A brick which can be laid with other similar bricks for forming a heat-insulating masonry work structure. The brick includes a plurality of webs defining empty inner cavities therebetween, the cavities having heat-insulating properties and further defining inner surfaces and a width of more than 8 mm. A heat-reflecting coating is disposed on the inner surfaces of the cavities. The masonry work structure may include a brick laying material for laying the bricks such that the bricks do not fill with the material and do not clog up with dirt, the brick laying material including one of bonding mortar, thin-bed mortar, mid-bed mortar and fibrous mortar. The coating may be applied to the inner surfaces of the cavities by one of vapor deposition, spraying and bonding on as a thin film, and may further be fired. The coating may further be sprayed, coextruded and spread and thereafter fired. The brick may be produced either by applying a glaze on the inner surfaces of the cavities as a base for the coating and thereafter applying the coating on the glaze, or by admixing a water-soluble component with a raw material clay for forming a brick mixture, forming the brick mixture into a brick shape and thereafter effecting a migration of the component onto the inner surfaces of the cavities by drying and firing the brick shape.

In the case of conventional insulating blocks, for example perforated bricks, gas-concrete blocks and blocks including cement-bound lightweight building materials, the attempt is made to optimize the heat-insulating capacity by using as lightweight a building material as possible. Consequently, use is made of high-porosity clays for bricks, foamed concrete, pumice, pearlite or the like. However, this method is restricted by virtue of the limited resistance to compression of the lightweight building materials.
The prior art further improves the heat-insulating capacity of a given block by a skilled arrangement of air slots which pass through completely, or at least to a major extent, from one side of the block to the other and transversely with respect to the heat-flow direction. In particular, the heat-insulating capacity is improved by slot-shaped cavities which are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the block and are offset with respect to one another transversely with respect to the heat-flow direction. However, the elongate cavities which are produced in bricks by the extrusion process and thus pass through the bricks weaken the stability, in particular the resistance to transverse tension, of the insulating block. Consequently, it is not possible to go below a minimum cross-sectional surface area of heat-conducting webs in the heat-flow direction.
It is known that, with a predetermined thickness of the longitudinal webs running transversely with respect to the heat-flow direction, the optimum average slot width or the average number of slots following one after the other in the heat-flow direction can be calculated (Swiss Patent Specification 476 181, 482 882 and 516 057). The average slot width is understood as being the cross-sectional surface area of a usually elongate cavity divided by its greatest extent transverse to the heat-flow direction. The number of slots is averaged over a multiplicity of cuts through the brick which are guided in the heat-flow direction, and corresponds to a more conventional parameter, namely the number of slot rows. The cavity cross-sections are usually of shapes elongated transverse to the heat-flow direction, for example ellipses, rectangles, trapeziums, cuboids, triangles, etc. The cavities may also be square, round or of shapes with five, six and more sides.
In the case of blocks consisting of fired clay, web thicknesses of 6 mm and more are conventional. If the web thickness is reduced, for example to 4 or 2 mm, then, following on from the abovementioned patent specifications, the optimum number of slots increases in an extremely pronounced manner, with the result that it is no longer possible to produce bricks with the theoretically determined optimum number of slot rows since overly high pressures occur during the extrusion of the clay compositions. For example, for a brick of a thickness of 30 cm, with the web thickness being 2 mm according to Leitner (see abovementioned CH-PS 516 057) or Amrein (see abovementioned CH-PS 476 181), the slot width would have to be 3.5 mm. Consequently, over 50 rows of slots would be necessary in order approximately to reach the theoretically determined maximum. Bricks of a thickness of 30 cm which are produced today usually have 17 rows of slots, and not more than 21 rows of slots. 30 rows of slots would, at this moment in time, constitute a significant limit to producibility.
A further possibility for producing heat-insulating blocks consists in producing the block with a plurality of larger cavities and, in order to restrict the heat loss in the cavities, filling said cavities subsequently with insulating inserts consisting of extremely different materials, this, however, constituting an operation involving a high degree of outlay.
Conventional insulating blocks which have been optimized with the above methods achieve coefficients of thermal conductivity of 0.12 W/mK or worse, at best 0.15 W/mK in the case of bricks.

Block having heat insulating inner cavities

Ziegeleien Freiburg & Lausanne AG Duedingen


The present invention provides a plurality of permanent magnets to enhance radiation dose delivery of a high energy particle beam. The direction of the magnetic field from the permanent magnets may be changed by moving the permanent magnets.

The present invention relates generally to providing and controlling dose enhancements in high energy particle beam (electrons or photons) treatment of a target area in a patient's body. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and systems that use a permanent magnet assembly that creates a dose enhancement at the target area along the high energy particle beam path, compared to the dose delivered to surrounding regions of the patient's body along the beam path.
A photon beam interacts with tissue in a well-understood manner. Photons themselves, whatever their energy, do not produce ionization (e.g., damage). Rather, the photons interact with the electrons and nuclei of tissue constituents. This interaction results mostly in electrons (and positrons) receiving a substantive amount of energy from the photon beam. These moving charged particles are responsible for the ionization that damages the tissue.
The angular distribution of the electrons initially depends on the energy of the photons, but scattering interactions lead to more photons, that then result in more electrons, in what is called a "cascade," that generates a path of ionizing particles that becomes broader and the process becomes diffusive. These effects have two results that impact the effectiveness of radiation treatment with photon beams. First, the initial photon beam target area is not well defined, being mostly dependent on the density of the tissue in its path, with a component due to attenuation, i.e., less beam is left the deeper it penetrates into the subject. Second, the cascade further results in dose delivery downstream to the target area, as well as outside the beam boundary.
Similar considerations apply to electron beams used in radiation treatment. As the electron travels through tissue, it produces ionization along its entire path, losing small amounts of its energy to each ionization. It can also undergo scattering with an electron (or nucleus) in the tissue, and this scattering transfers a large fraction of its energy. Once an electron interacts with the tissue in this manner, a cascade of electrons and photons is produced, which, qualitatively, is not different from that produced by a photon.
Radiation therapy planning is a mature, yet still evolving practice. During radiation therapy, an operator will typically manipulate a beam profile and/or beam directions to attempt to maximize the radiation dosage to the target area(s), while minimizing the amount of radiation dosage to the surrounding and non-adjacent tissue in the patient body.
The actual path of photon beams cannot be affected in a measurable manner. On the other hand, the path of charged particles is affected by electric and magnetic fields, a phenomenon used in CRTs, for example. For practical reasons, magnetic fields are generally preferable for this purpose. For any given magnetic (or electric) field strength the effect on the path of the beam will be lower for higher particle energy, thus the beam of electrons will be much less affected than the cascade electrons. A moving charged particle in a magnetic field will see a force perpendicular to its direction of motion and perpendicular to the magnetic field vector, so that it will tend to circle the magnetic field line. This results in a corkscrew motion where speed is preserved, but the velocity vector has a component along the field lines and another component around the field lines. In the absence of impediments, the electrons will travel along magnetic field lines and diffuse towards the region with the weakest magnetic field and away from the strong magnetic field region.
To that end, Whitmire et al., "Magnetic modification of the electron-dose distribution in tissue and lung phantoms," Med. Phys 5(5), September/October 1978 (the complete disclosure of which is incorporated by reference) describes the use of an electromagnet to generate a moderately strong transverse-magnetic field to modify electron-dose distributions in tissue, and discusses the use of superconducting magnets for the same purpose. Lee and Ma, "Monte Carlo characterization of clinical electron beams in transverse magnetic fields," Phys. Med. Biol. 45(10):2947-2967, 2000 (the complete disclosure of which is incorporated by reference) studied the characteristics of the electron beam of a clinical linear accelerator in the presence of 1.5 and 3.0 Tesla transverse magnetic fields to assess the possibility of using magnetic fields in conjunction with modulated electron radiation therapy. Longitudinal magnetic fields have also been found to enhance the depth of dosage distribution of an electron beam when the field was applied prior to the beam reaching the target. (Earl and Ma, Med. Phys. 29(4):484-491, 2002, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated by reference).
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,112 to Reiffel, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method of controlling and enhancing dose in the target area of a patient's body by using a topical magnet in the form of an array of magnet coils to create a magnetic field within a subject undergoing radiation therapy. As described in Reiffel, the magnet is characterized as producing a "magnetic field configuration having a magnetic field component across the beam path and having a magnetic field gradient component along the beam path which cause the dose enhancement, the dose enhancement being changeable during beam use by changing the magnetic field configuration during beam use, wherein the topical magnetic field can be produced by an array of magnet coils." In one particular embodiment, Reiffel suggests using superconducting magnet coils. In a separate study, Reiffel et al. examined the effects of a small super conducting magnet on the control over photon dose effects. (Phys. Med. Biol. 45:N177-N182, 2000, the complete contents of which is incorporated herein). In water phantoms, Reiffel et al. found that the effects of a locally strong transverse magnetic field with large gradients extended to 3 to 4 cm or more beyond the warm face of the cryostat.
Currents in superconductors and normal conductors may be used to produce magnetic fields of distributions calculable from well known physical principles. In practice, however, both normal conductors and superconductor coils are impractical for enhancing dosage in a photon and electron beam treatment to a target area in a patient's body.
Conventional resistive coil magnets generate a large amount of heat from the currents used to create the magnetic field. The heat is typically controlled by using thicker conductors for the coils (e.g., less resistance) and using active water cooling. For high magnetic fields, the magnetic coils are very large and cumbersome and electrical consumption is high. Because of the cumbersome nature and need for active cooling, the coils are difficult to reposition and reorient. Furthermore, they are large and the coil magnets need to be positioned relatively far away from the patient, thus limiting its ability to create sufficient magnetic fields within the patient's body (the field strength drops rapidly with distance from the magnet).
While the use of superconducting coil magnets eliminate the heat dissipation problem, the superconducting coils have the additional requirement of needing to be kept cold, typically between about 4 Kelvin and 10 Kelvin. Such cooling typically requires a liquid helium circulating system or active cryogenic coolers (operated by electricity, and also generating heat that needs to be dissipated). The whole assembly has to be kept within a vacuum cryostat. Typically, between the superconducting coil and the outside vacuum cryostat, there is an intermediate temperature shield (40 to 77 Kelvin) kept cold by liquid nitrogen or an active cryogenic cooler. Some cooling systems are dry (only an electric cooler), some are liquid (helium and nitrogen), and others hybrid, and use the active cooler to preserve the cryogenic liquids. Typically, multiple layers of superinsulation (aluminized Mylar) are placed between the superconducting coils and the shield, and between the shield and the vacuum cryostat. Care must be taken that the superinsulation does not touch the cryostat and provide heat conducting paths (called heat shorts). Consequently, the superconducting coil magnet assembly is a bulky system, and one that needs to be fabricated with great care and maintained both at vacuum and low temperature continuously, whether in use or not. A particular disadvantage is the space introduced between the magnetic field-generating coils and the outside of the cryostat, this space taken up by two superinsulation blankets, the intermediate shield, and the low temperature container, the intermediate temperature container and the room temperature container. This space reduces the magnetic field strength at the patient.
In another aspect of this practice, for superconducting magnets, considerations of restrictions on winding of the wire and the need for cooling and insulation, restrict the practically achievable magnetic field configurations. The winding of superconducting coils for achieving high fields is an art. Winding configurations are limited by the need to avoid sharp bends and to minimize stresses on the wire. The stresses arise from the interaction of the current in the coil with the magnetic field the current creates. When winding shapes depart from the perfectly circular, even if they are elliptical, these problems start to exacerbate. Therefore, for practical purposes, most magnets are typically limited to simple circular confirmations.
The topical superconducting magnets, because of winding, cooling and insulation constraints, if unobtrusive, typically lend themselves only to the creation of non-uniform fields, all with the basic topology of a dipole. While proven useful, these magnetic fields are less than optimal.
From the above, it is apparent that improvements over the array of coil magnet are needed. In particular, what are needed are low cost, simple systems and methods which enhance a radiation dose to a target area in comparison to the radiation dose to the surrounding regions in the patient's body. Preferably, the methods and systems should be robust and easily reconfigurable.

Permanent magnet radiation dose delivery enhancement


A device and method for processing an image in a device having a camera is disclosed. A motion vector of an unwanted object in preview frames of the desired image is identified. A photographing interval in accordance with the motion vector may be set. Continuous frames of the desired image may be photographed in accordance with the photographing interval. The unwanted object is removed from the desired image.

When photographing a desired image in a camera device or an electronic device having a camera, an undesired object may be included in the photographed image. For example, when photographing a desired image such as a scene or a building, an undesired moving object, such as a person or a flying object, can be included in the picture while photographing the image. Furthermore, when photographing a portrait, an unwanted moving object, such as a passerby, an animal, or an automobile, may be included in the image.
In this instance, a user may re-photograph the subject to get a desired photo or may remove the undesired object from the photographed image. However, re-photographing the identical subject may be burdensome and may increase the likelihood of photographing the subject in an undesired condition due to a change in the environment. Removing the undesired object may be just as burdensome, since removal of the undesired object may include manually removing the object using a separate image processing program (e.g., Photoshop), and a portion of the desired image (e.g., a background image) may not be perfectly restored.

Removing unwanted objects from photographed image


An improved resonance and non-operating shock performance, low debris-generating disk drive suspension head gimbal assembly for positioning a head at a disk in which the load beam body is locally relieved or deflected to provide shelter for the portion of the flexure usually in the path of the lift arm against debris causing contact of the lift arm with the flexure edges and distortion of the flexure from lift arm contact in a load beam unsupported condition. The local relief reduces the load beam mass for high shock performance; the modification of the load beam contour improves stiffness and thereby improves resonance qualities.

This invention has to do with disk drive suspensions, and more particularly with the protection of the suspension flexure in a disk drive suspension head gimbal assembly. Specifically, the invention provides, for suspension installations where a transverse lift arm is used to lift the suspension load beam away from the disk, the means to avoid debris-generating contact of the lift arm with the flexure edge. The invention further enables avoiding performance-affecting distortion of the flexure that results from contact of the flexure with the lift arm, e.g. where the flexure has previously been unsupported. In accordance with the invention the flexure is supported by the load beam body in the locus of engagement of the lift arm and the flexure portion in the path of the lift arm. The flexure support is realized by modification of the load beam body to accommodate the edge flanges of the flexure in a manner placing the flat of the flexure, that is the portion between the edge flanges, against the opposing load beam surface. Advantages accruing from the invention include less debris generation from the lift arm scraping on the flexure edges. Other advantages include improved resonance values resulting from increased stiffness in the gimbal assembly load beam, and high shock properties in the non-operating mode resulting from reduced mass in the load beam.
Lift arms used to load and unload the suspension from disk cammingly engage the load beam to shift it, and, in the process, rub against the load beam.
In the prior art, flexures have been designed to straddle the load beam portion lying in the path of the lift arms, their rounded edges wrapping the load beam edge for a smoother ride for the lift arm across the suspension. The use of such wide flexures, however, adds mass to the suspension assembly, and higher mass lowers non-operating shock performance. Further, the difficulty of precision fitting a straddling-type of flexure so as to maintain original design values in pitch static attitude and roll static attitude increases manufacturing costs. Fixing the straddling flexure to the load beam involves problematical welding between curved surfaces. Debris may be generated where the lift arm contacts a flexure edge as the scraping action will remove material from the lift arm. This debris may collect in the spaces between the flexure and the load beam where these spaces exist, and cause problems in use of the apparatus. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,331 to Wolter, a specially shaped flexure is provided with edge flanges either straight or rolled to carry the lift arm ramp past the etched edges of the flexure.

High shock suspension with load beam shielded flexure


A variable impedance load (104) is provided at the output of a radio frequency (RF) driver amplifier (102) having a variable gain. In an exemplary embodiment, the variable load (104) comprises a resistor (R) in series with a semiconductor device (M1). The semiconductor device (M1) has an impedance level determined by a drive current. The value of the drive current is related to the gain of the RF driver amplifier (102).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to wireless communication devices and, more particularly, to a variable impedance load for a variable gain radio frequency amplifier used in the output stage of a wireless communication device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of wireless communication devices, in applications such as wireless telephones, is widespread. The output stage of a wireless communication device includes radio frequency (RF) amplifiers. This is true of most wireless communication devices regardless of the form of modulation, such as AM, FM, and the like. A typical output stage 10 for a wireless communication device is illustrated in FIG. 1 and comprises an RF driver amplifier 12, a transmit filter 14, and an RF power amplifier 16. An output port of the RF driver amplifier 12 is coupled to an input port of the transmit filter 14. Similarly, an output port of the transmit filter 14 is coupled to an input port of the RF power amplifier 16.
An input 18 to the RF driver amplifier comes from other circuitry not illustrated in FIG. 1. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the other circuitry not illustrated includes, by way of example, processing circuits such as a modulator. For example, the wireless device may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) wireless communication device. In this example, the additional circuitry, which is not illustrated in FIG. 1, would include CDMA processing circuitry and a CDMA modulator circuit.
An output from the RF power amplifier 16 is coupled to a duplexer 20, the output of which is coupled to an antenna circuit, which is also omitted from FIG. 1 for the sake of brevity. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the antenna circuit may comprise an antenna (not shown). The duplexer 20 permits the antenna to be used for both transmission and reception of radio frequency signals.
In an exemplary embodiment, the transmit filter 14 is a band pass filter selected to match the frequency range of operation of the wireless communication device. The transmit filter 14 may be implemented as a SAW filter or a ceramic filter. Those skilled in the art will understand the requirements of the transmit filter 14, which need not be described in greater detail herein.
For maximum efficiency in power transfer, it is desirable that the output impedance of the RF driver amplifier 12 match the input impedance of the transmit filter 14. Similarly, the output impedance of the transmit filter 14 should match the input impedance of the RF power amplifier 16 for maximum power transfer. If the RF driver amplifier 12 has a fixed gain associated therewith, it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to design an amplifier to have the appropriate output impedance to match the input impedance of the transmit filter. Alternatively, a matching circuit (not shown) may be inserted between the RF driver amplifier 12 and the transmit filter 14.
Failure to properly match the output impedance of the RF driver amplifier 12 to the input impedance of the transmit filter 14 results in a high voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and sub-optimal power transfer between the RF driver amplifier and the transmit filter. The impedance mismatch also adversely affects the operation of the transmit filter 14 resulting in a degradation of the in-band and out-of-band characteristics of the transmit filter. This mismatch may result in increased filter insertion loss, reduced filter gain flatness, and degraded out-of-band filter rejection.
Furthermore, the filter impedance at the output port of the transmit filter 14 (where the power amplifier 16 is coupled) is a function of the impedance seen by the transmit filter 14 at its input port. This input impedance must be carefully controlled in order to ensure the stability, linearity, and efficiency of the RF power amplifier 16. Thus, proper control of the output impedance of the RF driver amplifier 12 is critical to operation of the components following the driver amplifier in the transmitter chain (i.e., the transmit filter 14 and the RF power amplifier 16).
In known implementations of a wireless communication device, the gain of the RF driver amplifier 12 is not continuously varied in any significant way. In certain applications, the current drain of the RF driver amplifier 12 is altered to save current and thus maximize battery life. One side effect of such a decrease in the drain current is a minimal fluctuation on the gain of the RF driver amplifier, which is considered to be essentially a fixed gain. However, in applications where it is desirable to significantly vary the gain of the RF driver amplifier, there is a great need for a system and method to properly match the output impedance of the driver amplifier and thus improve performance of the output stage 10. The present invention provides this and other advantages as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.

Variable impedance load for a variable gain radio frequency amplifier


An ultra-fast trimaran deep water and littoral naval ship suited to combat, search and rescue, and/or deployment operations has a plurality of semi-planing hulls connected to the underside of a deck in a trimaran configuration. Further, a plurality of propulsion stages including a cruise propulsion stage, a wind assisted propulsion stage, and a vectored direct thrust propulsion stage may be independently operated alone or in conjunction to propel the ship at various speeds suited to different situations.

In present times, naval forces must be prepared against a wide range of technological and primitive naval threats. There is a growing need for effective fleet protection in the age of high-tech weapons, especially in narrow seas, such as the Red Sea, among others. The present invention aims to address this demand, by uniquely and collectively incorporating new naval architecture in to various existing components and technologies to create a new breed of ships. The versatile military, commercial, and civilian mission capabilities, structural configuration, and propulsion performance systems of the present invention are significantly different compared to existing fast ships. The present invention is a naval vessel that can assist in providing an effective defense against surface ships, submarines, and aerial weapon platforms, i.e. anti-ship missiles. The present invention provides fleet protection outside of current naval defense perimeters. The present invention can engage enemy forces well beyond the fleet's area of operation, thereby seriously depleting enemy forces effectiveness and strength long before they are able to effectively engage the fleet. Utilizing mature composite materials, the present invention is inexpensive to produce, reliable, easily operated, easily maintained, easily repaired and most importantly it is uniquely, ultra-fast one hundred fifty knot speed. The present invention can also be an effective element to Rapid Force Deployment Operations. The present invention can provide close to shore insertion and extraction operations in support of Navy Seal teams, in addition to blue water operations. The Ultra-Fast capabilities and long range of the present invention allows for quick and stealthy delivery Seal Teams, while still having the option of remaining within over-the-horizon striking range. The present invention is ideal for detecting and destroying submarine threats. The present invention can also aid in smuggler interdiction operations. Its presence would be a strong deterrence to drug smugglers and any other types of smuggling operations. Search and rescue operations can also be performed by the present invention, saving lives during naval blue water operations and coastal operations. Depending on the configuration of the superstructure, another embodiment of the present invention can be capable of launching aircraft/projectiles such as: the F35B vertical takeoff aircraft, cruise missiles, and or various types of helicopters. In addition, the present invention can easily be reconfigured for various roles. The present invention can be deployed as a commercial fast ferry or smaller versions as private yachts.
Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Additional advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the detailed description of the invention section. Further benefits and advantages of the embodiments of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specify and show preferred embodiments of the present invention.


A measurement apparatus, for example a digital oscilloscope, receives an amplitude modulated (AM) signal comprising a baseband signal, having a baseband waveform, modulating a carrier signal, and reconstructs the baseband waveform. The measurement apparatus: samples the AM signal at a sampling rate which produces a plurality of data samples for each period of the carrier signal; determines the amplitude of the baseband signal for each of a plurality of periods of the carrier signal from at least some of the plurality of data samples for each period; and reconstructs the baseband waveform from the amplitudes of the baseband signal for each of the plurality of periods of the carrier signal. The measurement apparatus may display the reconstructed baseband waveform on a display device.

Many communication signals are composed of a carrier signal, often operating at an RF or microwave carrier frequency, which is modulated with a baseband signal which conveys the real information in the communication signal. One well known example of such a communication signal is an amplitude modulated (AM) signal, wherein the baseband signal modulates the amplitude of the carrier signal.
FIG. 1A illustrates an example embodiment of an apparatus 100 for producing an AM signal. Apparatus 100 includes a carrier signal generator 110, a baseband signal generator 120, and an AM modulator 130.
Carrier signal generator 110 generates a carrier signal 115, in particular a periodic signal (e.g., a sine wave) having a carrier frequency. In various embodiments, carrier signal generator 110 may comprise an oscillator, a frequency synthesizer, or a waveform generator.
Baseband signal generator 120 in general can be any kind of device which generates a baseband signal 125 which can be used to modulate the amplitude of carrier signal 115. In some embodiments, baseband signal 125 may comprise a digital signal, or low-pass-filtered digital signal, in which case baseband signal generator 120 may be any kind of digital signal generator.
AM modulator 130 receives carrier signal 115 and modulated the amplitude of carrier signal 115 with baseband signal 125.
FIG. 1B illustrates another example embodiment of an apparatus 100 for producing an AM signal. In apparatus 150, baseband signal generator 120 provides baseband signal 125 to carrier signal generator 110 and the amplitude modulation is performed directly at carrier signal generator 110 such that no separate AM modulator is required.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of an amplitude modulation (AM) signal 135, and FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment the frequency spectrum of an AM signal. In FIGS. 2 and 3, baseband signal 125 is a periodic signal having a frequency which is less than the carrier frequency. However, in general baseband signal 125 may be any arbitrary signal. However, in general, the highest frequency component of baseband signal 125 should be less than the carrier frequency of carrier signal 115, and is often much less than carrier frequency (e.g., by one or more orders of magnitude).
At a communication receiver, an AM signal may be demodulated to extract the baseband signal containing the information which is communicated. There are many well-known techniques for extracting the baseband signal by performing frequency domain signal processing of the AM signal. Perhaps the most common AM demodulator consists of a rectifier followed by a low pass filter. The operation of such an AM demodulator may be easily understood with reference to the frequency spectrum. The rectifier effectively squares the AM signal and thereby reproduces copies of the AM signal spectrum around twice the carrier frequency and also around DC or 0 Hertz. The output of the rectifier at twice the AM carrier frequency is removed by the low pass filter, leaving only the portion around 0 Hertz—which has the same spectrum as the original baseband signal.
Often a communication device or system which employs AM, or the AM signal itself, needs to be tested and analyzed. In particular, often it is necessary for a test instrument to extract the baseband signal from an AM signal which is being analyzed. This may include displaying the baseband waveform of the baseband signal to an engineer or technician who is analyzing the AM signal, or evaluating the performance of a device or system which generated or employs the AM signal.
Frequently, a digital oscilloscope is the primary, or only available, test instrument to test and analyze such an AM signal, or the device or system which generates or employs the AM signal.
However, in general, a digital oscilloscope does not include the frequency domain hardware (e.g., a rectifier) to perform efficient frequency domain signal processing of the AM signal to recover the original baseband signal.
Many modern digital oscilloscopes do include powerful mathematics and digital signal processing capabilities. The original baseband signal can be recovered from an AM signal using frequency domain digital signal processing techniques such as Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) and the Hilbert transform. Another technique involves tasking the square or absolute value of the AM signal, and passing the resultant signal through a low pass filter to remove the carrier. In the case where the square of the AM signal is employed, the square root of the output of the low pass filter should be obtained.
All of the above-described techniques for processing the AM signal by a digital oscilloscope tend to be computationally intensive and can take a long time to extract the baseband signal. Compounding this is a growing need to analyze long time windows to understand complex system behavior, including for example initialization and handshaking. This can require processing a large amount of data.
Thus it would be desirable to provide a more convenient and more reliable method and system to measure and characterize an electrical system or network which employs amplitude modulation.

Method and apparatus for extraction of baseband waveform from amplitude modulated signal via time domain sampling


The invention contemplates an antenna device, system and method of installing the antenna device for receiving a wireless signal at a pad mounted electrical transformer. The novel device includes an antenna capable of communicating the wireless signal and a material located around the antenna. The material facilitates attachment to the pad mounted electrical transformer as well as preventing access to the antenna. The antenna may be covered by or embedded within the material. The material may be emissive and/or insulative. In addition, the device may include a conductor that passes through an enclosure of the pad mounted transformer. The conductor may be communicatively coupled to a first communication device that provides communication to a customer premise that is electrically coupled to the pad mounted electrical transformer.

Well-established power distribution systems exist throughout most of the United States, and other countries, which provide power to customers via power lines. With some modification, the infrastructure of the existing power distribution systems can be used to provide data communication in addition to power delivery, thereby forming a power line communication system (PLCS). In other words, existing power lines, that already have been run to many homes and offices, can be used to carry data signals to and from the homes and offices. These data signals are communicated on and off the power lines at various points in the power line communication system, such as, for example, near homes, offices, Internet service providers, and the like.
Power distribution systems include numerous sections, which transmit power at different voltages. The transition from one section to another typically is accomplished with a transformer. The sections of the power distribution system that are connected to the customers premises typically are low voltage (LV) sections having a voltage between 100 volts(V) and 240V, depending on the system. In the United States, the LV section typically is about 120V. The sections of the power distribution system that provide the power to the LV sections are referred to as the medium voltage (MV) sections. The voltage of the MV section is in the range of 1,000V to 100,000V. The transition from the MV section to the LV section of the power distribution system typically is accomplished with a distribution transformer, which converts the higher voltage of the MV section to the lower voltage of the LV section.
Power system transformers are one obstacle to using power distribution lines for data communication. Transformers act as a low-pass filter, passing the low frequency signals (e.g., the 50 or 60 Hz) power signals and impeding the high frequency signals (e.g., frequencies typically used for data communication). As such, power line communication systems face the challenge of communicating the data signals around, or through, the distribution transformers.
In addition, the power lines that provide power to and direct power from these power transformers are not designed to provide high speed data communications. For example, certain power distribution systems employ the use of underground MV lines that connect to pad mounted distribution transformers. The pad mounted distribution transformers then feed power to residences using underground LV feeds. Up to ten (and sometimes more) customer premises will typically receive power from one distribution transformer via their respective LV power lines. Often, underground power lines provide an even greater barrier to the transmission of data signals than do overhead lines. In addition, underground power lines are buried and, therefore, may be inaccessible except for near pad mounted transformers or taps (from an overhead line). Yet, in an effort to lessen the interruption of power caused by downed power lines and for aesthetic purposes, more and more transmission systems employ underground power lines. As a result, greater numbers of power line communication systems must be designed to overcome the additional barriers created by underground transmission and distribution systems.
In addition, components of the power line communication system, such as the distribution transformer bypass device (BD), must electrically isolate the MV power signal from the LV power lines and the customer premises. These and other advantages are provided by various embodiments of the present invention.

Transformer antenna device and method of using the same


A self locking air nozzle for an inflatable product includes a mounting seat with a first through hole, a shoulder and a tubular extension extending from the mounting seat, a rotatable cylinder rotatably mounted on the shoulder, a driven sleeve received in the rotatable cylinder to be linearly movable relative to the rotatable cylinder, a sealing seat securely connected to the driven sleeve and selectively engaged with a bottom peripheral edge of the mounting seat so as to be linearly movable relative to the mounting seat that the sealing seat is moved to close communication between the first through hole of the mounting seat and air holes defined in a periphery of the sealing seat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a self locking air nozzle, and more particularly to a self locking air nozzle embedded in an inflatable product such that after the inflatable product has been inflated, the air nozzle is able to automatically seal the intake to prevent air leakage.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIGS. 15 and 15A, a conventional air nozzle is fitted to inflatable products (not shown), such as an inflatable swimming pool and animal-figured toys. The air nozzle is provided with a cap (2) rotatably received in a seat (3) and having a cylindrical extension (21) extending from a bottom of the cap (2) and a flange (22′) formed on an outer periphery of the cylindrical extension (21). The seat (3) is provided with a step (31) corresponding to the flange (22′) such that when the cap (2) is pressed downward and rotated, the flange (22′) is engaged with the step (31) and the cap (2) is kept pushed downward by the seat (3) to accomplish an air tight objective for the air nozzle. When an air pump is to inflate the inflatable product, the operator has to rotate the cap (2) again to release the engagement between the flange (22′) and the step (31) to allow an interior of the inflatable product to communicate with the ambient air outside the inflatable product. Therefore, it is very troublesome for the user to rotate the cap (2) before inflating the inflatable product and return the cap (2) after the inflatable product has been inflated. Besides, the cap (2) will protrude out of the inflatable product after the inflation of the inflatable product is finished due to the recoil force provided by the recoil spring inside the cap (2). This can be dangerous as an inflatable ball fitted with such a nozzle may injure a child due to the protruding nozzle.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved automatic self locking air nozzle to mitigate the aforementioned problems.


An integrated cooling system includes a housing and a pumping device disposed within the housing, configured to pressurize a fluid. The cooling system also includes a motor disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the pumping device. The cooling system further includes a first cooling circuit configured to receive the pressurized fluid and circulate the pressurized fluid through at least one component external to the housing. The cooling system also includes a second cooling circuit in fluid communication with the first cooling circuit, and configured to direct at least a portion of the pressurized fluid through the motor.

Power systems, such as, for example, internal combustion engines output a substantial amount of power and, in doing so, also generate a large amount of heat. If not properly controlled, this heat could damage the engine or result in inefficient operation of the engine. Fluid cooling systems are often used to transfer heat from the engine, thereby increasing the life and efficiency of the engine. A typical fluid cooling system includes a pump to circulate a cooling fluid through the engine, a motor drivingly coupled to the pump, and a controller to regulate operation of the motor. The cooling capacity of the cooling system ultimately depends on the motor. Inadequate heat dissipation from the motor may limit the amount of torque output of the motor, which may limit the amount of cooling fluid that the pump can circulate.
One method to dissipate heat from a motor associated with a cooling system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,555 (hereinafter referred to as "the '555 patent") issued to Allen et al. on Mar. 9, 2004. The '555 patent discloses a fluid pump with a diffuser, a stator disposed within a diffuser cavity, a tubular member isolating the diffuser from a working fluid flowing through the fluid pump, a rotor disposed within the tubular member for driving an impeller, and a controller disposed within the diffuser. The motor of the '555 patent drives a pump for circulating the working fluid through the pump. The circulation of fluid around the diffuser-contained motor and controller provides for improved heat transfer, and the integrated motor/pump configuration may reduce the number of interconnections required to operate separate pump and motor units.
Although the pump of the '555 patent may improve motor heat dissipation, it may still remove an insufficient amount of heat from the motor. For example, because the motor and controller are located within the diffuser and isolated from the working fluid, heat dissipation may be substantially hindered by the diffuser wall. Furthermore, the configuration of the system of the '555 patent may not provide adequate regulation of the flow rate of the pump. For example, the system of the '555 patent is not configured to monitor the temperature of the motor or the working fluid and adjust flow rate of the pump in accordance with the monitored temperature. As a result, because control of the flow rate of the pump is independent of motor temperature, additional heat generated by the motor may not be adequately extracted, which may result in inefficient and/or inadequate operation of the motor.
In addition, the system of the '555 patent may lack monitoring and control capabilities. For example, the controller of the '555 patent is not configured to monitor the operational characteristics (e.g., temperature, pressure, etc.) of either the motor or the working fluid and control the motor/pump in response to the monitored characteristics. Thus, should the motor or working fluid operational characteristics exceed a specified threshold, the '555 patent may not provide the necessary response to ensure appropriate operation of the cooling system. Furthermore, because flow rate is not controlled based on the cooling needs of the motor, the system of the '555 patent may still be prone to motor overheating.
The presently disclosed integrated cooling system and method are directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.


A method for pressure infiltration casting is provided wherein steps of preheating and evacuating a mold cavity and infiltrant charge are carried out in a separate vessel from a pressure vessel wherein the mold cavity is filled using a vent tube, allowing for rapid finished article throughput.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for pressure infiltration casting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In currently used pressure infiltration processes, as described by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,111,870 and 5,111,871 to Cook and in general reviews of the state of the pressure infiltration casting art such as Cook et al., "Pressure infiltration casting of metal matrix composites", Materials Science and Engineering, A144, (1991) pages 189-206, a cold mold containing a preform is loaded into the tooling which serves as a combined pressure vessel/vacuum furnace. A charge of solid infiltrant which can be metal is placed on top of the preform and is separated from the preform by a filter. The filter is characterized by sufficiently low permeability and lack of wetting with the liquid infiltrant to prevent premature infiltrant penetration into the preform and chemical inertness with respect to the infiltrant to avoid contamination of the infiltrant. The filter material also acts as a thermal insulator so that infiltrant charge temperature and preform temperature can be independently controlled.
Next, the preform is heated and the solid infiltrant charge is melted under vacuum in the pressure vessel/vacuum furnace. Since the infiltrant is melted in a vacuum and the mold is not gas permeable, a vacuum is isolated in the preform contained in the mold cavity.
Then, the pressure vessel/vacuum furnace is pressurized to create a pressure gradient between the pressurized mold exterior and the vacuum isolated in the preform contained within the mold interior. It is this pressure differential that drives the infiltration process.
After infiltration is complete, the final step of the process is solidification of the infiltrated preform. Solidification of the infiltrated preform is also conducted within the pressure vessel/vacuum furnace by providing a temperature gradient appropriate to result in directional solidification. Several techniques to obtain directional solidification in a pressure infiltration process are known in the art including lowering of the infiltrated preform into a "chill zone" as demonstrated by Klier et al., "Fabrication of cast particle-reinforced metals via pressure infiltration", Journal of Materials Science, 26, (1991), pages 2519-2526 or, alternatively, lifting a cooled chill device to contact the preform as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,111,870 and 5,111,871 to Cook. During directional solidification in a pressure infiltration process, liquid infiltrant in the hot zone of the infiltrated preform solidifies last and serves as a sprue and reservoir for feeding porosity as the rest of the infiltrated preform solidifies.
The three steps involved in the foregoing prior art pressure infiltration processes, preform and infiltrant charge heating and evacuation, preform infiltration, and infiltrated preform solidification, each take different amounts of time. Preform and infiltrant charge heating and evacuation take the longest amount of time, infiltrated preform solidification takes less time than preform and infiltrant charge heating and evacuation and pressure infiltration of the preform takes the least time. For example, using a two inch by four inch by eight inch mold cavity, 600 grams of aluminum infiltrant and a silicon carbide particulate preform as would typically be encountered in use of prior art pressure infiltration methods, in the range of from about 2 to about 3 hours are needed to preheat the preform and melt the aluminum infiltrant charge under vacuum, less than about 1 minute is required to infiltrate the heated preform with the molten aluminum infiltrant and less than about 6 minutes are needed to cool the mold to a temperature less than the solidus temperature of the aluminum infiltrant. Once the mold is removed from the pressure vessel/vacuum furnace, the pressure vessel/vacuum furnace can be used to resume the three step pressure infiltration process.
While the foregoing prior art pressure infiltration process is a highly effective and controllable process, the throughput of finished pressure infiltrated articles is inherently limited by the slowest step of the pressure infiltration process, that of heating the preform and melting the infiltrant charge, which as demonstrated by the foregoing example, is as long as 3 hours by comparison with a total of at most 16 minutes for the other two steps of the process, preform infiltration and infiltrated preform solidification combined. Although the pressure vessel/vacuum furnace pressure infiltration capability is only needed during the two shortest steps of the pressure infiltration process, this tooling is in constant use, even for the most time consuming steps of the process, because it is also used for preform and infiltrant heating and evacuation.
Thus, according to existing pressure infiltration techniques, preform and infiltrant heating and evacuation as well as pressure infiltration are performed sequentially in the same pressure vessel/vacuum furnace tooling, thus occupying this multipurpose tooling for all three stages of the pressure infiltration casting process, when, in fact, the pressure vessel function of the tooling is only required for the rapidly accomplished step of pressure infiltration and solidification. These existing pressure infiltration processes are limited by their slowest step, preform and infiltrant heating.
Thus, there exists a need for a rapid and economical pressure infiltration process wherein the throughput of finished articles is limited only by the solidification rate of the infiltrated mold cavity and wherein the steps of mold cavity and infiltrant heating and evacuation are performed in separate apparatus from the steps of mold cavity infiltration and infiltrated mold cavity solidification.

Method for pressure infiltration casting using a vent tube

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, A Massachusetts Corp.


Description and specifications of a new and distinct grapevine variety which originated from a hand-pollinated cross of Arkansas Selection 1258 (non Patented) and Arkansas Selection 1672 (non Patented) are provided. This new grapevine variety can be distinguished by its large seedless fruit, excellent muscat flavor, resistance to fruit cracking, good productivity, and good vine hardiness.

The new and distinct variety of grapevine originated from a hand-pollinated cross of Arkansas Selection 1258 (non-patented)xc3x97Arkansas Selection 1672 (non-patented) made in 1981 at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Fruit Substation at Clarksville, Ark. Arkansas selection 1258 is a seeded, red-fruited grape with large, round, slipskin (pulp does not adhere to the flesh) berries with a foxy flavor that ripen approximately one week after the instant variety. Arkansas selection 1672 is a seedless, green or white-fruited grape with large, oval, non-slipskin (pulp adheres to the flesh) berries with a muscat flavor, that ripen approximately one week after the instant variety. Both of the parents of the instant cultivar are hybrids of the grape genus and species Vitis labrusca L. and Vitis vinfera L. Thus the instant cultivar is also of this two-species genetic background. The seeds resulting from this controlled hybridization were germinated in a greenhouse during the winter of 1981-82. Resulting seedlings were planted in the spring of 1982 in a vineyard on the Arkansas Agricutural Experiment Station at Clarksville, Ark. The seedlings fruited in the summer of 1984 and one, designated Ark. 1985, was selected for its large seedless fruits, unique muscat flavor, and good fruit quality.
During 1984, the original plant selection was propagated asexually at Clarksville, Arkansas by rooting hardwood cuttings and a test planting of three vines was established. Subsequently, larger test plantings have been established with asexually multiplied vines at two additional locations in Ark. and on state agricultural experiment stations in Athens, Ga. USA, West Lafayette, Ind. USA, and Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In all propagations hardwood cuttings were used and the instant cultivar roots readily from hardwood cuttings. All propagules (resulting plants) of the instant cutivar have been observed to be true to type in that during all asexual multiplication, the vegetative and fruit characteristics of the original plant have been maintained. All vines planted from hardwood cutting propagation fruited in the third season of growth in the vineyard after planting.
Test plantings over a wide geographic area have shown this new variety to be widely adapted to differing soil and climatic conditions. It has shown moderate winter hardiness during cold winters, being more hardy than the cultivars xe2x80x98Einset Seedlessxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,160), xe2x80x98Canadicexe2x80x99 (non-patented), xe2x80x98Himrodxe2x80x99 (non-patented), xe2x80x98Saturnxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,703), xe2x80x98Vanessa Seedlessxe2x80x99 (non-patented), and xe2x80x98Venusxe2x80x99 (non-patented), but less hardy than the cultivars xe2x80x98Marsxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,680) and xe2x80x98Reliancexe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,174). It is not as sensitive to 2,4-D herbicide injury as the cultivars xe2x80x98Marsxe2x80x99, xe2x80x98Sunbeltxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,511), and xe2x80x98Remaily Seedlessxe2x80x99 (non-patented).
Vines of the new variety have medium vigor, with a procumbent growth habit characteristic of Vitis labrusca (a comparative species). Vigor, as reflected in dormant pruning weights measured on mature vines, indicated that the instant cultivar was less vigorous than xe2x80x98Marsxe2x80x99, and near comparable in vigor to that of xe2x80x98Venusxe2x80x99. Also, vine size as determined on vines growing on a Four-Arm Kniffin trellis with the top wire of this trellis placed at a height of 4 ft. 10 in., indicated a vine height of 5 ft. 5 in. an a vine spread of 2 ft. 6 in. It has produced well as own-rooted plants in all locations tested.
The new variety is moderately resistant to most common fungus diseases of grapevines. Under normal chemical disease control programs, the vines and fruit have demonstrated good freedom from black rot (Guignardia bidwellii (Ell.) V. and R.), anthrancnose (Elsinoe ampelina (d. By.) Sher), and powdery mildew (Uncinula necator Burr.), but it is susceptible to downy mildew (Plasmopora viticola Berl. and Tomi.) which is controllable by the use of available fungicides. The fruit has shown no inclination to split following rains.
The new variety ripens its fruit in early midseason, five days later than the early maturing xe2x80x98Venusxe2x80x99 cultivar but five and twelve days earlier than xe2x80x98Reliancexe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Marsxe2x80x99, respectively. The average ripening date is July 24 in central Arkansas. The fruit quality is maintained well on the vine after maturity. Fruit of sound quality for marketing is maintained for up to two weeks on the vines after initial maturity is reached. Berries adhere well to the fruit pedicel and do not shatter from the clusters during this time.
The fruit is reddish blue in color at early maturity and becomes completely blue when fully mature. It is evenly colored within the cluster. The fruit shape is oval to slightly oblong. Fruit skins are medium thick and adhere to the flesh. The berries are large in size (ca. 5.5 g). The flavor is a mild muscat, and has been consistently rated high. Soluble solids concentration of the juice at fruit maturity average 19.8% with pH of 3.50. The fruit is of the stenospermocarpic type of seedlessness and contains small, soft vestigial seed traces that are not noticeable when eaten. The berries are large in size for a seedless grape, averaging twice the size of the xe2x80x98Marsxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Reliancexe2x80x99 cultivars.
Fruit clusters, borne usually two per shoot, are medium in size (ca. 257 g), well-filled, but not overly tight. Fruit cluster peduncles are medium-long and easy to remove from the supporting shoots during harvest.
The new variety has been named the xe2x80x98JUPITERxe2x80x99 cultivar.

Grapevine plant named xe2x80x98Jupiterxe2x80x99


A holding apparatus for a fuel cell electrolyte membrane includes a support having a flat surface part which supports an electrolyte membrane on which catalyst layers are disposed, and which constitutes a membrane electrode assembly. The flat surface part has a frame-shaped recess positioned outside an outer circumference of the catalyst layers, and the recess is connected to an air-sucking section, and attracts the electrolyte membrane by sucking air in the recess.

A membrane electrode assembly (MEA) included in a unit cell of a fuel cell has an electrolyte membrane, a catalyst layer, a gas diffusion layer, and a frame-shaped gasket. The gasket is disposed (stacked) on both surfaces of the electrolyte membrane, positioned to surround the catalyst layer, and thus functions to prevent a fuel gas and an oxidizer gas supplied to the catalyst layer from leaking externally.
At the time of handling the electrolyte membrane, the electrolyte membrane is attracted to a support in which many attracting holes are formed, and thus formation of wrinkles in the electrolyte membrane is prevented (for example, see Publication of unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-238655).

Holding apparatus for fuel cell electrolyte membrane


A printer has a sheet housing unit for storing a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer on one side and a printable surface on the other side. A set of pull-out rollers pulls the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet out of the sheet housing unit and transports the sheet in a given direction, and a cutter device cuts the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet that has been transported by the pull-out rollers. A printing device has a thermal print head for printing letters or images on the printable surface of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, and a print platen roller for transporting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet in the given direction. A thermal activation device has a thermal-activation thermal head for heating the heat-sensitive adhesive layer, and a thermal activation platen roller for transporting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet in the given direction. A first drive unit drives the pull-out rollers and a second drive unit drives the print platen roller. A drive control device controls the first drive unit and the second drive unit independently of each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer equipped with a thermal activation device for a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer which is normally non-adhesive and exhibits adhesion only when heated is formed on one side of a sheet-like base material to be used as, for example, an adhesive label. More specifically, the present invention relates to a thermal printer having a thermal head as printing means.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thermal activation sheets (print medium in which a coat layer containing a thermal activation component is formed on the surface, for example, heat-sensitive adhesive sheets) have recently become available as sheets attached to merchandises, and are used in wide fields. Examples of uses of thermal activation sheets include POS sheets for food products, delivery address sheets, sheets bearing medical information, baggage tags, and labels of bottles and cans.
Those heat-sensitive adhesive sheets are composed of a sheet-like base material one side of which has a heat-sensitive adhesive layer and the other side of which is a printable surface. The heat-sensitive adhesive layer is normally non-adhesive and exhibits adhesion when heated.
As a printer for such heat-sensitive adhesive sheets, a printer is proposed which has a thermal activation device which heats a heat-sensitive adhesive layer of a heat-sensitive adhesive label by bringing a head that has resistors (heater elements) on a ceramic substrate as heat sources, e.g., a thermal head for use as a print head in a thermal printer, into contact with the label (JP 11-79152 A).
Now, a description is given on a common structure of a conventional printer for a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet with the use of a thermal printer P shown in FIG. 11.
The thermal printer P in FIG. 11 is composed of: a roll housing unit 10 for holding a tape-like, heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 wound into a roll; a printing unit 50 for printing on the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70; a cutter unit 30 for cutting the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 into pieces of given length; and a thermal activation unit 60 which serves as a thermal activation device for thermally activating a heat-sensitive adhesive layer of the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70.
The printing unit 50 is composed of: a thermal print head 51 having heater elements which are constituted of relatively small resistors arranged along the width for dot printing; a print platen roller 52 pressed against the thermal print head 51; and other components. In FIG. 11, the print platen roller 52 is rotated clockwise and the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 is transported to the right hand side of the drawing.
The cutter unit 30 is for cutting the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 into pieces of suitable length after letters or images are printed on the label by the printing unit 50. The cutter unit 30 is composed of a movable blade 31 operated by a not-shown drive source such as an electric motor, a stationary blade 32 facing the movable blade 31, and other components.
The thermal activation unit 60 is composed of a thermal-activation thermal head 61 having heater elements, a thermal activation platen roller 62 for transporting the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70, and other components. In FIG. 11, the thermal activation platen roller 62 is rotated in a direction opposite the direction in which the print platen roller 52 is rotated (the platen roller 62 is rotated counterclockwise) to transport the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 to the right hand side of the drawing.
To cut the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 with the cutter unit 30 in the thermal printer P structured as above, transport of the label 70 has to be stopped for a time period necessary for the movable blade 31 to move up and down (0.4 sec., for example) In other words, the cutter unit 30 cannot perform the cutting operation unless the print platen roller 52 and the thermal activation platen roller 62 stop rotating.
For that reason, in the case where, for example, the label length is longer than the distance between a cutting position of the cutter unit 30 and the thermal-activation thermal head 61, transport of the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 is stopped with the label 70 nipped between the thermal-activation thermal head 61 and the thermal activation platen roller 62. This causes the heat-sensitive adhesive layer that has exhibited adhesion to stick to the thermal-activation thermal head 61 and prevents smooth transport when the transport of the label is resumed after cutting, leading to transport failures such as paper jam. Another problem is that heat from the thermal-activation thermal head 61 could transfer to the printable layer (heat-sensitive color-developing layer) of the heat-sensitive adhesive label 70 and cause the layer to develop color.
In this case, even if the label is successfully discharged from the printer, the label's appearance has been spoiled and the label is no longer fit for use. If the heat-sensitive adhesive layer is stuck firmly to the thermal-activation thermal head 61, the processing has to be canceled to fix the printer.

Printer for a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet


A sewing machine includes a coordinate indicator, a processor, and a memory. The coordinate indicator includes a cylindrical housing, a rod-shaped indicating member, a switch, a single transmitter, a receiver, and a flat surface. The memory is configured to store computer-readable instructions. The computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the sewing machine to perform processes that include computing a plurality of sets of first coordinates based on a plurality of times at which the receiver receives a ultrasonic wave, computing a movement direction based on at least some of the computed plurality of sets of the first coordinates, computing a movement distance based on at least some of the computed plurality of sets of the first coordinates, and computing second coordinates based on at least some of the plurality of sets of the first coordinates, the movement direction, and the movement distance.

The present disclosure relates to a sewing machine.
In related art, a device is known that is configured to identify a position that is indicated by an ultrasound pen that transmits ultrasonic waves.
For example, a known ultrasound pen includes two transmitters. When a user indicates a position on a liquid crystal display panel using the ultrasound pen, a switch that is incorporated in a pen tip is turned on. When the switch is turned on, the two transmitters transmit ultrasonic waves. A receiver is provided in the vicinity of the liquid crystal display panel. The receiver receives the two ultrasonic waves transmitted by the two transmitters. Based on a difference between times at which the receiver receives the two ultrasonic waves, a pen input display device detects an inclination of the pen with respect to the liquid crystal display panel when the position on the liquid crystal display panel is indicated using the pen. The pen input display device identifies the position of the pen tip based on the inclination of the pen.
Further, for example, another known sewing machine can specify a sewing position using an ultrasound pen. When a user presses the pen tip of the ultrasound pen against a bed (when the user indicates a position), a switch of the ultrasound pen is turned on. When the switch is turned on, a transmitter of the ultrasound pen transmits an ultrasonic wave. The sewing machine is provided with a receiver. The receiver receives the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the transmitter. Based on a time at which the transmitter transmits the ultrasonic wave and a time at which the receiver receives the ultrasonic wave, the sewing machine identifies a position of the transmitter on the bed. The position of the transmitter and the position of the pen tip are close to each other. Therefore, the sewing machine assumes that the transmitter and the pen tip are located in the same position, and identifies the indicated position indicated by the pen tip.


Provided is a method, system, and program for providing synchronization in a binary data stream. A binary data stream is received. A synchronization mark having at least one isolated peak is generated into at least one point in the data stream. An encoded data stream is formed by concatenating the synchronization mark with the received binary data. During decoding, the synchronization mark is detected based on error propagation occurring adjacent to the at least one isolated peak of the synchronization mark.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and program for synchronization and resynchronization of a data stream.
2. Description of the Related Art
In data recording systems, a data drive writes positive and negative "flux transitions" to a storage medium using encoding schemes known in the art, and a decoder is used to read back the encoded data stored on the storage medium. A "one" bit ("1") represents a peak or trough in the signal while a "zero" bit ("0") indicates no peak. Data to be provided to a recording channel or decoder is a sequential string of bits, to be recorded or readback on/from the recording media as transitions. In the prior art, a data set will include a VFO ("Variable Frequency Oscillator) pattern at a specific location (a header) and a particular known transition frequency to synchronize a read clock (such as a phase locked loop ("PLL")) to the codeword bit frequency. The VFO pattern may comprise repetitive codeword pattern, such as a sequence of "10" or 2T bits, but which is identifiable because of its location in a header. A known synchronization mark is also provided between the VFO pattern and any encoded data to allow the decoder to align to the codeword boundaries and to the start location of the incoming data.
If the PLL does not achieve complete phase lock, or if the decoder does not align to the codeword boundaries on the incoming data, then the decoder will not be able to successfully decode incoming encoded data until the next synchronization ("sync") or resynchronization ("resync") pattern is encountered, usually in the header of the next data set or in a header for a grouping of codeword groups. When a synchronization pattern is not detected (missed) or detected erroneously in the wrong position (e.g., due to a defect), the exact bit position and alignment to codeword boundaries is not known. Accordingly, the decoder will not be able to successfully decode the encoded data unless or until some further sync field is encountered, such as the next sync or resynchronization. Such a failure to decode may result in infinite error propagation, which is a catastrophic type of failure.
Even though the location of the VFO pattern and the synchronization mark are known, misdetection of one or more bits in the synchronization mark may prevent recognition of the synchronization mark. Without proper recognition of the synchronization mark, the data detector will not be in-sync with the recorded data and will not recognize the data.
In the prior art, data errors are addressed using error correcting codes. Such codes allow detection and correction of many data recording errors. However, errors in the VFO or synchronizing patterns may result in missing detection of the synchronization mark or detecting it in the wrong place. Therefore, the data detection may begin with reading data before or after the data really starts. If the start of data is not determined via detection of the synchronization mark, all data between one synchronization mark and a subsequent synchronization mark which is detected successfully will be lost. This may have a catastrophic effect, rendering useless the error correcting codes protecting the data.
In the commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,110, a method is disclosed based on using an encoded synchronization mark concatenated with a VFO pattern wherein the encoded synchronization mark is set at a maximum Hamming distance from the concatenated VFO for the number of bits in the fixed plurality of bits. However, in certain applications, such as an Enhanced Partial Response Type 4 (EPR4) waveform, the maximum Hamming distance measurements are less effective because errors tend to propagate between peaks.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide more sophisticated synchronization and resynchronization methods to reduce errors in data encoding systems.

Method, system, and program for synchronization and resynchronization of a data stream

International Business Machines Corporation


An automatic self-cleaning self-sterilizing ice making machine is having a coolant/refrigerant system, a water-ice system, a cleaning/sterilizing system and a microprocessor operated control system interconnecting the above systems. Methods for automatically cleaning ice maker water-ice systems and establishing safeguards and monitoring of system readiness and operation are also provided.

Automatic ice makers run essentially continuously using two basic systems. These systems are the coolant recycle refrigerant system and the water/ice system. Fouling problems in the water-ice system do occur which decrease efficiency and require down-time for maintenance and cleaning. The improvements in the ice making machines of this invention greatly curtail the necessity for downtime and provide for cleaning and sterilization of the machine which enhances the continuity and efficiency of operation of ice making machines.

Self-cleaning self-sterilizing ice making machine


A tricuspid regurgitation treatment tool to be inserted into the pulmonary artery is proposed. The tricuspid regurgitation treatment tool to be inserted into the pulmonary artery is used to verify whether the right ventricular dysfunction may occur when treating the tricuspid regurgitation by surgeries or other permanent treatments. A test insertion of the tricuspid regurgitation treatment tool to be inserted into the pulmonary artery is made to pass obliquely through the tricuspid valve of a patient, and after a certain time has elapsed, the tool is removed. The tricuspid regurgitation treatment tool to be inserted into the pulmonary artery includes: a blocking part blocking the tricuspid valve; and an insertion tube provided with a guidewire-guiding lumen formed therein to be movable along the guidewire.

Tricuspid regurgitation is also called tricuspid valve insufficiency. Tricuspid regurgitation is a lesion of the tricuspid valve, and refers to a symptom in which the tricuspid valve closes incompletely when needed to be closed, thereby resulting in an empty space (i.e., orifice), and thus, some portion of blood, which must flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery during the right ventricular contraction, flows back into the right atrium through the orifice.
Conventional treatment of tricuspid regurgitation includes: a method of surgically remedying the disease by opening the patient's chest and dissecting the heart; and a method of treating tricuspid regurgitation by permanently inserting a tool for treatment of tricuspid regurgitation invented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,486,136 B2, 7,854,762 B2, and 9,474,605 B2. However, when treating tricuspid regurgitation by using the above methods or permanent treatments, a sudden increase of blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery may cause an overload of the right ventricle, and thus a problem having the right ventricular dysfunction symptom may occur.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tricuspid regurgitation treatment tool to be inserted into pulmonary artery


A damper bearing includes: a bearing portion that supports a rotary shaft; and a tubular portion that is located around an outer circumference of the bearing portion, and has an outer surface attachable to a structural member. The bearing portion can be a hydrostatic bearing that supports the rotary shaft with a predetermined bearing clearance therebetween. The tubular portion includes a plurality of planar slits arranged circumferentially at predetermined intervals in the tubular portion. Each slit extends radially from an open end at the outer surface, and extends circumferentially in an arc to a predetermined point in a region between the outer and inner surfaces. The tubular portion includes a bearing fluid supply hole that is formed in a region where none of the planar slits is situated, and extends from the outer surface of the tubular portion to the bearing portion without passing through any of the planar slits.

Various bearings have been conventionally used to support different kinds of rotary shafts. Examples of the bearings include rolling bearings, sliding bearings, and hydrostatic bearings. The rotary shafts are subjected to violent vibration in a specific rotational speed range or under load conditions. The vibration of the rotary shafts needs to be damped to improve the performance of rotary machines.
A prior art technique for preventing the violent vibration is to effect vibration damping in a bearing. For example, a tubular damper element is known which is disposed on an outer circumferential portion of a rolling bearing to damp radial vibration transmitted to the bearing (see Patent Literatures 1 and 2, for example). In such a damper element, a slit is formed between inner and outer surfaces of a tubular body, and a viscous fluid is supplied into the slit to achieve the damper effect.
Another prior art technique hitherto proposed is to use a damper bearing. The damper bearing includes a bearing for supporting a rotary shaft, a centering spring for supporting the bearing with a suitable stiffness, and a damper for vibration damping. An example of the damper bearing of prior art is one which includes a damper bridge concentrically interposed between inner and outer rims with the aid of S-shaped centering springs (see Patent Literature 3). This damper bearing employs a gas bearing and includes integral wire mesh dampers disposed on both sides of the damper bridge, namely between the damper bridge and the inner rim and between the damper bridge and the outer rim.


A transfer robot system includes a transfer robot configured to transfer a wafer under an operational instruction; a controller configured to output the operational instruction to the transfer robot; a wafer receptacle; and an interferometer. The wafer receptacle comprises a receptacle body having an open front through which an end effector and the wafer pass; a first reflector disposed under a support space; and a first optical element disposed above the support space to face the first reflector, configured to output the light toward the first reflector and receive received light therefrom. The interferometer calculates an optical interference peak, which is generated between the wafer and the first reflector, based on the received light. The controller determines a taught position of the transfer robot based on a variation of the optical interference peak during an operation of the transfer robot.

Patent Document 1 describes a cassette stage. The cassette stage mounts thereon a cassette accommodating wafers therein. The cassette stage is equipped with three optical sensors at a front side of the cassette. A taught position is determined based on a position obtained when an end effector attached to a distal end of an arm blocks an optical axis of the sensor.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2009-049250

Transfer robot system, teaching method and wafer receptacle


Technologies for filtering biosignals include one or more biosignal sensors coupled to a user to receive biosignals and a computing device to receive biosignals from the biosignal sensors. The biosignal sensors filter the received biosignals to identify abnormal biosignals using a plurality of domain filters including a time domain filter and a frequency domain filter. The biosignals identified as abnormal by each of the domain filters are transmitted to the computing device, while the remaining biosignals are discarded.

Typical continuous biofeedback monitoring systems include biosignal sensors in contact with a user to capture and measure biosignals of the user, which are generally transmitted from the biosignal sensors to a centralized wearable, mobile, or stationary computing device for display and interpretation. The biosignal sensors, forming a wireless network commonly referred to as a body area network (BAN), may be used to sense electrical activity of organs, including heart rate, brain activity, temperature, and muscular action. For example, brain activity may be monitored in electroencephalogram (EEG) systems, heart activity may be monitored in electrocardiogram (ECG) systems, and skeletal muscle activity may be monitored in electromyogram (EMG) systems. Certain biofeedback monitoring systems may additionally or alternatively use biosignal sensors to sense electrical resistance (e.g., a galvanic skin response), skin moisture or temperature, or magnetic fields (e.g., a Magnetoencephalogram, or MEG), while still other biosignal sensors may be used for neurovascular coupling (e.g., a functional near-infrared spectroscopy, or fNIR) to sense blood flow.
One of the challenging aspects of using traditional biosignal sensors in a BAN involves power drain attributable to continuous ambulatory monitoring by the biosignal sensors. Continuous ambulatory monitoring involves continuously sensing and transmitting monitored biosignals to the centralized computing device in order to provide real-time feedback to ensure a proper diagnosis of the sensed biosignals and, consequently, the health of the user. Additionally, continuous ambulatory sensing involves the generation of a large amount of signal data that must be streamed from the biosignal sensors to the centralized computing device, which typically has a significant negative impact on battery life and is network-intensive. Additionally, depending on the type of biosignals being monitored by the biofeedback monitoring system, the biosignal sensors may be implanted into the skin of the body, directly attached to the skin of the body, or in proximity to the skin of the body, such as in a wearable sensor (e.g., a wrist worn pulse monitoring sensor). As such, the biosignal sensors are typically housed in a small form factor, which reduces the available space for hardware necessary to accommodate large power supplies, extra memory, etc. In other words, simply adding hardware to resolve the power drain and excessive network bandwidth usage is not always a viable option.
Presently, various methods have been used to reduce the power consumption of the sensors, including intermittent biosignal monitoring, localized data batching, and the use of low-power integrated circuits (ICs) in the biosignal sensors. However, intermittent monitoring may result in pertinent biosignal information being lost due to the fact that not all of the sensed biosignals are transmitted to the centralized computing device for further analysis. Additionally, localized data batching requires additional memory and increased bandwidth, which, as noted previously, is not always an option due to the small form factor and may not meet the real-time requirement, as well. Further, the use of low-power ICs impacts the power consumption associated with the sensing and processing of the signal data, but may not appreciably impact the network bandwidth usage for data transmission, or the power consumption attributable to the transmission of the data.

Technologies for biosignal feedback filtering


A cover for rectangular electronic devices has four walls, a bottom, and a flap which is folded over an open end. The flap attaches to the front of the cover by hook and loop material. Preferably, the cover is made from polyvinyl chloride, and is strong, light, resilient, heat weldable, and resists deterioration. The cover is optionally provided with a foam rubber liner. Fabrication is accomplished by welding the sides of a cruciform material pattern, only four seams being required.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cover for a remote control device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Covers for substantially rectangular electronic devices are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,596, issued to Albert W. Swanson on Oct. 30, 1984, discloses a paging device holder having a bottom, five vertical walls, and a folding cover flap secured by hook and loop fastener.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,897, issued to Lorraine M. Butler on Apr. 26, 1988, discloses a remote controller cover having a five sided body open at the top, and including a lining of foam rubber or the like.
An entirely encompassing and sealed pager cover made from a stretchable plastic is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,852issued to Jeffrey S. King on Feb. 20, 1990.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,149, issued to Peter DiFrancesca et al. on May 15, 1990, exemplifies a cushioning holder for a remote controller, the holder featuring flexible and stretchable material, such as foam rubber.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


A ferroelectric memory provided in a memory system stores in advance set data for data write time to memory cells. The set data include two types of data that differ between in a power-on state and in a power-off instruction time. When power is turned on, the set data that are stored in the ferroelectric memory are stored and retained in a latch circuit by a control circuit. Based on the set data retained in the latch circuit, data writing is performed in the ferroelectric memory respectively in the power-on state and in the power-off instruction time. Thus, operations of the ferroelectric memory can be controlled with desired operation timings according to operating conditions for each memory system. Excessive stress application to the ferroelectric memory during the power-on state is prevented and endurance deterioration is suppressed, while data retention characteristics after power-off are improved.

The present invention relates to memory systems and semiconductor integrated circuits and more particularly to memory systems and semiconductor integrated circuits in which the operation timings can be set externally and which they can be operated at suitable timings that systems require.
Generally, semiconductor memories in a system set are incorporated on a common board together with other semiconductor elements, such as D-A converters, A-D converters, CPUs, and control logic circuits. Likewise, in merged memory-logic devices (embedded memory devices), semiconductor memories are incorporated on a common chip together with microprocessors and control logic circuits. In the former case, the semiconductor memories are formed in a package or in the form of bare chips, whereas in the latter case, they are formed using a common process for forming other devices that are incorporated on the chip.
In bare-chip-form semiconductor memories incorporated in system set products that are not packaged products, and in merged memory-logic products fabricated with control logic circuits using the same process, it is often the case that the control logic circuit also serves the function of a circuit for generating control signals to the semiconductor memories, in order to reduce the area occupied by the circuit. In that case, the control logic circuit having the dual function supplies memory control signals to semiconductor memories at predetermined timings.
When constructing semiconductor memories on a common board or a common system with microprocessors or the like, it is necessary to select and incorporate devices that can operate at an operating speed that is required for the memory in the set as a whole.
If a plurality of semiconductor memories are incorporated in a given system, however, the control logic circuit having the dual function supplies memory control signals to two or more semiconductor memories at the same timings, and therefore, these semiconductor memories operate with the same timings and consume electric current with the same timings. Consequently, the system suffers from the drawback of large peak currents.
In addition, when power supply voltages and memory ambient temperatures of semiconductor memories varies, operation timings of the semiconductor memories change according to the variations, even though memory control signals are set to be output so that semiconductor memories in the system operate with suitable predetermined timings. Thus, the memories suffer from the drawback that timing deviations occur and the memories do not operate with the suitable predetermined timings.
Such problems of the increase in peak current and the variation in operation timings arise in merged memory-logic devices as well as in system sets.
As described above, semiconductor memories and systems incorporating these have a drawback that operation timings are fixed irrespective of operating conditions, such as simultaneous operation with other semiconductor memories, power supply voltages, and ambient temperatures. Similar drawbacks also exist in ferroelectric memories, which are non-volatile memories. In the following, drawbacks in ferroelectric memories (FeRAMs) are discussed.
First, deterioration of ferroelectric memory is discussed. When data write and rewrite are repeated in a ferroelectric memory, that is, when polarization reversals are repeated in a ferroelectric, the ferroelectric suffers a ferroelectric fatigue deterioration phenomena, in which, for example, the repetition of polarization reversal causes remanent polarization to decrease. Because the ferroelectric memory is a destructive readout memory, the ferroelectric fatigue deterioration phenomena occur as the ferroelectric undergoes polarization reversals both during write operation and during read operation, resulting in reliability problems, such as a decrease in data retention duration, readout incapability, and rewrite incapability. In the endurance deterioration, which is one of the ferroelectric fatigue deterioration phenomena, the degree of deterioration depends on the voltage applied to memory cells during data writing and the time during which the voltage is applied, so the deterioration is promoted as the voltage is higher and the time during which the voltage is applied is longer whereas the deterioration phenomenon is suppressed as the write voltage is lower and the time during which the voltage is applied is shorter. However, in such write operation, because the operation timings are predetermined and the data write time is fixed, it is often the case that stress is excessively applied to memory cells and thus ferroelectric fatigue deterioration phenomena are promoted, which is undesirable in terms of reliability.
Concerning prior art ferroelectric memories, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-113889, for example, discloses a technique of suppressing the endurance deterioration by reducing the voltage applied to the memory cells during read operations. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-5996 proposes a technique of operating a ferroelectric memory as a DRAM (volatile memory) during normal data-storing operations by switching the voltage applied to the memory cells during read operations between a high voltage and a low voltage. These conventional techniques, however, have such drawbacks as follows. First, an increase in layout area is caused because multiple power supply voltages need to be adopted in the semiconductor memory. Second, accuracy of applied voltages to memory cells degrades due to variation in transistor performance, and voltage reduction effect with respect to endurance deterioration vary between production lots. Third, readout defects easily occur due to shortage of the amount of readout charges.

Memory system and semiconductor integrated circuit

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.