Disclosed herein are various systems and methods for controlling humidity in batteries to reduce formation of condensate in a battery compartment. In one embodiment, a system consistent with the present disclosure may include a cooling system configured to produce a flow of coolant. A battery compartment may house a battery and may separate the battery from an environment. The flow of coolant may pass into the battery compartment and may be used to cool the battery. The battery compartment may include a vent configured to permit a flow of environmental air to enter the battery compartment. A diffusion barrier may be in fluid communication with the vent and configured to deliver the flow of environment air to the battery compartment. The diffusion barrier may decrease diffusion of water vapor from the environment into the battery compartment.

Passenger vehicles often include electric batteries for operating a vehicle's electrical and drivetrain systems. For example, vehicles commonly include a 12V lead-acid automotive battery configured to supply electric energy to vehicle starter systems (e.g., a starter motor), lighting systems, and/or ignition systems. In electric, fuel cell ("FC"), and/or hybrid vehicles, a high voltage ("HV") battery system may be used to power electric drivetrain components of the vehicle (e.g., electric drive motors and the like). Further, the HV battery system may power a compressor and/or a heater used in a climate control system for a vehicle cabin.
Various battery systems may include vents that allow ambient air to enter portions of a battery system. In some embodiments, the vent may permit air to enter or exit the battery system and maintain a pressure balance between the battery and the environment. Water carried by the ambient air may condense within the battery system. Condensate inside the battery system may cause corrosion and/or problems with electrical circuits in the battery system. Corrosion and/or electrical problems created by condensate may result in battery system inefficiencies, degradation, permanent damage and/or a shortened usable lifespan of the battery system.

Battery humidity control by diffusion barrier


Novel vectors are disclosed for expressing and secreting heterologous polypeptides from filamentous fungi. Such vectors are used in novel processes to express and secrete such heterologous polypeptides. The vectors used for transforming a filamentous fungus to express and secrete a heterologous polypeptide include a DNA sequence encoding a heterologous polypeptide and a DNA sequence encoding a signal sequence which is functional in a secretory system in a given filamentous fungus and which is operably linked to the sequence encoding the heterologous polypeptide. Such signal sequences may be the signal sequence normally associated with the heterologous polypeptides or may be derived from other sources. The vector may also contain DNA sequences encoding a promoter sequence which is functionally recognized by the filamentous fungus and which is operably linked to the DNA sequence encoding the signal sequence. Preferably functional polyadenylation sequences are operably linked to the 3' terminus of the DNA sequence encoding the heterologous polypeptides. Each of the above described vectors are used in novel processes to transform a filamentous fungus wherein the DNA sequences encoding the signal sequence and heterologous polypeptide are expressed. The thus synthesized polypeptide is thereafter secreted from the filamentous fungus.

The expression of DNA sequences encoding heterologous polypeptides (i.e., polypeptides not normally expressed and secreted by a host organism) has advanced to a state of considerable sophistication. For example, it has been reported that various DNA sequences encoding pharmacologically desirable polypeptides [e.g., human growth hormone (1), human tissue plasminogen activator (2), various human interferons (6), urokinase (5), Factor VIII (4), and human serum albumin (3)] and industrially important enzymes [e.g., chymosin (7), alpha amylases (8), and alkaline proteases (9)] have been cloned and expressed in a number of different expression hosts. Such expression has been achieved by transforming prokaryotic organisms [e.g., E. coli (10) or B. subtilis (11)] or eukaryotic organisms [e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae (7), Kluyveromyces lactis (12) or Chinese Hamster Ovary cells (2)] with DNA sequences encoding the heterologous polypeptide.
Some polypeptides, when expressed in heterologous hosts, do not have the same level of biological activity as their naturally produced counterparts when expressed in various host organisms. For example, bovine chymosin has very low biological activity when expressed by E. coli (13) or S. cerevisiae (7). This reduced biological activity in E. coli is not due to the natural inability of E. coli to glycosylate the polypeptide since chymosin is not normally glycosylated (14). Such relative inactivity, both in E. coli and S. cerevisiae, however, appears to be primarily due to improper folding of the polypeptide chain as evidenced by the partial post expression activation of such expressed polypeptides by various procedures. In such procedures, expressed chymosin may be sequentially denatured and renatured in a number of ways to increase biological activity: e.g., treatment with urea (13), exposure to denaturing/renaturingpH (13) and denaturation and cleavage of disulfide bonds followed by renaturation and regeneration of covalent sulfur linkages (15). Such denaturation/renaturation procedures, however, are not highly efficient [e.g., 30% or less recovery of biological activity for rennin (13)], and add considerable time and expense in producing a biologically active polypeptide.
Other heterologous polypeptides are preferably expressed in higher eukaryotic hosts (e.g., mammalian cells). Such polypeptides are usually glycopoly-peptides which require an expression host which can recognize and glycosylate certain amino acid sequences in the heterologous polypeptide. Such mammalian tissue culture systems, however, often do not secrete large amounts of heterologous polypeptides when compared with microbial systems. Moreover, such systems are technically difficult to maintain and consequently are expensive to operate.
Transformation and expression in a filamentous fungus involving complementation of aroD mutants of N. crassa lacking biosynthetic dehydroquinase has been reported (16). Since then, transformation based on complementation of glutamate dehydrogenase deficient N. crassa mutants has also been developed (17). In each case the dehydroquinase (ga2) and glutamate dehydrogenase (am) genes used for complementation were derived from N. crassa and therefore involved homologous expression. Other examples of homologous expression in filamentous fungi include the complementation of the auxotrophic markers trpC, (18) and argB (19) in A. nidulans and the transformation of A. nidulans to acetamide or acrylamide utilization by expression of the A. nidulans gene encoding acetamidase (20).
Expression of heterologous polypeptides in filamentous fungi has been limited to the transformation and expression of fungal and bacterial polypeptides. For example, A. nidulans, deficient in orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase, has been transformed with a plasmid containing DNA sequences encoding the pyr4 gene derived from N. crassa (21,32). A. niger has also been transformed to utilize acetamide and acrylamide by expression of the gene encoding acetamidase derived from A. nidulans (22).
Examples of heterologous expression of bacterial polypeptides in filamentous fungi include the expression of a bacterial phosphotransferase in N. crassa (23) Dictyostellium discoideum (24) and Cephalosporium acremonium (25).
In each of these examples of homologous and heterologous fungal expression, the expressed polypeptides were maintained intracellularly in the filamentous fungi.
Accordingly, an object of the invention herein is to provide for the expression and secretion of heterologous polypeptides by and from filamentous fungi including vectors for transforming such fungi and processes for expressing and secreting such heterologous polypeptides.

Heterologous polypeptides expressed in filamentous fungi, processes for making same, and vectors for making same


An electrical current lead assembly for ramping a superconducting magnet includes a vacuum vessel wall that has a first side exposed to an atmospheric pressure and a second side exposed to a vacuum pressure. A pool wall extends from the first side of the vacuum vessel wall and forms a dam region. A first conductor is affixed to and sealingly penetrates the vacuum vessel wall and has a first portion extending into the dam region. A second conductor is affixed to and sealingly penetrates the vacuum vessel wall and has a first portion extending into the dam region. A superconducting magnet on the second side of the vacuum vessel wall has a first low temperature superconducting (LTS) lead and a second LTS lead. A first superconductor electrically connects the first conductor to the first LTS lead, and a second superconductor electrically connecting the second conductor to the second LTS lead.

The present invention relates generally to superconducting magnet systems and, more particularly, to minimizing heat load to a superconducting magnet system during magnet ramping. The present invention also relates to reducing the thermal load on a magnet during persistent operation of the magnet.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but process about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, or "longitudinal magnetization", MZ, may be rotated, or "tipped", into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1 is terminated and this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy, and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received NMR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
MR systems typically use superconducting magnets, often with multiple coils to generate the uniform magnetic field. These superconducting magnets are part of a cold mass cooled by liquid helium. The magnets are made typically of niobium-titanium material that is cooled to a temperature of 4.2 K with liquid helium. Exemplary superconducting magnet systems operating in MRI systems require occasional ramping of the superconducting magnet to charge the magnet for use of the MRI system. After the superconducting magnet is ramped, the current supply used for the magnet ramping is disconnected and is not needed until further magnet ramping is necessary, such as for demagnetization of the superconducting magnet or for remagnetization of the superconducting magnet after, for instance, scheduled service, a magnet quench, and the like.
Frequently, retractable current leads are used that are only connected to the superconducting magnet during magnet ramps. After the superconducting magnet is ramped, and during normal operation, the current leads are retracted to remove the conduction heat load from the leads to the superconducting magnet. Such retractable leads are normally maintained at room temperature and, together with the equipment used to power the leads, when connected to the superconducting magnet, serve as a heat load on the superconducting magnet.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system and method capable of ramping a superconducting magnet while minimizing the heat load on the superconducting magnet.

High temperature superconducting current leads for superconducting magnets


A modulation system is provided with a data analyzer detecting input of a modulated data and a modulation clock signal and latching and detecting an edge of the modulated data, in response to the modulated data and the modulation clock signal, a signal controller, responsive to an output of the data analyzer, carrying out an operation process with respect to the frequency deviation data and carrying out one of a frequency deviation amplitude control operation and a frequency deviation time control operation, a digital-to-analog converter converting an output of the signal controller into an analog signal, and a transmitting unit transmitting an output of the digital-to-analog converter.

The present invention generally relates to modulation systems used in radio communications, and more particularly to a modulation system which is applicable to a data transmission of a communication system using a frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation technique and carries out a modulation of a binary value or greater using the FSK modulation technique.
One of the problems associated with a transmission characteristic of the radio communication is a leakage power to an adjacent channel. This leakage power to the adjacent channel refers to the power which leaks to the adjacent channel during the data transmission. If the leakage power to the adjacent channel is outside a range of a standard value, undesirable effects are introduced by the leakage power which acts as an interference wave with respect to other channels. For this reason, the band must be limited so as to transmit only the desired frequencies.
In a transmitter which makes the data transmission, a high-frequency component is eliminated by use of a lowpass filter or the like, and a frequency deviation is changed slowly or smoothly, so as to satisfy the above described standard.
FIGS. 1A and 1B respectively are diagrams for explaining the slow frequency deviation. More particularly, FIG. 1A shows a frequency versus level characteristic, and FIG. 1B shows a time versus frequency characteristic. In FIG. 1A, the ordinate indicates the level and the abscissa indicates the frequency. On the other hand, in FIG. 1B, the ordinate indicates the frequency and the abscissa indicates the time.
In FIG. 1A, f0 indicates a modulated wave (carrier frequency), and f0+.DELTA.f and f0-.DELTA.f indicate adjacent channels. In the case of a binary FSK modulation, the modulation is carried out by making f1 correspond to "1" and f2 correspond to "0", for example. Accordingly, in the case of the adjacent channels shown in FIG. 1A, the channels on both sides are completely separated from the modulated wave.
FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an overwrite locus, and a frequency deviation from f1 to f2 and a frequency deviation from f2 to f2 are smooth. In the case of such a slow frequency deviation, the leakage power to the adjacent channel is uneasily generated.
On the other hand, in the case of a fast frequency deviation, the modulated wave f0 enters into the adjacent region as shown in FIG. 2A, and the leakage power to the adjacent channel is generated. FIG. 2B shows a time versus frequency characteristic for the case shown in FIG. 2A. In this case, the leakage power becomes an interference wave with respect to the adjacent channel and causes undesirable effects when the leakage power becomes outside the range of the standard value.
On the other hand, in a receiver which receives the data transmission, it is possible to carry out a more stable demodulation if the frequency deviation is faster (ideally a square wave). Therefore, there is a demand to satisfy the standard of the leakage power to the adjacent channel and at the same time satisfy a frequency deviation advantageous to the receiver.
There are various methods of limiting the band in the radio communication, as described in the following.
A base band filtering method smoothens the modulated data by use of a lowpass filter.
A radio frequency (RF) filtering method uses a bandpass filter to pass only the necessary transmitting frequencies.
A digital signal processor (DSP) filtering method calculates a signal passed through a lowpass filter from the demodulated data.
A DSP direct modulation method outputs a signal which is modulated into an intermediate frequency from the modulated data.
FIGS. 3A through 3C are diagrams for explaining conventional band limiting methods. FIG. 3A shows the method which combines the base band filtering method and the RF filtering method described above, FIG. 3B shows the method which combines the DSP filtering method and the RF filtering method, and FIG. 3C shows the method which combines the DSP direct modulation method and the RF filtering method.
In FIG. 3A, a pulse shaped input data is input to a lowpass filter (LPF) 1 and smoothened. The smoothened output signal of the LPF 1 is input to a frequency modulation (FM) circuit 2 and frequency modulated. On the other hand, a central processing unit (CPU) 3 supplies a predetermined data to a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit 4. An output of the PLL circuit 4 is input to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 5. An output of the VCO is fed back to the PLL circuit 4. As a result, the VCO 5 outputs a frequency signal having a fixed phase.
An output of the FM circuit 2 and the output of the VCO 5 are input to a mixer 6 and mixed. Hence, a spectrum signal having levels separated for every frequency as shown below the mixer 6 in FIG. 3A is output from the mixer 6. This spectrum signal is input to a RF filter circuit 7. The RF filter circuit 7 passes only a predetermined frequency component, and a signal having a single peak at a specific frequency as shown on the right of the RF filter circuit 7 in FIG. 3A is output from the RF filter circuit 7. Therefore, the modulated pulse data is converted into a frequency data.
In FIG. 3B, when a modulated pulse data is input to a DSP 10, the DSP 10 carries out an operation similar to that of a LPF by a digital processing. An output of the DSP 10 is converted into an analog signal by a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 11. An output of the D/A converter 11 is input to the FM circuit 2 which carries out a frequency modulation dependent upon the input signal.
On the other hand, the CPU 3 supplies a predetermined data to the PLL circuit 4. An output of the PLL circuit 4 is input to the VCO 5. An output of the VCO 5 is fed back to the PLL circuit 4. As a result, the VCO 5 outputs a frequency signal having a fixed phase.
An output of the FM circuit 2 and the output of the VCO 5 are input to the mixer 6 and mixed. Hence, a spectrum signal having levels separated for every frequency as shown above the mixer 6 in FIG. 3B is output from the mixer 6. This spectrum signal is input to the RF filter circuit 7. The RF filter circuit 7 passes only a predetermined frequency component, and a signal having a single peak at a specific frequency as shown on the right of the RF filter circuit 7 in FIG. 3B is output from the RF filter circuit 7. Therefore, the modulated pulse data is converted into a frequency data.
In FIG. 3C, a modulated pulse data is input to a direct modulation DSP 20. The DSP 20 carries out a digital processing to calculate and output a frequency spectrum signal directly from the input pulse data. The frequency spectrum signal from the DSP 20 is input to the RF filter circuit 7 which passes only a predetermined frequency component. A signal having a single peak at a specific frequency as shown on the right of the RF filter circuit 7 in FIG. 3C is output from the RF filter circuit 7. Therefore, the modulated pulse data is converted into a frequency data.
The baseband filtering method carries out an analog processing, and a change in the frequency deviation curve depends on the data string to the modulated and the characteristics of the elements used. When passing the single pulse and the pulses having a short period through the LPF out of the modulated data string, there is a problem in that the actual frequency deviation point will not be reached. As a result, the demodulation carried out at the receiver becomes unstable.
FIGS. 4A through 4C are diagrams for explaining the frequency deviation of the modulated data. FIG. 4A shows the modulated data having the short period, FIG. 4B shows the modulated data having a single change, and FIG. 4C shows the modulated data having a long period. In FIGS. 4A through 4C, L1 indicates a deviation point of f0+.DELTA.f, and L2 indicates a deviation point of f0-.DELTA.f. When subjecting the modulated data having the short period shown in FIG. 4A and the modulated data having the single change shown in FIG. 4B to the frequency deviation, the frequency deviation point will not be reached. In the case shown in FIG. 4A, both the deviation points L1 and L2 are not reached. In the case shown in FIG. 4B, the deviation point L2 is reached, but the deviation point L1 is not reached. On the other hand, in the case of the modulated data having the long period shown in FIG. 4C, both the deviation points L1 and L2 are reached.
Returning now to the description of the band limiting methods, the RF filtering method uses a bandpass filter which is essential to pass only the necessary transmitting frequencies. The DSP filtering method and the DSP direct modulation method have become more popular in the recent years. The DSP filtering method prestores the frequency deviation curve corresponding to the modulated data, and carries out the frequency deviation. The DSP direct modulation method calculates the frequency deviation curve corresponding to the modulated data in real-time, and carries out the frequency deviation.
However, in the case of the radio communication, the specification specifies that "the cutoff frequency is XX Hz or greater" or the like, and the frequency deviation is not carried out by taking into consideration and to suit the data string, the leakage power to the adjacent channel and the reception characteristic.
(1) A description will be given of a case where the LPF passes the single data string shown in FIG. 4A or the data string having a short period shown in FIG. 4B.
In this case, the data string can be regarded as being a square wave pulse from the point of view of a distortion wave A.C. waveform. The square wave pulse can be represented by a family of sets of the high-frequency component by a Fourier series, and thus, the high-frequency component is eliminated and the waveform is smoothened by passing the square wave pulse through the LPF.
On the other hand, the power is lost by an amount corresponding to the eliminated high-frequency component, and the frequency deviation point is not reached when the modulation is carried out, as may be seen from FIG. 4A. When the modulated waveform does not reach the frequency deviation point, there is a problem in that the demodulation cannot be carried out normally at the receiver due to the disadvantageous conditions with respect to the receiver.
(2) A description will be given of a case where filters having the same characteristic are used with respect to the frequency deviation of the FSK, by referring to FIG. 5.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the frequency deviation for the case where filters having the same characteristic are used. In FIG. 5, the ordinate indicates the frequency and the abscissa indicates the time. When the FSK modulation takes a multiple-value (or multi-level value), the frequency deviation may be made to a plurality of deviation points as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, L1 through L4 denote deviation points, T denotes a frequency deviation time, t1 denotes a time it takes to reach a demodulation range DM2 having a small frequency deviation, and t2 denotes a time it takes to reach a demodulation range DM1 having a large frequency deviation. In addition, marks "o" indicate sampling points for the case where the frequency deviation is large, and marks "x" indicate sampling points for the case where the frequency deviation is small.
The filter naturally satisfies the characteristic of the leakage power to the adjacent channel. In this case, although t1<t2, the rate of the frequency deviation is constant regardless of the size of the frequency deviation.
On the other hand, it is assumed that the demodulation ranges DM1 and DM2, which are the ranges in which the demodulation can positively be carried out at the receiver, are constant. In this case, the time t1 it takes for the small frequency deviation to reach the demodulation range DM2 is shorter, that is, quicker, than the time t2 it takes for the large frequency deviation to reach the demodulation range DM1, and thus, the demodulation has a sufficient margin such that a highly stable demodulation is possible.
On the contrary, the demodulation becomes difficult on the side of the large frequency deviation, thereby making it the minimum frequency deviation condition. In addition, a quick response is required for the demodulation, but the leakage power to the adjacent channel tends to increase.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a frequency deviation condition and characteristic. FIG. 6 shows how a demodulation stability and the leakage power to the adjacent channel are related to the setting of the frequency deviation condition (that is, frequency deviation curve). In FIG. 6, the demodulation stability for the large frequency deviation, the demodulation stability for the small frequency deviation and the leakage power to the adjacent channel are respectively shown for cases where the frequency deviation condition is set so that the deviation point suits the large frequency deviation, the deviation point suits the small frequency deviation, and the deviation point is optimized for the large and small frequency deviations. In FIG. 6, a mark "x" indicates a value outside the range of the standard value, a mark "o" indicates a value within the range of the standard value, and a double circular mark indicates a value which is extremely good and exceeds the standard.
The following can be confirmed by FIG. 6.
First, when the frequency deviation condition suits the large frequency deviation, the demodulation stability is particularly good for the small frequency deviation, and the demodulation stability for the large frequency deviation also falls within the standard. However, the leakage power to the adjacent channels does not satisfy the standard.
Second, when the frequency deviation condition suits the small frequency deviation, the leakage power to the adjacent channel is extremely good and exceeds the standard, and the demodulation stability for the small frequency deviation falls within the standard. However, the demodulation stability for the large frequency deviation does not satisfy the standard.
Third, when the frequency deviation condition is optimized for the large and small frequency deviations, the demodulation stability for the large frequency deviation, the demodulation stability for the small frequency deviation, and the leakage power to the adjacent channel all satisfy the respective standards.
Therefore, the present inventor has found that both the demodulation stability and the leakage power to the adjacent channel can simultaneously satisfy the respective standards by optimizing the frequency deviation condition for each frequency deviation.

Data modulation system using digital signal processing


The invention relates a combined sample dispenser and order form comprising a backing sheet that may be prepared from cardboard, and a generally planar retaining member, such as a clear plastic sheet, attached to the backing sheet along at least a portion thereof. The retaining member or plastic sheet defines a distention or pocket along a portion of its broad surface, that may contain samples of the product being dispensed, such as sample medications provided to physicians by pharmaceutical manufacturers. The invention is also useful for the sale of certain consumable items, including hardware, where the order form may be used by the consumer to directly request additional quantities of the product.

It has been the practice of pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide physicians with sample medications to be dispensed to patients. In addition, the physician may be provided with multi-sheet pads of paper or multi-sheet prescription pads preprinted with the name of a medication to be prescribed. These practices allow a physician to dispense a sample of a medication before a patient can obtain a full prescription of the medication, and to write a specific prescription conveniently.

Combination sample dispenser and order form device


A method is disclosed for improving accuracy of visual field testing in head-mounted displays. The method includes retrieving a visual field testing pattern for a head-mounted display, the visual field testing pattern including icons displayed at respective locations in a visual field of the head-mounted display. The visual field testing pattern is generated on the head-mounted display. Data is retrieved from a tilt sensor, located at the head-mounted display, for detecting degrees of head tilt of a user wearing the head-mounted display and the degree of head tilt is determined. A comparison is made between the degree of head tilt of the user to a first threshold degree. In response to the degree of head tilt of the user meeting or exceeding the first threshold degree, a recommendation to the user is generated for display on the head-mounted display.

Diagnosis of visual defects, such as blind spots, can be determined with conventional testing machines, such as a Humphry visual field analyzer. A patient is placed at the center of a curved portion of the analyzer and tests are performed by displaying images on the curved portion to determine where the blind spots are located in the patient's visual field. However, Humphry visual field analyzers as well as other testing machinery is both expensive for wide distribution and requires specialized personnel for operating the machinery.

Systems and methods for visual field testing in head-mounted displays


In a speaker device, cutting wiring electrically connected to a conductive wire of an electronic component and a voice coil, and the conductive wire and the wiring are electrically connected without a speaker terminal lug. The speaker device includes wiring electrically connected to the voice coil, an electronic component having a component wire, and a frame. The frame has a conductive wire fixing part for fixing the conductive wire, and the conductive wire is fixed to the conductive wire fixing part to be directly connected to the wiring. Thereby, even if a vibration is transmitted to the frame at the time of driving the speaker device, the conductive wire never vibrates, and the conductive wire does not pull the wiring. Therefore, the conductive wire and wiring are not cut. Also, since the conductive wire is the speaker terminal lug, cost of the speaker device can be reduced.

Conventionally, there is known a speaker device having a wiring configuration of electrically connecting a tinsel cord electrically connected to a lead wire of a voice coil or the voice coil and wiring drawn from an amplifier via a terminal lug for a speaker device.
In the speaker device having the wiring configuration, the lead wire of the electronic component having such a function is sometimes electrically connected to the terminal lug for the speaker device in order to control a frequency component of a sound signal inputted to the voice coil via the wiring of the amplifier (see Patent References-1 to 3, for example). As the electronic component, there are a capacitor, a coil, a resistor and the like.
In the speaker device according to Patent References-1 to 3, a capacitor is mounted on a capacitor mounting part provided on a frame or a storage part provided in a connector, and the lead wire of the capacitor is electrically connected to a tinsel cord via the terminal lug for the speaker device. In Patent References-1 and 2, the capacitor mounting part is referred to as "clamp part" and "mounting part", and the terminal lug for the speaker device is referred to as "terminal" and "terminal board", respectively.
Namely, the terminal lug for the speaker device is provided in the speaker device, and the lead wire of the capacitor and the lead wire or the tinsel cord of the voice coil are not directly connected.
In a speaker device according to Patent Reference-4, the above-mentioned electronic component (referred to as "network electronic component" in Patent Reference-4) is provided, and a protective cover to which the electronic component is fixed is mounted on a back side of the frame (i.e., on a side reverse to an acoustic radiation side).
Patent Reference-1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open under No. H08-140186
Patent Reference-2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open under No. 2000-152395
Patent Reference-3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open under No. H08-98296
Patent Reference-4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open under No. 2002-142284


Systems and methods for attenuating light from undesired sources in a coronagraph apparatus are provided. The coronagraph includes a first imaging lens that receives light representing a desired image and an undesired central image and a reimaging system that mitigates the undesired central image. The reimaging system includes a composite half-wave plate assembly that includes a plurality of angular half-wave plate sections. Each of the plurality of angular half-wave plate sections have two congruent sides that meet at an apex substantially at a center of the composite half-wave plate. A characteristic c-axis associated with a given angular half-wave plate section is aligned differently from the respective characteristic c-axes of at least two angular half-wave plate sections in substantial contact with the two sides of the given angular half-wave plate section. A fixation element engages the half-wave plate sections to maintain the angular half-wave plate sections in a desired arrangement.

Detecting planets outside of the solar system is frequently complicated by the relative proximity of extrasolar planets to the stars they orbit. Since planets can be located only by the reflected light of their star, the star will be significantly brighter than the planet of interest, in some cases on the order of ten million times brighter. In light of the relative proximity of a planet to its star, it is necessary to attenuate the light of the star to obtain a useful image of the planet. In general, this has been accomplished through the use of coronagraphs. The design of coronagraphs can vary, including simple coronagraphs that utilize an occulting disk to block the star's light and nulling coronagraphs that use a phase mask to shift the phase of light, as opposed to directly blocking it. An occulting disk is usually used to block the sun and retrieve corona images. However, it is more suitable to use a phase mask for star systems because the entrance aperture dominates the diffraction effect of images.

Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corporation


A signal analysis method for recovering a clock signal from an input signal is described. The input signal comprises a symbol sequence, wherein each symbol has one of N different amplitude values, and wherein N is an integer bigger than 1. The signal analysis method comprises the following steps: The input signal is received. Transition times of the input signal are determined, wherein the input signal respectively crosses one of several predetermined amplitude thresholds at the transition times. The transition times are transformed into one reference symbol period, thereby obtaining transformed transition times. The clock signal is determined based on the transformed transition times. Further, a signal analysis module for recovering a clock signal from an input signal is described.

Several serial transmission protocols, for example transmission protocols for high data rates, do not have a dedicated clock signal so that a clock data recovery (CDR) based on the data signal is required.
In the state of the art, clock data recovery is done by a phase-locked loop (PLL) based clock data recovery. Typically, analog components are used in order to avoid major delays in the feedbacks done by the PLL based clock recovery, which might have an impact on the function and stability of the respective system used for clock data recovery.
In addition, digital solutions for clock data recovery are known in the state of the art.
For instance, phase interpolation techniques are used wherein the phase or rather the phase position of the clock signal is corrected in a feedback-controlled manner. The phase information of the data signal as well as the one of the clock signal are compared and used for controlling a phase interpolation. Thus, the respective information gathered is used for reconstructing the clock signal. The phase interpolation techniques ensure to track frequency shifts, for instance frequency shifts that occur in spread spectrum clocking (SSC) modulations. However, the technique is critical with regard to latency due to the feedback.
Another concept is based on sampling the data signal with a high sampling rate in an uncontrolled manner, also called blind oversampling. Edges in the data signal are detected which are used for determining the sampling times for generating the clock signal and recovering the respective data. However, this approach may not be capable of recovering the clock in real time if the data signal has a high data rate.
Accordingly, there is a need for a possibility enabling clock data recovery for n-ary serial signals, e.g. PAM-n signals, at high data rates with a large area of application.

Signal analysis method and signal analysis module


Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) is used to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from the biogas produced in an anaerobic digester. The cleaned biogas is then combusted in a reciprocating engine. The exhaust of the engine is passed through a heat exchanger and then through GAC in an adsorber to adsorb nitrogen oxides (NOx) and any sulfur oxides (SOx). The GACs containing NOx, H2S, and SOx, are transported to a microwave reactor, mixed, and exposed to microwave energy. The H2S and NOx are desorbed from the GAC and chemically combined to produce nitrogen, carbon dioxide, sulfur and water. Unreacted nitrogen oxides or hydrogen sulfide are transported to a second reactor containing carbon media to be reacted by a further microwave process. Sulfur is removed with a filter as a solid and the remaining inert components are vented to the atmosphere. The GAC is regenerated and reused to remove additional H2S and NOx.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to removal of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in biogas and subsequent removal of Nitrogen oxides (NOx) in engine exhaust, and more particularly to treatment and removal of H2S and NOx in a biogas power system with carbon media and a microwave treatment system.
2. Description of Related Art
There are over 2100 dairies just in California with a potential to produce about 40 million cubic feet per day of biogas with a potential generation capacity of about 136-140 MW. Additionally, anaerobic digesters such as landfills and sewage and food digesters can produce biogas that can be used to make electricity, hot water or other uses. However, contaminants in the biogas limit the ability to fully develop these resources for electric generation such as fuel cells and turbines. Contaminants such as H2S in the biogas also prevent the use of post combustion technologies such as catalysts on engines.
Advanced technologies that could reliably reduce NOx emissions from small (50 kW to 400 kW) reciprocating engines and meet the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2007 NOx standards for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) distributed generation systems have been researched. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) produced in the biogas causes significant equipment operation and maintenance issues and restricts power equipment options almost exclusively to reciprocating engines. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the engine exhaust, even in small quantities, will poison catalytic emission control systems otherwise suitable for use on natural gas fired engines.
Two emission control strategies may meet the CARB 2007 NOx standards for reciprocating engines; combustion modifications and post combustion control. Lean burn engines use a high air to fuel ratio to lower combustion temperature and NOx formation. This combustion technology was developed for use on large natural gas engines and only recently has been offered on smaller engines. About ten reciprocating engine models below 400 kW are currently available with lean burn technology. Expected NOx emissions range from 0.7 to about 2 g/bhp-hr (without post combustion catalyst). Only four engine manufacturers are known to warrant NOx emissions on lean burn engines smaller than 400 kW fueled by biogas. Three manufacturers indicate that they would guarantee NOx emissions to 1.0 g/bhp-hr without a catalyst.
Five commercially available technologies for post combustion controls are possibilities for use on reciprocating engines burning biogas. These include Oxidation Catalyst, Non-selective Catalytic Reduction (NSCR), Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), Selective Non Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) and NOx adsorbents (SCONOX and NOXTECH). The Oxidation Catalyst is used with rich burn engines to remove VOC's and CO and does not remove NOx. The oxidation catalyst, NSCR and SCR are susceptible to Sulfur poisoning and would require reliable and efficient pretreatment of the biogas to remove H2S. SNCR uses urea or ammonia to remove NOx but has not been used successfully on IC engines. SCONOX is a dry absorbent that removes NOx and must be regenerated, but was developed for turbines and has not been used on IC engines. The NOXTECH® system relies on the injection of urea or ammonia into the exhaust of an IC engine and reacts with NOx after heating the exhaust to between 1400-1500 degrees Fahrenheit. Additional fuel and chemicals are needed and the requirement to heat the exhaust complicates installation of heat recovery equipment on the engine exhaust. A small amount of ammonia slip is also reported. Expected NOx emissions for NOXTECH are at 0.3 to 0.5 g/bhp-hr (0.92 to 1.5 lb/MW-hr) which will not meet the 2007 CARB standard of 0.07 lb/MW-hr or the proposed 2008 standard of 0.7 lb/MW-hr for engines operating on digester biogas.
The cost to install and operate these post combustion technologies on small to medium reciprocating engines is significant. Equipment cost coupled with the uncertainty of performance running on biogas makes it difficult to recommend funding for projects without manufacturer assurance of meeting the proposed CARB standards for NOx. A survey of eight engines currently operating on dairy digesters in California shows that all are rich burn engines and that only two are equipped with SCR technology. Both the units with SCR report problems with the catalyst and H2S removal system.
Dairy digesters typically produce about 50%-60% methane, 40%-50% CO2 and sulfur impurities mostly in the form of H2S in the range of 0.06% to 0.2%. Hydrogen Sulfide has a strong order that can be detected at threshold levels of about 0.47 ppb and has an OSHA IDLH level of 300 ppm. Assuming emissions of SOx are not an issue, boilers can tolerate H2S, levels up to 1000 ppm, reciprocating engines about 10 to 100 ppm and fuel cells 10 ppm to 20 ppm.
Reciprocating engines operating on digester biogas compared to natural gas engines cost about 20% more to install and about 80% more to maintain. Sulfur plugs filters, causes deposits on valves and cylinders and contaminates lubricating oil. It has been reported that some operators must change spark plugs frequently ($1000 annually) and change oil as often as weekly ($350 to $1000 per month).
The H2S pretreatment system of choice for most dairy digesters is gas contact with an iron oxide media. The most well known treatment system is an iron sponge. This is a container of iron oxide impregnated media (typically woodchips) that scrubs the inlet gas from the digester. The iron sponge is sized for a residence time of about 60 seconds and the media can collect up to about 2.5 times its weight in sulfur compounds. The media can be partially regenerated by exposure to air or by wetting for about 10 days. Eventually the media must be discarded and replaced with new media. With increasing frequency, the spent media is classified a hazardous waste by local regulators. One example of an iron sponge system costs about $50,000 to install with annual operating costs ranging from $250 to $4000.
Proprietary iron-oxide media such as SulfaTreat®, Sulfur-Rite®, and Media-G2® have been installed as improved alternatives to the iron sponge at a few digester sites. These use different media and additional chemical treatment to remove sulfur. Some of these media have limited regeneration capacity or can be deposited in a landfill. One dairy digester site using Media-G2 has two vessels with about 760 kg of media each with a residence time of about 62 seconds per vessel. Annual media consumption ranges from 1460 kg to about 5900 kg with media replacement costs on the order of $2050 to $8290.
Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) and other carbon media products are used extensively for filtration of contaminants in water and gas streams. GAC contains micropores that capture and hold many organic and polar molecules and is more effective for larger molecules. In other cases, the carbon acts as a catalyst to drive a reaction with the carbon and the selected molecule in a process known as chemisorption.
Commercially available GAC and pelletized activation carbon (PAC) have the surface area in the range of 800-1000 m2/g. These activated carbon media easily adsorb SO2, NOx, and VOCs. The carbon adsorption capacity is dependent on the composition of gas. The SO2 adsorption capacity is about 5-20 grams per 10 g GAC in the dry gas environment.
The GAC adsorbs most VOCs and is used in removing common solvent vapors used in drying cleaning and parts washing operations. The carbon adsorption capacity is strongly dependent on the VOC molecular weight. The adsorption capacities of toluene and methylene chloride at the room temperature are 20 and 5 g/100 g GAC, respectively. However the adsorption capacity of CH4 in GAC is negligible.
Most GAC adsorber systems use two-stage fixed beds. When the first GAC bed is saturated, the GAC is replaced by fresh GAC. Then, the second bed operated as the first bed until GAC is saturated. The saturated GACs are transported to the regeneration plant or disposed in landfill site.
In engine exhaust gas, NOx is present mostly as NO. When the exhaust gas is cooled, NO is converted into NO2. At 60-170° F. the conversion results in equal quantities of NO and NO2. An important aspect of NOx adsorption is that it must be in NO2 form to adsorb on carbon within any reasonable operating temperatures. Therefore, the conversion of NO to NO2 is critical to NOx removal. However, once NO2 is adsorbed in the GAC, it is no longer available in the equilibrium reaction with NO. With sufficient residence time in the GAC, substantially all NO is converted to NO2 and adsorbed in the GAC. Operational experience and laboratory tests show that GAC will adsorb about 10% by weight NO2 in engine exhaust.
The GAC adsorption capacity for H2S is 5-15% by weight. Therefore, the GAC can be used economically to remove the H2S from the biogas that contains lower concentrations of H2S. Typically GAC is disposed of in a landfill when saturated with H2S.
Impregnating GAC with alkaline or oxide solids enhance the physical adsorptive characteristics of the carbon with chemical reaction. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), and potassium hydroxide (KOH) are common impregnators. The metal oxide impregnation increases the GAC adsorption capacity significantly. Typically, 20-25% loading by weight of H2S can be achieved, which is 10-15% greater than regular GAC adsorption capacity. The metal-impregnated GAC is almost twice more expensive than GAC. However, the use of metal-impregnated GAC will be more economical for the adsorbers without the on-site carbon reactivation because of its greater adsorption capacity.
Once GAC can no longer adsorb a chemical compound, breakthrough will occur where the contaminant will flow all the way through the bed without being adsorbed. At this point, the GAC is no longer effective and must be replaced. In many cases, such as GAC filled water filters or respirators, the GAC is thrown away and a fresh GAC filter or cartridge is installed. In large scale processes, or where the contaminant can be recovered or destroyed, regeneration of the GAC may be preferred.
There are four processes commonly used for GAC regeneration: Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA), Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Inert Purge and Displacement Purge. TSA takes place by heating the GAC. With PSA the adsorption takes place at an elevated pressure and regeneration at a lower pressure. Inert gas purge reduces the partial pressure of the adsorbate in the gas phase so that desorption occurs. A purge gas that is more strongly adsorbed than the impurity is used to desorb the original contaminant. Steam regeneration is a combination of TSA and purge. In each process, the contaminant is still present in the purge stream and must be captured, burned or is vented to the atmosphere.
Quantum radiofrequency (RF) physics is based upon the phenomenon of resonant interaction with matter of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave and RF regions since every atom or molecule can absorb, and thus radiate, electromagnetic waves of various wavelengths. The rotational and vibrational frequencies of the electrons represent the most important frequency range. The electromagnetic frequency spectrum is usually divided into ultrasonic, microwave, and optical regions. The microwave region is from 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz) and encompasses frequencies used for much communication equipment. For instance, refer to Cook, Microwave Principles and Systems, Prentice-Hall, 1986.
Often the term microwaves or microwave energy is applied to a broad range of radiofrequency energies particularly with respect to the common heating frequencies, 915 MHz and 2450 MHz. The former is often employed in industrial heating applications while the latter is the frequency of the common household microwave oven and therefore represents a good frequency to excite water molecules. In this writing the term "microwave" or "microwaves" is generally employed to represent "radiofrequency energies selected from the range of about 500 to 5000 MHz", since in a practical sense this large range is employable for the subject invention.
The absorption of microwaves by the energy bands, particularly the vibrational energy levels, of atoms or molecules results in the thermal activation of the nonplasma material and the excitation of valence electrons. The nonplasma nature of these interactions is important for a separate and distinct form of heating employs plasma formed by arc conditions at a high temperature, often more than 3000.degree. F., and at much reduced pressures or vacuum conditions. For instance, refer to Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd Edition, Supplementary Volume, pages 599-608, Plasma Technology. In microwave technology, as applied in the subject invention, neither of these conditions is present and therefore no plasmas are formed.
Microwaves lower the effective activation energy required for desirable chemical reactions since they can act locally on a microscopic scale by exciting electrons of a group of specific atoms in contrast to normal global heating which raises the bulk temperature. Further this microscopic interaction is favored by polar molecules whose electrons become easily locally excited leading to high chemical activity; however, nonpolar molecules adjacent to such polar molecules are also affected but at a reduced extent. An example is the heating of polar water molecules in a common household microwave oven where the container is of nonpolar material, that is, microwave-passing, and stays relatively cool.
In this sense microwaves are often referred to as a form of catalysis when applied to chemical reaction rates; thus, in this writing the term "microwave catalysis" refers to "the absorption of microwave energy by carbonaceous materials when a simultaneous chemical reaction is occurring" For instance, refer to Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd Edition, Volume 15, pages 494-517, Microwave Technology.

Microwave induced destruction of impurities from biogas and nitrogen oxides from engine exhaust


Methods and apparatus for distributing a clock signal to a digital circuit provide for: producing a clock signal; and delaying, advanced, or leaving the clock signal unchanged to produce an output clock signal as a function of a control signal, wherein an amount of delay or advancement between the clock signal and the output clock signal (phase difference) is a function of time variant changes in a magnitude of a power supply voltage to the digital circuit.

The present invention relates to improving the permitted amount of nominal signal delay through an LSI circuit.
In conventional systems, a system clock signal is often used by digital circuitry, such as digital circuitry implemented using a LSI circuit, to synchronously execute certain logic functions. For example, ultra-deep sub-micron (UDSM) microprocessors employ digital circuitry that uses system clock signals to synchronously execute logic functions. These microprocessors operate at system clock frequencies of 1-10 GHz and higher. The system clock signal of a given LSI circuit is often split into many paths to service many different portions of the digital circuitry.
Complex LSI circuits include multiple distinct circuit areas, each with its own path from input to output, and each with the need for a system clock signal to clock the signals through digital circuitry. Depending on the function of the LSI, some circuit areas are cascaded in series and others are arranged in parallel. In general, in order for the circuit areas to operate properly, the synchronous design of the LSI must satisfy the following condition between clock cycle time (T) and circuit delay time (D): T≧D. In practice, the clock cycle time of the system clock should be significantly greater than the delay of a signal through a given circuit area of the LSI.
The problem in prior art LSI circuits is that variations in the power supply voltage of the LSI have a negative effect on the permitted nominal signal delay through the LSI circuit. This results in higher power consumption in the LSI and has placed a burden on designers of LSI circuits to keep the nominal signal delay as small as possible, thereby driving up costs.

Method and apparatus for adaptive clock phase control for LSI power reduction


A crop material is unloaded from a storage bin by providing a generally triangular pit arranged below the base pad surface of the bin into which crop material can fall from the bin through one of two openings in the base floor. Opening the door of one of the openings at the center of the bin allows discharge of the material into the pit by gravity to an apex at a bottom of the pit below the opening. The pit has a bottom wall inclined upwardly and outwardly to exterior opening outside the bin. An auger standing outside the bin with an inclined auger tube is moved to a position extending downwardly from a top discharge end of the auger to a bottom feed end of the auger which is inserted into the pit through the exterior opening so as to extend to the apex at the bottom of the pit for extracting the material falling into the pit through the center opening. When the bin is emptied so that no more material flows into the pit, a second opening at the wall of the bin is opened thus emptying a path to the center from a door at the wall so that a bin sweep can be inserted to complete discharge of the material through the center opening. One part of the pit is covered by a perforated screen allowing injection into the bin of drying air from the pit.

This invention relates to an under-floor unloading system for unloading the crops from a storage bin of a type which can be used for crops or other dry solid flowable materials.
The storage of crop material is generally carried out in a storage bin which includes a vertical usually cylindrical wall mostly including a conical roof covering the top edge of the wall. The bin is generally mounted on a horizontal concrete pad or other suitable base to provide a proper support for the wall and so as to ensure that the crop material is supported on a suitable generally smooth surface from which it can be removed.
Various techniques have been proposed for emptying the grain bin. Conventionally an auger is inserted into the bin so as to extract the material and this discharges of the majority of the material without difficulty. However, the material adjacent the floor remains in place and must be discharged to allow complete emptying of the bin. For many years this was done by shovelling.
Some bins are currently mounted on conical hopper bottoms which discharge the material to a central discharge opening but these bottom structures raise the bin wall thus making the whole structure less stable and reducing the amount of material which can be contained.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,219 (Rutten) assigned to P and D manufacturing discloses an under floor discharge system which includes a horizontal auger tube laid in a channel in the concrete base. The base therefore must be thicker to accommodate the tube which remains in place at all times. The auger flight is separate element which is inserted in to the tube when required and can be removed for use of the bins when necessary. The tube is filled from a central opening and the remaining material can be swept to the central opening by a rotating bin sweep.
This arrangement has the disadvantages that the concrete pad must be increased in thickness thus increasing cost, an additional auger structure is necessary for transporting material through the tube in the concrete which again increases the cost, and it is in many cases difficult to transport the bin sweep into the interior of the bin after an initial quantity of crop material is discharged since the crop material remains at a significant depth at the wall due to the angle of repose of the crop material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,925 (Muth) issued Apr. 30, 1996 discloses a similar discharge system but in this case the discharge auger is mounted above floor level so that the sweep rotates underneath the discharge auger system. This arrangement has a significant disadvantage that it is relatively costly in order to provide the auger construction. The discharge auger has openings in the top surface storage to allow the entry of crop material both adjacent the center and the closer to the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,444 (Kuzub et al) issued Jun. 7, 1994 discloses a discharge device in the form of a small dedicated auger which is inserted through a door in the wall of the bin and incline downwardly toward the center of the bin and carries its own bin sweep which rotates around the bottom of the discharge auger.
Again this constructions relatively expensive in view of the dedicated cost of the device.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved bin for storage of dry flowable materials which is designed and arranged to allow easy ergonomic extraction of the material using a conventional discharge auger.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a storage bin comprising:
a substantially horizontal floor pad defining a pad surface;
a bin wall arrangement mounted on the pad so as to stand upwardly therefrom and to define with the pad surface a container for a crop material;
a pit arranged below the pad surface into which crop material can fall from the container;
the pit having at least one container opening therefrom into the container, the at least one container opening having a door operable to be moveable from a closed position preventing discharge of material from the container through the opening into the pit to an open position allowing discharge of the material into the pit by gravity to a bottom of the pit below the container opening;
the pit having an exterior opening outside the container;
the pit being shaped for co-operation with an auger standing outside the container with an inclined auger tube extending downwardly from a top discharge end of the auger to a bottom feed end of the auger such that a bottom feed end portion of the auger can be inserted into the pit through the exterior opening and extend to the bottom of the pit for extracting the material falling into the pit through the container opening.
Preferably the bottom of the pit is below the exterior opening.
Preferably the bottom wall of the pit is inclined downwardly from the exterior opening to the bottom of the pit at an angle approximately equal to the angle of incline of the auger.
Preferably the pit is generally triangular in side elevational shape with a bottom apex such that a second bottom wall portion is inclined from the container opening downwardly and along the pit toward the exterior opening.
Preferably the exterior opening is generally horizontal.
Preferably the at least one container opening includes a first opening adjacent a center of the container and a second opening spaced along the pit adjacent the wall.
Preferably each of the first and second container openings includes a respective door separately operable to open and close the opening.
Preferably the wall includes an inlet door adjacent the second opening for insertion into the bin of a bin sweep.
Preferably the pit is covered between the first and second openings by a removable cover plate.
Preferably the removable cover plate is perforated to allow passage of air from the pit into the crop material.
Preferably the pit includes a removable hopper at a bottom apex for extraction of remaining crop material.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for unloading crop material from a storage bin comprising:
providing a crop storage bin comprising:
a substantially horizontal floor pad defining a pad surface;
and a bin wall arrangement mounted on the pad so as to stand upwardly therefrom and to define with the pad surface a container for a crop material;
providing a pit arranged below the pad surface into which crop material can fall from the container;
providing at least one container opening from the container into the pit;
opening a door from a closed position preventing discharge of material from the container through the opening into the pit to an open position allowing discharge of the material into the pit by gravity to a bottom of the pit below the container opening;
providing for the pit an exterior opening outside the container;
providing an auger standing outside the container with an inclined auger tube extending downwardly from a top discharge end of the auger to a bottom feed end of the auger;
and inserting the inclined bottom feed end portion of the auger into the pit through the exterior opening so as to extend to the bottom of the pit for extracting the material falling into the pit through the container opening.

Under floor unloading system for a crop storage bin


The present invention relates to a binary image processing method and apparatus for outputting a document image data inputted from an image input device through a binary image output device. The present invention comprises an A/D converting part for converting an analog image data signal applied from a image sensing element into a digital signal, a simple binarization processing part for transforming the image data signal applied from the A/D converting part into a simple binary image data signal, a pseudo intermediate tone processing part for transforming the image data signal applied from the A/D converting part into a binary image data signal having a gradation component, an image data coordinate system processing part for detecting the window portion of an image and outputting the control signal Cxy corresponding to the window mode select signal WMS, a data selecting part for selecting either the binary image data applied from the simple binarization processing part or the binary image data applied from the pseudo intermediate tone processing part by the control signal Cxy appiled from the image data coordinate system processing part. In processing an image comprising a text portion and a photograph portion, the present invention processes the image of the text portion with the simple binarization processing method and processes the image of the photograph portion with the pseudo intermediate tone processing method, thereby improving the picture quality of the reproduced image.

The present invention relates to a binary image processing method and apparatus for outputting document image data inputted from an image input device through a binary image output device, and particularily to an image processing method and apparatus with mixture of simple binarization and pseudo intermediate tone for entirely obtaining an image of high quality by processing the letter portion of image data with a simple binarization image processing method and by processing the photograph portion of image data with pseudo intermediate tone processing method in processing an document image mixed with a letter and a phtograph.
Image data inputted from an image input device such as an image scanner, a facsimile, a digital copy press, or the like should be transformed and processed into several data formats suited to the condition of the requested object and a peripheral equipment.
In particular, the inputted image data should be binarized in order to output through a binary image output device such as a laser beam printer, a dot matrix printer, or the like.
As aforesaid, there have been conventionally used two as a method for binarizing image data as follows.
The one is a simple binarization processing method which discriminates whether the value of image data read is larger than or smaller than the fixed reference value, thereby simply processing as binary image data of black level or white level ("0" or "1" level).
The other is a psuedo intermediate tone processing method which artifically displays graduation of an original image by controlling the density of a binary pixel in order to reproduce the shading or graduation component of an original image.
The latter is called as a dithering processing method or a half-tone processing method.
Generally, in processing a document image by a simple binarization image processing method, an image of which contrast is extemely clear such as a letter and a line is reproduced as that of better quality. But an image having a graduation component such as a photograph, thus an image of which contrast is not clear is reproduced as that of poorest quality with the exception of the contour (the edge) portion of picture in which graduation is greatly changed.
On the other hand, the phenomenon occurred in processing a document image by a psuedo intermediate tone image processing method is opposed to that in aforesaid simple binarization image processing method.
In other words, in processing a document image by a psuedo intermediate tone image processing method, an image having a graduation component such as a photograph is reproduced as that of better quality. However, an image of which contrast is extemely clear such as a letter or a line is reproduced as that of poorer quality because of discontinuity of a stroke component.
In particular, when an image having a spatial frequency component is reproduced by said image processing method, the Moire phenomenon that the pattern is generated in the reproduced image is accompanied because of interference beat, so that the picture quality becomes very deteriorated.
As above roughly mentioned, because the prior image input device exclusively adapts either a simple binarization image processing method or a psuedo intermediate tone image processing method, thus because only one of two image processing methods is adapted, the picture quality of an image is entirely deteriorated in binary processing general document image mixed a letter and a photograph.
The techniques for half-tone processing image data is disclosed in more detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,501 and 4,958,238.

Image data processing method and apparatus with mixture of simple binarization and psuedo intermediate tone


The present invention provides for a nutritional composition in a dry powder form or a liquid drink form for optimizing muscle performance during exercise. The nutritional composition includes carbohydrate and protein in a ratio, in the range of 2.8 to 4.2 parts of the carbohydrate to 1.0 part of the protein. The carbohydrate is composed of a mixture of three sugars which are characterized by the fact that they are transported from the GI tract into the plasma via different transport pathways, specifically, the glucose pathway, the fructose pathway and the disaccharide pathway. One or more proteins are in the range of 10.29% to 32.25% by weight of the dry composition. The nutritional composition further includes electrolytes for replenishing electrolytes lost during exercise and for facilitating intestinal reabsorption of fluid. The carbohydrates are transported to the plasma via multiple transport pathways: one for glucose and similar sugars, another for fructose and similar sugars, and another for the complex sugars.

Over the past thirty years, there has been extensive research conducted on the role hydration and carbohydrate supplementation play in improving exercise performance. This research led to the development of sports drinks that contain carbohydrate in the range of 6-8%, as well as essential electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride. Numerous studies have shown that consumption of a sports drink during exercise containing carbohydrate and electrolytes enables athletes to extend their endurance capacity to a greater extent than by the consumption of water alone.
When a sports drink is consumed during exercise, the carbohydrate is transported from the blood into the muscle where it then can be converted into energy. Normally, glucose uptake is controlled by insulin. However, during periods of intense activity, there is a decrease in the production of insulin and glucose is transported into the muscle primarily by the contraction of the muscle cell. The uptake of glucose into the muscle is critical to preserve muscle glycogen. To the degree that muscle glycogen is preserved, there is an enhancement in endurance capacity since more muscle glycogen is then available in the later stages of exercise.
The concentration of carbohydrate in the plasma is critical in determining the amount available for transport into the muscle cell and use in energy contraction. The levels of carbohydrate in the plasma are in large part controlled by the amount of carbohydrate that is absorbed into the plasma from the GI tract and the amount of carbohydrate that is transported into the muscle. Carbohydrate is transported from the gut to the plasma via multiple pathways. There is a specific transport pathway for glucose, a simple sugar, a specific transport pathway for fructose, another type of simple sugar, and a third transport pathway for disaccharides such as sucrose. Most sports drinks contain predominantly one type of sugar, either sucrose or fructose. A sports drink that contains predominantly one type of sugar is not as effective in extending endurance. The reason is a sports drink that contains primarily one type of sugar will overwhelm the transporter system. If the drink contains primarily fructose it will overwhelm the fructose transporter system. If it contains primarily glucose it will overwhelm the glucose transporter system. This can have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the sports drink since, if less carbohydrate can be transported from the gut to the plasma then less carbohydrate will be available in the plasma for transport into the blood. When the amount of carbohydrate in the plasma becomes rate limiting muscle cells increase their utilization of their own carbohydrate source called glycogen.
The faster that muscle glycogen is depleted the faster that muscle fatigue ensues and endurance is decreased.
The transport of carbohydrate from the plasma into the muscle cell is largely controlled by insulin and different carbohydrate transporters than that seen in the gut but which have a similar function. It has been shown that when insulin is stimulated during intense exercise there is a greater uptake of glucose. Increasing carbohydrate consumption during exercise can stimulate insulin to a point. When very high levels of carbohydrate are consumed during exercise they do not empty from the stomach rapidly so carbohydrate intake becomes rate limiting in its ability to stimulate insulin.
Previously, it has been shown that when protein is added to a source of carbohydrate, it can provide enhanced stimulation of insulin. The level of protein is critical since protein has been shown to slow gastric emptying. U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,638 showed that when protein is added to carbohydrate in a 4 to 1 ratio, it provides increased insulin stimulation and enhances the synthesis of muscle glycogen with no negative impact on rehydration following exercise. In addition to stimulating insulin to improve carbohydrate uptake, a second but important benefit of using a combination of carbohydrates that have specific transport systems is a more rapid uptake of carbohydrate into the muscle.
There is a definite need in the art for sports drinks that will maximize the uptake of glucose during exercise, thereby providing an immediate source of energy and improve endurance by the sparing of muscle glocogen stores. It is the object of this invention to provide a sports drink that will improve athletic performance during exercise.

Sports drink composition for enhancing glucose uptake into the muscle and extending endurance during physical exercise


A microwave grating 10 for a dispersive delay line, the grating comprising: (a) a terminal 12 for receiving a wideband RF signal including multiple RF signals of different frequencies; (b) a primary transmission line 14 capable of carrying the wideband RF signal, the primary transmission line 14 being electrically connected to said terminal 12; and (c) a plurality of non-resonant open-stub transmission lines 16 each having a length 18, the open-stub transmission lines 16 being capacitively loaded on the primary transmission line 14 at spaced locations 20 along the primary transmission line 14. Each open-stub transmission line 16 effects perturbations in the signal carrying capability of the primary transmission line 14 where the open-stub transmission line is located. As such, RF signals of different frequencies propagating through the primary transmission line 14 are reflected back to the terminal 12 of the grating 10 at different points along the primary transmission line 14 where the open-stub transmission lines 16 are located. Preferably, the spacing 22 between a pair of adjacent open-stub transmission lines 16 is substantially equal to a multiple half-wavelength of a selected frequency, whereby an RF signal of said frequency propagating through the primary transmission line 14 is reflected back at a point along the transmission line 14 where the spacing 22 between a pair of open-stub transmission lines 16 is equal to a multiple half-wavelength of the signal.

The present invention generally relates to microwave dispersive lines and in particular to wideband, low loss dispersive lines.
Wideband, low loss dispersive lines operated at microwave or higher frequencies are increasingly utilized in analog signal processing systems. Such systems include post detection receivers of high performance radars, spread-spectrum communications and spectral analyzers. A dispersive line provides delay at microwave frequencies. An input signal including signals of different frequencies is launched as a forward-propagating wave on the line. At specified points along the line a portion of the signal energy is reflected in a backward-propagating wave along the line. Signals of different frequencies are reflected back along different points on the line, thereby providing different delay periods for different frequencies.
Existing dispersive delay lines typically utilize either surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) technology, or high temperature superconductive (HTS) backward coupler technology. Both technologies, however, have several important disadvantages when used in high frequency wideband signal processing applications. The SAW technology can only be utilized for signal frequencies of up to 1 GHz which is substantially below microwave frequencies of 2 GHz or higher. The physical dimensions of SAW circuits are impractical for frequencies of 2 GHz or higher. Further, the tolerances of SAW circuits are inadequate for the demands of high performance signal processing systems.
Although HTS backward coupler circuits can operate at microwave or higher frequencies, for a wideband, long dispersive delay line, multiple directional couplers and interconnecting uncoupled transmission lines are required. Each coupler must be developed before it is cascaded in a coupler circuit unit, requiring substantial development costs. Further, to fit the circuits into HTS wafers, the multiple coupled and uncoupled transmission lines must be bent at the same time into two meander lines. As such, the circuits are of substantial size and do not make efficient usage of the HTS wafers since only a small portion of the surfaces of the wafers are utilized.
There is, therefore, a need for a wideband, low loss, long dispersive delay line which can operate at microwave frequencies or higher without requiring large circuit dimensions. There is also a need for such a delay line to be cost effective to fabricate and make efficient use of wafer space.

Microwave grating for dispersive delay lines having non-resonant stubs spaced along a transmission line


A cutting tool comprises a substrate and a coating that coats the substrate, the coating including an α-alumina layer, the α-alumina layer including crystal grains of α-alumina, the α-alumina layer including a lower portion and an upper portion, the upper portion being occupied in area at a ratio of 50% or more by crystal grains of α-alumina having (006) plane with a normal thereto having a direction within ±15° with respect to a direction of a normal to the second interface, the lower portion being occupied in area at a ratio of 5% or more and less than 50% by crystal grains of α-alumina having (012) plane, (104) plane, (110) plane, (113) plane, (116) plane, (300) plane, (214) plane and (006) plane each with a normal thereto having a direction within ±15° with respect to the direction of the normal to the second interface.

Cutting tools having a coated substrate have conventionally been used. For example, WO 2017/061059 (PTL 1) discloses a surface-coated cutting tool comprising a substrate and a coating formed on the substrate, the coating including an α-Al2O3 layer satisfying b−a>0.5, where a representing an average value of a texture coefficient TC(006) in a vicinity of a cutting edge ridge line and b represents an average value of the texture coefficient TC(006) in other than the vicinity of the cutting edge ridge line.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2012-213853 (PTL 2) discloses a coated cutting tool insert of cemented carbide comprising a generally polygonal or circular body having at least one rake face and at least one flank face, the coating including an α-Al2O3 layer having a diffraction intensity ratio I of 1.3 or more in X-ray diffractometry.


A surgical apparatus includes: a treatment section treating a living tissue; an energy generation section providing high-frequency current to the treatment section; a liquid feeding conduit feeding a liquid to the living tissue; a suction conduit suctioning the liquid; an energy control section that outputs a high-frequency output control signal for controlling the energy generation section; a first pump drive section that feeds the liquid from the liquid feeding conduit while the high-frequency current is output, according to a command of the high-frequency output control signal, and stops feeding of the liquid, according to a command of the high-frequency output control signal; and a second pump drive section that suctions the liquid from the suction conduit for a predetermined period of time or in a predetermined amount, according to a command for stopping the high-frequency output control signal, and stops suction of the liquid after the suction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surgical apparatus, and specifically relates to a surgical apparatus that can output high-frequency current.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surgical treatment instruments are used for treatments such as coagulation or dissection of a living tissue in surgical operations. Among the surgical treatment instruments, there are those of a type that pinches or comes into contact with a living tissue to perform treatment (what is called a "scissors shape" or a "scoop shape" type). Also, as surgical treatment instruments, for example, high-frequency treatment instruments that can output high-frequency current have been known. As surgical treatment instruments, for example, ultrasound treatment instruments that can output ultrasound vibration, and high-frequency treatment instruments that can output high-frequency current, and furthermore, in recent years, energy treatment instruments that can simultaneously output ultrasound vibration and high-frequency current have been known.
In a scissors shape-type ultrasound treatment instrument, one of the members performs ultrasound vibration, and the other jaw member is opened/closed relative to the one member for pinching. Also, a scissors shape-type high-frequency treatment instrument provides a bipolar output of high-frequency current using two members.
There are cases where such treatment instrument is used to provide treatment using a high-frequency output while dripping saline. For example, in order to stop oozing bleeding in the parenchyma of a liver, that is, in order to stop the flow of blood oozing over a board area, a high-frequency output is provided while saline is dripped. Providing a high-frequency output with the oozing bleeding area immersed in saline enables a treatment to stop the oozing bleeding to be provided over the broad area. When such treatment to stop oozing bleeding is provided, a puddle of saline is formed inside the body, and thus, an assistant suctions the accumulated saline using a suction tube.
Also, the specifications of US Patent Application Laid-Open Publication Nos. US2010/137751A1, US2003/0040672A1 and US2010/0324458A1 each disclose a surgical apparatus that supplies a liquid to a treatment instrument and suctions the liquid during treatment.


An integrated circuit (IC) package that includes an on-package voltage regulation module (VRM). An IC die is flip-bounded to a substrate having a plurality of connections to couple to a socket or to be mounted directly to a circuit board. An integrated heat spreader (IHS) is thermally coupled to the IC die and coupled (both electrically and mechanically) to the substrate. A VRM is coupled to the IHS. The IHS, which serves as an interconnect member, includes interconnect provisions for electrically coupling the VRM to the substrate. In one embodiment, the body of the IHS serves as a ground plane, while a separate interconnect layer includes electrical traces for routing electrical signals between the VRM and substrate. The VRM may comprise a detachable package that is coupled to the IHS via one of several means including fasteners, edge connectors and a parallel coupler.

An important aspect of any computer system is power provisioning. Generally, regulated power must be supplied to various system components, such as peripheral devices, circuit boards, and integrated circuits. Under a typical configuration, a power supply is used to convert alternating current (AC) input to various direct current (DC) voltage outputs that are supplied to the computer system. The power supply provides a certain level of power conditioning that is suitable for many of the system components. However, the voltage conditioning provided by the power supply is generally insufficient for powering critical components, such as the system processor(s).
In order to provide enhanced power conditioning, many systems employ a specially-configured voltage regulator or voltage regulation module (VRM). The voltage regulator or VRM receives "pre-conditioned" DC input from the power supply, and further conditions the input to remove transient voltages and the like. This power condition functionality is accomplished by passing the input voltage through various filter components, including passive and/or active filter elements. For a voltage regulator, the voltage regulation components are mounted directly on the motherboard (or other circuit board), while for a VRM the voltage regulation components are mounted to a separate board that is coupled to the motherboard (or other circuit board) via a connector. For many servers, the VRM is a detachable module that is coupled to the motherboard via a connector that employs a built-in locking mechanism to secure the module in place.
A typical voltage regulator mounting scheme is shown in FIG. 1a. Under this example, voltage regulator components 100 are mounted to a motherboard 102. A power supply (not shown) is also coupled to the motherboard 102, and provides input power to voltage regulator components 100 via corresponding power planes/traces formed on the motherboard (also not shown). A processor package 104 is coupled to motherboard 102 via a socket 106. Typically, socket 106 is mounted to motherboard 102 using a solder reflow process, resulting in a plurality of solder connections 108. Generally, socket 106 may comprise a conventional socketed connector or a zero insertion force (ZIF) connector, either of which comprise a plurality of socket connections 109.
Processor package 104 includes a package substrate 110, a processor die 112, an integrated heat spreader (IHS) 114, and a heat sink 116. The underside of processor die 112 is "flip bonded" to package substrate 110 via a plurality of solder balls 118. The topside of the processor die is thermally coupled to IHS 114 via a thermal paste 120. Heat sink 116 will usually be coupled to IHS 114 in a manner that supports excellent heat transfer between the components, such as via a thermal paste 122. These coupling means further include solders and mechanical mounting techniques, such as mounting clips and the like.
An alternative conventional voltage regulator scheme is shown in FIG. 1b. Under this scheme, a VRM 124 comprising voltage regulator components 100A mounted on a circuit board 126 is coupled to motherboard 102 via a connector 128.
The conventional voltage regulator and VRM mounting schemes have several drawbacks. First, since the voltage regulation components or VRM are coupled to the motherboard, it is necessary to route power from the regulated voltage output through the motherboard to the processor. With the ever-increasing processor speeds, a corresponding increase in power consumption has followed. Since the supply voltage (e.g., 3.3 volts) to the processor must remain low, the heat generated via the power traces in the motherboard has increased in parallel with the increase in processor power consumption. This leads to overheating of the motherboard power traces and thermal stresses on solder connections 108 and/or the socket connections.
Other drawbacks relate to mechanical considerations. Typically, VRMs are placed into environments that employ forced convection cooling via one or more fans. The airflow over the VRM and/or other system components may induce mechanical resonances. These resonances may, in turn, be coupled into the connection between the VRM and the motherboard, leading to connection failures.

Detachable on package voltage regulation module


To provide an endoscope objective lens which has a lens constitution of a relatively small number of three pieces, a short total length of lens, and various kinds of good optical performances starting with curvature of field. It is constituted of a first lens L1 directing its concave surface to the image side, a second lens L2 made of a positive meniscus lens directing its convex surface to the image side, and a third lens L3 made of a planoconvex lens directing its convex surface to the object side arranged sequentially from the object side, and a stop placed between said first lens L1 and said second lens L2. It also satisfies the following Conditional Expressions:2.00<|f1/f|<3.00,  (1)0.50<|f2/f3|<0.70,  (2)2.00<|f1/d1-2|<5.00 ,  (3)0.40<|R2R/R2F|<0.60 .  (4)Note that f is the focal length of the whole system, f1–f3 the focal lengths of the first-third lenses, respectively, d1-2 the air distance between the first lens and the second lens, R2F the radius of curvature of the object-side surface of the second lens, and R2R the radius of curvature of the image-side surface of the second lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope objective lens which is placed at the tip section of an endoscope and comprises a compact objective lens.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, endoscopes are utilized for places which is difficult to see directly, especially inside human bodies. As its objective lens system, various kinds constituted of multiple lens pieces are known.
Among them, shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H2-176612 for example is the one where the space for focus adjustment is reduced to make the total length of the objective lens shorter. However, there was a problem that it was difficult to suppress coma and astigmatism in this objective lens unless an aspheric lens was used, which impaired processibility and increased manufacturing cost. Also, proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H9-68647 is the one which has a three-piece constitution of negative, positive, and positive from the object side, and is short in total lens length, there was a problem that correction of astigmatism was insufficient. Therefore, the inventor of the present application proposes an endoscope objective lens having a three-piece constitution described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-264835 which can solve these problems.
Conventionally, it was thought that even the invention proposed in the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-264835 could be used practically with no problem. However, in the technology described in this publication document, sufficient consideration is not always given in the respect of the correction of curvature of field, thus an endoscope objective lens of higher performance has been demanded by the actual field of medical practices.


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to perform a printing operation by using a plurality of photosensitive media, a plurality of motors configured to drive the plurality of photosensitive media, and a motor controller configured to control a phase and a velocity of the other motor based on a periodic velocity of one motor from among the plurality of motors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept generally relates to an image forming apparatus and a method of controlling a motor, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus to control a velocity variation between photosensitive media and to minimize a color dislocation by controlling a phase and a velocity of the other motors based on one motor from among a plurality of motors, and a method of controlling a motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an image forming apparatus may use an electronography as a laser printer, a copy machine, a multifunctional device, and a facsimile and may include an optical scanner. The image forming apparatus forms an electrostatic latent image on a surface of a photosensitive medium by using an optical beam which is outputted from the optical scanner, transfers the electrostatic latent image on a paper, and prints out a desired image.
Meanwhile, an electronography-type printer like a color laser printer includes four photosensitive media which are provided to correspond to four colors of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, an exposure unit which forms an electrostatic latent image of a desired image by directing a light at each of the photosensitive media, a developer which develops the electrostatic latent image with a developing agent for each color, and an image forming medium (or a transfer belt or an intermediate transfer belt) which receives images developed in the respective photosensitive media to be sequentially overlapped with each other, forms an image with a completed color, and transfers the image on a paper.
Accordingly, in order to print out a desired color image, the image is developed with each color in four photosensitive media, imprinted to be overlapped on a same image position on an image forming medium so as to be a final color image, and printed out on a paper.
Meanwhile, in order to obtain a color image which is exactly matched with a desired color by overlapping the four colors on the same image position on the image forming medium, a start point and an end point where the image is transferred from the photosensitive media to the image forming medium should be exactly consistent with each other in all cases of the four colors. That is, even though images are developed clearly in the four photosensitive media, a finally obtained color image fails to express the desired colors and image if the images are transferred in the image forming medium to be slightly dislocated.
Accordingly, in order to express a desired color image, it is important to match a point of time of starting an exposure of each of the photosensitive media by the exposure unit by considering a driving velocity of the image forming medium. As such, an operation of adjusting a point of time of starting the exposure so that a plurality of colors for forming an image are precisely overlapped with each other is referred to as a color registration.
However, a photosensitive medium has a periodic velocity variation. Such periodic velocity variation occurs in all rotator systems unless it is an ideally impeccable rotator system, which may be resulted from a shape error of a photosensitive medium (eccentricity, run-out, etc.), a characteristic of a medium related to alignment or installation, a gear shape error, a gear transmission error, a structural incompleteness of a gear train, a coupling angle transmission error, etc. The velocity variation of the photosensitive media causes a color dislocation.
In this regard, efforts for controlling a structural stability of a driving unit and a developer, a degree in applying a gear, a degree of coupling, and a tolerance have been made in order to reduce the color dislocation.
However, even though the structural incompleteness is resolved to a certain degree, there still has been a limit to obtain an impeccable constant velocity of a photosensitive medium, and thus, a method of calculating a dislocation variation for each photosensitive medium and controlling a motor velocity according to the calculated dislocation variation may be additionally used.
Therefore, such a conventional method incurs high costs since it requires an independent control for each photosensitive medium, and a problem where other source to be driven than a developing unit which is not sensitive to a velocity variation are out of control since each motor has a velocity variation.

Image forming apparatus and method of controlling motor