A wireless terminal using switchable first and second reception antennas to perform diversity reception of data transmitted from a base station is proposed. The terminal includes an average value calculation unit that calculates an average value of a reception level measurement result of the first reception antenna and a reception level measurement result of the second reception antenna; and a correction unit that corrects the average value calculated on the basis of a predetermined thermal noise level, a received RSSI value measurement result of the first reception antenna, and a received RSSI value measurement result of the second reception antenna.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless terminal. The wireless terminal may perform diversity reception using two switchable antenna systems. The present invention also relates to a level measurement method used in such a mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional mobile communications systems, reception performance can be degraded due to fading caused by the interference of multiple waves. In order to reduce the influence of fading, mobile terminals in the conventional mobile communication systems utilize a plurality of antenna branches that are independent in view of space, polarization, angle, frequency, or time.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a wireless terminal having a conventional diversity reception function.
In FIG. 1, a wireless terminal 10 such as a mobile phone or the like includes a first reception antenna 11, a first AGC (Auto Gain Control) circuit 12, a first correlation value calculation unit 13, a first path profile storing memory 14, a second reception antenna 21, a second AGC circuit 22, a second correlation value calculation unit 23, a second path profile storing memory 24, and a level measurement result selection/removal processing unit 31.
The first reception antenna 11 and the second reception antenna 21 transmit and receive communication signals between the wireless terminal 10 and a base station 40.
The first AGC circuit 12 amplifies a signal received through the first reception antenna 11 to a certain level. The second AGC circuit 22 also amplifies a signal received through the second reception antenna 21 to a certain level. The first correlation value calculation unit 13 obtains a correlation value of the inverse-spread code and the signal that was received through the first reception antenna 11 and amplified by the first AGC circuit. The second correlation value calculation unit 23 obtains a correlation value of the inverse-spread code and the signal that was received through the second reception antenna 21 and amplified by the second AGC circuit. The first path profile storing memory 14 stores, as a path profile, an Ec/NO value (Ec/NO1) calculated by the first correlation value calculation unit 13. The second path profile storing memory 24 stores, as a path profile, an Ec/NO value (Ec/NO2) calculated by the second correlation value calculation unit 23.
The level measurement result selection/removal processing unit 31 compares the Ec/NO1 stored in the first path profile storing memory and the Ec/NO2 stored in the second path profile storing memory in order to select the higher value and discard the lower value. Then, the level measurement result selection/removal processing unit 31 reports the selected value i.e. the higher value to the basement station 40.
In other words, the wireless terminal 10 measures levels respectively in the first reception antenna 11 and the second reception antenna 21, and adopts the highest level measurement value in order to report this value to the base station 40 while discarding the other level measurement value (as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-171210).
However, the above conventional technique involves a problem whereby the effect of diversity reception cannot be fully utilized because only the maximum level measurement value is reported to the base station and the other level measurement value is discarded.
Also, conventional wireless terminals such as mobile phones or the like have to obtain correlation power for the received signals and to store many values obtained by integrating the obtained results so as to correspond to the width of the path window. This requires an immense amount of memory and storing of the integration result for each of the reception antennas, leading to larger circuit sizes, which is problematic.

Wireless terminal and level measurement method


An underground system for distributing and filtering post-septic effluent includes an underground watertight basin containing a filter and conduit connecting a septic tank with the watertight basin for transporting the post-septic effluent into the watertight basin. A discharge pipe connected to the watertight basin transports filtered effluent from the watertight basin into a drainfield reserve for introduction into surrounding natural ground soil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to underground drainfield systems and methods for treating, filtering, cleaning, discharging and recycling septic tank effluent or drainfield water in difficult soil conditions that historically have required an above ground mound system or an intermittent sand filter.
2. The Prior Art
In the United States, a growing number of households rely upon a septic system rather than centralized wastewater treatment facilities. In fact, approximately one fourth of households in the United States use a septic system to treat, filter, clean and disburse wastewater. A typical septic system consists of a septic tank, a distribution/filtration box and some form of an underground disposal field. Several types of underground disposal fields have been developed and are known in the art. The most common type is a drainfield, also known as a leach field or absorption field. There have been several variations of drainfields, including mound systems, sand filters and dig outs.
Once sewage undergoes treatment in a septic tank, the resulting effluent is transported to the drainfield. This is accomplished by either gravity or through a mechanical pump, with the goal of uniformly discharging effluent below ground into the soil for final treatment and disposal. Another goal of the drainfield is to naturally filter the post-septic tank effluent to remove any remaining pathogens, bacteria, or biomass prior to flowing into the ground water. Sizing of a drainfield depends upon several factors including the area of the property, the number of individuals in the household, water usage habits of the household, on-site soil conditions, and government regulations. One typical form of a drainfield comprises a collection of multiple parallel-perforated pipes connected by one or more distribution pipes that allow distribution of effluent into the surrounding ground soil for filtration.
Historically, construction of a drainfield has been expensive, time consuming and inconvenient. Construction usually begins with the excavation of a large rectangular cross section of land by digging multiple trenches at least three feet deep to lay the necessary perforated pipes. These trenches are usually less than 100 feet long, and dug to create an essentially flat bottom. In one prior art drainfield construction, each trench is first filled with a layer of gravel. Next, a perforated pipe is placed in the trench, with an additional six-inch layer of gravel added to surround the perforated pipe. A geotextile fabric or a similar product is placed over the approximately two feet of gravel. Finally, a covering layer of backfill soil is added. This entire process requires transport of large amounts of gravel, backfill soil and piping from a distribution center to the drainfield site. The steps of digging trenches, creating a network of piping and laying different layers of filtering media requires specialized equipment, multiple experienced workers, time, and large amounts of natural resources.
In many areas of the country, unique soil conditions require a modified drainfield known as a mound or raised drainfield. In areas with high groundwater, shallow soil over impermeable soil or slowly permeable soil, a mound must be created above ground to allow proper distribution and filtration of post-septic effluent. However, above ground mounds often require a mechanical pump to raise effluent from the septic tank above ground to the mound. Second, mounds require transport of additional natural resources to the site. Third, mounds are typically unsightly and greatly reduce the use of the land. Lastly, mounds require a relatively larger area than conventional drainfields and also require routine monitoring and maintenance.
For areas with high ground water or impervious soil, one alternative for a mound or raised drainfield is an intermittent sand filter. An intermittent sand filter is a water impermeable basin placed in the ground containing a network of perforated pipes located in a sand bed. The water impermeable basin is first filled with a layer of aggregate, most commonly pea gravel. Next, a second layer of medium grade clean sand is added to the basin to create the sand bed. A network of perforated pipes is placed on top of the sand bed. A second layer of aggregate is then added to the basin. A larger perforated outflow pipe is typically placed within the basin for collection of filtered effluent that then enters the drainfield.
Although intermittent sand filters reduce the need for a mound, improve the appearance of the underground disposal field and allow for better use of the ground, there are several disadvantages. First, intermittent sand filters require transporting large volumes of heavy sand to the drainfield site, which can be very costly. Second, intermittent sand filters require very large cross sections to be effective. For example, a typical two-bedroom home would require a sand filter nineteen by nineteen feet in cross section. Thus, these systems can only work with large acreage households. Third, most intermittent sand filters require a mechanical pump, which results in greater energy and maintenance costs.
Apart from intermittent sand filters and mound systems, a third type of drainfield called a "dig out" has also been used in the art. With a dig out, a large cross sectional area of the soil near the septic tank is excavated to remove poor soil. Good quality soil is then transported to the site through one or more commercial vehicles. The good soil is then evenly deposited within the excavated area. A network of perforated piping is assembled and placed on top of the newly deposited soil, which is connected to either a distribution box or directly to the septic tank. Backfill soil is then added over the network of perforated piping. While this method of creating a drainfield has some benefits with respect to an intermittent sand filter, the overall costs, manpower and natural resources required to create a dig out system are significantly greater.
There exists a need for an alternative to intermittent sand filters and mound drainfields for efficient treatment, filtration, and distribution of effluent. In addition, there is a need for a filter media that is light weight, portable, inexpensive and allows for increased filtration to decrease the cross sectional size of these systems. Finally, there is a need for such systems to be modular for easy transport to the drainfield site, to allow improved fabrication of these systems, for further reduction in overall costs.

Septic tank and drainfield products, systems and methods


An apparatus for pumping a downhole fluid includes a carrier configured to be conveyed through a borehole penetrating the earth and a pump disposed at the carrier and configured to pump the downhole fluid. A multi-phase electric motor is coupled to the pump and configured to receive multi-phase electrical energy from a power source in order to operate the pump. The multi-phase electrical motor includes multiple windings and a switch configured to connect the multiple windings in a configuration selected from a plurality of configurations. The plurality of configurations includes (i) a first configuration where one terminal of each winding of the multiple windings is uniquely connected to one terminal of another winding and (ii) a second configuration where one terminal of each winding of the multiple windings is commonly connected to one terminal of each of the other windings.

Geologic formations are used for many applications such as hydrocarbon production, geothermal production, and carbon dioxide sequestration. Typically, boreholes are drilled into the formations to provide access to them. Various tools may be conveyed in the boreholes in order to characterize the formations. Formation characterization provides valuable information related to the intended use of the formation so that drilling and production resources can be used efficiently.
One type of downhole tool is a fluid analyzer tool. The fluid analyzer tool seals a portion of the borehole wall using a packer or a pad sealing element. A pump then draws a sample of formation fluid from the formation and places it into a fluid analyzer module for analysis or a sample chamber for retrieval from the borehole. Because boreholes generally have a small diameter on the order of about six to eight inches in some embodiments, certain spatial constraints, which can limit functionality, are imposed on the tool. Hence, it would be appreciated in the drilling industry if fluid analyzer tools could be improved.

Flexibility of downhole fluid analyzer pump module


A light absorbing layer is formed in a photodetector that receives and detects light guided therein. Carriers are generated in the light absorbing layer in response to the guided light. Unwanted carriers likely to be generated in regions other than the light absorbing layer when light is guided into the photodetector are swept out by a carrier sweeping arrangement to improve the time response and light-current characteristics of the photodetector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photodetection and, more particularly a photodetector of a waveguide type, a surface incidence type or the like suitable for use in optical integration circuitry and an optical communication system including such a photodetector. The photodetector is arranged to sweep out unwanted carriers or holes and may be used to receive a signal or light in an optical communication or similar system.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 1 shows a prior art waveguide type photodetector. In FIG. 1, an undoped GaAs buffer layer 402, an undoped Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As first clad layer 403, an undoped Al.sub.y Ga.sub.1-y As waveguide layer 404 having a thickness of several .mu.m and a undoped Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As second clad layer 405 are successively layered on a semi-insulating GaAs substrate 400. Further, an active or light absorbing layer 406 having a thickness of 0.2 .mu.m to 0.5 .mu.m is layered, and a source electrode 411, a gate electrode 412 and a drain electrode 413 are deposited thereon. This photodetector operates in a biased state, and a light to be detected is propagated through the waveguide 404. As a result, a photocurrent flows between the drain electrode 413 and the source electrode 411, and the light is detected.
In the prior art photodetector, however, carriers (electrons and holes) generated by a light absorbed in regions other than the absorbing layer 406 (i.e., the waveguide layer 404, the buffer layer 402, the clad layers 403 and 405, the substrate 400 and the like) are not swept out and are likely to be stored therein and extinguished after a certain time. The response characteristic of the photodetector is adversely affected by the unwanted stored carriers that flow into a light detecting portion thereof within that extinction time (a recombination time of carriers). Holes, especially, present a difficult problem because their mobility is much smaller than that of electrons. Further, an electrostatic potential is caused by the stored carriers, and a potential at the side of the substrate 400 fluctuates. As a result, the confinement of carriers in the absorbing layer 406 is lowered, and the light-current characteristic of the photodetector becomes unstable. Hence, the detection sensitivity is likely to degrade.

Photodetector capable of sweeping out unwanted carriers and an optical communication system including the same


An ultrasound imaging system that utilizes a short sinusoidal pulse burst for excitation, and performs coherent detection of the reflected signal, resulting in improved signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, the polarity of the rate of change of parameters, principally density, is preserved by the coherent detection. This allows a density versus distance signal to be reconstructed by integrating the coherently detected signal. The system includes components to calculate and apply all necessary phase corrections.

This invention relates to non-invasive ultrasonic measurement of properties of materials by a pulse echo technique, as in seismology, sonar, and medical imaging. More particularly, the present invention relates to the production of a two dimensional image of the density of physiological material when a sector scan or other type of two dimensional scan is used for medical diagnosis.
Pulse echo techniques for non-invasive determination of the properties of materials have been developed for many fields, including radar, sonar, seismology, and medical diagnostic ultrasound. The following discussion will relate specifically to the last of these, and even more specifically to a system intended to produce an image of a plane section by means of a raster scan. A typical sector scan geometry is shown in FIG. 1. Component 1 comprises the bulk of the ultrasound system, including the final display or print out device, and 2 is the ultrasonic transducer. Element 3 is the physiological system being scanned. For the sake of simplicity, it will be assumed that 3 consists of two volume regions, 3a and 3b, with differing parameters, but that the parameters are uniform within each region. To produce a two dimensional planar image, a number of closely spaced line scans are made sequentially, in a plane, by slightly changing the angle of the transducer between successive lines. The result shown in FIG. 1 is a sector scan, but other types of raster scan are also possible.
The process of producing a signal for each line in turn is identical, and the following discussion will pertain to the single line containing points A and B. The portion of the system shown as 1 in FIG. 1 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2. A pulse generator, 4, generates short excitation pulses spaced farther apart in time than the time required for all reflections from one pulse to arrive back at the transducer. The pulses pass through a transmit/receive switch, 5, to a transducer, 6, which converts the electrical pulse to an acoustic pulse which is directed into the material under study. The acoustic pulse, suitably focused, propagates through the material in approximately a straight line, governed by the wave equation. There is attenuation with distance, but no reflection so long as the properties of the material are uniform. For liquids, the density and one elastic constant, compressibility, determine the main features of the propagation. Although seeming to be a considerable over simplification for most physiological systems, analysis with these parameters is often reasonably satisfactory. A better model for anisotropic solids requires another elastic constant, shear modulus. For isotropic solids, such as muscle, more elastic constants are required, up to a theoretical total maximum of 21. In all cases, another constant representing a dissipation factor, determines the attenuation.
Exact analysis is virtually impossible with the complex geometry encountered in physiological imaging, but fortunately it is unnecessary because of two general considerations. The first is that, irrespective of the number of parameters, when any change in the value of density or elastic constants is encountered, as at point A, a fraction of the incident energy will be reflected back toward the transducer, where it is converted back to an electrical signal. This proceeds through the transmit/receive switch to an amplifier, 7, which uses programmed or automatic gain control, or both, to maintain the amplitude of reflections from identical changes in parameters at different depths approximately constant despite the effect of attenuation. A detector, 8, senses the envelope of the reflected pulse and it is stored and/or displayed as a function of the time following the excitation pulse. Only a display is shown in FIG. 2. The second general consideration is that the change in velocity caused by the change in material parameters that give rise to useful reflections is fairly small, so long as there is no bone or air in the path. Consequently, since the approximate velocity is known, the time between the excitation and the return of a reflection can be interpreted as being proportional to the distance from the transducer to the point at which a change in parameters caused the reflection. Reflections from deeper points, such as B, arrive at later times, and the complete set of reflections from one pulse, two in this example, result in the signal shown on the display, 9. Similar displays for the other scan lines, properly positioned on the display, provide an outline of region 3b. For the sake of simplicity, changes in material parameters will henceforth be referred to as changes in density, although changes in elastic constants may also contribute. The image, although resulting from changes in density, is not an image of density versus position. Rather, it is an image of the absolute value of the derivative of density in the direction of propagation of the ultrasonic wave. For most purposes an image of density would be more desirable, but it cannot be obtained by integrating along the direction of propagation. That is because the value of the reflection, including polarity, would have to be integrated to provide density, but the envelope detection gives only the absolute value of the derivative.


A latch assembly for connecting a hood assembly to a truck includes a striker bolt that is surrounded by a sleeve that is engaged by a rotary latch. The sleeve is of shorter length than the striker bolt so that it can slide along the striker bolt. The rotary latch fixedly engages the sleeve so that any relative motion between the hood and frame translates to movement of the sleeve along the striker bolt rather than between the rotary latch and striker bolt. The sleeve arrangement thus provides wear protection to rotary latch, allows for self alignment of the hood and fender assembly along the striker bolt axis and dynamic movement of the latch during vehicle operation.

Heavy duty over the highway trucks are typically equipped with a single piece hood and fender assembly that pivots on hinges connected to the front of the frame rails. Many techniques are used for fixing the rear portion of the hood and fender assembly in the closed position. For example on some trucks simple elastomeric bands are stretched between the rear of the hood and fender assembly and the cab.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,637,531 and 6,394,211 which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose a mounting system that uses latches mounted on struts connected to the frame rails to fix the rear portion of the hood and fender assembly in the closed position while isolating the hood and fender assembly from the operator cab. The system described in those patents addresses several problems associated with the connection between the hood and fender assembly and the truck. Flexure of the truck body that translates into movement of the hood and fender assembly can be transmitted to the operator cab causing vibration and noise. To mitigate the effects of hood and fender assembly movement on the cab, the patented system mounts the hood and fender assembly directly to the vehicle frame to isolate the cab from the hood and fender assembly.
Another challenge related to the rear connection of the hood and fender assembly to the truck is that the connecting means needs to allow for variations in the position of the hood and fender assembly along the frame rails or with respect to the cab due to tolerance stack up, dynamic loading while the vehicle is in use, and also changes in hood and fender geometry as the assembly wears. This issue is addressed by the patented system by providing a conical shaped bracket that engages the latch pin and guides it into engagement with the keeper.


A branch stent for implantation from a main blood vessel in a plurality of branch blood vessels having respective branch blood vessel diameters, the branch stent comprising: a tubular element having: an axis of elongation; a first and a second tubular element end; the tubular element covered with a tubular element cover; and a parachute element having an unconstrained flat-toroid/disc configuration, the parachute element having a parachute element cover, the parachute element positioned perpendicularly at the second tubular element end, and positioned coaxially to the axis of elongation; wherein the branch stent is implanted from within a fenestrated stent-graft having oversized fenestrations, the fenestrated stent-graft first implanted in the main blood vessel at a bifurcation zone including the plurality of branch blood vessels, with each of the oversized fenestrations having respective diameters larger than respective branch blood vessel diameters; wherein the branch stent and the fenestrated stent-graft are together a multi-stent.

The current invention relates to medical stents in general, and specifically to low crimp intravascular bifurcation zone implants and deployment methods thereof. In the specification and claims which follow hereinbelow, the term "implant" is a general term, interchangeable with "intravascular device"—both terms herein intended to mean "stent-graft"—as known in the art. The terms "bifurcation zone" and "bifurcation", and variations thereof, as used in the specification and claim which follow hereinbelow, are intended to mean points/places/zones in the vascular system where at least one secondary/side blood vessel branches out of a typically larger, main artery/blood vessel. The terms, "stent" or "branch component" are intended to mean a tubular-shaped implant that connects a stent graft with side-branch blood vessels, thereby allowing natural blood flow to vital organs.
The term "delivery system", as used in the specification and claims which follow hereinbelow, is intended to mean a catheter and associated components, used to deliver and deploy an implant. Part of the catheter is a tube, as known in the art. The term "sheath", as used in the specification and claims which follow hereinbelow, is intended to mean a containment configuration/enclosure of one or more crimped stents. The sheath is included in the tube of the delivery system, as known in the art. Additional components of the delivery system include, but are not limited to guidewires and other wire/activation mechanisms, typically included within the catheter. The catheter is characterized by a "distal end", meaning the end of the catheter inserted into the body towards/at the bifurcation zone, and a "proximal end", meaning the end of the catheter extending out of the body, from where the delivery system is activated/manipulated by a skilled individual—all as known in the art. Typically, the sheath is located substantially at or near the distal end of the catheter.
The term "chronology", as used in the specification and claims which follow hereinbelow, when used to describe an implant procedure, is intended to mean the overall time and/or sequence of sub-procedures involved in an implant procedure or operation. The duration and number of sub-procedures and/or their complexity contribute to a longer chronology. Therefore, the term "chronology" is used interchangeably herein below to additionally mean the sequence, relative complexity, and/or to several sub-procedures involved in an implant procedure or operation. It is generally desirable to perform fewer and/or less time-consuming operations in a procedure. It is for this reason that shortening or lowering the chronology in an implant procedure is desirable.
A stent is placed or implanted within a vein, an artery, or another tubular body organ, as known in the art, for treating an occlusion, stenosis, aneurysm, collapse, dissection, or weakened, diseased, or abnormally dilated vessel or vessel wall, inter alia, by expanding the vessel and/or by reinforcing the vessel wall. In particular, stents are quite commonly implanted into locations such as, but not limited to: coronary, cardiac, pulmonary, neurovascular, peripheral vascular, renal, gastrointestinal, and reproductive systems.
Two important prior art applications for stents are directed to improving angioplasty results by preventing elastic recoil and remodeling of the vessel wall and for treating dissections in blood vessel walls caused by balloon angioplasty of coronary and peripheral arteries, by pressing intimal flaps together in a lumen at the site of dissection. Conventional stents have been used with limited success rates for treating more complex vascular problems, such as lesions at or near bifurcation zones.
Conventional stent technology is relatively well-developed. Conventional stent designs typically feature a straight tubular-shape having a single-type cellular structure, configuration, or pattern, which is repetitive along the stent longitudinal axis. In many stent designs, the repeating configuration has the strut and connecting-balloon catheter portions that can serve to impede blood flow at bifurcations. In addition to various implant configurations addressing bifurcation stenting, there are many methods for delivering a stent at or near a bifurcation point, the methods commonly called Fenestrated Endovascular Repair (FEVAR), in addition to endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), as known in the art.
The discussion which follows presents prior art, which has identified and/or attempted to address the problem.
Craig Kent, in "Clinical practice. Abdominal aortic aneurysms", The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 371, Issue 22, pp. 2101-2108, November 2014, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference, describes an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is a common disease in Western countries. The author proceeds to cite that the prevalence of AAA is 2.2 to 8% among men 65 to 80 years of age and the rates among women are one-fourth as high.
In the US alone, an estimated 1.5 million people have AAA, and more than 200,000 new diagnoses are made each year—as reported by Tang et al., "Lifetime Risk and Risk Factors for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in a 24-Year Prospective Study the ARIC Study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities)", Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, pp. 2468-2477, December 2016.
Approximately 150,000-200,000 deaths per year worldwide can be attributed to AAA rupture, as reported by Veronika Kessler et al., "AAA Revisited: A Comprehensive Review of Risk Factors, Management, and Hallmarks of Pathogenesis", Journal of Vascular Surgery, pp. 19-28, July 2008. Biomedicines, 10, 94, pp. 1-35, Jan. 2, 2022.
Reference is currently made to FIG. 1A, which is a schematic view of a typical aortic renal zone 2 having an endovascular aneurysm and a prior art endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) implant 3. Prior art implant 3 is characterized by a plurality of fixation or anchoring barbs 4; a main body 5; a contralateral gate 7; a contralateral limb extension 8; and an ipsilateral limb 9, in the treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA)—all as known in the art.
Reference is additionally made to FIGS. 1B-1E, which are schematic diagrams of respective morphologies of Infrarenal (1B), Juxtarenal (1C), Pararenal (1D), and Suprarenal (1E) AAA—as known in the art—showing variations (2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) of aortic renal zone 2 of FIG. 1A. An "aortic neck" (also referred to hereinbelow as "neck") is indicated by dimension "a", shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C. In prior art Juxtarenal/Suprarenal AAA repair, the presence of an aortic neck is necessary to receive fixation barbs 4 (ref FIG. 1A), which are used to anchor the implant onto the neck and to prevent a Type I endoleak. As such, the variations (2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) of typical aortic renal zone configuration corresponding, respectively, to Juxtarenal, Pararenal, and Suprarenal AAA's are increasingly difficult/improbable choices for such repairs.
Carpenter et al., "Impact of exclusion criteria on patient selection for endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair", Journal of Vascular Surgery, Vol. 34, Num. 6, pp. 1050-1054, December 2001, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference, note that 34% of potential patients treated by minimally invasive procedure failed by exclusion criteria of the products (54% from failure because of a short neck, 40% because of the wide neck and 14% neck angulation).
A large single-center experience reported that women were more often treated outside EVAR instructions for use criterion due to neck length (7.1% vs 1.3%)—as reported by Abbruzzese et al., "Outcomes following endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR): An anatomic and device-specific analysis", Journal of Vascular Surgery, pp. 19-28, July 2008.
Additionally, there are significant morphological differences in aorto-iliac segment in AAA patients of European and Asian origin. In comparison, left common femoral artery and right common femoral artery diameters for Caucasian and Asian patients, may differ by about 63-69% of their diameters—as reported by I. Banzic et al., "Morphological Differences in the Aorto-iliac Segment in AAA Patients of Caucasian and Asian Origin", European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Vol. 51, Issue 6, pp. 783-789, June 2016. A parameter such as an artery diameter is critical and serves to define whether a procedure may be performed or not.
An additional solution for the treatment of AAA is the Chimney (also known as "Snorkel") technique, as known in the art. In this method, the aortic stent graft and one or more of the branch stents are implanted simultaneously in the bifurcation zone, usually using opposing-direction of transcatheter approaches. For example, a stent-graft is implanted through a trans-femoral approach, and side-branch stents are implanted through right subclavian, right carotid, left carotid, and left subclavian arteries. The Chimney technique allows for a quick and cheap solution for urgent aneurysm cases, in place of time-consuming and expensive custom-made FEVAR options.
However, a major reason why physicians continue to use the Chimney technique (also called "ChEVAR") is the lack of other alternatives to supply a quick solution for the extremely mortal disease. The Chimney technique has many disadvantages, such as a high-risk for stroke (3.2-5% stroke related mortality), because of the required manipulation of brachiocephalic vessels. Following the Chimney procedure, 20% of patients experienced kidney injury, as reported by Scali et al., "Critical analysis of results after chimney endovascular aortic aneurysm repair raises cause for concern", Journal of Vascular Surgery, Volume 60, Issue 4, pp. 865-874, October 2014.
Lee et al., "Early experience with the snorkel technique for juxtarenal aneurysms", Journal of Vascular Surgery, Volume 55, Issue 4, pp. 935-946, April 2012., report that ChEVAR has a relatively high 30-day mortality rate of 7.1%, and 3-month mortality rate of 10.7%. Type Ia endoleaks following ChEVAR appear in about 14% of cases, as reported by Moulakakis et al., "The chimney-graft technique for preserving supra-aortic branches: a review", Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 339-346, May 2013.
In the case of one or several component failures, the only solution to fix the problem is to perform an open surgical intervention—which is an unacceptable risk for high-risk patients. ChEVAR is additionally limited for small aorta diameters, typically for women and Asian origin patients' as reflected by W. Guo, T. Zhang, "Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Prevalence in China", Endovascular Today, pp. 76-82, February 2014.
Blood vessel morphology is also a limitation for EVAR procedures. Even for traditional Infrarenal (1B), morphology, after successful AAA implantation, a post-procedure endoleak may occur. The typical reason for such an event to occur is stent-graft migration or proximal aortic neck dilatation in the zone of the proximal stent graft's ring. As a result, the most critical event is the endoleak type I, due to continued pressurization of the aortic sac, which may lead to late rupture of aneurysms. In this case, they require intervention as soon as they are encountered. The overall incidence of early and late-type I endoleaks is thought to be as much as 20%, depending on the series, device, and local practice patterns, with intraoperative type I endoleaks reported at a rate of 3% to 7%, as reported by B. Colvard, J. T. Le, "Early Detection of Type I Endoleaks", Endovascular Today, pp. 41-44, February 2013.
In addition to AAA, Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) are a life-threatening condition causing significant short and long-term mortality due to rupture and dissection. An aneurysm is defined as a dilatation of the aorta of greater than 150% of its normal diameter for a given segment. For the thoracic aorta, a diameter greater than 3.5 cm is generally considered dilatated, whereas greater than 4.5 cm would be considered aneurysmal. Aneurysms may affect one or more segments of the thoracic aorta, including the ascending aorta, the arch, and the descending thoracic aorta. Bret P Nelson, (October 2015), "Thoracic Aneurysm". Medscape. Retrieved 2017-04-16, reports that as many as 25% of patients with TAA also have an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The aortic arch branch vessels, brachiocephalic, left common carotid, and left subclavian arteries, may be part of the aneurysm or maybe close to it.
Prior art implant procedures have accompanying risks, complexity, and expenses, along with concomitantly long procedural chronologies—as outlined hereinabove. There is a need for implant configurations and associated techniques that can allow effective crimping of stents to address aorta and bifurcation branches, employing a singular procedure and/or minimal sub-procedures, thereby yielding minimal and/or a reduced chronology and having concomitant higher success rates (and/or lower risks) in the short and long run. As presented above, an EVAR solution for pre-and post-operation in the aortic suprarenal and arch zones is needed—including novel crimping and deployment techniques for bifurcation stents and temporary embolic protection devices as part of a complex scaffolding that includes a main vessel device supporting branch components/side stents for passive and active functional use.
Such implants and techniques would be especially beneficial for endovascular Juxtarenal, Pararenal, and Suprarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) and analogous Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm (TAA) procedures/repairs.

Branch stent for implantation from a main blood vessel and deployment methods


Methods and apparatus for spooling a flexible member onto a drum with a spooler assembly. In certain embodiments, a spooler assembly comprises a spooler arm operable to guide a flexible member onto a drum rotating about a drum axis. A first actuator moves the spooler arm in a first direction that is parallel to the drum axis. The first actuator operates in a first mode wherein the flexible member is allowed to free movement in the first direction and a second mode wherein the first actuator controls the movement of the flexible member in the first direction. The spooler assembly may also comprise a second actuator that moves the spooler arm in a second direction that is perpendicular to the drum axis.

The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for spooling a linear flexible member. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for guiding a flexible member onto a rotating drum.
A spooler is a device used to guide a flexible member onto a drum and are used in many industries. Examples of flexible members include: cable, wireline, slickline, sandline, wire rope, and wire. Overhead spoolers comprise a swiveling arm mounted above a drum with a guide roller device or measuring head on the end to guide the flexible member onto the drum to ensure even and smooth wraps. The opposite end of the arm is attached to one or more swivel joints that allow the arm to be controlled in position both side to side and up and down. Many spoolers rely on hydraulic, or other power, to control the position of the arm.
In many spooling applications, it is desirable for the spooler to allow the material to "free spool" from side-to-side but provide power to guide the material onto the drum as needed. Many spooled materials have very little pulling power from side-to-side while wrapping onto the drum and too much drag from the spooler arm will not allow the material to self-spool. Thus, it is often necessary for the operator to constantly power the spooler arm in order to keep the spooler head properly positioned.
Because of this constant operation, auto-spoolers have been developed that move in synchronization with the drum to constantly move side-to-side as the drum rotates. When utilized in spooling multi-strand wireline cable, these auto-spoolers often do not operate properly. The multi-stranded cable has a tendency to change diameter as the cable is torqued and twisted. Although the diameter changes are minimal they can have a large effect on how the cable is spooled onto a drum. For example, consider a cable with a nominal outer diameter of 0.220 inches that sees a maximum diameter variation of 0.002 inches. If the cable is being wound on a 30 inch wide drum, the drum will hold 136 wraps per row at the nominal diameter, 135 wraps per row at the maximum diameter of 0.222 inches, and 137 wraps per row at the minimum diameter of 0.218 inches. Because each row of cable uses the previously spooled row as a guide, if the number of wraps per row is not consistent, the potential of damage to the cable exists.
Thus, there remains a need to develop methods and apparatus for spooling flexible materials onto a drum, which overcome some of the foregoing difficulties while providing more advantageous overall results.


The present teachings provide a microfluidic apparatus comprising a body defining at least one channel that extends through said body, the channel including an inlet and an outlet; and an electrode positioned in proximity to the body and configured to provide an electrical field near the outlet of the channel to at least partially confine an eluted sample component passing from the channel. The present teachings also provide an electrophoresis system, comprising a microfluidic chip defining a plurality of channels passing therethrough, each of the channels having an inlet and an outlet; a first electrode in electrical communication with the inlet of each of the channels; a second electrode in electrical communication with the outlet of each of the channels; and a third electrode in electrical communication with the outlet of each of the channels, wherein the third electrode is positioned to provide an electrical field to at least partially confine an eluted sample component passing from any of the channels. The present teachings also provide a method for confining a sample component eluting from a channel of a microfluidic chip, comprising generating an electrical field in proximity to an outlet of a channel in a microfluidic chip to at least partially confine an eluted sample component passing from the channel, thereby reducing distortion of the eluted sample component and mixing with an adjacent eluted sample component.

In biotechnology, separation and analysis of biological samples is critically important. Moreover, it is desirable to conduct multiple separations and analyses of the separated components simultaneously to increase the speed and efficiency at which chemical samples are evaluated. For example, separation technologies such as electrophoresis are used in DNA sequencing, protein molecular weight determination, genetic mapping, and other types of processes used to gather large amounts of analytical information about particular chemical samples.
One method used to separate chemical samples into their component parts is electrophoresis. Electrophoresis is the migration of charged colloidal particles or molecules through a solution under the influence of an applied electric field usually provided by immersed electrodes, where the colloidal particles are a suspension of finely divided particles in a continuous media. Historically, a polymer gel containing the finely divided particles is placed between two glass plates and an electric field applied to both ends of the plates. This method, however, offers a low level of automation and long analysis times.
More recently, the capillary electrophoresis method was developed, which has the added advantages of speed, versatility and low running costs. Operation of a capillary electrophoresis system involves application of a high voltage (typically 5–15 kV) across a narrow bore capillary (typically 25–100 μm). The capillary is filled with electrolyte solution that conducts current through the inside of the capillary. The ends of the capillary are placed in reservoirs filled with the electrolyte. Electrodes made of an inert material such as platinum are also inserted into the electrolyte reservoirs to complete the electrical circuit. A small volume of sample is injected into one end of the capillary. Application of a voltage across the capillary causes movement of the sample ions towards a corresponding electrode at the opposite end of the capillary. Depending upon various factors, the different components in the sample will travel through the capillary at different rates. Therefore, the sample will be separated into its various components or at least into those components that travel through the capillary at the same rate. A detector, such as a emission detector, is positioned at the opposite end of the capillary to detect the presence of the various sample components as they travel through the capillary and past the detector. The sample may be labeled with a fluorescent marker so that when the sample components pass through a beam of light at the detector, the fluorescent marker fluoresces, and the fluorescence is detected as an electric signal. The intensity of the electric signal depends on the amount of fluorescent marker present in the detection zone. The plot of detector response with time is then generated which is termed an electropherogram.
In traditional capillary electrophoresis systems, analysis or detection of the separated components is performed while the sample is still located within the capillary and may be accomplished using photometric techniques such as absorbance and fluorescence. Absorbance and fluorescence is where excitation light is directed toward the capillary tube, and light emitted from the sample (e.g., fluorescence) is measured by a detector, thereby providing information about the separated components. Therefore, in these systems, excitation light directed at the sample, as well as light emitted from the sample, must be transmitted through the capillary's walls. A drawback of this approach is that the tubular shape of the fused silica capillaries causes significant scattering of light. The problem associated with light scattering is exacerbated by the fact that silica itself gives off a background level of fluorescence and further by having multiple capillaries disposed side-by-side, as scattered excitation light from one capillary interferes with the detection of samples in neighboring capillaries.
A preferred variation of the capillary electrophoresis system described above replaces the capillary tubes with a number of parallel channels formed in a substrate such as a plate or chip, where the channels are in fluid communication with a pair of electrodes. This type of system is known, for example, as a microfluidic chip or micro-channel array. Such microfluidic chips are advantageous for high-throughput applications where a large number of samples are to be separated or otherwise manipulated at one time. However, similar to the traditional capillary electrophoresis system described above, on-chip detection or detecting or analyzing separated components within a chip, is problematic as excitation light is scattered or otherwise disrupted by the substrate material surrounding each of the micro-channels in the chip, since a substrate material such as plastic has a higher background fluorescence compared to glass.
One approach to solving the problem of on-chip detection, which has also been employed in capillary systems, is to detect separated or eluted sample components in a detection cell positioned adjacent to, but physically separate from, the chip or capillary system. This may be referred to as "off-chip" detection. The detection cell houses a polymer matrix through which the eluted sample components pass; however, there are no other structural components within the detection cell. The eluted sample components in this case simply traverse or pass through the polymer matrix from the inlet end of the detection cell to the outlet end. Since there are no other physical structures within the detection cell, excitation light that is directed into the detection cell only passes through the outer detection cell wall and through the polymer matrix rather than through multiple channel walls or capillary tube walls. This results in less scattering of the excitation light. The location within the detection cell where such excitation light is passed may be referred to as a "detection zone."
The composition and configuration of the detection cell are selected to provide superior optical characteristics, e.g., a flat quartz chamber or low refractive index material. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/812,750, filed Mar. 19, 2001 and entitled "Detection Cell For Guiding Excitation Light Therein and Method For Using Same," incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, is directed to such a detection cell that is made of a material having a low index of refraction lower than the polymer matrix to further reduce scattering by confining the excitation light between the walls of the detection cell having the lower index of refraction.
Maintaining the integrity of the eluted sample components in the polymer matrix of the detection cell, however, is important. In other words, as the eluted samples pass through the polymer matrix of a detection cell, the eluted sample components tend to distort or disperse in both vertical and horizontal directions, thereby reducing detection signal intensity and interfering with adjacent eluted sample components. Therefore, it is important to confine the eluted sample components to a "path" in the polymer matrix of the detection cell so that the eluted sample components will pass through the detection cell without significant dispersion.
In some capillary systems, such eluted sample components exiting the capillary are transported by a "sheath flow" of liquid through the detection cell to a detection zone within the detection cell where detection or analysis of the sample band takes place. A drawback of sheath flow systems is that in order to avoid distortion of a sample component, precise control of the flow rate of the sheath flow liquid is required. Another drawback of sheath flow systems is that the pressure used to drive the flow of the sheath flow liquid can cause back flow of the separation media in the channels, thereby impacting resolution. Further, the liquid flow that creates the "sheath" imparts a velocity profile to the eluted sample component, which, in turn, affects the index of refraction and the resolution.
In other off-chip detection systems, an eluted sample component (including an eluted sample component that is a discrete peak or band and an eluted sample component that elutes as a continuous stream) is transported from the outlet of the channels to a detection zone located in a detection cell by electrophoresis under the influence of the same voltage difference used to conduct the electrophoretic separation. Examples of capillary electrophoresis apparatus employing such detection systems are found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,529,679 by Takahashi et al and 5,583,826 by Nordman, both of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. However, because of the larger cross-sectional area of the detection cell as compared to the lumen of the channels, the electric field diverges at each channel outlet causing a distortion of an eluted sample component. Such distortion results in severe loss of spatial resolution between subsequent sample components eluting from a single channel and between sample components eluting from adjacent channels. This loss of spatial resolution tends to reduce the detectability of these sample components and may result in actual mixing of the sample components or optical cross-talk between such sample zones.
FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a portion of a microfluidic electrophoresis chip and illustrates the problem of distortion of sample components eluted from a microfluidic chip. FIG. 1 illustrates a microfluidic chip 100 having channels 104 through which charged sample components or bands 102 pass under a voltage applied between two electrodes 106, 108. As shown, discrete sample bands 102 are present within the channels 104 of the chip 100. Upon exiting the channels 104, however, the sample bands 102 are distorted while moving along their electrophoretic flow paths 110, as the sample bands 102 tend to follow the exemplary, divergent flow lines 112 (shown for one channel only).
Thus, there remains a need for an improved system and method for confining or otherwise reducing distortion of eluted sample components (including both eluted sample components that elute as discrete peaks or bands and those that elute as a continuous stream) passing from channels in a microfluidic chip or similar device.

Apparatus and method for confining eluted samples in electrophoresis systems


Providing a circuit for preventing simultaneous ON operations at a relay drive apparatus, which can prevent the simultaneous ON operations securely, the circuit includes a first diode, a second diode, a first transistor connected through the first diode with a first drive unit for controlling ON/OFF operation, a second transistor connected through the second diode with the second drive unit for controlling ON/OFF operation, a first junction point of the first resistor and the first drive unit, a second junction point of the second resistor and the second drive unit, a third junction point of the first diode and the first transistor, a fourth junction point of the second diode and the second transistor, a third diode connected with the second junction point and the third junction point, and a fourth diode connected with the first junction point and the fourth junction point.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a circuit for preventing simultaneous ON operations at a relay drive apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a circuit for preventing simultaneous ON operations at a relay drive apparatus, a usual inhibit circuit by a logic IC is applied.
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the circuit for preventing simultaneous ON operations at the usual relay drive apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, in a relay drive circuit, an inhibit circuit 4 as a circuit for preventing simultaneous ON operations is connected between two semiconductor relays 1, 2 and control signal output terminals P1, P2 of a controller 3 having a microcomputer for controlling ON/OFF operation of the semiconductor relays 1, 2. The control signal output terminals P1, P2 output respectively control signals, one of those is "H" level and the other of those is "L" level.
The semiconductor relay 1 includes a photo-coupler having a light emitting diode la connected through a first resistor R1 with +Vcc power supply and a semiconductor switch element 1b structured by a MOS-FET turning ON/OFF to be controlled by an output from the photo-coupler. The semiconductor switch element 1b is connected with one signal line (first signal line) 5a of two signal lines 5a, 5b to be alternatively turned ON for danger by simultaneous ON operations.
The semiconductor relay 2 includes a photo-coupler having a light emitting diode 2a connected through a second resistor R2 with +Vcc power supply and a semiconductor switch element 2b structured by a MOS-FET turning ON/OFF to be controlled by an output from the photo-coupler. The semiconductor switch element 2b is connected with the other signal line (second signal line) 5b of two signal lines 5a, 5b to be alternatively turned ON for danger by simultaneous ON operations.
The inhibit circuit 4 includes four NAND gate elements with two input terminal 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d. Two input terminals of the NAND gate element 4a are connected with the control signal output terminal P2, and an output terminal thereof is connected with one of two input terminals of the NAND gate element 4b. The other of two input terminals of the NAND gate element 4b is connected with the control signal output terminal P1, and an output terminal thereof is connected with the light emitting diode 1a of the semiconductor relay 1. Two input terminals of the NAND gate element 4c are connected with the control signal output terminal P1, and an output terminal thereof is connected with one of two input terminals of the NAND gate element 4d. The other of two input terminals of the NAND gate element 4d is connected with the control signal output terminal P2, and an output terminal thereof is connected with the light emitting diode 2a of the semiconductor relay 2.
In the above structure, when the control signal output terminal P1 of the controller 3 is "H" level and the control signal output terminal P2 is "L" level in normal operations, an output terminal of the NAND gate element 4b of the inhibit circuit 4 accordingly becomes "L" level, and an output terminal of the NAND gate element 4d becomes "H" level. Thereby, the light emitting diode 1a of the semiconductor relay 1 is turned on a light and the semiconductor switch element 1b turns ON. The light emitting diode 2a of the semiconductor relay 2 is OFF and the semiconductor switch element 2b is OFF.
Oppositely, when the control signal output terminal P1 of the controller 3 is "L" level and the control signal output terminal P2 is "H" level, the output terminal of the NAND gate element 4b of the inhibit circuit 4 accordingly becomes "H" level, and the output terminal of the NAND gate element 4d becomes "L" level. Thereby, the light emitting diode 2a of the semiconductor relay 2 is turned on a light and the semiconductor switch element 2b turns ON. The light emitting diode 1a of the semiconductor relay 1 is OFF and the semiconductor switch element 1b is OFF.
When the both control signal output terminals P1, P2 become "H" level because of a malfunction or stampede of the microcomputer as an abnormal operating condition, the both output terminals of the NAND gate elements 4b, 4d become "H" level. Thereby, the both light emitting diodes 1a, 2a of the semiconductor relays 1, 2 are OFF, and the both semiconductor switch elements 1b, 2b become OFF. Thus, on the abnormal operating condition, the semiconductor switch elements 1b, 2b are prevented from simultaneous ON operations.
A circuit for preventing ON operations, which is structured and works as mentioned above, is disclosed in Japan Patent Application Laid Open 2002-75622.

Circuit for preventing simultaneous on operations


A power amplifier includes an amplification circuit, an input stage matching circuit, and an output stage matching circuit. The amplification circuit amplifies an input signal in each frequency band by an active element common to the signals in plural types of frequency bans, and outputs the amplified signal. The input stage matching circuit is disposed on an input side of the active element, and performs an impedance-matching between an output impedance of a circuit which supplies the signals of the plural types of frequency bands and an input impedance of the active element. The output stage matching circuit is disposed on an output side of the active element, and performs an impedance-matching between an input impedance of a circuit which receives the signals of the plural types of frequency bands outputted from the active element and an output impedance of the active element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power amplifier (power amplification circuit), and, for example, relates to a power amplifier suitable for use in a transmission power amplifier applied to communication terminal apparatuses, such as a mobile phone of a CDMA system etc.
2. Description of Related Art
The number of mobile phone subscribers in Japan of today is approximately 80% of the population. Among those, the number of owners of mobile communications terminal apparatuses using a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology reaches approximately 50%. As to demand for the terminals in the future, it is considered that the demand for mobile communications terminal apparatuses further increases as PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) terminal apparatuses etc. are replaced with mobile communications terminal apparatuses of a W-CDMA (Wideband-CDMA) system.
In communication terminal apparatuses including the mobile communications terminal apparatus, in order to generate a transmission wave, the electric power amplification circuit (also referred to as power amplifier, particularly transmission power amplifying circuit) is provided (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-261479, for example). This electric power amplification circuit is arranged such that the frequency band corresponds to a frequency band of the transmission wave.
On the other hand, as the demand for the mobile communications terminal apparatuses increases and the number of applications for terminal apparatus increases, carrier frequencies are to be reorganized in order to increase information communicating capability of mobile communications.
As the mobile communications carrier frequencies are reorganized, it is necessary for each terminal apparatus to install a system corresponding to a new frequency. Further, due to the influence of the increasing applications, the terminals increase in size. The miniaturization of the inner components of the terminal apparatus is required to prevent the size from increasing.
For this reason, the recent trend of power amplifiers of manufactures is mainly to perform miniaturization. Consequently, the manufactures work on the development of a size reduction of the power amplifier corresponding to each frequency to be reorganized.


A device and method is disclosed that provides an alerting bell that can be quickly and easily disabled when desired. The bell includes a knocker portion inside a cylindrical body that is spring loaded so that it can be pulled below the bottom rim of the cylindrical body of the bell. The knocker portion and the bottom rim of the bell are modified so that the bottom portion of the knocker portion can be securely affixed to the rim of the cylindrical main body as needed to turn off the alerting function of the bell as desired.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention relates generally to the field of alerting bells, and more specifically toward a bell whose alerting function can be quickly and easily disabled when necessary.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While mountain biking, it is a matter of safety to alert others using a trail when the mountain biker is descending. Because of the high speed of the descending bicycle, there is the possibility of collision with other users on the trial if they are not aware of the speeding bicycle's presence. Such collisions can occur with other bicycles, hikers or horseback riders. Horses can also be spooked by the sudden appearance of a quickly descending bicycle.
To act as an alert, prior art methods have included the use of bells. The first type of bell is the sort that can be activated by the movement of a trigger from one side to the other to make a single sound. Alternatively, a bell with a knocker has also been used.
There are limitations with these prior art methods, however. The first type of bell requires the cyclist to remove his hand from the handle bars to make repeated sounds as only one sound is made with one movement of the trigger. There are limitations to the alert made and there is the safety issue of the prolonged removal of the cyclist's hands from the handlebars.
For a more old fashioned bell, the problem is that there is no real way to stop it from ringing when you don't want it to, such as on the incline up a trail.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a bell to alert others on a trail that overcomes the limitations of the prior art.


The rotor of a rotary position sensor mounts directly upon the rotary shaft to be sensed. The rotor prior to installation is retained in position by a pair of small protrusions extending from the rotor that cooperatively engage a pair of small indentations formed in a pair of supporting arms. During the installation process, the rotor is slipped onto the shaft and the protrusions are released from the engaged position. During operation of the position sensor, the rotor is free from direct contact with either the supporting arms or any other stationary part of the position sensor. Only the contactors engage the stationary components. This design eliminates the need for bearings and return springs prevalent in the prior art.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to variable resistor position sensors.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Many internal combustion engines use a throttle valve to control the amount of air entering the engine. The throttle valve is also commonly called a butterfly or throttle flap. Throttle valves are used in gasoline, diesel and other alternatively fueled vehicles. The throttle valve may be opened to provide unimpeded air intake through a throttle body. Alternatively, the throttle valve may be closed to greatly restrict the passage of air. By controlling the amount of air that reaches the combustion chamber, the throttle valve forms part of the primary engine speed control. The throttle valve may be mechanically linked to the accelerator pedal or, in some instances, linked through a combination of electrical and mechanical interconnections.
There are many efforts to improve the efficiency of internal combustion engines and similarly to reduce the emissions, or pollutants, that are produced by these engines. A vital part of better efficiency and reduced emissions is the electronic control circuitry used with the engines. The electronic circuitry monitors various engine parameters and provides feedback or controls to the engine. The feedback may be a signal which in some way improves efficiency or reduces emissions. The signal may, for example, be used to control the amount of fuel injected into the engine or the timing of ignition sparks.
A potentiometer is often used to sense the position of the throttle valve. This potentiometer is in some ways similar to the volume controls used in radio and television receivers. A voltage is applied across two extreme ends of a resistor. An intermediate tap is provided between the two extremes of the resistor. The tap is mechanically linked to the device which is to be sensed, and the position of the device is determined by the voltage at the intermediate tap.
There are several stringent requirements placed upon a throttle position sensor that make it different from a volume control. Since the throttle valve is used to control air intake and thereby represent a demand for power, binding of the throttle shaft in an open throttle position could result in life threatening situations. Safety and reliability are essential in automotive applications.
The automotive environmental requirements are also different from a radio or television receiver. The throttle position sensor must reside against the throttle body. Temperatures might, for example, range from -55 to +150.degree. degrees celsius. Further, the device may be exposed to a number of solvents, road spray, and other adverse conditions associated with engine compartment environments. These requirements diverge greatly from the typical volume control.
Examples of conventional throttle position sensors include U.S. Pat. 4,430,634 by Hufford et al and assigned to the present assignee and also U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,293 by Driscoll and 5,133,321 by Hering et al, incorporated herein by reference. Other examples may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,616,504, 4,621,250, 4,688,420, 4,703,649, 4,715,220, 4,719,795, 4,743,882, 4,812,803, 4,933,661, 5,133,321, and Japanese Kokai 58-70104, also incorporated herein by reference.
In the prior art, a lever such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,355,293 and 4,430,634 or special drives such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,504 were used. These drives ensure that, even in the event of malfunction, the throttle sensor will not retain the throttle valve in an acceleration position, but instead will allow the throttle valve to return to an idle. Engagement between the sensor and the throttle shaft has then necessitated the use of a return spring so that as the throttle shaft returns to idle position, the throttle position a sensor also returns and tracks the position of the throttle valve.
The throttle position sensor in the nor art is a freestanding, rather self-contained device. In addition to the return spring, a well-sealed package including the associated bearings is typically provided. Significant effort was directed at designing a package that was sealed against the adverse chemicals and moisture that might otherwise damage the sensor.
Inclusion of the spring and bearings into this sealed package has drawbacks. The use of springs requires a fairly robust design. Springs and bearings add expense to the device and increase the cost and hazards of assembly. Additionally, any wear debris that may result from the spring or bearings may be detrimental to the operation of the position sensor.
Other prior art sensors incorporate the sensor directly into the throttle body. Exemplary of this concept are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,649,367, 4,672,356, 4,693,111, 4,718,272, 4,827,884, 4,866,981 and 5,070,728 incorporated herein by reference. This concept offers advantage in simplicity. However, there is little control over the element contactor interface, which has been determined to be very important for the life of the unit.
Variations in contact pressure, contact orientation, lube and other similar factors all impact the performance of the device. Further, field replacement is important for service repair, and the service replacement should be of the same quality as the original device. These throttle body incorporated sensors do not have the precise control over lube thickness and composition, protection of vital components while shelved awaiting installation, and control over contactor and element relationships that are desirable features.
The shape of the contactor structure is, for obvious reasons, critical to the performance of the device. Where contactor rakes are used, a bent rake may reduce the life of the device to less than one hundredth the normal life. Yet, in those devices that mount into the throttle wall, the contactor will be exposed during shipment of service parts and will be handled to an undesirable degree during installation.
With electronics becoming more prevalent, the ability to sense various engine functions and also in some instances non-engine or indirect engine functions is more desirable. The present invention seeks to overcome the limitations of the prior art sensors and offer a throttle position sensor that delivers unmatched performance without compromise. Further, while the preferred embodiment is certainly throttle position sensing, the inventive features are applicable to position sensors in other applications, including but not limited to accelerator pedal position sensing, machine and industrial robot position sensing, and other applications for potentiometric devices of high quality and reliability.

Bearing free spring free throttle position sensor


A process for the recovery of C4 hydrocarbons from a C5/C6 isomerization zone. A portion of the effluent stream from the C5/C6 isomerization zone comprising C4 hydrocarbons is combined in a stabilizer section with an effluent from a C4 isomerization zone. In order to increase the C4 hydrocarbons in the effluent stream from the C5/C6 isomerization zone, a chilling zone may be used.

Petroleum refining and petrochemical processes frequently involve isomerization processes. Isomerization processes are widely used by many refiners and processers to rearrange the molecular structure of hydrocarbons. In some instances it is more desirable to have more highly branched hydrocarbons. Generally, these more highly branched hydrocarbons have relatively high octane ratings. In other instances it is more desirable to have straight chain paraffins, for example for feed to a stream cracker or for production of chemicals. Accordingly, isomerization can involve conversion of iso-paraffins into normal paraffins or the conversion of normal paraffins into iso-paraffins. Additionally, due to equilibrium factors, various hydrocarbon feed streams are isomerized in different zones.
For example, C5 and C6 hydrocarbons streams are often isomerized in the same zone. When the isomerization comprises of converting iso-paraffins into normal paraffins, a large amount of C4 hydrocarbons may be formed as a product of cracking and disproportionation reactions.
The isomerization zone typically includes a stabilizer to separate the effluent from the isomerization zone. As a result of the high amount of light ends in the effluent, the stabilizer requires an LPG draw (C3/C4 hydrocarbons). However, since the LPG draw contains some amount of chloride, typically as HCl, the LPG draw cannot be directly routed to, for example, a saturated gas plant, as the LPG draw contains some amount of chlorides. Therefore, a stripping zone is used to remove the light ends (C2− hydrocarbons) and chlorides. Then, the LPG draw can be passed, along with light ends from other sources, to the saturated gas plant where the combined stream can be cleaned (sulfur removed) and fractionated. Any C4 hydrocarbons could be recovered and recycled back to be isomerized in a C4 hydrocarbons isomerization unit.
It is believed that a more effective and efficient process for recovering the C4 hydrocarbons would be desirable.

Process for the recovery of paraffins from an isomerization effluent


An FFT/IFFT apparatus and method are provided. The FFT/IFFT apparatus includes a storage unit, a first FFT/IFFT unit, a second FFT/IFFT unit, and a third FFT/IFFT unit. The storage unit has as many addresses as the number of bits of input data. The first FFT/IFFT unit sequentially stores half of the input data in the storage unit, performs a first-point FFT/IFFT operation while sequentially receiving the other half of the input data, and stores the first-point FFT/IFFT operation result in the storage unit. The second FFT/IFFT unit performs a second-point FFT/IFFT operation on the first-point FFT/IFFTed data, and stores the second-point FFT/IFFT operation result in the storage unit. The third FFT/IFFT unit performs a third-point FFT/IFFT operation on the second-point FFT/IFFTed data, and stores the third-point FFT/IFFT operation result in the storage unit.

On the basis of the orthogonality between subcarriers, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems perform a symbol mapping operation, a subcarrier mapping operation and an IFFT/FFT operation to transmit signals.
A conventional OFDM system uses a 256, 1024 or 2048-point FFT/IFFT process, and a conventional FFT processor uses a pipeline scheme that connects radix-2 or radix-4 butterfly units, memories and multipliers in series to process data sequentially.
The pipeline scheme provides a high processing speed. However, the pipeline scheme has a limitation in that the total chip size increases because a memory, a multiplier and a Read Only Memory (ROM) must be provided at each stage.
Moreover, a recent 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE) system uses a 24576-point FFT process for downlink Random Access CHannel (RACH) transmission and thus requires a very large amount of computation and a very large memory capacity. So the conventional FFT processor is impossible to use in the 3GPP LTE system.

Apparatus and method for fast fourier transform/inverse fast fourier transform

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


An engine having a variable valve mechanism arranged to switch a lift degree of a valve between a low speed state and a high speed state includes a cam carrier defined by a cam bearing portion, a rocker shaft support, and a hydraulic cylinder support. The cam bearing portion is provided on a line passing through the bore center of a cylinder in a plane perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the camshaft. The low speed rocker arm swings in response to the low speed cam of the camshaft. The high speed rocker arm swings in response to the high speed cam of the camshaft. The low speed rocker arm includes a through hole. A connecting pin is slidably inserted into the through hole and urged toward the hydraulic cylinder support. A hydraulic cylinder is provided in the hydraulic cylinder support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine, and more specifically to an engine having a variable valve mechanism arranged to switch a lift degree of a valve between a high speed state and a low speed state.
2. Description of the Background Art
JP 2002-303109 discloses a speed range selectable valve mechanism for an internal combustion engine. In this valve mechanism, a camshaft includes low and high cam noses, and a valve supported at a cylinder head is selectively engaged with one of the high and low cam noses by the cam-linkage, which allows the valve to be opened or closed according to the high and low speed ranges of the internal combustion engine. First and second rocker arms are pivotally supported at the cylinder head. The swinging end of the first rocker arm and the low cam nose are engaged with each other by the cam-linkage, and the swinging end of the second rocker arm and the high cam nose are engaged with each other by the cam-linkage. A columnar engaging member (connecting pin) is supported at the first rocker arm so that it can slide therein in a reciprocating manner. The engaging member slides and projects from the side of the first rocker arm to the side of the second rocker arm in such a manner that it can advance/withdraw. This allows the first and second rocker arms to be detachably engaged with each other. The cylinder head is provided with a hydraulic actuator that applies an external force upon the engaging member against the energizing force of an engagement releasing spring. The actuator includes a cylinder hole (hydraulic cylinder) formed at the cylinder head and a piston (hydraulic piston) snugly inserted into the cylinder hole so that the piston can slide in the hole in a reciprocating manner. The cylinder hole leads to the hydraulic pump through an oil passage. The oil passage is formed at the cylinder head. A coil-shaped rocker arm spring (lost motion spring) is fitted onto the pivotal shaft of the rocker arm and the spring urges the second rocker arm so that the second rocker arm and the high cam nose are engaged with each other by the cam-linkage.
The hydraulic actuator is provided between the valve springs in the valve mechanism but the spacing between the valve springs is small in a small size engine and therefore there is little free space. Since the cylinder hole (hydraulic cylinder) is formed at the cylinder head, it is difficult to form the cylinder holes with high precision in a multi-cylinder engine. It is also difficult to assemble the piston of the hydraulic actuator and the rocker arm. In addition, the complicated oil passage is difficult to form.
JP 10-18826 A discloses a variable mechanism capable of carrying out various kinds of switching about the opening/closing timing, the lift degree, and the stopping timing for intake or exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. In the variable valve mechanism, five supports are attached in such locations that they hold the four cylinders among them, and a rocker shaft is inserted through these supports. One T-shaped low speed rocker arm is swingably provided at the rocker shaft for each cylinder. A camshaft is rotatably supported at each support, and a low speed cam used to swing the low speed rocker arm is provided at the camshaft. The variable valve mechanism includes a switching device used to switch the opening/closing timing and lift degree of a valve between two stages, i.e., the high speed state and the low speed state. The switching device includes a high speed rocker arm that is adjacent to the low speed rocker arm, swingably provided at the rocker shaft and does not directly push the valve, a high speed cam that swings the high speed rocker arm, and a hydraulic piston driving a switch pin that connects or disconnects the high speed rocker arm and the low speed rocker arm between each other.
However, the low speed rocker arm in the valve mechanism pushes two valves together in the same cylinder and therefore different lift degrees cannot be set for these valves. In addition, the low speed rocker arm is provided at the bore center and therefore the camshaft cannot be supported at the bore center. Therefore, the supporting rigidity of the camshaft is low and the valve mechanism is not suitable for high speed engines.


Temporary substrates may include a bonding surface prepared for receiving an additional substrate that will transfer a thin layer. Such substrates may include a principal part or support and a surface layer thereon with the surface layer having a plurality of inserts therein. The inserts are made of a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion that is significantly different from that of the material constituting the surface layer. Processing methods for transferring a selected portion of an original substrate may involve such temporary substrates and productions methods may produce such temporary substrates.

Semiconducting structures serve as the basis for the electronics industry. In order to improve performance, methods have been developed for more and more increasing the density of circuits per unit area. However, a physical limit is being approached. It is for this reason that three-dimensional integration methods have appeared. Instead of always reducing the size of circuits, it is sufficient to stack them in 3D structures and to connect them by vertical interconnections.
The production of these types of structures requires the successive transfer of the layers of which they are made. These layers are, in point of fact, produced separately on specific substrates called "original substrates." It is then necessary, in order to transfer them in the right direction onto their final substrate, to use a temporary substrate, also called a "sacrificial substrate."
The steps of an example of such a transfer are shown in FIG. 1. A temporary substrate 100 is attached to the topside of a layer 4 to be transferred, and part of an original substrate 5 on which the layer 4 was formed is then removed. The layer 4 is attached to a final substrate 8, covered as the case may be with one or more other layers 7 in the case of a 3D structure. Finally, the temporary substrate 100 is demounted.
Other applications exist for temporary substrates like, for instance, for mechanically supporting a semiconductor substrate while this substrate is processed (thinning operations, interconnection and/or vias formation, deposition of functional layers . . . ). Such temporary substrates and applications are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/222500.
One difficulty lies in the final detachment of the temporary substrate 100. A first technique called "laser lift-off" requires the use of a transparent substrate and an adhesive material that is sensitive to laser excitation. Another technique, described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/222500 mentioned above, proposes the use of a rough temporary support that may be detached by a final mechanical and/or chemical action.
These solutions give satisfaction but remain very slow to process: the larger the substrate, the longer the detachment time. Although for 100 mm diameter substrates the detachment time may be acceptable, this detachment time proves to be much too long for profitable industrial use for substrates having diameters of 200 mm, 300 mm, or more.
European patent application EP 1889887 discloses a temporary substrate with an adhesive layer incorporating thermally expandable microspheres, but the temporary substrate described in this document cannot be used for a processing step that requires a temperature greater than 140° C. Additionally, the nature of the adhesive layer and the uncontrolled disposition of the microspheres into the adhesive layer does not meet the requirements of providing a sufficiently high adhesion during processing and enabling the controlled detachment of the substrate after processing. This is particularly true if the processing steps are exerting high levels of stress on the attached assembly, as is the case with grinding or polishing operations.
Accordingly, improvements are needed over these prior art processes, and these are now provided by this disclosure.

Temporary substrate, transfer method and production method


The sound volume controlling apparatus comprises UP and DOWN keys (42, 43) depressed manually; a time period detecting circuit (39h, 39d) for detecting time period from when the duration of UP or DOWN key depression reaches a predetermined value (e.g. 0.5 sec) to when the continuous key depression ends; a sound volume value deciding circuit (39e, 39f, 37a) for changing the sound volume value during the time duration detected by the time period detecting circuit; and sound volume changing circuit (37b, 45) for changing the sound volume in accordance with the value decided by the sound volume value deciding circuit.. Since the sound volume is changed only after the key is kept depressed for a predetermined time period (e.g. 0.5 sec), it is possible to prevent the sound volume from being changed erroneously due to a short time touch to the keys.

The present invention relates to a sound volume controlling apparatus suitable for use in telephone systems or audio systems, and more specifically to a sound volume controlling apparatus provided with sound volume controlling keys for increasing or decreasing sound volume when depressed.
A sound volume controlling apparatus incorporated in a telephone set to which receives speech sound or a ringing sound includes sound volume "UP" and "DOWN" keys. In the above-mentioned apparatus, whenever the "UP" key is depressed, sound volume increases stepwise, beginning from the key depression moment, at a constant rate as shown in FIG. 1. On the other hand, whenever the "DOWN" key is depressed, sound volume decreases stepwise, beginning from the key depression moment, at the constant rate.
A problem exists in the above-mentioned apparatus, however, because sound volume starts to increase or decrease the instant that the "UP" or "DOWN" key is depressed, even when the user or something touches these keys erroneously. Thus, even if erroneously depressed, the sound volume keys cause the sound volume inevitably change.


A CAM cell is provided that includes: an SRAM cell adapted to store a bit; a data line adapted to provide a corresponding comparand bit; an XOR gate adapted to XOR the stored bit and the comparand bit to provide an XOR output, and a switch adapted to close in response to the XOR output.

In conventional memories such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM), data is stored at particular locations denoted as addresses. To retrieve data, a user specifies the associated address. For high-speed searches, such an approach creates a bottleneck in that the addresses are examined sequentially before the desired data can be retrieved. As a result, content addressable memory (CAM) was developed that operates in an opposite fashion to conventional memories. In other words, a user provides data to a CAM, which returns the associated address. Just like RAM/ROM, data storage in a CAM is organized into words. The word size is arbitrary. For example, a CAM may be organized to store 4-byte words (the length of each word typically denoted as the "width" of the corresponding CAM). Similarly, the number of words in any given CAM is also arbitrary (the number of words typically denoted as the "depth" of the corresponding CAM). A user thus presents a word to a CAM, which then compares the presented word simultaneously to all its stored words.
This simultaneous comparison across all stored words in CAM results in a search time that is much faster than comparable RAM/ROM operation. The results of the simultaneous comparison at each stored word in a CAM are typically expressed in the voltage of corresponding "match" lines. Each stored word may have its own corresponding match line. Prior to the comparison, each match line is typically charged to the CAM's internal supply voltage, VDD. If the presented word (typically denoted as the "comparand" word) does not match the stored word, the corresponding match line is discharged to ground. Thus, the vast majority of match lines are discharged in a typical CAM search. These match lines may be denoted as "unmatched" match lines. Although the parallel search across all stored words is thus speedy, a problem is presented because of the charge being wasted as each unmatched match line is discharged. Moreover, if the word size is increased, the capacitance (and hence stored charge) of each match line increases. Thus, a relatively large amount of power may be wasted in conventional CAM designs.
Power consumption is not the only problem with conventional CAM design. Because the capacitance of each match line can be relatively large, the amount of time it takes to pull each unmatched match line to ground can be relatively long. Thus, the speed advantage of CAM searches would be hampered if a "full-swing" (VDD or ground) decision as to the state (matched or unmatched) of each match line is made. Thus, conventional CAMs typically employ sophisticated sense amplifiers that do not need a full voltage swing to make a match decision. For example, such a sense amplifier may declare a match line to be unmatched if it senses that the voltage has dropped some fraction (e.g., 200 to 300 millivolts) below VDD. Such sensitive limited-swing (less than full swing) sense amplifiers are unreliable compared to a full-swing sense amplifiers because of their reduced margin for error. In addition, limited-swing sense amplifiers demand considerably more power.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved CAM architectures that provide more power-efficient searches while demanding less die area.


A pad conditioning tool includes a sapphire substrate with a specific orientation plane, wherein the specific orientation plane is selected from a group consisting of a-plane, c-plane, r-plane, m-plane, n-plane and v-plane, the sapphire substrate further defining a mounting surface; and a plurality of sapphire dressing particles and a plurality of scrapers formed on the mounting surface of the substrate in a predetermined geometric arrangement, wherein the dressing particles are scattered between an adjacent pair of the scrapers. In case a wafer polishing pad is conditioned by the dressing particles of the pad conditioning tool, the scrapers are capable of removing abrasive waste and particles from the wafer polishing pad during a dressing operation, thereby forming new trenches and cilia structure on a polishing surface of the wafer polishing pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a pad conditioning tool for Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) process, and more particularly a pad conditioning tool that has a plurality of sapphire dressing particles for dressing a wafer polishing pad such that the wafer polishing pad possesses high efficient polishing yield.
2. The Prior Arts
Rapid advance of semiconductor product and optical instrument demands minimizing width of circuit paths in the integrated circuit board. The more the circuits are integrated into a chip, the more planarization of surfaces in the semiconductor material is required, since formation of a circuit or thin film is obtained only after each deposition process. To be more specific, if the integrated circuit includes 10 conductive layers (like Cu, Al, W), insulated layers (like black diamond) and anti-abrasive layer, several deposition processes are conducted so as to form the 10 conductive layers. Since smoothing of the surface is required after formation of each layer, presently Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) technique is generally applied in the production of a semiconductor, which in fact is a process of smoothing surfaces of silicone wafers or other base material with the combination of chemical and mechanical forces, so that it is named CMP. The CMP technique generally includes two parts, namely, (I) polishing the semiconductor surface with a polishing pad; and (II) conditioning the polishing pad to provide effective polishing ability. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional pad conditioning tool, which conducts conditioning of the polishing pad 3 while the polishing pad 3 conducts polishing operation on a wafer simultaneously without the need of stopping the operation. As shown, a rotary device 5 is mounted at each back of the conventional pad conditioning tool 2 and the wafer 1 so as to cause the former to rotate relative to the polishing pad 3.
The conventional pad conditioning tool generally includes a plurality of diamond particles formed on a metal substrate via hard brazing process. Because the diamond particles protrude outwardly from the outer surface at different heights, the exterior appearance and dimension or height is not uniform so that the diamond conditioning tool can only provide roughly about 40% polishing effect. Note that thousands of diamond particles are electroplated or via hard brazing process onto the metal substrate so that there exists co-relation between the surface areas and the number of diamond particles mounted within the surface area and the diamond particles at the adjoining surfaces may fall off owing to contraction and expansion of the metal substrate at different temperatures. The diamond particles may fall off upon introduction of the slurry and the etching process on the metal substrate or the tips of the diamond particles break off owing to non-uniform strength, which, in turn, may result in scratches partially or wholly on the wafer being polished. Of late, a pad conditioning tool has been developed, which includes an integrally formed polishing pad made from relatively hard sapphire material and which are exposed to an exterior more evenly and thus provides longer service life and efficient polishing rate. However, the polishing surface of the polishing pad conditioned by the above-mentioned pad conditioning tool still suffers a new cilia and trench error of 10˜20 μm, which needs to be overcome.

Pad conditioning tool having sapphire dressing particles


In a generator control apparatus for a vehicle, the control apparatus includes an engine; an intake air temperature sensing section configured to sense a temperature of intake air of the engine; an engine startup temperature-state determining section configured to determine whether the engine is in warm-up state, at the time of startup of the engine; a battery; a battery liquid temperature estimating section configured to estimate a liquid temperature of the battery; a battery liquid temperature storing section configured to store the battery liquid temperature estimated by the battery liquid temperature estimating section; and a generator configured to charge the battery in accordance with the estimated battery liquid temperature. Moreover, in this control apparatus, the battery liquid temperature estimating section is configured to estimate, at the time of engine startup in warm-up state, the battery liquid temperature to be the lower one of the sensed intake air temperature and a battery liquid temperature previously stored by the battery liquid temperature storing section, by comparing the sensed intake air temperature with the previously stored battery liquid temperature.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control apparatus and method for a generator of an automotive vehicle.
b) Description of the Related Art
A Japanese Patent No. 3305850 issued on May 10, 2002 exemplifies a previously proposed alternator control apparatus for an automotive vehicle. In this proposed alternator control apparatus, intake air temperature of an engine is adopted as an estimated temperature of a battery, thereby is adopted as a control parameter for controlling the alternator. Moreover, when the vehicle is traveling at low velocity, the intake air temperature is determined to be higher than an actual temperature of the battery. Hence, the estimated battery temperature is so corrected as to be reduced. On the other hand, when the vehicle is traveling at high velocity, the intake air temperature is determined to be lower than the actual temperature of the battery. Hence, the estimated battery temperature is so corrected as to be increased. Furthermore, in the case where a cooling water temperature of the engine is higher than a predetermined value, the estimated battery temperature is also corrected so as to be increased.

Generator control apparatus and method for automotive vehicle