The present invention provides a multiplexed matrix alternating current electroluminescent display, comprising an array of matrix addressed capacitively switchable electroluminescent pixels, with each capacitively switchable electroluminescent pixel including an electroluminescent pixel and a circuit element connected in electrical series with the electroluminescent pixel. The circuit element is switchable between an electrically insulating capacitive state and an electrically conducting state depending upon a voltage applied across the capacitively switchable electroluminescent pixel. The matrix multiplexed electroluminescent (EL) display with the low capacitance switching device in electrical series with the electroluminescent pixels reduces column displacement currents, thereby reducing power consumption. Refresh times can also be reduced so that the size and resolution of passive matrix electroluminescent displays can be increased.

Electroluminescence (EL) is a well-known technology for flat panel display applications. An EL display is a thin, solid-state device, which includes a phosphor layer and dielectric layer(s) sandwiched between two electrodes. Upon application of a voltage above a certain threshold value to the electrodes, the phosphor layer emits light. A specific type of EL device for display applications that has been commercially successful since the early 1980's is called alternating current (ac) thin film EL. It has the advantage of being stable, with respect to operating time, and can provide high contrast images since the phosphor layer, being a thin film, is transparent. High contrast is achieved since ambient light does not scatter off the phosphor layer as it would from a powder phosphor device. The details of ac thin film EL devices are discussed in Electroluminescent Displays, Y. A. Ono, World Scientific ISBN 981-02-1921-0 (1995).
FIGS. 1(a) and (b) show a cross section of a typical EL display device and a cross section of a single pixel. A transparent glass substrate is coated with transparent electrodes (Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) is commonly employed). A first insulating layer is formed on top of the ITO, and a phosphor layer follows. For example, in commercially available EL displays the EL phosphor layer is ZnS:Mn. A second insulating layer follows, and finally a rear electrode is applied to complete the structure. Aluminum (Al) is commonly employed.
In operation, ac voltages in the form of alternating positive and negative voltage pulses are applied between the ITO and Al electrodes generating high electric fields in the phosphor layer. Above a threshold voltage, on the order of ±185 volts, the phosphor layer emits a light pulse substantially synchronized with the leading edge of the voltage pulse. Below this critical voltage, the phosphor layer still experiences electric fields, but the electric field is not sufficient to generate light in the phosphor layer, and so the EL device is in its dark or off state.
The structure of FIG. 1(a) also shows that in an EL display device, a plurality of ITO and a plurality of Al electrodes are created in the form of orthogonal stripes. We shall refer to the ITO stripes as columns and the Al stripes as rows. An EL display therefore contains a light emitting phosphor layer, which may be caused to light up in a desired spatial pattern. This is achieved by applying suitable voltages to the various rows and columns.
The intersection of the areas of any one row and any one column as shown in FIG. 1(b) incorporating the EL materials structure constitutes an EL pixel. This is the smallest light emitting element that can be controlled in the EL display. If there are N rows and M columns, then there will exist a total of N×M pixels. An example of monochromatic EL display constitutes N=480 (rows) and M=640 (columns) resulting in 480×640=307,200 pixels. This is known as a VGA format display. A full color VGA display would require 3×640 columns, since each pixel comprises three sub-pixels corresponding to red, green, and blue color emission.
In order to form an image in a practical EL display, an economical method of applying voltages to the N rows and M columns is employed. This is known as the matrix multiplex drive method or passive matrix addressing. Each row and each column is connected to a switchable voltage source. Solid-state semiconductor driver devices are commercially available that constitute the switchable voltage sources.
Consider the diagram of FIG. 2. The rows and columns of an EL display are represented by horizontal and vertical lines. The intersections of these lines represent the pixels of the EL display. Each pixel may be uniquely distinguished by identifying the numbers assigned to the row and to the column to which it belongs.
In order to create an image on the EL device, a sequence of events takes place very quickly such that the human eye cannot perceive the sequence of events, but sees the outcome which is a desired spatial pattern of lit and dark pixels which forms the image.
A number of EL drive methods have been developed (See Ono pages 100–111) which include a field refresh drive method, a p-n symmetric drive method and a p-p symmetric drive method. For illustrative purposes, a simple drive scheme is now described. To start with, all row voltages are set to 0 V. Firstly, the M pixels in row 1 of the EL display are addressed as follows: The M columns are set to voltages by the column drivers. These column voltages are either +25 volts or −25 volts, say, for the purpose of illustration. The column drivers are represented by switches in FIG. 2. The pixels that are to be "on" are assigned +25 volts, and the pixels that are to be "off" are assigned −25 volts on their respective columns and the difference between the two is called the modulation voltage, in this case 50 volts. Once this has been done, a high voltage row pulse is applied to row 1 only. The pulse is negative 200 volts, say. The row drivers are represented as switches in FIG. 2. The effect of this is to cause the pixels whose columns are at −25 volts to remain dark since the pixel voltage is the difference between row and column voltage or −200−(−25)=−175 volts. This is below the threshold voltage for the EL device which is assumed to be ±185 volts for illustrative purposes. On'the other hand, those pixels whose columns are +25 volts will emit a light pulse since the pixel voltage is now −200−25=−225 volts, which exceeds the threshold voltage by −40 volts.
The voltage on row 1 now returns to zero and then a new set of voltages is applied to the M columns. These voltages are once again either +25 volts or −25 volts, however the choice is governed by the information to be supplied to the pixels in row 2 of the EL display. The pixels in row 2 that are to be lit must now be supplied with 25 volts and the pixels that are to be dark are supplied with −25 volts. Once these column voltages have been established, a −200 volt pulse is applied to row 2 only and the appropriate pixels in row 2 will be lit. This row voltage then returns to zero.
The same sequence of events as described for pixels of rows 1 and 2 now applies to the remaining rows until all N rows have received one −200 volt pulse in sequence and every lit pixel has been provided with −225 volts and every dark pixel has been provided with −175 volts. At this point, the addressing sequence is half completed. This is called one frame.
Next, the columns are set to +25 or −25 volts to re-address the pixels of row 1 of the EL display. However this time the pixels to be lit are set to −25 volts and the dark pixels are set to +25 volts. Once these column voltages are present, a +200 volt row pulse is applied to row 1. The lit pixels therefore achieve a pixel voltage of 200−(−25)=225 volts which exceeds the threshold voltage by 40 volts and the dark pixels achieve a pixel voltage of 200−25=175 volts which is below the threshold voltage of 185 volts. Once this row pulse returns to zero volts, the columns are set for row 2 and another +200 volt row pulse is applied to row 2. This is repeated until all N rows have received a +200 volt row pulse. This is one frame, and constitutes the second half of the addressing sequence. Now the entire sequence is complete and it begins again immediately to retain the perception by the viewer of a constant image on the EL display. The lit pixels thereby remain lit since the lit pixel voltage reaches +225 volts and −225 volts during two consecutive frames, and the dark pixels remain dark since the dark pixel voltages do not exceed +175 volts and −175 volts during two consecutive frames. In order to prevent the human eye from perceiving the individual addressing steps, approximately 60 frames per second or more must be achieved. At lower frame rates, flicker will become apparent, and also display brightness will suffer. This implies that not very much time is available to address any given row of pixels. For a VGA display, for example, with a frame rate of 60 per second, there are 16667 microseconds available per frame. Since there are 480 rows that are addressed once per frame, there are 16667÷480=34.7 microseconds available to address each row. The column electrodes must be given enough time to reach the desired ±25 volt levels and then the row electrode must reach the required ±200 volt level and return to 0V within the 34.7 microseconds available.
Therefore, as the number of rows on a display increases, and for higher frame rates, the time required to set these column and row voltages becomes a fundamental constraint in display design and performance. Referring to FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), it is clear that the EL structure is inherently capacitive in nature, and that from a circuit viewpoint it is connected in series to an external voltage source by resistive elements comprising the column and row electrodes, and the internal resistance of the voltage source. This resistive-capacitive combination implies a characteristic time constant which limits the speed of movement of charges in the circuit which charge and discharge the capacitive EL structure. This limitation on speed of movement of charge increases the time required for the column electrodes to reach their operating voltage, which reduces the maximum refresh rate (and therefore brightness) available to address the panel. The problem is compounded as the size and resolution of the panel increases.
A second effect of multiplexing is that it causes undesirable power dissipation to exist in an EL display operation.
A simple parallel plate capacitor is illustrated in FIG. 3. The capacitance is calculated from the formula C=0A/d. Here 0 is a constant, namely 8.85×10−12 F/m and r is the relative dielectric constant of the medium between the plates. A is the area of the plates and d is the distance between plates. The capacitor of FIG. 3 is connected in series with a resistor in a circuit as shown in FIG. 4, which can be used to quantify how much power is dissipated. A voltage source Vm is connected to a capacitor of capacitance Ce by means of a resistor R. Consider Ce to represent the capacitance of one pixel of an EL display, Vm to be the modulation voltage which is less than the threshold voltage, and R to represent an effective circuit resistance determined by the EL driver and the resistance of the row and column electrodes of the EL display.
When a voltage Vm is applied to the circuit, current flows through the resistor R, thereby dissipating energy. This energy is given by ½CeVm2. Once the voltage across Ce reaches Vm, no further energy is dissipated, but energy ½CeVm2 is stored in the capacitor. This means that energy is dissipated during a frame, whenever pixel voltages are changing, causing the charge or discharge of pixel capacitances without generating any light output.
The power dissipation (Pmod) due to driving the columns of an EL display with a modulation voltage Vm is normally the dominant power consumption of the EL display in a ¼ VGA or higher resolution panel. Pmod is affected by the image being displayed since different images require different voltage sequences on the column electrodes. Also, in popular drive schemes as described in Ono, rows are allowed to "float" rather than being clamped at 0 volts when not being supplied with a positive or negative voltage; A "worst case" value of Pmod is calculated to determine the maximum power that can be dissipated. This power becomes, for example, Pmod=¼N f Cp Vm2 for the p-p symmetric drive method (Ono P110). Here, Cp=NMCe is the total EL display capacitance, f is the number of frames per second, N is the number of rows in the display, M is the number of columns, and Vm is the modulation voltage supplied by the column drivers.
On page 110, Ono shows the components of power that are dissipated in a typical VGA format monochromatic EL display. The results show that over 12 watts of power can be dissipated in a VGA EL display just charging and discharging column voltages. Since the overall power dissipation in the entire display is under 16 watts, it is clear that over 75% of the overall power is being used for charging and discharging column voltages in the example illustrated.
A further difficulty arises in addressing an EL display. A column voltage swing is accompanied by electric current flowing to the addressed pixels. Since only microseconds of time are available between each row address, the charge must flow fast to charge up those pixels, for example, that are at the end of the columns remote from the driver connection, resulting in large electrical currents. This requires high current column drivers, which are expensive, and also requires that column electrodes must be sufficiently conductive to handle the large electrical currents. However, as column electrodes are made to be more conductive, by increasing thickness for example, it is increasingly difficult to maintain them optically transparent to allow the light to come out of the display. Highly conductive bus bars have been proposed to increase column conductivity, but these structures add cost and also reduce optical efficiency. Employing bus bars also further increases the peak current demands on the column drivers, thus further increasing their costs. The overall effect of the problems associated with passive matrix addressing, namely unproductive energy dissipation and limitations on refresh rate, is to limit the size and resolution of useful EL displays and to add cost to the electronic drivers.
Therefore it would be advantageous to provide an AC EL display device that reduces the aforementioned problems.

Capacitively switched matrixed EL display


A holding system for a dispensing system for hardenable materials comprising a dispensing gun and a product cartridge having a dispensing tip defining a dispensing opening. The holding system comprises a holding structure and a plug projection. Optionally, one or more guide ribs may be used. The holding structure comprises a side wall and a bottom wall and defines a main opening and a cartridge chamber. The plug projection extends from the bottom wall into the cartridge chamber. The at least one guide rib extends from the side wall into the cartridge chamber. The cartridge chamber is sized and dimensioned to receive the product cartridge. When the product cartridge is placed into the cartridge chamber, the guide rib is arranged to engage a portion of the dispensing system to facilitate entry of the plug projection into the dispensing opening. Optionally, one or more wall openings may be formed in the holding structure adjacent to the plug projection.

Many construction tasks require the application of hardenable materials. The term "hardenable" is used herein to refer materials that dry upon exposure to air such that they are no longer flowable. A hardenable material that has dried upon exposure to air may retain some resiliency; the term "hardenable" thus does not necessarily suggest that a hardenable material is rigid or unyielding when dry.
The types of hardenable materials employed during construction tasks include caulking materials, construction adhesives, and the like. These types of hardenable materials are typically viscous upon manufacture and remain flowable when not exposed to air. Typically, the hardenable material is formulated such that the material is no longer flowable anywhere from five minutes to two hours after exposure to air. Accordingly, hardenable materials used during construction are typically manufactured, shipped, and sold in a sealed storage container. Immediately prior to use, a dispensing opening is formed in the sealed storage container through which the hardenable material may be dispensed.
Some hardenable materials may be dispensed directly from the storage container. For example, certain caulking materials are sold in a deformable tube having an integral dispensing tip. Once the dispensing tip has been cut to form a dispensing opening, the tube is squeezed to dispense the caulking material through the dispensing opening.
For a variety of reasons, other hardenable materials can not be easily or conveniently dispensed by applying pressure directly to the storage container. Some hardenable materials are simply too viscous to be dispensed by direct hand pressure to the container. Other hardenable materials must be dispensed in relatively large quantities, and the use of direct hand pressure can cause operator fatigue.
Accordingly, many hardenable materials are dispensed using a dispensing system comprising dispensing gun and a product cartridge. A dispensing gun uses a lever to displace an actuator rod that forces the hardenable material out of the product cartridge. The operator applies hand pressure to the lever which in turn acts on the rod, thereby creating a mechanical advantage that assists in the dispensing of the material. Typically, dispensing guns allows highly viscous materials to be dispensed using hand pressure. Dispensing guns can also allow an operator to dispense relatively larger quantities of the hardenable material without fatigue. Some types of dispensing guns may assist the operator using electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, or other systems for generating mechanical forces.
When a hardenable material is to be dispensed using a dispensing gun, the hardenable material is typically stored in the product cartridge prior to use. The product cartridge typically comprises a paperboard cylinder, a dispensing tip, and a floating piston member. The dispensing tip is attached to a first end of the cylinder, and the piston member is initially position within the cylinder adjacent to a second end thereof. When originally manufactured, the entire cartridge is substantially air tight to prevent the hardenable material from drying prior to use.
Immediately prior to use, the cartridge is placed in the dispensing gun with the piston member adjacent to the actuator rod. The dispensing tip is also cut or pierced to form a dispensing opening. The operator arranges the dispensing opening adjacent to the surface where the material is to be dispensed. The operator then applies manual force to the lever. The lever forces the actuator rod against the piston member, is which in turn applies pressure to the hardenable material. The pressure on the hardenable material causes the hardenable material to flow out of the dispensing opening.
Once the dispensing opening has been formed, the cartridge is no longer air-tight. In particular, the hardenable material in the dispensing tip adjacent to the dispensing opening is in direct contact with the air. If the material within the dispensing tip is allowed to dry out, the dispensing opening may become blocked, and the entire cartridge may be unusable.
As long as the operator continues to operate the dispensing gun, the hardenable material in the dispensing tip does not have a chance to dry out. Often, however, the operator will be interrupted while using a dispensing gun with an opened cartridge of hardenable material. If the interruption is longer than the drying time of the hardenable material, the dispensing opening may become blocked and the cartridge may become unusable. Typically, an operator will simply discard a cartridge that has become blocked regardless of how much material remains within the cartridge. A similar situation occurs at the end of the day or when the operator completes a job.
Another problem with existing dispensing systems arises from the back pressure created by the relatively viscous hardenable materials. When the lever is actuated to displace the actuator rod and piston member, a relatively high pressure zone is created within the cartridge. The viscosity of the hardenable material typically creates a back pressure that causes the high pressure within the cartridge to decay over time. Accordingly, the pressure within the cylinder persists after the pressure is no longer applied by the piston member. This residual pressure continues to cause the hardenable material to flow out of the dispensing opening after the operator has stopped actuating the lever. The operator must wait for the residual pressure to dissipate or find a place where excess hardenable material can be dispensed. The flow of dispensing material caused by residual pressure within the cartridge can thus reduce the productivity of the operator.
Another problem with conventional dispensing systems is where to put the dispensing gun when not in use. For example, an operator could be using a construction adhesive while framing a house. In this case, the operator may apply the adhesive to secure one step board to another nail the two boards together, and then fetch the next board. When the operator is nailing the first two boards together and fetching the next board, the dispensing gun must be temporarily stored at an out of the way location until the adhesive is to be used with the next board. This temporary storage is complicated by the continued flow of material caused by residual pressure within the cartridge.
From the foregoing, it should be apparent that the need exists for systems and methods for holding dispensers for hardenable materials.

Holding apparatus and method for dispensers of hardenable materials


A system and method for interrupt distribution in a multithread processor are disclosed. A connection between an interrupt and a set of thread processors can be programmed. When the interrupt is executed, the set of thread processors are affected. While executing the thread processor tasks, the connection may be reprogrammed to interrupt another set of thread processors.

Concurrent Multithread (CMT) Processors contain multiple hardware thread units, each multithread processor can execute a program simultaneously. Interrupt control of a CMT processor may be required for many applications, e.g. digital signal processing (DSP). DSP applications can have program modules that operate at different levels of priority. An operation system may be required to preempt one program module in order to execute another program module of higher priority.
Limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the present application with reference to the drawings.

System and method for interrupt distribution in a multithread processor


Methods and apparatuses for testing the effects of one or more fluids on geologic materials; in one aspect a method for quantitatively determining the hydration and swelling behavior of shale core samples in response to one or to different fluids circulated around a core sample confined under pressure in a test cell; apparatuses for circulating such fluids and for conducting such tests; and an adjustable LVDT holder.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to the quantitative determination of properties of geologic materials and, in one aspect to the quantitative determination of the hydration behavior, including swelling stress and swelling pressure, of materials such as shales; and particularly the effect of different fluids on such materials.
2. Description of Related Art
Wellbores can become destabilized for a variety of chemical and mechanical reasons. A study of a sample core from a wellbore can reveal properties of the formation in which the well is located. These properties can indicate both chemical and mechanical causes of well destabilization and possible cures which will stabilize the wellbore. A variety of drilling fluids have been used to overcome destabilizing chemical mechanisms and mechanical mechanisms.
Shales are formations with high clay contents that are subject to hydration, swelling and reduction in compressive strength upon exposure to water. Shale formations make up a high percentage of the intervals drilled and cause most of the wellbore stability related problems. Confined shales upon exposure to low salinity water can develop very high swelling pressures. Inhibitive drilling fluids are often required to prevent wellbore destabilization due to shale hydration.
There is a great need for methods and apparatuses to accurately and quantitatively measure the hydration and swelling behavior of shales when exposed to different drilling fluids. Shales make up over 75% of drilled formations and often cause over 90% of wellbore stability problems and the associated stuck pipe. Choosing properly inhibitive drilling fluids for particular shales is a very difficult and uncertain task. The swelling pressure generated by a shale in the borehole wall upon exposure to a fluid has a great impact on the relative weakening of the shale and possible wellbore failure. Quantitative swelling pressures of preserved shales have not been measured in prior work.

Measurement of hydration behavior of geologic materials


When a vacuum booster fails, an pressure amplifying mechanism increases a wheel brake pressure. After that, even when it is detected that the vehicle is brought into a stopped state, the state in which an increased brake fluid pressure is applied to wheel cylinders is held. If a condition for terminating control to maintain a stationary state of the vehicle is satisfied, that is, if a predetermined time period has elapsed since when the vehicle stops, the operation of the pressure amplifying mechanism is stopped to reduce the wheel cylinder pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular brake system in which a boosting effect of a brake booster for assisting a brake pedal depressing operation to enhance a braking performance is compensated when the brake booster has failed.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a brake booster for boosting a brake pedal depressing force (for implementing a so-called brake assist operation) is mounted in a vehicle in order to reduce a driver's load to depress the brake pedal.
As a brake booster of this type, there has been known a vacuum booster for boosting the brake pedal depressing force. The vacuum booster applies a boosted large force to a master cylinder by using the difference between a negative pressure of an intake side of an engine for example and an atmospheric pressure. Because the vacuum booster cannot exhibit a desired boosting effect when it fails, there has been discussed lately control for determining whether or not the vacuum booster fails and for executing another brake assist operation for increasing brake fluid pressure by driving a pump and others to enhance a braking force when the vacuum booster is determined to fail.
However, in the above-mentioned technology in which the vacuum booster and another brake assist device are used together, there has been a possibility that the vehicle starts to move by its gravity when the vacuum booster has failed and the vehicle is stopped on a steep slope for example. The reason is that, when the brake assist operation for increasing the brake fluid pressure by driving the pump and the like is finished in response to the vehicle stopping, the braking force due to another brake assist device becomes small rapidly, and because the vacuum booster fails, a driver cannot depress the brake pedal sufficiently to generate braking force for keeping the vehicle resting on the slope.
Accordingly, it is a first object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problem by providing a vehicular brake system which can perform favorable brake control at the time of the vehicle stopping by use of another brake assist device when the boosting effect of the brake booster cannot be fully exhibited.
There has been also studied a so-called pressure amplifying assist brake (PAB) for increasing the wheel cylinder pressure by use of a plurality of cut-off valves and a pump even when the vacuum booster has failed. In detail, the wheel cylinder is increased by cutting off a flow path from a master cylinder to the wheel cylinder by a master cut-off valve (SMC valve), by opening a flow path from the master cylinder to an intake side of a pump by a cut-off valve (SRC valve) and by driving the pump in this state.
The magnitude of the pressure increased by the PAB is controlled by the opened/closed state of the SMC valve and the SRC valve or by the driving state of the pump. When the pressure increase is controlled by the opened/closed state of the SMC valve, or more concretely, when the SMC valve is turned OFF (when the flow path is opened) for example, there is a case where pulsations of brake fluid pressure occur.
When it is detected by the fluid pressure sensor that the fluid pressure has been increased (due to the increase of pressure caused by the instantaneous pulsation, not due to the normal increase of pressure) for example, the SMC valve, the SRC valve, the pump and others are driven wastefully to reduce the fluid pressure to an adequate level. That is, there has been a problem that when the pulsations of the fluid pressure occur, inadequate control for decreasing and increasing the fluid pressure is carried out.
Accordingly, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a vehicular brake system which can control the increase/decrease of the brake fluid pressure adequately even when the pulsations of the fluid pressure occur.


A carburetor fuel valve adjustment and limiter assembly for a combustion engine limits the maximum and minimum fuel amounts delivered through the valve of the carburetor. A needle valve of the adjustment and limiter assembly cooperates with a collar and pin generally located axially inward of an enlarged valve head. The collar of the limiter assembly is arranged telescopically with a valve shaft and yieldably biased to lock to the head when moved in an axially outward direction. When locked, and upon rotation of the valve, first and second stops carried by the collar are arranged to bear on a stationary pin carried by a carburetor body. During manufacture, the collar can be pushed axially inward against the bias of a spring to disengage the collar from the head to permit rotation of the needle valve while the collar remains stationary for unlimited adjustment of the needle valve.

Government agencies of an increasing number of countries are applying exhaust emission control regulations to protect the environment. These regulations are being applied to all combustion engines including engines used in marine, lawn and garden equipment such as outboard motors, garden tractors, chain saws, lawn mowers and hedge trimmers. One means of limiting excessive exhaust emissions in a small engine is to restrict the maximum amount of fuel delivered to the combustion chamber. This maximum fuel amount is pre-set on each individual engine by the engine manufacturer with the understanding that the end user requires some adjustment capability to meet changing work conditions and environmental factors such as altitude and ambient temperature. The higher the altitude and temperature, the lower the air density, and thus the amount of fuel mixed with the air must be decreased to maintain the proper oxygen to fuel ratio necessary to efficiently operate the engine. The user of the engine must therefore be able to adjust the fuel to air mixture ratios and may do so via low and high speed needle valves protruding from the carburetor.
Not only is it desirable to limit the richness of the fuel-to-air mixture because of exhaust emission regulatory concerns, but the engine manufacturer of a two cycle engine product also wants to restrict minimum amounts of fuel, or the leanness of the fuel to air mixture. Often a user will desire more power from a two cycle engine and will attempt to operate the engine in an ultra-lean state. This will cause a two cycle engine to operate at a temperature higher than its design temperature and may decrease its useful life and lead to service and warranty concerns. Therefore, known limiter caps are designed not only to restrict the carburetor to a maximum amount of fuel, but also to restrict the carburetor to a minimum amount of fuel.
Limiter caps secured to the projecting ends of the low and high speed needle valves are commonly used to restrict the end user from demanding too much fuel from a carburetor which could exceed regulatory emission limits. The user purchases the engine already factory set to a desired fuel amount, adequate for efficient operation in low lying areas. Should the engine be utilized in a high altitude area, the user can still decrease the amount of fuel supplied to compensate for the low air density and/or ambient temperature.
In a conventional needle valve, the valve has an enlarged metallic head having an outward end face that defines a diametric recess or slot for receipt of a tool or blade of a screwdriver to rotate the valve to adjust fuel flow. The limiter cap has a similar diametric recess or hole in an end wall for access of the screwdriver, and a continuous inner surface defining a bore for receipt of the head. The inner surface may have serrations which axially mate with serrations on the head so the limiter cap when in a user assembled state rotates in unison with the head. Typically, a peripheral side or outer surface of the limiter cap has at least one radially projecting tab which engages at least one stop of the carburetor body in both the fuel rich and fuel lean directions and thereby limits fuel adjustment capability by the end user.
Due to carburetor and engine design and manufacturing tolerances, a manufacturer's setting of a specific carburetor to an optimum fuel amount prior to use on a specific engine, or within a specific environment such as altitude, is not practical. The limiter cap assembly is therefore supplied in a non-engaged mode in which the cap is not mated to the needle valve head and is often separate from the carburetor itself. Unfortunately, supplying a carburetor with un-assembled parts contributes to manufacturing or assembly inefficiencies and possible regulatory violations if the caps are never actually fully engaged to the valves.
Other needle valve assemblies, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,757, to Douyama, and incorporated herein by reference, have a limiter cap which is pre-engaged to the carburetor body by the carburetor manufacturer for delivery to the engine manufacturer who then engages and locks the limiter cap to the valve head after final adjustments are made during operation on a specific engine. Three axially spaced projections disposed on the outer surface of the limiter cap are required to press-fit and hold the cap in the pre-engaged position and then to press-fit and lock the cap in the engaged position. When pre-engaged, the limiter cap projects outward from the carburetor body and the valve head, and the un-mated serrations of the valve head are spaced axially away from the serrations of the limiter cap. When the limiter cap is pre-engaged, a screwdriver blade is inserted through the cap hole for factory rotational adjustment of the needle valve while the limiter cap is un-mated from the needle valve. Upon adjustment completion, the caps are press fitted directly over the needle valve head, mating the serrations and received in the carburetor body. Once engaged to the valve head, the end user has restricted adjustment of the needle valve by rotating the limiter cap which, in-turn, rotates the needle valve.
Unfortunately, during factory adjustment, if a worker employee misses the elongated hole with the screwdriver, the limiter cap may inadvertently be pushed-in axially into engagement with the needle valve head and thereby prevent factory adjustment without destroying the cap by forcibly removing it. Furthermore, the press-fit between the cap projections and the carburetor body requires that the cap be made of a resilient synthetic resin material such as nylon or other resilient thermoplastic material.
Yet further, government agencies are beginning to disapprove limiter caps made of plastic material for fear they are not completely tamper proof and ultimately can be forcibly removed by the end user. Simply switching known plastic limiter caps to a metal material is not workable because they require a degree of resiliency and pliability to be press fitted over the needle head.

Carburetor fuel adjustment and limiter assembly


A method and system for displaying a keyword advertisement through retrieval of an optimal landing page associated with a detailed keyword, and displaying the retrieved landing page for a user, instead of displaying a non-specific landing page associated with the advertisement keyword included in the detailed keyword. A method of displaying a keyword advertisement includes: receiving from a user a detailed keyword that includes one or more advertisement keywords purchased by an advertiser and character strings; dynamically retrieving a landing page according to the received detailed keyword; and displaying page information of the landing page for the user.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a method and system for displaying a keyword advertisement.
2. Discussion of Related Technology
When an advertisement or an advertisement agent registers a keyword that is estimated to most effectively express its website, company, or product, at a search portal site, and a user enters a search word into an input window and then performs searching, a keyword advertisement is an advertisement region for displaying, as a search result, an advertisement of an advertiser that purchases a keyword corresponding to the search word.
In the keyword advertisement, when displaying the search result according to entering of the search word, the search result may include Title and Description (T&D) information and Universal Resource Locator (URL) address information of a representative page (keyword-linked page) of the advertisement or the advertisement site of the advertiser.
The URL address information generally relates to the representative page of the advertisement or the advertisement site of the advertiser. For example, when the user enters a search word such as "nike MAX360", the representative page of the advertisement or the advertisement site of the advertiser that purchases a corresponding keyword such as "nike" or "nike MAX" may be linked and displayed. In this case, representative URL address information, that is, a homepage may be non-specifically linked. Therefore, the user may need to navigate through many pages to retrieve "nike MAX360" in the linked homepage.
Also, when the advertiser does not purchase keyword "nike MAX360", advertisement information of the advertiser is not even displayed. Accordingly, the advertiser may not achieve any advertising effect and the user may not obtain the user's desired information.
The foregoing discussion is to provide general background information, and does not constitute an admission of prior art.

Method and system of selecting landing page for keyword advertisement


A lock-up clutch controlling device includes a three-dimensional back pressure map, a sensor, and a lock-up pressure controlling unit. The map allows a back pressure of a lock-up piston to be determined from a rotational speed of an engine, an oil temperature, and a speed ratio. The sensor is provided for a parameter influencing the back pressure of the piston. The lock-up pressure controlling unit determines a value equivalent to the back pressure of the lock-up piston from an input value of the sensor and the hydraulic pressure map, and outputs a lock-up pressure to be applied to a lock-up clutch by using the value equivalent to the back pressure of the lock-up piston. When the controlling device operates, it outputs the lock-up pressure by using the value equivalent to the back pressure of the lock-up piston.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a torque converter including a controlling device for a lock-up clutch capable of direct power transmission between an input side and an output side, and, more particularly, to a torque converter which controls a power transmission capacity (engagement capability of the lock-up clutch) in accordance with, for example, a running state of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of technologies have been proposed for preventing variations in an engagement time or generation of shock when a lock-up clutch is engaged in accordance with the state of a vehicle, in controlling the hydraulic pressure of the lock-up clutch. For example, Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 7-113409 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-116138 each disclose a lock-up clutch hydraulic controlling device which feeds back the internal pressure of a torque converter chamber to a pressure control valve and adds a bias equivalent to the internal pressure of the torque converter to the hydraulic pressure of a lock-up clutch. In addition, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-271906 discloses a technology in which a conduction pipe bypassing an inlet flow path and an outlet flow path of, for example, a torque converter is disposed, a pressure sensor is disposed at an intermediate portion of the conduction pipe, the internal pressure of the torque converter chamber is estimated, and the estimated value is used for controlling the lock-up hydraulic pressure.
In particular, when performing a slip control operation on a lock-up clutch at a target slip amount, in order to eliminate the effect of a difference between the time that a fluid pressure is supplied and the time that the lock-up clutch actually operates, it is desirable to perform, for example, a pre-charge control operation before a lock-up piston (hereafter referred to as "piston") operates. Here, it is necessary to precisely determine the back pressure of the piston (that is, the pressure acting in a direction opposing the direction of operation of the piston) and to reflect the determined back pressure in the lock-up pressure. However, it is difficult to precisely detect and predict the back pressure of the piston in an actual vehicle.
The aforementioned related technologies focus attention on the fact that the internal pressure of the torque converter acts upon the back side of the piston. With the internal pressure being assumed as being equivalent to the back pressure of the piston, inlet and outlet flow paths of the torque converter communicate with a lock-up pressure regulating valve in order to feed back the internal pressure of the torque converter. FIG. 8 is a hydraulic circuit diagram of a lock-up controlling device for the torque converter, disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-116138. In FIG. 8, an inlet pressure and an outlet pressure of the torque converter are made to act upon a valve 22 for producing a lock-up control pressure.
As correctly pointed out in the related art, the inlet pressure and the outlet pressure of the torque converter do greatly vary with the temperature of an operating fluid and the rotation of a turbine. Strictly speaking, for example, the structure of and the flow in a hydraulic path and centrifugal hydraulic pressure affect the back pressure of the piston. FIG. 9 shows a graph of the results of actual measurements of the back pressure of a piston and an inlet pressure and an outlet pressure (T/C in and T/C out) of a torque converter in terms of different rotational speeds Nt of a turbine. Whereas the inlet pressure and the outlet pressure of the torque converter increase as the rotational speed Nt increases, the back pressure at 3000 rpm is less than the back pressure at 2000 rpm. Therefore, in the method that makes use of the inlet pressure and the outlet pressure of the torque converter, feedback is sometimes not properly performed.
For example, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 7-113409, the internal pressure of the torque converter is fed back, and the hysteresis occurring when the lock-up pressure increases or decreases is relatively large. Therefore, this technology is not suitable for continuously performing slip control operations at target rotational speeds.
In addition, for example, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-271906, due to, for example, the effects of the structure of and flow in the hydraulic path, a highly precise back pressure cannot be obtained on the basis of an estimated internal pressure of the torque converter. Even if the estimated value is used in fine controlling of the lock-up pressure in accordance with the state of a vehicle, a shock is produced when piston contact occurs.


An arrangement for testing a plurality of capacitances in a capacitance array of an integrated circuit includes a power supply and a means for cyclically charging and discharging at least one of the capacitances. In this arrangement, the cycle frequency is dependent on the value of the capacitance. The cycle frequency or a quantity characteristic associated therewith is measured by a means to ascertain a value of the capacitance under test.

Using capacitance arrays in integrated circuits is already known and has been implemented in a number of different circuits. Examples of such integrated circuits with capacitance arrays are digital/analogue converters or tuneable crystal oscillators.
Previously, the capacitance arrays contained in the integrated circuits have been tested mainly by analogue means, e.g. in such a manner that a voltage or current measurement is used for checking whether there is a short circuit between the capacitor plates of the individual capacitances in the capacitance array. As a rule, these tests provide information only on whether the capacitance tested is defective or operable. This method does not provide accurate quantitative information about the value of the capacitance tested. This is a disadvantage particularly when testing weighted capacitance arrays since the usefulness of the circuit utilizing the capacitance array, e.g. digital/analogue converter or crystal oscillator circuit, depends substantially on the required capacitance values in the capacitance array being maintained.

Arrangement and method for testing a capacitance array in an integrated circuit


A circuit breaker includes separable contacts for movement between a closed position and an open position. An operating mechanism, which moves the separable contacts between the closed and open positions, has a closed state and an open or tripped state which corresponds to the open position. A current transformer senses electrical current flowing through the separable contacts as a sensed current. A trip mechanism employs the sensed current for tripping the operating mechanism to the tripped position to move the separable contacts to the open position. The trip mechanism includes a microprocessor which generates short delay and ground fault trip functions of electrical current and time. The microprocessor inputs a first interlock signal from a downstream electrical switching device which generates the first interlock signal with a first value when current through the downstream device exceeds a predetermined value and with a second value otherwise. The microprocessor generates and outputs a second interlock signal to an upstream electrical switching device in response to both of the first and second trip functions. The trip mechanism selectively trips the operating mechanism as a function of the first interlock signal, the first trip function, and the second trip function.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to an electrical switching apparatus and, more particularly, to a circuit interrupter, such as a circuit breaker, including interlocks with another circuit breaker.
2. Background Information
Electrical switching apparatus include, for example, circuit switching devices and circuit interrupters such as circuit breakers, contactors, motor starters, motor controllers and other load controllers. Circuit breakers are generally old and well known in the art. Examples of circuit breakers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,751,606; and 5,341,191. Such circuit breakers are used to protect electrical circuitry from damage due to an overcurrent condition, such as an overload condition or a relatively high level short circuit or fault condition.
Molded case circuit breakers include a pair of separable contacts per phase which may be operated either manually by way of a handle disposed on the outside of the case or automatically in response to an overcurrent condition. Typically, such circuit breakers include an operating mechanism, which is designed to rapidly open and close the separable contacts, and a trip mechanism, which senses overcurrent conditions in an automatic mode of operation. Upon sensing an overcurrent condition, the trip mechanism trips the operating mechanism to a trip state which moves the separable contacts to their open position.
In coordinating the delay times and performance characteristics of the circuit interrupters associated with an electrical distribution system, a time-trip curve of the desired current response characteristics of the circuit interrupter over time may be employed. For example, in the time-trip curve, the current factor is shown on the horizontal axis and the time factor is shown on the vertical axis. Typically, the time-trip curve includes various types of overcurrent trip conditions, such as a long delay trip, a short delay trip, an instantaneous trip, or a ground fault trip. Modern trip mechanisms often employ a microprocessor to detect these overcurrent trip conditions.
The long delay protection feature generally follows an I.sup.2 t sloped portion of the log-log time-trip curve. The long delay feature is sometimes referred to as a thermal trip feature since it most closely resembles a thermal-type tripping operation typically offered by predecessor non-electronic circuit interrupters. This feature consists of both a selectable long delay current pickup factor (e.g., LDPU factor) and a long delay time factor (e.g., LDT factor). The LDPU factor selectively adjusts the time-trip curve along the horizontal or current axis and the LDT factor selectively adjusts the time-trip curve along the vertical or time axis. In this manner, the limits of the long delay protection feature provide a first trip-curve portion which is adjustable in both axes. Typically, the long delay protection feature provides an I.sup.2 t trip characteristic for currents exceeding the LDPU factor wherein, at higher levels of current in excess of the LDPU factor, a shorter LDT will result, although other trip characteristics such as I.sup.4 t may be employed.
At higher levels of current flowing through the electrical circuit protected by the circuit interrupter, it is necessary that the circuit interrupter provide a more rapid response than that provided by the long delay protection feature. This more rapid response is commonly referred to as a short delay protection feature and is characterized by a portion of the trip-curve designated as the short delay trip-curve portion. The short delay protection feature may be selectively configured in various manners such as a fixed time response or an I.sup.2 t response.
The current level at which a short delay trip condition is initiated is commonly referred to as a short delay pickup factor (e.g., SDPU factor). Under certain conditions, it is necessary that the short delay trip condition be initiated immediately upon sensing a current value in excess of the SDPU factor. Other conditions utilize a fixed time short delay trip-curve portion and still other conditions arise where it is necessary to impose an I.sup.2 t trip characteristic trip curve portion.
The next level of protection offered by the circuit interrupter is an instantaneous trip-curve portion which corresponds to an instantaneous protection feature. At very high levels of overcurrent through the electrical circuit, it is necessary that the circuit interrupter initiate a trip condition as rapidly as possible (e.g., within 20 milliseconds or less of sensing the faulted condition). This overcurrent level is selectively adjustable within the instantaneous trip-curve portion of the time-trip curve.
Another type of protection is the ground fault protection feature which provides the same types of protection as does the short delay protection feature, although the ground fault pick-up level is more sensitive than the short delay pick-up level. The ground fault protection feature provides that, should a certain level of current be flowing through a ground path associated with the electrical circuit in excess of a ground fault pickup factor (e.g., a GFPU factor), a ground fault trip condition is initiated. The GFPU factor is selectively adjustable in a ground fault trip-curve which typically employs a fixed time or I.sup.2 t ground fault protection. Under certain conditions, it is necessary to wait a selectively adjustable period of time, designated as the ground fault time factor (e.g., GFT factor), before initiating a ground fault trip condition.
In a typical electric power distribution system, a main bus provides power to a number of additional buses which, in turn, energize a plurality of distribution circuits. Often, power transformers step down the voltage at various points in the distribution system. Typically, overcurrent protection devices are provided in the main bus and in at least some, if not all, of the other branches of the distribution system. Each of the overcurrent protection devices has its own overcurrent/time trip characteristic for responding to faults in the distribution system. Typically, these overcurrent/time trip characteristics of the various overcurrent protection devices are coordinated through a hierarchical arrangement in order that only the closest protection device above the fault trips to minimize the interruption to service in the distribution system.
In some installations, zone interlocks between the overcurrent protection devices are employed. In such an arrangement, if a lower order overcurrent protective device of the hierarchy sees an overload current, it sends an interlock signal to the next higher order device to block generation of a trip signal by the latter and to give the former time to react. This permits adjacent overcurrent protective devices in the hierarchy to have their overcurrent/time trip characteristics set closer together, while assuring that the lower order device will trip first if conditions warrant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,369 discloses the use of zone interlocks between upstream and downstream circuit interrupters to adjust the timing of short delay and ground fault protection in the upstream devices. If a short delay current threshold is exceeded in the downstream device, it sends a short delay zone interlock signal to the upstream device to indicate that a short delay fault condition has been identified. If the short delay current threshold is exceeded in the upstream device, and the short delay zone interlock signal is not received from the downstream device, then a short delay trip is rapidly initiated by the upstream device on the second consecutive recognition of that threshold being exceeded (e.g., to prevent the occurrence of a false initiation of the short delay trip condition resulting from a possible late signal from a downstream device due to possible asynchronous conditions). Otherwise, if the short delay current threshold is exceeded in the upstream device, and the short delay zone interlock signal is received, then a time delayed portion (e.g., either an I.sup.2 t or fixed time type) of the short delay routine is executed by the upstream device.
As further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,369, ground fault protection is implemented in a similar manner as the short delay protection, with each of the upstream and downstream devices inputting an input ground fault zone interlock signal and outputting an output ground fault zone interlock signal. For both the ground fault protection and the short delay protection, two separate input interlock signals indicate whether respective ground fault and short delay conditions were identified by a downstream circuit interrupter, and two separate output interlock signals indicate to an upstream circuit interrupter whether respective ground fault and short delay conditions were identified by the intermediate circuit interrupter.
It is also known to employ a separate input interlock signal to indicate whether a long delay condition was identified by a downstream circuit interrupter, and a separate output interlock signal to indicate to an upstream circuit interrupter whether a long delay condition was identified by the intermediate circuit interrupter.
However, there is room for improvement in zone interlocks for electrical switching apparatus.

Electrical switching apparatus employing interlocks for first and second trip functions


A system and method for improving processing of gases contained within the crankcase of an internal combustion engine is presented. The system is especially suited for single boiling point fuels because it allows the storage of such fuels until the fuel can be opportunistically combusted.

A system and method for operating an internal combustion engine using positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,316. The patent describes a system wherein emissions are pumped from a crankcase to a canister. The canister contains a deceleration and condensing element comprised of glass beads. It is believed that the glass beads decelerate flow originating from the crankcase and cause hydrocarbons to condense so that they can be discharged to a collector. The canister purportedly separates contaminants from the crankcase and then passes the cleansed emissions back to the engine for combustion.
The above-mentioned system can also have several disadvantages. Specifically, fuel vapors are sent to the engine shortly after being processed through the canister. If the crankcase gases are related to a single boiling point fuel (e.g., alcohol), much of the alcohol can transition to the vapor state in a short period of time. As such, concentrated vapors can be drawn into the separating canister and then transferred to the engine at a rate that causes the engine to run rich. Thus, the canister may extract contaminants from the crankcase emissions, but the device does not appear to offer any means to control the rate that exhaust gases are transferred to the engine. Further, if crankcase gases cause the engine to operate rich, the engine controller adaptive fuel strategy may cause the engine to operate lean after the crankcase gases are purged from the engine. Thus, it does not appear that the system improves engine air-fuel control when gasses are purged from the engine crankcase.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned disadvantages and have developed a system and method that offers substantial improvements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for storing crankcase gases to improve engine air-fuel control


A system for boosting the bass of an audio signal to closely match or mirrors a plurality of Robinson-Dadson loudness curves by interpolating coefficients from a table of values representing the Robinson-Dadson loudness. The system having a controller that interpolates the coefficients from the loudness curves and then uses the coefficients in a shelf filter that makes adjustments to the audio signal. The result of the adjustments to the audio signal is the introduction of bass boost slowly through a diminuendo or lowering of level through volume adjustment and to removes the bass boost rapidly during a crescendo or increase in level through user volume adjustment.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to audio signals and more practically to boosting the bass content in an audio signal.
2. Related Art
The results of Fletcher's and Munson's research, known as the Fletcher-Munson curves are well known in the art and generally teach that as the level of an audio signal is lowered, the responsiveness of the human ear decreases. The results indicate that at lower volume levels, the human ear is less able to hear the lower frequencies (i.e. bass) in the sound. Presently, many audio systems utilize a manual loudness control to boost low and high-end response at low volume levels to compensate for the responsiveness of the human ear.
In FIG. 1, an illustration of a set of frequency domain relative level curves 100 commonly referred to as Robinson-Dadson curves is shown. The Robinson-Dadson curves are the result of more recent studies of how the human ear perceives sound and builds upon the original curves developed by Fletcher and Munson in the early 1930's. These frequency domain relative level curves (equal loudness contours) relate to the frequency response of a human ear to the level of signals being heard. As the signal level decrease, research shows that the responsiveness to the signal by the human ear changes as the bass frequencies decrease.
In FIG. 2, a set of frequency domain relative level curves 200 illustrates the results from the Robinson-Dadson curves for loudness from 10-90 dB relative to the 90 phon curve. The loudness for 10-90 dB is shown with nine curves at 10 dB, 20 dB, 30 dB, 40 dB, 50 dB, 60 dB, 70 dB, 80 dB, and 90 dB. The 90 dB reference for the Robinson-Dadson curves shows that as the loudness decreases below 90 dB that it is desirable to boost the low frequencies.
A known approach to improving the perceived sound quality was proposed in House et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,338) and implements a bass contour network circuit that is coupled to the program source material. The House et al. patent describes a frequency contour circuit in which the transfer function from source to loudspeaker is altered by a complex attenuation network based on the transfer function of audio reproduction within an automobile. The House et al. patent adds boost to bass frequencies by this approach but the results bare little relationship to Robinson-Dadson curves of FIG. 2. In addition, the House et al. patent measures the signal level at the loudspeaker and thus operates in a feedback mode such that adjustments to the signal frequency content affect the measured signal level forming a servo loop. The House et al. patent uses a passive attenuation system that in reality attenuates mid and high frequencies at low volume levels and fails to describe how to restore that lost signal level and uses an average signal level. Other variants on this scheme utilize notch filters for equalizing the frequency resonance within a bounded area, such as a vehicle's interior. These other variants also use a feedback circuit to detect and adjust bass levels.
In another approach, proposed in the Short et al. patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,739,514 and 5,361,381) circuits are implemented that provide automatic loudness compensation to boost the signal in a bandpass centered at 60 Hz through a circuit that utilizes a 2:1 compressor so that input signals can be compressed, filtered, then re-summed into the forward signal path. Similarly, the Werrbach patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,665) describes a low pass filtered signal applied to a compressor and re-summed into the main signal path. Hence both the Short et al. patent and the Werrbach patent responds only to the signal level in the filtered signal path not the full range signal level.
In the Kimura patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,358), a multiple pass band control scheme is used. In that scheme, the frequency bands are individually processed. Each frequency band is filtered and the level within the frequency band is detected. The detected level within the frequency band is then used to control the boost level applied to that frequency band using a variable boost limited to that frequency band. Contrary to the Fletcher-Munson curves and the Robinson-Dadson curves, the Kimura patent treats loudness as a concept that applies not to the full audible frequency band of the reproduced signal but to sub-bands at both high and low frequencies.
The Iwamura patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,417) describes a three band equalizer that is computed and applied based on reproduced acoustic signal level and applies individual band equalization sections in fixed increments. The Iwamura patent also uses a feedback scheme in which the equalization applied is included in the measured signal that creates a servo-loop in which the compensation chases itself. Further, all these approaches only attempt to simulate the general trend of the Robinson-Dadson curves of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
These circuits and other known circuits do not mimic the Robinson-Dadson curves and therefore are not accurately responsive to what a listener can hear. Accordingly, there is a need for a circuit that automatically compensates for the decrease in perceived sound levels at lower volumes by mimicking the Robinson-Dadson curves.

System for automatic compensation of low frequency audio based on human loudness perceptual models

Harman International Industries, Incorporated


An electronic animal lure for generating an animal call pattern by combining actual stored analog animal sounds with a micro controller. The animal sounds are stored in an analog storage device. A micro controller selects and addresses one of the pre-stored sounds then generates the signals to cause the storage device to play back the sound. The micro controller then selects a period of time delay before selecting and addressing the next sound to be played. Both time delays and sound selections are accomplished by use of an algorithm stored in the micro controller. The algorithm uses an onboard timer counter to generate a random number that is placed in a software counter causing the software counter to cycle for a period of time, creating a constantly varying time period between animal calling sounds. The algorithm also uses the onboard timer counter to select one of the stored sounds.

There are various recording and playback devices that are well known. More particularly, there are several devices for playing back wildlife sounds in wildlife areas designed to attract animals. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,197, issued to Fulcher, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, there is described an audio decoy which uses predetermined sounds digitally recorded within a portable electronic device. The device plays back wildlife sounds in order to lure the wildlife sounds into close proximity with a photographer or hunter. The user of the device presses a portion of the device in order to activate the device to play a predetermined sound.
A problem with this device and other similar devices is that the sounds to be created are a predetermined sound routine, which is stored digitally on a chip or tape, or is recorded onto cassette tape or a compact disk. The sounds of the animals are recorded with silence between the sounds, taking up a lot of storage space.
Further, such a device plays a preset, prerecorded sound. It cannot alter the sound, play random sound sequences or random delays between sequences. The predetermined sound is static, which can be insufficient to attract animals.
Other devices for creating animal sounds to lure animals near devices that must be activated directly by the user by manipulating the device, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,858, issued to Hall, or U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,943, issued to Orzetti, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The devices use friction to generate a turkey or squirrel call. Other devices require the user to blow directly into the call device, such as the popular duck call or a moose whistle.
Problems with these devices is that the sound, which may be realistic to humans, is not authentic and may not attract animals. Additionally, a user, in order to create a diversity of sounds, would have to carry several different devices and interchange the devices constantly to create a diverse sound sequence. Furthermore, all of the above devices require interaction by the user, the user cannot simply place the call in a location and back off and watch the animal approach the device.


Disclosed are DNA and amino acid sequences for a novel polypeptide termed Neuritin which is expressed primarily in selected regions of the brain.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel DNA sequences encoding a polypeptide termed Neuritin, which is expressed primarily in certain brain tissues in response to certain stimuli.
2. Related Art
A number of neurological disorders and diseases are caused at least in part by degeneration or death of particular classes of neurons. For example, Parkinson's disease is characterized by slowing of voluntary muscle movement, muscular rigidity, and tremor. Such symptoms are attributed at least in part to progressive degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons located in a specific region of the brain called the substantia nigra. Degeneration of these neurons ("dopaminergic neurons") results in a decrease of dopamine levels in an adjacent region of the brain called the striatum. The striatum contains neurons expressing receptors for dopamine; these neurons are involved in the control of motor activity. The cause of the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons is unknown, but has been attributed to free radicals, excess iron content, environmental toxins, excitatory amino acid neurotoxicity, and possibly a deficiency of certain neurotrophic factors (Jenner, Neurology, Suppl. 3:S6-S12 1995!; Adams and Victor, eds. Principles of Neurology, Chapter 42: Degenerative Diseases of the Nervous System, McGraw Hill, N.Y. 1993!).
Diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), progressive muscular atrophy, and hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease) all result at least in part from a decay of motor neurons which are located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord.
The hippocampus, a well defined structure that is part of the cerebral cortex of the brain, is important in the formation of long term memory. Destruction of the hippocampus, for example by ischemia, can result in an inability to form new memories. Degeneration of pyramidal CA1 neurons, which are located in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, is one characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. These same neurons are selectively vulnerable to ischemic and anoxic damage which occur in conditions such as stroke and head trauma. In addition, the CA1 pyramidal hippocampal neurons as well as pyramidal neurons located in the CA3 region of the hippocampus, are selectively injured in epilepsy.
The striatum is the innervation region of the nerve terminals of dopaminergic-containing neurons from the substantia nigra. The majority of striatal neurons utilize GABA (4-aminobutyric acid) as their neurotransmitter. The striatum is the major target of the progressive neurodegeneration that occurs in Huntington's disease, in which the major neuron loss is that of the striatal GABA-utilizing neurons.
The serotonin-containing neurons are located in groups clustered around the midline of the hindbrain. These neurons are involved in the control of body temperature, mood, and sleep. Disorders of the serotonin-containing neuron system include, for example, depression, other mood disorders, and sleep disturbances.
Photoreceptor cells are a specialized subset of retina neurons, and are responsible for vision. Injury and/or death of photoreceptor cells can lead to blindness. Degeneration of the retina, such as by retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, and stationary night blindness, are all characterized by the progressive atrophy and loss of function of photoreceptor outer segments which are specialized structures containing the visual pigments that transform a light stimulus into electrical activity.
While there are some therapies available to treat the symptoms and decrease the severity of such diseases (e.g., L-dopa to treat Parkinson's disease), there currently exists no effective treatment to prevent or reduce the degeneration of most of the above mentioned classes of affected neurons, or to promote their repair.
Recently, several naturally occurring proteinaceous molecules have been identified based on their trophic activity on various neurons. These molecules are termed "neurotrophic factors". Neurotrophic factors are endogenous, soluble proteins that can regulate survival, growth, and/or morphological plasticity of neurons (see Fallon and Laughlin, Neurotrophic Factors, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. 1993!).
The known neurotrophic factors belong to several different protein superfamilies of polypeptide growth factors based on their amino acid sequence homology and/or their three-dimensional structure (MacDonald and Hendrikson, Cell, 73:421-424 1993!). One family of neurotrophic factors is the neurotrophin family. This family currently consists of NGF (nerve growth factor), BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), NT-3 (neurotrophin-3), NT-4 (neurotrophin-4), and NT-6 (neurotrophin-6).
CNTF (ciliary neurotrophic factor) and LIF (leukemia inhibitory factor) are cytokine polypeptides that have neurotrophic activity. By virtue of their structural features and receptor components, these polypeptides are related to a family of hematopoietic cytokines that includes IL-6 (interleukin-6), IL-11 (interleukin-11), G-CSF (granulocyte-colony stimulating factor), and oncostatin-M.
GDNF (glial derived neurotrophic factor) is a neurotrophic factor that belongs to the TGF-beta (transforming growth factor beta) superfamily. GDNF displays potent survival and differentiation-promoting actions for dopaminergic and motor neurons (Lin et al., Science, 260:1130-1132 1993!; Yan et al., Nature, 373:341-344 1995!).
While these neurotrophic factors are known to increase growth and/or survival of neurons, there is less known about the molecules that work in conjunction with these factors. One manner in which additional neurotrophins and related molecules may be identified is to administer to an animal one or more compounds known to have an effect on the nervous system, and to then analyze tissues for the induction of genes involved in neural responses to the compounds. For example, one can screen for genes that are induced in certain tissues of the nervous system, such as the hippocampal region of the brain. This technique was used by Nedivi et al (Nature, 363:718-722 1993!; Nedivi et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 93:2048-2053 1996!) to identify novel genes that are induced in the dentate gyrus portion of the hippocampus in response to administration of a neurotransmitter analog of glutamate called kainate (kainic acid).
Expression of many neurotrophic factors such as NGF, BDNF, NT3, GDNF, bFGF, IGF-1 and TGF-beta are regulated by afferent neuronal activity and/or by neuronal injury. Strong induction of some of these genes can be observed in the hippocampus dentate gyrus in response to the glutamate analog kainate (Isackson, Current Opinions in Neurobiology 5:50-357 1995!). Kainate treatment appears to increase the release of novel compounds from the hippocampus of alert rats, and this activity appears to be different from the actions of known neurotrophic factors (Humpel, et al., Science, 269:552-554 1995!).
In view of the fact that many nervous system disorders and diseases have no known cure, there is a need in the art to identify novel compounds for treating neurological conditions and diseases such as Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and various degenerative disorders that affect vision.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide novel compounds that may be useful in promoting neuron regeneration and restoring neural functions.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of treating certain neurological diseases.
These and other objects will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the present disclosure.


The invention provides a multi-coil unit including first, second, . . . , (n−1)-th, and n-th coil elements corresponding to a number n of quantization bits of a digital signal, the coil elements including coil wires of a same length. The multi-coil unit has a winding structure in which the coil wires are wound a plurality of times to be stacked in a magnetic flux direction to form a plurality of tires.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to multi-coil units, voice coils, and electro-acoustic transducers that are applicable to digital speakers and other apparatuses.
2. Background Art
Developments have been made on digital speakers that directly receive and reproduce digital audio signals, instead of converting digital signals into analog. A known digital speaker of this type has a plurality of coils wound around a voice coil bobbin. The coils are weighted in such a manner to generate respective driving forces corresponding to respective bits of a digital signal. Each coil carries a predetermined voltage, the polarity of which is switched in accordance with a 2-bit binary value of a digital signal, thereby determining the direction of current flowing through the coil in accordance with the binary value. This configuration allows the digital speaker to generate driving forces at a ratio corresponding to the quantization of a digital signal (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-263332 A).
Such a digital speaker may have a voice coil configured as shown in FIG. 5. The reference numeral 13 in FIG. 5 denotes a voice coil, 1 denotes a yoke, 2 denotes a magnet, 3 denotes a pole piece, and G denotes a magnetic gap. The voice coil 13 includes a coil 13A, a coil 13B, and a coil 13C in accordance with the number of quantization bits of a digital signal. The coil 13A has a winding structure in which a coil wire is wound a plurality of times in a coil vibration direction (α in FIG. 5) to be stacked (in two tiers in the example of FIG. 5) in a magnetic flux direction (β in FIG. 5). The same holds true for the coil 13B and the coil 13C. The coil 13B is wound on the outer periphery of the coil 13C, and the coil 13A is wound on the outer periphery of the coil 13B.

Multi-coil unit, voice coil, and electro-acoustic transducer using the same


An image forming apparatus includes: an image holding body that is rotatable, and holds a first toner image and a second toner image; an image forming unit that forms the first toner image and the second toner image on the image holding body; a transfer unit that transfers the first toner image onto a transfer medium; a cleaning unit that has a cleaning member for freely coming into contact with and separating from the image holding body, and that brings the cleaning member into contact with the image holding body so as to clean a residual toner remaining on a surface of the image holding body; and a cleaning control unit that controls forming the second toner image for cleaning the cleaning member, opposing between the cleaning member and the second toner image, and cleaning of the second toner image by the cleaning member that is in a contact state with the image holding body.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and an image forming method.
2. Related Art
In an electrophotographic type image forming apparatus, in case that residual toner on a surface of an image holding body is removed by a cleaning member, toner adheres gradually to the cleaning member and remains therein. The toner which has thus adhered to the cleaning member can scatter to the image holding body side from the cleaning member and can adhere again to the surface of the image holding body or an image formed on the image holding body surface.

Image forming apparatus including a separable cleaning member and image forming method including controlling a seperable cleaning member


A first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor, and a fourth transistor, their source terminals being grounded, are provided. Further, a first feedback circuit connected between a gate terminal and a drain terminal in the first transistor, and having first impedance, a second feedback circuit connected between a gate terminal and a drain terminal in the second transistor, and having the first impedance, a current source for outputting a current, a first load circuit connected between the drain terminal of the first transistor and a first output terminal of the current source, and having second impedance, and a second load circuit connected between the drain terminal of the second transistor and a second output terminal of the current source, and having the second impedance are provided.

In an amplifier used in, for example, a transceiver for moving object, high linearity is required.
In Nonpatent Literature 1 mentioned later, a current amplifier including a first differential pair having two transistors, and a second differential pair having two transistors is disclosed.
This current amplifier includes a first current source connected between a source terminal of each of the two transistors that form the first differential pair, and ground, and a second current source connected between a source terminal of each of the two transistors that form the second differential pair, and the ground. The gain of this current amplifier is proportional to the ratio of a current outputted from the first current source and a current outputted from the second current source.
Further, in this current amplifier, a feedback resister is connected between the gate terminal and the drain terminal in each of the two transistors that form the first differential pair.
In this current amplifier, because the feedback resisters are connected, distortion in the dynamic range of a gate-to-source voltage in the two transistors that form the first differential pair is reduced. Namely, the distortion in the dynamic range of the gate-to-source voltage, the distortion being caused by the first differential pair, is reduced.
Because, as a result of the reduction in the distortion in the dynamic range, substantially the same voltage is applied to the first differential pair and the second differential pair, so that the linearity of the current amplifier is improved.


A mold assembly (10; 40) for molding a hollow glass article comprising a mold (12) that is made up of a separable pair of mold elements (12a, 12b; 42) and a mold holder (14; 44) that surrounds a portion of the mold of substantial axial length. The mold is separable from the mold holder, and the exterior of each mold segment is provided with a plurality of cooling fins (12e; 42e). The mold holder is made up of a separable pair of mold holder sections (16, 18; 46), and each mold holder section has a fluid flow passage (20; 50) extending therethrough. The fluid flow passage is radially open to permit fluid flowing therethrough to flow inwardly against the fins of an adjacent mold element. Each mold holder section has a perforated screen (26; 56) affixed thereto to vary the distribution of the flow of fluid from the mold holder section against the fins of the adjacent mold element.

Hollow glass articles, such as bottles and jars, when molded by a forming machine of the I.S. type, are molded in two steps. In the first step, a preform of the finished container, which is usually called a blank or a parison, is molded by an annular mold made up of a pair of mating blank mold sections. Upon the completion of the blank molding step, the blank mold sections separate and the blank or parison is transferred to another mold station, often called the blow mold station, where it is blown into its final shape by another annular mold that is made up of another mating pair of mold sections. At the conclusion of the blow mold process, the mating sections of the blow mold are separated, and the container is removed from the forming machine for further processing.
The glass gob that is formed into a parison in the blank mold of an I.S. machine is sufficiently hot to be capable of being shaped into a blank and, thus, possesses a high level of latent heat. Much of this heat must be removed before the container is removed from the blow mold of the forming machine, however, so that the finished container will be sufficiently rigid to undergo further processing without any further change in its shape. Thus, much heat must be removed from the container being formed, both during the blank molding step and the blow molding step, and unless the heat is removed at a rapid rate, the productivity of the forming machine is unduly limited. The problem of heat removal from the molds of an I.S. forming machine at a suitable rate is especially important at the blank mold station because the surface area of the parison is quite small due to the small diameter of the parison, which limits the rate at which heat can be removed, and the amount of heat to be removed is quite high due to the larger wall thicknesses of the parison in comparison to the wall thicknesses of a finished container.
Various prior artisans have addressed problems encountered in cooling glass articles being formed by an I.S. machine, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,350 (Jenkins), 4,657,573 (Jones), 4,668,269 (Cantu-Garcia et al.), 4,690,703 (Kulig), 4,783,212 (Loffler) and 5,364,437 (Bolin), the disclosure of each of which is incorporated by reference herein. The problems with the aforesaid and other prior art approaches to mold cooling of I.S. machine molds is that they add considerably to the complexity, and thus the cost, of the forming machine molds, each set of which is especially designed for only a single type of product. Thus, it is advantageous to incorporate as much of the required mold cooling structure in other structure of an I.S. molding machine that does not need to be changed every time a set of molds is replaced to permit the machine to manufacture containers of a different type, size or design.


An apparatus for decurling an advancing sheet, which contains an endless carrying belt, and multiple rollers for guiding said carrying belt, said rollers including a decurling roller, wherein the mutual orientation between the carrying belt and the decurling roller is adjustable. A printing device is also provided to include such a decurling apparatus.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for decurling an advancing sheet, comprising at least one endless carrying belt, and multiple rollers for guiding the carrying belt, said multiple rollers including a decurling roller, wherein the mutual orientation between the carrying belt and the decurling roller is adjustable. The present invention also relates to a printing device containing such an apparatus.
In (electrophotographic) printing devices, a powder image is formed on a photoconductive member which is subsequently transferred to a sheet of support material. The sheet of support material is then heated to permanently affix the powder image thereto. As the sheet of support material passes through the various processing stations in the printing device, a curl or bend is frequently created therein. Occasionally, this curl or bend may be inherent in the sheet of support material due to the method of manufacture thereof. Frequently, a decurling apparatus is used to reduce paper curl in the process direction, said decurling apparatus commonly containing belts entrained by rollers, wherein one decurling roller is mounted between two fixed rollers, said decurling roller being adjustable with respect to the belt to enable adjustment of the decurling capacity of the decurling apparatus. Adjustment of the mutual orientation of the belt and the adjustable decurling roller, and hence of the decurling capacity of the decurling apparatus, leads to a change of direction of a belt span entrained between the decurling roller and the fixed roller positioned downstream the decurling roller, thereby leading to a change of the discharge direction of the sheets out of the decurling apparatus. However, this change of discharge direction often leads to adverse forced head-on contact of the decurled sheet with a receiving tray, as a result of which the decurling effect of the decurling apparatus is commonly counteracted as an undesired new curl will be induced in the sheet.

Apparatus for decurling an advancing sheet, and a printing device containing such an apparatus


Systems, apparatuses and methods may provide for technology to identify image data, identify eye data from the image data, where the eye data includes one or more of an eye movement of a user or a point of gaze of the user on a display, and determine whether to authenticate the user based on the one or more of the eye movement or the point of gaze.

Authentication on the internet is rapidly evolving to deter nefarious actors from abusing systems through various techniques, such as spamming, malicious bot accesses and impersonation of other individuals. Thus, authentication techniques may be implemented to reduce the potential of abuse by skilled fraudsters and bots, as well as to validate an identity of the user. As the sophistication of nefarious actors has increased, authentication techniques have also increased in difficulty to reduce abuse by the nefarious actors. In some cases, the techniques may have evolved to be cumbersome and/or user-hostile.
For example, an average consumer (e.g., a consumer who legitimately utilizes personal information and/or claims an identity) may be subjected to various tests that require inputting of authentication details to validate the user, such as Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA), user/password login identifications and/or Multifactor authentication (MFA) challenges, to authenticate the user. Such tests may be difficult to execute and fail to achieve a difficult balance between being understandable and vague. Moreover, such tests may include antiquated data. Further, an individual may have to manually input the appropriate responses (e.g., authentication details) to challenge questions and/or manually input passwords (e.g., utilize hands to input details). Doing so may compromise security as a nearby individual may observe the inputs and utilize the inputs at a later time to gain access to the user's accounts (e.g., "shoulder surfing."). Moreover, in some cases electronic keyboards on various devices (e.g., mobile devices) may make input frustrating and cumbersome as such electronic keyboards may shift on the display and be too compact for smooth entry of inputs.
Thus, providing authentication details for validation may be inefficient, cumbersome and tiresome for a customer. Further, providing authentication details may be error prone, redundant, and tiresome for the customer. In light of the foregoing, there exists a need for a solution for facilitating authentication in an enhanced, efficient clear and/or secure manner.

Method, apparatus and system for authenticating a user based on eye data and/or facial data