A transistor Q11 for supplying driving currents Ia to In to EL display elements 11a to 11n is provided in a stabilization voltage supply circuit 33. The transistor Q11 is connected to a current sensing resistor Ras for detecting a collector current of the transistor Q11. When a total current Ix for driving the EL display elements rises to a certain abnormal level, a bias suppressing element Qa is turned on to thereby reduce a base-emitter bias of the transistor 11.

This invention relates to a display element drive device for driving a single EL display element or a plurality of parallel-connected EL display elements.
FIG. 5 shows the relation between the current density and brightness of an organic EL light emitting element. The coordinates of the current density and brightness are logarithmically represented. Generally, the organic EL light emitting element is a current-driven light emitting element. As shown in FIG. 5, the luminance brightness of the organic EL light emitting element is determined according to the current value per unit area, that is, the current density of the light emitting element. It is, therefore, important for uniforming the brightness and improving display quality to set the current density with good accuracy.
FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram illustrating an example of an organic EL light emitting element of the dot matrix type. As illustrated in FIG. 6, in the case of using the EL light emitting elements each having a constant area like those of the dot matrix type, while display rows are selected by sink type row drivers 4, all pixels can be driven by a single constant current reference source 1 and a plurality of constant current drivers (that is, source type column drivers) 2a, 2b, 2c, . . . , 2n. Incidentally, in FIG. 6, reference numeral 3 designates each of the organic EL light emitting elements.
Incidentally, in addition to the dot matrix display apparatus, a fixed segment display apparatus has been generally known. Despite the constraint that a display pattern is fixed, this fixed segment display apparatus has advantages in that the display apparatus of this type can display edge portions of curves more beautifully than the display apparatus of the dot matrix type, and that the EL light emitting elements are easily manufactured because of a small number of steps of a manufacturing process thereof. Thus, the fixed segment display apparatus is effectively used in relatively low cost equipment and in field requiring display quality.
Unlike the dot matrix display apparatus, the areas of individual pictures (or segments) differ from one another in the fixed segment display apparatus. Thus, the current values of the driving currents of individual segments differ from one another. Therefore, a plurality of constant current reference sources are needed for causing the segments to emit light with the same brightness.
FIG. 7 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a conventional fixed segment display apparatus. In this apparatus, a plurality of constant current reference sources 5a, 5b, 5c, . . . , 5n supply constant currents to constant current drivers 6a, 6b, 6c, . . . , 6n, respectively. Thus, each of organic EL light emitting segments 7a, 7b, 7c, . . . , 7n is driven.
Thus, in the fixed segment display apparatus, the display pattern varies with the segments. Further, the number of the segments and the areas of the segments vary with apparatuses to which the display pattern is applied. Therefore, it is not preferable from the viewpoint of standardization of the display apparatus to fix a set value of each of the preliminarily prepared constant current sources 5a, 5b, 5c, . . . , 5n for a drive device consisting of the constant current reference sources 5a, 5b, 5c, . . . , 5n and the current drivers 6a, 6b, 6c, . . . , 6n. Consequently, this conventional display apparatuses have a drawback in that a drive device should be custom-designed for each of the display apparatuses. Moreover, the use of the plurality of constant current reference sources 5a, 5b, 5c, . . . , 5n itself hinders the enhancement of the area efficiency of the circuit.
Incidentally, it is possible to use a constant voltage circuit instead of the drive circuit shown in FIG. 7 and parallel-connect all the organic EL light emitting elements with the constant voltage circuit. In this case, the custom-designed constant current reference sources are unnecessary. Consequently, the area efficiency of the circuit can be enhanced.
However, generally, according to the voltage-current characteristic of the organic EL light emitting element, change in the current increases exponentially with increase in the voltage, as illustrated in FIG. 8. Thus, in the case of the drive circuit using the constant voltage circuit, even when a small error occurs in the constant voltage, the current density may largely change. Consequently, there is a fear that the brightness of the organic EL light emitting element largely changes, and the display quality is deteriorated. It is, therefore, necessary to precisely adjust the voltage supply. Consequently, the provision of a more complex voltage stabilization circuit is needed. Especially, in the case that organic EL light emitting elements in an automobile instrument panel are driven by being supplied with power from an automobile battery, there is the necessity for applying voltages to drive loads other than a power steering device and a power window device. Thus, there has been a problem of how to achieve the stabilization of a supply voltage.
Additionally, the resistance value of the organic EL light emitting element may change owing to the deterioration thereof and to the influence of the ambient temperature, so that the driving current changes. Consequently, there has been a problem of how to stabilize the brightness of the organic EL light emitting element.
In view of the problems of the conventional example, in the Japanese Patent Application No. 10-301188, the Applicants of the present application have proposed a display element drive device (namely, a proposed device example), which serves as a display element drive circuit enabled to increase the area efficiency of the circuit, and to be adapted to standardization, and to cause small change in the luminance brightness of display elements when the display elements are supplied with power from an automobile battery that is relatively liable to bring about voltage variation, and to stably maintain the luminance brightness even when the resistance value of the display element changes owing to the deterioration thereof, and to have excellent durability.
In this proposed device example, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, a plurality of fixed segment organic EL display elements 11a to 11n are parallel-connected to one another, and a stabilization voltage is supplied to the parallel circuit. Thus, the plurality of conventional drive reference sources (namely, the current sources) needed owing to the difference in the area among the segments are omitted. Moreover, the segments are allowed to have the same brightness.
Further, to deal with variation in characteristics and aged deterioration in the voltage-driven case, the device has a current detecting means 31 (a drive state detecting means) for detecting the current value of electric current supplied to one specific organic EL display element (hereunder referred to as xe2x80x9creference organic EL display elementsxe2x80x9d) 11z (reference light emitting element) other than the organic EL display elements 11a to 11n, and for outputting a current value signal adapted to change according to the electric current value, a voltage control circuit 32 for converting a current value signal, which is received from the current detecting means 31, into a stabilization voltage adjustment signal, and a stabilization voltage supply circuit 33 for converting a voltage Vin, which is supplied from an astable battery power supply (+B), into a constant stabilization voltage Vout.
Incidentally, the reference organic EL display element 11z is connected to the current detecting means 31, and supplied with electric current from the current detecting means 31. On the other hand, other organic EL display elements 11a, . . . , 11n are supplied with electric current through predetermined switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n), as illustrated in FIG. 10.
Each of the switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n) has a PNP transistor Q6 for supplying driving currents Ia to In to the organic EL display elements 11a to 11n, and an NPN transistor Q5 for switching on and off the transistor PNP. The base of the PNP transistor Q6 is connected to the collector of the NPN transistor Q5 through a resistor R5. Moreover, the base of the NPN transistor Q5 is connected to the control portion 13 through a resistor R4. Furthermore, the emitter of the NPN transistor Q5 is grounded. These switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n) are parallel-connected to one another. Further, a common stabilization voltage Vout is applied to the switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n). Incidentally, as illustrated in FIG. 9, each of the switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n) is switched on and off according to a switching signal outputted from the control portion 13.
The current detecting means 31 is used for detecting the driving state of a single reference organic EL display element 11z by sensing the current value of electric current supplied to the reference organic EL display element. Further, the current detecting means 13 has a single current detector Rref, a single operational amplifier A-2, and four resistors Rf1, Rf2, Rf3 and Rs interposed between the reference organic EL display element 11z and the stabilization voltage supply circuit 33.
The inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A-2 is connected to the resistor so that an output of the operational amplifier A-2 is negative-fed back thereto. The inverting input terminal is also connected to the connecting point between the resistor Rf1 and the reference organic EL display element 11z. Further, the noninverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A-2 is connected to the connecting point between the current detecting resistor Rref and the stabilization voltage supply circuit 33 through the resistor Rs, and grounded through the resistor Rf3. With such a circuit configuration, the operational amplifier A-2 functions as a differential amplifier for converting a voltage developed across the current detecting resistor Rref into a current value signal V.
Incidentally, a pair of resistors Rf3 and Rs connected to the noninverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A-2 serves as voltage divider resistors for generating a partial voltage of the stabilization voltage Vout (Rrefxc3x97Iref) Let Iref designate electric current flowing through the current detecting resistor Rref. Moreover, let xcex1 denote a dividing ratio (=Rf3/Rs), at which the stabilization voltage is divided by using the voltage dividing resistors Rf3 and Rs. Furthermore, in the case that Rf2=Rs (namely, xcex1=Rf3/Rf2), and that Rf1=Rf3, the current value V represented by the current value signal is expressed by the equation (1):
V32 (Rf3/Rf2)xc3x97Rrefxc3x97Iref=xcex1xc3x97Rrefxc3x97Irefxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
Further, the resistance value of the current detecting resistor Rref is set in such a manner as to be sufficiently small value in comparison with the resistance values of the segments Rz, Ra, Rb, . . . , Rn (Rm) of the segments (namely, the organic EL display elements 11z, 11a to 11n). Moreover, Irefxc2x7Rref is set in such a way as to be nearly equal to the forward voltage of the PNP transistor Q6 turned on and provided in each of the switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n), voltages respectively applied to the reference organic EL display element 11z and other segments (namely, the organic EL display elements 11a, . . . , 11n) can be made to be almost equal to one another.
The voltage control circuit 32 consists of a single operational amplifier A-1, a single resistor R1, and a Zener diode ZD1 serving as a single constant voltage element. The noninverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A-1 is connected to the cathode of the Zener diode ZD1 and grounded through the Zener diode ZD1. Further, the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A-1 is connected to the current detecting means 31. Furthermore, the operational amplifier A-1 is adapted to control an output thereof so that the voltage V (=xcex1xc3x97Rrefxc3x97Iref) applied from the current detecting means 31 to the noninverting input terminal thereof is made to be approximately equal to the backward voltage Vz provided thereto by being connected to the Zener diode ZD1. Further, the cathode of the Zener diode ZD1 is connected to the battery power supply (+B) through the resistor R11. Incidentally, the operational amplifier A-1 is adapted to ensure a positive power value of an output thereof, which value is sufficient to the extent that the transistor Q11 can output the voltage Vout at all times.
The stabilization voltage supply circuit 33 is practically constituted by a single NPN transistor Q11. Further, the circuit 33 converts the voltage Vin, which is supplied from the battery power supply (+B), to the stabilization voltage Vout serving as emitter potential, according to base potential provided from the voltage control circuit 32 to the circuit 33. Then, the circuit 33 outputs the voltage Vout to the switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n) and the current detecting resistor Rref of the current detecting means 31.
In the case of the proposed device example of the aforementioned configuration, first, when the voltage Vin is supplied from the battery power supply (+B) through the resistor R11 to the Zener diode ZD1 serving as a constant voltage element, the voltage at the noninverting input terminal of the operational amplifier A-1 of the voltage control circuit 32 is fixed by the Zener diode ZD1 at a constant voltage Vz. The operational amplifier A-1 outputs a stabilization adjustment signal, which is used for equalizing the voltage V to the constant voltage Vz, according to the voltage V(=xcex1xc2x7Rrefxc2x7Iref) supplied to the inverting input terminal thereof from the current detecting means 31 and to the constant voltage Vz.
The stabilization voltage supply circuit 33 (Q11) converts the instable power supply voltage Vin to the constant stable voltage Vout in response to a stabilization voltage adjustment signal outputted from the voltage control circuit 32.
At that time, in the case that the stabilization voltage Vout is supplied to the parallel connecting points in the organic EL display elements 11z, and 11a to 11n, the application voltage (namely, the stabilization voltage Vout) is equally applied to all the segments (namely, the organic EL display elements 11z, 11a to 11n). Thus, electric currents Im (Iref, Ia, Ib, . . . , In) each having a current value, which is in inverse proportion to the resistance values Rm of the segments, flow therethrough. In this way, the currents are automatically adjusted so that the current density becomes constant correspondingly to the area of each of the segments. Consequently, the luminance brightnesses of all the segments (namely, the organic EL display elements 11z, 11a to 11n) are stabilized without being affected by variation in the power supply voltage Vin.
Meanwhile, generally, the resistance values of the organic EL display elements 11a to 11n, 11z are changed owing to the deterioration of the display elements, which is caused over years of use, and to the change in the ambient temperature. However, in the case that the voltage to be applied to the organic EL display elements 11a to 11n, 11z is maintained at a fixed value, the current values of currents flowing through the organic EL display elements 11a to 11n, 11z change. This results in variation in the luminance brightness.
However, even in such a case, in this proposed device example, the luminance brightness of each of the organic EL display elements 11a to 11n, 11z is stably maintained by adjusting the voltage Vout according to the change in the resistance value of each of the elements 11a to 11n, 11z.
That is, the operational amplifier A-2 of the current detecting means 31 functions as a differential amplifier for converting a voltage developed across the current detecting resistor Rref into a current value signal V. Further, the operational amplifier A-2 outputs the current value signal V according to the equation (1) to the voltage control circuit 32. Moreover, as described above, a stabilization adjustment signal for equalizing the voltage V (=xcex1xc2x7Rrefxc2x7Iref), which is supplied from the current detecting means 31 to the inverting input terminal, to the constant voltage value Vz is outputted by the operational amplifier A-1 of the voltage control circuit 32. The stabilization voltage supply circuit 33 (All) adjusts the voltage value of the stabilization voltage Vout according to an output of the voltage control circuit 32. That is, when the resistance (Rz) of the reference organic EL display element 11z lowers owing to the deterioration of the elements, the voltage Vout lowers. Conversely, when the resistance (Rz) rises, the voltage Vout rises. Needless to say, after the change in the resistance (Rz), the voltage control is performed so that the voltage V is stably maintained at a value of Vout even when the power supply voltage Vin changes.
Thus, even when the resistance (Rz) of the reference organic EL display element 11z changes owing to the deterioration thereof, the voltage Vout applied to each of the switching circuits 15 (15a to 15n) and the current detecting resistance Rref is adjusted, so that electric current supplied to each of the organic EL display elements 11a to 11n is stabilized thereby to maintain the brightness thereof at a constant value.
Incidentally, in the case that all the organic EL display elements 11z, 11a to 11n have nearly the same voltage-current characteristics and changes thereof with time, even when the internal resistances (Rz, Ra, Rb, . . . , Rn) of the segments change owing to the variation in the characteristics, the voltage Vout is controlled so that each of the driving currents Iref, Ia, Ib, . . . , In has a constant current value. Thus, change in the brightness of each of the display elements is small, in comparison with that in the case of employing a simple constant voltage driving method. Further, the difference in brightness among the segments is decreased.
Generally, when the organic EL display elements deteriorate with time, leakage current may abruptly increase in a part of segments. Thus, at an occurrence of an abnormal condition, such as an abrupt increase in leakage current, display segments, in each of which the abnormal condition occurs, stop emitting light. Moreover, an amount of heat generated by the wiring resistance of transparent electrodes of each of the organic EL display elements is increased. The generated heat adversely affects not only such abnormal display segments but also other normal display segments. Thus, the deterioration of the organic light emitting layers of surrounding display segments is promoted. Furthermore, the leakage current becomes an overcurrent, so that various kinds of drive circuits for driving display segments are destroyed. Thus, such destruction of the drive circuits may bring the entire EL display apparatus into an inoperative condition. The proposed device example cannot prevent an occurrence of such an inoperative condition thereof. Consequently, there is the necessity for improving the proposed device example.
Accordingly, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a display element drive device adapted to impose certain limits on driving currents, which are supplied to display segments, even when the display segments are partly deteriorated and leakage current increases, thereby to contribute to the prevention of heat generation and destruction of various kinds of drive circuits.
To solve the foregoing problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display element drive device for driving a single EL display element or a plurality of EL display elements parallel-connected to one another, which comprises a single stabilization voltage supply circuit for applying a stabilization voltage to the EL display element, a reference EL display element parallel-connected to the EL display element, driving state detecting means for detecting a driving state and for changing an output signal according to the driving state, a voltage control circuit for controlling a constant voltage by supplying a stabilization voltage adjustment signal to the stabilization voltage supply circuit according to the output signal of the driving state detecting means so that the driving state of the reference EL display element is constant, and a switching circuit for switching between application and disapplication of the stabilization voltage to the EL display element. In the device, at least one of the stabilization voltage supply circuit and the switching circuit has a transistor for supplying a driving current to the EL display element. The transistor is connected to a current detecting element for detecting a collector current of the transistor, and to a bias suppressing element for reducing a base-emitter bias of the transistor by on-switching when the current detected by the current detecting element rises to a certain abnormal level owing to leakage current of the EL display element.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display element drive device for driving a single EL display element or a plurality of EL display elements parallel-connected to one another, which comprises a single stabilization voltage supply circuit for applying a stabilization voltage to the EL display element, a reference EL display element parallel-connected to the EL display element, a control portion for detecting a driving state and for changing a control signal, which is used to control the stabilization voltage, according to the driving state, a voltage control circuit for controlling a constant voltage by supplying a stabilization voltage adjustment signal to the stabilization voltage supply circuit according to the control signal outputted from the control portion so that the driving state of the reference EL display element is constant, and a switching circuit for switching between application and disapplication of the stabilization voltage to the EL display element. In the device, the switching circuit is adapted to perform on-off switching according to a switching signal sent from the control portion. The stabilization voltage supply circuit has a stabilization voltage supply element for adjusting an output level of the stabilization voltage according to the stabilization voltage adjustment signal supplied from the voltage control circuit, and further has a current detecting element for detecting a current outputted from the stabilization voltage supply element. The control portion has a function of outputting to the switching circuit a switching signal for applying the stabilization voltage to the EL display element by on-switching of the switching circuit. The control portion further has a function of judging that leakage current of the EL display element abnormally increases, and changing the control signal to thereby limit the output level of the stabilization voltage outputted from the stabilization voltage supply element when the current detected by the current detecting element rises to an abnormally high level in comparison with a level of a driving current needed for driving the EL display element to emit light in a case that the on-switching of the switching circuit is performed in response to the switching signal.


Systems and methods for implementing ejector refrigeration cycles with cascaded evaporation stages that utilize a pump to optimize operation of the ejector and eliminate the need for a compressor between the evaporation stages.

Ejector refrigeration cycles offer performance advantages compared to traditional cascaded refrigeration cycles. One example of a conventional ejector refrigeration cycle system 100 with two evaporation pressures is illustrated by the schematic diagram in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, condensed liquid refrigerant in line 102 is transferred to the motive nozzle inlet of an ejector 104 where it is expanded and accelerated to a lower pressure and partially vaporized. Vaporized refrigerant from a first evaporative heat exchanger 116 is transferred through line 118 to the suction nozzle of the ejector 104. Through the entrainment of suction flow in line 118 by the acceleration of the motive flow in line 102, the ejector 104 discharges these two flows at a pressure higher than the pressure in the heat exchanger 116 in a two-phase state after mixing and diffusing, resulting in a smaller pressure ratio across a compressor 112 and thus, reducing the power consumption of the compressor 112. The partially vaporized flow is collected in a flash tank 108 utilized for phase separation of the two-phase flow. Vapor in line 110 from the flash tank 108 is recompressed in the compressor 112 and subsequently condensed in a condensing heat exchanger 114 with heat rejection to an external heat sink. Liquid from the flash tank 108 is evaporated in the heat exchanger 116 used to cool an external stream. An additional chilling stage is achieved by expanding liquid from the flash tank 108 to a low-pressure stage in line 120 where the flow is evaporated in a second evaporative heat exchanger 124. Vaporized refrigerant is then compressed to higher stages in a booster compressor 122.
A pressure differential between the motive flow in line 102 upstream of the ejector 104 and the suction flow in line 118 is what allows the ejector 104 to operate. A certain difference in pressure between the high side (motive) and low side (suction) is needed for the ejector 104 to perform efficiently. Because of this, many manufacturers will use multiple ejectors in parallel or an ejector that is adjustable to accommodate for changes in the upstream motive pressure. As a result, high-side pressure control is a limiting aspect that makes ejector refrigeration cycles less suitable for operational flexibility over a wide range of operating conditions that can impact the performance of the ejector, leading to a significantly reduced coefficient of performance. Additionally, to achieve two evaporation pressures, either a booster compressor between the two evaporator heat exchangers 116 and 124 would be required or the medium temperature at the outlet of heat exchanger 116 would need to be expanded down to the lower evaporating pressure at the outlet of heat exchanger 124. The addition of a booster compressor is more efficient than expanding the outlet flow from heat exchanger 116 because a single compressor would have a higher-pressure ratio to overcome, and thus, consume more power. Because the additional booster compressor 122 also increases the overall power consumption of the cycle, alternative means of compressing the working fluid to achieve the pressure differential between the heat exchangers 116 and 124 may be preferred and multiple ejectors may be required to maintain optimal operational performance and energy efficiency.

BECHTEL ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES & SOLUTIONS, INC.


A portable free-standing kit which can serve as a functional trial product, particularly for children, includes a combination of dry toilet paper and moist wipes. A roll of toilet paper is rotatably mounted on a functional spindle housed within the kit. The moist wipes are provided in a container which is supported by either a shelf or the bottom of the kit.

Teaching children to properly clean themselves after a bowel movement is a constant challenge for parents. While many children learn to clean themselves using dry toilet paper, the use of moist wipes in conjunction with dry toilet paper has been largely ignored. Since the combined use of dry toilet paper and moist wipes provides the best cleaning, there is a need for a means of making both products conveniently available to children and to encourage proper usage.

Trial kit for dispensing toilet paper and moist wipes


The present invention relates to an exfoliating composition. The composition comprises a mixture. The mixture comprises phenolsulfonic acid, guaiacolsulfonic acid, and optionally sulfosalicylic acid and citric acid.

The present invention relates to a method for exfoliating skin, including facial skin, skin on the bottom of feet, and elbows.
Skin atrophy refers to a thinning or general degradation of the dermis layer of mammalian skin. Skin atrophy is often characterized by a decrease in collagen and elastin. Skin atrophy is a natural result of aging, but may be caused by either intrinsic or extrinsic factors such as natural chronological aging, photo damage, burns or chemical damage, or by exposure to pollutants or allergens such as cigarette smoke. Skin atrophy is an undesirable side effect resulting from treatment with alpha hydroxy carboxylic acids.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are corns and callouses. Corns and callouses are hard skin that develops when skin is exposed to excessive pressure or friction. A corn is hard skin with a small core that includes tissue that is as hard as bone or nail. Corns and callouses are typically treated with abrasive materials and abrasive devices.
Cosmetic compositions that include alpha or beta hydroxy acid, AHA/BHA as the active ingredient, are well-known in the art. These compositions are useful in improving skin tone, reduction of fine lines, enhancement of moisture, and development of smooth skin. Application of AHA/BHA results in younger looking skin as new cells replace the old. Unfortunately, the AHA/BHA acts most effectively at low pH conditions. In order to improve skin condition, users must tolerate skin irritation caused by the acid present in the AHA/BHA products. Skin irritation is a major concern then, to manufacturers and users to these products.


Disclosed are deactivatable RFID labels and tags in individual and web form, and methods of making same. When it is desired to deactivate the label or tag, the tag or label is subjected to tearing. One arrangement involves providing the label or tag with a tear strip by which the RFID transponder in the label or tag is destroyed, and in another arrangement a tag can be torn along a weakening line to destroy the RFID transponder.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to RFID labels and tags, to webs of RFID labels and tags, and to methods of making them.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder includes an integrated circuit chip that can be written to and/or read from and an antenna coupled to the chip. It is known to provide RFID transponders in tags and labels.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Deactivatable RFID labels and tags and methods of making same


An improved method for producing a full face fabricated wheel. The method includes the steps of: (a) providing a rim defining an axis and including an axially extending well and a pair of opposed ends, one of the ends including an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange and an inboard tire bead seat, and the other end including an outboard tire bead seat; (b) providing a disc blank including an inner annular portion defining a wheel mounting surface; (c) flow spinning the disc blank to form an intermediate annular portion having a predetermined contour and an outer annular portion; (d) stamping the outer annular portion of the disc to form an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the full face wheel; (e) positioning the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the disc adjacent the outboard tire bead seat of the rim; and (f) securing the rim and disc together to produce the full face fabricated wheel.

This invention relates in general to a vehicle wheel and, in particular, to an improved method for producing a full face fabricated wheel.
Conventional fabricated wheels are typically of a two-piece construction and include an inner disc and an outer rim. The disc includes a centrally located wheel mounting surface provided with a center pilot hole and a plurality of lug receiving holes for mounting the wheel to an axle of the vehicle. The rim includes an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an inboard tire bead seat, an axially extending well, an outboard tire bead seat, and an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange. In both types of constructions, the disc and the rim are secured together during a welding operation.
Styled fabricated wheels have recently become popular and one type of a styled wheel is a full face wheel. In a full face type wheel, the disc includes an outer annular portion which defines at least a portion of an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the wheel. The rim includes an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an inboard tire bead seat, a generally axially extending well, and an outboard tire bead seat. In some instances, the outboard tire bead seat of the rim and the outer annular portion of the disc cooperate to form the outboard tire 0 bead seat retaining flange of the full face wheel. In both types of construction, the outboard tire bead seat of the rim is positioned adjacent the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the disc, and a weld is applied to secure the rim and the disc together.
A typical sequence of steps which can be used to produce a full face fabricated wheel includes the steps of: (a) providing a flat sheet of suitable material, such as aluminum or steel; (b) forming the sheet into a generally flat circular disc blank; (c) initially stamping the blank to form a partially-shaped disc; (d) progressively stamping the partially-shaped disc during a plurality of intermediate stamping operations to produce a disc having a predetermined shape; (e) final stamping an outer annular portion of the disc to form a bead seat retaining flange thereon which defines an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the finish full face wheel; (f) machining an outer edge of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the disc; and (g) securing the disc to a preformed rim to produce the finish full face fabricated wheel.
As a result of forming the full face wheel in this manner, the intermediate stamping operations produce a disc having a generally constant material thickness as the disc is progressively shaped. A slight thinning of the material occurs only at those portions of the disc where the curvature changes and forms a radius. Thus, the generally constant thickness of the disc results in a disc having extra material at places where it is not required for strength purposes. In addition, the outer end of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the disc must be machined to remove excessive material therefrom, in order to provide an end which is thin enough to allow a wheel balancing weight to be secured thereon.
It is known that a flat or a preformed disc blank can be tapered by a flow spinning process to produce a disc for a conventional or a combination wheel as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,591 to Schroder et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,191 to Albertson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,195,491 to Bulgrin et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 2,983,033 to Cox.

Method for producing a full face fabricated wheel


To provide a technology for sintering calcium phosphate to manufacture a calcium phosphate sintered body and suppressing generation of calcium oxide when calcium phosphate is sintered, there is provided a process for manufacturing a sintered calcium phosphate molded body is characterized by including a step for heating a composition containing at least a composite of calcium phosphate fine particles and polyether and sintering the calcium phosphate fine particles.

Calcium phosphate including hydroxyapatite (HAp) adsorbs microorganisms and viruses, is also applicable to an insulating film of an electronic part or the like, and is a useful material.
Here, various attempts have been made to manufacture a molded body of a hydroxyapatite sintered body by sintering hydroxyapatite by a special method. For example, regarding a porous sintered body, Patent Literature 1 proposes a method for mixing hydroxyapatite particles and thermally decomposable particles to obtain a mixture and sintering the mixture. According to this method, the thermally decomposable particles are burned off, and the spots where the thermally decomposable particles were present become voids such that a porous body is obtained. In addition, Patent Literature 2 proposes a method for preparing a mixture obtained by adding a specific component (a component that has a frost pillar shape when being cooled) to hydroxyapatite, and cooling the mixture. According to this method, as a result of frost pillarization of the specific component, a porous body is obtained. Furthermore, Patent Literature 3 proposes a method for mixing air with hydroxyapatite particles and mechanically stirring the mixture to obtain a foam composition in which bubbles are present between the hydroxyapatite particles, and heating the composition to obtain a porous molded body. Regarding a dense sintered body, Patent Literature 4 proposes a method for forming a dense hydroxyapatite layer by applying a salt obtained from aminopolycarboxylic acid and a calcium compound to a surface of a substrate and sintering the salt. Patent Literature 5 proposes technology for forming a hydroxyapatite layer using sputtering.

Sintered calcium phosphate molded body and process for manufacturing the same


The present application discloses a method and system for processing image signals, the method and system sensing visible light bands of optical signals in an area to be imaged, via a first imaging unit, to generate a first image signal, wherein the first image signal includes color information; sensing at least infrared bands of optical signals in the area to be imaged, via a second imaging unit, to generate a second image signal, wherein the second image signal includes illumination information; and synthesizing the first image signal and the second image signal to generate a synthesized image with color information and illumination information. The present application can generate a synthesized image with a variety of advantages, and can meet the two monitoring requirements in low illumination and haze environment which are focused in the field of security.

In daily life, night is a period for mostly occurring various cases. In the field of security, in an environment of low illumination at night, an image effect of a camera is often the focus of people's attention. At present, switching method of Infrared CUT (IR-CUT) is often used to take into account monitoring image effects of the day and night, its working principle is: in an environment of low illumination that lacks of light at night, the camera switching from a day mode filtering infrared light into a night mode sensing infrared band by switching of IR-CUT, such that the camera can also obtain less noise images in the environment of low illumination. However, the infrared light will affect the camera's perception of color, thus in the night mode, the camera often outputs black and white images, thus lost the color information of the images.
In addition, in recent years haze weather is gradually increased. In the field of security, in order to ensure the image effect, penetrating-haze function is often added to the camera to meet monitoring requirements in haze weather. In principle, a part of light wave with shorter wavelength is vulnerable to haze particles, and the longer wavelength the light wave has, the light wave is more hardly blocked by haze particles. Therefore, the camera optical penetrating-haze is realized by filtering out the part with shorter wavelength through an optical filter and leaving the part with longer wavelength, so as to achieve better penetrating-haze effect. However, the optical penetrating-haze processing filters out most of the color information, similar to the night mode described above, it often only outputs black and white images.

Image signal processing method and system

HANGZHOU HIKVISION DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A liquid application apparatus includes: a roller member which is driven so as to rotate in a rotational direction; an application liquid supply device which supplies an application liquid onto a portion of the roller member while the roller member is rotating; a blade member which is arranged so as to abut against a circumferential surface of the roller member at an abutment position that is on a downstream side of the application liquid supply device in terms of the rotational direction of the roller member, the blade member wiping away an excess of the supplied application liquid on the roller member; a substitute fluid spray device which is arranged on a downstream side of the abutment position of the blade member in terms of the rotational direction of the roller member, the substitute fluid spray device spraying a substitute fluid onto a region of the circumferential surface of the roller member so as to remove the application liquid on the region of the circumferential surface of the roller member after the roller member passing the abutment position of the blade member, the substitute fluid including one of gas and liquid that is different from the application liquid; and a substitute fluid spray control device which controls the substitute fluid spray device to spray the substitute fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid application apparatus and method, and to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a liquid application apparatus and method having a composition in which liquid is supplied onto the surface of a round cylindrical member, such as a gravure roller, and to an image forming apparatus having a composition in which treatment liquid (undercoating liquid) is applied using this liquid application apparatus and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4-64488 discloses technology for stabilizing an application process by separating a doctor blade from a gravure roller (also referred to as a "gravure cylinder") to remove the remaining application liquid left between the doctor blade and the gravure roller by means of a fluid, each time application is performed on a substrate.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-230201 discloses technology for preventing an application liquid from drying out and becoming affixed to the surface of an application roller, by separating a pressing roller (also referred to as an "impression roller") and application liquid tank, when application liquid is not being applied onto a receiving body.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-166448 discloses technology for reducing image application non-uniformities by leveling a sprayed treatment liquid by means of a roller, a blade, or an air flow.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-95489 discloses technology for achieving application of an ultra-thin layer having a film thickness of not greater than 10 μm, by reverse rotation application using a gravure roller, and it also discloses technology for curing an applied film by irradiating ultraviolet light while supplying an inert gas.
In the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4-64488, although it is possible to stabilize application by removing remaining liquid by means of air or liquid, it is not suitable for high-speed processing since the doctor blade needs to be separated from the gravure roller frequently. Furthermore, it is also difficult to control application in the conveyance direction and the breadthways direction.
In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-230201, although it is possible to reduce affixation onto the roller surface, there is a problem in that application non-uniformities are liable to occur due to the effects of residual fixed material. Furthermore, when the application liquid in the application liquid tank is separated, then it is possible to control application in the conveyance direction, but liquid trails are liable to occur and the response is not satisfactory.
In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-166448, although it is possible to simplify the application of the liquid by means of the spraying of treatment liquid from nozzles, during rotation of the roller in the forward direction, or pressing of the blade, non-uniformities such as stripe-shaped non-uniformities are liable to occur, and the treatment liquid that has dried and solidified is liable to become attached to the roller or blade. Moreover, non-uniformities are liable to occur in the breadthways direction due to air blowing, and it is difficult to control the application thickness by means of air blowing.
In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-95489, the treatment liquid which has dried and solidified is liable to become attached to the roller, and even when application has been halted, liquid trails are liable to occur and therefore the control characteristics cannot be regarded as satisfactory.
Moreover, in the field of inkjet recording, intermediate transfer methods have been investigated in the related art, with the object of achieving good image formation onto media of various types, and it has been found that, in particular, a method which applies an undercoating liquid (treatment liquid) such as an ink aggregation agent, to an intermediate transfer body is suitable for forming images. When an image is formed on a cut paper by means of this method, then although good reverse rotation application is achieved on the gravure roller, which enables good film thickness uniformity when applying the undercoating liquid (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-95489), it is difficult to control the application range and there are cases where the undercoating liquid adhering to portions outside the paper becomes attached to the transfer roller, and the intermediate transfer body becomes soiled by retransfer of this liquid. Furthermore, in cases where the undercoating liquid is acidic, then corrosion of the structural members, such as the transfer roller, may be caused by the liquid. Moreover, in cases where liquid has been attached to the gravure roller for a long period of time also, there is a possibility of drying solidification or damage resulting from corrosion.

Liquid application apparatus and method, and image forming apparatus


A shifter for controlling a vehicle transmission includes a base and a shift lever movably mounted to the base for movement between a plurality of gear positions. At least one of the gear positions comprises a PARK/NEUTRAL position having a PARK and a NEUTRAL control feature. The shifter includes an input device configured to switch between PARK and NEUTRAL upon actuation of the input device by an operator. An indicator on the shift lever indicates if the transmission is in PARK or NEUTRAL.

Various shifters for controlling automatic transmissions in motor vehicles have been developed. Such shifters may include a shift lever with a knob having a button thereon connected with mechanical linkage to control the gear position of the automatic transmission. Such shift knobs and levers are often relatively large due to the need to house the mechanical linkage. Also, the overall shape and aesthetics of the shift lever and knob may be limited due to the need to house the mechanical linkage.


An invertible glove includes a hand portion having at least two digit portions configured to cover at least two digits of a hand of a wearer of the glove and a palm portion configured to cover a palm of the hand of the wearer of the glove. The hand portion includes an exterior surface for handling an object and an interior surface for abutting the hand of the wearer of the glove. The hand portion further includes a grasping element that extends from the interior surface of at least one of the digit portions and is configured to be grasped by a digit of the hand of the wearer of the glove for facilitating inversion of the glove when the hand is removed from the glove. A glove is inverted by pulling on the grasping element as the hand is removed from the glove.

Plastic, disposable gloves are used in many applications. Such gloves provide a barrier between the hands of the wearer of the glove and whatever the wearer is handling. Because the plastic is generally relatively thin, the gloves do not hinder the wearer's ability to perform the particular task that he or she is performing.
Such gloves may be utilized in a number of activities to prevent contaminants from contacting the hands of a wearer. For example, a person may wear such gloves in culinary activities, such as preparing meat. In addition, a person may wear such gloves in industrial or hobby-craft applications, wherein various hazardous chemicals and materials may be handled.
When using such gloves, it would be advantageous to be able to remove a glove and then don the same glove again without contaminating the environment or the hand of the wearer while doing so. For example, this particular feature would be advantageous when handling raw foods such as meat. A person could don the glove to cut and tenderize the meat, then remove the glove to season the meat with a seasoning dispenser. The person then could re-don the glove to continue handling the meat. In this example, any bacterial or other contaminants that may be present on the meat are kept out of contact with the hands of the wearer and the seasoning dispenser. The person also has avoided excessive waste that otherwise would occur by using a new disposable glove instead of re-donning the old glove.
Once an activity has been completed, a person typically removes and disposes of the glove that was used. During such removal and disposal, the person is generally concerned with preventing contaminants disposed on the external surface of the glove from contacting his or her hands or other objects. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to be able to remove such glove without contaminating the hand of the wearer during removal. It would further be advantageous to be able to prevent contamination of the environment after the glove has been removed.
One or more of these advantages are provided by one or more aspects of the present invention.

Glove with interior grasping element for inversion


An iridium layer (16) is formed on an inter-layer insulation film (12) and in an opening (14). The iridium layer (16) is constituted with a part to be a lower electrode (16a) of a capacitor and a part to be a wiring (16b) for coming into contact with a drain zone (6). On part of the lower electrode (16a) of the iridium layer (16) is formed a ferroelectric layer (18) made of PZT on which is further formed an iridium layer (20) as an upper electrode. Since the melting point of iridium is higher than that of aluminum, there is no possibility of iridium melting even if heat treatment is carried out after forming the iridium layer (16). Since reactivity between iridium and silicon is low, unnecessary silicon compound is not produced on the interface to provide favorable contact.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wiring of semiconductor elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, Al, W, Ta, Ti, their silicides, aluminum alloy (Al--Si--Cu),etc., copper, copper alloy, polysilicon doped with impurities, etc. have been used for wiring of semiconductors. However, when aluminum is used, there is a problem that heat treatment cannot be performed above 450.degree. C. after forming with aluminum, because aluminum malts at temperatures above 450.degree. C. Polysilicon having a high melting point does not pose such a problem. However, since polysilicon has a high resistance, it is unsuitable for wirings of a long distance or with fine wires.
Alternatively when aluminum is formed on the silicon layer, aluminum enters (spikes) into silicon and may cause breakage of wires. In order to overcome such problems, a conventional method has been to form a thin layer of TiN as a barrier layer on the silicon layer over which aluminum layer is formed. The TiN barrier layer prevents diffusion (spiking) of silicon into aluminum.
However, when the TiN barrier layer is formed and then heat-treated in an atmosphere containing O.sub.2, a possible problem is that Ti is oxidized to form nonconductive titanium oxide so that contacts cannot be made. Another problem is that since TiN is very hard, it may separate from metals or silicon because of difference in coefficients of thermal expansion.

Semiconductor device having an iridium electrode


An improved coating material possessing super-hard and low friction properties and a method for forming the same. The improved coating material includes the use of a noble metal or soft metal homogeneously distributed within a hard nitride material. The addition of small amounts of such metals into nitrides such as molybdenum nitride, titanium nitride, and chromium nitride results in as much as increasing of the hardness of the material as well as decreasing the friction coefficient and increasing the oxidation resistance.

From a tribological standpoint, a combination of high mechanical hardness with low friction is always desired but seldom achieved in most sliding surfaces. With many conventional coatings, base steel sliding against itself gives friction coefficients of 0.12 to 0.16 even under the best lubrication conditions.
Alloying ingredients used in certain coatings are inherently soft and therefore possess fairly good solid lubrication properties. Metals such as copper, tin, antimony, cadmium and zinc show good lubrication properties under oil lubricated sliding conditions as well. Specifically, these metals primarily undergo easy shear under loaded sliding contacts due to their softness. In one set of sliding experiments with pure metals under lubricated conditions, pure copper, bismuth, antimony, tin, and zinc were considered. All of the metals except bismuth resulted in a low friction coefficient, confirming that the respective metals were lubricious under lubricated sliding conditions. Additionally, some of the aforementioned metals, such as zinc, possess a good ability to react with the additives in lubricants to form chemical boundary films on sliding surfaces. These chemical films may also possess some lubrication or anti-friction properties. However, soft metals and their films have typically not been used as structural materials for lubricated applications under severe loading conditions, primarily due to their poor mechanical properties and rapid wear.
For all of these reasons, it would be desirable to develop a new and improved coating that possess an improved degree of hardness relative to conventional coatings while also possessing improved lubrication properties.

Hard and low friction nitride coatings and methods for forming the same


A power converter circuit includes an inductor and rectifier circuit having an inductor connected in series with an electronic switch, and a rectifier circuit, and a controller for generating a drive signal for driving the electronic switch. The electronic switch has drain, source and gate nodes, drift and compensation cells each including a drift region of a first doping type and a compensation region of a second doping type, and a control structure connected between the drift region of each of the drift and compensation cells and the source node. Each drift region is coupled to the drain node and each compensation region cells is coupled to the source node. A first type doping concentration N1 of the drift region is higher than a first doping level L1, and a second type doping concentration N2 of the compensation region is higher than a second doping level L2.

A superjunction transistor device, which often is also referred to as compensation transistor device, includes a device region with at least one region of a first doping type (conductivity type) and at least one region of a second doping type (conductivity type) complementary to the first doping type. The at least one region of the first doping type is often referred to as drift region, and the at least one region of the second doping type is often referred to as compensation region (although there are also publications where the overall region with the at least one region of the first doping type and at least one region of the second doping type is referred to as drift region). The drift region is coupled to a drain node and the compensation region is coupled to a source node of the transistor device.
A superjunction transistor device furthermore includes a control structure with a source region and a body region each coupled to the source node, and a gate electrode dielectrically insulated from the body region by a gate dielectric. This control structure defines an operation state of the transistor device. In an on-state there is conducting channel in the body region along the gate dielectric between the source region and the drift region. In the off-state, the conducting channel is interrupted. If, in the off-state, an external voltage is applied between the source node and drain node that reverse biases a pn-junction between the body region and the drift region and a pn-junction between the compensation region and the drift region a space charge region (depletion region) expands in each of the drift region and the compensation region.
In the off-state, the transistor device prevents a current flow between the drain node and the source node, unless the voltage between the source node and the drain node reaches a voltage level that is usually referred to as breakdown voltage level or, shorter, breakdown voltage. When the voltage reaches the breakdown voltage an avalanche breakdown occurs that causes an avalanche current to flow. The avalanche breakdown is associated with an acceleration of charge carriers in the drift region such that they create electron-hole pairs by impact ionization. Charge carriers created by impact ionization create new charge carriers, so that there is a multiplication effect.
Superjunction devices can be designed to withstand an avalanche current for a certain time. In the avalanche state a high amount of power may be dissipated in the transistor device which may finally result in a destruction due to overheating if the avalanche current prevails longer than the time it takes to reach the thermal limit, that is, to overheat the transistor device.
There is a need to provide a superjunction transistor device with a low on-resistance and a high avalanche robustness at a given voltage blocking capability.

Power converter circuit having a controller for generating a drive signal for driving an electronic switch with high avalanche robustness


A method for use in a first user equipment (UE) includes receiving, from a base station, control information and a resource assignment for uplink transmission; and transmitting, based on the control information, a discovery signal on the assigned resource for uplink transmission, the discovery signal including a first temporary UE identifier (ID) assigned to the first UE, wherein the first temporary UE ID is used to identify the first UE for device-to-device communication.

In cellular networks such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced communication networks, a user equipment (UE) may communicate with other UEs via a base station and an evolved packet core (EPC) network. For example, a UE may send data packets to its serving base station on an uplink. The serving base station may forward the data packets to the EPC network, and the EPC network may forward the data packets to another base station or to the same base station that is serving another UE. Data transfer between the UEs is routed through the base station and the EPC network. The communication between the UEs is controlled by the policies set by the operator administering the network.
The UEs may communicate directly with each other using another radio access technology (RAT), such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) or Bluetooth, when the UEs are located in close proximity and have access to the other RAT. However, this multi-RAT communication generally requires the availability of the other RAT and the capability of the UEs to operate in the other RAT. Moreover, handover from cellular technology to the other RAT may result in service interruption and dropped calls.

Methods and devices for performing proximity discovery


An overshot tool is provided for interconnecting and sealing between a lower tubular (C) in a well and an upper tubular (30). A tubular expander sleeve (36) and an overshot sleeve (26) are supported in a well on an upper tubular. The tool housing (60) encloses a plurality of axially stacked pistons (58, 68, 74), which generate an axial force to move the expander sleeve downward and radially expand a portion of a lower tubular to seal between an outer diameter of the lower tubular and an inner diameter of the overshot sleeve.

Various types of overshot tools have been designed for interconnecting and sealing between a lower tubular in a well and an upper tubular in a well. In an exemplary application, the lower tubular may have separated or may have been cut off so that the overshot tool connects an upper end of the lower tubular with a lower end of the upper tubular each positioned within the well.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,023,847, and 4,127,297, disclose overshot tools developed in the 1970's. U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,833, discloses a releasable overshot which is complex and has numerous parts. An overshot cutter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,170. U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,615, discloses an overshot tool with a radially expandable and contractable grapple. U.S. Pat. No. 7,422,068, discloses a casing patch overshot which utilizes a wedge to expand a lower end of an upper tubular. U.S. Pat. No. 7,493,946, discloses a tool for radially expanding a tubular. U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,388, discloses an overshot retrieval tool with a slip-type overshot.
One of the primary difficulties associated with overshot tool techniques is the reliability of the mechanical interconnection and the fluid tight seal between the upper end of the lower tubular and the lower end of the upper tubular. In some applications, the mechanical connection may be adequate for a short time, but subsequently problems may exist when the lower tubular begins to separate from the upper tubular. In other applications, a mechanical interconnection is maintained, but the fluid tight seal is lost between the upper and lower tubulars, so that some fluid from the lower tubular escapes to the annulus surrounding the lower and upper tubulars, or fluid from the annulus enters the tubular at the overshot interconnection.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and an improved overshot tool and method of interconnecting and sealing between a lower tubular and an upper tubular are hereinafter disclosed.


A method and apparatus for estimating the location of a wireless terminal are disclosed. The location of the wireless terminal is estimated based on one or more signal strength measurements in conjunction with: (i) one or more angle-of-arrival measurements, (ii) one or more time-of-arrival measurements, or (iii) a combination of (i) and (ii). At each measurement time, the illustrative embodiment (a) determines the candidate locations for the wireless terminal, (b) computes a measurement likelihood function for any signal strength measurements that are available at that time, (c) computes a measurement likelihood function for any geometry-of-arrival measurements that are available at that time, (d) computes a joint likelihood function for all measurements available at that time, and (e) updates the location probability distribution for the wireless terminal with the joint measurement likelihood function. Estimates of the location of the wireless terminal are obtained from the location probability distribution.

A wireless terminal measures and reports the signal strength of its serving cell and some number of neighboring cells as part of the handoff process. The frequency of these reports, the number of neighboring cells monitored by the wireless terminal, and the reporting criteria depend on the air interface protocol of the cellular network (e.g., IS-136, GSM, IS-95 CDMA, etc.). Since each cell in the network transmits a constant control signal, the strength of this signal at the wireless terminal is an indication of the distance from the cell's antenna to the wireless terminal. Thus, it is possible to derive an estimate of the location of the wireless terminal from the strength of the signals that it reports by comparing the reported signal strengths to a model of the signal environment.
The accuracy of the location estimates that can be obtained from reported signal strength measurements depends on many factors that can vary from location to location and include, for example:    the number of signal strength measurements reported;    the accuracy with which the wireless terminal can measure signal strength;    the accuracy with which the wireless terminal can report signal strength values to the switching center (i.e., quantization);    the accuracy of the signal strength model of the environment; and    local attenuation caused by obstructions (e.g., terrain, vehicles, trees, etc.).
In addition, the accuracy of location estimates based on signal strength measurements also depends on the sensitivity of the signal environment to changes in location. For example, if there is a region in which received signal strength is relatively insensitive to changes in location, then reported signal strength measurements at a wireless terminal in that region could result in a relatively inaccurate location estimate, even if the model of the signal environment were perfect. Consequently, estimates based on signal strength measurements alone might not be sufficiently accurate for a specific location-based application at all locations within a service area.

Location estimation of wireless terminals based on combinations of signal strength measurements and geometry-of-arrival measurements


Flexible optical waveguide substrates that can be used with touch screen displays. The waveguide substrates include a flexible base material. A first optical layer having a first index of refraction value is formed on the flexible base material. A second optical layer is then formed on the first optical layer, the second optical layer being patterned to form a plurality of optical elements and waveguides respectively. The second optical layer also has a second index of refraction value higher than the first index of refraction value. Lastly, a third optical layer is formed on the second optical layer. The third optical layer has a third index of refraction value lower than the second index of refraction value. The high N second layer is therefore sandwiched between the lower N first and third layers, creating an internally reflective surface wherever the high N and low N materials are in contact. The base material and first, second and third optical layers thus form a flexible waveguide substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally light based to touch screen displays, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for making an optical element waveguide that can be used with touch screen displays.
2. Description of the Related Art
User input devices for data processing systems can take many forms. Two types of relevance are touch screens and pen-based screens. With either a touch screen or a pen-based screen, a user may input data by touching the display screen with either a finger or an input device such as a stylus or pen.
One conventional approach for providing a touch or pen-based input system is to overlay a resistive or capacitive film over the display screen. This approach has a number of problems. Foremost, the film causes the display to appear dim and obscures viewing of the underlying display. To compensate, the intensity of the display screen is often increased. However, in the case of most portable devices, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants, and laptop computers, high intensity screens are usually not provided. If they are provided, the added intensity requires additional power, reducing the life of the battery of the device. The films are also easily damaged. These films are therefore not ideal for use with pen or stylus input devices. The motion of the pen or stylus may damage or tear the thin film. This is particularly true in situations where the user is writing with a significant amount of force. In addition, the cost of the film scales dramatically with the size of the screen. With large screens, the cost is typically prohibitive.
Another approach to providing touch or pen-based input systems is to use an array of source Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) along two adjacent X-Y sides of an input display and a reciprocal array of corresponding photodiodes along the opposite two adjacent X-Y sides of the input display. Each LED generates a light beam directed to the reciprocal photodiode. When the user touches the display, with either a finger or pen, the interruptions in the light beams are detected by the corresponding X and Y photodiodes on the opposite side of the display. The data input is thus determined by calculating the coordinates of the interruptions as detected by the X and Y photodiodes. This type of data input display, however, also has a number of problems. A large number of LEDs and photodiodes are required for a typical data input display. The position of the LEDs and the reciprocal photodiodes also need to be aligned. The relatively large number of LEDs and photodiodes, and the need for precise alignment, make such displays complex, expensive, and difficult to manufacture.
Yet another approach involves the use of polymer waveguides to both generate and receive beams of light from a single light source to a single array detector. These systems tend to be complicated and expensive and require alignment between the transmit and receive waveguides and the optical elements and the waveguides. The waveguides are usually made using a lithographic process that can be expensive or difficult to source. In addition, the waveguides are typically flat. As a consequence, the bezel around the display is relatively wide. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,709.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for making inexpensive, flexible optical waveguides that can be used with touch screen displays.

Apparatus and method for making flexible waveguide substrates for use with light based touch screens


A pin for a blind bolt, the pin having a proximal end, a distal end and a shaft between the proximal and distal ends, extending axially from the distal end an outwardly tapered surface and an inwardly tapered surface, the pin comprising a strike portion at the proximal end, wherein the cross sectional area of the strike portion is greater than the cross sectional area of the shaft.

This invention relates to fasteners and is especially, but not exclusively, related to fasteners for use in securing components to section, e.g. hollow box section, whereby access to the interior of the section is restricted in whole or in part.
A number of fasteners of this kind, which are generally termed blind bolts, are known.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement over known types of fasteners. It is a non-exclusive object of the invention to provide a fastener which, once engaged, has a tendency to continue to force the component and section together. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fastener which can withstand significant environmental factors such as vibrational forces and so on.


An electronic percussion system having the look, feel and response of an acoustic drum is provided by a combination of a drum body shell, conventional drum heads held at adjustable tension across open ends of the shell, and within the interior drum cavity a sound-to-electrical transducer is embedded in layers of rubber foam filler material. The sound energy attenuating characteristics of the foam filler material prevent the transducer from being falsely triggered by ambient sound exterior to the drum, by sympathetic vibrations of the drum, and resists false triggering due to lightly, inadvertently hitting the drum stand. In a bass drum embodiment, the transducer is mounted directly between layers of low density rubber foam, while a snare and tom drum configuration includes a thin sound plate that floats between layers of rubber foam and to which the transducer element is mounted to excite the transducer by capturing sound energy from the striking head while selectively discriminating against other ambient sounds and sympathetic vibration.

The invention relates to improvements in electronic drums and in particular to a new electronic percussion system that simulates the look, feel and play response of an acoustical drum.
Following the success of electric keyboards and guitars, innovators have created the electronic counterparts of other acoustical instruments, including drums. Electronic percussion instruments for outputting electrical signals that trigger synthesized drum sounds are now often used by musicians seeking the advantages of a controlled output, namely, an electrical signal that can be channeled to the desired downstream equipment and eventual application to loudspeakers, tape recordings, transmitters or other utilizing equipment. By converting the player's performance through the use of electronic sensor pads into an electrical signal, the output can be more easily managed than "miking" the direct acoustical output of traditional drums. In providing the electronic counterpart of acoustical drums, small circular resilient pads are often used to convert the strike of the player's drumsticks into electronic impulses that are in turn converted into synthesized drumlike sounds that are under the control of the audio engineer. The electronic drum pads represent one kind of electronic percussion instrument for creating the synthesized drum sounds. An example of the electronic drum pad is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,725. Typically they are made with stretched skin backed by a light density foam material over a transducer sound board. While electronic pads of this kind have enjoyed a following among musicians and audio engineers, there is a definite disadvantage to the player in that the look, feel and response of the pads fails to give the drummer the same response rhythm that a traditional acoustic drum provides. Since drummers learn their musical talent from acoustic drums, the changeover to electronic pads may be unacceptable to some performers and less than optimum for others. The disadvantages are primarily in the feel of the sticks a they strike the simulated drum surface and, in the drummer's motor memory in reaching for the usual placement and strike area of conventional acoustic sets. Thus far, the pads have not been able to provide the same feel and texture as the drum heads of the acoustic snare, tom and bass.
In another type of known electronic drum, an external sensor is mounted to contact the acoustical drum head and pick up its vibration, sending the resulting signal to the utilization electronics. The intent there is to provide the drummer with a realistic acoustic drum feel and yet provide a controllable electronic signal for downstream mixing, recording and application to live performance speakers. Such externally triggerable sensors used in combination with modified acoustical drum heads did provide the desired feel to the player's sticks but had the disadvantage of being extremely susceptible to false triggering due to inadvertent light hits on the drum heads, rims, or other parts of the drummer's set up, and picking up sympathetic vibration due to ambient sound from other drums, instruments, or loud speakers in the vicinity. The sudden spurious triggered output from the drum synthesizer could ruin a performance or recording. An example of such an externally trigger percussion sensor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,498.

Electronic percussion system simulating play and response of acoustical drum


A method (700, 1100) and apparatus (300) are provided in a receiver for applying a variable gain to a received signal including a transmitted codeword in accordance with an Ultra Wideband (UWB) protocol. A first signal is generated and input to a selectable gain stage including a series of selectable 0 dB and 9 dB gain elements (302-305). The first signal includes the received signal mixed with a local oscillator signal modified according to a reference codeword. A gain value is selected from the selectable gain stage to amplify the first signal and form a second signal. An output signal is generated by combining the second signal and the modified local oscillator signal.

As Ultra Wideband (UWB) communication becomes increasingly desirable for wireless devices due to its speed and capacity combined with its resilience to interference within high-frequency bands, design of certain RF modules becomes a great challenge due to the unique characteristics of the UWB signal environment. In particular, the Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA) is a common and important RF module whose design poses unique challenges in the UWB environment.
In RF interfaces associated with UWB receivers, VGA stages must meet high demands of linearity within the characteristic bandwidth which can lead to problems especially in the case of input signals having a wide dynamic range or in the case of UWB systems, a wide transmission bandwidth. Since gain and bandwidth are inversely proportional in VGAs, the greater the bandwidth, the less gain can typically be realized.
The challenges of RF signal recovery, processing, and gain adjustment in UWB systems is that, from a design standpoint, UWB signals or chips are transmitted in an environment which may have widely different characteristics between any one transmitter and any one or more receivers. Thus the input amplifier of a typical receiver must process UWB signals received within a correspondingly wide amplitude range. As noted, the VGA in a UWB receiver must possess characteristics of good linearity, optimum offset, and acceptable noise rejecting performance. The UWB signal must further be passed without significant loading or interference introduced by the amplifier through factors such as impedance mismatches and the like.
Conventional high frequency receivers typically further use one or more Intermediate Frequency (IF) down-converter stages. IF down-conversion stages lower the frequency of, or "down-convert" information signals transmitted across, for example, an air interface from transmission band frequencies, for example in the GHz band, to intermediate information signals at frequencies in lower frequency bands, for example the MHz band. In some conventional receivers, many IF stages are needed or are used with the effect of complicating design, increasing power consumption and producing additional disadvantageous consequences.
As also noted, for a conventional receiver with many IF stages between the actual RF carrier frequency and the frequency of the baseband stage, problems arise in that each IF stage or filter adds costs in the form of additional expense, additional power, additional complexity, additional circuit board real-estate, and the like to the receiver design and can degrade performance. It will be appreciated that much of the cost associated with additional IF stages can originate from the additional support circuitry associated therewith. For example, each down-conversion involves the addition of a separate local oscillator (LO) source usually including a separate phase-locked loop (pLL) and associated discrete components associated therewith. Additional circuits may also be required for input and output impedance matching.
IF conversion oriented receivers or RF stages typically suffer from serious drawbacks in the UWB environment associated with the inability to adequately control parameters such as DC offset which can arise from impedance mismatches, and the like, and can present difficulties in UWB systems by masking signal information, particularly since signal levels in UWB systems are deliberately low. Further problems arise with the use of IF stages in UWB systems in that RF interference associated with residual signals generated by the LO circuits associated with each IF stage, including the LO signals themselves, can be introduced into the signal path and can be amplified along with the signal or can prevent accurate signal recovery.
One solution to the problems associated with use of IF conversion in UWB systems includes using direct conversion receivers. Direct conversion receivers perform high speed conversion of the input signals "directly" from transmission band or a band close to the transmission band. However, even with the use of direct conversion techniques, DC offset can still be a problem particularly when passed through the signal path to high speed analog to digital converters. In addition to DC offset, gain setting must be accomplished with speed and precision prior to conversion further adding to the challenges of signal recovery. Thus, it will be appreciated that an RF processing circuit is needed for removing DC offset and for performing gain adjustment in UWB receivers.

Wideband variable gain amplifier in an ultra wideband receiver


Sour water is treated to remove dissolved hydrogen sulfide by means of an aqueous, non-chelated polyvalent metal solution in a continuous recirculating system, particularly an autocirculation system, having reaction and oxygenation zones. The solution contains a small catalytic amount of polyvalent metal, e.g., ferrous or ferric iron salts, and the dissolved hydrogen sulfide is oxidized to sulfur in the liquid phase, without chelating agent solution, by means of dissolved oxygen in the solution. The sour water feed to the reaction zone is diluted by a massive recycle of oxygenated solution from the oxygenation zone before the sour water is contacted with air or other oxidizing gas used for oxygenating the used solution. A portion of the oxygenated solution containing polyvalent metal, without added chelating agent, is removed as the sweet water product, and replacement polyvalent metal is added. The operating variables are controlled to maintain in the solution a predetermined polyvalent metal content and an effective dissolved oxygen content, and also to maintain a predetermined residence time so as to obtain high efficiency of hydrogen sulfide removal.

Industrial waste water containing dissolved hydrogen sulfide presents a significant pollution problem because of its high toxicity and unpleasant odor even at low concentrations. The treatment of such waste water is necessary before discharging it to the environment to reduce the hydrogen sulfide content to acceptable levels. The present invention provides a simple and effective method of removing of hydrogen sulfide from such waste water streams by the addition of non-chelated ferrous and/or ferric iron salts.
Typical sour water streams are those produced in oil refineries by water washing of sour liquid hydrocarbons and various cooler and condenser surfaces. Condensation of geothermal steam also produces sour water which requires treatment. Although the present invention may be used for the treatment of any sour water stream regardless of its source, the invention is of particular significance for treating geothermal condensates.
In a geothermal power plant geothermal steam is used to power a steam turbine which is connected to an electric power generator. The exhaust steam from the turbine is supplied to a condenser, and the resultant steam condensate is removed for reuse or discard. Geothermal steam, however, contains dissolved hydrogen sulfide in amounts which may range, for example, from as low as about 5 ppm to as high as about 1600 ppm and typically may average about 150 to 250 ppm. Dependent upon the type of condenser and its efficiency, a significant percentage, e.g., as much as 80%, of the hydrogen sulfide in the geothermal steam will end up as dissolved hydrogen sulfide in the condensate. This sour water stream must be treated to remove hydrogen sulfide in order to avoid environmental pollution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,621 discloses a process for removing hydrogen sulfide from sour water by air stripping the dissolved hydrogen sulfide from the sour water and then scrubbing the air stream with an aqueous solution of chelated iron. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,414,817; 4,451,442; and 4,468,929 disclose processes for removing hydrogen sulfide from geothermal steam or condensate using an aqueous solution containing at least the stoichiometric amount of a chelated polyvalent metal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,215 discloses a process for removing hydrogen sulfide from geothermal steam condensate using hydrogen peroxide and an iron chelate catalyst. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,614,644 and 4,629,608 disclose processes for removing hydrogen sulfide from geothermal steam using a chelated iron solution and a cationic polymeric catalyst.
However, the known sour water treatment processes that rely on the use of chelated polyvalent metal solutions are complex and have other disadvantages, such as excessive consumption or discard of expensive chelating agent.

Removal of hydrogen sulfide from sour water


Expandable graphic intercalatable compounds with controllable onset temperatures, methods for their synthesis and their use as intumescing, fire-protection additives for the preparation of flame-retardant compositions.

Expandable graphite intercalation compounds are also known as expanding graphite and are commercially available. They are compounds, which contain foreign components intercalated between the lattice layers of the graphite. Such expandable graphite intercalation compounds usually are prepared by dispersing graphite particles in a solution, which contains an oxidizing agent and a guest compound, which is to be intercalated. Usually, nitric acid, potassium chlorate, chromic acid, potassium permanganate and the like are used as oxidizing agent. Concentrated sulfuric acid, for example, is used as compound, which is to be intercalated, the reaction taking place at temperatures of 60° C. to 130° C. during a period of up to four hours (see, for example, EP-B-0 085 121). Alternatively, it is also possible to intercalate metal chlorides in the graphite in the presence of, for example, chlorine gas (E. Stumpp. Physics (1981, 9–16).
The expandable graphite intercalation compounds or expanding graphites experience a large increase in volume when heated to a temperature above the so-called onset temperature. The expansion factor is more than 200 and is caused owing to the fact that the intercalation compounds, intercalated in the layer structure of the graphite, are decomposed by the rapid heating to this temperature with formation of gaseous materials, as a result of which the graphite particles are expanded perpendicularly to the plane of the layers (EP-B-0 085 121). This expansion behavior is utilized in intumescing compositions, which are used, for example, for sealing cable and pipe wall bushings through walls and ceilings of buildings as fire protection. In the event of a fire, after the onset temperature has been reached, the graphite particles and, with that, the intumescing composition sealing the wall bushings, expand so that, in even after the cable and/or the plastic pipes, passed through the wall bushings, have been burned completely, the fire is prevented or delayed from breaking through the wall bushing.
The onset temperature is defined as the temperature, at which the thermal expansion process of the intumescing system, that is, of the expandable graphite intercalation compound, commences. In other words, it is the temperature at the start of the expansion process. The conventional, commercially obtainable types of expanding graphite have very limited onset temperatures of about 150° C., about 160° C. and about 200° C. In order to be able to react flexibly to special product requirements with respect to the intumescing behavior for the production of fire-protection compositions, expandable, graphite intercalation compounds are required which have a greater range of variation with regard to their onset temperature.

Expandable graphite intercalation compounds, method for synthesizing them and their use


A merchandising system for articles comprising a connector, a first divider coupled to the connector, and a second divider coupled to the connector wherein a compartment of a first size is provided when the first divider is coupled to a portion of the connector and the second divider is coupled to a portion of the connector.

It is known to provide for merchandising systems that may be used for displaying and dispensing an article. Such merchandising systems do not realize certain advantageous features (and/or combinations of features). It is also known to provide for a merchandising system that may be used for displaying products in consumer settings such as grocery stores, retail outlets, shops, etc. Such known merchandising systems may be used to present, display and store products in fixed or limited spaces such as on shelves, in display cases, in cabinets, etc.
It is beneficial when merchandising an article such as a product to allow potential customers to view or handle it in a convenient and comfortable manner. Known merchandising systems may display products to a consumer by providing the products in inefficient configurations. Products and product containers come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and some products may be more difficult to merchandise (e.g., present for potential retail sale) than others. Within fixed or limited spaces, known merchandising systems may not be configured to optimize the presentation of such products to a consumer. Such known merchandising systems also do not always provide convenient ways for dispensing products, especially those with unique or irregular shapes. Ease of use can be an important concern for customers and store personnel. As is sometimes the case, product or container design may be dictated by considerations separate from the ease or difficulty with which the product may be presented.
Some known merchandising systems may not provide effective arrangements for displaying, storing and presenting articles. Some merchandising systems fail to provide adequate support for articles, as well as smooth, efficient sliding of the article along the length of the system. Some merchandising systems do not provide sufficient arrangements of advancing these types of articles along the merchandising system. Some merchandising systems do not provide strong and/or rigid support for articles. Accordingly, many merchandising systems may not provide articles in a straight, linear, or level arrangement due to sagging, deformation, bowing, deflection and/or movement due to the weight of the articles. In addition, some merchandising systems do not provide for a variety of differently sized articles and are not configured to operate with a variety of shelving structures. Some merchandising systems do not retain articles for proper dispensing. Some merchandising systems are not easily repositionable on a shelving structure. Some known merchandising systems are not configured for easy loading or removal of articles or for at least partially restricting movement of the articles along the system. In addition, some known merchandising systems are not configured to allow multiple products to be stacked on one another. Some known merchandising systems are not configured to prevent articles from sliding in an uncontrolled manner along the length of the system. Some known merchandising systems are not configured to prevent articles from tipping and/or falling from the system, especially during movement of the articles.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured for stocking, orderly presentation, and convenient storage of products with various shapes including shapes that may not be easily stored, presented, or displayed, such as products with uniquely shaped containers. It would also be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured for selective modularity in the construction and assembly of the merchandising system. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that allows for the construction and assembly of a merchandising system with any number of product facings, modules, compartments, etc. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that advances a product and/or allows a product to advance along a defined path. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that self-faces articles (e.g., allows articles to move to the front of the system after articles are removed). It would be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured to easily move articles along a path for stocking, aligning, and/or facing purposes. It would also be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that allows multiple products to be stacked on one another. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured to at least partially restrict and/or restrain article movement in one or more level. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that can evenly distribute the weight of articles and/or products over the length of the system. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that allows for smooth, controlled, and efficient gliding of articles and/or products along the length of the system. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that prevents articles from tipping and/or falling when provided in the system, especially during movement of the articles.
It would be advantageous to provide a system that provides any one or more of these or other advantageous features.


A pharmaceutical composition comprised of a crystalline protein and polyethylene glycol or vegetable oil and a process for producing the same.

Proteins are frequently being used therapeutically in treating various physical conditions. Examples of such proteins are Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), erythropoietin (EPO), granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), insulin, granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and others. Even though these proteins are useful, the dosing of these proteins is very often difficult because they have a short blood serum half-life.
For example, IFN-alpha is generally administered either by intramuscular, subcutaneous or intralesional injection usually in hospital or clinical settings. IFN-alpha has a serum half-live of 2-6 hours when injected subcutaneously or minutes when injected intravenously, and characteristically shows a "burst" or a "pulse" (i.e., a rapid blood serum level rise followed by a rapid blood serum level clearance) profile when blood levels are measured over time. Thus frequent administration of doses of the protein must be made to maintain a therapeutically effective blood serum concentration of the drug. There are clinical situations there is a need to develop an IFN-alpha formulation in which the protein is continuously released into the blood stream so that the serum concentration of the protein reaches a plateau and remains at that level for a period of time. This is known as a controlled release formulation.
Examples of pharmaceutically acceptable vegetable oils are sesame, peanut, saffron, and canola oils.

Crystalline protein controlled release compositions