A foldable tote box is formed by a one-pierce die-cut and scored board of corrugated material, especially corrugated plastic materials, that includes novel locking system so as to facilitate quick assembly of the box. The board includes a generally rectangular bottom panel, two pairs of side-wall panels to form the side-wall of the tote box, and ore or two pairs of filler beam panels connected to one of the pairs or both pairs of side-wall panels. Each side-wall panel having the filler beam panels includes a side wall section and a flap section, on which two insert locking tabs are formed at appropriate locations to be associated with corresponding fastening tabs located on the filler beam panels. Each of the filler beam panels can be folded to form a hollow support beam. The novel locking system comprises a pair of locking insert tabs is cut out in form of cutting lines on a flap-over section of each end wall panel, and capable of engaging with a pair of holding tabs that is formed, respectively, at predetermined locations on the corresponding filler beam panels, wherein each locking insert tab and a corresponding holding tab are oriented in the same direction when the box is assembled, and the locking insert tab is longer than the holding tab, while the holding tab is wider than the locking insert tab such that the insert tab can be inserted through an opening as the holding tab is pressed away from the filler beam panel during assembling of the box, and the holding tab can hold and lock the locking insert tab upon release of the pressing.

There are many kinds of boxes or cartons known in the art, that are used for holding goods for storage and transportation. These known boxes are made of various materials, such as cardboard, wood, metal, and plastics. However, all of the known boxes have, respectively, various disadvantages, such as moisture immersion, high cost, or too heavy. Particularly, none of the known foldable boxes is suitable for all environmental conditions, such as sunshine or hot environment, wet or humid conditions, cold or frozen conditions, and stacking-up with heavy load. Therefore, there is a need or demand for a durable box which can be used in any kinds of environment in which a box would be used. At the same time, the box must be cost efficient or economical, easily foldable, easily transportable, reusable, light weight, moisture resistant, washable, and capable of stacking-up to bear heavy load for a relatively long period of time. The box should also be recyclable.
At present, no single box can meet all of these requirements. Most of one-piece board of foldable boxes are made of cardboard, waxed cardboard, or thin plastics because thick plastic boards cannot be easily folded. Such boxes usually utilize laminate layers or fillers to reinforce the side and end walls or corners of the box for better support, for instance, the box disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,219 to Dlugopolski; However, the locking systems used thereon are not strong enough to hold the box panels together when the box is used in severe conditions, such as moisture, heat, heavy load. The novel locking system of the present invention, however, can meet the requirements of strong holding and quick assembly of the box even when the box is used under the severe conditions.
The normal locking system for the boxes are tab and slot engagements that are not deadly locked. For example, the inset tabs and the slots are used in U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,219 to Dlugopolski, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,103 to Evants. The barbed tabs are used in U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,997 to Densen, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,932 to Carmel et al. These locks are designed for cardboard material which is relatively soft and flexible. The locking system of Densen is a combination of the tab-slot engagement and barbed tabs. The barbed tabs must be bend over at the box corner to assure the locking of the additional tab-slot engagement. The assembly of such box is relatively slow and such locking cannot be used on boxes of thicker plastic materials. Due to moisture immersion or merely worn-out, the tab-slot engagement or barbed tabs, even the combination thereof in Densen, will be weakened.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved foldable tote box that meets all requirements stated above.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel locking system for foldable boxes, that facilitates the quick assembly or disassembly of the box, while provides the box with enhanced strength and stability.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a foldable tote box that may have hollow support beams at all four sides for enhancing support strength for stacking-up boxes and providing insulation and cushion functions to absorb impacts.


On a base plate with a matrix array of centering holes of a certain unit spacing, an intermediate plate or mounting element can be affixed which has longitudinal rows of centering holes of a center to center spacing which is one-half the unit spacing. A positioning element is mounted on the mounting element and has a pair of parallel positioning surfaces perpendicular to the mounting plane thereof, a countercentering hole located midway between these surfaces and another countercentering hole offset by one-quarter of the unit spacing corresponding to the offset between the holes of the rows of the mounting element whereby, by rotation of the positioning element through 180.degree. in its plane, small changes in the location of the positioning surfaces can be achieved.

In general, a mounting system or jig for holding a workpiece in a machine tool application, e.g. to support the workpiece for a machining operation such as drilling, milling, grinding or shaping, for laying out a workpiece at a work bench or on a machine tool, for orienting a workpiece and for holding a workpiece while measurements are made thereon, can comprise a base plate or pallet which can be formed with a matrix array of centering holes upon which a mounting element can be fixed at any selected orientation by means of fasteners engaging in selected ones of the centering holes.
The mounting element, in turn, can support a stop having a surface which lies at a right angle, for example to a support plane formed by the mounting element.
A system of that type is described, for example, in the catalog entitled "norm+technik Vorrichtungssysteme" (1990) from the firm Erwin Halder KG Maschinenfabrik, D-7959 Achstetten-Bronnen, Germany.
The catalog, page 68, shows a base plate provided with such centering holes in a matrix array of longitudinal and transverse rows of such holes with a unit spacing between the holes in each row. The mounting element can be positioned upon this plate as shown in catalog page 77 and can be provided with a connecting or clamping element forming the aforementioned abutment surface as described at page 84 for a prismatic member or at page 85 for a positioning bar. The fasteners used to center the mounting element and the bar or stop on the plate and the mounting element, respectively, are centering bolts or cap screws.

Mounting system for machine tools and the like


An image display apparatus includes a light source for supplying illumination light, a reflective display element for reflecting and modulating the illumination light into image light, a first optical system for guiding the illumination light to the reflective display element, and a second optical system for guiding the image light to an observer. Particularly, the first optical system has an optical element including a first surface on which the illumination light is incident, a second surface for totally reflecting the light incident on the first surface, and a third surface from which the light totally reflected by the second surface emerges toward the reflective display element. The first optical system is arranged so that the image light is again incident through the third surface on the optical element and emerges from the second surface toward the second optical system. The optical element has a function of preventing unnecessary light from being guided to the observer, by making a side surface of the optical element as a diffusing surface, or by providing a side surface of the optical element with a light absorbing film or with an antireflection coating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image display apparatus so called head-mounted displays and the like.
2. Related Background Art
For the image display apparatus such as the head-mounted displays and the like, various proposals have been made heretofore on optical systems for compactification of the entire apparatus. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-333551 (corresponding to EP687932A3) describes a proposal on an apparatus using an optical element of prism shape composed of first, second, and third rotationally asymmetric surfaces and constructed to display an enlarged image through the three surfaces of the optical element from an image on a display surface of an image display element.
By use of the optical element of such prism shape, it becomes feasible to correct distortion of image, curvature of field, and astigmatism well in very compact and simple structure and satisfy the telecentric condition to the display surface.
At the time of this proposal of the above application, it was common practice to use a transmissive liquid crystal display as the image display element. However, since pixel apertures are small in the transmissive liquid crystal displays, the transmissive liquid crystal displays have the drawback that it is difficult to achieve both high pixel density and compactification. In recent years, in addition to motion pictures of videos, TVs, and so on, output devices of high-definition images such as personal computers, DVDs, and so on have been increasing and there are desires for display of much higher definition images.
Under such circumstances, high-definition images can be obtained by use of reflective liquid crystal displays having larger pixel apertures while achieving the compactification. An example of the display devices using the reflective liquid crystal displays proposed so far is one proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-125791. This application discloses the display device, as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the present application, in which rays 113 from a light source 112 are guided directly onto a reflective liquid crystal display 108 without passing through an optical element and in which an image of the liquid crystal display 108 is displayed as an enlarged virtual image by an optical element 110 of prism shape to be guided to the eye 101 of an observer.
In this display device, however, since the rays 113 from the light source 112 illuminating the reflective liquid crystal display 108 are guided directly onto the liquid crystal display 108, an angle a is large between the illumination light 113 and the optical axis of the liquid crystal display 108. For this reason, the entire display device becomes large in scale and, in addition, since the liquid crystal display is largely inclined relative to the optical element 110, distances between the optical element 110 and the liquid crystal display 108 are largely different depending upon locations, which poses a problem of degradation of optical performance.
Another display device disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-125791 is constructed, as illustrated in FIG. 2, in such structure that the light source 112 is disposed on the opposite side to the reflective liquid crystal display 108 with respect to the optical element 110 of the prism shape, the illumination light 113 from the light source 112 illuminates the liquid crystal display 108 through the optical element 110, and the light illuminating the liquid crystal display 108 is reflected by this liquid crystal display 108 and travels again through the optical element 110 into the observer""s eye 101.
With the illumination system of the display device of this type, however, the illumination light is reflected on each of the surfaces of the optical element 110, so that light not illuminating the liquid crystal display 108 also enters the eye 101, thus posing a problem of occurrence of unwanted flare.
An object of the present invention is to provide image display apparatus using the reflective display element ready for high-definition images of output from personal computers and the like and image display apparatus in extremely simple and compact structure without occurrence of unnecessary light, which can be the cause of flare, ghost, and so on.
In order to accomplish the above object, an image display apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention comprises a light source for supplying illumination light, a reflective display element for reflecting and modulating the illumination light into image light, a first optical system for guiding the illumination light to the reflective display element, and a second optical system for guiding the image light to an observer; particularly, the first optical system has an optical element comprising a first surface into which the illumination light is incident, a second surface for totally reflecting the light incident into the first surface, and a third surface from which the light totally reflected by the second surface emerges toward the reflective display element, the first optical system is arranged so that the image light is again incident through the third surface into the optical element and emerges from the second surface toward the second optical system, and the optical element has a function of preventing unnecessary light from being guided to the observer, by making a side surface of the optical element as a diffusing surface, or by providing a side surface of the optical element with a light absorbing film or with an antireflection coating.
An optical system of another embodiment of the present invention comprises a first optical system for guiding illumination light to a reflective display element, and a second optical system for guiding image light reflected by the reflective display element, to an observer; particularly, the first optical system has an optical element comprising a first surface into which the illumination light is incident, a second surface for totally reflecting the light incident into the first surface, and a third surface from which the light totally reflected by the second surface emerges toward the reflective display element, the first optical system is arranged so that the image light is again incident through the third surface into the optical element and emerges from the second surface toward the second optical system, and the optical element has a function of preventing unnecessary light from being guided to the observer, by making a side surface of the optical element as a diffusing surface, or by providing a side surface of the optical element with a light absorbing film or with an antireflection coating.


A rotary drag bit for use in subterranean earth boring operations, the drag bit having blades, rows of cutters on the blades, and nozzles disposed within the rows. The nozzles are configured to discharge fluid during drilling.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device used for boring a subterranean wellbore. More specifically, the invention relates to a rotary drag bit having blades with recesses and nozzles in the recesses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drill bits used for creating subterranean wellbores typically comprise one of a rotary tri-cone drill bit or a drag bit. Drag bits are typically comprised of a single body molded from a combination of tungsten carbide with a steel core. The body includes raised portions referred to as blades that mm along the face of the bit body. The blades have recesses formed thereon extending generally perpendicular to the blade. The inserts or cutters are anchored within the recesses generally by welding, braising, or some other fastening means. Additionally, fluid nozzles are generally provided along the bit base for injecting fluid while drilling to wash away cuttings formed during the drilling process, as well as for cooling the drill bit.
Drill bits are typically connected to the end of a drill string where the upper end of the drill string is coupled with a drive means for rotating the string, thus, rotatingly operating the drill bit during drilling operations. The drill bit cuts through the subterranean formation by fracturing and/or shearing the rock formation. The drilling fluid or mud is pumped through the drill string down through the bit to perform the previously mentioned cleaning and cooling functions. Additionally, the inserts may include a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) on the bit face. Thus, drag bits having a PDC insert are referred to as PDC bits. PDC bits are generally employed in formations classified as having a soft to medium hardness. Several parameters determine drill bit performance, such as mud type, revolutions per minute, weight on bit, drill string, and the formation. The performance of the bit is evaluated as a rate of penetration.
One characteristic of a PDC drill bit is its stability, which reduces the magnitude of vibration at the bottom hole assembly. When the rotational axis is offset of the geometrical center of the bit, a "whirling" effect is produced which overloads the amount of cuttings in the wellbore. The PDC blade shape, hydraulics, and density/size of the cutters affect bit performance. Standard PDC bits are characterized by an inclusion of several blades, each consisting of a solid piece of material extending from the bit face. These bits can sometimes experience a phenomenon referred to as "balling", which refers to the collection of soft formation on the bit face. The soft formation collected on the bit face reduces the cutting contact therefore decreasing bit performance. The "balling" requires cleaning of the bit which may consume a considerable time of rig time for pumping and/or a bit trip.

Drill bit, drilling system, and related methods


The motor vehicle camera housing assembly comprises first and second housing parts that define an inner space and joining means for joining housing parts together including a sheet material wound more than one turn around the housing assembly. The sheet material has a support layer and at least one adhesive layer adhered to respective outer surfaces of the housing parts at least partially filling a gap formed in an overlapping portion defined by two edges of the sheet material when wound on the housing parts such that they are sealingly joined together.

The present disclosure relates to cameras for motor vehicles, and more specifically to housing assemblies for housing camera electronics components therein and methods for making them.
Cameras in motor vehicles such as parking cameras typically include a housing inside of which housing camera electronics components are received. The housing generally comprises a first part or front housing and a second part or back housing. Until only some years ago, both housing parts have been generally made of injection molded plastics joined together by ultrasonic welding.
At present, motor vehicle cameras are more powerful, and often include an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that generates great amounts of heat inside the housing. In order to dissipate heat as quickly as possible to the outside, housing parts made of plastics have been replaced with housing parts made of metal, for example aluminum as it is a good thermal conductor.
Metal housing parts are usually made by machining or by injection molding. Machining provides better surface finish and thus greater accuracy, while injection molding is faster and more cost-efficiently, but results are less accurate in terms of manufacturing tolerances which adversely affects sealing performance. Laser welding has been an alternative to ultrasonic welding for joining aluminum housing parts together in motor vehicle cameras. However, laser welding is costly and time consuming since it usually involves long operating cycles for suitably joining aluminum housing parts. In any case, welding involves added material and thus problems in fitting the housing assembly inside a vehicle. Also, welding does not ensure alignment of the housing parts. If no welding material is delivered problems usually occur due to dust and dirt in an interface between the housing parts. Also, aluminum welding is likely to create micropores in the welding area which also adversely affects sealing performance. Welding may thus be unsatisfactory.
Further approaches based on screws or bolts have been also proposed for joining metal housing parts together in order to reduce costs. A problem derived from the use of screws or bolts is that fluids such as water from the outside of the housing assembly of the motor vehicle camera may enter for example a gap between the housing parts or even a space between the screws and the threads. In an attempt to overcome this issue, sealing means such as rubber gaskets have been provided between the housing parts. Additional sealing means have been provided between the screw heads and the housing parts. This undesirably adds complexity and volume due to the space occupied by screws and rubber gaskets and does not ensure sealing of the assembly while still involving problems derived from heat dissipation since rubber is a thermal insulation material resulting in poor heat dissipation as compared to welding. In addition, in order to place the screws or bolts for attaching the housing parts to each other, pre-alignment is required for the holes or threads in the housing parts to be aligned with each other in order to ensure proper insertion of the screws or bolts. Pre-alignment is typically achieved through the use of centering pads or any guiding means that provide temporary alignment of the holes or threads in the housing parts. Beyond the complexity that is added by the centering pads or guiding means, existing manufacturing geometric tolerances associated with the housing parts results in that a minimum pre-alignment required between the housing parts is not achieved. This results in that the screws or bolts cannot be properly inserted in the holes or threads in the housing parts.
Injection molding housing parts exhibit manufacturing tolerances in their geometry. In order to overcome this, pre-alignment or centering pads are formed protruding from one housing part for being inserted into corresponding recesses formed in the other housing part. This also adds complexity and thus costs, which is not desired.
It is thus an object of the present disclosure to provide a light, simple, and cost-effective motor vehicle camera housing assembly whose housing parts can be assembled efficiently while being suitably sealed and aligned with each other.
A further object of the present disclosure is to provide a motor vehicle camera housing assembly with improved sealing performance. Still a further object of the present disclosure is a method for making a vehicle camera housing assembly.

Motor vehicle camera housing assembly and method for making it


The present invention is directed to a split locking ring for wellhead components. In one illustrative embodiment, the device comprises a first internally threaded wellhead component, a second wellhead component, at least a portion of which is positioned within an opening in the first wellhead component, and a rotatable split lock ring comprised of at least two externally threaded sections, wherein at least a portion of the sections of the split lock ring are positioned between the first and second wellhead components and rotated to threadingly couple the sections of the split lock ring to the first wellhead component and thereby secure the second wellhead component to the first wellhead component. In one illustrative embodiment, the method comprises positioning at least a portion of a first wellhead component within an opening in a second internally threaded wellhead component, positioning a split lock ring comprised of at least two externally threaded sections proximate the first and second wellhead components, and rotating the sections of the split lock ring to threadingly couple the externally threaded sections to the internally threaded second wellhead component and position at least a portion of the split lock ring sections between the first and second wellhead components, thereby securing the first wellhead component to the second wellhead component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to wellhead components, and, more particularly, to a split locking ring for wellhead components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oil and gas well typically comprise a number of different components that must be coupled together. For example, such components can include a casing head, a Christmas tree, a tubing head, a blowout preventer, etc. There are many known methods for securing one well component to another. For example, externally mounted clamping devices, that may be actuated either hydraulically or mechanically, are well known in the art. Such devices are usually relatively large, heavy and expensive.
There are other methods of connecting such components together. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a first component 12 is coupled to a second component 14 via a flanged connection 15. More specifically, the flange 17 of the first component 12 and the flange 18 of the second component 14 are provided with openings 19 wherein a plurality of bolts or studs 20 and nuts are used to secure the first component 12 to the second component 14. The first component 12 is secured to a third component 16 via a single piece lock ring 22. The single piece lock ring 22 has an internal lip 26 that is adapted to engage a surface 27 of a flange 28 of the first component 12. The single piece lock ring 22 is threadingly coupled to the flange 32 of the third component 16 via a plurality of threads 30 (internal threads on the lock ring 22 and external threads on the flange 32). By threadingly coupling the single piece lock ring 22 to the flange 32, the first component 12 and second component 14 are securely coupled to one another.
One problem with the single piece lock ring 22 depicted in FIG. 1 is that it must be physically large enough in diameter to fit over the flanged connection 15, e.g., the upper flange 18 of the second component 14, or any other features of the components 12, 14 as the single piece lock ring 22 is installed. In general, this design constraint requires that the flange 28 on the first component 12 be large enough in diameter, i.e., oversized, such that the single piece lock ring 22 may be made large enough to be readily installed over the first and second components 12, 14. The requirement to make the single piece lock ring 22 large enough to be positioned over the first and second components 12, 14 can create various problems. More specifically, among other things, requiring the use of an oversized single piece lock ring 22 means that the various components, e.g., flanges 28, 32, are larger and heavier than would otherwise be required and thus more costly to manufacture and handle. Moreover, the requirement that the single piece lock ring 22 be of a relatively large size can be problematic in some applications in which there is limited space available, e.g., such as in a multiple completion well.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and methods for solving, or at least reducing the effects of, some or all of the aforementioned problems.

Split locking ring for wellhead components


A means for the rehabilitation of a connecting portion between a main pipeline and a branch pipeline with a main pipe section and a branch pipe section, wherein the main pipe section has a connecting region, wherein the branch pipe section is connected at its first end portion to the connecting region of the main pipe section, wherein the branch pipe section is closed at its second end portion and wherein at least one contactless sensor is disposed within the means.

Means of the type mentioned above are used in the rehabilitation of pipelines, in particular of main pipelines and branch pipelines, in the area of the sewerage system. By inserting such means, leaking and defective sections of pipelines, and in particular of pipeline joint portions, can be rehabilitated. In this case, the means can be configured as a lining element and/or as a calibrating tube.
A means configured as a calibrating tube of the type mentioned above has a main pipe section or main pipe calibrating tube and a branch pipeline section or branch pipeline calibrating tube, which are configured to be expansible and inflatable. In the inflated state, the calibrating tube has the approximate size and shape of the pipe section to be rehabilitated. Furthermore, the branch pipe calibrating tube is disposed at an angle to the main pipe calibrating tube, with this angle matching the angle between the house connection pipe and a main pipe. In order to rehabilitate the mouth region, the calibrating tube is pushed onto a device for rehabilitating the pipelines, which is also referred to as a packer. In the process, the calibrating tube is fastened at each end to the packer by means of clamping collars, so that an air-tight connection is produced. Furthermore, a resin-impregnated lining element is provided. Then, the branch pipe calibrating tube is inverted into the main pipe calibrating tube together with the liner. For this purpose, the free end of the branch pipe calibrating tube is provided with a rope. At the same time, the air in the main pipe calibrating tube and in the branch pipe calibrating tube is suctioned off. Then, the packer is moved to the mouth region to be rehabilitated. Subsequent to positioning, the main pipe calibrating tube is inflated and the branch pipe calibrating tube with the liner is inverted, i.e. folded over, into the house connection. Inversion is carried out using a rope or cable pulling device attached to the outside of the free end of the branch pipe calibrating tube. As a consequence of the inversion, the lining element is pressed against the site to be rehabilitated. After the liner has hardened, the air is let out of the calibrating tube, and the device is moved out of the main pipe. The hardened lining element then rests against the inner wall of the pipeline with a substance-to-substance connection.
A means of the type mentioned in the introduction, which is configured as a lining element and can also be referred to as a liner, comprises a substrate layer of resin-absorbing material, in particular a non-woven or fiber material. Prior to the insertion of the lining element, the layer consisting of the resin-absorbing material is impregnated with the resin, and then the lining element is brought by means of a rehabilitation device, which can also be referred to as a packer, into its final position at the site to be rehabilitated. The above-described inversion process, or also eversion process, is then used for pressing on the lining element. A calibrating tube as described above can be used for pressing the lining element against the inner pipe wall. Moreover, the lining element can be pressed against the inner pipe wall also without using a calibrating tube. After the resin has hardened, the lining element rests against the inner pipe wall with a substance-to-substance connection.
Hardening takes place by charging the means with a medium, in particular hot vapor, in order to trigger the external reaction process of the resin. For an optimal installation result, it is necessary to detect and evaluate the pressure required for pressing and/or the temperature required for hardening the resin, in order to increase or reduce the temperature and/or the increase or reduce the pressure, if necessary. In order to detect the above-mentioned physical parameters, it is known to provide the means with a sensor.
For example, a lining element is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,426 B1, which is provided with a plurality of temperature feelers that measure the temperature at the interface between the outer face of the lining element and the inner face of the pipe wall during hardening in order thus to determine the hardening temperature.
Furthermore, it is known from WO 2014/022097 A1 to provide the lining element with a transmitter comprising an RFID chip and a sensor. Among other things, the pressure and temperature during the hardening process can be measured by means of the sensor. In this case, the transmitter is applied to the lining element in such a way that it rests on the interface between the outer face of the lining element and the inner face of the pipe.
The lining element or sensors used for measuring pressure and temperature known from the prior art are contact-sensitive sensors. Thus, a contact between the lining element and the inner pipe wall is always required for the measurements. Consequently, the temperature and the pressure for hardening the medium are measured only on the outer face of the lining element. Thus, the temperature and the pressure of the medium used for hardening can only be determined indirectly. Consequently, the exact adjustment of the physical parameters of the medium is made difficult. In addition, the sensors remain in the pipeline to be rehabilitated after hardening, and therefore cannot be reused.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Means for the rehabilitation of a connecting portion between a main pipeline and a branch pipeline, method for the rehabilitation of a connecting portion and rehabilitation system for the rehabilitation of a connecting portion


A method for correcting focus drift of an imaging system. The method includes an imaging system obtaining a plurality of images of an object of interest with each image obtained at a different focus of the imaging system. A processor then determines image property values of each image of the plurality of images and determines an image quality metric from each image of the plurality of images. The processor then compares the image quality metric to a reference metric and determines, based on the comparison, if a focus drift has occurred, and further adjusts a focus of the imaging system if a focus drift has occurred.

Devices such as barcode scanners are used in various inventory applications. In some configurations, these barcode scanners use internal auto-focus cameras to capture images of barcodes and other scannable indicia. Electrically tunable variable focus lenses allow for auto-focusing of a barcode scanner on objects of interest (OOI) in machine vision and bar-code scanning applications. One drawback of electrically tunable variable focus lenses is that they do not provide any feedback signal indicative of a current focus, or current optical power, which can change over time due to ambient temperature variation, lens aging, voltage drift, and other factors. The change in the camera focus results in misreads or the inability of an autofocus camera to scan an OOI at a designated distance or range of distances. Also, the location of an OOI in a field of view may change, such as on a conveyer belt, and an autofocusing scanner Is unable to determine if an OOI is out of focus due to a change in the distance of the OOI, or if the imaging system has undergone focus drift. Furthermore, the need for accurate and fast focusing on varied objects adds considerable processing complexity and mechanical componentry to autofocusing camera systems, all of which increase costs.
Autofocus imaging systems with liquid lenses typical perform any type of focus tuning at job setup and require the focus to be held indefinitely. During operation the focus of the autofocus system may change or shift due to age, humidity, and temperature among other factors. The inability of systems to determine whether the focus of the system has shifted, or if an object distance has changed may cause a system to perform a focus shift when it is unnecessary which may cause the OOI to be further out of focus. Additionally, any focus compensation or tuning of a system causes a reduction in scanning rates which reduces the efficiency of the imaging system.
Accordingly, there is a need for determining if a focus drift has occurred, and also for correcting for any potential focus drift for imaging capture systems such as barcode readers.

Method of detecting and correcting focus drift of variable focus lens for fixed focus applications


A torque limiter has an outer sleeve whose interior wall possesses at least one peripheral groove and a plurality of recesses running parallel to the axis. An elastic ring is inserted in each groove. A rolling-element cage has the same number of slots as the number of recesses possessed by the outer sleeve that receives it. A plurality of the rolling elements that are inserted into the rolling element slots. The inner sleeve which slots into the rolling-element cage and whose exterior wall possesses the same number of V-shaped notches—running parallel to the axis—as the number of rolling element slots is provided. A tool or system is provided to restrict the relative torsion between the rolling-element cage and the outer sleeve between a first received position—and a second received position—when the outer sleeve is loosened by rotation and the rolling elements which slot into the notches on the inner sleeve change position vis-à-vis the recesses on the outer sleeve.

The invention concerns a torque limiter, in particular a torque limiter suitable for the limitation of the torque of a surgical screwdriver.
Such a torque limiter for a surgical screwdriver is known from DE 600 04 376 T2 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,435. The mechanics of the torque limiter is highly sophisticated.


The wafer dicing/bonding sheet of the present invention comprises a soft film, a pressure sensitive adhesive layer formed on the soft film, a processing film for polyimide type resin composed of a heat resistant resin which has been formed on the pressure sensitive adhesive layer and a polyimide adhesive layer formed on the processing film. It is preferred that the processing film be a polyethylene naphthalate film whose surface has been subjected to an alkyd release treatment. The present invention facilitates expansion to be conducted after the wafer dicing.

A semiconductor wafer of, for example silicon or gallium arsenide is produced in the form of a large diameter. This wafer is cut and separated (diced) into IC chips and is subjected to the subsequent die bonding step (also referred to as "mounting step") in which the IC chips are mounted on a lead frame for package. In this process, the semiconductor wafer undergoes dicing, cleaning, drying, expansion and pickup steps in the state of being attached to an adhesive sheet, and transferred to the subsequent die bonding step.
Adhesive sheets which are intended for use in the processing steps of wafers, from the dicing step up to the pickup step, are desired to have an adhesive force sufficient to retain wafers and/or chips thereon in the course from the dicing step up to the expanding step, but in the pickup step, they are desired to only retain an adhesion force of such an extent that no adhesive remains on the picked-up wafer and/or chips.
In the die bonding step, the picked up IC chips are fixed on IC chip mount zones (simply, mount zones) of a lead frame by means of an IC chip bonding adhesive such as an epoxy adhesive, a polyimide adhesive or a silver paste which is fed in the form of a viscous liquid to form an adhesive coat on the mount zones, followed by being subjected to the wire bonding step and resin mold step, thereby obtaining a semiconductor device. However, when the size of each of the IC chips is very small, it is difficult to uniformly apply an appropriate amount of adhesive with the use of the above liquid adhesive, so that the adhesive outflows the IC chips. On the other hand, when the size of each of the IC chips is very large, the use of the above liquid adhesive has encountered the problems such that the amount of the adhesive is short to thereby disenable bonding which ensures a satisfactory bonding strength. In recent years, the degree of integration of each semiconductor chip tends to increase, so that the chip tends to have an enlarged surface area and the wiring tends to become fine and a multilayer. On the other hand, the package in which the chips are accommodated tends to become miniaturized and thinner so that the mount on a printed wiring board can be conducted in high density. The obtained thin package with an enlarged surface area has encountered the problems such that the thermal shock and hot moisture resistances are poor and the package is likely to crack in the surface mount step, as compared with that of the prior art.
A film adhesive of a polyimide type resin having excellent heat resistance has been proposed for use in the bonding of IC chips to the lead frame. Further, it has been proposed to employ a dicing sheet comprising a substrate film and, detachably laminated thereto, such an adhesive for bonding of IC chips, which dicing sheet can simultaneously be used in dicing and die bonding.
However, the use of the polyimide adhesive in the above dicing sheet has encountered the limitation in employable substrate film because the solvent component of the polyimide adhesive has high boiling point and high polarity. Further, the above substrate film is generally so hard that the expansion thereof is not easy. Thus, it is difficult to enlarge the IC chip spacing with the result that erroneous operation is occasionally caused in the pickup of IC chips.

Wafer dicing/bonding sheet and process for producing semiconductor device


An information recording apparatus has a content encryption section which encrypts content information with an encryption key and outputs encrypted content information, a control section which identifies an already moved area in the content information and generates a reproduction enable condition containing reproducible area information indicating a movable area, a hash arithmetic device which executes hash calculation for the reproduction enable condition and stores an arithmetic result in a register, and a hard disk drive which records the encrypted content information output from the encryption section and the reproduction enable condition. Even content information that remains after interruption during movement can be moved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording/reproducing apparatus for recording or reproducing content information or the like and, more particularly, to an information recording/reproducing apparatus and method of handling, e.g., content information whose copyright is protected by inhibiting copy of the information and permitting only movement of the information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the diversification of digital content information such as moving images and audio data, information recording/reproducing apparatuses with various specifications have been developed and proliferated to handle such information. With these apparatuses, various kinds of information can easily be copied. Techniques are used to sufficiently protect the copyrights of the content information.
In, e.g., digital broadcasting, content information having copyright information "copy once" that permits recording of only one generation is sometimes broadcast. When this content information is received by a receiver incorporating a hard disk drive and recorded in the hard disk drive, the recorded content information cannot be recorded on other media anymore. The content information has copyright information "copy no more". The hard disk drive has a high access speed and is therefore convenient. However, since the recording capacity of the hard disk is limited, content information that the user wants to keep long sometimes needs to be moved to another medium such as DVHS. Movement here means that the recorded copy-no-more content information is reproduced and recorded on another medium, and the original content information recorded in the hard disk drive is erased.
In recording by DVHS, content information is temporarily reproduced by the device (the receiver with the internal hard disk drive) that was used to record the information, and then recorded. In recording by the receiver with the internal hard disk drive, content information is generally encrypted and recorded to prevent any illicit copy. In a reproduction mode, if the content information that is kept encrypted is reproduced by the player and recorded by the recorder such as DVHS, the content information cannot be reproduced anymore by the device that has recorded the information. To prevent this, the encrypted information must be decrypted by the player and then output to the recorder in the reproduction mode. As a transmission line, IEEE 1394 or the like is used. The content information must be protected by using a protection mechanism such as DTCP (Digital Transmission Content Protection).
As a reference of such a conventional technique, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-306328 is known. This reference discloses a recording/reproducing apparatus which handles content information such as audio data. To prevent illicit copy, a hash value is calculated and stored for a music database as the management information of content information. In the reproduction or copy mode, a hash value is calculated and compared with the above hash value, thereby confirming whether the music database is not altered. With this technique, illicit copy or reproduction of content information is prevented.
However, the prior art has the following problem in moving content information. That is, if an unexpected power supply interruption or operation error occurs in the apparatus during movement to DVHS serving as a recording medium, the moving operation is interrupted. In this case, it is reasonable to distinguish a portion that has already been reproduced in the content information from a portion that is not reproduced yet. It is preferable that when the power supply is restored, and movement is resumed, the portion reproduced cannot be moved, and only the portion that is not reproduced is handled as movable information. In the above-described prior art, however, both the portions become unmovable without such distinction.
Instead, content information may be managed in a shorter unit time. For example, when the encryption key of content information is changed every minute to make the key of a portion reproduced unusable, content information already reproduced and content information that is not reproduced yet can be managed. In this method, however, for example, 120 keys must be prepared for 120-min content information. It is very difficult to manage the key data.
In the above-described prior arts, if an unexpected power supply interruption or operation error occurs in the apparatus during reproduction (or movement) to DVHS serving as a recording medium, and the reproduction operation is interrupted, it is impossible to distinguish a portion that has already been reproduced in the content information from a portion that is not reproduced yet. That is, it is impossible to handle only the portion that is not reproduced yet as reproducible information. The entire content information becomes unreproducible.
In the method using many keys, key management is complex. In addition, the processing time increases, and a longer access time is required for random access to content information.

Information recording/reproducing apparatus and method of executing encryption processing


A multifunctional security and surveillance and lighting apparatus which takes the appearance of a prior art conventional lighting apparatus to discretely observe an area. The device has an optical video camera, a computer, an infrared detector, a motion detector, and a speaker. The device communicates the output of its various sensors to a remote server. The device further has a high output lighting apparatus, which apparatus is smaller than prior art conventional high intensity discharge lamps, allowing the housing to store surveillance equipment while still appearing similar to a prior art conventional housing.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a(n) lighting system, and more particularly, a MULTIFUNCTIONAL SECURITY SURVEILLANCE AND LIGHTING DEVICE.
Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for lighting and surveillance systems have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 2,418,067, Published/Issued on Mar. 25, 1947, to Carpenter, Sr. teaches a camera and light support to provide a light, strong, rigid and compact box which may be conveniently carried about from place to place, readily opened for removal of its contents, manipulated for positioning it rigidly so as to support and center a camera and/or lights by aid of said contents, and maintained as well as equipped in camera-height varying relationship.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,247, Published/Issued on May 23, 1972, to Tellerman teaches a camera which is automatically activated in response to the change in resistance of a photocell due to the occurrence of an event intended to be detected and recorded. The camera is provided with a network for translating such change in electrical resistance into the automatic activation of the camera drive motor. The camera drive motor is controlled by a relay which activates the motor only when the relay is energized. The relay is in series with a pair of transistor amplifiers, both on which must be conducting for the relay to remain in energized condition. The change in resistance of the photocell creates a change of potential across a condenser which, in turn, causes a temporary flow of current, which current affects the triggering current of a third transistor amplifier. This third transistor amplifier controls the other two transistor amplifiers in such a manner that whenever the triggering current of the third transistor amplifier is changed, either upwardly or downwardly, from a fixed value, one or the other of the two transistor amplifiers in series with the control relay will be rendered non-conducting to unenergize the control relay and thus activate the drive motor of the camera.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,514, Published/Issued on May 6, 1975, to Graham teaches a small portable camera having a self-contained light system and more particularly to the light system wherein the direction of the light beam emitted from the light source thereof will be varied relative to the optical axis of the camera upon manual adjustment of the lens focusing device. The extent of the directional variation will depend upon the distance the subject is from the camera and, thus. the subject will be more effectively illuminated by the light beam resulting in improvement in the quality of the photography obtainable with the camera.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 7,413,357, Published/Issued on Aug. 19, 2008, to Badalian teaches a concealed camera comprising a housing, a subminiature camera and a peep hole of very small size through which the camera may perceive a large field of vision. With a high resolution camera and the tiny peep hole, the camera may be positioned or located in plain view as concealed within a myriad of functional objects, such as a clock, reflector, light or any other common looking device in the area of desired view or surveillance. Multiple concealed cameras may by employed and perhaps synchronized in a surveillance system such that the downstream viewed image may be automatically switched from one image to another as desired by the system user.
A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 8,248,292, Published/Issued on Aug. 21, 2012, to Batten, et al. teaches a detection device for detecting the presence of a speed detection system, red light camera, or other electronic surveillance means. The device includes a display means whereby the graphical and audible presentation changes from the non alert condition to the alert condition in accordance to a user selectable choice of options, thereby increasing awareness to the surveillance threat.
A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 8,382,387, Published/Issued on Feb. 26, 2013, to Sandoval teaches a system and method for providing a surveillance camera platform, and house supporting devices in a streetlight housing is disclosed. The device and method uses a cobra head, clamshell style streetlight housings with a lens between the housing sections to increase the volume of the housing. The system uses a lens for capturing image with the camera systems. The camera systems include data transmittal and receiving devices that allow the receipt of data to control the camera systems and the transmission of any necessary image and other data collected with systems contained within the housing. The lens is camouflaged by using a color that matches the rest of the housing. LEDs and reflector are used to provide the lighting function of the streetlight and to further provide space wile reducing heat within the housing. An internal fan is contemplated to further cool the system.
A SEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 20050128291, Published/Issued on Jun. 16, 2005, to Murakami teaches a video surveillance system that automatically keeps track of a moving object in an accurate and efficient manner. The system has two cameras for surveillance. One is a visible-light integrating camera that has a frame integration function to capture visible-light images of objects, and the other is an infrared camera for taking infrared images. A rotation unit tilts and pans the visible-light integrating camera and/or infrared camera, under the control of a tracking controller. Video output signals of those cameras are processed by image processors. The tracking controller operates with commands from a system controller, so that it will keep track of a moving object with the visible-light integrating camera in a first period and with the infrared camera in a second period.
AN EIGHTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 20110141727, Published/Issued on Jun. 16, 2011, to Kim teaches a lamp for a camera-attachable streetlight is provided, which includes a camera-integrated bulb module. In the camera-integrated bulb module, there is a bulb portion, a camera module has a camera for capturing a predetermined area and a transceiver for transmitting data captured by the camera to an external server, a connector is inserted into a commercial socket, for receiving an external commercial power and has the same structure as a commercial connector inserted into a commercial socket, for receiving a commercial power, and a power distributor distributes the power received through the connector to the bulb portion and the camera module.
It is apparent now that numerous innovations for security lighting systems have been provided in the prior art that adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

Multifunctional security surveillance and lighting device


A drive device for a motor vehicle includes at least one electric machine having at least one rotor element which is configured to delimit an installation area in a radial direction. At least one transmission device is disposed, at least partly, in the installation area and configured to be driven by the electric machine via the rotor element. A fluid supply device having at least one fluid channel is provided for supply of fluid to at least one cooling or lubrication point of the drive device. The fluid channel has a first part area running in a stationary first component, and a second part area which adjoins the first part area in a flow direction of the fluid through the fluid channel and runs in a second component of the drive device. The second component is supported for rotation about an axis of rotation in relation to the first component.

The present invention relates to a drive device for a motor vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Drive devices for motor vehicles are sufficiently well known from the prior art and also from series production of motor vehicles, especially of automobiles. Such a drive device includes at least one drive unit, which is an internal combustion engine or an electric motor for example and which is used to drive the motor vehicle. In addition a transmission can be provided, which is able to be driven by the drive unit and via which the motor vehicle is able to be driven. For this purpose for example torques are taken off from the transmission via drive shafts and are supplied to driven wheels of the motor vehicle.
Such drive devices demand much installation space. In addition, cooling and/or lubrication of the drive device play a not-insignificant role in guaranteeing a desired function of the drive device, even over a long service life.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved drive device for a motor vehicle to obviate prior art shortcomings.


Methods and compositions for preparing and priming a tissue graft for an accelerated therapeutic effect are provided herein. In one embodiment, the method includes obtaining a tissue containing viable cells from a donor, wherein the viable cells are endogenous to the tissue and remain resident in the tissue; and priming the viable cells with one or more stimuli to produce a primed tissue, wherein when grafted to a recipient the primed tissue provides a benefit compared to non-primed tissue.

Transplantation of isolated tissue or whole organs is a critical therapeutic strategy that is widely utilized in the treatment of patients. Tissue transplants can be in the form of an allograft, autograft, or xenograft. An allograft transplant is the transplantation of cells, tissues, or organs to a recipient from a genetically non-identical recipient of the same species. An autograft is the transplantation of tissue from one site to another on located on the same patient. A xenograft is the transplantation of tissue from another species. In each case the tissue is removed from a donor, handled, and transplanted to a recipient to regenerate tissue.
Known methods and procedures for tissue and organ transplantation have significant limitations. For example, the handling and processing of transplant tissue may result in inflammation, a decreased biologic response upon transplantation, or morbidity of patients. Further, even tissues from a genetically similar donor, may contain cells that are not immunologically compatible or reactive with the recipient.
Therefore, methods and compositions for providing improved transplant tissue are urgently needed.

Methods and compositions for preparing transplant tissue


A ligating apparatus includes an introducing tube which can be inserted in a living body cavity, a manipulating wire inserted in the introducing tube in such a manner that the manipulating wire can freely advance or retreat, a clip which is directly joined to a tip end of the manipulating wire, which has a holding portion formed in a tip end of an arm portion extending from the base end, and which has an extending/opening property, and engaging structure disposed in at least one of the base end of the clip and the tip end of the manipulating wire, wherein at least one of the engaging means is deformed and releases engaging of the clip and the manipulating wire, when the clip engages with the tip end of the introducing tube, and a force for detaching the base end of the clip from the tip end of the manipulating wire is applied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ligating apparatus which is endoscopically inserted in a living body cavity and holds living tissues with a clip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known examples of an apparatus for ligating living tissues are described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 60-103946 and Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 62-170010 and 2-6011, and the like.
In Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 60-103946, a clip is attached to a manipulating wire via an eye disposed in a base end of the clip and a hook disposed in a tip end of the manipulating wire. A clip tightening ring is attached to an arm portion of the clip. The base end of the clip tightening ring can be attached to the tip end of a manipulating tube inserted through an introducing tube in such a manner that the tube can freely advance or retreat. During ligating, the clip is projected from the introducing tube, and the manipulating wire is drawn. In this case, when the eye disposed in the base end of the clip is extended, the clip is detached from the manipulating wire, and the clip can be fastened into the living tissues.
In Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 62-170010, the clip is attached to the manipulating wire via a connection plate which is disposed between the eye disposed in the base end of the clip and the hook disposed in the tip end of the manipulating wire. Similarly as in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 60-103946, during ligating, the clip is projected from the introducing tube and the manipulating wire is drawn. In this case, when the eye disposed in the base end of the clip is extended, the clip is detached from the manipulating wire, and the clip can be fastened into the living tissues.
In Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2-6011, the clip is attached to the manipulating wire via the hook disposed in the tip end of the manipulating wire, and a connection member which is disposed in the tip end of the hook and has the eye. Similarly as Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 60-103946, during ligating, the clip is projected from the introducing tube and the manipulating wire is drawn. In this case, when the eye disposed in the tip end of the connection plate is extended, the clip is detached from the manipulating wire, and the clip can be fastened into the living tissues.
As described above, in the conventional ligating apparatus, engaging components such as the hook and connection member are necessary in an engaging portion of the manipulating wire and clip. Thereby, the number of components increases, and the manufacturing cost increases disadvantageously.
Moreover, to fasten a first clip in the living tissues and continuously fasten a second clip in the living tissues, a clip apparatus is once extracted from an endoscope channel. Moreover, after the clip is attached to the tip end of the manipulating wire, the clip has to be inserted again in the channel of the endoscope. In this case, since the conventional clip apparatus has an engaging component between the clip and the manipulating wire, much time is required in the attachment manipulating of the clip, and the manipulating is very laborious.


A plug assembly is provided with integral optical indication. The plug assembly includes a housing having a leading portion and a trailing portion. The leading portion is configured for information exchanging engagement with an internally illuminated receptacle sized and shaped to releasably receive said leading portion therein. The receptacle is configured to radiate light onto the leading portion of the plug. This leading portion includes a light collector configured to receive the light, which is then conveyed via an optical coupling to an optical indicator located on the trailing portion of the plug assembly. The indicator has optical properties distinct from those of said trailing portion to facilitate viewing.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to connectors, and more particularly to plug assemblies including cables having integral optical displays.
2. Background Information
Receptacle assemblies have routinely been provided with optical indicators for status indication. The indicators have typically consisted of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) or light pipe ends located on the assembly face plane adjacent the individual receptacles. These indicators are then selectively illuminated to provide visual information relating to the particular receptacle. A drawback of this approach, however, is that the indicators take up valuable surface area on face plane, which limits the density of receptacles thereon.
One approach towards addressing this drawback is disclosed in the above referenced and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/737,652 (the '652 application) which is fully incorporated herein, by reference. This approach utilizes light pipes to selectively illuminate the interior of a receptacle, which in turn, illuminates a conventional transparent plug assembly inserted therein. However, the information conveyed by such illumination is inherently limited by the type and quality of material used to fabricate these plug assemblies. Moreover, this approach fails to accommodate other types of plug assemblies, such as conventional opaque plug assemblies and multi-pin connectors. Thus, a need exists for an improved visual display for plug assemblies, connectors, and the like.

Visual optical indicators for plug assemblies, connectors and cables


A dispersed state monitoring device for distributed generation includes a power module, an input conditioning module, a data processing module and a network communication module which are connected one after another in this order. The power is input, via a civil plug and a 220V power socket, to the power module and the input conditioning module in the device at the same time. The power module ensures normal operation of the device through conditioning of a voltage. The input conditioning module is configured to condition input voltage signals, extract voltage transient-state and steady-state signals to be analyzed, and inputting the signals to the data processing module. The data processing module is configured to analyze the voltage transient-state and steady-state signals, judge the operating state of the distributed power source, and output a judging result to the network communication module. The result is output from the network communication module via a standard RJ45 Ethernet interface.

Currently, distributed green energy resources represented by wind power, photovoltaic and other new energy power generation modes are developing rapidly. Especially, with construction of power market, traditional power users, such as factory and mine enterprises and ordinary households, can sell electricity to the power grid and become small power producers when the power purchase price of the power grid is high, as long as they are equipped with distributed green energy resources. However, connection of such flexible distributed power sources to the power grid needs to be established on the basis of accurate real-time monitoring of the operating state of the power grid, to ensure impact on the distributed power sources themselves and the power grid when the distributed power sources are connected to the power grid.
Traditional power monitoring devices mainly include fixedly mounted electric meters, power analyzers, etc. mainly for monitoring users. There are also power monitoring systems for large users, etc. Such types of monitoring instruments have the following major shortcomings. First, monitoring is mostly unidirectional, so the instruments can not be effectively applied to a distributed generation system featured by dynamic conversion between power user/power producer roles. Second, such a device only performs monitoring of one node, without relevant data sharing and powerful data analysis, and thus the operating state level of a monitored point can only be simply analyzed. Overall evaluative analysis of the grid-connected system and the power supplied user can not be achieved.
To achieve the above objects, a monitoring system needs to meet the following conditions. First, coupling indices of the power system and distributed power interfaces are selected to effectively achieve two-way monitoring of power producer role conversion of distributed power sources. Second, the monitoring system must be full-distribution and centralized-type, to achieve local characteristic monitoring of the distributed power sources in a full-distribution manner, and achieve overall grid-connected characteristic analysis of the distributed power sources and the grid-connected power system by using global information in a centralized manner. In view of the above problems, the invention provides a flexibly connectable dispersed state monitoring device for distributed generation. The device is applied at a distributed power producer and is switched flexibly according to whether the distributed power source is connected to the grid. The device has a network communication function, providing data collection basis for centralized grid-connected analysis.

Dispersed state monitoring device for distributed generation

JINING POWER SUPPLY COMPANY OF STATE GRID SHANDONG ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY


In an example embodiment, a method for performing event stream processing is provided. An event stream is received, the event stream comprising a real time indication of one or more events occurring. Then it is determined that the event stream is identified in a streaming publish service inside a database. The event stream may then be inserted directly into one or more database tables in the database based on the determining.

Event stream processing (ESP) is a set of technologies designed to assist the construction of event-driven information systems. ESP technologies may include event visualization, event databases, event-driven middleware, and event processing languages, or complex event processing (CEP). ESP deals with the task of processing multiple streams of event data with the goal of identifying the meaningful events within those streams. ESP enables applications such as algorithmic trading in financial services, radio frequency identification (RFID) event processing applications, fraud detection, process monitoring, and location-based services in mobile devices. ESP is generally limited to analyzing limited amounts of data; specifically, current ESP solutions are limited to analyzing the event streams in real time (e.g., the events happening right now) and events stored for limited windows (e.g., events that have happened in the last minute).


An optical communication module includes an optical transmitter, an optical coupling lens, and an optical fiber. The optical coupling lens includes a first surface, a second surface, a reflection surface, a first lens unit, and a second lens unit. An included angle between the first surface and the second surface is 82 degrees. An included angle between the first surface and the reflection surface is 45 degrees. The first lens unit is positioned on the first surface. The second lens unit is positioned on the second surface. The optical transmitter is positioned towards the first surface and aligned with the first lens unit. An optical fiber is positioned towards the second surface and aligned with the second lens unit.

In the field of fiber optic communication, optical coupling lenses are common components. A typical optical coupling lens includes a light incident surface, a light emitting surface, a reflection surface, a first lens unit, and a second lens unit. An included angle between the light incident surface and the light emitting surface is 90 degrees. An included angle between the light incident surface and the reflection surface is 45 degrees. An included angle between the light emitting surface and the reflection surface is also 45 degrees. The first lens is positioned on the light incident surface. The second lens is positioned on the light emitting surface. In use, a light transmitter is positioned towards the light incident surface and is aligned with the first lens unit. An optical fiber is aligned with the second lens unit. The light transmitter emits a light beam to the first lens unit. The first lens unit focuses the light beam into parallel light beam. The parallel light beam transmits to the reflection surface and is reflected to the second lens unit by the reflection surface. The reflected light beam is focused into the optical fiber by the second lens unit.

Optical coupling lens and optical communication module having same


An arithmetic logic unit includes first and second buses for efficient operations upon multiple-bit operands. The arithmetic logic unit includes, in addition to the first and second buses, a shift register having an input coupled to the first bus and an output, a summer having a first input coupled to the shift register output, a second input coupled to the second bus, and an output, and an accumulator having an input coupled to the summer output and an output coupled to the first bus. The arithmetic logic unit further includes a buffer having an input also coupled to the summer output and an output coupled to the second bus. The summer provides two's compliment inversion when required and the shift register performs sign bit force zero, right shifting, and masking operations. In addition, an overflow detector and overflow correction detect and correct overflow conditions without requiring additional operating cycles.

The present invention generally relates to an arithmetic logic unit for performing many different kinds of digital arithmetic operations. The present invention more particularly relates to such an arithmetic logic unit for use in a digital signal processor and which performs operations such as operand shifts, operand masks, force zero, operand addition, operand substraction, and overflow detection and correction in an efficient manner.
Arithmetic logic units find application in many different kinds of digital systems such as, for example, calculators and digital signal processors. Arithmetic logic units are called upon to perform many different kinds of digital arithmetic operations. Arithmetic logic unit operations are generally performed on multiple-bit operands and may include operand shifts, operand masks, force zero, operand addition, operand subtraction, and overflow detection and correction.
Arithmetic logic units generally perform these operations under the control of operating instructions received from an instruction memory such as an instruction read only memory (IROM). Each instruction provided by the instruction memory corresponds to one operating cycle of the arithmetic logic unit. The number of operating cycles required by an arithmetic logic unit to perform its operations is very important and should be kept to the lowest number of operating cycles possible for high efficiency processing.
High efficiency arithmetic logic unit performance is most desirable where operating speed is of importance, such as in a digital signal processor application. High efficiency arithmetic logic unit performance is also equally as important where the arithmetic logic unit is utilized in portable equipment which is powered by a depletable power source such as a battery. As the number of operating cycles required by an arithmetic logic unit to perform its operations is reduced, the power consumption of the depletable power source attributable to the arithmetic logic unit is correspondingly reduced. This, as a result, extends the time of operation of the portable equipment before battery replacement or battery recharging is necessary.
The present invention provides an improved arithmetic logic unit for performing a number of different digital arithmetic operations in an efficient manner thus requiring a reduced number of operating cycles. As will be seen hereinafter, the arithmetic logic unit of the present invention can perform operand sign forcing, operand shift with or without sign forcing, operand mask, operand shift with sign forcing and two's compliment inversion, and operand addition and substraction with or without overflow detection and correction in only one operating cycle. An example of the above will be described in connection with a rather complex addition of two operands in only four operating cycles where sign forcing, operand shifting, two's compliment inversion, operand addition, and masking operations are required.


A vehicle engine speed controller for automatically determining the electrical load demand made of the engine electrical system from portable auxiliary and vehicle mounted electrically operated or controlled equipment, singly or in combination, and controlling the engine throttle speed setting through a governor with certain fail safe control mechanisms.

This invention relates to the field of regulating engine speed or revolutions dependent directly upon required electrical output to safely operate portable pumps and auxiliary lighting equipment and/or other vehicle mounted equipment, such as aerial lift booms with buckets or platforms.
In order to set or regulate the power output of a vehicle alternator or generator to operate the portable auxiliary or vehicle mounted equipment, the engine speed or revolutions must be increased from idle speed to satisfy the load applied to a voltage inverter placed across the output of the alternator or generator. When vehicle speed was controlled by manipulating the throttle plate of an engine mounted carburetor, a 12 vdc electric solenoid was attached to the throttle linkage which would be activated when the inverter was turned on. The solenoid would allow only one preset engine speed. The engine would be set for the maximum load which could be applied to the inverter, e.g. 6000 watts. If the inverter was operated at a lower load factor, the vehicle engine would be operating at a higher rpm rate than necessary to sustain operation of the portable auxiliary or vehicle mounted equipment creating a significant opportunity for engine damage and excessive fuel consumption.
When vehicle manufacturers began producing light, medium and heavy duty trucks, and other vehicles with electronic fuel injection mechanisms, the solenoid could no longer be utilized to control engine speed. If the engine speed were preset with a load on the inverter and the load was decreased or removed entirely, the engine rpm would increase to the maximum engine rpm causing damage to the engine. If the engine speed were set with no load and then a load was applied to the inverter, the engine rpm would decrease to idle with a resulting lack of control over the portable auxiliary or vehicle mounted equipment due to a reduction of inverter output voltage.
After a great deal of experimentation with several types of speed control mechanisms, a stationary engine governor for use with gasoline and diesel engines was adapted for use on moveable vehicles having a dc based electrical system. The engine governor has a micro-processor controller which determines engine speed depending upon the indications received from one or more sources in the engine. The sources may be, for example, an ignition coil, a pulse generator, a magnetic pick-up coil, or an ac tap on the alternator, all of which can indicate engine rpm. The engine governor operates to increase the engine speed to a preset rpm and monitor the actual engine rpm. If the engine rpm changes, the governor will return the engine rpm to its preset speed.
The initial test of the governor in the system with the inverter required the inverter to be turned off when the governor was engaged for the governor to work properly. It was determined that the cause of this problem was too much alternating current from the output of the inverter entering the control system. For proper operation of the control system, the governor required a filter on its speed control inputs to provide suitable dc signal levels.
It was then determined that a single engine speed setting was insufficient for the inverter to operate properly for different loads. In accordance with the present uses for the portable and vehicle mounted equipment, including the aerial lift boom, pumps, fans and heaters, and hand power tools, several different engine speeds are required depending upon the use, or combined uses, of each of these items. The governor was programmed for a maximum of four engine speed settings which would allow for different loads for one or up to the four engine speed settings to be used. A final modification included the ability to automatically increase the engine speed to its highest setting if a greater load is applied and to return to the preset engine speed when the load is removed. Certain safety and fail safe conditions have also been designed into the system.
Alternatively, a second embodiment eliminates a great number of monitoring and control circuit elements, reducing the required number of dc voltage control levels to be applied to the governor. It is still required, however, to delay the controlling effect of the governor over the engine rpm until the engine reaches a steady idle speed after starting or restarting. Additionally, the speed settings desireable for use can be programmed into the governor and used, as required, for the electrical demand detected by the inverter for all operating equipment.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to control the engine speed of a vehicle depending upon the detected load applied to the alternator/inverter combination by portable auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, heaters, and the like, or vehicle mounted equipment, such as an aerial bucket.
It is a further object of the present invention to automatically set the required wattage output of the inverter depending upon the load demand of the operated auxiliary and/or vehicle mounted equipment.
It is still a further object of the present invention to return the engine speed to a preset speed, or return to engine idle, upon the removal of the load demand from the auxiliary or vehicle mounted equipment.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an engine speed controller which automatically adjusts engine speed to load demand of vehicle mounted or used equipment and returns such engine speed to one of a plurality of preset engine speeds when the load is removed.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.

Automatic load speed controller for engine governor


A rod assembly for mounting a hand shower on a wall has a rod extending along a vertical rod axis, having axially opposite upper and lower ends, and formed adjacent one of the ends with a diametrally throughgoing hole and respective upper and lower substantially identical brackets each formed with a vertical inner end face adapted to lie flatly against the wall, a vertically throughgoing passage through which the respective end of the rod extends, and a horizontally throughgoing stepped bore having a narrow inner portion opening at the inner end face and a wide outer portion opening at the respective passage. One of the stepped bores is aligned with the rod hole. Respective upper and lower screws each have a narrow shank extending through the respective narrow bore portion into the wall and a wide head. One of the wide heads bears directly on the respective bracket between the rod and the respective inner end face. The other of the wide heads bears radially on the rod at the hole and retains same axially in the respective passage.

It is standard to mount a hand shower on a vertical wall-mounted rod for stationary use of the hand shower. Normally a releasable clamp is provided for moving the hand shower up and down on the rod to adjust its vertical position.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,263 describes a rod assembly for mounting a hand shower on a wall that has an elongated rod formed at each end with a transversely throughgoing and laterally closed hole and respective holder bodies each formed with a seat in which the respective end of the rod is complementarily engageable. Each body is formed with a passage alignable with the hole of the respective rod end when same is fitted thereto. Respective screws engageable through the aligned holes and passages of the rod and bodies with the wall secure the rod to the bodies and the bodies to the wall.
This system is used with a hand shower having a support stem and mounting bracket of the type described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,833. This mounting bracket for a hand shower having a support stem has a support adapted to be fixed to the wall-mount rod, a holder formed with a forked seat shaped to receive the hand-shower stem, and interengaging formations on the holder and support for pivoting of the holder on the support about a normally horizontal axis while retaining the holder and support against relative axial movement. An array of radially extending ridges formed on the support, surrounding the axis, and projecting toward the holder engage with complementary ridges formed on a flange of a retaining element rotationally coupled to the holder. A locking bolt axially fixed in the support axially presses the retaining-element ridges against the support ridges so that the holder can be pivoted about the axis on the support with elastic deformation of the flange.
Thus with this system the rod can be solidly mounted on the wall without the mounting screws being visible. In addition prior to installation the assembly is a stable rigid structure that is easy to handle. It furthermore can be disassembled fairly easily, for instance, to add a soap-dish fixture to the rod.
The initial installation of such a rod assembly is fairly tricky however. Two holes must be formed in a wall, often using a masonry bit on ceramic tile, at an exact vertical spacing from each other and one vertically directly above the other. If either of the holes is slightly off, the installation will not work.


A resin film useful mainly for fabricating flexible printed circuits, and a method of producing same. In the process of fabricating a flexible printed circuit board, a copper foil(2) is thermally bonded to a resin film(1), and the copper foil(2) is then etched to a predetermined pattern, in which case the board is generally subject to some dimensional change. In order to minimize such dimensional change it is arranged that the ratio(a/b) of the linear expansion coefficient(a) of the resin film(1) in the direction of mechanical feed(MD direction) to the linear expansion coefficient(b) of the resin film(1) in a direction perpendicular to the MD direction (TD direction) is more than 0.2 but less than 1.0 and that the linear expansion coefficient in MD direction is 0.4-2.0.times. 10.sup.-5 .degree..sup.-1. For such resin film is used a polyimide film containing more than 90% of a recurring unit expressed by a specified general formula. To produce such a resin film, film 1 is drawn by a factor of from 1.0 to 1.5 in MD direction and is also drawn by a factor of from 0.5 to 0.99 in TD direction.

In the art of electronics, needs for high density packaging are increasing greatly, and accordingly in those technical areas in which flexible printed circuit boards (hereinafter referred to as FPC ) are employed, need for high density packaging are becoming greater as well. In the process of producing FPC, film dimensions are liable to appreciable changes at the stage of etching, at which the copper foil stuck on the base film is etching as the required pattern, and/or at an adjacent stage. Therefore, it is required that dimensional changes before and after such stage are minimized in order to enable high density packaging.
Hitherto, polyimide films have been used as a base film for FPC. Of these films, polyimide films having good handling property and flexibility have a smaller modulus of elasticity and a greater linear expansion coefficient. So, these polyimide films have not been satisfactory enough to meet the needs for high density packaging. A polyimide having a smaller linear expansion coefficient and a greater modulus of elasticity can be synthesized, but such polyimide film is much less flexible and can hardly be used as FPC. A polyimide film which have good dimensional stability with low thermal shrinkage and low linear expansion coefficient is produced by film drawing. It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No.61-296034, but this polyimide film has not yet had mechanical properties, such as sufficient elongation.
FPC fabrication is carried out on a roll-to-roll basis such that FPC base film and copper foil, both are wound on respective rolls, are paid out respectively and heated for being laminated together. Because of this, both base film and copper foil are subjected to tension in the direction of being fed from the respective rolls, that is, in the mechanical feeding direction( hereinafter referred to as MD direction), and under such conditions FPC has been produced.
Then we'll consider the base film. In MD direction it is subjected to both elongation under tension mentioned above and elongation due to thermal expansion under the heat applied during the stage of lamination. On the other hand, there occurs a phenomenon that the film shrinks in a direction perpendicular to the Mechanical feeding direction by an amount corresponding to the amount of its elongation in MD direction due to the tension. Accordingly, in TD (transverse direction) direction shrinkage is given to the film.
The copper foil is little subjected to deformation under the tension applied in the usual process of FPC making, because the copper foil has a very large modulus of elasticity. It is only through thermal expansion under heat applied during the stage of lamination that the copper foil is deformed. Thus, elongation due to thermal expansion in both MD and TD directions is given to the copper foil.
Therefore, if the sum of elongation of the film due to the tension and elongation of the film due to thermal expansion in MD direction is equal to the elongation of the copper foil due to thermal expansion, the distortion are set off against each other. Likewise, in the TD direction if the sum of shrinkage of the film in TD direction due to film's elongation under tension in MD direction and elongation of the film in TD direction due to thermal expansion is equal to the elongation of the copper foil due to thermal expansion, the distortion are set off against each other.
However, since the base film and the copper foil are isotropically produced, an FPC, where both base film and copper foil are laminated, remains considerably distorted in TD direction when the base film is secured to the copper film. Therefore, when the copper foil is removed by etching for pattern formation, the strain which has been locked is released and accordingly there will occur considerable dimensional changes before and after the stage of etching, which can seriously hinder high density packaging.
Therefore, the present inventors directed their research efforts toward developing a resin film, particularly a polyimide film which is little liable to dimensional changes before and after the stage of etching in the process of FPC fabricating, and a method of making same. As a result, this invention was arrived at.

Polyimide resin film and method of making said film

Kanegafuchi Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


An apparatus for performing stuck fault testings within an integrated circuit is disclosed. A delay chain structure includes a first select register, a second select register, a decoder and a chain of multiplexors. With a set of select signals, the first select register generates a set of true encoded select signals, and the second select register generates a set of complement encoded select signals. Coupled to the first and second select registers, the decoder decodes the set of true encoded select signals and the set of complement encoded signals for controlling the chain of multiplexors. Each multiplexor within the chain of multiplexors is connected to one of the outputs of the decoder. The chain of multiplexors generates a single output value based on the set of select signals.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to testing tools in general, and, in particular, to an apparatus for testing logic circuits. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for performing stuck fault testings within an integrated circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Level-sensitive scan design (LSSD) tests are utilized to test the logic within integrated circuit devices in a reliable and efficient manner. During an LSSD testing, a chain of shift register latches (SRLs) is coupled to the inputs and outputs of an internal logic under test (LUT). Test data is scanned serially into one chain (i.e., the input chain) of the SRLs. When the input shift register is full, the data propagate through the LUT, and the data are then written into a second chain (i.e., the output chain) of the SRLs. The acquired data are then scanned serially out and compared to the expected data. If the acquired data do not match the expected data, the LSSD test will indicate that the LUT is not functioning properly. Such type of general functionality tests is commonly referred to as a stuck fault testing because it determines the existence of permanent (or stuck) errors in the LUT.
However, in addition to confirming the functionality of the LUT, it is also desirable to check the propagation delay through the LUT. That is, even when the stuck fault testing confirms that the LUT achieves the desired function, the corresponding circuit will not meet its performance specifications if it cannot produce the logic signals within an allocated time. The tests that determine propagation delays and detect propagation delay failures are commonly referred to as performance fault(or transition fault) testings.
The present disclosure provides an improved apparatus for performing stuck fault testings within integrated circuits.

Apparatus for performing stuck fault testings within an integrated circuit

International Business Machines Corporation