The present disclosure is directed to a cascaded recompression closed Brayton cycle (CRCBC) system and method of operation thereof, where the CRCBC system includes a compressor for compressing the system fluid, a separator for generating fluid feed streams for each of the system's turbines, and separate segments of a heater that heat the fluid feed streams to different feed temperatures for the system's turbines. Fluid exiting each turbine is used to preheat the fluid to the turbine. In an embodiment, the amount of heat extracted is determined by operational costs.

Due to environmental concerns as well as increasing population, environmentally friendly and efficient power generation systems are desired. While there have recently been advances in systems that utilize renewable resources, such as solar power, wind, geothermal energy, and the like, efficiencies of such systems trail conventional turbine-based power generation systems, and costs of building such systems are relatively high. Moreover, generally, systems that utilize renewable resources output variable amounts of electrical power depending upon environmental factors, such as cloud cover and wind speeds.
Supercritical Brayton cycle power generation systems have been proposed and theorized as efficient power generation systems. Advantages of supercritical Brayton cycle power generation systems include the utilization of an environmentally friendly, naturally occurring compound such as carbon dioxide. Additional advantages of supercritical Brayton cycle power generation systems include a relatively small footprint when compared to conventional turbine-based power generation systems. Moreover, supercritical Brayton cycle power generation systems have been theorized to have efficiencies that meet or exceed efficiencies of conventional power generation systems.
Supercritical Brayton cycle power generation systems offer a promising approach to achieving higher efficiency and more cost-effective power conversion when compared to existing steam-driven power plants, and also perhaps gas turbine power plants. A supercritical Brayton cycle power generation system is a power conversion system that utilizes a single-phase fluid operating near the critical temperature and pressure of such fluid. Generally, two types of power conversion cycles have been proposed: a recuperated Brayton cycle and a recompression Brayton cycle. Other types of power cycles, such as a power take off cycle, cycles with reheat or inter-cooling, split-flow compressor discharge cycles that heat a fraction flow rather than recuperate it, or cycles that feed all or a portion of the high pressure flow directly to a turbine while the low pressure flow leg provides the heating can also be utilized, wherein such cycles employ a Brayton cycle.
A problem for open cycle heat sources in recompression closed Brayton cycles (RCBCs) is that while the recompression cycles may be very efficient, the cycle does not extract very much heat from the open cycle heat source. For example, the heat source flow may come in at 900° C., and only be reduced to 700° C. at the discharge of the heating heat exchanger. There is a great deal of energy NOT being extracted from the heat source flow by the RCBC. And this is because the recuperation in the RCBC is so efficient that the fluid entering the heater is very hot.
A need remains, therefore, for an RCBC system and method of operation that extracts as much heat from the heat source stream as is economically reasonable. This invention applies the design characteristics of RCBC's in such a way as to meet this need. In general, the concept applies separate RCBC flow paths at the high temperature portion of the system, and retains the single recompression flow path to each of the two compressors. The result is a cycle that capitalizes on the efficiency benefits of RCBC technology while still extracting as much heat from the heat source stream as is desired

Cascaded recompression closed brayton cycle system

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC


A dewatering press for a mat of solid material, particularly for dewatering of fiber panels, includes upstream and downstream spaced apart stationary uprights, a press having a lower part and an upper part pressing against the mat of solid material in a pressing position of the press and a plurality of rollers mounted on the stationary uprights and guiding respectively a grate belt and lower and upper sealing belts between the uprights.

Dewatering presses disclosed in the German Patent (DE 31 35 651) and including the return means for the lath grate band as well as the return means for the sealing band are mounted on or within a press frame. Furthermore, a means is provided for cleaning of the lath grate band. As a result, the lath grate band and the sealing band can be detached from one another outside press platens. In such the structure the cleaning means operates in the clear space and is usually designed as spray nozzles or the like. The sealing band can also be cleaned in this manner.
For the mesh band, separate cleaning means are provided along the band's recirculating path. The structure has been proven to be successful. However, the apparatus also requires an additional means for cleaning the lath grate band or the sealing band which are part of the dewatering platen press. The use of such additional means for cleaning is not economical.


A method and system is provided that processes the content of a document separately from information used to describe the structure of the content in the document. Content can be text, alphanumeric data, or any other information contained in a document. Initially, the method provides a content entity capable of storing and manipulating the content stored in a storage area. The manipulation of content in the storage area includes inserting content in the content entity identified by a start position and a stop position, removing content from the content entity, and retrieving content from the storage area. A separate document entity is provided that uses element entities to represent the structure of the text without the content. The document entity is used to retrieve information from the element entities and determine the location of content in the content entity. The information retrieved from the element entities is used to manipulate the content stored in the storage area associated with the content entity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to software applications and, more particularly, to a modular storage method and apparatus for use with software applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increasingly, software applications must run on a variety of data processing systems ranging from small handheld devices to powerful workstations. In most cases the software applications must be modified to run on each computer system. Some modifications may only require recompiling the software for a target computer system. Other modifications need to take into account physical characteristics of the computer system such as limited disk storage, processor power, or memory capacity. For example, a small handheld device with limited disk storage may have difficulty storing the contents of large documents used by a particular software application. To address this limitation, the storage methods used in the software application must be modified to accommodate storing the content of large documents on devices with small storage capacities.
In conventional software applications, however, it is often not possible to replace a method of storing the contents of a document without rewriting a significant portion of the software application. These conventional software applications store content and organize the structure of the content using an integrated software module. That is, a software method that processes content such as text also often processes the structural information that describes how the text is organized. Structural information, for example, includes formatting codes and instructions that organize a document into paragraphs, sentences, words, and characters. This integration of content storage and structural organization of a document makes it difficult to replace content storage routines without affecting other portions of the software application.
As a result, there is a tension between developing new methods for storing content in an application and reusing code. Instead of having several methods for storing content, the software developers will create a new version of software for each computer system. These additional versions increase the development costs, increase the costs of customer service, and increase software maintenance.
Users with different computer systems may also have problems using a software application available in different versions. In such instances, users may have to learn to operate different versions of the same software for each of their different computer systems. Customers may also have difficulty moving data and documents between computer systems running different versions of the same software application. For example, content stored using different versions of the same software may not be compatible.
To address these limitations, it would be desirable to replace the content storage methods of an application without modifying other portions of the software application. This would facilitate replacing a method of storing content in a software application without changing the method used to structure the content. This would promote increased software reuse and decrease software development costs.
In accordance with methods and systems consistent with the present invention, a method is provided that processes storing content of a document separately from processing the information used to describe the structure of the content. Content can be text, alphanumeric data, graphical data or any other information contained in a document. A layout operation uses information reflecting the structure of the content of a document such as paragraphs, sentences, and characters.
Such a method and system provide a content entity capable of storing and manipulating content stored in a storage area. The manipulation of content in the storage area includes inserting content in the content entity, removing content from the content entity, and retrieving content from the content entity. A separate document entity is provided that uses element entities to represent the structure of the text without the content of the text. The document entity retrieves information from the element entities to determine the location of content in the content entity. The information retrieved from the element entities is used to manipulate the content stored in the storage area associated with the content entity. Entities can be implemented in procedural software programming languages or object-oriented programming languages.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided capable of replacing a content entity used to store content in a document. A software application loaded into a data processing system has a default content entity for storing content in a document. The method determines if the default content entity or a new content entity should be used based on the storage capacities of the data processing system. This determination is made by comparing the storage capacity of the system with the storage characteristics provided by the default content entity and other content entities. Based on a result of this determination, the software application may replace the default content entity with a new content entity. Upon execution, the software application uses a document entity to provide the structure of content in the document and the new content entity to provide the content associated with the document. entity and other content entities. Based on a result of this determination, the software application may replace the default content entity with a new content entity. Upon execution, the software application uses a document entity to provide the structure of content in the document and the new content entity to provide the content associated with the document.

Modular storage method and apparatus for use with software applications


The present invention provides overhead having (a) a main body having a stage area, (b) a head assembly, and (c) a post suspending the inverted head assembly over the stage area. The post is pivotally attached to the main body in accordance with equation

The present invention relates to an overhead projector having a reduced height placement of an inverted projection head. In particular, the overhead projector of the present invention includes a post folding mechanism that allows for ease of storage when the projector is not being used, while reducing the possible damage to optical components.
One type of conventional overhead projector (xe2x80x9cOHPxe2x80x9d) uses a Cooke Triplet projection lens where light passes from a light source through a Fresnel lens below a stage on which a transparent object containing the image to be projected is located. After the light passes through the transparent object, the light passes through the Cooke Triplet projection lens and then is reflected off a folding mirror toward a projection screen. To obtain good image quality, the light from the projection lamp focuses at a stop position in or near the Cooke Triplet projection lens. FIG. 1 shows a conventional OHP having a light source, a main body having a horizontal light transmissive stage, and a projection head assembly suspended above the stage by a post. The head assembly includes the Cooke Triplet projection lens and the folding mirror. In traditional OHPs, the post is pivotally attached to the main body, to allow the head assembly and the post to be folded along the side of the main body for storage or lowering of the profile when not in use. Normally, the height dimension of the head assembly above the stage is larger than the length of the main body, and the head assembly clears the front of the machine easily with room to spare.
As described in the above-mentioned related application xe2x80x9cProjector Having an Inverted Head Optical Arrangement,xe2x80x9d a new optical design allows the projection head assembly to be placed closer to the stage. In an OHP having a traditional pivoting post, a lower positioned head assembly may not clear the main body. Accordingly, a user may not be able to fold the system completely without repositioning the head assembly, resulting in the head assembly colliding with the stage. Repositioning the head assembly every time the post is folded requires added handling and results in changing the focus of the OHP. Failure for the head assembly to clear the stage may damage the optical components.
A need exists for other types of low-profile OHP having the ability to fold easily and safely when not in use.
The present invention relates to an improved overhead projector having a reduced height placement of an inverted head assembly and providing clearance such that the inverted head assembly may be pivotally rotated between a storage position and a display position. When the inverted head is in the storage position, the overhead projector is in the storage mode. When the inverted head is in the display position, the overhead projector is capable of being in the display mode.
In brief summary, in one embodiment, the inventive overhead projector comprises (a) a main body having a stage area, (b) an inverted head assembly, and (c) a post suspending the inverted head assembly over the stage area. The post is pivotally attached to the main body in accordance with equation
Clearance={square root over ((Mxxe2x88x92Px)2+(Myxe2x88x92Py)2)}xe2x88x92{square root over ((Fxxe2x88x92Px)2+(Fyxe2x88x92Py)2)}
and the post is outside the stage area when the OHP is in a display mode.
The main body of the overhead projector includes a light transmissive stage having some type of condenser technology, e.g., a Fresnel-condensing lens or an image reflector, positioned underneath. The light transmissive stage defines the stage area of the overhead projector.
In contrast to conventional projectors, the present invention, in one embodiment, uses an inverted head assembly. In an inverted head assembly, the projection lens is positioned such that after light passes through the transparent object, the light reflects off a folding mirror and then passes through the projection lens towards the projection screen. The mirror folds the light path allowing the inverted head assembly, which includes the folding mirror and the projection lens, to be positioned closer to the stage than a non-inverted head assembly.
A post holds the inverted head assembly over the stage area. The post has connected at one end the inverted head assembly and at the other end is pivotally connected to the main body. When the inverted head assembly is positioned upright so as to be over the stage area, the projector is in an image display position and the post is positioned at one corner of the stage area. When the inverted head assembly is rotated to a position in front of the stage area, the projector is in a storage position. One of the advantages of the present invention is that in that when the inverted head assembly is in the display position and focused, a user does not need to refocus the inverted head assembly when changing from the initial display position to the storage position and back to the display position. Thus, the user does not need to change the inverted head assembly position, e.g., by moving it upward away from the stage area, in order to store the OHP.
In a preferred embodiment, the post has a curved end portion. Illustrative end portions include those that are substantially in an xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d shape. One skilled in the art will appreciate that other cured portions designs can be used. Such post designs provide the advantages of reduced height placement of the inverted head assembly, clearance such that the inverted head assembly may be pivotally rotated between a storage position and an image display position, and positioning the post outside the stage area, such as at the corner of the stage, so as to provide unobstructed access to the stage area. The curved end portion can be an integral part of the post or it can be an attachment to the post.
Unobstructed access to the stage area is desirable because it allows for easy interchange of display media. For example, a roller attachment can be used, if desired, allowing a presenter to refresh the projected image surface by rotating new media across the stage area.
The overhead projector of the present invention includes a post folding mechanism that creates a reduced height placement of an inverted head assembly and provides clearance such that the projector assembly may be pivotally rotated between a storage position and an image display position.

Low profile overhead projector having a foldable post

Abstract: and the post is outside the stage area. In a preferred embodiment, the head assembly is an inverted head assembly.


This disclosure provides for a method and system for operating a hybrid card reader that is operable to read magnetic stripe cards and that, upon the receipt of one or more signals, becomes operable to read integrated circuit cards. The hybrid card reader receives one or more signals from one or more remote devices. Such signals may be transmitted wirelessly or over one or more communication lines. When the one or more signals reach the hybrid card reader, they are used to enable a latching mechanism and an integrated circuit card reading function. This permits an integrated circuit card that is inserted into the hybrid card reader to be latched into place so that the data on the card can be read by the integrated circuit card reading function.

Hybrid card readers exist that are capable of reading both magnetic stripe cards and "smart cards," cards also known as "integrated circuit cards" ("IC" cards) because they use an integrated circuit to store information. To detect whether a card is a smart card or mag-stripe card, a hybrid card reader typically runs a default mag-stripe/integrated circuit card initialization command and locks the card in place using a latching mechanism. The reader then either releases the card if it determines that the card is not a smart card, or it reads the smart card while the card is latched. Unfortunately, the latching mechanism experiences wear and tear, especially when card users unwittingly try to remove their card from the reader while it is latched, which may occur when users expect the reader to be a mag-stripe reader without a locking mechanism.

Method and system for operating a hybrid card reader


A magnetic signal pickup mechanism is presented. The mechanism comprises a moving magnetic element mass fixedly coupled to a moving element mass such as a nutator. A movable magnetic element wire is physically non rigidly coupled magnetically to the moving magnetic element mass and further coupled mechanically to quasi restrictive longitudinal pivot points wherein the pivot points restrain longitudinal movement in relation to the moving magnetic element mass, the pivot points being offset sufficiently distant from each other to prevent contact between the wire and any structure other than the pivot points, wherein the wire is non straight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal pickup mechanisms, and more particularly to magnetic pickup mechanisms useful in picking up signals from nutators and the like at widely varying frequencies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art comprises my application Ser. No. 07/235,563 and the art cited therein and in the file thereof. Application Ser. No. 07/235,563 described a signal pickup mechanism useful at reduced flow meter pickup frequencies. The wire motion therein described was dependant in part on such factors as surface finish of the containing tube, prior wire location, wire straightness, longitudinal wire movement, etc., and did not always furnish a large regular relatively noise free signal. Additionally, basic Newtonian physics rules relating to inertia dictate that as motion frequency in a system such as described therein increases, motion amplitude decreases, thereby making it more difficult to detect by use of prior art and current art signal detectors.


A gear transmission has a one-way synchronizer comprising a guide hub that is an integral part of a geared input member, and a shift sleeve that slides axially on the guide hub from a central neutral position either to an extended engaged position or to a retracted disengaged position.

This invention relates generally to synchronizers for gear transmissions and more particularly to one-way strut type blocking synchronizers.
Strut type blocking synchronizers are well known. See for instance SAE paper 68008 entitled Manual Transmission Synchronizers authored by Richard J. Socin and L. Kirk Walters.
These well known synchronizers employ a plurality of circumferentially spaced struts that key a blocker ring to a guide hub and provide the initial load for indexing the blocker ring so that a shift sleeve can apply pressure to engage a cone clutch. The struts are slidably mounted on the guide hub and operatively connected to the shift sleeve (that ultimately accomplishes the gear lock-up) by spring biased detents that release when forces applied to the struts reach a predetermined limit.
Synchronizers are often used as two-way synchronizers that are located between two unlocked gears on a power shaft. The synchronizer then locks up one gear when the shift sleeve is shifted in one direction and the other gear when the shift sleeve is shifted in the opposite direction. In such situations, the struts for the synchronizer are trapped between separate blocker rings for each of the unlocked gears as shown in FIG. 4 of the SAE publication that is referenced above. Consequently, two way synchronizers do not need any retainers or other structure to limit travel of the struts.
Synchronizers are also used as one-way synchronizers that have only one blocker ring which means that the struts are not trapped. Thus there is a need to limit the travel of the struts in one-way synchronizers in one direction. In the past one-way synchronizers have added either snap rings or sheet metal retainers and snap rings to provide the necessary travel limit in the direction away from the blocker ring.
Both retention methods, however, are relatively expensive. Each involve the manufacture, handling and assembly of an extra part or parts, such as the snap ring alone or in combination with the sheet metal retainer. Each method also involves extra manufacturing steps for securing these extra parts to existing parts, such as machining grooves in the guide hub to hold the sheet metal retainer and/or the snap ring.


Common problems with composite panels of the foam core and metal facing type include water infiltration, failure to survive fire testing, and fragility. A relatively simple panel which affords a solution to the above mentioned problems includes a foam core with inner and outer metal facings thereon, a pair of spaced apart projections extending longitudinally of one side of the core defining male connectors, a pair of longitudinally extending, spaced apart grooves in the other side of the core defining female connectors for receiving the projections, the inner and outer facings terminating in the areas between the connectors so that there is core to core and metal to metal contact when panels are interconnected, a recess in an outer corner of the male connector side of the core, and a flange on the other side of the panel, whereby, when panels are interconnected side edge to side edge, the flange overlaps the recess leaving an expansion gap for fasteners, which are covered by the flange. Panels can be assembled to extend horizontally, in which case the bottom edge of the recess is inclined outwardly and downwardly to facilitate the escape of water from the gap.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a building panel, and in particular to a composite panel of the type including a foam plastic core and metal facings.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Panels of the type described herein include a polyurethane foam core and metal facings, and are normally used to construct cold storage areas, for example in the food and fishery industries. Typically, the panels are approximately four feet wide and as high as an entire building, e.g. 25 to 30 feet. The thickness of the cores of the panels is determined by the amount of insulation required. Panels of this type are frequently constructed with flat side edges which abut each other. This construction provides very little strength at the joint. Also, in panels of this type, it is desirable to minimize air and water infiltration and to design the joints between panels to ensure metal to metal, and insulation to insulation contact only. Otherwise, heat or cold is conducted through the panels, or through fasteners used to connect the panels to underlying structural supports. Many prior art panels have unacceptable insulating qualities.
In general, it has not been possible or economical to construct entire buildings using insulated panels for exterior cladding. Such buildings usually include precast concrete panels or corrugated metal siding as exterior cladding. There is a great advantage in having exterior cladding which provides superior insulating qualities than traditional materials. When constructing manufacturing plants or warehouses, relatively thin insulating panels are desirable. However, the panels must have greater structural integrity than that which is available using the simple connection structure of existing insulated panels. The resulting cladding must also be aesthetically pleasing.
Fire represents another problem when using insulating panels as structural cladding. Polyurethane foam is an organic cellular foam which can be degraded by fire. A typical fire test is the ULC Fire Test Type CAN-4-S101-M82. Ordinary insulated panel systems do not survive such fire tests particularly well. The panels tend to open under high heat (approximately 1500.degree. F.) because of flexing of the metal facing sheets. Once a sheet has opened, the foam is quickly degraded by the fire. The problem could be overcome partially by screwing or otherwise externally fastening pieces of metal together. However, the screws or other fasteners would be visible and would adversely affect the appearance of the structure.
Vertical joints are normal and acceptable in insulated walls. In some cases, however, it is desirable to finish a structure with horizontal panels. Horizontal joints are not feasible using existing insulated panels, because water infiltration readily occurs in horizontal panel structures. Buildings are often under negative pressure conditions. Under positive exterior pressure, such as a driving rain storm, water may seep through the gaps between panels to degrade panel insulation, rust metal facings and fasteners and even enter the building. The water can also freeze and expand, harming the insulation, causing leakage into the building, and potentially resulting in rusting of the metal and consequently in staining of the building.
Another objectionable feature of some prior art panels is the presence of loose metal tips, edges or flanges. During shipping and handling, such loose metal pieces can be bent or torn from the foam cores of the panels causing delamination. The loose metal can also damage other panels or other objects. Since it is somewhat difficult to manipulate 30-foot long panels into interlocking engagement, delamination damage to the panels can easily occur during construction particularly when the panels are not perfectly uniform and straight. When being forced together, certain prior art panels tend to become fixed by ratcheting action. For example, edges of the metal facing may lock into the foam core of adjacent panels. Thus, the panels cannot be separated for replacement or re-use without damaging adjoining panels. Moreover, certain prior art structures require caulking in joints between panels which is an extra step in construction and requires maintenance. Also, the existence of gaps in the foam in the middle of the joints or between metal facings in certain prior art panels provides reduced insulation and potential sites for water to collect and infiltrate if caulking fails.


A granular encryption database management system characterized by hierarchical internal key management using asymmetric encryption of the user's keys, which are stored within a (local) encryption key table. Data is encrypted, decrypted, stored, and accessed from rows within the database (hereinafter ‘instances’). Instances are ordered in categories called Types. Instances are encrypted with Instance keys. All instances of the same type have their Instance keys generated by means of a hash function of their common Type's key, while Type keys are generated from the key of the higher category which is often the Master key of the whole system.

Today, many organizations store their data in organization-wide databases. Often, the data stored is very sensitive and may contain commercial secrets, costumers' personal data, or otherwise sensitive data which may cause serious damage to the organization if leaked.
The danger of data leakage grows where the organization has geographically separate offices that connect to the organization's database with the use of regular internet infrastructure.
To mitigate the risk for compromising sensitive data, amongst various data security provisions, many organizations encrypt their databases using encryption-directed database management systems. Such systems enable the organization to encrypt and decrypt the data with the use of various known algorithms.
In most encryption methods, secret keys are used to decrypt and access the encrypted data. The database management systems enable the creation, storage, retrieval and security of the keys which serve for encryption of all data within the encrypted database.

Encryption directed database management system and method


Polymeric blends comprising a major proportion of a linear alternating polymer of carbon monoxide and at least one ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbon and a minor proportion of a thermotropic liquid crystal polymer exhibit improved mechanical properties of strength and rigidity as well as improved barrier properties.

The class of polymers of carbon monoxide and olefin(s) has been known for some time. Brubaker, U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,286, produced such polymers of relatively low carbon monoxide content in the presence of free radical initiators, e.g., peroxy compounds. G.B. 1,081,304 produced such materials of higher carbon monoxide content in the presence of alkylphosphine complexes of palladium compounds as catalyst. Nozaki extended the process to produce linear alternating polymers in the presence of arylphosphine complexes of palladium moieties and certain inert solvents. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,412.
More recently, the class of linear alternating polymers of carbon monoxide and at least one ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbon has become of greater interest in part because of the greater availability of the polymers. The more recent processes for the production of these polymers, now becoming known as polyketones or polyketone polymers, are illustrated by a number of published European Patent Applications including 121,965, 181,014, 213,671 and 257,633. The process typically involves the use of a catalyst composition formed from a compound of a Group VIII metal selected from palladium, cobalt or nickel, the anion of a non-hydrohalogenic acid having a pKa below about 6, preferably below 2, and a bidentate ligand of phosphorus, arsenic or antimony.
The resulting polyketone polymers are relatively high molecular weight crystalline thermoplastics having established utility in the production of shaped articles such as containers for food and drink which are produced by processing the polyketone polymer by known methods. For some particular applications, production of thin wall containers, for example, it has been found to be desirable to have properties which are somewhat different from those of the polyketone polymers. It is on such occasions desirable to retain many of the properties of the polyketone polymer and yet improved other properties. This is often accomplished by the provision of a polymer blend.
The class of liquid crystal polymers is a relatively new type of plastic material which exists at particular temperatures in an intermediate form of state between an isotropic liquid and a solid crystal. An extensive discussion of liquid crystal polymers is provided by Dobb et al, Advances in Polymer Science, 60/61 (1984). Such polymers are characterized by a linear, rigid structure which exists in crystalline form in a liquid phase as well as in the solid state. The polymers are further characterized as lyotropic polymers, which require a solvent for formation of a liquid crystalline phase within a defined temperature range, and thermotropic polymers where no solvent is required to maintain a liquid crystal state within the defined temperature range. The rigidity of the polymers is established in one modification by a helix structure maintained by hydrogen bonding or steric hindrance. In an alternate and preferred structure, the polymer consists of a succession of rigid units having connecting bonds that are collinear or at least parallel. The liquid crystals generally have good mechanical properties of strength and stiffness and exhibit low permeability toward gases and liquids. One such class of thermotropic polymers is marketed under the trademark VECTRA.RTM. by Hoeschst Celanese and is discussed in a trade publication entitled "A New Extrudable Liquid Crystalline Polymer with Higher Barrier Properties", published by the VECTRA.RTM. Business Unit of Celanese Corporation, now Hoechst Celanese.
It is known to modify the properties of thermoplastics through the formation of blends with liquid crystal polymers. Blends of liquid crystal polymer and polystyrene are discussed by Apicella et al., Polymer Engineering and Sci., Mid-May, Vol. 2, pp. 600-604 (1986). Blends of a liquid crystal polymer and polycarbonate are shown by Blizard et al, ANTEC '86, pp. 311-315. Siegmann et al, Polymer, Vol. 26, August (Conference Issue), pp. 1325-1330 (1985), discuss blends of a liquid crystal polymer of 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid with amorphous polyamides.
It would be of advantage to combine the polyketone polymers and the liquid crystal polymers to obtain blends which exhibit beneficial properties from both blend components.


The field of the disclosure relates generally to sutures and, more specifically, to enhancing suture repair mechanics using adhesives.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to sutures and, more specifically, to enhancing suture repair mechanics using adhesives.
While there have been many improvements in suture materials and knot tying techniques since sutures were first used, the core technology of sewing tissues together remains a crude mechanical solution. Sutures are typically in pure tension along most of their length, with this tension transferred to the tissue only at anchor points. High stress concentrations at these anchor points can lead to sutures breaking or cutting through the surrounding tissue, similar to a wire cutting through cheese. This limits the maximum force that can be transferred across the suture repair.
Many surgical repairs, including, but not limited to, orthopaedic repairs (e.g., tendon and ligament repair) demand strong biomechanical resilience to accommodate activities of daily living without risking rupture. For example, repair site elongation and rupture remain problematic after flexor tendon repairs even with modern suturing and rehabilitation protocols. Rotator cuff repairs, which require reattachment of materials with disparate mechanical properties (tendon and bone), have alarmingly high failure rates. Improved suturing schemes would allow for greater loads across the repair site, reducing rupture and gap formation between the repaired tissues.
Traditional sutures transfer load to and from surrounding tissue/material predominantly at anchor points where they bend within the tissue. High stress concentrations at these anchor points can lead to sutures breaking or cutting through the surrounding tissue, similar to a wire cutting through cheese.
This limits the maximum force that can be transferred across the repair. Traditional sutures have a relatively large surface area passing through tissue (or other substrate being sewn together) that is not utilized for load transfer. Thus, a need remains in the art for a modified suture with an adsorbed or covalently bound adhesive that binds collagen along the suture's length, thereby reducing stress concentrations and better distributing load.


Use of water redispersible polymer powders stabilized with a protective colloid as a thermoplastic binder for natural particulate materials allows thermoplastic processing such as extrusion, without formation of bubbles due to moisture present, and while maintaining physical properties.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the production of mouldings from a mixture of particulate natural materials and thermoplastic binder, the mixture being shaped into a moulding by means of increased temperature and/or pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Natural fibres, in particular wood fibres, have recently increasingly been used in combination with thermoplastics for the production of wood plastic composites. For this purpose, the wood fibres or wood flour are mixed with a thermoplastic binder and processed by means of extrusion to give mouldings. WO-A 96/34045 discloses a process for the production of mouldings, in which natural fibre materials are processed as a mixture with thermoplastics. The preparation of plastic moulding materials by extrusion of a mixture of natural fibre and thermoplastic is also disclosed in WO-A 03/008494. The natural fibre content is introduced in the form of pellets bound with thermoplastic.
These natural substances which are present, for example, in the form of wood fibres, wood flour or woodchips, contain a considerable amount of residual moisture in the air-dry state. Thermoplastics, such as polyolefins, polyvinyl chloride or ABS, are not capable of absorbing the water released during processing in an amount significant for the process. In thermoplastic processing of mixtures of such natural substances and thermoplastics, for example by means of extrusion, the residual water present therefore leads to uncontrolled bubble formation in the mouldings, owing to the abrupt vaporization occurring at the processing temperatures. This can take place to such an extent that the cohesion of such a moulding is no longer guaranteed.
WO-A 03/035373 and WO-A 2004/090022 therefore propose additionally using a water-binding biopolymer, starch or protein, in the production of mouldings from natural fibre and thermoplastic. A disadvantage thereby is that the mixture also comprises a third component in addition to the natural fibre and the thermoplastic binder, and the strength of the moulding is reduced.

Process for producing shaped bodies from a mixture of particulate natural materials and thermoplastic binder


A highly effective liner-barrier is disclosed for use with carborane-conting ultrahigh burning rate propellants. The liner-barrier includes a resinous matrix selected from an epoxy, polysulfide, and a near neutral phenolic resinous liner-barrier composition, and a leafing aluminum flake incorporated therein. When this liner-barrier is applied to the surface of a rocket motor case, or insulation when used, the leafing aluminum flake floats to a region near the surface of the resin. The liner-barrier is cured to yield a leafing aluminum flake sub-surface layer which markedly reduces the permeability of the liner-barrier by the carboranyl burning rate catalysts which results from the migration or diffusion of the carborane from the propellant. The ultrahigh burning rate propellant is compatible with and forms a secure bond to the liner-barrier. These requirements of compatibility and forming a secure bond are essential for the field of use.

Solid propelled rocket motors are designed to have many shapes and sizes. The solid propellant composition can be cast into a rocket motor case, with or without insulation, and cured in the rocket motor case. The solid propellant grain can also be formed and then inserted into a rocket motor case with or without insulation. Additionally, solid propellant rocket motors have been constructed by winding glass fibers onto the propellant grain while the glass fiber is coated with a curable resinous material that is subsequently cured.
All of the techniques for constructing rocket motors include some procedure for ensuring that the grain is integral with rocket motor case, insulation, is used, and the liner material. If voids exist between the propellant grain and the adjacent members of the rocket motor, numerous problems can develop which can attribute to failure of the rocket motor and the mission intended therefor. Therefore, the liner composition or the liner-barrier composition that is used to bond the propellant grain to either the liner or the case must meet at least two basic requirements. The liner-barrier or liner composition has to be compatible with, and bond satisfactorily to the propellant and to the insulation and other inert components of the rocket motor. The liner composition or liner-barrier composition has another problem to compete against, that is, the problem of plasticizer-catalyst migration after the propellant grain is cast. This migration problem can cause a development of a void and penetration of insulation material to produce undesirable smoke from combustion of insulation material and perhaps, complete failure of the rocket motor unless prior safeguards are taken to resist the attack of migrated plasticizer-catalyst at the interface of the propellant and liner. Therefore, it is essential that catalyst migration be discouraged or preferably eliminated by the liner-barrier composition to enable the continued use of the desirable carborane catalysts.
An object of this invention is to provide an improvement to liner-barrier composition which reduces the permeability of the liner-barrier to migrated plasticizer-catalysts.
A primary object of this invention is to provide a highly effective liner-barrier for use with carborane-containing ultrahigh burning rate propellants.

Liner-barrier for ultrahigh burning rate propellants

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


An apparatus includes an active region, a source driving circuit, and a light emitting driving circuit. The active region includes an array of light emitting elements corresponding to an array of pixels arranged in M rows and N columns. The number of the array of light emitting elements is k times of the number of the array of pixels. The apparatus includes xM light emitting lines and (k/x)N source lines, wherein x is a positive fraction, and each of xM and (k/x)N is a positive integer. The source driving circuit is operatively coupled to the active region via the (k/x)N source lines and configured to write display data of a frame to the array of light emitting elements. The light emitting driving circuit is operatively coupled to the active region via the xM light emitting lines and configured to cause the array of light emitting elements to emit light.

The disclosure relates generally to display technologies, and more particularly, to driving of display panel.
Display resolution is limited by the physical size of a display panel in each of the width dimension (i.e., in the row/horizontal direction) and the height dimension (i.e., in the column/vertical direction), as well as the minimum pattern size of fabricating the components on the display panel in each dimension. Depending on the ratio of subpixels to pixels, known display systems can have a very large number of source lines (a.k.a. data lines) arranged in the row direction, which can increase the manufacturing complexity and cost. For example, a wide quad high-definition (WQHD) display panel (e.g., resolution is 1440×2560) with the real-RGB subpixel arrangement (the ratio is 3), the number of the source lines may be 4320. Moreover, it became increasingly desirable to narrow the bezel surrounding the display panel, allowing for more screen area. The very large number of gate lines (a.k.a. scan lines) and the corresponding driving circuits for high resolution displays, however, limit the narrow-bezel or bezel-less designs.
The large number of source lines and/or gate lines is particularly a challenge for flexible displays. For example, flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are usually manufactured using chip-on-film (COF) package. For example, due to the limit on film pitch of COF package, multiple-layer COF package becomes necessary to accommodate the large number of source lines (e.g., 4320 for WQHD display panels), which can significantly increase the cost of flexible OLED displays.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An outer environment of the vehicle is inputted as an image. Image processing is performed to the input image, and many edge segments are extracted. The edge segments which are colinear are clustered in order to perform a matching operation. Matching is performed in a respective set of plural longer edge segments representing plural clusters in correspondence with a set of plural guide signs as standards of guide of the vehicle mapped on the image input surface, and a set of longer edge segments being most matched each other is extracted. From position and headings of the extracted longer edge segments on the image input surface, the position and heading in the outer environment are calculated. The position and heading of the vehicle are detected from these values. The position and heading of the vehicle obtained in the above-mentioned image processing and the position and heading of the vehicle measured by other techniques and are evaluated synthetically. When the guide signs are mapped on the image input surface, the forecast values of position and heading of the vehicle at the image input time are used. In this manner, the detecting accuracy of the position and heading of the vehicle is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a guiding device for a self controlled vehicle used for conveyance in fields of manufacturing and distribution. More particularly, the invention relates to a detecting device for detecting position and heading of the vehicle based on image information obtained by a TV camera in an environment such as a factory which has an artificial passage determined previously.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, an example of an unmanned vehicle is an AGV (automated guided vehicle) for conveyance in a factory. A guidance system used in this case requires construction work to embed guide lines in a floor or stretch an optical tape on the floor. Consequently, problems exist in that change of the traveling course is not easy and the maintenance management of such guidance facilities is necessary. Also since the vehicle can travel only just on the guide lines, flexibility of the traveling is low.
In order to solve these problems, a guidance system for a self controlled vehicle not requiring special facilities for the guidance has been proposed in which a mark of guidance (guide sign) is detected from an image inputted by a vehicle-carried TV camera and the vehicle is guided along the guide sign.
Such a guidance system based on information from a TV camera in the prior art is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 133183/1989. In the prior art, in order to detect a position of unmanned vehicle, edge segment information of a road side extracted from an input image of a TV camera is used. However, under actual environment, since many brightness noises are mixed in the input image, for example, due to unevenness of the traveling road surface, outer disturbance rays, illuminating conditions varying in many ways and the like, the extracted edge segment is finely broken. Consequently, it is quite difficult that only an edge of a road side or a structure being a guide sign is ideally extracted as a long segment necessary for the position detection. Also in the prior art, since an only edge of a passage side is specified as the guide sign, a problem exists in that the traveling area is limited.
In addition to this, the prior art disclosed in The Second "Image Sensing Technology Symposium in Industry" pp. 161-166 "Image Recognition of Passage in a Factory" is also known. In the prior art, a white line with specific width is detected as a guide sign from a TV camera image, and position and headings of a self controlled vehicle are determined, whereby the self controlled vehicle is guided. In this system, since the guide sign is limited to the white line with specific width, a problem exists in that flexibility in application is low.

Position and heading detecting device for self controlled vehicle


Disclosed are a color management method, an apparatus thereof and a color management computer program for executing the method that enable a user to conveniently and easily select and/or change colors desired by the user in diverse ways. The color management method includes displaying a color scheme list that is a list of color schemes for providing a standard for converting the colors that constitute an image, and if a selection manipulation of one among the color schemes that constitute the displayed color scheme list is input, storing the color scheme selected by the selection manipulation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color management method, an apparatus thereof and a color management computer program for executing the method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a color management method, an apparatus thereof and a color management computer program for executing the method that enables a user to select and/or change a color desired by the user and to store the selected/changed color so that the user can use the stored color later on.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the spread of color printers, digital cameras, personal home pages, and the like, opportunities for ordinary people to interact with color images have increased. Accordingly, the ordinary person's interest in the editing of the color image has also been increased.
As a result, color image editing programs for proving a function of enabling the ordinary person to easily edit color images have been developed.
Additionally, a color management program that generates and stores colors to be used in such a color image editing program so that the ordinary person can use the stored colors later on has been developed.
The color management program should be prepared so that an ordinary person can easily use the program, and a user interface screen provided by the program should also be designed in consideration of the ordinary person's easy use of the program.
Additionally, the color management program should satisfy the user's desire for color creation in diverse ways by providing new functions that can create colors in different ways from the existing way.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for managing the selection and storage of colors in an image editing program, and the like.

Color management method and apparatus thereof


Provided are an apparatus and method for measuring the thickness of an ink layer in a pixel and a method of controlling nozzles of an inkjet head using the apparatus and method. The apparatus includes: a substrate; a plurality of pixels disposed on the substrate and filled with ink due to a printing operation; first and second electrodes corresponding to the pixels, the first and second electrodes disposed on opposite sides of each of the pixels; and a capacitance measurement circuit electrically connected to the first and second electrodes to measure the capacitance of each of the pixels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring the thickness of an ink layer in a pixel, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for measuring the thickness of an ink layer, which is filled in a pixel due to a printing operation, in real-time, and a method of controlling respective nozzles of an inkjet head using the same apparatus and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet head is an apparatus that ejects very small ink droplets on a printing medium in a desired position via nozzles to form an image. The inkjet head has lately been applied to more various electronic devices, such as liquid crystal display devices (LCDs), organic light emitting display devices (OLEDs), and organic thin film transistors (OTFTs).
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a method of manufacturing a color filter of an LCD using an inkjet head 50.
Referring to FIG. 1, ink droplets 60 in a predetermined color are ejected via nozzles 55 of the inkjet head 50 and filled in pixels 22 disposed on a substrate 10. Thereafter, ink is dried to form a solid ink layer 65 in the pixels 22 to a predetermined thickness. A black matrix 20 is formed on the substrate 20 and defines the pixels 22. In the manufacture of the color filter, the nozzles 55 of the inkjet head 50 may have different ejection characteristics so that different amount of ink droplets 60 may be ejected through the nozzles 55. When the nozzles 55 allow different amount of ink droplets 60 to pass therethrough, ink layers 65 are formed to different thicknesses in the pixels 22 as shown in FIG. 2, thereby greatly deteriorating the color characteristics of the LCD.
In order to uniformize the thicknesses of ink layers, the same amount of ink should be ejected via all nozzles of an inkjet head during a printing operation. Accordingly, it is necessary to control waveforms of voltages applied to the nozzles of the inkjet head. Thus, various methods have been proposed to control the nozzles of the inkjet head. For example, the mass of ink droplets ejected via a nozzle may be measured using a scale, such as a load cell. Alternatively, the volume of ink droplets ejected via the nozzle may be measured using a camera. In another method, after ink droplets ejected via a nozzle are filled in a pixel and dried, the thickness of an ink layer formed in the pixel may be measured. However, a method of measuring the mass of the ink droplets using the scale results in large measurement errors and takes much time. Also, measuring the volume of the ink droplets is difficult when the ink droplets have irregular shapes. Furthermore, since a method of measuring the thickness of the ink layer filled in the pixel involves a drying process, it takes much time to measure the thickness of the ink layer.

Apparatus and method for measuring thickness of ink layer in pixel


A method for determining the mobility of fluids within earth formations surrounding a borehole. The preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes measured tube wave parameters such as acoustic slowness and attenuation as indicators of formation fluid mobility, and further modifies the results with a mudcake compensated parameter. The mudcake compensated parameter preferably includes a non-zero, finite membrane impedance contribution, and a mudcake elastic deformation contribution. By inputting values for certain mudcake parameters such as mudcake compressional acoustic velocity, shear velocity, density and impedance, the invention generates an improved quantitative estimate for tube wave derived mobility or permeability.

An important goal in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons is to determine how much oil or gas, as the case may be, can be made to flow out of a reservoir rock formation via a producing borehole, and at what rates. These crucial parameters depend fundamentally on the permeability of the formation, the existence of fractures, and the viscosity of the fluid. It would be extremely useful to be able to predict what is the permeability of a particular earth formation traversed by a borehole, without going to the extraordinary trouble and expense of some known techniques such as that of artificially injecting fluid into that formation. Such an artificial injection procedure would require that the entire borehole, other than the selected zone of interest, be sealed off from the testing fluid, and this is time consuming and obviously troublesome. Furthermore, such injection tests can be made only for selected formations at a time, and cannot produce a continuous measurement of permeability for all zones of interest traversed by the borehole.
For the above reasons there have been strong incentives within the industry to provide reliable methods for determining formation permeability using an acoustic wireline log or some other continuous measurement which can be made during the drilling process itself, or very shortly thereafter. These various techniques are well known in the industry and will not be discussed herein, with the exception of the acoustic techniques.
The idea of using an acoustic tube wave propagating within the borehole to measure formation permeability was proposed many years ago and was considered to be conceptually promising but practically problematic. The tube wave, also commonly referred to as a Stoneley wave, is a guided surface wave which travels in the direction of the borehole axis. J. E. White has explained in his book, Underground Sound, Elsevier (1983), that a low frequency tube wave in a permeable borehole can be viewed as a pulsating pressure which displaces fluid alternately into and out of the borehole wall. He has set forth, in Chapter 5 of his book, some of the basic mathematical expressions which form one representation of the relationship between formation permeability and the acoustic tube wave velocity.
Actual logging techniques have been proposed which attempt to correlate measured tube wave amplitudes to the permeability of a formation traversed by the tube wave. In "Synthetic Microseismograms: Logging in Porous Formations", Geophysics, Vol. 39, No. 1, (Feb. 1974), J. H. Rosenbaum has computed the waveforms generated by a logging tool using Biot's theory to model the fluid saturated formation. He was able to relate the amplitude of the tube wave to permeability. Rosenbaum noted in this paper that the behavior of the mudcake (typically on the borehole wall surface) is described by the surface mudcake impedance factor Z.sub.m, which is assumed to be equal to infinity in the case of a "sealed interface", and equal to zero in the case of an "open interface".
Others at Shell have reported some correlations between the acoustic energy of the tube wave, as measured by a commercially available Schlumberger acoustic tool, with measured formation permeability. This is reported in J. J. Staal and J. D. Robinson, "Permeability Profiles from Acoustic Logging", SPE Paper 6821, 52nd Annual Fall Technical Conference, Oct. 9-12, 1977, as a qualitative permeability correlation made between rock cores extracted from the borehole on one hand, and acoustic logs on the other. Although this kind of empirical correlation can be made for any one well by imposing certain "best fit" conditions, the correlation is not generally valid for other wells or other reservoirs, and therefore lacks predictive power.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,828 to Williams describes a method which attempts to determine both the permeability due to the rock matrix and the permeability due to fractures in the rock, using the ratio of tube wave amplitudes and travel times, respectively, measured at two spaced apart receivers in the borehole. Although this method also obtains results which may correlate with field data in a single well, it is believed that the method cannot consistently predict permeability in multiple wells. In fact, it is believed that none of the methods to date have been successful in quantitatively predicting permeability in boreholes.
Thus, despite the strong interest in linking acoustic waves and permeability, as shown by the above and other studies in this field, the reported eperimental results and field measurements have not heretofor yielded a clear quantitative connection which can reliably predict permeability in oil wells.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for quantitatively determining formation permeability using measured acoustic tube wave characteristics.
It is also an object of the invention to determine formation permeability with or without the making of comparisons to extracted cores.
It is additionally an object of the invention to impose alternative and more realistic boundary conditions for a mudcake layer in the borehole in the determination of formation permeability.
It is also an object of the invention to modify the conventional methods for determining permeability with a finite mudcake impedance contribution and a mudcake layer contribution due to elastic deformation of a mudcake layer having a finite thickness.

Method for determining fluid mobility characteristics of earth formations


A method for positioning excitation pulses for a linear predictive coder (LPC) operating according to the multi-pulse principle, i.e. a number of such pulses are positioned at specific time points and with specific amplitudes. The time points and the amplitudes are determined from the predictive parameters (a.sub.k) and the predictive residue signal (d.sub.k), by correlation between a speech representative signal (y) and a composed synthesized signal (y). All possible time positions for the excitation pulses within a given frame interval are provided. The possible time positions are divided into a number (n.sub.f) of phase positions and each phase position is divided into a number of phases (f). All phases are vacant for the first excitation pulse. When this pulse has been positioned, the phase determined for this pulse is denied to the following excitation pulses until all pulses in a frame have been positioned.

Linear predictive speech coders which operate according to the aforesaid multi-pulse principle are known to the art, from, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,302, which describes linear predictive coding (LPC) of speech signals, and also from U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,476 which teaches how predictive parameters and predictive residue signals can be formed in such a speech coder.
When forming an artifical speech signal by means of linear predictive coding, there is generated from the original signal a number of predictive parameters (a.sub.k) which characterize the synthesized speech signal. Thus, there can be formed with the aid of these parameters a speech signal which will not include the redundancy which is normally found in natural speech and the conversion of which is unnecessary when transmitting speech between, for instance, a mobile and a base station included in a mobile radio system. From the standpoint of conserving bandwidth, it is more appropriate to transfer solely predictive parameters instead of the original speech signal, which requires a much wider band-width. The speech signal regenerated in a receiver and constituting a synthetic speech signal can, however, be difficult to comprehend, due to a lack of agreement between the speech pattern of the original signal and the synthetic signal recreated with the aid of the prediction parameters. These deficiencies have been described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,832 (SE-A--456618) and can be alleviated to some extent by the introduction of so-called excitation pulses (multi-pulses) when forming the synthetic speech copy. In this case, the original speech input pattern is divided into frame intervals. Within each such interval there is formed a given number of pulses of varying amplitude and phase position (time position), on the one hand in dependence on the prediction parameters a.sub.k, and on the other hand in dependence on the predictive residue d.sub.k between the speech input pattern and the speech copy. Each of the pulses is permitted to influence the speech pattern copy, so that the predictive residue will be as small as possible. The excitation pulses generated have a relatively low bit-rate and can therefore be coded and transmitted in a narrow band, as can also the prediction parameters. This results in an improvement in the quality of the regenerated speech signal.
In the case of the aforesaid known methods, the excitation pulses are generated within each frame interval of the speech input pattern, by weighting the residue signal d.sub.k and by feeding-back and weighting the generated values of the excitation pulses, each in a separate predictive filter. The output signals from the two filters are then correlated. This is followed by maximization of the correlation of a number of signal elements from the correlated signal, therewith forming the parameters (amplitude and phase position) of the excitation pulses. The advantage of this multi-pulse algorithm for generating excitation pulses is that various types of sound can be generated with a small number of pulses (e.g. 8 pulses per frame interval). The pulse searching algorithm is general with respect to the positioning of pulses in the frame. It is possible to recreate non-accentuated sounds (consonants), which normally require randomly positioned pulses, and accentuated sounds (vowels), which require more collected positioning of the pulses.
One drawback with the known pulse positioning method is that the coding effected subsequent to defining the pulse positions is complex with respect to both calculation and storage. Furthermore, the method requires a large number of bits for each pulse position in the frame interval. The bits in the code words obtained from the optimal combinatory pulse-coding algorithms are also prone to bit-error. A bit-error in the code word being transmitted from transmitter to receiver can have a disastrous consequence with regard to pulse positioning when decoding the code word in the receiver.

Excitation pulse positioning method in a linear predictive speech coder


A method of manufacturing a display apparatus includes preparing a substrate including a display area and a pad area outside of the display area, forming a sacrificial layer in the pad area, forming an encapsulation layer over the display area and the pad area, forming cracks in at least a portion of the encapsulation layer by increasing a volume of the sacrificial layer or by gasifying or evaporating at least a portion of the sacrificial layer, and removing at least a portion of the encapsulation layer in the pad area. A display apparatus is manufactured according to the manufacturing method.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a method of manufacturing a display apparatus and a display apparatus manufactured using the same. For example, one or more embodiments relate to a method of manufacturing a display apparatus according to a simplified manufacturing process and a display apparatus manufactured using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a display apparatus includes a plurality of display elements, which are disposed on a substrate, and a pad, which is electrically coupled to (e.g., electrically connected to) the display elements. When various suitable electrical signals are applied to the display elements, the various suitable electrical signals are applied to the display elements through the pad.
Meanwhile, in order to protect the display elements, the display apparatus includes an encapsulation layer to at least partially cover the display elements. When the encapsulation layer is formed, the pad, to which the electrical signals are applied, needs to be exposed by the encapsulation layer. Accordingly, when the encapsulation layer is formed, a mask is used to form the encapsulation layer only (or substantially only) in a set (e.g., predetermined) area of the substrate.
However, since, in a method of manufacturing a display apparatus, the mask is used repeatedly to form the encapsulation layer and thus results in being damaged, the mask needs to be replaced with a new one periodically when the display apparatus is manufactured. Accordingly, the method of manufacturing a display apparatus has problems that manufacturing costs increase, and a process of precisely aligning the mask and the substrate relative to each other during the manufacture of the display apparatus.

Method of manufacturing display apparatus and display apparatus manufactured using the same


A virtual ground memory with low and fixed pre-charge loading is provided. First metal lines GL(n−1), GL(n), and GL(n+1) and second metal lines BL(n−1) and BL(n) are disposed in the sequence GL(n−1), BL(n−1), GL(n), BL(n) and GL(n+1). Each first metal line and the adjacent second metal line are coupled respectively to two ends of the corresponding memory cell. Word lines are used for controlling memory cells. The second metal lines BL are in high level when the memory cells which the second metal lines BL are coupled to are chosen. A first and second sense amplifier are coupled to the second metal line BL(n−1) and BL(n) respectively, and the first metal lines GL(n−1) and GL(n+1) are coupled to ground level. One of the word lines is enabled to read the corresponding memory cells. A virtual ground memory loading can be fixed by this invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to virtual ground memory and more particularly to a memory with low pre-charge loading.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional virtual ground memory 100 is shown. The conventional virtual ground memory 100 includes a number of memory cells M, a number of metal lines MBL, a number of word lines WL, and a number of select lines BO and BE. Two adjacent metal lines are coupled to two ends of the corresponding memory cell, and the word lines are used for controlling the memory cells.
When a memory cell, for example M71, is to be read, sense amplifier SA1 is coupled to the metal line MBL3 and the metal lines MBL4 is coupled to a ground level. After word line WL1 and select lines BO2 and BE2 are enabled and transistors BSO4 and BSE4 are turned on, the sense amplifier SA charges the end A of memory cell M71 to a high voltage and current I is generated to flow through memory cell M71. Since low current flows through the memory cell with high threshold voltage which stores data 0 and large current flows through the memory cell with low threshold voltage which stores data 1 when a high voltage is applied across the memory cell, the sense amplifier SA read the data stored in memory cell M71 by sensing the amount of current I.
When the word line WL1 is enabled, the memory cells in the same row that are controlled by word line WL1 are all turned on. In order to accelerate the sense amplifier SA to charge the end A of memory cell M71 to the high voltage, pre-charge units are applied to pre-charge all of the memory cells in the left side of the memory cell M71 to the high voltage. Because the amount of memory cells that should be pre-charged is quite large, it is necessary to use at least two pre-charge units PC1 and PC2 to perform pre-charge operation. The metal MBL1 coupled to pre-charge unit PC1 is regarded as a shield of the sense amplifier SA to almost isolate the memory cells in the left side of the metal line MBL1 from the sense amplifier SA. Namely, memory cells in the right side of metal line MBL3 are charged by sense amplifier SA, memory cells between the metal lines MBL2 and MBL3 are charged by sense amplifier SA and pre-charge unit PC2, and memory cells in the left side of metal line MBL1 are charged by pre-charge unit PC2 instead of sense amplifier SA. Therefore, the rate of charging the end A of memory cell M71 to the high voltage by the sense amplifier SA is increased.
However, most of the metal lines in the left side of the metal line MBL1 coupled to pre-charge PC1 are floating, that is, virtual grounded, which conduce a large effective capacitive loading. Moreover, the effective capacitive loading of the pre-charge unit PC1 varies with the position of the memory cell which is to be read. Therefore, pre-charge unit PC1 and PC2 consume extra power to perform pre-charging, and the amount of capacitive loading is also difficult to control.

Memory with low and fixed pre-charge loading


A backlight unit and a liquid crystal display using the backlight unit are disclosed. The backlight unit includes a plurality of lamps, a lower cover whose an upper portion has an opening, a lamp guide, and an optical member on the lamps. The lamps are positioned in an inside space of the lower cover. The lamp guide includes a first support unit on a surface of the inside space of the lower cover, holder units that are positioned on an upper surface of the first support unit to hold the lamps, a second support unit that is positioned on the upper surface of the first support unit to support the optical member, and a fastening unit fastening the first support unit to the lower cover. The first support unit includes a projection for increasing a reflective area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight unit and a liquid crystal display using the backlight unit, and more particularly, to a backlight unit including a lamp guide and a liquid crystal display using the backlight unit.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays have been used in notebook personal computers, office automatic equipments, audio/video equipments, etc. because of advantages such as miniaturization, thin profile, and low power consumption.
A liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal display module and a backlight unit. The backlight unit may be classified into an edge type backlight unit and a direct-under type backlight unit depending on a location of a light source.
In the edge type backlight unit, a light source is positioned at an edge of a light guide plate. While light produced by the light source is repeatedly reflected inside the light guide plate, the light is emitted to the liquid crystal display module through a main surface of the light guide plate.
In the direct-under type backlight unit, a plurality of light sources is parallelly positioned under the liquid crystal display module, a reflective plate is positioned under the light sources, and a diffuser plate is positioned on the light sources. Light produced by the light sources is emitted to the liquid crystal display module through the diffuser plate.
Because the number of light sources in the direct-under type backlight unit increases as compared with the number of light sources in the edge type backlight unit, the direct-under type backlight unit can achieve a high luminance of an image.
Examples of lamps used in the direct-under type backlight unit include a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), and a light emitting diode (LED).
As the screen size of the liquid crystal display increases, lengths of the cold cathode fluorescent lamp and the external electrode fluorescent lamp become longer in proportion to the screen size of the liquid crystal display. However, because the cold cathode fluorescent lamp and the external electrode fluorescent lamp are manufactured in a cylinder shape having a very small diameter, the hang down phenomenon of the lamps occurs because of the weight of the lamps as the lengths of the lamps lengthen.
Further, as the screen size of the liquid crystal display increases, a size of the diffuser plate, that is positioned on the lamp to uniformly diffuse light coming from the lamp on the entire surface of the liquid crystal display panel, and sizes of optical sheets, that focuses light emitted from the diffuser plate on a liquid crystal display panel, increase. Therefore, a hang down phenomenon occurs in the diffuser plate and the optical sheets.
The backlight unit emits light having the non-uniform luminance distribution and non-uniform optical characteristics to the liquid crystal display panel because of the lamps, the diffuser plate, and the optical sheets in which the hang down phenomenon partially occurs. Hence, the display quality of the liquid crystal display is reduced.
A related art backlight unit, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, includes a lamp guide positioned on a hang down portion so as to prevent the hang down phenomenon.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a related art lamp guide, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a liquid crystal display including a backlight unit including the related art lamp guide shown in FIG. 7.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the related art backlight unit includes a lower cover 10, a reflective plate 20, a lamp guide 30, a plurality of lamps 40, and an optical member 50 including a diffuser plate 51 and a plurality of optical sheets 53.
The lower cover 10 has a receptacle structure capable of receiving the plurality of lamps 40 in an inside space of the lower cover 10, and the reflective plate 20 is positioned on a surface of the inside space.
As described above, the lamps 40 are formed in a cylinder shape of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp or an external electrode fluorescent lamp to produce light. The light produced by the lamps 40 is incident on the diffuser plate 51 by the reflective plate 20.
The diffuser plate 51 includes a plurality of beads and scatters the light using the beads.
The optical sheets 53 include-one or more diffuser sheets and one or more prism sheets. The optical sheets 53 uniformly emit the light coming from the diffuser plate 51 on the entire display surface of a liquid crystal display panel 60, and focus the light on the entire display surface by changing a traveling path of the light in a direction perpendicular to the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel 60.
The lamp guide 30 is used to hold the two or more lamps and includes holder units 3 1, a first support unit 35, a second support unit 33, and a fastening unit 37.
The holder unit 31 surrounds a circular portion of the lamp 40 and has an opening into which the lamp 40 is inserted.
The lamp guide 30 includes at least one second support unit 33. The second support unit 33 has a cone shape so that an area of the second support unit 33 contacting the diffuser plate 51 is minimized.
The first support unit 35 is formed in the form of a pedestal so that the lamp guide 30 is supported in the inside space of the lower cover 10 in which the reflective plate 20 is formed. The holder units 31 and the second support unit 33 are formed on the first support unit 35. Because the two or more holder units 31 are formed on the first support unit 35 so as to hold the different lamps 40, the first support unit 35 extends in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the lamps 40.
The fastening unit 37 is inserted into a hole (not shown) passing through the lower cover 10 and the reflective plate 20 to fasten the lamp guide 30 to the lower cover 10 and the reflective plate 20.
The related art backlight unit can solve the hang-down phenomenon of the lamp 40 and the hang-down phenomenon of the optical member 50 including the diffuser plate 51 and the optical sheets 53 using the lamp guide 30.
The lamp guide 30 is formed of a reflective material capable of reflecting the light produced by the lamp 40. In case the lamp guide 30 does not reflect the light produced by the lamp 40, Mura occurs at a formation position of the lamp guide 30.
However, the lamp guide 30 is generally formed of a material whose a reflectance is smaller than a reflectance of the reflective plate 20. Therefore, in an initial drive stage of the lamp 40, the amount of light reflected by the lamp guide 30 is relatively less than the amount of light reflected by the reflective plate 20 and the amount of direct light generated in the lamp 40. Hence, Mura occurs at the formation position of the lamp guide 30.
As above, although the lamp guide is formed of the reflective material, Mura is not prevented from occurring in the initial drive stage of the lamp.

Backlight unit and liquid crystal display using the same


An interchangeable head wringer mop with telescoping handle is provided. The device includes a handle and a mounting head. Rotatably connected to the mounting head is a wringer for wringing a sponge head. A plurality of interchangeable sponge heads having different configurations is provided. Each sponge head is removably connectable with the mounting head and is operable in connection with the wringer. Also provided are a pair of living hinges about which the sponge head bends during the wringing operation. Further, an extension telescoping within the handle is provided having two fixed positions.

Wringing mops are well known in the art. Typically, wringing mops utilize a replaceable sponge head that can be thrown away when worn and replaced with a new one. The wringing mops with replaceable sponge heads that are known in the art provide limited utility because the sponge head is limited to a single configuration. Although different wringer mops may have differently configured sponge heads, the sponge head for each different mop is limited to a particular configuration to ensure that the sponge head operates with the respective mop wringer.
However, no one configuration for a mop head is flexible enough to meet the variety of cleaning tasks typically encountered in either a residential or commercial setting. Therefore, to accomplish all of the cleaning tasks, one must utilize a variety of separate cleaning devices.
The known wringing mops with replaceable heads generally have numerous separate mechanical parts used for mounting and wringing the sponge head. These various separate parts cause an increase in manufacturing costs as well as an increase in the cost of assembling the mop.

Multiple head wringer mop with telescoping handle


Systems, devices and methods are provided to support placeshifting of adaptive media streams. A home device acts as an intermediary that passes requests for segments of an adaptive stream from a remote device to a content source. The content source responds with the requested segments, which are forwarded to the remote device. A connection service may be provided to facilitate placeshifting sessions between home and remote devices.

Streaming media is commonly used to deliver television programs, movies and other digital media content over the Internet and other networks. At present, a variety of streaming audio, video and/or other media content is available to consumers from any number of diverse sources. A large amount of video-on-demand (VOD) content, for example, is now available for network streaming from many different sources. Media streams are also used to deliver other types of media content including live and pre-recorded broadcast television, so-called "Internet (or IP) television", stored media content (e.g., content stored in a remotely-located digital video recorder (DVR)), placeshifted media content and many others.
More recently, adaptive techniques have been developed to improve the performance of many media streaming applications. Typically, an adaptive media stream is encoded at different bit rates into multiple sets of "streamlets" or other smaller segment files that can be individually requested and adaptively delivered to a particular client device. As changes in processing resources, network bandwidth and/or other factors occur, the client device is able to adapt to the changes by requesting future segments that are encoded with different quality parameters (e.g., a higher or lower bit rate). Adaptive streaming is therefore relatively flexible in responding to different network conditions. A common disadvantage of adaptive streaming, however, is that content needs to be encoded multiple ways at different bit rates which typically need to be made available so that the client can mix and match segments between copies as needed. Several examples of adaptive streaming systems and techniques are described in US Patent Publication No. 2008/0195743, which is incorporated herein by reference, although other techniques could be equivalently used.
Consumers have also expressed significant interest in placeshifting of media programming from one viewing location to another. In a typical placeshifting application, a program that would ordinarily be shown on the viewer's home television is instead transported to a phone, tablet, portable computer or other device at a different location. Placeshifting can be used to provide remote access to programming stored on a viewer's personal video recorder (PVR), for example, or to shift viewing of live programs from one television set to another, or for any number of other useful purposes. Traditionally, placeshifted media streams are encoded in real time as they are transmitted to the remote device.
Substantial difficulties can arise, however, in placeshifting an adaptive media stream. Adaptive streams typically rely upon the simultaneous availability of multiple pre-encoded copies of the media program; these multiple copies can be difficult to produce in real time to support conventional placeshifting applications.
It is therefore desirable to create systems, device and methods to reliably, effectively and securely placeshift adaptive media streams between media devices. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.


Disclosed is a thermo-optic tunable attenuator, which comprises a single mode channel optical waveguide, an optical waveguide of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure coupled with the single mode channel optical waveguide, the optical waveguide including two symmetric Y-branches, and two metal heating wires for applying power to one side of each of the two symmetric Y-branches, wherein the two metal heating wires are in a facing relationship with each other, wherein a refractive index of the optical waveguide is changed in response to a power applied to any one of the two metal heating wires.

The present invention relates to an integrated optical technology; and, more particularly, to a thermo-optic tunable attenuator has a wide range of light attenuation region, a linear operating characteristic and a polarization independence characteristic for an input electrical signal, and the ability to operate at a speed of milliseconds.
In general, an optical attenuator serves to attenuate an intensity of an input optical signal and a tunable attenuator serves to control a degree that the optical signal is attenuated in an electrical and mechanical manner.
A conventional tunable attenuator includes an opto-mechanical optical attenuator, an optical attenuator using a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) and a thermo-optic optical waveguide type of optical attenuator.
The opto-mechanical optical attenuator utilizes a technique which spaces two optical fibers at a small interval from one another and mechanically moves a variable absorption filter or a shielding film over the interval, to thereby absorb or shut off a portion of incident light, or a technique which collocates two side-polished optical fibers with each other and controls an interval therebetween, to thereby adjust an intensity of light to be transmitted through. Although, however, the opto-mechanical optical attenuator may have extremely good characteristics including an optical attenuation range higher than 50 dB, a reduced insertion loss and a linearity of 0.1 dB, it suffers from a drawback that it requires numerous bulky discrete components to decrease the operational speed on a second basis.
In addition to an excellent operation characteristic of the opto-mechanical optical attenuator, the MEMS based optical attenuator also has merits including an increased operation speed of microseconds and a reduced operation power. Unfortunately, the MEMS based optical attenuator suffers from a drawback that it is difficult to integrate with another optical waveguide device.
The thermo-optic optical waveguide type of optical attenuator is implemented through the use of operation characteristics of a thermo-optic modulator or thermo-optic switch, which may be used in an integrated optical circuit. The thermo-optic tunable attenuator using silica or polymer has been published, which can precisely control an optical attenuation degree in an operation speed of milliseconds, a polarization independence and powers less than several hundreds mW.
In practice, as the opto-mechanical optical attenuator and the MEMS based optical attenuator, an optical attenuator using an asymmetric Y-branch optical switch has a digital-like operational characteristic in which the optical attenuation degree is continuously decreased with an external drive signal to reach to a saturation state, extends the optical attenuation degree over 30 dB, and increases a degree of fault tolerance to facilitate fabrication processes. For this reason, studies of the optical attenuator using the asymmetric Y-branch optical switch are actively in progress.
In FIG. 1, a schematic pictorial view of a conventional tunable attenuator using a thermo-optic device is illustrated. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional tunable attenuator includes an optical modulator having an asymmetric Y-branch waveguide 11 and a drive electrode 12 for applying a power, a main output port 13 for outputting an attenuated output from the optical modulator, a monitor port 14 for extracting a portion of the main output port 13 to monitor extracted results, and a dummy drain port 15, which is branched from the asymmetric Y-branch waveguide 11 in a curve shape, for removing a portion of input optical power. The conventional tunable attenuator has been published in the following paper: xe2x80x9cPolymeric Tunable Attenuator with an Optical Monitoring Tap for WDM Transmission Networkxe2x80x9d, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 11, No.5, p590, May 1999, Sang-shin Lee, et.al.
As mentioned above, the conventional optical attenuator including the asymmetric Y-branch waveguide 11 and the drive electrode 12 attenuates an intensity of output light beam responsive to an applied power using a mode evolution scheme and feeds back a portion of output light beam to thereby stabilize the output light beam.
However, the conventional thermo-optic tunable attenuator suffers from a drawback that since a change in optical attenuation degree for an applied power is non-linear, it causes a considerable amount of power consumption at an initial change in the optical attenuation degree, thereby adversely affecting the energy efficiency of the tunable attenuator.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a thermo-optic tunable attenuator which is capable of preventing a considerable amount of power consumption due to a non-linear change in optical attenuation degree for a power applied externally, to thereby achieve a high linearity, a wide range of optical attenuation region higher than 35 dB, an operation speed of milliseconds, a polarization independence and be configured for use in an integrated optical circuit.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a thermo-optic tunable attenuator, which comprises a single mode channel optical waveguide; an optical waveguide of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure coupled with the single mode channel optical waveguide, the optical waveguide including two symmetric Y-branches; and two metal heating wires for applying power to one side of each of the two symmetric Y-branches, wherein the two metal heating wires are in a facing relationship with each other, wherein a refractive index of the optical waveguide is changed in response to a power applied to any one of the two metal heating wires.
Preferably, the thermo-optic tunable attenuator further comprises a first metal electrode for connecting the two metal heating wires in a series fashion; and a pair of second metal electrodes, each of which being connected to a corresponding one in the metal heating wires, for applying the power to the metal heating wires.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A vehicle air conditioning system is capable of learning preferences for a plurality of passengers, altering control characteristics of air conditioning means based on the results of learning, and automatically controlling the system. The system is capable of adjusting a temperature separately and independently for the left and right sides of a passenger compartment, and stores a temperature setting map of preferences of respective passengers for the Dr side and Pa side. Temperature set points are used for calculating blowing temperatures and determining opening degrees of air mix dampers. If a set point temperature is changed by a manual setting, the temperature-setting map is altered and restored by learning such change, and thus the temperature-setting map can be updated to reflect preferences of each passenger for each of the Dr side and Pa side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioning system capable of automatic control to reflect the preferences of passengers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle air conditioning systems are conventionally known that are designed to learn the preferences of passengers, store the results of learning, and use the stored data as control characteristics for future air conditioning control (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-122316).
However, the air-conditioner as disclosed in the above-mentioned patent publication is only capable of learning preferences of a particular passenger such as a driver. Since different passengers have different preferences for air conditioning states, it is desirable that an air conditioning system be capable of learning, even when multiple passengers are on board, respective preferences of the passengers and be capable of performing automatic control by changing control characteristics of air conditioning means based on the results of its learning.