A first information (I) is displayed on a display screen of a display device (5). A vertical and horizontal position of a field of the first information (I) on the display screen is determined by a vertical start pulse (V) and by horizontal start pulses (H), both corresponding to or being extracted from the first information (I). The vertical position of a second information (Oi) on the display screen is determined by counting a certain number of the horizontal start pulses (H). To eliminate any remaining jitter, a time difference (Td) is determined between the active edge of the vertical start pulse (V) and that horizontal start pulse (H) which is nearest to the active edge of the vertical start pulse (V). If this time difference (Td) is smaller than a certain safe margin (Ni), the nearest horizontal start pulse (H) is so close to the active edge of the vertical start pulse (V), that an occurrence of vertical jitter is becoming likely. To avoid a dangerous vertical jitter situation, in a next field, the active edge of the vertical start pulse (V) is shifted in time over a shift period (Di), to obtain sufficient distance between the active edge of the vertical start pulse (V) and the nearest horizontal pulse (H).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for eliminating vertical position-jitter of a second information (Oi) displayed on a display device on which a first information (I) is displayed, the first information (I) determining an addressing of the display device, the method comprising the steps of generating vertical start pulses (V) and horizontal start pulses (H) to control vertical start positions of fields of the first information (I) and horizontal start positions of lines of the first information (I), respectively, on the display device; and counting a predetermined number of the horizontal start pulses (H), to define a vertical start position for a display of the second information (Oi) on the display device.
The invention also relates to a vertical position-jitter elimination circuit for eliminating jitter in a vertical position of a second information (Oi) displayed on a display device on which a first information (I) is displayed, the first information (I) determining an addressing of the display device, the circuit comprising a processing circuit coupled to receive the first information (I), for generating vertical (V) and horizontal (H) start pulses to control vertical start positions of fields of lines, and horizontal start positions of the lines, respectively, of the first information (I) on the display device; timing means for supplying a vertical position signal (Vp), defining a vertical starting position on the display of the second information (Oi), by counting a predetermined number of the horizontal start pulses (H); and an on-screen-display circuit coupled to receive said vertical position signal (Vp) for inserting a display of said second information (Oi) on said display device.
The invention also relates to a picture display apparatus containing such a vertical position-jitter elimination circuit.
The invention also relates to a method for eliminating vertical position-jitter of a second information (Oi) displayed on a display device on which a first information (I) is displayed, the first information (I) determining an addressing of the display device, the method comprising the steps of generating vertical start pulses (V) and horizontal start pulses (H) to control vertical start positions of fields of the first information (I) and horizontal start positions of lines of the first information (I), respectively, on the display device.
The invention is relevant for eliminating jitter in a vertical position of a second information displayed on a display screen, wherein a first information determines the addressing of the display screen. The first information may be a television image, and the second information may be a PIP image, Teletext, or an On-Screen Display (OSD) information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a vertical position-jitter elimination circuit is known from Japanese Patent Application JP-A-3-236092. In the known vertical position-jitter elimination circuit, a first information is displayed on a display screen. Vertical and horizontal positions of the first information on the display screen are determined by a moment of occurrence of, respectively, vertical and horizontal start pulses, and both start pulses are extracted from the first information (and in this case being vertical and horizontal flyback pulses). In every field of the first information (I), a vertical starting position of a second information is determined by counting a certain number of the horizontal start pulses after a leading edge of the vertical start pulse. In this case, the second information is an On-Screen Display (OSD) information.
A drawback of the known vertical position-jitter elimination circuit is that in certain situations, a vertical jitter of the second information occurs.


An input text that is also transmitted to a text processing service (e.g., a cloud based text processing service) is received. Characterizing information (e.g., contiguous parts of speech, terms used per part of speech, payload length, etc.) is extracted from the input text. A text payload is generated using the characterizing information. A performance test is run on the text payload. The performance test can include performing at least one selected from a group consisting of: sentiment analysis on the text payload, entity analysis on the text payload, content classification on the text payload, and syntax analysis on the text payload. The performance test can yield a processing time required to perform the performance test. Memory and processing power resource allocation to the text processing service can be altered based on the processing time of the performance test.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of natural language processing, and in particular, to natural language processing payload generation.
There is an immense amount of textual data generated daily. This data may be unstructured and may contain complex patterns as a result of differences in languages, dialects, mediums of generation, and cultural variations. Natural language processing (NLP) is a field of computer science focused on processing and understanding this textual data.

Natural language processing payload generation

International Business Machines Corporation


A cryogen deflashing apparatus for removing residual flash from molded articles includes a receptacle assembly forming a sealed treatment chamber for the molded articles and a throwing wheel assembly for propelling particulate media against the molded articles. The throwing wheel assembly including a vaned impeller, an adjustable scroll housing, and an adjustable directional foil housing. The scroll housing partially encircles the impeller and has a surface shaped in the form of a volute. The impeller cooperates with the scroll housing to operate as a suction blower for evacuating cryogen gas and particulate media from a supply conduit. The directional foil housing forms an outlet of the throwing wheel assembly and directs cryogen gas and particulate media, accelerated by the impeller, directly toward the molded articles. The directional foil housing is angularly adjustable to longitudinally adjust impact of the particulate matter and includes vanes which laterally direct split streams of particulate matter to different locations within the receptacle assembly. The scroll and directional foil housings are particularly well suited for retrofitting existing cryogen deflashing machines.

The present invention generally relates to a cryogen deflashing apparatus and, more specifically, to a cryogen deflashing apparatus adapted to rapidly remove residual flash from molded articles.
Molded articles often have thin pieces of unwanted material extending therefrom called "flash" which must be removed for the articles to reach their desired final configuration. Removing flash from articles formed from flexible materials such as rubber, plastics, and the like, is difficult in view of the soft, elastic nature of flexible materials. While various types of mechanical trimming operations have been proposed for removing unwanted flash, these methods have proven to be uneconomical in a number of applications.
In order to both simplify and reduce the cost of flash removal, various attempts have been made to freeze or otherwise cool the articles in order to embrittle the thin sectioned flash, whereafter the embrittled flash is broken-off, trimmed, or otherwise removed. Some of these methods utilize a two-stage process wherein the workpieces are cooled in a first stage to effect flash embrittlement and then vibrated, tumbled, or otherwise mechanically treated in a second stage to break away the embrittled flash. One approach is to use a cryogen material, such as liquid nitrogen, to effect embrittlement of the workpiece flash. As utilized herein, the term "cryogen" will be understood to refer broadly to fluids which are at temperatures of about -60.degree. F. and below.
Two-stage processes, however, are undesirable from several viewpoints. They are time consuming to carry out because cooling the workpieces and removing their flash comprise separate steps that are carried out sequentially rather than concurrently. Because the workpieces are cooled only once and will not be cooled again at other stages of the flash removal procedure, adequate time must be devoted at the outset to providing a thorough cooling of the workpieces to assure that they are refrigerated to an extent that their flash will remain embrittled throughout the remainder of the flash removal process. Sometimes the extensive degree of refrigeration which is required results in the generation of undesirable stresses and/or the formation of cracks or other types of structural defects in the workpieces. An equally troubling drawback of the two-stage processes is that, when there is a relatively large quantity flash to be removed, the workpieces may not remain adequately embrittled during the entire time required for deflashing. Where such is the case, the workpieces are not properly deflashed.
These drawbacks have been overcome by shot blast deflashing machinery which operate with a single flash embrittling and removing stage. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,519,812, 4,598,501, 4,646,484, and 4,648,214 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/542,447, filed Oct. 12, 1995, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. While such machinery performs in an exemplary manner, there is a never ending desire to decrease the required time and/or cost of a deflashing operation. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved cryogen shot-blast deflashing machine which more rapidly removes residual flash from molded articles and/or for means of converting existing deflashing machines, in a cost effective manner, to more rapidly remove residual flash from molded articles.


A method for detecting a “slow to erase” condition of a non-volatile memory structure, wherein the method comprises initiating an erase/verify memory operation with respect to the memory structure, wherein the erase/verify memory operation comprises applying an erase verify voltage according to an alternating word line scheme; following the erase/verify memory operation, determining if a first bit scan mode criteria is satisfied; and, if the first bit scan mode criteria is satisfied, initiating a read/verify memory operation wherein, the read/verify memory operation comprises applying a read-pass voltage according to an all word line scheme, and a magnitude of the read-pass voltage is greater than a magnitude of the erase verify voltage. Following the read/verify memory operation, the method also comprises determining if a second bit scan mode criteria is satisfied and, if the criteria is not satisfied, designating the memory structure with a fail status.

Due to emerging technology and market forces, solid-state drives (SSDs) are steadily replacing previously conventional data storage systems that rely on the rotation of magnetic mediums for reading and writing data (e.g., hard disk drives). Rather than comprising any mechanical or moving parts, solid-state memory comprises integrated circuit assemblies or interconnected flash components to provide non-volatile storage in which stored data can be persistently retained even during a planned or unplanned interruption of power. As a result, a solid-state drive is inherently faster and more robust (i.e., less susceptible to data loss and corruption), as well as consumes less power and is more compact in comparison to disk-based storage. Accordingly, non-volatile memory is a powerful storage solution with respect to many types of computing, consumer electronic, and stand-alone external storage (e.g., USB drives) devices.
With respect to some flash memory types, each individual memory cell comprises a floating gate that is positioned above and isolated from a channel region of a semiconductor substrate, wherein the floating gate is positioned between the source and drain regions. Also, a control gate is provided over and isolated from the floating gate. Accordingly, the threshold voltage (Vth) of the resulting transistor is controlled by and dependent on the amount of charge retained on the floating gate. Specifically, in a switch-like manner, the minimum amount of voltage that must be applied to the control gate before the transistor is activated to permit conduction between its source and drain is determined by the level of charge retained on the floating gate. As a result, bit-value data can be programmed onto and erased from the memory cell by changing the level of charge on a floating gate in order to change the threshold voltage characteristic of the transistor.
As explained in detail below, the number of bits that can be stored in an individual memory cell is dependent upon the number of distinct voltage ranges that may be partitioned within the threshold voltage window of that memory cell. For example, to store one bit of data (referred to as binary data), the possible threshold voltages (Vth) of the memory cell are divided into two ranges, wherein the ranges are assigned as logical data "1" and "0" respectively. A memory cell characterized by this type of storage density may be referred to as a "single-level cell" or SLC.
By further partitioning the threshold voltage window of a memory cell into additional distinct voltage ranges, multiple levels of information can be stored. Such a memory cell may be referred to as a "multi-state cell." For example, to store two bits of data, the threshold voltage window of a cell may be partitioned into four distinct voltage ranges (or states), wherein each range is assigned a certain bit value that is equal to, for example, "11," "10," "01," and "00." Accordingly, after an erase operation, the threshold voltage is negative and, therefore, may be defined as logic "11." Therefore, the positive threshold voltages may be used for the states of "10," "01, "00." A memory cell of this storage density may be referred to as, for example, a "multi-level cell" or MLC. In another example, to store three bits of data, the voltage threshold window of a cell may be partitioned into eight distinct voltage ranges (or states), wherein each range is assigned a certain bit value that is equal to, for example, "111," "110," "100," "010," "011," "000," "001," and "101." A memory cell of this storage density may be referred to, for example, as a "tri-level" or "triple-level cell" (TLC). In a further example, to store four bits of data, the voltage threshold window of a memory cell may be partitioned into 16 distinct voltage ranges (or states), wherein each voltage range is assigned a certain bit value that is equal to, for example, "1111," "1110," "1100," "1000," "0111," "0011," "0001," "0000," "0001," "1001," "1101," "1011," "0110," "0100," "0101," and "1010." A memory cell of this type of storage density may be referred to, for example, as a "quad-level cell" (QLC).
The specific relationship between the data that is programmed into a memory cell and the threshold voltage levels of the memory cell depends upon the data encoding scheme that is adopted for the memory cells.
In addition to the increasing storage densities with respect to a single memory cell, advances in non-volatile memory array structures have led to memory cells being stacked in a vertical direction with respect to the semiconductor substrate, thus creating a three-dimensional array structure as opposed to a planar two-dimensional array structure. However, the lack of separation between the charge trapping regions of the memory cells in three-dimensional array structures provide further challenges with respect to the reliability and the retention of the programmed data.
Accordingly, as the industry continues to achieve smaller sized memory cells with increased storage densities in order to store more data, this scaling of size entails certain performance and durability risks. In order to achieve the advantage of higher memory capacity for a fixed die size, smaller memory cells must be packed more closely together. Doing so, however, may result in an increased number of manufacturing, memory operation, and performance errors. For example, potentially catastrophic structural defects that occur between neighboring components, such as electrical shorting between adjacent word lines, occur more readily in compacted spaces. The description below chiefly addresses the deleterious "slow to erase" signature effect that may be linked to various structural defects occurring during device fabrication such as a single word line-to-memory hole (WL-MH) short. According to certain observations, such a defect may result in a discernible threshold voltage (Vth) distribution of an "erase" state following a programming operation of a memory structure. As such, following a subsequent erase verify operation, this "trailing" threshold voltage (Vth) distribution remains, thereby damaging the reliability and integrity of the programming data operations. Due to a combination of physical/electrical factors discussed in detail below, this "trailing" threshold voltage (Vth) distribution of the "erase" state may readily pass in an erase verify bit scan mode, thus going undetected and creating a parasitic effect. Thus, it would be beneficial to derive a device mode that can detect this "slow to erase" signature defect at the same operational juncture as the erase verify operation.

“Read after erase” method for catching single word line “slow to erase” signature in nonvolatile memory structures


Foot measurement and footwear manufacture systems and methods. A three-dimensional foot frame of a foot and pressure data corresponding to a bottom of the foot are measured, and a first and a second group of characteristic points are respectively determined accordingly. A preset foot skeleton template model is adjusted according to the second group of characteristic points, and merged into the three-dimensional foot frame according to the first group of characteristic points and protrusion points of the adjusted foot skeleton template model. The protrusion points and/or joint points of the adjusted foot skeleton template model are connected to generate at least one line and at least one plane, intersecting the three-dimensional foot frame at contact points and contact planes, respectively. The foot frame size is determined according to the distance between the contact points and the girth of the contact planes.

The present disclosure relates generally to foot measurement and footwear manufacture, and more particularly, to foot measurement and footwear manufacture systems and methods that integrate foot frame scanning and pressure measurement.
Recently, the footwear industry has become highly specialized and competitive. Manufacturers provide as many styles and sizes of shoes as possible to better meet various needs of consumers. Additionally, manufacturers can provide customized fit by measuring feet and choosing appropriate footwear for customers.
Several conventional techniques have been developed to measure the shape of feet in order to fabricate a customized footwear article. Techniques are based on laser scanning, image distribution, and template measurement to obtain a 3D map of the foot. Measurement results are easily influenced by variations in soft tissue, causing erroneous results. Users must be involved in foot measurement procedures, reducing accuracy, convenience and efficiency of foot measurement.

Footwear measurement and footwear manufacture systems and methods

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A switch comprising a switch body and a control actuator, which can be associated with a control button and can move with respect to the switch body, the control actuator having a receptacle for a light source at a containment portion which is directed toward the button: the switch body is provided with fixing elements for a panel, by backpanel insertion, which comprise at least two abutment portions and at least two locking elements which act, with the panel in the mounted position, respectively at opposite faces of the panel, the two locking elements being arranged proximate to the button. Elements for detachable connection between the button and the control actuator are also provided.

Currently, with particular reference to applications to household electrical appliances, the most widely used switches are constituted by a switch body, provided with the components required for its operation, which optionally can be associated with a button lighting device at a containment portion which lies below the button.
Generally, in these kinds of application, the switch body is associated with a panel and then the switch (constituted by the switch body and by the panel associated therewith) is fitted to the household electrical appliance.
It is evident that although these switches can be offered with the possibility to light the button, they do not allow customization (except for the panel) depending on the type of application or in relation to the company that markets the household electrical appliance on which the switch is fitted.
If the button is to be customized it is in fact necessary to use switches in which so-called backpanel mounting is provided.
However, switches in which backpanel mounting is provided, due to the particular configuration and the types of connection among the various structural elements that constitute the switch, do not allow the option of lighting the button.

Scoieta′ Europea Componenti Elettrici S.p.A. In Short S.E.C.E. S.p.A.


An automobile exhaust-pipe joint structure and a coil spring for use therein. The exhaust pipe connection structure includes a first exhaust pipe having a first flange section, a second exhaust pipe having a second flange section, a ball joint section for connecting the first and second exhaust pipes flexibly, and coupling mechanisms provided at a plurality of positions of the first and second flange sections. One exemplary coupling mechanism includes a bolt member penetrating the first flange section and being secured, at one end part thereof, to the second flange section, and a coil spring of deformed cross-section interposed between the other end part of the bolt member and the first flange section, wherein the cross-section of a wire is reduced in diameter, in the compressing direction with a dimensional ratio between the short diameter and long diameter thereof being in the range of 1.1–2.6.

Ball joints have been used as vibration isolation joints in an automobile exhaust line. They absorb the vibration of a car body to prevent an excessive stress from acting on an engine exhaust section and an exhaust-pipe joint section.
Various specific joint structures have been proposed and put in actual use. For example, there are joint structures described in JP-A-10-176777 and JP-UM-T-2598461.
A typical structure will be described with reference to FIG. 6.
An exhaust pipe is composed of a first exhaust pipe 1 and a second exhaust pipe 2. The exhaust pipes 1 and 2 are flexibly joined together with a ball joint mechanism B.
The first exhaust pipe 1 guides exhaust gas from an automobile engine to the second exhaust pipe. The first exhaust pipe 1 is called an exhaust manifold. The second exhaust pipe 2 discharges the exhaust gas into the atmosphere.
More specifically, the joint section between the first exhaust pipe 1 and the second exhaust pipe 2 has a ball section 3 shaped like a ball in external form adjacent to the second exhaust pipe 2, and has a flare section 5 near the first exhaust pipe 1. The flare section 5 has an inner curve 4 corresponding to the ball section 3.
The first exhaust pipe 1 and the second exhaust pipe 2 have a first flange section la and a second flange section 2a, respectively. The first flange section 1a and the second flange section 2a have opposed surfaces, respectively. The flange sections 1a and 2a have openings 1b and 2b at opposed positions so that a bolt 8 (described later) is passed through. The flange sections 1a and 2a are fixed to each other with joint mechanisms C.
The joint mechanisms C are provided at a plurality of positions of the first and second flange sections to join the first and second flange sections together.
One of the joint mechanisms C has a nut 7, the bolt 8, and a coil spring 20. The nut 7 is fixed to the periphery of the opening 2b of the second flange section 2a by welding 9.
The bolt 8 passes through the respective openings 1b and 2b of the flange sections 1a and 2a. One end 8a of the bolt 8 is screwed and secured in the nut 7. The bolt 8 is passed through the center of the winding coil spring 20.
The coil spring 20 is arranged between the other end (i.e., head) 8b of the bolt 8 and the first flange section 1a. The coil spring 20 pushes the first exhaust pipe 1 through the first flange section 1a toward the second exhaust pipe 2.
When a bending force is applied between the first exhaust pipe 1 and the second exhaust pipe 2 by the vibration of the car body, the ball section 3 slides in the inner curve 4 of the flare section 5 to allow the first exhaust pipe 1 and the second exhaust pipe 2 to curve. The coil spring 20 keeps the close contact between the ball section 3 and the inner curve 4 to prevent leakage of exhaust gas.
In such an exhaust-pipe joint structure, the coil spring 20 is formed by winding a circular-section wire rod in coiled form. The height of the coil spring 20 is given by n×d when compressed until the wire rods constituting the coil spring 20 come into contact with each other, where d is the diameter of the wire rod and n is the number of turns of the coil spring.
Accordingly, the length of part of the bolt 8 which is passed through the coil spring inevitably must be longer than n×d. This increases the full length of the bolt 8, thus increasing the weight relatively.
Also, because the coil spring is high, the lateral movement increases when a bending stress is applied in use. Also, there is the problem of increasing the contact between the wire rods of the coil spring to increase the moment.
On the other hand, it is the most important object to improve the fuel efficiency of cars in view of recent environmental issues. To this end, automobile makers have been making various improvements including development of high-efficiency engines, improvement in a combustion method, improvement in fuel quality, development of new driving sources such as fuel cells. On the other hand, it is well known that continuous efforts have been made to improve fuel efficiency by weight reduction of car bodies.
In order to reduce the weight of car bodies, strenuous efforts have been made from the weight reduction of car body structures to the weight reduction of various components in grams.
Also the exhaust pipe system that is the subject of the present invention intends to make the exhaust pipe thinner and to make the bolt 8 of the joint mechanism C smaller in diameter. Although it is said that the weight reduction is recently at its limit, further weight reduction is required for the Earth's environment.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the present situation. Accordingly, it is a first object of the invention to provide a coil spring capable of further weight reduction of an exhaust-pipe joint structure and a new exhaust-pipe joint structure using the coil spring. Furthermore, a second object is to provide a coil spring capable of cost reduction of an exhaust-pipe joint structure and a new exhaust-pipe joint structure using the coil spring.

Exhaust pipe joint structure and coil spring used in the same


The screen wiper mechanism has a crank, a connecting rod, a pivot pin and an articulating device which couples the crank to the connecting rod. The structure has, in succession: a head which bears against an engagement surface that is formed, in facing relationship with the head, in a first lateral face of the connecting rod. A cylindrical first shank portion and a cylindrical second shank portion that is of smaller diameter than the first shank portion forms an extension to the first shank. The articulating device also has structure that secures the crank on the second shank portion of the pivot pin against relative axial movement and takes up axial clearance. This structure, moreover, is arranged to be compressed while fastening the structure together during assembly.

One example of such a screen wiper mechanism, being especially of the type giving non-circular wiping, is described and shown in French published patent specification No. FR 1 546 319A. An improved articulating device for such a mechanism is the subject of French patent application No. 93 06724 filed on Jun. 4, 1993. In that improvement, the screen wiper mechanism is of the type which has an articulating device in which the connecting rod is coupled to the crank by means of a rotary pin. This pin has a head, a first cylindrical shank portion, and a second cylindrical shank portion of smaller diameter than the first shank portion. The head and the two shank portions are coaxial with each other, and the pin is of the type in which the first shank portion extends through a sleeve which is located within the connecting rod, while the second shank portion extends through a reinforcing element carried by the crank. The connecting rod carries at least one friction ring, and this ring, or at least one of these rings, is held against rotation with respect to the connecting rod.
In that arrangement, the friction rings, which are made of a suitable friction material in order to ensure their satisfactory operation, have to be gripped axially against the surfaces in facing relationship with them.
Given manufacturing tolerances in the various components of the articulating device, and in particular manufacturing tolerances of the pivot pin and of the opposed recesses which are formed in the opposed lateral faces of the connecting rod, it is found that proper axial gripping of the friction rings is not necessarily achieved, or may not be achieved to a sufficiently great extent, after assembly of the articulating device. In this connection, the assembly operation includes an operation to fasten the crank in position against axial movement with respect to the connecting rod; and this is achieved by, for example, a pressing operation which deforms the material of the pivot pin so as to form a second head at the free end of the latter, in the manner of a rivet.

Screen wiper mechanism comprising a crank and connecting rod coupled together by an improved articulating device


A shear deformation apparatus comprises: a die having an inlet and an outlet; and a rotatable device installed at a shear zone for supporting a material introduced into the inlet of the die and thus changing a direction of the material to the outlet of the die, of which the surface moves together with the material. According to the apparatus, a frictional resistance between the material and the die is reduced and a generation of a dead zone is prevented, thereby reducing a deformation resistance and having a uniform shear deformation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shear deformation apparatus, and more particularly, to a shear deformation apparatus capable of reducing a deformation resistance and a friction resistance and having a uniform shear deformation, which results in additional effects of reduction in running power and cost.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a shear deformation apparatus generally known as an equal channel angular apparatus comprises: a die 1 in which an inlet channel 2 and an outlet channel having the same sectional area are crossed each other with an 'L ' shape; and a pressurizing tool (not shown) for putting a material 3 into the inlet channel 2, then pressurizing and extruding to the outlet channel 4.
When a metallic material is put into an inlet 21 of the shear deformation apparatus and then extruded to an outlet 41, a change in material flow occurs at the intersection of the inlet and outlet channel. This process causes a shear deformation with a shear angle, θ. As the result, the microstructure of the material becomes fine, thereby improving mechanical properties such as strength and formability (Refer to Journal of Metals, 1998, June, Pages 41 to 45).
Under an ideal circumstance having no friction, a shear deformation with θ is generated in the deformed material 5. As there is no change in the cross sectional area of the material during processing, very fine microstructure can be obtained by repeating the process.
However, in the conventional method, the ideal circumstance with no friction can not be obtained even if a lubricant is deposited to an inner wall of the inlet path 2 and the outlet path 4. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, a non-uniform deformation that the shear angle varies depending on a position is generated, thereby resulting in inhomogeneous structure and properties. Especially, the flow of the material becomes slow at a bottom surface due to a severe friction resistance which causes the material to lag behind to a great degree (Refer to Scripta materiallia, Vol. 37, No. 4, 1997, pages 437 to 442).
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a severe deformation resistance and a high frictional resistance at the corner of the die, and a dead zone 6 is generated at this corner where the material is adhered instead of being deformed. This requires an equipment of a high power and a high cost in order to overcome the high resistance of the material flow in the dead zone.
In order to lower a deformation resistance of the dead zone, a method for increasing a die angle Φ was proposed as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, however, since the amount of shear deformation decreases, the microstructure refining effect of the material reduces. Additionally, since the number of repeated processes has to be increased in order to increase the amount of shear deformation, a productivity lowers.
As another method for lowering the deformation resistance and inhomogeneous deformation, the outer edge is made to be round, as shown in FIG. 5, in order to reduce the dead zone. However, in this method, too, the amount of shear deformation of the entire material decreases. In addition, the material near the bottom surface can scarcely have shear deformation, as shown in FIG. 6, even in the ideal state having no friction, thereby causing a problem that the structure and properties of the material become non-uniform. Especially at the bottom surface of the material, deformation becomes very inhomogeneous according to a position since there is little shear deformation owing to a geometric effect of the round edge and frictional lag of the material flow on the contact surface, thereby resulting in a non-uniform material characteristics (Refer to Matallurgical and Materials Transactions 32A, December, 2002, pages 3007 to 3014).

Apparatus and method for uniform shear deformation

Korea Institute of Science and Technology


A flexible reinforced tire valve is disclosed. The flexible reinforced tire valve comprises a tube body, a flexible sleeve and a collar. The flexible sleeve is further disposed with a second blocking edge. When the flexible reinforced tire valve is installed on the wheel rim, the upper edge of the collar presses against the second blocking edge and the lower edge of the collar presses against an outer surface of the wheel rim so as to strengthen the durability of the tire valve against centrifugal force, whereby the tire will not leak even if the vehicle moves at high speed.

1. (a) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a flexible reinforced tire valve, in particular to a tire valve able to prevent from tire leak by enhancing the durability of the tire valve against centrifugal force, whereby the tire will not leak even if the vehicle moves at high speed.
2. (b) Description of the Prior Art
Safe driving is subject to stable tire pressure; therefore, the tire pressure monitor (or device) has become an important accessory for a car. In general, the tire pressure monitor is usually installed on the tire valve of a wheel. In order to achieve weight reduction, the material of tire valve is usually made of aluminum instead of copper. However, in temperature and cold zones, it is inclined to snow in winter; therefore, people will spread salt over roads in order to remove snow from the roads. The tire valve made of aluminum may be eroded by salt, which may result in the aging of the tire valve and tire leak.
The rubber tire valve shown in FIG. 1 is designed to solve the above problem. There is a copper tube 11 inside the tire valve, and the copper tube 11 is covered by a rubber sleeve 12. The rubber sleeve 12 is disposed with the blocking edge 13 for engaging with a wheel rim in order to make sure the inner side of the tire valve fit over the inner surface of the wheel rim. The copper tube 11 is further disposed with the external thread portion 111 for engaging with a corresponding internal thread portion 141 inside the valve cover 14. In addition to the above configuration, the pressure from the tire will further fix the valve cover 14 to prevent from tire leak. Similar devices are disclosed by TW I3344539, TW I388752, etc.
If the vehicle moves at high speed, the aforementioned conventional tire valve will be pressed toward the inside of the wheel by centrifugal force, and the force that the blocking edge 13 engages with the wheel rim and the force from the tire pressure will also be cancelled by centrifugal force, so that the inner surface of the tire valve cannot tightly fit over the inner surface of the wheel rim, which will result in tire leak. Thus, rubber valves are not suitable for vehicles moving at high speed, especially for those moving at the no-speed-limit German freeway.


A battery monitoring system including: plural battery cell sets; and semiconductor devices, wherein: each of the semiconductor devices includes a measuring section, a high side communication section that is supplied with a drive voltage in a first voltage range, and, when a semiconductor device is present at a higher position that operates at a higher operating voltage than the operating voltage of the semiconductor device itself when measuring a battery cell set on the high side of the battery cell set measured by the semiconductor device itself, can perform communication with the high side semiconductor device, a low side communication section, and a communication level converter; the semiconductor device at the highest stage further includes a signal level determination section; and the first voltage range of the highest stage is set to a specific voltage range narrower than the first voltage range of another of the semiconductor devices.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to a battery monitoring system and a semiconductor device.
2. Related Art
High capacity, high output batteries employed in as motor drives in for example hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles generally employ a battery configured from plural serially connected batteries (battery cells). Lithium ion rechargeable batteries are employed for example as such battery cells.
Due to the high energy density of such battery cells, there is the concern that this energy might be instantaneously discharged such as when a problem arises that results in an internal short-circuit. In order to avoid such an occurrence, and in order to avoid abnormal states such as an overcharged state or an excessive discharge state, battery voltage monitoring of the battery cells is performed by a battery monitoring system. Examples of such battery monitoring systems include the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2009-100644, JP-A No. 2010-178400, and JP-A No. 2010-281717.
The battery monitoring systems of JP-A No. 2009-100644, JP-A No. 2010-178400 and JP-A No. 2010-281717 are provided with plural battery monitoring semiconductor devices (ICs) that monitor each collection (battery cell set) in a configuration wherein plural serially connected battery cells are divided into collections each containing a specific number of battery cells.
The battery monitoring systems described above are configured such that plural the battery monitoring ICs are connected to the plural serially connected battery cells.
Each battery monitoring IC includes a voltage measuring section that measures battery cell battery voltage, a high side communication section that performs communication with a battery monitoring IC that monitors a higher position battery cell set, a low side communication section that performs communication with a battery monitoring IC that monitors a lower position battery cell set, and a communication level converter that converts the voltage levels of the high side communication section and the low side communication section.
Each battery monitoring IC operates employing a battery voltage of each of the battery cell sets to be monitored. In order to perform communication between the respective battery monitoring ICs there is a need to match the voltage levels employed for signals during communication between the respective battery monitoring ICs since the battery voltage levels of each of the battery cell sets to be monitored are different from each other. The communication level converter accordingly performs conversion between the voltage levels of the high side communication section and the low side communication section.
In such battery monitoring systems, for example the battery monitoring IC that monitors the lowest position battery cell set receives for example a control signal from a controller in the low side communication section, converts the voltage level in the communication level converter, and then transmits the control signal from the high side communication section to the low side communication section of the battery monitoring IC that monitors a higher position battery cell set. Each of the battery monitoring ICs accordingly receives signals in the low side communication section, performs voltage conversion in the communication level converter, and transmits signals from the high side communication section. However, there is no need to operate the communication level converter or the high side communication section of the battery monitoring IC that monitors the highest position battery cell set since there is no higher position battery monitoring IC present.
There is accordingly the issue that current for operating the communication level converter and the high side communication section of the highest position battery monitoring IC is wasted.

Battery monitoring system and semiconductor device


The device includes a manipulation mechanism for maneuvering a base into position proximate a subcutaneous port. Arms extending from the base enable the device to receive the port and substantially immobilize the port relative to the device. The manipulation mechanism also enables a user to substantially immobilize the device relative to a patient. With the subcutaneous port substantially immobilized by the device, the user has greater confidence and accuracy when inserting a needle into the port. Further, embodiments of the device provide protection to the user to prevent inadvertent sticking of the user as the needle is introduced.

In the medicine and nursing arts, it is vital that each task be performed with the highest possible standards of safety and sterility in mind. One challenge faced in these fields is how to protect the users (the doctors, nurse, and the like) of medical equipment and compounds from inadvertently receiving the effects of this equipment while utilizing them to treat another individual, such as a patient. The tip of a needle does not discriminate and it is not uncommon for medical practitioners to inadvertently "stick" themselves when attempting to inject another individual.
This concern is particularly applicable when a patient or other individual has had a subcutaneous port installed. Located under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn many times, usually with less discomfort for the patient than a more typical stick with a needle. A catheter then connects the port to a vein.
FIG. 1 shows a standard catheter and port being accessed by a standard injection device using the method currently approved in the field. The port is in near constant motion due to its movement under the skin or movement of the individual in which the port is installed. Thus, the doctor or nurse's target injection site is in constant motion, leaving them even more susceptible to the dangers identified above.
To date, there are no assistive devices for accessing ports. What is desired, therefore, is the development of a device that will allow users to easily access ports while avoiding accidental needle sticks caused by patient movements, immobilize a clumsy port catheter that slides around under the skin, and ensure that the user has a clear visual field of the port's center.

Device for assisting access to a subcutaneous port


The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for pipelined processing of data packets. A pipeline in a processor comprises an access point providing simultaneous access to one or more devices, said devices mainly for data processing operations not provided by the pipeline. The access point comprises at least one FIFO store for storing data entering the access point, a response FIFO store for storing responses received from the device(s), and a synchronization mechanism adapted to synchronize the fetching of the first entry in the FIFO store(s) and the first entry in the response FIFO store. The synchronization mechanism could advantageously be a fixed time delay mechanism. When the fixed time initiated by the fixed time delay mechanism has elapsed, the first response in the response FIFO store is merged into the data stored in the first entry in the FIFO store(s) for storing data entering the access point.

A processor which uses a pipelined processing technique and which receives a stream of data to be operated upon by the processor can be divided into segments referred to as processing stages, each processing stage being capable of executing operations on data. The processing stages make up a processing pipeline. Several data packets may simultaneously be present in the processing pipeline, being operated upon by different processing stages, and being brought forward to the next processing stage in the pipeline as time flows. Each processing stage can execute operations on the data present in the processing stage. Upon each clock tick, data is passed onto the subsequent stage by loading registers that are located between the previous and the subsequent processing stages. The data thus becomes present in the subsequent stage.

Method and apparatus for pipelined processing of data packets


A disc brake, particularly for commercial vehicles, is provided having a caliper reaching over a brake disc, a brake application device arranged in the caliper for applying the brake, as well as an adjusting system arranged in the caliper for compensating brake pad and/or disc wear by adjusting the distance between the brake pad and the brake disc. The caliper has a two-part construction including an application-side caliper part and a reaction-side caliper part. The reaction-side caliper part is designed such that it frames the brake disc in its upper circumferential area. The adjusting system has at least one or more adjusting devices also arranged on the reaction side of the brake disc, and preferably on each side of the brake disc.

The invention relates to a disc brake particularly for commercial vehicles, having a caliper straddling a brake disc, an application device arranged in the caliper for applying the brake, as well as an adjusting system arranged in the caliper for compensating brake pad and/or disc wear by adjusting the distance between the brake pad and the brake disc, wherein the adjusting system has at least one adjusting device.
The invention particularly relates to novel constructions of disc brakes, particularly for commercial vehicles, which are operated pneumatically and/or electromechanically.
According to the selected force introduction principle, disc brakes can be divided into two basic constructions:
1. Generating of force and wear adjustment on both sides of the brake disc: for example, the hydraulic fixed-caliper disc brake with an axially fixed brake disc and the generating of force on both sides of the brake disc, as well as
2. Generating of force and wear adjustment on one side of the brake disc and transmission of the actuating power to the side which faces away, according to the reaction force principle: for example, the sliding-caliper disc brake, the hinged-caliper disc brake, and the fixed-caliper disc brake with a displaceable brake disc.
Pneumatically operated disc brakes for heavy commercial vehicles with rim diameters of 15 inches and more normally use the reaction force principle since, because of the narrow installation conditions at the vehicle wheel, the arrangement of a compressed-air brake actuating cylinder can be achieved only on the side of the vehicle wheel which is open toward the interior side of the vehicle. Constructions of this type are found, for example, in German Patent documents DE 36 10 569 A1 and DE 37 16 202 A1, and European Patent document EP 0 531 321 A1 (see here particularly the construction of the adjusters in the manner of rotary drives), and European Patent document EP 0 688 404 A1.
Sliding caliper or hinged caliper disc brakes require a component fixed to the axle—generally called a brake anchor plate—which holds or guides the chocks/brake pads and absorbs their circumferential forces when the brake is actuated and carries the caliper disposed in a displaceable manner coaxially with respect to the vehicle axle.
The relative movement, which the caliper carries out with respect to the component fixed to the axle, can be divided into the working stroke and the wear stroke. The invention surprisingly utilizes this effect.
The working stroke is carried out during each operation of the brake in order to overcome the release play of the brake and to compensate the elasticities of the brake pads and the caliper arising when force is applied. Depending upon the amount of the actuating power and the size of the release play, it normally amounts to <4 mm.
In contrast, the wear stroke is the wear adjusting path which the caliper carries out over a large number of brake operations in order to compensate for the wear at the reaction side of the brake. The wear stroke is composed of the wear of the brake pad situated on the outside and the brake disc friction surface situated on the outside and normally amounts to up to 25 mm.
In comparison, in the case of the brake construction having a fixed caliper and a displaceable brake disc, the working stroke and the wear stroke are generated by displacing the brake disc.
The constructions with the sliding caliper or the hinged caliper have the disadvantage that a brake anchor plate fixed to the axle is required for absorbing the circumferential force of the brake pads and the holding and guiding of the caliper. This component causes additional cost and weight. In addition, the required slide-guiding or swivelling system is susceptible to disturbances.
In contrast, the construction with the displaceable brake disc has the problem of keeping the brake disc on the guiding area of the hub freely slidable over the entire service life. Because of the narrow installation conditions and the harsh environmental stress, an effective sealing can hardly be implemented.
In light of this background, the present invention begins with the concept of mutually combining the advantages of the above-described caliper concepts, in which case an easy adaptability of the disc brake should exist to various application devices.
The invention achieves this task by providing a disc brake, particularly for commercial vehicles, having a caliper straddling a brake disc, an application device arranged in the caliper for applying the brake, as well as an adjusting system arranged in the caliper for compensating brake pad and/or disc wear by adjusting the distance between the brake pad and the brake disc, wherein the adjusting system has at least one adjusting device. The caliper has a two-part construction including application-side and reaction-side caliper parts. The reaction-side caliper part is designed such that it straddles the brake disc in its upper circumferential area. The adjusting system has at least one or more adjusting devices also on the reaction side of the brake disc, and preferably on each side of the brake disc.
Accordingly, the caliper is constructed in two parts, including an application-side and a reaction-side caliper part, the reaction-side caliper part being further developed such that it frames or straddles the brake disc in its upper circumferential area.
Furthermore, the adjusting system has at least one or more adjusting devices also on the reaction side of the brake disc, or adjusting devices are provided on each side of the brake disc.
Since at least one or two adjusting devices for the separate displacing of the brake pads on both side of the brake disc is/are provided on each side of the brake disc, the path to be bridged by the caliper can clearly be reduced when the caliper is designed as a sliding or hinged caliper.
In contrast, in the case of a design as a fixed caliper, the displacement path of the brake disc on the axle can clearly be reduced.
In the manner of a construction kit, the reaction-side caliper part can be combined with various application-side caliper parts, which each may have different application devices; thus, for example, an application device with an eccentrically disposed rotary lever in the interior of the caliper, or an application device with one or more ball screws.
This module-type construction permits an optimal adaptability of the brake to different applications.
The module system can also be used for the adaptation to different wheel sizes. However, in this case, the respectively identical application-side caliper part, i.e., the application device housing, is combined with different reaction-side caliper parts.
In the case of an application device having a threaded spindle system of the type shown in FIG. 2, the screw system itself also forms the application-side adjusting device, in which case the rotating movement required for the adjustment can, in each case, take place in a manner known per se from S-cam drum brakes by way of a compressed-air cylinder and a brake lever constructed as a slack adjuster or an electric-motor drive.
By means of the invention, a disc brake in particular can be implemented in the case of which the generating of the reaction force on the side of the brake facing away from the application device takes place by                displacing the caliper and/or        swivelling the caliper and/or        displacing the brake disc,        deforming the caliper and/or the disc, and/orin which case, as a result of the displacing and/or swivelling and/or deforming movement, essentially only the path of half or the whole power stroke needs to be bridged.
The invention combines the advantages of the fixed-caliper principle, e.g. a compact construction and implementation of the wear stroke by the actuating system, with the advantages of the reaction force principle.
Alternatively or in addition, it is also contemplated that the reaction force generation on the side of the brake facing away from the application device side takes place by an elastic deforming of the caliper and/or of the brake disc and/or of another element, in which case essentially only the path of half or the whole power stroke needs to be bridged by the deformation. In this case, bearings of the brake disc or of the caliper can advantageously be further, or even completely, eliminated. Elastic brake discs are known per se; such as from German Patent document DE 198 10 685 A1.
By providing additional adjusting device(s) on both sides of the disc brake, it becomes possible to further develop the brake such that a mobility, (preferably a displaceability and/or a swivellability of the caliper and/or the brake disc) still only has to be ensured which is dimensioned such that the working stroke can be bridged during brakings in order to apply the brake. In this manner, the slide bearings and/or pivot bearings and guides can be dimensioned to be correspondingly smaller and more cost-effective. In addition, it is ensured that a smooth operation remains guaranteed along the entire sliding or swivelling path since the latter is bridged during virtually every braking.
The brake disc is preferably constructed as a sliding disc, which is displaceably guided on a brake disc hub such that, as a result of the displacement, a sliding path can be implemented which is limited maximally to the power stroke (depending on the design, the path which can be bridged by the displacing and/or swivelling movement of the caliper, in the case of a commercial vehicle brake, amounts to less than 4–6 mm or even less than 3 mm).
As an alternative or in addition, the caliper may be constructed as a sliding caliper which has a sliding caliper, bearing fastenable directly to the axle flange and which is dimensioned such that a sliding path can be bridged which is limited to the power stroke.
As an alternative or in addition, the caliper can be constructed as a hinged caliper, which has a hinged-caliper bearing, which preferably can be fastened directly to the axle flange and can be bridged with the swivelling angle which displaces the caliper relative to the brake disc essentially by the amount of the power stroke.
In particular, the disc brake according to the invention makes it possible to continue to arrange the power-generating device—such as a compressed-air-operated and/or electric-motor-operated brake cylinder or an electric drive—only on one side of the brake.
Additional advantages are achieved within the scope of the invention.
A variant of the invention solves the problem of the common adjusting of the adjusting rotary drives on both sides of the disc brake. In this case, the adjuster rotary drives on both sides of the brake disc are mutually coupled by a synchronization device. The synchronization device is, preferably, constructed as a coupling mechanism or as an electronic coupling system.
According to another embodiment, which can also be considered independently, the brake of the above-mentioned type is further developed in the caliper has a one- or two-part construction and, if it is constructed in two parts, has an application-side and a reaction-side caliper part. The reaction-side caliper part straddles the brake disc in its upper circumferential area. The adjusting system has at least one adjusting device on the reaction side of the brake disc. The brake application device has one or more ball screw(s). Here, a construction of the brake application device as a ball screw, and a micro-displaceable caliper and/or disc solution, are mutually combined with a reaction-side adjustment in a constructionally compact manner.
In this case, the caliper is constructed in one or two parts and, if it is constructed in two parts, has an application-side and a reaction-side caliper part. The reaction-side caliper part straddles the brake disc in its upper circumferential area. In addition, the adjusting system has at least one adjusting device on the reaction side of the brake disc, and the brake application device has one or more balls screw(s).
Additional advantageous embodiments of the invention are described and claimed herein.

Knorr-Bremse Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH


In an embodiment, a method includes determining a given material to manipulate to achieve a goal state. The goal state can be one or more deformable or granular materials in a particular arrangement. The method further includes, for the given material, determining, a respective outcome for each of a plurality of candidate actions to manipulate the given material. The determining can be performed with a physics-based model, in one embodiment. The method further can include determining a given action of the candidate actions, where the outcome of the given action reaching the goal state is within at least one tolerance. The method further includes, based on a selected action of the given actions, generating a first motion plan for the selected action.

Traditionally, the food industry employs human labor to manipulate ingredients with the purpose of either assembling a meal such as a salad or a bowl, or packing a box of ingredients such as those used in grocery shopping, or preparing the raw ingredients. Robots have not yet been able to assemble complete meals from prepared ingredients in a food-service setting such as a restaurant, largely because the ingredients are arranged unpredictably and change shape in difficult-to-predict ways rendering traditional methods to move material ineffective without extensive modifications to existing kitchens. Additionally, traditional material handling methods are ill-suited to moving cooked foods without altering their texture and taste-profile. These difficulties arise because the friction, stiction, and viscosity of commonly consumed foods cause auger, conveyor, and suction mechanisms to become clogged and soiled, while these mechanisms simultaneously impart forces on the foodstuffs which alter their texture, consistency, and taste-profile in unappetizing ways.

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.


A tape cassette for use in a recording and/or reproducing apparatus, wherein tape reels for winding a recording tape are rotatably accommodated in a box-shaped cassette casing which is formed by combining upper and lower cassette halves, the recording material is extended outward along the front wall of the cassette casing between tape outlets formed at both end portions of a front wall of the cassette casing, and a lid for opening and closing the front surface of the recording tape which extends along the front wall of the cassette casing is supported at the front portion of the cassette casing so as to be rotatable upward and downward. A lid locking mechanism includes: an engagement formed on the inner surface of the lid; a lid locking member having a projection and rotatably supported at its upper end between the halves, the lid locking member being resiliently biased in a manner that its lower end turns forwardly so that the projection engages with the engagement formed on the inner surface of the lid; and a stopper formed on one of the halves, the stopper abutting against or closing to the upper surface of the projection in a locked state where the projection engages with the engagement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to lid locking mechanisms for a cassette and, more particularly, is directed to a lid locking mechanism for a tape cassette which locks a lid for closing and opening the front face of a magnetic tape at a closed position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A tape cassette has been proposed, in which tape reels for winding therearound a tape-shaped recording medium are rotatably accommodated in a box-shaped cassette casing which is formed by combining two cassette halves or cassette shells, the recording medium is extended outward along the front wall of the cassette casing between tape outlets formed at both end portions of a front wall of the cassette casing, and a lid for opening and closing a front surface of the recording medium which extends along the front wall of the cassette casing is supported at a front portion of the cassette casing so as to become rotatable upward and downward. This type of tape cassette is usually provided with a lid locking mechanism for locking the lid at a closed position wherein the front face of the recording medium (magnetic tape) disposed along the front face of the cassette casing is covered or closed by the lid.
An example of the conventional lid locking mechanism will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, each of an upper half a and a lower half b is formed by molding synthetic resin.
A cassette compartment c is formed on one of opposite end portions of the front edge of a bottom wall d of the lower half b. The cassette compartment c has an elongated rectangular configuration along the side wall of the lower half and its front end is notched to form a slit e. Two recesses f, f are formed at both sides of the top end of the cassette compartment c. Further, top and bottom ends of the cassette compartment c are opened.
A guide groove g is formed on the bottom surface of the bottom wall d of the lower half b at portion corresponding to the bottom portion of the cassette compartment c.
A lid locking member h of an elongated hook-like configuration is provided at a top end thereof with supporting pins i, i of short cylindrical configuration which projects outwardly from the opposite sides thereof.
The lid locking member h is further provided with a groove j opened to the rear end thereof which is positioned at a portion of one of the opposite sides of the top end thereof and along a proximal end of the supporting pin i. Spring engagements k, k are projected at upper and lower opening ends of the groove j.
A portion of the lid locking member k positioned on a front face thereof slightly above the center portion thereof projects forwardly to form a projection l. Further, a portion of the lid locking member h positioned at the bottom end of the front face projects forwardly to form a pressed portion m.
Thus constituted lid locking member h is inserted within the cassette compartment c in a manner that the supporting pins i, i are positioned in the recesses f, f of the accommodating portion c.
At two portions on the lower surface of a top wall or ceiling n of the upper half b, pressing elements o, o project downwardly from the lower surface thereof parallel and opposite with each other in the horizontal direction. When the upper and lower halves a and b are coupled, the lower surfaces of the pressing elements o, o abut the top ends of the both side walls of the accommodating portion c respectively, thereby closing the upper openings of the notches f, f which receives the supporting pins i, i of the lid locking member h, so that the supporting pins i, i are prevented from being dropped out from the notches f, f.
The coil portion of a torsion spring p is wound round one of the supporting pins i so as to be positioned in the groove j. One of the arms of the torsion spring p is resiliently abutted against the lower surface of the top wall of the upper half a and the other arm is resiliently abutted against the lower surface of the groove j, so that the lid locking member h is resiliently biased such that its bottom end turns forwardly.
Thus, when the lid locking member h is not applied with a pressure from its front side, a portion of the front face thereof just above the pressed portion m abuts against the front edge of the bottom opening of the cassette compartment c, and so the lid locking member h is prevented from turning forwardly any more. A position of the lid locking member h in this state is called a locked position. In this state, the pressed portion m is positioned in the guide groove g of the cassette casing.
A front lid r is rotatably supported at the front edge of the cassette casing. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a portion of the inner surface of the front wall of the front lid r positioned slightly below the projection l of the lid locking member h is projected rearwardly to form an engagement portion s.
In the closed position of the front lid r in which the front portion of the cassette casing is closed by the front lid r, the projection l of the lid locking member h is positioned just above the engagement portion s of the front lid r.
In this state, even if the force is applied to the front lid r so as to forcibly turn it towards the open position, the front lid r is prevented from being turned since the engagement portion s engages with the projection l of the lid locking member h.
When the tape cassette having the thus constituted lid locking mechanism is loaded in a recording and/or reproducing apparatus, a locking releaser provided in a cassette holder (not shown) of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus is inserted into the guide groove g to press the pressed portion m of the lid locking member h rearwardly. Then, the lid locking member h turns rearwardly against the resilient force of the torsion spring p such that the bottom end thereof moves rearwardly. Thus, since the projection l moves rearwardly from the position just above the engagement portion s of the front lid r, the front lid r becomes free to turn towards its open position.
Therefore, the locking of the front lid r by the lid locking member h is released.
However, the thus constituted lid locking mechanism for a tape cassette has the disadvantage such that when the force is applied to the front lid r so as to forcibly turn it towards the open position, an abutment between the upper and lower halves a and b opens.
When the force is applied to the front lid r so as to forcibly turn it towards the open position, the engagement portion s of the front lid r tends to move upwardly while turning. However, since the projection l of the lid locking member h is positioned just above the engagement portion s, the engagement portion s abuts against the projection l and so it can not move upwardly any more. Thus, the front lid r can not turn upwardly towards the open position.
If any more force is applied to the front lid r so as to forcibly turn it towards the open position, the force is applied to the lid locking member h so as to lift it upward, and so the force is further applied through the supporting pins i, i of the lid locking member h to the portion of the upper half a where the pressing elements o, o are formed so as to lift it above. The abutment between the upper and lower halves a and b is not fixedly combined but detachably connected with each other by screws or the like at several portions. Thus, if the above-described force is applied to the upper half a through the lid locking member h, a part of the upper half a is detached or separated from the lower half b, so that an operator may feel uneasiness. Further, when the force for forcibly turning the front lid r upwardly is large, the abutment between the upper and lower halves a and b coupled by the screws or the like may be broken due to the stress concentrically applied thereto.

Lid locking mechanism for a tape cassette


A container neck is used with a tamper-evident, snap-on, screw-off closure. The neck has a multiple of four first helical threads on a neck stretch portion, and at least one external ratchet tooth on a locking wall portion below the neck stretch. The closure has an upper skirt having second helical threads mating with the first helical thread of the neck and a lower skirt with at least one internal ratchet tooth shaped and positioned to engage the external ratchet tooth when the closure is applied to the neck. The teeth formed on the skirt interior and neck exterior are arranged to provide at least one circumferentially extending stretch of the tamper-evident band where the teeth are not engaged. A line of weakness extending vertically through the disengaged stretch of the tamper-evident band is ruptured when the closure is unscrewed from the neck. The number of helical threads is preferably eight and, in any event, a multiple of four. In one modification the threads are interrupted and the gaps between thread segments are vertically aligned while in another modification the thread segments are staggered. In sill another modification there is a space where vertically aligned segments are omitted to provide space for the down-turned tab of a foil disc sealing the lip on the container. Where the container is made of PET or other accurately molded substance the points of the neck ratchet teeth are rounded to avoid injury to the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a tamper-evident container closure and container neck structure in which the closure is applied to the neck with an axial downward force. The closure is removed by unscrewing it from the neck. The tamper-evident skirt of the closure ruptures when the closure is initially removed from the container neck. The absence of the tamper-evident skirt provides visible evidence that the container has been opened and the contents of the container possibly tampered with by a dishonest patron.
The present invention further relates to a closure thread structure in which the threads are interrupted, in one modification having a vertical gap between adjacent ends of thread segments and in another modification having staggered thread segments and staggered gaps between segments. In a still further modification there is a vertical space between thread segments which accommodates a foil seal tear tab. The present invention further relates to a PET neck structure wherein the edges of the ratchet teeth are rounded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The fewer the number of threads on a container neck, the easier is axial application--i.e., downward application of force on the cap which fits on the neck. However, fine threads require increased aggregate linear thread engagement for security, since the radial thread engagement achieved is reduced. Excessive aggregate linear thread engagement on threads having few leads requires excessive turning to remove and re-apply the cap. Therefore, a combination of fine threads having many leads has been taught in the art. Angelo Guala SpA UK Pat. Application GB 2144553 and Massmould Holdings, Ltd. European Patent Specification 0 118 267 each show six leads. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,307,946 and 5,560,504, show seven threads. U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,727 discloses ten threads.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,055 discloses many features of construction of the container neck and cap hereinafter described. This reference discloses seven leads.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,045 illustrates a form of horizontal tear tab used in one modification of this invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,694 illustrates a vertical space formed by interrupting cap skirt threads to accommodate the tab used to remove foil disks sealing container neck lips.


The present invention relates to diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic methods for thyroid cancers. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for treating a an anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) patient comprising the step of administering to the patient an effective amount of an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor. In another embodiment, a method for diagnosing ATC in patient comprises the step of performing an assay on a biological sample from the patient to identify the presence or absence of a C3592T and/or a G3602A mutation in exon 23 of the ALK gene according to SEQ ID NO:6, wherein the presence of either of both of the mutations correlates with a diagnosis of ATC in the patient.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is a member of the insulin receptor subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), with its encoding gene located on the short arm of chromosome 2 (1, 2), ALK was initially identified as part of an oncogenic fusion gene, NPM1-ALK (also known as NPMALK), in anaplastic large-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (ALCL; 3). It is also part of the fusion gene EML4-ALK in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC; 4). There are a few other ALK fusion genes, such as TMP3/4-ALK and RANBP2-ALK, in inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMT; 5). The tyrosine kinase activities of these fusion ALK proteins are aberrantly activated and promote cell proliferation and survival (6, 7). ALK fusion proteins have also been shown to activate various signaling pathways, among which are the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and the Ras→Raf→MEK→extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway with multiple interaction points to mediate the ALK signaling (8, 9).
Recently, ALK mutations were found in 6% to 14% of sporadic neuroblastomas (10-14). ALK mutations were also reported in familial neuroblastomas (13, 14). Moreover, genetic amplification of the ALK gene could also occur in neuroblastomas or cell lines derived from this tumor (10, 11, 13, 15). Except for occasional mutations in the juxtamembrane domain, most ALK mutations identified so far are within the tyrosine kinase domain of ALK. ALK mutations and/or copy gain were found particularly in advanced and metastatic neuroblastomas, and patients with ALK mutations had a worse prognosis (11, 12, 14). Several common ALK mutations were shown to be functional. For example, siRNA-mediated knockdown of the ALK expression in cell lines harboring ALK mutants F1174L or R1275Q caused cell apoptosis and suppression of cell proliferation (12-14). The F1174L and another mutant ALK, K1062M, were shown to display increased tyrosine kinase activity and promote cell focus formation, cell transformation, and xenograft tumorigenecity in nude mice (10). The oncogenicity of ALK F1174L and R1275Q was also shown in another study (12). Genetic copy gain of the ALK is also functionally important, as suggested by the demonstration that inhibition of ALK in neuroblastoma cell lines harboring ALK copy gain induced cell apoptosis through reduced signaling of the PI3K/Akt and MAP kinase pathways (15).
Mutations of the ALK gene have not been reported in human cancers other than neuroblastomas. As described herein, the present inventors investigated the mutation status of the ALK gene in various thyroid cancers, including well-differentiated papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) and undifferentiated anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). Prompted by the finding of ALK mutations in ATC, a rapidly aggressive and deadly human cancer (16), the present inventors also examined melanoma and colon carcinoma for ALK mutation. Indeed, identifying mutations in human cancers is highly desirable because it can lead to the development of new therapeutics that target such fusion or mutant proteins, and to new diagnostics for identifying patients that have such gene mutations.

Anaplastic thyroid cancers harbor novel oncogenic mutations of the ALK gene


A convertible towel, for use by a user having a shoulder and a waist. The convertible towel includes a towel portion and a shoulder strap. The towel portion is selectively folded longitudinally and maintained in that once folded position by a zipper, then folded transversely and maintained in that twice folded position by secondary fasteners, and then folded transversely and maintained in that thrice folded position by primary fasteners. The thrice-folded towel portion is in a compact rectangular form that is then connected to the shoulder strap so that it can be carried by the user in a hands-free manner. In the compact rectangular form, multiple storage compartments are provided that are selectively accessible by the zipper. The shoulder strap preferably includes a fanny pack for containing personal items, such that the shoulder strap may be detached from the towel portion and extended around the waist of the user.

The invention relates to a convertible beach towel and tote bag. More particularly, the invention relates to a beach towel that folds into a compact form and provides multiple storage compartments therein. When combined with the included fanny pack strap, the tote bag is easily carried.
When traveling to the beach, one must often carry a variety of items. In addition to sun tan lotion, personal items such as a wallet and keys, and a towel, often it is desirable to bring a radio and a beverage cooler. It is difficult to carry all of these items simultaneously. Especially when carrying a cooler, it would be highly desirable to also have the ability to easily carry personal items.
Another difficulty commonly encountered at the beach is preventing lost keys, wallets, and other personal items. When placed on the sand, small items easily disappear—never to be seen again. It is a common practice to place items at the bottom of the 'beach bag'. Unfortunately, when one removes larger items—such as a towel—from the bag, the smaller items can easily spill out and get lost.
Currently available are a myriad of tote bags of various designs, devices that simplify the carrying of a beach chair and/or umbrella, and devices that facilitate bringing valuables into the water in a water-proof container.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.

Convertible beach towel bag with fanny pack strap


An installation plan object is built for installing an application in a network. The empty installation plan object is first created from a template of a prototypical installation plan object. Next, from a workspace container object containing potential child objects of the installation plan object, objects are selected for inclusion in the installation plan object. The selected objects are transformed into child objects of the installation plan object. The objects which are selected to populate an install plan object include an application object and a group object which respectively represent an application to be installed over the network and a group of workstations upon which the application is to be installed. After transformation, these objects are converted into an application-in-plan object and a group-in-plan object respectively. Other potential child objects include a category object having a plurality of response file objects each for installing a respective one of a plurality of applications over the network.

This invention relates generally to electronic distribution of software in computer networks. More particularly, the invention relates to defining and constructing a proposed plan object for installing the software on the network.
It is common to couple a plurality of data processing systems interconnecting computing networks such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN). Each of the computer systems will have a plurality of software programs resident. In the infancy of such networks, a network administrator sat at each workstation with a set of diskettes and manually entered the parameters for each software product which needed to be installed, configured or maintained. With only a few workstations, administrators and users could afford to manually feed disks into their workstations and answer prompted questions during the installation or configuration process. As the size of the network increased, it naturally became more difficult to install software in such a manner. As the size and complexity of the network and the number of interdependencies between computer software products increased, configuring each workstation became an increasingly complex, time consuming, error prone process. Administrators could no longer afford this manual route and instead turned products specifically designed to install and configure applications on workstation over the network.
It has therefore become increasingly accepted to install computer software and configure workstations remotely. One accepted term for this process is electronic software distribution (ESD) The electronic distribution of software within a network has been known in the art for almost a decade. Some of the more popular ESD products include: NetView Distribution Manager and the LAN Configuration Installation Distribution utility, both from the IBM Corporation and the Network Navigator from Novell. These products are designed to alleviate the onerous tasks of software distribution, installation and configuration over the network.
Although ESD products have been in existence for a number of years, these products do not completely address all problems faced by the network which rapidly increased the burden on network administrator. One of the largely unaddressed problems faced by the network administrator is the planning and execution of the distribution, installation and configuration of plurality of software programs on a group of workstations in the network. Because of the growing number of interdependencies between software products and the complexity of the networks, this is a daunting task.
There have been prior efforts to alleviate the burden on the network administrator. Previous efforts concentrated more on the "plumbing" of network installation, such as how to transport the images across the network or the physical building of the files needed in the installation and configuration process. These designs helped the administrator in the physical tasks, e.g., transporting an application throughout the network, but did not help the administrator plan what the physical tasks should be.
The present invention decomposes the network installation and configuration planning process into a series of discrete objects that help to abstract the problem and provide an easy, object-oriented, and graphical means by which administrators can set-up and view the applications that are slated to be installed and configured on a set of workstations on the LAN. The administrator can use this object-oriented representation to create the files needed for the physical installation and configuration process. The present invention provides administrators with a higher level view of the problem, shielding them from most of the physical implementation and leaving them to concentrate on the building blocks for the plan. Administrators can use this design to create objects in the "playground" or non-plan area which serve as components to build the plan object.
The present invention represents an important improvement in electronic software distribution.

Install plan object for network installation of application programs

International Business Machines Corporation


Software for online active learning receives content posted to an online stream at a website. The software converts the content into an elemental representation and inputs the elemental representation into a probit model to obtain a predictive probability that the content is abusive. The software also calculates an importance weight based on the elemental representation. And the software updates the probit model using the content, the importance weight, and an acquired label if a condition is met. The condition depends on an instrumental distribution. The software removes the content from the online stream if a condition is met. The condition depends on the predictive probability, if an acquired label is unavailable.

A stream of user-generated content (UGC) is a common occurrence on Internet websites. For example, on a website hosting an online publication, such a stream might take the form of comments on an online article. Or such a stream might take the form of a news feed based on a social graph on a website hosting a social network or social media.
For both legal and business reasons, hosting websites monitor such streams for abusive content. Such abusive content might take the form of spam, fraudulent or illegal offers, offensive language, threatening language, or treasonous language, if the UGC is text or audio. Similarly, such abusive content might take the form of pornography or violent imagery, if the UGC is an image or video.
Alternatively, websites might monitor such streams for interesting (e.g., buzzworthy) content and relocate such content in the stream so as to engage users. For example, Facebook uses an algorithm called EdgeRank to construct a News Feed that is personalized in terms of interestingness, among other things, for each user profile and/or user history. In this regard, also see the "interestingness" algorithm described in co-owned U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2006/0242139, entitled "Interestingness Ranking of Media Objects".
Monitoring a stream for abusive UGC is difficult because the posters of such content are adversarial and learn how to avoid hard-and-fast rules. In the area of predictive analytics and machine learning, this problem falls under the category of concept drift, e.g., changes over time in the concept being modeled by a classification system. It will be appreciated that interesting content is almost inherently subject to concept drift.
Online active learning addresses the problem of concept drift, e.g., by adjusting the predictive model (or classifier) according to new UGC with the aid of human labelers. However, human labelers are expensive both in terms of time and money. So research is ongoing on efforts to lessen the involvement of human editors in predictive models that perform online active learning.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Online active learning in user-generated content streams


An electric drive unit for a powertrain system including first and second drivelines and a primary propulsion system for translating rotational torque to the first driveline. A motor acts to generate rotational torque and a pinion is disposed in selective communication therewith. A differential is interposed between the pinion and the second driveline of for splitting torque therebetween. A first planetary is disposed between the motor and pinion, and a second planetary is disposed between the first planetary and pinion. A dog clutch interposed between the pinion and the planetaries is movable between a first position wherein torque from the motor is translated through the first planetary and the dog clutch to drive the second driveline at a first drive ratio, and a second position wherein torque from the motor is translated through both planetaries and the dog clutch to drive the second driveline at a second drive ratio.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to automotive powertrain systems and, more specifically, to an electric drive unit for a powertrain system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional automotive vehicles known in the art include a powertrain system in rotational communication with one or more drivelines. Typically, the vehicle includes a pair of drivelines, each defined by a respective pair of opposing wheels. The powertrain system includes a propulsion system adapted to generate and selectively translate rotational torque to one or more of the wheels so as to drive the vehicle. To that end, in conventional automotive powertrain systems, the propulsion system is typically realized as an internal combustion engine in rotational communication with a transmission. The engine generates rotational torque which is selectively translated to the transmission which, in turn, translates rotational torque to one or more of the drivelines. The transmission multiplies the rotational speed and torque generated by the engine through a series of predetermined gear sets, whereby changing between gear sets enables the vehicle to travel at different vehicle speeds for a given engine speed.
In order to achieve increased fuel economy and improved engine emissions, so-called "hybrid vehicle technology" has been increasingly used in powertrain systems known in the related art. In a hybrid vehicle, the propulsion system typically includes both a gas-powered internal combustion engine as well as a battery-powered electric motor, both of which cooperate with the transmission to generate and translate rotational torque to one or both vehicle drivelines. Such a hybrid vehicle propulsion system is configured to optimize the efficiency of the engine and motor, respectively, so as to minimize fuel consumption and engine emissions. In addition, the electric motor is frequently also used as a generator during vehicle braking to charge the battery, thereby further increasing efficiency and vehicle range.
With the advent of improved electric motor and battery technology, automotive vehicles in the related art also frequently include propulsion systems that omit an internal combustion engine altogether. So-called "electric vehicle" propulsion systems typically include a large electric motor in rotational communication with a transmission and/or differential which, in turn, is used to translate rotational torque to the wheels of one or both of the drivelines. Alternatively, in other types of electric vehicle powertrain systems, smaller individual electric motors are allocated to each of the driven wheels of the vehicle. Despite the increasing efficiency of electric propulsion systems in the related art, problems associated with limited driving distance and long battery charging time present barriers to widespread industry implementation of electric propulsion technology. One solution involves outfitting the electric vehicle with a "range extender," which is typically realized as a small internal combustion engine that serves purely as an electric generator and that is not in rotational communication with the propulsion system. However, implementation of a range extender is not always feasible in certain applications where vehicle weight, component packaging, and zero-emissions requirements are critical.
Each of the components and systems of the type described above must cooperate to effectively modulate translation of rotational torque to the driven wheels of the vehicle. In addition, each of the components and systems must be designed not only to facilitate improved performance and efficiency, but also so as to reduce the cost and complexity of manufacturing vehicles. While powertrain propulsion systems known in the related art have generally performed well for their intended use, there remains a need in the art for a propulsion system that has superior operational characteristics, a reduced overall packaging size, reduced parasitic losses, increased efficiency and, at the same time, that reduces the cost and complexity of manufacturing vehicles.

Electric drive unit and powertrain system incorporating the same


A polymer includes a first type of repeat unit represented by Formula I:

The microelectronic and optoelectronic industries have been successful in stretching the useful life of materials and methods needed for the manufacture of micro and optoelectronic devices. However, as the complexity and the desired performance of such devices increases, such mature materials and methods are becoming more and more problematic. Therefore it would be advantageous to have new materials and methods that will meet the needs of future generations of such devices as well as to improve the yield and reduce the cost of current devices.

Directly photodefinable polymer compositions and methods thereof

Abstract: where X is selected from —CH2—, —CH2—CH2—, or —O—; m is an integer from 0 to about 5; and where for the first type of repeat unit one of R1, R2, R3, and R4 is one of a maleimide containing group and for the second type of repeat unit one of R1, R2, R3, and R4 is a hindered aromatic group, a C8 or greater alkyl group, a C4 or greater halohydrocarbyl or perhalocarbyl group, a C7 or greater aralkyl group, or a heteroatom hydrocarbyl or halohydrocarbyl group.


A color mapping and correction scheme for processing pixel data allows a display device to account for color shift. The display device drives its light emitters with different current levels. The light emitters exhibit a color shift in gamut. As such, the display device generate light of two different color gamut regions. An input pixel data may include an original color coordinate that is beyond a common color gamut that is common to the two gamut regions. A mapping scheme is used to convert the original color coordinate to an updated color coordinate within the common color gamut. A first output color coordinate that corrected for the shift in first emitters is generated for the operation of the first light emitters based on the updated color coordinate. A second output color coordinate that corrected for the shift in second emitters is also generated based on the updated color coordinate.

This disclosure relates to structure and operation of a display device and more specifically to color mapping and correction that account for the color shift of a display device.
A display device is often used in a virtual reality (VR) or augmented-reality (AR) system as a head-mounted display or a near-eye display. The precise color may be generated by a collection of primary light colors emitted by different light emitters. When there is a color shift in one or more light emitters, the primary light colors in the display device are shifted and the overall image quality of the display device is affected. The shift in color can result in various visual artifacts, thus negatively impacting the user experience with the VR or AR system.

Color shift correction for display device