A test circuit comprises a delay circuit 11 with controllable delay, a phase comparator circuit 12 for comparing the phases between the clock signal S0 and a delay clock signal S1 delayed from the clock signal S0 by the delay circuit 11, a meas counter 13 for counting the number of outputs of the prescribed comparison result from the phase comparator circuit 12, a signal switching circuit 14 for switching an input signal to the delay circuit 11 from the clock signal S0 to a delay signal satisfying an oscillation condition where the delay signal is received from the delay circuit 11 and developing a ring oscillator, and a frequency measuring circuit 15 for measuring an oscillation frequency when the ring oscillator is developed, the delay circuit 11 includes a variable delay circuit 17 with variable delay units connected to control the delay in each variable delay units independently.

1. Field of the Technology
The present technology relates to a test circuit for evaluating timing accuracy of a clock signal generated by a PLL circuit or the like, and particularly to a built-in type test circuit for examining the effect of jitter in a clock signal at high precision. The present invention also relates to a clock generating circuit such as a PLL circuit and an image sensor equipped with the test circuit, as well as to a delay circuit assembled in the test circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of high-speed image processing technologies, the demand has been increased for transferring data at high speed with the use of a highly accurate clock signal which carries less jitter. For example, the mobile telephone technology requires devices for exchanging image data at a rate of 400 Mbps. On the other hand, PLL (phase locked loop) circuits which generate clock signals for high-speed data communication are widely known for multiplying the reference clock to generate high-speed clock signals. As the clock signal generated in such a PLL circuit often carries jitters (fluctuations of the signal waveform), its timing for high-speed communication largely depends on the accuracy of timing actions in the PLL circuit.
It is hence necessary for guaranteeing the timing of the high-speed data communication to test the timing actions in the PLL circuit at an accuracy level of 100 ps or shorter. In common, the accuracy of the timing actions for jitters in the PLL circuit is measured with the use of an external measuring means such as an analog LSI tester or any other high-performance tester. Such an external measuring means is however too low in the measuring accuracy to have a result of the test at a rate of 100 ps or shorter. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-121505 (referred to as Citation 1 hereinafter), a test circuit and a test method are proposed for examining the effect of jitter in a PLL circuit at higher precision.
The test circuit disclosed in Citation 1 includes, as illustrated in FIG. 8, a delay circuit for producing variable delays (constituted from base delay and adjustable delay), whereby the effect of jitter just after a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) in the PLL circuit can be measured from a difference of the timing between the output signal of the VCO and a delay signal which has been delayed by one cycle from the output signal in the delay circuit. In addition, the effect of jitter in a duration from the rise to the fall or from the fall to the rise of the output signal of the VCO can be measured from a difference of the timing between the output signal of the VCO and a delay signal which has been delayed by a half the cycle from the output signal. Moreover, the duty ratio of the output signal of the VCO can be calculated from the measurement of jitter with the use of the same circuitry arrangement.
While the test circuit and the test method disclosed in Citation 1 are capable of examining the effect of jitter in a PLL circuit at higher precision, their drawback is that the delay of the delay circuit (the base delay and the adjustable delay) has to be adjusted at higher accuracy for guaranteeing the accuracy of the measurement of jitter in the PLL circuit. Citation 1 however fails to clarify a specific circuitry arrangement for precisely adjusting and determining the delay of the delay circuit.
In general, the PLL circuit is accompanied with a logic circuit and assembled together in one chip. When the delay circuit in the test circuit is implemented by the logic circuit, it can also favorably be assembled in the chip.
FIG. 10 illustrates a circuitry arrangement of the logic circuit which acts as the delay circuit. The circuit shown in FIG. 10 is a variable delay circuit 50 as a part of the delay circuit, in which four delay elements 51, each element composed of two inverter circuits, are connected in series so that their four output signals are received and selectively distributed by a selector 52. The delay circuit hence includes two or more (for example sixteen) of the variable delay circuits 50 connected in series for forming a variable delay circuitry arrangement. Switching a selection of the output signals of the delay elements 51 along the signal path at the selector 52 by a control signal, a desired length of the delay from the input to the output of the variable delay circuit 50 can be determined.
However, this causes the delay from the input to the output of the variable delay circuit 50 to contain a delay component derived from the selector 52 and the extension of the signal path in the variable delay circuit 50 in addition to the delay determined by the delay elements 51 connected in series along the signal path. More particularly, when the selector 52 is switched from one port to another, the extension of the signal path for the output signals of the delay elements 51 and the signal path in the selector 52 are varied. Accordingly, the delay component derived from the selector 52 and the extension of the signal path in the variable delay circuit 50 shall possibly depend on the selecting action of the selector 52. In particular, since the examining of the timing actions in the PLL circuit for high-speed data communications is conducted at a rate of 100 ps or shorter, its delay device needs to be controlled at the resolution of 20 ps or shorter and thus permits no significant variations in the delay along the signal path and in the selector 52.
The performance of the test circuit and the test method disclosed in Citation 1 is based on the following factors; the resolution in the variable delay circuit 50 determines the test resolution, the relationship between the setting of delay to the variable delay circuit 50 and the actual delay is rather monotonous or the delay is simply increased or decreased in proportion to the setting, and the duty ratio of oscillation cycle of a ring oscillator (between high level and low level) at the actual delay measurement is 50% (1:1) or the delay in a rise signal and the delay in a fall signal received by the delay circuit are equal to each other. However, the conventional delay circuit implemented by the logic circuit may have three different disadvantages; (1) lower resolution, (2) non-monotony, and (3) duty error (variations from 50% in the duty rate). The three disadvantages will be explained in more detail.
(1) The lower resolution results from the fact that the resolution of the delay in the variable delay circuit 50 is based on the gate delay determined by the two inverter circuits of the delay element 51. Also, the gate delay-based circuitry arrangement shown in FIG. 10 has a design error derived from variations in the delay along the signal path or across the selector 52 and the delay due to discrepancy in the direction of signal transmission between the delay element 51 and the selector 52. This will disturb the improvement of the circuitry design for minimizing the variations and increasing the resolution. Moreover, since test accuracy or resolution is governed by the gate delay of the two inverter circuits, it is impossible to improve the resolution so as to be shorter than that of the gate delay of the inverter circuits.
(2) When the non-monotony is involved where the actual delay fails to change linearly or monotonously in proportion to the setting of the delay, it may produce a measurement error. The importance of the monotony will now be described referring to FIGS. 11 to 13.
The action of analyzing jitters with the test circuit and test method disclosed in Citation 1 will be explained in brief referring to FIG. 11. It is assumed that the monotony is guaranteed while FIG. 11 illustrates the setting of the delay along the horizontal axis which can be replaced by an actual delay. As the setting of the delay in the delay circuit is varied in steps, the timing of the rise of the output signal from the PLL circuit and the timing of the rise of a delay signal delayed one cycle from the output signal by the delay circuit are compared with each other by a phase comparator. For example, a result of the comparison when the timing of the rise of the output signal from the PLL circuit is later than the timing of the rise of the delay signal is counted by a meas counter to assign the setting of the delay with a count number. This action is schematically illustrated in FIG. 11. The point A represents the maximum of the setting of the delay when the timing of the rise of the output signal from the PLL circuit is earlier than the timing of the rise of a 100% delay signal regardless of the effect of jitter as is equal to the minimum Tmin of the delay of one cycle when a jitter is involved. The point C represents the minimum of the setting of the delay when the timing of the rise of the output signal from the PLL circuit is later than the timing of the rise of a 100% delay signal regardless of the effect of jitter as is equal to the maximum Tmax of the delay of one cycle when a jitter is involved. The point B between the two points A and C represents a state when the timing of the rise of the output signal from the PLL circuit is advanced or delayed from the timing of the rise of the delay signal because of the effect of jitter. Accordingly, the size of a jitter is calculated from a difference Tmax−Tmin of the delay between Tmin at the point A where the count is zero and Tmax at the point C where the count is 100%.
It is now necessary to identify the two points A and C in the two specific factors, the setting of the delay and the count. More specifically, as is explained referring to FIG. 12 where the points where the count is zero are three (A1, A2, and A3), the actual delay increases and shifts monotonously from A1 to A2, A3, B1, . . . in proportion to the elongation of the setting of the delay (shifted towards the lower in the drawing). When the actual delay arrives at the fourth point B1, the count exceeds zero and hence the point A3 prior to the point B1 is designated as the representative point A. Further, as the setting of the delay is elongated gradually, the actual delay increases monotonously and shifts from B1 to B4, B5, C1, C2, C3, and so on. From the point B1 to the point B5, the counter exceeds zero and remains lower than 100%. When the actual delay shifts from B5 to C1, the count reaches 100% and the point C1 is designated as the representative point C. Then, the jitter can be calculated from a difference between the point A3 and the point C1. Alternatively, the setting of the delay may gradually be shortened rather than elongated.
However, when the monotonous relationship between the setting of the delay and the actual delay is lost as shown in FIG. 13, both the points A and C shown in FIG. 11 may hardly be identified by a combination of the setting of the delay and the count. As shown in FIG. 13, the monotonous relationship is held from the point A1 to the point B4 but not from the point C1 to the point C4. As the setting of the delay has gradually been elongated, the count becomes 100% at the point C4. Accordingly, the point C4 may be designated as the representative point C which is duly at the point C1. This will overestimate the effect of jitter. As clarified, the algorithm for the analyzing action is fractured when the monotonous relationship is lost between the setting of the delay and the actual delay and will thus fail to proceed the correct measurement.
(3) The duty error will increase when a difference of the delay between the rise signal and the fall signal in the delay circuit is great. It is needed for measuring the effect of jitter, as shown in FIG. 11, to calculate the actual delays from the settings of the delay at the points A and C. More particularly, the oscillation cycle T in the delay circuit acting as a ring oscillator is first calculated and used for determining a length of the desired delay. Since the ring oscillator is constructed by the variable delay circuit and the single inverter as shown in FIG. 14, the duration Th at the high level of the voltage waveform of the signal at the output port OUT of the variable delay circuit represents the delay T2 in the fall of the input signal at the input port IN because the single inverter inverts the signal level. Also, the duration Tl at the low level of the voltage waveform of the signal at the output port OUT of the variable delay circuit represents the delay T1 in the rise of the input signal at the input port IN. It is hence found that the oscillation cycle T is equal to a sum (T1+T2) of the delay T1 in the rise signal and the delay T2 in the fall signal. More particularly, if the delay circuit has non-symmetrical relationship during the signal transition, the duty ratio in the ring oscillator may hold not 1:1 or turn to T1≠T2. In brief, the delay T1 or T2 will not straightforwardly be determined from the oscillation cycle T. However, the actual delay from the setting of the delay at each of the points A and C has to be either T1 or T2. Assuming that T1=T2 is given for convenience, the delay T1 or T2 is then calculated as ½ the oscillation cycle T in the ring oscillator. As the result, the difference of the delay between the rise signal and the fall signal in the delay circuit will create an error of |T1−T2|/2 between the actual delays at the two points A and C.

Test circuit, delay circuit, clock generating circuit, and image sensor


An exercise sensing method, an exercise sensing apparatus and an exercise sensing system are provided. The exercise sensing system includes a computing device, a storage device and at least one biophysical quantity sensor disposed on at least one muscle portion of a user. In the method, a current muscle strength of the muscle portion when the user performs an exercise is monitored by the biophysical quantity sensor. An exercise history of the user is accessed to obtain a muscle strength reference value of the muscle portion when the user previously performed the exercise. The current muscle strength is compared with the muscle strength reference value so as to adjust an exercise intensity of the exercise.

Nowadays, exercise is increasingly popular, and it is common for people to take fitness or weight training in health clubs or gyms. However, unless there is onsite coaching, people generally do exercise without professional exercise planning, and they may not be able to adjust the exercise menu based on the past record and the current physical state to improve the exercise performance. In addition, as people switch between different types of training machines, they may not know how to choose the machine and the training cycles to connect with the previous exercise.
If the exercise intensity of the chosen machine and training cycles is too low, the exercise may not bring the ideal result. However, if the exercise intensity is too high, it may overwork the muscle, which not only fails to increase muscle strength but also causes injuries. If the exercise is too intense, it may result in an overly high heart rate and increase the heart load.

Exercise sensing method, apparatus and system

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An electronic vapor provision system includes a vaporizer for vaporizing liquid for inhalation by a user of the electronic vapor provision system; a power supply for supplying power to the vaporizer to vaporize the liquid in response to a user activation of the device; and a control unit configured to estimate a user's expected activation duration and cause power to be supplied to the vaporizer for a period of time shorter than a user's activation duration.

Electronic aerosol provision systems such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) generally contain a reservoir of a source liquid containing a formulation, typically including nicotine, from which an aerosol is generated, e.g. through heat vaporization. An aerosol source for an aerosol provision system may thus comprise a heater having a heating element arranged to receive source liquid from the reservoir, for example through wicking/capillary action. While a user inhales on the device, electrical power is supplied to the heating element to vaporize source liquid in the vicinity of the heating element to generate an aerosol for inhalation by the user. Such devices are usually provided with one or more air inlet holes located away from a mouthpiece end of the system. When a user sucks on a mouthpiece connected to the mouthpiece end of the system, air is drawn in through the inlet holes and past the aerosol source. There is a flow path connecting between the aerosol source and an opening in the mouthpiece so that air drawn past the aerosol source continues along the flow path to the mouthpiece opening, carrying some of the aerosol from the aerosol source with it. The aerosol-carrying air exits the aerosol provision system through the mouthpiece opening for inhalation by the user.
Usually an electric current is supplied to the heater when a user is drawing/puffing on the device. Typically, the electric current is supplied to the heater, e.g. resistance heating element, in response to either the activation of an airflow sensor along the flow path as the user inhales/draw/puffs or in response to the activation of a button by the user. The heat generated by the heating element is used to vaporize a formulation. The released vapor mixes with air drawn through the device by the puffing consumer and forms an aerosol. When the user has finished the puff (drop of air flow/drop of pressure) the flow or pressure sensor deactivates the electric heater by cutting off the electric current. At that point of time the heater is still at an elevated temperature capable of vaporizing a certain portion of liquid. The heat for this continued vaporization originates from the heat capacity of the heater itself. Subsequently, the heater cools down. When the temperature of the heater falls below the boiling point of the higher volatile formulation components (e.g. water, propylene glycol), the vaporization process stalls. The vapor released during the continued vaporization phase after deactivation is not delivered to the consumer since there is no air flow through the device anymore. Instead the vapor condenses on internal walls of the device causing potential problems (e.g. clogging). The evaporation heat released by the heater during the continued vaporization phase can also be considered as an energy loss. The energy is lost as condensation heat which in turn is heating up structural components of the device. This issue is exacerbated in devices with larger heater elements.
Various approaches are described which seek to help address some of these issues.


A semiconductor device includes: a drift region of a first conductive type including a contact section and extension sections extending along the main surface of a substrate; column regions of a second conductive type which alternate with the extension sections in a perpendicular direction to the extension direction of the extension sections and each includes an end connecting to the contact section; a well region of a second conductive type which connects to the other end of each column region and tips of the extension sections; and electric field relaxing electrodes which are provided above at least some of residual pn junctions with an insulating film interposed therebetween. Herein, the residual pn junctions are pn junctions other than voltage holding pn junctions formed in interfaces between the extension sections and the column regions.

In order to implement high breakdown voltage and low on-resistance, a semiconductor device of a super-junction (SJ) structure has been developed, in which n-type semiconductor regions and p-type semiconductor regions are alternately arranged to form pn junctions periodically (see Patent Literature 1). In such a semiconductor device of the SJ structure, main current flows through a drift region with the concentration of n-type impurities increased, thus implementing low on-resistance. On the other hand, in reverse bias, the drift region is depleted due to depletion layers spreading from pn junctions, ensuring high breakdown voltage.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


A method of connecting an aluminum part with a steel part using a friction welding technique. The aluminum part is heat treated such as T6 treatment to raise its hardness. After that, the aluminum part is friction welded to the steel part. The steel part may also be heat treated to lower its hardness instead of or in addition to hardening of the aluminum part. A third part which has an intermediate hardness may be placed between the aluminum part and the steel part, and the aluminum part may be coupled with the steel part via the third part.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of connecting a carbon steel shaft with an aluminum member and a product made by this method. The method of the invention is applicable, for example, to productions of rotors for a screw compressor and for a Roots blower.
2. Background Art
Various screw compressors are know in the art. A screw compressor used as a supercharger for an automobile (e.g., a Lysholm compressor) includes a first screw-shaped male rotor, a second screw-shaped female rotor engaged with the first rotor and a casing for housing the first and second rotors in a way that the first and second rotors can rotate in opposite directions. The screw compressor sucks an external air from an opening formed at one end of its casing, the sucked air is gradually compressed by the first and second rotors inside the casing in an axial direction of the casing, and the compressed air is discharged from another opening formed at the opposite end of the casing. Each rotor has its own shafts which outwardly extend from ends of the rotor, and the shafts are supported by bearings or the like. The rotor rotates as its shafts are rotated.
One example of such a male or female rotor of the screw compressor is illustrated in FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings. A rotor 38 has a shaft 42 and a profile portion 40 fitted over the shaft 42. The profile portion 40 has threads or ridges 48 on its outer periphery. The profile portion 40 is made from an aluminum alloy and the shaft 42 is made from carbon steel. Conventionally, the profile portion 40 is shrinkage-fitted over the shaft 42 or the profile portion 40 is molded over the shaft 42 by an insert molding technique.
However, the shrinkage fitting technique requires a certain strength on the profile portion 40. Therefore, an inexpensive aluminum alloy cannot be used as the profile portion 40. In addition, a through hole 50 must be drilled in the profile portion 40 for insertion of the shaft 42. This process raises a manufacturing cost. Furthermore, the rotor 38 is relatively heavy since its major portion is constituted by the steel shaft 44.
If the insert molding process is employed to prepare a shaft-profile combined element, a linear expansion coefficient of a center portion 44 of the shaft 42 which is positioned in the aluminum profile 40 should conform with that of the aluminum member 40 whereas a linear expansion coefficient of ends 46 of the shaft 42 on which steel parts such as a bearing and a gear are mounted should conform with that of the steel member. In short, the center portion 44 and ends 46 of the shaft 42 should be made from different materials. Furthermore, the rotor 38 is relatively heavy since it is mostly constituted by the steel shaft 44.

Method of connecting steel part with aluminum part and product made by the same

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.


Provided is a thermal transfer sheet capable of repressing residue that accumulates before insertion of a heating element of the thermal head. In the thermal transfer sheet, a heat-resistant lubricating layer is formed on a surface of the substrate, wherein the heat-resistant lubricating layer includes one or more of layers which include a back face layer, the back face layer is arranged at a position farthest from the substrate, at least one layer which composes the heat-resistant lubricating layer includes a binder resin and organic minute particles which each has a polygonal shape, and a portion of surfaces of the organic minute particles protrude from a surface of the back layer.

Currently, sublimation type thermal transfer recording method is known, in which a thermal transfer sheet comprising a colorant layer provided on one side of a substrate such as polyester film, the color layer comprising sublimation type dyes supported by a suitable binder is superposed on an image-receiving article, then another side of the substrate is allowed to be in contact with a thermal head so as to perform heat treatment by the thermal head, and thereby the sublimation type dyes are transferred to the image-receiving article. According to the sublimation type thermal transfer recording method, since it is possible to control the transferring amount of the sublimation type dye dot unit by dot unit with varying the amount of energy applied to the thermal transfer sheet, it is possible to perform a density gradation. Therefore, this method can provide a high quality image which is very vivid, and excels in the transparency, and the color reproducibility and the gradient of halftones, and which is comparable to full-color photograph image.
Incidentally, with respect to the thermal transfer sheet, when the printing is performed by contacting directly the thermal head directly to the substrate, a probable case that a sticking is caused by a frictional force generated between the substrate and the thermal head will arise, and this will result in printing failure. Further, there is a possibility that the substrate is fused to the thermal head by the heat during printing, and this fusion will prevent the travel of the thermal transfer sheet. As results, not only the sticking, but also the fracture of the sheet may arise in extreme cases. Accordingly, in the field of thermal transfer sheet, a backing layer which is provided on the other surface of the substrate for the purpose of improving the thermal resistance and giving the driving stability by imparting lubricity is usually adopted.
However, with respect to the backing layer for the purpose of driving stability, a problem that the residue derived from the components of the backing layer is accumulated around the heating element of the thermal head during the thermal transfer is inherent. If the residue is attached to the thermal head, there is a probably case that the heat from the thermal head will be not transmitted sufficiently to the thermal transfer sheet, and thus the formation of high-quality image can not be attained, and there is also a case that printing flaws due to the residue that has accumulated occurs. Further, in a printing condition where a concentrated solid printing portion and a gradation pattern portion of halftone are adjacent to each other among many printing conditions, when the heating energy applied to the thermal head is rapidly changed from the high level to the low level, a problem which seems to be the influence of residue that has been accumulated at the contact portion between the thermal head and the back face side of the thermal transfer sheet, and in which a dirt tailing (inconsistencies in density) arises in the gradation pattern portion of the halftone, will arise. Therefore, in the field of thermal transfer sheet, to prevent the residue of the backing layer attaching to the thermal head, or to prevent the attached residue accumulating to the thermal head, has become an important subject.
Under such a circumstance, for instance, in Patent Literature 1, a thermal transfer sheet which is provided with a back face layer containing an organic filler is disclosed. According to the thermal transfer sheet disclosed in the Patent Literature 1, there is no adhesion of residue to the thermal head, and it does not cause faulty transfer of the transcriptive protective layer. Further, in addition to this literature, various thermal transfer sheets each back face layer of which contains minute particles for removing the residue attached to the thermal head have also been proposed.


A bracket fixing hole that is configured to insert a screw part of a bracket fixing screw that is configured to mount the bracket to a bracket mounting part, a clamp hole that is configured to mount a cable clamp, and at least two notches that are configured to position the bracket to the at least two convex parts of the bracket mounting part are formed to a bracket. The bracket fixing hole and the clamp hole are faced on the opposed sides in such a manner that a first line segment that connects parts of the two notches is disposed between the holes. A second line segment that connects a center of the bracket fixing hole and a center of the clamp hole and the first line segment generally bisect each other at right angles. A gravity center is disposed on the side of the bracket fixing hole to the first line segment.

The present invention generally relates to a bracket that can be attached to a chassis of an electronic device. More specifically for instance, the present invention relates to a bracket that are configured to be able to attach a cable clamp that holds a wire and an electronic device.
In the past, a wire fixture has been used to fix a wire in an electronic device. For instance, a wire fixture is known in which a pair of flanges and a concave type wire press part are included and a screw hole is perforated in at least one flange and the concave type wire press part (see Literature 1). For this wire fixture, a wire can be fixed and an electronic part can be fixed.    Literature 1: Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3023349


Provided is a hybrid construction machine together with a method for controlling that construction machine in a manner ensuring the operability of its combined operations regardless of fluctuations in the load on its work machine.

Most construction machines conventionally have had the engine driving a hydraulic pump that delivers pressure to rotate a hydraulic motor thereby to drive a swing structure serving as an inertial body. In recent years, there have been proposed hybrid construction machines having an engine-driven generator motor capable of generating electric power, an electric storage device such as a capacitor and battery, and an electric motor for driving a swing structure when supplied with electric energy from the electric storage device, whereby fuel economy is improved, noise level is lowered, and the amount of exhaust fumes is reduced (e.g., refer to Patent Literature 1).
Patent Literature 1 discloses a construction machine furnished with control means configured to connect a capacitor and a battery in parallel with the feeders of a swing structure drive electric motor and a generator motor in such a manner that the feeders are supplied with electricity first from the capacitor and then from the generator motor. The construction machine described in this literature allows its capacitor quickly to collect power regenerated from swing braking, thus aiming to improve energy efficiency and reduce the engine size.
The construction machines having the swing structure such as a hydraulic excavator frequently perform combined operations such as a swing boom raising operation in which the boom is raised while the swing structure is being swung. The shift in weight of the bucket as the load on the boom during the combined swing boom raising operation changes the balance between the swing speed of the swing structure and the boom raising speed changes, which can lower the operability for the operator. To reduce such variations in the balance between the swing speed of the swing structure and the boom raising speed, there has been proposed a hydraulic control system for construction machines, the system controlling the capacity of the swing electric motor in such a manner as to distribute engine power appropriately between the swing structure and the boom (e.g., refer to Patent Literature 2).

Hybrid construction machine and method for controlling the same

Abstract: The hybrid construction machine has: a swing structure; a work machine attached to the swing structure; an engine mounted on the swing structure; a first electric motor driven by the engine, the motor being capable of generating power; a hydraulic pump driven by the engine and the first electric motor; a second electric motor for driving the swing structure; and a plurality of electric storage devices, wherein the hybrid construction machine further includes a first control unit which, in a combined operation involving the work machine and the swing structure, drives and controls the second electric motor by use of the electric power supplied from at least one electric storage device selected from the storage devices and from another electric storage device offering a higher output level and a lower stored energy level per unit weight than the selected at least one electric storage device, and drives and controls the hydraulic pump by use of the engine.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.


A method and system for determining access permissions to personalized clusters of multimedia content elements are provided. The method includes receiving a permission index designating at least the content description of at least one personalized cluster and an authentication factor; analyzing the content description; checking if there is at least one personalized cluster that matches the analyzed content description; and generating privacy metadata for each matching personalized cluster, wherein the privacy metadata includes at least the authentication factor associated with the respective content description matching the personalized cluster, wherein the generate privacy metadata determines access permission to the matching personalized cluster.

As the Internet continues to grow exponentially in size and content, the task of finding relevant and appropriate information has become increasingly complex. Further, the amount of data gathered, created, downloaded, and accessed by user devices (for example, photos saved in a smartphone) have similarly grown exponentially. Organized information can be browsed or searched more quickly than unorganized information. As a result, effective organization of content allowing for subsequent retrieval is becoming increasingly important.
Search engines are often used to search for information, either locally or over the World Wide Web. Many search engines receive queries from users and use such queries to find and return relevant content. The search queries may be in the form of, for example, textual queries, images, audio queries, etc.
Search engines often face challenges when searching for multimedia content (e.g., images, audio, videos, etc.). In particular, existing solutions for searching for multimedia content are typically based on metadata of multimedia content elements. Such metadata may be associated with a multimedia content element and may include parameters such as, for example, size, type, name, short description, tags describing articles or subject matter of the multimedia content element, and the like. A tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to data (e.g., multimedia content elements). The name, tags, and short description are typically manually provided by, e.g., the creator of the multimedia content element (for example, a user who captured the image using his smart phone), a person storing the multimedia content element in a storage, and the like.
Tagging has gained widespread popularity in part due to the growth of social networking, photograph sharing, and bookmarking of websites. Some websites allow users to create and manage tags that categorize content using simple keywords. The users of such sites manually add and define descriptions used for tags. Some of these websites only allow tagging of specific portions of multimedia content elements (e.g., portions of images showing people). Thus, the tags assigned to a multimedia content may not fully capture the contents shown therein.
Further, because at least some of the metadata of a multimedia content element is typically provided manually by a user, such metadata may not accurately describe the multimedia content element or facets thereof. As examples, the metadata may be misspelled, provided with respect to a different image than intended, vague or otherwise fail to identify one or more aspects of the multimedia content, and the like. As an example, a user may provide a file name "weekend fun" for an image of a cat, which does not accurately indicate the contents (e.g., the cat) shown in the image. Thus, a query for the term "cat" would not return the "weekend fun" image.
Additionally, different users may utilize different tags to refer to the same subject or topic, thereby resulting in some multimedia content elements related to a particular subject having one tag and other multimedia content elements related to the subject having a different tag. For example, one user may tag images of trees with the term "plants," while another user tags images of trees with the term "trees." Thus, a query based on either the tag "plants" or the tag "trees" will only return results including one of the images despite both images being relevant to the query.
Tags may also be used to cluster multimedia content elements. For example, albums can be created based on tags assigned to pictures. However, due to the nature of such tags as discussed above, the identification of such albums may not be accurate.
Due to a need for delivering relevant content to users, solutions for identifying users' preferences have also been developed. Some existing solutions actively require an input from the users to specify their interests. However, profiles generated for users based on their inputs may be inaccurate as the users tend to provide information related to only their current interests, or only partial information due to privacy concerns. For example, users creating an account on Facebook® often provide only the mandatory information required for the creation of an account. Other existing solutions for identifying users' preferences track user activities online. However, such solutions may also result in inaccurate information, particularly when users search for information that may not actually be of particular interest.
User preferences are often utilized to provide relevant multimedia content to users. For example, known user preferences may be utilized by Facebook® to curate content to show up in a user's "feed." However, as noted above, user preferences may be unknown, incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate. Further, relevant multimedia content may be challenging to accurately identify. Specifically, some existing solutions for identifying relevant multimedia content element rely on analyzing or otherwise matching to metadata associated with the multimedia content to determine whether the content is relevant. However, as noted above, such metadata may be inaccurate or incomplete, thereby leading to failure to identify appropriate content.
Another deficiency related to the usage of metadata and/or tags relates to privacy issues. Specifically, access permissions (e.g., view or share) to a particular multimedia content element are typically based on a tag assigned to such an element. For example, a user of Facebook® can block sharing of pictures that are being tagged. However, the user cannot block the sharing or viewing of pictures that he or she appears in if the user was not tagged. Further, pictures stored locally in a smartphone can typically be viewed by anyone having access to device. Thus, such deficiencies jeopardize the privacy of user.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution that would overcome the deficiencies of the prior art.

System and methods for determining access permissions on personalized clusters of multimedia content elements


Organizational system for forming customized compartments for compact spaces. A plastic type sheet has pre-perforations formed thereon, for allowing different sized walls and/or floors to be separated therefrom. The sheet can be a thin plastic having side indentations along its edges. Corner connectors can be originally supplied where individual connectors each have four prong prongs/tabs of flat triangular shapes arranged approximately ninety degrees from one another in a cross-shape. Walls/floors can be attached to one another by inserting the prongs/tabs into the side indentations of other walls/floors. The prongs/tabs can separated from the others depending on whether an installer wishes to use a connector to attach two walls/floors together, three walls/floors together or four walls/floors together. When the system is used to make divider walls, other portions can be attached to make a floor for the walls. When the system is used to make divider shelves, other portions can be attached thereon to make a rear wall for the shelves. Another embodiment uses corrugated plastic sheet of pre-perforated sections and the prongs/tabs being cylindrical and/or as appendages with narrow tips. The system can make customized compartments for drawers, under-the-counter spaces, shelves, storage boxes/containers for clothing, tools, various accessories, and the like, having various heights, lengths, widths and sizes.

This invention relates to an organizational system that can be utilized in compact spaces, which includes but is not limited to drawers, under-the-counter spaces, shelves, storage boxes/containers for clothing, tools, various accessories, and the like. The system consists of pre-perforated sheets in which divider wall and/or floor sections can be measured and separated according to the user""s needs, and the individual wall/floor sections can be connected to one another by inserting prongs/connectors into indentations/sides of the wall/floor sections, and where divider walls can have a floor, and where different floor-shelves can have a backing wall.
Organizers having fixed compartments have been used for many years. However, the fixed molded compartment organizers limit the size of the compartments to make them unusable for all items that may be stored therein. Furthermore, the fixed size organizers predominately used for drawers can be either too small for large drawers or too big for fitting into small drawers.
Various types of adjustable organizers predominantly designed for drawers have been proposed over the years. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,261,464 to Maitland; 5,242,223 to Koves; 5,289,941 to Blankenburg et al.; 5,810,187 to Woodring; 5,853,239 to Laib et al.; and 6,073,794 to Bidot. However, these devices generally require multiple pieces that must be separately formed resulting in expensive manufacturing costs. Also, the more pieces required the greater the chance one or more pieces may be lost resulting in incomplete organizers. Additionally, many of these devices require thick parts to connect together that would reduce the space for storage within the drawers. Still furthermore, these devices generally require walls having one height, and would not be versatile for drawers of narrow depths and large depths.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide an organizational system for compact spaces that use few pieces to construct.
The second object of this invention is to provide an organizational system for compact spaces that are easy to assemble.
The third object of this invention is to provide an organizational system for compact spaces that are inexpensive to manufacturer.
The fourth object of this invention is to provide an organizational system for compact spaces that can have different wall heights and lengths.
The fifth object of this invention is to provide an organizational system for compact spaces that can be customized to fit any compact space, which includes but is not limited to drawers, under-the-counter spaces, storage boxes/containers for clothing, tools, various accessories, and other compact spaces, and the like.
The sixth object of this invention is to provide an organizational system for compact spaces that can create customized compartments.
The seventh objective of this invention is to provide the option of including a bottom/floor to individualized compartments within the organizational system.
The eighth objective of this invention is to provide the option of including a backing wall to individualized shelf compartments within the organizational system.
A preferred embodiment of the organizer for compact spaces include a thin plastic type sheet being pre-perforated so that individual pieces can be separated therefrom. An installer breaks off various desired wall sections of variable heights and lengths depending on the size of the drawer and the organizational compartments that are desired.
A row of individual connectors can also be provided where the connectors can be detached from one another by having pre-perforated edges between each of the connectors. Each of the connectors has prongs/tabs that are inserted into side indentations of the wall sections to create dividers that can be inserted into drawers. Originally, each of the connectors can have four prongs/tabs arranged perpendicular to one another. The installer can also detach(separate and break off) unneeded prongs/tabs when attaching two walls or three walls together as compared to attaching four walls together.
The plastic type sheet can have flat faces on both sides and side indentations running there-through. Another type of sheet can be corrugated type plastic having flat faces and corrugated spaces running through similar to that found in corrugated cardboard.
The connectors can have various types of prongs/tabs such as flat faced triangular shapes, cylindrical shapes and the like, where the prongs/tabs can be mateably inserted into side spaces on the wall sections to form tight fits connections. The prongs/tabs can be made to form permanent wall dividers by having hook edges that allow the prongs/tabs to snap within mateable indentations. Alternatively, the tabs/prongs can be made to have tight fits but be reusable so that an installer can pull the wall dividers apart from one another and used to form different sized drawer compartments.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.


An elliptical trainer comprises a base, a rotational mechanism, a left and a right coupling mechanism, and a rising device. The rotational mechanism is arranged on the base. The left and right coupling mechanisms are arranged at a side of the rotational mechanism, respectively. One end of the left and right coupling mechanism couples to the rotational mechanism, and the other couples to a pedal making a moving path. The rising device comprises a frame, two guiders, at least a ladder component, and a driving assembly. The driving assembly comprises a motor, a screw, a tube, a linkage component, and a cable. The tube has internal thread to engage with the screw. The linkage component couples with the tube, and the cable couples with the linkage component and the ladder component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercise device, and more particularly relates to elliptical trainer providing elliptical or elliptical-like exercising paths.
2. Description of Related Art
Without limiting the disclosed embodiments, an elliptical trainer, also called a cross-trainer or an X-trainer, is a stationary exercise machine to simulate stair climbing, walking, or running.
The elliptical trainer does not cause excessive pressure to the joints as the two legs simultaneously share the burden, hence decreasing the risk of impact injuries.
The elliptical trainer typically includes two pedals. A user steps on the pedals and the operation of the elliptical trainer cause the pedals to provide a moving path. For conventional elliptical trainers, the path of the pedals cannot be varied.
FIG. 1 discloses a conventional elliptical trainer with a rising device 10 arranged at its rear portion to vary the moving path of pedals. As shown in FIG. 1, the rising device 10 comprises an automatically control device 13 consisting of a motor 132, a screw 134, and a tube 136 having internal thread to couple with the screw 134. The motor can drive the screw 134 to rotate, causing the tube 136 to move along the screw 134 in a direction leaving the motor 132. Further, a lift member 14 has two ends, in which one end couples to the tube 136 and the other end contact the ground. In addition, a U-shaped member 15 has two ends respectively coupling to a guider 12, and an end of the guider 12 pivotally coupled to an end of a frame 11 near the ground. A connecting member 16 has two ends, in which one end fixes with the U-shaped member 15 and the other end pivotally couples with the lift member 14. Two pedals (not shown) are respectively arranged on the guider 16 via a wheel. When the tube 136 moves away from the motor 132, the lift member 14 exerts a force on the U-shaped member 15, and the guider 12 is hence raised so as to change the moving path of pedals.
Furthermore, Taiwan Patent, Publication No., M403355, entitled "Rising Device for Elliptical Trainers," also discloses an elliptical trainer with a rising device that can adjust the path of the pedals. The entire contents of above-mentioned Taiwan Patent are incorporated herein by reference.
Yet there is still a need for an elliptical trainer that can reduce cost and/or increase stability.


An apparatus for measuring the combustion effluent of a fossil-fired system with high accuracy as required for the determination of fuel flow rate and boiler efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus which is used for measuring the constituents in the combustion exhaust gas effluent of a fossil-fired steam generator or boiler system. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus which measures with extreme accuracy the concentrations of CO.sub.2 and superheated water as produced from the fossil fuel combustion process so that the fuel flow and thermal efficiency of fossil-fired systems can be determined by thermodynamics for monitoring the operation of such a system.
The importance of accurately determining thermal efficiency is critical to the thermal performance monitoring of any fossil-fired system. If practical day-to-day improvements in efficiency are to be made, and/or corrections to thermally degraded equipment are to be found and corrections taken, then accuracy in determining thermal efficiency is an obvious necessity. The art of tracking the efficiency of a conventional power plant or any fossil-fired system lies fundamentally in measuring the useful output and the total energy flow of the input fuel.
The art of measuring the useful output of a conventional fossil-fired system is highly developed. The useful output can be either the steam flow produced or the subsequent electrical power generated via, commonly, steam expansion in turbines. Measuring the total energy flow of the input fuel, on the other hand, has traditionally caused significant problems, especially for coal-fired power plants. Measurement of the energy flow of the input fuel requires knowledge of the heating value of the fuel and its mass flow rate.
The present invention is specifically designed for the purpose of measuring the combustion effluent with extreme accuracy whereby the mass flow rate of the input fuel can be thereby calculated from thermodynamics without direct measurement of the input fuel flow rate. The embodiment of the invention is called an "Emissions Spectral Radiometer/Fuel Flow" instrument, or ESR/FF instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Present industrial techniques for measuring or analyzing the composition of combustion effluent of a fossil-fired system include: sampling the gas and analyzing with gas chronography (for CO, CO.sub.2, and O.sub.2 and unburned hydrocarbons); sampling the gas and analyzing using spectrographic absorption of ultraviolet or infrared radiation (for CO, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 O, O.sub.2 and unburned hydrocarbons); sampling the gas and reacting it with certain chemicals which thus determines concentrations (for CO.sub.2, O.sub.2 and other gases); in-situ detection of O.sub.2 by zirconium hydride; and in-situ spectrographic absorption of ultraviolet or infrared radiation (for CO, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 O, O.sub.2 and unburned hydrocarbons). All of these techniques have been in general industrial use for many years. All known techniques involve obtaining samples of the combustion gas and its subsequent analysis in a laboratory environment, except use of in-situ spectrographic absorption techniques and the use of zirconium hydride for O.sub.2 detection.

Emissions spectral radiometer/fuel flow instrument


An optical communications system which offers flexible and efficient cross-connect capabilities without using optical switch modules. With external commands, a variable wavelength setting unit varies output wavelength of each transmission unit. It also provides an output wavelength description indicating which wavelengths can be produced. An optical signal transmitter transmits an outgoing optical signal with the controlled wavelength, while an optical signal receiver receives an incoming optical signal with a single particular wavelength which have been produced through WDM processes. In a WDM unit, a WDM controller controls optical multiplexers and demultiplexers, and the resultant signals go out through optical output ports which are each associated with particular output wavelengths. In a monitoring station, an administration controller manages administrative data concerning connections and operations of transmission units, and based on that data, an optical cross-connect controller set up connections via the WDM unit, sending commands to the variable wavelength setting unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical communications system, and more particularly to an optical communications system employing wavelength-division multiplex techniques.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) techniques are widely used in today's optical communications infrastructures. The WDM technology enables many transmission signals to be carried over a single fiber-optic medium, assigning different optical wavelengths to different channels. SONET/SDH data streams, for example, are transported on a WDM network, where optical signals sent out from a multiplicity of transmission units are multiplexed (combined) into one output optical fiber for delivery to peer network equipment. At the receiving end, the signals are demultiplexed (split) into the original data streams and distributed to their destinations.
Recent WDM networks can actually convey as many optical signals as more than one hundred channels in multiplexed form, and it would not be efficient to convert them back to electrical signals for the purpose of setting and changing their delivery paths. For this reason, there has been a demand for all-optical path switching facilities using optical switches which is able to configure signal routes on an individual wavelength basis.
Researchers have developed optical switch modules as the core technology of all-optical cross connect systems. More specifically, some systems perform wavelength routing with micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) mirror arrays that are combined in an appropriate way. Other systems realize path switching by changing the temperature of optical waveguides. Another solution is the system disclosed in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-35012 (1994), which employs wavelength converters to alter the wavelengths of received optical signals as required. It then directs the converted signals to optical multiplexers and demultiplexers, thereby realizing optical switching.
While such optical switch modules play an essential role in conventional WDM networks, they are expensive and still immature. Development of large-scale matrix switches has been underway, but not yet in the actual use. It is therefore desired to develop an optical communications system which offers flexible and efficient optical cross-connect functions by using ordinary components instead of costly optical switch modules.


There is provided a toner, including toner mother particles which contain a binder resin, a colorant, and a wax, wherein a difference between a density of the wax in a solid state and a density of the wax in a liquid state is not less than 0.11 g/cm3; the density of the wax in the liquid state is not more than 0.835 g/cm3; and a heat quantity of the wax per unit mass which is obtained from an endothermic peak area at a low temperature side measured by a differential scanning calorimetry is not less than 190 mJ/mg.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner, which is used in an electrophotographic method and/or an electrostatic recording method, and a method for producing the toner.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a toner which is used in an electrophotographic method and/or an electrostatic recording method, there has been known a toner which contains a wax to ensure releasing performance with respect to a fixing member which fixes the toner to a recording medium (fixing objective) such as a paper sheet by application of heat and pressure.
As a method for producing the toner containing the wax as described above, there has been suggested, for example, a method for producing the toner in which a charge control agent is fixed to toner mother particles including a polyester resin containing an ester-based wax (for example, Japanese patent laid open No. 2008-286944, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/286674).
In the toner obtained by the producing method as described above, the ester-based wax is contained in the polyester resin.
Hence, speed-up of printing causes the following problem in some cases. That is, in a case that the toner is fixed to the recording medium, the toner can not be heated sufficiently and the releasing performance with respect to the fixing member is decreased.
In a case that the releasing performance is decreased, the toner is adhered to the fixing member in some cases, which decreases fixing performance of the toner with respect to the recording medium.
In view of this, an object of the present teaching is to provide a toner which is capable of improving releasing performance with respect to a fixing member and fixing performance with respect to a recording medium at low temperature and a method for producing the toner.


A PGA/PLA copolymer suture fiber having a fiber tenacity of between approximately 7.2 to 8.0 grams per denier and a fiber elongation between approximately 22% and 35% is produced by a process that utilizes extruder apparatus having at least one heated zone that is maintained at a temperature of from about 20° C. below the copolymer melting point to about 5° C. above the copolymer melting point, a metering pump and a heated block that are maintained at a temperature of no more than about 40° C. above the copolymer melting point, a spinneret that is maintained at a temperature of from about 40° C. to about 60° C. above the copolymer melting point, and an elongated heated sleeve extending between six and twenty inches from the spinneret that is maintained at a temperature of at least about 60° C. above the copolymer melting point.

Biocompatible and bio-absorbable sutures have been widely used for soft tissue approximation for many years. In addition to the requirement of good biocompatibility when implanted in human patients, there are a number of other characteristics that are very important and critical to surgeons and patients. Some of the most important characteristics for a bio-absorbable suture include, but are not limited to, tensile strength, in vivo breaking strength retention, elongation at break, knot tensile strength, in vivo absorption rate and softness.
Various processes, which include melt extrusion and drawing orientation (i.e., spinning and braiding), are currently used to make bio-absorbable multifilament surgical sutures from a copolymer containing glycolide (PGA) and lactide (PLA). Although such processes generally produce PGA/PLA sutures having many of the above-mentioned characteristics within preferred ranges, especially a relatively fast absorption rate (approximately 60-90 days for near complete absorption), they have a relatively low tensile strength compared to nonabsorbable fibers such as nylon or polyester.
Tensile strength is a measure, prior to implantation of the suture braid in a patient, of the amount of tension that a fiber or suture can withstand before it breaks. If the fiber tensile strength is being measured, it is known as the fiber tenacity. The fiber tenacity achieved by processes that produce PGA/PLA sutures is typically in the range of from approximately 6.0 and 6.8 grams per denier (g/d) and sometimes up to 7.2 g/d. Any increase in these tenacity values that could be achieved without diminishing the other characteristics of the suture would be important and useful. In vivo strength retention is a measure of the strength possessed by the suture braid after the suture has been implanted in a patient. Elongation at break is also referred to simply as elongation and is a measure of how much elongation of the suture fibers occurs prior to breakage upon application of tension. It is preferable to maintain the fiber elongation between approximately 22% and 35%.
Various attempts have been made to produce PGA/PLA sutures having a higher tensile strength, while remaining within the preferred ranges for the other desired characteristics, including bio-absorbability and elongation. For example, some suture manufacturers have tried putting more fibers into a braid of a given suture size. Although a higher tensile strength of the overall braid may be obtained in this manner, either the resulting suture would have to be highly oversized or the braid must be tightly packed, which could yield sutures of diminished handling characteristics, such as increased stiffness and poor knot security.
A better way to obtain PGA/PLA sutures having higher tensile strength is to increase the fiber tenacity (measured as force per unit titer), which will yield higher tensile strength for the braid without requiring an increase in the total number of fibers in a braid. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,585,056 and 6,005,019 disclose the use of plasticizers as a process aid to improve multifilament yarn drawability and the properties of the fibers made from a copolymer having 92.5:7.5 molar ratio poly(glycolide-co-lactide). The plasticizer may have helped to lower the melting point of the copolymer, thereby allowing extrusion without melt fracture at relatively low temperatures. The highest tensile strength obtained by the processes disclosed in these patents was 7.2 grams/denier (g/d), but the elongation at break dropped to 21% and less. This low elongation may lead to severe filament breakage and operational difficulties in the downstream processing of the fibers, including twisting and braiding the fibers together to make a braided suture or other surgical articles. The suture handling characteristics could also be compromised if the fiber elongation at break is too low.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,927 discloses that better in vivo strength retention may be achieved by using block copolymers of PGA/PLA to make the suture fibers. However, the fibers spun from such block copolymers failed to exhibit high initial fiber and suture strength. RU 2,073,074 discloses the making of suture fibers by forcing a PGA/PLA copolymer melt to pass through a very thin channel in the spin pack. It was believed that more uniform heating of the fibers could be obtained by the aforesaid method such that better productivity and better fiber properties could be obtained. The maximum fiber tensile strength obtained by the method of RU 2,073,074 for a PGA/PLA copolymer, however, was only about 6.0 to 6.4 g/d. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,516, a method is disclosed to make a high tensile strength fiber from PGA, however, sutures made of only PGA fibers have a significantly increased absorption time, which is an undesirable characteristic in many cases where soft tissue approximation is required.
The device and process of the present invention address the shortcomings of the existing apparatus and processes for manufacturing absorbable suture fibers.
As will be described in further detail hereinafter, the present invention introduces modifications to the equipment, temperature profile and heat retention aspects of the known process and equipment.

Process for the formation of high strength bio-absorbable suture fibers


A fluid jet orifice and method of making same. The fluid jet orifice comprises an orifice made of sapphire, the sapphire being annealed in a high temperature oxygen atmosphere. Preferably, the high temperature is in a range of approximately 1200.degree. C. to 1700.degree. C., the pressure of the oxygen atmosphere is atmospheric or above, and the annealing time is from approximately 4 to 40 hours.

During the past several years, different methods have been tried to improve the integrity of sapphire used in high pressure fluid and/or water jets. These high pressure fluid jets are used, for example, to cut stone, metal, leather, cloth, plastic and a whole range of other materials, both hard and soft, as well as to clean, blast and abrade various materials. Extremely high pressures may be used, and the sapphire fluid jet orifice may thus be subject to extreme conditions. Accordingly, the fluid jet orifices erode after time, and it has been a primary objective to obtain stronger and harder sapphire fluid jets which last longer. Methods which have been tried in the past include ion implantation, titanium mono-oxide treatment and annealing in various gas atmospheres.

High pressure fluid jet orifice made of oxygen enhanced sapphire and process for making same


Methods and apparatii are described for information storage in photoconductive film of single layer composition by irradiation of memory elements simultaneously with application of an electric field. Information is stored as trapped charge accumulations in the film when the irradiation is removed, but trapped charge can be released by subsequent irradiation. Repeated information storage, followed by erasure, returns the films to their original state without degradation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and apparatii for optoelectronic digital memories (combining optic and electric ports). More particularly, compositions and fabrication methods using photoconductive thin films for high-density, high-speed storage of digital data are included within the claimed invention.
2. Photosensitive Memories
Photosensitive organic compounds in multilayer configurations have been proposed and used for information storage,.sup.7 especially for images. Photovoltaic behavior of single-layer organic films (liquid crystal porphyrins in particular) has also been described recently..sup.4 Storage of binary data as trapped charge is taught in a recent U.S. Patent for silicon nitride layers on silicon substrates,.sup.11 and information storage in materials with persistent internal polarization (PIP).sup.14 is described in references dealing with photocopying.sup.8 and computers..sup.9 Photoelectrets (photoconductors with capacity for PIP in the dark) are taught as memory elements in several U.S. Patents..sup.10, 12, 13 However, recent technical references.sup.15, 16 reveal no use of the thin film memory elements of the present invention in high-density, high-speed, optoelectronic digital memories with a capability for long-term information storage.
On the contrary, instead of being in the form of thin film memory elements, photosensitive memory media in prior art devices are generally so thick (80-650 .mu.m).sup.14 that light penetrates less than 1% of the thickness. Consequently, prior art devices use light to aid in manipulation of surface electrostatic charge, but specific charge distributions can only be maintained for a few hours in the dark. In fact, charge distributions established under photoexcitation can be altered long after the light has been extinguished (as much as a day later)..sup.8 Thus, long-term information storage with such films is not possible.
Additionally, prior art memory media are multi-component systems comprising photoconductive particles dispersed in insulating binder matrices, the matrix in each case being non-photoconductive..sup.8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20 Because of the substantial memory film thickness, prior art devices require relatively high voltage for their operation (ca 300 V) and have relatively slow response times (from about a ms to a fraction of a .mu.s). A voltage applied across a thick film of prior art memory medium creates an electric dipole at each electrode contact; the two dipoles can then be detected and separately discharged..sup.8 The stored charge in prior art memory media is surface electrostatic charge, so that the surface charge density is not a function of film thickness ad is too small (10.sup.-18 to 10.sup.-18 coulomb/.mu.m.sup.2) to be used in high density memories..sup.14,20.

Optoelectronic memories with photoconductive thin films

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A measuring car arrangement for monitoring an existing track position with respect to a desired track position comprises a measuring car having a frame extending longitudinally in a plane and undercarriages supporting the frame for mobility in an operating direction and having wheels with contact points with the rail heads. The contact points define a reference plane, the frame plane extending parallel to the reference plane. The arrangement further comprises a satellite bogie transportable on the measuring car frame and being drivable along the track independently of the measuring car. The measuring car and the satellite bogie have an upper periphery not projecting beyond a limiting plane enclosing a dihedral angle of 5.degree. to 10.degree. with the reference plane, and the limiting plane and the frame plane define an intersecting line at a forward end of the measuring car in the operating direction, the intersecting line extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extension of the frame and parallel to the reference plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measuring car arrangement for monitoring an existing track position with respect to a desired track position, the track comprising two rails having rail heads, which comprises a measuring car having a frame extending longitudinally in a plane and undercarriages supporting the frame for mobility in an operating direction and having wheels, the wheels having contact points with the rail heads and the contact points defining a reference plane, the frame plane extending parallel to the reference plane, and a satellite bogie transportable on the measuring car frame and being drivable along the track independently of the measuring car.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such a measuring car arrangement has been disclosed in the prospectus "EM SAT Geometerwagen" of Plasser & Theurer, of Vienna, Austria. In this arrangement, a large operator's cab and a powerful drive are arranged above the plane of the machine frame. A satellite measuring bogie is connected to a laser beam emitter and is connectable to the machine frame below the frame plane for a common transit of the machine and satellite bogie between operating sites. This fully electronic recording car with a self-propelled laser satellite produces accurate track geometry corresponding to the target position of the track by measuring the actual position of the track before operation of the work machine (for reasons of greater accuracy this measurement is done using a Laser reference chord 40-300 m long); calculating the displacement value from the actual position by comparing it with the target position of the track; and supplying the work machine with this data, which also directs the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,565, dated Sep. 8, 1987, discloses a mobile machine for measuring and recording track parameters and/or for correcting a track position, including a satellite bogie preceding the machine in an uncorrected section of the track. The self-propelled satellite bogie is equipped with a laser beam emitter and, for common transit with the machine, the satellite bogie may be driven onto the machine over a ramp pivoted to a front end of the machine frame. The machine is a track measuring car and its forward end carries a laser beam receiver and various devices for monitoring and storing track position correction values.
An article entitled "Leistungsfahige Oberbaumaschinen fur moderne Gleise" (High-performance track maintenance machines for modern tracks) in "Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau" 39 (1990), No. 4, pp. 201-211, points out at 2.2 that track tamping operations must be preceded by costly measuring and processing operations monitoring the existing track position for obtaining the correction values for the desired track geometry. The article states that tests for automating such operations were undertaken with an EM-SAT measuring machine. A laser beam is used as reference chord between a satellite bogie located at a fixed track point and a measuring car continuously moving towards the satellite bogie, and the height of the arch above the reference chord is measured, the measured parameter is digitalized and the digital value is stored in a computer. Additional measurements of the lateral distances from the fixed points enable the differences between the existing and a desired track position to be monitored so that the correction values may be computed and used as input for a computer on a track lining and leveling machine for controlling the lining and/or leveling of the track. This work can be done more rapidly, more economically and protected from train traffic on a neighboring track with a track geometry car GM 80 constituted by a unit which is 17 m long and weighs 30 t, and which may be separated at an operating site into emitter and receiver parts.

Franz Plasser Bahnbaumaschinen-Industriegesellschaft m.b.H.


A convertible roof actuation mechanism includes a pliable roof cover, a top stack mechanism supporting the roof cover, and at least one roof bow of the top stack mechanism independently movable relative to the remainder of the top stack mechanism for selectively reducing and increasing tension of the roof cover during latching. In another aspect of the present invention, at least one roof bow is retracted closer to a bottom pivot of a rear roof rail when stowed to optimize packaging space within a convertible roof storage compartment.

This invention relates generally to automotive vehicle convertible roofs and more particularly to a convertible roof actuation mechanism.
Traditional soft-top convertible roofs for automotive vehicles typically employ four or five roof bows spanning transversely across the vehicle for supporting a vinyl, canvas or polyester fiber pliable roof cover. The number one roof bow is mounted to a pair of front roof rails and is typically latched to a stationary front header panel of the automotive vehicle body disposed above a windshield. A number two roof bow is typically mounted to a pair of center roof rails which are pivotably coupled to the front roof rails. Furthermore, the number three, four and optional five roof bows are commonly mounted to a pair of rear roof rails which are pivotably coupled to the center roof rails. For example, reference should be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,225,747 entitled "Single-Button Actuated Self-Correcting Automatic Convertible Top" which issued to Helms et al. on Jul. 6, 1993; 5,161,852 entitled "Convertible Top with Improved Geometry" which issued to Alexander et al. on Nov. 10, 1992; 4,948,194 entitled "Flexible Roof for a Convertible Motor Vehicle, Provided with a Safety Hook for the Rear Arch of the Roof Frame" which issued to Dogliani on Aug. 14, 1990; 4,720,133 entitled "Convertible Top Structure" which issued to Alexander et al. on Jan. 19, 1988; 4,537,440 entitled "Vehicle with a Convertible Top" which issued to Brockway et al. on Aug. 27, 1985; and 2,580,486 entitled "Collapsible Top for Vehicles" which issued to Vigmostad on Jan. 1, 1952.
Traditional soft-top convertible roofs possess an inherent drift problem. In other words, when the convertible roof is moved to its fully raised position, the forwardmost or number one roof bow is positioned against the front header panel for subsequent latching. However, the stretched fabric cover acts to pull the number one roof bow in an unintended and undesired rearward direction such that it drifts away from the front header. This drifting situation is especially apparent in new convertible roofs. Accordingly, the vehicle occupant must then physically pull down upon a handle attached to the number one roof bow thereby pulling it against the front header panel for subsequent latching. This manual action presents a crude and unrefined operational perception. This drifting problem is also present between a rearmost or number five roof bow and an adjacent tonneau cover. The number five roof bow is often raised to an upward position while the tonneau cover is returned from a substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontal position; the number five roof bow is then pivoted to its lowered position against an upper surface of the tonneau cover for latching thereto. However, the stretched fabric covering tends to pull the number five roof bow in a forward manner thereby causing it to drift away from the tonneau cover. This situation is inconvenient to remedy due to the difficulty of an occupant accessing this rear area when seated in the front seat.
In accordance with the present invention, the preferred embodiment of a convertible roof actuation mechanism includes a pliable roof cover, a top stack mechanism supporting the roof cover, and at least one roof bow of the top stack mechanism independently movable relative to the remainder of the top stack mechanism for selectively reducing and increasing tension of the roof cover during latching. In another aspect of the present invention, at least one roof bow is retracted closer to a bottom pivot of a rear roof rail when stowed to optimize packaging space within a convertible roof storage compartment. In a further aspect of the present invention, a rigid backlite is attached to a pliable roof cover. Still another aspect of the present invention provides a rear edge of the roof cover being stationarily affixed to a body of the automotive vehicle throughout all of the positions of the convertible roof.
The convertible roof actuation mechanism of the present invention is advantageous over conventional devices in that the present invention reduces drifting of the raised convertible roof away from the front header panel and, alternately, a tonneau cover by selectively reducing and then increasing tension or tautness of the roof cover. Furthermore, packaging space of the stowed convertible roof is optimized in the storage compartment by retracting movement of a number four roof bow forward in the vehicle from where it would otherwise be if it were pivoted about a fixed pivot point mounted directly on the rear roof rail or on the main pivot bracket, as is done in traditional vehicles; this allows for placement of a very large and rigid backlite in a relatively small storage compartment, thereby avoiding the creasing and discoloration disadvantages commonly associated with folded flexible backlites made of plastic. The present invention is also advantageously employed in combination with stationary affixation of the rear edge of the roof cover to the body where front header panel latching drift and tension problems are often exacerbated. Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A structure for reinforcing a rear vehicle body may include a roof side rail extending in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle and forming the roof of the vehicle which is overlapped and coupled to a quarter panel extending rearward in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and coupled to the upper portions of a rear pillar, a rear wheel housing, and a rear combination, and the rear end of the roof side rail in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is extended and coupled to the rear end of the quarter panel in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for reinforcing a rear vehicle body. More particularly, the present invention relates to a structure for reinforcing a rear vehicle body which may have improved collision performance, distortion strength, riding comfort, and steering stability by using a multi-ring structure.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, the rear vehicle bodies of vehicles may include a real floor panel that forms the bottoms of the passenger room and the trunk room by elongating in the longitudinal direction of the vehicles, and a rear pillar, a rear wheel housing, and a rear combination are sequentially arranged to the rear in the longitudinal direction the vehicles, at both sides of the rear floor panel in the width direction of the vehicles.
A back panel cross member and a transverse member that are elongated in the width direction of the vehicles are arranged above a spare tire rear well at the rear in the longitudinal direction of the vehicles to increase the width-directional strength of the vehicles.
Further, a quarter panel is disposed above the rear pillar and the rear wheel housing and a roof side rail forming the roof of the vehicles is disposed ahead of the quarter panel in the longitudinal direction of the vehicles.
However, in the structures of the rear vehicle bodies, the roof side rail and the quarter upper panel are not connected and the rear combination and the quarter upper panel are also not connected, that is, several parts of the rear vehicle bodies are not firmly connected, such that the connection strength and distortion strength of the rear vehicle bodies are low, the riding comfort and steering stability are decreased, and it is difficult to effectively cope with a rear collision.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


A semiconductor memory device by the shared sense amplifier system, including: a sense amplifier; a plurality of bit line pairs; a plurality of word lines; a plurality of dynamic RAM cells, each of the RAM cells being connected to one bit line pair and one word line which is selected when data is read or written; switch circuit, provided for each of the plural bit line pairs, for connecting the corresponding bit line pair to said sense amplifier when the switch circuit is turned on and for disconnecting the corresponding bit line pair from said sense amplifier when the switch circuit is turned off; and bit line connection control circuit for, in order to read data from a predetermined RAM cell of the plural RAM cells in a test for detecting faults due to margin deficiency, turning on the switch circuit for the bit line pair connected to the RAM cell, and thereafter, before the word line connected to the RAM cell is selected, turning on the switch circuit for bit line pairs other than the bit line pair connected to the RAM cell, out of the plural bit line pairs.

The present invention relates to semiconductor memory device and, more specifically, to tests for detecting margin deficiencies in the capacity of capacitors or the like constituting each memory cell of a dynamic RAM (Random Access Memory) of the shared sense amplifier system.
There are some cases where the operating margin of some part within a dynamic RAM (DRAM) decreases due to abnormalities in the memory cell array or its peripheries of the DRAM, resulting in unstable operation such that the DRAM will not operate in compliance with specifications. Margin deficiencies that may cause faults of this kind include:
(1) deficiency memory cell storage capacitance (hereinafter, referred to as "cell capacitance margin deficiency"); PA1 (2) deficiency of sense amplifier sensitivity (hereinafter, referred to as "sense margin deficiency"); PA1 (3) deficiency of sense operation sensitivity due to a preamplifier of an intermediate buffer connected to local I/O lines i.e. signal lines for transmitting to another section (intermediate buffer) within the DRAM a data signal which is obtained after data is read from memory cells and the sense amplifier is activated (hereinafter, referred to as "local I/O sense margin deficiency"); PA1 (4) deficiency of the ability to reliably and correctly write data into memory cells (hereinafter, referred to as "write margin deficiency"); and PA1 (5) deficiency of the ability of precharge a bit line pair to Vcc/2 (where Vcc is the power supply voltage) before reading data from the memory cells or other operations (hereinafter, referred to as "equalize margin deficiency").
Faults due to such margin deficiencies as described above must be detected in tests. However, the tests for detecting such faults take a long time, while the number of bits in DRAMs has been increasing. As a result, there has been a demand for speeding up the tests for detecting faults due to margin deficiencies.
Under these circumstances, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications HEI 3-137889 and HEI 4-216400 have disclosed a margin evaluation method or a semiconductor memory which is enabled to evaluate the margin of storage capacitance of memory cells or to detect a cell capacitance margin deficiency by the bit line capacitance being increased in the test mode by connecting not only a bit line pair which would be connected in normal operation but also a bit line pair which would not be connected, to the sense amplifier, in a DRAM by the shared sense amplifier system which allows two or more bit line pairs to be connected to one sense amplifier. Such a method and equipment make it possible to speed up the tests for detecting faults due to cell capacitance margin deficiency. The Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication HEI 4-216400 corresponds to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,273 incorporated herein by reference.
The margin evaluation method or the semiconductor memory disclosed in the above publications is indeed capable of detecting faults due to cell capacitance margin deficiency, but is incapable of detecting faults due to the margin deficiencies as described in (2) to (4) above. Also, in the semiconductor memory or test methods therefor disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication HEI 3-137889, a bit line pair which would not be connected in normal operation among a plurality of bit line pairs that can be connected to one sense amplifier is connected to the sense amplifier in the test mode after a word line from which data is to be read is selected. In this case, noise due to the connection of the bit line pair that would not be connected to the sense amplifier in normal operation would affect the test operation. As a result, when such a test has resulted in a decision of a fault, the cause of the fault can not be distinguished between a cell margin deficiency and a noise margin deficiency, which leads to a possibility that the cause of the fault can not be determined completely.

Mitsusubishi Electric Engineering Co., Ltd.


An insertion tool having a hub and a mandrel extending from the hub and including a tip that is configured to be inserted into a teeing ground to create a depression for insertion of a golf tee, wherein the mandrel is configured to receive a golf tee. The insertion tool may also have a second mandrel that is also configured to be inserted into the teeing ground to create a depression for insertion of a golf tee. The insertion tool may also include a further golf tool coupled to the hub.

In golf, a tee is normally used (and is beneficial to use) for the first stroke of each hole, and the area from which this first stroke is hit is informally known as the tee box, also known as the teeing ground. Normally, teeing the ball is allowed only on the first shot of a hole, called the tee shot, and teeing up usually not allowed for any other shot. Teeing gives a considerable advantage for drive shots, so it is highly desirable whenever allowed. A standard golf tee is 2.750″ (two and three quarter inches) long, but both longer and shorter tees are permitted and are preferred by some players.
A standard golf tee is constructed of wood, plastic or synthetic material and has a pointed end for insertion into the ground. However, there are also other types of tees such as the golf tee described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/956,310 that may or may not include such a pointed end for insertion into the ground.


A baseband digital signal block is processed at an output of a matched filter and at an input of a channel equalizer. This signal is fed to a whitening filter estimated for the block by taking into account interfering signals in the frequency band of the useful signal and in one or more adjacent bands. To this end, an autocorrelation vector, calculated form the block of received signal is projected onto different directions corresponding to predetermined correlation vectors relating to the useful signal, to signals which may be present in the adjacent bands and to the thermal noise. The coefficients of the whitening filter are then derived from the sum of the projected vectors, by taking into account the energy of the useful signal if the latter has not been cancelled prior to the computation of the autocorrelations.

The present invention relates to the field of radiocommunications and in particular to the processing performed in a receiver upstream of a digital equalizer.
It applies in systems where the available spectrum is subdivided into adjacent frequency bands so as to support different communications.
An example is the so-called GSM ("Global System for Mobile communications") European cellular radiocommunication system in which the spectrum allocated around 900 or 1800 MHz is subdivided into frequency bands spaced 200 kHz apart, each of these bands forming the subject of a time-division multiplexing according to the TDMA scheme ("Time Division Multiple Access"). The GSM system uses a frequency hopping technique to combat the channel fading and to increase the capacity of the system. GSM frequency hopping consists, for a communication set up on a TDMA channel defined in particular by a given time slot of successive TDMA frames, in changing the communication frequency from one frame to the next from among the carriers, spaced 200 kHz apart, allocated to the system, according to a hopping pattern which is known to the transmitter and to the receiver.
In a radiocommunication receiver, the filtering operations performed upstream of the channel equalizer may correspond to a fixed or adaptive filter.
The specification of a fixed filter depends on the assumptions made about the noise and the interferers. If the filter is optimized to enhance the performance in terms of sensitivity, then the robustness of the receiver to interferers which may be present in the adjacent frequency channels is decreased. Conversely, an excellent filter as regards robustness to interferers in the adjacent channels degrades the performance in terms of sensitivity.
An adaptive filter makes it possible to achieve a better compromise. However, the use of an adaptive filter has hitherto been possible only in the case of stationary channels, making it possible to determine the reception filter in a reliable manner.
In certain cases, this stationarity condition is not fulfilled. For example, in the GSM system, the frequency hopping at the TDMA frame rate of 4.615 ms, carried out between two signal bursts transmitted in two successive frames, constantly modifies the interference conditions and therefore the optimal structure of the reception filter.
It is conventional to decompose the filtering upstream of the channel equalizer into the cascading of a filter matched to the spectrum of the modulation and of a filter in the Nyquist band, referred to as "whitening" filter. This whitening filter must guarantee noise residuals (thermal noise+interference of the other channels) which are as independent as possible at the input of the channel equalizer. It is known that this structure affords an optimal protection scheme (see G. D. Forney Jr.: "Maximum-Likelihood Sequence Estimation of Digital Sequences in the Presence of Intersymbol Interference", IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, Vol. IT-18, May 1972, pages 363-378).
The present invention aims to allow adaptive estimation of the whitening filter, even in the presence of a weakly stationary transmission channel, such as that of GSM.

Method for processing a digital input signal of a channel equalizer


A trailing edge cooled bearing provides an illustrative embodiment of an apparatus for increasing heat transfer in various bearings, including but not limited to radial and axial tilting pad bearings. In the illustrative embodiment, the trailing edge cooled bearing may comprise at least one journal pad having a leading and trailing edge. The trailing edge may include a trailing edge face having one or more grooves formed therein. A spray bar may having one or more apertures formed therein may be positioned adjacent the trailing edge face to deliver fluid thereto.

Many types of bearings exist. Tilting pad journal bearings typically rely on a fluid film for adequate operation. However, the temperature of the fluid film and the temperature of the surface of the bearing in such bearings can greatly affect the performance of the bearing. Accordingly, individuals have attempted to cool a surface of the bearing that may be in direct contact with the fluid. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,182, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a sleeve bearing with bypass cooling.

Trailing edge cooling on hydrodynamic bearings