A tranverse flux motor having multiple stator phase windings which are electronically commutated to produce a rotating flux to drive a permanent magnet rotor located externally of the stator. The stator is formed by two complementary facing pieces each carrying half the stator poles, the latter preferably being of claw pole configuration. The stator windings are sandwiched between the stator pieces and wound about cores which magnetically couple the stator pieces. Preferably the number of motor phases (P) is selected from the series 2, 3, . . . , N, the number of windings per phase (W) is selected from the series 1, 2, . . . , M, the number of poles per winding (PW) is selected from the series 2, 4, . . . , L, and the number of stator poles (SP) is equal to the product P*WP*PW and the number of rotor poles is SPxc2x1W.

This invention relates to polyphase transverse flux dc motors and in particular, but not solely, motors of the xe2x80x9cinside outxe2x80x9d type where the rotor rotates externally of the stator.
The use of term xe2x80x9cpolyphasexe2x80x9d in relation to a dc motor means a motor with a plurality of windings, or a plurality of sets of windings, which when excited sequentially from a dc source produce a rotating flux. Commutation of the motor phases is normally achieved using electronic switching devices in a bridge arrangement with the switching sequences controlled by a micro-processor.
The advantages of transverse flux machines are well known. A transverse flux machine is capable of producing power densities several times greater than conventional electrical machines. This arises from the geometry of transverse flux motors which enables a larger number of poles while maintaining the same magnetomagnetic force (MMF) per pole as would be achieved in a conventional machine design.
Transverse flux machines have in the past been difficult to implement because standard core lamination techniques do not easily permit the three dimensional. magnetic flux flow required in transverse flux machines. This difficulty is being overcome by the use of sintered powdered iron cores. These may be formed by a compression moulding technique.
Most transverse flux machine configurations disclosed hitherto are single phase machines. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,910 (Lange). Proposals for polyphase machines usually involve complex geometries which lead to difficulties in manufacture. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,142 (Von Zueygbergk), U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,551 (Weh) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,854,521 (Nolle).
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a polyphase transverse flux DC motor which is simple to manufacture.
Accordingly in one aspect the invention consists in a polyphase transverse flux dc motor comprising:
a rotor having alternating magnetic pole polarities at the periphery; and
a stator mounted co-axially with said rotor so as to provide at least one air gap there between, said stator including:
a first stator piece having a plurality of circumferentially disposed and spaced apart claw poles projecting in an axial direction,
a second stator piece complementary to said first stator piece and mounted co-axially in facing relationship with said first stator piece such that there is an axial spacing there between and oriented about the common axis such that the claw poles of the second pole piece circumferentially alternate with the claw poles of the first pole piece;
a plurality of magnetically permeable bridging cores disposed about the stator axis proximate to said claw poles and located between said first and second stator pieces to provide magnetic flux paths there between,
at least one said stator piece being provided with regions of magnetic high reluctance between the sites of said bridging cores, and
stator windings disposed about each bridging core each of which when supplied with an exciting current produce flux flow through those stator claw poles in the first and second pole pieces which are proximate to the corresponding bridging core thereby producing flux in said air gap adjacent such claw poles, each winding or a selected set of windings constituting the windings for one of a plurality of motor phases which in use are electronically commutated to produce a flux in said air gap which rotates about the stator axis.
In a further aspect the invention consists in a polyphase transverse flux dc motor comprising:
a rotor having a plurality of permanent magnets circumferentially disposed and separated by magnetically permeable material to provide alternating magnetic pole polarities at the periphery, said magnets being magnetised in the circumferential direction; and
a stator mounted co-axially with said rotor so as to provide at least one air gap therebetween, said stator including:
a first stator piece having a plurality of circumferentially disposed and spaced apart claw poles projecting in an axial direction,
a second stator piece complementary to said first stator piece and mounted co-axially in facing relationship with said first stator piece such that there is an axial spacing therebetween and oriented about the common axis such that the claw poles of the second pole piece circumferentially alternate with the claw poles of the first pole piece,
a plurality of magnetically permeable bridging cores disposed about the stator axis proximate to said claw poles and located between said first and second stator pieces to provide magnetic flux paths therebetween,
at least one said stator piece being provided with regions of magnetic high reluctance between the sites of said bridging cores, and
stator windings disposed about each bridging core each of which when supplied with an exciting current produce flux flow through those stator claw poles in the first and second pole pieces which are proximate to the corresponding bridging core thereby producing flux in said at least one air gap adjacent to such claw poles, each winding or a selected set of windings constituting the windings for one of a plurality of motor phases which in use are electronically commutated to produce a flux in said air gap which rotates about the stator axis.
In a further aspect the invention consists in a method of making a stator for a polyphase transverse flux dc motor, comprising the steps of:
forming a first stator piece having a plurality of circumferentially disposed and spaced apart claw poles projecting in an axial direction,
forming a second stator piece similar and complementary to said first stator piece, providing a plurality of magnetically permeable bridging cores to be symmetrically disposed about the stator axis proximate to said claw poles between said first and second stator pieces to provide magnetic flux paths therebetween,
providing regions of high magnetic reluctance between the sites of said bridging cores in either or both of the first or second stator pieces,
placing stator windings about each bridging core,
assembling the first and second stator pieces co-axially in facing relationship with each other and spaced axially apart by said bridging cores with said second stator piece oriented about the common axis such that the claw poles of said second pole piece circumferentially alternate with the claw poles of said first pole piece;
each said winding or a selected set of said windings constituting the windings for one of a plurality of motor phases such that in use when supplied with an exciting current produce flux flow through those stator claw poles in the first and second pole pieces which are proximate to the corresponding bridging core.
In yet a further aspect the invention consists in a polyphase transverse flux motor including a rotor having a plurality of circumferentially disposed permanent magnets separated by segments of high permeability material to form rotor poles,
a stator mounted co-axially with said rotor so as to provide at least one air gap therebetween, said stator having a plurality of circumferentially disposed and spaced apart poles,
at least one stator winding per phase disposed such that when supplied with an exciting current produce flux flow through stator poles which are proximate thereto to produce a flux in said air gap adjacent to said poles, said windings in use being electronically commutated to produce a flux in said air gap which rotates about the stator axis,
the improvement defined by the relationship wherein the number of motor phases (P) is selected from the series 2, 3, . . . , N, the number of windings per phase (W) is selected from the series 1, 2 . . . M, the number of poles associated with each winding (PW) is selected from the series 2, 4, . . . 1, and the number of stator poles (SP) is equal to the product P*WP*PW and the number of rotor poles is SPxc2x1W.


A full-depth bottle case assembly for different sets of bottles of different widths, such as 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 liter PET bottles, including a full-depth bottle case and alternative first, second and third dividers. The gridwork floor construction of the bottle case includes a plurality of female locking members. Each of the dividers has a plurality of male locking members depending down therefrom. The female and male locking members are configured and positioned such that when any one of the dividers is alternatively inserted into the case the divider is removably snap secured therein. Each divider when alteratively snap secured into the case defines with the interior walls of the case a plurality of pockets, for different width bottles than the other dividers.

The present invention relates to full-depth cases for transporting and storing beverage bottles. It further is concerned with snap-in dividers for full-depth cases for bottles or the like.
In the past it has been the practice in the packaging industry to individually design cartons or boxes and the dividers for them for a particular use. This resulted in a variety of cartons or boxes of differing sizes and dimensions being produced. While this has the advantage of using a specific design for a particular use and thus avoids the problems of makeshift cartons or boxes, those boxes are expensive since they require separate designs for each use or container. Also, if various types and sizes of containers are to be shipped in the same storage chambers of a transportation vehicle, the cartons or boxes may not have uniform exterior dimensions, thereby wasting valuable storage space when stacked.
In particular, it is desirable to alternatively handle 1.0 liter, 1.5 liter and 2.0 liter PET bottles, depending upon the every changing market demands. In the past, as market conditions changed and different sizes of bottles needed to be handled, it was necessary to purchase a whole new "float" or supply of cases since each case was designed for only one size of bottle. These market changes can be gradual or sudden. The old cases then would have to be stored or thrown away, both being expensive alternatives. The former alternative uses valuable storage space and the latter produces unnecessary waste material.
Accordingly, a new bottle handling system is needed such that as market conditions change and a different type of material or size of bottle needs to be handled that it can be done efficiently and economically. In particular, it is desirable to have an improved system which can effectively handle, store and transport today's 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 liter plastic returnable bottles in a commercially acceptable manner, which is compatible (that is, stackable and cross-stackable) with today's standard 309 mm by 412 mm full-depth cases, which is usable with palletizing and depalletizing machinery which hooks onto the center of the long wall of the case, which compactly cross-stacks on today's pallets without any overhang from the pallet sides, which allows chemicals and the like to be washed off the bottoms of the bottles while in the case, and whose case components cannot be easily disassembled or removed by unauthorized persons.


A piezoelectric thin-film resonator includes: a lower electrode that is formed on a substrate; a piezoelectric film that is formed on the substrate and the lower electrode; an upper electrode that is formed on the piezoelectric film, with a portion of the piezoelectric film being interposed between the lower electrode and the upper electrode facing each other; and an additional film that is formed on the substrate on at least a part of the outer periphery of the lower electrode at the portion at which the lower electrode and the upper electrode face each other, with the additional film being laid along the lower electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a piezoelectric thin-film resonator and a filter, and more particularly, to a piezoelectric thin-film resonator that utilizes the conversions between electric signals and bulk acoustic waves caused in a piezoelectric thin film, and a filter that includes such piezoelectric thin-film resonators.
2. Description of the Related Art
As wireless devices such as portable telephone devices have spread rapidly, there is an increasing demand for small, light-weight resonators, and filters formed by combining those resonators. Conventionally, dielectric filters and surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters have been used. In recent years, however, attention is drawn to piezoelectric thin-film resonators that exhibit excellent characteristics especially at high frequencies and can be made small or monolithic in size, and also to filters that are formed with those piezoelectric thin-film resonators.
Piezoelectric thin-film resonators are classified into FBAR (Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator) types and SMR (Solidly Mounted Resonator) types. A FBAR-type piezoelectric thin-film resonator has a film stack structure that consists of a lower electrode, a piezoelectric film, and an upper electrode, and is formed on a substrate. A hollow space or cavity is formed below the lower electrode at a location (a resonant portion) at which the lower electrode and the upper electrode face each other, with the piezoelectric film being interposed between the lower electrode and the upper electrode. The cavity in an FBAR-type piezoelectric thin-film resonator may be a cavity that is formed between the lower electrode and the substrate by performing wet etching on a sacrifice layer formed on the surface of the substrate, or may be a via hole that is formed in the substrate by performing wet etching or dry etching. A SMR-type piezoelectric thin-film resonator has an acoustic multilayer film, instead of a cavity. The acoustic multilayer film is formed by stacking films having high acoustic impedance and films having low acoustic impedance alternately, and has a film thickness of λ/4(λ: the wavelength of acoustic waves).
An FBAR having a via hole is disclosed in "ZnO/SiO2-Diaphragm Composite Resonator on a Silicon Wafer (K. Nakamura, H. Sasaki, and H. Shimizu, Electronics Letters, vol. 17, No. 14, pp. 507-509, July 1981)". A FBAR having a cavity is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 60-189307. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an FBAR having a via hole 18. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an FBAR having a cavity 18. As shown in FIG. 1, a lower electrode 12, a piezoelectric film 14, and an upper electrode 16 are formed in this order on a substrate 10 that has a SiO2 film 11 formed on its surface and is made of silicon. A cavity 18 (a via hole) is formed in the substrate 10 below a portion at which the lower electrode 12 and the upper electrode 16 face each other. As shown in FIG. 2, a SiO2 film 11 is formed as a supporting film on a substrate 10 made of silicon, so that a cavity 18 (a cavity) can be formed. A lower electrode 12, a piezoelectric film 14, and an upper electrode 16 are formed in this order on the SiO2 film 11. The lower electrode 12 and the upper electrode 16 partially face each other, with the piezoelectric film 14 being interposed between the facing portions of the lower electrode 12 and the upper electrode 16.
Here, the lower electrode 12 and the upper electrode 16 may be made of aluminum, (Al), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), platinum (Pt), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), iridium (Ir), chromium (Cr), titanium (Ti), or the like. The lower electrode 12 and the upper electrode 16 may be stack materials formed by combining some of those materials. The piezoelectric film 14 may be made of aluminum nitride (AlN), zinc oxide (ZnO), lead zirconate titanate (PZT), lead titanate (PbTiO3), or the like. The substrate 10 may be a silicon substrate, a glass substrate, a GaAs substrate, or the like.
When a high-frequency electric signal is applied between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, acoustic waves are generated by an inverse piezoelectric effect in the piezoelectric film interposed between the upper electrode and the lower electrode, or acoustic waves are generated by the deformation caused by a piezoelectric effect. Those acoustic waves are converted into electric signals. Since such acoustic waves are all reflected by the faces of the upper electrode and the lower electrode exposed to the air, longitudinal oscillatory waves having principal displacement in the thickness direction are generated. Resonance is caused at a frequency at which the total film thickness H of the film stack consisting of the lower electrode, the piezoelectric film, and the upper electrode (including the film added onto the upper electrode) is equal to an integral multiple (n times) of ½ of the wavelength λ of the acoustic waves The resonant frequency F is expressed as: F=nV/(2H), where V represents the propagation velocity of acoustic waves determined by the material. In view of this, the resonant frequency F can be controlled by adjusting the total film thickness H of the stack film, and a piezoelectric thin-film resonator with desired frequency characteristics can be obtained.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-536908 of the PCT international publication for a patent application discloses a technique by which an insulating film is provided at the same height as the lower electrode on the substrate, and the step portion is removed from the lower electrode, so as to prevent the degradation of the crystallinity of the piezoelectric film due to the step portion of the lower electrode. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-140075 discloses a technique by which the step portion of the lower electrode is placed directly on the substrate, so as to prevent the degradation of the crystallinity of the piezoelectric film due to the step portion of the lower electrode. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-254295 discloses a technique by which the corners of the resist pattern to be used for the formation of the lower electrode are rounded, so as to prevent the degradation of the crystallinity of the piezoelectric film due to the step portion of the lower electrode.
An AlN film is often used as the piezoelectric film, so as to achieve desired acoustic velocity, desired temperature characteristics, and desired sharpness of resonance peaks (the Q value). Particularly, the formation of an AlN film having crystallinity oriented toward the c-axis (oriented in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the lower electrode (the (002) direction)) is one of the essential factors to determine the resonance characteristics. However, the formation of an AlN film having high crystallinity oriented toward the c-axis requires a large amount of energy. For example, where a film is formed by MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition), it is necessary to heat the substrate to 1000° C. or higher. Where a film is formed by PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition), it is necessary to provide plasma power and heat the substrate to 400° C. or higher. Also, where a film is formed by a sputtering technique, a temperature rise is caused in the substrate by the sputtering of the insulating film. Therefore, an AlN film has high film stress.
The lower electrode has the step portion, and the side wall of the step portion is tapered. The piezoelectric film is formed to cover the step portion of the lower electrode. As a result, the crystallinity of the piezoelectric film becomes lower at the step portion of the lower electrode, and there is the problem of degradation of the resonance characteristics of the piezoelectric thin-film resonator.
In accordance with Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-536908 of the PCT international publication for a patent application, after an insulating film is formed to cover the step portion of the lower electrode, the surfaces of the lower electrode and the insulating film are flattened by polishing the surfaces so as to remove the step portion of the lower electrode. The film thickness of the lower electrode affects the resonant frequency. Therefore, it is difficult to perform the surface polishing without causing unevenness in the film thickness in the wafer plane and between wafers, while the film thickness control performed on the lower electrode by the surface polishing is essential. Also, the deposition of the insulating film and the surface polishing increase the number of manufacturing procedures. As a result, the productivity becomes lower, and the production costs become higher.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-140075 can cope with a piezoelectric film having high film stress, and improves the mechanical strength and the Q value. By this technique, however, the electromechanical coupling coefficient (k2) becomes lower.

Piezoelectric thin-film resonator and filter


A knee protector includes a plurality of pads positioned to cover a patella, a lower portion of the distal femur, the femoral condyles, the upper end of the fibula and an upper end of the proximal tibia with spacings between said pads to accommodate the flexion and extension of the knee when in use from a standing to a squatting position by a wearer.

The present invention relates to a knee protector, particularly for use in athletic endeavors. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a knee protector which includes pads at selected areas surrounding the knee cap and are slidably disposed in use from a standing position to a bending condition.
Knee protectors are well known for use by athletes in participation of sports wherein the knee area of the athlete experiences contact with the ground or floor in which the athletic endeavor is occurring. There have been a number of devices proposed for the protection of the knee or the knee cap, but many of these devices either do not provide adequate protection for the knee or knee cap when it comes into contact with the ground or the floor or is extremely cumbersome to the wearer in moving from an upright or standing or moving condition to a bending condition, such as that of a catcher in baseball or softball or a goalie in hockey. For example, in many knee protectors or knee pads, rubbing movements produced between the cushioned or padded areas and the skin is produced upon the bending of the knee. This is due to the fact that the knee experiences an extension in front portion of the knee between the thigh on the one hand and the shin bone on the other. That is, the knee area is lengthened upon the bending of the knee and shortened upon an extension of the knee. The materials used for cushioning or padding generally have elastomeric properties, but the elasticity of the materials do not completely compensate for this extension in the knee area. Moreover, the continuous relative movements of the bending of the knee can cause the padding to slip into positions in which protection for the knee area is substantially reduced.


A candle holder includes a drip preventing and stabilizing cap member of transparent glass descending on the candle throughout consumption with an annular shoulder portion, a central, wick receiving aperture with a lip for melted wax and a depending skirt; a stand with a socket-less candlestick having a shallow, concave candle supporting surface receiving melted wax and receivable in the skirt to provide a wax seal; and vertical metal guide rods. In one example, the guide rods depend from a metal annulus sitting on a outwardly flared lower portion of the skirt and slide in sockets on the stand ensuring vertical descent of the cap. Alternatively, the guide rods are anchored in the foot of the stand and the sockets are in the metal annulus. In a different version, pairs of metal guide rods are anchored in opposite sides of the foot of the stand defining vertical sockets slidingly receiving rods which extend outwardly from the annulus and carry weighty knobs at free ends. Alternatively, a cap guiding ring is mounted, flag fashion, on the top of a rod upstanding from the base, in coaxial relation above the candle supporting surface, trapping the cylindrical skirt between the candle supporting surface and the guide ring, throughout burning.

The problems associated with dripping candles, complete burning and effective candle mounting are well recognized and there have been numerous attempts to provide solutions for more than one hundred years.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,200,121 issued in 1916 to Knapp teaches a sanctuary lamp which includes a socketless drip preventing candle holder of the type comprising: a drip preventing and a candle stabilizing cap member having an annular shoulder portion for sitting on a shoulder of the candle to descend under gravity during consumption thereof and a central, wick receiving aperture with a lip to contain melted wax and a skirt depending from the annular portion, spaced from the candle body; a stand having a base and an upstanding socket-less candlestick with a shallow, concave candle supporting surface at least as wide as the candle for containing melted wax and receivable in sealing engagement within the cap during the last stages of consumption of the candle to prevent leakage of melted wax; complementary cap guiding means on the cap means and stand including metal guide rods extending vertically between the cap means and the stand on opposite sides of the candle and socket means slidingly receiving the guide rods; whereby the complementary guide means maintains the drip preventing cap member on a fixed vertical axis prior to and throughout descent under gravity down the candle body during consumption thereof with the cap member retaining the candle upright on the candle supporting surface.
In the construction disclosed in the above-mentioned patent, the cap means comprises a massive metal member from which the skirt depends vertically, lower ends of the guide rods are anchored in the stand and upper ends are slidingly received in sockets extending vertically, completely through the skirt and the massive annular portion of the cap.
However, as pointed out in Knapp's subsequent U.S. Pat. No. 1,225,614, issued in 1918, the prior construction was not satisfactory, as the heavy metal cap member frequently tended to cant on the rods and the rods became coated with wax, preventing true and free descent of the cap so that the cap did not tightly seal the candle support and wax leaked throughout burning.
In an attempt to overcome these disadvantages, Knapp's later patent directs a different approach, substituting a cap of transparent vitreous material for the massive metal cap and eliminating the guide rods, instead relying on complex profiling of the cap interior to facilitate centering on the candle during descent and providing a candle supporting surface restructured with a socket forming profile of greater depth with a peripheral rubber seal.
However, the requirements for a rubber seal and complex restructuring increase the manufacturing expense of the candle holder while the profiled socket requires a matching profile on the bottom of the candle which obviates use of a simple and inexpensive generic candle, decreasing versatility and further increasing both manufacturing and operating costs.
Even so, as a result of the increased depth of the wax receiving socket, apparently, the candle will not be completely consumed as the resulting enclosure formed at the final stage of candle burning appears so deep as to cause the flame to be extinguished through lack of oxygen.
A second type of a drip preventing candle holder is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 1,365,485 issued in 1921 to Guest also comprises a drip preventing and candle stabilizing cap member having an annular shoulder portion for sitting on a shoulder of the candle to descend under gravity during consumption thereof and a central, wick receiving aperture with a lip to contain melted wax and a cylindrical skirt depending from the annular portion; a stand having a base and an upstanding, socket-less candlestick with a candle supporting surface and receivable in sealing engagement within the cap during the last stages of consumption of the candle to reduce or prevent leakage of melted wax; and complementary cap guiding means on the cap member and base. However, the guiding means includes the skirt which is longer than the candle so as to slidingly receive the candlestick to guide the descent of the cap member to maintain the candle upright on the candle supporting surface throughout burning.
In the Guest patent, the candlestick is of constant width, substantially equal to the width of the candle and supporting surface and, preferably, the guiding means includes a cylindrical sleeve member upstanding from the base of the stand surrounding the candlestick in coaxial relation to provide therebetween a skirt receiving socket. As the skirt is of greater axial length than the candle it is guided by sliding receipt in the socket during burning ensuring even vertical descent of the cap member. Furthermore, the lip is extended to provide a large bowl as necessary to contain the increased amount of wax melted as a result of the high thermal conductivity of the cap which is apparently metal.
However, that construction is relatively bulky and heavy, also requiring vent holes at an upper end for cooling the candle body and to drain back reliquified wax from the bowl at the final stage of burning adding to complexity and manufacturing cost. Removal of any wax leaking into the socket can be relatively time consuming and difficult. In addition, the candle body is concealed from view substantially completely throughout burning by the metal cap member.
Other prior cap members and candle holders are taught by U.S. utility Pat. Nos. 84,103; 3,071,952; 3,767910; 4,544,357; 4,566,055; 4,755,135; 5,057,005; U.S. design Pat. No. 288,722; U.K. patent application publication 2,067,739 and Japanese patent application publication 9161517.

Socketless drip preventing candle holder


A solenoid valve for a slip control system in a vehicle is disclosed. A flow passage is provided in which working fluid such as oil that generates a break hydraulic pressure flows from the side of a solenoid valve through a filter, flows to the front of a plunger through a side hole formed in a valve body of the solenoid valve, and then flows along the side of valve body, that is, is discharged out of an outlet through a side space between valve body and a valve seat. Therefore, linear pressure control is easy because working fluid flows into toward the front of valve plunger through a side inlet of solenoid valve and the entire size is reduced because a special channel for guiding working fluid to the front of the valve plunger is not needed in a pump housing case.

In general, in a brake system for a vehicle, a hydraulic pressure that is a braking pressure is transferred to the wheel brakes by operating the brake pedal to decelerate or stop the vehicle. However, because the brake system is actuated to stop a traveling vehicle by force, which causes the vehicle to skid forward depending on the road condition or braking pressure.
A brake system that electronically controls the braking pressure for the wheel brakes is widely used in vehicles to prevent the slip, and, for example, an ABS (Anti-Lock Brake System), a TCS (Traction Control System) that prevents excessive slip of the driving wheels due to sudden start or sudden acceleration, or an ESP (Electronic Stability Program) system that safely maintains the direction of a vehicle travel intended by the driver under any driving conditions by minimizing the difference of the actual direction from the direction of a vehicle travel intended by the driver.
These electronic control brake systems are provided with a solenoid valve to control hydraulic pressure in the brake wheel cylinders. The solenoid valve was controlled by an on-off control method in the related art, but, recently, is controlled by pulse width modulation (referred to as PWM hereafter) to appropriately adapt to various conditions.
For example, as for an ABS/ESP, when a normal open-typed solenoid valve is operated, a control unit (commonly called ASB/ESP HU (Hydraulic Unit)) adjusts a preset duty ratio of PWM signals and actuates the normal open-typed solenoid valve to control the pressure of the brake wheel cylinders.
The solenoid valve that is installed in the oil pump housing block blocks the flow passage when working fluid flows from the master cylinder to the wheel cylinder and opens the flow passage when working fluid flows from the wheel cylinder to the master cylinder. Therefore, the channel formed in the pump housing block allows oil to flow through an involved pump and accumulator as well as the solenoid valve.
Accordingly, the solenoid valve is installed such that the inlet/outlet of the solenoid valve is aligned with the inlet/outlet of the channel formed in the pump housing block.
Further, because a linear pressure should be controlled in order to control PWM of the solenoid valve, it is preferable for oil to flow into the solenoid valve toward the front of the plunger.
In general, however, a channel that is formed in a pump housing block including a solenoid valve is formed such that oil flows into the solenoid valve from the side. Accordingly, since the oil flows into the solenoid valve from other directions and not from the front of the plunger, it is difficult to control the PWM as well as the linear pressure.
Further, in order to overcome the above problems, when a channel is formed in the pump housing block to guide oil to the front of the plunger in the solenoid valve, that is, when the inlet and the outlet of the channel are switched from each other in the pump housing block, the manufacturing cost increases. Furthermore, due to the change of the inlet port and outlet port of the channel, the entire size of the pump housing block increases, instead of reducing the size.


Embodiments related to communication of data in a first and second transmission mode are depicted and described herein.

In many data communication systems data are transmitted by modulating digital data onto transmission signals. Such data transmission systems include single-carrier data communication systems such as QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation) or PSK (Phase shift keying) and multi-carrier system using a plurality of subcarriers such as OFDM (Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) or DMT (Discrete multitone modulation) to transmit data on multiple frequency bands.


A bi-directional detector which enables a host and a client in a collection terminal is disclosed. The bi-directional detector includes a client detection unit in the host part, for detecting the clients connected to the host part; a client identification unit for identifying types of the clients detected by the client detection unit; a host detection unit in each of the clients for detecting the host part; and a switch unit in each of the clients for determining whether to apply comparison power to the client detection unit and the host detection unit according to whether power is applied to the client. In the bi-directional detector, the client directly detects the host part and manages the connection, thereby reducing the load on the host part, without performing a step by which a host part responds to a connection request of a client.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable information terminal, and more particularly to a bi-directional detector, which enable a host and a client in a collection terminal connected to various function expanding devices, to detect each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
As wireless communication spreads and requests for mobile computing enabled by this spread of the wireless communication increase, a collection terminal has been developed for connecting a portable information terminal, such as a portable telephone or a personal digital assistant (PDA), to various devices. This development has expanded the functions of the collection terminal. A control module of the collection terminal used for controlling each of the devices is defined as a client and a control module for synthetically managing the clients is defined as a hostpart.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating the concept of a collection terminal. FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing a general collection terminal. Referring to FIG. 1A, the general collection terminal includes one host part 11 and a plurality of clients 13 to 17 connected to the host part 11. FIG. 1B is a block diagram showing a collection terminal used as a telematics unit for vehicles. Referring to FIG. 1B, the collection terminal includes a charging unit 23, an audio unit 25, a navigation processing unit 27, a hands-free unit 29, and a control unit 21, which synthetically manages these units 23-29. In FIG. 1b, the control unit 21 operates as a host part of the collection terminal. Further, the charging unit 23, the audio unit 25, the navigation processing unit 27, and the hands-free unit 29 operate as clients for controlling corresponding devices.
In the conventional collection terminals having described above constructions, the host part receiving a connection request signal (hereinafter, referred to as an REQ) from the client, transmits an acknowledgment signal (hereinafter, referred to as an ACK) to the client, so that the client and the host part are connected to each other.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts illustrating methods by which a host part of a collection terminal detects a client. Specifically, FIG. 2A is a flowchart illustrating a method by which the host part 11 of the collection terminal in FIG. 1A detects connections of the clients 13, 15, and 17 and responds to the detection. FIG. 2B is a flowchart illustrating a method by which the control unit 21 in FIG. 1B detects connections of the navigation processing unit 27, and the hands-free unit 29 and responds to the detection.
Referring to FIG. 2A, in step S31 the host part 11 receives a REQ from the client 13 and transmits an ACK with respect to the REQ of the client 13 in step S32. The host part 11, in step S33 receives a REQ from the client 15 and transmits an ACK with respect to the REQ of the client 15 in step S34. In step S36, the host part 11 receives a REQ from the client 17 and transmits an ACK with respect to the REQ of the client 17 in step S36. Accordingly, as the types and number of devices added to the collection terminal increases, the host part 11 must respond to a connection request for other devices while simultaneously controlling each device. Therefore, a system becomes overloaded.
Referring to FIG. 2B, in step S41 the control unit 21 receives a REQ from a navigation processing unit 27, transmits an ACK with respect to the REQ of the navigation processing unit 27 in step S42, and then starts an operation of the navigation processing unit 27 in step S43. As described above, when in step S44 the control unit 21 receives a REQ from another client, e.g., the hands-free unit 29 while performing its heavy load, such as a navigation operation in step S43, the control unit 21 cannot immediately respond. That is, after a predetermined delay time in step S45, the control unit 21 transmits an ACK to the hands-free unit 29 in step S46, because the control unit 21 spends system resources on the job which requires a heavy processing, such as management of the operation of the navigation processing unit 27.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a conventional client detector. Referring to FIG. 3, the client detector includes a host part 50 and a client 60. The host part 50 includes a client detection unit 51, a client identification unit 53, and a first interface unit (hereinafter, referred to as an I/F) 55. The client 60 includes a second interface unit (hereinafter, referred to as an I/F) 61.
The client or second I/F 61 forms a communication channel with the host or first I/F 55, transmits a REQ of the client 60 to the host part 50, and receives an ACK from the host part 50.
Meanwhile, the first I/F 55 receives the REQ of the client 60 from the second I/F 61 to transmit the received REQ to the client detection unit 51 and the client identification unit 53, and transmits an ACK for the REQ to the client 60.
The client detection unit 51 detects the client 60 in the client section on the basis of the REQ received through the first I/F 55, and the client identification unit 53 identifies the type of the detected client 60 in the client section.
In the conventional method described above, the host part responds to a REQ of each client. Accordingly, when a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a CPU) of the host part is overloaded due to implementation of a predetermined operation, a response of the host part to the REQ of the client is delayed. As a result, a delay occurs when the client detects a connection with the host part and reacts to the detection.
Also, the client must periodically check a connection with the host part through a communication channel even after a connection has been already performed as well as in an initial connection step with the host part. Accordingly, a CPU overload, in responding to the clients' requests, occurs in the host part. This CPU overload in the host part causes the response delay by the client.

Bi-directional detector for enabling a host and a client to detect each other in a collection terminal


The present invention is directed to a device for providing transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) to the finger of a patient at the same time that the finger is being punctured for the purpose of obtaining a blood sample. The device should reduce the pain associated with this procedure and should be of particular interest to diabetic patients that must perform repeated finger puncture procedures to monitor blood glucose levels.

Approximately 16 million Americans have diabetes and must regularly monitor their blood sugar levels. Kits for assaying blood glucose concentration at home came onto the market approximately 20 years ago and have replaced urine testing as the preferred method for assessing how well a patient's diabetes is being controlled. The kits typically require that a patient puncture a finger with a lancet to obtain a sample for testing. These procedures may be performed several times a day and, due to the high concentration of pain receptors in the fingertips, cause considerable discomfort.
One method of alleviating pain that has been used in other contexts has involved delivering mild pulses of electricity across electrodes taped to a patient's skin (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,171). The pulses are applied in the region of a patient's body where pain is occurring and appear to interfere with the neuronal transmission of pain signals. The technique has been termed "transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation" (TENS) and devices for controlling pain using the technique are currently being marketed by several companies, including 3M, American Imex and EMPI. Improvements in TENS technology have generally involved altering the characteristics of the electrical impulses delivered (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,431,002; 5,109,847; 3,902,50; 5,350,414; 5,069,211; 4,989,605; and 5,052,391) and in miniaturizing devices to make them more portable or more comfortable for use by patients (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,397,338; 6,445,955; and 6,023,642). A TENS device that could be conveniently used by diabetic patients to reduce the pain that they experience in monitoring blood sugar levels could significantly improve the quality of life for these patients.


Disclosed is a solid (e.g., cream, such as semi-solid or soft solid) cosmetic composition containing an active cosmetic material (e.g., a deodorant active, an antiperspirant active, a sunscreen, an insect repellent and/or an anti-fungal agent), volatile (e.g., cyclomethicone) and linear chain (e.g., dimethicone and/or phenyl trimethicone) silicone materials, and at least one gelling agent. The at least one gelling agent includes hexanediol-behenyl beeswax, and is included in the composition in an amount sufficient to provide the solid composition. By incorporating the hexanediol-behenyl beeswax as a gelling agent, conventional gelling agents such as fatty alcohols and hydrogenated castor oil need not be incorporated in the composition. When an antiperspirant active material is incorporated in the solid composition containing hexanediol-behenyl beeswax as a gelling agent, a solid antiperspirant composition that is efficacious and leaves no visible (white) residue, can be achieved.

The present invention is directed to a solid cosmetic composition which leaves substantially no visible (white) residue on the skin, which is stable and substantially anhydrous, and which is efficacious. In particular, the present invention is directed to a solid (for example, a cream) cosmetic composition containing active cosmetic material (for example, selected from deodorant active materials, sunscreen materials, insect repellents and anti-fungal agents), which leaves substantially no visible residue on the skin and which is efficacious.
The present invention especially relates to an antiperspirant cream composition containing an antiperspirant active agent (an antiperspirant active metal salt, such as an antiperspirant active aluminum salt and/or an antiperspirant active aluminum-zirconium salt) and to a deodorant cream composition containing a deodorant active agent ( for example, a bacteriostat, such as Triclosan), which exhibit the aforementioned properties.
Antiperspirant products are well known in the art. Antiperspirant products have appeared in the market in various dosage forms, such as sticks, gels, roll-ons, aerosols and creams. Of these dosage forms, various sticks, gels and creams are constituted by a liquid base material solidified by a solidifying agent (for example, a gelling agent), and these fall within solid cosmetic composition according to the present invention. Generally, the dosage forms include a solution of the active ingredient in a suitable solvent, a suspension of the active ingredient in a non-active solvent, or a multi-phasic dispersion or emulsion in which the active ingredient is dispersed in some continuous phase or in which the solubilized active ingredient constitutes the continuous phase.
A variety of cream formulations (also known as soft solids or semi-solids) are known. Various of these cream formulations include a clay thickening agent, and an activator for such clay thickening agent. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,375 to Tanner, et. al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,780 to Marschner, et. al.
Other cream compositions contain a particulate thickening agent such as fumed silica. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,897 to Orr, et. al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,069 to Shin et. al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,656 to Kasat, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, discloses a creamy, heterogeneous, anhydrous antiperspirant product containing, in percent by weight of the total weight of the composition, 30%-70% of a volatile silicone product as a carrier, 7-30% of a suitable gelling agent or agents, and about 12-30% of a physiologically acceptable antiperspirant agent. This patent discloses that the gelling agent can be any of a number of materials, including, for example, hydrogenated vegetable oil, hydrogenated castor oil, fatty acids, beeswax, paraffin wax, fatty alcohols, polyethylene and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,653 to Brown, et. al. discloses a styptic composition which effectively curtails bleeding while administering a soothing sensation to an injured area, the composition being in the form of a stable lotion or cream and including specific amounts of a long-chain fatty acid, a wax filler, polyethylene glycol stearate, polyethylene glycol sorbitan beeswax, an acidic metallic salt (an agent to stem the flow of blood) and water. This patent discloses that the long-chain fatty acid, polyethylene glycol stearate and polyethylene glycol sorbitan beeswax are employed as emulsifiers or dispersing agents which promote the formation of a stable lotion or cream, these materials also being believed to be responsible for the soothing nature of the lotion or cream; and that the wax filler can be any of various wax products such as microcrystalline wax, paraffin wax, and, preferably, beeswax.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,584 to Brand, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, discloses a modified beeswax, suitable for use in cosmetic preparations, which does not cause any crystallization in the fatty phase, the modified beeswax containing no or virtually no free acids. This patent discloses that the modified beeswax has self-emulsifying characteristics and has an outstanding dispersant action for solid substances. This patent discloses that the modified beeswax is capable of gelling fluid oils and other waxes (including synthetic triglycerides and lipophilic silicone oils), the viscosity of the oil being co-determining of the amount of beeswax to be used.
Notwithstanding all of the foregoing, it is still desired to provide a cosmetic composition (e.g., a solid cosmetic composition, including cream compositions) that is stable, substantially anhydrous and free of conventional gelling agents such as fatty alcohols and castor oil waxes, and which leaves substantially no visible (white) residue upon application and after drying. In particular, it is desirable to provide an antiperspirant cream composition that is stable, substantially anhydrous and free of conventional gelling agents, and which exhibits substantially no visible (white) residue upon application and after drying.

Solid cosmetic composition containing hexanediol-behenyl beeswax as gelling agent


A wafer level optical lens structure is provided. A stress buffer layer is disposed between a light-transmissive substrate and a lens layer, so as to improve production yield of the wafer level optical lens.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an optical lens structure. Particularly, the invention relates to a wafer level optical lens structure.
2. Related Art
Along with a trend of module miniaturization and low price of electronic products, a wafer level module (WLM) technique draws attention. The WLM technique is mainly to use a wafer level fabrication technique to miniaturize a volume of the electronic product and decrease the cost thereof. For example, when the aforementioned technique is applied to fabricate wafer level optical (WLO) lens modules, the WLO lens modules may have smaller volume compares with that of a conventional lens module, so that the WLO lens modules can be applied to camera modules of, for example, mobile phones.
Along with increasing demand on optical quality of the WLO lens module, a structure of the WLO lens module gradually becomes complicated, and the WLO lens module has to include multiple layers of different material structures to satisfy the market demand. However, due to different physical characteristics of different materials, a stress effect between different layers of material is liable to cause defects in the WLO lens modules during a fabrication process, which decreases a product yield of the WLO lens modules.


An extension cord holder includes a handle; a main post having top and bottom ends, the main post being connected to the handle at the top end; and, front and rear cord retention arms extending upwardly from the bottom end of the main post to define front and rear upwardly opening slots, each slot sized and shaped for receiving a plurality of loops of an extension cord. An extension cord may be loaded onto the holder by positioning successive loops from a mid point of the cord to the male end of the cord into one slot and from the mid point of the cord to the female end of the cord into the other slot. Deployment of the male and female ends of the cord may be achieved in reverse order.

Many devices have been developed for holding coiled articles such as garden hoses, electrical cords, ropes, clothes lines and the like. Examples of such devices are shown in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 5,429,321 Skyba July 4,1995 4,997,997 Moore March 5, 1991 4,779,815 Moore et al. Oct 24, 1988 4,688,739 Moore August 25, 1987 4,586,675 Brown May 6, 1986 578,205 Brown et al. March 2, 1897 Desl70,162 Ogren August 11, 1953 ______________________________________
Each of the devices disclosed in these patents will allow an extension cord or similar elongate member to be wound up and unwound with varying degrees of ease and convenience; however, such devices do not facilitate deployment of the cord or elongate member from either end. Many such devices are also very cumbersome to carry and manipulate while winding and deploying the cord.
What is needed is a device that facilitates winding and deployment of an electrical cord form either end of the cord and that is easy to carry and manipulate.


The invention relates to a method for protecting against unauthorized use of a vehicle which has bidirectional communication with a master station, whereby it is possible not only to transmit exclusively a position message of the vehicle to the master station or to transmit exclusively enabling signals to the vehicle from the master station, but also to make the communication appropriate to requirements. The necessary transmission of information is substantially reduced in that the enabling signal is broadcast only when requested by the vehicle. On the other hand, it is still not possible for the enabling to be carried out at the vehicle end only.

The invention relates to a method for protecting vehicles against unauthorized use by broadcasting a use enabling signal from a master station.
Such a protection arrangement is disclosed, for example, German patent document DE-A 44 40 975.3-51, in which an anti-theft control unit and a receiving device of a mobile communication system are arranged in the vehicle. A communication structure aboard the vehicle permits, on the one hand, the exchange of data between an anti-theft control unit and the receiving device and, on the other hand, the exchange of data between the anti-theft control unit and at least one operationally necessary control unit of the vehicle. As long as a vehicle has not been reported stolen, or provided another unauthorized use of the vehicle has not been determined, signals are transmitted from a master station to the vehicle via the mobile communication system at regular time intervals, the said signals being received by the receiving device. The reception of the signals is conveyed from the receiving device to the anti-theft control unit via the communication structure. The signals are detected and if they are determined to be directed at the vehicle, operation of the vehicle is enabled for a prescribed time period which is longer than the time interval between two successive signals. If no signal is received before expiration of the period for which operation of the vehicle is enabled, the enabling of operation of the vehicle is not prolonged. The anti-theft control unit then actuates the at least one operationally necessary control unit via the communication structure and prevents the further operation of this control unit, at least at the next attempt to activate the vehicle.
This measure prevents a vehicle from being used without authorization over a relatively long period of time. Also, operation is not dependent on signals which are emitted by the vehicle and may be disrupted, but is instead dependent exclusively on reception of the signals broadcast by the master station so that disruption or destruction of the communication system does not permit prolonged use of the vehicle.
A disadvantage of this method, however, is that it does not enable a location of the vehicle. As a result, it is still possible, for example after misappropriating the vehicle, to transfer it to another location on a transporter, without risk. In addition, a relatively long period of time may pass between the time when the unauthorized use of the vehicle starts and the time when the information relating to the unauthorized use is conveyed to the master station, so that broadcasting of the signals may not commence until a considerable period of time after the unauthorized use has started. During this period of time, the unauthorized use of the vehicle can be continued unhindered. In addition, if a large number of vehicles are to be protected in this manner, a very large transmission capacity is required for the signals which are broadcast at regular time intervals. Therefore, this method is suitable only for protecting a strictly limited number of vehicles.
Furthermore, it is known for example from the article "Satellitenhilfe gegen Auto-Klau" Using satellites to combat car theft! by R. Gramm in the journal Funkschau Issue 16/1993 pp. 42 to 45 to provide a locating system which is arranged in the vehicle and determines, continuously or at regular intervals, the geographic area the vehicle is located, and conveys this information to a master station via a transmitting device aboard the vehicle end. A receiving unit for receiving and evaluating the locating information broadcast by the transmitting device is present in this master station. The location of the vehicle can thus be monitored continuously or at regular intervals in the master station.
This device has the disadvantage that it provides no arrangement for disabling the vehicle. The tracking of the vehicle by the master station can also be prevented, for example, by destroying the transmitting device at the vehicle end or the locating system. In addition, a large capacity in terms of transmitting devices and transmitting frequencies must be made available if a large number of vehicles are to be tracked continuously. If for example a digital radio telephone is used as the mobile communication system, high communication costs are incurred in order continuously to convey the results of the locating of the vehicle to the master station.
The object of the present invention is to prevent reliably the unauthorized use of a vehicle, even if the communication between the vehicle and master station is prevented.
Another object of the invention is to locate the vehicle, at least if an unauthorized use occurs. In this context, the system is to operate in a cost effective way and is also to be capable of monitoring a large number of vehicles.
This object is achieved by the method according to invention, in which a master station broadcasts an enabling signal. For this purpose, an antitheft control unit located aboard the vehicle transmits a status signal containing vehicle identifying data when enabling of the vehicle is cancelled. The master station checks to determine whether it has received an indication of unauthorized use of the vehicle, and absent such an indication, transmits an enabling signal, which causes the antitheft control unit to extend the authorized use of the vehicle for a predetermined period. If no enabling signal is received within a prescribed time period, at least one operationally essential vehicle system is disabled, and a vehicle location signal is broadcasted from the vehicle.
Communication between the vehicle and master station is bidirectional. As a result, it is possible not only to transmit exclusively a position message of the vehicle to the master station or to transmit exclusively enabling signals to the vehicle from the master station, but also to make the communication appropriate to requirements. The necessary transmission of information is substantially reduced in that the enabling signal is not broadcast continuously, but only when requested by the vehicle. On the other hand, the master station is simultaneously informed of the current location of the vehicle at least if the vehicle is not enabled. The communication between the vehicle and the master station must be maintained so that the enabling signal can be transmitted from the master station to the vehicle in good time.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method for protecting vehicles against unauthorized use


The present invention provides a formulation for a reactive dye layer for a limited-play optical storage medium, the reactive formulation including at least one carrier material or curable acrylate monomer, at least one reactive material disposed within the carrier material or acrylate monomer, and at least one photo-bleaching retarder material disposed within the at least one adhesive material. The at least one photo-bleaching retarder material includes at least one polymeric polyhydroxy compound selected from the group consisting of polyhydroxystyrenes, cellulose, and functionalized cellulose derivatives.

The present invention is related to storage media. More particularly, the present invention is related to limited play storage media.
Optical, magnetic and magneto-optic media are primary sources of high performance storage technology which enables high storage capacity coupled with a reasonable price per megabyte of storage. Use of optical media has become widespread in audio, video, and computer data applications in such formats as compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD) including multi-layer structures like DVD-5, DVD-9, and multi-sided formats such as DVD-10, and DVD-18, magneto-optical disc (MO), and other write-once and re-writable formats such as CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, and the like, hereinafter collectively "data storage media". In these formats, data are encoded onto a substrate into a digital data series. In pre-recorded media for optical media, such as CD, the data are typically pits and grooves formed on the surface of a plastic substrate through a method such as injection molding, stamping or the like.
In some applications, it is desirable to have a limited life for an optical disc. For example, sample computer programs are provided to potential customers in order to entice them to purchase the software. The programs are intended to be used for a limited period of time. Additionally, music and movies are currently rented for a limited time period. In each of these applications and others, when that time has expired, the disc must be returned. A need exists for machine-readable optical discs that do not need to be returned at the end of a rental period. Limited-play discs provide a solution to this problem.
Limited play discs have been produced in various fashions. One method comprised forming a disc where the reflective layer is protected with a porous layer such that the reflective layer becomes oxidized over a pre-determined period of time. Once the reflective layer attains a certain level of oxidation, the disc is no longer readable. The problem with this and other limited play techniques is that these techniques are defeatable. If the method for providing limited play to optical discs can be easily defeated by a customer or a cottage industry, discs would no longer be "limited-play". In the case of a coating or material rendering an optical disc unplayable, for example, facile removal or modification of that coating and/or material could provide a disc with unlimited playability.
There is a great desire on the part of movie studios to protect their intellectual property. Commercialization of limited-play data storage media that can be easily defeated to afford data storage media with unlimited playability would present an unacceptable risk of losing intellectual property.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Limited play data storage media and coating formulations thereon


A vehicle contact warning system includes a detector system, a controller and a warning indicator. The detector system detects a distance between a remote vehicle and a host vehicle and whether a signal indicator on the remote vehicle is activated. The controller determines whether at least one of a signal indicator on the host vehicle is activated by a driver of the host vehicle and a speed at which the distance between the host vehicle and the remote vehicle is decreasing is greater than a predetermined speed. The warning indicator notifies the driver of the host vehicle upon the detector system detecting the signal indicator on the remote vehicle and the controller determining that at least one of the signal indicator of the host vehicle is activated and the speed at which the distance between the host vehicle and the remote vehicle is decreasing is greater than the predetermined speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a lateral contact warning system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a lateral contact warning system that warns of potentially conflicting lane change intentions between a host vehicle and a remote vehicle when both vehicles are attempting to laterally change lanes into the same lane.
2. Background Information
Conventional systems exist that are designed to warn of potential contact between vehicles and remote obstacles in situations in which vehicles pass too closely to each other. These conventional systems are generally effective on roads with at least two lanes and employ a high-performance ultrasonic sensor array for monitoring the lateral environment of the area surrounding a vehicle. If another vehicle enters a predefined zone around the vehicle, this activity is indicated on an information display. Should the other vehicle approach within a critical threshold distance, the information display is replaced by a warning and possibly a slight directional impulse to the steering wheel. If the driver reacts in accordance with this directional impulse, the threat of an impact event may be avoided.
Accordingly, to further advance such conventional systems, a need exists for an improved vehicle environment monitoring system.


A multi-function heat exchanger for use with a dispensing gun for dispensing hybrid plastisol hot melt material, the heat exchanger having an elongated tubular high temperature heater assembly having a front end hydraulically connected to an inlet port of a dispensing gun and a rear end connected to a heat dissipating assembly which in turn is connected to the outlet end of a supply hose for providing hybrid plastisol material which is liquid at room temperature and under sufficient hydraulic pressure to move the plastisol material through the heat dissipating assembly and the high temperature heater assembly into the dispensing gun when the gun is operated. The heater assembly has a heat source providing sufficient heat to turn the plastisol into a molten liquid as it passes into the dispensing gun. The heat dissipating assembly prevents heat from the high temperature heater assembly from migrating back into the plastisol supply hose.

U.S. patent application #20040029980 describes a hybrid plastisol hot melt composition that is liquid at room temperature. The hybrid plastisol is comprised of various micron-size resins and chemicals suspended in a liquid carrier. When this liquid is heated and mixed, it becomes a 100 percent solid hot melt that produces fiber-tear bonds when it is compressed and cooled between two cellulosic substrates.
This liquid hybrid plastisol exists in three distinct physical states at room temperature, it is a liquid. When it is heated from 150° F. to approximately 270° F., it becomes a solid. When it is heated to approximately 280° F. and above, it becomes a molten liquid. When this molten liquid is mixed, it becomes a molten hot melt.
In order for this hybrid plastisol to be useful as a hot melt, it must be pumped under pressure through a device that heats the material to molten temperature and mixes it's discrete molten ingredients to becomes a homogenous blend and supplied under pressure to a manual or automatic dispenser. Unfortunately, before the hybrid plastisol reaches its melting point, it must pass through a temperature range between 150° F. and 270° F. during which it is a solid.
There are difficult challenges to overcome in order to elevate the temperature of this material from its liquid state at room temperature to its molten state at approximately 280° F. and above.
One specific problem to overcome is that between its room temperature liquid state and molten state at +300° F., the material is an un-pumpable solid. Therefore, an apparatus had to be developed that would minimize the volume of material existing in its solid state so that it could flow through supply hoses and piping via plug flow.
One method to achieve a minimal volume solid zone is to direct cooling compressed air at the supply piping feeding the heat exchanger. Heat migrating is mitigated by a 3 to 5 cfm air nozzle directed at the pipe nipple. The result is that the portion of material at its solid state is only 50 to 100 cc's within the pipe nipple, so it is easily forced into the heat exchanger by plug flow hydraulic pressure from the liquid contacting the solid plug.
One major disadvantage to the above is the requirement for compressed air which is a very expensive utility that would have to be supplied to multiple heat exchangers in a manufacturing environment. A further disadvantage is if plant air availability is interrupted for any reason heat will migrate from the ⅛ inch supply nipple into the supply hose causing material to solidify in the pipe and hose in sufficient volume that it cannot be moved by hydraulic pressure; therefore, material supply is stopped.
The present invention is a combination heat exchanger heat dissipater that minimizes the volume of material held at its solid phase temperature range of 150° F. to 270° F. The heat dissipater is static and does not require the use of compressed air.
The heat exchanger combination performs three functions simultaneously, heat the incoming material to its melting temperature, statically mix the molten material as it exits from the heat exchanger and statically dissipate thermal energy so that it does not migrate into the room temperature supply hose; thus minimizing the volume of material held at its solid phase temperature range of 150° F. to 270° F.


A method of forming a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor structure in a substrate having a bulk semiconductor layer, a buried oxide (BOX) layer and an SOI layer. During the formation of a trench in the structure, the BOX layer is undercut. The method includes forming a dielectric material on the upper wall of the trench adjacent to the undercutting of the BOX layer and then etching the dielectric material to form a spacer. The spacer fixes the BOX layer undercut and protects it during subsequent steps of forming a bottle-shaped portion of the trench, forming a buried plate in the deep trench; and then forming a trench capacitor. There is also a semiconductor structure, preferably an SOI eDRAM structure, having a spacer which fixes the undercutting in the BOX layer.

The present invention relates to electronic devices, and more particularly to semiconductor structures including memory devices, such as eDRAM devices, formed within a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate.
Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) cells are well known. A DRAM cell is essentially a capacitor for storing charge and a pass transistor (also called a pass gate or access transistor) for transferring charge to and from the capacitor. Data stored in the cell is determined by the absence or presence of charge on the storage capacitor. Because cell size affects chip density, and cost, reducing cell area is one of the DRAM designer's primary goals.
One way to accomplish this density goal without sacrificing storage capacitance is to use trench capacitors in the cells. Trench capacitors can be formed by etching deep trenches in a silicon wafer and forming vertically oriented capacitors within each deep trench. Thus, the surface area required for the storage capacitor is dramatically reduced without sacrificing capacitance, and correspondingly, storable charge. Each deep trench may have a depth on the order of 1 μm or greater.
Trench-type memory devices are advantageous, in comparison to planar memory configurations, for increased density, performance and lithographic considerations. Trench-type memory devices increase density by reducing the cell area of each memory device, therefore allowing for closer positioning of adjacent memory devices.
There is interest in integrating the excellent drive current and density of memory devices with the superior logic devices that can be formed on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates, to obtain high density memory embedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM). SOI substrates reduce parasitic capacitance within the integrated circuit and reduce individual circuit loads, thereby improving circuit and chip performance.
With eDRAM on an SOI substrate, the buried oxide (BOX) is used as a collar oxide, simplifying the overall fabrication process. However, the collar oxide can be attacked easily during wet processing, especially during node dielectric material removal before strap deposition.
Radens et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,252, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses an SOI DRAM memory cell in which the BOX layer is intentionally etched to form the strap therein. There is no recognition of the need to avoid the undercutting of the BOX layer.
Adkisson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,259, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses an SOI eDRAM structure wherein the BOX layer is not undercut. There is no recognition of the problem of BOX layer undercutting or the need to avoid the undercutting of the BOX layer.
Mandelman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,749, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses that the BOX layer is purposely undercut to form a strap therein. The reference recognizes that the tolerances are such that there is no risk of shorting adjacent trenches through the BOX layer.
Ho et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2008/0064178, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses the addition of a sidewall spacer to protect the BOX layer prior to the formation of the deep trench. After the formation of the deep trench, the sidewall spacer is removed.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improvement in the design and manufacturing of semiconductor structures, such as eDRAM on SOI substrates, to protect the BOX layer during processing.

International Business Machines Corporation


A system comprising a personal computer card and an interchangeable extension consists of a personal computer card a card information storage (CIS) system and a coaxial connection socket. First logic means are arranged to control an interrogation means comprising a digital-to-analog current converter, comparator and reference voltage source in order to supply a series of DC currents to the socket. The extension has a coaxial connection pin and grounded resistor having a value which identifies the type of extension so that when a DC current is applied to the pin by the socket, a characteristic voltage is generated across the resistor which is compared by the comparator with the reference voltage. The comparator indicates the value of resistor as a digital value to the CIS system which communicates the characteristics of the extension to a host PC. A second logic means disables power upon removal of a previous extension from the socket. Each extension may comprise a radio frequency antenna which may be external to the extension.

Typically, each personal computer card contains a Card Information Storage (CIS) unit which stores information related to the nature of the card, and the information is made available to the host PC which responds appropriately. The information may include the manufacturer of the card, the card type and functionality, and its current consumption.
It is known to supply a plug-in extension to a card to extend its functions; such an extension may for example provide a telephone jack so that the card can operate as an Internet interface. The CIS unit must then indicate to the PC the change in nature of operation of the card, and such information is coded into the CIS unit of the card with which the extension is used. At present each card can be connected only to a single type of extension whose characteristics are coded into the CIS unit of the card.

Dynamically configurable personal computer card utilizing variable interrogation signal to detect connected extension


The invention concerns a method of monitoring flow in a flow pipe. According to the invention, the method comprising the following steps: providing a flow pipeline having a unique photon detector at a first position on the periphery of said pipe, a first photon source at a second position on the periphery of of said pipe, said detector and first source defining a first chord across said pipe, and one or more additional photon sources at positions on the periphery of said pipe defining one or more additional chords across said pipe; determining the density across said first chord from the count rate detected from the first source by the detector; and determining the densities across said one or more additional chords from the count rate detected from the one or more additional sources by the detector in order to determine the deposition of solid in the pipe.

The use of gamma-ray densitometers calibrated for use as hold-up meters, to measure flow and hold-up in pipelines is well known. Examples include Schlumberger™'s Vx technology and the FloWatcher™ Densitometer (FWD). Schlumberger's Vx technology uses low-energy gamma rays (PE) measurements. These measurements may encounter several difficulties in monitoring solids in mixed flow pipelines.
Low-energy gamma rays do not go through metallic walls of a sufficient thickness. Pipelines are generally made of steel. As a result, signal attenuation is very high leading for pipelines of typical diameters, which, in addition, contain a flow of high-density materials such as bitumen, water and particulates and a low gas fraction. This leads to a low count rate in the PE counting window.
Furthermore, bitumen contains significant quantities (typically 10-1,000 ppm) of elements such as vanadium (Z=23) and nickel (Z=28), which have an atomic number Z much higher than the atomic numbers found in hydrocarbon and water (H=1, C=6, O=8). Sulphur (Z=16) may also be present at percentage levels. The attenuation cross-section for low-energy photons is proportional to Z4. Therefore, small quantities of bitumen with uncertain content can strongly affect the measured PE attenuation. This is similar to the problem encountered in some surface monitoring applications, where inorganic scale in the flow-meter pipe can give large errors in the measured fluid PE cross-section due to the presence of higher-Z elements such as barium, sulphur and calcium.
Bitumen is viscous and sticky and may also adhere to the low-attenuation transmission windows required for PE measurement through a pipeline. This introduces further errors and loss of flux for a dual-energy measurement. The degree of adhesion may depend on both the bitumen properties and the window material.

Method and apparatus for monitoring deposition of solids in pipelines using a plurality of radiation sources pointing to a unique detector


Provided are elastomeric compositions, such as a tire innerliner, comprising at least one isobutylene based elastomer and at least one hydrocarbon fluid additive (“HFA”). The compositions have improved cold temperature properties and are particularly useful as tire innerliners for an aircraft tire. The use of a HFA in the elastomeric composition may allow for the use of reduced amounts of secondary elastomers, such as natural rubber, while allowing for an improved balance in the composition's brittleness and permeability properties. Examples of useful HFAs include polyalphaolefins, high purity hydrocarbon fluids, and water white group III mineral oils.

Elastomeric compositions are used in a wide variety of applications, including hoses, belts, footwear components, vibration isolation devices, tires, and tire components such as treads, sidewalls, and innerliners. The selection of ingredients for the commercial formulation of an elastomeric composition depends upon the balance of properties desired, the application, and the application's end use. For example, in the tire industry the balance between processing properties of the green (uncured) composition in the tire plant and in-service performance of the cured rubber tire composite is of particular importance. An additional consideration to be balanced is the nature of the tire, e.g., bias versus radial tire or passenger car tire versus truck tire versus aircraft tire. The ability to improve a tire's air impermeability properties and flex fatigue properties without affecting the processability of the uncured elastomeric composition or while maintaining or improving the physical property performance of the cured elastomeric composition is a goal that still remains.
Generally, the raw ingredients and materials used in tire compounding impact tire performance variables. Thus, any alternative to conventional ingredients must be compatible with the rubbers, not interfere with the vulcanization rate, be easily dispersed in all tire compounds, be cost effective, and not adversely impact tire performance. This is of particular concern for tire innerliners and tire innertubes where performance properties must be maintained within specified tolerance levels. For example, small increases in a tire innerliner compound's 300% modulus can lead to reduction in fatigue resistance and cracks with consequential loss in tire durability. Furthermore, for an elastomeric composition that acts as an air barrier it is of particular importance that any benefits in compound processability are not to the detriment of the composition's air retention capabilities.
Conventionally, halobutyl rubbers have been used to obtain better air-retention in tires. While halobutyl rubber has allowed for improvement in a composition's air-retention qualities, it can negatively effect the composition's flex fatigue and brittleness properties. This is of particular concern for certain tire applications which require improved heat resistance and improved cold temperature properties, such as is required for race-car tires, snow tires, and aircraft tires. In order to improve flex fatigue and brittleness properties, secondary elastomers, such as ethylene-propylene rubber ("EP"), ethylene-propylene-diene rubber ("EPDM"), or natural rubber, have been blended with butyl rubbers in tire innerliner/innertube compounds. While these secondary elastomers may help improve flex fatigue and brittleness temperatures, the blending of EP, EPDM, or natural rubbers often increases the air permeability of the elastomeric composition.
Thus, there is still a need for an elastomeric composition that is suitable for a tire innerliner or tire innertube that will have enhanced thermal stability and physical properties under severe temperature and operating conditions such as required for race car tires and aircraft tires. It would be advantageous to have an elastomeric composition that possesses improved low-temperature toughness without sacrificing other advantageous traits such as improved processability and air-impermeability.

Tire innerliners having improved cold temperature properties


A turbine vane-system cooling system uses three internal cooling cavities 1, 12, 13) separated by two radial walls (9, 10). The upstream cavity (11) uses a helical ramp (30) and is fed through an intake (22) at the vane root (3). The middle cavity (12) also is fed at the vane root (3) and includes a compartmented, multi-perforated lining (40). The air is exhausted from each compartment through impact orifices and enters the succeeding compartment through slots (42) and then is finally exhausted through a vane-head orifice (21). The vane side walls opposite the downstream cavity (13) have double skins with bridging elements. The air passes through these double skins but circulates centrifugally in the upstream portion (15) of the downstream cavity (13) and enters this cavity's downstream portion (16) to be exhausted through slots (19) in the trailing edge (6). A third wall (14) divides the downstream cavity (13) into two parts (15, 16).

The invention relates to cooling high-pressure turbine-vanes of gas-turbine engines, including both stationary and movable vanes.
The stationary and movable vanes of high-pressure turbines, in particular the blade portions, are exposed to the high temperatures of the combustion gases of the combustion chamber of the gas turbine engine. The blades of these vanes therefore are fitted with cooling devices fed with cooling air taken from the area of the high-pressure compressor. This cooling air moves through circuits inside the vanes and then is evacuated into the flow of hot gases moving across the vanes.
As regards the movable vanes, the cooling air enters the airfoils through the vane roots, however, in the case of stationary vanes, the cooling air may be introduced through a base plate either at the vane root or at its head, the vane root being the vane end nearest the turbine's axis of rotation.
The objective of the invention is to provide a turbine vane wherein the cooling device optimally exploits the cooling capacity of the circulating cooling air in order to reduce the ventilation flow and hence to increase the engine efficiency.

Societe Nationale d'Etude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation SNECMA


An apparatus for underwater welding has a housing and a diverter. The diverter is inside the housing and has an outer sheath and an inner sheath. A gap between the housing and diverter passes a screening fluid to form an outer screening jet that prevents water from flowing into a weld site near the electrode. The inner sheath forms a pair of channels in the inner diverter. One channel passes a shielding fluid that shields the weld site. The other channel forms an exhaust line for venting the weld site during welding.

Underwater welding has numerous important applications in a broad range of industries, such as fabrication and repair of marine structures, pipelines, vessels, and nuclear and petrochemical facilities. The procedure can be performed in either a "dry" mode where water near the weld site is evacuated using a hyperbaric chamber, or in a "wet" mode where water is allowed to contact the weld site. While in-air quality welds can be obtained using the "dry" mode, the hyperbaric chamber is expensive and is difficult to maneuver and handle.
Typically, wet welding techniques include shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding, flux cored arc welding, friction welding, explosive welding and stud welding. Other techniques include water and gas shielded gas tungsten arc welding, friction stitch welding, use of flexible, reduced stress weld connections, welding within rotating, pressure reducing pipes and chambers, and welding within partially open, work piece-attached chambers.
Although many wet welding techniques have been developed, significant metallurgical, mechanical and operational problems remain. In particular, relative to in-air or dry mode welds, wet welds tend to exhibit high porosity, increased hydrogen embrittlement, increased solidification cracking, reduced weld strength, and reduced weld toughness. These problems are caused by rapid cooling and entrapment of steam and hydrogen within the weld. Underwater welding typically produces hydrogen by the decomposition of water between the arc and the work piece. Rapid cooling of the weld material traps the hydrogen inside the weld. As a result, the weld is porous and embrittled by hydrogen. Moreover, during welding the work piece becomes hot, causing steam and rising hydrogen bubbles to create a region of oscillating pressure around the arc.
In addition, the rapid formation of dark, water-borne particulate plumes near the weld site poses a significant operational problem. The plumes may impair and even prevent visual inspection and monitoring of the weld.
In view of the foregoing, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved technique for underwater welding. The technique should provide an underwater weld with reduced porosity and increased solidification. In addition, the technique should work with existing welding techniques.

Apparatus and method for creating dry underwater welds


In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automated, computerized method for learning object recognition in an image is provided. According to a feature of the present invention, the method comprises the steps of providing a training set of standard images, calculating intrinsic images corresponding to the standard images and building a classifier as a function of the intrinsic images.

Computer learning techniques have been implemented in computer systems, and effectively used in an analysis of images, to, for example, identify objects of interest to a user. Learning frameworks provide a method for computers to discover important characteristics or features of a selected object, such as, for example, a human face. In some known learning frameworks, the features used by the system are preselected by the user, and the framework learns the relative utility, useful ranges, or relationships between the features that can then be used by the computer system to identify the selected objects of interest that may appear in an image. In other known systems, a large set of features is evaluated by the learning framework, for identification of particular features that are important to an object identification task.
In real world environments, an object recognition system must be able to function under a wide variety of illumination conditions, including shadows, and distinguish among significant variations of object types. For example, a system set up to identify automobiles analyzes an image for features indicative of the structure of an automobile. However, an automobile depicted in the image can have characteristic features that vary in color, orientation, appear in shadow, or have features that cast a shadow, thereby altering the shape of the object as ascertained by the computer system. Thus, the learning framework must include considerable details not only on characteristic features per se, but also on how perception of each characteristic feature can be altered by varying illumination in a scene depicted in an image. One known approach to achieving an illumination and color invariant system is to use differential or frequency based features of grayscale imagery. However, the real world consequences of varying illumination adds a complexity to the image analysis that can affect the efficiency and accuracy of an object recognition system.

Method and system for learning object recognition in images


Method and apparatus for conducting surveillance in a SS7 Intelligent Network (IN) or Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) provides in the case of AIN that an Info Analyzed trigger is armed in an end office switch and notifies a delivery function when a call is processed. The delivery function instructs the end office switch to forward the call to the delivery function, where it is accessed for monitoring forwarded back to the end office switch. A similar method is used to process calls received by the SUS. In the case of IN, the identity of a line card assigned to a subscriber under surveillance (SUS) is changed to a number dedicated to surveillance subjects. Calls originated by the SUS are forwarded to a delivery function, which identifies the SUS based on the dedicated number of the calling party, intercepts call content, and forwards the call back to the end office switch with the called party id aid the original number and id of the SUS. The end office switch then completes the call. A similar method is used to process calls received by the SUS.

Court authorized access to telephone communications and call-identifying information is one of the most crucial tools for effective law enforcement. The introduction of new digitally based technologies, transmission modes, services, and features have made it increasingly difficult for law enforcement to conduct court authorized electronic surveillance. In October of 1994, at the request of the nation's law enforcement community, Congress took action to protect public safety and national security by enacting the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). CALEA sets forth the interception assistance capability requirements that telecommunications carriers need to meet and maintain within their networks to assist law enforcement in conducting electronic surveillance. These requirements apply to the intercept of wireline and wireless communications.
In order to meet the requirements of law enforcement to intercept communications, the telecommunications industry has defined an interface specification between a Telecommunication Service Provider (TSP) and a Law Enforcement Agency (LEA), called the J-STD-025 (Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance). The J-STD-025, "Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance", is a joint standard by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Committee TR45.2 and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) Committee T1-Telecommunications. Compliance to J-STD-025 is seen by the telecommunications industry as "safe harbor" under Section 107 of the CALEA, Public Law 103-414.
J-STD-025 views the intercept function as five broad categories: access, delivery, collection, service provider administration, and law enforcement administration. The relationships between these functional categories are shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the Service Provider Administrative Function 10 is responsible for controlling the TSP access and delivery functions. The Law Enforcement Administrative Function 11 is responsible for controlling the LEA collection functions. The access function 14, consisting of one or more Intercept Access Points (IAPs), isolates an intercept subject's communications or call-identifying information unobtrusively. The access function 14 provides access to communications traversing a telecommunications network. The deliver function 16 is responsible for accepting information from one or more access functions 14 and delivering intercepted communications to one or more collection functions 18. The delivery function 16 delivers information over two distinct types of channels: Call Content Channels (CCCs) and Call Data Channels (CDCs). The CCCs are generally used to transport call content, such as voice or data communications. The CDCs are generally used to transport messages which report call-identifying information, such as calling party identities and called party identities. The collection function 18 is responsible for collecting and analyzing intercepted communications and call-identifying information. The collection function 18 is the responsibility of the LEA.

Method and apparatus for intercept of wireline communications