A method for reacting a methylene-containing component such as an acrylic polymer prepared from acetoacetoxyalkyl (meth)acrylate and an alkene-containing component such as a polyfumarate, polymaleate, a polyester containing both fumarate and maleate groups or a polyacrylate comprises the reaction of a tertiary amine such as triethylene diamine and an epoxide such as a glycidyl-functional (meth)acrylic polymer in the presence of the methylene-containing component and alkene-containing component. The tertiary amine can be incorporated into the alkene-containing component such as the reaction of an unsaturated polyester with a compound having both tertiary amine and primary or secondary amine groups. The tertiary amine can be incorporated into the methylene-containing component such as an acrylic polymer derived from a tertiary amino-functional monmer and acetoacetoxyalkyl (meth)acrylate. The epoxide can be incorporated into the methylene-containing component such as an acrylic polymer obtained from glycidyl (meth)acrylate and acetoacetoxyalkyl (meth)acrylate. The epoxide can be incorporated into the alkene-containing component.

This invention relates to ambient cure compositions based on the base-activated Carbon Michael reaction between active methylene groups and active alkene groups. More particularly, the invention is directed toward use of tertiary amines and epoxides to activate the Carbon Michael reaction. In more specific aspects, the invention is directed toward classes of active methylene groups, active alkene groups, tertiary amines and epoxides that provide low cost, color and hazard, in two-pack coatings with good pot life, cure speed, gloss and durability on exposure to high humidity and ultraviolet light. Two-pack aliphatic urethane coatings represent the best current technology and provide targets for pot life, cure speed, gloss and durability, but alternatives to urethanes are needed with advantages in economy, safety, and ease of handling, especially for coatings with low levels of volatile solvent.
Heckles, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,217,396, 4,217,439, 4,218,515 and 4,229,505 teach crosslinked polymers from polyfunctional acrylates and difunctional acetoacetates, diacetoacetamides, ureadiacetoacetamides and cyanoacetates with diacetoacetoamides and ureadiacetoacetamides. The crosslinking is activated by strongly basic catalysts such as sodium methoxide, sodium metal, sodium ethylate, and benzyl-trimethyl ammonium methoxide.
Bartman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,018 also teaches the use of base catalysts with sufficient activity to activate Michael cure reactions, such as potassium hydroxide, tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide, potassium amylate, sodium methoxide, potassium ethoxide and other alkali metal derivatives of alcohol, and quaternary ammonium bases. However, Bartman et al note that amines are generally not sufficiently strong to catalyze the Michael reaction between acrylic polymers having pendant acetoacetate groups and multifunctional acrylic esters.
Brindopke et al, Australian Patent No. 8540807-A teaches that strong bases such as alkali metal hydroxides or alcoholates cause yellowing and cloudiness with the acrylic polymers having pendant acetoacetate groups. They specify other active methylene compounds, with activation by diazabicyclooctane (triethylenediamine, DABCO); halides of quaternary ammonium compounds, especially fluorides; organic phosphonium salts; amidines, such as tetramethylguanidine, diazabicycloundecene, and diazabicyclononene; phosphanes; alkali metal alcoholates; and quaternary ammonium compounds, such as alkylammonium, arylammonium and/or benzylammonium hydroxides or carbonates. Brindopke et al also teach that these catalysts or catalyst mixtures can be used in the presence of tertiary aliphatic amines which in themselves are not active at room temperature. Brindopke et al teach use of a broad range of compounds having at least two active alkene groups, excluding only those taught by Bartman et al. They specifically include derivatives of cinnamic acid, crotonic acid, citraconic acid or anhydride, mesaconic acid, fumaric acid, dehydrolevulinic acid or sorbic acid, but prefer acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and/or maleic acid or anhydride.
There are problems associated with use of all of the above catalysts for cure of those Carbon Michael-Reactive components which are preferred on the basis of cost, hazard to users and reactivity at ambient temperature.
With the components taught by Bartman et al, combining good cure with pot life is problematic: at the level of base catalyst required to give good ultimate cure, the pot life of the composition is too short. By use of quaternary ammonium salts of volatile acids, this problem can be overcome, but then combination of early cure and gloss becomes problematic: with salts of carbonic acid the surface cure is too fast at levels of catalyst giving good ultimate cure, resulting in low gloss from shrinkage due to loss of solvent after the surface has crosslinked, while with salts of less volatile acids the cure is slower than desired.
Also, as mentioned by Bartman et al, combination of the required components in two stable packages is problematic: bases strong enough to activate the cure typically lose activity on extended aging when combined with either compositions having pendant acetoacetate groups or compositions having other than the most resistant classes of ester bonds. In particular, activity is lost on storage of the active base catalyst with acrylic polymers containing acetoacetoxyethyl methacrylate (AAEM) and the polyacrylate crosslinkers taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,018. This severely limits the packaging options: the systems either have three packages, one for each component, or one large and one very small package, the small package containing the catalyst. It is desired to have only two packages of the same order of magnitude in size.
Similar problems exist when the Carbon Michael-reactive methylene groups are esters of acetoacetic acid other than acrylic polymers containing acetoacetoxyethyl methacrylate, or when the Carbon Michael-reactive methylene groups are esters of malonic or cyanoacetic acid.
Similar problems exist when the Carbon Michael-reactive alkene component is a polyester containing fumarate and maleate moieties. Use of such polyesters as alkene component is highly desirable because they are less irritating than most multifunctional acrylates, and also because of potential for low cost. However, in addition to these pot-life/cure, cure rate/gloss, and packaging problems associated with the activators taught previously, their utility is problematic for another reason: such polyesters give weaker compositions than desired when the Carbon Michael-reactive methylene component is low in functionality/molecule. When the Carbon Michael-reactive methylene component is high enough in molecular weight and active methylene content per molecule for good strength and hardness, as with acrylic polymers containing pendant acetoacetate moieties, achieving good gloss and durability is problematic, probably because of incompatibility or phase-separation between the relatively high molecular weight alkene and methylene components.
Still another problem with polyesters containing fumarate and maleate moieties is their susceptibility to hydrolysis. It is known to minimize this by use of 2,2-alkylsubstituted 1,3-propanediols as glycols, however then polyesters tend to be readily crystallizable with neopentyl glycol and expensive with less readily available 2,2-alkylsubstituted 1,3-propane diols.
A solution to the above problems is needed to provide alternatives to urethanes for ambient cure, especially for applications requiring exterior durability.

Reacting methylene and alkene components in presence of tertiary amine reacted with epoxide


A method for call routing for emergency network connectivity, comprising A method for call routing for emergency network connectivity, comprising: utilizing a public communications network, establishing a trigger connection from a service management system to a mobile switching center serving a mobile unit; and using the trigger connection, triggering an emergency 911 connection from the mobile switching center to a public safety answering point serving the mobile unit based upon a unit position data of the mobile unit.

911 services are rapidly expanding in scope to include wireless units. Wireless units include conventional portable analog and digital phones and those installed as embedded components of telematics systems in vehicles.
In an example telematics service system, an operating service management subsystem acts as an intermediary or gateway into 911 services. If the occupants of a vehicle equipped with a telematics unit place an emergency call to a service management subsystem, an agent at the service management subsystem extracts vehicle position data and establishes contact with the vehicle occupants. The agent locates a PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) within proximity of the telematics unit, then contacts the PSAP via an administrative line. Administrative lines are voice only physical telephone lines that do not have 911-priority status. The agent at the service management subsystem converses with an operator at the PSAP and conveys the location and description of the vehicle that placed the emergency call. The agent at the service management subsystem facilitates a connection between the vehicle and the PSAP, then disengages from the call.
Wire-line 911 functionality is being extended to incorporate wireless communications devices. These new functional extensions include a Public Safety Answering Point/Computer Aided Dispatch system that acts as a local 911 response entity, and an Automatic Location Identification database that provides the location of the mobile unit, or wireless telephone, at the time an emergency call is placed. Other extensions include a Positioning Determination Entity that uses one of several position determination technologies to derive the location of a mobile unit, and a Coordinate Routing Database that translates mobile unit latitude and longitude into a key relating to the Emergency Services Zone where a vehicle is located.
Telematics service providers are faced with a set of new issues when migrating to wireless 911 functionality. Telematics service providers have access to the location of the mobile unit placing the emergency call, obviating or reducing the need for accessing the Positioning Determination Entity. Other issues for a telematics service provider are the lack national 911 trunk connectivity, lack of standardized message routing formats and protocols, and the lack of standardized formats and protocols for populating local Automatic Location Identifier databases. Connectivity to these components may be prevented, interrupted or disconnected due to faults within the public network, such as mismatched routing and ALI protocols.

Method and system for call routing for 911 network connectivity


A male terminal fitting (1) has a rectangular tube (4). A cut is made in wall of the rectangular tube (4) to form a stabilizer (20) and produces a cut hole (22). An end edge of a closing plate (21) is arranged to face the cut hole (22) and a closing piece (23) is formed at a rear-end opening of the rectangular tube (4). The closing plate (21) and the covering piece (23) substantially prevent external matter or a leading end of another male terminal fitting (1) from intruding into the rectangular tube (4).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a terminal fitting, to a plate material therefor and to a method of forming a terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,900 discloses a male terminal fitting with a rectangular tubular main portion that has an upper wall formed with a locking hole for engaging a projecting lock in a connector housing. Stabilizers project from edges of side walls of the main portion at opposite sides of the locking hole to prevent erroneous insertion, such as an upside-down insertion, of the male terminal fitting into a cavity.
The stabilizers, in many cases, are formed by making cuts in the main portion and bending the cut portions. The cut hole left by forming the stabilizers can be used as part of the locking hole. The male terminal fittings frequently are handled in large numbers prior to use. In such cases, external matter, such as the leading end of another male terminal fitting, can enter the cut hole of the main portion and deform the terminal fitting.
The invention was developed in view of these problems and an object thereof is to reduce a likelihood of intrusion of external matter into a cut hole.


A secondary power system for an aircraft utilizes a variable frequency electrical distribution system that provides power to one or more loads that can tolerate distortion components. In addition, a DC distribution system is coupled to the variable frequency distribution system and is isolated from a fixed frequency electrical distribution. Distortion caused by rectification for the DC system is isolated from the fixed frequency system, thereby improving the power quality in the fixed frequency system.

Current aircraft rely on electric, pneumatic and hydraulic systems for secondary power. A typical electric system utilizes an integrated drive generator (IDG) coupled to each engine to provide fixed frequency 400 Hz power to the distribution system and loads. Alternatively, a generator may be directly coupled to each aircraft engine and the variable frequency power developed by the generator(s) may be converted into fixed frequency power by a power converter. In either case, a 28 volt DC system may further be provided for some loads. The pneumatic system utilizes bleed air from the main engine compressors to provide pneumatic power for de-icing, environmental control and cabin pressure, main engine start and air driven hydraulic pumps. The hydraulic system consists of main engine driven pumps, electrically driven pumps and pneumatically driven pumps. An auxiliary power unit (APU) typically provides pneumatic, electrical and, occasionally, hydraulic power.
While the foregoing systems are useful to provide secondary power as required by aircraft loads, such systems are not jointly optimized to reduce size, weight and cost. Particularly, the hydraulic system is poorly sized with respect to speed and flow requirements. Hydraulic flow requirements typically are greatest when engine speeds are low and lessen at high cruise speeds. These requirements, however, are inconsistent with the flow handling capabilities of engine-driven pumps, which develop highest flow rates only at high engine speeds. Attempting to shift hydraulic loads to electrically driven pumps is not a good solution because the motors for such pumps usually create inrush current problems for the electrical system. Air driven pumps could be used, but they are large and inefficient.
Air turbine start equipment is large, heavy, expensive and located in the tightly packaged engine nacelle. This equipment is used only one or two minutes per flight and is thereafter merely extra weight which detracts from the load handling capability of the aircraft.
The aircraft electrical system provides high quality power to all loads, including those that do not need it. Galley equipment and solid state driven pumps are examples of those loads that do not require high quality power.
Ground engine start requires the APU to be running or a pneumatic ground cart which adds to the expense of airport operations.


A plurality of devices of an enterprise are identified. For example, lights and door sensors are identified. The plurality of devices of the enterprise uses a plurality of gateways in a hierarchy of gateways to control the plurality of devices of the enterprise. A first rule for at least two of the plurality devices of the enterprise is received. For example, the first rule may be to turn on a light when door is opened. In response to receiving the first rule, a first lowest level gateway of the plurality of gateways in the hierarchy of gateways is determined for applying the first rule for the at least two of the plurality of devices of the enterprise. The first rule for the at least two of the plurality devices of the enterprise is sent to the first lowest level gateway.

The smart home market continues to grow with a variety of different devices and gadgets being sold to make the home "smarter." These devices either connect directly to a home gateway (e.g., using Wi-Fi or Ethernet) or use another protocol gateway. Smart home ecosystems like Wink™ and Smartthings™ allow devices to share a common gateway. However, many of these device makers are attempting to control the end-to-end ecosystem by providing their own gateways and cloud services. This movement has led to a proliferation of multiple gateways that control devices in the smart home.
Smart home devices allow various rules to be configured to enable notifications on critical events or even enabling machine-to-machine communications with other devices. For example, a door sensor, upon detecting an open door turns on a light. There are several ways in which rules engines are currently implemented. For example, the rules engine may be hosted in a cloud, hosted in the device, or a combination of both where the cloud rules are cached locally.
The current module of having multiple gateways supporting different protocols and ecosystems is inefficient and incompatible. With the current Internet of Things (IoT) architectures where the rules either reside in the cloud or at the main edge gateway results in users experiencing higher latencies and also results a single point of failure in the edge gateway or cloud.


A dosing device for demand-dosing a liquid includes a primary container, a point of release for releasing the liquid, a main liquid channel between the primary container and the point of release and a vented secondary container, wherein the secondary container is coupled to the main liquid channel at a branch point, wherein the secondary container and the main liquid channel are designed such that the main liquid channel preferably fills with the liquid before the secondary container. The dosing device further includes a liquid valve between the primary container and the branch point, a sensor for measuring the filling level in the secondary container and finally means for opening the valve responsive to a predetermined filling level in the secondary container. By measuring the flow not directly in the main stream but via a filling level of a secondary container in an auxiliary stream, the secondary container can be designed independently of ambient temperature and ambient pressure so that cases of failure due to changing ambient conditions do no longer occur. A preferred application of the dosing system is the use of it in an electronic writing apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dosing device and, in particular, to a dosing device for demand-dosing a liquid and to a writing apparatus having such a dosing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronically controlled writing apparatus is disclosed in EP 0096177. The electronic writing apparatus includes a writing tip extending into a capillary space also referred to as the secondary supply space. The small-volume secondary supply space is fluidically connected to a large-volume primary ink supply space under pressure via an ink channel, a reload valve being arranged in the ink channel. When the fluid level in the secondary supply space is too low, the reload valve is controlled in order to open for a certain time until a sufficient amount of ink has been transported from the primary supply space into the secondary supply space so that a sufficient filling level appears there. The filling level height in the secondary supply space is measured using a capacitive sensor. The capacitive sensor is embodied as a cylinder capacitor, the capacity of which depends on the filling volume of the secondary supply space. In order to be able to measure small capacity changes, a resonance circuit digitally measuring the capacity change by detuning an oscillating circuit is used. This circuit, apart from the capacity to be measured, includes an additional capacity and a quartz oscillator. Additionally, a counting mechanism is used to be able to measure the difference of the oscillating frequencies as an indication to the capacity change.
Devices for demand-dosing form a regulating system including a supply tank, a buffer reservoir and a pressure-regulating unit. The release of the liquid is from the buffer reservoir. If the pressure in the buffer reservoir sinks below a certain threshold by releasing a liquid, the pressure in the buffer reservoir is compensated by the pressure-regulating unit by transferring liquid from the supply tank into the buffer reservoir.
Such dosing devices are vacuum-regulated or negative-pressure-regulated relative to the ambient pressure so that both the buffer reservoir and the supply tank must be closed in a pressure-tight way relative to the ambient pressure. In order to be, however, able to take a liquid from a pressure-tight vessel, a gas volume must be present in this vessel. This gas volume in turn is governed by the gas laws and, for example, expands when heated, which results in a pressure increase in the vessel. Thus the negative pressure in the vessel can be reduced so that the vacuum-regulated release of liquid no longer works. A further possible reduction of the negative pressure takes place by diminishing the ambient pressure.
In addition, such dosing devices require a unilateral connection of the supply tank and the buffer reservoir to the ambient air for the purpose of a gas inlet. This connection can, in case of a failure, result in a leakage of the liquid stored.
For certain dosing devices, as are, for example, to be used in a pen, the demand-release of a liquid is important. The amount released should be able to adapt directly to the requirements of the consumer, that is in the case of a pen to its writing speed. It must be guaranteed that the liquid stream is not interrupted in a constant or changing consumption. Such a case of failure of the interruption could, for example, occur when releasing from a closed tank since when emptying it changing pressure ratios can be present and thus the liquid stream can pulse.
A further case of failure can occur by evaporating the liquid at the point of release. Solid residues from the liquid, which in the case of a pen is the ink, could plug the release opening and not allow any further release. Thus, it must be guaranteed that either no evaporation occurs or the point of release is always wetted with a liquid. The latter case of the continuous wetting requires a liquid to flow in a regulated way according to the evaporating rate.
DE 33 21 301 A1 discloses an ink supply system for writing apparatuses operating with a liquid ink, having a large volume ink space connected to a small volume ink supply space next to the writing element via a reload valve. Transferring ink from the large volume ink space to the secondary supply space takes place in a way controlled by a sensor depending on the ink volume present in the secondary ink space. As a reload valve, a hose pump which is driven in a rotating way by an electric motor and which can produce the delivery pressure required for delivering the ink to the secondary ink space is used.

Dosing device and writing implement with a dosing device

Gebr. Schmidt Fabrik fur Feinmechanik, GmbH & Co. Kg


An operation control system includes: a first detector that detects a transport body that has reached a predetermined reference position on a first transport line; an obstacle sensor and an autonomous traveling control unit provided in each of a plurality of self-propelled carrier bodies traveling on a second transport line; a gate provided on the second transport line; and a gate driving unit that moves the gate to a retracted position when the first detector detects the transport body, and moves the gate to an advanced position when the first detector does not detect the transport body. The autonomous traveling control unit controls the travel of the carrier bodies such that a forward separation distance, a distance between any of the carrier bodies and another carrier body or an obstacle ahead of the carrier body, is equal to or greater than a predetermined collision prevention distance.

Many self-propelled carrier bodies are used as a parts transport device in a manufacturing facility that assembles products such as automobiles. Examples of the representative self-propelled carrier body include an automatic guided vehicle (hereinafter abbreviated as "AGV"). As is well known, the AGV is controlled, for example, to travel along an individual guidance line such as a magnetic tape placed on a floor surface in order to supply necessary parts or the like to work-in process that is transported by a transport mechanism such as a conveyor. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-227716 discloses an operation control system that allows an AGV to travel on the guidance line by a necessary amount when necessary.
In such an operation control system, generally, wireless communication and a centralized control computer are used as a method of controlling the AGV, and a plurality of AGVs is electronically subjected to centralized control. However, this method can actually cause various problems. For example, crosstalk with other radio communication may hamper communication for AGV control. An error in positional information of some AGVs may cause a discrepancy between an AGV operation plan and an actual operation situation. Furthermore, a failure in the centralized control computer may disable the whole operation control system from functioning. The occurrence of these problems may result in the inability to operate the AGV normally. In some cases, the occurrence of AGV congestion may hinder production.
In order to speed up the work of assembling parts to a product flowing on a production line, the AGV transporting the parts preferably travels in synchronization with the corresponding product or a transport body (palette or the like) on which the product is loaded. If the product and the AGV are not synchronized, an assembly worker needs to travel a long distance to take out the parts from the AGV, increasing the time needed for the assembly.


An uncoated hollow weave air bag composed of a hollow weave fabric in which the circumferential periphery of the hollow part shaping the bag body is joined by a band of one layer bind weave, the hollow weave air bag satisfying the condition 1! -3! below: 1! the weave constituting cloth A forming the hollow part of the bag body is a plain weave and the cover factor of cloth A being 2000.ltoreq.K.ltoreq.2300, 2! the weave constituting cloth B which is the other cloth forming said hollow part, and the ratio of gas permeability at a pressure of 19.6 kpa for cloth B (qB) to that of cloth A (qA), qB/qA satisfies a relation 1.ltoreq.qB/qA.ltoreq.2.2, 5! an opening (6) for attachment of the gas generator is provided in part of cloth B. The air bag of the present invention can be produced in a simplified manufacturing process and is light weight, less bulky and excellent in its safe inflation characteristics.

A conventional sewn air bag is manufactured by sewing a plurality of given shaped cloths cut out of a woven fabric. It has been known that a hollow weave air bag can be made of a hollow weave fabric (so-called double weave fabric) through a manufacturing process in which the sewing work step for the circumferential seam formation can be eliminated. With elimination of the sewing work step, the proposed hollow weave air bag can be advantageously made without problems of the product reliability arising from manual sewing work in a conventional sewing made air bag manufacturing process, and can be supplied at a reduced price such that air bag apparatus is carried in wide variety of cars.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 1-254446 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,538, there are described coated air bags of a circular hollow weave fabric in which the circumferential periphery of the hollow portion is surrounded by a bind weave.
Air bags made of an bare fabric with no polymeric rubber coating have been developed with an attempt to obtain a light weight air bag which can be folded into a minimized shape.
In the patent specifications of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Tokuhyo 4-504988 and WO 90/09295, uncoated circular hollow weave air bags made from a hollow weave fabric are described. In a currently known uncoated air bag, the fabric material is made in part more gas permeable so as to obtain a filtering effect for the discharge of inflating gas in the air bag, and the weave construction of the part is woven either in a lower weave density or in a more open weave such as a satin weave, twill weave and basket weave which have a more open weave construction.
The fabric material woven in a more open weave construction can assure the gas dischargeability required for an air bag. There are, however, some hazards encountered with use of a open weave construction; the vehicle occupant may suffer burns from the hot inflating gas which passes through an opened weave structure, or suffer eye injury due to the scattering residues contained in the hot gas. Since a base fabric of an open weave construction can be easily damaged by slippage of the weave structure, an air bag made from an open weave construction can be easily broken at its circumferential joined portion and the reinforced periphery edge of the opening for attachment of the gas generator when the air bag is deployed.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-128743 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,180, there are described examples of air bags in which the outer circumferential joined portion as well as the inner periphery portion around the hole for attachment of a gas generator are coated so that the afore-mentioned drawback can be eliminated. This method, however, needs an application of coating work and cannot make a light air bag with a soft hand in practice.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-158442, there is described a one piece air bag made of a hollow weave fabric in which the top side fabric facing the vehicle occupant and the bottom side fabric of the air bag have their respective own specific gas permeability range, qA and qB. However, the ratio of their gas permeability, qB/qA is greater than 2.5 which consequently may lead the air bag to fail to absorb of the impact energy of the vehicle occupant in the event of collision.
Furthermore, the circumferential joining portion of a hollow weave air bag is formed by two pieces of fabrics joined together by the bind weave (so called stitch weave) construction. Accordingly, the weave density in the bind weave is equal to the total number of woven yarns of the fabrics. As a result, the joining portion has such a very coarse and dense weave construction that could injure the vehicle occupant by abrasion when the air bag deploys at a very high speed. Because of this danger, the manufacture of air bags from a hollow weave fabric necessitates the turning inside out work step for making the joined potion to be placed inside of the bag body to obtain a ready to use form of the air bag. Naturally, the turning inside-out work is a factor raising the manufacturing cost of a hollow weave air bag.


A card connector (100) comprises an insulated housing (10), a plurality of electrical contacts (20), an L-shaped shield member (30) assembled in the housing and a guide member (40) located in the shield member. The shield member comprises a main portion (31) and a pair of lateral portions (35, 38) each comprising a guide groove (354, 384) and an L-shaped receiving space (39) surrounded by the main portion and the pair of lateral portions. Each lateral portion has a plurality of tabs (36) projecting into the guide groove. The guide member has a guide channel (16) parallel to and laterally offset from the guide grooves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector which is used in notebook computers for receiving a printed circuit card.
2. Description of Related Art
As is known to us, previously, a number of manufacturers produced a variety of printed circuit cards according to different standards for meeting the needs of different electronic devices. However, with the trend of integration, the disadvantages of this kind of operation are exposed to us, the cards provided by different manufacturers are incompatible with each other, which results in poor performance of interchanging information. For solving the problem, three types of cards defined by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) are developed, they are classified as type I, type II and type III depending on the thickness of the card. Originally, the standard cards are mainly used in servers, and when the notebook develops in the miniaturization and portability trend, these standard cards are widely served as Input/Output interfaces in the notebook computers or other related electronic devices.
With the development of the technologies, the standard cards are highly needed to be improved in many aspects, such as transmitting capacity and transmitting speed. Therefore, the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) is drafting a new standard for cards which are presently required by electronic devices. The developing new card mainly has two advantages. On the one hand, the transmitting speed is highly improved and even can reach 250 million bits per second of single-end or 500 million bits per second of double-end. Thus, the transmitting speed of the new card is four times of that of a conventional 32 bits card. On the other hand, the volume of the new card is relatively small compared to the conventional card. Referring to FIG. 1, it shows a first new card 50 and a second new card 60. The first new card 50 has a same thickness as the second new card 60. The first new card 50 and the second new card 60 respectively have an identically shaped mating portion 51, 61. The size of the first new card 50 is only one half of that of the conventional card, while the second new card is L-shaped. Thus, the first new card 50 and the second new card 60 are easily distinguished from the conventional card.
Generally, the card is assembled into an electronic device via a card connector mating with the card. The new card has a shape different from the conventional cards and a conventional card connector thus cannot mate with the new cards. New card connector should be designed to match the improvement of the cards. At present, two types of card connectors are needed to respectively mate with the first new card and the second new card. Further, all electronic devices are presently developed toward miniaturization, including notebook computers. A card connector which can respectively mates with the two types of the new cards and occupy the least space of a notebook computer in which the new card is assembled is highly required.


The invention provides a device (10) for identifying a person or an object. The device (10) includes a transparent body (42), and embedded within the transparent body (42), a printed circuit board (PCB) (46), a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) (48) electrically connected to the PCB (46), and a diffuser (16). The diffuser (16) is arranged to diffuse light emitted from the LEDs (48) thereby to illuminate the transparent body (42) to form a light source for identifying a person or an object attached to the device (10).

This invention relates to a device for identifying a person or an object, and more specifically to a device which utilises light to identify a person or an object in dark or dim conditions.
Chemical light sticks for identifying a person in certain circumstances, for example under water, are known. Conventional chemical light sticks generally include a first chemical in an outer, flexible tube and a second chemical sealed within an inner glass tube inside the outer, flexible tube. To activate the light stick the outer tube is bent until the inner tube breaks and releases the first chemical into the second chemical to produce a fluorescent glow. The known types of chemical light sticks are available in different sizes and are marketed under different names, for example GLO-STICK, CYLUME, LIGHT-STICK, CHEM-STICK and CHEM-LIGHT.
A problem associated with known light sticks of the type described above is that the chemicals sustain the fluorescent glow for a limited time only, generally in the region of six hours, and consequently, under normal circumstances, these sticks cannot be re-used. Also, the activation of these light sticks is dependent upon the proper contacting of two chemicals, and consequently these sticks have to be used before an expiry date and often are defective upon purchase.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative light-emitting device for identifying a person or an object which is relatively long-lasting, re-usable and robust.

Device for identifying a person or an object


To provide a switch circuit which is capable of reliably controlling transmission of a voltage from GND to VDD to an internal circuit or shut-off thereof even when a positive or negative voltage is inputted to an input terminal, and thereby reduces the risk of latch-up. A switch circuit is comprised of NMOS transistors, and the gates of the NMOS transistors are controlled by an output voltage of a boosting circuit, thereby making it possible to reliably control transmission or shut-off of a voltage from GND to VDD.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch circuit provided at a terminal at which a positive or negative voltage is inputted to an internal circuit of a semiconductor device.
Background Art
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a related art switch circuit. The switch circuit controls whether to transmit a positive or negative voltage inputted to an input terminal IN to an internal circuit 15 or shut off the positive or negative voltage, according to a signal of a switch control terminal EN.
Consider where the positive voltage VIN+ inputted from the input terminal IN is caused to be transmitted to a node B which is an input terminal of the internal circuit 15. The signal of the switch control terminal EN is made to be a VDD voltage in an active state to turn ON NMOS transistors 11 and 12. Here, the VDD voltage is a power supply voltage of the internal circuit 15. Further, a level shifter circuit 18 is configured to convert the signal of the input terminal LI into a voltage by the voltage of a power supply terminal LV and output the voltage from an output terminal LO and thereby to reverse the logic of the input and output. When the signal of the input terminal LI is of the VDD voltage, the level shifter circuit 18 outputs a signal of a GND voltage from the output terminal LO.
When the signal of the input terminal LI is of the GND voltage, the level shifter circuit 18 outputs a signal of the voltage of the power supply terminal LV from the output terminal LO. Thus, the level shifter circuit 18 outputs the GND voltage. When the voltage VIN+ is a voltage less than or equal to (|VGSP1|+|VOVP1|), the level shifter circuit 18 turns OFF a PMOS transistor 16. When the voltage VIN+ is a voltage greater than or equal to (|VGSP1|+|VOVP1|), the level shifter circuit 18 turns ON the PMOS transistor 16. Here, VGSP1 is a threshold voltage (VGSP1<0V) of each of the PMOS transistors 16 and a PMOS transistor 17. VOVP1 is an overdrive voltage (VOVP1<0V) necessary to reliably turn ON the PMOS transistors 16 and 17. Further, since the signal of the switch control terminal EN becomes the GND voltage through an inverter 14, the PMOS transistor 17 is turned ON. Thus, the positive voltage VIN+ inputted from the input terminal IN is transmitted to the node B which is the input terminal of the internal circuit 15. At this time, since an NMOS transistor 13 is being turned OFF, it does not affect the voltage of the node B.
Further, since the voltage at which the voltage VIN+ is greater than or equal to the GND voltage and less than or equal to (|VGSP1|+|VOVP1|) can be transmitted to the node B through the NMOS transistors 11 and 12, the voltage at which the voltage VIN+ is greater than or equal to (|VGSP1|+|VOVP1|) and less than or equal to (VDD-VGSN1-VOVN1) can be transmitted to the node B through either the NMOS transistors 11 and 12 or the PMOS transistors 16 and 17, and the voltage at which the voltage VIN+ is greater than or equal to (VDD-VGSN1-VOVN1) and less than or equal to VDD can be transmitted to the node B through the PMOS transistors 16 and 17, the positive voltage VIN+ inputted from the input terminal IN can be transmitted to the node B between the GND voltage at minimum and the VDD voltage at maximum.
Here, VDD is a power supply voltage, VGSN1 is a threshold voltage (VGSN1>0V) of each of the NMOS transistors 11 and 12, and VOVN1 is an overdrive voltage (VOVN>0V) necessary to reliably turn ON the NMOS transistors 11 and 12.
Next, consider where the positive voltage VIN+ inputted from the input terminal IN is not caused to be transmitted to the node B taken as the input of the internal circuit 15. The signal of the switch control terminal EN is made to be a GND voltage in an inactive state. Since the GND voltage is inputted to the input terminal LI, the level shifter circuit 18 outputs the same voltage as VIN+ connected to the power supply terminal LV from the output terminal LO. Since a gate of the NMOS transistor 13 is at the VDD voltage and a source thereof is at the GND voltage, the NMOS transistor 13 is turned ON to bring a node A to the GND voltage. Since a gate and a source (node A) of the NMOS transistor 11 are at the GND voltage, the NMOS transistor 11 is turned OFF. Since a gate and a drain (node A) of the NMOS transistor 12 are at the GND voltage, the NMOS transistor 12 is turned OFF. Since a gate and a source (input terminal IN) of the PMOS transistor 16 are at the voltage VIN+, the PMOS transistor 16 is turned OFF. Since a gate of the PMOS transistor 17 is at the VDD voltage and a drain (node B) thereof is less than or equal to the VDD voltage, the PMOS transistor 17 is turned OFF. Thus, the positive voltage VIN+ inputted from the input terminal IN is not transmitted to the node B taken as the input of the internal circuit 15.
Next, consider where the negative voltage VIN− inputted from the input terminal IN is not caused to be transmitted to the node B taken as the input of the internal circuit 15. The signal of the switch control terminal EN is made to be the GND voltage in the inactive state. Since, however, the negative voltage VIN− lower than the GND voltage is applied to the input terminal IN, the NMOS transistor 11 is brought into an ON state in a weak inversion region. Here, since the NMOS transistor 13 is turned ON, the node A is not brought to the input negative voltage VIN−, but to the GND voltage. Since the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 12 are at the GND voltage, the NMOS transistor 12 is turned OFF. Since VIN− is applied to the gate, source and backgate of the PMOS transistor 16, the PMOS transistor 16 is turned OFF. Since the gate of the PMOS transistor 17 is at the VDD voltage and the node B is at less than or equal to the VDD voltage, the PMOS transistor 17 is turned OFF. Thus, the negative voltage VIN− inputted from the input terminal IN is not transmitted to the node B taken as the input of the internal circuit 15.
Thus, the related art switch circuit is capable of preventing the negative voltage from being transmitted to the input of the internal circuit 15 even if the negative voltage is inputted from the input terminal IN, and preventing the malfunction of the internal circuit.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-183206


The present invention provides a camera in which a flash emission section is aligned with a self-timer light-emitting indicator section and the amount of slide of a slide door is minimized. The camera includes; a housing with an opening for an image-taking optical system and a first opening through which both the flash emission section and the self-timer light-emitting indicator section appear; and a slide door with a second opening having a cover partially attached thereto. The opening for the image-taking optical system, the first and second openings and the amount of slide of the slide door are arranged such that, when the slide door is closed, part of the first opening overlaps with part of the second opening and the overlapped part of the first opening is shielded by the cover provided in the second opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera that has an image-taking optical system and an image pickup device, and generates image data by forming object images on the image pickup device by the image-taking system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently digital cameras, which generate image data by forming an object image on an image pickup device, have been rapidly spread and have become smaller, thinner and diversified in their designs.
Many of such digital cameras have a protection member, for example, a slide door that opens and closes such that it opens a front of an image-taking optical system during image-taking operation and in the other times covers the front, in order to protect the image-taking optical system that appears through the front of the camera.
Usually, on the front of a camera, not only an aperture through which an image-taking optical system appears is formed, but a flash emission section for emitting flash for image-taking operation is also disposed. Accordingly many cameras have a protection member configured so as to open and close the front of the flash emission section as well as the front of the image-taking optical system (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004-348059, 2004-348069).
Additionally some cameras have a self-timer mode in which actual image-taking is performed after a lapse of predetermined time, for example, 10 seconds after preparatory image-taking operation is conducted. Such a camera has, on its front, a self-timer light-emitting indicator such as a LED to notify a user that image-taking operation in the self-timer mode is about to be performed.
Here, in view of the design of a camera, it is conceivable to decrease the number of openings on a slide door of a camera by aligning a flash emission section with a self-timer light-emitting indicator. In this case, the slide door needs to have a wider opening for the flash emission section and the self-timer light-emitting indicator.
However, configuring the slide door to slide by its width makes the amount of slide large and thus the size of a camera large, which is contrary to the demand for a smaller camera.


An hermetic, gas filled or vacuum package device and method of making a vacuum package device. The device includes a device layer having one or more Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices. The device layer includes one or more electrical leads coupled to the one or more MEMS devices. The device also includes a first wafer having one or more silicon pins, wherein a first surface of the first wafer is bonded to a first surface of the device layer in such a manner that the one or more silicon pins are in electrical communication with the electrical leads. A second wafer, which may also have one or more silicon pins, is bonded to a second surface of the device layer. The first and second wafers are formed of borosilicate glass and the device layer is formed of silicon.

Currently, Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices are packaged using chip scale packaging techniques, such as that shown in FIG. 1. The MEMS device is first created on a substrate. The MEMS device and substrate are then placed within a housing with electrical leads that extend to and through the housing for electrically connecting the MEMS device with other systems external to the housing. This method incurs the extra cost of the housing materials as well as the time and cost of mounting the substrate and MEMS device within the housing in such a manner so as not to exhibit any thermal stress due to differences in coefficients of thermal expansion between the substrate and the housing. Also, the resulting device formed by current methods is a larger package that takes up a large amount real estate in the final integrated circuit product.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for lower cost methods for manufacturing wafer-level vacuum packaged devices.

Methods of fabrication of wafer-level vacuum packaged devices


The invention provides a NOx adsorber aftertreatment system for internal combustion engines which utilizes a plasma fuel converter operatively coupled to at least one NOx adsorber to aid in the regeneration of the NOx adsorber. Fuel and engine exhaust is injected into a plasma fuel converter upstream of a NOx absorber producing reductant such as H2, and CO, which are inlet into the NOx absorber. Reductants such as H2 and CO acting along and together help to efficiently regenerate the NOx Adsorber which in turn releases exhausts products such as CO2 and N2. Using the reductants generated by the plasma fuel converter NOx adsorbers, catalytic soot filter, and the like can be regenerated at exhaust temperatures less than 250° C. The plasma fuel converter, NOx adsorber regenerating aftertreatment system of the present invention may be used with any suitable control system.

As environmental concerns have led to increasingly strict regulation of engine emissions by governmental agencies, reduction of nitrogen-oxygen compounds (NOx) in exhaust emissions from internal combustion engines has become increasingly important. Current indications are that this trend will continue.
In the past, the emission levels of US diesel engines have been regulated according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) using the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) cycle, with a subset of more restrictive emission standards for California via the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Future emission from diesel engines will have to be further reduced in order to meet proposed and soon to be implemented EPA emission standards. For example, the Tier II emission standards, which are being considered for 2004, are 50% lower than the Tier I standards. Car and light truck emissions are measured over the FTP 75 test and expressed in gm/mi.
Regulatory agencies continue to propose and apply ever-stricter emission standards. For example, proposed Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) emission levels for light-duty vehicles up to model year 2004 are 0.2 gm/mi NOx and 0.08 gm/mi particulate matter (PM). Beginning with the 2004 model year, all light-duty Low Emission Vehicles (LEVs) and ULEVs in California would have to meet a 0.05 gm/mi NOx standard to be phased in over a three-year period. In addition to the NOx standard, a full useful life PM standard of 0.01 gm/mi would also have to be met. The EPA has also proposed tighter regulations for off-road diesel engines requiring them to emit 90% less particulate matter and nitrogen oxides by 2014 than they do today.
Traditional methods of in-cylinder emission reduction techniques such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and injection rate shaping, by themselves, will not be able to achieve the low emission levels required by these standards. Aftertreatment technologies will have to be used and will have to be further developed in order to meet the future low emission requirements set for diesel engines.
Some promising aftertreatment technologies to meet future NOx emission standards include lean NOx catalysts, NOx adsorbers, and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalysts. Currently, used lean NOx catalyst technologies result in the reduction of engine NOx emissions in the range of 10 to 30 percent for engines operated under typical conditions. Although a promising technology, SCR catalyst systems require an additional reducing agent (aqueous urea). The need for this compound raises issues related to the relatively high freezing point of the compound and the need to develop and support a distribution system for this compound.
When NOx adsorbers are used to sequester NOx they must be periodically regenerated. One way of regenerating NOx adsorbers is by using pre-cats (catalysts, which partially oxidize hydrocarbon to produce reductants and heat). Commonly used pre-cats produce exhaust gasses enriched in volatile hydrocarbons, CO2, and water. These compounds are effective at regenerating commonly used NOx adsorbers when the adsorbers are regenerated at temperatures in the 500° C. range. The need for elevated temperatures make this class of reductants impractical for the regeneration of NOx adsorbers used with internal combustion engines that operate at relatively low temperatures, such as, light duty diesel engines. Light-duty diesel engines are commonly found in cars and light duty trucks, a rapidly growing segment of the diesel engine market.
Another promising approach is the use of a non-catalytic process for the removal of NOx and particulates from engine exhausts. Oxygen rich diesel engine exhaust containing NOx is fed into a plasma generator incorporating for example a gamma-aluminum component. Electrical current and additional hydrocarbon fuel supplied to the unit are used to produce volatile hydrocarbons that react with NOxs and carbon-based soot in engine exhaust to produce more environmentally benign products such as N2 and CO2. For a more comprehensive discussion of this technology the reader is directed toward U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,854 to Penetrante, et al. herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The primary component of the non-catalytic NOx removal system is a plasma source requiring a continuous source of electrical current, therefore the use of this system may result in a significant fuel penalty.
Non-thermal plasma generators use electrical current and oxygen, and operating at temperatures in the range of 500° C. These devices reform hydrocarbons to produce reductants enriched in reactive oxygenated organic molecules. Ready source of hydrocarbon fuel includes, for example, diesel fuel. Reactive oxygenates produced by the process can react with NOx and carbon-based soot to produce environmentally benign species such as N2, CO2, and H2O. For a more detailed discussion of this technology the reader is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,078 to Balko et al., and to "Thermal Cracking of Higher Paraffins" by H. H. Voge and G. M. Good, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 71, pages 593-597, February, (1949).
The oxygenated organic molecules produced by this system contain at least one carbon atom and generally no more than 3 carbons. The longer chain reductants may have difficulty permeating ultra-fine NOx adsorber matrices or heavily sooted particulate filters.
Internal combustion engine exhaust gas aftertreatment systems that use plasma fuel converters, which require a supply of fresh air, water, fuel, and electricity, have been used to produce reductants, which are used, in turn, to regenerate NOx adsorbers. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,958 to Bromberg. The systems proposed so far require a dedicated source of water and air to ensure the efficient operation of the plasma fuel generator. The need for a dedicated source of water limits the utility of these systems, especially when they are used with mobile internal combustion engines or with stationary engines operated in environments which lack ready access to a dedicated water supply.
These technologies, therefore, have limitations that may prevent their use in achieving the new emissions requirements as efficiently as possible. There is a need then for an engine aftertreatment system that provides a source of extremely reactive reductants that can effectively regenerate NOx adsorbents, including systems using an ultra-fine catalyst bed, that does not result in a significant fuel penalty and that can be readily operated in the absence of a dedicated supply of fresh air and water. The present invention is directed toward meeting this need.

Plasma fuel converter NOx adsorber system for exhaust aftertreatment


A stator joint for a gas turbine engine has a center axis, and a shroud having a radial wall facing substantially radially with respect to the center axis. A slot wall defines in-part a slot in the shroud. A relief wall defines a relief area of the slot. The relief wall extends between the radial wall and the slot wall. A vane has an airfoil and a lug extending into the slot. A flowable attachment material is disposed in the relief area for engagement of the vane to the shroud. A vane assembly and a gas turbine engine are also disclosed.

This disclosure relates to a joint between a vane and shroud, for use in a gas turbine engine.
Gas turbine engine vane assemblies typically include vanes having airfoils mounted between two rings or partial rings (shrouds) that form a flowpath for the gas turbine engine. The vanes are typically brazed to the shrouds, and may have lugs at radial ends received in slots in the shrouds.
One application for such an assembly is in a compressor. Generally, there are vane assemblies intermediate rotor stages in the compressor.
In the prior art, the lugs are inserted into slots in radially inner and outer shrouds. Some flowable attachment material, such as a brazing material, has typically been deposited between the lugs and the slots. There have been two basic types of this structure used. In a first type, the lugs extend radially inward of the outer shroud and radially outwardly of the inner shroud. These enlarged lugs provide a dam preventing the flowable attachment material from extending to locations on the airfoil. However, these enlarged lugs also present an obstruction to a desired air flow cross-sectional area between the airfoils.
It is also known to have the lugs not extend radially beyond the shroud walls. With this structure, the flowable attachment material could move beyond the lug and toward surfaces of the airfoil which can cause damage to the vanes.
These and other features of this application will be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.


A lamp base (10), for example, for a tungsten-halogen lamp, comprises three electrically conductive parts or elements and a glass insulator. Specifically, the lamp base (10) comprises a first metallic outer part (12), a glass inner part (14), an electrically conducting eyelet (18), and an upper electrically conductive part (20), all symmetrically arrayed about a longitudinal axis (16). The glass insulator (14) bonds all of the electrically conductive parts, (12, 18) and (20). The metallic outer part (12) is preferably threaded for insertion into a socket and has a major, internal diameter D1. The glass inner part (14) has a primary, external diameter that is equal to the major internal diameter D1; i.e., the external diameter of the glass inner part (14) is contiguous with the internal diameter of the metallic outer part (12). Further, the internal glass part (14) has an opening (14a) therein and the opening (14a) has a secondary diameter D2In an aspect of the invention, D2/D1 is greater than 0.5 and less than 0.6 and, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the ratio D2/D1 is 0.58.

Among incandescent lamps, those operating on the well-known halogen cycle are among the most efficient. When certain operating parameters of the lamps are controlled by external circuitry, the lamps can be made to operate even more efficiently. If such circuitry could be included within the lamp or the lamp base, it would provide a saving in space and increase operational usage of such lamps. It would be an advance in the art if these advantages could be achieved without taking away from the strength of the lamp.


A golf putter providing a center mount of the hosel to the club head and a shaft engagement to the hosel at the heel end of the club head. The center mount provides the sole engagement of the hosel to the head as a gap is formed by a pathway formed through the body of the head which is larger than the circumference of the hosel in its communication therethrough. The centered engagement provides better touch to the user and feedback on striking a ball while concurrently removing the shaft from the user's line of sight to the ball and club face and reduces the twist or torque at impact with a golf ball, thereby increasing the moment of inertia.

In the sport of golf, golf clubs are employed to hit a golf ball around the various portions of the course. As a general rule golf clubs fall into three broad categories including woods, irons, and the putter. Woods have club heads formed of wood and/or metal and are designed for striking and propelling the ball long distances down the fairway portion of the golf course. Irons are the clubs employed by golfers for medium distance driving of the ball.
In a conventional set of clubs including such woods and irons, various clubs are designed with a face of the club head to yield differing loft characteristics on ball impact. When the ball is struck generally straight on by the club face, the face angle creates a loft making the golf ball leave the ground on an ascending trajectory. This alleviates the need to swing the club upward to loft the ball.
However, upon placing the ball adjacent to or on the green with a wood or iron, a softer touch is needed by a golfer to sink the ball into the hole. For this purpose, putters are employed to putt the ball into the hole. Unlike woods and irons, putters are employed for a relatively soft contact with the golf ball to roll the ball short distances upon the green surrounding the hole. The putting portion of the game can be especially vexing to golfers since the ball must be accurately driven on the green, taking into consideration the slant of the green and many other variables.
Since during a putt the ball is intended to roll on the grass forming the green rather than to leave it, putters have a very low loft and often a short shaft. The result is a club that is designed to "push" and roll the ball rather than to elevate it upward into the air for long distances. While generally employed for play on the green, putters may on occasion be useful for playing some approach shots on courses with tightly mown fringe and fairways.
There are a number of different styles of putters. Popular head styles include those that are mallet-shaped or blade-shaped; however, many others exist. A mallet putter generally speaking has a large, rounded putter head and is weighted to be balanced throughout the club to provide the user with a more consistent putting stroke. A blade style putter in many popular versions is narrow and flat in order to give the user a tactile sensation or "feel" to the hands when employing the putter.
The head itself may be weighted at the perimeter or have weights adapted for insertion in the head. Perimeter-weighted and toe-weighted putters are considered by many to produce a more forgiving stroke, as the weight is distributed to yield a larger sweet spot on the club face. An insert configured putter head has composite inserts in the head made of a softer material than the rest of the head. The insert is in the face of the putter, sharply defining the sweet spot yielding a smoother roll.
However, most putters of either design have an engagement of the shaft of the club to the hosel engaging the head in a position and attachment mode at the heel end which causes unwanted torque or twisting of the head at the moment of impact with the ball. Additionally, many such shaft and hosel engagements marginalize the feel or tactile sensation of the strike on the ball communicated to the hands of the user gripping the shaft.
Putters with a shaft engaged to a hosel engaging the heel of the head yield a clear view of the ball being struck, but increase the torque on the shaft. This tends to rotate the shaft in the hands of the user even when struck at the head center. Putters having a shaft engaged to a hosel engaging the center portion of the club head, or just a shaft engaging the center of the head, reduce the torque communicated to the shaft upon striking the ball. However, in such an engagement, the shaft can block the view of the ball since it runs through the center of the club. In center mounted heads struck off center, or heel mounted heads even struck on center, the torque generated and resulting twisting tend to rotate the engaged shaft and can easily misdirect the ball along the wrong trajectory from that intended.
Other conventional engagements of the shaft to a hosel engage the distal end of the hosel directly into the head portion of the club either at the heel of the head or into the top central portion of the head. This engagement, while easy to manufacture, engages the hosel at a top or side edge of the head. Thus desired central point of impact of the ball on the head is distanced from the engagement point of the distal end of the hosel thereby dampening the feel of such an impact being transmitted through the club shaft to the user gripping the shaft.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for a golf putter which provides a shaft engagement or a shaft and hosel engagement to the club head, which provides a means to eliminate or at least minimize the potential for twisting of the shaft upon impact of the center of the face of the head with the ball. Such a putter should provide the uninhibited viewing of the ball that a heel positioning of the shaft and hosel engagement yields, and concurrently produce the minimized torque and resulting shaft twisting provided by a center engagement of the distal end of the hosel or shaft to the head. Still further, such a putter should have a center of gravity that encourages the ball to roll forward rather than loft or backspin by yielding a large sweet spot for impact. Still further, such a shaft to head engagement should also provide increased transmission of the feel of the impact of the head with the ball to allow the user better distance and directional control of their follow-through after impact.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings nor the steps outlined in the specification. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways as those skilled in the art will readily ascertain from reading and being educated by this application. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention of a golf putter having a center engaged hosel extending from the center of gravity of the head to the shaft. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.


A microwave oven 10 including a main body 1 in which a heating chamber 2 is installed, a microwave supplying unit 3 installed at an inner portion of the main body 1 for heating a food incorporated in the heating chamber 2 by supplying microwave at a predetermined output, an operation panel 4 (input operating unit) for inputting cooking output information and cooking time information of the food, a control unit 6 for comparing the cooking output information inputted by the operation panel 4 with the predetermined output, correcting the inputted cooking time information in accordance with a result of the comparison and instructing to drive the microwave supplying unit 3 based on corrected cooking time obtained by the correction, wherein the control unit 6 includes buzzer 48 (information supplying means) for successively supplying the cooking time information inputted by the operation panel 4 and the corrected cooking time and supplying, after having supplied the cooking time information, information that the corrected cooking time is being supplied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, particularly to a microwave oven which drives microwave heating means based on cooking information inputted by an input operating unit.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, foods exclusive for a microwave oven have been widely distributed in market, such as frozen foods or the like that are heated and cooked by the microwave oven. On a package of these foods, there is displayed a cooking information indicating standards in heating and cooking the foods by the microwave oven. The cooking information indicates output of a microwave oven and cooking time such as, for example, "cooking is carried out by setting the output to "LOW" and heating for 3 minutes" or "cooking is carried out by heating for 3 minutes at a set output value of 600 W" and so on. However, there is a case where a user of the microwave oven is not aware of rated output of the microwave oven used or a case where the user is not aware of respective output values of "HIGH" or "LOW" to be set.
Further, with the wide distribution of foods exclusive for a microwave oven, the microwave oven becomes high-powered and even a microwave oven having an output of about 500 W to a power exceeding 1 KW is on the market. Accordingly, when heating and cooking are carried out without being aware of output of a microwave oven used, it is unavoidable that excessive heating or insufficient heating is brought about.
Accordingly, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-3(1991)-159094, a control unit sets heating/cooking time period in accordance with rated output of a microwave oven by newly correcting it on the basis of such information inputted from an input operating unit and instructs to drive the microwave supplying unit in compliance with the set heating/cooking time period. In this way, even when cooking output information displayed on a food differs from the rated output of a microwave oven used, excessive heating or insufficient heating can be prevented.
However, according to a microwave oven having the above-described control unit, when inputted cooking time information is displayed at the input operating unit and thereafter, the display is abruptly changed to display of cooking time period obtained by the correction, there is a concern where a user mistakenly determines that the microwave oven has failed.


There are provided semiconductor packages having corner pins and methods for their fabrication. Such a semiconductor package includes a leadframe and a die paddle, the leadframe having first and second edge sides meeting to form a first corner. The semiconductor package also includes edge pins arrayed substantially parallel to the first edge side and edge pins arrayed substantially parallel to the second edge side. In addition, the semiconductor package includes a first corner pin situated at the first corner, the first corner pin being electrically isolated from the die paddle.

Flat no-leads packaging solutions, such as Quad-Flat No-Leads (QFN) packages offer several benefits. For example, QFN packages can provide reduced lead inductances, a small, nearly chip scale footprint, a thin profile, and low weight. QFN packages also offer perimeter or edge input/output (I/O) pads, thereby facilitating printed circuit board (PCB) trace routing. Moreover, QFN packages may include an exposed conductive die paddle enabling good thermal and electrical performance.
As semiconductor technologies become more complex, the number of required I/O terminals on semiconductor packages continues to increase. Conventional QFN packaging solutions have included single-row or multi-row QFN packages. Such conventional QFN packages are typically limited to less than 100 leads in single row perimeter designs, and less than 165 leads for dual row designs. As designs move to the current minimum terminal pitch of approximately 0.4 mm, a conventional approach to accommodating the increased number of I/O terminals is to move to a QFN package having a larger body size. However, moving to a larger QFN body size undesirably results in a costlier, thicker, and heavier semiconductor package.


An information recording/reproducing device, wherein a power management mechanism for a serial ATA interface connecting between an optical disk drive and a host computer has a steady-state power mode (PHYRDY) and a power-saving mode (Partial state, Slumber state) to keep power consumption lower than the steady-state power mode, while a power management mechanism built into the optical disk drive has a steady-state power mode (active state) and a power-saving mode (inactive mode) to keep power consumption lower than the steady-state power mode. The optical disk drive controls transition of the power consumption modes of the power management mechanism for a serial ATA interface in accordance with current power consumption mode of its internal power management mechanism.

In recent years, a serial ATA interface is adopted as an interface for connecting a host computer (e.g., personal computer) and an information storage device such as a hard disc drive or an optical drive (e.g., DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) drive). The serial ATA can realize a higher data transfer speed than a parallel ATA. However, a high-speed clock (e.g., 750 MHz) is used in the serial ATA, which makes the power consumption in the serial ATA higher than that in the parallel ATA.
Thus, in the serial ATA specification, three power consumption modes of PHYRDY, Partial and Slumber are defined so as to realize a power saving function. Partial and Slumber are each a "power saving mode" in which the power of an interface circuit is turned off to disable communication, and PHYRDY is a steady-state in which communication is enabled. When communication needs to be started in the power saving mode, it is necessary to set back the power consumption mode from the power saving mode to PHYRDY state, so that the recovery time to PHYRDY state occurs to cause an operational delay. Further, the serial ATA specification has a feature that, in PHYRDY state, a host computer and an information storage device connected via the serial ATA transmit high frequency signals to each other even while they do not perform data exchange. That is, in PHYRDY state, a high power is always consumed irrespective of presence/absence of data to be exchanged.
FIG. 1 shows the outline of the power consumption mode of the serial ATA interface. As shown in FIG. 1, the power consumption becomes lower in order of PHYRDY state, Partial state, and Slumber state. The Partial state and Slumber state correspond to the abovementioned "power saving mode", and the time required for transition from the power saving mode to PHYRDY state is larger from the Slumber state than from the Partial state. More specifically, the time required for transition from the Partial state to PHYRDY state is up to 10 μsec, and time required for transition from the Slumber state to PHYRDY state is up to 10 msec. As described above, the power saving mode can include "low power saving mode" and "high power saving mode" depending on the number of turn-off interface circuits. The "high power saving mode" has higher power saving effect than the "low power saving mode", while it requires more time for transition to a steady-state in which communication is enabled than the "low power saving mode".
Here, a transition method to the power saving mode in the serial ATA interface in the case where a host computer and an optical drive are connected to each other by the serial ATA interface will be described. The following process is carried out in a conventional transition method. That is, when a state where no command is issued from the host computer to optical drive continues for a certain time period (e.g., 500 msec) in the PHYRDY state, the optical drive transmits a request (message for requesting transition to the Partial state) to the host computer, and the power consumption mode shifts to the Partial state. After that, when a state where no command is issued from the host computer to optical drive continues for a certain time period (e.g., 2,500 msec) in this Partial state, the optical drive transmits a request (message for requesting transition to the Slumber state) to the host computer, and the power consumption mode shifts to the Slumber state.
As a conventional art document relating to such a conventional technique, the following patent document discloses a technique for realizing the power saving inside a disc storage device.    Patent Document 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-325048

Information storage device, information recording/reproducing device, and power consumption management method


Techniques are provided for resolving a collision between two copy services. A policy associated with a new copy service request is retrieved. Characteristics of an existing copy service request are determined. The effects of the new copy service request are determined. A resolution for the collision is identified based on the policy, the determined characteristics, and the determined effects.

1. Field
Implementations of the invention relate to dynamic, policy-based control of copy service precedence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Certain disaster recovery systems address data loss over a period of time. In this type of gradual disaster, updates to volumes may be lost. A volume may be described as any logical or physical element of storage. To assist in recovery of data updates, a copy of data may be provided at a remote location. Such dual or shadow copies are typically made as an application program is writing new data to a storage device (e.g., a primary storage device). A storage device is a physical unit that provides a mechanism to store data on a given medium, such that the data can be subsequently retrieved.
There are many types of copy services available today, but some copy services cannot be simultaneously performed on the same data because they lead to inconsistencies in the data.
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), the assignee of the subject patent application, provides remote copy services for maintaining remote copies of data at a secondary storage device, including extended remote copy (XRC) and peer-to-peer remote copy (PPRC). These systems provide techniques for recovering data updates between a last, safe backup and a system failure. Such data shadowing systems can also provide an additional remote copy for non-recovery purposes, such as local access at a remote site. The IBM XRC and PPRC systems are described further in z/OS V1R1.0 DFSMS Advanced Copy Services (IBM Document Number SC35-0428-00), April 2001, which is available from International Business Machines Corporation.
A point-in-time copy involves physically copying all the data from source volumes to target volumes so that the target volume has a copy of the data as of a point-in-time. A point-in-time copy can also be made by logically making a copy of the data and then only copying data over when necessary, in effect deferring the physical copying. This logical copy service is performed to minimize the time during which the target and source volumes are inaccessible.
A number of direct access storage device (DASD) subsystems are capable of performing "instant virtual copy" operations, also referred to as "fast replicate functions." Instant virtual copy services work by modifying metadata such as relationship tables or pointers to treat a source data object as both the original and copy. In response to a host's copy request, the storage subsystem immediately reports creation of the copy without having made any physical copy of the data. Only a "virtual" copy has been created, and the absence of an additional physical copy is completely unknown to the host. Then, data may be physically copied as a background operation.
One such instant virtual copy service is known as a FlashCopy® operation. A FlashCopy® operation involves establishing a logical point-in-time relationship between source and target volumes on the same or different devices. Further details of the FlashCopy® operations are described in the copending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/347,344, (U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,901) filed on Jul. 2, 1999, entitled "Method, System, and Program for Maintaining Electronic Data as of a Point-in-Time", which patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A different fast replicate technique is the "SNAPSHOT" copy services solution disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,667 entitled "Data Record Copy System for a Disk Drive Array Data Storage Subsystem," which issued on Apr. 25, 1995, which patent is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In existing implementations of copy services, there are often limitations on the combination of copy services that may be used simultaneously on the same data. For example, a point-in-time copy (e.g., a FlashCopy® or Snapshot) may be not performed when the target of the point-in-time copy is already the source of a remote copy (e.g., XRC, PPRC). This restriction exists because performing the point-in-time copy is an atomic operation from an application program's point of view, but might not be feasible to copy as an atomic unit to the remote copy target devices.
As an example, initially, assume that a PPRC copy service is being performed from source B to target C. Then, a desired operation is to perform a FlashCopy® copy service from source A to target B. Thus, target B is already a source for the PPRC copy service, and would be a target for the FlashCopy® copy service.
A normal technique for dealing with the underlying incompatibility between the copy services is to disallow the second copy service when there is a collision (i.e., when the copy services may not be performed simultaneously). This does not take into account the possibility that the FlashCopy® copy service is more important or desirable to the end user of the data than the consistency of the remote copy target.
Table A illustrates an example collision table. In Table A, the first column lists new copy services, while the remaining column headings provide an existing copy service. For example, if an XRC copy service is currently using a source, and a new FlashCopy® operation starts to move data such that the source of the XRC copy service becomes a target of the FlashCopy® copy service, an error occurs. Also, if a PPRC operation exists for a source, and a new PPRC operation attempts to move data, such that the source will be a target, the operation may proceed if the hardware supports this option.
TABLE AXRCFlashCopy ®sourcePPRC SourceSourceFlashCopy ®ErrorErrorErrorTargetPPRC TargeterrorOK if hardwareOKsupports thisoptionXRC TargetOKOKOK
In some conventional systems, typically the first copy service that is started is allowed to finish, and other copy services for the same data are rejected. In other conventional systems, when a first copy service is in process and a second copy service is started, the second copy service is allowed to start and the first copy service is cancelled. Either of these operations is set as a computer default, and a user is not able to change the default solution.
Therefore, there is a continued need in the art to provide better collision resolution between two or more copy services.

Dynamic, policy-based control of copy service precedence


Systems, methodologies, media, and other embodiments associated with metadata driven diagnostic test execution are described. One exemplary system embodiment includes a diagnostic test set repository where pre-defined and/or user-defined XML files that store the metadata for driving the diagnostic test execution can be stored. The example system may also include a first logic to prepare the XML file to control a diagnostic session and a second logic to control the diagnostic session based on the prepared XML file.

Computers and the applications that run on them continue to get more sophisticated. Similarly, databases and the applications that interact with them continue to get more sophisticated. Thus, diagnosing actual and/or potential problems continues to grow in difficulty. Conventionally users have had limited tools to help them probe and diagnose their systems. Thus, users may have had to manually select tests to run, manually configure inputs for the tests, manually initiate the tests, and perform other manual tasks. Users may then have had to repeat the selection, configuration, and initiation all over again when they wanted to repeat the testing. These processes may have involved searching manuals, searching on a local system for vendor provided test programs, searching the Internet for available diagnostics, making phone calls, manually configuring tests, manually running tests, and so on.
While some manufacturers may provide a test program or even a suite of test programs, these tend to be static programs that may get out of date and/or become obsolete. Furthermore, these test programs still tend to require unacceptable levels of user configuration and/or control. Some manufacturers may provide diagnostic tests that can be downloaded and run by a user. Some tests may even execute automatically after being downloaded into, for example, a browser. However, repeatability may be difficult, if possible at all, to achieve.
Manufacturers or other third parties may also provide online assistance where a support person will "take over" a remote computer to try to diagnose a problem. This remote control usually relies on analyzing information available on the implicated computer. This remote control may sometimes involve running a diagnostic program on the implicated computer. As a result of the remote control, the support person and/or the user of the implicated computer may decide to download a patch (e.g., executable) to fix the problem(s). Even in this paradigm, finding and providing inputs to diagnostics may be a timely, difficult, and non-repeatable process that unnecessarily burdens the user for whom the diagnostics are being performed.
While these approaches have provided some relief to users, they have not provided a comprehensive, integrated, pluggable diagnostic solution. Diagnostics provided from different sources tend not to work together and thus individual items may be tested in isolation. Furthermore, these approaches tend to be "one shot" after the fact attempts at diagnosing and/or repairing problems. Additionally, these approaches tend to require sophisticated actions from a user who may have neither the experience to understand such actions nor the time to acquire such experience.


Integrated touch sense controls installed at a steering wheel, steering wheel cover or decorative pieces installed at the steering wheel in order to capture the hands movements interpreter the finger gestures and control various devices in the car without distracting the driver while operating the vehicle. The steering wheel controls may also incorporate one or multiple displays for feedback and driver assistance. The display is located such that is always at the direct line of sight of the driver.

The popularity of smart phones in the day to day life may cause safety issues when they are improperly used behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Very often the attention of the driver has been drawn from a phone call or from the display of the smart phone rather than on the road and this implicates local laws and the driver safety.
Even today's most popular hands free interfaces require access to a control keys that are strictly designated by function and very often buried or located out of the reach of the driver so those would require extra attention to be manipulated. Examples of such keys are the controls integrated with the head unit, around the dash board or the arm rest.
The conventional devices available typically do not resolve the convenience and safety concerns in today's car. Therefore, there is a need for a safe operation of a smart phone in a vehicle in a manner of controls that are embedded in the steering wheel in a way that the buttons do not require drivers attention instead the hands position on the steering wheel have been analyzed and interpreted to control a smart phone and displayed on a single or set of displays located in a direct line of sight of the driver.

Steering wheel with remote control capabilities


Damper engine mount links are disclosed. An example engine assembly includes a core including a fore portion and an aft portion, the fore portion of the core to couple to a fan hub frame, the aft portion of the core to couple to a turbine rear frame or a turbine center frame. The engine assembly further includes a forward mount to couple the fan hub frame to an aircraft, and a damper link to couple the turbine rear frame or the turbine center frame to an aircraft mount.

Engines of aircraft typically include a mount(s) to couple the engine to a structure of the aircraft, such as a pylon. The mount(s) provide a linkage system between the engine and the pylon at a leading portion of the engine (e.g., a forward mount) and/or a trailing portion of the engine (e.g., an aft mount). The linkage system maintains a position of the engine relative to the aircraft. The linkage system can impact loads encountered by the engine, the alignment of rotor to stator flowpath steps throughout the engine, and tip clearances between the blades and a casing of the engine.
The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. As used herein, connection references (e.g., attached, coupled, connected, and joined) may include intermediate members between the elements referenced by the connection reference and/or relative movement between those elements unless otherwise indicated. As such, connection references do not necessarily infer that two elements are directly connected and/or in fixed relation to each other. As used herein, stating that any part is in "contact" with another part is defined to mean that there is no intermediate part between the two parts.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, descriptors such as "first," "second," "third," etc. are used herein without imputing or otherwise indicating any meaning of priority, physical order, arrangement in a list, and/or ordering in any way, but are merely used as labels and/or arbitrary names to distinguish elements for ease of understanding the disclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor "first" may be used to refer to an element in the detailed description, while the same element may be referred to in a claim with a different descriptor such as "second" or "third." In such instances, it should be understood that such descriptors are used merely for identifying those elements distinctly that might, for example, otherwise share a same name. As used herein "substantially real time" refers to occurrence in a near instantaneous manner recognizing there may be real world delays for computing time, transmission, etc. Thus, unless otherwise specified, "substantially real time" refers to real time +/−1 second.


The invention relates to a monolith retainer for a fuel canister. The retainer has a head portion for retaining a monolith within a chamber of the fuel canister and a plurality of resiliently biased leg members, which extend from the head portion along a length of the monolith being retained. The legs are resiliently biased toward the inner wall of the chamber such that, when the monolith resides within the chamber, contact feet of the resiliently biased leg members abut against the monolith. A support ridge is also provided for preventing the monolith from traveling too far into the canister.

Automobiles are typically provided with fuel canisters for reducing vapour emission from the fuel tank. This is often achieved using a carbon based monolith which is placed in line with the canister in order to adsorb vapours from the fuel tank. Such monoliths may be located remotely from the canister and connected via a pipe or may be installed in a suitable chamber integrated into the canister body.
In order to secure the monolith within the integrated chamber and to ensure that vapour flows through the monolith (rather than around it) it is typically sandwiched between a pair of rubber seal plugs. However, the material required for these seals to retain the monolith securely and to ensure a sufficient seal to the vapour, is relatively expensive. Furthermore, the monolith (which is typically manufactured from a brittle material) is easily damaged during insertion into the chamber.
Another problem with current monolith chamber arrangements is that, once in position, a resilient compensation system typically compresses the monolith arrangement from above. This can cause undesirable axial movement of the monolith within the chamber after manufacture of the fuel canister.


Described herein are peptides, compositions, and methods for diagnosing, detecting, imaging, monitoring, preventing, treating, or ameliorating diseases or disorders including cancer, inflammatory disorder, and autoimmune disease.

Tumor-associated macrophages displaying a M2-like phenotype (M2 TAMs) play major roles in progression of solid tumors, including epithelial and mesenchymal tumors, glia-derived tumors, and melanoma. M2-like TAMs promote tumor growth and progression by stimulating tumor cell proliferation and by secreting factors that promote angiogenesis, such as VEGF-A6. M2 TAMs also induce transient openings in tumor neovessels that allow malignant cells to enter the bloodstream, promoting metastatic dissemination of solid tumors. M2-like TAMs increase in number after chemotherapy and contribute to tumor relapse. They also limit the efficacy of chemotherapies and support immunosuppressive microenvironment in tumors. Therefore, there remains a need for mechanisms for targeting M2 TAMs such as for treatment or diagnostic imaging purposes.

Compositions that target tumor-associated macrophages and methods of use therefor

SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE


A method of making an electric motor where the motor has a reduction gear and a gear cover mounted thereon. An opening is formed through the gear cover at a location corresponding to a connection portion. A pressure member is inserted into the gear cover through the opening and is pressed against another pressure member to squeeze a choke coil and a connection plate. High current may flow through the pressure members for a short time to weld the choke coil and the connection plate together by way of resistive heating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of making an electric motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to connect an electric motor to a coil, capacitor or the like for avoiding noises which are produced by sparks between the brush and the commutator in the motor. It is also known that an electric part such as a coil or capacitor or connection terminal is mounted in a receiving case on the housing of the electric motor.
It is further general that the electric parts are mounted in the receiving case after they have been connected to one another through leads.
However, the leads connecting the electric parts tend to be bent when the electric parts are mounted in the receiving case. The electric parts must be mounted in the case while individually holding them. Such a manual procedure is not suitable for automation.
Alternatively, the electric parts may be connected to one another through metal plates in place of the leads to hold them as a unit, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 4-501650. However, the latter is disadvantageous in that the electric parts cannot be housed within the receiving case if the metal plates are not accurately positioned and preset relative to the electric parts. It was further difficult to connect the metal plates to the electric parts after they have been disposed within the receiving case.
This is because if the metal plates and electric parts are located within the receiving case providing its smaller space, it is very difficult to clamp and fix the connections between the metal plates and electric parts when they are to be connected to one another.