A golf club head includes a head body having a recessed area defined in a central area of the head body and abutting faces formed along a periphery defining the recessed area. A soldering seam is formed on an outer periphery defining the recessed area and at least one positioning block is formed on one of the abutting faces and has a bottom face flush with a top face of the recessed area. A striking face is abutted to the abutting faces and the bottom face of the positioning block to allow the soldering seam to securely combine the head body and the striking face.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positioning structure, and more particularly to positioning structure in a golf club head to facilitate the mating between the head body and the striking face so that the welding process is shortened.
2. Description of Related Art
A golf club head usually is composed of different parts welded together. With reference to FIG. 7, a conventional the conventional golf club head is composed of a head body (40) and a striking face (41). The striking face (41) has a flange (411) formed on a peripheral edge of the striking face (41) to abut a peripheral edge of the head body (40). After the flange (411) of the striking face (41) is abutted the peripheral edge of the head body (40), a solder fillet (42) is formed between a joint between the flange (411) of the striking face (41) and the peripheral edge of the head body (40).
During the mating process between the head body (40) and the striking face (41), because there is no positioning structure in either the head body (40) or the striking face (41), the operator's visual inspection is the only means to complete the positioning work between the head body (40) and the striking face (41) and thus the rate of defective products is high. Furthermore, the solder fillet (42) formed on the joint between the flange (411) of the striking face (41) and the peripheral edge of the head body (40) requires a post-polishing process after the golf club head is finished, which is time consuming and labor inefficient.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved positioning structure to mitigate the aforementioned problems.

Positioning structure in a golf club head

Advanced International Multitech Co., Ltd.


A tape storage apparatus is used with a mailing machine having printing postage indicia on a discrete portion of a strip of tape of indefinite length which is fed along a tape path extending through the mailing machine by a tape feeding device mounted within the mailing machine. The tape storage apparatus includes a base having vertical guide rails and a tape holding device mounted on the guide rails for movement therealong. A releasable latch holds the tape holding device in a lowermost position against the force of a plurality of resilient spring device for moving the tape holding device upwardly to a position in which the tape holding device becomes accessible to an operator or service person for reloading rolls of tape or performing service on the apparatus. When the tape holding device is in its lowermost position, it is functionally integrated with the mailing machine, but it is inaccessible for reloading tape or for threading tape into the feeding device in the mailing machine.

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for storing tape which is fed to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a tape storage apparatus for use in a mailing machine in which tape is selectively moved to and from a printing position in which postage indicia is printed on the tape when the mailing machine is not printing the postage indicia on discrete envelopes.
Modern day mailing machines, such as that shown and described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,876,956 and 4,922,085 have evolved into highly, multi-functional machines capable of processing a plurality of mail pieces of different types through the steps required to affix proper postage to them for handling by the U.S. Postal Service. For example, the mailing machine just mentioned can store a plurality of mail pieces in a hopper, successively feed them seriatim to a weighing module which electronically determines the amount or postage required for each mail piece, print that amount of postage as an indicia either directly on the mail piece if it is relatively thin, such as a typical letter envelope or on a strip of tape which is applied to the envelope if it is too thick to feed through the printing mechanism, and finally deposit mail pieces in an orderly fashion in any of a variety of stacking devices for retrieval and further handling by Postal Service representatives. It should also be noted that the foregoing process occurs at a high rate of speed, usually in the order of 2 per second if weighing each piece is involved, 4 per second if weighing is not involved. Thus, it will be apparent that to accomplish this process at the indicated speed, the mailing machine requires a great number of mechanical parts which must fit together accurately and operate smoothly, and a highly complex electronic control system including various operator controlled devices and modules for setting up and operating the mailing machine, microprocessors for controlling the synchronous operation of various components and devices, and diagnostic systems for detecting various malfunctions and providing appropriate indication thereof.
One of the requirements of the mailing machine under consideration is that of providing a continuous supply of tape on which the postage indicia is printed when tape printing is the selected mode of operation. Since the mailing machine operates at a high rate of speed in terms of the number of mail pieces processed as mentioned above, it is necessary to have a large supply of tape available in order to minimize the down time of the mailing machine which would otherwise be required if rolls of tape had to be replaced frequently. In addition, in order for the tape feed mechanism of the mailing machine to function smoothly and properly at a high rate of speed, it is necessary to have a tape storage mechanism which incorporates devices, controls and features for physically storing a large quantity of tape, for maintaining proper tension on the tape during intermittent feeding operations, for detecting when the tape becomes exhausted, for providing proper indication when this occurs, and being mounted in such a manner that it is structurally integrated into the mailing machine for maximum functionality and yet is conveniently accessible to machine operators or service personnel for their respective needs.
In the course of the design and development of the mailing machine with which the present invention was intended for use, many different design concepts were considered for an apparatus which would provide all of the functional requirements mentioned above. All of those considered provided some of these requirements with varying degrees of success, but each failed in one or more respects to meet the design criteria specified. For example, one design called for the tape storage apparatus to swing upwardly on an arc about a pivot point, but this resulted in so much slack in the strip of tape between the roll in the storage device and the input point of the mailing machine that it was difficult to thread the lead edge of the tape into the mailing machine. Another solution was to use two rolls of tape mounted side by side in the tape storage apparatus, but this was considered wasteful, inefficient and added unnecessary complexity and cost to the apparatus.
One particular vexing problem was that of structurally integrating the tape storage apparatus into the mailing machine in a manner which achieved maximum functionality while at the same time maintaining the apparatus conveniently accessible to operators and service people. It was found that when the tape storage apparatus was located when it would function best with the mailing machine, it was virtually completely inaccessible for replacement of rolls of tape or other service; and if located to facilitate access, certain functional problems developed in connection with the smooth feeding of tape from the storage apparatus to the printing module of the mailing machine which were unacceptable, such as difficulty in threading tape into the mailing machine and jamming and tearing of the tape during operation. Thus, prior to the present invention, there was no completely satisfactory tape storage apparatus available for use with the subject mailing machine.

Tape storage apparatus for mailing machine


A radiation monitoring device comprises a radiation monitor and a test unit for testing the radiation monitor. The radiation monitor includes a radiation detector and a measurement unit. The test unit includes a test pulse generator and a test pulse controller. The measurement unit includes a counter circuit, a computing part that computes a count rate with the standard deviation kept constant, an input switching circuit. When a test mode is selected in the radiation monitor, the test pulse controller changes the repetition frequency of test pulses in a step-function manner to the same repetition frequency of a start count rate specified as reference, replaces a count rate in the computing part at current computing cycle with the start count rate, switches the input switching circuit to the test pulse input at next computing cycle to start the test, and then finishes the test after a predetermined time elapses.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to radiation monitoring devices that are used for radioactive emission control or radiation control such as in nuclear reactor facilities and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants.
Background Art
A radiation monitoring device used such as in nuclear reactor facilities and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants includes a multi-channel radiation monitor that is provided with a detector for detecting radiation to output detection signal pulses and a measurement unit for receiving the detection signal pulses to measure a count rate (the count rate is a value that is obtained by dividing a count value by a unit time—a second or a minute is generally used as the unit time—and is expressed by the unit of "cps" or "cpm"); and a test unit that is constituted with a test signal generator for inputting test pulses to an individual radiation monitor (using the test pulses allows for generation of a desired repetition frequency, and for check on response of the output count rate to the input signal and on accuracy of the response) and a test signal controller for controlling the repetition frequency of the test pulses generated by the test signal generator and for switching between inputs of the detection signal pulses and the test pulses in the radiation monitor. The test signal controller controls an input switching circuit in the measurement unit of the radiation monitor to switch the test pulse input from the detection signal pulse input, and performs an output-to-input response test for measuring a response of the count rate to the repetition frequency of the test pulses (the output-to-input response test here means a test of measuring linearity of output to input) and performs an alert test for checking the count rate at an alert activation point by inputting test pulses having a repetition frequency that varies across an alert setting level. Soundness of each radiation monitor is thereby checked (the soundness here means a condition that satisfies an accuracy specified by the spec).
Each radiation monitor converts, when necessary, a measured count rate to an engineering value such as a dose equivalent rate (dose equivalent increment per unit time; dose equivalent is used to evaluate an effect of radiation on radiation-exposed persons and expressed as "absorbed dose×quality factor") to obtain a radiation dose. A high alert is set to a radiation level higher than the ordinary background level. For abnormality of a dose equivalent rate in a control area in such facilities and plants (it is confirmed that a dose equivalent rate is proportional to a count rate from measurements of dose equivalent rates and count rates at various points using a reference radiation source) or radioactivity in a process line in such plants (radioactivity is proportional to a count rate because double in radioactivity leads to double in radiation emission and to double in the count rate of detected pulses), the high alert is issued to give notice to operators and a necessary line isolation is automatically performed (for example, if there is an emission end port in the line, the line is shut-off by the high alert). Furthermore, a low alert is set to a radiation level lower than the ordinary background level. For detection signal loss due to failure of a radiation monitor or a low count rate of detection signal, the low alert is issued to give notice to operators.
Accuracy of measurement response and accuracy of the alert activation are checked by inputting test pulses to a computing part. A test signal controller changes the repetition frequency of the test pulses output from a test signal generator in a step-function or a ramp-function manner according to a test item (refer to JP 1110-260262 A). In addition, the alerts are blocked before the alert test is started so that the high alert and the low alert are not issued externally from the radiation monitoring device during the test period, and the block is released after the test is completed. These block operations are set manually. During the period of blocking the alert (the test time is shorter than the blocking period), an in-test warning is output.
Since a radiation dose measured by a radiation monitor fluctuates statistically (this is due to intrinsic atomic disintegration occurring at random; refer to The Japan Radioisotope Association, "Fundamentals of Radiation Handling" the Third Impression of the First Edit., Maruzen, December, 1996, pp. 299-302), the radiation monitor maintains a desired measurement accuracy by automatically controlling the time constant according to a count rate to keep the standard deviation constant. Moreover, the radiation monitor needs to perform a measurement covering a wide count-rate range from about 10 to 107 cpm (count per minute: the number of radiation counts per minute), and measures a count rate over the wide range without changing the range to eliminate discontinuity associated with range changing. Because a count rate responds with the time constant and the time constant is inversely proportional to the square of standard deviation and to the count rate (refer to "Fundamental of Radiation Protection") and because it takes time to perform an output-to-input response test for a measurement range of every decade and for a high and a low alert tests, a contrivance is made to shorten the response time of a count rate to a test pulse input by combining, depending on each test item, input of test pulses having a repetition frequency changing in a step-function manner and input of test pulses having a repetition frequency varying in a ramp-function manner and by setting beforehand the amount of step change and the slope of ramp-function variation (refer to JP H10-260262 A).
However, a response test at a low count rate still needs to take a long time. For example, under the condition of a standard deviation of 2.6%, the lower limit of measurement range of 10 cpm, and the background of 50 cpm, the test takes approximately 40 minutes to approach to 10 cpm after a test pulse of 1 cpm is input in a step-function manner. Even inputting test pulses of 0 cpm to accelerate the response achieves no significant improvement effect.
In the conventional radiation monitoring device, as described above, test time is shortened by controlling, on the basis of a changing pattern of a step-function input and a ramp-function input set beforehand based on a target value, the repetition frequency of the input test pulses so as to immediately approach near the target value by the step-function input and then gradually approach toward the target value by the ramp-function input. However, since a count rate responds with the time constant and the time constant is inversely proportional to the square of the standard deviation and to the count rate (refer to "Fundamental of Radiation Protection"), execution of a test item particularly for a low count rate will fall into a situation of simply waiting for lowering of the count rate with a time constant, raising a problem that the test inevitably takes a long time. Moreover, almost all channels (the channels here mean respective ones of a plurality of radiation monitors in a radiation monitoring device) are in the condition of continuous measurement during operation of such a plant, and there is inevitably a channel that should not be in a condition of missing measurement for a long time because of need for continuous measurement even during a regular inspection, requiring further improvement for demand for test time reduction to minimize the missing measurement.
Furthermore, when a test item is altered midway during a scheduled test, a test input pattern needs to be reset and additionally computed in accordance with the altered test item and an altered target count rate, raising a problem in quick responsiveness. That is, when an unscheduled alteration happens, the test time increases drastically and the test may not be completed within the scheduled time in some cases.
The present invention is made to resolve the above problems and aimed at providing a radiation monitoring device that is capable of significantly reducing a test time and flexibly altering a test item when soundness of a device needs to be checked urgently.


A collapsible sunshade includes a frame and a top cover which is mounted on the frame. The frame includes a shaft which has an outer tube and an inner tube that is telescopically inserted into the outer tube. A runner assembly is sleeved on the outer tube. A main rib assembly is pivoted to a top end of the inner tube for mounting the top cover. A collapsible stretcher assembly is pivoted to the main rib assembly and is connected to the runner assembly. The runner assembly can cooperate with a bottom end of the inner tube so as to move the inner tube upward and outward from the outer tube simultaneously with the stretching of the main rib assembly. Preferably, the main rib assembly is collapsible, and has pivot connectors that impede the collapsing of the main rib assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sunshade, more particularly to a collapsible sunshade including a rib assembly and a telescopic shaft which is extended when the rib assembly is stretched.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional sunshade 1 is shown to include a frame 11, a top cover 12 mounted on the frame 11, and a support leg 13. The frame 11 has a shaft 111 with a pivot unit 112 for pivoting a plurality of main ribs 113, a plurality of stretchers 114 with distal ends pivoted respectively to the main ribs 113, and a runner 115 which is sleeved slidably on the shaft 111. The stretchers 114 have proximal ends pivoted to the runner 115 for stretching thereof upon upward movement of the runner 115. The support leg 13 has a sleeve 131 which is provided on a bottom end of the shaft 111, and a plurality of feet 132 which are stretchably pivoted to the sleeve 131 for supporting the sunshade 1. In use, the user grasps the shaft 111 with one hand, and forces the runner 115 upward so as to stretch the stretchers 114 and the main ribs 113. The sunshade 1 can be supported on the ground by the support leg 13.
Since the stretchers 114 are not collapsible, and since the shaft 11 is not telescopic, the following drawbacks arise:
1. The user has to force the runner 115 upward to a substantial height in order to stretch the sunshade. PA1 2. It is not suitable to make the main ribs 113 of the sunshade foldable, thereby resulting in a limited shading area of the sunshade. PA1 3. The sunshade is inconvenient to carry and store; PA1 4. The sunshade has limited applications.


A system and method is provided for reliably indicating that an implantable medical device is in need of replacement. The system and method measures the operational characteristics of the battery and the operational parameters of the implantable device itself. When these characteristics and parameters reach a defined level, the implantable medical device starts a replacement indicator timer. The replacement indicator timer starts and counts a replacement time period, with the replacement time period ending at a determined replacement date. The determined replacement date is the date at which the implantable medical device should be replaced.

A wide assortment of implantable medical devices are presently known and commercially available. These implantable medical devices include a variety of implantable cardiac devices. For example, implantable pulse generators (IPGs) are a type of cardiac device that is generally used to elevate the heart rate that is beating too slow. This type of device is sometimes referred to as a Bradycardia device or a pacemaker. Another type of implantable cardiac device is implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs). This type of device, often referred to as a Tachycardia device, is generally used to provide burst pacing pulses or a defibrillators shock to the heart when the heart is beating too fast. Another type of device is a cardiac resynchronization device used to treat heart failure.
Most implantable medical devices are contained within a hermetically sealed enclosure, in order to protect the operational components of the device from the harsh in-vivo environment, as well as to protect the body from the device. Typically it is necessary to provide an implantable medical device with a source of power, e.g., a battery, housed within the hermetic enclosure of the device. Battery longevity is often a critical consideration in the design and implementation of body implantable devices. It is highly impractical to replace the battery of the implanted medical device and it is clearly desirable to require replacement of the implanted device—a surgical procedure—as infrequently as possible.
Furthermore, notwithstanding the various measures that can be taken to maximize battery longevity, battery depletion is inevitable and many implantable medical devices are designed to account for this. For example, many implantable medical devices are provided with the ability to communicate an "elective replacement indicator" (ERI). The ERI informs the clinician that the device's power supply is nearing, but has not yet reached end-of-life (EOL), the point at which the power supply cannot provide sufficient energy to keep the device operable. The advance warning provided by an ERI gives the clinician the opportunity to take appropriate measures, e.g., to replace the device prior to EOL. Additionally, the implantable medical device may itself turn off various features, processors or therapies to save power in response to the ERI.
One current problem with implantable medical devices is that the ERI predictor may in some cases incorrectly indicate that replacement does not need to occur when it in fact it does. In other cases, the ERI predictor may indicate that replacement needs to occur when it does not. This is generally the case where the ERI is based on statistical calculations and various battery depletion metrics that have a relatively high degree of error between the prediction and the actual ERI event. This incorrect estimation of the battery life can lead to unexpected loss of device functionality which may be a serious medical event. Other errors may lead to premature replacement of the device.
Thus, what is needed is an improved, accurate system and method determining when to replace an implantable medical device.

Replacement indicator timer for implantable medical devices


A pressure-measuring head for measuring the pressure of a fluid consists of a membrane-like diaphragm (6), which separates a pressure chamber (4) from a reference chamber (7), to which the pressure-sensitive elements, e.g., thick-film resistors or strain gauges, are applied. Under the effect of the pressure in the pressure chamber, these pressure-sensitive elements perform a deflection which is proportional to the pressure occurring in the pressure chamber. An electric contact is switched during simultaneous displacement of the membrane (6) arranged in a sensor housing by a predeterminable distance (19) after a defined pressure value has been reached in the pressure chamber. A measuring head of such a design is also able to assume a swithing function without additional auxiliary energy, besides sending an electrically processable pressure signal.

Controlling pressures in gases and liquids requires accurate measurement, and it also means that for monitoring at predeterminable pressure values, switching functions are performed, which trigger, e.g., safety-relevant measures on devices provided for that purpose. A prior-art measuring device of the above-described class is described under the name contact manometer in German Offenlegungsschrift No. DE-OS 23,32,249. Such contact manometers have a mechanical pressure-measuring mechanism, by which the pressure value measured is indicated with a pointer and a dial. To monitor and regulate the pressure, this mechanical pressure indicator is provided with an attachable switching contact, which is actuated depending on the position of the pointer (normally closed contact or normally open contact). On actuation of the switching contact, corresponding information, on the basis of which necessary measures lead to control or even shut-off of the pressurized fluid lines, is sent to a central station via an electric signal line. It is disadvantageous in the mechanically operating display mechanisms with a coupled electrical switching device that the monitoring stations are usually arranged centrally and are therefore at a great distance from the actual measuring point. It is therefore impossible to monitor the pressure lines and to simultaneously measure the actually occurring pressure by means of the prior-art contact manometer. To overcome this shortcoming, the movement of the pointer would have to be converted with complicated technical and electrical means into an analog electrical signal and forwarded. The mechanical system required for this would be complicated, and the accuracy of reading the mechanical display mechanism would be impaired.
A measuring device for determining the pressure of a fluid, which comes closet to the subject of the present invention, is described in German Utility Patent No. DE-GM 76,06,153. An elastic membrane covers a pressure chamber in a pressure-tight manner. On the surface facing away from the pressure chamber, the membrane is provided with strain gauges, which convert the deflection of the membrane generated by the pressure occurring in the pressure chamber into an electrical signal, which is sent to an evaluating unit via (electrical) wires. Even though such pressure sensors make it possible to monitor the pressure signal generated such that a switching function is triggered at a predeterminable pressure value, and this switching function actuates the switching devices that may be necessary, this type of signal processing does have the disadvantage that the electrical pressure signal must continuously be evaluated and monitored via downstream signal processing units, even when the pressure values are far below the predetermined pressure value. The continuous signal monitoring and processing requires unnecessary auxiliary energy for operating amplifier and comparator circuits, which are not needed per se for normal pressure measurement.

Measuring head for a pressure-measuring device with a pressure sensor for the simultaneous actuation of a switching contact


A light apparatus has an elongate bulb extending essentially in a first direction. An elongate reflector has a first surface generally facing the bulb and a second surface generally facing away from the bulb. A housing supports the reflector and bulb. The housing has a back portion for mounting the apparatus to a wall. The housing has a lower portion extending forward from the back portion and extending below the reflector and bulb and having an upwardly open channel. The housing has a front element having a lower edge portion accommodated within the channel and extending upward forward of the bulb.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electric lighting. More particularly, the invention relates to light fixtures for indirect lighting.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A well-developed field exists in lighting fixtures. One particular area involves elongate fixtures used for indirect lighting. Such fixtures typically include an elongate bulb within an elongate reflector positioned so that light from the bulb and reflector does not directly pass to objects within a room but, rather, is first diffusely reflected from a ceiling, wall, or other architectural feature. For such fixtures, end-to-end assembly of multiple fixtures is known as is orientable reflectors. One class of elongate reflectors are known as "asymmetric" reflectors whose cross-sections are characterized as a segment of a mixed parabola and ellipse.
Exemplary systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,881,156 and 5,550,725. Nevertheless, there remains room for improvement in the field.

Light fixture having a housing with a channel for receiving a front element


A method and apparatus for separating molecules. The apparatus includes a substrate having a surface. A film in contact with the surface defines a substrate/film interface. An electrode electrically connected to the film applies a voltage potential between the electrode and the substrate to form a depletion region in the substrate at the substrate/film interface. A photon energy source having an energy level greater than the potential is directed at the depletion region to form electron-hole pairs in the depletion region. At least one of the electron-hole pairs is separated by the potential into an independent electron and an independent hole having opposite charges and move in opposing directions. One of the electron and hole reach the substrate/film interface to create a photopotential in the film causing charged molecules in the film to move in response to the localized photovoltage.

The present invention relates to separating charged molecules, such as DNA, proteins, polypeptides, and other molecules or charged particles using a photoelectrochemical method.
Analysis of a sample of biological origin frequently requires the separation of mixtures, and biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, proteins, and polypeptides, which often have limited sample size. Electrophoresis, in which charged molecules move in a liquid under the influence of an electric field, has long been the method of choice for separating many classes of biomolecules. This method takes advantage of differing migration velocities, vep, of different molecules.
Migration velocity, vep, the distance the molecule or particle moves (L) per unit time (t), is the product of the electrophoretic mobility, μep, times the electric field strength E (units of volts/cm).vep=μep×E μep=q/6πηRwhere q is the charge on the particle and η is the viscosity of the medium. The velocity is, thus, directly proportional to the charge on the particle and the field strength and inversely proportional to the size of the particle and the viscosity of the medium. For relatively large particles or biomolecules, the charge increases as the size of the molecule increases, and the charge to mass (or radius) ratio becomes nearly constant. Under these circumstances if the electrophoresis is carried out in the presence of a gel composed of agrose or crosslinked polyacrylamide, the gel structure creates a molecular sieving effect that allows the molecules or particles to be separated on the basis of size.
Capillary gel electrophoresis is typically carried out in 50 μm diameter capillaries that are 10 cm to 1 m long with a field strength that is generally in the range of 100 V/cm to 500 V/cm, and requires a high-applied voltage greater than 1 KV. Heat generation is directly proportional to the square of the applied voltage, and the voltages required to achieve separation in capillary electrophoresis may cause degradation of sensitive samples.
Transport of biomolecules has been demonstrated when applying voltages less than 1 KV. Semiconductors such as Si, Ge, GaAs, TiO2, CdS, and ZnO in contact with a liquid exhibit a change in surface charge upon irradiation with light of an appropriate wavelength when electronic bands of the semiconductors are bent. These reactions occur initially by the absorption of photons of energies greater than the corresponding semiconductor band gap to form conduction band electron-valence band hole pairs. This phenomenon has been shown to be advantageous for the photoelectrophoretic transport of biomolecules, but prior to the present disclosure has not been used for separating biomolecules.
Band bending can be achieved by suitably polarizing the semiconductor with respect to the liquid with a power supply. The back contact to the semiconductor electrode is Ohmic in character while the semiconductor-liquid interface acts as a Schottky barrier. Therefore, most of the applied voltage is dropped at the semiconductor-liquid interface creating a space charge (depletion or accumulation) layer in the semiconductor. The formation of depletion or accumulation layer depends on the bias and the type of semiconductor. The nature of band bending can be changed from depletion to accumulation by changing the sign of the applied potential with respect to flat band potential of the semiconductor-liquid interface.
Irradiation of the semiconductor-liquid interface with photons of appropriate energy produces electron-hole pairs in the depletion or accumulation layer. The field in the depletion or accumulation layer separates the electron-hole pairs. For example, for a n-type semiconductor, the bands are bent down for a depletion layer, and therefore the electrons come to the semiconductor-liquid interface during illumination. In the case of an accumulation layer irradiation causes the holes to accumulate at the solid-liquid interface. The presence of a charge on the semiconductor can be used for attracting charged biomolecules.
An experiment conducted by Gurtner et al demonstrated that DNA oligonucleotides could be photoeletrophoretically transported to a stabilized semiconductor surface coated with a streptavidin-agarose permeation layer (C. Gurtner, C. Edman, R. Formosa, M. Heller, Photoelectrophoretic Transport and Hybridization of DNA Oligonucleotides on Unpatterned Silicon Substrates, Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 122, no. 36, (2000) pp 8589–8594.). In this experiment, micro-illumination of the surface generated photoelectrochemical currents that were used to electrophoretically transport biointylated DNA capture strands to arbitrarily selected locations for attachment. These experiments demonstrate that a photogenerated potential is sufficient to cause movement in biointylated DNA capture strands.
A subject of a considerable amount of research in recent years has been microscale fluid handling systems that perform fast, automated, high-resolution sample preparation, reaction, and separation. Currently, this is being accomplished through advances in microfluidics. The idea is that once the manipulation of fluids can be mastered on the microscale, key experiments for biomolecule separation and analysis can be integrated and automated—all on a mass-produced chip. In microfluidic-based devices, DNA, proteins, and other molecules are transported, manipulated, and separated through miniature channels embedded into the chip. Detection systems can also be integrated into the chip or affixed externally as a separate component for seamless, automated and highly sensitive detection.


A light guide comprising an external surface forming a guiding diopter, the guide being suitable for guiding light rays by reflection on the guiding diopter. The guide comprises at least one decoupling portion, with a refraction decoupling diopter arranged so as to refract light rays to decouple them from the guide, and thus transmit them out of the guide through the refraction decoupling diopter.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention deals with a light guide that may be rectilinear or have a curved profile. The invention also deals with a lighting and/or signaling device, notably for a vehicle, the device comprising a light guide.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of motor vehicle lighting and signaling, it is increasingly commonplace to use optical guides. In practice, the optical guides present the advantage of being able to assume widely varied geometrical forms and bring a lighting surface even into inaccessible areas of the lighting and/or signaling device, thus contributing to the style of the device.
In the present application, the term "optical guide" is used to mean a transparent or translucent piece inside which light rays are propagated in a controlled manner from one of the ends of the guide, called "input face", to at least one output face. The controlled propagation is generally performed by internal reflections on various faces, called internal reflection faces or guiding diopter.
In some light guides, the internal reflection faces may return the light toward an output face other than the terminal face, so that an observer has the impression that the output face is lit and that this output face corresponds to a light source. According to certain embodiments, for example as is described in the patent application DE 198 50 443 A1 and the patent application EP 1 780 463 A1, this output face is notably one of the internal reflection faces. In other words, the external surface of the guide forms, with the ambient air, a diopter suitable, on the one hand, for ensuring the propagation of the rays along the guide by total reflection and, on the other hand, for allowing a portion of these rays to leave for the lighting or signaling function. In this case, some incident rays on a first internal reflection face are returned with an angle of incidence to a second internal reflection face, the angle of incidence being such that, instead of being reflected on the second internal reflection face, these rays are transmitted and leave the guide. These first internal reflection faces can be obtained by the presence of a series of prisms on a rear face of the external surface of the guide, as is described in the documents DE 198 50 443 A1 and EP 1 780 463 A1. Such optical guides comprising prisms make it possible to obtain the emission of a light whose appearance is uniform on the output face, when the guide is in the on state. In the teaching of the document DE 198 50 443 A1, the section of light guide extending from the end receiving the light rays from the light source to the succession of prisms has a variable section intended to deflect the rays being reflected on the diopter formed by this section, in order to improve the standardization of the lighting produced by the guide.
A certain problem may however arise in a light guide conforming to the abovementioned teaching, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 of the present application. FIG. 1 illustrates a lighting or signaling device 2 comprising a light guide 4 extending in a generally curved longitudinal direction 5. A light source 6 is arranged facing a rear end of the light guide 4 forming an input face 8 for the light rays intended to pass through the light guide 4. The light guide 4 comprises a series of reflecting facets 16 on a rear face so as to decouple a portion of the rays passing through the light guide 4, which then leave through the front face 17 of the light guide 4 for a lighting or signaling function in a main direction 14 of the lighting or signaling device 2. The rays 20 and 22 emitted by the light source 6 symmetrically relative to the longitudinal direction 5 undergo at least one reflection of total reflection type on the diopter formed by the external surface of the light guide 4 to then be decoupled by the reflecting facets 16 and participate in the lighting beam. The surface of the light guide 4 in fact forms a diopter between the material of the light guide 4 with a given refractive index (typically of the order of 1.6 for polycarbonate) and the ambient air with a different refractive index (very close to 1). This refractive index difference between two contiguous media results in the existence of a limiting angle of incidence beyond which the refraction is impossible and for which there is total reflection. In the case of a medium of polycarbonate surrounded by air, this limiting angle is of the order of 39° (according to the Snell-Descartes law). In the case of polymethacrylate, the refractive index is of the order of 1.5 and the limiting angle approximately 42°.
The lighting or signaling device 2 also comprises a shield 12 arranged facing the front face 17 of the light guide 4, the rear portion of the light guide 4 comprising the input face 8 and the light source 6. The objective of this shield 12 is to collect spurious rays such as the ray 18 which are decoupled before encountering the active decoupling area with the reflecting facets 16. These rays 18 which are among the most inclined relative to the input face 8 meet the diopter with an angle of incidence less than the limiting angle mentioned above and leave the light guide 4 with refraction. They are likely to generate a non-uniform and non-esthetic lighting. It is therefore necessary to make them invisible. The image produced is illustrated in FIG. 2 which shows the device seen by an observer arranged in front of the device. The light guide 4 is lit uniformly and a series of vertical lines corresponding to the edges of the reflecting facets can be observed. The shield 12 well masks the rear portion of the light guide 4, its non-uniformities and the light source 6.
For technical reasons relating to the fastening of the light guide 4, the fastening of the light source 6 on the light guide 4 and/or the mold stripping of the light guide 4, it may be necessary to provide a portion of the light guide 4 with a variable cross-section, more particularly the end comprising the input face 8 in proximity to the light source 6. In practice, the fastening of the light guide 4 at its end on the side of its input face 8 and the fastening of the light source 6 at this end may impose a design notably comprising fastening pins and shoulders at the end of the light guide 4. Such shapes may require the light guide 4 to have a clearance suitable for allowing a mold stripping in the longitudinal direction of the light guide 4, that is to say, a clearance with oppositely inclined edges. A device comprising such a light guide 4 is illustrated in FIG. 3 in which the details of its end with the fastening means have been omitted for reasons of clarity of explanation. Numerous elements forming the devices illustrated in this figure correspond to those of FIG. 1. A consistent numbering has been adopted to designate these various elements bearing in mind that the reference signs of FIG. 3 correspond to those of FIG. 1, except that they are increased by 100. The same applies for FIG. 4. Specific numbers have been used to designate the elements that are not present in FIG. 1.
The device 102 comprises a light guide 104 with a generally curved profile 105 and comprising a section 124 with variable cross-section extending from the input face 108 to the succession of reflecting facets 116 intended for the progressive decoupling of the light rays. Like the device of FIG. 1, the device 102 also comprises a shield 112 arranged in front of the rear portion of the light guide 104 extending from the input face 108 to the reflecting facets 116, this portion corresponding to the portion with variable cross-section. The rays 120 and 122 emitted by the light source 106 symmetrically relative to the longitudinal direction undergo at least one reflection of total reflection type on the diopter formed by the section with variable cross-section 124 to then be decoupled by the reflecting facets and participate in the lighting beam. The incident ray 118 on the input face 108 with an angle a little greater than that of the rays 120 and 122 will undergo a first total reflection on a front area of the diopter and then a second total reflection on a rear area of the diopter to then again encounter the diopter in a front area with an angle of incidence less than or equal to the limiting angle. It will thus be refracted and leave the light guide 104 in a direction close to the main lighting direction 114 without encountering the shield 112. This unwanted decoupling is caused by the reduction of the cross-section of the section 124 of the light guide 104 which, through a set of successive reflections, progressively reduces the angle of incidence of the rays, relative to the normal to the diopter formed by the light guide 104. Based on various parameters such as the length of the section with variable cross-section and the variability of its cross-section along its longitudinal direction, a portion of the rays 120, 122 emitted by the light source 106 leaves the section with variable cross-section of the light guide 104 without encountering the shield 112, such as the incident ray 118. These rays 120, 122 will generate a area of higher light intensity 126 in proximity to the edge of the shield 112, as is illustrated in FIG. 4. Such an area renders the lighting beam strongly non-uniform and consequently detrimental from a photometric point of view and from an esthetic point of view.

Light guide with decoupling portion and shield collecting the decoupled rays


A grate-kiln pelletizing furnace includes a grate that conveys pelletized material to a rotary kiln, a cooler that cools pelletized material from the rotary kiln, and a gas flow apparatus that directs a stream of gas from the cooler to the rotary kiln to provide preheated process air for pelletized material in the rotary kiln. The gas flow apparatus also directs a stream of gas from the grate to the rotary kiln to vitiate the preheated process air.

The grate-kiln pelletizing process is a means of indurating iron ore into pellets suitable for transportation and subsequent use in blast-furnaces and steel-making. The iron ore fines are mixed with other materials such as dolomite and bentonite, and formed into round balls, which are then loaded onto a moving grate, where they are dried, preheated, and partially hardened. Final hardening takes place when the pellets are discharged from the grate into a large rotary kiln, where they are heated to 2400-2500 F by means of a large burner firing into a process air stream, with an excess of oxygen in the products of combustion. (In some cases oxidation of iron in the ore also provides heat input to the process.) The pellets are then cooled in a cooler by forcing a stream of ambient air through the pellets. The process air stream for the kiln is the hot air generated from cooling the pellets in the cooler combined with products of combustion from the kiln burner.
Since the heat transferred to the pellets in the grate and kiln sections is regenerated into the process air in the cooler, the process is very energy efficient, but the process requirement for large excess of oxygen in the kiln combined with the high air temperature in the air entering the kiln from the cooler also results in very high NOx. It would be valuable to be able to reduce the NOx generated by the kiln burner while still maintaining the high process efficiency by using the process air.
There are other similar processes that incorporate rotary kilns fired by a burner and supplied with a process air stream that has been pre-heated by cooling the product in a cooler. The invention is applicable to those processes as well.
Typical prior art grate-kiln pelletizing furnaces incorporate a large rotary kiln fired by one or two very high capacity (100 to 500 MMBtu/h) kiln burners which combust hydro-carbon fuels, usually natural gas, fuel oil, coal, or biomass, in an excess of high-temperature preheated air, to provide a high temperature (2400-2500 F) oxidizing environment which is needed to indurate iron ore pellets. The typical kiln is fired by a single large burner, with a very long high temperature flame. The large flame envelope results in a very large interface area between the flame and the high-temperature oxidant, and in long residence times. Thus, the large flame envelope, high preheat temperature, high flame temperature, and large excess of oxygen in the combustion zone all combine to generate very high NOx emissions.
The prior art design is very fuel efficient, in that the heat stored in the pellets is transferred to preheat air to temperatures as high as 2000 F; this air is then subsequently used for drying and heating the pellets, and as oxidant for the fuel needed to heat the process gases to the required temperature. The problem is that the factors that make the process fuel-efficient contribute strongly to the formation of NOx. Most of the strategies used by prior art low-NOx burners either do not work very well in the high temperature highly oxidizing environment, or have significant negative impacts on fuel efficiency.
The only other means available for NOx reduction have been after-treatment methods such as SCR, SNCR, and LO-TOX. These methods are either very expensive to implement, require significant additional energy input to the process, or are impractical to incorporate into the process.
In the context of maximizing fuel efficiency with unregulated emissions, the prior art arrangements make intuitive sense, as the highest temperature streams of recuperated cooling air are used in the highest temperature part of the process.
FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 show configurations typical of the prior art. In FIG. 1, hot indurated pellets are discharged from a kiln 10 into a cooler 12. A cooling air blower 14 blows a cooling air stream over the pellets in the cooler 12, cooling the pellets and heating the cooling air. The blower 14 is part of a gas flow apparatus that includes blowers, burners, ducts, flow control devices, controllers, and other known devices as needed, in a configuration that provides the heated process air and other reactants for the indurating process. The cooler 12 is typically segmented into stages or sections 20, with the cooling air leaving the sections 20 closest to the discharge end 22 of the kiln 10 hotter than the cooling air leaving the sections 20 farther from the discharge end 22 of the kiln 10. In the case of coolers in which the travel is rotational, such as annual coolers, the terms "closest" and "farther," as used above, refer to the distance that the pellets have travelled along the path of rotation of the cooler 12, as opposed to the linear distance from the discharge end of the kiln 10.
In FIG. 1, air at approx. 2000 F air leaving the hottest section 20 of the cooler 12 passes through a combination of hood and duct structures 24 before entering the kiln 10. A kiln burner 26 typically fires one or more fuels such as natural gas, fuel-oil, coal, biomass, etc. into the discharge end 22 of the kiln 10. The kiln burner 26 is typically provided with a stream of combustion air which is much less than the amount required to completely combust the air. The process air from the cooler 12 includes a large excess of air compared to what is required to burn the fuel, so there are typically oxygen levels from 10% to 16% in the process air leaving the kiln 10 after fully combusting all of the fuel.
The process gases leaving the kiln 10 pass through one or more ducts 30 to the final preheat section 34 of a traveling grate 36. Dried and partially hardened pellets discharge from the grate 36 into the kiln 10 where the indurating process is completed. The process gases at perhaps approximately 2400 F are induced by a process gas blower 38 to flow through the pellet bed on the grate 36, preheating the pellets; in doing so, the process gases are cooled to perhaps 600 F before entering the process gas blower 38. The process gas blower 38 then discharges the process gases through ducts 40 into the drying section 42 of the grate 36. The pellets at approximately ambient temperature enter the drying section 42 at the feed end 44 of the grate 36. In drying the pellets, the process gases are further cooled to a temperature typically between 200 and 400 F, before being discharged to atmosphere through an induced draft fan 46 and stack 48. It is typical for the exhaust to also be processed by means of equipment such as cyclone separators, electro-static precipitators, or baghouses (none of which are shown) to remove particulates before being discharged into the stack.
Typically, there are also one or more intermediate stages 50 of drying and/or preheat sections between the first drying section 42 and the final preheat section 34. In one typical configuration (FIG. 1), hot air at perhaps 1300 F from an intermediate section 20 of the cooler 12 is directed through a duct 51 and further heated by an air heater 52 to about 1500 F before being ducted to one of the intermediate sections 50 of the grate 36. The air heater 52 is fired by a burner 54 using a fuel (typically natural gas, propane, or fuel oil) to provide the heat necessary for raising the temperature of the hot air to the required level. The process gases from the air heater 52 are then drawn through one or more intermediate drying/preheat sections 50, sometimes in a combination of updraft and downdraft configurations (not shown), before being processed through gas clean-up equipment (not shown) as described earlier and then being exhausted to atmosphere.
A slightly different known configuration is shown in FIG. 2. The difference between FIG. 2 and FIG. 1 is that in FIG. 2, the process gas from the intermediate section 20 of the cooler 12 does not pass through the air heater 52. Instead, the air heater 52 incorporates a stream of dilution air from a dilution air blower 56 (or alternatively from a combined air heater combustion air and dilution air blower—this alternative not shown) to create a hot gas stream of perhaps 2000 F that mixes with the incoming air stream from the intermediate stage 20 of the cooler 12 to produce a combined process gas stream at 1500 F, with a higher total mass flow rate, which is then directed to the grate as in FIG. 1.
Another known configuration in the prior art is shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, preheat burners 60 are installed in the roof or sides of the preheat and/or drying sections of the grate 36. The preheat burners 60 may be used instead of the air heater 52 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or in addition to the air heater 52.
In each prior art arrangement of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, process air of approximately 800 F from the final (coolest) stages 20 of the cooler 12 may be directed through ducts 62 to other parts of the plant (such as for grinding), or may be exhausted to the atmosphere through a stack 64 at approximately 300 F. The elements that differ between the three prior art configurations are sometimes used in combination with each other, e.g. some configurations have both preheat burners 60 and an air heater 52.

Apparatus and methods for achieving low NO


A working context is implemented for a business application by associating business objects with context categories that organize a user's favorite business objects. A working context that is specified by including at least one of the defined business categories can be applied to a business application by providing the corresponding favorite business objects to the business application for an execution of the business application.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to software and more particularly to software directed to business applications.
2. Description of Related Art
A business software user typically has responsibility for a limited set of business objects that contain relevant business data (e.g., accounting data for accounting applications). However, identifiers for these relevant business objects may need to be entered manually when the user executes a corresponding business application. This results in processes that are inefficient and error prone. Thus, there is a need for improved methods and related systems that implement a working context that includes relevant business objects for business applications.

Working context for business applications


An electra-absorption modulator and electra-absorption modulated laser are described that include a semiconductor layer having an electrically controllable absorption. The material composition of the semiconductor layer is chosen so that the semiconductor layer is substantially transparent to light propagating through the semiconductor layer when a substantially zero or a reverse bias voltage is applied across the semiconductor layer at operating temperatures of the electro-absorption modulator that are substantially greater than 25 degrees Celsius.

Electro-absorption modulators (EAMs) and electro-absorption modulated lasers (EMLs) are useful for transmitting information in telecommunications or data communication systems. EMLs have several advantages over other modulation sources. For example, EMLs can directly generate communication signals with relatively low bit-error rates without the use of external filters, which are undesirable because they are relatively large and expensive. External filters also occupy valuable space on the transmitter electronics board. In addition, EMLs directly generate transmission characteristics that have a relatively "clean" eye pattern when viewed on a communication signal analyzer. Such an eye pattern indicates acceptable discrimination between a digital "1" and digital "0" and, therefore, a relatively error-free (i.e. a bit error rate of less than 10−9) information transmission.
Another advantage of EMLs is that they can generate a stable and high-power modulated light beam. Yet another advantage of EMLs is that they can generate optical signals that are modulated at relatively high data rates. In addition, an EML is convenient to use because it is relatively easy to mount an EML in a package with an industry standard input impedance, which can be impedance matched to numerous commercially available drive voltage sources. EMLs are also relatively inexpensive.
A disadvantage of common, currently available EMLs, however, is that they require external thermal controllers for many practical applications. For example, EMLs require external thermal controllers, such as thermoelectric coolers (TECs), to maintain the EMLs at a substantially constant operating temperature so that data transmission can occur relatively error-free even as ambient temperatures vary over a relatively large range, e.g., over the entire Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) standardized operating temperature range. In general, external thermoelectric coolers are undesirable because they are power-intensive, relatively large and relatively expensive devices.

Electro-absorption modulated laser with high operating temperature tolerance


In an assemble processing system, when a syntactical analysis procedure syntactically analyzes a source program, a macro definition procedure stores a macro definition program body of the source program in a macro definition area, and a macro reference procedure stores a macro formal parameter and a macro local symbol of the source program in a symbol table. After the operation of the syntactical analysis means is completed, the macro reference procedure deletes the stored macro formal parameter and the macro local symbol from said symbol table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assemble processing system and, more particularly, to an assemble processing system adapted to processing macro features.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a prior art assemble processing system, a macro expansion processing requires a considerably long time to generate a macro expansion area. This will be explained later in more detail. As a result, the time for executing a macro reference processing is remarkably increased. In addition, the memory area required is also increased.


Systems and methods for improved data conversion and distribution are provided. A data subscription unit is configured to receive data and information from a plurality of data source devices. The data subscription unit is in communication with a virtual machine that includes backtesting utility configured to generate backtesting data using one or more statistical models and one or more non-statistical models. The backtesting utility may translate the backtesting results into one or more interactive visuals, and generate a graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying the backtesting results and the one or more interactive visuals on a user device. The backtesting utility may update one or more of the displayed backtesting results and the one or more interactive visuals without re-running the modeling steps.

Problems exist in the field of electronic data conversion and distribution. Users of data classes with sparse electronic data often seek additional data and information in order to analyze or otherwise utilize theses data classes. One utilization of electronic data is in the creation of data projections (or other statistical analyses/applications) for those data classes having sparse electronic data (e.g., limited historical data). Since the electronic data is sparse, it may be a challenge to obtain the additional electronic data and information needed, at desired time(s) and/or in desired data types and volumes, to generate accurate data projections. Indeed, accurate projections (and other forms of statistical analysis) typically require a large amount of historic electronic data and/or information for analysis. In the absence of such data and information, conventional projections (based on the sparse data and information) are often very inaccurate and unreliable. Accordingly, there is a need for improved data conversion and distribution systems which are able to generate accurate projections and yield other data analysis results that are accurate and timely, even if the data being projected is sparse.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Data conversion and distribution systems


A split-gate flash memory device has a floating gate with a lateral recess at its bottom sidewall by adding an undercutting step. The split-gate flash memory device has a floating gate with a lateral recess on a substrate, an integrated dielectric layer lining the substrate, the sidewall and the lateral recess of the floating gate; a control gate on the integrated dielectric layer and covering at least part of the floating gate; and a dielectric spacer in the lateral recess between the integrated dielectric layer and the control gate.

Flash memory device is a non-volatile memory device capable of maintaining information stored in its memory cell without a power supply. One advantage of the flash memory device is its capacity for block-by-block memory erasure, and another advantage is its low electric consumption. The flash memory device can be classified into a stacked-gate cell, a split-gate cell, and the like, according to their corresponding cell transistor gate structures. A split-gate cell which includes a control gate physically implemented laterally adjacent to a floating gate is characterized by excellent efficiency in its erasure and program functionality. This high efficiency effectively protects the split-gate cell from inadvertent over-erasure of stored data.
As known in split-gate flash technology, forward-tunneling voltage (FTV) and reverse-tunneling voltage (RTV) are highly correlated to the floating gate profile. Also, RTV is correlated to a tiny nitride spacer formed between the lower edges of the floating gate and the control gate. This nitride spacer, also called a reverse-tunneling nitride (RTN) spacer, is used to prevent write disturbance caused by reverse tunneling. Thus, how to control the profile of the floating gate and maintain the film thickness of the RTN spacer are important issues for improving program and erasure performance. In one case of fabricating a floating gate with a tapered profile, a sharp tip at the corner edge of the floating gate is obtained to achieve desired low FTV. However, this tapered profile usually accompanies a thin RTN spacer since it is difficult to control the process of etching a nitride spacer on the slanted sidewall, causing unwanted low RTV. Comparatively, in another case of fabricating a floating gate with a vertical profile, a thicker RTN spacer is obtained to achieve desired high RTV, but the later etching process always rounds the corner edge of the floating gate to get unwanted high FTV for lack of the sharp poly-tip.
Accordingly, when the conventional floating gate having the tapered profile or the vertical profile is employed with the known nitride spacer etching process, a trade-off between FTV and RTV will be inevitably entailed. It is therefore desirable to provide a novel profile of the floating gate for maintaining low FTV and high RTV simultaneously.

Floating gate with unique profile by means of undercutting for split-gate flash memory device

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


In one embodiment, the invention provides a method comprising determining information about an input/output device located north of the memory controller; and controlling a response of the memory controller to read/write requests on a processor bus to a bus agent on a system bus south of the memory controller based on the information.

In a typical system, a memory controller bridges communications between a system bus and a processor bus, and essentially acts as a master response agent (i.e. the target) of processor initiated transactions to read data from I/O devices coupled to the system bus. This works well when all I/O agents are on the system bus, i.e. they are located downstream of the memory controller.
However, some systems exist wherein a I/O agent may be located north or upstream of a memory controller. An example of such a system is a system that integrates an I/O device such as a communications processor into a central processing unit (CPU). With these systems the memory controller is unaware of I/O devices north of it and may therefore incorrectly claim cycles for transactions intended for those I/O devices.
This problem can be overcome by controlling the behavior of the memory controller in software. However, not all operating systems allow this type of control.

Claiming cycles on a processor bus in a system having a PCI to PCI bridge north of a memory controller


A method of compensating audio frequency response characteristics of a portable sound system can be performed using acoustic characteristics of a user measured in real-time. The method of compensating the audio frequency response characteristics can be used by a portable sound system. The method includes generating an acoustic characteristics curve of a user based on a minimum perception level of a user with respect to audible audio frequency bandwidths, generating an acoustic compensation curve of the user based on the acoustic characteristics curve of the user and a predetermined frequency characteristics target curve, and compensating the audio frequency response characteristics of a sound based on the acoustic compensation curve of the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a portable sound system, and more particularly, to a method of compensating audio frequency response characteristics of a portable sound system using acoustic characteristics of a user as measured in real-time, and a portable sound system using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a conventional portable sound system outputs music into a user's ears through earphones. The conventional portable sound system compensates for poor audio frequency response characteristics using a preset equalizer (e.g., having a modern rock mode and a jazz mode) without considering acoustic characteristics specific to the user when reproducing the music through the earphones in the user's ears. Therefore, the conventional portable sound system does not provide effective audio frequency response compensation for individual users because of the preset equalizer.
Acoustic characteristics differ for each individual user depending on the user's age, surroundings, health, etc. Therefore, since the conventional portable sound system compensates the audio frequency response characteristics according to a general standard on which the preset equalizer is based, the audio frequency response characteristics cannot be compensated according to each individual user.
The preset equalizer used with the conventional portable sound system typically has a rock or a jazz mode. However, the individual users cannot hear sound with an optimum quality because the preset equalizer does not accurately match the acoustic characteristics of the individual users.

Method of compensating audio frequency response characteristics in real-time and a sound system using the same


In an automated split path transmission with at least six forward speeds and three characteristic transmission steps (sI, sII, sIII), which decrease with the height of the forward speed, one of the forward speeds is a direct gear and the power of a further forward speed passing through two constant gearsets of the split path group.

The invention relates to an automated shift transmission for a commercial motor vehicle.
From the DE 42 26 576 C2 a car transmission is well-known, which is implemented as a split path transmission and features transmission steps between two adjacent speeds that are unequal in size.
From EP 0 557 707 B1 a method of shifting a gear-shift transmission is known. This gear-shift transmission is used in a motor vehicle and has two pairs of constant gears and a main, that is, direct transmission path. The transmission is equipped with a plurality of pairs of gearwheels, with a plurality of forward gears shiftable by synchronizer clutches or couplings and comprising gear transmission steps. The transmission also includes a reverse gear. All the gears are shifted only by simultaneous engagement of two clutches associated therewith. Two respective pairs of gearwheels are used for shifting from the first gear to the fifth gear. Pairs of gearwheels of the main transmission are used doubled for shifting two gears in one respective range-change gear shifting. A first pair of gearwheels of the main transmission is connected to a respective further pair of gearwheels in a first range-change gear shift structure for shifting two adjacent gears. A second pair of gearwheels of the main transmission is connected to a respective further pair of gearwheels in a second range-change gear shift structure for shifting two non-adjacent gears. This results in progressive transmission steps.
It is the object of the present invention to create an axially short transmission for commercial vehicles, which nevertheless has a relatively high number of speeds and a large transmission ratio spread.


A communication system from maintaining synchronization includes a communication signal comprising a carrier and a data signal that is sent from a transmitter to a receiver which includes a phase lock loop. The receiver compares the output of a Viterbi decoder with the output of a quick decision circuit. The Viterbi decoder, which incorporates traceback, determines the minimum aggregate Euclidean distance for multiple symbols. The quick decision circuit determines the minimum Euclidean distance for a single symbol without decoding the symbol. A delay circuit is placed in series with the quick decision circuit to compensate for the traceback delay in the Viterbi decoder. If the difference in the output signals of Viterbi decoder and the quick decision circuit is greater than a predetermined threshold, the phase error signal in the phase lock loop is prevented from updating the phase lock loop filter. A synchronization loss detector may also be used to prevent the phase error signal from updating the phase lock loop filter if synchronization loss is detected.

The present invention relates to phase lock loops in communication systems and improved methods for maintaining synchronization between a transmitter and a receiver. More specifically, a novel system and method is disclosed which incorporates an outlier rejection filter and a synchronization loss detector with the phase lock loop to thereby maintain the integrity of the phase lock loop during reception at the receiver of corrupted signals from the transmitter that is communicating with the receiver and/or when the receiver receives spurious signals from sources other than the intended transmitter. Corrupted signals from the transmitter and spurious signals from either the transmitter in the communication system or signals from sources other than the transmitter in the communication system, such as a jammer, are referred to herein as, individually and collectively, "outliers".
Generally, the inventive system and method maintains synchronization in a communication system in which a communication signal comprising a carrier and a data signal is sent from a transmitter to a receiver which includes a phase lock loop. The receiver compares the output of a Viterbi decoder with the output of a quick decision circuit. The Viterbi decoder, which incorporates traceback, determines the minimum aggregate Euclidean distance for multiple symbols. The quick decision circuit determines the minimum Euclidean distance for a single symbol without decoding the symbol. A delay circuit is placed in series with the quick decision circuit to compensate for the traceback delay in the Viterbi decoder. If the difference in the output signals of the Viterbi decoder and the quick decision circuit is greater than a predetermined threshold, thereby indicating that the communication signal received is an outlier, the phase error signal in the phase lock loop is prevented from updating the phase lock loop filter.
A typical prior art fast acquisition phase lock loop includes a reference oscillator, a mixer, and a filter. The filter is typically a fixed bandwidth filter. Fixed bandwidth filters have several disadvantages when used in a phase lock loop. When the receiver is not in phase lock, a fixed filter bandwidth limits the speed with which phase lock can be achieved. When attempting to achieve phase lock, a wide bandwidth is preferred so as to increase the speed of acquisition of phase lock since a wider bandwidth is more likely to encompass the frequency of the received communication signal. Once phase lock is achieved, a narrow bandwidth is preferred so as to reduce the noise in the output signal of the phase lock loop. Therefore, it is advantageous to incorporate a dynamic bandwidth filter in the phase lock loop. However, even the use of a dynamic filter in the phase lock loop will not overcome the degradation caused by the reception and processing of an outlier signal. The present invention's use of an outlier rejection filter and synchronization loss detector overcomes the problems inherent with the reception and processing of outlier signals, whether a fixed bandwidth filter or a dynamic bandwidth filter is used in the phase lock loop.
Additionally, the output signal from the Viterbi decoder is used to extract the carrier from the received communication signal by use of a lookup table to generate phase angle information as a function of the Viterbi decoder output signal. The phase angle information is combined with the Viterbi decoder output signal to reconstitute the data signal in the communication signal. The reconstituted data signal is combined with the communication signal, which has been delayed to compensate for the traceback delay in the Viterbi decoder, in order to extract the carrier. It is to be understood that the use of a look-up table is but one way to generate phase angle information and other methods of generating phase angle information, such as computing the phase angle from previously known or contemporaneously received parameters and/or measurements, determining the angle information of the received signal prior to sending the signal to the Viterbi decoder and storing the angle information for combining with the output signal from the Viterbi decoder, etc., are contemplated by the invention.
Receivers with phase lock loops are well known in the art. Typical prior art phase lock loops, such as a Costas loop for example, typically include a complex mixer which compensates for phase and frequency offsets between the received communication signal and the phase and frequency of a signal generated by a local voltage controlled oscillator ("VCO"). Prior art phase lock loops may also include a quick decision circuit to extract the data signal from a communication signal, a mixer to combine the data signal with the communication signal to extract the carrier wave, a phase detector to determine the phase error between the carrier and a reference signal, a phase loop filter which generates a signal responsive to the phase error in order to control the output signal of the VCO being applied to the complex mixer.
The prior art phase lock loop is susceptible to degraded operation due to the reception of outlier signals and the processing of those outlier signals as intended communication signals. For example, if the receiver receives a corrupted signal from the intended transmitter, the phase lock loop determines the phase error of the corrupted signal as if the corrupted signal were an intended communication signal, i.e., as if the corrupted signal included data to be communicated from the transmitter to the receiver. The communication signal from the transmitter can be corrupted by any means that normally corrupt a signal, such as loss or synchronization, reception of a multipath component of the communication signal, low signal to noise ratio, etc. Likewise, if a spurious signal is received by the receiver, the phase lock loop determines the phase error of the spurious signal.
The phase error of an outlier signal, when applied to the phase loop filter, degrades the operation of the phase lock loop by inserting information into the phase loop filter that does not correspond to an actual communication signal. Therefore, the phase loop filter will send control signals to the VCO that will cause the VCO to send signals to the complex mixer that will, in turn, increase the difference between the phase and/or frequency of the VCO signal and the phase and/or frequency of the received communication signal. Consequently, the phase lock loop will no longer track the received communication signal and the signal will be lost, necessitating reacquisition of the signal.
Additionally, typical VCOs used in the industry are expensive, do not track the received communication signal well, and/or require a lot of power to operate. The poor operation of VCOs results in the loss of the communication signal or result in dithering about the phase and frequency of the received communication signal thereby increasing the receiver's power requirements. In receivers that operate with a small power source, such as handheld receivers, the power drain associated with an inexpensive VCO is undesirable. Expensive VCOs are also undesirable as the cost of the overall receiver is increased.
Thus there is a need for an improved phase lock loop to overcome the limitations of the prior art by minimizing degradation in the operation of the phase lock loop caused by the reception of outlier signals and to do so at an affordable cost. Additionally, there is a need for a phase lock loop that operates without a voltage controlled oscillator.
One embodiment of the present invention avoids the problems of the prior art by including an outlier rejection filter and a synchronization loss ("sync loss") detector to control the operation of the phase lock loop and prevent the degradation of the phase lock loop due to the reception of outlier signals.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obviate many of the above problems in the prior art and to provide a novel phase lock loop system and method.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method for maintaining the integrity of a phase lock loop by incorporating an outlier rejection filter and a synchronization loss detector with the phase lock loop.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method for operating a phase lock loop without a voltage controlled oscillator.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method for reducing noise in a fast acquisition phase lock loop.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method for maintaining phase lock by changing the bandwidth of the phase loop filter as a function of the difference between the output signals of a quick decision circuit and a Viterbi decoder.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Phase lock loop and method for coded waveforms


In one aspect, a system for operating a power generation system within a battery storage/discharge mode or a dynamic brake mode may generally include a power convertor having a DC link, a switching module coupled to the DC link and a selector switch configured to selectively couple the switching module to one of a storage device or a resistive element of the power generation system. The selector switch may be movable between a first position, wherein the switching module is coupled to the storage device such that power is capable of being directed between the DC link and the storage device via control of the switching module, and a second position, wherein the switching module is coupled to the resistive element such that power is capable of being directed between the DC link and the resistive element via control of the switching module.

Power generation systems often include a power converter that is configured to convert an input power into a suitable power for application to a load, such as a generator, motor, electrical grid, or other suitable load. For instance, a power generation system, such as a wind turbine system, may include a power converter for converting variable frequency alternating current power generated at the generator into alternating current power at a grid frequency (e.g. 50 Hz or 60 Hz) for application to a utility grid. An exemplary power generation system may generate AC power using a wind-driven doubly fed induction generator (DFIG). A power converter can regulate the flow of electrical power between the DFIG and the grid.
Under certain conditions (e.g., transient power conditions), a high power mismatch between the rotor and the grid connection temporally exists and voltage transients become amplified such that a DC link voltage level can increase above normal allowed or rated levels. Various approaches have been utilized in the past to absorb or deflect power from the DC link during such excessive power level conditions. For example, fast acting shorting means, such as crowbar circuits, have been utilized to limit power flow into the DC link when grid faults or other transient events occur. More recently, dynamic brake systems have been utilized that include a resistor coupled to the DC link via a switch to dissipate power from the DC link. However, while such crowbar circuits and dynamic brakes are useful for preventing overvoltage conditions within the DC link, the power absorbed or deflected from the DC link is lost, thereby reducing the overall efficiency of the power generation system.
Accordingly, a system and method for operating a power generation system that allows power to be both deflected from the DC link during the occurrence of transient events and stored for subsequent discharge back to the DC link would welcomed in the technology. In addition, it would be desirable for the system to be further configured to operate as a dynamic brake when the option for power storage is unavailable to allow power to be dissipated from the DC link during transient events.

System and method for operating a power generation system within a power storage/discharge mode or a dynamic brake mode


A control system for an HID lamp, which in one implementation includes a magnetic ballast control system for an HID lamp using Zigbee. A plurality of condensers or choke coils of different capacities is mounted on a magnetic ballast for the lamp, and an electronic switch unit controls illumination according to change of such capacities. RF transmitting/receiving means using a Zigbee-based frequency are employed to turn the HID on and off, and to control illumination through wireless remote communications, thereby achieving considerable energy savings. Operational states of the HID lamp and ballast can be bi-directionally controlled through the communication module, with failures of the HID lamp and ballast automatically detected and notified to users.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic ballast control system for a HID lamp using Zigbee, and more specifically, relates to such a control system for a HID lamp, which includes a magnetic ballast for the HID lamp that is mounted with a plurality of condensers or choke coils of different capacities, an electronic switch unit for controlling illumination according to the change of capacities of the plural condensers or choke coils, and RF transmitting/receiving means that use a Zigbee-based frequency, thereby allowing to turn on and off the HID lamp and control the illumination through wireless remote communications.
2. Background of the Related Art
An HID (high intensity discharge) lamp is a high intensity discharge lamp, in which high pressure xenon gas and metallic compounds in an arc tube are excitedly discharged and generate light. The HID lamp, such as a metal halide lamp, high pressure sodium lamp, high pressure mercury lamp, and the like, is lit by a specially designed ballast and a starter that generates instant high pressure. When the HID lamp is lit, electrons and metallic atoms in the arc tube are collided and discharged, and the metallic compounds in the arc tube emit light of a unique color. Since the xenon gas suppresses neighboring ultraviolet rays and electromagnetic waves, the HID lamp generates white light close to natural light, which is not yellow and has good color rendering.
In addition, the HID lamp does not have a filament, and tungsten electrodes for discharge are fixed at both ends inside the arc tube. Therefore, the lamp does not need to be inconveniently replaced due to breaking down of the filament, and the lifespan of the lamp is five times longer than that of a halogen lamp. The HID lamp can stably work at power about 40% lower than that of the halogen lamp, and thus in an aspect of energy saving and environmental conservation, improvement and use of the HID lamp have been spotlighted recently in the industrial lighting equipment market.
When such a HID lamp is lit, the HID lamp is driven by a ballast that applies high pressure more than discharge initiating voltage in the initial stage to start discharge. The ballast for the HID lamp can be roughly divided into a magnetic ballast and an electronic ballast. Since the magnetic ballast does not have a separate control unit, it is advantageous in that the structure is simple, the manufacturing cost is low, and the failure rate is low, but illumination thereof is difficult to control. The electronic ballast can control the illumination in steps by constructing a dimming circuit through voltage control. However, since output voltage of the electronic ballast is low, turning on the lamp is unstable, and the lifespan of the lamp is short. Further, since a large quantity of electronic components is used, the manufacturing cost is high, and the failure rate is also high. Therefore, development of a magnetic ballast that can control illumination is required.
Meanwhile, as lighting equipments are recently emphasized on the aspect of interior, a plurality and a variety of lighting equipments are used even in one space. Further, in the case of an industrial site, even in a single work place, a certain area receives a plenty of sunlight and does not need separate lighting in daytime, whereas certain areas may need 100% or more than a certain level, if not 100%, of illumination even in daytime. Accordingly, illumination of a lamp is controlled in order to save energy that is wasted due to the use of a plurality and a variety of lighting equipments, or to create specific atmosphere as needed. If such illumination control is used to control the illumination of the HID lamp, advantages of saving energy and creating needed atmosphere obtained from the illumination control are added to the advantages that the HID lamp previously has in the aspects of environment and energy, thereby greatly contributing to energy saving and improvement of environmental problems.
Therefore, some companies have developed dimming ballasts that can control illumination of a HID lamp by controlling voltage of an electronic ballast. However, since output voltage is low, there is a problem in that turning on the lamp is unstable, and the lifespan of the lamp is shortened.
In addition, since a conventional HID lamp is lit at an unnecessary time point and maintains the same brightness from early evening to midnight, power is wasted. Since the HID lamp cannot be controlled remotely, power is continuously supplied to the ballast even after the lamp is broken down. Therefore, energy is considerably wasted due to no-load loss, and high voltage sparks are generated in the vicinity of the unlit ballast on a rainy or wet day. Although only the lamp is broken down and the ballast is in a normal state, due to high pressure pulse voltage, the start circuit of the ballast that is in a normal state will also break down in the end.
In order to solve the problems, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 0385296 has contrived an apparatus that is capable of controlling illumination, which receives latitudinal and longitudinal data using a global positioning system (GPS) module, calculates sunrise and sunset times by itself using a sunrise sunset program of a microprocessor, and automatically determines on-off time of a lighting equipment. However, since GPS is used as an apparatus for controlling a lamp, the GPS is disconnected in a bad weather condition, and illumination cannot be effectively controlled. On the other hand, an apparatus proposed by Korean Utility Model Registration. No. 0415595 uses a Zigbee wireless network that consumes low power. However, the Zigbee wireless network is used only to control turning on and off of a lamp, there is a problem in that illumination of the lamp cannot be controlled.
Accordingly, what is desperately needed is development of a ballast control system for a HID lamp, which can control illumination according to neighboring brightness and easily grasp operation and failure status of the lamp and a time to replace the lamp.
Accordingly, the present inventor has ardently tried to solve the problems of conventional techniques, and as a result, developed a control system for a HID lamp, which has a low-priced magnetic ballast for a HID lamp equipped with a plurality of condensers or choke coils of different capacities, an electronic switch unit for controlling illumination according to the change of capacities of the condensers or choke coils, and RF transmitting and receiving means that use a Zigbee-based frequency, and confirmed that the control system is capable of remotely controlling turning on and off and illumination of the HID lamp and easily confirming failure of the lamp and a time to replace the lamp, thereby completing the present invention.

Ballast control system for HID lamp using Zigbee


A broadband light source is disclosed. The broadband light source includes a rotatable gas containment structure. The broadband light source includes a rotational drive system configured to rotate the rotatable gas containment structure about the horizontal axis of rotation of the rotatable gas containment structure. The broadband light source includes a pump source configured to generate pump illumination and a reflector element configured to direct a portion of the pump illumination into the gas to sustain a plasma. The reflector is configured to collect a portion of broadband light emitted from the plasma.

The need for improved light sources used for inspection of ever-shrinking semiconductor devices continues to grow. One such light source includes a laser sustained plasma (LSP) broadband light source. LSP broadband light sources include LSP lamps, which are capable of producing high-power broadband light. LSP lamps suffer from uneven thermal distribution on the glass of the lamp and from convection-induced noise in the laser pump illumination. Consequently, the plasma light output from the lamp is reduced. These problems become larger at higher and higher pumping powers. As such, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method to remedy the shortcomings of the conventional approaches identified above.

Rotating lamp for laser-sustained plasma illumination source


A sea-pen arrangement is for farming fish. The sea-pen arrangement has a service unit with a plurality of shafts projecting downwards and a pontoon at their lower portions. The shafts define an inner area. A net forms a closed enclosure. The sea-pen arrangement further includes at least one sea pen positioned in an outer area on the outside of two shafts. A frame structure has an upper frame with a first fastening portion and a second fastening portion, a bottom frame, and a fence fastened to the upper frame and the bottom frame. The frame structure is fastened to the service unit at the fastening portions, and the frame structure surrounds the at least one sea pen in the outer area.

The farming of fish, especially salmonoids, has developed from simple and relatively small sea pens with a woodwork frame into large annular sea pens. The annular sea pens are provided with a circular buoyancy body which typically consists of two concentric plastic rings. The plastic rings may carry a walkway. The small sea pens were typically placed in protected coves and round fjords with narrow inlets. As the sea pens grew larger and deeper, the sea pens were placed in locations further from shore. These locations were more exposed to wind and waves.
It is also known that the sea pens may be of a square design and be surrounded by walkways in steel. Even though sea pens with plastic rings or with walkways in steel can stand some waves, they are still placed in locations which are relatively shielded from waves and wind.
To prevent contamination by fish-pathogenic organisms between the fish-farming facilities, there are requirements regarding distance between the facilities. Along a coastline, there are therefore a limited number of locations which satisfy the requirements on shielding and on distance to a neighbouring facility.
There is a risk that a farming facility may be wrecked in bad weather. The fish in the farming facility may then escape. The farmer then suffers a loss in the form of ruined equipment and loss of fish. It is also undesirable to have farmed fish escaping. Escaped farmed salmon, in particular, will seek towards rivers when they become sexually mature and interbreed with the wild population.
Patent document WO 98/24305 discloses an offshore platform resting on a seabed and which is provided with sea pens for farming of fish. The sea pens are connected to the platform with diagonal guy wires, which stretches from the platform to an anchoring on the seabed. The sea pens may be displaced along the wires.