A gas sensor element includes a basal body, at least one solid electrolyte portion and a pair of electrodes. The basal body has a bottomed tubular shape and is made of an electrically insulative ceramic material. The basal body has a side wall and a bottom wall. The at least one solid electrolyte portion is formed in the bottom wall or the side wall of the basal body. The pair of electrodes are opposed to each other with the at least one solid electrolyte portion interposed therebetween. The difference in surface level between the basal body and the at least one solid electrolyte portion at a boundary therebetween is less than or equal to 30 μm.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a gas sensor element that includes a basal body having a bottomed tubular shape and made of an electrically insulative ceramic material, a solid electrolyte portion and a pair of electrodes, and to a method of manufacturing the gas sensor element.
2. Description of Related Art
There are known gas sensor elements that are employed in, for example, lambda sensors or A/F (Air/Fuel) ratio sensors to detect the concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle.
More specifically, lambda sensors are generally configured to detect the concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gas based on an electromotive force outputted from the gas sensor element; the electromotive force represents the difference in oxygen concentration between the exhaust gas and a reference gas (e.g., air). On the other hand, A/F ratio sensors are generally configured to detect the concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gas based on a limit current outputted from the gas sensor element; the limit current also represents the difference in oxygen concentration between the exhaust gas and the reference gas. In addition, the A/F ratio sensors are generally configured to further determine the A/F ratio of air-fuel mixture supplied to the engine based on the detected concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gas.
Moreover, the known gas sensor elements are generally configured to include a solid electrolyte body and a pair of measurement and reference electrodes. The solid electrolyte body is made, for example, of zirconia partially stabilized by yttria. The measurement and reference electrodes are made of, for example, platinum and respectively provided on opposite surfaces of the solid electrolyte body so as to be respectively exposed to the exhaust gas (i.e., the measurement gas or the gas to be measured) and the air (i.e., the reference gas). In addition, on the measurement electrode, there is further provided a protective layer in those gas sensor elements which are used in lambda sensors and a diffusion-resistant layer in those gas sensor elements which are used in A/F ration sensors.
Furthermore, the known gas sensor elements generally have either a plate shape or a bottomed tubular shape.
More specifically, the plate-shaped gas sensor elements are generally formed by laminating a solid electrolyte layer and insulating layers. Therefore, it is easy to manufacture the plate-shaped gas sensor elements. Further, it is possible to laminate a heater layer together with the solid electrolyte and insulating layers, thereby easily heating the solid electrolyte layer in operation. However, due to the plate-like shape, corner portions are formed at ends of the gas sensor elements. Consequently, with the corner portions, the gas sensor elements may be easily damaged by, for example, thermal shock caused by water generated in the exhaust pipe.
On the other hand, for the bottomed tubular gas sensor elements, it is possible to configure a bottom surface thereof as a curved surface. Consequently, with the curved bottom surface, it is possible to alleviate thermal shock caused by water generated in the exhaust pipe, thereby preventing the gas sensor elements from being damaged by the water.
Moreover, to minimize the manufacturing cost of the gas sensor elements, it is desired to minimize the amount of solid electrolyte used in the gas sensor elements.
To meet the above desire, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H3-138559 discloses a gas sensor element which includes a hollow cylindrical heater body. In the outer surface of the heater body, there is formed a groove so as to communicate with the hollow space formed in the heater body via a through-hole. A solid electrolyte layer is formed on the outer surface of the heater body so as to cross over the opening of the groove.
With the above configuration, however, there is a difference in level (or height) between the outer surface of the heater body and the outer surface of the solid electrolyte layer. Therefore, during the firing process of the gas sensor element or when thermal shock is applied to the gas sensor element due to water contained in the exhaust gas, stress concentration may occur at the boundary between the heater body and the solid electrolyte layer due to the difference in surface level therebetween. Consequently, damage may be caused to the gas sensor element, such as causing cracks to occur in the heater body or in the solid electrolyte layer or causing electrode lead wires of the gas sensor element to be broken.

Gas sensor element and its manufacturing method


A diffusing plate includes a microlens array in which a plurality of microlenses are arranged, wherein the microlenses have such a shape that a curvature of a sectional shape including a center line of the microlenses varies depending on a direction of the center line, and wherein microlenses that are different in the direction of a center line where the curvature of the outline is largest are arranged.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diffusing plate having a microlens array. More specifically, the present invention relates to a diffusing plate used for the focusing of a finder system of a single lens reflex camera or the like.
Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been known a diffusing plate on which many microlenses are arranged. However, in a diffusing plate that is used for the focusing of a finder system of a single lens reflex (SLR) camera or the like and on which many microlenses are arranged, the direction of diffracted light is limited to a particular direction, and the blur quality may become unnatural. When used together with a Fresnel lens, such a diffusing plate causes interference with the zonal structure of the Fresnel lens, and moire fringes may be generated. For this reason, a diffusing plate in which the distance between microlenses is changed has been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-221329, and a diffusing plate in which the height of the vertices of microlenses is changed has been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-192232.
However, in order to make unnaturalness of blur quality and moire fringes less noticeable, it is necessary to break the periodicity due to the change in the distance between microlenses described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-221329 or the change in the height of the vertices of microlenses described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-192232. However, the breaking of periodicity has the following problems. When a variation is created in the distance between microlenses, the whole diffusing plate divides into a part in which microlenses are densely arranged (dense part), and a part in which microlenses are sparsely arranged (sparse part). Light passes through the sparse part without being diffused. Therefore, if the sparse part increases, focusing becomes difficult. When a variation is created in the height of the vertices of microlenses, the diffusion angle of outgoing light is large between a microlens whose vertex is high and a microlens whose vertex is low, a light beam reaches the outside of the pupil of the finder, and therefore the finder image tends to become dark.
The present invention provides a diffusing plate having a microlens array in which unnaturalness of blur quality and moire fringes are less noticeable, with which focusing can be easily carried out. In this manner, a finder that is bright is achieved.


An apparatus for capacitive determination and/or monitoring of the fill level of a medium in a container, having at least one fill level probe, and having at least one electronic field device which communicates with the fill level probe. The at least one electronic fill device generates a voltage trigger signal (sig1) for triggering the fill level probe, and receives and evaluates a measurement current (I2) of the fill level probe. At least one microprocessor is provided in the electronic field device, which microprocessor generates the voltage trigger signal (sig1), and/or which microprocessor evaluates at least the measurement current (I2) and/or a measured variable proportional to it.

Capacitive measuring instruments for measuring fill levels have been known for many years. A probe protruding into the container and the container wall, or two sensors protruding into the container, form a capacitor. This capacitance C1 is dependent on the fill level and on the dielectric constant of the medium to be measured. Thus from the capacitance, a conclusion can be drawn as to the fill level.
One possible way of measuring this capacitance C1 is known as apparent current measurement. For instance, the amount of the alternating current flowing through the capacitor, made up of the sensor, the medium, and the container wall, at a certain frequency and voltage and at the capacitance C1 to be determined is measured by means of a conventional rectifier circuit. The apparent current Is, however, is dependent not only on the capacitance C1 but also on the conductivity R1 of the medium to be measured. Since especially with bulk goods, the conductivity R2 depends on various factors, such as temperature or humidity, the results obtained are imprecise.
One method for suppressing the influence of this parallel conductivity is measurement at relatively high frequencies. The proportion of the apparent current Is flowing through the capacitance C1 is proportional to the frequency, while conversely the proportion caused by the conductivity R1 remains constant. Thus at high frequencies, the capacitive proportion practically always predominates. However, experience teaches that with long probes with high parasitic inductances, measurement at high frequencies (>100 kHz) is difficult.
Another method of measuring the capacitance C1 is to measure not the apparent current Is but rather the blind current at a phase displacement angle of 90° between the current and the voltage, which is equivalent to measuring purely capacitance. This can be done for instance with the aid of a synchronous rectifier circuit (see German Patent DE 42 44 739 C2). For some media, this method has disadvantages. In media with a low dielectric constant and high conductivity, which can be measured well using apparent current measurement, difficulties arise because of the practically vanishing blind current. Moreover, such conventional synchronous rectifier circuits are known from experience to be vulnerable to electromagnetic interference.
Problems in measurement occur for instance from tolerances in the components used and from encrustation that can occur on the measurement probe from the medium to be measured. This encrustation sometimes severely affects the measurement signal and thus also the measured value.


A process for restoring an operational state of a portable handheld device is provided. The device may include multiple computing units and persistent storage. The operational state may be generated by a sequence of events. The operational state may receive signals corresponding to a plurality of event types. The process may include selecting an event type for storage, storing in the persistent storage events corresponding to the selected event type, receiving a signal indicating an interruption of operation, and transmitting the stored events to restore the device to the operational state.

The present invention relates generally to restoration of system operation states after a power supply interruption.
An increasing number of software applications are being made available to portable mobile devices. One of the key differentiating factors between applications is how to make the user experience more smooth and seamless. For example, when a user application is interrupted by a device failure, it would be very desirable to get it restored to the same operational state that the device was in prior to the device failure.

Apparatus and methods for restoring system operation states


A source-synchronous parallel interface divides a wide data bus into clock-groups including a sub-group of the data lines and a clock line carrying a copy of the transmit clock. The traces in a clock-group are located physically close together to minimize skew between the signals carried on the traces of the clock-group. Deskew logic on the receiver compensates for skew between received clock-group signals.

The source-synchronous bus has been used to increase the speed of buses in many designs. Data and clock are sourced from the same device on the bus. The receiving device uses the clock from the bus to sample the data on the bus. Since the clock and data are driven and distributed similarly, they have similar delays and hence such buses can be run faster than buses using other clocking schemes.
At higher speed, being able to drive a clock becomes challenging especially when the data pins are driven and sampled on both edges of the clock. This is referred to as double-data rate or DDR.
One of the limitations on speed derives from the fact that as the number of data pins gets large, the skew between those pins increases, where Clock Skew is the variation in the transition point of a clock signal due to delay in the propagation path. Since all pins need to be sampled with the same clock, clock skew limits the speed of the bus. In DDR3, SRAMs, and in fast packet forwarding ASICs, this limitation is overcome by limiting the number of data pins associated with a clock pin. For wider data buses, multiple copies of source-synchronous clocks are used. But still the skew between copies of clocks has to be limited to much less than the clock period in order to align the data sampled with different copies of clocks.
Accordingly, new parallel interfaces need to be developed that allow high speed data transfer between Devices with a large number of pins.

Aligning data in a wide, high-speed, source synchronous parallel link


A method for computer-aided operation of a communication system with a communication network, which has a plurality of network nodes, which are designed to interchange data with a number of terminals in the communication system, and in which the following steps are carried out: the terminals determine a first position variable relating to or at a specific point, with the first position variable comprising a semantic description relating to that specific point; the terminals determine a second position variable relating to or at the specific point with the second position variable comprising physical location information relating to that specific point; the first and the second position variables which have been determined by one of the terminals together represent location information, with the location information being transmitted to a network node in the communication network for further processing.

Communication networks are known in a multitude of types. Thus a communication network that is distributed in a building and possibly across a site may be operated solely by a private operator and used only by terminals that are allocated to or authorized by the private operator. Such a communication network could, for example, be a corporate in-house communication network, which facilitates communication in the buildings and site of the company. A communication network of this type is frequently also referred to as an enterprise network.
A great many locations of interest, otherwise known as Points of Interest (PoI), may be defined in the area covered by the communication network. PoIs are known in the context of navigation systems and route planners. PoIs are locations that may be of interest for the user of a map or navigation system, such as—for example—restaurants, cash machines or filling stations. In the specific case of the area covered by the communication network, PoIs are—for example—conference rooms, workplaces, libraries, elevator accesses, etc. The PoIs may be shown on or inserted in a map as symbols. It is known, for example, for navigation systems to provide visual and audible indications of PoIs as soon as the user approaches them. Further additional information might also be stored for PoIs, such as—for example—opening times, telephone numbers, etc.
Terminals that have been set up for communication with the network nodes of the communication network have a wireless communication interface, e.g. WLAN (Wireless Area Network), DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications), Bluetooth, or GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) etc., which facilitates data interchange with the network nodes of the communication network.
The terminal or an infrastructure communicating with the terminal, e.g. the communication network, is able to determine the current position on the basis of wireless communication technology. The position may be stored in any defined system of coordinates. Thus it is now possible for any PoI to be assigned a position and for the physical coordinates to be stored in the defined coordinates system in a database that can be accessed through the communication network.
The current location may be determined by known methods of triangulation, e.g. by a plurality of network nodes in the communication network, or the degrees of latitude and longitude may be determined by means of GPS or Galileo. It is also known for a position to be determined on the basis of radio field conditions, in which the field strength of a number of network nodes of the communication network that are communicating on a wireless basis is determined.
By continuously determining the current position of the terminal, e.g. in the form of coordinates, and exchanging these coordinates with the communication network, it is possible to detect proximity to a PoI. In order to facilitate this functionality, therefore, it is necessary—in the local area covered by the communication network—to carry out measurements for each PoI, to assign the measured physical location coordinates to the defined coordinates system, and to store the data thus obtained in the database.
The disadvantage of this is the great expense of having to carry out measurements for each PoI, particularly if the communication network extends over a large area. Further problems are caused by the fact that changes in the spatial conditions may lead to changed measurement values relating to the current position of the terminal at a PoI. Such changes in the spatial conditions might, for example, be caused by furnishings being repositioned within a building, or by walls being relocated or—in particular—by walls being added.

Method for determination of location information in a communication system

Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG


A packet data communication system that includes a mobile station having a jitter buffer and a wireless infrastructure having a base site serving the mobile station controls a size or dept of the jitter buffer. The size or depth is controlled based on a number of retransmissions of erroneously received data employed by the system, a radio frequency load of the base site, and a round trip time period for acknowledgments and corresponding retransmissions. The jitter buffer size may be further controlled by use of a supplemental channel to expedite the transmission of data and thereby fill up the jitter buffer more quickly and by reduction of a waiting period for retransmission of the acknowledgments, thereby reducing the round trip time period.

Wireless packet data communication systems are well known and consist of many types, including land mobile radio, cellular radiotelephone, and personal communication systems. With each communication system, data is transmitted between a transmitting communication device and a receiving communication device via a communication resource that includes a communication channel that operates over a physical resource, typically a frequency bandwidth.
In a typical packet data communication system, information is transmitted in data packets, or data frames. In a transmitting communication device, a lengthy data stream is typically subdivided into multiple data blocks. Each data block is then wrapped with a header to form a data packet. Included in the header for each data packet is a sequence number corresponding to the position of the data block in the data stream. The sequence numbers allow a receiving communication device to receive the multiple data packets comprising the multiple data blocks in any order and to reassemble the original data stream.
The receiving communication device stores the received data blocks in a jitter buffer, where the data blocks are reordered in their proper sequence and stored. The jitter buffer stores a predetermined amount of data and, when full, conveys the stored data to a user of the receiving communication device, that is, a listener, via a user interface.
In a typical Radio Link Protocol (RLP) wireless communication system, erroneously received data packets are acknowledged by transmission of a NAK message by the receiving communication device. The NAK message includes an identifier of the erroneously received data packet. The transmitted data packets are stored in a memory of the transmitting communication device. When the transmitting communication device receives the NAK message, the transmitting communication device retransmits the identified data packet.
By storing data in a jitter buffer from the initiation of a spoken message, gaps in voice may be avoided, which gaps result from the retransmission of erroneously received data. For example, the data stream conveyed from the transmitting communication device to the receiving communication device may be an audio message "Do not place the order." If the data packets corresponding to the word "not" are erroneously received, the data in those packets would not be conveyed to the listener in the absence of a retransmission. The received message might then be conveyed as "Do place the order," with a gap appearing in place of the word "not." Therefore, jitter buffers are used to store all data received after the erroneously received data packet, pending retransmission of the erroneous packet. When the retransmitted packet is received, the packet is inserted into its proper position among the stored data and the data is played out to the listener. The jitter buffer typically is of a sufficient size that the jitter buffer can store all data received subsequent to the erroneously received data until the erroneously received data is acknowledged, retransmitted, and properly inserted into the data stored in the buffer.
Although the use of the jitter buffer improves the reliability of a data communication by providing for the retransmission of erroneously received data, the use of the jitter buffer also produces a delay in the set up of a dispatch communication. In order to prevent a gap from appearing at some point in a voice communication due to the acknowledgment and retransmission of erroneously received packets, the receiving communication device does not initially convey a voice communication to the listener until the jitter buffer is full. By imposing a system delay at the start of the conversation, erroneously received data may be retransmitted and inserted in already received data without creating a subsequent voice gap when a later erroneous packet is received and subsequently received data must be stored.
For a communication system that employs a single acknowledgment and retransmission, the jitter buffer-related delay may be 200 ms or more. This delay is in addition to other call set up delays between the moment that a user of the transmitting communication device, that is, a speaker, initiates a call, such as by pressing a push-to-talk (PTT) button on a keypad of the device, to the moment that an audio message input by the speaker into the transmitting communication device is conveyed to the listener at the receiving communication device. Similarly, a jitter buffer delay resulting from a filling of a jitter buffer in a receiving communication device occurs each time there is a change in who is speaking in the dispatch communication.
Any delay in call set up is undesirable, as is any delay in the time that it takes an audio message spoken into a transmitting communication device to be conveyed to a listener at a receiving communication device. Therefore a need exists for a method and an apparatus for reducing jitter buffer delay.


A tooth for a circular saw or a mower drum that can be used to cut standing trees or brush and undergrowth. The tooth has four cutting edges arranged in a first pair of opposed cutting edges that are generally straight and a second pair of opposed cutting edges that are generally concave. The tooth is mounted in a holder in a first or second cutting position that orients a cutting edge of the first or second pair to physically contact and effect a cutting method to a cuttable material. In a first cutting method, a generally straight cutting edge contacts the material, resulting in a slicing action. In a second cutting method, a generally concave cutting edge contacts the material, resulting in a gouging action. Teeth in the circular saw or brush mower alternate between first and second cutting positions, allowing both cutting methods to be applied to cuttable material.

A tooth that may be used for a circular saw or brush mower with a plurality of cutting edges usually has a four-sided main body with a cutting end and a mounting end. The four cutting edges found at the cutting end of such a tooth are typically identical to each other, such as being generally straight or concave. Because these cutting edges are identical, a material that makes contact with any cutting edge of such a tooth is cut in exactly the same manner.
When such a tooth is used in a circular saw, brush mower or any other device, a plurality of teeth is mounted on one side of its body via a plurality of holders that are in turn mounted to the edge of the saw disk or mower drum. While in this configuration, all of the cutting edges of each tooth rotate in the same general direction as the saw or brush mower, but only the outermost cutting edge of such a tooth is able to engage with and apply the cutting manner to the material with which it makes contact.
Over time, the outermost cutting edge of the tooth becomes dull and its ability to efficiently effect the cutting manner on a material decreases with use. Because the tooth has two pairs of identical cutting edges, however, the tooth only needs to be rotated 90° or 180° to restore its ability to efficiently effect the cutting manner on a material to be cut.
However, use of such a tooth also presents certain problems. Among these problems, the cutting manner that is effected by the four identical cutting edges may not be appropriate for all materials in an area. (For example, the varying density of hardwood and softwood trees within an area may require that different cutting manners being used.) As a result, the saw or brush mower equipped with a tooth that is only able to effect a single cutting manner that less than ideal for the material to be cut may require additional cutting time or result in an wastage of materials larger than would have been otherwise had the ideal cutting manner for the material been used.
Against this background, there is a need in the industry for a tooth that can be mounted on a circular saw, brush mower or any other cutting device that provides a multiplicity of ways to cut a material.


A fine pattern forming apparatus includes an elastic wave generating device which is provided on the wall of a vacuum chamber. A fine pattern forming method involves formation of a fine pattern while an elastic wave is being applied to the vacuum chamber by the elastic wave generating device. Since the fine pattern is formed while the elastic wave is applied to the vacuum chamber the, uniformity of the plasma density and of the electron density is improved and attachment of reaction products to the vacuum chamber is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for fine pattern forming. Particularly, the present invention pertains to a fine pattern forming apparatus for forming a fine pattern formation while applying an elastic wave to a vacuum chamber.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional fine pattern forming apparatus, e.g., a plasma etching apparatus. In this apparatus, a semiconductor substrate 2, in which a fine pattern is formed, is disposed within a vacuum chamber 1. The semiconductor substrate 2 has on its surface, for example, thin polycrystalline silicon film and a photoresist pattern mask which resists etching. In the vacuum chamber 1, the semiconductor substrate 2 is placed on a sample stage 4 which also serves as an electrode connected to a high-frequency power source 3 for supplying high-frequency power (hereinafter referred to simply as "an electrode 4"). An electrode 6 with gas nozzles 5 provided therein to uniformly supply an etching, i.e., reactive gas, e.g., chlorine gas, toward the semiconductor substrate 2 is disposed in opposed relation to the semiconductor substrate 2. The vacuum chamber 1 is provided with an evacuation port 7 through which the vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated and a reactive gas supply port 8 through which the etching gas is supplied into the vacuum chamber 1.
The thus-arranged conventional fine pattern forming apparatus will be operated in the manner described below. First, an etching gas is introduced into the interior of the vacuum chamber 1 from the reactive gas supply port 8 through the gas nozzles while the vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated from the evacuation port 7 by an evacuation means (not shown). Next, a high-frequency voltage is applied between the electrode 4 and the opposed electrode 6 by the high-frequency power source 3 to generate a glow discharge. In consequence, the etching gas introduced into the vacuum chamber 1 is activated and thereby becomes a plasma, generating active neutral molecules, neutral atoms and ions. Etching of the semiconductor substrate 2 progresses due to the presence of these molecules, atoms and ions, and a fine pattern is thus formed.
The above conventional fine pattern forming techniques has the following drawbacks.
(1) Uniformity of the etch rate
In the conventional techniques, since spatial distribution of the activated halogen gas or halogen ions occurs, when a fine pattern is to be formed on a sample having a large diameter, variation in the etch rate in the plane of the substrate occurs. A reduction in the etch rate requires a large etching chamber.
(2) Etching selectivity with respect to a base film
In the conventional techniques, an etchant such as charged particles is irradiated onto the sample in an accelerated state. In consequence, the etched surface is damaged and sufficient selectivity with respect to the base etching preventing film cannot be obtained.
(3) Reduction in the etch rate for a fine pattern due to the microloading effect
In the conventional techniques, since the directional property of an etchant is not satisfactory, the amount of etchant reaching a gap in a fine pattern is reduced, decreasing the etch rate. Furthermore, the degree at which a reaction product attaches to the side wall of a pattern formed during the etching depends on the pattern size. Dependence of anisotropic etching profile on the pattern size must be reduced.
(4) The above-described problems of the conventional techniques harm the characteristics of the active devices formed by the fine patterning.

Apparatus and method for forming a fine pattern


A loader includes a receiving section for receiving a FOUP (front opening unified pod), an opener for transporting substrates out of the FOUP, and a transport robot for transporting the FOUP between the receiving section and the opener. When the opener transports the substrates out of the FOUP, the FOUP is placed on a holding table. The holding table is formed with a notch permitting a transport arm of the transport robot to pass through vertically. Thus, the downward passage of the transport arm with the FOUP held thereon through the notch allows the direct transfer of the FOUP from the transport arm to the holding table. This reduces the time required for the FOUP transfer operation, to provide a high throughput, thereby providing a substrate transfer apparatus capable of achieving a high throughput.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for receiving a container for storing semiconductor substrates (or wafers), glass substrates for LCD devices, glass substrates for photomasks, substrates for optical disks (hereinafter referred to as "substrates"), and for transporting the substrates into and out of the container.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, unprocessed substrates stored in carriers are transported from outside into a substrate processing apparatus for performing a surface preparation such as an etching process on substrates. The carriers include an OC (open cassette) of the type wherein part of the container thereof is open to the outer atmosphere, and a FOUP (front opening unified pod) of the type wherein the container thereof is enclosed or sealed.
When the FOUP-type cassette (referred to simply as a "FOUP" hereinafter) is used to transport substrates between apparatuses, the substrates are transported while being enclosed in the FOUP. Thus, the cleanliness of the substrates is maintained even if particles and the like are present in the ambient atmosphere. This eliminates the need to make so high the cleanliness in a cleanroom in which the substrate processing apparatus is installed, to reduce costs required for the cleanroom.
Such a FOUP is received in a purpose-built substrate transfer apparatus incorporated in the substrate processing apparatus. At the substrate transfer apparatus, unprocessed substrate are removed out of the FOUP into the substrate processing apparatus, and processed substrates are collected into the FOUP. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the conventional substrate transfer apparatus for the FOUP.
The substrate transfer apparatus 101 is incorporated as a loader in a substrate processing apparatus 100, and has the functions of receiving the FOUP with unprocessed substrates stored therein, and loading the substrates from the FOUP into the substrate processing apparatus 100. The substrate transfer apparatus 101 comprises a plurality of shelves 111, a transport robot 120, a holding table 130, and a lifter 140.
Each of the shelves 111 can receive one FOUP thereon. The FOUP transported from outside the substrate processing apparatus 100 into the substrate transfer apparatus 101 is received on one of the plurality of shelves 111.
The holding table 130 can place and hold one FOUP thereon. By opening the FOUP placed on the holding table 130, unprocessed substrates are removed out of the FOUP and loaded into the main body of the substrate processing apparatus 100.
The transport robot 120 includes a transport arm 121, and is capable of moving along the width of the substrate processing apparatus 100. The transport arm 121 is vertically movable with respect to the transport robot 120. Thus, the transport robot 120 enables the transport arm 121 to gain access to the holding table 130 and each of the plurality of shelves 111. The transport robot 120 transports the FOUP with unprocessed substrates stored therein from one of the plurality of shelves 111 to the holding table 130, and transports the empty FOUP out of which the substrates are removed from the holding table 130 to one of the plurality of shelves 111.
When the transport robot 120 transports the FOUP, the transport arm 121 supports the bottom portion of the FOUP from beneath. This is because transporting the FOUP suspended by the transport robot 120 which grasps a flange provided on the top portion of the FOUP does not allow quick increase and reduction in transport speed of the FOUP in terms of the strength of the flange, and accordingly does not allow high-speed transport of the FOUP.
Unfortunately, when the transport arm 121 supports the bottom portion of the FOUP, it is impossible to for the transport arm 121 to place the FOUP directly onto the holding table 130. For this reason, the FOUP supported from beneath by the transport arm 121 is temporarily transferred to the lifter 140 in the background art technique. The lifter 140 can grasp the flange provided on the top portion of the FOUP to hold the FOUP suspended thereby. The lifter 140 is movable up and down in the vertical direction over the holding table 130. Thus, after receiving the FOUP from the transport robot 120, the lifter 140 waits until the transport robot 120 moves to cause the transport arm 121 to shunt out of the space between the FOUP and the holding table 130, and then moves the FOUP held by the lifter 140 downwardly to place the FOUP on the holding table 130. Thereafter, the FOUP placed on the holding table 130 is opened, and unprocessed substrates are removed out of the FOUP and loaded into the main body of the substrate processing apparatus 100.
The above-mentioned procedure is reversed for the transport of an empty FOUP out of which substrates are removed from the holding table 130 to one of the shelves 111. Specifically, after the lifter 140 temporarily holds and lifts the empty FOUP, the transport robot 120 gains access to the holding table 130, and the FOUP is transferred from the lifter 140 to the transport arm 121 of the transport robot 120. Then, the lifter 140 releases the grasp of the FOUP, and the transport robot 120 to which the FOUP is transferred gains access to one of the shelves 111.
In the background art technique, as described above, it is impossible for the transport robot 120 to place the FOUP directly onto the holding table 130 and to receive the FOUP directly from the holding table 130. Thus, the transfer of the FOUP between the transport robot 120 and the holding table 130 must be carried out temporarily via the lifter 140. Therefore, the transfer of the FOUP between the transport robot 120 and the holding table 130 requires time for the lifter 140 to operate and time for the transport robot 120 to shunt, resulting in decrease in throughput.

Substrate transfer apparatus, substrate processing apparatus and holding table


An adaptable electrical braking system for an electrical propulsion system of a traction vehicle is provided. The electrical braking system is configured to dissipate electrical energy in a plurality of resistor grids. The braking system includes a braking system assembly including a baseline chopper circuit topology. The baseline chopper circuit topology includes a first semiconductor-based circuitry in an enclosure for accommodating the first semiconductor-based circuitry. The braking system further includes a second semiconductor-based circuitry electrically coupled to the first semiconductor-based circuitry to produce a chopper including a chopper circuit topology fully contained in the enclosure. The second semiconductor-based circuitry includes a circuit topology selectable to adapt the baseline chopper circuit topology to meet distinct operational requirements to be fulfilled by the braking system.

FIG. 1 is an electrical schematic of a prior art electromotive traction system, as typically used in an off-highway vehicle. A DC output of an electrical power source 104 is connected to a DC bus 122 that supplies DC power to one or more traction motors 108. The DC bus 122 may also be referred to as a traction bus 122 because it carries the power used by the traction motor subsystems. A typical diesel-electric off-highway vehicle may include two traction motors 108 in a single axle implementation, one traction motor per each wheel, which in combination operate as an axle assembly, or axle-equivalent. It is noted that the vehicle may be also be configured to include a single traction motor per axle or may be configured to include four traction motors, one per each wheel of a two axle-equivalent four-wheel vehicle. In FIG. 1, each traction motor subsystem 124A and 124B comprises an inverter (e.g., inverter 106A and 106B) and a corresponding traction motor (e.g., traction motor 108A and 108B, respectively).
During braking, the power generated by the traction motors 108 is dissipated through a typical prior art electrical braking system 110. As illustrated in FIG. 1, electrical braking system 110 includes a plurality of contactors (e.g., contactors DB1 through DB5) for switching a plurality of power resistive elements electrically coupled between the positive and negative rails of the DC bus 122. Each vertical grouping of resistors may be referred to as a string. One or more power grid cooling blowers (e.g., blowers BL1, BL2) are normally used to remove heat generated in a string due to electrical braking.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram representative of one known physical layout of basic building blocks as implemented in a known traction system, and, more particularly, in a traction system that uses an electrical braking system that utilizes a combination of mechanical contactors and solid state power switches (e.g., semiconductor-based circuitry). As shown in FIG. 2, a cabinet 130 in the off-highway vehicle is configured to accommodate a group of four traction inverters with semiconductor-based circuitry (not shown) fully occupying four respective enclosures 1321, 1322, 1323 and 1324. Cabinet 130 in part accommodates a chopper circuit that uses semiconductor-based circuitry (not shown) arranged in a respective enclosure 1325 having the same form and fit as the inverter enclosures 1321, 1322, 1323 and 1324. It is noted that the semiconductor-based circuitry for the chopper circuit has a footprint that defines at least one cavity (e.g., cavity 133) in enclosure 1325. FIG. 2 further illustrates a contactor box 134 externally disposed with respect to cabinet 130 for accommodating one or more contactors (e.g., contactors DB1-DB5) that in combination with the semiconductor-based circuitry arranged in enclosure 1325 make up the chopper circuit for driving the electrical power-dissipating elements, such as resistive elements.
Electrical braking systems that use mechanical contactors tend to have a relatively high life cycle cost driven by maintenance of the contactors. Moreover, electrical braking systems that use mechanical contactors may not provide optimal performance as the drive system must wait for the contactors to close before retard power can be produced. This wait may be relatively long as it is subject to the constraints of a mechanical component. Space and weight also need to be efficiently allocated in connection with any retrofit installation that may be performed to the electrical braking subsystem of an off-highway vehicle.
Therefore, there is a need for providing a lower cost, lower maintenance and higher performance solution for controlling the flow of retarding (e.g., dynamic braking) power supplied into a resistor grid bank in an off-highway vehicle. It would be further desirable to provide a retrofit installation that improves the electrical braking system of an off-highway vehicle, without requiring extensive modifications.

Chopper circuit topologies for adapting an electrical braking system in a traction vehicle


A device for hanging frames, for example picture frames, overcomes prior art problems wherein string or wire attached to the frame is easily knocked off a nail on the surface, for example a wall, on which the frame is to be hung. In one aspect this is done by providing a hole with converging edges located so that the nail fits snugly between these converging edges, for example in the upper corner of a triangular hole, due to the weight of the frame. The head of the nail overlaps the converging edges of the hole and is therefore held securely. In another aspect, the device has a surface for supporting the wire or string attached to the frame to be hung and provides a substantial area of contact with the string so as to spread the weight of the frame and thereby reduce wear and tear on the wire or string.

Traditionally when a frame, for example carrying a photograph or a picture, is to be hung on a vertical surface such as a wall, a string or wire attached between two points at the back of the frame is balanced over a nail protruding from the wall. The string can easily be knocked off the nail and the small surface area between the nail and the string puts excessive strain on the string making the arrangement unstable and inherently dangerous.


In one example, a position sensor is provided. The position sensor comprises an integrated circuit, and a magnetic field sensor that provides a detected signal indicative of a position of a magnetic field source to the integrated circuit. The magnetic field sensor comprises a tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) sensor. The position sensor further comprises a wireless circuit coupled to the integrated circuit, wherein the wireless circuit comprises an antenna configured to radiate a position signal based on the detected signal.

Some magnetic position sensors are used to determine a linear or rotary position of a device. Such a device may be, for example, a shaft, gear, or other movable device. To determine a position of the device, a magnetic field position sensor is sometimes used in conjunction with a magnet attached to the device. In some cases, the magnetic field position sensor is positioned proximate to the device such that the magnet passes by the magnetic field position sensor as the device moves relative to the sensor.


Determining when to provide a Proactive Grant Service (PGS) scheduling grant. A plurality of PGS grants are issued to a cable modem (CM). The PGS grants that were utilized by the CM are monitored as well as those PGS grants that were not utilized by the CM. A compromise PGS grants pattern for that CM is generated based on the observations of which PGS grants the CM utilized and which PGS grants the CM did not utilize. The compromise PGS grants pattern for that CM optimizes a projected experienced latency and jitter for particular data flows of the CM verses a projected wasted upstream capacity.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a point to multipoint communication system used by typical cable television operators in accordance with the prior art. The CableLabs specified Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) enables a point to multipoint communication system as shown in FIG. 1 to connect Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), such as computers, to the Internet. A Cable Modem (CM) is typically situated on the customer premise and serves as a gateway device. The CM may connect the cable access network of the cable operator to a plurality of CPE devices (e.g., by means of Ethernet cables, Wi-Fi, and the like) to provide these CPEs with Internet access through the DOCSIS system. A Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), typically residing in a Multiple Services Operator (MSO) managed location, constitutes the single head point in the point to multipoint communication system, and connects to a plurality of CMs.
Transmission of data packets over a point to multipoint communication system is simpler in the downstream (DS) direction. The DS direction originates at the CMTS, continues to any one of the CMs, and ultimately progresses through the CM to a particular CPE. The reason why the transmission of data packets in simpler in the DS direction is because transmission in that direction does not require a priory coordination between multiple devices as the packets are all being sent from a single location, i.e., the CMTS.
However, upstream (US) data transmissions that originate from a CPE, traverse through a CM, to be received by the CMTS require coordination and scheduling of that transmission by the CMTS. Information about when a packet from a particular CPE is scheduled to be transmitted must be conveyed by the CMTS to the CM in the form of scheduling grants. The use of scheduling grants (or simply 'grants') ensures that transmissions from different CMs do not collide and may be properly received by the CMTS.
The DOCSIS specifications describe several methods for CMs to request opportunities to transmit in the US direction from the CMTS, and further describes a CMTS-generated MAP management message that the CMTS may use to grant transmission opportunities to CMs. The CMTS uses a scheduler to process multiple requests from multiple CMs, as well as internal CMTS requests (such as for maintenance of the CMs or for unsolicited US transmission grants), to construct these MAPs.
Each MAP may specify a plurality of upstream transmission opportunities (or 'grants'). Each MAP may arrange the plurality of grants specified thereby so that each grant is associated with a consecutive US transmission time. Each MAP has an established time in which it becomes active, which corresponds to the time when the first grant specified by the MAP starts. The MAP may span over a total time duration not exceeding a certain time period so that consecutively generated MAPs for a given channel do not overlap in US transmission time. Typically, a CMTS US scheduler uses a fix time period between all MAPs generated for a given channel, e.g., 0.5, 1, or 2 milliseconds. Each MAP is transmitted by the CMTS to all CMs upon generation of each MAP. Although some CMTS US schedulers may employ MAPs which are not equally spaced in time, the continuous stream of MAPs generated and transmitted by the CMTS are typically still arranged consecutively in time.
Note that there can exist periods of time not scheduled by any MAP. By extension, there can exist periods of time without any US transmission grants, especially if the available capacity of the US link over the access system is larger than the instantaneous aggregated demand for US data transmissions from all sources. Some CMTS US schedulers may use grants to dummy CM devices so that no gaps in time exist between MAPs; however, the US channel for which the MAPs are generated by such a CMTS US scheduler will not have actual data carried over it during these dummy grants.
Due to various delays in a DOCSIS system, there are typically several outstanding MAPs in various stages of generation, transmission from the CMTS to all CMs, processing by each CM in the DOCSIS system, MAPs processed by the CM but awaiting for their active time, as well as a MAP actively being employed by CMs. Due to the ordinary DOCSIS delays, typically by the time the CMTS receives transmissions that were granted by a certain MAP, several consecutive MAPs have already been generated by the CMTS US scheduler and transmitted to each CM.
In the course of a normal data flow, a CM receives an US data packet from a CPE. In response, the CM generates a request for an US transmission opportunity using one of the established request methods. The CM forwards this request to the CMTS. This request arrives at the CMTS US scheduler, which correspondingly allocates an appropriate transmit opportunity for that CM in one of the following MAPs. That MAP is then transmitted by the CMTS to all CMs. When the requesting CM receives and processes the MAP with its assigned grants, the CM recognizes the grant it has been specifically given, and thereafter uses the US transmit opportunity to transmit the actual data packet received from the CPE to the CMTS. Thus, while DS data transmissions suffer delays and latency associated with one-way transmission from the CMTS to the CM, US data transmission suffers delays and latency associated with the sum of a) one-way transmission from the CM to the CMTS (for the request of the US transmission opportunity), b) one-way transmission from the CMTS to the CM (for the US transmission grant carried by a MAP), c) one-way transmission from the CM to the CMTS (for the actual US data packet), and d) various MAP generation and CMTS and CM processing delays.
The DOCSIS specification includes support for known data flows requiring low latency (e.g., voice calls from CMs with Embedded Multimedia Terminal Adapter (EMTA)). This support utilizes the DOCSIS specified Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) mechanism, which provides US transmission opportunities to specific devices and services without a need to request an opportunity for each data packet.
When carrying an active voice call, EMTAs generate periodic data packets to be transmitted US. Upon establishment of an active voice call, the CMTS scheduler periodically allocates a transmit opportunity for that EMTA. The EMTA can set its own voice packetization into data packets such that the data packet is ready just in time for transmission over the periodically provided UGS grant. This saves the EMTA the need to request a transmit opportunity for every data (voice) packet and reduces the US latency endured by this US data packet to the latency caused by a single one-way transmission from the CM to the CMTS.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary timing associated with a periodical EMTA US data packet transmission which utilizes periodical dedicated US UGS grant for the data flow in accordance with the prior art. As shown in the example of FIG. 2, the CMTS US scheduler provides a single transmit opportunity for that EMTA every 18 equal length MAPs.
While UGS improves latency for some Multiple Service Operators (MSO)-managed dedicated services and devices, UGS cannot be used for MSO-unknown or MSO-unmanaged services and applications. Although some such services may greatly benefit from lower latency on the access link, and although many of the low latency yearning applications have data flow traits similar to those of Multiple Service Operators (MSO)-managed voice calls (e.g., periodically transmitted data packets), the time-related parameters of these data transmissions are unknown to the operator and/or the CMTS, and consequently appropriate UGS parameters cannot be set for such services.
Online gaming is a vastly popular application which can benefit from low latency data access. Many online games set up a link between a user's computer and a "cloud" server. The cloud server typically invokes a non-latency-sensitive massive-data transfer during a game-stage setup, which provides the computer-run application with general "static" information about the game/stage environment. Once actual play commences, the cloud server periodically transmits DS data packets comprising a "world update" to the user application, informing the application about dynamic changes in the game (such as other players' movements and actions). Similarly, the user's computer game application periodically transmits US data packets comprising a "player update" to the cloud server, informing the cloud server about dynamic game changes invoked by the player (such as movement and actions). Since typical game display apparatus (e.g., TV screens, computer monitors, etc.) typically use a constant refresh rate (e.g., 30 Hz or 60 Hz in North America and 25 Hz or 50 Hz in Europe), most online games detect the user's screen refresh rate and use that rate or one of its derivatives to generate and transmit both the DS "world update" and US "player update" data packets. Thus, often "world update" and "player update" data packets are transmitted at a rate of 25 Hz or 30 Hz.
The actual game status (e.g., position, movement, and actions of all players) resides on the cloud server. Each player receives an update to the game status after a DS latency (i.e., the combined latency from cloud server to his or her CPE), and each player's actions arrive at the game server after an US latency (i.e., the combined latency from a player CPE to the cloud server). The shorter the aggregate sum of the DS latency and the US latency, the better a player in the game is able to react to the game updates, including the actions of other players in the game. Thus, the player game experience is greatly influenced by the latency suffered by periodic update data packets, as well as by the jitter (changes in latency) they suffer. Moreover, a player experiencing a lower combination of DS latency and US latency has a game playing advantage over a player experiencing higher total DS and US latency.
In early 2019, CableLabs released an enhancement to the DOCSIS specifications that included the Low Latency DOCSIS (LLD) suite of capabilities. One of the capabilities of the LLD is the Proactive Grant Service (PGS) US scheduling type, in which an US service flow is proactively given a stream of grants (transmission opportunities) at a rate that generally matches or exceeds the instantaneous demand. A typical user data flow that can make use of the PGS scheduling type is online gaming periodical player updates. The DOCSIS specification enables the CMTS to identify the existence of a low latency data flow, enables setting up PGS scheduling for the data flow, and allows a CM to identify each data packet in the data flow to enable PGS grants to be used with those data packets.
In a typical implementation of PGS scheduling for a low latency data flow, the CMTS US scheduler creates a stream of grants for that data flow. Under DOCSIS own rules, only the particular CM that requested a grant can use an issued grant. Further, under the rules set forth by DOCSIS, a CM may only use US transmission opportunities provided by a grant for the low latency flow for which the grant was requested, as well as for predetermined non-latency-sensitive data if such was identified (e.g., other data arriving to that CM on the same Ethernet connection to the CPE associated with the original grant request). Since the CMTS does not have accurate information on the latency-sensitive data flow, typically the CMTS scheduler provides many more PGS grants than are actually required by that data flow. As a result, since often the CM has no data to send using the grants it has been issued to it, many of the grants issued by the CMTS US scheduler are wasted. Thus, there exists a tradeoff between the number of wasted grants and the latency and jitter experienced by the low latency data flow.
To illustrate this tradeoff, first consider FIG. 3, which is an illustration of exemplary aggressive PGS grant which enables latency of ½ a MAP time on average, a jitter of 1 map time, and wasted capacity of 17/18 of the PGS grants in accordance with the prior art. The actual capacity wasted may be somewhat lower if the CM has other non-latency-sensitive data to transmit in the PGS grants unused for the low-latency data flow, but may also be somewhat higher since the CMTS US scheduler does not know the actual size appropriate for each US data packet, and will typically provide a grant large enough to satisfy the largest anticipated US data packet.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of a less aggressive PGS grant example which enables latency of 1 MAP time on average, a jitter of 2 map times, and wasted capacity of 8/9 of the PGS grants in accordance with the prior art. The actual capacity wasted may be somewhat lower or somewhat higher as explained with reference to FIG. 3. While both latency and jitter suffered by the data flow are double what they were in the previous example of FIG. 3, the wasted capacity in FIG. 4 is about half of the example of FIG. 3.

Adaptive high efficiency, low latency DOCSIS PGS scheduler


When the instruction for increasing the volume level is input by the user's operation and the signal representing the set value or more is output from a detector, a controller does not increase the volume levels of the first volume controller and the second volume controller. When the signal representing the set value or more is not output from the detector and the second volume level has a predetermined value, the controller increases the first volume level. When the signal representing the set value or more is not output from the detector and the second volume level is less than the predetermined value, the controller increases the second volume level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a volume control apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In audio amplifiers, when an analog audio signal is input into a DSP, in the DSP, (1) a volume is controlled to a first volume level by a first volume controller, (2) the analog audio signal is converted into a digital audio signal by an analog-digital converter, (3) the digital audio signal is subject to a signal process, (4) a volume is controlled to a second volume level by a second volume controller, and the signal is output to an amplifier. When a sensitivity is set to 2 V, the volume level of the first volume controller is set to −6 dB. This is because since a maximum input voltage of the analog-digital converter in the DSP is 1 V, an analog audio signal of 2 V is reduced to 1 V so as to be input into the analog-digital converter. At this time, since the volume level of the first volume controller is set to −6 dB, the volume level cannot be sufficiently increased for the analog audio signal of 1 V. On the other hand, when the sensitivity is set to 1 V, since the analog audio signal of 1 V can be input directly into the analog-digital converter, the volume level of the first volume controller is set to 0 V. As a result, the volume level can be sufficiently adjusted for the analog audio signal of 1 V. At this time, overflow occurs in the analog audio signal of 2 V, and a noise is generated. In order to solve this problem, conventional audio amplifiers employ a function for manually controlling a sensitivity by means of a user's operation according to an analog audio signal to be input, but it is very complicated that the sensitivity is adjusted by a user's operation.

Volume control apparatus with first and second controllers


A mechanism detects multiple assertions in a bus efficiently by encoding each of N bus lines with log2(N) pairs of bit lines.

Some embodiments of the present invention are generally related to processor busses, and more particularly to detecting when more than one line in a bus is asserted.
In many microprocessor environments, busses may be used to connect various components as a mean of transferring signals and other data. One type of bus typically includes a collection of wires or lines that normally assert only one line or wire at a time. Busses are prone to various error conditions, which cause incorrect results. Error detection can be critical to processor stability and overall performance. Of the many types of errors that may occur, one of the more serious is when more than one line or wire asserts or goes hot at the same time. For example, when a soft error occurs, more than one line is asserted, causing errors in the processing of computer instructions.
Previous solutions to this problem include using extensive logic to examine every wire in a bus in relation to every other wire in the bus. This method is inefficient and expensive when the number of wires (N) is large, because the number of the (N−1)! states to monitor.
The invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is generally indicated by the left-most digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

Efficient detection of multiple assertions in a bus


A dipole microphone assembly for a nearfield sound source has a first microphone and a second microphone. The second microphone is out of phase with the first microphone so as to provide a dipole microphone assembly. Each of the microphones has a port, and a dipole spacing is defined as a distance from the center of the port of the first microphone to the center of the port of the second microphone. The dipole spacing is less than ¼ of a wavelength for the highest frequency of the sound of interest.

While there have been numerous early inventions of the electric guitar, George D. Beauchamp's 1939 patent (U.S. Pat. No. 2,152,783 filed May 26, 1936) can be seen as the first design incorporating a magnetic induction transducer as a means to suppress the problem of acoustic feedback from the amplifier and loudspeaker. Feedback occurs when the guitar transducer senses the amplified signal through the loudspeaker as being as loud as, or louder than, the vibrating string of the guitar. It is still possible to apply enough gain or to place the guitar close to the loudspeaker and create an unstable feedback howling sound, but the magnetic induction pickup has proven to be the most effective at keeping feedback under control. Unfortunately, the electronic signal of a magnetic induction pickup lacks the high frequency structure to reproduce the acoustic guitar sound one hears without amplification. Vibration sensors can be used which offer a closer sound image than the magnetic induction pickup, but the vibration signal is not the same as the acoustic signal and the vibration signal is still sensitive to uncontrolled acoustic feedback. Donnell (U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,688, Mar. 25, 1997) claims a guitar pickup mounting incorporating an internal foam disc to separate the sound from the guitar sound hole from an external amplified loudspeaker to suppress feedback. Such a large foam disc also degrades the sound of the acoustic guitar and has limited effectiveness in suppressing feedback induced vibration in the guitar body. Later Donnell addresses the feedback problem (U.S. Pat. No. 8,035,025, Oct. 11, 2011) using a pair of microphones separated in space, vibration dampened, and with a predetermined time delay added to one microphone of ⅔ of a millisecond as a means of suppressing undesirable feedback from a guitar amplifier. The microphone separation and time delay are large enough to suppress some feedback frequencies but can also create new feedback at different frequencies. Using multiple microphones on complicated sound sources such as grand pianos and drum kits has long been well understood by those skilled in the art of recording music to enhance desirable sounds with particular combinations of microphones, signal phases, and mixing with other transducers such as vibration sensors. This tonal effect is exploited by Ryan (US Patent Publication No. 2012/0060669, Mar. 15, 2012), Truchsess (US Patent Publication No. 2013/0312590, Nov. 28, 2013) and Truchsess (US Patent Publication No. 2012/0060670, Mar. 15, 2012). In the case of cymbals, Ryan and Truchsess note that detecting the out-of-phase vibrations using out-of-phase microphones on opposite sides of the cymbal enhance the more desirable out-of-phase rocking motion of the cymbal while suppressing the less desirable in-phase flapping motion of the cymbal. This is entirely a tonal effect and has nothing to do with feedback suppression. Because the microphone spacing is much more than a wavelength for the frequencies of interest, it can only suppress feedback a particular frequencies while the possibility of feedback at other frequencies is enhanced.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Microphone array transducer for acoustic musical instrument


A vehicle steering wheel rotation restraining apparatus which comprises a restraining arm located within the hub of a steering wheel and which is extendable to a steering wheel rotation restraining position outwardly of the steering wheel and retractable within the steering wheel to allow freedom of use of the steering wheel. The restraining apparatus is provided with a lock mechanism on or associated with the exterior surface of the hub for a user to release or lock the restraining arm. The restraining arm is normally located within the hub of the steering wheel and upon opening of the lock device, the restraining arm will automatically extend outwardly to its full steering wheel rotation restraining position. In this latter position, the arm is sufficient in length to preclude any significant turning of the steering wheel since it will impact with a rigid portion of the vehicle or the legs of the vehicle driver. Thus, the restraining arm is easy to use. When the driver of the vehicle again wishes to use the vehicle, he or she can merely push the arm back into the hub and lock the restraining arm in its retracted position in the steering wheel. In like manner, when the driver of the vehicles wishes to reduce the possibility of vehicle theft, he or she can merely release the lock mechanism and allow the restraining arm to extend to its full rotation restraining position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in vehicle steering wheel rotation restraining apparatus and more particularly to a vehicle steering wheel rotation restraining apparatus of the type which employs a restraining arm extendable out of the hub of a steering wheel for use and back into the hub of the steering wheel when the restraining arm is not employed.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
The increased incidence of automobile theft in recent years has led to a variety of anti-theft devices specifically designed for use with automotive vehicles. Most of these devices are usually readily circumvented by the experienced automotive vehicle thief. As a simple example, many automotive vehicle thieves are quite familiar with the disarming of which alarm systems and the like.
One effective automotive anti-theft device for use with automotive vehicles relies upon the use of an elongate rod which is physically clamped to the steering wheel when the vehicle is not in use. This rod has a length greater than the overall diameter of the steering wheel such that one or both of the opposite ends of the rod extends beyond the rim of the steering wheel. In this way, a driver is precluded from driving the vehicle with the rod clamped in place due to the fact that the outer ends of the rod will engage a portion of the vehicle or the legs of the driver and preclude turning of the steering wheel beyond a very limited radius of rotation.
While the rod or so-called "Club" is effective for its intended purpose, it is frequently not used due to the time and difficulty in mounting this device onto the steering wheel. When a driver stops a vehicle for a short period of time, as for example, to enter into a quick purchase location or so-called "quick shop", the driver will often intentionally avoid the use of this locking device because of the amount of time and difficulty required to mount the same onto the steering wheel and to again remove the same from the steering wheel.
Although a driver of a vehicle who may have the restraining arm device available does not use that device because of an intentional quick stop, it is frequently locations such as parking lots where vehicles are stolen. Consequently, the driver who assumes that the vehicle will be relatively safe because of only a short period where it is unattended, often misleads himself or herself. Hence, the device is unused where and when needed.
The use of the restraining arm device also becomes a serious problem with a woman who may be attending small children, and particularly infants who are being carried. As a simple example, the woman carrying an infant is ill-equipped to be able to mount the restraining arm device onto the vehicle steering wheel and again remove the restraining arm device when it becomes unused. With many drivers, after a period of time, due to the difficulty in use of this device, it frequently becomes unused and also not even carried in the vehicle.
Thus, there has been a need for an effective steering wheel locking device which can be activated and employed upon a simple opening of a lock mechanism and which can be deactivated and removed from use also upon a simple actuation of a locking mechanism.

Vehicle steering wheel rotation restraining apparatus


Implementations described and claimed herein provide apparatuses, systems, and methods for a quick maintenance of an electrical connector, such as a SAE J560 compliant connector. In one implementation, a connector includes a cable bundling wires extending into a housing having a body extending between a proximal end and a distal end. A distal terminal holder is disposed within an opening of the body at the proximal end. The distal terminal holder has a surface oriented in a direction away from the body. Terminals extend from the surface of the distal terminal holder, and each of the terminals is in electrical communication with one of the wires. Terminal assemblies each have a distal opening into which one of the terminals extends. A proximal terminal holder has terminal openings extending from a distal surface to a proximal surface, and each of the terminal assemblies extends through one of the terminal openings.

When towing a vehicle, either directly or indirectly (e.g., using a trailer), various vehicle lights should be visible to other drivers. Because the towed vehicle obscures the lights of the towing vehicle, all towed vehicles generally must have working taillights and brake lights, at a minimum. An electrical connection between the towed and towing vehicles to provide such working lights often involves a multifunction electrical connector. Generally, such connectors are governed by specifications set forth by Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J560 and involve multiple (e.g., seven) terminals to provide a connection to the various electronic systems operating on the towed vehicle.
While towing, the connector is engaged to a socket of the towed vehicle to establish the electrical connection between the towing and towed vehicles. The connector is disengaged from the socket when towing is complete. As a result of the repeated connection and disconnection of the connector and the socket, various components of the connector often degrade, such that the electrical connection between the towing and towed vehicles becomes inconsistent or otherwise unsuitable. Moreover, other events, such as an outside source (e.g., the road) striking a portion of the connector may cause damage.
When the connector provides an inconsistent electrical connection or otherwise becomes inoperable or unsuitable, the connector is conventionally replaced in its entirety to ensure proper functioning of the electrical systems of the towed vehicle. Replacing the connector in its entirety for maintenance generally becomes costly. The connector is often replaced in its entirety because the design, manufacturing, and assembly of conventional connectors generally make repair or replacement of components impractical. Generally, as discussed above, J560 connectors involve seven separate terminals for connecting six different electrical systems on the towed vehicle and include a ground return. Each of these terminals is connected to a relatively low gauge (i.e., large) wire, with the wires each insulated. The insulated wires are collectively bundled in a common jacket as a single cable. Typically, each of the wires is soldered or sonically welded to the connector for electrical communication with the terminals. The nature of these connections, among other issues, renders the replacement of a J560 connector a burdensome process involving: severing the wires to remove the connector; stripping the outer jacket of the cable to expose the individual wires; stripping the insulation of the individual wires; and connecting (e.g., sonically welding or soldering) the wires to corresponding lead wires on a new J560 connector. Accordingly, maintenance of connectors (e.g., repair or replacement) is often challenging, time consuming, and costly, and may require the use of specialized tools.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were developed.


A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes an oil pump 12 comprising a feed pump 13 and scavenging pumps 14 and 15. Then oil pump 12 and an oil tank 16 are arranged at the outside of the internal combustion engine 9. A pump shaft for the pumps 13, 14 and 15 can be arranged in a same direction as that of a crank shaft of the engine 9. The feed pump 13 and two scavenging pumps 14 and 15 are arranged in serial order with the feed pump being farthest from the engine 9. A check valve 24 can be arranged in a passage of the discharge side of the feed pump 13. A relief valve 23 can be arranged between a passage of the discharge side of the feed pump 13 and a passage of the intake side of the scavenging pump 14.

1. Field of the Inventions
The present inventions relate to a lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprising a feed pump and scavenging pumps.
2. Description of Background Art
In a wetsump type lubricating apparatus, lubricating oil accumulated in an oil pan arranged at a lower part of an internal combustion engine is directly fed to parts required to be lubricated in the engine. In some engines, a drysump type lubricating system is used in place of the wetsump type apparatus.
In a drysump type apparatus, an oil reservoir is provided in addition to an oil pan for collecting the lubricating oil from the oil pan. The lubricating oil accumulated in the oil reservoir is fed to an oil tank by scavenging pump(s). The lubricating oil can remain in the oil tank for a time. Then the lubricating oil is fed by a feed pump from the oil tank to parts of engine required to be lubricated.
In a vehicle such as an all terrain vehicle designed for traveling off-road or on a steeply sloped road, it is desirable that the vehicle has a sufficient ground clearance for off-road use, as well as a low center of gravity. Accordingly, an oil pan, such as that commonly used in wetsump systems, is undesirable because the large undulations on the bottom surface of such an oil pan interferes with ground clearance and/or requires the engine to be mounted higher, thereby raising the center of gravity. If a drysump type system is used, it remains difficult to configure the oil reservoir to operate properly even when the body of vehicle is inclined.
One example of a prior art lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine which can help to alleviate these problems is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. As shown in FIG. 7, an oil pump unit 50 comprises a feed pump 51, a main scavenging pump 52 and a sub-scavenging pump 53 and is arranged between a front case 60a and a rear case 60b of a crank case 60. Rotors 54, 55 and 56 of these pumps 51, 52 and 53 are mounted on a common driving shaft 63 so as to be driven integrally therewith.
Oil reservoirs 57 and 58 are arranged at the bottom of the crank case 60 and are separated in a fore and aft direction by a partition wall 59. The main scavenging pump 52 and the sub-scavenging pump 53 separately draw oil from the oil reservoirs 57 and 58, respectively. The oil reservoir 57 is arranged substantially at a middle of the bottom of the crank case 60 which is a position where most of the oil tends to collect when the vehicle body is in a horizontal position. On the other hand, the oil reservoir 58 is arranged at a position shifted rearwardly relative to the reservoir 57 and extends in the right and left directions so that the oil can easily move even when the vehicle body is inclined toward the fore and aft directions or the right and left directions.
As shown in FIG. 8, a relief valve 61 is arranged between a passage of the discharge side of the feed pump 51 and a passage of the discharge side of the main scavenging pump 52 and the sub-scavenging pump 53. As such, the relief valve 61 can open and relieve surplus oil when a pressure in the passage of the discharge side of the feed pump 51 exceeds a predetermined relief pressure. The surplus oil is then fed to an oil tank 64 via an oil cooler 62 together with oil discharged from the main scavenging pump 52 and the sub-scavenging pump 53.
This structure allows the main scavenging pump 52 and the sub-scavenging pump 53 to reliably draw the oil from the reservoirs 57, 58. Additionally, this arrangement provides more freedom in the design of the bottom portion of the crank case 60 and thus it is easier to lower the center of gravity of vehicle while keeping a sufficient ground clearance relative to the crank case 60 (see e.g. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 73731/2001).
Recently, however, it has become more desirable to further lower the center of gravity in vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles and water-vehicles, while maintaining sufficient ground clearance relative to the crank case. In the lubricating apparatus of the prior art noted above in which three pumps 51, 52 and 53 are arranged within the crank case 60 of engine, the capacity of the oil reservoir and the oil tank is reduced due to the pumps and partition walls. This problem is more severe in multi-cylinder engines, in that it is more difficult to draw oil from each of the oil reservoirs 57 and 58 in a stable manner while the position of vehicle changes, due to additional limitations in layout in the multi-cylinder engine.

Lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine


Aspects of the subject matter described herein are directed towards indicating to a wireless network device which time-division duplex slot patterns (slot formats) are supported by a user equipment device, e.g., which slot patterns have went through interoperability and deployment testing (IODT) successfully with respect to the type of user equipment device. With the supported slot pattern information, the network can make an intelligent decision on scheduling downlink/uplink ratios, while selecting a slot pattern that the user equipment device is known to support. In one aspect, the technology adds a “Slot format IODTed” information element in the user equipment device capability information, which the network obtains when the user equipment device reports its capabilities to the network. In another aspect, the network can query the user equipment device for the supported slot format information.

In New Radio (NR), often referred to as 5G, a standard (3GPP) defines 56 time-division duplex slot formats depending on downlink/uplink (DL/UL) TDD symbol ratios. Dynamic selection of one of the slot formats allows flexible TDD scheduling operations, in that dynamic selection allows the DL/UL ratio to be adjusted based on current traffic needs, e.g., 3:1 downlink to uplink for a while, then 1:1, and so on. However, in current 5G deployment, infrastructure vendors can only support very limited slot formats, as only some slot patterns can have gone through interoperability and deployment testing (IODT) successfully; note that as used herein, "slot pattern" and "slot format" (as referred to in in 3GPP specifications) are used interchangeably.
Currently in 3GPP, when the network informs the user equipment of the UL/DL ratio (corresponding to the slot pattern), the user equipment has to follow the network configured DL/UL ratios within the specified one of the 56 slot formats even if not supported by having been successfully IODT tested. In other words, a user equipment has to follow network signaling to deal with all 56 slot patterns, including those that are not considered supported, that is, have not went through interoperability and deployment testing for that type of user equipment device.

Indication of interoperability and deployment tested time-division duplex slot formats


In an exemplary implementation of a method and system for determining the direction of fluid flow, one or more sound transducers are positioned in proximity to a conduit, each such sound transducer generating a signal representative of a selected characteristic of acoustic waves emanating from the conduit. Such signals are collected and analyzed to determine a threshold value for the selected characteristic (e.g., frequency) indicative of a change in the direction of fluid flow through the conduit. Based on whether subsequent measurements of the selected characteristic (e.g., frequency) are above or below the threshold value, the direction of fluid flow can be predicted and/or a change in the operational state of a component associated with the conduit can be identified.

The present invention relates to a method and system for determining the direction of fluid flow, such as fluid flow through pipelines or similar conduits for delivering natural gas, crude oil, and other liquid or gas energy commodities. The method and system relies on the measurement of acoustic frequencies generated by the fluid, thus allowing for determination of the direction of flow and/or identification of a change in the operational state of a component associated with the conduit without direct access to the fluid.
Natural gas, crude oil, and other similar liquid or gas energy commodities comprise a multi-billion dollar economic market. These commodities are bought and sold by many parties, and as with any traded market, information about the traded commodities is very valuable to market participants. Specifically, the operations of the various components and facilities of the production, transportation, storage, and distribution systems for each of these commodities can have significant impacts on the price and availability of these commodities, making information about said operations valuable. Furthermore, such information generally is not disclosed publicly by the various component owners or operators, and access to said information is therefore limited.
In co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/967,737 filed Oct. 18, 2004, which has been incorporated herein by reference, a method and system for monitoring fluid flow is described that relies on the measurement of acoustic waves generated by the fluid from a location external to the conduit in which the fluid is flowing, thus allowing for monitoring of the flow rate without direct access to the fluid. Furthermore, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/967,737 describes how to estimate the operational dynamics of components or facilities of the production, transportation, storage, and distribution systems for the energy commodities through such measurement of acoustic waves.
In general, fluids (whether compressible or incompressible) flowing through pipelines or similar conduits produce acoustic waves, i.e., sound or vibration. The sound produced by the flow of natural gas or other energy commodity can be characterized by its amplitude and frequency. In this regard, the amplitude and frequency are generally directly related to the velocity of the fluid through the conduit, along with the associated operational components (e.g., valves, compressors, and meters), and thus the flow rate of the fluid. Therefore, a sound transducer or similar sensor can be positioned to detect the acoustic waves emanating from a particular conduit caused by fluid flow through that conduit, and by recording and analyzing the acoustic waves, the flow rate through the conduit can be estimated. In this regard, the flow rate is commonly expressed as a volumetric flow rate, i.e., characterized as the volume of fluid passing by a designated point over a predetermined time period.
Therefore, according to the teachings of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/967,737, one or more sound transducers are positioned in proximity to a pipeline such that acoustic waves can be reliably detected. Each sound transducer detects the amplitude and/or frequency of the acoustic waves generated by the gas flow through the pipeline and generates a signal representative of that measurement. The signal generated by each sound transducer is transmitted to an above-ground monitoring device in general proximity to the sound transducers and the monitored pipeline. The monitoring device houses the various electronic equipment necessary to process the signals from the sound transducers and transmit collected data to a central processing facility. Specifically, the monitoring device is programmed such that it periodically or continuously collects data from the sound transducers, processes that data into a form suitable for transmission, and transmits the data to a remote central processing facility.
At the central processing facility, a computational analysis is performed by a digital computer program to determine the flow rate of the fluid through the monitored pipeline. Furthermore, for any particular facility or other component of the production, transportation, storage, and/or distribution system for which all, or most of, the connected pipelines are monitored, through a simple summing of the volumetric flow rates on each pipeline, the output or production of the facility can be determined. Then, information associated with the production or output of one or more facilities or components can be communicated to third parties. This information may include not only the measured flow rates or output estimates, but also historical data, capacity estimates, or similar data that places the measured flow rates or output estimates in context for market participants and other interested parties.
In some circumstances, mere knowledge of the direction of flow has value. For example, natural gas is located and collected by production companies from geographically dispersed wells. The natural gas collected from these wells is delivered through a network of pipelines (or similar conduits) and then delivered to storage facilities. Knowledge of whether natural gas is being injected into a storage facility or withdrawn from a facility can be very important to those involved in trading natural gas commodities, as the operational state of a storage facility is an indicator of the demand for natural gas.

Method and system for determining the direction of fluid flow


A technique for reducing signal degradation and fading within a long optical transmission by utilizing a rotating waveplate arrangement to rotate the SOP of an optical signal launched into the transmission system, and thereby minimize polarization dependent hole-burning ("PDHB"). This effectively reduces the degree of polarization of the launched optical signal, without degrading the noise and dispersion characteristics of the signal. The rate of waveplate rotation is chosen to ensure that the SOP of the launched signal does not remain at a particular SOP long enough to anisotropically saturate any optical amplifier employed within the transmission system, and give rise to PDHB.

Very long optical fiber transmission paths, such as those employed in undersea or trans-continental terrestrial lightwave transmission systems which employ optical amplifier repeaters, are subject to decreased performance due to a host of impairments that increase as a function of the length of the optical fiber comprising the transmission path. Typically, in such long optical transmission systems, these impairments vary with time and cause a random fluctuation in the signal-to-noise ratio ("SNR") of the transmission path. This random fluctuation contributes to a phenomenon known as signal fading. Signal fading can result in an increased bit error rate ("BER") for digital signals transmitted via the optical fiber path. When the SNR of a digital signal within such a transmission system becomes unacceptably small (resulting in an undesirably high BER), a signal fade is said to have occurred. Experimental evidence has shown that polarization dependent effects, induced by the optical fiber itself and/or other optical components (e.g., repeaters, amplifiers, etc.) along the transmission path, contribute to signal fading and SNR fluctuations. In particular, one of these effects has now been identified as polarization dependent hole-burning ("PDHB"), which is related to the population inversion dynamics of the optical amplifiers. A discussion of hole-burning is provided by D. W. Douglas, R. A. Haas, W. F. Krupke, and M. J. Weber in "Spectral and Polarization Hole Burning in Neodymium Glass Lasers"; IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. QE-19, No. 11, November 1983.
PDHB reduces gain of the optical amplifiers within the long haul transmission system for any signal having a state of polarization ("SOP") parallel to that of the primary optical signal carried by the transmission system. However, the gain provided by these amplifiers for optical signals having an SOP orthogonal to that of the primary signal remains relatively unaffected. In simplified terms, the primary optical signal produces an anisotropic saturation of the amplifier that is dependent upon the SOP of the primary optical signal. The anisotropic saturation reduces the level of population inversion within the amplifier, and results in a lower gain for optical signals having the same SOP as the primary optical signal. This effectively causes the amplifier to preferentially enhance noise having an SOP orthogonal to that of the primary signal. This enhanced noise lowers the SNR of the transmission system and causes an increased BER.
Prior methods for reducing signal fading have included the use of systems that actively adjust the SOP of a signal launched into a given optical path, as a function of the quality of the signal received at the far end of the path. However, the dynamic polarization controllers and extremely long feedback paths employed within such systems increase overall complexity and costs, and reduce reliability. Another method employs a non-polarized light source to transmit information over an optical fiber path. Since a non-polarized light source shares its optical power equally on two orthogonally oriented planes within the fiber deleterious polarization dependent effects should be minimized. Unfortunately, non-polarized light sources produce signals having wide bandwidths, which exhibit poor noise and dispersion characteristics that make them impractical for use over very long transmission paths. These previously attempted methods to alleviate signal fading have proved impractical, and fail to specifically address the problem of PDHB.

Apparatus and method utilizing a rotating waveplate for reducing polarization dependent hole-burning in an amplified optical transmission system


An adhesively secured fastener for use with a wide variety of substrates which provides a safer and more effective method of storing, transporting, delivering and using a quick setting adhesive while protecting against contact of the adhesive contained therein with the user of the fastener.

The advantages of quick setting adhesives in the automotive industry have long been known. These "holding" adhesives have the advantage of providing a rapid way of attaching one part to another without causing any physical degradation or deformation of either. However, while the quick set of these materials is often of primary importance, it often makes them difficult to use safely.
A safe and economical way to use these adhesives has long been sought. Fasteners containing their own internal supply of adhesive (herein referred to as adhesively secured fasteners), provide a way of storing, transporting and delivering a desired amount of adhesive to the site of attachment. They are designed so that one or more materials or objects may be mechanically attached to the fastener body which is adhesively secured to the underlying substrate. The use of quick setting adhesives in such fasteners facilitates the formation of bonds between two or more materials or objects, one or more of which may not be compatible with the adhesive. Additionally, the use of these fasteners often eliminates the need for any deformation or degradation of the various surfaces.
Several prior art patents have attempted to achieve adhesively securable fasteners using quick setting adhesives. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,425,065; 4,555,206; 4,693,652; and 4,830,558, herein incorporated by reference, disclose adhesively secured fasteners having a quick setting adhesive positioned within the body of the fastener and means for causing the transference of said adhesive to a position outside the body whereby the body of the fastener is adhesively secured to a substrate. However, these prior art adhesively secured fasteners all possess the disadvantage of allowing uncontrolled transfer of the quick setting adhesive. Thus, these prior art fasteners contribute to the problem of accidental user contact with the adhesive.
However, U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,852 does attempt to address this problem. It discloses a vacuum fixed adhesively secured fastener. This fastener is designed so that adhesives released from an adhesive reservoir in the body of the fastener are contained by the vacuum and barrier-like action of the outer edge of the resilient plastic material of the fastener body. The vacuum fixed fastener can thus be handled without the danger of adhesive contact with workmen or other nondesired surfaces. However, the use of the vacuum fixed adhesively secured fastener is restricted to use on substrates of a non-porous nature and/or those which facilitate the creation of a vacuum with the resilient plastic material of the fastener body.
There is thus a need for an adhesively secured fastener for use on a wide variety of substrates which provides a safe and effective method of storing, transporting, delivering and using a quick setting adhesive. In particular, substrates such as wood fiber interior trim boards, cloth covered interior parts, headliners materials, and exterior parts comprised of plastic and fiber reinforced plastic, including SMC and BMC, having pockmarked or non-smooth surfaces, could utilize an adhesively secured fastener which provides a safe way to rapidly attach articles thereon.
Furthermore, such a fastener should be simple and easy to use while protecting against all possibility of accidental contact between the adhesive and the user of the fastener.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an adhesively secured fastener for use on a wide variety of substrates which provides a safe and effective method of storing, transporting, delivering and using a quick setting adhesive.
It is a further object of the invention to accomplish this objective while providing fasteners which protect against accidental contact of the adhesive with those using the fastener.