transportation network, including, but not limited to, a delivery hub, a vehicle exchange point, a rail yard, an air terminal, a shipping port, or any other such point through which delivery vehicles and cargo containers pass. An important aspect of ensuring that a staging area itself operates in an efficient and reliable manner is the need to have systems and methods in place for coordinating the flow of vehicles that haul such goods to and from the staging area on a daily basis.
For example, when a delivery truck arrives at a hub location, the driver of the vehicle preferably needs to be aware of certain information, such as where to drop off the inbound load which he or she is transporting. Typically, the delivery driver also needs to be informed as to whether or not he or she will subsequently be transporting a new, outbound load. If the driver is assigned a new, outbound load, he or she must be given information on how to identify and locate the particular load within the delivery hub, and on where to go with the load after leaving the hub. In the case of a rail yard, the delivery vehicle may be a train that includes a plurality of freight cars in which each freight car contains one or more shipping containers. When the train arrives at the rail yard, some or all of the containers may need to be removed from the train and placed in particular locations within the yard. Meanwhile, other containers already residing in the rail yard may need to be loaded onto the train so that they can be shipped to a new location.
Yet another example can include an air terminal where various types of delivery vehicles are used to pull "trains" of "igloos" (or air containers) into and out of a staging area so that such containers can be loaded onto and off of airplanes. In the case of containers coming into the staging area, dispatch personnel (or systems) would typically need to have methods of determining such things as when such containers arrive at the staging area and where each such container is going.
To ensure that these and other such events occur in an organized and systematic fashion, shipping companies such as UPS® have developed various methods for managing the flow of vehicles at staging areas within a transportation network. For example, one prior art method of coordinating events at a delivery hub (or other staging area) involves having a call box or telephone positioned at least one of the gates associated with the delivery hub (or other staging area). When a delivery truck arrives at the hub (or other staging area), the driver is expected to use the call box to manually call a dispatch center for instructions on how to proceed. The dispatch center is responsible for providing the driver, via the call box, with the type of information mentioned above, such as where to drop off an inbound load, where or how to locate the driver's next outbound load, and where to go with an outbound load after leaving the hub (or other staging area). One problem with this method is that the process frequently takes as long as fifteen to twenty minutes for each delivery vehicle. In many cases the waiting time for each vehicle is effectively doubled because a similar process is required for all outbound vehicles.
Another problem that presently occurs at delivery hubs (or other staging area(s)) is that drivers frequently pull out and leave with the wrong outbound loads. In the current operating environment, unique vehicle identification numbers are typically associated with each delivery vehicle and with each trailer (or container placed on/in a trailer, rail car, airplane, etc.) operating within a transportation network. According to one prior art method, each vehicle identification number is displayed in a human-readable format on a label affixed to an outer surface of each such vehicle (or container). By receiving a vehicle identification number from the dispatch center at the hub (or other staging area), a delivery driver is able to identify the particular outbound trailer (or other vehicle) that the driver is assigned to leave with. When the driver locates a trailer that appears to contain the correct vehicle identification number, the driver pulls the trailer and exits the delivery hub (or other staging area).
Another time-consuming event in the currently known art relates to dealing with a door seal attached to the rear door of the trailers. Preferably, these seals discourage unauthorized entry into the trailer when the trailer is outside the hub (or other staging area). Under one version of the currently known prior art, the tractor/trailer operator (a.k.a. the "driver") must stop at an inbound gate and check in with a designated individual, who then cuts the door seal on the vehicle. The process takes anywhere between 7 and 15 minutes. A similar delay can be encountered when a fresh seal is placed on the door of an outbound trailer.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved system and method of coordinating the activities associated with the flow of vehicles at a delivery hub or other staging area that allows for expedited dispatch procedures.

Wirelessly enabled trailer locking/unlocking

Abstract: Under another embodiment, Geofencing and/or Wi-Fi can be used to trigger various events.


A method is provided for use with an Ethernet Media Access Controller (MAC) and a look-up memory external to the MAC, the method determines whether to accept or to reject an Ethernet packet which is decoded by the MAC into a serial data (SRD) signal stream and a serial data clock (SRDCLK) signal, the method comprises the steps of: converting the SRD signal stream into byte frames and loading the frames into a receive FIFO of the MAC; while the receive FIFO is being loaded, producing by the MAC, a boundary delimiter (BD) signal stream which delimits the frame boundary of each byte frame; while the receive FIFO is being loaded, providing the SRD signal stream, the SRDCLK signal and the BD signal stream from the MAC to the look-up memory; while the receive FIFO is being loaded, determining whether a prescribed field in the packet matches information stored in the look-up memory; while the receive FIFO is being loaded, informing the MAC by the look-up memory whether a match has been detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the detection of address and protocol information in Ethernet packets, and more particularly, to detection by Ethernet Media Access Controllers (MAC).
2. Description of the Related Art
Ethernet is a commonly used local area network scheme in which multiple stations are connected to a single shared serial data path. Typically, only one station can transmit data onto the path at a time. A station connected to the path transmits data in the form of a packet that includes a destination address. The packet propagates throughout the network medium and is received by all other stations. The addressed station copies the entire packet as it goes by; the others reject the packet after determining that it is addressed to another station.
The drawing of FIG. 1 shows a representative Ethernet packet. Each packet comprises a series of 8-bit bytes of digital information. Each packet is preceded by a seven byte preamble composed of alternating 1s and .phi.s. The preamble is followed by a one byte long start frame delimiter (SFD) which presents the following eight bit sequence: 10101011. After the SFD, follows a packet that can vary in length from 64 to 1518 bytes. In particular, six bytes (48 bits) of destination address immediately follow the preamble. The destination address designates the intended destination of the packet. After the destination address, follow six bytes of source address which designate the source of the packet. After that, there are two bytes that designate the packet length. Then follow between 46 and 1500 bytes of data. Finally, there are four bytes which constitute the frame checking sequence (FCS) for checking errors.
A Media Access Controller (MAC) serves as an interface between a shared data path and the stations connected to that path. Each node connected to the network includes a MAC which performs a number of functions involved in the transmission and reception of data packets. For example, during the transmission of data, the MAC assembles the data to be transmitted into a packet with address and error detection fields. Conversely, during the reception of a packet, the MAC disassembles the packet and performs address checking and error detection. In addition, the MAC typically performs encoding/decoding of digital signals transmitted over the shared path and performs preamble generation/removal as well as bit transmission/reception.
Since packet traffic on the shared serial data path can be heavy, with little time between packets, each MAC must be able to quickly assess whether a received packet is addressed to its station and should be copied or is addressed to another station and should be ignored. Each MAC has at least one physical address assigned to it.
Typically, a MAC includes a receive FIFO (first-in-first-out) memory which is used to temporarily store data captured from the shared path. In an earlier MAC, as the packet passes by on the shared path, the MAC takes the serial information and assembles it into eight bit frames which are loaded frame-by-frame into a receive FIFO. As the frames are loaded and the packet continues to pass by on the shared path, the MAC determines whether the destination address in the packet corresponds to the physical address of the MAC. If there is a match, then the MAC captures the entire packet. If there is no match, then the packet is rejected and the segment stored in the FIFO is flushed.
In some instances, however, a MAC will be required to receive packets on behalf of more than one station. For example, referring to the illustrative drawing of FIG. 2, there is shown a network which comprises three separate local area networks. First and second local area networks 20 and 22 are Ethernet networks. A third local area network 24 is an FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) Loop. The two Ethernet networks 20, 22, of course, utilize the Ethernet protocol on Ethernet data paths 26 and 28, respectively. The FDDI Loop, uses an FDDI protocol on data path 30. The first Ethernet network includes a plurality of workstations 20-1, 20-2 through 20-N. Similarly, the second Ethernet network also includes a plurality of workstation nodes 22-1, 22-2 through 22-M. Similarly, the FDDI Loop 24 includes a plurality of stations including the station labeled Bridge A and the station labeled Bridge B.
Each workstation node on the first and second Ethernet networks 20, 22 includes a MAC which serves as an interface between the respective shared data paths 26, 28 and the individual nodes. Bridge A and Bridge B serve to transfer information between respective workstations on the first Ethernet network 20 and workstations on the second Ethernet network 22. It is possible, for example, that the respective first and second Ethernet networks each have a large number, perhaps thousands, of workstations connected to them.
The MACs at Bridge A and at Bridge B must be able to compare the destination address in each received packet with a very large number of station addresses to determine whether or not the packet should be received. For example, the MAC at Bridge A, which is part of the second Ethernet network 22, must be able to determine whether or not a packet provided on data path 28 is destined for a workstation on the first Ethernet network 20. It must capture packets addressed to destination address 157E, 231A and 34E5, the physical addresses of workstations 20-1, 20-2 and 20-N. Conversely, the MAC at Bridge B, which is part of the first Ethernet network, must capture packets on data path 26 addressed to 562C, 4D5 and 13EB, the physical addresses of workstations 2-1, 22-2 and 22-M on the second Ethernet network 22.
Each MAC has a limited number of physical addresses that it can recognize. As a consequence, software hash techniques often are used to determine whether or not a particular Ethernet packet should be accepted or rejected. Unfortunately, such hash techniques can be imprecise and can lead to the acceptance of packets that should have been rejected. Moreover, such hash techniques can be relatively time consuming and can burden system resources. Since, for example, the data rate in the FDDI Loop is on order of ten times that of the Ethernet networks, speed in packet accept/reject can be imperative. Unfortunately, software hash techniques tend to slow down the packet processing.
Thus, there has been a need for an improved mechanism for determining whether or not to accept or reject an Ethernet packet received by a MAC. The present invention meets this need.

Ethernet media access controller with external address detection interface and associated method


Support structures for footwear and the like include a contacting member (e.g., an outsole) that includes at least two recessed segments extending in a longitudinal direction in the forefoot portion. The recessed segments provide lines of flex such that various regions of the contacting member independently move about the lines of flex and separately engage/disengage from a contact surface when a wearer shifts his/her weight. Additionally or alternatively, the contacting member may include a set of traction members in the forefoot portion that inhibit forefoot movement in a lateral direction while optionally allowing forefoot movement in a medial direction and a set of traction members in a heel portion that inhibit heel movement in the medial direction while optionally allowing heel movement in the lateral direction. Such support structures may be used, e.g., for golf shoes or shoes for other activities requiring a swinging or twisting action.

Conventional articles of footwear, including athletic footwear, have included two primary elements, namely an upper member and a sole structure. The upper member provides a covering for the foot that securely receives and positions the foot with respect to the sole structure. In addition, the upper member may have a configuration that protects the foot and provides ventilation, thereby cooling the foot and removing perspiration. The sole structure generally is secured to a lower portion of the upper member and generally is positioned between the foot and a contact surface (which may include any foot or footwear contact surface, including but not limited to: ground, grass, dirt, sand, snow, ice, tile, flooring, carpeting, synthetic grass, artificial turf, and the like). In addition to attenuating contact surface reaction forces, the sole structure may provide traction and help control foot motion, such as pronation. Accordingly, the upper member and the sole structure operate cooperatively to provide a comfortable structure that is suited for a variety of ambulatory activities, such as walking and running.
The sole structure of athletic footwear, in at least some instances, will exhibit a layered configuration that includes a comfort-enhancing insole, a resilient midsole (e.g., formed, at least in part, from a polymer foam material), and a contact surface-contacting outsole that provides both abrasion-resistance and traction. The midsole, in at least some instances, will be the primary sole structure element that attenuates contact surface reaction forces and controls foot motion. Suitable polymer foam materials for at least portions of the midsole include ethylvinylacetate ("EVA") or polyurethane ("PU") that compress resiliently under an applied load to attenuate contact surface reaction forces. Conventional polymer foam materials are resiliently compressible, in part, due to the inclusion of a plurality of open or closed cells that define an inner volume substantially displaced by gas.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Flexible foot-support structures and products containing such support structures


A distillation unit (10) employs a rotary heat exchanger (32) forming a multiplicity of evaporation chambers (56) into which a liquid to be purified is sprayed for evaporation. Spray arms (58) spray at a steady rate into all of the evaporation chambers (56) simultaneously but not at a rate that is adequate to maintain the wetting required for efficient transfer of heat to the liquid. A scanning sprayer (140) supplements this steady spray with spray from nozzles (142 and 144) into only a few of the evaporation chambers at a time, visiting all of them cyclically. The overall rate of spray from the two sources thus combined to spray the chamber cyclically maintains proper wetting even though on average it is lower than the rate that would be required of a constant-rate spray into all of the evaporation chambers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to distillation. It has particular, but not exclusive, application to using rotary heat exchangers to purify water by distillation.
2. Background Information
One of the most effective techniques for purifying water is to distill it. In distillation, the water to be purified is heated to the point at which it evaporates, and the resultant vapor is then condensed. Since the vapor leaves almost all impurities behind in the input, feed water, the condensate that results is typically of a purity much higher in most respects than the output of most competing purification technologies.
One of the distillation approaches to which the invention to be described below may be applied employs a rotary heat exchanger. Water to be purified is introduced to one, evaporation set of heat-exchange surfaces, from which the liquid absorbs heat and evaporates. The resultant water vapor is then typically compressed and brought into contact with another, condensation set of heat-exchange surfaces that are in thermal communication with the set of evaporation heat-exchange surfaces. Since the water vapor on the condensation side is under greater vapor pressure than the water on the evaporation side, vapor that condenses on the condensation side will be hotter than the evaporating liquid on the evaporation side, and its heat of evaporization will therefore flow to the evaporation side: the system reclaims the heat of evaporization used to remove the relatively pure vapor from the contaminated liquid. To minimize the insulating effects to which a condensation film on the condensation surfaces would tend to contribute, a rotary heat exchanger's heat-exchange surfaces rotate rapidly, so the condensate experiences high centrifugal force and is therefore removed rapidly from the condensation surfaces.
This removal of liquid from the condensation-side heat-exchange surfaces is important, because a significant drawback of using distillation for water purification is the energy cost that it exacts. That cost tends to be greater when the temperature difference between the rotary heat exchanger's evaporation and condensation sides is relatively great. On the other end, a low temperature difference tends to result in a lower rate of heat exchange, and this then necessitates a greater heat-exchange area for a given volume rate of distillation. Such an additional heat-exchange-surface area exacts its own cost penalties not only in initial equipment cost but also in the power needed to operate the unit. The reason why rapid condensate removal tends to ameliorate the energy-cost problem is that reduction of the condensate film's insulating effects tends to increase the heat-exchange rate for a given temperature difference.
The rotary heat exchanger's centrifugal force also tends to reduce the water-film thickness on the evaporation side and thereby further benefit heat-exchange efficiency. Of course, introducing liquid to the evaporation side at too great a rate will compromise the centrifugal force's beneficial effect on heat transfer, so evaporator efficiency is best served by keeping the rate of feed-water introduction relatively low. Unfortunately, too low a rate of feed-water introduction is counterproductive; it allows surface tension to defeat proper surface wetting and thus heat transfer to the liquid.

Distiller employing cyclical evaporation-surface wetting


A process for recovering at least one metal from a metal containing resource, in particular containing at least one metal oxide. The process including the step: providing a crucible containing a chloride salt melt, at least one cathode and an anode connected to the salt melt, heating means for heating the salt melt, and an aluminum melt present at the bottom of the crucible, said aluminum melt forming a part of the anode.

It is well known that metal values can be recovered from many sources such as scrap, ores and sea nodules by chlorination. The formed metal chlorides can subsequently be separated and extracted by fractional distillation and condensation, electrolysis of the salt or by hydrometallurgical processing.
WO 2009/139715 A1 discloses a process for chlorinating ore, slag, mill scale, scrap, dust and other resources containing recoverable metals from the groups 4-6, 8-12, and 14 in the periodic table. However, to get a considerably higher reaction rate and yield of valuable metals than what is possible when ferric chloride and/or cupric chloride are used as chlorine donors, aluminum chloride is substituted for said chlorides.

Process for recovering metals and an electrolytic apparatus for performing the process


CAD software examines delays of paths in a design from design engineers and first selects the longest paths. Then all paths that converge with these longest paths are examined for delays, and a fastest converging path is selected for each of the longest paths. The longest paths are again sorted by the fastest converging delay, and paths with slower converging paths are selected to be Functional Critical Paths (FCP's). Functional critical path timing sensors are added to each FCP to test setup time with an added margin delay. When the margined path delays fail to meet setup requirements, the functional critical path timing sensors signal a controller to increase VDD. When no failures occur over a period of time, the controller decreases VDD. The CAD software can replicate some of the FCP's and add toggle pattern generators and timing sensors and a margin controller to adjust the margin delay.

Semiconductor devices such as Integrated Circuits (IC's), System-On-a-Chip (SOC), or other chips often have millions of transistors. These devices are often designed at a higher level using Register-Transfer-Level (RTL) descriptions that specify logical operation of the chip but do not specify transistors or logic gates. Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) software and tools allow designers to specify chip operation at a higher level, increasing efficiency and time-to-market. CAD software later creates the gates, transistors, and wiring needed to implement the logical behavior specified in the RTL. However, the timing of various signals within the chip can vary greatly depending on the layout, transistor sizes, and wire lengths chosen by the software.
Semiconductor devices are specified (spec'ed) to operate within certain parameters, such as a maximum power draw and a maximum clock frequency. While semiconductor manufacturing processes are very precise, process variations do occur. Although the manufacturing process may target a typical device, sometimes process variations produce slower chips or faster chips. As device sizes shrink, larger relative variations may occur.
Chips may be tested to determine their power draw and speed, and these chips may be sorted into slow-chip bins, fast-chip bins, and typical-chip bins. The faster chips may be sold as faster speed grades, while the slower chips may be sold for slower speed grades. Unfortunately, such process skews are not always reproducible or planned but may occur randomly, making for logistical difficulties. Therefore all process skews are often lumped together. The slowest expected process skews determine the specified speed of the device, while the fastest expected process skews determine the specified maximum power dissipation.
FIG. 1 is a graph showing how process variations affect device specifications. The slowest process skew (SS) has the lowest power and the lowest performance or speed. A typical process (TT) has a better power and performance product. The fastest process skew (FF) has the highest performance and speed, but also consumes the most power.
All three process skews—slow, typical, and fast, share the same device specifications when no grade sorting is performed. Devices produced with the slowest process determine the speed specs such as the maximum clock frequency, or the minimum clock-to-output delay times. However, the fast devices consume more power than do the slower devices, so power specs are determined by devices manufactured by the fast process skews. The power-supply voltage VDD is usually fixed.
The performance and power specs are determined by the worst-case devices over the expected process skews. Slow devices set the speed specs and fast devices set the power specs. This is not optimal, since fast devices are spec'ed slower than they can actually operate, and slow devices actually draw less power than spec'ed.
Specialized sensors may be added to chips to facilitate at-speed testing. Dummy bit lines have been added to RAM arrays to adjust bit-line sensing circuits. An oscillator or a canary circuit may be added to track process variations. However, the actual circuit may be much more complex than an oscillator, resulting in tracking errors. For logic chips, a dummy path and an on-chip timing sensor may be added. The timing sensor can report its results to a tester or even to an on-chip controller that can adjust operating conditions, such as to slow down or stop a clock to reduce power consumption.
The actual critical paths in a logic circuit are the first to fail as the applied clock speed is increased. The actual critical path will have different characteristics than a dummy load to a sensor. Cross talk from neighboring nodes will differ even if gates, capacitances, and wiring traces are exactly mimicked. Extensive corner analysis may be needed to set sufficiently large margins to account for the differences between dummy paths and actual critical paths.
While such on-chip dummy paths and sensors are useful, it is desired to measure the actual critical paths rather than measure a dummy path. It is desired to add a timing sensor to an actual critical path on a chip so that the timing sensor is measuring the delay of the same physical path that carries functional data during operation of the chip. It is desired to have CAD software that automatically selects which paths to add sensors to.
It is desired to adjust or scale the internal power-supply voltage VDD to account for measured process variations. It is desired to add a timing sensor to an actual critical path on a chip so that the timing sensor is measuring the delay of the same physical path that carries functional data during operation of the chip. It is desirable to use the same gates, wires, and loads of a functional critical path. It is desired to have software that automatically selects which paths within the circuit to add sensors to. It is desired to select paths that are the slowest paths, but also to select paths that would operate without timing hazards that could disrupt sensor accuracy. It is desired to have CAD software select critical paths and add and connect sensors and a VDD controller that can adjust the circuit's internal power-supply voltage to compensate for measured conditions.

Method and algorithm for functional critical paths selection and critical path sensors and controller insertion


In an LED display system, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of suppressing power consumption of a plurality of LED display devices by synchronizing power saving control by each controller. Each controller includes a control circuit, a signal line, an average brightness value communication unit, and a video signal distribution unit. The control circuit calculates an average brightness value Yave of pixels constituting a frame and generates a READY signal. The average brightness value communication unit outputs the average brightness value to the signal line after detecting the completion of calculation of the average brightness values of all the controllers. The control circuit calculates a common brightness correction coefficient Cy based on the average brightness value Yave. The video signal distribution unit distributes the video signal and the common brightness correction coefficient Cy to the single LED unit.

The LED display device includes a plurality of LEDs as display pixels, and is widely used for advertising display indoors and outdoors due to the development of LED technology and cost reduction. Until now, LED display devices had mainly displayed nature images and moving images such as animations. However, as the viewing distance is shortened as the pixel pitch becomes narrower, LED display devices have been also used for indoor applications such as conferences and monitoring. Particularly in monitoring applications, opportunities have been increasing where LED display devices display images that are almost still images input from, for example, a personal computer.
As display pixels of an LED display device, LEDs of three primary colors of R, G, and B are generally used. In an LED display device, color tone is expressed by Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control of the light emission time of LEDs of each color R, G, and B. However, LEDs consume maximum power in the lighting state and consume almost no power in the non-lighting state; therefore, with respect to a full-bit all-white signal, the power consumption of the LED with a gray signal of 20% is about 20%, for example. Accordingly, in the LED display device, power consumption varies greatly depending on the content of the video signal. And with the full-bit all-white signal, LEDs of each color R, G, and B emit light at a duty ratio of 100%, and with the 20% gray signal, the LEDs of each color R, G, B emit light at a duty ratio of 20%.
Accordingly, Patent Document 1 discloses a display device that realizes power saving while suppressing an increase in power supply capacity. In the display device described in Patent Document 1, the value of the current flowing through the display panel is estimated based on an input video signal. When the sum of current values in each frame unit exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the display device performs video signal processing for correcting the contrast and brightness of the image to prevent the current value flowing through the display panel from exceeding a predetermined maximum value.

LED display system and LED display device


A method and apparatus are presented for providing language translation assistance to a user of a mobile terminal. The terminal makes available a number of language translation services to the user, and the mobile terminal has a database for storing translation data. If the translation data is insufficient to cover a present or anticipated context of the mobile terminal, then the terminal sends a context change signal, and subsequently receives a data update signal that includes updates to the database. The terminal is then able to provide a changed language translation service to the user, utilizing the updates to the database.

Before visiting a country where a foreign language is spoken, a person in the twentieth century would normally try to learn some of the language in advance of the visit, and would also bring written material such as a dictionary to assist the person to translate from one language to another. For example, the Berlitz Company provided such written materials beginning in 1878.
With the advent of new technology in the late twentieth century, language translation became more intertwined with electronic devices. Today, for example, the internet provides many free translation services, such as the "language tools" at www.google.com. Also, many electronic devices can be programmed for similar translation purposes, including devices known as personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Thus, when a person has gone on holiday to a foreign country, the classical approach to using the local language has been a phrase book, but more recently PDA language-modules or translation computers/devices have become available. The flexibility of these approaches is limited, for several reasons. First, one has to know which countries one is visiting, which may not necessarily be the case for business travelers. Second, phrases for all possible occasions are stored, even for occasions or situations that are unlikely to occur. Third, phrases in one version of a language can mean something completely different in another language (e.g. English-UK versus English-US).
It is known to update an application in order to conform with unique requirements of a specific locale, including updates involving language translation. See Matheny et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,055). However, such methods and devices have been directed toward providing a user interface that is translated to match the user's language preference, rather than for enabling the user to communicate with people who speak a different language from the user. Thus, no solution has been presented for efficiently updating a language translation tool based upon context (e.g. environment).
There is a service for downloading e-books to mobile phones, provided by a company called Eweline. See http://www.eweline.com/ewel.asp?viewID=1519. For example, Eweline Finland has launched a new service for offering even law books to mobile phone users. Downloading the content would occur based on user requests, so that the service does not choke up the mobile phone with the information. One possibility, in addition to providing law books, would be to offer different kinds of instruction manuals, construction drawings, et cetera, and dictionaries might be one kind of manual. However, the Eweline service offers no context-sensitivity, and therefore does not solve the problem described above regarding how to efficiently update a language translation device based upon context (e.g. environment).

Dynamic context-sensitive translation dictionary for mobile phones


A deployable electromagnetic concentrator comprises a facet stem hub assembly having at least one rotatable segment and a plurality of facets stems coupled thereto. At least one of the facet stems is coupled to at least one of the rotatable segments. The concentrator further comprises a plurality of facet stems, each being coupled to a different one of the rotatable segments for rotating the plurality of facets from a substantially overlapping configuration to a substantially non-overlapping configuration.

Concentrators that collect and focus electromagnetic radiation are well-known in many technological fields. Radio frequency concentrators, for example, may be employed for telecommunications purposes. For space applications, solar concentrators capable of collecting and focusing sunlight may be employed in conjunction with solar tracking systems to form solar concentration and tracking systems (CATS) that may be used in conjunction with thermal propulsion or solar dynamic power systems. These systems typically employ solar concentrators to focus sunlight and heat a fluid. In thermal propulsion systems, for example, the heated fluid is used as a propellant to produce thrust when released from a rocket nozzle. In solar dynamic power systems, the heated fluid is used to drive a generator or alternator to produce electricity.
There are several kinds of solar concentrators of the types discussed above for use in space applications, such as foldable and inflatable solar concentrators. Foldable solar concentrators that comprise a plurality of rigid panels provide good optical performance, but their launch vehicle stowage options are relatively inefficient. Inflatable solar concentrators comprising expandable reflective balloons stow more efficiently while deflated, but provide relatively poor optical performance when inflated due to folds incurred during stowage. Additionally, inflatable solar concentrators are relatively vulnerable to damage (e.g. punctures caused by space debris) when inflated. Although this vulnerability may be partially mitigated by utilizing an inflation and deployment subsystem employing make-up gas, such systems are relatively complex.
It should thus be appreciated that it would be desirable to provide an electromagnetic concentrator that not only performs well when deployed, but also stows efficiently in a launch vehicle.


A pointer device, an instrument cluster, and a display for an instrument cluster are described herein. The pointer device includes a pointer with a stem and paddle. The instrument cluster includes a technique to display a bar graph based interface with a mechanically driven pointer. The display allows for a dual representation employing multiple pointers, with one pointer dedicated to a dial-based display, and another pointer dedicated to a bar graph display.

Vehicles, such as automobiles, may be equipped with an instrument panel. The instrument panel may provide the operator with useful information for operating and driving the vehicle. The instrument panel may indicate the speed of the vehicle, the revolutions-per-minute (RPM) of the vehicle's engine, a present state of the lighting, a present state of the windshield wipers, for example. The instrument panel may employ mechanical gauges, digital displays, or a combination thereof to convey information about the status of the vehicle.
Instrument panels may be embedded or placed in the dashboard of the vehicle. This ensures that the instrument panel is in a line of sight for the vehicle's driver. Thus, the vehicle's driver may view the road while safely glancing at the instrument panel to obtain useful information for aiding in the operation of the vehicle. The instrument panel's placement is static, and thus fixed in a specific location.
The gauges of the instrument panel may be implemented with mechanical pointers, or digital displays, or combinations of both. A mechanical pointer is anchored at a pivot point, and driven by a motor (for example a stepper motor) in a 360 degree fashion. Based on the current employed to drive the motor, or control signals, the motor may move the mechanical pointer in a clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion. The mechanical pointer is conventionally longer in the direction in which the mechanical pointer is pointing at.
The gauges in which a mechanical pointer may be implemented with are numerous. In one common implementation, the mechanical pointer is implemented with a fuel gauge, which essentially indicates the status of a fuel tank.
FIG. 1(a) illustrates an example mechanical gauge 100 according to a conventional implementation.
The mechanical gauge 100 has a visible portion 110 and a non-visible portion 120. The visible portion 110 is situated with indicia 150 indicating the various states of available fuel. A pointer 160 rotates around a pivot 161. The pointer 160 is driven by a motor 130 that receives a reading of the available fuel from the vehicle, for example, by the fuel sensor 140. The pointer 160 is driven to the corresponding indicia 150 point to reflect the current status of available fuel.
In recent times, other techniques for indicating a vehicular status have also been implemented. FIG. 1(b) illustrates an example of a digital gauge 170 according to a conventional implementation.
Digital gauge 170 may be any sort of implementable visual system installed in a vehicle instrument cluster. For example, the digital gauge 170 may be implemented via a TFT, LCD, LED, or any other display technology known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The digital gauge 170 includes a shaded portion 180 and a non-shaded portion 190. These portions change as the fuel sensor 140 provides an updated reading associated with the available fuel. As described with the mechanical gauge 100, indicia 150 is provided as well. The indicia serve a similar function of providing an indication of the available amount of fuel.

Bar graph implementation with a paddle-style pointer


A receiver circuit relies on four novel pulse width timer/integrators to filter input data signals having a frequency less than a preselected maximum and greater than a preselected minimum. The circuit also rejects a single sine wave cycle. If an input pulse greater than a preselected maximum pulse width is encountered during data reception, then reception activity is terminated. A preferred embodiment of the receiver circuit implements IEEE 802.3 10 Base-T Ethernet receiver requirements utilizing a unique pulse width timer design.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits and, in particular, to a highly sensitive receiver circuit with improved noise immunity. A preferred embodiment of the input receiver implements IEEE 802.3 10Base-T Ethernet receiver requirements utilizing a unique pulse width timer design.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The IEEE 802.3 standard for 10Base-T Ethernet networks specifies a receiver filtering requirement for incoming data signals. According to the standard, the receiver must reject all signals that are not within the 2-15 MHz frequency range as well as all sine waves of single cycle duration. In addition, the receiver must be capable of recognizing the 200 ns Ethernet active-to-idle transition pulse as an End-of-Packet symbol, thereby terminating reception.
Conventional bandpass filters are not suitable for 10Base-T receiver applications because they do not reject single cycle data nor are they sensitive to the End-of-Packet pulse. In addition, bandpass filters are not amplitude-sensitive.
Therefore, it is necessary that a new receiver circuit be provided to meet 802.3 10Base-T Ethernet requirements.


A high temperature rope seal type joint packing including a cylindrical core made of bundled and twisted ceramic fibers and a metallic cover around the core made of a plurality of cross woven and braided metallic strands each consisting of a plurality of round stainless steel wires arranged in side-by-side relationship.

In gas turbine engines, rope seal type joint packings are used to minimize leakage of hot gas between stationary components of the engine, such as between a turbine vane stator and the outer case of the engine. Usually, the rope seal seats in a groove in one component and bears against a flat wall of the other component facing the groove. Environmentally, such rope seals operate under a typical pressure differential across the rope seal of on the order of up to 80 psi, at a typical temperature of up to about 1400 degrees F., and with small but recurring relative movement between the two stationary components resulting from relative thermal growth and the like.
Prior rope seals have included a core of bundled and twisted ceramic fibers surrounded by a cover of cross woven flat stainless steel strips, the core effecting an adequate high temperature seal and the cover protecting the core against abrasion due to relative movement between the stationary elements of the engine. Undesirable characteristics of the prior rope seal, however, include stiffness and lack of compressibility. A rope seal type joint packing according to this invention is a novel improvement over the aforesaid prior rope seal.

High temperature rope seal type joint packing


A headrest is mounted to a seat back by inserting a support into a support hole of a holder and inserting a stay of the headrest into to stay hole of the support inserted into the support hole of the holder. A gap occupying part provided in the support moves between an advanced position at which the gap occupying part protrudes from an outer wall of the support and is capable of touching an inner surface of the support hole, and a retracted position at which the gap occupying part is retracted to an inner side of the stay hole from the advanced position. The gap occupying part moves toward the retracted position from the advanced position when the support is inserted into the support hole, and moves toward the advanced position when the stay is inserted into the stay hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a headrest mounting structure of a vehicle seat, and particularly relates to a headrest mounting structure of a vehicle seat in which the headrest is mounted to a seat back by inserting a support into a support hole of a holder mounted to the seat back and inserting a stay of the headrest into a stay hole of the support inserted into the support hole.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a headrest of a vehicle seat is mounted to a seat back by inserting a support into a support hole of a holder mounted to the seat back and inserting a stay of the headrest into a stay hole of the support inserted into the support hole. Herein, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-198226 (JP 2006-198226 A) describes the support formed with, on its outer surface, a plurality of protrusions that can come into pressure contact with an inner surface of the holder. With this, it is possible to prevent a rattle occurring between the holder and the support when the support is inserted into the support hole of the holder.
However, in the related art described above, the rattle is prevented by the pressure contact of the protrusions with the inner surface of the holder. Accordingly, an insertion force as a force required when the support is inserted into the support hole of the holder is increased. Consequently, there is a possibility that workability of the insertion operation is reduced.

Headrest mounting structure vehicle seat


A drive control apparatus includes a storage storing first or second waveform data representing a drive signal, and a drive controller reading the first or the second waveform data, and output the drive signal to the actuator. The first waveform data applying vibration m×Q times (Q is a natural number other than 0) and obtained by multiplying a sine wave (f1=(m/n)×f0 (m and n are mutually different natural numbers other than 0)) by a damping ratio of a vibration system to an actuator, and the second waveform data applying a vibration (m/2)×Q times (Q is a natural number other than 0) and obtained by multiplying a sine wave (a frequency f1=(m/n)×f0 (m and n are mutually different positive odd numbers)) by the damping ratio to the actuator, where f0 represents a resonant frequency of the actuator.

Related art electronic apparatuses include a flat touch panel as an input unit. Such a touch panel is configured to receive contact with the touch panel as input operations but does not provide users with tactile senses according to different input operations. The related art touch panel has thus been desired to incorporate a device capable of providing users with tactile senses according to different input operations.
To provide tactile senses according to the different input operations, attempts have been made to utilize vibrations generated by an LRA (linear resonant actuator). Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2012-20284 (Patent Document 1) proposes an example of a technology for driving the LRA, and a dedicated IC (an integrated circuit) for controlling a tactile presenting device.
However, the vibrations generated by the LRA do not immediately stop even if a user stops inputting, and hence, the vibrations produced by the LRA may fail to represent quick responding tactile senses generated by a user pressing a metal dome button. Moreover, Patent Document 1 proposes an example of a vibration control unit configured to input an antiphase signal immediately after the input by the LRA has been stopped; however, a more satisfactory control effect may be required. The related art technology may thus require distinctively differentiated tactile senses according to different types of operations.

Drive control apparatus that drives actuator, electronic apparatus that drives actuator, and control method for driving actuator


Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods for detecting and correcting the posture of users of electronic devices. In some implementations, an image capture device or other sensor is used to estimate or otherwise determine a posture of a user. As a specific example, a head mounted device (HMD) may include a camera that captures an image of the user wearing the device and the image may be analyzed to identify 3D joint locations representing the current posture of the user relative to the HMD. The user's posture is analyzed to assess whether a posture correction or change is desirable, for example, by classifying the posture as good or bad or by scoring the posture on a numerical scale. If a posture correction or change is desirable, appropriate feedback to encourage the user to adopt the posture correction or otherwise change his or her posture is identified and provided.

Users of electronic devices (e.g., head mounted devices (HMDs), wearable electronic devices, desktop computers, laptops, mobile devices, and other electronic devices) sometimes experience discomfort or other negative reactions to using those devices while crouching over, remaining still for too long, or otherwise exhibiting particular postures. The phrase "posture," as used herein, refers to how the user's body or portion of the user's body is positioned relative to a reference point, such as to the electronic device itself. For example, a user who crouches down for lengthy computing sessions in front of a desktop computer may experience back, neck, or other discomfort. As another example, a user of an electronic device who remains in a steady position for a lengthy period of time may develop leg discomfort.


An emergency hammer comprising a handle and a hammer head. A holding device fastenable to a surface and including a shaped recess on the exterior of the housing of the holding device for receiving the hammer. An anti-theft device comprising a flexible security cable extending between the hammer and a winding drum inside the housing of the holding device. The security cable being windable onto and off the drum. The security cable constructed to protect against its tearing or being cut.

The present invention relates to an emergency hammer for breaking panes of glass. More particularly, the present invention relates to an emergency hammer that is composed of a shaft and a hammer head disposed thereon and that is supported by a holding device fastened to a wall, wherein an improved theft-prevention device connects the emergency hammer to the holding device.
An apparatus consisting of an emergency hammer and a holding device is disclosed in document DE-U 1 878 800. This emergency hammer is secured by sealed wires on the holding device against unauthorized use, misuse and theft. Experience has shown that this manner of securing emergency hammers is not sufficient for emergency hammers that are arranged in an easy to grip position by means of a holding device mounted in buses or rail vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,854 discloses a theft-prevention device for preventing misuse of an emergency hammer in connection with an emergency hammer for breaking a pane of glass protecting a switch of an emergency fire alarm device. The theft-prevention device connects the emergency hammer with the holding device supporting it by means of a connecting member such as a link chain. The arrangement and manner of securing represented in U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,854 is not suitable for emergency hammers intended for installation in vehicles, because these vehicles are often subject to changes in speed and direction that can cause the emergency hammer and the connecting member to oscillate. This can lead to damage to the vehicle and injuries of the occupants.

Emergency hammer for breaking panes of glass


A support roller having a one-piece construction which can be cut to size to fit any sized doorway, with an outer perimeter of the support roller or flanges mounted on the support roller having a predetermined configuration to permit a rolling door, gate and the like to assume a substantially circular configuration when rolled up on the support roller, the support roller or each of the flanges being provided with a longitudinally extending recess therein and a longitudinally extending bulge portion thereon for securely mounting an end of the rolling door, gate and the like thereon, where the recess and the bulge portion of the support roller or a rail member provided within the support roller engages with collar portions of the roll-up mechanism to prevent relative rotation therebetween so that the support roller rotates with the collar portions The roll-up mechanism includes a coil spring mounted between the collar portions in such a manner that the innermost collar portion winds up the coil spring when the rolling door, gate and the like is being lowered to a closed position so that the coil spring counterbalances the weight of the door, gate and the like to permit the rolling door, gate and the like to be easily opened, where the roll-up mechanism is mounted within the support roller If required, additional coil springs can be added to the roll-up mechanism to counterbalance the weight of heavier rolling doors, gates and the like.

This invention relates to rolling doors, gates and the like and, more particularly, to a support roller to which the rolling doors, gates and the like are secured for rolling up the doors, gates and the like to an opened position and for unrolling the doors, gates and the like down to a closed position, and to a roll-up mechanism provided within the support roller for counterbalancing the weight of the rolling doors, gates and the like when same are being rolled up to the opened position.
Support rollers having roll-up mechanisms for rolling doors, gates and the like are well known in the prior art, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,520,618 wherein the coil spring is mounted within the support roller. However, the hardware shown in this patent is very expensive and the assembly thereof is time consuming. The diameter of the support roller and the tension of the spring therein is dependent upon the width of the doorway and the weight of the door, gate and the like and, therefore, different diameter support rollers and springs must be stocked for use with the different sized doorways and different weighted doors, gates and the like, thereby increasing the cost of the inventory thereof.
As a matter of interest, U.S. Pat. No. 748,641 discloses an awning roller having a corrugated shape to receive and prevent rotation of a spring block therein while allowing the spring block to slide within the roller when the spring is being wound and unwound to accommodate the variation in the spring length.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,161 discloses a door construction having a support drum including end walls with stiffener members disposed therebetween which are shaped in the form of an involute and encircled by a sheet material rigidly secured thereto by fasteners in order to cause the panels of the rolling door to assume a substantially circular configuration when rolled upon the sheet material of the support drum. Here again, the end walls, stiffener members and the sheet material which form the drum are expensive and require a substantial amount of time to assemble.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,913 discloses a roll-up slotted shade assembly in which the spring disk and the bearing disk are secured within the barrel by means of screws.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,296 discloses a rolling steel door in which a spring module is removably secured within an outer cylinder to facilitate the removal and replacement of a broken or inoperative spring therein.

Support roller provided with roll-up mechanism for rolling doors, gates and the like


Methods of displaying video data are disclosed. The methods generate a plurality of queries for determining from which of a plurality of video data sources video data is to be displayed and store each of the queries. One of the queries is selected for display and the selected query is matched with metadata from one or more of the plurality of video data sources. The video data from the video data sources that match the query is displayed.

There are many existing systems that perform networked digital video recording. Such systems are often comprised of readily available components. The components often include a TCP/IP network, one or more digital video cameras and one or more storage servers. Storage servers are computer systems running software that receives video data from the video cameras and stores the video data on a storage medium such as a hard disk drive. Some digital video recording systems also use viewing application software resident on remote computers. This viewing application software may be used for viewing live or pre-recorded video data received from either the video cameras or the storage servers. The live or pre-recorded video data may be viewed in one or more video windows generated by the viewing application software and rendered on a computer display.
The viewing application software described above typically provides the ability to extract pre-recorded video data from a given camera for storage in a video file. The video file may then be played back using any suitable media player, such as the Apple QuickTime™ media player. Additionally, some viewing application software provides the ability to view synchronised pre-recorded or live video data from multiple networked cameras (or sources of video data).
A problem with the conventional viewing application software described above is that it is difficult for an operator to effectively monitor pre-recorded or live video data from a large number of networked cameras.
Thus, a need clearly exists for a more efficient method of displaying video data.


Provided is an orally disintegrating tablet evaluating method includes: measuring the mass of tablet; placing the tablet on a preparation placement surface of a test solution supply unit; measuring a water absorption time for a test solution to penetrate from one end of the tablet in contact with the surface to the other end of the tablet; measuring the mass of the tablet for which the time for the solution to penetrate has been measured; and calculating the water absorption rate of the tablet by the following formula (1); wherein the tablet is evaluated based on a water absorption rate of the tablet of 0.004 g/sec:water absorption rate of tablet=(mass of tablet after measurement of time for solution to penetrate−mass of tablet before measurement of time for solution to penetrate)/(time for solution to penetrate from one end to other end)  (1).

An orally disintegrating tablet is a solid preparation which is quickly disintegrated in oral cavity with saliva in the cavity or a small amount of water and easy to take. For this reason, demand for orally disintegrating tablets which patients easily take is increasing. Orally disintegrating tablets are desired to be disintegrated quickly with only saliva in oral cavity or with a small amount of water in about 30 seconds to 40 seconds or less. However, in order to study the preparation of orally disintegrating tablets, a proper evaluating method for evaluating the disintegration property of the orally disintegrating tablet is necessary.
The disintegration time of the orally disintegrating tablet can be measured by an oral disintegration tester sold from each manufacturer (TriCorp Tester manufactured by Okada Seiko Co., Ltd., or the like), but the results are different depending on the test conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to set appropriate conditions considering the disintegration test time in human oral cavity. In addition, in the method of measuring the disintegration time in human oral cavity, it is difficult to obtain reproducibility because there are variations depending on individual differences and physical conditions of humans to be tested. For this reason, it is hard to say that the method of measuring the disintegration time in human oral cavity is an appropriate evaluating method.
Furthermore, for an orally disintegrating tablet containing a highly active drug substance, it is difficult to measure in oral cavity of humans. For this reason, there is a need for an evaluating method that can substitute the method of measuring the disintegration time in human oral cavity.
From such a problem, for example, a method for evaluating the disintegration property of an orally disintegrating tablet by measuring the water absorption time of the tablet is known. It is known that by using this method, a good correlation between the oral disintegration time and the water absorption time can be obtained in the similar formulation system (Yunxia Bi, Hisakazu Sunada, PHARM TECH JAPAN, 14 (11), 1723 (1998)). For example, after obtaining a correlation between the oral disintegration time of a drug substance-free orally disintegrating tablet and the water absorption time, the oral disintegration time can be evaluated from the water absorption time of the orally disintegrating tablet containing the drug substance.

Orally disintegrating tablet evaluating method, and orally disintegrating tablet evaluating device


A host includes a plurality of Digital Visual Interface (DVI) ports. A controller is configured to receive a single DVI diagnostic request from a source external to the host. The controller is further configured to collect DVI status information associated with each of the plurality of DVI ports in response to the single DVI diagnostic request, and initiate a signal to a display to display the DVI status information associated with the plurality of DVI ports.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable broadcast program receiver and transmitter, and more particularly, to a digital cable TV receiver, a diagnostic method for the digital cable TV receiver, and a data structure of a DVI status report.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a transmission standard established by a consortium called the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG), which has been created by a group of leaders in the computer industry. The DVI is used to digitally connect a personal computer (PC) to a flat monitor. More specifically, the DVI is a standard for digitally connecting signals exchanged between the PC and the monitor. The DVI has mainly been adopted to peripheral devices that are used by being connected to a PC, such as personal computers, office projectors, general plasma displays, electric boards. And, recently, the DVI has also been adopted in digital television (TV) receivers and cable digital television (TV) receivers. Before the DVI standard was developed, digital signals were exchanged by a complicated process. First, the PC creates digital data. Then, even though the digital display device is capable of receiving digital data, the digital data transmitted from the PC is converted to analog data, which is converted back to digital data and then transmitted to the digital display device. Therefore, in order to avoid such a complicated process, the DVI standard has been developed to allow the digital data created from the PC to be digitally transmitted directly to the display device through a cable. In the DVI standard, digital broadcast signals that are not compressed are transmitted in a single direction.
Meanwhile, a cable broadcast system broadly includes a cable broadcast station and a cable broadcast program receiver (or digital cable TV receiver). Herein, the cable broadcast station transmits cable broadcast programs, and the cable broadcast program receiver receives the transmitted cable broadcast program. The cable broadcast station may be referred to a SO head-end or a MSO head-end. The SO refers to a System Operator (SO) (i.e., the Local Cable TV System Operator), and the MSO refers to a Multiple System Operator (MSO), which is a group of SO.
Moreover, the cable broadcast program receiver adopts an open cable, wherein a Point of Deployment (POD) module including a Conditional Access (CA) system is separated (or detached) from the main body. For example, the POD module uses a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card which can be mounted onto and separated from a main body slot of the cable broadcast program receiver. Therefore, the POD module may also be referred to as a cable card, and the main body, wherein the POD module is inserted, may also be referred to as a host. In other words, a combination of the POD module and the main body is referred to as the cable broadcast program receiver. Herein, the host may be connected to other peripheral devices (e.g., a DVD player, a digital camera/camcorder, a set-top box, etc.) through a DVI link. And, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, at least one or more peripheral devices may be connected. More specifically, when at least one DVI terminal/port (or a plurality of DVI terminals/ports) is provided by the host, at least one peripheral device (or a plurality of peripheral devices) may be simultaneously connected to the host.
Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, one of a Digital Built-in TV and a Digital Ready TV corresponds to the host. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the host being connected to a peripheral device through a single DVI link. More specifically, an Output port of a set-top box (or a DVD Player) is connected to a DVI Input port of the host. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the host being connected to a plurality of peripheral devices through a plurality of DVI links, wherein a plurality of DVI Input ports is provided by the host. Referring to FIG. 2, a DVI Output port of the Set Top box is connected to a first DVI Input port of the host, and, simultaneously, a DVI Output port of a DVD Player is connected to a second DVI Input port of the host. Finally, FIG. 3 illustrates an example of both DVI Input/Output ports being provided in a random peripheral device. More specifically, both DVI Input/Output ports are provided in a Set Top box. Referring to FIG. 3, the DVI Output port of the Set Top box is connected to the DVI Input port of the host, and the DVI Output port of a DVD Player (or another peripheral device) is connected to the Input port of the Set Top box.
Meanwhile, in an open cable standard, wherein the POD module is separated from the main body, as described above, the host has a diagnostic function that can monitor each status of the host. For example, in Host-POD interface standard, a Generic Diagnostic Protocol is defined in a host-POD resource layer. More specifically, when the host receives a request for verifying and reporting the DVI status from the POD module through the Generic Diagnostic Protocol, the host verifies the DVI status and creates a syntax (DVI Status Report Syntax) so as to report the verified DVI status to the POD module.
However, according to the DVI Status Report Syntax, when a plurality of peripheral devices is simultaneously connected to the host through the DVI port, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, only the DVI link status information for one port can be transmitted to the POD module, and the DVI link status information for the remaining ports cannot be transmitted to the POD module. Furthermore, when DVI Input/Output ports both exist within a peripheral device and when the host and another peripheral device is connected to the corresponding Input/Output ports, as shown in FIG. 3, only the DVI link status information for one port can be transmitted to the POD module, and the DVI link status information for the remaining ports cannot be transmitted to the POD module.

Digital cable TV receiver, diagnostic method for the digital cable TV receiver, and data structure of DVI status report


The electronic device includes a housing including a first surface and a second surface. The first surface includes a first side, a second side, a third side, and a fourth side, a first conductive member extending along the first side, a second conductive member extending along the third side, a first communication circuit including a transmission port and at least one first reception port. The at least one first reception port is electrically coupled with at least one of the first conductive member or the second conductive member, a second communication circuit including a second reception port, and a switching circuit configured to selectively provide a first electrical path for electrically coupling the transmission port and the second reception port with the first conductive member or a second electrical path for electrically coupling the transmission port and the second reception port with the second conductive member.

A wireless communication technology makes it possible to transmit and receive various forms of information such as a text, an image, a video, voice, and the like. The wireless communication technology is being developed to transmit and receive more information faster. As the wireless communication technology develops, an electronic device such as a wireless communication-possible smartphone or tablet may provide a service using a communication function such as digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), global positioning system (GPS), wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi), long-term evolution (LTE), near field communication (NFC), magnetic stripe transmission (MST), or the like. To provide such a service, the electronic device may include one or more antennas. The electronic device may include a complex antenna that is capable of receiving signals of a plurality of bands and/or signals corresponding to a plurality of communication manners.
An electronic device including a plurality of antennas may receive a signal using an antenna disposed at a location appropriate to receive the signal. For example, the electronic device may receive a GPS signal using an antenna located at an upper end of the electronic device and may receive an LTE communication signal using an antenna located at a lower end of the electronic device. However, an electronic device having a shape of a horizontal symmetry and/or a vertical symmetry may be grasped by a hand of a user in any direction. In the electronic device, it may be difficult to distinguish a horizontal direction and/or a vertical direction. As such, the electronic device may receive a signal using an antenna placed at an inefficient location. For example, the electronic device may be used in a state where an antenna to receive a GPS signal is placed at a lower end thereof and an antenna to receive an LTE communication signal is placed at an upper end thereof.

Electronic device and method for switching antenna thereof


The present invention relates to improved catalyst compositions, as well as methods of making and using such compositions to prepare synthesis gas and ultimately C5+ hydrocarbons. In particular, preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise catalyst systems comprising a core and an outer region disposed on said core, wherein a substantial amount of the catalytic metal is located in the outer region of the catalyst support matrix. In addition, the catalyst systems are able to maintain high conversion and selectivity values with very low catalytically active metal loadings. The catalyst systems are appropriate for improved syngas, oxidative dehydrogenation and other partial oxidation reactions, including improved reaction schemes for the conversion of hydrocarbon gas to C5+ hydrocarbons.

Catalysis is the basis for many industrial/commercial processes in the world today. The most important aspect of a catalyst is that it can increase the productivity, efficiency and profitability of the overall process by enhancing the rate, activity and/or selectivity of a given reaction. Many industrial/commercial processes involve reactions that are simply too slow and/or efficient to be economical without a catalyst present. For example, the process of converting natural gas or methane to liquid hydrocarbons (a particularly desirable process for making liquid fuels) necessarily involves several catalytic reactions.
The conversion of methane or natural gas to hydrocarbons is typically carried out in two steps. In the first step, a methane-containing gas is converted into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (i.e., "synthesis gas" or "syngas"). In a second step, the syngas intermediate is catalytically converted to higher hydrocarbon products, i.e., C5+, by processes such as the Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis.
Current industrial use of methane or natural gas as a chemical feedstock proceeds by the initial conversion of the feedstock to carbon monoxide and hydrogen by for example, steam reforming (the most widespread process), dry reforming, autothermal reforming, gas heated reforming, partial oxidation, or catalytic partial oxidation. Examples of these processes are disclosed in GUNARDSON, HAROLD, Industrial Gases in Petrochemical Processing 41–80 (1998). An example of catalytic partial oxidation is shown in U.S. Published patent application No. 20020013227 to Dindi et al., both incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Steam reforming, dry reforming, and catalytic partial oxidation proceed according to the following reactions with methane as hydrocarbon gas feedtock, respectively:CH4+H2OCO+3H2  (1)CH4+CO22CO+2H2  (2)CH4+1/2O2→CO+2H2  (3)
While currently limited as an industrial process, catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) has recently attracted much attention due to significant inherent advantages, such as the fact that heat is released during the process, in contrast to the endothermic steam and dry reforming processes.
The catalytic partial oxidation ("CPOX") of hydrocarbons, e.g., methane or natural gas, to syngas has also been described in the literature. In catalytic partial oxidation, natural gas or methane is mixed with air, oxygen-enriched air, oxygen blended with a diluent gas such as nitrogen, or substantially pure oxygen, and introduced to a catalyst at elevated gas hourly space velocity, temperature and pressure to generate a syngas product, wherein syngas comprises a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO). As shown in Equation (3), the partial oxidation of methane yields a syngas product with a H2:CO molar ratio close to 2:1, which is more useful for the downstream conversion of syngas to chemicals such as methanol or to hydrocarbons such as liquid fuels, waxes, and/or lubricating oils, than is the 3:1 H2:CO ratio from steam reforming. However, both reactions continue to be the focus of research in the world today.
As stated above, these reactions are catalytic reactions and the literature is replete with varying catalyst compositions. The more preferred catalytic metals are Group VIII or noble metals, such as rhodium, platinum, or palladium. These metals are sometimes combined with secondary metals (also called promoter metals) to enhance their activity. Further, the catalyst compositions may include a support material such as alumina, silica, titania, zirconia, and the like.
Partial oxidation catalysts are generally prepared by uniformly dispersing one or more catalytic metal throughout a catalyst support matrix. One problem with this type preparation is that some preferred catalytic metals, e.g., Rh, Pt, Pd, are typically expensive. Regardless of how expensive or how high the loading, uniform dispersion inherently exiles a substantial amount of catalytic metal to the deep internal surfaces or "core" of a support. For purposes of this disclosure "deep internal surfaces" or "core" is intended to mean the region of the catalyst structure that is deeper than the smaller of (1) 300 μm as measured from the catalyst exterior surface or (2) the outer 30% of the catalyst volume as measured from the catalyst exterior surface directly inwards toward the center of the structure. It should be appreciated that volume here and further herein is contemplated to include both the solid and pore volumes that make up a particle structure. The catalyst metal exiled in this manner creates at least two disadvantages. First, catalytic metal inside the core region of the catalyst support structure will be underutilized. This is especially true in high space velocity reactors where only a relatively small fraction of the reactant gases are able to reach the core region. A second disadvantage is that the any products formed inside the core region will have to diffuse out of the core and the outer layer surrounding the core. The time it takes for the products formed inside the core region to leave the catalyst particle is significantly greater relative to the products formed at or near the exterior surface of the catalyst. More specifically, the difference is equal to the added time it takes for the products to diffuse out of the core. Thus, a further disadvantage is that the possibility for undesired side reactions becomes greater because the products and the reactants are exposed to active catalyst material for a longer period of time.
Applicants theorize, without wishing to be bound by the theory, that in processes having very high reactant space velocities, such as, for example, the catalytic partial oxidation of methane, the inner part of the catalyst particles (e.g., core) do not significantly contribute to the overall reaction productivity. In fact, Applicants postulate that the undesired secondary reactions are predominant in the inner region. Therefore, the chemical activity in the core of the catalyst particle will have the undesirable effects set forth above such as affecting the H2:CO molar ratio, lowering the H2 and CO selectivities, and increasing the reaction temperature. Additionally, the catalytic metal inside the inner core of the catalyst is underutilized with respect to the desired reactions. Therefore, the catalyst metal dispersed in the inner core of the particles contributes significantly to the cost without contributing significantly to the productivity, and indeed potentially decreasing the productivity, of the reactor.
Non-porous material (defined as a material with a surface area of less than 1 m2/g) would typically provide a catalyst core without significant diffusion of reactants/products and thus would overcome the production of undesirable by-products. However, the use of a non-porous support material for the catalyst core is not an acceptable solution, because non-porous materials do not have a sufficient amount of surface area on which to disperse the catalytic material. In addition, lack of sufficient surface area can prevent the reactions from igniting.
Thus, there is a desire to have a syngas production process, which minimizes the amount of expensive catalytic material in the core of catalyst particles and also limits access of the core to the reactants, thus limiting the extent of the occurrence of the undesirable secondary reactions and minimizing the effects of those undesirable reactions. Accordingly, research has focused on developing new catalysts that can reduce or eliminate the problems associated with the prior art catalysts. The approach taken is to more effectively using smaller amounts of catalytic metal or using the catalytic metals more efficiently while maintaining the required minimum amount of surface area. The present invention has been developed with these considerations in mind and is believed to be an improvement over the catalyst systems in the prior art.

Catalysts for the conversion of methane to synthesis gas