The present invention is directed to an electrical wiring protection device that includes a housing assembly having a hot line terminal, a neutral line terminal, a hot load terminal, and a neutral load terminal partially disposed therein. A miswire detection circuit is coupled to the hot line terminal, the neutral line terminal, the hot load terminal, and the neutral load terminal. The miswire detection circuit is configured to generate a miswire fault condition when AC power is coupled to the hot load terminal and the neutral load terminal and open circuit when AC power is coupled to the hot line terminal and neutral line terminal. A fault detection circuit is coupled to the miswire detection circuit. The fault detection circuit is configured to generate a fault detection signal in response to detecting at least one fault condition. The at least one fault condition including the miswire fault condition. An interrupting contact assembly is connected to the fault detection circuit. The interrupting contact assembly includes interrupting contacts that provide electrical continuity between the hot line terminal and the hot load terminal, and the neutral line terminal and the neutral load terminal in a reset condition. The interrupting contact assembly is also configured to open the interrupting contacts in response to receiving the fault detection signal.

Protective devices such as ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) are well known in the art. Their intent is and always has been to protect the electrical power user from electrocution when hazardous ground fault currents are present.
Historical problems with these protective devices include the possibility of line/load miswiring in the field by an installer or the eventual failure of the solenoid driving device, typically a silicon controlled rectifier, which causes the interrupter device to become inoperable while electrical power is still present, even under hazardous ground fault conditions. A variety of methods are used to prevent or attempt to prevent miswiring with varying levels of success. Preventing the problems associated with a defective solenoid driving device is inherently more difficult. Labels and installation instruction sheets have been used to prevent miswiring, but can be ignored by the installer. Solenoid burn-out has been revealed by testing the protective device with a test button, but the result of the test can be ignored by the user.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A system and method for rendering ink annotations for a displayed image is disclosed. The invention adjusts the thickness of rendered lines for ink annotations when rendered. Ink annotations are created by capturing and connecting a set of data points input by a user. The invention outlines various pixels and weights saturation of anti-aliasing pixels to improve a user's viewing experience.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to the electronic display of documents. More particularly, the disclosure relates to the rendering of the thickness of annotations in electronically displayed documents.
2. Related Art
Many factors today drive the development of computers and computer software. One of these factors is the desire to provide accessibility to information virtually anytime and anywhere. The proliferation of notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other personal electronic devices reflect the fact that users want to be able to access information wherever they may be, whenever they want. In order to facilitate greater levels of information accessibility, the presentation of information must be made as familiar and comfortable as possible.
In this vein, one way to foster success of electronic presentations of information will be to allow users to handle information in a familiar manner. Stated another way, the use and manipulation of electronically-presented information may mimic those paradigms that users are most familiar with, e.g., printed documents, as an initial invitation to their use. As a result, greater familiarity between users and their "machines" will be engendered, thereby fostering greater accessibility, even if the machines have greater capabilities and provide more content to the user beyond the user's expectations. Once users feel comfortable with new electronic presentations, they will be more likely to take advantage of an entire spectrum of available functionality.
One manner of encouraging familiarity is to present information in an electronic book format in which a computer displays information in a manner that closely resembles printed books. In order to more completely mimic a printed book, users will need to have the ability to make textual notes to themselves, akin to writing in the margins of paper books. Users will also want to highlight selected portions, as these are active-reading activities of which a user would expect to see in an electronic book. Users will want to add drawings, arrows, underlining, strike-throughs, and the like, also akin to writing in paper books. Finally, users will want to add bookmarks.
The above-identified so-called "active-reading" activities are available. However, all of these active-reading activities require modification of the underlying document. For example, as is known in the art, if one adds a comment or annotation in an electronic editor, the comment or annotation is inserted into the document. This insertion corrupts the underlying document from its pre-insertion, pristine state. While this may not be an issue in an editable document, the modification of a copyrighted document may run afoul of various copyright provisions. The violations may be compounded with the forwarding of the document to another in its modified state. Further, irrespective of any copyright transgressions, publishing houses responsible for the distribution of the underlying text may not be pleased with any ability to modify their distributed and copyrighted works.
Thus, the users' desire to actively read and annotate works clashes with the goals of publishing houses to keep copyrighted works in their unmodified state. Without solution of this dilemma, the growth of the electronic publishing industry may be hampered, on one hand, by readers who refuse to purchase electronic books because of the inability to annotate read-only documents and, on the other hand, by the publishing industry that refuses to publish titles that allow for annotations that destroy the pristine compilation of the electronic works.
Further, user's who are able to add hand written annotations or drawings (also referred to herein as "ink annotations") need to be able to see the annotations without difficulty. In order for ink annotations to "look good" and provide users with good, useful, functionality (especially for making notes and the like), the rendered ink line-widths need to be smooth looking, not too thin, and not too thick. Existing algorithms for improving line-smoothness tend to trade off between complexity and quality (the simpler methods do not produce lines that look as good while the more complex methods have implementation and execution-speed overhead for producing better quality lines). What is needed is a relatively simple method for rendering smooth looking lines that imposes a small load on processing resources.

Ink thickness rendering for electronic annotations


A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a central processing unit 21 the operation of which is stopped or slowed down in a sleep mode; an edge detection unit 23 detecting an edge of an interrupt signal supplied from the outside and generating an edge detection signal; and a data holding unit 22 holding data supplied from the outside when the edge detection signal is received. The central processing unit 21 reads the data held by the data holding unit 22 after returning from the sleep mode to an active mode in response to the interrupt signal.

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a configuration of a related-art battery pack. The battery pack includes a lithium-ion battery 1, a fuel gauge IC 2, and a protection IC 3. The battery pack also includes power supply terminals 5 and 6 and a communication terminal 7 that are connected to a battery-powered device such as a cell phone or a digital camera.
The fuel gauge IC 2 includes a CPU 2A and may also include other components such as a memory and a communication circuit. The fuel gauge IC 2 detects charge and discharge currents of the lithium-ion battery 1, calculates a remaining battery level (or a remaining energy level) of the lithium-ion battery 1 by digitizing and totaling the detected charge and discharge currents, and sends the calculated remaining battery level via the communication circuit to the battery-powered device such as a cell phone or a digital camera.
The protection IC 3 turns off a switch 4 provided in a charge/discharge path and thereby stops charging or discharging of the lithium-ion battery 1 if overcharge or overdischarge of the lithium-ion battery 1 is detected. The protection IC 3 also generates status data indicating the overcharge or the overdischarge while the switch 4 is turned off and supplies the status data together with an interrupt signal to the fuel gauge IC 2.
Meanwhile, patent document 1 discloses a data processing unit that operates in multiple control modes including a measurement mode for measuring the remaining battery level of a battery. In the measurement mode, the current level supplied from the battery is minimized to save power.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-12960


This invention pertains to the use of tin oxide as a corrosion resistant erial for preventing or inhibiting high temperature corrosion by molten sulfate-vanadate deposits and gaseous sulfur trioxide formed in engines or other high temperature apparatus which burn materials containing sodium, sulfur, and vanadium.

Many low cost, low grade petroleum and coal fuels contain appreciable levels of sodium, sulfur, and vanadium. Low quality marine residual fuels, for example, may contain up to 0.2 weight percent ash which contains appreciable amounts of sodium, up to 5 weight percent sulfur and up to 0.06 weight percent or 600 ppm vanadium. Low grades of marine distillate fuels are allowed up to 0.05 weight percent ash which contains appreciable amounts of sodium, up to 2 weight percent sulfur and up to 100 ppm vanadium. In addition, salts containing sodium, sulfur, and vanadium may also be ingested in the air intake of an engine or furnace operating in dusty or sea mist laden environments. Waste materials being burned in incinerators may, likewise, contain sodium, sulfur and vanadium.
In high temperature, oxygen-rich combustion environments, sodium, sulfur and vanadium are oxidized predominantly to the oxides of sodium, sulfur and vanadium, particularly sodium oxide, sulfur trioxide and vanadium pentoxide. These oxide species interact and condense as corrosive, molten deposits on such components as gas turbine blades, diesel engine exhaust valves and pistons, boiler tubes, and incinerator walls, or if gaseous, are found in the gas phase above. The corrosion caused by such deposits can be virulent and highly damaging, with the service life of the component being reduced by 80% or more, in some instances.
Molten deposits of this type are commonly described as "sodium sulfate-sodium vanadate" or "sulfate-vanadate" deposits. They contain sodium oxide, sulfur trioxide, sodium sulfate, sodium vanadate, and possibly other components, with sulfur trioxide gas in the gaseous phase above the deposits. Concentrations of the individual components in the molten and gaseous phases are fixed by such simultaneous chemical reactions as: EQU Na.sub.2 O+SO.sub.3 .revreaction.Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 (sodium sulfate)[1] EQU Na.sub.2 O+V.sub.2 O.sub.5 .revreaction.2 NaVO.sub.3 (sodium metavanadate)[2] EQU 2 NaVO.sub.3 +SO.sub.3 .revreaction.Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +V.sub.2 O.sub.5 (sodium sulfate and vanadium pentoxide) [3]
The concentrations of the different components in the molten deposits and the gaseous phase thereabove depend also on the Na/V/S ratios in the fuel and intake air, as well as the temperature. Note that by reaction [3], an increase in the fuel sulfur content, for a fixed Na/V ratio, increases not only the Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 concentration but also the V.sub.2 O.sub.5 concentration in the molten deposit.
Molten salt corrosion, or "hot corrosion", results when the oxides of sodium, sulfur and vanadium, such as Na.sub.2 O, SO.sub.3, and V.sub.2 O.sub.5 react with the protective surface oxide layer that exists on high temperature substrates, particularly metal alloys or ceramics. Under various circumstances, reaction with either sodium oxide, sulfur trioxide or vanadium pentoxide may be the predominant cause of hot corrosion. For example, in the well known "basic fluxing" mode of hot corrosion at 900.degree. C., Na.sub.2 O from Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 -rich deposits reacts with the alumina surface film on gas turbine superalloys to form nonprotective NaAlO.sub.2 which causes catastrophic hot corrosion. High temperature chromium-containing metals which rely on chromia protective surface oxide are also corroded by Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 -rich deposits via formation of nonprotective Na.sub.2 CrO.sub.4. Conversely, in 700.degree. C. "low temperature" hot corrosion, sulfur trioxide gas, which is present in the corrosive environment, reacts with cobalt oxide from CoCrAlY turbine blade coatings to form low-melting mixed CoSO.sub.4 -Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 eutectic deposits and yields an "acidic fluxing" type of hot corrosion. Fuels containing vanadium often cause a "vanadate" type of hot corrosion wherein vanadium pentoxide from the molten deposit reacts with nickel oxide or cobalt oxide from nickel-based or cobalt-based superalloys, or with ferric oxide from high temperature steels, to produce spalling metal vanadates.
Similar hot corrosion reactions involving sodium oxide, sulfur trioxide, and vanadium pentoxide occur with ceramics. For instance, sodium oxide from Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 -rich molten deposits reacts with the surface film of silica that normally protects silicon carbide and silicon nitride ceramics in oxygen-rich engine environments. This type of hot corrosion represents a serious threat to the use of silicon carbide and silicon nitride components in land and marine engines. High sulfur fuels, containing in excess of 1 weight percent sulfur, attack yttria-stabilized zirconia thermal barrier coatings through reaction of the engine gas sulfur trioxide with yttria to form low-melting eutectic sulfate mixtures. The reaction of yttria in yttria-stabilized zirconia with the vanadium pentoxide component of sulfate-vanadate engine deposits is another ceramic hot corrosion problem which, at present, precludes use of yttria-stabilized zirconia thermal barrier coatings in marine and land engines burning fuels which contain vanadium.
Therefore, no material is known which inhibits hot corrosion in the presence of vanadate-sulfate molten deposits containing high concentrations of oxides of sodium and vanadium in the melt and gaseous oxides of sulfur in the gaseous phase thereabove.

Corrosion inhibition in high temperature environment

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A card connector includes a switch installed therein for generating on/off status in response to the insertion/withdrawal of an electrical card. The switch includes an elastic plate having a fulcrum end fixed in the connector, a free end normally connected to two separated metal plates fixed in the connector and an intermediate portion connected between the fulcrum end and the free end. An extension is formed in the intermediate portion of the elastic plate for receiving a force from the inserted card to urge the free end away from contacting with the two metal plates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector and particularly to a card connector having a switch function during insertion/withdrawal of the related electrical card.
2. The Prior Art
Memory cards have become popularly due to the trend of compact size, modularization, and object oriented requirement of the computer industry. The memory cards are usually inserted into a card connector installed in a portable computer. For clearly identifying the insertion/withdrawal of the memory card with respect to the card connector, some card connectors are installed with a switch to more specifically control the electrical engagement/disengagement between the electrical card and the card connector. Such techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,735,578, 4,752,234, 4,900,272, 4,900,273, 5,013,255, 5,334,034, 5,370,544, and 5,380,997. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,544 shown in FIG. 4 discloses a card connector 4 having a housing 40 in which a first metal plate 41 and a second metal plate 42 are fixed. Normally, the first and second plates 41, 42 are electrically connected to each other via respective end portions 411, 421. A protrusion 412 extends from the first plate 41 for receiving a force from an inserted card 5 so as to prevent the first plate 41 from contacting the second plate 42. A considerable contact resistance exists between the end portions 411, 421 of the plates 41, 42 because the contacting area therebetween is generally very narrow, similar to a line area. Moreover, the normal contact resistance will further increase due to the gradual loosening contact between the plates 41, 42 after extended use. If the contact resistance rises to a relatively large value, the switch may cause a malfunction of the related printed circuit board on which the card connected is mounted. Thus, it is requisite to provide a new switch for use in a card connector which will not malfunction due to a large contact resistance.


Data for a temporal sequence of composition frames is created from data of a temporal sequence of footage frames by identifying a set of the footage frames temporally corresponding to a set of the composition frames and blending data from the set of footage frames to create data for the set of composition frames.

The invention relates to creating time-variable digital compositions, and more specifically to controlling the temporal dimension of such compositions.
A composition typically has a sequence of frames, each containing digital data describing, for example, the audio or visual content of the frame. When the composition is played, the frames are output at a composition frame rate. The temporal dimension of a composition is conveyed by the content of the output frames, as well as the rate at which those frames are output.
A composition includes at least one footage item, which also generally contains a sequence of frames. Examples of footage items include video clips, audio clips, and combination video/audio clips. Footage sequences may be individually created and edited, and are integrated to form the output composition. Accordingly, while a footage sequence generally is created at its own frame rate and has a temporal dimension that is controllable independently from that of other footage sequences for the composition, footage sequences are adapted to be output at the composition frame rate.
Thus, the temporal dimension of a footage sequence is controlled by mapping the data of footage frames to create data for the composition frames. Traditionally, the timing of a footage sequence is controlled by duplicating or deleting individual frames. For example, to lengthen the duration of a footage sequence, additional frames are added by duplicating individual existing frames; to shorten the duration of a footage sequence, the number of frames are decreased by deleting individual existing frames. However, editing requiring manual evaluation of individual frames is expensive, and editing without manual evaluation by automated processes can produce frame sequences that do not progress smoothly.

Controlling time in digital compositions


A homogeneous oil-in-water emulsion suitable for use as a curable film-forming composition is provided. The emulsion is a mixture of hydrophobic polyisocyanate crosslinking agent containing at least one tertiary isocyanate group and a surface active isocyanate reactive material. The surface active isocyanate reactive material comprises an active hydrogen-containing acrylic copolymer containing aromatic groups and having a glass transition temperature of at least about 0.degree. C. A multi-component composite coating composition is also provided by the present invention. The compositions are curable at ambient temperatures and are suitable for use in automotive applications.

The present invention relates to waterborne film-forming compositions that are curable at ambient or higher temperatures, comprising polyisocyanate crosslinking agents and active hydrogen-containing acrylic copolymers having high glass transition temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,745 to Fiori et al. discloses polyisocyanate functional crosslinking agents which can be emulsified in water with a surface active isocyanate reactive material and the emulsion used to form a curable film-forming composition. The emulsified materials are in the form of an oil-in-water emulsion which exhibits good stability and yet the polyisocyanate and isocyanate reactive material are highly reactive when applied as a film. The patent recommends that these isocyanate reactive materials have glass transition temperature (T.sub.g) less than about 0.degree. C. It is believed the low Tg materials are more mobile during the curing reaction allowing the isocyanate reactive group, i.e., hydroxyl, more opportunity to locate an isocyanate group thereby facilitating the crosslinking reaction. High T.sub.g isocyanate reactive materials, on the other hand, are relatively immobile resulting in less opportunity to locate and react with the polyisocyanate.
A drawback to using low T.sub.g isocyanate reactive materials, however, is that the resultant cured films are inherently softer and less solvent resistant than recommended for automotive applications.
It would be desirable to provide an aqueous based film-forming composition containing a polyisocyanate curing agent and an isocyanate reactive material which can be stably dispersed in water, is reactive when applied as a film, and forms a hard, solvent-resistant film.

Waterborne, ambient temperature curable film-forming compositions


A fully automatic infinitely variable torque converter bicycle transmission makes use of cam followers acting between a driver wheel connected with an input and a follower wheel connected with an output. Torque is varied by varying a radial position of the cam followers relative to the driver wheel and the follower wheel, wherein a return of the cam followers toward an outer radial position is delayed. All force transmitting components of the apparatus are mechanically engaged without relying on friction.

This invention relates to an automatic transmission suitable for bicycles.
The vast majority of commercially available multi-speed bicycles are equipped with a chain-driven transmission of the type generically referred to as "derailleurs".
Although bicycles equipped with derailleur-type transmissions dominate the commercial market, they have many functional and operational problems which detract from their popularity. More specifically, derailleurs are made of a large number of exposed, delicate parts, which require frequent maintenance and adjustment. In addition, derailleur transmissions are hard to operate, since the operator must cognitively decide whether to actuate one or both derailleurs, to produce the desired gear change. Also derailleurs are typically noisy and prone to inefficiency due to chain misalignment and/or riders failure to completely derail the chain between sprocket rings. Furthermore, front derailleur systems can not be shifted smoothly while the chain is under load which, in turn, limits the capacity of the bicyclist to go smoothly, through the terrain encountered, which required the gear change. Finally, it is difficult to remove and reassemble the rear wheel of a multi-speed bicycle equipped with derailleur-type transmission.
In an effort to overcome the above-noted and other shortcomings associated with derailleur equipped bicycles, a plethora of alternative variable ratio transmissions have been proposed. Usually, such alternative transmissions are of the type generically referred to as "variable sprocket" transmissions, in which the effective diameter of a segmented front sprocket is selectively varied with respect to a constant diameter rear driven sprocket, for establishing different speed ratios between them.
From a pure engineering standpoint, such variable sprocket transmissions are superior to derailleur-type transmissions, since they can change speed under power in a very smooth manner. Also, different speed ratios are evenly sequenced for ease of operation. However, variable sprocket transmissions also have their shortcomings.
Although variable sprocket transmissions have been known for more than 20 years, they have not gained commercial acceptance. This is mainly due to their complexity and vast number of parts, which add to the cost of production, weight of the bicycle and susceptibility to mechanical failure. Furthermore in most cases in the above group, the variable diameter pulleys are applied only to the pedal crank, which results in a very limited gear ratio range.
In view of the above, there is a need to develop an automatic transmission for multi-speed bicycles which overcomes the deficiencies known in the prior art. It should be relatively simple in structure, compact and reliable in operation.
A patent search by the present inventor, failed to find a single transmission in which cam followers are the basis.

Cam follower automatic torque converter transmission


A memory cell includes a selective gate and a memory gate arranged on one side surface of the selective gate. The memory gate includes one part formed on one side surface of the selective gate and the other part electrically isolated from the selective gate and a p-well through an ONO layer formed below the memory gate. A sidewall-shaped silicon oxide is formed on side surfaces of the selective gate, and a sidewall-shaped silicon dioxide layer and a silicon dioxide layer are formed on side surfaces of the memory gate. The ONO layer formed below the memory gate is terminated below the silicon oxide, and prevents generation of a low breakdown voltage region in the silicon oxide near an end of the memory gate during deposition of the silicon dioxide layer.

An electrically erasable and programmable nonvolatile read only memory is quite an important element in various LSI applied fields since stored information remains in each memory cell even if the memory is turned off.
There is described a so-called floating-gate nonvolatile memory and a nonvolatile memory using an insulating layer in S. Sze, "Physics of Semiconductor Devices, 2nd edition", A Wiley-Interscience Publication (Non-Patent Document 1), pages 496-506. As disclosed in the Non-Patent Document 1, it is known that there is no need to separately form a conductive layer for accumulating charges in a nonvolatile memory in which charges are accumulated in a trap of an insulating layer or in an interface of a multilayer insulating layer, differently from a floating-gate nonvolatile memory in which charges are accumulated in a polycrystalline silicon layer. It is, therefore, possible to form memory cells with high consistency with CMOS-LSI process.
However, the nonvolatile semiconductor memory configured so that charges are accumulated in the insulating layer is required to include the insulating layer capable of maintaining sufficient charge holding characteristics even if injection and emission of charges are repeated. It is, therefore, difficult to realize such a nonvolatile semiconductor memory. There has been proposed, by contrast, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory that rewrites stored information by injecting charges having different signs in place of emitting charges. Operation performed by this nonvolatile semiconductor memory is described in "Symposium on VLSI Technology in 1997" (Non-Patent Document 2), pages 63-64. The nonvolatile semiconductor memory is characterized in that a polycrystalline silicon gate for causing each memory cell to operate and a gate for selecting one of the memory cells are formed separately. The same characteristic is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,383 (Patent Document 1) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,084 (Patent Document 2).
A memory cell of the nonvolatile semiconductor memory disclosed in the Non-Patent Document 2 or the like is basically constituted by two transistors (a selective transistor and a memory transistor) each based on an n-channel MOSFET. The memory transistor is arranged next to the selective transistor to be connected to the selective transistor in a so-called 'stacked in series' manner. FIG. 35 is an equivalent circuit to the memory cell. FIG. 36 is a schematic of an example of a memory array constituted by such memory cells. Gates (a selective gate and a memory gate) of the selective transistor and the memory transistor constitute word lines SGL and MGL, and diffused layers thereof constitute a bit line BL and a source line SL, respectively.
In the memory cell shown in FIG. 35, a gate insulating layer of the memory gate is configured to have a so-called MONOS (metal-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor) structure in which a silicon nitride layer serving as a charge trapped layer is held between two silicon dioxide layers. A gate insulating layer of the selective gate is constituted by a silicon dioxide layer. The selective gate-side diffused layer is formed by implantation of impurity ions with the selective gate used as a mask, and the memory gate-side diffused layer is formed by implantation of impurity ions with the memory gate used as a mask. Biases applied to these nodes are Vmg, Vcg, Vs, Vd, and Vbb, respectively (see FIG. 35).
Basic operations performed by the memory cell are four operations, i.e., (1) write, (2) erasing, (3) holding, and (4) read operations. It is to be noted that these four operations are denoted by typical notations and that the write and erasing operations are sometimes denoted differently. Furthermore, typical operations will be described; however, various other operations can be considered. Although the memory cell constituted by the n-channel MOSFETs will be described herein, a memory cell constituted by p-channel MOSFETs are identical to the former memory cell in principle.
FIG. 37 is a schematic for typically explaining the write operation performed by the memory cell, and FIG. 38 is a schematic for typically explaining the erasing operation performed by the memory cell. In FIGS. 37 and 38, reference symbol 50 denotes a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter, simply "substrate") made of monocrystalline silicon, 51 denotes a selective gate, 52 denotes a memory gate, 53 denotes a gate insulating layer, 54 denotes an ONO layer, 55 denotes a selective gate-side diffused layer, and 56 denotes a memory gate-side diffused layer.
(1) In a write operation, a positive potential is applied to the diffused layer 56 on the memory gate 52 side, and the same ground potential as that applied to the substrate 50 is applied to the diffused layer 55 on the selective gate 51 side. By applying a gate overdrive voltage higher than that applied to the substrate 50 to the memory gate 52, a channel under the memory gate 52 is turned into an ON-state. By setting a potential of the selective gate 51 to a value higher than a threshold voltage by 0.1V to 0.2V, a channel under the selective gate 51 is turned into an ON-state. At this time, a highest electric field is generated near a boundary between the two gates 51 and 52, so that many hot electrons are generated and injected into the memory gate 52. A state of generating carriers by electric field acceleration and impact ionization is denoted by symbol A. An electron is denoted by a white circle and a hole is denoted by a hatched circle.
This phenomenon is known and referred to as "source side injection or SSI", which is described in A. T. Wu et al., "IEEE International Electron Device Meeting", Technical Digest, pages 584-587, 1986 (Non-Patent Document 3). In the Non-Patent Document 3, a floating-gate memory cell has been described. However, a memory cell in which an insulating layer is used as charge trapped layer is identical to the floating-gate memory cell in injection mechanism.
The hot electron injection by the above-stated method is characterized in that the hot electron injection concentrates on a selective gate 51-side end of the memory gate 52 because of concentration of the electric field near the boundary between the selective gate 51 and the memory gate 52. Furthermore, while in the floating gate-type memory cell, the charge trapped layer is constituted by a conductive layer, in an insulating layer-type memory cell, charges are accumulated in the insulating layer (ONO layer 54). Therefore, electrons are held in an extremely narrow region in the insulating layer-type memory cell.
(2) In an erasing operation, a negative potential is applied to the memory gate 52 and the positive potential is applied to the diffused layer 56 on the memory gate 52 side so as to cause strong inversion on an end of the diffused layer 56 on which the memory gate 52 overlaps with the diffused layer 56. An interband tunnel phenomenon is thereby generated and holes are generated (denoted by symbol B). The interband tunnel effect is disclosed in, for example, T. Y. Chan et al., "IEEE International Electron Device Meeting", Technical Digest, pages 718-721, 1987 (Non-Patent Document 4).
In this memory cell, the generated holes are accelerated in channel direction, attracted by a bias applied to the memory gate 52, and injected into the ONO layer 54, whereby the erasing operation is performed. A state of generating a secondary electron-hole pair resulting from the generated hole is denoted by symbol C. The carries are also injected into the ONO layer 54. Namely, a threshold voltage of the memory gate 52 that has risen by electron charges can be reduced by charges of the injected holes.
(3) In a holding operation, the charges are held as the charges of the carriers injected into the ONO layer 54. Since movement of the carriers in the ONO layer 54 is quite small and slow, the charges can be satisfactorily held even if a voltage is not applied to the memory gate 52.
(4) In a read operation, by applying a positive potential to the selective gate 51-side diffused layer 55 and the selective gate 51, the channel below the selective gate 51 is turned into the ON-state. The held charge information is read as a current by applying potential appropriate for discriminating a threshold voltage difference in the memory gate 52 between the write and erasing states (that is, an intermediate potential between the threshold voltage in a write state and that in an erasing state).
To fabricate the memory cell shown in FIGS. 35 to 38, it is effective to form the selective gate, and then form the sidewall-shaped memory gate on a side surface of the selective gate using spacer process as disclosed in the Non-Patent Document 2. FIG. 39 is a schematic of a plane structure of a memory cell array formed by the process. FIG. 40 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A of FIG. 39. If memory cells are arranged in an array, the memory array structure shown in FIG. 36 is formed. Since the spacer process is self-alignment process, there is basically no need to newly pattern the memory gate. An area of each memory cell can be, therefore, reduced. The spacer process is effective for high integration and reduction in chip area. Furthermore, a gate length of the memory gate can be made smaller than a minimum feature size, so that high current driving force can be advantageously obtained.
According to studies of the inventors of the present invention, however, the conventional method of forming the memory gate on one side surface of the selective gate using the spacer process has the following disadvantages. The conventional disadvantages will be described with reference to FIGS. 41 to 45. In each of FIGS. 41 to 45, a left part shows a cross section taken along the line A-A of FIG. 39 and a right part shows a cross section in a direction orthogonal to the line A-A.
First, as shown in FIG. 41, after the gate insulating layer 53 is formed by thermally oxidizing the substrate 50, the selective gate 51 is formed on the gate insulating layer 53 and the ONO layer 54 is formed on the substrate 50. The selective gate 51 is formed by patterning a polycrystalline silicon layer deposited on the substrate 50 by CVD (chemical vapor deposition). The ONO layer 54 is a multilayer film in which a silicon nitride layer is formed between two silicon dioxide layers, and is formed by thermal oxidation and the CVD. In FIGS. 41 to 45, reference symbol 57 denotes a device isolation trench.
As shown in FIG. 42, after a polycrystalline silicon layer is deposited on the ONO layer 54 by the CVD, the polycrystalline silicon layer is anisotropically etched, thereby forming the sidewall-shaped memory gate 52 on each of both side surfaces of the selective gate 51.
Next, as shown in FIG. 43, one of the memory gates 52 formed on the respective side surfaces of the selective gates 51 is covered with a photoresist layer 57 and the other memory gate 52 is etched and removed, thereby leaving the memory gate 52 on one surface of the selective gate 51.
After removing the photoresist layer 57, the unnecessary ONO layer 54 left on an upper surface, one side surface and the like of the selective gate 51 is etched and removed as shown in FIG. 44. At this time, it is difficult to remove the ONO layer 54 on the side surface of the selective gate 51 by dry etching. It is, therefore, necessary to remove the ONO layer 54 by wet etching with which the ONO layer 54 can be isotropically etched. If the wet etching is performed, then the ONO layer 54 is side-etched below the memory gate 52 and an end of the ONO layer 54 is retreated in a direction of the selective gate 51. A recess 59 is thereby generated below an end of the memory gate 52.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 45, when a silicon dioxide layer 60 is deposited on the substrate 50 at a later step, the silicon dioxide layer 60 cannot completely cover up an interior of the recess 59, and a cavity 61 is, therefore, formed in the silicon dioxide layer 60 near the recess 59. Furthermore, even if the cavity 61 is not formed, a density of the silicon dioxide layer 60 near the recess 59 is reduced. As a result, the silicon dioxide layer 60 near the recess 59, that is, near the end of the memory gate 52 is low in breakdown voltage.
As already stated, in the write operation performed by this memory cell, the high voltage (Vmg) is applied to the memory gate 52 and a low source voltage (Vs) is applied to the diffused layer 56, so that a strong longitudinal electric field is generated near the end of the memory gate 52. Due to this, if a low breakdown voltage region is present in the silicon dioxide layer 60 in an area of the strong longitudinal electric field, a short-circuit occurs between the memory gate 52 and the substrate 50 (diffused layer 56).
To eliminate the recess 59, there is proposed wet-etching the ONO layer 54, thermally oxidizing the substrate 50, and thereby making the ONO layer 54 below the memory gate 52 thicker. However, since a thickness of the ONO layer 54 of a nonvolatile memory in the generation of 0.13 μm to 0.18 μm is equal to or larger than 20 nanometers, it is difficult to eliminate the recess 59 by thermal oxidation.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and its fabrication method


In an exemplary embodiment, a computer system hosts a logical Key Performance Indicator (KPI) network to detect computer performance anomalies. Databases execute database KPI nodes, database edges, and database instance nodes of the logical KPI network to propagate database KPI data to a KPI server system. Application servers execute application server KPI nodes, application server edges, and application server instance nodes of the logical KPI network to propagate application server KPI data to the KPI server system. Web servers execute web server KPI nodes, web server edges, and web server instance nodes of the logical KPI network to propagate web server KPI data to the KPI server system. This KPI data indicates logical data path information for the propagated KPI data (instead of KPI values). The KPI server system processes the logical data path information to indicate the computer performance anomalies.

A large cloud computing network features numerous data centers around the globe that each have several computers. These data centers host web sites, sales applications, media content, financial databases, customer records, and the like. The data centers serve users like hospitals, schools, media networks, government agencies, and web businesses. The management of such large and complex cloud computing networks is a significant challenge. Within a physical data center, each user has their own logical databases and logical servers that share the physical data center hardware. The logical databases and logical servers are software applications that are stored and executed within the physical data center hardware. In large cloud networks, there may be millions of these logical databases and servers (or more) to manage across thousands of computers (or more).
Computer analysts often study computer performance computer Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to manage cloud computing networks. The computers that comprise the cloud generate computer KPIs as a part of their normal operation. The computer KPIs are human-readable statements that indicate the current status of their circuitry, operating systems, databases, and applications. Typical computer KPIs may comprise "CPU X24 USAGE=84%" or "MEMORY A4 LATENCY=0.04 ms." In large cloud computing networks, the numerous computers produce a massive amount of KPIs every second.
Data network operators use computer KPIs to service their users. For example, a computer technician may receive an alarm that a large web retailer is experiencing excessive web server latency. The computer technician may study the relevant computer KPIs for the web retailer to solve the web latency problem. The computer technician may then establish an automated computer response to the specific computer KPIs pertinent to these logical components. This manual approach to handling computer KPIs is not scalable for large cloud networks. Since computer technicians cannot manually handle the massive amount of computer KPIs, automated computer tools have been developed to process the KPIs.
Logical networks comprises nodes and edges that propagate data through various logical operations to produce output data. Although logical networks are used for various data mining processes, automated KPI computer tools do not effectively and efficiently use logical networking to detect computer performance anomalies.

Identification of computer performance anomalies with a logical key performance indicator network


Erasure detection and power control are performed for an intermittently active transport channel with unknown format. A receiver processes each received block and determines whether it passes or fails CRC. For each received block with CRC failure, the receiver performs erasure detection by computing a symbol error rate (SER) and energy of the received block, comparing the computed SER against an SER threshold, comparing the computed energy against an energy threshold, and declaring an erasure if the computed SER is less than the SER threshold and the computed energy exceeds the energy threshold. The SER and energy thresholds may be adjusted based on the average SER and the average energy for prior received blocks with CRC failures. For power control, an SIR target is increased by an UP step whenever an erased block is detected for the transport channel.

I. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for performing erasure detection and power control in a wireless communication system.
II. Background
In a wireless communication system, a wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone) communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the wireless device, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the device to the base station. In a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a base station can transmit data to multiple wireless devices simultaneously. The total transmit power available at the base station thus determines the downlink capacity of the base station. A portion of the total available transmit power is allocated to each active wireless device such that the aggregate transmit power used for all active devices is less than or equal to the total available transmit power.
To maximize downlink capacity, a power control mechanism is typically used for each wireless device. The power control mechanism is normally implemented with two power control loops, which are often called an "inner" loop and an "outer" loop. The inner loop adjusts the transmit power used for the wireless device such that the received signal quality (which may be quantified by a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SIR)) for a downlink transmission, as measured at the device, is maintained at an SIR target. The outer loop adjusts the SIR target to achieve the desired level of performance, which may be quantified by a block error rate (BLER) target or some other performance criterion.
The outer loop typically adjusts the SIR target based on the status of received data blocks. In a common implementation, the outer loop decreases the SIR target by a small DOWN step if a "good" data block is received and increases the SIR target by a large UP step if a "bad" data block is received. The DOWN and UP steps are selected based on the BLER target and possibly other considerations. This outer loop implementation assumes that the status of each received data block can be reliably determined. This can normally be achieved by applying an error detection code, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code, on each data block prior to transmission. Each data block would then include a CRC value that can be checked by the wireless device to determine whether the block was decoded correctly (good) or in error (bad or erased).
A CDMA system may support data transmission using multiple transport channels and with multiple formats. One transport channel may carry data blocks continually and may use formats that require a CRC value to be included in each data block sent on that transport channel. Another transport channel may be operated in a non-continuous manner so that data blocks are not transmitted some or most of the time on the transport channel. This non-continuous transmission is often called discontinuous transmission (DTX). No data blocks are transmitted on the transport channel during periods of no transmission, and the non-transmitted blocks are often called DTX blocks. Power control for a data transmission using an intermittently active transport channel is challenging. This is because it may be difficult to accurately ascertain the true status of each received block on such a transport channel, i.e., whether the received block is a good block, a DTX block, or a bad block.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to reliably determine the status of each received block and to perform power control for a data transmission sent using an intermittently active transport channel.

Erasure detection and power control for a transport channel with unknown format in a wireless communication system


The present invention digital damper actuator utilizes a sectioned coil m up of a number of independently energizable coils connected together. To energize/de-energize each of the sectioned coils, a digital signal, in the form of 1 or 0, is provided by a controller microprocessor to a corresponding relay. Thus, for example, if a 1 is provided to the relay, its corresponding sectioned coils is energized. And if a 0 signal is provided to the relay, the sectioned coils is de-energized. A portion of the shaft which acts as a plunger connected to a damper pivotally fitted within a air duct is slidably fitted within the sectioned coil. Thus, as each of the sectioned coils is energized/de-energize, the shaft is moved correspondingly to thereby incrementally open/close the damper to allow an increasing/decreasing amount of air to pass through the air duct. As the number of sections which make up the sectioned coils is increased, the resolution of the incremental opening/closing of the damper is increased.

Conventionally, to control the movement of dampers in air ducts, pneumatic, electronic and electrical actuators are used. There are a number of disadvantages of using a pneumatic controller which include, for example, the drifting of the calibration point of the pneumatic controller over time, and the susceptibility of pneumatic lines to contamination from moisture due to condensation or lubricating oil from the compressor. Even though the current crop of HVAC electronic controllers are now microprocessor based, no reliable electronic actuators have yet been found. Moreover, with microprocessor based controllers, the old problems associated with pneumatic controllers have been replaced by a new set of problems which include the problem of converting different types of signals, as for example converting the digital signals output from the microprocessor to analog signals and further to pneumatic signals. There is therefore the added cost of the equipment for making those signal conversions. As for the electrical type of actuators that use motors and gears to drive the damper, experience has shown that the complexity of such actuators tends to make them unreliable and expensive.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


This invention relates to the discovery that the combination of a hydrated thiosulfate and a bismaleimide compound provides for excellent final rubber vulcanizate physical properties including improved adhesion to aramid reinforcement.

Aramid cord has found a position as a tire reinforcing material for tire casings and belts based on its exceptional properties related to tire performance. For example, its high modulus and strength characteristics contribute to reduced tire weight, lower running temperatures, lower rolling resistance, improved tread wear, improved handling and improved fatigue resistance. The challenge aramid cord faces as a reinforcing agent for tire applications is adhesion of the cord-rubber composite (see "Radial Truck Tire Aramid Reinforcement," paper 45, 126th ACS Rubber Division Meeting, Denver, Colo., Oct. 23-26, 1984; "Aramid Fibers and Adhesion to Elastomers: Applications and Performance," Rubber World 215 (2) page 30 (1996); "Fiber Reinforcement in Tires: An Overview," Tire Technology International, (1993) page 28).
The present invention relates to a sulfur-vulcanized rubber compound comprising a sulfur-vulcanizable rubber, sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate and a bismaleimide which provides improved adhesion between aramid cord and the rubber composition of this invention.

Rubber compound containing a hydrated thiosulfate and a bismaleimide


A toilet-seat flush-valve operating device has an energy transceiver, a connecting portion and a control portion. When adapted to conventional toilet equipment, the device serves to raise and lower the toilet seat automatically. If necessary, a flush-valve opening arrangement is mounted between the energy transceiver and the flush valve so that the device also operates to automatically open the flush valve at the appropriate time. The toilet seat stays at a slightly forwardly inclined vertical position and always tends to fall under its own weight. When an outside force is applied to the control portion, which is capable of transmitting the outside force to the energy transceiver, comprised of a spring and/or a dead weight, the energy transceiver is driven and releases the toilet seat from the control of a linkage mechanism, thereby permitting the seat to fall under its own weight. When the toilet seat falls to lay flat on the toilet bowl and has completed its stoke, it is then possible to withdraw the outside force. Thereafter, the energy transceiver starts to act in a direction opposite to the stroke mentioned above to release the energy gathered from the toilet seat during the stroke. The energy is returned to the toilet seat through the connecting portion as dynamic energy for raising the toilet seat.

The present invention relates to a toilet-seat flush-valve operating device having an energy transceiver, a connecting means and a control means.
In the applicant's first patent (noted above), a toilet-seat flush-valve operating device is disclosed in which raising and lowering of the toilet seat is performed by vertical movements of a piston means having the function of a dead weight. In view of the fact that a spring can replace the dead weight to perform the same function, that, in particular, when the original cylinder unit is to be mounted transversely there must be used a spring, and that since the use of a spring helps reduce the volume, in the present device, therefore, the dead weight acting also as the piston means in the previous application is substituted with a spring acting as an energy transceiver, particularly when an actuating fluid of high pressure is used. In other words, the original piston-cum-static-weight, after modification, forms a hydraulic pressure-plate-plus-spring of the present invention.
A clearance is formed between a control drum and a pressure plate slidable in the control drum. This clearance is capable of getting rid of any friction formed between the original piston means and the cylinder enabling the device of the invention to be almost devoid of any friction loss, so that with the help of a very small outside force it is possible to raise or lower the toilet seat. As mentioned above, owing to the location of the clearance between the control drum and the pressure plate, there is no formation of any friction, and the two need no grinding of their relative surfaces. This represents not only a saving of work, it is also possible to make the control drum polygonal, and there is even convenience in the selection of materials. Furthermore, the clearance serves as substitute for the bypass port in the original piston, and acts as an outlet passage for the actuating fluid, thereby making it possible for the omission of the bypass valve and piston ring. Along with the simplification in construction, it also makes possible the elimination of troubles such as replacement of an old piston ring with a new piston ring. Again, because of this clearance, there is not only a difference in construction from the conventional cylinder unit, the function is also different in that the pressure plate is not to drive the toilet seat, and by limiting the clearance it is also possible to control the speed of descent of the pressure plate.

Toilet-seat flush-valve operating device

Room 5, 2F, No. 80, Ho Ping West Road, Sec. 1


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A device may receive repeated portions (e.g., modulation symbols) of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) within a subframe. Portions of a PBCH may be repeated during various symbol periods of a subframe, and symbol periods for repetition may be selected based at least in part on locations of reference signals, synchronization signals, or downlink transmissions. Symbol periods that include cell-specific reference signals (CRS) may be used to repeat portions of a PBCH. Modulation symbols of a PBCH that include both broadcast information and CRS may be repeated within a subframe during symbol periods of the subframe than include CRS. Repetitions of portions of the PBCH in the subsequent subframe may be similarly or differently mapped to available resources in the subsequent subframe. Devices may identify characteristics of the PBCH by using differences in phase between repeated portions of the PBCH.

The following relates generally to wireless communication and more specifically to mapping a broadcast channel.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
Some UEs within the coverage area of a base station may have a relatively more difficult time acquiring system information from the base station. For instance, a UE may be near the edge of a coverage area, may be stationary, may be in an environment that is unconducive to wireless communication, or the like. These UEs, as well as UEs operating with better communication link conditions, may benefit from more opportunities to receive system information that may be broadcast by a base station.


A screw gun has a flat planar work face adapted to be placed flat against the work. An activator extending from the work face advances a screw along a guideway from a magazine to a driving position. A power unit is independently activated to drive the screw into the work. The screws in the magazine and guideway are mounted upon a flexible strip which has a body at the screw. The body has knobs extending on either side which fit within a groove of the guideway. The strip with the screws therein form a "Z" fold within the magazine and are guided from the magazine by a feed section which has one concave side and one convex side.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to screw guns. Screw guns have been developed for use in modern manufacturing (CHEN, U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,913) and construction of structures (NASIATKA, U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,324 and CAST, U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,597). Basically a screw gun is adapted to hold a magazine of screws and automatically advance them to a driving position where they may be driven into the work by a power driven bit. Although this invention is adapted for use with self-tapping metal screws in manufacturing or wood screws in construction of wooden structures such as furniture or cabinets, it is particularly adapted for attaching gypsum wall boards for structures such as habitations or offices. The studs to which the wall board is attached may be either metal or wood.
A construction worker skilled in attaching wall board is one having ordinary skill in the art.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In addition to the three patents referenced above, applicant was aware of the following U. S. patents.
______________________________________ MIZUNO et al 4,404,877 TAKAGI 5,083,483 FARIAN et al 5,109,738 HALSTEAD 3,554,246 DAMRATOWSKI 3,971,421 ______________________________________
All of these devices are characterized by having a small surface on the screw gun which contacts the work piece. In addition, most of the patents referenced above have the electric or air-driven motor integral with the gun.
Despite the developments as shown in the above identified patents, in common practice today, wall board is attached to studs by the workman holding the wall board against the stud with his shoulder or arm, holding a single screw between his fingers and driving the screw with an electric powered drill which has a screwdriver bit thereon. As an alternate to this, at times wood screws are held by a finger and driven by hammer partially into the wood and thereafter driven by a screwdriver.


Components and a system for limiting access and egress. A properly scaled barrier of the present invention meets varied requirements for applications that include: security, safety, order, privacy, and discipline. In one embodiment, pre-manufactured panels and connectors are delivered to a site that has been prepared for installation of the system. Local materials may be used for the panels in some cases. The panels and connectors can be assembled quickly by unskilled labor and, in some embodiments, the barrier just as quickly dismantled or repaired as necessary. One embodiment may be used as a temporary or emergency solution to access control while another may employ in-fill material to provide a permanent barrier. Another embodiment may be used in a residential setting, providing storage in some installations. In all embodiments, accessories for enhancing effectiveness may be installed on or within the barrier.

A requirement for a security barrier was announced by the U.S. Border Patrol. They needed a barrier able to be built from readily available materials. Further, it must be easy to build (not requiring skilled labor) and modular to adapt to varying local conditions and changing scenarios. Embodiments of the present invention are designed for use in various applications. However, initial design criteria were based upon the needs of the U.S. Border Patrol for a barrier to use under a variety of conditions to control border access. Criteria included:                It must be solid to hamper the passing of drugs across it and prevent penetration of bullets to the other side.        It must be robust against degradation of its function while maintaining its structural integrity. Degradation sources include scaling, burrowing under, ramming by vehicles, cutting, and repeated hammering and chipping.        It must inhibit immediate traversal to facilitate apprehension of the transgressor.        It must be maintained at relatively low cost with maintenance easy to perform quickly in order to minimize exposure of maintenance personnel.        It must be usable in all types of geography, including hilly and rough terrain.        It must "work well and last a long time" irrespective of the type and frequency of repairs.        It must minimize the danger to the Border Patrol and other personnel working at the border.
Because the Border Patrol cannot control what is done on the "foreign side" of the barrier, design criteria must account for this limitation. Of course, such a barrier might be adapted for other uses, especially those for which less stringent requirements may exist.
Previous barrier designs used to aid the Border Patrol have failed to control access across the border. Various designs of wire mesh fences, commonly used in prisons and schools, have been easily destroyed by transgressors. A barrier constructed from surplus temporary airfield landing mat is currently installed between San Diego, Calif. and Tijuana, Mexico. On the border with Mexico, fencing is installed only near population centers. Hence, only as many as 98 Km (60 miles) of the more than 3100 Km (1900 miles) is fenced. The excess steel landing mat will be exhausted long before any significant amount of border is fenced. The steel landing mat barrier is difficult to maintain and is easily circumvented by scaling or digging under the fence, sawing, use of a cutting torch, ramming, etc.
A bollard fence design has been installed as both a primary and secondary barrier (a second barrier located north of the primary barrier) at the same location. This bollard fence is a staggered line of vertically oriented concrete posts spaced at 10–12.7 cm (4–5 inches) and embedded in concrete. The posts are vulnerable to chipping, require concrete forms that must be installed by skilled contractors, and may be vandalized easily while curing. Transgressors can both see through and reach through the bollards, allowing them to pass drugs and even shoot through them. Proposals to enclose the bollards in steel tubes may make them less vulnerable to attack. This still allows transgressors to reach through the fence and still requires skilled contractors to construct and repair them.
In selected areas there are also impediments at low heights for deterring vehicle traffic. A fence has been installed between El Paso, Tex. and Mexico that is aesthetically appealing, but not resistant to vandalism. The fence is constructed of lightweight panels a few inches thick, mounted on support poles a few inches in diameter. Attacks by blunt instruments can easily create gaping holes in the fence. Ramming by a vehicle can severely damage the fence. In addition, resultant openings allow transgressors to transfer illicit items.
Existing designs fail to meet needs of the Border Patrol at a reasonable cost over their life cycle. Embodiments of the present invention provide cost effective solid barriers to human and vehicular intrusion that meet all the requirements of the Border Patrol and similarly situated organizations. Additionally, embodiments may be adapted for commercial or consumer use.

Modular barrier system for satisfying needs unique to a specific user

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


The invention relates to closed-circuit tunnels used for aerodynamic researches, sportsmen-parachutists training and other purposes. The inventive closed-circuit tunnel comprises a confuser, a working area, a diffuser, one or several return channels, a blower unit and turning bends having different flow deflection angle, wherein the bend having the smaller flow deflection angle is placed in a high-speed flow cross-section, whereas the bend having the greater flow deflection angle is arranged in a low flow speed cross-section. In a preferred embodiment, the tunnel comprises a first turning bend containing one turning gut for turning the airflow at 60 degrees, a second turning bend containing two turning guts for turning the airflow at 120 degrees, and a third turning bend containing three turning guts for turning the airflow at 180 degrees. The invention makes it possible to reduce air pressure losses, the drive power and a specific amount of metal per structure.

Every known return-flow wind tunnel contains a confuser, a test section, a diffuser, a blower unit, one or several return channels, and turning bends that are used to form a closed loop. The turning bend may be designed as a smooth arc-shaped section for turning airflow through 180 degrees [1, p. 64] or as an elbow bend for turning airflow through 90 degrees. In the latter case, the air channel section between the first turning bend and the second turning bend may be designed with a cylindrical or prismatic cross-section [1, p. 60] or as a diffuser section.
The most close to the proposed wind tunnel is a return-flow wind tunnel containing a confuser, a test section, a diffuser, a return channel, a blower unit, and four 90-degree turning bends with the diffuser section arranged between the first turning bend and the second turning bend [2, p. 11].
The disadvantage of the prior art wind tunnel is a significant air pressure loss due to an inefficient arrangement of the wind tunnel elements. The first turning bend and the second turning bend are main sources of the air pressure loss in the wind tunnel circuit and induce a large air pressure loss in the diffuser. This feature is due to the fact that, in order to reduce the air pressure loss in the turning bends, it is necessary to reduce the airflow velocity in the turning bends by increasing the area ratio of the diffuser. As a result, the air pressure loss in the diffuser would increase. Additionally, the increase of the area ratio of the diffuser is associated with the increase of the length of the diffuser and, as a result, with the increase of the overall dimensions of the wind tunnel and the increase of materials consumption in constructing the wind tunnel.


With a low-pressure pump, fuel is supplied to a vapor separator comprising an air discharge port and a ball valve for closing the air discharge port in association with a rise in fluid level of the fuel supplied to the vapor separator. When the fuel is filled into the vapor separator entirely, the ball valve acts to tightly close the vapor separator, thereby pressurizing the fuel in the vapor separator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel supply apparatus and a vapor separator in an outboard engine provided with a fuel injection system.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, an engine provided with a fuel injection system is constructed to be supplied with a predetermined amount of fuel by means of an injector placed in an intake passage and an electrically controlled fuel pump and a predetermined amount of air supplied under the control of a throttle valve. A fuel supply apparatus in an outboard engine provided with a fuel tank mounted on a ship's body needs a long pipe for fuel supply to connect the tank to the engine. A vapor separator serving as an auxiliary, tank is therefore disposed near the engine.
An example of the above fuel supply apparatus in the outboard engine is disclosed in Japanese patent unexamined publication No. 2001-140720. This fuel supply apparatus includes a fuel tank, a vapor separator, a high-pressure fuel pump for supplying fuel to an injection nozzle (an injector) of an engine intake system, and an ECM for controlling fuel injection from the injection nozzle. The fuel supply apparatus is constructed to supply fuel to a combustion part (an engine combustion chamber) together with air supplied through the throttle body. The fuel supply apparatus further includes a first fuel vapor hose connected in communication to a reservoir part which stores fuel vapor in the vapor separator, a second fuel vapor hose connected in communication to the intake passage upstream of the throttle body, and a buffer part connected in communication to the first and second fuel vapor hoses and used for buffering the flow of fuel vapor.
In the vapor separator, normally, a float 101 is provided as shown in FIG. 19. This float 101 serves to adjust an amount of fuel to be supplied from a fuel pump 102 in order to maintain a constant amount of fuel in a vapor separator 100. Accordingly, an air layer and a fuel layer are formed in the vapor separator 100. The vapor separator 100 is provided, on the air layer side, with a pipe called a vent port 103 having an open end opening into the vapor separator 100 in order to produce a pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure in the vapor separator 100. The other end of the vent port 103 is connected to an intake passage to return fuel vapor generated in the vapor separator 100 to the intake passage. This is because the vapor generated in the vapor separator 100 is combustible, which may cause a fire if released into the atmosphere and cause atmospheric pollution.
However, the vapor separator of the fuel supply apparatus in the outboard engine, including one disclosed in Japanese patent unexamined publication No. 2001-140720, has a disadvantage that a large amount of vapor is generated at high temperature conditions due to heat, vibration, agitation caused by supplied fuel and return fuel, and decompression and boiling of the return fuel, and the vapor would be mixed in the air layer. The vapor separator has been configured to return the generated vapor to the intake passage as mentioned above, so that an air/fuel (A/F) ratio is liable to vary according to the amount of the vapor returned to the intake passage. This would deteriorate engine performances at the high temperature conditions.

Fuel supply apparatus and vapor separator in outboard engine


A cDNA molecule encoding coniferin beta-glucosidase is disclosed. This enzyme catalyzes one of the last steps in the synthesis of lignin in plants. Plants having modified lignin content may be produced by transformation with this cDNA (or parts of the cDNA), for example, in either sense or antisense orientation. The invention includes methods of altering-lignin content in plants using this cDNA, as well as transformed plants, such as conifers, having modified lignin content.

Lignin is the second most abundant organic material in the biosphere, and is a major component of cell walls of woody plants (such as poplar and pine species) and fodder crops (such as maize, wheat and barley). The quantity of lignin in plant material affects characteristics that are agronomically important. For example, in fodder crops the amount of lignin present determines how easily the crop may be digested by animals; relatively small increases in lignin content may produce large decreases in the digestibility of the crop. Therefore, reducing lignin content would enhance digestibility, facilitating a more efficient use of such crops. In the timber industry, producing wood pulp for papermaking requires the removal of lignin to release the cellulosic content of the timber. The process of removing the lignin consumes large amounts of energy and produces environmentally harmful lignin waste liquors which must be treated prior to disposal. It has also been suggested that residual lignin in paper pulp may produce toxic polychlorinated biphenols when the lignin interacts with chlorine used in the bleaching process. Thus, decreasing lignin content in wood products would be advantageous for papermaking. On the other hand, increasing the lignin content of timber offers the possibility of increased wood strength.
Accordingly, modification of quality and quantity of lignin in plants has been a long-standing interest among breeders and, more recently, among molecular biologists. Recent molecular approaches towards methods for reducing lignin content in plants are typified by: U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,514, "Modification of Lignin Synthesis in Plants"; Canadian Patent No. 2,005,597, "Plants Having Reduced Lignin or Lignin of Altered Quality"; and International Patent Application Publication No. WO 94/23044.
Lignin is a complex polymer of three cinnamyl alcohols, p-coumaryl, coniferyl and sinapyl, all products of phenylpropanoid metabolism. Depending on the plant species or tissue, the relative proportion of the different monomers in lignin can vary significantly. In gymnosperms for example, lignin is predominantly composed of coniferyl alcohol monomer units, whereas angiosperms have significant proportions of sinapyl moieties. The metabolism of lignin production involves many intermediates, enzymatic pathways and, correspondingly, genes. Accordingly, there are several gene/enzyme targets that might be selected to manipulate lignin production through genetic engineering.
Alteration of lignin levels by antisense and sense suppression of gene expression has already been attempted for several enzymes in the phenylpropanoid pathway including PAL (Elkind et al. 1990), CAD (Schuch 1993; Canadian patent 2,005,597; U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,514), 4CL (Lee and Douglas 1994) and COMT (WO 94/23044). However, all of these attempts to modify lignin synthesis are directed at early stages in the synthetic pathway and are therefore likely to interfere with other metabolic processes which share these intermediate steps. It is clear, for example, that interference with early steps in the phenylpropanoid pathway can have undesirable pleiotropic effects (Elkind et al., 1990). In addition, modulating biosynthetic enzymes that act early in the pathway may not be effective because alternative synthetic routes may be available. A better approach to modulating lignin synthesis would be to regulate later stages in the lignin biosynthesis pathway: this would minimize or avoid pleiotropic effects and would likely provide a greater degree of effective control.
The present invention is directed towards the identification of a gene that regulates a later step in the lignin biosynthesis pathway, and the use of this gene to modify lignin content in plants.

Coniferin beta-glucosidase cDNA for modifying lignin content in plants