An extended nip press having a concave shoe which is supported on a hydraulic actuator which urges the shoe against a backing roll. A pair of opposed profile control hydraulic actuators apply a pure couple about the load support line formed by a bearing pin which transmits the support load from the hydraulic actuator to the shoe. A leading hydraulic actuator is positioned in front of the load support line and pulls down on the shoe. A trailing hydraulic actuator is positioned behind the load support line and pushes up on the shoe. The leading hydraulic actuator and trailing hydraulic actuator are equally spaced from the load support line and have equal hydraulic actuator area and are connected to the same hydraulic reservoir. Thus the hydraulic actuators exactly balance each other out except for the couple or torque which they apply about the load support line.

Paper is made from a stock contained over 99 percent water and less that 1 percent fiber by weight. The stock is formed into a web which has a water content of less than 5 percent by weight. The paper making process consists of forming a web from the dilute stock suspension of fibers in water by removing the water from the web. The removal of water from the formed web must typically be accomplished in a way which maximizes web strength, maximizes web thickness and minimizes cost.
Water is removed through three principal mechanisms: draining, pressing, and drying. Typically the draining process is the least costly. In draining, the fiber content of the web is taken from the stock fiber content of less than one percent to between about 10 and 15 percent. Next the fiber content is increased to between 30 and 35 percent fiber by pressing water from the web. The remainder of the water which must be removed to increase the web fiber content to 95 percent fiber is accomplished by drying the web.
Drying is typically accomplished by wrapping the web about steam heated dryer rolls and evaporating the water from the web. Drying is an expensive process because of the heat energy which must be supplied to evaporate water from the web. Because the drying process is relatively slow, the number and size of dryers required to remove the water remaining after pressing contributes to a considerable fraction of the overall cost of a papermaking machine. Furthermore, the dryers take up a majority of the volume occupied by the papermaking machine.
To improve the performance of papermaking machines and to facilitate operating at higher speed, the extended nip press was developed. Pressing a paper web typically involves passing the web supported between two press fabrics through a nip formed between two rolls. The pressure developed in the nip presses water from the web into the supporting press fabrics. The nip between two rolls has a width in the machine direction of less than one inch. The width of a nip between two rolls can be increased to a limited extent by making one or both of the rolls compliant. On the other hand an extended nip press employs a shoe which has a concave contact surface which engages the backing roll to form a nip having a width of 8 to 12 inches in the machine direction.
The extended nip press shoe is placed within a looped blanket which slides over the concave surface of the shoe on a film of oil. A paper web supported between pressing felts is passed between the backing roll and the blanket supported by the shoe. The shoe is mounted on a bearing pin to a hydraulic actuator which urges the shoe against the backing roll. The greater width of the nip in an extended nip press allows more time for water to move from the web into the press felt. By removing more water in the pressing section the web fiber content can be increased to forty to forty-five percent or more. This reduces the number of dryers required in the dryer section and the amount of energy required to dry the web. This results in a considerable increase in overall economic efficiency in a papermaking machine.
In an extended nip press, where the shoe is supported on a single pin, the pressure on the web as it moves through the extended nip is controlled by the shape of the shoe and the position of the pin beneath the shoe.
One problem with an extended nip press is that as the pressure in the nip decreases as the web leaves the nip, water can move from the press fabric back into the web, rewetting it. To overcome this problem, the pressure profile of the nip in the machine direction is tailored to increase the pressure towards the trailing or exit side of the nip. This increased pressure can overcome or decrease rewetting.
Various ways of achieving a pressure profile of a certain characteristic have been developed. The placement of the support pin and the shape of the shoe can control the pressure profile. Other techniques employ two hydraulic support actuators under the shoe. These techniques involve moving the center of support beneath the shoe. It is often desirable to be able to adjust the loading between the shoe and the backing roll as well as the shape of the pressure profile while the machine is running. Various furnishes used to form a paper web may require varying the total nip pressure and nip pressure profile.
Controlling paper quality over time may also require adjusting the total nip pressure as well as the shape of the nip pressure profile. Current techniques for performing this operation result in the center of support moving when the shape of the nip pressure profile is varied. Varying the center of support can limit the ability to independently control the two variables of nip pressure profile shape and nip total load.
What is needed is an extended nip press where the shoe support system can vary the nip loading and the shape of the pressure profile independently.

Machine direction profiling of extended nip press shoe


A backlight of a liquid crystal display device includes lamps and a conductive board. Each lamp has electrodes, one of which is contacted and retained by a contact terminal on the conductive board. The contact terminals are electrically connected by the conductive board. A bent part located in the conductive board is disposed between adjacent contact terminals such that when heat from the lamps absorbed by the conductive board expands the conductive board, the bent part is resiliently deformed to maintain the distance between the lamps.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a backlight of a liquid crystal display device that is adaptive for preventing picture quality deterioration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display LCD controls the light transmissivity of liquid crystal cells in accordance with a video signal to display a picture corresponding to the video signal on a liquid crystal display panel where the liquid crystal cells are arranged in a matrix shape.
For this, the liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel where liquid crystal cells are arranged in an active matrix shape; and a backlight unit in the rear surface or the side surface of the liquid crystal display panel to illuminate light onto the liquid crystal display panel.
The backlight is divided into an edge type and a direct lighting type in the way of arranging cylindrical fluorescent lamps.
Firstly, in the edge light type, the fluorescent lamps are installed at the outer area to disperse light to the whole surface by use of a light guide panel. The brightness of the edge light type is low because the fluorescent lamp is installed at the side surface and light passes through the light guide panel. Further, complicated optical design technology and process technology on the light guide panel is required for uniform distribution of light.
The direct light type is comparatively brighter and more uniform than the edge light type because multiple fluorescent lamps are arranged on a plane.
In the direct light type, the fluorescent lamp as a light source is mainly a cold cathode fluorescent lamp CCFL that has electrodes inside both the ends thereof. Recently, however, an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) has been developed. The EEFL has electrodes at the surface of both ends thereof.
The EEFL has no direct collision between electrodes and ions, thus heat generation in the electrode is restrained. In the EEFL, the generation of plasma joule heat is low because the EEFL is driven at high voltage and low current. In addition, self-discharge exists in the EEFL, thus it can be driven with high brightness and high efficiency.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are a perspective view and a plan view representing a prior art backlight unit of a liquid crystal display device using an external electrode fluorescent lamp.
A backlight using an external electrode fluorescent lamp shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a supporter having a first supporter 50 and a second supporter 52 where a lower contact terminal 56 holds both electrode parts 42a, 42b of the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40. Herein, the supporter having the first supporter 50 and the second supporter 52 has a rectangular stick shape and is separated from each other with a designated distance therebetween. The supporter having the first supporter 50 and the second supporter 52 is formed of thermal plastic elastomer TPE and polybutylene terephthalates PBT.
A lower conductive board 54, where a conductive nickel is coated over the original surface of phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, etc., is fixed by a screw 58 and the lower conductive board 54 is cut and bent to form a lower contact terminal 56 in the upper surface of the first supporter 50 and the second supporter 52, wherein the lower contact terminal 56 can hold, and at the same time cover the electrode parts 42a, 42b of the fluorescent lamp 40.
Herein, the first supporter 50, the second supporter 52 and the lower conductive board 54 can be bonded together by glue, heat melt-adhesion, insert injection, etc.
And, there is a cover having a first cover 60 and a second cover 62 that covers the upper part of both the electrode parts 42a, 42b of the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 with the upper contact terminal 66 on the supporter inclusive of the first supporter 50 and the second supporter 52.
Herein, the first cover 60 and the second cover 62 have a rectangular stick shape and are separated from each other with a designated distance therebetween to correspond to the first supporter 50 and the second supporter 52, respectively.
The first cover 60 and the second cover 62 are made of thermal plastic elastomer TPE and polybutylene terephthalates PBT.
And, an upper conductive board 64, where a conductive nickel is coated over the original surface of phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, etc., is fixed by a screw 68 and the upper conductive board 64 is cut and bent to form an upper contact terminal 66 in the lower surface of the first cover 60 and the second cover 62, wherein the upper contact terminal 66 can hold, and at the same time cover the electrode parts 42a, 42b of the fluorescent lamp 40 that is located at the lower contact terminal 56 of the supporter.
Herein, the first cover 60, the second cover 62 and the upper conductive panel 64 can be bonded together by glue, heat melt-adhesion, insert injection, etc.
Accordingly, an operator holds the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 to locate the electrode parts 42a, 42b of the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 at the lower contact terminal 56 which is formed on the supporter having the first supporter 50 and the second supporter 52 that are separated from each other with a designated distance therebetween.
And then, the operator locates the cover having the first cover 60 and the second cover 62 on the supporter having the first supporter 50 and the second supporter 52 that hold the electrode parts 42a, 42b of the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40, at the lower contact terminal 56.
After then, the upper contact terminal 66 of the cover having the first cover 60 and the second cover 62 wraps to hold the upper part of the electrode parts 42a, 42b of the fluorescent lamp and covers the electrode parts 42a, 42b of the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 that are held by the lower contact terminal 56.
In the prior art backlight unit using the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40, the upper and lower conductive boards 54, 64 are deformed by the heat conducted to the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40. This generates defects in the backlight.
More specifically, if an AC power is supplied to the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 through the upper and lower contact terminal 54, 64, the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 is driven. If the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 is driven in this way, the heat conducted from the external electrode fluorescent lamp 40 causes the upper and lower conductive boards 54, 64, where the conductive nickel is coated on the original surface of the phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, etc., to be extended by thermal expansion. Herein, the extended upper and lower conductive boards 54, 64, as shown in FIG. 3, are separated from the supporter 50, 52 or the cover 60, 62, or expanded in a parallel direction to the supporter 50, 52 or the cover 60, 62, thereby causing the location of the lamp 40 to be changed. This causes the picture quality of the liquid crystal display panel to deteriorate due to the non-uniform light. Thus, the distance between the lamps 40 becomes non-uniform or the extended upper and lower conductive boards 54, 64 are separated from the supporter 50, 52 and the cover 60, 62.

Backlight of liquid crystal display device


An electrical connector includes a connector body (2) having a top wall (220), a bottom wall (222). A terminal (1) has a base section (15) within the body to be moveable longitudinally relative to the body. A pair of spaced retention elements (18) is disposed longitudinally from the base section, and each adjacent the top wall or bottom wall. The retention elements are moveable together with the base section such that when the contact is moved downwards to be at a first position, one of the retention elements is urged to engage on the top wall, and when the contact is moved upwards to be at a second position, the other retention element is urged to engage on the bottom wall, thereby preventing the terminal from being removed during the longitudinal movement of the terminal relative to the body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of electrical connectors, and more particularly to a contact terminal of an electrical connector having a retention feature for preventing the contact terminal from being removed during movement of the contact terminal relative to a connector body.
2. Description of the Related Art
One conventional contact terminal 1′ is shown in FIG. 5. The terminal 1′ includes a base section 15′ adapted to be positioned within a connector body (not shown) and moveable longitudinally relative to the connector body, a pair of cantilevered contact arm members 10′ and 13′ extending in opposed directions from the base section 15′ with each member including two contact arms, and a contact portion 11′ or 13′ near a distal region of each arm member for engaging a mating conductive terminal of an electronic component, such as an IC package (not shown). A pair of locating posts 16′ is disposed at opposite lateral sides of the base section 15′ to assist in the longitudinal movement of the base section 15′ relative to the connector body. A problem, however, with the conventional terminal 1′ is that the terminal 1′ is apt to be removed from the connector body during the longitudinal movement of the terminal 1′ relative to the connector body. This is so because there is no proper retention feature on the contact terminal 1′ for preventing the terminal 1′ from being removed. Therefore, there is a need to provide a new electrical connector having contact terminals therein to resolve the above-mentioned shortcoming.

Electrical connector with contact terminal


An internal combustion engine is provided having an engine block defining a pressurized oil source and rotatably supporting a crankshaft. A camshaft is rotatably mounted within the engine block and defines an axially extending cavity. The cavity extends between opposed first and second ends of the camshaft. A cam phaser is mounted to the second end of the camshaft and is operable to vary the timing of the camshaft with respect to the crankshaft in response to pressurized oil. A cover is removably mounted to the engine block and is operable to substantially enclose the first end of the camshaft. The cover at least partially defines a passage in communication with the pressurized oil source and cavity. The passage and the cavity are operable to communicate pressurized oil from the pressurized oil source to the cam phaser to actuate the cam phaser.

A cam phaser is a device operable to selectively create a variable rotational offset between a camshaft and a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine. The degree of rotational offset created by the cam phaser enables the operating characteristics of the internal combustion engine to be tuned for specific performance requirements. The operation of the cam phaser is typically facilitated by providing pressurized oil to the cam phaser.

Oil feed system for a hydraulically actuated cam phaser


An apparatus and method for facilitating development of Java Embedded Server bundles which includes a module containing a set of development tools used in the creation of Java Embedded Server bundles. The module may include a code template tool having sample code segments; a Java Embedded Server manifest generator tool that creates Java Embedded Server manifest files for Java Embedded Server bundles; a Java Embedded Server jar packager tool that packages Java Embedded Server bundles; and a web page link tool having links to Java Embedded Server-related web pages.

The basic functionality of a computer is dictated by the type of operating system it uses. Various operating systems exist in the market place, including Solaris from Sun Microsystems, Macintosh from Apple Computers, the "Windows" Operating Systems, e.g., Windows 95/98 and Windows NT, from Microsoft, and Linux. The different types of operating systems will be referred to herein as "platforms". Prior to the popularity of the Internet, software developers wrote programs specifically designed for individual platforms. Thus, a program written for one platform could not be run on another. However, the advent of the Internet made cross-platform compatibility a necessity.
Prior art FIG. 1 illustrates a conceptional arrangement wherein a first computer (3) running the Solaris platform and a second computer (5) running the Windows 98 platform are connected to a server (9) via the internet (7). A resource provider using the server (9) might be any type of business, governmental, or educational institution. The resource provider has a need to be able to provide its resources to both the user of the Solaris platform and the user of the Windows 98 platform, but does not have the luxury of being able to custom design its content for the individual platforms.
The Java™ programming language was developed by Sun Microsystems to address this problem. The Java™ programming language was designed to be simple for the programmer to use, yet able to run securely over a network and work on a wide range of platforms.
Referring to FIG. 2, in order to create a Java™ application, the developer first writes the application in human-readable Java™ source code. As used herein, the term "application" refers to both true Java™ applications and Java™ "applets" which are essentially small applications usually embedded in a web page. In the example shown, the application "Program" (11) is created as a human-readable text file. The name of this text file is given the required five-character extension "java".
The Java™ compiler or "javac" (13) is used to compile the source code into a machine-readable binary file (15). The text file will contain Java™ language commands, e.g., "import java.awt.frame". A discussion of the Java™ language itself is beyond the scope of this document. However, complete information regarding the Java™ programming language and the Java™ platform are available from Sun Microsystems both in print and via the internet at java.sun.com. The resulting binary file (15) will automatically receive the same file name as the source text file, but will use ".class" as the trailing extension. The Java™ runtime environment incorporates a Java™ "virtual machine" (JVM) (16) to convert the ".class" byte codes into actual machine executions (17). The machine executions (like drawing windows, buttons, and user prompt fields) will occur in accordance to the application developer's code instructions. Because Sun Microsystems specifically designed the JVM (16) to run on different platforms, a single set of ".class" byte codes will execute on any platform where a JVM (16) has been installed. An Internet browser such as Netscape and Microsoft Explorer that incorporates a JVM (16) is called a "java-enabled" browser.
The cross-platform architecture of the Java™ programming language is illustrated in FIG. 3, which shows how the Java™ language enables cross-platform applications over the Internet. In the figure, the computer (3) running the Solaris platform and the computer (5) running the Windows 98 platform are both provided with the JVM (16). The resource provider creates a Java™ application using the Java™ software development kit ("SDK") (23) and makes the compiled Java™ byte codes available on the server (9), which in this example is running on a Windows NT platform. Through standard internet protocols, both the computer (3) and the computer (5) may obtain a copy of the same byte code and, despite the difference in platforms, execute the byte code through their respective JVM.
As the popularity of the Internet has increased, users have become accustomed to many different types of interfaces. Thus, aesthetic conformity has become less of an issue. At the same time, speed, functionality, and versatility have become increasingly important. Therefore, the Java™ 2 standard edition SDK includes a new "package" for the developer called "swing" that is essentially library of "lightweight components". This new package is simply one library that is possible; other libraries may be created and in fact are available from third parties. Swing provides the developer with the option and flexibility to use lightweight components and thus improves performance in a given application. A detailed discussion of the use of the Java™ abstract windowing toolkit (AWT) and the Swing package is beyond the scope of this document. Complete documentation is available from Sun Microsystems both in print and at the web site java.sun.com.
Forte™ for Java™ products (90), formerly called NetBeans, are visual programming environments written entirely in Java™ and Swing. These products are commonly regarded as the leading Integrated Development Environment (IDE). IDEs are easily customizable and extensible, as well as platform independent, as is illustrated in FIG. 5. Forte™ for Java™ (90) includes a powerful Form Editor (92), integrated full-featured text editor (94), visual GUI design (96), debugger (98), and compiler (100). Forte™ for Java™ (90) is also completely modular. Also, Forte™ for Java™ (90) is built around a set of Open Application Programming Interface (API's) which allow it to be easily extensible. This means that the IDE functionality for editing, debugging, GUI generation, etc. is represented in modules that can be downloaded and updated dynamically as is illustrated in FIG. 5. Instead of waiting months for a completely new release, as soon as new versions (104) or new modules (106) are available, users can update that individual version or module via the Update Center (102).

Development of manifest for java embedded server bundle


Disclosed are rapid and reproducible methods for separating and purifying nucleic acids from paraffin-containing tissue samples. The disclosed methods involve a melting step, where paraffin-containing tissue samples are heated in the presence of a detergent, causing the paraffin to melt and tissue sample cells to lyse. From the resulting two-phase mixture (i.e., a paraffin phase and an aqueous phase), the aqueous phase is collected for purification of nucleic acid. Protease(s) can be used at one or more points in the separation process to facilitate tissue cell lysis and/or degrade proteins that could degrade nucleic acid or interfere with subsequent genetic manipulation or analysis.

Genotyping and gene expression analyses of tissue samples can be of significant importance for the identification of disease biomarkers (e.g., genetic determinants), for the accurate diagnosis of disease, and for the determination of patients′ course of treatment. Pharmacogenomic methods can identify patients likely to respond to a particular drug and lead to new therapeutic approaches. For example, tumor tissue excised from a patient can be analyzed for the increased or decreased expression of particular disease biomarkers and thereby help clinicians identify therapeutic agents that could be useful in treating the patient.
Genotyping and gene expression studies (e.g., by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification) of tissue samples often is performed using frozen tissue samples. However, many pathological samples are not prepared as frozen tissues, but rather are formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) to allow histological analysis and archival storage. Thus, rapid and reliable methods for extracting nucleic acids from paraffin-containing tissue samples would greatly aid the study of disease mechanisms and biomarkers. The inventions disclosed herein address this need.

Separation and purification of nucleic acid from paraffin-containing samples


An ultraviolet radiation detector 10, detecting an ultraviolet radiation transmitted through or reflected from a measurement sample 15 from a light beam including at least the ultraviolet radiation, is characterized by spectral means 19 for spectrally splitting the ultraviolet radiation from the light beam and photodetection means 20 for detecting the ultraviolet radiation spectrally split by the spectral means 19, the photodetection means 20 including a photoelectric surface detecting only the ultraviolet radiation and formed of an element selected from In, Ga, N, Al, O and Cs.

Erythema and tanning as human body reactions to ultraviolet radiation tend to be considered as phenomena caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation only. However, it is considered that more complicated immune phenomena are actually caused by simultaneous exposure to visible radiation and infrared radiation as well as ultraviolet radiation. In this sense, an apparatus is necessary that can detect only ultraviolet radiation with high sensitivity under exposure to light including visible radiation and infrared radiation as well as ultraviolet radiation in developing sun protection products for protecting human bodies from ultraviolet radiation.
Conventionally, however, no ultraviolet radiation detector has been available as a product that separates and evaluates only the effect of ultraviolet radiation under exposure to visible radiation and infrared radiation as well. Therefore, conventional ultraviolet radiation detectors adopt the method of eliminating the effect of visible radiation in detection by attenuating visible radiation by subjecting a light beam emitted from a white light such as a xenon lamp to an ultraviolet radiation transmission filter, exposing a measurement sample to the light beam with the attenuated visible radiation, and spectrally splitting the light beam reflected from or passing through the measurement sample using a spectrometer.
For example, there is an apparatus that calculates the in vitro predicted SPF, frequently used as an index of the ultraviolet radiation protection effect, by measuring the intensity of ultraviolet radiation that has passed through a sun protection product. (See, for example, Patent Document 1). However, the conventional apparatus fails to detect faint ultraviolet radiation with good sensitivity because of its low ultraviolet radiation detectivity due to poor wavelength resolution or low detectivity resulting from a low signal amplification factor.
Further, such ultraviolet radiation detectors as described above employ photodetectors also sensitive to light beams other than ultraviolet radiation, such as silicon photodiode detectors, photomultipliers, and CCD cameras. Therefore, attempts have been made to extract only ultraviolet radiation using various combinations of ultraviolet radiation transmission filters in order to evaluate only the effect of ultraviolet radiation.    [Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,832

Ultraviolet radiation detector and apparatus for evaluating ultraviolet radiation protection effect


A safety saw may be used by a child and includes a handle and a forwardly extending blade. The handle has a first portion, a second portion and a waisted portion between the first and second portions. The minimum diameter of the waisted portion is no more than fifty percent (50%) of the maximum diameter of the second end portion. Preferably, the first and second portions have equal radii. The blade has teeth only on one lateral edge, and a distal tip extends forwardly along the longitudinal axis of the blade to a rounded end. The distal tip has a length at least twice the width of a tooth, and it is devoid of any teeth. The leading edge of each tooth is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis while the trailing edge is oblique to the longitudinal axis at an angle of about 50xc2x0 to 60xc2x0. The height and width of the teeth may be the same; alternatively, the width may be twice the height.

The present invention is broadly directed to hand-held sawing devices. More particularly, however, the present invention is directed to a child""s safety saw which may be used to cut features into a relatively soft material. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a saw that may be used by a child to carve a pumpkin, watermelon or other vegetable as an artistic object.
A wide variety of cutting tools have been known since the dawn of time. While many cutting tools used today are mechanically driven, there is still a wide variety of manually employed cutting implements which may be used to perform a specific function. For example, knives, awls, saws, scissors, chisels and the like are all examples of cutting tools found in every day use which are of the type that are manually implemented. Not only is there a plethora of distinct types of cutting tools, but many varieties exist within each type such that a specialized function may be performed by the respective tool.
A variety of specialized cutting tools have been developed by or for the assignee of the present invention. These tools are ones particularly adapted for cutting or carving features into relatively soft materials such as pumpkins, squashes, melons, etc. Here, a decorative design is placed in the fleshy shell of a pumpkin, for example, and the design features are then carved in the shell of the pumpkin primarily by a small, hand-held saw and by drilling tools.
As may readily be appreciated, the activity of pumpkin carving or the creation of designs in other vegetable materials provides a wholesome family function. Moreover, this activity particularly attracts young children. In the past, however, pumpkin carving was typically accomplished with the use of pocket knives, paring knives and the like. Due to the size of these cutting instruments, a typical carver was only able to obtain limited, fairly large scale decorative features. In addition, such knives were quite difficult to control and this, in conjunction with the sharpness of the knife, exposed the carver to the danger of injury. The result was that pumpkin carving had a fairly high degree of danger for young children.
In an effort to meet the needs for safer instruments that might be utilized to carve decorative designs in pumpkin shells, a pumpkin carving kit was developed and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,114 issued May 9, 1989 to John P. Bardeen. This pumpkin carving kit allows more intricate designs to be carved in the pumpkin shell and increases the safety over normal pre-existing carving techniques for children, adults and other enthusiasts.
While the pumpkin carving kit and the implements disclosed in the above noted patent were a substantial improvement over pocket knives, paring knives and the like, the sharp edges of the serrated saw blade still require care when manipulating the hand-held saw during the cutting operation. Such attention and care is naturally difficult for extremely young children.
Accordingly, a continued need exists to create carving tools which can be employed even by very young children when carving pumpkins, watermelons or other vegetables. There is a need for such a device that can be relatively easily manipulated by a child while minimizing exposure to any sharp cutting edges.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful hand-held saw especially adapted for use by relatively small children in carving soft materials such as pumpkin shells, other vegetable shells, and the like.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand-held saw which can cut the shell of a pumpkin, melon, squash or other vegetable while being constructed to avoid substantial risk of cutting the human skin.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held cutting tool which has a handle particularly constructed to be gripped by a small child, either by the fist or by the fingers of the child""s hand.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held cutting tool which has cutting teeth which act to eject the fleshy shards cut from a vegetable shell during the cutting operation.
According to the present invention, then, a safety saw is adapted to be grasped by a child""s hand for use in cutting soft materials. Broadly, the safety saw includes handle that includes a first end portion having a first end surface oriented transversely to a longitudinal axis of the handle and a second end portion which has a second end surface oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis. The first and second end portions have first and second diameters, respectively, and a central waisted portion is disposed between the first and second end portions with the waisted portion having a minimum diameter that is no more than fifty percent (50%) of the second diameter. A blade is secured at proximal blade end portion to the second end portion of the handle. This blade projects oppositely of the first end portion along the longitudinal axis to terminate in a distal blade tip. This blade is provided with a plurality of saw teeth.
Preferably, these saw teeth are disposed along a first lateral edge of the blade with the blade having a second lateral edge opposite to this first lateral edge. The saw teeth are only on the first lateral edge between the second end surface and the distal tip portion of the blade. Each of the saw teeth has a leading tooth edge that is opposite the handle and a trailing tooth edge opposite the leading tooth edge. The leading tooth edge is preferably oriented at an angle of about 90xc2x0 with respect to the longitudinal axis while the trailing tooth edge is oriented obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis, such as at an acute angle between a range of 50xc2x0 to 60xc2x0.
The first surface of the first end portion of the handle is preferably formed at a radius of curvature of about 0.5 inch (1.27 centimeter). The first and second diameters, respectively, are the first and second end portions are preferably equal. The waisted portion is located closer to the second end surface of the handle than it is to the first end surface and this waisted portion is formed at a radius of curvature relative to the central longitudinal axis of about 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeter).
The saw teeth are preferably located along a first lateral edge with the blade having a second lateral edge opposite the first lateral edge. The blade has a blade width between these two lateral edges. The saw teeth preferably have a width that is about equal to the tooth height. The distal tip of the blade is devoid of saw teeth and extends for a length that is at least twice the tooth width. The blade also has a shank portion, preferably molded integrally with the handle, with the shank portion having a shank width that is equal to the sum of the tooth height and the blade width. The distal tip portion of the blade has a tip end formed of a radius of curvature of about 0.050 inches (0.125 centimeters).
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiment when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:


A method for preparing a pigment dispersion includes a) adding a pigment, a surfactant, and a solvent into a vessel, b) adding magnetic particles into the vessel; and c) applying a varying magnetic field to move the magnetic particles to mill down pigment particle size. A system for preparing a pigment dispersion includes a) a vessel for holding a solution comprising pigment particles, a surfactant and a solvent, b) magnetic particles added to the solution, c) a source for applying a varying magnetic field to move the magnetic particles to mill down pigment particle size, and d) a collector for collecting the magnetic particles for re-using at a later time.

The presently disclosed embodiments relate generally to a method for magnetic actuated milling which uses magnetic particles and magnetic field to facilitate the pigment dispersions useful in making toner suitable for electrophotographic apparatuses.
Numerous processes are within the purview of those skilled in the art for the preparation of toners. Emulsion aggregation (EA) is one such method.
The pigment dispersion is an important component in the preparation of EA toner. In order for pigment particles to form aggregates with the latex particles, the pigment particles should have size smaller or at least a size comparable to the latex particles, preferably between about 5 and 300 nanometers in diameter. Conventional mechanical impeller milling system loses its efficiency throughout the whole reaction vessel. For pigment dispersion utilizing an in-line rotor-stator type homogenizer; the length of process time exceeds four hours. It has also been generally accepted that mechanical components has main concerns on maintenance including: large consumption of solvents for cleaning; frequent pumping in/out for cleaning pumps/pipelines; anti-resonance design to layout system, floor space and flexibility. Furthermore, these systems are working on macro-scale bulk shearing and are not ideal for preparing small size particle especially in the size range of nanometer and submicron, which is a typical range of pigment particles used as an EA toner component. Therefore, micro-scale driven milling could be preferable.
There remains a need to develop a dispersion technology which reduces processing time and cost, without sacrificing benchmark material properties (e.g., small size and narrow particle size distribution).

Method and system for magnetic actuated milling for pigment dispersions


A system for marking a plurality of zones within a cellular service area. One or more marker transmitters are disposed throughout a cellular area to transmit a zone identification signal that is independent of normal RF cellular coverage to a mobile or portable cellular receiver. Each zone identification signal is transmitted in a radio frequency coverage area that illuminates the zone to be identified and is constrained by a similar transmitter jamming the zone signal. The marker transmitters are programmed to transmit the zone identification signal during a predefined time slot so that more than one marker transmitter may simultaneously transmit the zone identification signal, thereby increasing the area in which the zone identification signal can be received by the mobile unit. In order to reduce the area in which a zone identification signal may be received by a mobile unit, the marker transmitters may transmit a jamming signal at the same time as the zone identification signal is transmitted.

Due to relatively low cost and advancements in cellular radio technology, most metropolitan areas are now equipped with cellular telephone networks, similar to the system shown in FIG. 1.
The cellular telephone system 10 includes a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) 12 and a plurality of cell site transceivers 14a-14c. The cell site transceivers transmit radio signals to and receive radio signals from one or more mobile units 16 that may move about a cellular service area 20. A mobile unit, as the term is used herein, refers to a cellular voice telephone or data receiver that can be permanently installed at a fixed location or within a vehicle or that can be portable. Each cell site transceiver 14 is able to broadcast and receive the radio signals within a geographic area 18 called the cell site coverage area. Together the areas 18 comprise the entire cellular service area 20. Typically, a cellular service area comprises a metropolitan area or larger region.
When a telephone call to a called mobile unit 16 originates from either another mobile unit or a land-based telephone via a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 25, a caller must first access the cellular telephone system 10. This is accomplished by dialing the mobile unit's unique identification number (i.e., its phone number). The MTSO 12 receives such a call request, and instructs a central call processor 17 to begin call processing. The central call processor 17 transmits a signal over a dedicated line 19 (such as a telephone line or microwave link, etc.) to each of the cell site transceivers 14a-14c causing the cell site transceivers to transmit a page signal that locates the mobile unit 16. The page signal alerts a particular mobile unit 16 that it is being called by including as part of the page signal the paged mobile unit's identification or phone number.
Each cell site transceiver 14 transmits the page signal on one or more dedicated forward control channels that carry all pages, as well as control signals, channel assignments, and other overhead messages to each mobile unit. The forward control channel is distinct from the voice channels that actually carry voice communications between a mobile unit and another mobile unit or a land-based telephone. Each cell site transceiver may have more than one forward control channel upon which pages can be carried. For clarity, however, this discussion will assume that each cell site transceiver has one forward control channel.
When a mobile unit is not engaged in a telephone call, it operates in an idle state. In the idle state, the mobile unit will tune to the strongest available forward control channel and monitor that channel for a page signal or other messages directed to it. Upon determining that a page signal is being transmitted, the mobile unit 16 again scans all forward control channels so as to select the cell site transceiver transmitting the strongest signal. The mobile unit then transmits an acknowledgment signal to the cell site transceiver over a reverse control channel associated with the strongest forward control channel. This acknowledgment signal serves to indicate to the MTSO 12 which of the several forward control channels (associated with the several cell site transceivers 14a-14c) to use for further call processing communications with mobile unit 16. This further communication typically includes a message sent to the mobile unit instructing it to tune to a particular voice channel for completion of call processing and for connection with the calling party. The details of how the cell site transceivers transmit the signals on the forward and reverse control channels are typically governed by standard protocols such as the EIA/TIA-553 Specification and the air interface standards for Narrow Band Analog Mobile Phone Service (NAMPS) and similar air interface standards for digital communications, all of which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the cellular telephone communications art and therefore will not be discussed.
While cellular phones have been quickly embraced by those people whose business requires them to travel frequently and to be in constant contact with their clients, many individuals are discouraged from utilizing present cellular telephone systems. The main reason for this discouragement is the relatively high price charged by the cellular service providers for a cellular telephone call. In conventional land-based telephone systems, the price of a telephone call can be tailored to reflect the supply and demand of the telephone resources available to a given area. For example, in large metropolitan areas or financial districts where telephone traffic and the cost of providing service is high, users can expect to pay more for a call than in a residential area where fewer calls are made. However, with current cellular technology, like the cellular telephone system shown in FIG. 1, the cellular service user has no way of knowing where in the cellular service area the user is. Therefore, cellular service providers have had difficulty creating services that require a user to know his location within the cellular service area.
Consequently, a need has developed to provide a system that allows a user to determine whether he is in a particular predefined zone within the cellular service area and to convey that information to the cellular service system. It is further desirable that such a system be compatible with existing cellular technology and should not degrade the operation of an existing cellular system. Finally, such a system should neither require the allocation of more radio frequencies than are currently allocated to cellular telephone systems, nor require a substantial portion of existing cellular frequencies.


The object of this invention is to decrease the ratio of contact faults by way of releasing the physical stress acted on the electric connecting portions. It settles dispersions of positions of the terminals by using elasticity of the bushing (50) with being attached the bushing (50) to the body (21) of coil unit (20), being held to be pierced terminals (23, 23) extended from the coil (22) out the bushing (50). The flexibility of the conductive sheet (40) gets rid of stress acted on the connecting portions with the terminals (23) by being electrically intermediated with the flexible conductive sheet between each terminal (23, 23) of the coil (22) and the controlling board (32) of the electric controlling unit (30).

The present invention relates to a pressure control device. In detail, the present device is a pressure control device which is integrally formed with an electric controller and which may be used with an antilocking braking system (ABS), a traction control system (TCS) an electronic brake force distribution system (EBD), a suspension control system or a pressure control system for an automatic transmission.

Pressure control device integral formed the electric controller


An integrated circuit die includes a substrate having a front surface and a back surface, wherein the substrate front surface has electrical circuits formed thereon, and the substrate back surface has a plurality of metal layers formed thereon. The plurality of metal layers comprises at least one layer having a thickness of greater than about ten micrometers. The outermost metal layer may be mechanically and thermally bonded to a package using a die attach layer comprising a thermally conductive reflowable material. The invention advantageously facilitates the dissipation of heat from the integrated circuit die.

With advances in semiconductor design and fabrication, the circuit density that can be implemented on a given integrated circuit die has steadily increased. With this increased density, the power consumption and heat generation have also correspondingly grown. This increase in heat requires a design for efficiently removing heat from an integrated circuit die in order to avoid temperature induced failures.
A typical approach to removing heat from an integrated circuit die is to attach a heat sink to the exterior of the semiconductor packaging. A heat sink is commonly understood to increase the dissipation of heat by means of conduction, convection and radiation as a result of the heat sink's high thermal conductivity and relatively large mass and surface area. The package itself is relied upon to provide the thermal pathway from the integrated circuit die to the external heat sink. In a typical embodiment, a die attach material adheres the backside of the integrated circuit die to the package baseplate which may be a leadframe or a plastic or ceramic substrate. The type of material used for the die attach is a function of the package type and performance requirements. Typical materials are epoxy, lead-tin solder and gold alloys.
Unfortunately, such a configuration may result in device reliability failures and other problems. Heat dissipation with this configuration may simply be inadequate for higher power devices. In addition, voids and poor coverage by the die attach layer may cause temperature gradients across the integrated circuit die. These gradients may cause regions of the die to be outside of the optimal operating temperature range, and may also cause mechanical stresses due to non-uniform thermal expansion.
The prior art contains a number of methods for improving the heat dissipation from a packaged integrated circuit die. One such method involves using a flip chip package instead of a wire-bonded package. A flip chip package design has better thermal performance when compared with a wire-bonded device because of the large cross-section and good conductivity provided by the "solder ball" contacts. Other methods involve optimizing external heat sink composition and shape and/or adding a fan to aid in convective cooling. Finally, an epoxy-based die attach may be optimized for thermal conduction by filling the material with metal particles.
Many of these methods are unable to provide adequate cooling capacity for higher power devices. In addition, many of these techniques are not cost effective. For the foregoing reasons, a new design that enhances cooling capacity while staying within the constraints of modern integrated circuit fabrication technology is desirable.

Heat sink formed of multiple metal layers on backside of integrated circuit die


The present invention provides a system and method of managing Internet browser navigation. Software code designed to interact with and control the user's Internet browser is embedded into web pages made available to remote users by a web server. Embedded software code is read by the user's Internet browser upon loading a requested web page. Embedded software code directs the browser to store one or more attributes upon the remote user's computer system. Stored attributes may then be compared to attributes embedded within subsequently requested web pages to determine if the requested web page, or a corrected web page, should be displayed.

The Internet has emerged as a large community of electronically connected users located around the world who readily and regularly exchange significant amounts of information. The Internet continues to serve its original purpose of providing access an exchange of information among government agencies, laboratories, and universities for research and education. In addition, the Internet has evolved to serve a variety of interests and forums that extend beyond its original goals.
In its infancy, the Internet was designed to provide for the static exchange of information. As such, conventional browsers were sufficient in that they allowed the user to proceed forward and backward through a number of informational web pages without the need to reload each page from the server. In this manner, conventional web browsers allowed the user to retrace their steps through any number of visited web pages.
However, today's Internet provides much more than just static information. In fact, many 5 web based applications offer and/or require sensitive transactional information. For such web pages, use of conventional browser functionality may result in undesirable consequences.
There remains a need for a system and method capable of facilitating effective Internet navigation for transactional pages without the disadvantages associated with conventional browser functionality.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method of managing internet browser navigation


A method of regulating traffic in a transport system in which vehicles travel on a line provided with a plurality of stations at which passengers can board and alight, wherein the running of the vehicles is regulated as a function of the passenger load on said vehicles, said load being determined by measuring the weight of passengers present in the vehicles.

In transport systems, it is known that traffic can be regulated by controlling it as a function of time. In particular, for subway trains, it is known that the running of the vehicles can be controlled so that the time interval between two vehicles is substantially constant. Such a regulation method offers the advantage of limiting the waiting time for which passengers wait in the stations, and of contributing to distributing the passenger load satisfactorily between the various vehicles when the flow of passengers reaching a subway station is regular. However, in practice, the flow of passengers reaching a subway station is irregular, in particular when the station makes it possible for passengers to change subway lines. Thus, a large influx of passengers at any point in time usually gives rise to overloading of the first subway train to reach the station, and to underloading of the next train, since the majority of the passengers waiting on the platform prefer to squeeze into the first train.


In a variable stroke-characteristic engine for a vehicle, a control shaft and a control link are disposed on a front side of a vehicle body with respect to a crankshaft. An actuator for driving the control shaft is disposed on an outer surface of an engine block on the front side of the vehicle body. Thus, the actuator projects as much as possible from a position of the engine block toward the front side of the vehicle body so that traveling wind from ahead of the vehicle is effectively applied to the actuator to enhance the cooling effect. Hence, any temperature increase of the actuator is suppressed. Moreover, the actuator is disposed as far as possible from an exhaust manifold that is heated to a high temperature by the heat of an exhaust gas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable stroke-characteristic engine for a vehicle, including a first link connected to a piston; a second link connected to the first link and a crankshaft; a third link connected at one end to the first link or the second link and movably supported at the other end on an engine block through a control shaft; and an actuator which drives the control shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2004-156537 and 2003-322036 disclose a variable stroke-characteristic engine for a vehicle, having a crankshaft with a main journal rotatably supported in an engine block; a control shaft with a main journal supported for swinging in a predetermined angle range in the engine block; a lower link swingably supported on a pin journal of the crankshaft; an upper link connecting the lower link to a piston; and a control link connecting the lower link to a pin journal of the control shaft, wherein the compression ratio is modified by changing the phase of the control shaft through an actuator to alter the positions of a top dead center and a bottom dead center of the piston.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-156537, where the actuator connected to an end of the control shaft is disposed on an outer surface of the engine block, if the actuator is located at an exhaust-side portion of the engine block, the high temperature of an exhaust manifold is known to be capable of affecting the durability of the actuator.
Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-322036, if the actuator is accommodated on a bottom of the engine block, the influence of the heat from an exhaust gas is avoided. However, in such an arrangement, it is impossible to apply traveling wind to the actuator, which results in a reduction in an amount of heat that is dissipated. Also, the temperature of the actuator is known to rise, which affects the durability of the actuator.

Variable stroke-characteristic engine for vehicle


A circuit arrangement for converting from a differential signal path (IFoutA - IFoutB) at the output of a mixer to a signal path (Ssin gle) referenced to a reference potential. A controllable switch element is provided in each of the two single signal paths (IFoutA, IFoutB) of the differential signal path (IFoutA-IFoutB), wherein a first memory element is connected in series with the two switch elements, and wherein there is provided for the two switch elements at least one control, which during a charging phase of the first memory element connects the differential signal path (IFoutA-IFoutB) at the output of the mixer with the first memory element and applies the output signal on the differential output of the mixer for charging the first memory element. During the discharging, respectively reverse charging, phase connects the first memory element with the signal path referenced to the reference potential (GND), so that charge stored in the first memory element is discharged via the signal path referenced to the reference potential (GND).

Known are radar measuring devices for determining the fill level of a fill substance in a container work according to the travel-time difference method. Travel time difference methods utilize the physical law, according to which the travel distance equals the product of travel time and propagation velocity. In the case of fill level measurement, the travel distance corresponds to twice the separation between antenna and surface of the fill substance. The echo signal, thus the signal reflected on the surface of the fill substance, and its travel time, are determined based on the so-called echo function, respectively the digitized envelope curve, respectively the intermediate frequency curve, wherein these show the amplitudes of the echo signals as a function of the separation 'antenna —surface of the fill substance'. The fill level can then be ascertained from the difference between the known separation of the antenna from the floor of the container and the separation of the surface of the fill substance from the antenna determined by the measuring. Microwave measuring devices using pulse radar are sold by the assignee under the mark MICROPILOT®.
Known from European Patent, EP 2045617 B1 (U.S. Pat. No. 7,633,434) is a pulse radar device for determining or monitoring the fill level of a fill substance in a container. A transmission clock generator produces a transmission clock signal having a predetermined transmission clock frequency. A transmission pulse generator, which is triggered by the transmission clock signal, forwards transmission pulses with the transmission clock frequency to an antenna. The antenna radiates the transmission pulses in the direction of the surface of the fill substance and receives the echo signals reflected on the surface of the fill substance. The echo signals are sampled with a sampling clock frequency, which differs slightly from the transmission clock frequency. A sampling pulse generator, which is triggered by the sampling clock signal, produces the sampling pulses with the sampling clock frequency. For the purpose of producing an intermediate signal, the echo pulses are mixed with the transmission pulses in a mixer. Via an integrator, the intermediate frequency signal is integrated. The integrator is a sample/hold circuit, which has a switch and a capacitor. The switch is so designed that the intermediate frequency signal is sampled with the sampling clock frequency. This known circuit arrangement is scarcely implementable on a semiconductor chip.


A machine for converting a fabric from a rolled fabric into a superimposingly folded fabric for delivery to a dyeing machine. The machine includes a frame, a cradle, and a carriage. The frame rests on an unyielding surface. The cradle is operatively connected to the frame, holds the rolled fabric, and dispenses the fabric from the rolled fabric. The carriage is movably mounted to the frame, and receives the fabric dispensed from the rolled fabric, and in response thereto, moves back and forth relative to the frame to dispense the fabric into the superimposingly folded fabric for delivery to the dyeing machine.

A. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a machine for processing fabric, and more particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relate to a machine for converting a fabric from a rolled fabric into a superimposingly folded fabric for delivery to a dyeing machine.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Knitted fabric from a knitting machine is in roll form. Previously, the rolls averaged approximately 12″ in diameter and weighted approximately 35 lbs. Today, they are making rolls approximately 48″ in diameter and weighing approximately 500 lbs.
The easiest way to handle the rolls is to roll them on the floor. They, however, have to be unrolled, inspected, and put in trucks in folded form for delivery to the dyeing machines.
Numerous innovations for fabric folders have been provided in the prior art that will be discussed below, which are in chronological order to show advancement in the art, and which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they each differ in structure, and/or operation, and/or purpose from the embodiments of the present invention in that they do not teach a machine for converting a fabric from a rolled fabric into a superimposingly folded fabric for delivery to a dyeing machine.
(1) U.S. Pat. No. 240,390 to Cross et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 240,390 issued to Cross et al. on Apr. 19, 1881 teaches a folding machine including conical folding and feeding rolls arranged and operating to carry along a paper sheet faster at one side than at the other, thereby partially turning the paper sheet, so that when the fold is completed what were the front and rear edges will have become the side edges of the sheet, and apparatus for tucking the paper sheet to be folded into the bite of the rolls.(2) U.S. Pat. No. 275,154 to Cross.U.S. Pat. No. 275,154 issued to Cross on Apr. 3, 1883 teaches a machine for folding paper, including endless tapes, rolls for supporting and driving the endless tapes, pin- or brad-armed bars carried by the endless tapes, strippers for disengaging the sheets from the brads, a slotted folding table, and a tucker blade for tucking the sheet down through the slot in the table. These parts are arranged, operated, and timed in their movements relative to one another.(3) U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,551 to Young.U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,551 issued to Young on May 5, 1953 in class 270 and subclass 62 teaches an apparatus for folding sheet material, including apparatus for furnishing a continuous web of sheet material, apparatus for reversely folding the material upon itself to form a series of superimposed layers, and oppositely rotating rolls located below the chute in a position to receive the layers thereon and cause outermost portions of each bottom layer to move toward one another into doubled over relationship. The rolls are spaced-apart to provide a guide-way into which successive doubled-over layers of material are advanced in nested relationship to one another. Apparatus receives the nested layers as they leave the guide-way, and a plurality of nip rolls are arranged to engage opposite sides of the nested material during movement thereof.(4) U.S. Pat. No. 2,754,113 to Sjostrom.U.S. Pat. No. 2,754,113 issued to Sjostrom on Jul. 10, 1956 in class 270 and subclass 84 teaches a system for effecting parallel folds of sheet material, including a central plate, side plates, apparatus for feeding the sheet material under the central plate and over the side plates, a holding element having a clamping plate positioned beneath the central plate, electronic apparatus having elements operative on the approach of the sheet being fed and on withdrawal of the sheet being fed to bring the clamping plate against the central plate, pneumatic cylinder and piston apparatus for each of the side plates for moving them inwardly of the central plate and outwardly therefrom, apparatus included in the electronic apparatus operative by the elements for initiating the operation of the pneumatic cylinder and piston apparatus, and switching apparatus also included in the electronic apparatus for establishing a cycle of operation of the pneumatic cylinder and piston apparatus in which the first piston traveling inwards causes the second piston to follow in similar opposed motion after a predetermined time travel.(5) U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,470 to Buss et al.U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,470 issued to Buss et al. on Aug. 14, 1973 in class 270 and subclass 80 teaches a sheet-folding machine having an endless belt conveyor for moving a sheet mounted between a pair of spaced end frames. A folder bar is pivotally mounted at the output end of the conveyor belt, and a curved operator bar is mounted below the input end of the conveyor belt so as to be pivotable between start and stop positions. The folder bar is preferably operated by an electric motor drive. A return chute is positioned below the conveyor belt and is adjustably mounted between the end frames. A control system is responsive to the movement of a sheet on the conveyor belt or which is responsive to the operator bar for actuating the folder bar in the proper direction and at the proper time in order to make folds in the sheet.(6) U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,227 to Landgraf et al.U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,227 issued to Landgraf et al. on Nov. 29, 1977 in class 270 and subclass 66 teaches a small-piece folder capable of forming both a French fold and cross fold, including a feed belt on which the unfolded articles are initially placed. Adjustable width control blades overlie the feed belt, and the margins of the article are pneumatically blown over the edges of the blades in sequence to form the French fold. The cross fold is also pneumatically initiated at the end of the feed belt.(7) U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,959 to Baccianti.U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,959 issued to Baccianti on Mar. 4, 1986 in class 493 and subclass 458 teaches a fabric folding machine including a conveyor belt on which the fabric is held and its motion controlled by suction. A pair of lateral blades are hinged about an axis parallel to a fabric-feed direction for creating longitudinal folds. Transverse folds are produced by comb-like blades hinged perpendicular to the fabric feed direction. Two sets of comb-like blades are provided, which are movable in opposite senses. One of the two sets of comb-like blades can assume two or more positions. The lateral blades can also be adjusted in terms of their distance apart, orthogonal to the fabric feed direction.(8) U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,647 to Weiermann et al.U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,647 issued to Weiermann et al. on Jul. 30, 1996 in class 493 and subclass 444 teaches a folding apparatus for automatic folding of flatwork, including a longitudinal folder and a transverse folder following thereafter. In the transverse folder there are two laundry conveyors disposed one behind the other in the conveying direction of a flatwork article arriving from the longitudinal folder. They are spaced-apart by a gap stretching essentially across the entire width of the transverse folder. To make a first transverse fold using a folding blade or air blast, a flatwork article to be transversely folded is led into the gap. Prior to this step, the thickness of the flatwork article to be folded is entered into a data-entry device or is determined using a measuring device. The width of the gap is adjustable, depending upon the particular thickness of the flatwork article. In this manner, optimal conveying along the gap is achieved of a flatwork article having a first transverse fold, independent of thickness. A further laundry conveyor is disposed at the exit end of the gap and the course of its belts located in the area of the gap end can be changed by adjusting an adjustment roller. Following the making of a second transverse fold, the belts can be lowered in the area, by which the flatwork article can reach the output location without having to queue up at a narrow point.(9) U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,232 to Schmitt et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,232 issued to Schmitt et al. on Jun. 5, 2001 in class 270 and subclass 30.01 teaches an apparatus for folding a textile fabric length, including at least two transport belts that can be driven in opposite directions, wherein a gap is disposed between the transport belts, through which gap the fabric length can be drawn while forming a fold when the transport belts are driven in opposite directions. In order to achieve greater folding accuracy, a gripping member is disposed above the two transport belts, which member can move substantially parallel to the upper side of the transport belts and can be brought to lie between the front and the back end of the unfolded fabric length with a fixing action.(10) U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,043 to Muessig et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,043 issued to Muessig et al. on May 31, 2005 in class 112 and subclass 475.06 teaches a method and a device for cutting and folding a fabric section from a continuous material sheeting for producing multilayer casings, in particular, pillowcases, including a first gripper securing and pulling off the front edge of the material sheeting by a first partial amount. A second gripper secures the material sheeting behind the front edge to form a folded edge, which can be pulled off by a second partial amount, and at the same time, folded together in multiple layers by movement of the second gripper combined with resetting of the first gripper, and a cutting device cuts the material sheeting to form the fabric section, the length of which between the front edge and the rear edge corresponds to the sum of the first and second partial amounts.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for fabric folders have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention as heretofore described, namely, a machine for converting a fabric from a rolled fabric into a superimposingly folded fabric for delivery to a dyeing machine.

Machine for converting a fabric from a rolled fabric into a superimposingly folded fabric for delivery to a dyeing machine


A surgical rivet device for the repair of torn menisci and other intra-articular bodily tissues is disclosed in which the device comprises a shaft, projecting fins and a penetration head at one end and a wide rear portion. The device is inserted by a driving mechanism through both sides of the torn meniscus, compressing the tear in the meniscus between the fins near the head and the wide rear portion, holding the tear together. After insertion, the driving mechanism is separated from the rivet, leaving the rivet device in the patient. The rivet device is entirely biodegradable and absorabable by the body.

Menisci are large comma shaped cartilaginous pads interposed between the large bone ends of the knee joint. At present, the majority of meniscal tears are treated by resection of the meniscus via a formal incision (open method), or by a removal of just the torn portion of the meniscus via an arthroscopic procedure (closed), with the latter being of ever increasing popularity.
It has become apparent that all meniscal tears need not be removed, but rather that they can be repaired and salvaged by suturing. The problem thus far, however, has been that the method of repair by suturing requires that both sides of the meniscus be accessible, thereby necessitating either two surgical incisions and approaches or the use of the arhtroscope in lieu of one of those incisions. The arthroscope is a hollow, slender viewing rod, much like a small telescope, which can be used to view the interior of a joint. The use of an arthroscope requires a very small incision and it is possible to perform some limited types of surgery entirely with the arthroscope alone. However, this has not proven to be useful for meniscal repair.
At the present time, meniscal repair is performed in the following manner. An arthroscope is introduced through a small opening from the front of the knee joint (anteriorly) and the torn meniscus is visualized. A second small opening is also made anteriorly and a feeler device is introduced to probe the tear. These tears all occur toward the back of the knee joint (posteriorly). This is most unfortunate since this is the location of the great blood vessels and nerves of the leg. In order to repair the meniscus, therefore, one must, with significant risk, make an ample incision and surgical approach so as to expose the back of the knee joint in the region of the meniscus to be repaired. But even then there is precious little working room, and since the needles used to sew the meniscus back in place must be quite long, as they can only be passed from front to back as otherwise there would be no reliable way to tie the ends within the joint, they may cause innocent and vital structures to be either penetrated or entrapped and subsequently damaged. Hollow metal guards have been used to help direct the paths of the needles used to limit the possibility of such damage.
Therefore, there is a great need for a means of achieving a meniscal repair wherein the procedure is wholly arthroscopic, can be performed anteriorly alone, and does not require the use of an additional posterior incision.
Rivet-like tabs, sometimes referred to having a penetration head, projecting flexible members and a wide rear portion have been used for attaching carpeting to a main frame of an automobile. Such devices are typically hammered directly through the carpet into a hole pre-formed in the car body. Such devices are relatively large and have no application in a surgical procedure.


Apparatus and methods for digital step attenuators are provided herein. In certain configurations, a digital step attenuator (DSA) includes a plurality of DSA stages arranged in a cascade between an input terminal and an output terminal. Each of the DSA stages can be operated in an attenuation mode or in a bypass mode. The DSA further includes an attenuation control circuit, which can be used to control the modes of operation of the DSA stages. The attenuation control circuit can be used to operate the DSA over a plurality of attenuation steps, which can be digitally selectable. To provide low phase shift across the range of attenuation steps, a DSA stage can include one or more phase compensation capacitors used to provide low phase shift and to compensate for a phase difference between the DSA stage operating in the bypass mode and in the attenuation mode.

Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to electronic systems, and in particular, to radio frequency (RF) electronics.
Description of the Related Technology
Digital step attenuators (DSAs) can be used to attenuate a radio frequency (RF) input signal to generate an attenuated RF signal having a desired gain and/or power. Thereafter, the attenuated RF signal can be used for a variety of purposes. For instance, the attenuated RF signal can serve as an input to a filter, modulator, and/or amplifier in an RF system.
DSAs can be included in wireless devices to achieve digitally controlled attenuation of RF signals associated with a wide range of frequencies. DSAs can also be included in other RF systems as well, such as base stations. There is a need for improved DSAs for use in RF systems.

Apparatus and methods for digital step attenuators with low phase shift


The present invention discloses a method for transmitting/receiving data in a wireless access system supporting carrier aggregation/multiple cells, and a base station and a user equipment for same. More particularly, the method comprises the following steps: transmitting downlink control information through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for scheduling downlink data from a first subframe; and transmitting the downlink data, which is scheduled by the downlink control information from a second subframe, through a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), wherein the downlink control information includes a field indicating the second subframe from which the downlink data is transmitted.

One of most important requirements of a next generation wireless access system is to support high data transmission rate requirements. To this end, various technologies such as multiple input multiple output (MIMO), cooperative multiple point transmission (CoMP), a relay, etc. have been developed.
A conventional wireless access system considers only one carrier although bandwidths in uplink and downlink are set in different ways. For example, there is provided a wireless communication system in which the number of carriers included in each of uplink and downlink is one and bandwidths in uplink and downlink are generally symmetric, based on a single carrier.
However, in order to satisfy relatively high data transmission rate requirements to ensure a widebandwidth in consideration of an actual state in which frequency resources are saturated, the system is designed to satisfy basic requirements for operating independent systems in distributed bands and carrier aggregation (CA)/multiple cells whereby a plurality of bands is bonded to one system has been introduced.
Here, a carrier in a bandwidth unit in which independent operations are available may be referred to as a component carrier (CC). In order to increase transmission capacity, recent 3GPP LTE-A or 802.16m has continuously extended up to 20 MHz or more. In this case, one or more CCs are aggregated to support a wideband. For example, when one CC supports a bandwidth of 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, a maximum of 5 CCs are bonded to support a system bandwidth up to a maximum of 100 MHz.

Method for transmitting/receiving data in wireless access system, and base station and user equipment for same


A body washing device, a method for holding a washcloth using the body washing device, and a method for washing a body are provided. The body washing device includes first and second hand-held devices configured to hold a washcloth therebetween for easily cleaning portions of the body that are difficult to reach using only the washcloth.

A washcloth has been used to wash a person's body. However, when the person has limited mobility in their arms, the person may have difficulty in washing portions of their body with the washcloth.
Accordingly, the inventor herein has recognized a need for a body washing device that allows a person with limited mobility in their arms to wash portions of their body that would otherwise be difficult to reach using only a washcloth.


An orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) demodulator demodulates an OFDM signal constituted by OFDM symbols each including at least an effective symbol and a scattered known signal. The OFDM demodulator includes a Fourier transform performing unit, a known signal extracting unit, a time dimension interpolation unit, a delay spread generating unit, a frequency dimension interpolation unit, and a waveform equalizing unit. The delay spread generating unit employs a time difference between a time point for a starting position of the Fourier transform operation performed by the Fourier transform performing unit and a time point at which a latest arriving path arrived as the delay spread.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) demodulators and receivers for demodulating OFDM signals and methods for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A modulation system called orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system (hereinafter, simply referred to as an "OFDM system") is used for transmitting digital signals. In the OFDM system, a transmission band is provided with a number of orthogonal subcarriers, and data are assigned to the amplitude and the phase of each subcarrier with PSK (phase shift keying) and QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) to perform digital modulation.
Application of the OFDM system to digital terrestrial broadcasting that is strongly affected by multipath interference has been widely discussed. Standards for digital terrestrial broadcasting employing the OFDM system include, for example, DVB-T (digital video broadcasting-terrestrial), ISDB-T (integrated services digital broadcasting-terrestrial), and ISDB-TSB (ISBD-T sound broadcasting).
As shown in FIG. 5, transmission signals according to the OFDM system are transmitted on a symbol-by-symbol basis. The symbols are called OFDM symbols. An OFDM symbol is constituted by an effective symbol representing a signal period during which an IFFT (inverse fast Fourier transform) operation is performed for transmission and a guard interval where a rear part of a waveform of the effective symbol is copied. The guard interval is arranged in a front part of the OFDM symbol. The duration of the guard interval is set at a quarter or one-eighth of the duration of the effective symbol.
OFDM receivers for receiving such OFDM signals perform an FFT (fast Fourier transform) operation using a FFT processing circuit to demodulate received OFDM signals. The OFDM receivers detect boundary positions of OFDM symbols, each of which is constituted by an effective symbol and a guard interval. The OFDM receivers then set a scope of the FFT operation (FFT window) having the same length as the effective symbol on the basis of the detected symbol boundary positions. The OFDM receivers extract data included in the part set as the FFT window from the OFDM symbol, and perform the FFT operation on the data.
In addition, the OFDM system specifies that a plurality of the above-described OFDM symbols collectively constitutes a unit of transmission called an OFDM frame. For example, in the ISDB-T standard, 204 OFDM symbols constitute an OFDM frame. In the OFDM system, for example, insertion positions of pilot signals are set for each OFDM frame as a unit.
In an OFDM system employing QAM system for modulating data signals onto each subcarrier, distortion is caused in the signals modulated onto each subcarrier by influences of a multipath or the like during transmission. This undesirably alters the characteristics of the amplitude and phase of each subcarrier. Accordingly, a receiving side is required to equalize the waveform of the received signals so that the amplitude and phase of each subcarrier are equalized. In the OFDM system, a transmitting side scatters pilot signals having a specific amplitude and a specific phase over OFDM symbols of transmission signals. The receiving side monitors the amplitude and phase of these pilot signals so as to determine the frequency characteristics of a transmission path. The receiving side is configured to equalize the received signals using the determined transmission path characteristics. In the OFDM system, pilot signals used for calculation of transmission path characteristics are called scattered pilot signals (hereinafter, referred to as "SP signals").
FIG. 6 shows an arrangement pattern of SP signals in OFDM symbols according to the DVB-T standard and the ISBD-T standard.
In the DVB-T standard and the ISBD-T standard, a BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying)-modulated SP signal is inserted every twelve subcarriers in a subcarrier dimension (frequency dimension). Additionally, in the DVB-T standard and the ISBD-T standard, an insertion position of an SP signal is shifted in the frequency dimension by three subcarriers for each OFDM symbol. As a result, an SP signal is inserted every four OFDM symbols in an OFDM symbol dimension (time dimension) with respect to the same subcarrier.
As described above, the DVB-T standard and the ISDB-T standard insert spatially scattered SP signals in OFDM symbols, thereby reducing the redundancy of SP signals relative to primary information to be transmitted.
When transmission path characteristics are calculated using the SP signals, it is possible to identify the characteristics of the subcarriers having the SP signals inserted therein. However, it may be impossible to directly calculate the characteristics of other subcarriers including the primary information. Thus, a receiving side performs a filtering operation on SP signals using a two-dimensional interpolation filter, thereby estimating the transmission path characteristics of other subcarriers including the primary information.
Generally, the estimation of transmission path characteristics with the two-dimensional interpolation filter is performed in the manner described below.
To estimate the transmission path characteristics, information components are firstly removed from the received OFDM signals, and only SP signals inserted at the positions shown in FIG. 6 are extracted.
Then, using a reference SP signal, modulation components are removed from the extracted SP signals. The modulation-component-free SP signals show transmission path characteristics of subcarriers having the SP signals inserted therein.
Subsequently, the modulation-component-free SP signals are supplied to a time dimension interpolation filter, so that time dimension interpolation is performed and the transmission path characteristics of subcarriers having SP signals are estimated for each OFDM symbol. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to estimate the transmission path characteristics for every three subcarriers in the frequency domain of all OFDM symbols.
Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the time-dimension-interpolated SP signals are supplied to a frequency dimension interpolation filter, and threefold oversampling is performed on the signals, thereby performing frequency dimension interpolation. Accordingly, the transmission path characteristics of all of the subcarriers in the OFDM symbols are estimated. As a result, it is possible to estimate the transmission path characteristics for all of the subcarriers of the received OFDM signals.
Meanwhile, terrestrial broadcasting waves are transmission paths transmitted under a multipath environment. That is, terrestrial broadcasting waves are strongly affected by delay waves depending on the environments surrounding a reception position, such as geographical features and the arrangement of buildings. Signals received by OFDM receivers may be a combined wave of a direct wave and a plurality of delay waves.
Accordingly, under a multipath environment, a plurality of symbol boundaries exists since a plurality of paths exists. Generally, intersymbol interference is avoided by setting an FFT window on the basis of a symbol boundary position of an earliest arriving path.
Now, methods for setting a position of an FFT window that determines an FFT processing starting position will be described.
In a first method for setting an FFT window, an OFDM signal not having undergone an FFT operation is delayed so as to determine the correlation between a waveform of a guard interval and a waveform of a rear part of an OFDM symbol (i.e., a copy source signal wave of the guard interval), thereby determining a boundary of OFDM symbols (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-292125). In this method, a time point at which a value of an autocorrelation function becomes a maximum value indicates the boundary of the OFDM symbols of each path.
In addition, in a second method for setting an FFT window, the above-described SP signals are used. In this method, transmission path characteristics are estimated regarding all of the OFDM symbols by interpolating SP signals with a time dimension interpolation filter after extracting the SP signals from the OFDM signals and removing modulation components from the SP signals. Then, an IFFT operation is performed on the estimated transmission path characteristics so as to generate a delay profile representing the signal strength of each path, and the boundary of OFDM symbols is determined on the basis of the earliest arriving path.
In addition, a third method for setting an FFT window is also known. In this method, a waveform of a guard interval is extracted from an OFDM signal not having undergone an FFT operation, and consistency of this waveform and a waveform of a rear part of an OFDM symbol is determined, thereby determining a boundary of OFDM symbols. In this method, a delay profile representing the signal strength of each path by determining the consistency of the waveforms is generated, and the boundary of the OFDM symbols are determined on the basis of an earliest arriving path.
Furthermore, recently, a method in which the above-described second and third methods are combined has also been suggested (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-153831). In this method, it is possible to remove a false path by comparing the delay profiles generated according to two methods even if the false path caused by noise is included in the delay profiles.


An apparatus for monitoring a water quality by raising an aquatic living thing in a monitoring water tank 1. The monitoring water tank 1 is taken through a camera 12 to be displayed on a television 14. A monitoring area E comprising a plurality of sensor points is set on a television scene through a light pen, and a fish sensing device 13 senses variation of the sensor points in luminance level to continuously detect the moving positions of fish F, F' under observation. A personal computer 15 detects, on the basis of the moving positions of the fish under observation, whether or not each of the fish under observation takes any one of a plurality of abnormal action patterns, and conducts an alarm operation if both the two fish F, F' under observation assume any abnormal action pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water quality monitoring apparatus using aquatic living things for observation of the quality of raw water, where raw water is introduced into a water tank for breeding or raising aquatic living things, and the water tank is taken through a video camera or the like to perform an image or picture analysis of action patterns of the aquatic living things.
2. Description of the Related Art
So far, in a filtration plant or the like there has been provided an apparatus in which aquatic living things such as fish being under observation are raised within a water tank, which continuously receives raw water, to be taken through an industrial television camera or the like so that the taken image is analyzed to grasp the fish's action pattern on the basis of the position at which the fish under observation swims and an alarm is raised if the fish takes an abnormal action. For example, for detection of the position of the fish under observation, the images photographed at a given time interval are stored in an image memory and an image portion corresponding to the fish under observation is recognized by the formation of a differential image between two adjacent images and the position and travelling speed of the fish under observation are detected on the basis of the variation of the position of the center of gravity of the same image portion so that the detected position and travelling speed are compared with the velocity distribution prestored in the normal conditions to detect the abnormality of the water quality (Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-68489).
There is a problem which arises with the above-mentioned prior apparatus, however, in that, since the comparison is made for all the fixed pixels in the image memory, its information quantity is too much to cause the necessity of a long processing time, and when an image other than the water tank comes to within the photographing range of the television camera, the comparison is reluctantly made even for the portions which do not require the comparison, which can make the accurate detection difficult. For these reasons, it is necessary that the water tank is photographed in a state that the entire water tank coincides with the photographing range of the industrial television camera so that all the pixels in the image memory always correspond to the image of the water tank. However, in this case, difficulty is encountered to facilitate the location of the television camera.
In addition, since the above-described prior apparatus is made to compare the travelling speed of the fish under observation with the velocity distribution obtained at the time of the normal conditions, although the detection is possible when the fish takes the typical abnormal action, if the fish takes an action close to an abnormal action, for example if the fish rises to have bait, a judgment to the abnormality can be made in error, and hence it is difficult to accurately decide, through only the comparison with the velocity distribution in the normal conditions, the abnormal action taken for when the water quality is abnormal.

Apparatus for monitoring water quality using aquatic living thing


A method for data transmission in a sidelink includes: a first terminal device selecting a first resource from a data resource pool in a selection window, the first resource being used for sending data of the first terminal device; the first terminal device selecting, from a control resource pool in the selection window, a second resource for sending first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating the first resource, the positions of the first resource and the second resource in a time domain and/or frequency domain being different; and the first terminal device sending the first indication information over the second resource, and sending the data of the first terminal device over the first resource.

A Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication system is a Sidelink (SL) transmission technology based on D2D communication. Different from a traditional Long Term Evolution (LTE) system in which data is received or sent through a base station, the vehicle to everything system uses a mode of terminal-to-terminal direct communication, therefore it has a higher spectrum efficiency and a lower transmission delay. In the vehicle to everything, a terminal device may independently select a transmission resource of a sidelink. For example, the terminal device may randomly select the resource or determine the resource by sensing.
In an LTE system, a service has periodicity, and the terminal device may predict an arrival time of a next service. Therefore, other users may be prevented from occupying this resource by reserving resources, so as to achieve a purpose of avoiding resource conflicts. Specifically, the terminal device may carry its reserved resource in Sidelink Control Information (SCI), and the sidelink control information and data resources of the terminal device are frequency-divided. However, in an NR system, services usually do not have periodicity. For example, services may arrive randomly, or an arrival time of a service may be within a certain time range. Therefore, when the service of the terminal device does not have periodicity, how to avoid a resource conflict becomes an urgent problem to be solved.

Method for data transmission in sidelink and terminal device

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