Apparatus and methods to monitor contamination levels in a formation fluid arc disclosed. An example method involves obtaining first property data indicative of a first fluid property of a formation fluid and second property data indicative of a second fluid property of the formation fluid. A correlation between the first and second property data is generated and third data is fitted to the correlation. A fitting parameter is determined based on the third data indicative of an amount of change of the first property data relative to an amount of change of the second property data.

Drilling, completion, and production of reservoir wells involve measuring various subsurface formation parameters. Companies often measure percentages of oil, water, and gas mixtures contained in representative fluid samples drawn from wells to determine formation fluid quality. The formation fluid quality of a particular well can be used to determine the economic value of extracting fluid from the reservoir well. Generating accurate measurements of formation fluid requires drawing fluid samples substantially free of contaminants from a reservoir well to avoid generating measurements reflective of contaminants introduced into the reservoir well.
Contaminants are often introduced into a well during a drilling process. For example, to facilitate a drilling process, a drilling mud is introduced into the well as a lubricant to reduce the effects of friction between a drill bit and a formation wall of the well. Contamination of formation fluid occurs when the filtrate of the drilling mud permeates the formation wall during and after drilling. When drawing formation fluid samples to measure formation fluid quality, the formation fluid samples often contain a mixture of formation fluid and mud filtrate. The amount of mud filtrate in a formation fluid sample indicates the contamination level (i.e., the amount of contamination) of the formation fluid sample. If the filtrate is miscible with the formation fluid (e.g., when a well penetrating a hydrocarbon-bearing formation is drilled with oil base mud (OBM)), the filtrate contamination in the formation fluid can reduce the quality of formation fluid samples and make subsequent pressure, volume, and temperature (PVT) analysis unreliable or even incorrect.
To obtain a sample containing formation fluid substantially free of contaminants, a fluid extractor (e.g., a pump) in a downhole drillstring or a downhole wireline tool is used to extract or pump fluid from the formation until the extracted fluid is substantially free of contaminants. Known techniques for determining when a sample is substantially free of contaminants involve measuring optical density (OD) (i.e., optical absorbance) of fluid samples using a single channel (i.e., corresponding to a single wavelength) of a spectrometer. For a mixture of formation fluid and mud filtrate, a measured optical density at a particular wavelength (λ) is linearly related to a contamination level. As the contamination levels of drawn samples decrease as pumping time increases, the measured optical density values change to indicate the changing contamination levels. Using these known techniques to measure contamination levels involves using equations and several assumed parameter values determined empirically over time using measured data from various reservoir wells. However, the empirical nature of such parameter values often leads to inefficiencies in well testing. For example, using such parameter values to determine the amount of time to pump in one well before obtaining a formation fluid sample substantially free of contaminants may result in pumping for a relatively longer duration than necessary in that well. On the other hand, using the same parameter values to determine a pumping time for another well may lead to pumping for an insufficient duration, which causes acquiring erroneous measurements of extracted formation fluid samples having relatively high contamination levels.

Methods and apparatus to monitor contamination levels in a formation fluid


An apparatus for managing products displayed on pegs is provided. A puller member having an elongated body substantially as long as the peg on which is installed also has a downturned front gripping portion and a rear downward extending backstop. A detachable stabilizer portion may additionally be provided on the top of the elongated body. The stabilizer rests on a peg support member to stabilize the puller member against rotation. The backstop has an aperture therein for slidably receiving a peg. A groove can be provided on a lower surface of the elongated body along with an indentation near the downturned front portion wherein a peg head may seat when there are no products remaining on the peg. The puller member can also have a free-floating backplate disposed on the peg between the backstop and the products. As the backstop advances the free-floating plate and products forwards the free-floating plate remains behind the products when the puller is pushed back. The free-floating backstop can also act as a stabilizer for the elongated body. The free-floating backplate can be extra wide and have an additional aperture therein to receive an adjacent peg to simultaneously advance an adjacent row of products. The puller member may also have a product identification plate removably attached to the downturned front portion. Additionally, a return mechanism may be attached to puller member to automatically retract the puller member when pulled forwards and released.

In retail stores, particularly but not exclusively grocery stores, products are displayed on pegs for customer inspection and selection. It is essential that the pegs and the products displayed thereon be organized in order to maximize the use of space and maintain an on-hand inventory. Furthermore, as products are sold it is necessary to regularly move the products towards the front of the peg so that customers can inspect the products and select those they desire to purchase. If the product is hidden towards the back of the peg, or if product is disorganized and displayed chaotically or unattractively, then potential sales may be lost. The spacing of the pegs is influenced not only by the dimensions of the product displayed thereon but additionally by the need to regularly move rows of products towards the front of the peg. In the usual case, the rows of products are moved towards the front of the pegs by hand. This requires a certain minimum amount of spacing between rows and columns of products in order to allow a store clerk to get at least one hand in-between the products and move the row forwards. As a result of this, less linear space is available to display the products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,608 to Eklof et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,021 to Fredrickson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,894 to Dechirot all disclose devices for peg system display racks which can automatically advance a row of products towards the front of the peg as the products are removed by customers. Each of the references disclose systems which utilize a spring to bias a pusher member into contact with the products to push the row of products towards the front of the peg. The spring provides a generally constant forward pressure on the pusher member which keeps the products urged toward the end of the peg. As a product is removed from the peg the row is automatically advanced forward to the bent portion of the peg. In each system, an outward tip portion of the peg normally must be bent substantially upwards to prevent the products from being pushed off of the peg by the spring.
The standard pegs widely used in stores has a short portion of the very end of the tip which is bent upwards slightly at about a 45 degree angle. Devices like those disclosed in Eklof, Fredrickson, and Dechirot require that the tip portion of the peg be bent about 90 degrees to ensure that the products are not pushed off. Pegs which have tip portions angled so steeply can present difficulties in loading and unloading products onto the peg as wells as requiring more time for rotating and facing the products. The most popular types of pegs have a tip portion which is angled upward only slightly, such as about 45 degrees, and just enough to keep products from falling off and still permit quicker loading, rotating, and facing of the products. Since most stores use these types of pegs, devices like those disclosed in Eklof, Fredrickson, and Dechirot can require replacement or modification of a substantial number of pegs. Thus, such automatic product advancing devices have not been widely accepted in the marketplace.
The spring and the pusher members can take up space behind the product which could otherwise be used to hold more merchandise on the peg. If the spring is too short, it will not be able to push the last product to the front of the peg. If the spring is too long, it takes too much space on the peg that could otherwise be used for storing products. Also, springs and pusher members are relatively small pieces which can easily be lost or damaged, especially when installing dozens, even hundreds, of these parts on a single peg type display rack, and there may be several such peg display systems in each store.
Such systems may require more installation time to attach the springs and pusher members to each other and to attach the spring to the back of the display. Correspondingly, there are more pieces which can wear out and need replaced. For example, the spring may become bent or stretched and the pusher member may break, or become cracked, especially if the particular unit is installed in a refrigerated display. Multiple small pieces typically result in higher repair and replacement costs. Each of these systems normally requires that the tip of the peg have some substantially upturned portion in order to keep the products from being pushed off of the peg by the spring. In fact, exploit these systems fully, it might even be advisable that a particular type of pegs, such as having an upturned tip portion, and display rack be used.
In systems like these, the pusher member can potentially stick or become jammed on the peg. There is the problem that foreign objects such as dirt, sticky or frozen liquids, or pieces of products could become jammed between the pusher member and the peg thereby preventing a device from pushing the products towards the front of the peg. Particularly in cases with items hung on a peg, there is often a small perforated portion around the hole that the peg goes through. In such packaging, when the products are inserted on the pegs, the peg can simply be pushed against the perforated part so that the perforated part can break out upon installing the products on the peg. This small piece, usually plastic or paper, might easily become wedged between the pusher member and the peg thereby jamming the system.
As a result of the potential problems which can be associated with such automatic product advancing devices, in addition to the necessity that the pegs have substantially upturned tips, they have not been widely accepted.
In regard to systems for managing products displayed on shelves, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,413,229 and 5,469,976 disclose systems for managing rows of products displayed on shelves, for moving those rows of products towards the front of the shelf, and for reloading the shelves with products. Those systems include a plurality of adjacent side rail assemblies positioned along the shelf extending from front to back, a plurality of puller members for pulling the products to the front of the shelf, and a loader for reloading rows of products. Each side rail assembly includes a base rail and a divider attached to the base rail, wherein at least one row of products may be positioned between the dividers of adjacent side rail assemblies. An unbiased backstop assembly is positioned between dividers of adjacent side rail assemblies, wherein the backstop assembly is movable between the front and back of the shelf and is adapted to advance at least one row of products toward the front of the shelf. A puller member positioned between the dividers of adjacent side rail assemblies is associated with the backstop assembly. The puller member is manually moved forwards to advance the backstop assembly, and the row of products, towards the front of the shelf, but to leave the backstop assembly undisturbed when the puller member is pushed towards the rear of the shelf. However, this type of system is not suitable for a peg type product display.
Therefore, there is a need for a system for allocating and managing space among products displayed on pegs which overcomes the aforementioned problems. Such a system is needed to maximize the available display space and to move quickly and easily advance rows of products towards the front of the pegs so that customers can inspect the products and select those they desire to purchase. The system can also facilitate faster stocking, rotating, and facing of the products by store personnel. Additionally, the system should not require replacement or significant modification of existing peg type display racks. This is accomplished by providing a cost-effective system for allocating and managing space among products displayed on pegs. The system should be simple to manufacture, inexpensive to purchase, quick and easy to install, adaptable to a wide variety peg hangers with little or no modifications to the existing peg display, and facilitate stocking, rotating and facing, i.e. advancing products towards the front of the pegs for customer inspection and selection.

Apparatus for managing products displayed on pegs


A wood planing machine includes a working table, and a carrier body that is disposed above and movable relative to the working table in order to adjust the depth of cut. The carrier body is further provided with a gear mechanism disposed at one side thereof such that the gear mechanism does not extend beyond the lowermost portion of the carrier body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wood planing machine, more particularly to one which includes a working table and a carrier body disposed above the working table. The carrier body is provided with a cutter head and a speed reduction gear mechanism disposed at one side thereof in such a manner as not to extend beyond the lowermost part of the carrier body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional wood planing machine is shown to include a working table 40, left and right pairs of upright mounting posts 11, 14, a carrier body 20, an electric motor 30, a drive shaft 21, a first transmission belt 32, a speed reduction gear mechanism 22, and infeed and outfeed shafts 26, 24.
As illustrated, the working table 40 includes left and right mounting sides 40M spaced apart from each other in a transverse direction, and infeed and outfeed sides 40F, 40T disposed apart from each other to form a planing path in a longitudinal direction. The left and right mounting posts 11, 14 are disposed uprightly on the left and right mounting sides 40M of the working table 40.
The carrier body 20 is disposed above the working table 40, and includes upper and lower mounting walls 201, 202, left and right mounting walls 203, 204 that are spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction, and a cutter head (not visible) journalled on the left and right mounting walls 203, 204 along the transverse direction. The upper, lower, left and right mounting walls 201, 202, 203, 204 cooperatively define an accommodating chamber 205 therein. The carrier body 20 further includes two pairs of guiding members (not visible) that are disposed proximate to the left and right walls 203, 204, respectively, and are slidable on the posts 11, 14 so as to permit adjustment of the depth of cut between the lower mounting wall 202 and the working table 40. The motor 30 is disposed above and secured relative to upper mounting wall 201, and has an output shaft 31 oriented in the transverse direction. The output shaft 31 extends beyond the left mounting wall 203 of the carrier body 20. The drive shaft 21 is journalled on the left mounting wall 203 and extends into the accommodating chamber 205. The drive shaft 21 is adapted to rotate the cutter head (not visible). The first transmission belt 32 is trailed over the output shaft 31 and the drive shaft 21 in order to transmit rotation of the output shaft 31 to the drive shaft 21. Infeed and outfeed shafts 26, 24 are disposed in the accommodating chamber 205 along the transverse direction, and have two connecting ends that extend beyond and outwardly of the right mounting wall 204, as best shown in FIG. 3. The speed reduction gear mechanism 22 is mounted on the right mounting wall 204 and operably connected to the drive shaft 21 in the accommodating chamber 205 so as to reduce the rotation speed thereof. The gear mechanism includes a driving shaft (not visible) operably connected with the drive shaft 21, and a driven shaft 221 that is journalled on and extends outwardly of the right mounting wall 204. A second transmission belt 23 is trailed over the connecting end of the outfeed shaft 24 and the driven shaft 221 so as to transmit rotation speed of the latter to the former. A third transmission belt 25 is trailed over the connecting end of the infeed shaft 26 and a transmitting wheel which is coaxially mounted on the connecting end of the outfeed shaft 24 so as to synchronize rotation speed of the infeed and outfeed shafts 24, 26.
In the aforesaid planing machine, the depth of cut is achieved by relative movement between the carrier body 20 and the working table 40. The gear mechanism 22 is disposed on the right mounting wall 204 at an elevation below the connecting ends of the infeed and outfeed shafts 24, 26. The right mounting side 40M of the working table 40 is formed with a lateral recess 41 in order to avoid collision between the gear mechanism 22 and the working table 40 during adjustment of the depth of cut. As a result, wood chips resulting from the wood planing operation thereof may fall into the recess 41. Removal of wood chips therefrom is laborious and may cause serious injury in the case of accidentally extending one's hands into the recess during the planing operation.

No. 85, Lane 22, Han-Hsi St., Tung Dist.


A user of a combined mobile telephone and IPDC receiver (10) accesses a WAP portal (16) through the Internet (82) and/or a mobile telephone network (81). The WAP portal (16) provides a service menu, comprising a number of links to service menus further down in the hierarchy or to IPDC services. The WAP portal (16) is provided with information relating to IPDC services by an IPDC operator (80). This information includes at least the name of the service, the IP address and the port number relating to each service. The information may additionally include a Network Information Table, IP/MAC Notification Table and Program Mapping Table, although this information may be provided to the mobile terminal instead by broadcast from a DVB transmitter (13). When a user of the mobile terminal (10) selects an item on the service menu presented by the WAP portal (16) which relate to IPDC service, the WAP portal pushes information relating to that service to the mobile terminal (10), allowing the mobile terminal to open an appropriate IP channel and consequently receive and consume the IPDC service.

Much has been said recently about the provision in mobile terminals, for example mobile telephones, of the capability of receiving Internet protocol data casting (IPDC) services, also known as IP time-sliced services. Convention is to provide an electronic service guide (ESG) in the mobile terminal, which is updated with ESG data transmitted over an IPDC network. The completed ESG present on a mobile terminal allows broadcast services to be accessed and consumed in the mobile terminal. However, this does not allow much flexibility as to the form that the ESG may take, nor to how services are presented in a selectable manner to users of a mobile terminal.

Method and mobile terminal for accessing a service portal via bi-directional network


A winding assembly for a stator has a plurality of bridges each including an arcuate center section extending circumferentially over an end surface of a core at a first axial level relative thereto, first and second necks contiguous with respective first and second ends of the center section and extending therefrom axially away from the end surface, and first and second blocks contiguous with the respective necks and connected to the respective terminals of a pair of conductors at a second axial level farther from the end surface than the first axial level.

Electric machines (motors, generators, etc.) are comprised of several fundamental components that are common to many different types of machines: one or more current carrying components (the conductors or winding); a magnetic path component (the core); and a magnetic field source (one or more coils or magnets). In typical motors, including those currently employed in most electric vehicles, the stator includes windings comprising a plurality of straight portions extending axially through the core (usually passing through slots defined by the core), and a plurality of portions outside of and at each axial end of the core, generally referred to as end-turns. The end-turns electrically connect the axially oriented conductors inside slots defined by the core thereby completing the electrical circuit and creating the desired/required number of electric phases. Although necessary for the correct functioning of the machine, the end-turn region contributes to electrical losses, weight, cost, and volume but not to torque. It is therefore desirable to reduce the length and electrical resistance of the end-turns.
It is conventionally known to manufacture the stator of an electric machine by inserting U-shaped "hairpin conductors" into axially-extending slots formed in the stator from a first axial end of the stator and subsequently inter-connecting the ends of the hairpins projecting from the opposite second axial end of the stator as necessary to achieve the desired circuit path. Each hairpin conductor is conventionally fabricated by bending a copper rod or bar with rectangular cross section. As a result, the shape and area of the conductor cross section remains the same throughout the machine. The end-turns must cross axially over one another at both ends of the stator, and this adds to the overall length of the windings. The end-turns may therefore comprise a significant portion of the total winding length that in short stack machines (defined as machines where the radius is much larger that the axial length) can reach 50% of the total copper content.
Configurations have been suggested that allow electrical machine components to be produced by additive manufacturing, also commonly known as three-dimensional (3D) printing.

Stator for electric machine with multi-part conductor assembly


The present invention relates to a combined cooling/climate control system for motor vehicles for cooling the motor vehicle's electrical and/or electronic components and air conditioning of a passenger compartment of the vehicle, comprising: a main ventilation duct (13); a fan (15) for drawing in air disposed in the main ventilation duct; a heating unit (16) downstream of the fan (15) for selective warming of air, which is to be supplied to the passenger compartment; and for cooling the electrical and/or electronic components with air drawn in by the fan (15), an air supply pipe (20) downstream of the fan (15) and upstream of the heating unit (16) connected to the main ventilation duct (13) and an air discharge pipe (22) upstream of the fan (15) connected to the main ventilation duct (13).

In motor vehicles of the current prior art, electronic and electrical components of the motor vehicle that are especially connected with functional units of the engine compartment are housed in a so-called E-box. Such E-boxes are also generally accommodated in the motor vehicle's engine compartment. The power loss of the electronic and electrical components, such as the control units of the drive motor, the transmission control units, relays, fuses, etc. in the E-box, makes active cooling necessary in order to dissipate the heat arising due to the power loss away from the components and to prevent said components from overheating and being damaged. Up to now a fan has been provided for this purpose in or on the E-box to facilitate removal of the waste heat arising. In this case the cooling air is drawn in from the passenger footwell and the heated air is blown back into the same space. However, this embodiment of the prior art has several problems. First of all, the cooling potential is low because the intake and outlet orifices of the E-box are situated very close together. An acoustic exposure is exerted in the passenger compartment due to the connection between the motor vehicle's interior or passenger compartment and the E-box. This acoustic exposure is generated by the E-box's fan, as well as tire and engine noises which are transmitted to the passenger compartment via the E-box. Furthermore, there is an additional problem in that uncleaned cooling air, i.e. cooling air possibly loaded with dust, is drawn in from the footwell and the fan can become dirty and possibly damage the electrical components. Moreover, in the embodiment of the prior art, it is not possible to achieve any further increase in the cooling performance.
In motor vehicles there is also an increased need to cool electronic and electrical components such as control units, relays or fuses, for example, which are connected to functional units of the interior or passenger compartment, and correspondingly to dissipate the heat. These electrical and electronic components are usually installed behind the dashboard of a motor vehicle in an apparatus rack. The apparatus rack takes up a substantial amount of space behind the instrument panel or dashboard and thus also influences its design. To achieve appropriate cooling of these components, DE 697 07 663 T2, for example, disposes the electrical and electronic components in a sort of "bypass" to an existing main ventilation duct of a vehicle's climate control system. However, the "bypass" is disposed downstream of the fan and dissipates air admitted through the main ventilation duct downstream of the fan and returns said air back to the main ventilation duct downstream of the fan after cooling the components. This design causes substantial interference in the mode of operation of the vehicle's climate control system, whether it is a heating system with conventional blower or an air conditioning unit, thereby impairing their mode of operation. In addition, DE 697 07 663 T2 proposes disposing the electronics on an auxiliary ventilation duct so that cooling of heat loss producers is only possible in the dashboard, as a result of which the apparatus rack similarly requires more space in the dashboard. Furthermore, the blower in DE 697 07 663 T2 blows into the interior of the dashboard when the fan is in the 'off' position thus causing flow and fan noises as well as dragging in acoustic noise from the engine compartment.

Combined cooling/climate control system for motor vehicles


In a surface acoustic wave filter having a piezoelectric substrate (11) on which an input interdigital transducer (12) and first and second output interdigital transducers (15, 16) are disposed with the output interdigital transducers opposed to the input interdigital transducer apart therefrom, a first output port (17) for the first output interdigital transducer is directly connected to a filter output terminal (20). Between the filter output terminal and a second output port (18) for the second output interdigital transducer, a switch (22) selectively connects the second output port to the filter output terminal to make the filter output terminal produce a filtered output signal which is equal to a sum of at least one of output electric signals supplied from the first and the second output ports. The switch may be a PIN diode or a mechanical switch. The input interdigital transducer may be divided into a plurality of partial input interdigital transducers for supplying a surface acoustic wave to the output interdigital transducers, respectively. The first output interdigital transducer has a primary weighting factor while the second output interdigital transducer has a difference weighting factor.

This invention relates to a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter and, more particularly, to a surface acoustic wave filter comprising a plurality of output ports.
As well known in the art, a surface acoustic wave filter comprises a piezoelectric substrate on which an input interdigital transducer and a plurality of output interdigital transducers are disposed with the input interdigital transducer opposed to the output interdigital transducers. The input interdigital transducer is connected to an input port while the output interdigital transducers are connected to a plurality of output ports, respectively. The output interdigital transducers have weighting factors which are different from one another.
Such a surface acoustic wave filter is, for example, disclosed in an article which is contributed by SHIGEO MATSU-URA et al to IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SONICS AND ULTRASONICS, VOL. SU-28, No. 3 (May 1981), pages 156-161, and which has a title of "TV Tuning Systems with SAW Comb Filter".
In order to obtain a desired filtered output signal, the output ports are connected to a filter output terminal through a plurality of switches, respectively. One of the switches is selectively turned on in a conventional surface acoustic wave filter. In other words, the conventional surface acoustic wave filter carries out a switching of filter characteristics by selecting one of the output interdigital tranducers. In general, as the switch is used a PIN diode or a mechanical switch.
With this structure, the number of components is increased as the number of the output ports, namely, of the output interdigital transducers is increased. This will cause problems of reduced reliability and higher costs besides the complicated circuit structure.
In addition, when the surface acoustic wave filter comprises first through n-th output ports where n represents a positive integer which is not less than two, the filtered output signal is outputted from one of the first through the n-th output ports. It will be assumed that each of the first through the n-th output ports has a port reliability Rp, namely, a port Fit number. Under the circumstances, the surface acoustic wave filter has a filter reliability Rf, namely, a filter Fit number which is equal to the port reliability Rp to the n-th power, that is: EQU Rf=Rp.sup.n.
As a result, there is another problem that the filter reliability Rf (the filter Fit number) is reduced as the number of the output ports is increased.

Saw filter using difference finger weighting


Disclosed herein is a method of and system for evaluating tactile sensations of car seat covers using an artificial neural network, in which mechanical and thermal/physiological characteristics of the seat covers is measured with a measuring system, the physical quantity of the measured characteristics is acquired, and then the acquired physical quantity is converted into the amount of tactile qualities which a person feels using a statistical recursive model, thereby quantitatively evaluating tactile sensations of sticky, soft, elastic, coolness to the touch, and thermal and humid in case of car seat covers made of leather, and tactile sensations of soft, elastic, voluminous, smooth, coolness to the touch, and thermal and humid in case of car seat covers made of cloth, as well as quantitatively evaluating tactile sensations of sporty and high-class of the leather and cloths using an artificial neural network model.

As part of the current trend toward luxury cars, there is a desire to improve the comfort of the drivers and passengers of a car, similar to the desire to improve the performance of a car. A car seat is where a person comes into direct contact with the car. As a result, the car seat is a critical amenity that determines the comfort of a person riding in a car.
When evaluating the comfort of a person riding in a car, both the effect of the ergonomic design elements of the car seat, such as the shape of the car seat, impact resilience of foam, etc., and the effect of the tactile sensations of the car seat covers must be considered.
The evaluation of the effect of the ergonomic design elements of car seats is carried out relatively quantitatively. Whereas, the evaluation of the effect of tactile sensations of car seat covers has been conducted based on a subjective evaluation method led by an expert assessment group.
Since the evaluation of the effect of tactile sensations of car seat covers is subjective, it can provide more information than other evaluation methods, but its evaluation results may vary depending on the subjectivity of individual evaluators. The results may also vary depending on the circumstances of the evaluation, despite identical evaluators.
Accordingly, the conventional subjective evaluations performed by the professional evaluators embrace several problems. For example, it is difficult to evaluate the characteristics of the car seat covers using a uniform criterion in the quality assessment step and the product development step based on tactile sensations of car seat covers. The lack of a uniform criterion further leads to reliability issues.

Method of and system for evaluating tactile sensations of car seat covers using statistical recursive and artificial neural network models


A fuel cap structure which enables part of a flange member to be readily broken when an external force is applied via a cover member in any direction. A fuel cap includes a casing body and a cover member attached to the flange member formed on the upper portion of the casing body. The flange member includes a joint member to join the upper portion of the casing body with an outer ring member, in which the cover member is fitted. The joint member has fragile portions including notches. Each fragile portion starts a break of the joint member when an external force is applied to the flange member via the cover member in a variety of directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cap of a fuel tank with a pressure control valve for controlling pressure in the fuel tank.
2. Description of the Related Art
One known example of fuel tank caps is disclosed in JAPANESE UTILITY PATENT PUBLICATION GAZETTE No. 6-88606. FIG. 38 is a sectional view illustrating a fuel tank cap 300. As shown in FIG. 38, the fuel tank cap 300 includes a plastic casing body 302 screwed to a filler neck FN of a fuel tank (not shown), a cover member 330 attached to the casing body 302, and a negative pressure valve 340 received in a valve chamber 304 of the casing body 302 for controlling pressure in the fuel tank. The negative pressure valve 340 includes a rubber valve body 342, a valve supporting member 346 with a fitting aperture 346a for supporting the valve body 342, and a spring 348 for pressing the valve body 342. When the differential pressure between the tank pressure and the atmospheric pressure applied to the valve body 342 increases to or above a predetermined level, the negative pressure valve 340 opens to make the tank pressure approach atmospheric pressure.
Flange members 308 extending outward in the radial direction of the casing body 302 are formed above the casing body 302. The flange members 308 are fitted in the cover member 330 and thereby support the cover member 330. Each flange member 308 has a fragile portion D. The fragile portion D has a plurality of V grooves Da and Db concentrically formed in an upper surface and a lower surface of the flange member 308. In the state that the fuel tank cap 300 is screwed to the filler neck FN, when an external force is applied to the fragile portion D via the cover member 330, for example, by a body outer plate (not shown), the fragile portion D is broken on a line connecting the V groove Da with the V groove Db. This separates the flange members 308 from the casing body 302 and thereby ensures the sealing property of the filler neck FN.
Since the fragile portions D are formed concentrically in the flange members 308 that extend outward in the radial direction of the casing body 302, there is a distribution of the breaking load according to the direction of external forces.


A delay device has at least one first delay element and optional additional delay elements connected downstream from the first in a serially consecutive manner. The digital input signal is connected to an input of the first delay element and is connected to an input of a first D/A converter. The output of the first delay element is connected to an input of another D/A converter assigned thereto. The optional additional delay elements each have outputs connected to an input of another D/A converter assigned to the respective delay elements. All D/A converters are combined on the output side in a step-by-step manner so that output signals of all D/A converters form the analog output signal or the device. A specific coefficient is assigned to each D/A converter, and a specific delay time is assigned to each delay element for realizing a filter characteristic.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a configuration for the digital-analog conversion of a high-frequency digital input signal into a carrier-frequency analog output signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Architectures for the generation of a broadband, carrier-frequency output signal are known in which, in a low frequency range, a digital input signal is converted into an analog signal using a digital-analog converter, and then reconverted into the carrier-frequency output signal using one or more mixing stages.
Furthermore, digital-analog converter architectures are known in which a carrier-frequency output signal is generated from a high-frequency digital input signal without further frequency conversion. The carrier-frequency analog output signal in this case also has unwanted carrier frequencies in addition to a desired carrier frequency. These unwanted carrier frequencies can be caused, for example, by a less than perfect digital input signal or by various unwanted modulation mechanisms.
In the described architectures, cost-intensive filters with high quality or mixers with high linearity, which are always configured on the output end and which must be adjusted to a required carrier frequency range in each case, are necessary. These must be replaced, at great expense, if a change in carrier frequency range is required.

Configuration for digital-analog conversion of high-frequency digital input signal into carrier-frequency analog output signal


A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a storage element which is programmed with information by breaking an insulating film by application of electrical stress to the storage element, a control switch which controls the application of electrical stress to the storage element, and a control circuit which controls conduction/nonconduction of the control switch. The device further includes a power supply circuit including a voltage generation circuit which generates a first voltage to cause the electrical stress in program operation, a sensing circuit which senses that the insulating film is broken down, and a counter circuit which controls the control circuit to interrupt the application of electrical stress to the storage element when a given period of time elapses after the sensing circuit senses that the insulating film is broken down.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device. More specifically, the invention relates to a one-time programmable (OTP) memory using irreversible storage elements to which information can be written only once.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an OTP memory using storage elements of an insulating film breakdown type, such as an anti-fuse element (or an electrical-fuse element), has been proposed as an irreversible storage element. The OTP memory stores information by applying a high voltage that exceeds the maximum rating to a semiconductor element having a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) structure and electrically breaking a gate insulating film of the semiconductor element. The OTP memory using the anti-fuse element as a storage element is used chiefly to store information "0" in the anti-fuse element whose insulating film has not been broken down and information "1" in the anti-fuse element whose insulating film has been broken down.
The OTP memory is also used to store information for replacing a defective element with a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or the like.
In order to read information stably from the anti-fuse element, the broken gate insulating film needs to be brought into good electrical conduction. It is thus important to apply adequate electrical energy (current stress) to the broken gate insulating film to break it down completely or bring it into a hard breakdown.
As described above, a considerably large amount of current needs to flow through a gate insulating film for a given period of time when the OTP memory is programmed (information is written to the OTP memory). If, however, the current continues to flow for a longer time than required, an excessive stress is applied to circuits other than the anti-fuse element including the gate insulating film. The read characteristic therefore deteriorates conversely. For example, there occurs a problem that read current is reduced by hollows caused in wires by migration due to a large amount of current.
In general, times required for breaking down a gate insulating film, or program times required from when a high voltage is applied to an anti-fuse element until information is written to the anti-fuse element vary among anti-fuse elements. Even though the OTP memory is programmed by applying such a high voltage as to break down the gate insulating films of a number of anti-fuse elements instantaneously (not longer than 10 μs) for a given period of time (about 100 μs), anti-fuse elements whose gate insulating films are not broken down completely, or anti-fuse elements that fail to store information remain with a certain probability. The program times are sensitive to variations in environmental conditions such as applied voltage and temperature. These problems should be resolved in order to appropriately control electrical energy applied to an anti-fuse element whose gate insulating film has been broken down.
In order to simply lower the incidence of anti-fuse elements that fail to store information, it is effective to apply a high voltage, apply a voltage for a long time, or the like. If, however, these measures are taken, it is likely that a greater electrical stress will be applied to a number of anti-fuse elements whose gate insulating films are broken down at early time. To increase a voltage to be applied becomes a great stress on anti-fuse elements which are not programmed or to which no information is written. It is not favorable in terms of reliability. To lengthen the time of application of voltage increases the program time and prevents the OTP memory from increasing in storage capacity.
In the above prior art OTP memory, the electrical energy to be applied to the broken gate insulating film of an anti-fuse element needs to be controlled appropriately in order to break down the gate insulating film completely (hard breakdown).
A method of controlling electrical energy applied to a gate insulating film has been proposed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-123496 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,060 B1). This method has the problems that the electrical energy applied to the broken gate insulating film cannot be controlled appropriately and the device increases in size as the storage capacity becomes large.

One-time programable memory with additional programming time to ensure hard breakdown of the gate insulating film


The cuttability of elastomeric pressure-sensitive adhesives, particularly of hot-melt tackified mutually immiscible elastomers, is improved by the addition of surfactants containing polyethylene-oxide and polypropylene-oxide blocks.

During the process of converting pressure-sensitive bulk products such as rolls of a laminate of a face stock or backing, a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, and a release liner into end products, many cutting operations are performed. These include slitting, sheeting, guillotining including hole punching and perforating, and die cutting on rotary and flat-bed machines.
Die cutting for label manufacture is the most complex. There, a laminate of a face stock or backing, pressure-sensitive adhesive layer and a release liner is passed through apparatus which converts the laminate to yield commercially useful labels from label stock. The processes involved in converting operations include printing, die cutting and matrix stripping to leave labels on a release liner, butt cutting of labels to the release liner, marginal hole punching, perforating, fan folding, guillotining and the like.
Die and butt cutting involve cutting of the laminate to the face of the release liner. Other procedures involve cutting clean through the label laminate and include hole punching, perforating and guillotining.
The cost of converting a laminate into a finished product is a function of the speed at which the various processing operations occur. While the nature of all layers of the laminate can impact cost of convertability, the adhesive layer has been the greatest limiting factor in ease and cost of convertability. This is in consequence of its viscoelastic nature which hampers precise and clean penetration of a die in die cutting operations and promotes adherence of the adhesive to cutting blades and the like in converting operations.
For slitting and sheeting, the cutting blade, because of adhesive adherence, becomes tacky and forms so called "gum balls." The gum balls transfer to the surface of paper and produce product defects. Quite often, the operators have to stop the cutting operation and clean the blade. Placing a lubricant such as mineral oil on the surface of the blade can help the cutting process.
For die cutting, poor cutting causes matrix breaks when waste matrix is peeled off. In order to avoid the matrix breaks, the press operators are forced to lower the converting speed.
For guillotining where stacks of sheets are cut at the same time, the cutting edge of the paper tends to become tacky. As a result the separation of each sheet becomes difficult and subsequent printing process may be jammed.
In order to improve the converting process, minimization of adhesive adherence to cutting blades is most important. PG,4
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,151,319 to Sackoff et. al and 4,346,189 to Laurent claim addition of silicone oil and gums to adhesive compositions. These additives improve cutting performance, but at a sacrifice in adhesion.
While not directly related to cutting performance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,935 to Mazurek discloses polysiloxane-grafted adhesive copolymers. The adhesive compositions claimed are repositionable with adhesive-bonding building upon dwell for an extended time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,845 to Parsons et. al teaches the addition of a polyoxyalkylene polyol such as polyethylene glycol to tackified water-insoluble adhesives to reduce the adhesive build-up on a knife blade during guillotine cutting. This has resulted in phase separation and incompatibility in some adhesive systems.

Elastomeric pressure-sensitive adhesive compositions exhibiting good cutting performance


A line of sight laser communication system includes a laser to generate a laser signal with femtosecond pulses. A first grating spectrally disperses the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal. A programmable mask converts the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal into coded words. A second grating spectrally recombines the coded words of the laser signal. A telescope then launches the laser signal. The launched laser signal is received at a receiving telescope. A second laser generates a set of reference pulses. A non-linear crystal combines the set of reference pulses and the laser signal to create an output signal only when the laser signal and the reference pulses temporally coincide. A camera records the output signal.

This invention relates generally to data communications. More particularly, this invention relates to a technique for line of sight laser communications.
Current line of sight communications use microwave technologies, and some communications work has been done with laser technology. Solid state fiber lasers have been developed for commercial communication applications. Picosecond pulses (ca 50 ps) are currently being used for long distance (transpacific) soliton communication. Much shorter pulses ( less than 100 Fs) have been generated with fiber sources, pumped by diode lasers. Such systems have the advantages that they are being tailored for communications, the bandwidth that is used is at an xe2x80x9ceye safexe2x80x9d wavelength, and fast modulation techniques have been or are being developed. There is still work to be done, but the fact that the light is confined to a narrow waveguide helps improve the speed of modulation. The disadvantages of such systems is that they have a lossy transition from fiber to air, they have a larger diffraction angle at longer wavelengths, the minimum size beam at 20 km is about 10 m, there is a low average and peak power (pJ/pulse), and a low repetition rate (1 to 10 MHz) exists.
Solid state Nd vanadate lasers (Nd:YVO_4) have also been used in prior art communication systems. These diode pumped lasers produce a train of pulses of about 5 ps duration (which could be compressed externally to the laser to 100 fs). The repetition rate is typically 100 MHz. The advantage of systems of this type are high efficiency, high average power-up to 100W in an infrared beam, 20W in the green, which can be frequency-tripled to a wavelength of 355 nm. The typical pulse energy in the green is 0.2 uJ/pulse. Pump diodes for this type of laser have a long lifetime; they are actively under development and they are relatively cost effective. In addition, these systems can provide diffraction limited beams in the green and UV. For the green, the minimum spot size at 20 km is about 2 m. For the UV, the minimum spot size at 20 km is about 1.5 m.
Solid state Cr:LiSAF Lasers (also Cr:LiSGAF and Cr:LiCAF) have been proposed for communication systems. Tunable pulse generation in the range of 820 nm to 880 nm has been demonstrated. Pulse duration as short as 20 fs has been obtained, but at very low average power. A maximum average power has been demonstrated at 1.1W, for continuous operation, while short pulse operation is only 0.5W. Advantageously, these systems have shorter pulses directly out of the laser, without compression. In addition, they have a shorter wavelength. The disadvantages of these systems is that they have less efficient pump diodes and less average power.
Ultra-high power laser pulses have also been proposed for data communications. It is possible to generate a stream of femtosecond pulses, each having a duration of less than 20 fs, and an energy of 10 mJ, at a repetition rate of up to 1 KHz. These sources are at 800 nm, can be frequency-tripled to 270 nm. The present costs are high. The average power is 10W. The information is stored in xe2x80x9cwordsxe2x80x9d coded in strings of pulses following the main filament forming pulse. The advantages of ultra-high power laser pulses include the fact that the laser pulses collapse in filaments of less than 100 um diameter, the filaments propagate through the atmosphere independently of atmospheric distortion or turbulence, and the spot size is  less than 100 um, so it is impossible to intercept without interrupting communication. In addition, there is back and forward scattered white light that is generated in the filament. This radiation can be detected both at the emitter and receiver. (It is this white xe2x80x9cconical radiationxe2x80x9d that has been detected at the source, for a propagation distance of 11 km). The disadvantage of these systems are their high costs, research is needed to establish its utility, and, if successful, the military may classify the technology. How long the channel will live is unknown. Channel life determines the length of the word that can follow the main pulse. How long the filament can be stable is also unknown.
The invention is a line of sight laser communication system with a laser to generate a laser signal with femtosecond pulses. A first grating spectrally disperses the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal. A programmable mask converts the femtosecond pulses of the laser signal into coded words. A second grating spectrally recombines the coded words of the laser signal. A telescope then launches the laser signal. The launched laser signal is received at a receiving telescope. A second laser generates a set of reference pulses. A non-linear crystal combines the set of reference pulses and the laser signal to create an output signal only when the laser signal and the reference pulses temporally coincide. A camera records the output signal.

Apparatus and method for line of sight laser communications


Methods and apparatuses associated with providing a bias voltage for an n-type and a p-type device. A high voltage may be received and used to derive a bias voltage that would reduce a risk of gate-aided breakdown of the drain-to-substrate channel-side pn-junction in an n-type device. The high voltage may be used to derive a bias voltage that would reduce the risk of gate-aided breakdown of the drain-to-substrate channel-side pn-junction in a p-type device.

Traditionally, Flash memories have used a high voltage power supply of 12V (VPP) to produce large electric fields to move charge on and off the floating gate of the Flash memory transistors for program and erase operations. A high voltage, for example, 12V, provides a fast program and/or erase time. The speed of program and erase is one component of the success of flash memory devices. Many memory devices now exist in which 12V is used, and many circuits designed for such memory devices are hardwired with a fixed 12V supply to the memory devices.
However, metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors have voltage limitations that depend on gate length, oxide thickness, and doping implants. The presence of high voltages on the gate of a MOS transistor can cause the depletion region between the drain and substrate to pinch along the inner drain-substrate junction, in the channel underneath the gate. For large values of |VDG|, the depletion region is pinched sufficiently to lower the breakdown voltage between the inner drain-substrate pn-junction. This type of breakdown is commonly referred to as gate-aided breakdown of the drain-substrate pn-junction (BVD), and may result in a reverse-bias current flow that could damage the transistor.
In order to improve speed and reduce cost and power, one or more factors (e.g., gate length, oxide thickness, and/or doping implants) are altered. These same factors that affect the speed, cost, and power may also determine the voltage limitations of MOS transistors, and specifically, the BVD limit, or the threshold voltage at which reverse breakdown may occur in a transistor device. The continued drive to improve speed, and reduce cost and power has resulted in MOS transistor devices, such as Flash memories, whose BVD thresholds are lower than the voltage potential of the 12V power supplies traditionally used to power these devices. Thus, circuits that have the entire power supply potential, such as voltage switches, across the circuit face the risk of breakdown because the potential across the circuit exceeds the BVD.


A soap composition for the removal and prevention of scale in aqueous media comprising a 1:1 stoichiometric equivalent of an organic carboxylic acid and an amine base. The organic carboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of hydroxyacetic, citric, acetic, gluconic, salicylic, tartaric and benzoic, and mixtures thereof. The amine base is selected from the group consisting of monoisopropanolamine, diisopropanolamine, triisopropanolamine, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, diethylamine and mixtures thereof.

Compositions for removal and prevention of scale are well developed in the patent art. "Scale" is a term that applies to deposits on surfaces such as bath tubs, shower tiles, cooling towers, heat exchangers, evaporative coolers, swimming pools, fountains, hydraspas, water purification systems, and the like. Scale deposits usually include compounds such as metal carbonates, oxides and hydroxides which deposit on surfaces in contact with water generally as a result of exceeding the limit of solubility of such materials in water. A considerable number of patents have issued covering compositions for the removal or prevention of scale including U.S. Pats. Nos. 3,447,965; 3,490,741; 3,639,279; 3,671,448; 4,435,303; 4,595,517; 4,686,067; 4,797,220 and 4,802,990. These patents are not the only patents related to the subject matter of this invention and they are not represented to be the most pertinent prior art. They are merely illustrative of various descaling and scale prevention compositions that have been disclosed in prior patents.
Many formulations disclosed in the above mentioned patents are acidic or alkaline in nature and have many disadvantages, such as irritation to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes during use. Additionally, prior formulations tend to react with the surfaces with which they come into contact during use including metal, ceramic and grout surfaces. Other known compositions tend to rapidly generate carbon dioxide gas as a result of their reaction with metal carbonate during use. Another disadvantage of current compositions is their potential reactivity with chlorine-containing materials with which they may be used to generate chlorine gas during use or storage.
In particular, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,220 discloses an aqueous composition of hydroxyacetic acid and triethanolamine at volume percentages of 0.7 to 10 of the acid to the amine with a 2 to 3.5 ratio being preferred. These compositions are highly acidic with pHs on the order of about 2-3 and can attack various metal surfaces, dissolve tile grout, react with chlorine-containing cleaners and irritate mucous membranes. While other alkaline compositions have been suggested, they suffer from similar disadvantages and are generally less effective.
In brief, there has been a continuing need for effective chemical compositions and processes for removal and prevention of scale. There is a need for compositions that would minimize or eliminate the disadvantages associated with known compositions.

Soap compositions of carboxylic acids and amines useful in removal and prevention of scale


An exhaust apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a first exhaust collecting section, a first exhaust passage, a first exhaust sensor, and a rib. The first exhaust passage is connected to the first exhaust collecting section and has a curved shape to change a flow direction of the exhaust gas from a direction in which the exhaust gas is ejected from each of first cylinders. The first exhaust passage includes an outer wall provided on a radially outer side of the curved shape. The rib is provided on the outer wall of the first exhaust passage and extends along a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the exhaust gas flows. The rib is positioned downstream from the first exhaust sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an exhaust apparatus for an internal combustion engine.
2. Discussion of the Background
In a typical exhaust system for an internal combustion engine, an exhaust sensor for detecting the composition of exhaust gas ejected from a plurality of cylinders is arranged in a cone section through which the exhaust gas between an exhaust manifold in which the exhaust gases from the cylinders are collected and a close coupled catalytic converter immediately downstream of the engine.
The exhaust sensor protrudes in the cone section and is arranged in a location where all of exhaust flows from the cylinders uniformly comes into contact with the detecting section to detect the composition of all the exhaust gases from the cylinders (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-001869).

Exhaust apparatus for internal combustion engine


A broadcast receiver for receiving airwaves by a directional switching antenna capable of switching directivity in a plurality of directions, includes a control unit for performing signal return processing for making a return to a normal reception state when it becomes impossible to receive the airwaves by the antenna. The signal return processing includes a plurality of signal return processings of different kinds. When impossibility of reception occurs, the control unit selects optimum signal return processing from among the plurality of signal return processings according to predetermined conditions and executes the selected signal return processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a broadcast receiver for receiving airwaves of a predetermined channel sent from plural broadcast stations by a directional switching antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Japan, airwaves of television broadcasts etc. are generally sent from a base station of one place. As a result of that, almost all the airwaves sent by plural broadcast stations can be received by directing an antenna for broadcast receiving to the base station and fixing the antenna to a roof or a veranda, etc. of a house and connecting the antenna to a broadcast receiver through a cable. On the other hand, for example, in the U.S.A., airwaves are individually sent from plural broadcast stations, respectively. As a result of that, when an antenna is directed at one place and is fixed, airwaves of the broadcast station located in a direction in which the antenna is directed can be received, but airwaves of the broadcast station located in a direction in which the antenna is not directed cannot be received.
Therefore, it is necessary to switch directivity of an antenna in plural directions in order to receive radio waves from plural broadcast stations located in different bearings by one antenna. An antenna capable of switching such directivity (hereinafter called "a directional switching antenna") is described in, for example, JP-A-2001-168627 (Paragraph 0015, FIG. 1) and JP-A-54-16155 (Page 2, Line 1 of the upper left field to Page 3, Line 12 of the upper right field, FIGS. 1 to 5) mentioned below. The directional switching antenna is constructed of plural antenna elements and phase shifters, etc. corresponding to each of the antenna elements, and directivity is electrically varied by adjusting phases of signals received in each of the antenna elements by each of the phase shifters and combining the phases. For example, in a smart antenna which is one example of the directional switching antenna, it is stipulated that directivity should be switched in 16 directions.
In the case of using such a directional switching antenna, airwaves from each of the broadcast stations can be received by sending a control signal from a broadcast receiver to the antenna and switching directivity of the antenna in a predetermined direction. As a result of this, a user can receive almost all the airwaves sent from plural broadcast stations interspersed even when the directional switching antenna is fixed and attached to a roof etc. of a house.
In the broadcast receiver for receiving airwaves by the directional switching antenna as described above, when a lock state of a frequency deviates, a reception impossibility state in which the airwaves received until then cannot be received normally occurs. In such a case, signal return processing for returning the state to a normal reception state is required. As a method of the signal return processing, for example, it is contemplated to sequentially scan all the bearings of the antenna and retrieve a receivable direction. However, in this method, possibility or impossibility of reception for all the directions is searched, so that accuracy of retrieval is high, but it often takes time to perform the signal return and in all the cases, the method is not necessarily an optimum method.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a broadcast receiver capable of efficiently detecting a receivable direction and reducing time necessary for a signal is return when impossibility of reception occurs in a directional switching antenna.

Broadcast receiver with selective scanning and signal retrieval


Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques for controlling transmission power and prioritizing transmission carriers. A method of power distribution for different physical layer channels over one or more carriers in case of power limited user equipment (UE) is proposed. Operation modes of the UE with single and multiple power amplifiers/antennas can be supported.

Field
Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications and, more particularly, to a method for controlling transmit power and prioritizing transmission carriers.
Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link may be established via a single-input single-output, multiple-input single-output or a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system.
A MIMO system employs multiple (NT) transmit antennas and multiple (NR) receive antennas for data transmission. A MIMO channel formed by the NT transmit and NR receive antennas may be decomposed into NS independent channels, which are also referred to as spatial channels, where NS≤min{NT, NR}. Each of the NS independent channels corresponds to a dimension. The MIMO system can provide improved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or greater reliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.
A MIMO system supports a time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) systems. In a TDD system, the forward and reverse link transmissions are on the same frequency region so that the reciprocity principle allows the estimation of the forward link channel from the reverse link channel. This enables the access point to extract transmit beamforming gain on the forward link when multiple antennas are available at the access point.
In addition, terminals can communicate with base stations over one or more frequency carriers. As described, channels can be logically defined over the one or more carriers for transmitting certain types of data, such as data channels, which can be shared among terminals, control channels, and/or the like. Control data sent over the control channels can relate to quality of communication over one or more data channels, including error correction data (such as hybrid automatic repeat/request (HARQ)), channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and/or the like. HARQ or other error correction data, for example, can include transmitting an acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK) of successfully receiving communications over a data channel. For example, where NACK is received for a communication, the transmitter can retransmit all or a portion of the communication to ensure successful receipt.

Uplink multi-power amplifier/antenna operation and channel prioritization


Systems and techniques for directing data collection. Upon an initial data collection, the uncertainty of all or of a portion or portions of the collected data is evaluated. The collected data may be associated with a region, with portions of the collected data associated with subregions. Further data collection, including changes to or refinement of collection techniques, is undertaken based on evaluations of the uncertainty. Further data collection may be undertaken only for portions of the data for which uncertainty exceeds a threshold. Uncertainty evaluation may be performed at least in part using a model. The model may be an initial hypothesis model, and the model may be optimized as further data is collected, and the optimized model may be used to guide further data collection techniques, with iterations of data collection and model optimization being carried out concurrently.

Many activities depend on the collection of large and complex bodies of data. The data is processed and results of the processing are used to guide the activities. The collection of data in connection with many of these activities is itself complex and expensive. In one example, undersea oil drilling requires the collection of data to identify likely locations for oil deposits, because undersea drilling is enormously expensive. Energy concerns collect seismic data, which is then processed to identify locations of prospective deposits. One common data collection method is the towing of a hydrophone array by a ship. A ship may tow a two-dimensional array of hydrophones spaced approximately 25 meters apart on 1 to 16 trailed streamers. Every 15 seconds or so, an air cannon is fired into the water, creating an acoustic wave that propagates through the water and into the earth. Reflections from various surface and subsurface boundaries cause echoes that reflect back, and the echoes captured by each hydrophone in the array are recorded. The recording of a single hydrophone over time appears as a trace, and the collection of traces for a single firing of a cannon is called a common shot gather, or shot. As a ship moves, a large set of spatially overlapping shots is recorded. Depending on the survey region to be imaged, such data collection may take a month or more and is designed to achieve maximal coverage of an area to be imaged. Usually a ship passes back and forth over an area at a slow speed, performing tens of thousands of shots. A data collection ship may cost on the order of $1 million per day.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatus for data collection

International Business Machines Corporation


This invention relates to biomaterial compositions, methods and kits for producing hydrogels with tunable physico-chemical properties. Specifically, the invention relates to producing cellulosic hydrogels having optimized physico-chemical properties enabling support of cell growth or as replacement or filler for tissue repair, reconstruction or augmentation.

There is much interest within the medical community for materials and methods for use in reconstructive surgery of tissue. An emerging approach is tissue engineering, in which new tissue is grown from tissue-comprising biomaterials and engineered into desired shapes and structures. The types of tissues that can be grown and engineered include, for example, bone, and cartilage. One of the primary uses for replacement cartilage is to correct defects in the articular surface of various joints. For example, a damaged cartilage meniscus in a patient's knee can be replaced with an artificially engineered meniscus.
Likewise, new biomaterials for soft tissue augmentation are in demand given the limitations of current materials and the surge in elective and non-elective surgical procedures to correct contour defects and for tissue replacement. Autogenous fillers such as fat tissue are beneficial but not ideal in that they are associated with donor site morbidity, resorption, migration and supply limitations. Numerous natural and synthetic biomaterials have emerged with different compositions and preparations to meet the growing demands of physicians and patients. The duration of the effect (temporary, semi-permanent and permanent) is often used to categorize these commercialized products. In the United States, permanent fillers are composed of a variety of biomaterials such as poly(methylmethacrylate), polymeric silicone, poly(tetrafluoroethylene) and polyethylene. These implantable materials can lead to adverse clinical outcomes including recurrent hematomas, edema, hypertrophic scarring, nodule formation and resorption. As such, there is a tremendous need for safe and effective biomaterials for dermal implant and filler applications that minimize deleterious tissue responses.

The Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania


An optical recording unit having a compound lens which includes a lens stack. The lens stack encompasses a plurality of lenses, which are inset in a tubular housing. The lens stack includes a spacer ring which accommodates a sealing material or a sealing element and which is braced resiliently against one of the lenses in the tubular housing.

Camera modules used in motor vehicle operation are not only subject to high mechanical stresses, but to considerable temperature fluctuations as well, and to the effects of moisture. When a camera module is used that does not have a completely impervious design, under the climatic conditions typical of automotive applications, this can lead, on the one hand, to dew formation in the optical path and, on the other hand, to degradation of the image quality. Moisture condensation is often observed when a high relative air humidity has set in inside of the camera module for a length of time at elevated temperatures, and the camera module is then cooled within a short period of time.
Optical recording units constructed from a compound lens and a sensor chip are typically designed to be hermetically sealed. The ingress of moisture resulting from vapor permeability that may be excessive for many of the materials used, can be controlled by using absorbing agents, such as zeolite, for example. Besides gluing the front lens element of a lens stack in place, it is conceivable to use sealing rings, thus, for example, O-ring seals of various materials. This is a practical approach for achieving an impervious design. Compared to fixing in place by gluing, sealing rings made of elastomer material, for example, advantageously make a reconditioning possible. Moreover, when sealing rings are used, there is no risk of contamination. To reliably ensure the sealing action when a sealing ring is used, a defined compression of the sealing ring is produced by the engagement of the threaded connection. Because manufacturing variances are inherent in the structural heights within a lens stack which may include a plurality of lenses, a constant compression is not ensured for all pieces when a sealing ring is clamped between the frontmost lens surface and a contact mass, such as a ring-shaped area in the tubular housing of the compound lens. Moreover, it must be ensured that the sealing ring is not unevenly clamped, which can result, for example, from localized overstraining when the parts are screwed in place during assembly. To ensure the requisite image quality for compound lenses in the application cases mentioned at the outset, it is important to have as few deviations as possible in the positioning of the individual lenses. Thus, the individual lenses of a lens stack require appropriate guidance; the guidance of the individual lenses must not be adversely affected by skewed sealing rings. When a seal rests on a front surface, any encroachment on the available beam diameter is disadvantageous, since the edge thickness of the front lens cannot be arbitrarily reduced.
A waterproof camera is described in Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2002 090603. The waterproof camera is equipped with a camera housing which has a front part and a rear part. A lens stack is accommodated inside of the camera housing. Within the lens stack, a hollow space is formed behind the front lens. A lens suited for taking wide-angle shots is placed inside of this hollow space. The front lens of the lens stack is provided at the opening of the lens stack and, in addition, is used as a seal. A projection at the edge of the lens stack is caulked onto the lens side in a thermal joining process. An O-ring seal is provided between the outer periphery of the lens and the peripheral surface of an inner wall for the lens stack to seal off the annular gap therebetween. In addition, another O-ring seal is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the edge part of the lens stack and the inner peripheral surface of the edge part of the front camera housing, in order to seal the clearance space therebetween.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,543, an optical system for an inspection device is known. A camera that can be lowered into a bore hole in the earth or into a pipe laid in the earth, includes a tubular body made of thermally insulating material. A front lens group and a rear lens group are disposed at mutually opposing ends of the tubular member. The mutually opposing lens groups at the front and rear ends are thermally isolated from one another, a vacuum chamber, which essentially extends along the optical pathway of the light, being formed in the tubular body.

Compound lens having a sealing configuration suitable for motor vehicles


An inflatable escape slide that includes a plurality of inflatable tubes that are held in a folded condition and elastic strap members at the site of the fold of the folded tubes that puckers up the material at the fold site to maintain an unobstructed passageway at the fold to provide communication throughout the inflatable tubes.

This invention relates to an inflatable emergency evacuation escape slide used primarily on aircraft, off-shore drilling platforms and the like; and more particularly to a new and improved inflatable escape slide that has a strap means to pucker the material at the folded portion of the slide to insure proper deployment under adverse weather conditions.
In the deployment of escape slides under emergency conditions it is necessary to evacuate the passengers and the crew members as quickly as possible. The invention will be described and generally directed to an aircraft but the invention is equally applicable to other fields of use such as off-shore drilling platforms.
The inflatable escape slide is stored adjacent to an egress or exit door of an aircraft in a deflated condition and when necessary to use, the deflated slide is deployed outwardly from the aircraft. The slide, as it is extended outwardly from the egress door momentarily hangs in a relatively limp condition. In this position the deflated escape slide is highly vulnerable to wind deflection particularly cross winds which can direct it underneath the aircraft to render it useless as an escape slide.
In the deployment process where delayed restraint devices are employed to control the release of the folded portions, it has been found desirable to use back-up supplementary devices of restraints because of sharp or large pressure load changes that are prematurely encountered due to the restrictions imposed during deployment as the slide unfolds. In these instances the inflating pressure can exert an undesirable transient random load as a ram effect on the newly unfolding portion because of the restriction caused by the fold and the forces acting on it including the cross winds. These ram effect loadings can effect premature release of the restraint devices and are counterproductive in their effect and usually result in an unusable escape slide. It must also be borne in mind that external wind forces also compound the loading problem of these restraints and accordingly applicant's invention provides the means to prevent these unusual loadings thereby eliminating ram effect loadings.
The present invention employs a unique extensible member at the fold portion of a slide which insures the unimpeded passage of pressurized air between folded sections particularly at the folds of an escape slide being deployed, eliminating the random ram effects and premature loading of the pressurized air flow.


A method for providing a more accurate synthetic profiles of temperature, salinity and sound speed of the ocean over an area of interest is provided by using a value of the mixed layer depth in addition to values of surface temperature and surface height in an ocean modeling system such as the Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System (MODAS) system developed for the U.S. Navy. The method of the present invention compares the predicted or observed mixed layer depth for the area of interest, for example, as obtained from remote sensing or upper ocean modeling, to a mixed layer depth estimated from an initial synthetic profile, and determines which is deeper, termed the reference mixed layer depth. The method then derives a modified temperature and salinity synthetic profile by setting the temperature and salinity equal to the surface values at depths less than or equal to the reference mixed layer depth and using an algorithm to estimate temperature and salinity at depths below the reference mixed layer depth.

The properties of ocean waters affect the planning and execution of numerous underwater applications, both military and civilian. One important property is the speed of sound in ocean waters.
The transmission and reception of sound under water is used in many military and civilian applications. Knowledge of the sound speed structure can be of particular importance since it has a direct impact on the way sound energy travels through the ocean. For example, military applications such as underwater sonar and other sensor systems depend on sound energy as the primary method of detecting and locating submarines and mines. Active sonar systems send pulses of sound outward into the water and listen for the returned echo that "bounces" off a target. Passive sonar systems do not actively send out sound signals but instead listen for sound that is transmitted from the target itself, such as the sounds generated by a submarine. In both cases, the structure of the sound speed environment can significantly affect the path and other characteristics of the sound energy, and thus, knowledge of the sound speed structure can be critical to the ability to detect and locate the desired targets. Many civilian industries such as commercial shipping and fishing also utilize sonar in their operations, and thus knowledge of the sound speed structure is equally essential to civilian operations as it is to military ones.
The speed of sound in seawater at any point in the water is dependent on the water's temperature, salinity, and pressure at that point. However, in many parts of the ocean salinity of the water is generally related to its temperature, so that if the temperature of the water and the local temperature-salinity relationship are known, its salinity also can be determined. In addition, sound speed is less sensitive to typical variations in salinity than it is to typical variations in temperature and pressure. For this reason, sound speed in the ocean is often represented as a function of temperature and pressure alone, since salinity can be viewed as being part of the temperature characteristic. As the temperature of the water decreases, so does the speed of sound as it travels through the water. On the other hand, as the water's pressure increases as the depth increases, the speed of sound will increase. However, over typical ranges of upper ocean temperature and pressure variability, the effect of temperature on sound speed is greater than the effect of the pressure.
In addition, there is a depth in the upper ocean, known as the Sonic Layer Depth (SLD), where the sound speed reaches a local maximum. In a simplified representation of the ocean as a warm isothermal surface layer that transitions to a cool deep layer, the SLD is at the base of the isothermal surface layer where sound speed increases due to increasing pressure. In a more complex ocean situation, there may be multiple local maxima and various criteria for identifying a depth as the SLD. Knowing the location of the SLD is important because acoustic energy is refracted away from the SLD, i.e., is refracted upwards above the SLD and refracted downwards below the SLD. Thus, acoustic energy above the SLD tends to stay above that depth, while acoustic energy below tends to stay below. Acoustic energy trapped in a surface duct, i.e., between the surface and the SLD, tends to travel much greater horizontal distances than acoustic energy that spreads into the deep ocean. Consequently, more accurate estimates of the SLD will allow more accurate prediction of ranges of civilian or military acoustic communication and detection.
In addition, the SLD at any point has a corresponding Minimum acoustic Cutoff Frequency (MCF) which affects the behavior of sound between the surface and the SLD. The speed of sound c is related to its frequency f and wavelength λ by the relation f=c/λ. If an SLD exists, then some wavelengths are short enough (frequencies are high enough) to fit in the surface duct above the SLD, while some wavelengths are too long (frequencies too low) to fit in the surface duct. This relationship is generally expressed as an MCF (See, e.g., R. Helber et al., "Evaluating the sonic layer depth relative to the mixed layer depth," J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 113, C07033, doi:10.1029/2007JC004595, 2008), which depends on the vertical variations of sound speed above the SLD. If the frequency f of a sound is greater than the MCF, its wavelength λ is short enough to fit in the surface acoustic duct between the surface and the SLD. If the frequency of a sound is less than the MCF, then its wavelength will be too long to be trapped, and the sound will penetrate the SLD boundary, where it will attenuate from its source by spherical spreading, with its intensity I decreasing as the inverse square of the distance from the source, i.e.,
      I    =          1              d        2              ,where d is the horizontal distance from the source. On the other hand, if the sound is "trapped" in the acoustic duct between the SLD and the surface (i.e., the frequency f>MCF), it will spread cylindrically, with its intensity decreasing as the simple inverse of the distance, i.e.,
  I  =            1      d        .  Consequently, higher-frequency sound will travel farther horizontally within an acoustic duct than lower-frequency sound, while the lower-frequency sound is free to spread through the vast ocean below the SLD. Since the MCF is dependent on the SLD, having an accurate profile of the location and characteristics of the SLD can be an important factor in knowing and working within the upper ocean's acoustic environment.
Since the SLD is a local sound speed maximum, it may also be the upper bound for an intermediate sound channel or the deep sound channel, sometimes called the Sound Fixing and Ranging (SOFAR) channel. These subsurface channels trap acoustic energy based on downward refraction above and upward refraction below. There is a minimum frequency that can be trapped in the subsurface sound channel, and while this minimum frequency depends on the thickness of and sound speed structure in the subsurface channel, the formulation differs from the surface duct that has reflection from the ocean surface. Identification of intermediate or deep sound channels is important because acoustic energy trapped in the channels travels much greater horizontal distances than acoustic energy at frequencies too low to be trapped.
The SLD defines the base and many other characteristics of the surface acoustic duct, and may also define the location of the upper boundary of the possible intermediate or deep sound channels. Knowing the location and properties of an acoustic duct can influence many decisions relating to underwater operations, and particularly can influence decisions regarding the placement of objects underwater.
For example, this knowledge can be an important aspect determining the placement of underwater acoustic sensors. Sensors will best detect sound emanating from their targets if they are placed on the same side of the SLD boundary (i.e., temperature interface) as the target. On the other hand, if the goal of object placement is to "hide"the object, such as may be the case with determining the travel path of a submarine, the object is best placed on the opposite side of the SLD boundary, since the SLD boundary can act to insulate the sound from detection, for example, from surface-based sensors. Conversely, knowing the SLD at any particular point in the ocean, and thus the MCF at that point, can permit operators to "tune" their equipment to the appropriate frequency to enable detection or hiding of an object, as the case may be. Acoustic communication is affected in the same manner as acoustic detection. Thus, for all of these reasons, it is highly desirable to obtain accurate information regarding the SLD and the vertical and horizontal structure of sound speed in the water.
Another important characteristic of the ocean is its Mixed Layer Depth (MLD). The MLD is the thickness of the water's surface layer that has a nearly constant temperature, salinity, and density due to turbulent mixing at the top of the layer and shear at the bottom. Information regarding the MLD can be obtained by direct sensing, for example, as measured by Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) recorders on a variety of platforms throughout the global ocean. Information regarding the MLD can also be estimated by use of ocean models such as the LDNK06 or KRH00 ocean models, which can estimate the MLD based on measured readings of temperature, salinity, or both. See, e.g., R. Helber et al., "Evaluating the sonic layer depth relative to the mixed layer depth," J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 113, C07033, doi: 10.1029/2007JC004595, 2008.
Other ocean models also are used to provide estimates of ocean properties when accurate real-time data are available. The modular ocean data assimilation system (MODAS) has been developed to meet the U.S. Navy's need for rapid estimates of present and near-term ocean conditions, particularly in situations where little or no in situ data are not available. MODAS comprises a collection of programs and utilities for combining remotely sensed data and in situ measurements to create a synthetic profile of ocean conditions such as temperature and salinity and of derived aspects such as density, sound speed, and mixed layer depth. D.N. Fox et al., 2002, "The Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System,"Oceanography, Vol. 15, pp. 22-28; D.N. Fox et al., 2002, "The Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System (MODAS)," J. Atm and Oceanic Tech., Vol. 19, pp. 240-252.
MODAS synthetic profiles are produced based on climatological average temperature, climatological relationships between temperature and salinity, real-time estimates of sea surface temperature (SST), real-time estimates of sea-surface height (SSH), and climatological regression coefficients used in a polynomial that expresses a temperature difference at a series of depths as a function of SSH and SST. The mean temperature profile and regression coefficients are defined at up to 36 standard depths at each point in a variable horizontal grid from one to ⅛ degree spacing in latitude and longitude. The coefficients are defined using a regression model to minimize the expected squared errors of temperature. The regression coefficients, climatological averages and coefficients to predict salinity from temperature are defined every-other month based on minimizing the expected squared errors using the synthetics to model millions of historical observations.
Ocean modeling systems such as MODAS can also be used to estimate the SLD of an area of interest using synthetic profiles of the ocean's temperature and salinity for that area. However, modeled estimates of the SLD based on such synthetic profiles lead to a shallow bias in the estimates of the sonic layer depth and a corresponding high bias in estimates of the minimum cutoff frequency of acoustic signals propagated in the surface acoustic duct.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A current mirror multi-channel leakage monitor circuit and method measures die leakage and generates digital keeper control bits to control a process compensated dynamic circuit. The leakage monitor enables high resolution on-chip leakage measurements in multiple locations on a die, thereby saving test time and enabling both die to die and within die process compensation.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention generally relates to electronics and more particularly to a variable keeper strength process compensated dynamic circuit and method and a leakage current monitor circuit and method.
2. Background of the Related Art
The increasing leakage (e.g. current leakage in a transistor) in scaled technologies has forced designers to increase keeper sizes in dynamic circuits to obtain acceptable levels of robustness. However, the performance of dynamic circuits (e.g, wide-operating range (OR) gates) starts degrading with increasing keeper size. Register files and caches are particularly susceptible to this type of performance degradation, since wide-OR type dynamic circuits are often used in these types of circuits. Along with the increase in leakage, die-to-die (D2D) and within-die (WID) process variations cause the leakage distribution to become wider and wider. This process variation adversely affects the yield of usable dies obtained from a given manufacturing lot run.
Compared to previous technology generations, a significant portion of leaky dies may even fail with a strong keeper and low leakage dies may also suffer from the use of an unnecessarily strong keeper. A keeper is used to maintain a voltage level applied to a dynamic node stable. For example, a keeper may be used to hold a dynamic node to high when none of the pull down paths connected to the node are evaluating. In another example, a keeper may be used to hold a domino circuit high during clock stoppage and improve noise margins.
A flexible design technique and approach that uses a stronger keeper for the excess leakage dies and a relatively weaker keeper for low leakage dies can improve both overall robustness and performance. The problems and disadvantages in the related art are addressed and a process-compensated dynamic circuit and method are introduced using a variable strength keeper scheme to restore the robustness in excess leakage dies and avoid the performance loss and other penalties associated with low leakage dies.
Increasing the ultimate, final production yields from the production and manufacturing of integrated circuits and other electronic devices and components is another goal pursued by many companies in the quest for reducing costs and increasing production efficiencies. Some ways of achieving these goals are increasing the utilization rate of components produced in a given manufacturing lot is to develop and apply process compensation schemes, using as many devices from a given lot run as possible, by managing and compensating for the different component variances and implementing designs that are tolerant of these design variances.
There are different types of process compensation schemes in the related art. For example, process compensation schemes, such as adaptive body biasing and variable strength keeper based dynamic circuits are emerging design techniques where die-to-die (D2D) and within die (WID) parameter variations are deteriorating and becoming worse as scaling continues to increase. A common technical underpinning or theme behind these various process compensation techniques is the requirement of a method to accurately detect the process skew that is occurring.

Current mirror multi-channel leakage current monitor circuit and method