A mounting structure includes a PCB on which first and second conductive patterns are formed, and a shunt resistor mounted on one surface of a substrate via a conductive bonding material. Each of the first and second conductive patterns includes: a first/second lead-out portion and a first/second pull-out portion which is pulled out to the outside of a region of the shunt resistor from the first/second lead-out portion. A resistance value of the shunt resistor is detected between the first pull-out portion and the second pull-out portion. A bonding material flow-out preventing resist is disposed at a portion of a surface of at least one of the first lead-out portion and the second lead-out portion, and a fillet of the bonding material terminates at a position corresponding to a position where the bonding material flow-out preventing resist is disposed.

A shunt resistor has been originally used as an instrument for enlarging an indication range of an ammeter by being connected parallel to the ammeter as a shunt. Recently, a shunt resistor has been popularly used not only in an electrical measurement field in the form of application to a detection of an electric current, a detection of a voltage and the like but also in a power module field in the form of application to a stabilizing circuit and the like. Although the application field of the shunt resistor has spread to fields other than the electrical measurement, a resistance value to be detected from a shunt resistor or from a mounting structure for mounting a shunt resistor has been still required to have higher accuracy than an ordinary resistance device as a function which a usual shunt resistor bears.
As the structure of a shunt resistor, there has been known a shunt resistor 730 formed by blanking an electrically conductive plate made of a Cu—Mn alloy and by bending the blanked plate into a bridge shape as shown in FIG. 14, for example. That is, the shunt resistor 730 is formed of: a bridge portion 732; a first connecting portion 734; and a second connecting portion 736 (see patent literature 1, for example).
In manufacturing a printed circuit board on which such a shunt resistor is mounted, a so-called glass epoxy substrate can be used. For example, in manufacturing a power module, a shunt resistor and other various electronic devices are mounted on a glass epoxy substrate to which a resist is applied by coating and, thereafter, the glass epoxy substrate, the shunt resistor and the various electronic devices are sealed by a resin by transfer molding so that a power module is completed.
However, there may be a case where adhesiveness between the resist applied to the glass epoxy substrate by coating and the transfer mold resin is not so high thus giving rise to a possibility that a gap is formed between the resist and the transfer mold resin. Further, there is also the following possibility. That is, when the power module is installed in an operation environment and is operated with a large electric current, due to rise and fall of a temperature of the operation environment, the generation of heat in the various electronic devices or the like, the expansion/shrinkage of the printed circuit board including the resist and the transfer mold resin repeatedly occurs. Due to a stress generated by such expansion/shrinkage, a strain is concentrated between the printed circuit board including the resist and the transfer mold resin so that a gap is formed between the resist and the transfer mold resin. When such a gap is formed, it is estimated that a gas is generated from an organic substance which the glass epoxy substrate contains or moisture or the like intrudes into the power module from the outside. These phenomenon are not desirable for the power module.
In view of the above, recently, there has been also proposed a technique where a so-called DCB substrate (Direct Copper Bonding substrate) is introduced as a printed circuit board used in a power module. The DCB substrate is a printed circuit board known as a substrate having a high dielectric voltage thus capable of allowing a large electric current to flow. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the DCB substrate is a printed circuit board formed by directly bonding a copper pattern 850 to a ceramic substrate 807 and containing no organic substance. Adhesiveness between a ceramic substrate and a copper pattern which form such a DCB substrate and a transfer mold resin is set higher than adhesiveness between a glass epoxy substrate and a transfer mold resin. Accordingly, with the use of the DCB substrate, drawbacks which occur when the above-mentioned glass epoxy substrate is used can be obviated and hence, the generation of a gas, the intrusion of moisture and the like can be suppressed.
As shown in FIG. 16, a conventional mounting structure 900 for mounting a shunt resistor includes: a printed circuit board 905 where a first conductive pattern 910 and a second conductive pattern 920 are formed on at least one surface of a substrate 907 in a spaced-apart manner from each other; and a shunt resistor 930 mounted on one surface of the printed circuit board 905 with a bonding material 940 made of a conductive material interposed therebetween, wherein the shunt resistor 930 includes: a bridging portion 932 spaced apart from the substrate 907; a first connecting portion 934 continuously formed with one end of the bridging portion 932 and electrically connected with the first conductive pattern 910 with the bonding material 940 interposed therebetween, and a second connecting portion 936 continuously formed with the other end of the bridging portion 932 and electrically connected with the second conductive pattern 920 with the bonding material 940 interposed therebetween, assuming an axis parallel to a predetermined direction extending from one end to the other end of the bridging portion 932 as an x axis, a plane parallel to one surface of the substrate 907 as an xy plane, and an axis perpendicular to the x axis as a y axis, an axis parallel to a direction extending to one surface of the substrate 907 from the other surface of the substrate 907 as a z axis, as viewed in a plan view of the xy plane, the first conductive pattern 910 includes: a first lead-out portion 913 led out in a +x direction; and a first pull-out portion 915 pulled out to the outside of a region of the bridging portion 932 from a distal end portion of the first lead-out portion 913, and the second conductive pattern 920 includes: a second lead-out portion 923 led out in a −x direction and spaced apart from the first lead-out portion 913; and a second pull-out portion 925 pulled out to the outside of the region of the bridging portion 932 from a distal end portion of the second lead-out portion 923, and a resistance value of the shunt resistor 930 is detected between the first pull-out portion 915 and the second pull-out portion 925. In such a conventional mounting structure 900 for mounting a shunt resistor, a fillet 940a of the bonding material 940 such as a solder is formed in the first lead-out portion 913 and the second lead-out portion 923.
In detecting a resistance value of a shunt resistor, it is optimal to take a path along which a conductive pattern is pulled out to the outside in a y axis direction from the inside of the shunt resistor (a region just below a bridging portion) in a region with which the shunt resistor overlaps from a view point of responsiveness in detection of a resistance value, and easy arrangement of path lengths of the first pull-out portion and the second pull-out portion.
Accordingly, in the conventional mounting structure 900 for mounting a shunt resistor, the first conductive pattern 910 includes: the first lead-out portion 913 led out in a +x direction; and the first pull-out portion 915 pulled out to the outside of a region of the bridging portion 932 from the distal end portion of the led-out first lead-out portion 913, and the second conductive pattern 920 includes: the second lead-out portion 923 led out in a −x direction and spaced apart from the first lead-out portion 913; and the second pull-out portion 925 pulled out to the outside of the region of the bridging portion 932 from the distal end of portion the led-out second lead-out portion 923. Accordingly, the conductive pattern can be pulled out to the outside from the inside of the shunt resistor (the region just below the bridging portion) which is optimal for detection of a resistance value and hence, a resistance value of the shunt resistor can be detected with higher accuracy. In addition to such detection of a resistance value of the shunt resistor, according to the conventional mounting structure 900 for mounting a shunt resistor, a fillet of the bonding material 940 such as a solder spreads and hence, the shunt resistor 930 and the conductive patterns 910, 920 can be firmly joined (bonded) and fixed to each other.

Mounting structure for mounting shunt resistor and method of manufacturing mounting structure for mounting shunt resistor

SHINDENGEN ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


A new and distinct Chrysanthemum plant variety characterized by a large decorative type inflorescence, consistent flowering response to short days, blooming consistently after 49 days of short day length, free branching habit, and dark purple ray florets, which resist fading with age.

Dendranthema morifolium
xe2x80x98GEDI ONE CARxe2x80x99
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, herein after referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98GEDI ONE CAR.xe2x80x99
This new cultivar was the result of hybridization of a female parent, xe2x80x98Marencoxe2x80x99 (unpatented in the United States) with an unnamed, undistributed and unpatented male parent of another cultivar. The new cultivar was selected by the inventor in October 1997.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by apical tip cutting and meristem tissue culture was performed in Oxnard, Calif. and has shown that the unique features of this new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type on successive generations.
The cultivar xe2x80x98GEDI ONE CARxe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98GEDI ONE CAR.xe2x80x99 These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98GEDI ONE CARxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Chrysanthemum:
1. Large decorative type inflorescence;
2. Consistent flowering response to short days, blooming consistently after 49 days of short day length;
3. Free branching habit; and
4. Dark purple ray florets, which resist fading with age.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are similar to plants of the parent cultivars in most horticultural characteristics, however plants of the new cultivar differ from plants of the female parent cultivar xe2x80x98Marencoxe2x80x99 in the following characteristics:
1. The new cultivar has a more round plant shape;
2. The new cultivar has many more ray florets than the parent;
3. The new cultivar has individual blooms resisting fading better; and
4. The new cultivar has darker purple ray florets.
The new cultivar also differed from the male parent in the following characteristics:
1. The new cultivar has a wider diameter flower;
2. The new cultivar has many more ray florets than the parent; and
3. The new cultivar has different color ray florets.
The new cultivar can be compared to the Chrysanthemum cultivar xe2x80x98CLEAGAR VZP1xe2x80x99 (disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,300). However plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from the plants of the cultivar xe2x80x98CLEAGAR VZPlxe2x80x99 in the following characteristics:
1. The new cultivar naturally blooms 2 weeks later;
2. The new cultivar has darker purple ray florets;
3. The new cultivar has a more round plant shape; and
4. The new cultivar has many more ray florets.

Chrysanthemum plant named xe2x80x98Gedi One Carxe2x80x99


A pre-erase/incremented erase mechanism is employed to reduce excessive tunnel oxide fields in flash memory cells. A variable conditioning signal removes charge from "fast" bits in the array, so that they are configured to have threshold voltages closer to an ideal initial state in preparation for an erase cycle. In this manner, the voltage thresholds are tightened and equalized, so that over-erasure problems associated with Fowler-Nordheim tunneling erase operations are substantially reduced, and endurance cycles for the array are maximized. The invention can be used in a device in the field, or as part of a design process for a flash memory cell to evaluate device performance.

The endurance cycles of an EEPROM, especially the number of program and erase cycles, is the primary determinant of the life span of such device. Endurance cycles refer to the number of times which data can be reliably erased, re-programmed, and read back without errors. Accordingly, the number of endurance cycles dictates in large part the usable life of an EEPROM device. Consequently, one significant goal of prior art efforts is the maximization of such endurance cycles through the use of improved cell architectures which minimize cycle stress, as well as intelligent erase, program methods designed to be less stressful on the cell architecture.
Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling is one of the most well-known, well-understood and prevalent techniques used in the art for erasing flash memory cells. A significant problem arises from the fact that certain cells (bits) in the memory array tend to be "fast" and others "slow" during an erase operation. In other words, because such cells tend to over-accumulate, or under-accumulate charge on their floating gates, or because charge becomes trapped in various locations, these cells tend to have threshold voltages that deviate significantly from a target threshold voltage. For this reason, when a "fast" cell is erased, it is much more likely to become over-erased. When a cell is over-erased during an erase operation, this causes additional administrative overhead, because it must be corrected if at all possible. This is undesirable, of course, because it slows down the operation of the device from being re-programmed with new data.
The existence of excess charge on the "fast" bits caused them to be over-erased for a couple of reasons. First, the FN erase mechanism depends strongly on the electrical field across the thin tunnel oxide layer in the flash cell; with more charge, the field is proportionately higher. This causes more charge to move off the floating gate during the erase operation. In other words, the fast bits have electrical field intensities that deviate significantly from desired target field strengths. Second, at the beginning of the FN erase, the floating gates are fully charged (i.e., in a programmed state) and the electrical field is a maximum. This means that the rate of erasure (the electrical discharge rate of the floating gate) is also highest at the onset of the FN erase operation. Thus, if fast bits are not corrected, they tend to become over-erased, and this leads to concomitant problems of excess leakage current and/or data errors. In the long run, these leaky bits cause failures, reduce endurance cycles, etc. As mentioned above, the problem is especially acute in (but not limited to) FN tunneling erase operations used with NGCE configurations. This is because the electrical field becomes extremely strong between the negative gate and the substrate well.
To date, there are very few practical solutions for dealing with this phenomenon, and no easy way known to applicants for compensating for electrical field intensity variations that occur in flash memory cell arrays. These field variations arise naturally both from wafer processing operations, which, by their nature, result in differences in cell structures, tunnel oxide characteristics (thickness and uniformity), etc., as well as from cycling of the device in normal operation. As the number of cells increase in EEPROM devices, and integration density increases, and cycling increases, the field variations also correspondingly increase because of the nature of normal distributions.
A related situation is addressed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,089, incorporated by reference herein. In this reference, the individual logic levels of a multi-bit cell are kept stable by ensuring that the threshold voltages of such cell are maintained within predefined threshold ranges. This is accomplished using what it refers to as "mini" erase/program operations, where a pulse is applied so that only enough charge is added or removed from a cell sufficient to keep it within a safe operating range for that state. While this approach is beneficial for improving sensing (read) operations, this technique does not appear to be very practical as a pre-erase conditioning operation. This is because it requires a significant amount of administrative overhead to perform this type of procedure on a cell by cell basis. Moreover, the reference is primarily directed ensuring that Vt overshoot is reduced for each programmed cell, and does not really address the issue of how to ensure that the behavior of cells collectively is relatively uniform and predictable during a subsequent operation in which they are to be transitioned from one logical level to another. In other words, there is no attempt made to treat one segment of the cell population (the "fast" cells) differently than another as may be necessary to achieve better operational results. Nor does this reference teach or suggest using a series of lesser strength erase signals to completely erase a programmed cell.
For these reasons, an effective method for dealing with so called fast bits is not Known in the art, but is extremely desirable. Optimally, the erased set of cells has a relatively uniform distribution centered around a target erase value. To get this uniform distribution, however, it is necessary: (1) to place the cells in a similar state (initial floating gate voltage/electrical field); and (2) for them to have similar electrical discharge characteristics. The first step can be accomplished by a conventional programming step, which, in theory, is intended to add sufficient charge to put all the cells into an initial target programmed voltage threshold state V.sub.p. To date, nonetheless, applicants are unaware of specific and practical mechanisms for achieving the second step of controlling individual cell electrical discharge characteristics. To accomplish this goal, it is necessary to control the initial electric field at the tunneling oxide. If this electric field is not reduced at the onset of FN erasure for the fast bit segment of the array, the fast bits will be erased faster than average bits in the memory array. By the time the average bits are erased, the fast bits are already in a state of over-erasure. Correspondingly, if the electric field can be reduced at the beginning of the erasure for a particular bit, this will slow down the rate of erasure for the bit in question.

Circuit and method for pre-erasing/erasing flash memory array


A shock absorbing suspension system for a lightweight, bicycle pulled trailer, fitted to the frame of a light weight trailer. The trailer suspension system includes a pair of shock absorbers each mounted to cushion the trailer and its contents, which can be a passenger. The suspension system mounts to a trailer frame that has a shock base and an arm base. The shock base includes a shock base pivot and the arm base includes an arm base pivot. A wheel arm attaches to the arm base of the trailer frame. The wheel arm includes a hub end and a pivot end, and the pivot end hingably connects to the arm base pivot. A wheel hub is received into the wheel arm proximate the hub end of the wheel arm. An arm shock bearing is positioned on the wheel arm. A shock, for dampening the hinging of the wheel arm about the arm base pivot, is mounted between the trailer frame and the wheel arm. The shock includes a base bearing and an arm bearing. The base bearing hingably mounts to the shock base pivot, and the arm bearing hingably mounts to the arm shock pivot.

The invention provides a suspension system uniquely suited for a bicycle trailer. More particularly, to a shock absorbing actuator system, fitted to the frame of a light weight trailer.
Bicycle pulled trailers are becoming increasingly popular for carrying young passengers or light cargo. These trailers are typically light in weight to minimize the burden to the rider of the bicycle. Bicycle trailers conventionally include a tubular frame forming a platform for the attachment of two opposing wheels that follow parallel tracks and sometimes share a common axle. The frame attaches to the pulling bicycle with a hitch on a connecting arm.
The trail bicycle or xe2x80x9cmountain bikexe2x80x9d is a relatively new version of a bicycle that typically includes a suspension system for the front forks, or in some cases the rear wheel of the bicycle. However, current bicycle trailer systems are only practicable on smooth road and trail surfaces. In some instances, especially for extended excursions over rough trails with mountain bikes, it would be desirable to pull additional equipment and provisions, or perhaps a passenger with a trailer.
Bounce and vibration are a typical problem with conventional bicycle trailers. The two wheels of the trailer travel in parallel and independent tracks. The trailer bounces up and down, and side to side as any obstacle is encountered. This makes pulling such a trailer difficult, as the trailer sways and jostles. Riding in a conventional bicycle trailer as a passenger in the trailer is also very uncomfortable. A bicycle trailer is needed that somehow reduces these difficulties. Specifically, a need exists for a lightweight, bicycle pulled trailer that can handle rougher and varying terrain, as encountered on off-road trails.
The invention provides a suspension system for a bicycle trailer. More particularly, to a shock absorbing suspension system fitted to the frame of a light weight trailer. The suspension system mounts to, and so includes a trailer frame. For the present invention, the trailer frame has a shock base and an arm base. The shock base includes a shock base pivot. The arm base also includes an arm base pivot. A wheel arm attaches to the arm base of the trailer frame. The wheel arm includes a hub end and a pivot end, and the pivot end hingably connects to the arm base pivot. A wheel hub is received into the wheel arm proximate the hub end of the wheel arm. An arm shock bearing positioned on the wheel arm.
A shock is mounted between the trailer frame and the wheel arm. The shock dampens the hinging of the wheel arm about the arm base pivot. The shock has a compressible length and includes a base bearing and an arm bearing. The base bearing hingably mounts to the shock base pivot, and the arm bearing hingably mounts to the arm shock pivot.
Alternatively, the trailer frame of the suspension system can include a shock frame extension. The shock base pivot is mounted on the shock frame of the trailer frame.
In a preferred alternative of the present invention, the wheel arm can further include a flange, the flange mounted on the wheel arm proximate the pivot end of the wheel arm. The flange includes the arm shock pivot. The arm bearing hingably mounts to the flange of the wheel arm at the arm shock pivot.
The present invention provides a suspension system for a lightweight, bicycle pulled trailer, uniquely configured to handle rougher and varying terrain, especially as encountered on off-road trails. The suspension system dampens the bouncing and vibrations typical of conventional bicycle trailers. Specifically, the trailer suspension system of the present invention includes a pair of shock absorbers each mounted to cushion the trailer and its contents, which can be a passenger.
The invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A fluid cylinder mechanism couplable to a vehicle and having a piston slidable within the cylinder, a rod couplable to an implement and shiftable within an opening in the piston, the rod being adapted to shift vertically within the piston a an implement rides over ground undulations, and an abutment mechanism coupled to the rod for abutment with the piston when the piston shifts upwardly due to selective forcing of fluid into the rod end of the cylinder by the operator to transfer the weight of the implement to the vehicle or to lift the implement for transport.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to hydraulic cylinder mechanisms used for raising and lowering implements carried by powered vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,732 illustrates a mowing vehicle having a mower deck coupled to a vehicle via a hydraulic cylinder assembly. Conventional cylinders have rods rigidly fixed to pistons within the cylinder, and can be actuated to selectively transfer the weight of the deck to the vehicle to enhance the vehicle's traction and stability during operation. These cylinders can also be actuated by the operators to lift the deck over curbs or other obstructions during transport.
During operation, the mower deck shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,732 will roll over ground contours. The deck will rise up as it encounters a bump, and will therefore press upwardly on the rod to cause the piston to shift upwardly within the cylinder. Fluid will be drawn into the rod end of the cylinder in response to the piston shifting upwardly. The piston tends to shift upward rapidly, since the ground and deck press the rod and piston upwardly against the large weight of the vehicle. Fluid therefore enters the rod end of the cylinder quickly and does not undesirably slow the shifting of the piston.
Once the deck passes over the crest of a bump the front of the deck must tilt downwardly to remain in contact with the ground for continued mowing operations. To accomplish this, the weight of the deck acts to shift the piston downwardly within the cylinder. Fluid must be forced out of the rod end of the cylinder by the piston as it shifts downwardly. The small size of the opening in the cylinder and the pressure in the hydraulic circuit tend to resist the displacement of fluid from the cylinder. Since the weight of the deck, which is small compared to the weight of the vehicle, is the only force acting to shift the piston downwardly and force the fluid out of the cylinder, the downward shifting of the piston and deck thereattached is relatively slow. Therefore, once the deck has passed over the crest of a bump, the slow downward shifting of the deck may cause an area of vegetation to be left uncut by the mower.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a fluid cylinder assembly that can be selectively actuated for weight transferral or lifting of the implement, and that allows the implement to follow the contours of the ground. It would be desirable to provide such a cylinder with a mechanism that allows t he deck to rapidly shift downwardly to remain in contact with the ground after ground undulations have been encountered such that little or no areas of grass are left uncut. It would also be desirable for such a mechanism to be internally provided by the workings of the cylinder.


A bicycle having front wheel drive and rear wheel steering, having a frame, a front wheel, handlebars, and a rear wheel. A rear steering assembly allows the rear wheel to be pivoted by a rear pulley assembly. A front steering assembly includes a front pulley assembly connected to the handlebars so that when the handlebars are pivoted the front pulley assembly is rotated. A left and right cable connect the front pulley assembly and rear pulley assembly so that when the handlebars are pivoted the rear wheel is pivoted in response. A driven sprocket is attached to the front wheel which is linked to a drive sprocket by a chain. A rotary power source such as human driven pedals or an engine is attached to the drive sprocket so that the front wheel is driven.

The invention relates to a chain driven front wheel drive and rear wheel steering bicycle. More particularly, the invention relates to a two wheeled vehicle wherein pedal or engine power is used to drive a fixed front wheel, and wherein steering of the vehicle is accomplished by pivoting the rear wheel.
By definition, a bicycle is a two wheel vehicle. Conventionally, a bicycle includes a frame, and two similarly sized wheels, which are inline with each other and with the frame. Pedals protrude to either side of the frame, which allow the rider to power the vehicle by means of a chain and sprocket arrangement, which links the pedals to the rear wheel. xe2x80x9cHandlebarsxe2x80x9d give the rider a firm hand-hold and allow the rider to steer the front wheel, which is generally located directly below the handlebars, and which is directly connected with the handlebars so that pivoting the handlebars also pivots the front wheel.
This arrangement is the most familiar configuration of a bicycle. It provides satisfactory transportation for the masses and in fact, literally billions of bicycles are in use worldwide. Virtually interchangeable bicycle components are readily available for bicycles having this overall configuration. However, the actual maneuverability, handling, and stability of the conventional bicycle leaves something to be desired.
In particular, the rear-wheel drive, front wheel steering arrangement of conventional bicycles makes the bicycle unstable in certain situations. For example, when the bicycle must stop suddenly to avoid an obstacle, the front wheel is charged with both steering the vehicle and providing the majority of the braking. Unfortunately the xe2x80x9ctire patchxe2x80x9d (that portion of the tire in contact with the road surface) has only a limited amount of frictional interaction with the road surface to accomplish both tasks. If the frictional xe2x80x9cabilityxe2x80x9d of the tire patch is exceeded, the wheel may skid uncontrollablyxe2x80x94resulting in a fall for the rider. This scenario is especially acute in a downhill, sudden-stop situation, and when traveling upon gravel, wet roads, or other less-than-favorable road surfaces.
In addition, the rear-wheel drive of conventional bicycles makes it difficult for the rider to overcome obstacles presented directly to the front tire. For example, rear wheel drive makes it especially difficult for the rider to travel up a curb or similar stationary object. Typically a rider is forced to xe2x80x9chopxe2x80x9d the front wheel onto the curb, since even considerable pedaling and subsequent torque at the rear wheel will not cause the front wheel to climb the curb. However, such practice compromises the stability of the rider and could easily result in a fall. Even worse, many riders are forced to dismount their bicycle and lift it over or onto the obstacle before they can continue riding.
Despite these clear disadvantages, the fact remains that the familiarity of the bicyclexe2x80x94that is: it""s seating position, pedaling angle, overall geometry, etc.xe2x80x94make it xe2x80x9chere to stayxe2x80x9d. What is desirable is to provide a solution which overcomes many of the clear disadvantages of the conventional bicycle, while preserving its familiarity to billions of riders worldwide.
U.S. Pat. No. 316,047 to Marble describes an early attempt at providing front wheel drive in a two wheeled vehicle. However, Marble uses a large front wheel for both drive and steering.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,279 to Dion describes an attempt to provide two-wheel drive by driving the front wheel in addition to the rear wheel. However, Dion still attempts to provide steering using the front wheel.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.
It is an object of the invention to produce a bicycle which provides superior maneuverability, handling, and stability when compared to prior art bicycles. Accordingly, a front wheel drive, rear wheel steering bicycle is described herein.
It is another object of the invention to provide a bicycle which is familiar and comfortable to riders of conventional bicycles. Accordingly, conventional geometry, rider position and posture, pedaling distances and angles, as well as physical demands upon the rider are preserved while implementing the improvements of the present invention.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bicycle which may be inexpensively manufactured. Accordingly, by maintaining much of the standard bicycle configuration, the present invention can be constructed using mostly off-the-shelf components.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a drive system which can be employed in all types of chain driven, two wheel vehicles. Accordingly, the present invention can be implemented using various familiar bicycle configurations such as touring, racing, and mountain bicycles, as well as motorized bicycles such as motorcycles and mopeds.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects the invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the claims.

Chain driven front wheel drive and rear wheel steering bicycle


Each of a plurality of cylinder liners has a cooling liquid groove at its outer circumferential surface and has a flat surface over an entire axial length at a part of the outer circumferential surface. The cylinder liners are inserted in bores of a cylinder block with flat surfaces of adjacent liners abutting each other and the grooves at the flat surfaces being coincident with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cylinder for a multi-cylinder type engine, and more particularly a cylinder of which cooling is carried out by flowing cooling liquid in grooves formed at the outer circumferential surfaces of cylinder liners inserted into a cylinder block.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the prior art to provide a cylinder for a multi-cylinder type engine in which an outer circumferential surface of each of the cylinder liners is formed with a cooling liquid groove, the cylinder liner is fitted into a bore part of a cylinder block, a space defined between an inner circumferential surface of the bore part in the cylinder block and the cooling liquid groove forms a cooling liquid flow passage, cooling liquid is flowed at a high speed in the cooling liquid flow passage so as to cool the cylinder liner.
With the foregoing arrangement, the cylinder block is provided with a plurality of spaced-apart bores through which the cylinder liners are inserted, and an inter-bore pitch is larger than an outer diameter of each of the cylinder liners.


The present disclosure is to provide a power wireless transmitter in a magnetic resonance-based wireless power transmission system, wherein when, due to a presence of a metal, an output from the wireless power transmitter has a change in a resonance frequency thereof, a drive frequency and/or duty ratio with a maximum output therefrom are determined to be applied for a transmission from the wireless power transmitter, thereby to achieve an efficient wireless power transmission.

Field of the Present Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a power wireless transmitter in a magnetic resonance-based wireless power transmission system, and, in particularly, to a power wireless transmitter in a magnetic resonance-based wireless power transmission system, wherein when, due to a presence of a metal, an output from the wireless power transmitter has a change in a resonance frequency thereof, a drive frequency and/or duty ratio with a maximum output therefrom are determined to be applied for a transmission from the wireless power transmitter, thereby to achieve an efficient wireless power transmission.
Discussion of Related Art
Generally, a magnetic resonance-based wireless power transmission system may transmit a non-radiant electronic wave energy between two resonators using resonance. When a resonance frequency of a transmitter coincides with that of a receiver, an efficient wireless power transmission may occur.
However, a resonance frequency of a transmitter does not coincide with that of a receiver, an efficient wireless power transmission may not be achieved. This is true of a situation where a metal is disposed between the transmitter and receiver due to a change in a resonance frequency.
Further, when a metal is adjacent to the wireless power transmitter, the inductance of the wireless power transmitter may change. Thus, in order to keep the resonance frequency constant, the capacitance of the wireless power transmitter may be adjusted. However, this approach may have a limitation in terms of times of the changes of the capacitance of the wireless power transmitter.
In this connection, Korean patent No. 10-1386650 discloses a method for detecting a foreign material by a wireless power transmission device in a wireless power transmission system using the magnetic resonance induction manner, as shown in FIG. 1. In this approach, when a foreign material is detected in a wireless power transmission system, it is determined whether the foreign material is a device being charged or not by transmitting a joining request signal. The method for detecting a foreign material by a wireless power transmission device in a wireless power transmission system using the magnetic resonance induction manner comprises the steps of detecting a foreign material by detecting at least one change of a current, a voltage and a phase; transmitting a joining request signal according to a magnetic field communication protocol; detecting a joining response signal which responds to the joining request signal; and informing a user of the presence of the foreign material unless receiving the joining response signal.
However, in this prior-art approach, when the foreign material is detected in a wireless power transmission system, the user should remove the foreign material manually. Otherwise, the wireless power transmission efficiency may be deteriorated.

Power wireless transmitter in magnetic resonance-based wireless power transmission system


A spring clip is disclosed herein for use on belt or pocket-held articles such as tools, pens, knives or the like, which includes a mounting block secured to the article that is provided with a pair of spaced-apart and open-ended passageways opening on opposite sides of the block. A clip is employed having folded-over elongated linear sections terminating in opposing spaced-apart lugs adapted to be insertably disposed into the respective passageways so as to act as pivots permitting the linear sections to be raised and lowered to and from the article. A torsional action results when the linear sections of the clip are lifted causing a spring bias urging the linear sections towards the article to provide a yieldable spring clip action.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of spring clips, and more particularly to a novel clip pivotally carried on an article intended to be suspended from a belt, strap or pocket or the like having a construction which provides a spring bias through a torsional action in order to hold the article in place.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to employ spring clips on articles intended to be carried in pockets, on belts or the like wherein the spring action is provided by leaf springs, helical springs or in many instances, simply a frictional action to retain the article in place. Such prior uses of springs are costly and require multiple parts which need to be assembled in order to perfect the clip and the clip action. In the case of prior clips employing interference fitting between opposing surfaces of the clip and the article, no spring bias is available for retaining the clip in its supporting action against the belt or pocket material on which the clip is positioned. In other instances, manually operated finger levers or the like are employed to engage the spring action so as to provide a bias resulting in frictional engagement of the clip with the material intended to be engaged by the clip.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a simple and convenient means for clipping an article onto a belt, strap or pocket which includes a spring bias action without the necessity of utilizing leaf or helical springs and which does not require assemblage of a multiplicity of components.


A protocol and mechanism which provide for centralized asset tracking communications from a central station are based on a control/polling forward channel; i.e., a narrow band channel from the central station to tracking units affixed to the assets. A narrow band service channel is used by the asset tracking units to transmit to the central station to aid the central station in efficient scheduling of asset reporting, and a plurality of narrow band channels that are appropriately multiplexed are used for conveyance of data from the asset tracking units to the central station.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the tracking of assets, including goods and vehicles, using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and more particularly to a protocol and mechanism for centralized asset tracking communications.
2. Background Description
Goods shipped from a manufacturing plant, warehouse or port of entry to a destination are normally tracked to assure their timely and safe delivery. Tracking has heretofore been accomplished in part by use of various shipping documents and negotiable instruments, some of which travel with the goods and others of which are transmitted by post or courier to a receiving destination. This paper tracking provides, a record which is completed only on the safe delivery and acceptance of the goods. However, there sometimes is a need to know the location of the goods. Knowledge of the location of goods can be used for inventory control, scheduling and monitoring.
Shippers have provided information on the location of goods by tracking their vehicles, knowing what goods are loaded on those vehicles. Goods are often loaded aboard shipping containers or container trucks, for example, which are in turn loaded aboard railcars. Various devices have been used to hack such vehicles. In the case of railcars, passive radio frequency (RF) transponders mounted on the cars have been used to facilitate interrogation of each car as it passes a way station and supply the car's identification. This information is then transmitted by a radiated signal or land line to a central station which tracks the locations of cars. This technique, however is deficient in that whenever a particular railcar remains on a siding for an extended period of time, it does not pass a way station. Moreover, way station installations are expensive, requiting a compromise that results in way stations being installed at varying distances, depending on the track layout. Thus, the precision of location information varies from place to place on the railroad.
Recently, mobile tracking units have been used for tracking various types of vehicles, such as trains. Communication has been provided by means of cellular mobile telephone or RF radio link. Such mobile tracking units are generally installed aboard the locomotive which provides a ready source of power. However, in the case of shipping containers, container truck trailers and railcars, a similar source of power is not readily available. Mobile tracking units which might be attached to containers and vehicles must be power efficient in order to provide reliable and economical operation. Typically, a mobile tracking unit includes a navigation set, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other suitable navigation set, responsive to navigation signals transmitted by a set of navigation stations which may be either space-based or earth-based. In each case, the navigation set is capable of providing data indicative of the vehicle location based on the navigation signals. In addition, the tracking unit may include a suitable electromagnetic emitter for transmitting to a remote location the vehicle's location data and other data acquired from sensing elements on board the vehicle. Current methods of asset localization require that each item tracked be individually equipped with hardware which determines and reports location to a central station. In this way, a tracked asset is completely "ignorant" of other assets being shipped or their possible relation to itself. In reporting to the central station, such system requires a bandwidth which scales approximately with the number of assets being reported. The aggregate power consumption over an entire such system also scales with the number of assets tracked. Further, since both the navigation set and the emitter are devices which, when energized, generally require a large portion of the overall electrical power consumed by the mobile tracking unit, it is desirable to control the respective rates at which such devices are respectively activated and limit their respective duty cycles so as to minimize the overall power consumption of the mobile tracking unit.
Most present-day asset tracking systems are land-based systems wherein a radio unit on the asset transmits information to wayside stations of a fixed network, such as the public land mobile radio network or a cellular network. These networks do not have ubiquitous coverage, and the asset tracking units are expensive. A satellite-based truck tracking system developed by Qualcomm Inc., kuown as OMNITRACS, is in operation in the United States and Canada. This system requires a specialized directional antenna and considerable power for operation, while vehicle location, derived from two satellites, is obtained to an accuracy of about one-fourth kilometer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,605 to Burns et al. describes a rail vehicle positioning system for installation on the locomotive of a train and which uses, to provide input signals for generating a location report, a GPS receiver, a wheel tachometer, transponders, and manual inputs from the locomotive engineer.
In an asset tracking system disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/484,950, entitled "Local Communication Network for Power Reduction and Enhanced Reliability in a Multiple Node Tracking System" by Welles et al. and in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/487,272 U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,505 entitled "Protocol and Mechanism for Primary and Mutter Mode Communication for Asset Tracking" by Ali et al. assigned to the instant assignee and incorporated herein by reference, a tracking system based on a "mutter" mode local area network is used to generate dam which are transmitted to a central station. In this asset tracking system, there are two modes of communication. One mode is communication between the central station and the tracking units, which is usually via satellite: The second mode is a local area network, referred to as the "mutter" mode, between tracking units. One of the tracking units, denoted the master unit, communicates with the central station.
One of the chief challenges in using the first mode of communication is to devise a protocol for the communications that will provide efficient use of the communication facilities and respect the special sensitivities of the reporting scenario. Such protocol should meet the following guidelines:
1. The protocol should be two-way, thereby supporting transmission to and from a central station. PA0 2. The protocol must accommodate a large number of assets and be scalable so that assets can be added and deleted without impacting normal service. PA0 3. The protocol must accommodate variable length messages. The variable length may arise from a number of considerations; for example, the individual asset may have extra sensor data to report in addition to its location. PA0 4. The protocol must have a chatter suppression feature to allow selective turn-off of a specific malfunctioning asset's transmitter. PA0 5. The protocol must function efficiently if used over an extremely long path such as is implied by use of a geostationary satellite. PA0 6. The protocol must allow encryption or a privacy feature to be added later without significantly impacting the capacity. PA0 7. The protocol must be sufficiently robust to allow an asset to enter the system at any time without knowledge that cannot be gleaned following its entry into the system, and must tolerate occasional transmission errors and not be unstable but degrade gracefully under additional load. PA0 8. The protocol must not require the assets to be receiving all the time but accommodate a duty cycle significantly less than 100% for periods of monitoring communication frequencies.
The protocol must be designed to be easily adjusted and nominally reprogrammable to allow presentation of its efficiency as the operational scenario matures.

Protocol and mechanism for centralized asset tracking communications


A method includes receiving information identifying one or more elements to be presented in a first faceplate. The first faceplate is associated with control of a process system. The method also includes receiving information identifying an auto-selection behavior associated with the first faceplate. The method further includes displaying the first faceplate to an operator and automatically selecting one of the elements in the first faceplate based on the received information. A centralized component (like a faceplate controller) automatically selects elements in multiple faceplates, including the first faceplate. The centralized component could automatically select the element to receive focus in the first faceplate. The centralized component could also identify a specified element associated with a command to be executed, even when the specified element does not have focus in the first faceplate.

Processing facilities are often managed using process control systems. Example processing facilities include manufacturing plants, chemical plants, crude oil refineries, and ore processing plants. Among other operations, process control systems typically manage the use of motors, valves, and other industrial equipment in the processing facilities.
One of the most important functions of process control systems is the ability to provide effective tools for operators to monitor and control processes. These tools often include process schematics that graphically illustrate the processes being controlled. These tools also often include graphical faceplates, which typically can be displayed over a process schematic and are used to control a process. For example, faceplates can be used by operators to set desired process targets, monitor for discrepancies against process targets, change modes of operation, and make modifications to a process.
In the past, faceplates have been associated with scripts that could be executed to automatically select elements within the faceplates. For example, a script could allow a particular element in a faceplate to be highlighted so that an operator can immediately change that element (without requiring the operator to manually select that element in the faceplate). As particular examples, a script could automatically select a faceplate parameter (such as an SP, OP, or mode parameter) based on a selected mode or a received command. While this may reduce the need for an operator to manually select an element in a faceplate, some view this functionality as a security or safety hazard. For instance, a script that detected a command could not accurately determine if the command was meant to be handled by a particular faceplate or another display, and sometimes the script would execute when it was not meant to be. Consequently, if two operators were viewing the same faceplate on different consoles and one operator changed the mode, this would cause the faceplate to auto-select for both operators, which was seen as a safety hazard since the other operator did not change the mode. Moreover, some faceplates may implement the scripts incorrectly, and other faceplates may lack the proper scripts altogether.

Apparatus and method for defining and controlling graphical faceplates in a process control system


A mobile terminal determines that it is operating in a range-expansion region and performs interference cancellation techniques that are particularly advantageous in the range-expansion region. An example method of receiving a target link signal at a receiving device, where the target link signal is received in a received signal that also includes an interfering link signal, thus includes determining (510) that the receiving device is operating in a range-expansion region of a low-power node in a heterogeneous network deployment, based on a serving-cell geometry metric or a dominant-interferer ratio metric or both. The method further includes configuring (520) the receiving device to perform interference cancellation, responsive to determining that the receiving device is operating in a range-expansion region. The example method continues with performing (530) the configured interference cancellation on the interfering link signal, and then demodulating and decoding (540) the target link signal.

In a typical wide-area wireless communications network (commonly referred to as cellular radio system), wireless terminals (also referred to as user equipment unit nodes, UEs, and/or mobile stations) communicate, through a radio access network (RAN), with one or more core networks, which provide connectivity to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or to one or more data networks, such as the Internet. The RAN covers a geographical area that is divided into cell areas, with each cell area being served by a radio base station, also referred to, in various contexts, as a RAN node, a "NodeB", or an enhanced NodeB ("eNodeB" or "eNB"). A cell area is a geographical area over which radio coverage is provided by the base station equipment at a (typically) fixed base station site. The base stations communicate, through radio communication channels, with UEs within range of the base stations.
In such a communications network, the maximum data rate that can be supported over a particular link between a base station and a wireless terminal may be limited by interference from other sources. As shown in FIG. 1A, for example, base station 19a may receive uplink communications from wireless terminals 11a and 15a. At a receiver of base station 19a, uplink communications from another wireless terminal 15a may interfere with reception of the uplink communications from wireless terminal 11a. A link of interest may be referred to as a "target link," or "TL," while a radio link that interferes with a link of interest may be referred to as an "interfering link," or "IL." A receiver that is attempting to receive (i.e., demodulate and decode) a TL is referred to as a TL receiver. Thus, in FIG. 1A, the uplink from wireless terminal 11a is referred to as "TL," for "target link," while the uplink communications from wireless terminal 15a is referred to as "IL," for "interfering link." It will be appreciated, of course, that the uplink from wireless terminal 11a may also interfere with those from wireless terminal 15a, so the designations "TL" and "IL" refer only to a particular demodulation scenario of interest, and may be applied to the same uplink in different scenarios.
A different interference scenario is illustrated in FIG. 1B. As shown in FIG. 1B, base station 19b-1 may transmit downlink communications to wireless terminal 11b, while base station 19b-2 is transmitting downlink communications to wireless terminal 15b. At a receiver of wireless terminal 11b (where the desired link is referred to as TL), downlink communications from base station 19b-2 to wireless terminal 15b (referred to as an IL) may interfere with reception of the downlink communications from base station 119b-1 to wireless terminal 11b. The dashed line in FIG. 1B indicates the IL as perceived/received at wireless terminal 11b.
Still another interference scenario is illustrated in FIG. 1C. As shown in FIG. 1C, base station 19c may transmit downlink communications to wireless terminals 11c and 15c. At a receiver of wireless terminal 11c (where the desired link is referred to as TL), downlink communications from base station 19c to wireless terminal 15c (referred to as IL) may interfere with reception of the downlink communications from base station 119c to wireless terminal 11c. The dashed line in FIG. 1C indicates the IL as perceived/received at wireless terminal 11c.
In any of the examples of FIGS. 1A, 1B, and/or 1C, a received signal at a TL receiver (at a wireless terminal or at a base station) may include a TL with information intended for the TL receiver and one or more interfering links. A ratio of received signal power of the TL to a received signal power of one or more ILs (as received at the receiver attempting to receive the TL) plus other noise and interference, may be referred to as a geometry factor. The geometry factor can be a significant factor determining an achievable data rate for the target link. Stated in other words, a greater geometry factor (i.e., a greater ratio of TL signal strength to IL signal strength at the TL receiver) may allow a greater data rate to be transmitted over the TL to the TL receiver than a lower geometry factor (i.e., a lower ratio of TL signal strength to IL signal strength at the TL receiver). By reducing an effective power of an IL at a receiver (which may result from traffic data transmissions, for example), an effective geometry factor for the TL at the TL receiver may be increased/improved, thereby improving receiver performance and/or allowing increased data rates. An effective power of an IL may be reduced using linear suppression or interference cancellation (IC) techniques, for example. Interference cancellation techniques include pre-decoder interference cancellation (pre-decoder IC), or post-decoder interference cancellation (post-decoder IC).
With linear suppression, the TL receiver includes multiple receiver (RX) antennas, and an antenna lobe is steered, by applying carefully determined delays to the multiple antenna paths, so as to point a spatial null in the direction from which a dominant source of interference is arriving. Statistics of the received signal may be used to determine the delays/combining weights leading to the desired spatial pattern, e.g., using Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) to provide improved Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR).
To significantly suppress the IL with a two-antenna receiver, the IL should arrive from a well-defined single direction. Null steering may not be effective in dispersive environments where several reflections from different directions may contribute, however. Moreover, if the null-steering degree of freedom is used to suppress the IL, this degree of freedom may no longer be available for spatial inter-symbol interference (ISI) suppression or inter-stream interference suppression in multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) transmissions on the TL, thus significantly lowering the equalization efficiency.
With pre-decoder interference cancellation, the receiver demodulates the IL from a received signal and applies hard decisions to the symbol estimates resulting from the demodulation, to reconstruct the transmitted symbol sequence. The reconstructed symbol sequence for the IL is filtered with the channel response to create an estimate of the received interfering signal, which is subtracted from the received signal to create an interference-reduced residual signal. After that, the desired TL signal is demodulated and decoded from the interference-reduced residual signal. With interference cancellation, the TL signal may be demodulated and decoded with higher quality than without interference cancellation.
Pre-decoder interference cancellation may be effective when the raw symbol signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the IL at the target receiver is sufficiently high to make reliable hard decisions. If the raw symbols of the IL are not sufficiently reliable, however, applying hard decisions may lead to significant decision errors and to interference amplification instead of cancellation.
With post-decoder interference cancellation, the receiver demodulates and decodes the IL from a received signal. The resulting decoded bit sequence for the IL may then be re-encoded and the coded bits passed through a modulator to reconstruct the transmitted symbol sequence for the IL. The reconstructed sequence may then be filtered with the channel response and subtracted from the received signal. After that, the desired TL signal is demodulated and decoded from the interference-reduced residual signal. Once again, with interference cancellation the TL signal may be demodulated and decoded with higher quality than without interference cancellation.
Post-decoder interference cancellation may be effective when the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) applied to the IL is sufficiently conservative (with e.g., sufficiently low code rate) for the TL receiver to be able to reliably demodulate and decode the interfering signal. If radio conditions of the IL between the IL transmitter and the intended IL receiver are better than radio conditions of the IL between the IL transmitter and the TL receiver, the TL receiver may not be able to successfully decode the IL transport block. This situation may be detected using error detection/correction (such as a Cyclic Redundancy Check or CRC), which means that any degradation due to incorrect IC feedback may be avoided, but no TL geometry improvement will be achieved in this case.
Inter-cell interference is often one of the dominant impairments that limit receiver performance and the achievable data rates in cellular networks. Interference cancellation (IC) of inter-cell interference is thus an important aspect of improving data rates in throughput in cellular networks, particularly in heterogeneous networks, where cells with different coverage patterns and different downlink output powers are deployed in an overlapping manner over a network coverage area.
To apply IC to signals originating from other cells, knowledge of certain signal format parameters for the interfering signals is required to configure the receiver. For pre-decoding IC, information about resource allocation, modulation format, any pre-coding applied, the number of MIMO layers, etc., may be necessary. This information may be obtained by any of several means, including via blind estimation, eavesdropping on other-cell control signaling, or via network assistance features. For post-decoding IC, transport format parameters for the interfering signal or signals are additionally required. These transport format parameters may typically only be obtained from receiving or eavesdropping on the related control signaling info.
As already noted, heterogeneous networks (HN) differ from traditional networks in that cells with different coverage patterns and downlink output powers are deployed simultaneously over the entire network coverage area. In some cases, small cells or low-power nodes (LPNs) are placed so that they overlap with some parts of the existing macro cell coverage area, thus facilitating the offloading of some of the macro-cell UE population and increasing the overall network capacity. Some deployment schemes exist where the geographically dispersed macro and LPN cells are centrally controlled by a single base station, in a main-remote configuration, where the LPNs are the remote radio units (RRUs). Currently, a combined-cell/shared-cell scheme utilizing this concept is being standardized by the 3rd-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
The downlink output powers of an LPN in the HN setup (e.g., +30 dBm) may typically be 10 dB or more below that of a typical macro cell power (e.g., +43 dBm). The downlink power differences lead to an uplink/downlink coverage imbalance for the LPNs. To more fully utilize the uplink capacity increase offered by the LPNs, the network may instruct an LPN to serve UEs for which the received downlink power for the LPN is weaker than that of the macro node. The margin is controlled via a Cell Individual Offset (CIO) parameter, and may typically be around 6-10 dB. Thus, the LPN may be required to serve UEs that receive the LPN's downlink signal at a strength that is as much as 10 dB below than a received signal from the neighboring macro cell. The area where the received downlink power from the serving LPN is lower than that from a neighboring macro cell is referred to as the range-expansion (RE) region, and is illustrated in FIG. 1D as the striped region encircling the LPN near the right-hand side of the figure.
While the CIO applied to the downlink signal power measurements increases the offloading potential, it simultaneously makes it more difficult for UEs in the RE region to receive their downlink signaling and data from the serving LPN. For this reason, IC has been proposed in 3GPP as an enabling technology for RE region operation. By removing a significant fraction of the interfering macro cell power, the own-cell effective geometry for the LPN downlink is improved, and the downlink signaling and data may be received with increased reliability and throughput.

Selective interference cancellation in the range-expansion region of a heterogeneous network


A device (10) simulates a user's view (12) of a scene (16) on a display (24). A memory (36) stores region pixel data that represent a region (14) of the scene (16). A sensor (20) provides information that represents the direction and orientation of the user's gaze. A processor (32) determines the coordinates of the view (12) from the direction and orientation information, determines which of the region pixel data represent the view (12), and provides the determined view pixel data to the display (24).

A virtual-reality display system such as a pilot trainer provides a user with a simulated window (i.e., view) of a scene, such as a flight path. Typically, a memory stores data that describes the scene and the objects therein, and a sensor provides the direction and orientation of the user's gaze relative to the scene. In response to the sensor data, a processor generates view pixel data from the scene data. A display device converts the view pixel data into visible pixels that compose the view.
As the user changes the direction or orientation of her gaze, the display system attempts to update the view quickly enough to simulate in real time the transition from one view to another. Many techniques exist for such updating. For example, using one updating technique called graceful degradation, the system constructs the new view from the outlines of the largest objects to the narrowest details. Specifically, the system may first generate the outline of a building, then the outline of the windows, and finally the building's color and texture. Using another updating technique, the system first constructs the objects directly in the user's line of sight, and then constructs the objects in the periphery of the user's view.
However, because of the complex calculations and high frame rates often required to simulate such a view, systems often lack the processing speed to realistically transition from one view to another. Thus, during the view transitions generated by the above and other techniques, the user may perceive the view as animated or otherwise unnatural.

Method for simulating views of a scene using expanded pixel data to reduce the amount of pixel data recalculations


Methods for selectively depositing a metal silicide layer are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of selectively depositing a metal silicide layer includes: (a) providing a substrate having a first layer to a process chamber, wherein the first layer comprises a first surface and a feature formed in the first surface comprising an opening defined by one or more sidewalls and a bottom surface wherein the sidewalls comprise one of silicon oxide or silicon nitride and wherein the bottom surface comprises at least one of silicon or germanium; (b) exposing the substrate to a precursor gas comprising a metal halide; (c) purging the precursor gas from the process chamber using an inert gas; (d) exposing the substrate to a silicon containing gas; (e) purging the silicon containing gas from the process chamber using an inert gas; (f) repeating (b)-(e) to selectively deposit a metal silicide along the bottom surface to a predetermined thickness; and (g) annealing the substrate after depositing the metal silicide layer.

The formation of a logic-contact structure typically involves formation of a metal silicide at the bottom of a feature. The inventors have observed that when forming a contact within a narrow feature (e.g., 10 nm or less), metal may deposit along the sidewalls of the feature as well as at the bottom of the feature. The metal formation along the sidewalls reduces the amount of conductive fill material that can be deposited within the feature, resulting in an undesirable increase in the contact resistance.
Accordingly, the inventors have developed improved techniques to selectively deposit a metal silicide layer via atomic layer deposition cycles.

Methods for selective deposition of metal silicides via atomic layer deposition cycles


The disclosure involves a material handling machine such as a lattice-type portal crane having an elongate lattice girder suspended from a girder beam by a first and second support links. In turn, the girder beam is supported at an elevation by a pair of legs. The improvement comprises a force transfer link coupling the support links so that forces transferred between the girder beam and either leg are isolated from the girder. The girder, which is triangular-shaped, has a top apex-like chord member and a pair of lower chord members. The support links and the force transfer link support the girder at the lower chord members and the top chord member is spaced (and therefore, isolated) from the girder beam.

As the name suggests, material handling machines are used to move material from one place to another. Both the machines themselves and the material handled by them can take any of a wide variety of forms. For example, material handled by such machines may include excavated soil, rock, steel coils and plate, ladles of molten metal, lumber and logs. Machines for handling such material include excavators, loaders, shovels and cranes. The latter includes overhead travelling cranes, which run on elevated rails, and gantry-type cranes, "stiff-legged" structures which run on rails mounted at ground level.
While the aforementioned types of cranes come in a variety of configurations, they share some common features. One is that they both ride on rigid flanged wheels rolling atop parallel, spaced railroad-like rails. Another is that they are equipped with a traversely-movable trolley on which is mounted a load-lifting hoist apparatus. Such cranes are capable of picking up a load from a location, raising it to an elevation and transporting the load to another location. Yet another common feature is that they are capable of moving a load in any of three axes of motion, namely, travel (along the rails), trolley traverse (perpendicular to the rails) and hoist/lower.
Gantry cranes have a generally horizontal frame arrangement supported above the ground on side supports so as to span the area beneath the frame. Gantry cranes are often referred to as portal cranes since when viewed parallel to the rails, they appear gate-like with a large opening defined by the frame structure and the side supports. A type of portal crane is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,542 (Beier).
The exemplary crane shown in the Beier patent has downwardly-extending legs, each terminating in a wheel assembly. While a wheel assembly on either side of the crane may simply be a non-driven "idler" assembly, each side of the crane has at least one wheel assembly which includes a drive motor and gearing. The operator controls movements of the crane from a control cab well above the ground.
Portal cranes are often used out-of-doors and are subjected to certain environment-related and use-related forces. An example of an environment-related force is wind loading. Wind in a direction parallel to the rails imposes forces on the crane which tend to tip the crane. In recognition of this and other factors, the support legs of portal cranes generally define a triangle with spaced-apart lower "feet" for stability. Portal cranes are often made in a lattice arrangement for, among other reasons, reducing the frontal area subjected to wind-imposed forces.
An example of a use-related force involves the control of the drive motor(s) at either side of the crane. It presents a very difficult control problem to make all motors run and brake at precisely the same rotational speed and at the same time. As a result, the crane can become slightly twisted or skewed by the motor(s) on one side driving that side slightly faster than the motor(s) on the other side.
And even if all of the motors on both sides of the crane are operated in precise synchronism, other forces are imposed on the crane by merely accelerating and decelerating it as a load is moved from one location to another. As a rough analogy, the head of an automobile driver or passenger tends to move rearward if the auto is accelerated sharply or forward if it is braked abruptly. The suspended horizontal girder structure of a portal crane experiences the same kind of forces during crane acceleration and deceleration.
Yet another example of a use-related force involves the load itself. Such load is suspended from cables which are taut but not rigid. When the crane is accelerated, the load lags slightly and tends to twist the horizontal, suspended frame about its long axis. Deceleration produces the same type of twist but in the opposite direction.
The portal crane shown in the Beier patent has a tubular top chord welded to a supporting plate. In turn, the plate is welded and bolted to a horizontal girder support beam. The upper ends of diagonal "laces" or tube members are welded to the top chord and their spaced lower ends are attached through a reinforcing, pin-attachment plate to the lower ends of support arms or links.
Forces transferring between the horizontal girder beam and the downwardly-extending legs are imposed on the welds attaching the tubular top chord and the diagonal laces to one another. Such forces are also imposed on the weld securing the top chord to its support plate and upon the bolts securing the support plate to the girder beam. And such force transfer is not only inevitable, it occurs substantially continuously when the crane is being used and, to some degree, if the crane is subjected to high wind forces, whether or not in use.
With the above-noted earlier configuration, it has been found unexpectedly that failures may occur in any one, some or all of three locations, namely, on the top chord/laces welds, on the top chord/plate weld and/or on the plate/support beam weld and bolts. A logical approach to preventing such failures would be to "beef up" and reinforce the welds, bolts and the like. However, the invention substantially eliminates these failures in a very unusual way using a unique force transfer link and a "floating" girder arrangement.

Material handling machine with force-isolating support link


Systems and methods for authenticating key rotation communications. Key rotation communications can include a key counter known to both a headend device and a station. Comparison between a local key counter and the key counter included in the key rotation communication can be used to authenticate the key rotation communication.

A network of communication stations can share a communication medium (e.g., wires connecting multiple stations or spectrum for transmitting radio signals among stations) using any of a variety of access techniques. A shared communication can be difficult to provide security and controlled access. Even when communications are encrypted using an encryption key, the encryption key associated with the encryption can eventually be compromised through brute force cracking of the encryption key.


A power converter including an inverter for converting electric power output from a power supply, a first power feeding bus connected to the inverter and to the positive side of the power supply, a second power feeding bus connected to the inverter and the negative side of the power supply, and a plurality of connection circuits including a resistant member and a capacitive member which are connected in series, connected between the first power feeding bus and the second power feeding bus, and having at least two or more different impedances.

There is known a noise reducer for a power converter device including a converter connected to an AC power source, an inverter connected to a direct-current (DC) output side of the converter, and a DC smoothing capacitor connected to a DC intermediate circuit. The noise reducer reduces noise current flowing through the power converter by switching ON and OFF of a semiconductor switching element included in the inverter. The noise reducer includes a noise-current detector for detecting noise current and a noise compensation current supplier that generates noise compensation current for reducing detected noise current and supplies the noise compensation current to the power converter. The noise compensation current supplier includes a series circuit consisting of a transistor, which is an element where output current of the element is controlled by a signal detected by a noise-current detector and with lower withstand voltage than the voltage of a DC intermediate circuit, and a Zener diode (Patent Document 1).


Disclosed is a probe mixture for real-time detection of target nucleic acids comprising at least one detection probe and at least one clamping probe for inhibiting amplification of wild type genes or unwanted genes, a kit using the same and a method for real-time detection of target nucleic acids using the mixture and the kit.

A gene is a very important substance which expresses the traits of a living organism through transcription and translation and conveys the traits to its offspring. It is composed of a base sequence having A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine) and T (thymine) as their base units. The base sequence of a gene determines the traits of a living organism. Analysis of the base sequence and nucleotide polymorphism of genes is very important in conducting researches on biological information. For example, nucleotide polymorphism analysis makes it possible to diagnose heredity related diseases and prescribe personalized medicine according to genetic traits. Also, the analysis allows to diagnose infection viruses and distinguish drug resistant bacteria. In addition, the analysis can be broadly applied to various fields such as species distinction of living organism and forensic medicine, etc.
Particularly, in the field of treatment of cancer, which has been the number one cause of death in Korea since 1983, various researches on genomic abnormalities have been underway since it was found that genomic abnormalities such as mutations of oncogenes, mutations or deregulations of tumour suppressor genes, and chromosomal abnormalities, etc. are directly involved in the occurrence of cancer and prognosis determination of drugs (Fearson E R et al., Cell., 1990, 61:759; K. W Kinzler et al., Cell., 1996, 87:159; Manuel Serrano et al., Cell., 1997, 88:593; Amado R G et al., J. Clin. Oncol., 2008, 26:1626; Raponi M et al., Curr Opin. Pharmacol., 2008, 8:413; Siena S et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 2009, 101:1308).
For this reason, detection of mutations with clinical significance is very important, and accordingly a wide variety of detection methods which vary depending on the analysis purpose or genotype are continuously being reported (Taylor C F, Taylor G R. Methods Mol. Med., 92:9, 2004). Particularly, in somatic mutations, mutant genes exist at a very low frequency of about 0.1˜100 bases per megabase of wild type genes depending on the type of tumour. Also, the number of mutant cancer cells existing in analysis samples is considerably small compared to the number of normal cells, and thus it is very difficult to detect them and accordingly an advanced detection technique is required for the detection (Chung et al., Clin Endocrinol., 65:660, 2006; Trovisco et al., J Pathol., 202:247, 2004).
Representative methods for detecting a minute amount of mutation as in the above include various analysis methods based on real-time PCR technology, such as allele specific PCR method specifically amplifying mutants by using a mutant specific primer in order to selectively increase a small amount of mutant genes (Rhodes et al., Diagn mol pathol., 6:49, 1997), scorpion real-time allele specific PCR method (DxS' scorpions and ARMS) (Mark et al., Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 4:1466, 2009), CAST PCR method detecting amplification products excluding the position where mutation occurred by using Taqman probe after inhibiting amplification of wild type genes and selectively amplifying only mutant genes by using allele specific primer technology and minor groove binder (MGB)-probe (Didelot A et al., Exp Mol Pathol., 92:275, 2012), cold-PCR method increasing sensitivity of mutants by using critical denaturation temperature (Tc) (Zuo et al., Modern Pathol., 22:1023, 2009), etc. Such technologies can be applied easily and quickly to various diagnoses, and are good technology for diagnosing and analyzing mutation of cancer related genes (Bernard et al., Clinical Chemistry, 48:1178, 2002).
However, in case of the above methods, it is difficult to design experiments for reasons such as that a primer amplifying only mutants should be designed, and the critical denaturation temperature should be precisely maintained, etc. Also, in the method using an allele specific primer, false positive results may be obtained if mispriming occurs. Also, Taqman and scorpions probe methods, currently most widely used, have problems that they are not capable of conducting simultaneous multiple analysis using melting curve analysis of a probe, and thus that the number of genes detectable in one tube depends on the number of fluorescences detectable by the real-time PCR apparatus.
Recently, various molecular diagnosis technologies have been developed for detecting somatic mutation through real-time PCR technology. However, in the aspect of usefulness, they did not achieve a remarkable development, and it is necessary to develop a technology with high sensitivity and specificity which is capable of simultaneous multiple quantitative analysis in a short period of time.
Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) was reported in 1991 by Nielsen as a nucleic acid analogue having N-(2-aminoethyl)glycinamide as its backbone (Nielsen P E et al., Science, 254(5037):1497, 1991). The PNA backbone is electrically neutral, and thus has higher specificity and selectivity than DNA probe with respect to target nucleic acids having a complementary base sequence. Also, it is possible, by introducing a specific functional group at the alpha (a), gamma (y) position or linker part of the backbone, to freely adjust physical properties of PNA, such as cell penetration and its melting temperature from the target nucleic acid (Englund E A et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 46:1414, 2007; Stefano Sforza et al., Eur J. Org. Chem., 16:2905, 2000; Roberto Corradini et al., Curr Top. Med. Chem., 11:1535. 2011). Further, it has an advantage of not being decomposed by nuclease or protease, and thus is very useful in molecular diagnosis methods using a probe (Egholm et al., Nature, 365:556, 1993; Nielsen et al., Bioconjugate Chem., 5:3, 1994; Demidov, et al., Biochem. Pharmacol., 48:1310, 1994). Using these advantages of PNA, the PCR clamping technology was developed in 1993 (Henrik Orum et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 21:5332, 1993). This technology inhibits PCR amplification of a gene that should not be amplified by binding a PNA probe to the gene. When a PNA probe complementary to a wild type gene is used, the amplification of the wild type gene is inhibited during PCR reaction, thus making it possible to quickly and accurately detect mutants, which are present in a minute amount when compared to the wild type gene.
Currently, various techniques using the PNA clamping technology are being reported. Hereinafter, the characteristics of methods for selectively amplifying genes by using the PNA clamping technique will be briefly described.
PNA-LNA clamp method (US Patent Publication No. 2013-0005589; Yoshiaki Nagai et al. Cancer Res., 65(16):7276, 2005) is a method for selective amplification and selective detection designed such that a PNA clamping probe having a wild-type gene sequence and an LNA taqman probe for detection having a mutant gene sequence competitively hybridize with the target site. However, this method uses the taqman probe method where a DNA polymerase having 5′→3′ exonuclease activity degrades a mutation probe labeled with a fluorescent substance and a quencher to allow fluorescence. Thus, according to this method, the melting temperature (Tm) value of the probe cannot be analyzed, and it is not possible to detect multiple targets with one fluorescence.
PNA hyb probe (PNA as both PCR clamp and sensor probe; US Patent Publication No. 2008-0176226) is a technology designed to allow a PNA probe to conduct clamping and detecting simultaneously by changing the donor probe in Roche's conventional hyb probe system to a PNA probe. However, since the technology still has a limitation that it must comprise an anchor probe, it is difficult to design the probe, and the use of a long anchor probe disables simultaneous detection of multiple mutations at adjacent positions. Also, the use of one PNA probe conducting clamping and detecting simultaneously makes difficult an analysis in determination of multiple mutant genotypes within the same codon through the melting curve analysis of the PNA probe because the melting temperatures of the PNA from each of the mutant genotypes is not significantly different from one another.
PNA clamping and intercalator detection method (Makito Miyake et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commun., 362:865, 2007) is a method of detecting amplification product by using an intercalator after selectively amplifying only mutant genes while clamping wild-type gene by using a PNA probe. It is not capable of conducting simultaneous multiple detection, and in case the wild-type gene is not completely clamped, false positive results may occur, and thus it is difficult to analyze the results.
The method of using PNA and unlabeled DNA probe (Ji Eun Oh et al., J Mol Diagn., 12:418, 2010) is a method of analyzing the melting curves of an unlabeled DNA probe from a mutant gene by using an intercalator after clamping wild-type gene with a PNA probe. It has problems that it is not capable of specific real-time amplification curve analysis and simultaneous multiple detection and has low sensitivity.

Method for the detection of multiple target nucleic acids using clamping probes and detection probes


An ultrasonic transducer and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The ultrasonic transducer includes a substrate, a first insulation layer, and a first thin film layer; a plurality of support members formed on the first thin film layer; a second thin film layer supported by the plurality of support members; a cavity between the first thin film layer and the second thin film layer; and a common ground electrode on the second thin film layer.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to an ultrasonic transducer and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrasonic transducers (e.g., micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs)) convert an electric signal to an ultrasonic signal and vice versa. Ultrasonic transducers may be used, for example, in medical image diagnosis apparatuses, and thus may non-invasively obtain a picture or an image of tissue or an organ of a body. Ultrasonic transducers may be classified into piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs), capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUTs), and magnetic micromachined ultrasonic transducers (mMUTs), according to the signal converting method. From among these ultrasonic transducers, cMUTs are widely used.
cMUTs transmit and receive ultrasonic waves using a displacement variation of hundreds or thousands of oscillating membranes microprocessed on a silicon wafer. cMUTs may include a silicon wafer that is used in a general semiconductor process, a thin film disposed on the silicon wafer, and a cavity formed between the thin film and the silicon wafer. The silicon wafer, the thin film, and the cavity may form a capacitor. Once alternating current (AC) flows through the capacitor, the thin film begins to oscillate, thereby generating ultrasonic waves. Since cMUTs may transmit and receive ultrasonic waves without a couplant, such as water or oil, due to the thin film, it is easy to use the CMUTs.

Ultrasonic transducer and method of manufacturing the same


The embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of touch display device, and disclose a touch display device, including a touch display panel and a control unit arranged on a side of the touch display panel, with a first wiring area being arranged between the touch display panel and the control unit; wherein a plurality of data connection lines and a plurality of touch connection lines are led out of a side edge of the touch display panel, the plurality of data connection lines being connected with a plurality of data pins on the control unit in a one-to-one correspondence manner, while the plurality of touch connection lines being connected with a plurality of touch pins on the control unit in a one-to-one correspondence manner; and wherein within the first wiring area, the plurality of data connection lines are divided into two wiring layers, the plurality of touch connection lines being arranged at least in layer in which one wiring layer of the data connection lines are located. According to the above technical scheme, by arranging the data connection lines in a layering manner, a bezel width occupied by the data connection lines is reduced, and influence of the data connection lines on the bezel width is in turn reduced, facilitating development of the slim bezel of the touch display device.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of touch display technology, and in particular, to a touch display device.
Description of the Related Art
A major of current self-capacitance designs use a design scheme having an additional mask, i.e., by adding a metallic layer to form a touch pattern on the basis of conventional display screen. In addition to considering the influence of incorporation of such metallic layer, e.g., onto aperture ratio, within a display zone, external pin space should also be considered in emphasis. However, an output capacity may be influenced due to incorporation of a new pattern layer. In the prior art, data lines are typically arranged in a wiring layer while touch lines are arranged in another wiring layer. Taking a 5-inch panel for example, in a lower pad of a conventional display screen, e.g., a distance between the touch display panel and an edge of TFT glass is about 5.5 mm. Due to the use of aforementioned wiring mode, a bezel width can be increased to about 6.8 mm, even if a line-thinning technology is adopted. As illustrated in FIG. 1, data connection lines 4 and touch connection lines 2 are arranged between the touch display panel 1 and the control unit 3; and it can be known from FIG. 1 that, more connection lines may further enlarge a distance between the touch display panel 1 and the control unit 3, i.e., it is necessary for the bezel to be configured to correspond to a larger bezel width, which fails to meet mainstream requirement of market and thus has no competitiveness.

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A surface acoustic wave device which can operate at a higher frequency range is produced by irradiation with a focused ion beam to produce a narrower electrode width and narrower spacing width between neighboring electrodes in contact with a piezoelectric body, without degrading the reliability of the device. The surface acoustic wave device includes a piezoelectric body 3 and interdigital electrodes 2a and 2b in close contact with the piezoelectric body 3 and formed by using the focused ion beam. In order to increase the frequency of the device, the piezoelectric body 3 may be formed on a substrate 1, for example of diamond.

A surface acoustic wave device, which is an electromechanical transducer device utilizing surface waves propagated on the surface of an elastic body, has a general structure shown in FIG. 1, for example. In such a surface acoustic wave device 30, a piezoelectric phenomenon which is caused by a piezoelectric material 31 is utilized for generating surface waves. When an electric signal is applied to one of the interdigital electrodes 32 provided on the piezoelectric body 31, strains are generated in the piezoelectric body 31, which cause surface acoustic waves propagated on the piezoelectric body 31 converting said waves into an electric signal available at the other one of the interdigital electrodes 33. The term "interdigital" as used herein means that the electrodes forming a pair have finger-like extensions that intermesh with each other as shown in FIG. 1. The frequency characteristics of a device have the bandpass characteristics with the frequency f.sub.0 at the center of the band, which frequency is determined as f.sub.0 =v/.lambda..sub.0 where .lambda..sub.0 represents the period of the electrodes of the interdigital electrodes and v represents the velocity of the surface acoustic waves.
The surface acoustic wave device can be used as a filter, a delay line, an oscillator, a resonator, a convolver, a correlator and so on. Especially, a surface acoustic wave filter has been practically used as an intermediate frequency filter in a television for a long time. Such devices are now being used as filters for VTR and various kinds of communication devices.
With respect to the above described surface acoustic wave device, a device which can be operated at a higher frequency range has been desired as a surface acoustic wave filter used in the field of mobile communication, for example. As shown by the above equation, if the period .lambda..sub.0 of the electrodes is made smaller or if the velocity v of the surface waves is made higher, the frequency characteristics of the device would have a higher center frequency f.sub.0. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 64-62911 commonly owned by the assignee of this application discloses a surface acoustic wave device in which a piezoelectric body is stacked on a diamond layer so as to increase the velocity v of the surface acoustic waves. The sound velocity in diamond is the highest compared to all materials known at present, and diamond is physically and chemically stable. Namely, diamond is a material suitable for increasing f.sub.0 of the device with a high reliability.
Interdigital electrodes have been formed by photolithography. When a photolithography technique is employed, it is difficult to make the electrode width smaller than about 0.5 .mu.m because of technical limits of photolithographic fine processing. The frequency f.sub.0 of the device can be increased by using diamond as mentioned above, and it is necessary to reduce the electrode width to make the period .lambda..sub.0 of the electrodes smaller, if a still higher frequency f.sub.0 is desired.

Method for manufacturing a surface acoustic wave device