A lamp especially adapted for use in or on a vehicle, and having an "on-off" switch actuable by movement of the lamp housing to eliminate the necessity of a separate switch component in the illuminating circuit or lamp structure for operating the lamp. The movement of the lamp housing insures that the contacts through which the lamp is illuminated do not become permanently joined, and are cleaned to enhance the operational reliability of the lamp.

This invention relates in general to vehicle lighting and, in particular, to a lamp which functions as a courtesy lamp to provide a convenient source of lighting for use in or on a vehicle.
More specifically, but without restriction to the particular embodiment and/or use which is shown and described herein for purposes of illustration, this invention relates to a lamp especially adapted for use in or on a vehicle, and having an "on-off" switch actuable by movement of the lamp housing.
Courtesy lamps are used with vehicles to provide a source of light for convenience of the passengers or operator of the vehicle. Such a source of light is used for many purposes such as looking for articles dropped in the vehicle, reading maps, or personal grooming. Lamps used for this purpose are connected to the vehicle's electrical power supply and generally actuated by operation of a manual switch, which is a separate component of the lamp assembly.
In the inventor's prior patent, Dennis G. Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,179, "LAMP WITH BUILT-IN ON-OFF SWITCH", there is disclosed and claimed an electric lamp for use in a vehicle lighting system which eliminates the need for a separate control switch in the illuminating circuit, by incorporating the switching function into the lamp structure itself. In this patent the lamp bulb is positioned in a carrier which is moveable into and out from a position whereby the terminals of the lamp bulb itself engage and disengage electrical contacts carried within the lamp housing to thereby illuminate or extinguish the lamp.
The present invention also eliminates the need for a separate control switch component to be incorporated into the lamp illuminating circuit or lamp structure. In this invention sliding movement of the lamp housing itself, relative to the lamp base, opens and closes the illuminating circuit enabling the lamp to be conveniently operated without the necessity of looking or feeling for a switch actuator to turn the lamp on or off.


Disclosure is made of a garden hoe tool, having an adjustable pitch head, to control the depth of the dig into the soil, and the head comprising a tool base blade and vertical sides on the base blade and a compression V spring to lock the pitch of the head, as adjusted.

This invention relates to a manufacture, as an adjustable pitch garden hoe, wherein the pitch of head assembly can be adjusted to control the dig or bite into the soil. To date the usual garden hoe has a fixed head that is not adjustable thus the dig or bite into the soil cannot be easily controlled.
Prior art citations are:
U.S. Pat. No. 386,197 for: HOE. Disclosure is made in this patent of a hoe blade comprising a wedge shaped horizontal blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 568,143 for: SHUFFLE HOE. Disclosure ade of a cutting blade and side wings.
U.S. Pat. No. 824,862 for: HOE. Disclosure is made of a hoe designed as a mulching tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,334,586 for: GARDEN WEEDER. In this patent disclosure is made, to have an adjustable head to adjust the position of the blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,591,280 for: HANDLE FASTENING FOR HOES. Disclosure is made of a scuffle hoe with an adjustable handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,627,901 for: BARK PEELER. Disclosure is made of adjustable blade section.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,870,891 for: LAWN AND GARDEN IMPLEMENT. Disclosure is made of a tool for gardening lawn edging etc.
Other patents for the record are; U.S. Pat. No. 1,895,055, U.S. Pat. No. 1,940,169, German pat. No. 606411.
It is an object of this invention to disclose, as a manufacture, an adjustable pitch garden hoe tool having a handle with ferrule legs attached thereto and a hoe tool head attached to the ferrule legs by means of a pivot bolt and a v spring with elbows extending through slots in the ferrule legs and arms of the V spring legs extending through holes in the ferrule legs and into pitch set holes in vertical sides of hoe tool head.


Frame packing techniques are disclosed for multi-directional images and video. According to an embodiment, a multi-directional source image is reformatted into a format in which image data from opposing fields of view are represented in respective regions of the packed image as flat image content. Image data from a multi-directional field of view of the source image between the opposing fields of view are represented in another region of the packed image as equirectangular image content. It is expected that use of the formatted frame will lead to coding efficiencies when the formatted image is processed by predictive video coding techniques and the like.

The present disclosure relates to coding techniques for omnidirectional and multi-directional images and videos.
Some modern imaging applications capture image data from multiple directions about a camera. Some cameras pivot during image capture, which allows a camera to capture image data across an angular sweep that expands the camera's effective field of view. Some other cameras have multiple imaging systems that capture image data in several different fields of view. In either case, an aggregate image may be created that represents a merger or "stitching" of image data captured from these multiple views.
Many modern coding applications are not designed to process such omnidirectional or multi-directional image content. Such coding applications are designed based on an assumption that image data within an image is "flat," that the image data represents a captured field of view in a planar projection. Thus, the coding applications do not account for image distortions that can arise when processing these omnidirectional or multi-directional images with the distortions contained within them. These distortions can cause ordinary video coders to fail to recognize redundancies in image content, which leads to inefficient coding.
Accordingly, the inventors perceive a need in the art for image formatting techniques that can lead to higher coding efficiencies when omnidirectional and multi-directional image content are coded for delivery to other devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Packed image format for multi-directional video


A turbo fluid machine includes a rotary shaft configured to rotate in one rotational direction, and a radial foil bearing. The radial foil bearing includes: a bump foil formed of an elastic thin plate having a corrugated shape. The bump foil is divided into first and second foil portions located respectively on one side and on the other side in an axial direction of the rotary shaft. Ridges on the first foil portion are inclined in the other rotational direction of the rotary shaft while extending from an edge of the first foil portion adjacent to the other side toward the one side in the axial direction. The ridges on the second foil portion are inclined in the other rotational direction of the rotary shaft while extending from an edge of the second foil portion adjacent to the one side toward the other side in the axial direction.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-251605 discloses a known turbo fluid machine. This turbo fluid machine includes a rotary shaft, an operating part configured to rotate together with the rotary shaft to compress and discharge a fluid, a housing for accommodating the rotary shaft and the operating part, and a radial foil bearing supporting the rotary shaft such that the rotary shaft is rotatable relative to the housing.
The radial foil bearing includes a top foil, a bump foil, and a bearing housing. The top foil is formed of an elastic thin plate having a bearing surface that faces a peripheral surface of the rotary shaft. The peripheral surface of the rotary shaft serves as a bearing-contact surface that faces the bearing surface of the top foil in a radial direction of the rotary shaft. The bump foil is formed of an elastic thin corrugated plate and elastically supports the back surface of the top foil. The bearing housing supports the back surface of the bump foil.
The top foil of the radial foil bearing supports the rotary shaft, which rotates relative to the housing at low speed rotation of the rotary shaft, with the top foil in contact with the rotary shaft. At high speed rotation of the rotary shaft, the rotary shaft is supported by a fluid film produced in a bearing gap between the bearing-contact surface and the bearing surface with the top foil not in contact with the rotary shaft.
However, the radial foil bearing of such a turbo fluid machine may cause the fluid compressed in the bearing gap to leak from the opposite ends of the bearing in the axial direction due to a pressure difference between the gap and its surroundings, thereby causing a decrease in a pressure of the fluid film, which leads to a decrease in a load capacity of the bearing.
In order to solve such a problem, for example, a herringbone groove may be formed in the bearing surface of the top foil or the bearing-contact surface of the rotary shaft such that the peak of the V-shape of the groove is oriented frontward in the rotational direction of the rotary shaft. This solution allows the fluid in the bearing gap to be guided by the herringbone groove toward the peak of the V-shape, in other words, toward the center of the bearing from the opposite ends of the bearing in the axial direction, thereby suppressing a leak of the fluid in the bearing gap from the ends of the bearing.
However, providing the herringbone groove of this solution causes a decrease in area of contact between the bearing surface and the bearing-contact surface at low speed rotation of the rotary shaft, thereby causing an increase in the contact surface pressure. This therefore may cause wear or burn-in on the top foil, which decreases the durability of the top foil.
The present invention, which has been made in light of the above-mentioned problem, is directed to providing a turbo fluid machine that is capable of suppressing a decrease in a pressure of a fluid film on a radial foil bearing so as to suppress a decrease in a load capacity of the radial foil bearing without causing a decrease in the durability of a top foil.


A configuration architecture automatically links the output of a business process modeler to a business system configuration tool. The output of the business process modeler is translated into a representation of a source business process that is used by the business system configuration tool to automatically generate configuration templates. A user can provide configuration information through the configuration templates. The configuration inputs are applied to an implementation of a business system to obtain a configured, working business system instance with the same functionality as the source business process.

Computer systems are currently in wide use. In order to implement an instance of a computer system, the computer system is often modeled first and then configured.
By way of example, some computer systems include business systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer resource management (CRM) systems, line-of-business (LOB) systems, etc. In order to implement an instance of a business system, the business system is first often modeled by one or more analysts. The system is then often configured by one or more consultants. The analysts and consultants are often on two separate teams and information is often lost when the process moves from the analysis (or modeling) part of the process to the configuration (or implementation) part of the process. Also, this type of process has conventionally been almost entirely manual.
More specifically, the team of analysts often analyzes and models the business system before any configuration is done. The configuration consultant team then obtains information that represents the analysis and modeling, and configures a system based on that information. However, it is common for at least some of the modeling information generated by the team of analysts to be lost (or otherwise not carried forward) when the information is transferred for configuration.
Therefore, once the team of consultants configures the business system, it often does not entirely match the model that the analysts had created. This results in a relatively large amount of rework that is needed in order to make the configured system match the modeled system. Thus, because all of this is almost entirely manual, return on investment realized for the business system suffers.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Automatic configuration of a computer system based on process modeling of an implemented process


A memory cell of a memory device is constructed such that a source diffusion layer is divided into blocks each containing 16 word lines, and such that a drain diffusion layer is not divided. Each segment of the source diffusion layer is connected to a metal bit line via a block selection MOS transistor. The metal bit line is formed on an insulating film provided on the source diffusion layer so as to be parallel with the source diffusion layer. The block selection MOS transistor is connected to the metal bit line via a contact hole. A gate electrode of the block selection MOS transistor is formed of a polysilicon film for providing a selection gate used to form a word line of the memory cell. A source diffusion layer and a drain diffusion layer of the block selection MOS transistor are formed of the same material as the source diffusion layer of the memory cell and the drain diffusion layer of the memory cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to non-volatile semiconductor memory devices such as an ERPOM, an EEPROM or a flash memory having a floating gate and, more particularly, to a non-volatile semiconductor memory device with an offset provided between the floating gate and the source region.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an electrically alterable EEPROM or a flash memory is over-erased, the channel underneath the floating gate is placed in a depletion state and conducts a leakage current during a read operation of the other memory cells connected to the same bit line. For this reason, an ETOX (E-prom with Tunnel Oxide) memory cell such as an ordinary EPROM is controlled to ensure that over-erase does not occur by performing chip-by-chip verification or bit-by-bit verification. However, such control is difficult to achieve. Other disadvantages are that a verification circuit should be added to the memory cell and that an erase operation takes a relatively long time. An ETOX flash memory cell has a stacked-gate construction such that the floating gate and the control gate are provided as self-aligned patterns, the gate insulating film serving as a tunnel film on the order of 100.ANG..
In one approach to overcome the aforementioned disadvantage, a floating gate is formed on an tunnel insulating film formed on a channel region between a drain diffusion layer and a source diffusion layer formed on a substrate such that the floating gate is displaced toward a first one of the drain diffusion layer and the source diffusion layer, producing an offset between the floating gate and a second one of the drain diffusion layer and the source diffusion layer. A control gate (or a selection gate) is formed to cover the floating gate via an insulating film. The control gate extends over the floating gate so as to cover a portion of the channel beneath the offset. Such a memory cell comprises a memory channel underneath the floating gate and a selection channel between the edge of the floating gate and the second one of the diffusion layers.
Due to the presence of the selection channel, the device according to the aforementioned approach will not conduct a leak current even if the memory channel is placed in a depletion state.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,029,130 and 5,280,446 disclose such a device.
FIG. 1 shows a memory matrix comprising memory cells each having a three-layer polysilicon construction. A common source diffusion layer 4 and a common drain diffusion layer 2 are formed on a silicon substrate so as to be parallel with each other. A floating gate 6 is formed to cover the substrate via a tunnel oxidizing film. The floating gate 6 overlaps a portion of the drain diffusion layer 2 and is offset by a certain distance from the source diffusion layer 4. A control gate 8 is formed to cover the floating gate 6 via an insulating film so as to be parallel with the source diffusion layer 4 and the drain diffusion layer 2. An element separation region 16 separates the channels of the memory cells adjacent to each other in a direction in which the control gate 8 extends.
A band-like selection gate 10 is formed to cover the control gate 8 and the substrate via an insulating film in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the diffusion layers 2 and 4 extend. A selection channel is formed in a substrate region underneath the selection gate 10 between the edge of the floating gate 6 and the source diffusion layer 4.
In a memory cell having a two-layer polysilicon construction, the control gate also serves as the selection gate. That is, the selection gate 10 of FIG. 1 also serves as the control gate.
FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit of the memory matrix of FIG. 1. The drain diffusion layer 2 and the source diffusion layer 4 extend so as to be common to a plurality of memory cells. In the illustrated example, the diffusion layer 2 is also common to the memory cells laterally adjacent thereto on respective sides, and the diffusion layer 4 is also common to the memory cells laterally adjacent thereto on respective sides. That is, the diffusion layers 2 and 4 extend so as to be common to a total of 2048 memory cells. The drain diffusion layer 2 is connected to a metal virtual ground (VG) line 12 via a contact hole. The source diffusion layer 4 is connected to a metal bit line 14 via a contact hole. The control gate 8 is formed to be parallel with the direction in which the diffusion layers 2 and 4 extend so as to be common to a plurality of memory cells. The selection gate 10 extends in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the diffusion layers 2 and 4 extend so as to be common to a plurality of memory cells and to form a word line (WL).
In the memory cell of FIG. 2, the selection gate 10 is disposed so as to cross the control gate 8 so that the drain diffusion layer 2 and the source diffusion layer 4 are common to a relatively large number of memory cells and the number of contacts between the memory diffusion layers 2, 4 and the metal lines 12, 14, respectively, is reduced. Thus, the degree of integration is improved.
In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, the source diffusion layer 4 is common to the memory cells laterally adjacent thereto on respective sides. Longitudinally, the source diffusion layer 4 is common to a series of 1024 memory cells on one side. The result is that a total of 2048 memory cells are connected to the source diffusion layer 4. That is, 2048 memory cells are connected to one metal bit line 14 to which a sense amplifier for reading data from a memory cell is coupled.
When a large number of memory cells are connected to the bit line, the diffusion capacitance imposed on the bit line is relatively high. Thus, it is difficult to improve the speed of a read operation.
The aforementioned problem is not limited to a memory device provided with memory cells of a three-layer polysilicon construction as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The same problem may also occur in a memory device provided with memory cells with a two-layer polysilicon construction.

Semiconductor memory device with improved read speed


A test device has been invented for determining three-dimensional consolidation properties of soils, using a flexible ring permitting displacements and dissipation of the excess pore pressures in both horizontal and vertical directions, and affording determination of coefficients of consolidation in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the modulus of elasticity. The flexible ring consists of a filter fabric around the soil specimen, a rubber membrane around the filter, circular shaped segmented stainless steel plates around the membrane and rubber bands around the plates. Both the incremental loading or triaxial type loading systems can be used with this device. A calibration device for calibration of the flexible ring is used to determine the modulus of elasticity of elastic elements, required for calculating lateral resistance provided by the flexible ring during the test.

Standard test methods for determining one-dimensional consolidation properties of soils using incremental loading in accordance with ASTM D2435, or AASHTO . . . , and of those of other international and organizations, do not accurately predict the consolidation properties such as values of vertical settlement, coefficients of consolidation in horizontal (ch) and vertical directions (cv), and modulus of elasticity (E); because fixed ring used in these tests do not allow horizontal displacement and dissipation of excess pore-water pressures in horizontal direction, whereas, in field, under application of a vertical load, both horizontal and vertical settlements occur along with dissipation of excess pore-water pressures in both vertical and horizontal directions. To overcome this more than 100 year old problem, the inventor (Dr. Ramesh Chandra Gupta, Ph. D., P.E.) has invented a test device for determining three-dimensional consolidation properties of soils, using a flexible ring which permits development of horizontal and vertical displacements, and dissipation of excess pore-water pressures in both horizontal and vertical directions, along with increased lateral resistance as takes place in field at any depth in a soil deposit when a vertical load is applied at the surface,
The flexible ring consists of filter fabric around the soil specimen, rubber membrane around the filter fabric, circular segmental metal plates around the membrane and elastomeric rubber bands or spring loaded jacket around the segmental plates to allow horizontal and vertical displacements, dissipation of excess pore-water pressures in horizontal and vertical directions, and increased lateral resistance with each increment of vertical load. Therefore, new test device, which simulates field condition, shall allow accurate determination of three-dimensional consolidation properties of soils (such as vertical and horizontal settlements, coefficients of consolidation (cv and ch) in horizontal and vertical directions and modulus of elasticity.
For this new test device, conventional incremental consolidation frame shall be used for applying vertical load increments, each to be maintained for 24 hours for allowing dissipation of excess pore-water pressures. Triaxial type chamber system shall also be used after suitably modifying to adapt new 3-D consolidation device. With triaxial type chamber system, some modifications shall also be done to adapt to Incremental consolidation frame in place of triaxial loading system to compare which is more suitable of these two loading systems for three-dimensional consolidation tests.

Test device for determining three-dimensional consolidation properties of soils


A mobile robot can include an elongated body disposed in a vertical direction and having an approximately cylindrical shape; a user interface within an upper 20 centimeters of the body and inclined to be accessible from above and in front of the robot; at least one depth sensor that is mounted at or near a top of the body and having at least one field of view; at least one container formed within the body; and a drive mechanism disposed within the body.

Effective and reliable robotic delivery systems for handling intermittent, on-demand, or scheduled deliveries of items in a wide variety of environments are needed. Ideally, delivery robots should be able to securely carry objects and remain stable while moving, and have a configuration that prevents object damage or loss.
Robotic forklifts or pallet trucks have been used to move objects. However, such robotic systems are typically limited to factories or warehouses that support a highly structured environment, requiring the use of designated trackways, or having preset physical or electronic guides throughout a building infrastructure to facilitate robot movement without interruption. Such conventional robots can use a minimal set of sensors because obstacle avoidance can be limited to stopping the robot when a mechanical or ultrasonic sensor indicates blocking of the designated trackway until a pathway is cleared.
However, in more complicated environments such as hospitals, hotels, conference facilities, residential facilities, or the like, more sophisticated sensors capable of supporting autonomous navigation are needed. Such sensors can be used to identify and localize absolute or relative position, create maps through simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), and detect obstacles such as walls or movable objects. Obstacle detection is particularly important for avoiding unwanted collisions with fast moving vehicles, humans, animals, or even other robots.
Conventional obstacle avoidance commonly relies on long-distance rangefinders that actively scan the environment using laser, infrared, or sonar beams. While such active range finding sensor systems can provide highly accurate centimeter scale position data on millisecond timescales, they are relatively expensive. For example, laser-based sensors with a wide field of view (up to 270°) can sense stationary or moving obstacles up to 30 meters away by projecting a long-range laser beam and scanning it to bounce off any obstacles in order to detect the distance to the closest obstacle along that beam's path. This effectively delivers a view of obstacles in a 270° field of view around the sensor, and provides mapping and/or obstacle avoidance data that can be used by a robot operating system software (ROS), such as that provided by the Open Source Robotics Foundation.
Unfortunately, such sensors are costly and can be difficult to mount and position in a delivery robot. Since sensor systems are a significant component in a robot bill of materials, providing low cost commercial delivery robots depends at least in part upon use of low cost robot sensor systems that are effective, rugged, and simple to calibrate and assemble.

Mobile delivery robot with interior cargo space


A radio terminal performs radio communication with a base station in a mobile communication system. The radio terminal includes a controller configured to perform processing of transmitting an aperiodic CSI feedback related to a downlink channel state to the base station. In response to a predetermined condition being satisfied, the controller performs multiplex transmission in which uplink data in which the aperiodic CSI feedback is multiplexed is transmitted to the base station, by using a PUSCH resource.

In a mobile communication system, a CSI feedback technique for transmitting channel state information (CSI) feedback related to a downlink channel state from a radio terminal to a base station is known. The base station determines a transmission parameter to be applied to downlink data based on the CSI feedback from the radio terminal. The transmission parameter is, for example, a modulation coding scheme (MCS) or the like.
On the other hand, multicast/broadcast transmission is known as a technique for improving the utilization efficiency of downlink radio resources. The base station transmits the same downlink data to a plurality of radio terminals by using the same downlink radio resource.
It is considered that introduction of the CSI feedback technique into such multicast/broadcast transmission makes it possible to achieve efficient data transmission. However, since the CSI feedback results in an increase in signaling between the base station and the radio terminal, the CSI feedback may cause a decrease in utilization efficiency of radio resources.
Therefore, it is desired to realize a CSI feedback technique capable of suppressing an increase in signaling.


A level difference portion is formed on a food outer panel of a hood along a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body. A flange that connects a bone portion and a bone portion of a food inner panel is formed at a portion below the level difference portion of the hood outer panel. The flange of the hood inner panel extends so as to be curved along the level difference portion of the hood outer panel. The flange of the hood inner panel is connected to the level difference portion of the hood outer panel using an adhesive agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hood structure for a vehicle, and more particularly to a hood structure for a vehicle, which is applied to a vehicle such as an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-80873 (JP-A-8-80873) discloses an example of a hood structure for a vehicle, which is applied to a vehicle such as an automobile. In the hood structure for a vehicle, a hood inner panel is provided on a rear surface side of a hood outer panel including a convex side flat portion and a concave side flat portion between which a level difference portion is provided, and a shock absorbing body is provided between the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel. The shock absorbing body is supported by the hood inner panel, and supports, from the rear surface side, the convex side flat portion in the vicinity of the level difference portion. In addition, the shock absorbing body is deformed and collapsed so that desired reaction force is generated when a displacement of the hood becomes a predetermined value.
However, in the hood structure for a vehicle disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-80873, the separate shock absorbing body needs to be provided between the hood outer panel and the hood inner panel, which leads to an increase in the number of components, an increase in weight, an increase in assembly cost, and deterioration of productivity. Also, when a hitting body hits the hood, incomplete collapse of the shock absorbing body occurs, and a portion of the shock absorbing body which is incompletely collapsed cannot be used as an energy absorbing stroke. Therefore, the energy absorbing stroke becomes small. Also, in the case where there are components such as an engine below the hood, and energy needs to be absorbed efficiently in a limited space, energy absorbing efficiency is reduced.


The subject invention pertains to a centralized key performance indicator (KPI) framework and systems and methods of utilization. In particular, KPIs can be defined and centrally stored as data or metadata in a data store. Systems and methods are provided to enable, among other things, KPI definition, storage, identification of defined or available KPIs, and interaction with the KPIs. For instance, an interface is provided to allow KPI data to be requested and retrieved from a source such as a database. A generic application program or users thereof can then interact with and display KPI data without knowing anything a priori about the stored data or the structure thereof.

Computers and other related technology pervade modern business enterprises as well as other organizations. Businesses utilize computers to improve the productivity of their employees and manage operations. Today businesses rely on a plurality of performance data derived from enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, customer relationship management (CRM) software as well as spreadsheets and other data files. Unfortunately, each system defines and presents data in a different manner. Moreover, each system provides information on different aspects of a business operation. Hence, business professionals must expend a large amount of time and energy to consolidate and digest great quantities of data to determine what is important to its business and its future goals. Key performance indicators can facilitate providing a business decision maker with a consolidated understanding of company performance. This allows executives and decision makers to keep track of the pulse of business and act quickly to take advantage of opportunities to propel business forward toward established goals and objectives
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are customizable business metrics utilized to present the status and trends in an organization in an easily cognizable manner. Once a business or other organization defines its mission or objectives, KPIs can be employed to measure progress toward those objectives. In general, each KPI can have a target value and an actual value. The target value represents a quantitative goal or object that is considered key or critical to the success of a business or organization. Thus, target values can be quite different for distinct businesses as their goals and focus is often dissimilar. For example, business can have KPIs concerning sales, net profit, and debt ratio, while a school may define a KPI related to graduation rate. Of course, the target value can change over time but is for the most part a stable value. The actual value is the value that fluctuates often based on the actions and performance of a business. Actual values can be compared to target values to determine a business' health or progress toward the target value. Thus, KPIs are advantageous in that they provide a clear description of organizational goals and distill vast quantities of data down to a single value that can be utilized to continuously monitor business performance and its progress toward organization benchmarks.
KPIs and scorecards (i.e., groups of KPIs) are not a novel business concept. Business decision makers have been utilizing KPI applications for some time now to measure the health of their business. KPI applications conventionally contain logic expressions for calculating the value of the KPI. These applications can then retrieve specific data specified by the expression and execute the logic to determine the KPI value. Subsequently, such calculated data can be displayed in a convenient manner such as presenting the KPI value, the threshold and some graphical indication of performance based on the value and the threshold. For example, if the value is above the threshold then a graphical representation of thumbs up can be displayed. Alternatively, if the value is below the threshold then a graphical representation of thumbs downs can be displayed.
Development of a KPI application includes several steps. First, a user or organization is queried to determine which KPIs they would like to be implemented in accordance with their mission and goals. Next, the functions or expressions that produce the KPIs are determined based on knowledge of the relevant database schema and specified in a specific API application. This enables the application to interact directly with a database based on its knowledge of the database schema to retrieve data necessary to calculate KPI values.

Centralized KPI framework systems and methods


A synthesizer may synthesize speech by receiving an adaptive codebook excitation signal and an adaptive codebook gain. The adaptive codebook excitation signal may be scaled using the adaptive codebook gain to generate a scaled adaptive codebook excitation signal. A fixed excitation signal and a fixed excitation gain may also be received. The fixed excitation signal may be scaled using the fixed excitation gain to generate a scaled fixed excitation signal. The scaled adaptive codebook excitation signal and the scaled fixed excitation signal may be combined to generate the excitation signal having a first word length. An overall gain signal of the excitation signal may also be received. A scaled excitation signal may then be generated by scaling the excitation signal using the overall gain signal. The scaled excitation signal may have a second word length greater than the first word length.

Educational toys, talking games and similar devices often employ synthesized sound effects and character voices to communication with a user. Such devices have traditionally used linear predictive coding (LPC) techniques to reproduce speech. Linear predictive coding, however, is generally not able to reproduce sophisticated sounds or high quality speech.
More recently, code-excited linear prediction (CELP) systems have been used to provide synthesized speech. CELP systems generally use both fixed and adaptive excitation signals which are combined and synthesized with linear predictive coding (LPC) coefficients. CELP systems are often resource intensive and generally require 16 bit precision. Accordingly, CELP systems are not readily adaptable to many existing speech synthesizer chips.

Synthesizer and method using scaled excitation signal


An ignition timing value of the internal-combustion engine is calculated by using correction terms including a first correction term that is calculated based on a controlled variable without reflecting a desired value and a second correction term that is calculated based on a difference between the controlled variable and the desired value. The first correction term can be calculated based on the controlled variable with no influence of the desired value. Thus, a sudden change does not occur in the feedback controlled variable even in a situation where the difference between the controlled variable and the desired value changes step-wise. Besides, the first correction term is a proportional term (51) and the second correction term is an integral term (55). The controlled variable is a rotational speed of the internal-combustion engine (NE) that is detected by a detector for detecting the engine rotational speed.

The Japanese Patent Application Examined Publication (Kokoku) No. HEISEI 7-59927 discloses a method of calculating an ignition timing of an internal-combustion engine (hereinafter referred to as "engine") immediately after the engine started. According to this method, ignition timing is advanced immediately after the engine started. The ignition timing is shifted to a normal timing when an operational condition parameter reaches a predetermined value.
However, in order to perform so-called FIRE mode for quickly warming up a catalytic converter to bring it active after the engine started, the ignition timing needs to be quickly retarded to raise an exhaust gas temperature. According to the above-disclosed method, the catalyst may not be quickly activated because the retard operation is performed after the ignition timing is advanced and then shifted to the normal ignition timing.
Furthermore, as one approach for controlling an engine, a PI control, a feedback control scheme, is commonly used. According to the PI control, a control input u is obtained according to the following equation (1) where e represents a difference between a desired value and a controlled variable.u=Kpe+KI∫eδτ  (1)
In the equation (1), Kp is a proportional term (P term) and Ki is an integral term (I term). Such control scheme may produce a step in the values of the difference at the start of control or when the desired value is changed. This is because the scheme uses a correction term that reflects the difference between the desired value and the controlled variable. Such a step is not desirable because it may cause a sudden change in the feedback correction amount imposing a significant load to actuators.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an ignition timing control technique that allows for a quick retard of the ignition timing after the engine starts, raising the exhaust gas temperature and activate the catalyst promptly.

Electronic control unit and method for controlling an ignition timing of an internal-combustion engine


A detection system for determining the quantity of amino acid in a sample stream is provided based on the reaction of a buffer at a pH level from 10 to 11, with a reagent Ru(bpy).sub.3.sup.3+, which is generated electrochemically on site. The detection system is further characterized by immediate luminescence upon reaction of the buffer in the pH range containing amino acid, with the reagent Ru(bpy).sub.3.sup.3+. The detection system is capable of not only immediate detection of the quantity of amino acid in a sample stream, but even in very low concentrations.

A sample stream containing amino acid may be the effluent of a high performance liquid chromatography system or a flow injection analysis system. Once a sample stream is obtained, the amino acid may be converted by derivitization. Detecting the quantity of amino acid present has then been achieved by either spectrophotometric absorption or fluorescence spectroscopy.
The derivitization process is both time consuming and complex. Efforts to eliminate the need for conversion of the amino acid have resulted in the use of the reagent Tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) (sometimes referred to herein as Ru(bpy).sub.3.sup.3+), which may be generated on site, resulting in immediate luminescence when merged with amino acids in a buffered solution of a specified pH range.

Chemiluminescent detection of amino acids

The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas


A process for purifying a filtered fermentation broth of succinic acid is described. The process involves separating succinic acid from the other organic acids and salts in a raw filtered broth using a non-functionalized chromatographic resin. The operation can be run either as an isocratic elution to yield free succinic acid, or as a gradient or binary elution to produce succinate salt.

Succinic acid and its derivatives are useful platform chemicals that are widely used in the manufacturing of polymers, fuel additives, inks, cosmetics, and as additives in foods and pharmaceuticals. For example, succinic acid can be used as an input In the production of pigments, solvents, detergents, metal plating and polybutylene succinate polymers, which can be used to replace conventional plastics in applications such as flexible packaging, agricultural films and compostable bags.
Succinic acid has been traditionally produced from petrochemicals which are limited, costly and cause pollution problems. One to the variety of* applications, alternative methods of producing bio-succinic acid have received attention in the past few years. A more environmentally friendly approach that has gained much interest is the fermentative production of succinic acid from glucose by anaerobic bacteria. The fermentative production of succinic acid can be regarded as a green technology not only because renewable substrates are used for its production, but also CO2 is incorporated into succinic acid during fermentation. Thus, fermentative succinic acid contributes a green, bio-derived feedstock for the manufacture of synthetic resins, biodegradable polymers, and chemical intermediates.
Although the fermentative production of succinic acid has several advantages over petrochemical-based processes, for the biotechnological process to be competitive with petrochemical production one desires to minimize the production costs. (See e.g., James McKinlay et al., "Prospects for a Bio-based Succinate Industry," APPL. MICROBIOL. BIOTECHINOL, (2007) 76:727-740; incorporated herein by reference). About 60% of the total production costs are generated by downstream processing, e.g., the isolation and purification of the product in the fermentation broth. The purification of succinic acid from fermentation broths is a critical step in the development of a successful, cost effective process to recover the acid.
Over the years, various approaches have been developed to isolate succinic acid. These techniques have involved using ultra-filtration, precipitation with calcium hydroxide or ammonia, crystallization, electrodialysis, liquid-liquid extraction, sorption and ion exchange chromatography. (See, Tanja Kurzrock et al., "Recover of Succinic Acid from Fermentation Broth," Review, BIOTECHNOLOGY LETTER, (2010) 32:331-339; incorporated herein by reference.) A variety of impurities including salts, organic acids and remaining biomass all can inhibit the isolation of pure succinic acid or downstream processing of succinic acid containing streams. Because of this, a variety of different solutions have been proposed for the purification of succinic acid, but these solutions have disadvantages.
For instance, a problem with some prescriptions that others have explored is the relatively limited capacity of conventional ion exchange solutions to separate the desired succinic acid. Ion exchange has not been proven a viable processing technique that, can be translated to commercial scale operations. To date, resins have not been shown to have a large enough capacity for succinic acid to provide an efficient sorption process. Hence, adsorption chromatography has been limited by both selectivity and capacity for succinic acid. The use of ion-exchange to remove salts for the fermtentation stream could be applied, but requires the use of acids and bases to regenerate the resins and is only efficient if relatively low levels of salts are present. If the salt content is high in a fermentation broth, an ion exchange system would be retarded and inefficient because of low throughput. Hence, ion exchange resins will be less efficient to separate the salt from other organic acids. Therefore, this is not efficient in cases with high levels of salts. Moreover, traditional ion exchange techniques do not separate easily the different organic acids present in the broth. Electro-deionization (EDI) does not separate the different organic acids to a degree feasible for high-throughput applications because of issues associated with membrane fouling. Other approaches such as reactive extraction require organic solvents and expensive reagents.
Even though all of these techniques have had some success, they have been limited either by cost, byproduct-waste generation, or economy of scale. Hence, for these reasons, a need exists for better or more direct methods for recovery of succinic acid, which can simplify the process and reduce downstream processing costs as well as waste.

Purification of succinic acid from fermentation broth on non-functionalized chromatographic resin


The present invention relates to a system and method for real time streaming of a text string which is periodically updated. The system and method is adapted to enable live, real time, delivery of text-captioned voices/sounds to one or more viewers in the same or different physical locality as the voice/sound which is being captioned. The system comprises streaming means adapted to communicate with a server and to process a first text string inputted via first text input means and update the first text string in real time with additional or edited text string portions inputted via second text input means to thereby generate a second text string; control means adapted to periodically monitor a state of at least the second text string and generate an output text string therefrom, the output text string being communicated to a server for streaming to a text viewing means; wherein the output text string is updated in real time to substantially correspond to the second text string, such that the output text string represents the updated text string, thereby facilitating editing of text string portions already communicated to the server.

Any reference to or discussion of any document, act or item of knowledge in this specification is included solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any of these matters or any combination thereof formed at the priority date part of the common general knowledge, or was known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.
It is known to use captioning facilities to provide a text-based screen display of spoken dialogue and important sounds in, for example, a television show. Captioned text is typically pre-entered into a video comprising the television show or is streamed over a bandwidth to televisions on which the television show is being watched.
European Patent Application EP 2106121 describes a subtitle generation method for live programming. A subtitling technician is assigned to each participant in the particular scene for which subtitles are being generated. Each subtitling technician repeats the words (or a summary thereof) spoken by their assigned participant into a microphone, with the audio signal from the microphone being directed into a voice-to-text recognition system. The generated text is forwarded to a subtitling editor for correction and formatting prior to being inserted in the broadcast stream, for broadcast with the audiovisual signal of the original scene.
In these and related contexts, the term "captioning" typically refers to the on screen display of text for spoken dialogue and other important sounds. In video terminology, a caption typically means a text representation of the audio accompanying the video. Captions are often used by those viewers who are hearing impaired, and will describe what is being said, including emotions, and background sounds.
In these and related contexts, the term "streaming" typically refers to the technique of transferring data such that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream. Streaming technologies are becoming increasingly important with the growth of the Internet, to avoid the need to download large multimedia files quickly. With streaming, the client browser or plug-in can start displaying the data before the entire file has been transmitted.
Technological advancements have made possible innovations in access solutions that combine captioning and streaming—typically referred to as "text streaming". Text streaming over the Internet caters to the need for streaming and delivering captions for individual or group events in real time.
Examples, of some currently available streaming technologies include:
1. Quick Time Streaming Media Player
2. Real Media Player
3. MP3—an audio encoding format using data compression.
4. Windows Media Player
5. Adobe Flash Player
These and other currently available streaming technologies have a number of shortcomings. For example, they typically do not allow contemporaneous editing of generated and already streamed content. This means that errors identified in already streamed text strings cannot be corrected for the viewer during a live viewing session. Many of the currently available streaming technologies do not work reliably or at efficient speeds in low bandwidth environments and are typically highly resource intensive. They also do not typically provide display formatting control to viewers of streamed content, are not capable of being delivered through standard web browsers and do not typically deliver authentication control. In addition, currently available streaming technologies do not typically permit interactivity, and they typically only accommodate a single user.
Moreover, currently available streaming technologies do not provide secure, real time, low bandwidth, editable, multi-session, interactive live text streaming to a customisable display in a standard web browser.
The present invention is directed to a system and method which addresses at least some of the above noted shortcomings of currently available streaming technologies.

System and method for real time text streaming


A cosmetic dispenser containing an elevator cup carrying a solid cosmetic product, a sleeve in which the cup is axially advanceable and retractable, and an operating shell turnably mounted on the sleeve. The sleeve has either two or else three equispaced longitudinal slots and the elevator cup has two or else three equispaced lugs passing through and projecting from the slots of the sleeve. The operating shell has two or else three internal spiral tracks respectively engaged by the lugs of the cup to propel the latter in response to relative turning between the shell and sleeve. The arrangement is such that the cup is advanced and retracted by balanced forces applied at uniformly spaced circumferential locations about the cup. The cup has resilient fingers that are forced inward by the sleeve, forming a collet which firmly holds the lipstick pomade. The sleeve has a lateral spur track which holds the cup captive in the sleeve. Reduced tendency for undesirable tilting of the cosmetic stick product is thus realizeable.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to cosmetic dispensers, and more particularly to dispensers of the type intended for use with lipsticks, eye shadow devices, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR .sctn..sctn.1.97-1.99
The following references are hereby cited as being representative of some of the known prior art in the field to which the present invention pertains:
U.S. Pat. Nos.:
2,336,328 2,497,950 2,678,128 PA1 2,796,873 3,214,012 3,443,874
Canadian Patent No. 612,457.
British Patent No. 1,098,773 and British Published Application No. GB 2,143,212A.
French Patents Nos. 946,797; 964,930; 77 32291; 1,052,053; and 2,406,972.
Italian Patent No. 507,719.
British Published Application No. GB 2,143,212A discloses a cosmetic stick holder construction utilizing a product-carrying cup having spacer portions (26) formed by slits in the upper edge of the cup in three places, the spacer portions each bearing radially outwardly on the inner sleeve of the dispenser in an elastic manner so as to purportedly minimize looseness of the cosmetic stick during its movement inside the sleeve.
British Patent No. 1,098,773 relates to a cosmetic dispenser having a product-carrying cup that employs four circumferentially displaced spacers (14) to slidingly engage the inner surface of an inner casing, for guiding of the product-carrying cup therein.
French Patent No. 77 32291 discloses a lipstick dispenser having a container, an outer sleeve, and a product cup. The product cup has two diametrically disposed camming lugs which are received in corresponding longitudinal slots in the container, and which respectively extend into two interior spiral or helical grooves in the outer sleeve.
Other lipstick dispensers utilizing turnable outer sleeves having internal spiral grooves are shown in French Patent No. 1,052,053; French Patent No. 946,797; and French Patent No. 964,930. Nos. '053 and '930 have a single groove, whereas No. '797 shows two grooves that are diametrically opposed to one another.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,678,128; 3,214,012; 2,497,950; Italian Patent No. 507,719; and Canadian Patent No. 612,457 show various types of lipstick refill cartridges that have been proposed in the past, but which are considered to have realized little or no commercialization in the marketplace.
Still other proposed arrangements include that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,874, which discloses a cosmetic stick holder and method of manufacture thereof; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,796,873, which sets forth a combined holder for lipstick, rouge, and eyeliner, the lipstick being advanceable in the casing in a linear direction by means of an external finger-engageable tab.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,328 illustrates a dispenser that employs a product-carrying cup which is advanceable and retractable by an internal screw that is engaged by a manually-operable thumbwheel axially mounted in the casing in such a manner that it is accessible from the side thereof.
Although various attempts have been made to provide an economical dispenser which was characterized by smooth, essentially jam-free operation of the elevator cup and firm, non-destructive holding of the lipstick pomade, many of the devices currently known in the art have achieved little or no success in solving the problems.
Noteworthy in the art of record is the lack of a cup drive mechanism that is truly balanced and symmetrical, and which prevents undesirable tilting or canting of the product-carrying cup and the lipstick carried therein.
In some prior constructions utilizing two diametrically disposed cam lugs, a reasonable degree of balance was attained. However, it can be readily seen that driving a cup solely at two diametrically opposite points, as has been done in the prior art, still does not prevent tilting of the cup about the transverse axis that contains the points. As a consequence, leaning or "wobbling" of the cosmetic stick carried in the cup tends to occur. Under some circumstances, the stick actually scrapes against the inner surface of the dispenser casing, causing damage to the otherwise smooth exterior surface of the stick, and resulting in an undesirable build-up of scraped product on the casing interior. If fragments or scrapings subsequently re-adhere to the stick, they can be carried outside the casing and dropped when the stick is next advanced, possibly leading to soiled or stained clothing, furniture, etc.
Various arrangements involving multiple, spring detent lugs on the outer surface of the product cup, as shown or suggested in some of the references noted above, have in some cases reduced the tendency for leaning or wobbling of the cup to occur. However, at present it is considered that there is still a need for improvement over known dispensers, from the standpoint of both economy and ease of operation.


Devices and methods to treat atrial fibrillation via inhibition of nerves which innervate the pulmonary vein are provided.

Fibrillation refers to a condition in which muscle fibrils enter a state of extremely rapid, small-scale contractions that do not coordinate to affect contraction of the muscle as a whole. When this occurs in the left ventricle (LV), the heart chamber responsible for pumping blood into the arterial vasculature, it is serious and rapidly fatal. Atrial fibrillation (AF), fibrillation which occurs in the musculature of the atria and affects as many as 2 million Americans, is less immediately serious and not necessarily fatal. It is still important to treat AF, however, for several reasons. First, AF is associated with a loss of atrio-ventricular synchrony which can be hemodynamically compromising and cause such symptoms as dyspnea, fatigue, vertigo, and angina. AF can also predispose to stroke or cerebral vascular accidents resulting from emboli forming in the left atrium. Although drug therapy, in-hospital cardioversion, and implantable cardioverter/defibrillators are acceptable treatment modalities for AF, a curative approach offers a number of advantages to certain patients, including convenience and greater efficacy.
One such approach is ablation therapy which treats cardiac arrhythmias by destroying myocardial tissue involved in the initiation or maintenance of the tachyarrhythmia. Linear ablation in the right atrium (RA) and/or left atrium (LA) was initially proposed with the purpose of replicating the surgical "maze" procedure (Cox et al., Ann. Thoracic Surg., 56:814 (1993)). However, ablation is most often accomplished by delivering radiofrequency (RF) electrical energy to a catheter electrode that has been placed next to the tissue to be destroyed after identifying ectopic sites or reentrant pathways, e.g., by mapping electrical activation of the atria.
Recent evidence has shown that a high percentage of paroxysms of AF are initiated by trains of rapid discharges originating from the pulmonary veins (PVs) of the LA, and it has been suggested that the autonomic nervous system may play a role in the generation of the ectopic foci in the pulmonary vein, at least in a canine model (Schauerte et al., J. Cardiovascl. Electrophysiol., 12:592 (2001)). Accordingly, catheter techniques have been developed for ablating these sites with RF energy applied from within the PVs. Selective ablation of arrhythmogenic foci, mainly located within the PVs, was reported as an effective treatment for AF (Haissaguerre et al., NEJM, 339:659 (1998)). Another ablation technique involves the production of a circumferential ablation lesion within a PV in order to block the conduction pathway from the vein to the LA, e.g., a circumferential conduction block at the pulmonary vein ostia (Pappone et al., Circ., 102:2619 (2000); Pappone et al., Circ., 109:327 (2004)). However, an effective circumferential lesion must be completely circular. A contiguous line of conduction block may be created from a series of discrete circular RF lesions, or 'spot welds' (Schwartzman, PACE, 22:711(1999)). Nevertheless, spot welding is tedious and may be ineffective because the creation of a contiguous circumferential lesion from a series of precisely placed individual RF lesions is difficult to achieve under current imaging limitations of x-ray fluoroscopy as well as other imaging modalities. Moreover, common complications of ablation procedures include thrombus formation, pulmonary venous stenosis, and atrio-esophageal fistula formation. Furthermore, the success rates for pulmonary vein ablation are around 70%, indicating that other mechanisms are involved in AF.
What is needed is an improved method to inhibit AF, e.g., originating from ectopic sites.

Neurotoxic agents and devices to treat atrial fibrillation


Systems and methods of performing a handover in a wireless communication network are provided. A controller node can receive a first request to establish a first logical communication link between a first access node and a gateway. The controller node can receive from a second access node a second request to establish a second logical communication link between the second access node and the gateway and to release the first logical communication link between the first access node and the gateway. A timer can be initiated after receiving the second request. The timer can be based on a mobility of the wireless device, a load of the wireless communication network, and an application requirement of an application running on the wireless device. The gateway can be instructed to establish the second logical communication link after initiating the timer and to release the first logical communication link after the timer expires.

Wireless communication can be used as a means of accessing a communication network. Wireless communication has certain advantages over wired communications for accessing a network. For example, implementing a wireless interface can eliminate a need for a wired infrastructure thereby reducing the cost of building and maintaining network infrastructure. In addition, a wireless network can support added mobility by allowing a wireless device to access the network from various locations or addresses. A wireless interface can comprise at least one transceiver in active communication with another transceiver that is connected to the network.
A handover procedure can be performed to allow a wireless device to maintain communication with a wireless network. Handover can comprise three phases: handover preparation, handover execution, and handover completion. During the preparation procedure, handover procedures can be negotiated between a first access node (source) and a second access node (target) without any involvement from the evolved packet core (EPC) such that preparation messages can be directly exchanged between the source access node and a target access node. During the execution procedure, a communication link or tunnel such as an X2 interface can be established such that data addressed to the wireless device can be forwarded from the source access node to the target access node. During the handover completion procedure, a logical communication link can be established between a gateway and the target access node such that data addressed to the wireless device can be communicated from the EPC to the target access node. In addition, the initial logical communication link between the EPC and the source access node can be terminated. In addition, the source access node can release context information associated with the wireless device.
When the logical communication link between the EPC and the source access node is terminated too quickly, data addressed to the wireless device via the source access node can be prevented from reaching the target access node causing undesirable service interruptions. When the logical communication link between the EPC and the source access node is maintained too long, handover requests from the wireless device in communication with the target access node can be denied which can also cause undesirable service interruptions.
Overview
Systems and methods of performing a handover in a wireless communication network are provided. A controller node can receive a first request to establish a first logical communication link between a first access node and a gateway. Data addressed to a wireless device in communication with the first access node can be communicated over the first logical communication link. The controller node can receive from a second access node a second request to establish a second logical communication link between the second access node and the gateway such that data addressed to the wireless device is communicated over the second logical communication link and to release the first logical communication link between the first access node and the gateway. A timer can be initiated after receiving the second request. The timer can be based on a mobility of the wireless device, a load of the wireless communication network, and an application requirement of an application running on the wireless device. The gateway can be instructed to establish the second logical communication link with the second access node after initiating the timer. The first access node can be instructed to release the first logical communication link with the gateway after the timer expires.

Method of performing handover in a wireless communication network


The chain and sprocket design of the present invention is applicable to sprockets (9) which have an even number of teeth and chains which use inward-pointing teeth and parallel links (2) and outer guides (8). The sprocket is designed such that alternate teeth (6) of the sprocket are of increased width such that when the sprocket is properly oriented they extend outward between outer guide links, which are shaped to allow the teeth to enter the inter-guide gap. If the chain attempts to jump a tooth, such that the sprocket is oriented with the wider teeth aligned with the outer guide links, the wider teeth will contact the guide links and prevent the chain from seating in the sprocket.

The invention pertains to the field of endless chain power transmission systems. More particularly, the invention pertains to chain transmission systems having inwardly opening teeth.
All current automobile piston engines have a camshaft and a crankshaft. The crankshaft transmits the power from the pistons as they move up and down and changes it to a rotating motion. The crankshaft drives one or more camshafts, which open and close the valves in the engine. A camshaft has eccentric lobes or cams: one lobe for each valve, which in turn push a cam follower or valve lifter which opens the valve. This must happen at exactly the right time for each valve. This coordination of the crankshaft with the opening and closing of the valves via the camshaft is called Valve Timing or Camshaft Timing.
While the most direct way of driving the camshaft might be by gears on each meshing with each other, this is usually not practical given the location of the crankshaft at the bottom of the engine and the valves (and, in overhead camshaft (OHC) engines, the camshaft) at the top. In many cases, timing chain systems are used to drive the camshaft(s) of an engine from the crankshaft. A chain is looped around a drive sprocket on the crankshaft, and drives a driven sprocket on the camshaft (or one on each camshaft, in a multiple-camshaft engine).
Even a slight misalignment of the camshaft(s) relative to the crankshaft can adversely affect the performance of the engine, and possibly stop it altogether. In extreme cases, in some engines (called xe2x80x9cinterference enginesxe2x80x9d), if a valve opens all the way at the same time as the piston comes up, the piston will contact the valve. At best, it can bend or break the valve, and at worst, crack the block or otherwise destroy the engine. Even a single tooth""s misalignment can cause this disastrous situation in some interference engines.
This kind of misalignment can be caused by the chain xe2x80x9cjumpingxe2x80x9d a tooth or more, due to slack in the system. FIG. 7 shows how little slack is required for a link (72) in a chain (71) to jump a tooth on a sprocket (70) of the prior art.
As a result, designers of timing chain systems attempt to prevent the chain from jumping teeth on any of the sprockets in the system. Tensioners and guides are frequently used to guide the chain and minimize the slack. Often, ratchet mechanisms are added to tensioners for the purpose of preventing enough slack in a chain strand to allow the chain to rise over and move past a sprocket tooth.
For noise and weight reduction, the teeth on the sprockets and chain pitch in timing chain applications are often reduced in size. As the size of these components is reduced, the potential for the chain xe2x80x9cjumpingxe2x80x9d or slipping in alignment relative to the sprocket is increased, as it takes less slack in a chain strand to move over and past a small sprocket tooth (small pitch) than a larger tooth. The use of small pitch chains is thus prohibited in many cases by the risk of tooth jumping.
A design which would make it more difficult for a chain to jump teeth on a sprocket would be useful for at least two reasons: First, the ratchet mechanism added to the chain tensioner may not be required any longer; Second, the use of very small pitch chains could be considered on applications that currently could not use small pitch chains.
As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, prior art chains are commonly designed with a plurality of parallel inner links (1) which have inward-pointing teeth to engage the teeth of sprockets, connected together with pins (3) to other inner links (2). The inner links are staggered in groups of a number of parallel links followed by a group of one-fewer links, such that if one looked down on a section of chain as shown in FIG. 1, one would see two parallel links (1) pinned (3) to a single inner link (2), then two links, etc. Larger chains might have four inner links pinned to three links, pinned to four links, and so on. Outside guide links (4), which are not toothed, are used parallel to the lesser-number inner link sections (2). The teeth (5) are all of equal width, and engage the inward-extending teeth of the links (1) and (2) (teeth (5) are shaded in FIG. 1 to distinguish them from the links (1)(2)).
Guthrie, xe2x80x9cDrive Chain Gearxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 495,584, shows a sprocket and chain system using a modified sprocket which drives the chain between linksxe2x80x94that is, the sprocket teeth contact the outsides of the links, rather than through the teeth on the links as in the chain of the invention. Guthrie uses a sprocket which appears to have two rows of thin teeth in parallel, offset by half-a-tooth. While Guthrie""s arrangement would have a similar effect to the invention, the drive system is very different, and would require very large teeth, rather than being operable with small teeth and pitches as the current invention.
Kirsten, xe2x80x9cPower Transmitting Mechanismxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 1,835,406, uses a similar rows of parallel teeth system to Guthrie, although Kirsten""s teeth (or rather the gaps between the teeth) do contact inward-pointing teeth on the chain. Kirsten""s sprocket wheel is made up of many laminated thin sprockets, each lamination offset by a half-tooth from its neighbors.
Martin, xe2x80x9cChain Drive including Sprocket Having Alternate Wide and Narrow Teethxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,642, shows a chain and sprocket arrangement in which the sprocket has alternating wide and narrow teeth, and the roller type chain has alternating wide and narrow gaps within which the teeth fit. The roller-type chain is different from the chain of the inventionxe2x80x94the sprocket drives the rollers, rather than teeth on the links, and the Martin invention would not be suitable for small tooth socketsxe2x80x94small pitch inverted tooth chains as used in the present invention.
Although this invention is described herein in terms of timing chains, which are an important application, it will be understood by one skilled in the art that the invention may also be used in other applications where a small pitch/small tooth chain and sprocket system is desirable.
The invention is a novel chain and sprocket design which is applicable to sprockets which have an even number of teeth and chains which use inward-pointing teeth and parallel links and outer guides.
In the system of the invention, the sprocket is designed such that alternate teeth of the sprocket are of increased width such that when the sprocket is properly oriented they extend outward between outer guide links, which are shaped to allow the teeth to enter the inter-guide gap. If the chain attempts to jump a tooth, such that the sprocket is oriented with the wider teeth aligned with the outer guide links, the wider teeth will contact the guide links and prevent the chain from seating in the sprocket.

Sprocket system for inverted tooth chain


Disclosed is a system and method for providing a critical path replica system in a circuit. A critical path replica system is created by determining a critical path in a circuit, generating a critical path replica circuit, generating a circuit blueprint, and creating the blueprinted circuit. The circuit comprises a functional logic module having functional logic elements and replica logic modules having logic elements. Each logic element is configured to replicate one or more of the functional logic elements and process a test signal. A replica error detection module analyzes the processed signal to determine whether a timing violation has occurred. In some embodiments, the replica logic module further comprises one or more load modules. A replica controller may modify operation of the circuit based on reported errors. A replica mode select module sets the replica logic module to an aging test mode or a timing sensor mode.

Integrated circuits (ICs) are frequently manufactured with hundreds of millions of transistors. As the size of transistors shrinks, the number of transistors in any given area of an integrated circuit rises. These transistors form discrete components such as logic gates. For example, NAND, NOR, AND, OR and XOR gates are formed form COMS transistors. In turn, various logic gates may be combined to form more sophisticated structures such as adders, registers, or the like. Transistors and logic gates are frequently used in processors to interpret and implement instructions during execution of software programs. Similarly, embedded systems may have instructions residing in system memory, and a processor may access and execute those instructions using transistors or logic gates.
When transistors in an IC are formed, they are generally formed during the same fabrication process. However, imperfections in the fabrication process can lead to transistors fabrication in a single process exhibiting some variation on operating parameters. Likewise, transistors from different ICs may exhibit variations in operating parameters due to variations in the fabrication process. For example, transistors may have dopants applied to source and drain regions. However, the dopant application or concentrations may not be perfectly uniform cross transistors in a single chip, or across different chips. As another example, a gate oxide may be created by bringing oxygen into contact with the silicon surface under controlled heat and pressure conditions. The inconsistencies in oxygen concentration at the wafer surface during gate oxide formation may result in some slight inconsistencies in the thickness of different transistors' gate oxide, and by extension, cause inconsistencies in the operation of the transistors. In some instances, a high-k dielectric or oxynitride may be used to form a gate oxide, with those materials being deposited, for example, by chemical vapor deposition. The deposition of these materials may have slight inconsistencies, and may lead to irregularities in the gate oxide thickness and operating parameters of the transistors.
Another issue encountered with transistors is aging transistors during actual use. Dopant migration, contact electromigration, oxide breakdown, bias temperature instability or hot carrier injection into the gate oxide are only some types of defects that arise when transistors age under even normal use. Aging of transistors can result in a higher voltage required to turn on a transistor, or a slower turn-on time.

System and method for critical path replication


An insulating bobbin for disposition between a stator core and a stator winding of a stator of a rotating machine, the stator winding being wound around the stator core by way of the insulating bobbin, the insulating bobbin comprising a coil end section at which an end portion of the stator winding is disposed, a slot side section forming a slot for winding thereon the stator winding, and a corner section having a curved surface and connecting between the coil end portion and the slot side portion, the corner section having a first radius of curvature at a side closer to the coil end section and a second radius of curvature at a side closer to the slot side section, the second radius of curvature being larger than the first radius of curvature.

The present invention relates to a stator of a rotary machine and particularly to an insulating bobbin fitted on a stator core of the stator for winding a stator winding on the stator core.
A rotary machine consists of a stator fixedly disposed inside a casing and a cylindrical rotor installed on a rotating shaft to rotate together therewith. The stator includes a hollow, cylindrical stator core and a stator winding, in which the stator core has a tooth portion (pole tooth portion) on which an insulation bobbin is fitted and the stator winding is wound around the tooth portion by way of the insulating bobbin.
Herein, the insulating bobbin has a coil wound portion, an inner flange portion and an outer flange portion. The coil wound portion is in the form of a rectangular frame and fitted on the tooth portion having a rectangular cross section. The inner flange portion and the outer flange portion are formed integral with the coil wound portion and in such a way as to extend along the inner and outer edges of the coil wound portion, respectively. The coil wound portion has a slot side section, a coil end section and a corner section. The slot side section forms a winding slot for winding thereon a stator winding while insulating the same. At the coil end section is disposed an end portion of the stator winding. The corner section connects between the slot side section and the coil end section. At the corner section, the insulating bobbin and the stator winding are brought into contact with each other strongly, by the tension of the stator winding caused at the time of its winding. Due to this, the insulation coating of the stator winding or the insulating bobbin may be damaged by being pushed by the stator winding. As a result, there may possibly occur an insulation failure of the stator winding or breakage of the inner flange portion of the insulation bobbin, which starts at the place where the insulation bobbin is damaged by a large stress applied thereto at the time of a magnetizing process.
Further, since the slot side section of the insulating bobbin is generally thin, the corner section is liable to be cracked to cause an insulation failure of the insulating bobbin.
An example of a related technique for solving such a problem is disclosed by a Japanese Patent No. 3679305 titled "Cooling Medium Compressor". In the cooling medium compressor, it is aimed to relieve the stress which is caused due to bending of a stator winding and applied to a corner section of a coil wound portion of a direct-wound type insulating bobbin. To this end, it is proposed to round the corner section of the coil wound portion so that the rounded corner section has a curved surface shape formed by a circular arc of a radius in the range from ½ to 4 times of the diameter of the stator winding wire. By such rounding, it becomes possible to attain improved protection of the insulation layer of the stator winding and the insulating bobbin against damage, and it becomes possible to prevent occurrence of an insulation failure and breakage of the insulating bobbin at the time of magnetization.

Insulating bobbin for stator of rotary machine


The invention provides a contact and an electrical connector which are used to electrically connect a conductor pattern formed on a circuit board and a component to be connected that is positioned to face the circuit board, and in which the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part is large, while having a low height. The contact has a soldering part which is soldered to a conductor pattern formed on a circuit board, a spring arm which extends from the soldering part and which has a contact protruding part for contacting a component to be connected that is positioned to face the circuit board, and preload application parts which extend from the soldering part and contact the spring arm so that a preload is applied to the spring arm. The preload application parts are provided toward the fixed end of the spring arm relative to the contact protruding part.

Conventionally, for example, the contact shown in FIG. 13 (see Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 2003-168510) has been known as a contact of this type.
This contact 101 comprises a soldering part 102 that extends in the forward-rearward direction (left-right direction in FIG. 13) and that is soldered to a ground pattern formed on a circuit board PCB, a pair of side wall parts 103 that rise from either end portions of the soldering parts 102 in the direction of width (direction perpendicular to the plane of the page in FIG. 13), and a spring arm 104 that extends from one of the side wall parts 103. The contact 101 is formed by stamping and forming a metal plate. The spring arm 104 comprises a tongue part 104a that is bent inward from the front end of one of the side wall parts 103, a rectilinear part 104c that extends upward at an inclination toward the rear from the tongue part 104a via a first bent part 104b, a contact protruding part 104e that is bent back toward the front from the rectilinear part 104c via a second bent part 104d and curved into an upward convex shape by protruding upward from the side wall part 103, and an extension part 104f that extends forward from the contact protruding part 104e.
The contact protruding part 104e is contacted from above by a ground conductor 110 that is positioned to face the circuit board PCB, so that the ground conductor 110 and the ground pattern formed on the circuit board PCB are electrically connected. Furthermore, the pair of side wall parts 103 are connected by connection parts 105 and 106 at both upper end portions in the forward-rearward direction. The connection part 105 toward the front contacts the extension part 104f of the spring arm 104, so that the extension part 104f is protected. Meanwhile, the connection part 106 toward the rear contacts the second bent part 104d of the spring arm 104, so that a preload is applied to the spring arm 104 by this connection part 106 contacting the second bent part 104d. Thus, as a result of the preload being applied to the spring arm 104, a load is applied to the spring arm 104 even before the ground conductor 110 contacts the contact protruding part 104e, so that the fluctuation of the load per the amount of displacement of the spring arm 104 can be reduced.
Furthermore, the contact shown in FIGS. 14A to 14D (see Design Registration No. 1108677), for example, has also been known as another conventional example of a contact.
This contact 201 comprises a soldering part 202 that extends in the forward-rearward direction (left-right direction in FIG. 14D) and that is soldered to a ground pattern formed on a circuit board PCB1, and a spring arm 203 that extends from the rear end of the soldering part 202. The contact 201 is formed by stamping and forming a metal plate. The spring arm 203 comprises a rising part 203a that rises from the rear end of the soldering part 202, a rectilinear part 203c that extends forward by being bent back from the rising part 203a via a bent part 203b, a contact protruding part 203d that is curved into an upward convex shape by protruding upward from the tip end of the rectilinear part 203c, and an extension part 203e that extends forward from the contact protruding part 203d.
A casing or a ground pattern formed on a separate circuit board PCB2 that is positioned to face the circuit board PCB1 contacts the contact protruding part 203d from above, so that the conductor part of the casing or the ground pattern of this separate circuit board PCB2 is electrically connected to the ground pattern formed on the circuit board PCB1. Furthermore, a pair of side wall parts 204 are formed in an upright manner toward the front on either side of the soldering part 202 in the direction of width (direction perpendicular to the plane of the page in FIG. 14D), and preload application parts 205 extend inward from the upper end portions of these side wall parts 204. The preload application parts 205 are disposed on the extension part 203e of the spring arm 203, so that a preload is applied to the spring arm 203 by this contact with the extension part 203e.
However, the following problems have been encountered in these conventional contacts.
Specifically, in the case of the contact 101 shown in FIG. 13, since the connection part 106 that applies a preload to the spring arm 104 is located farther from the tongue part 104a (i.e., the fixed end of the spring arm 104) than the contact protruding part 104e, the distance from the fixed end to the contact protruding part 104e is smaller than the distance from the fixed end to the connection part 106. Accordingly, when the ground conductor 110 contacts the contact protruding part 104e from above and continues the displacement of the contact protruding part 104e in this state, there is a danger that the second bent part 104d located beneath the connection part 106 will contact the upper surface of the soldering part 102 while the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part 104e is insufficient, so that the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part 104e will be limited by the second bent part 104d.
Furthermore, in the case of the contact 201 shown in FIGS. 14A to 14D as well, since the preload application parts 205 that apply a preload to the spring arm 203 are positioned farther than the contact protruding part 203d from the rising part 203a constituting the fixed end of the spring arm 203, the distance from the fixed end to the contact protruding part 203d is smaller than the distance from fixed part to the preload application parts 205. Accordingly, when the casing or the ground pattern formed on the circuit board PCB2 contacts the contact protruding part 203d from above and continues the displacement of the contact protruding part 203d in this state, there is a danger that the extension part 203e located beneath the preload application parts 205 will contact the upper surface of the soldering part 202 while the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part 203d is insufficient, so that the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part 203d will be limited by the extension part 203e. It is conceivable to set the extension part 203e at a higher position in order to prevent the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part 203d from being limited. In this case, however, the preload application parts 205 must be disposed above the extension part 203e that is positioned higher than in the case of conventional contacts. Accordingly, the difference in height between the upper end of the contact protruding part 203d and the upper surfaces of the preload application parts 205 is reduced; as a result, the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part 203d is limited.
In particular, in the electrical connection between a ground pattern formed on a circuit board and a component to be connected (a casing or a ground pattern formed on another circuit board) that is positioned to face the circuit board in the field of portable telephone equipment and the like, it is desired to use a contact in which the amount of displacement of the contact protruding part is large, while the height of the contact is low. Since the amount of displacement of the contact protruding parts 104e and 203d is limited in the contacts shown in FIGS. 13, and 14A to 14D, the use of these contacts is not preferable.
FIGS. 12A and 12B show conventional examples of an electrical connector to which is applied a method for applying a preload to the spring arms of the contacts by portions of the housing. In FIGS. 12A and 12B, an electrical connector 60 comprises a plurality of contacts 80 and a housing 70 that accommodates these contacts 80, and is designed to be surface-mounted on a circuit board (not shown in the figure). The housing 70 has a plurality of first contact accommodating cavities 71 that open in the front surface (left surface in FIG. 12B) of the housing 70, and a plurality of second contact accommodating cavities 72 that open in the rear surface of the housing 70. The first contact accommodating cavities 71 and second contact accommodating cavities 72 are designed to respectively accommodate the contacts 80.
Each of the contacts 80 comprises a flat base plate 81, a soldering part 82 that extends from one end of the base plate 81 and that is soldered to a conductor pattern formed on a circuit board, and a spring arm 83 that extends from the other end of the base plate 81. Engaging parts 84 that are press-fitted to press-fitting holes respectively formed on both side walls of the first contact accommodating cavities 71 and second contact accommodating cavities 72 are provided on both sides of the base plates 81. Furthermore, each spring arm 83 extends toward one end of the base plate 81 by being bent back from the other end via a bent part; these spring arms 83 are designed to be contacted by a component to be connected (not shown in the figure) that is positioned to face the circuit board.
Furthermore, preload application parts 73 that apply a preload to the spring arms 83 are provided on the respective molded parts of the first contact accommodating cavities 71 and second contact accommodating cavities 72. The tip ends of the spring arms 83 are bent back and positioned in contact with the undersurfaces of the preload application parts 73, so that a preload is applied to the spring arms 83.
In the electrical connector 60 constructed in this manner, the soldering parts 82 of the contacts 80 that are respectively accommodated in the first contact accommodating cavities 71 and second contact accommodating cavities 72 are connected by reflow soldering to the conductor pattern formed on the circuit board, so that the electrical connector 60 is surface-mounted on the circuit board. During the connection of these soldering parts 82 by reflow soldering, the preload application parts 73 formed on the housing 70 are deformed due to the heat during this heating, so that there are cases in which the preload for the spring arms 83 is varied. In order to avoid this, it is conceivable to increase the thickness of the preload application parts 73, thus preventing the deformation of these preload application parts. However, if the thickness of the preload application parts 73 is thus increased, the height of the housing 70 will be increased.


Substrates with slotted metals and related methods are provided. According to one aspect, a slotted metal attached to a substrate can include a metal patterned with slots less than or about equal to 2 microns. The slots can result in line widths that are approximately the size of a single metallurgical grain in an unpatterned layer.

MEMS devices have a wide variety of applications and are becoming more prevalent in commercial products. MEMS devices are ideal for wireless devices because of their low power and loss along with high isolation and linearity characteristics operating in radio frequency (RF) ranges. In particular, MEMS devices are well suited for applications including cellular telephones, wireless networks, communication systems, and radar systems. In wireless devices, MEMS devices can be used as antenna switches, mode switches, transmit/receive switches, tunable filters, matching networks and the like.
MEMS devices (also known as micromachines) are generally classified into two groups according to their manufacturing techniques. One is called a bulk micromachine which is obtained by manufacturing a three-dimensional structure in such a way that a silicon wafer or a SOI (Silicon On Insulator) substrate itself is processed by etching or polishing. The other is called a surface micromachine which is obtained by manufacturing a three-dimensional structure in such a way that a thin film is stacked over a substrate such as a silicon wafer and the thin film is processed by photolithography and etching.
Surface micromachined MEMS devices can have reproducibility and reliability concerns that vary with the processes used to fabricate them. One problem is associated with the use of chemical etchants, which can lead to rough features on the surfaces of processed metal structures. These rough features on metal structures are known as hillocks. Hillocks can grow due to grain boundary slippage and compressive stress. Such growth is typically driven by thermal history at elevated temperatures during processing where the metal structures are in compression since they expand more rapidly than the substrate, insulator or other structure to which the metal structures are attached or in which the metal structures are buried. The elevated temperatures can also cause the metal grains to coalesce into larger grains. Since the metals are in compression, if grain slippage occurs, it relieves this compression by displacing outward to make space. This displacement is on the order of the grain size and can form a hillock.
The presence of hillocks on MEMS devices can prevent proper device operation. For example, hillocks can increase leakage and breakdown reliability where hillocks are field intensifiers in high voltage regions of the MEMS device. Further, hillocks create natural stress concentration points that are more likely to fragment over time, which can create destructive free particulates in the MEMS device. If a MEMS device closes on a hillock, this may cause fragmentation. Also, if the hillock is present in a gap between two element of the MEMS device, it may limit the motion and thus the function of the MEMS device. This is particularly important in capacitive RF MEMS devices where very small gaps are required for optimal function. As a result, it is highly desirable to reduce or eliminate hillocks. Accordingly, in light of these difficulties, there exists a need to improve MEMS metal structures and related formation techniques for reducing or eliminating hillock formation.