A hydraulic tensioner for use on an internal combustion engine provided with a timing mechanism including a wrapping connecting member extended in a timing mechanism chamber defined by an end wall of a cylinder block provided with a main gallery opening into the timing mechanism chamber, and a timing mechanism covering structure, to transmit the rotation of a crankshaft to a camshaft. The hydraulic tensioner exerts pressure to the wrapping connecting member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the running direction of the wrapping connecting member. The hydraulic tensioner comprises a shoe held in direct contact with the wrapping connecting member, and a hydraulic tensioning device for biasing the shoe toward the wrapping connecting member. The hydraulic tensioning device is disposed in the timing mechanism chamber so as to cover the open end of the main gallery. The timing mechanism covering structure has a timing mechanism cover provided with a handhole formed at a position corresponding to the hydraulic tensioning device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic tensioner for a timing mechanism included in an internal combustion engine, and a timing mechanism covering structure serving as one of structural members defining a timing mechanism chamber containing a timing mechanism and a lubricating system included in an internal combustion engine. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hydraulic tensioner for a timing mechanism included in an internal combustion engine, having a reduced number of parts, having improved response characteristic and capable of being readily manufactured, and to a timing mechanism covering structure for an internal combustion engine, capable of facilitating maintenance work for the maintenance of a tensioner, of holding the component members of accessories and of preventing support shafts from falling off.
2. Description of the Related Art
As stated in JP-A No. 5-99288, in a conventional internal combustion engine, an open end of the main gallery of the lubricating system of an internal combustion engine on the side of a timing mechanism chamber containing a timing mechanism is stopped with a plug. A tensioning unit included in a hydraulic tensioner for exerting pressure to a timing chain included in a timing mechanism for transmitting the rotation of a crankshaft to a camshaft in a direction substantially perpendicular to the running direction of the timing chain is disposed at a position separate from the main gallery, and working fluid is supplied from the main gallery through a separate oil supply passage to the tensioning unit. Therefore, an additional member, i.e., the plug, is necessary to stop the open end of the main gallery on the side of the timing mechanism chamber, and a wall in which the open end of the main gallery opens must be tapped by a tapping process to close the open end of the main gallery with the plug. Since the tensioning unit is disposed apart from the main gallery, the oil supply passage connecting an oil pump to the tensioning unit is long and it is difficult to raise the working pressure in the tensioning unit quickly immediately after the start of the internal combustion engine. Thus, problems resides in the response characteristic of the tensioner. Since the tensioner is unable to function satisfactorily, the timing chain of the timing mechanism slackens, vibrates and generates noise. Work for forming the long oil supply passage is difficult.
It is difficult to form a narrow bore in a cylinder block owing to the arrangement of an assembly line. Therefore, a pressure regulating constriction cannot be formed and the working fluid of a regulated pressure cannot be supplied to the tensioner.
In an internal combustion engine disclosed in JP-A No. 7-42571, a timing mechanism chamber is formed by covering the respective end walls of a cylinder block and a cylinder head with a timing mechanism cover, and a timing mechanism including a timing chain and a crankshaft sprocket is arranged in the timing mechanism chamber. An end part of the crankshaft penetrates and projects from the timing mechanism cover, and an accessory driving pulley is fixedly mounted on the end part of the crankshaft projecting from the timing mechanism cover. A handhole formed in the timing mechanism cover for the maintenance of an oil pump disposed in the timing mechanism chamber is covered with a cover. The cover is placed on the timing mechanism cover with bolt holes formed therein aligned with threaded holes formed in the timing mechanism cover, and is fastened to the timing mechanism cover with bolts. Since the bolt holes formed in a peripheral part of the cover are concealed behind a crankshaft pulley and an accessory driving belt wound around the crankshaft pulley, the accessory driving belt needs to be removed from the crankshaft pulley and then the crankshaft pulley needs to be removed from the crankshaft before removing the cover for maintenance work, which is very troublesome.
FIG. 24 is a sectional view of a front end part of a V-shape internal combustion engine 01 provided with another prior art timing mechanism cover structure disclosed in JP-A No. 7-42571. Referring to FIG. 24, a chain cover (timing mechanism cover) 03 is fastened to the front end of a cylinder block 02 included in the V-shape internal combustion engine 01 to form a timing mechanism chamber 04. Disposed in the timing mechanism chamber 04 is a timing mechanism comprising a crankshaft sprocket (drive sprocket) 06 mounted on a crankshaft 05, and a chain 07 wound around the crankshaft sprocket 06 and a camshaft sprocket (driven sprocket), not shown, mounted on a camshaft, not shown. The chain 07 extended between the crankshaft sprocket 06 and the camshaft sprocket is wound round a pump sprocket 09 mounted on the shaft of a water pump 010. The rotation of the crankshaft 05 is transmitted through the chain to the camshaft to drive the camshaft for rotation and to the shaft of the water pump 010 to drive the water pump 010.
A pump housing 011 is fastened together with a rear chain cover 012 to the cylinder block 02 with bolts 015. A handhole for maintenance work is formed in a part of the chain cover 03 facing the water pump 010 and is covered with a cover 016. Sometimes, the bolts 015 are caused to become loose by vibrations or the like. It is possible that the bolts 015 loosen greatly when the distance between the heads of the bolts 015 and the cover 016 disposed opposite to the bolts 015 is long as shown in FIG. 24. Consequently, the pump sprocket 09 becomes unsteady, the chain 07 vibrates, and a chain guide and a tensioner arm hit frequently on the chain cover 03 to generate noise. If, by any chance, the bolts 015 should come off the cylinder block 02, the water pump 010 cannot be held in place and would cause serious damage. If the bolts 015 comes off the cylinder block 02 and need to be recovered, the chain cover 03 needs to be removed, and the crankshaft pulley 017 needs to be removed from the crankshaft 05 to remove the chain cover 03, which requires very troublesome work.
If the pivot pin of a tensioner is made of a steel, an arm body is made of an aluminum alloy, and the pivot pin is fitted in a mating hole formed in the arm body in a press fit, the interference between the pivot pin and the arm body tends to decrease at a high temperature due to the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the pivot pin and the arm body, and it is possible that the pivot pin comes off the arm body.

Covering structure for covering timing mechanism and timing mechanism chamber structure inside cover comprised in covering structure for internal combustion engine


A method and device for the cryogenic separation of a methane-rich flow is provided.

In order to purify a methane-rich flow coming from an organic source, so as to produce a purified product, it is necessary to remove impurities such as carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen. Ideally, the product contains less than 2% carbon dioxide and less than 2% for the total content of oxygen and nitrogen.
All composition percentages in this document are molar percentages.

Method and device for the cryogenic separation of a methane-rich flow

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A wide angle lens includes in sequence from an object side to an image side: a first lens having a negative refractive power and a concave image-side surface; a second lens having a positive refractive power; a third lens having a positive refractive power, a convex object-side surface and convex image-side surface; a fourth lens having a negative refractive power; a fifth lens having a positive refractive power and a convex an image-side surface; and a sixth lens having a negative refractive power and an image-side surface that is concave in a paraxial region. The wide angle lens satisfies a conditional expression: 1.0≤f2/f≤2.0, 0.5≤f1/f4≤1.5, in which, f1 denotes an effective focal length of the first lens, f2 denotes an effective focal length of the second lens, f4 denotes an effective focal length of the fourth lens, and f denotes an effective focal length of the wide angle lens.

Generally, a photosensitive element in an optical imaging system includes a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imaging sensor. With the development of semiconductor process technology, a pixel size of the photosensitive element is smaller and smaller, and correspondingly a camera lens is also required to have a small dimension and a high imaging quality.
Meanwhile, with the increasingly wide application field of the camera lens, a coverage is required to be wider and wider. Thus, to satisfy the requirements for a large field angle, it is generally to increase the amount of lens, for example, U.S. Publication No. US20140247507 provides an imaging camera lens having six lenses to achieve the large field angle, but the camera lens cannot satisfy the requirements for miniaturization and light weight of the lens. In addition, to give consideration to the imaging quality, the field angle is limited to be further increased, and can't reach above 90 degrees.


In one embodiment, the internal path traversed by packets between two user visible interface, selected by a user, is displayed. The path displayed includes internal interfaces traversed by the packets. First and second count values showing the packets traversing each displayed internal interface at the beginning and end of a selected time period are also displayed. A delta, being the difference between the first and second count values for each internal interface indicates the number of packets traversing the interface during the time period and can be analyzed to determine the identity of a packet processing hardware logic block where packets might be getting dropped.

Routers and switches (network devices) forward packets from an ingress interface to an egress interface. Inside the network device a packet passes through several packet forwarding hardware blocks such as, for example, a packet processing engine, a forwarding engine etc. where each block has input/output interfaces and the blocks are connected via their interfaces. Generally different network devices include different sets packet processing hardware blocks. The operating system of a particular network device includes tools accessible by the command line interface (CLI) to access counters that keep track of the number of packets received and transmitted at each interface of the packet processing hardware blocks.
If it is discovered that the some ingress packets does not egress at the expected interface, then it may be necessary to perform a debugging procedure on the network device. The result of the debugging procedure typically is to identify the exact point or exact block, in as much detail as possible, where the packets might be getting dropped.
A technician having detailed knowledge of the internal architecture and operation of the network device, the internal hardware logic blocks, the connections among internal interfaces, and path expected to be taken by a given packet may use one or more of the hidden CLI to investigate where the packets might be getting dropped. However, in general, users do not have such detailed familiarity and accessibility of the devices being used at their facility, and such debugging based on intimate knowledge of the device inner working is not possible.

Runtime flow debugging a network device by examining packet counters at internal points


Methods and devices of authentication via user behavior for use in a mobile device. The method may include initiating an authentication via user behavior for an application transaction process and suspending the application transaction process before the authentication is successful; acquiring the latest radio frame from a beacon and determining a distance parameter based on the radio frame after the authentication is initialized; determining whether a specified distance condition is satisfied for the beacon and the mobile device; and in response to a determination that the specified distance condition is satisfied for the beacon and the mobile device, determining that the authentication is successful and resuming the application transaction process that was suspended previously. The present disclosure can efficiently perform user authentication via behavior, quickly achieve execution of the transaction process, and avoid an excessive manual operation, thus being applicable in a variety of offline interactive processes.

With the popularity of smartphones, tablet computers, and other portable devices, smart portable terminals have been deeply rooted in people's lives. People desire for more convenient work or life environments using mobile terminals, and particularly via a combination of online and offline technologies. During interactive processes, authentication via user behavior may be used to ensure the safety of the processes. On the other hand, people want the processes to become more convenient. Thus, developers are looking for more flexible and safer authentication solutions using user behavior for better user experience.

Method and device for authentication via user behavior in mobile scenarios


The present invention provides an optical interconnection device whereby arrays of fibers or waveguides arranged in a given orientation at an input side are rearranged in a three-dimensional rearrangement area within the device and exit at an output side arranged in a different orientation from the input side. Distinct arrays are created at the output side via manual or automated placement based on a roadmap.

This invention is related to fiber optic communications and more particularly to an optical fiber interconnection device and method for rearranging arrays of optical fibers between an input side and an output side.
The use of fiber optics for high speed communications is finding increased use within large microprocessors and multiple microprocessor systems. For example, in optical switches more and more channels are needed for transmission of data. In back planes, more optical interconnections are required as more daughter cards are added for increasing the number of channels. Cross connects may also be utilized within back planes for communicating between groups of daughter cards or microprocessors. These applications typically require that each daughter card or microprocessor be in communication with each of the other daughter cards or microprocessors in the system. These communications are achieved by connecting optical fibers in a point to point fashion between each daughter card or microprocessor and the other daughter cards or microprocessors in the system. It can therefore be appreciated that as the number of channels required is increased, the number of daughter cards or microprocessors that must communicate with each other is also increased. This creates a problem in that point to point wiring for large numbers of channels is labor intensive, costly, time consuming, and susceptible to connection errors. Additionally, because optical fibers are subject to environmental limitations such as bend radius, fiber management systems are often employed for such large systems of interconnections. Fiber management becomes a challenging problem as a number of channels and the number of point to point connections are increased resulting in higher fiber counts in the backplane.
In one known prior art system of backplane fiber optic interconnections, a single optic fiber is arranged in a desired pattern on a two-dimensional adhesive coated substrate in a controlled manner. The optic fiber is arranged to maintain a minimum bend radius in a two dimensional plane of 25 mm, which is a typical minimum to prevent damage to the fibers. After testing the single optic fiber, the substrate and optic fiber are cut at one or more locations to form an optical backplane interconnect with a desired routing pattern. However, all of the optic fibers are bonded in position requiring additional optical fiber ribbons to make the backplane connections to the printed circuit boards, creating additional optic interfaces which are subject to additional signal losses.
The present invention addresses these problems by providing an optical interconnection device whereby arrays of fibers arranged in a given orientation at an input are rearranged within the device and exit at an output arranged in a different orientation from the input. A method of accomplishing the rearrangement is to first provide a plurality of fiber arrays each containing a plurality of individual fibers. This arrangement is then fixed at an output side utilizing a suitable method such as an adhesive to form a bundle. The bundle of fibers at the output is then separated, either through an automated or manual process, in a different orientation, for example in a direction orthogonal to each fiber array at the input. Distinct ribbons or arrays are created at the output by the separating operation.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of creating an optical fiber interconnection in which arrays of optical fibers are provided. The matrix holding each of the arrays of optical fibers together is partially stripped or leached away at one end of the array. The stripped optical fibers are then rearranged in three-dimensional space into separate output arrays using a manual or automated process based on a desired optic fiber roadmap and bonded or adhered together to form the output arrays of the optical fiber rearrangement device.

Optical fiber rearrangement method and device


The present invention discloses a voice resource saving method, including: an MME sends a notification message to an eNodeB, which is used to instruct the eNodeB not to hand over, for a non-voice service, a UE from a LTE network to a CS domain of a 2G or a 3G network. Or, when an MSC determines that the circuit domain service is a non-voice service, the MSC sends a bearer release message to a base station to instruct the base station to release the voice resource. According to the the present invention, during implementation of a non-voice service, a handover of UE from an LTE network to a CS domain of a 2G or 3G network may not be triggered, or a voice resource reserved in the CS domain of the 2G or 3G network is released.

Full coverage of a second generation (2G) or a third generation (3G) network such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) is basically implemented.
With development of Long Term Evolution (LTE) network technologies, these LTE networks already cover some urban areas and traffic hotspot areas. In this way, in current communications networks, an LTE network and a 2G or 3G network coexist.
During a call, user equipment (UE) may enter a 2G or 3G network from an LTE network. Because the LTE network and the 2G or 3G network have different bearer mechanisms, the user equipment needs to be handed over from a packet switched (PS) domain to a circuit switched (CS) domain. Therefore, a voice call may be interrupted, affecting continuity of the voice call of a user.
A circuit switched fallback (CSFB) refers to that when user equipment (UE) in coverage of LTE processes a voice service, the UE first falls back to a network having a CS domain and processes the voice service in the network having a CS domain. In this way, an objective of reusing an existing CS domain device to provide a conventional voice service to a user in an LTE network is achieved. In the prior art, the UE needs to be handed over from the LTE network to a PS domain of the 2G or 3G network or be redirected from the LTE network to the 2G or 3G network, and then initiate, in the 2G or 3G network, a connection to a CS domain.
In the prior art, a CSFB process includes a CSFB for a voice service and a CSFB for a non-voice service. However, in the prior art, voice resource waste is caused during implementation of a CSFB service for a non-voice service.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Voice resource saving method, device, and system


A threaded cap for sealing an automotive vehicle fuel tank is provided with a unitary molded central plastic core and a bonnet rotatably mounted on the plastic core. A pair of concentric races are defined on the plastic core. The inner race carries a unitary molded plastic frame which has a pair of resilient, closely spaced transverse cantilevered arms defining a gap therebetween. The frame is also provided with a resilient catch. A unitary molded plastic bolt is reciprocally movable along the gap to engage and disengage the core for rotation with the bonnet. The bolt has two detents which coact with the catch on the frame to hold the bolt at selected unlocking and locking dispositions of movement. The bolt includes a stud which projects into the gap between the arms so that the arms spring bias the bolt toward the locking disposition. A lock mechanism is used to shift the bolt to an unlocking disposition so that the fuel cap be disengaged from the fuel tank inlet pipe. Counter-rotation of the bonnet returns the bolt to a locking position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to locking fuel tank caps.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been many locking fuel tank caps devised with a variety of interactive mechanisms for locking and unlocking the cap on a fuel tank inlet. However, all such devices have involved the use of inordinately complex movements and mechanisms. Such conventional devices involve a considerable number of moving parts, thereby creating a great liklihood of malfunction. In addition, conventional locking gas caps typically employ metal parts in the engaging and disengaging movements which are actuated by a lock mechanism and by manipulation of the fuel tank cap itself. Such metal parts wear inordinately against the plastic components of locking fuel tank caps, and also become corroded and deteriorate in hostile environments. Deterioration is particularly noticeable in damp climates and in salt air.


The invention relates to a high-performance, large-aperture yet wide-angle zoom lens system that can be used with an electronic image pickup device in particular, a method for focusing the same. In particular, the invention is concerned with a high-performance, large-aperture yet wide-angle zoom lens system which has a zoom ratio of the order of 3 at a diagonal field angle of 75° at its wide-angle end, so that it can be used with a single-lens reflex camera using an electronic image pickup device with the number of pixels being of the order of 6,000,000. The zoom lens system comprises a first lens group G1 having negative refracting power, a second lens group G2 having positive refracting power, a third lens group G3 having negative refracting power, a fourth lens group G4 having positive refracting power and a fifth lens group G5 having positive refracting power. Upon movement of an object point, focusing is carried out with the fifth lens group G5.

The present invention relates generally to a zoom lens, and more particularly to a zoom lens system that lends itself to a camera using a CCD or other electronic image pickup device.
In recent years, digital cameras (electronic cameras) have attracted attention as the next generation of cameras taking the place of silver halide 35 mm film (usually called Leica size) cameras. In consumer applications in particular, zoom lenses from a single-focus lens having a diagonal field angle of about 60° to a wide-angle zoom lens having a zoom ratio of the order of 3 have gone mainstream. For current higher-class zoom lenses, much is desired on their wide-angle side or telephoto side and, at the same time, higher-grade cameras of the single-lens reflex type are in demand. As a matter of course, higher image quality, too, is needed. Zoom lenses suitable for use on single-lens reflex cameras having a diagonal field angle of the order of 75°, for instance, are disclosed in JP-A's 4-163415 and 5-27175.
These publications disclose a zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side thereof, a first lens group having negative refracting power, a second lens group having positive refracting power, a third lens group having negative refracting power and a fourth lens group having positive refracting power, wherein for zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end of the zoom lens system, the respective lens groups move in such a way that the space between the first lens group and the second lens group, and the space between the third lens group and the fourth lens group becomes narrow while the space between the second lens group and the third lens group, and the space between the fourth lens group and an image-formation plane becomes wide. This zoom lens system has a reduced F-number of the order of 2 to 2.8.
However, the number of pixels then suggested for the single-lens reflex type was at most about 1,000,000; the aforesaid publications do no give any suggestion about the achievement of a zoom lens capable of taking full advantage of the performance of an electronic image pickup device expected to have 6,000,000 or 10,000,000 pixels at some future time.
Maintaining performance possible leads to a size increase. This point, too, is the problem to be solved.
In consideration of loads on, and the layout of, a driving system and the effective diameter of the first lens group, a rear focusing mode is preferable for focusing. However, when rear focusing is carried out in the aforesaid zoom lens system wherein the first lens group has negative refracting power, the second lens group has positive refracting power, the third lens group has negative refracting power and the fourth lens group has positive refracting power, some problems arise. For instance, one problem is a fluctuation of aberrations, and another problem is that focusing becomes impossible or the amount of movement of the focusing group should be increased because of the presence of a zooming zone where the magnification of the fourth lens group is equal to or close to life-size.
JP-A 4-264412 or JP-A 9-203861 discloses a zoom lens system comprising a first lens group having negative refracting power, a second lens group having positive refracting power, a third lens group having negative refracting power, a fourth lens group having positive refracting power, and a fifth lens group having positive refracting power and designed to be fixed during zooming. The zooming action is allocated to four lens groups located on the object side of the zoom lens system. However, these publications give no particular suggestion about focusing.
JP-A 6-102455 discloses a rear focusing zoom lens system comprising a first lens group having negative refracting power, a second lens group having positive refracting power, a third lens group having negative refracting power, a fourth lens group having positive refracting power, and a fifth lens group having negative refracting power and designed to move during zooming, wherein rear focusing is carried out with the fifth lens group. The publication shows that the fifth lens group is also movable toward the image side for focusing from an infinite distance to a nearby distance. For an optical system that can be used with a CCD or other electronic image pickup device and so is required to be of substantially telecentric construction, it is not preferable that the lens group located nearest to the image side has negative power, because the whole optical system becomes thick.


A process for the preparation of an aldehyde of the formula R--CH(CH.sub.3)--CHO where R is a straight-chain alkyl group having 7 to 12 carbon atoms by reaction of an olefin of the formula R--CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 where the carbon monoxide and hydrogen is described, the process being carried out in the presence of a complex phosphine containing rhodium compound as catalyst. After the reaction has been performed the reaction product is subjected to a thermal treatment at 100.degree. to 190.degree. C., if desired after previous separation of the catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of aldehydes of the general formula R--CH(CH.sub.3)CHO by reacting olefins of the general formula R--CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 with carbon monoxide and hydrogen at an elevated temperature and elevated pressure in the presence of rhodium complex catalysts containing phosphine.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The so-called Oxo synthesis (hydroformylation) is widely used in industry for the preparation of aldehydes and alcohols. Cobalt which is active in the form of its carbonyl compounds is used above all as catalyst for the reaction of the olefin with carbon monoxide and hydrogen on a commercial scale.
More recently, rhodium complex catalysts in which biphilic ligands such as tertiary phosphines are coordinated the rhodium atom are used for the hydroformylation, especially for the hydroformylation of specific olefins. Rhodium catalysts are characterized by high selectivity for the formation of straight-chain aldehydes and permit the reaction to be carried out under a lower pressure than in conventional processes.
According to German Offenlegungsschrift (DOS-OS) No. 17 93 069, oxygen-containing products which are rich in normal aldehydes are prepared by reacting an .alpha.-olefin compound with carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of a catalystic amount of a complex catalyst which consists substantially of rhodium complexed with carbon monoxide and a ligand which contains a trivalent atom of a Group V element, said atom being substituted with three organic radicals. The ligand is characterized inter alia in that it exhibits a free electron pair and has a .DELTA.-HNP value of at least 425 and preferably at least 500. The .DELTA.-HNP value is a measure of the basicity of the ligand, high basicity corresponding to a low .DELTA.-HNP value. The reaction is carried out at 50.degree. to 145.degree. C. and a total pressure of carbon monoxide and hydrogen of less than about 31.5 atmospheres gauge.
The advantages of the oxo reaction catalyzed by rhodium complex compounds, especially the use of low pressure and high yields of straight-chain aldehydes, are offset inter alia by the requirement to use large reaction spaces and the difficulty to recover aldehydes which are methyl-branched in alpha position in satisfactory yields at high purity.
It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a process by means of which higher aldehydes which are branched in alpha-position, i.e., aldehydes having at least 10 carbon atoms can be prepared in a simple manner.


A process and apparatus for automatically applying heel covers to women's heels including a rotatable work table with jigs for holding the heels fixed around the periphery. Positioned outwardly from the periphery of the table are work stations with independently programmed operating machines which are responsive to the instructions as to heel size and style which are placed into the controller for the process. The controller operates motors and air valves which control the operation and positioning of an automatic top trimmer, a seat roller, a breast notcher, upper and lower nippers, a dowel and lift inserter and a dowel setting device. Each of these is preset depending on the style and size heel being worked on. Instructions as to new styles or types can be inserted into the controller while the machine is running.

This invention relates to a unique automated method of covering shoe heels, particular women's high heels, and to a machine for applying a cloth or leather cover to a heel.
Traditionally, heels are covered in a manual operation, often involving as many as ten to twelve people per line. There are three essential components in a heel covering process, each involving several individual steps.
As a preliminary to the whole operation, the cover, usually of cloth or leather, and the heel, generally plastic, are both covered with contact cement and allowed to dry.
A typical manual operation for covering heels is as follows:

Automatic heel covering machine and process


A pulsed circuit topology to perform a memory array write operation. A write enable pulse width control circuit is responsive to a pulsed clock signal to generate a pulsed write enable signal and a write data path circuit is provided to output a write data signal. The write enable pulse width control circuit and the write data path circuit together control a write operation to a memory cell.

This application is related to copending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/608,857, entitled, xe2x80x9cPulsed Circuit Topology Including a Pulsed, Domino, Flip-Flop,xe2x80x9d Ser. No. 09/608,389, entitled, xe2x80x9cA Global Clock Self-Timed Circuit with Self-Terminating Precharge for High Frequency Applications,xe2x80x9d and Ser. No. 09/608,638, entitled, xe2x80x9cReset First Latching Mechanism for Pulsed Circuit Topologies,xe2x80x9d each of which is concurrently filed herewith.
1. Field
An embodiment of the present invention relates to the field of high frequency integrated circuits and, more particularly, to high frequency integrated circuits used to perform memory array write operations.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Advances in semiconductor manufacturing technologies have enabled circuit designers to continue to integrate more transistors on a single die. At the same time, computer architecture, and more specifically, processor architecture, continues to focus on shorter and shorter cycle times.
As clock speeds continue to increase (and thus, cycle times continue to decrease) and/or where certain parts of a chip operate at a higher frequency, limitations of conventional logic circuits may prevent such circuits from operating properly at the higher clock speeds. Further, many conventional logic circuits operate using a two-phase clock. For very high operating frequencies, it may not be feasible to generate and distribute a two-phase clock due to noise, clock jitter and/or other issues.
Where a pulsed clock is used instead of a conventional two-phase clock, the logic may be more susceptible to functional errors due to race conditions making such circuits more difficult for design engineers to work with.

Pulsed circuit topology to perform a memory array write operation


An ultrasonic transducer comprising a piezoelectric element, an acoustic matching layer arranged on a surface of the piezoelectric element and having a thickness of at least one-quarter of a wavelength of a center resonant frequency of the transducer, and a front metal layer arranged on a surface of the acoustic matching layer opposite that of the piezoelectric element and having a thickness equal to one-half of the wavelength of the center resonant frequency.

Ultrasonic transducers, particularly those used in industrial applications, typically have to meet certain minimum safety requirements and standards. Such requirements include protection from flying particles and inadvertent or accidental impacts, resistance to corrosion from liquids to be contacted, chemical inertness so as not to contaminate the liquid to be measured, a wide range of tolerance to static or dynamic pressure variations, and/or a wide range of operational or storage temperatures.
Current solutions for protecting ultrasonic transducers include the addition of a protective layer, such as a metallic protective layer, attached generally to the front of a piezoelectric element of the transducer. In these structures, acoustic wave reflections arise at two locations. A first reflection occurs generally at a boundary between the protection layer and a bonding layer. A second reflection also occurs at a boundary between the protection layer and radiation medium. The two distinct locations of these reflections result in a sharp resonant peak, reduced sensitivity and ringing of the received signal.
Moreover, ultrasonic transducers often utilize various forms of acoustic impedance matching solutions or acoustic impedance converters. These may include single or multiple layer structures of polymer and/or metal materials. In particular, acoustic impedance converters may utilize one or more one-quarter (¼, or "quarter") wavelength thick layers for providing a desired acoustic impedance conversion. Moreover, acoustic impedance converters may utilize relatively thin metal and polymer layers on the order of, for example, one-thirty seventh ( 1/37) and one-sixteenth ( 1/16) of a wavelength in thickness, respectively, for achieving acoustic impedance conversion. These converters lack suitability as protective structures due to the minimal thickness of their metal layers. Moreover, as their metal and polymer layers are configured (e.g. sized) to function cohesively as an impedance converter having targeted characteristics, altering the thickness of the metallic layers for improving protection would lead to degraded intended performance.
Improved structures offering suitable protection, chemical inertness and resistance to thermal degradation and/or fatigue, as well as improved sensitivity and wideband operation of the transducer are desired.

Impedance matching layer for ultrasonic transducers with metallic protection structure


A process for use in the final stages of purification of sewage water in which the effluent is placed under pressure by a pump and forced through a filter. Part of the effluent is sampled and chlorinated by a chlorine gas injector and then reintroduced into the lager body of effluent. The entire mixture is held within a detention chamber in order to allow the chlorine to dissipate, and then pumped out into a natural stream through a pipe in which air bubbles are injected in order to replenish the oxygen level.

The invention as described herein is a process for treating sewage at its final stage of treatment. Unlike conventional methods, the process described is a pressurized system in which chlorine can be introduced into the system in a gaseous form and in which the discharge of the system is filtered. This improves both bacteriological and solid discharge levels.

Chlorinator-filter process for sewage treatment


The laser anemometry probe (LAP) system with continuous coherent detection, with single-particle mode, comprises means (AN) for analyzing the measurement signals of the said probe (LAP) and means (MES_T) for measuring the temperature (T).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser anemometry probe system employing continuous coherent detection, with single-particle mode, capable of detecting icing conditions and optionally of determining the severity of icing, an aircraft equipped with such a system, and an associated method.
The present invention relates to a laser anemometry probe system employing continuous coherent detection, with single-particle mode, capable of detecting icing conditions and optionally of determining the severity of icing, an aircraft equipped with such a system, and an associated method.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known, particularly in the aeronautical field, that certain drops of supercooled water can lead to icing and present a danger to the aeroplane which is not certified under these conditions.
It is well known, particularly in the aeronautical field, that certain drops of supercooled water can lead to icing and present a danger to the aeroplane which is not certified under these conditions.
Protection against icing has given rise to the realization of preventive or corrective devices. Icing conditions occur when the atmosphere in which the aircraft is flying contains supercooled droplets (liquid water at a temperature below the freezing point temperature). The phenomenon of icing can appear on the unprotected protuberant parts of aircraft.
Detection of the icing conditions induced by the presence of supercooled water can aid the pilot in respect of the decision to trigger the de-icing of the aeroplane.
The installation of an icing severity detector, such as vibrating rods, leads to the installation of a further item of equipment, this requiring a hole in the aeroplane skin, extra cost, and additional fuel consumption.
Moreover, the icing severity detector begins to indicate information after the start of icing, which may turn out to be too late, notably if there are points on the aircraft under more severe conditions that those at the detector.
The use of a LiDAR system is known, based on the analysis of the depolarization of the optical signal backscattered by a frozen water particle.

Laser anemometry probe system and method employing continuous coherent detection, with single-particle mode, capable of detecting ice-forming conditions and of determining the severity of icing

Abstract: The system comprises, furthermore, means (DET_CG) for determining icing conditions when means (DET_GEL) for detecting the presence of a liquid water drop detect the presence of a liquid water drop, and when the said temperature (T) is below the said third threshold (S3).


A system and method for determining a preferred motion vector is provided, which may be used to estimate motion in a series of video image frames. The system may include a video encoder having a motion vector selector. The motion vector selector may include a first generator to generate a cost associated with motion vectors in a first direction, a selector to set a cross over point corresponding to a lowest cost motion vector in the first direction, a direction indicator to sample a set of motion vectors about the cross over point to select a preferred direction, and a second generator to generate a cost associated with the motion vectors in the preferred direction. The method may include determining a final motion vector having the lowest cost within a search window.

Motion estimation is fundamental to a variety of video compression technologies. For example, video technologies such as moving picture expert group (MPEG) MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4H.264/MPEG-4 advanced video coding (AVC) (hereinafter referred to as H.264, the standard of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein) achieve compression through motion estimation and other techniques. A video sequence includes a series of image frames. In the series of frames, a current frame may be predicted from previously encoded frames known as reference frames. This is sometimes referred to as inter frame prediction.
Patterns corresponding to objects and background tend to "move" within the video frames to form corresponding objects or background from one video frame to the next. An object in the current frame may generally correspond to the same object in the reference frame, but may be in a different location. A video frame is usually divided into blocks or macroblocks. The size of the macroblock is typically 16×16 pixels, but can be any size, for example, down to 4×4 for motion estimation, according to the various standards. Each macroblock (or smaller block within each macroblock) in the current frame is compared to regions of the same size, which can also be referred to as macroblocks, in the reference frame to locate the best matching macroblock. In other words, video encoders use motion estimation to search the previously encoded frames to find the area that best matches the currently being coded macroblock of the current frame.
The matching of one macroblock with another is based on the output of a cost function. The macroblock that results in the least cost is the one that matches the closest to the current macroblock. Some examples of cost functions include a sum of absolute differences (SAD), a mean squared error (MSE), and a sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD), among others. To minimize computational costs, motion estimation may be performed in a predefined search window within a frame. However, larger motions within the video require larger search windows, and hence, lead to higher computational costs.
Motion estimation is an important function of any hybrid video encoder, and can affect many aspects of the encoder from cost, size, computation intensiveness, to compression ratios, etc. The H.264 standard allows video encoders to search a multiple number of previous frames using a search window size of +/−512 quarter pixels, for example, in each direction for high definition (HD) video sequences. This amounts to more than one million search locations per reference frame. Typically, video encoders perform motion estimation on full pixels first and then refine the best motion vector by searching the neighboring half or quarter pixels. This reduces the number of search locations to about 65,000. Even with only 65,000 search locations to evaluate, it is difficult and computationally expensive to implement the motion estimation.
During an exhaustive or full search, the cost function may be applied to the macroblock for each possible search location within the search window, and a motion vector may be associated with each cost and search location. Motion vectors representing the displacement of best matching macroblocks in the reference frame with respect to the corresponding macroblocks in the current frame may be determined. The motion vectors are used to compress video sequences by encoding the changes to an image from one frame to the next rather than encoding the image or frame. The encoders can use the motion vectors to identify the selected region in one of the previous frames and the error between the selected region and the actual macroblock in the current frame.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing video frame(s) 100 (i.e., video frames 1 and 2) including a search window 105 and macroblocks 110/115 according to a conventional motion estimation approach. A current macroblock 110 in a current video frame 2 is compared to a reference macroblock 115 in a reference video frame 1. After searching within the search window 105 for each possible location for the best matching macroblock 115 in the reference frame, a displacement between macroblocks 110 and the best matching macroblock 115 may be determined, which is represented by a motion vector 120. This determination can be made by exhaustively comparing the cost function of each possible motion vector associated with each of the search locations in the search window. Consequently, the current macroblock 110 is encoded as the motion vector 120 in view of the best matching macroblock 115 in the reference frame after comparing the results of the cost functions. The motion vector 120 includes a horizontal (Δx) component and a vertical component (Δy). The position of the current macroblock 110 has in essence shifted from the position of the reference macroblock 115. Performing a full search of the search window 105 is very computationally expensive, either in resources or time or both.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional approach to searching within search window 105 that is an alternative to the full search. A number of positions (search locations) around a center 200 are tested and the position of minimum distortion, or in other words, having the least cost, becomes the center of the next stage. For example, eight search locations around the center 200, and the center position 200 itself, are initially tested, indicated by the circled numbers 1. The search location yielding the lowest cost of the eight initial search locations is selected as the next center 205. Next, eight new locations around the new center 205, and the new center 205 itself, are tested, indicated by the circled numbers 2. The area covered by the second set of search locations is less than the first set because each new set is a refinement of the previous search. The search location yielding the lowest cost is selected as the next center 210. The method can continue until the search converges on a single search location. Such a search is often referred to as a "square" search or a "three step search" as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Publication 2005/0207494. A variation on this type of search includes a "diamond" search, as described for example in U.S. Pat. Publication 2006/0203912.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing another conventional approach to searching within search window 105. The search begins from a center location 300 in the search window 105 and expands in a spiral pattern. The expansion can increment gradually, thereby providing an exhaustive search of the search locations in search window 105. Alternatively, the spiral search can have increasing distances from the center location 300. Such a search is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,166 to Shou-jen.
A full or exhaustive search of all possible search locations, although accurate in finding the best locations of the macroblocks and providing good video quality, is nevertheless time-consuming and computationally expensive. Other conventional searches such as the square or spiral search discussed above may require fewer searches than a full search, because a partial search is performed as opposed to a full search. But the resulting video quality associated with these searches is degraded. Further, video sequences having larger motions require larger search windows; and the larger the search window, the more expensive the process of motion estimation becomes. Embodiments of the invention address these and other limitations in the prior art.

Directional cross hair search system and method for determining a preferred motion vector


A memory device is a provided that includes memory cells situated at the intersection of lines and columns, and a dummy path including a first dummy column having two bit lines to which there are connected dummy memory cells, and a circuit adapted to select at least one of the dummy memory cells to discharge one of the dummy bit lines. The dummy path also includes at least one second dummy column adapted to generate a dummy leakage current (representing a leakage current of a column of the memory device selected in read mode), and a circuit adapted to copy the dummy leakage current to the one dummy bit line, so that the discharge of the one dummy bit line also depends on the dummy leakage current.

FIG. 1 illustrates a memory plane MEM of the SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) type. The memory plane MEM conventionally includes word lines WLi and columns COLj, which each include two bit lines BLT and BLF.
The memory cells of such a memory plane, illustrated in detail in FIG. 2, are connected differentially between two bit lines BLT and BLF of each column of the memory plane and can be activated by a word line WLi. Moreover, read amplifiers SA are disposed at the foot of the columns of the memory plane and are conventionally activated by an activation signal delivered by a control circuit MC.
A memory cell of the memory plane is shown in FIG. 2. The memory cell has a first inverter gate IA and a second inverter gate IB connected in opposite orientations between a first node A and a second node B. A first access transistor TA is provided, with its drain connected to the node A, its gate connected to a word line WL of the memory plane, and its source connected to a first bit line BLT. A second access transistor TB is also provided, with its drain connected to the node B, its gate connected to the word line WL, and its source connected to the second bit line BLF of the column of the memory cell.
FIG. 3 depicts N+1 of such memory cells P0-PN, associated so as to form a column of the SRAM memory, at the foot of which a differential read amplifier SA is provided. All the memory cells P0-PN are connected to the same bit lines BLT and BLF. On the other hand, each memory cell is connected to a different word line WL0-WLN. The amplifier SA has two differential inputs connected respectively to the first bit line BLT and the second bit line BLF.
To program a memory cell in the column of memory cells, a potential Vdd is applied to the word line WL associated with the cell to be programmed and, according to the data item 0 or 1 to be programmed in the cell selected, a zero potential (connection to ground) or the potential Vdd is applied to the first bit line BLT, and a potential that is the inverse of the potential applied to the first bit line BLT is applied to the second bit line BLF. For example, in order to program a logic 0 in the memory cell P0, Vdd is applied to the word line WL0, as well as to the second bit line BLF, and the first bit line BLT is connected to ground. Thus, after the programming of a 0, the node A0 is at zero potential and the node B0 is at the potential Vdd.
During an operation for reading this memory cell P0, the two lines BLT and BLF are first precharged to the supply potential Vdd, and the corresponding word line WL0 is subjected to the potential Vdd (WL0=logic 1) in order to select the memory cell P0 in read mode (with the other word lines being connected to ground: WL1-WLN=logic 0). Then the two bit lines BLT and BLF are made to float. With the word line WL0 at the high potential Vdd, the access transistors TA0 and TB0 of the cell are on. In addition, according to this example, as the node A0 of the cell P0 is at 0 and the first line BLT is at the potential Vdd, the two sides of the channel of the transistor TAO are at different potentials so a current Iread flows through this channel. This current Iread will discharge the first bit line BLT and thus progressively return its potential to 0. On the other hand, as the node B0 of the memory cell and the second bit line BLF are at the same potential Vdd, the two sides of the channel of the transistor TB0 are at the same potential and no current flows in this channel. The second bit line BLF is therefore assumed to remain at its high precharge state (that is, at the potential Vdd).
After a certain length of time, the amplifier SA detects a difference in potential between the bit lines BLT and BLF, which, when it is greater than the input offset voltage of the amplifier, produces at the output of the amplifier a data signal corresponding to the data item stored in the selected memory cell.
Reading is thus possible only if a difference in potential of sufficient amplitude (greater than the offset voltage of the amplifier) appears between the bit lines BLT and BLF.
So that the amplifier can correctly detect the difference in potential expected between the two bit lines BLT and BLF and thus obtain the correct read value, it is therefore essential for the amplifier to be activated at the correct time, that is when the difference in potential between the two bit lines, the one discharging and the one assumed to remain at its high precharged state, is greater than the offset voltage of the amplifier.
However, a phenomenon of leakage currents inherent in the access transistors of the memory cells in the column complicates the control of the activation of the read amplifier. More precisely, because of stray leakage currents in the memory cells of the column being read, the second bit line BLF that is assumed to remain at its high precharged state is in reality also drawn toward ground.
This is because, even when correctly blocked by an appropriate potential applied to its gate, a transistor has leak current when a difference in potential appears between its drain and source. In the example in FIG. 3, with the memory cell P0 storing a logic 0, it is assumed that the other memory cells P1-PN store the inverse data item, namely a logic 1. The nodes A1-AN are thus at 1 and the nodes B1-BN are at 0. With the memory cell P0 being selected in read mode (WL0=1), although the access transistors TB1-TBN are off (WL1-WLN=0), leakage currents Ioff are nevertheless established between the drain and the source of the transistors TB1-TBN, related to the difference in potential between the second bit line BLF precharged to the high state and the nodes B1-BN at 0. These leakage currents Ioff will together progressively discharge the potential of the bit line BLF, which was assumed to remain at its high precharged state and, consequently, reduce the signal applied to the input of the read amplifier.
Normally, the memory is equipped with a reference path ("dummy path") CHdum (FIG. 1) that is intended to automatically adjust the time of delivery by the control circuit MC of the activation signal that activates the read amplifiers disposed at the foot of the columns of the memory plane.
This dummy path includes a dummy column, formed by two dummy bit lines DBLT and DBLF. Dummy memory cells CELDi are connected to this dummy column, and at least one of them CELD1 is activated by a dummy word line DWL.
The dummy memory cell CELD1 activated by the dummy word line DWL is programmed so as to discharge (to draw toward ground) one of the dummy bit lines, with the other having the leakage current pass through it. The dummy bit line that is intended to be discharged when the dummy cell CELD1 is activated is then used, in a known manner, to generate the activation signal Act for activating the read amplifiers of the memory plane through the control circuit MC. For example, the dummy bit line intended to be discharged when the dummy cell is activated is connected to the input of an inverter gate provided within the control circuit MC to deliver the activation signal Act.
In practice, several dummy memory cells CELD1-CELDn are in fact activated by the word line DWL so as to produce a discharge of the dummy bit line that is more rapid than the discharge of a standard bit line BLT of a column in the memory plane.
Moreover, in order to compensate for the effects of the leakage currents mentioned above and to obtain a memory that functions in a high temperature range in particular, a delay circuit is generally inserted in the dummy path, in order to delay the delivery of the activation signal for activating the read amplifiers so as to obtain a correct functioning of the memory in a worst case situation (for example, when there is a high temperature for which the leakage currents are high).
However, such a solution, though it leads to acceptable performance in the worst case situation, degrades the performance of the memory in the intermediate and normal operating situations.
Another solution is to actually take into account the leakage current of the bit line that is not supposed to discharge in the activation of the read amplifiers, at each column of the memory plane. Such a solution consists of, during an operation for reading a memory cell, first evaluating the leakage current of each of the bit lines in order to then be able to re-inject this leakage current of each of the two bit lines into the other, so that the effect of the leakage currents in each of the two bit lines thus compensate for each other mutually.
This solution is however expensive, in particular in terms of size occupied by the memory, because it involves providing specific circuitry at each of the columns of the memory plane, both to evaluate the leakage currents and to re-inject these leakage currents into the bit lines during the reading operation.
In addition, the phase of evaluating the leakage current on the bit line that is not supposed to discharge, having to be implemented prior to any read phase itself, is detrimental in terms of the operating speed of the memory.

Memory device that takes leakage currents into account in activating the read amplifiers


The present invention relates to a process for preparing trehalulose and isomaltulose wherein at least the trehalulose-forming enzyme system of a trehalulose-forming microorganism is contacted with a sucrose solution to convert it into trehalulose and isomaltulose in the weight ratio of at least 4:1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing trehalulose and isomaltulose. More specifically, the invention relates to the process for preparing a high trehalulose syrup which comprises converting sucrose into trehalulose and isomaltulose using a sugar-conversion enzyme produced by novel microorganisms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Isomaltulose and trehalulose are found in honey, are taste sweet and are chemically classified as hetero-disaccharides, which are composed of glucose and fructose. These components are linked with an .alpha.-1,6-glucosidic linkage in isomaltulose, and with an .alpha.-1,1-glucosidic linkage in trehalulose.
It has been well known that isomaltulose is odontologically non-cariogenic. Recently trehalulose was also demonstrated to have non-caries inducing properties in in vitro and in vivo experiments. These facts promoted a wide use of trehalulose and isomaltulose-containing syrup called "Isomaltulose Syrup".
Trehalulose and isomaltulose are usually formed simultaneously from sucrose through glucosidic transfer catalyzed by .alpha.-glucosyltransferase found in some specific microorganisms, for example Protaminobacter rubrum, Serratia spp. and Erwinia spp. German Patent No. 1049800, published in 1959, firstly described a microbiological process for producing crystalline isomaltulose from sucrose using some specific microorganisms represented by Protaminobacter rubrum. Japanese Patent Kokoku No. 58-38156 discloses a continuous aerobic culture process for converting sucrose to isomaltulose using a bacterial strain selected from a group comprising Protaminobacter, Serratia, Erwinia and Leuconostoc. Japanese Patent Kokoku No. 60-9797 also describes a production method of isomaltulose using immobilized enzyme derived from a strain of Erwinia spp. Japanese Patent Kokoku No. 57-10720 discloses a process for preparing isomaltulose which comprises culturing a microorganism belonging to the genus Protaminobacter or Serratia in a sucrose solution under aerobical condition. In these conventional processes, the syrup is produced as a subsidiary product.
In these processes particularly suited to crystalline isomaltulose production, a ratio of trehalulose to isomaltulose in quantity formed from sucrose by enzymic conversion lays in the range of 1:6 to 1:10. After most of isomaltulose is crystallized and centrifuged off from the reaction mixture, the residual matter is obtained in a form of molasses containing trehalulose in a concentration substantially higher than isomaltulose.
Remaining syrup in which crystalline isomaltulose obtained by this conventional method has been recovered contains isomaltulose usually in a concentration near saturation and then isomaltulose is apt to crystallize during its storage, because of having lower solubility of isomaltulose in water. Such phenomena often may cause a lowered commercial value of the product and a difficulty of pumping transportation. In order to avoid such disadvantage, it is necessary to prepare a trehalulose syrup having a concentration of isomaltulose below the saturation point.
Furthermore, all crude isomaltulose solutions obtained in enzymic treatments of sucrose in these conventional processes usually contain considerable amounts of glucose, fructose and isomaltose in addition to larger components of isomaltulose and trehalulose. The presence of glucose and fructose, which represent about 5% of the total saccharide content, causes a considerable reduction of the production efficiency, and moreover shows a heavy color formation during processes operated at higher temperatures for recovering isomaltulose in crystalline forms from the solution. Therefore large capacity decolorization units are required in a conventional isomaltulose production factory, in particular wherein the residual matter is processed into a syrup for use in foodstuff.
Generally the residual matter obtained finally from the process of isomaltulose recovery can be processed into a food grade syrup in a series of procedures composed of decolorization, deionization, filtration and evaporation. The syrup contains all components found originally in the crude isomaltulose solution, while the main component of the syrup is not isomaltulose, but trehalulose.
It is well known that isomaltulose can be used suitably in a variety of foods, particularly in low-cariogenic foods as a sole substitute of sucrose in their conventional formulations.
However it is undesirable that the solubility of isomaltulose in water is considerably lower than that of sucrose. Thus crystalline preparations of isomaltulose has been seldom used in such foods as jams, marmalades, gelatins, youkan (a gelatin-like Japanese sweet food) and other foods which traditionally contain sucrose in a high concentration, because the deteriorative recrystallization of isomaltulose is expected to occur in these foods in storage, when they are prepared by using isomaltulose wholly or partly in place of sucrose in their conventional formulations.
Trehalulose and isomaltulose preparations, in particular high trehalulose syrups, if abundantly available, are considered to be more readily substituted for sucrose in such foods as mentioned above than crystalline isomaltulose, because of the high solubility in water and the preferable sweet taste of trehalulose. Trehalulose rich preparations, as high trehalulose syrups, are therefore required increasingly by food manufacturers, while they are still provided only in limited quantities in the conventional processes.

Process for preparing trehalulose and isomaltulose


A photovoltaic (PV) module can include a plurality of solar cells and circuitry configured to switch between a first state in which output voltage from the PV module includes voltage from the plurality of solar cells and a second state in which the output voltage includes voltage from fewer that all the plurality of solar cells.

Solar cells can be connected in series to form a photovoltaic ("PV") string. The PV string can include several solar cells and/or PV modules, with each PV module comprising solar cells mounted on the same frame. In a PV string, the positive terminal of one solar cell is electrically connected to the negative terminal of another solar cell, the positive terminal of the other solar cell is electrically connective to the negative terminal of yet another solar cell, and so on. The output voltage of a PV string depends on the number of solar cells in the string.
In a series-connected string of direct current ("DC") power sources, the voltage of each source adds to produce the voltage delivered to a load. In solar energy systems, solar modules, also referred to herein as PV modules, are typically connected in series to provide voltage to the load (e.g., an inverter, a battery system). Each PV module can include one or more cell strings coupled in series with each cell string including one or more solar cells coupled in series. Typically, each string of PV modules is connected to an inverter, or multiple strings of PV modules are coupled in parallel at a combiner box, and one or more combiner boxes lead to a central inverter. In some instances, a system may have a maximum voltage limit, for example, due to hardware (e.g., inverter) limitations, safety, and/or reliability reasons. Accordingly, the number of PV modules and/or cell strings that can be connected in series can be limited by that maximum voltage.
The maximum voltage produced by a series of solar cells can occur when the system is producing no current and each solar cell operates at its open-circuit voltage (VOC). This condition can occur due to an inverter shutdown, system damage, or during transient measurements taken by the inverter to understand system performance, among other reasons. Systems must be designed to accommodate the maximum voltage condition even though it often does not occur. Additionally, the maximum voltage produced by solar cells increases at low temperatures, leading to an additional derate factor that limits the number of series-connected solar cells. As a result, systems must be designed with a voltage buffer to accommodate VOC. Inefficiencies resulting from the overdesign include fewer modules per string of modules, oversized wiring, among other inefficiencies, which lead to a higher balance of system (BOS) cost.
Moreover, in some instances, one or more of the cells in a string can underperform due to soiling, shading, defects, and/or damage, which can limit the performance of a cell string and/or module. If the current of the cell is reduced enough, the cell can operate in reverse bias and may even reach reverse breakdown. A cell in reverse bias can cause hot spots, which can severely damage the PV module.


A loading station (100, 200) for translocating a frozen sample for electron microscopy, encompassing a chamber (104, 204), open toward the top, that is fillable at least partly with a coolant, the chamber (104, 204) comprising in its side wall at least two ports (101a, 102a, 103a) each for different sample transfer devices (101, 102, 103), the ports (101a, 102a, 103a) permitting introduction of a frozen sample into the chamber (104, 204) via a selected sample transfer device and withdrawal of a frozen sample from the chamber via a respective different sample transfer device; and wherein a receptacle (108, 208) for at least two differently configured sample holders (109, 110) is arranged in the chamber (104, 204), the at least two sample holders (109, 110) being detachably fastenable to at least one of the sample transfer devices (101) for introduction of the frozen sample into the chamber (104, 204) and for withdrawal of the frozen sample from the chamber (104, 204).

Cryofixation is a sample preparation method often used in electron microscopy. In this, a water-containing sample is frozen very rapidly to a temperature below −150° C. (cryofixed), i.e. it is cooled very quickly while avoiding the formation of ice crystals. Cryofixation has proven to be particularly suitable for investigations of structural biology. The specimens to be investigated, for example cells, enzymes, viruses, or lipid layers, are thereby embedded in a thin, vitrified layer of ice. The great advantage of cryofixation is that the biological structures can be maintained in their natural state. For example, a biological process can be halted at any arbitrary point in time by cryofixation and investigated in that vitrified state, for example using a cryo-electron microscope and/or in a light microscope with corresponding sample cooling. Correlative methods between a light microscope and electron microscope, also referred to as "CLEM" (correlative light-electron microscopy), make it possible, for example, firstly to observe a biological sample in a light microscope until the desired state is reached. The sample is then transferred into a cryopreparation apparatus and cryofixed for electron microscopy observation. In another variant of CLEM, the light-microscopy investigation is performed on the already cryofixed sample. Cryofixed samples can furthermore also be subjected, in a manner known per se, to further preparation steps, for example processing using freeze-fracture technology (freeze-etching) and/or coating techniques.
In order not to impair the quality of the frozen samples, it is very important that they be transferred in cooled and contamination-free fashion between the processing devices being used (for example cryofixation device, freeze fracture apparatus, coating apparatus), and the analysis devices (e.g. cryo-electron microscope, cooled light microscope).
The brochure for the "Leica EM VCT100" vacuum cryo-transfer system (manufacturer: Leica Microsystems), which is accessible via the link http://leica-microsystems.com/fileadmin/downloads/Leica%20EM%20VCT100/Brochures/Leica_EMVCT100_Brochure_EN.pdf, discloses a liquid nitrogen-cooled loading station to which a transfer container (Leica EM VCT100 Shuttle) can be coupled. A sample holder is detachably fastenable to a slide rod of the transfer container. The sample holder can be transferred out of the cooled transfer container into a cooled chamber of the loading station by displacement of the slide rod. A receptacle for retaining the sample holder is arranged inside the chamber of the loading station. The very small frozen electron microscopy samples, which are usually located in a manner known per se on an electron microscopy sample carrier (e.g. a grid or a pin for scanning electron microscopy), are manually introduced into the liquid nitrogen-cooled chamber of the loading station. The sample carrier having the sample is removed, for example with a forceps, and fastened in the sample holder. This process occurs in a cooled state, so that the frozen sample does not thaw or melt and thus become unusable. The transfer container having the sample holder and the sample carrier with a sample is then uncoupled from the loading station and attached to a corresponding apparatus (e.g. freeze fracture apparatus, cryo-electron microscope) for further processing or analysis.
The number and capabilities of sample processing operations, analyses, and corresponding devices in electron microscopy is constantly increasing. Translocation of the sample into a differently configured sample holder, or into a differently configured sample transfer device, is normally also necessary for the various applications. With the known loading station described above, translocation of a sample from one sample holder into a differently configured sample holder for a different application is not possible. It is also possible to attach only a single transfer container. Users therefore usually make do by transporting the sample to various installation sites in small containers and in liquid nitrogen. This not only involves a considerable expenditure of time, but encompasses critical working steps in which the samples can become damaged or contaminated. The working step in which the error occurred is then often not perceptible. The known loading station furthermore has no temperature monitoring, and coolant replenishment occurs manually.

Loading station for transferring frozen samples at low temperatures


A cache memory comprises a fetch engine arranged to issue fetch requests for accessing data items from locations in a main memory identified by access addresses in a program being executed, a pre-fetch engine controlled to issue pre-fetch requests for speculatively accessing pre-fetch data items from locations in said main memory identified by addresses which are determined as being a number of locations from respective ones of said access addresses, and a calibrator arranged to selectively vary said number of locations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to a cache memory, and in particular but not exclusively, relates to its ability to deal with pre-fetch requests, and to methods of dealing with pre-fetch requests.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art to provide a cache memory as a level of memory hierarchy between a central processing unit CPU or other main processor or memory master, and a main memory (or other memory-mapped device). A cache memory duplicates commonly-used locations in a main memory for the purpose of speeding up accesses to these locations. In general it stores the most recently used instructions or data from the larger but slower main memory. This means that when the CPU wishes to access data, the access request can be made to the cache instead of to the main memory. This takes far less time than an access to a main memory, thus the CPU can read or write data more quickly and consequently runs more efficiently than if a cache memory were not used. The cache also updates the main memory with the duplicated locations when required, explicitly or implicitly.
Since computer programs frequently use a subset of instructions or data repeatedly, the cache is a cost effective method of enhancing the memory system in a "statistical" method, without having to resort to the expense of making all of the memory system faster. Currently the gap between CPU and memory clocks is widening. For example a 1.2 Ghz Athlon may only have a 133 Mhz memory system making caching even more important.
The cache is usually smaller than the main memory, which means that it cannot provide a duplicate of every location. Therefore, when an access request in the form of an address is made to the cache, it needs to determine if that particular location currently being requested is one of those duplicated locally or whether it needs to be fetched from the main memory, i.e., it performs a "tag compare" to see if that item of data is present in the cache. If the location is already stored in the cache, the access is termed a "hit" and if it is not it is termed a "miss". The determining of whether an access is a hit or a miss takes an amount of time, thit. This time is normally the main factor in the amount of time that the cache takes to return a frequently used location and since speed is the purpose of such operations, this is designed to be as short as possible.
If the data is present ("hit") it is returned quickly to the requesting CPU or suchlike, if however the item is not found ("miss") then it is fetched from the main memory and stored into the cache.
When a cacheable request enters the cache, the address of the request is split into three fields. These are the tag, the line and the word fields. The tag field is the top part of the address that is compared with the addresses stored in the cache to determine whether the request is a hit or a miss. The line field is the part of the address that is used to locate the tag and data in a RAM array within the cache memory. The line is a collection of words, all of which are moved in and out of the cache at once. Thus the tag field shows for which location in memory the data for a given line is cached. The word field is the part of the address that specifies which word within a line is being accessed.
The line field is used to address two RAM arrays within the cache memory, one of which contains data (the data RAM) and the other of which contains tags (the tag RAM). In order to determine whether the request is a hit or a miss, the line field of the request is looked up so that the one or more tags in the tag RAM associated with that line can each be compared with the tag of the request. If the memory location shown by the tag in the tag RAM and the memory location shown by the tag of the request match, the request is a hit. If they do not match, the request is a miss.
Within the tag RAM, each tag location has a bit called "valid". If this bit is set low, the tag of the tag RAM is ignored because this bit indicates that there is no data in the cache for the line associated with the tag. On the other hand, if a tag is stored in the cache for that line, the line is valid. The valid bit is set low for all tag locations within the tag RAM by, for example, a reset of the cache. In a write back cache, each tag location also contains a "dirty" bit. This dirty bit is set when the line is written to in response to a request from the CPU or suchlike. This line is then termed a "dirty line". When a dirty line is replaced with new data, its contents must be written back to the main memory so as to preserve coherency between the cache and the main memory. The dirty bit is then reset.
Normally when an access is made to the cache, and the data is not already present (a miss) a stall occurs until the line can be filled from the main memory. Clearly this has a negative impact on the efficient running of the program. Increasing the size of the cache or the size of each line can reduce the number of cache misses and hence the number of stalls, because data corresponding to a larger number of addresses in the main memory can be stored at any one time in the cache. There is however a minimum number of misses that the cache can not avoid (termed "compulsory misses") because that line has never been accessed before.
A cache miss can be classified as one of the following types:
(i) Compulsory Misses
If the data has never been accessed before then it will not be present in the cache. In this case the miss is classified as "compulsory".
(ii) Capacity Misses
As a cache is of a finite size eventually old data will have to be replaced with new data. If the data requested from the cache would have been available in an infinite sized cache then the miss is classified as "capacity".
(iii) Conflict Misses
A cache is made up of one or more banks. When an address is presented to the cache it uses some of the address bits to determine which row to look in. It then searches this row to see if any of the banks contain the data it requires, by matching the tags. This type of miss can be understood by considering the common organizational types of cache, as follows.
A cache memory is usually organized as one of three types. The first type is a direct-mapped cache in which each location in the cache corresponds to one location in the main memory. However, since the cache memory is smaller than the main memory, not every address in the main memory will have a corresponding address mapped in the cache memory. The second type is a fully-associative cache in which data is stored in any location in the cache together with all or part of its memory address. Data can be removed to make space for data in a different location in the main memory which has not yet been stored. The third type is an n-way associative cache, essentially a combination of the first and second types.
When a request is made to a fully associative cache, the whole cache is searched to see if the data is present, as if the cache had only one row but a large number of banks. A conflict miss in a different type of cache occurs when the requested data would have been present in a fully associative cache but is not present in the actual cache. In this case the data must have been discarded due to a bank conflict. That is, for a particular row more items of data need to be stored than there are banks available.
It would be desirable to provide a scheme which allows the cache to predict what data will be required next and thus reduce the number of compulsory misses to a minimum.
It is well known that most data access patterns have locality of reference. That is, if a particular address is accessed then there is a high probability that another location nearby will also be required. For example, certain applications (such as an MPEG decoder) tend to read their input in a stream, perform some computation and produce an output stream. In other words, they have sequential data access patterns. Sequential data access patterns have a high locality of reference because they always access the next adjacent location.
Given the locality of reference often present when executing programs, one known way to exploit the locality of reference is to have a cache line that is larger than a single data word. In this way when a data word is accessed its neighbors are also fetched into the cache. As the cache line gets larger there is a greater chance of exploiting the locality of reference. The disadvantage of making the cache line too big is that the number of cache conflicts increases and the miss penalty is made larger. In other words, if the line is too big, most of the data fetched is not required and therefore the cache becomes inefficient. Fetching more data also increases the bandwidth demand on the main memory system.
An alternative to increasing the cache line size is to pre-fetch data. This means the cache predicts what data is required next and fetches it before it is requested. One known system is that of application/compiler driven pre-fetching. In such a software driven pre-fetch scheme the assembler code contains instructions/hints that let the cache know it should ensure the specified data is in the cache. This means the cache can start fetching the data before it is required and thus reduce the number of stalls. While this scheme should work in theory, in practice it does not always perform as well as is expected. The main reason for this is that memory latencies are large. For example 30 cycles would not be an uncommon cache fill time. If the application wished to prevent a cache stall it would therefore have to issue a pre-fetch 30 cycles before the data is required. Assuming use of a modern processor that can issue up to four instructions per cycle this would imply the pre-fetch would have to be placed up to 120 instructions in advance, Performing a pre-fetch this far in advance is very hard to achieve.
The second problem arising in such a system is that pre-fetch instructions consume instruction bandwidth and potential issue slots. This means each pre-fetch instruction is taking up a slot that could be performing computation. It is possible that adding pre-fetch instructions will actually slow down an application. Another known scheme to pre-fetch data by exploiting locality of reference is to fetch a number of lines ahead. This scheme is known as fixed distance pre-fetch. In this scheme, when line 'N' is accessed as a result of a fetch request to the cache, the cache then pre-fetches line 'N+d' (where d is the pre-fetch distance), if it is not already present in the cache. For this scheme to work efficiently the cache must support up to 'd' outstanding memory requests and the value of 'd' needs to be set to such a value as to overcome the memory latency. For example if it takes 32 cycles to fetch a 16 byte cache line from memory and the processor can read one four byte data word per cycle then 'd' should be set to 8 (d=cycles/(linesize/datasize)=32/(16/4)).
The biggest problem with this fixed distance pre-fetch scheme is knowing what to set 'd' to. If it is too small then the pre-fetch will not prevent the processor from stalling on the cache. If it is too large then the cache will pre-fetch too much data causing extra bus bandwidth and potentially discarding useful data from the cache.


The effectiveness of a radon mitigation system is in large part a function of the vacuum and air flow produced by a fan. Since a relationship exists between the vacuum and air flow of any given fan, it is advantageous to be able to identify any malfunctions in the system which result in fan air flow being increased or decreased. Such changes in air flow may impede the ability of the system to alleviate radon concentrations. Fan air flow may be monitored by measuring current draw of the fan with an ammeter or other electric current measuring device. Such measurements may be facilitated by mounting the ammeter in a control unit including a reduction transformer, which feeds 24 volt electric current to the fan. After measurements of fan current draw have been measured and indicated, current may be increased to 120 volts by a fan voltage booster, to power the fan.

1.1 Technical Field
This invention pertains to a method and device for indicating failures within a radon mitigation system. The method involves installation and use of a device to detect malfunctions in a radon mitigation system and provide notice of such a malfunction.
1.2 Background Art
The presence of radon gas in occupied buildings may contribute to incidence of lung cancer. Because of the possible detrimental effects of radon, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that radon levels in occupied structures be maintained at less than 4 PicoCuries per liter (4 pCi/l). Radon is a naturally occurring gas, which ma infiltrate buildings in concentrations higher than the maximum EPA recommended guidelines. In these situations, a variety of mechanical systems may be used to reduce radon concentrations.
For example, radon may be removed from a building by creating a mechanically induced vacuum beneath the building, into which the radon may be collected. Alternatively, ventilation in the structure may be increased to remove radon from the structure. Both of these strategies rely on the installation and use of electric fans.
A malfunction in a radon removal system, such as a pluggage in the associated piping system due to debris or ice, or a breach of the piping system, can result in the system not performing as originally designed. Since radon is a colorless and odorless gas, the building owner may not be aware of the decrease in radon removal efficiency due to these conditions, unless some type of failure indication is provided. Furthermore, failures of this type may cause other detrimental conditions within the structure if left unnoticed which can cause significant hazards and operating costs. A device is needed which can detect slight to large increases and decreases in air volume of the fan used for radon mitigation.
The EPA has recommended that each radon removal system include a method of detecting a failure in the mitigation system. See "Radon Contractor Proficiency Program Interim Radon Mitigation Standards," Dec. 15, 1991. Methodology presently utilized within the radon industry to satisfy this recommendation utilizes a pressure indicator that does not sense air flow and therefore does not provide sufficient information to easily detect most system failures. Furthermore, pressure indicators are invasive to the system and have the potential for in-building leaks of radon a well as accumulation of moisture which provides false readings. A system is needed which is totally electric and outside of the air stream and therefore not subject to these potential defects.
Air quality control systems including mechanisms for detecting system failures are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,349 to Yoho describes a control circuit for air conditioning systems. The Yoho circuit includes an electrical sensor and temperature sensor for determining whether an exhaust fan is properly operating over a grill in a restaurant. If the exhaust fan is not functioning properly, the circuit is designed to turn off the grill.
Other air purification systems may include sensors to determine when air quality warrants activation of the purification process. For example, the air make-up unit described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,922 to Anderson draws outside air into a building, by means of an electric blower. The blower may be activated by a pressure sensor when negative pressure develops within the building.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,824 to Staten teaches an air purification system to remove pollutants from indoor air. The system includes sensors to determine the presence of such chemicals as ozone and carbon monoxide, which trigger the operation of the air purification mechanism.
Temperature sensors are used in the control system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,094 to Robinson. That system is designed to ventilate indoor swimming pools, rather than air.
While each of these mechanisms known in the prior art is useful for its intended purpose, no mechanism is known which may be easily installed to monitor the efficacy of a radon mitigation system. There exists a need for a mechanism which can be simply installed, which will monitor the effectiveness of a radon mitigation system, and provide information needed to insure that the system is properly functioning.
2. Disclosure of the Invention
2.1 Summary of the Invention
An object of this invention is to provide a method of detecting air flow in a radon mitigation system to provide an easy to read indication of system performance.
Another object of this invention is to provide a device for monitoring a radon mitigation system, which can be easily installed without requiring the assistance of an electrician.
The device used in this method of detecting and eliminating problems in radon mitigation systems comprises a control unit and a fan voltage booster. The control unit has at least two primary elements: a 120 volt to 24 volt reduction transformer, and a performance indicator. The fan voltage booster is a transformer matching the reduction transformer, which increases voltage from 24 volts to 120 volts, to power a fan in the mitigation system. The fan powered in this manner will typically be a commercially available turbo-blower which is commonly used in radon reduction systems. The fan and fan voltage booster can be packaged as an integral unit.
The performance indicator comprises a 0 to 5 amp ammeter mounted in a panel with a visible face or other mechanism for registering current measurements. The ammeter is connected to the fan in such a way that the ammeter measures the amount of current utilized by the fan.
Many radon mitigation systems depend on specific fan induced air flows for effectiveness. A decrease in air flow may result in a decrease in the efficiency of radon removal. Similarly, if too much air is made available to the system, as would result if air duct or pipe to the fan is broken, the resulting increase in available air would reduce radon removal efficiency. Such an increase in air could also adversely affect the building environment, resulting in increased energy costs and potential combustion appliance backdrafting. Because the fan increases its current draw with increases in air flow, measuring the current draw of the fan also serves as an indicator of the air flow through the fan.
The face of the ammeter may be advantageously calibrated so that the meter indicates that the radon mitigation system is functioning properly whenever the ammeter senses appropriate current draw by the fan. Thus, a section of the face of the ammeter corresponding to the position of the ammeter needle when proper current draw is sensed, can be marked in green or otherwise designated. In this manner, the designated area of the ammeter face becomes a proper conditions indicator, since the radon mitigation system should be functioning properly when the needle of the ammeter is in that region.
Similarly, one or more portions of the ammeter face may be marked in red, or otherwise designated, to indicate that a failure in the radon mitigation system has occurred, whenever the ammeter needle resides in one of those portions. So designated portions of the ammeter face may then be regarded as an improper conditions indicator. As will be apparent, many different types of improper conditions indicators may be utilized. For example, an audible alarm may be connected to the ammeter in such a way that the alarm rounds whenever the ammeter detects fan current draw which is less than or greater than that which is desirable for the system.
The amount of air which needs to be handled by a radon mitigation system is specific to each particular building, and will vary from installation to installation. To compensate for this variation, the ammeter may advantageously include a bias adjustment which allows the installer to set the location of the needle indicator to the "green" or proper conditions indicator area after the system has been fully installed and tested for effectiveness. Consequently, a deviation in the needle position indicates a deviation in the radon system characteristics from when it was originally installed. A shield may be provided for the bias adjustment to prevent accidental adjustment of the bias by building occupants.
The ammeter is directly wired into the circuit of the power supply to the radon fan. The power supply may be standard 120 volt line power, or may be reduced to 24 volts via a power transformer. The latter application has the added advantage that the power output to the fan can be supplied via inexpensive and safer low voltage wiring. This wiring is typically two conductor 16 or 18 gauge jacketed cable which can be routed to a remote location of the radon fan up to 50 feet away. This aspect allows for the fan to be located outside of the living envelope of the building as required by the EPA Mitigation Standards, Dec. 15, 1991, while the ammeter and power supply can be conveniently mounted in a frequently occupied portion of the building for occupant viewing. Furthermore, the low voltage aspect of the power supply to the fan allows for easy installation of the wiring similar to that which would be needed for routing security systems and audio speaker wiring. To allow for proper operation of the radon fan, a matching voltage boosting transformer is connected to the fan to allow for normal, 120 volt operation of the fan. The simplicity of the device should allow for the installation by contractor or building owner, in most electrical code jurisdictional areas, without the assistance of a licensed electrician.
As will be evident, the radon mitigation system control device of the instant invention will also be useful in any situation in which the speed of a fan should be monitored and controlled.
The novel features that ar considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the claims. The invention itself, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the description of specific embodiments which follows, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method and device for monitoring radon mitigation system