An electronic device includes a tablet module and a docking base. The tablet module includes a slot, a sliding element and a plurality of first attracting elements. The sliding element is slidably disposed in the slot. The first attracting elements are adjacently disposed on the sliding element and have a first attracting side. The polarities of each two adjacent first attracting elements at the first attracting side are different. The docking base includes a bearing sheet and a plurality of second attracting elements. The bearing sheet is inserted to the slot and abuts against the sliding element. The second attracting elements are adjacently disposed on the hearing sheet and have a second attracting side. The polarities of each two adjacent second attracting elements at the second attracting side are different.

1. Field of the invention
The invention relates to an electronic, device and, more particularly, to an electronic device which includes a tablet module and a docking base.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer is widely used in life and work. A desktop computer usually includes a screen, a host, a keyboard, a mouse, a printer and relating peripheral devices. Since the desktop computer includes many components, the installation of the desktop computer is complicated, in addition, the desktop computer only can be used in a fixed position. Thus, it is not portable. Consequently, a portable notebook computer becomes popular, and a tablet computer which is lighter, thinner and portable is much more convenient.
However, unlike the notebook computer, the tablet computer cannot take place of the desktop computer to become a main device for office and entertainment due to the inconvenient inputting way. Since the tablet computer does not include a physical keyboard, if a user needs to input words for a long time, the user would feel laborious. Thus, a product which includes a tablet module and a keyboard attached to each other and combines the advantages of the tablet computer and the notebook computer is launched. The keyboard can not only be used to input, but also extend endurance time. When the keyboard is not needed, it can be detached and the tablet module can be used individually.
However, when the user wants to combine the tablet module and the keyboard, a hook structure at the keyboard must be aligned to a slot at the bottom of the tablet module precisely, thus the tablet module can be inserted to the keyboard, which is annoying.


Methods, systems, and computer readable media for determining a radio frame synchronization position are disclosed. According to one method, the method includes receiving a radio frame having an ascertainable physical channel or ascertainable data intended for providing non-synchronization related information. The method also includes determining, using the ascertainable physical channel or ascertainable data, a frame synchronization position.

Long term evolution (LTE) and other radio communications technologies can require significant infrastructure and configuration. In LTE and similar networks, data from the network to a user device may be referred to as downlink data and data from the user device to the network may be referred to as uplink data. For example, user equipment (UE), such as a cellular mobile phone, may communicate with an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNode B) via the cellular radio transmission link. Data that is sent from the eNode B to the UE is downlink data, and data that is sent from the UE to the eNode B is uplink data.
Uplink and downlink LTE data is usually transmitted using one or more multiplexing and/or modulation schemes. For example, in some LTE networks, downlink data is transmitted using an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and uplink data is transmitted using single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA). Such schemes may allow multiple streams of data to be sent simultaneously (e.g., at different frequencies). While such schemes may allow data to be communicated at high-speed, significant processing is required to encode and decode the data. For example, an eNode B may perform channel coding, multiplexing, and interleaving of data and control streams, which are then sent to the UE over the air (RF) interface. After pre-processing the received signal from the eNode B, the UE may perform channel delineation for downlink physical channels and/or other baseband processing. After separating LTE data from various physical layer channels, the LTE data may be further processed.
LTE frame synchronization is usable for identifying LTE frame boundaries for accurately decoding LTE data. In an LTE frame, there may be a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal. Receivers (e.g., LTE-capable user equipment (UE) or other devices) may use these signals in performing LTE frame synchronization to obtain a synchronization position. Generally, receivers perform a frame synchronization procedure that is quick but provides a synchronization position that is a few samples off from a perfect or accurate synchronization position because conventional synchronization techniques for determining accurate synchronization positions require significant resources and/or time. Generally, less accurate synchronization positions may be good enough to decode LTE data during optimal or near-optimal conditions and/or in environments having lower modulation requirements (e.g., networks using four quadrature amplitude modulation (4-QAM) or 8-QAM modulation). However, more accurate synchronization positions may be needed for decoding LTE data in less optimal conditions or in environments having higher modulation requirements (e.g., networks using 64-QAM modulation).
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties, a need exists for improved methods, systems, and computer readable media for determining a radio frame synchronization position.


A fan includes a fan seat and a fan head, wherein a first surface of the fan head opposed a second surface of the fan seat. The fan further includes a first rotating shaft at edges of the first surface and the second surface configured to rotatably couple the fan seat and the fan head, such that the first surface of the fan head and the second surface of the fan seat form an target angle based on the first rotating shaft.

A user may use winds blown by a floor fan to accelerate an air flow in an indoor space, thereby achieving a purpose of indoor heat dissipation. When the user needs to dissipate heat for a small space, a small USB (Universal Serial Bus) fan may be used, and the small USB fan is directed to a position where heat dissipation is required, so as to achieve a purpose of cooling as much as possible.

BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.


A semiconductor device of the present invention includes, as a peripheral MIS transistor 25b, a gate insulating film 13b and a gate electrode 14b provided above an active region 10b, first and second sidewalls 19b and 23b provided on side surfaces of the gate electrode 14b, n-type source and drain regions 24b provided away from each other in the active region, nitrogen diffusion layers 18 provided below the outer sides of the gate electrode 14b, n-type extension regions 16 containing arsenic and provided in regions of the active region 10b located below the outer sides of the gate electrode 14b so that the n-type extension regions 16 cover the inner side surfaces and the bottom surfaces of the nitrogen diffusion layers 18, respectively, and n-type dopant regions 17 containing phosphorus and provided in regions of the active region 10b located below the outer sides of the gate electrode 14b and deeper than the n-type extension regions 16.

(a) Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices and methods for fabricating the same.
(b) Description of Related Art
In a recent semiconductor device field, speed enhancement and power consumption reduction of semiconductor devices due to rapid miniaturization of the devices have proceeded. Accompanied with such a trend, gate insulating films of transistors in the devices have become thinner, and diffusion profiles therein have been changed considerably. This makes it difficult to ensure the reliability of the device.
FIGS. 5A to 5E are sectional views showing steps of a conventional fabrication method of a semiconductor device. In FIGS. 5A to 5E, an n-channel MIS transistor for an internal circuit (internal MIS Tr) is formed in an internal circuit area AreaA illustrated in the left halves of these figures, and an n-channel MIS transistor for a peripheral circuit (peripheral MIS Tr) is formed in a peripheral circuit area AreaB illustrated in the right halves of these figures.
In the conventional fabrication method of a semiconductor device, first, in the step shown in FIG. 5A, in a p-type semiconductor region (referring to part of a semiconductor substrate) 111, regions surrounding an active region 110a and an active region 110b are formed with isolation regions 112, respectively, by a normal shallow trench isolation process. Thereafter, a gate insulating film 113a and a gate electrode 114a are formed above the active region 110a of the internal circuit area AreaA, and a gate insulating film 113b and a gate electrode 114b are formed above the active region 110b of the peripheral circuit area AreaB.
Next, in the step shown in FIG. 5B, on a substrate, an implantation mask 115 of photoresist is formed which covers the internal circuit area AreaA and has an opening in the peripheral circuit area AreaB. Thereafter, with the implantation mask 115 covering the internal circuit area AreaA, arsenic ions serving as an n-type dopant are implanted using the gate electrode 114b as a mask to form n-type extension regions 116 in regions of the active region 110b of the peripheral circuit area AreaB located below both sides of the gate electrode 114b, respectively.
Subsequently, in the step shown in FIG. 5C, the implantation mask 115 is removed, and an implantation mask 117 of photoresist is formed which covers the peripheral circuit area AreaB and has an opening exposing the internal circuit area AreaA. Thereafter, with the implantation mask 117 covering the peripheral circuit area AreaB, arsenic ions serving as an n-type dopant are implanted using the gate electrode 114a as a mask to form n-type extension regions 119 in regions of the active region 110a of the internal circuit area AreaA located below both sides of the gate electrode 114a, respectively. While the implantation mask 117 used in the formation of the n-type extension regions 119 is left remaining, boron ions as a p-type dopant are implanted using the gate electrode 114a as a mask to form p-type pocket regions 118 in the active region 110a of the internal circuit area AreaA.
Next, in the step shown in FIG. 5D, the implantation mask 117 is removed, and an insulating film (not shown) covering top and side surfaces of the gate electrodes 114a and 114b is formed on the substrate. Thereafter, the insulating film is etched back to form insulating sidewalls 120a on the side surfaces of the gate electrode 114a of the internal circuit area AreaA and insulating sidewalls 120b on the side surfaces of the gate electrode 114b of the peripheral circuit area AreaB.
Then, in the step shown in FIG. 5E, ion implantation of an n-type dopant is conducted using the gate electrode 114a, the insulating sidewalls 120a, the gate electrode 114b, and the insulating sidewalls 120b as a mask, thereby forming n-type source and drain regions 121a in the active region 110a of the internal circuit area AreaA and n-type source and drain regions 121b in the active region 110b of the peripheral circuit area AreaB.
In past years, a gate insulating film of a MIS transistor was sufficiently thick, so that the hot carrier lifetime which is important as the reliability of the MIS transistor was able to be ensured easily. In addition, source and drain regions thereof were formed without complication by forming a gate electrode, implanting arsenic ions, phosphorus ions, or the both ions using the gate electrode as a mask, and then performing annealing. However, since, in recent years, rapid miniaturization of the semiconductor devices has proceeded, the gate insulating film has been thinned and the dopant concentrations of source and drain required to ensure current have been increased, resulting in a rise in the electric field intensity of a channel in the device. Therefore, in the structure of the device as described above, hot carriers are likely to occur around the edge of the drain, and thus the reliability of the transistor is disadvantageously lowered.
To solve this disadvantage, a method for improving hot carrier resistance by nitrogen ion implantation has been studied. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-64362 proposes a method for improving resistance to hot carrier degradation. In this method, a gate oxide film and a gate electrode of polysilicon are formed above a semiconductor substrate, and then nitrogen ions are implanted by oblique rotating ion implantation to change portions of the gate oxide film immediately below edges of the gate electrode to nitrided oxide films (oxynitride films). A subsequent ion implantation forms source and drain regions in the semiconductor substrate, thereby improving resistance to hot carrier degradation.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-64362 also proposes another method for improving resistance to hot carrier degradation. In this method, a silicon oxide film is formed on the entire surface of a semiconductor region with a gate oxide film and a gate electrode provided thereabove, and then nitrogen ions are implanted on the condition in which the peak of the implantation profile appears around the interface between the silicon oxide film and the silicon substrate. The resulting silicon oxide film is etched back to form sidewalls on side surfaces of the gate electrode, and a subsequent ion implantation forms source and drain regions in the semiconductor region, thereby improving resistance to hot carrier degradation.
However, even the methods mentioned above cannot fully deal with rapid miniaturization of semiconductor devices. As a consequence, it is increasingly difficult to ensure a sufficient hot carrier lifetime of the device. In addition, when nitrogen is directly implanted into the gate oxide film as shown in the method proposed by Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-64362, the reliability of the oxide film itself is disadvantageously lowered.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A vertical travel assistance unit for a trolling motor in which the vertical travel assistance unit is attached to the shaft of the trolling motor by at least one mounting bracket or clamp and is attached to the trolling motor boat mount by at least one mounting bracket or clamp. A power cable connects the trolling motor and the vertical travel assistance unit to provide power to the actuator of the vertical travel assistance unit, which permits the vertical travel assistance unit to raise or lower the trolling motor along a vertical axis and wherein the vertical travel assistance unit, having an actuator comprising an actuator shaft; motor shaft and the trolling motor shaft moves up and down when the actuator shaft moves up and down.

The present invention relates to a support assembly for an outboard trolling motor, and in particular relates to such an assembly that provides a convenient and reliable means to raise the motor from the water and lower the motor into the water while operating a boat.
Outboard trolling motors are widely employed for the purpose of maneuvering a small boat over short distances. Such motors are very popular with fisherman because they allow a fisherman to approach desired fishing areas very closely at low speed, with very little disturbance of the surrounding water. The motors allow fisherman to remain relatively motionless over a desired fishing location, despite wind or other factors that would tend to push the boat away. Such motors also allow the fisherman to slowly and quietly move about in a small area while fishing the entire area as the boat is slowly moved. The motors typically produce almost no noise or vibration because they are powered electrically, generally driven from a battery maintained on the boat. The battery may be dedicated to the trolling motor or, more commonly, serve the dual purpose of driving the trolling motor and providing a source for an electrical start function for the main drive motor. Trolling motors are ideal for use in areas where projections or obstacles may be encountered, which require finely-tuned maneuvering of the boat to avoid damage. Many game fish prefer such areas, and thus trolling motors are employed on the great majority of high-end fishing boats, particularly those boats employed by professional fishermen.
A trolling motor, often used in game fishing, is a marine propulsion system consisting of a self-contained unit that includes an electric motor, a propeller, a shaft connecting the electric motor and the propeller, and controls to operate the trolling motor, A trolling motor can be affixed to a fishing boat, either at the bow or stern, to provide for a secondary means of propulsion. Ordinarily, a trolling motor is manually adjusted on a vertical axis by the user so as to achieve optimal operating height for the relative depth of the water in which a fishing boat is located.
However, in heavy waves, the trolling motor can often be too high to keep the propeller in the water as the wave action raises and lowers the boat's profile in the water. To lower the trolling motor, a user must get on his knees, loosen the trolling motor shaft's height adjustment screw, push the trolling motor propulsion system down, and then re-tighten the height adjustment screw. In heavy wave action, this adjustment can create unsafe conditions caused by the wave action and the change in the boat's profile in the water.
In addition, when the boat travels into shallow water or enters areas with underwater obstacles such as stumps and grass, the trolling motor must be raised to an optimal operating height. In order to lift the trolling motor, the user must get on his knees, loosen the shaft's height adjustment screw, pull the trolling motor up, and then re-tighten the height adjustment screw. Manually adjusting the trolling motor on its vertical axis is a significant physical task, often required to be repeated several times during a day of game fishing.
In addition, for users with physical handicaps such as weak backs or limited strength, the frequent adjustment of the trolling motor along its vertical axis presents a prohibitive challenge.
Watercraft, especially fishing vessels, often employ trolling motors to maneuver or to hold the watercraft in position while the vessel operator fishes. Trolling motors may be interconnected with the watercraft via a mounting bracket secured to the gunnels or transom of the vessel. Conventional mounting brackets are generally adapted with a pivot pin which allows the portion of the bracket adapted to receive the trolling motor to swivel between the stowed position, where the trolling motor is on-board the vessel, and the deployed operation position, where the trolling motor extends into the water.
Although many conventional mounting brackets effectively stow and deploy trolling motors, many require the operator to actuate a lever or other such actuating mechanism to disengage a locking pin (which secures the portion of the bracket adapted to receive the trolling motor in a tilt position relative to the remainder of the bracket assembly) before swiveling the trolling motor to a different tilt position such as the stowed position. Similarly, many conventional mounting brackets require the operator to continue actuating the mechanism to disengage the locking pin for the entire duration of the swiveling of the trolling motor. Requiring the operator to actuate the mechanism to disengage the locking pin before tilting (and during the tilting of) the trolling motor may be inconvenient or undesirable in many situations, including situations where quick upward tilting or stowage of the trolling motor would be expedient. One such situation would occur, for example, when the watercraft enters shallow water where the motor shaft or drive unit of the trolling motor may contact underwater obstructions. In such a situation, it would be convenient and expedient for the operator to quickly tilt and/or stow the trolling motor.

Vertical travel assistance unit for a trolling motor


The invention relates to a pump which comprises a tube (4) through which a fluid is delivered, and a device (2) for producing transverse oscillations in the fluid. On the inlet side (5), the tube (4) has a first section (1) with an invariable delivery cross-section and on the outlet side (6) a second section (3) with a variable delivery cross-section. The inventive pump functions according to the following principle: the fluid, when induced to oscillate, performs transverse oscillations in the second section (3) with the variable delivery cross-section and can thereby expand or flow in said oscillating system, while in the first section (1) with the invariable delivery cross-section the fluid oscillates not at all or only to a much lesser extent depending on the compressibility of the medium. The waves caused by the oscillation produced in the fluid therefore substantially expand in the direction of the second section (3) with the variable delivery cross-section so that the fluid inevitably flows from the first section (1) to the second section (3).

The invention relates to a pump with a pipe through which fluid is conveyed, the pipe on the inlet side having a first segment with a delivery cross section which cannot be changed, and with a means for producing transverse oscillations in the fluid.
In pumps the fluid to be delivered is conventionally conveyed via translationally moved parts, for example, pistons, or rotationally moving pump wheels. Pumping fluids by displacement of the fluid in a deformable tube, for example by squeezing the tube together, is also known.
These known pumps except for the latter type of pump have the disadvantage that in the area of the fluid to be conveyed wear phenomena and possibly contamination of the fluid arise due to the components sliding against one another, or seal problems must be solved. Nor is it easily possible to convey for example sludges with coarse portions, for example, stones, by rotating parts or valves.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,877 and DE 956 020 C disclose pumps which on the inlet side have a rigid pipe. Furthermore there are pump devices. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,877 this is a sine wave-shaped element and in DE 956 020 C a piston or an elastic pipe piece which can be squeezed together. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,877 the pump action takes place by the cross section of the pipe always being closed at one point by the sine wave-shaped element and repeated, progressive motion of this point producing the pump action. In DE 956 020 C the pump action takes place by different friction resistances and inertial forces in the two pipe sections with different diameters.
WO 00/62838 A2 describes a pump in which on either side of a middle segment in which the pump action is produced by the external action of a force there are elastically deformable pipe or tube sections. The varied elasticity behavior of these two segments results in different pressures in these segments so that in the elastic contraction of the two segments pump action in one direction or the other takes place. On either side, any, i.e. both rigid and also elastic pipes, can be connected to the two elastic segments.
Therefore the object of the invention is to make available a pump which avoids the described disadvantages as much as possible.


A method for synchronizing a basic clock pulse system having a plurality of synchronized components with a higher-ranking clock pulse system includes, in a first step of the synchronization, determining a phase difference between an actual phase of the basic clock pulse system and a nominal phase of the higher-ranking clock pulse system and transmitting the phase difference to the components of the basic clock pulse system and, in a second step of the synchronization, using the determined phase difference as a pilot control for each component, i.e. for the pilot control of a clock pulse generator of each component.

The present invention relates to a method for synchronizing an isochronous system with a previously independent topologically higher-ranking clock pulse system. For differentiation from the higher-ranking clock pulse system, the clock pulse system of the isochronous system, which is to be connected to the higher-ranking clock pulse system, is referred to in the following as an isochronous basic clock pulse system or in short as a basic clock pulse system.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
An example of a basic clock pulse system can include a plurality of fundamentally independent components or devices—in the following referred to collectively as components—is a system in the form of a production machine, a machine tool, a robot or the like. In the following, a system of this kind is referred to collectively, but without sacrificing broader generality, as a production machine.
In a basic clock pulse system of this kind, it is known to use a plurality of clock pulses with different periods, which, on the one hand, all have to be synchronized between the components of the basic clock pulse system and, on the other, must also be in a defined phase relationship to one another.
This requires the following consistency conditions to be fulfilled:                a component functioning as a master clock issues a clock pulse, which is hereinafter referred to as a communication clock pulse, to the other components of the basic clock pulse system. The period of the communication clock pulse determines the shortest clock pulse that can be used in the basic clock pulse system. All components are synchronized with the communication clock pulse by means of a local clock pulse generator, in particular a local, digital PLL (DPLL), and the start of the clock pulse period of each other clock pulse in the basic clock pulse system always coincides with the start of a period of the communication clock pulse.        in addition to the communication clock pulse, the master clock generates a special system clock pulse with which the start of each clock pulse period coincides with the start of the clock pulse periods of all the other inter-synchronized clock pulses. The period of a clock pulse of this kind is the lowest common multiple of the periods of all other clock pulses of the basic clock pulse system. Correspondingly, this is referred to as an LCM clock pulse (LCM=lowest common multiple).
On the basis of the communication clock pulse output by the master clock, each component in the basic clock pulse system generates an independent clock pulse system, which, with the aid of a local clock pulse generator (local DPLL) and other suitable measures fulfils the consistency conditions with respect to the clock pulse system of the master clock. In this case, each consistency condition already achieved is maintained for each component in the basic clock pulse system—partially with the aid of a DPLL.
To connect an isochronous basic clock pulse system of this kind to a previously independent topologically higher-ranking clock pulse system, all clock pulses of the basic clock pulse system have to be phase-shifted so that the two systems are combined to form an overall isochronous system. Here, the phase shift has to take place such that, on the one hand, the consistency of the clock pulses in relation to each other and beyond the different components of the basic clock pulse system is at no time inadmissibly disrupted and that, on the other hand, after the phase shift, the clock pulse systems can be combined such that the consistency conditions mentioned also apply to the overall system.
To date, it has been provided with a method for synchronizing an isochronous system with a higher-ranking clock pulse system that the consistency conditions for all local clock pulses within a component are set and checked by means of a software routine. Here, hardware counters are used to check the phase position of the clock pulses and it is possible to program a phase shift which is then executed in hardware. This only succeeds if the hardware counters for the different clock pulses are read out consistently, i.e. if it is ensured that all counters can be read out before a counter content changes. In a real-time system, this means that this software routine has to be assigned to the quickest time slot.
Between different components, the consistency conditions can only be fulfilled by observing the communication taking place at previously defined times with telegrams defined by a respective protocol. For selective synchronization, the instant of time at which the aforementioned software routine runs is aligned not only with the internal counters but also with the communication. In order to avoid this additional restriction, the phases of the clock pulses affected are changed not selectively, but successively until a faultless communication enables it to be identified that the consistency condition has been fulfilled.
In the case of connection to a higher-ranking clock pulse system, the master clock of the basic clock pulse system first informs all components of the basic clock pulse system that a phase shift is taking place. With the previous method, the master clock then shifts its own clock pulse system until it is synchronous with the higher-ranking clock pulse system. During this, the master clock uses a constant step size for each communication clock pulse. Finally, the master clock informs the other components of the basic clock pulse system that the phase shift has been completed.
This achieves synchronicity of the master clock of the basic clock pulse system with the higher-ranking clock pulse system. During this adaptation and following the adaptation, the master clock continuously emits the communication clock pulse that is authoritative for all components of the basic clock pulse system.
However, the DPLL, with which the other components are held in synchronism with the master clock, is generally optimized in order to suppress interference noise (jitter). This means it is not able to follow the step size during the phase shift (see FIG. 5). Therefore, for a temporary period, another synchronization method is used, which, although it can follow the phase shift, is not able to suppress the jitter. With this other synchronization method, there is an abrupt adaptation of the clock pulse period.
The drawback with this known method for synchronizing an isochronous basic clock pulse system with a previously independent topologically higher-ranking clock pulse system is that, due to the abrupt change to the clock pulse period, in addition to the residual jitter, faultless communication with the master clock is no longer guaranteed, for example due to a violation of one of the transmit time slots assigned to the component. One consequence of communication that is no longer faultless is, for example, that the production machine is automatically brought to a stop.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to obviate prior art shortcomings and to provide an improved method for synchronizing an isochronous basic clock pulse system with a previously independent topologically higher-ranking clock pulse system with which the above-described drawbacks are avoided or at least the impacts thereof are reduced.

Method for synchronizing an isochronous system with a higher-ranking clock pulse system


A sliding cover for protecting camera lens and switching the power of the camera, comprising a cover plate and a permanent magnet. The cover plate is slideably connected with the front shell of the camera, a magnetic induction switch is installed at the inner side of the front shell. Furthermore, the permanent magnet is connected to the cover plate, when the lens is exposed while the cover plate is sliding away, the permanent magnet will then be close to the inducible switch and switch the power automatically. For sliding smooth, a few pads with low friction coefficient and wear-resistant property can be installed between the cover plate and the front shell of the camera; preferably, the inner side of the of the cover plate can further installed a rolling wheel to smooth the sliding and prevent scratch on the front shell surface when been highly pressed.

Although most of the sliding covers are installed for protecting camera lens, there are diversities of structural innovation created one after another by manufacturers; for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,574, U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,776, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,378, U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,259 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,448, the cover is a box-like cover plate, is connected to the equipment body. When taking the pictures, the user can telescopically slide the box-like cover plate to reveal the lens. The box-like cover plate can further be equipped with some operation buttons or components such as flash light, connected to the PCB inside the camera through flexible PCB or cable. The structure is complicated and the assembly is difficult.
Other patent related sliding cover, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,240,735, 4,522,478, 5,805,947, the sliding cover equipped with simple shelter function, but not none of them has function to switch the operation power of the camera. Some other sliding cover, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,819,127, 5,892,996, 6,079,883, 6,424,803, etc., have provided a sliding cover which having slots on the back of the sliding cover to trigger some tiny components, however, it is a complicate structure and difficult to assemble the same.
It is said, that OLYMPUS™ Corporation may probably be the first company utilizing a sliding cover to control the power switch. Inside, the sliding cover, a leaf-like switch component is installed for touching the start and end point; meanwhile, a compressed spring and a plurality of steel balls are buried to be used as clicking element. Since components are buried, the sliding cover is thus getting thicker. Moreover, if the outer surface of the sliding cover is not treated with painting, the buried components will be exposed and affect its appearance. The structure of the sliding cover in the present invention is simple, easy to assemble and may save the cost.


Disclosed is an antenna device including a rectangular waveguide (1) having a first opening end (2a) and a second opening end (2b), a septum phase plate (3) disposed inside the rectangular waveguide (1) in such a way as to partition the first opening end (2a) into two parts along a first direction perpendicular to a waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide (1), a width of the septum phase plate in a second direction perpendicular to both the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide (1) and the first direction becoming narrower stepwise with advancing from the first opening end (2a1, 2a2) toward the second opening end (2b), and first projecting portions (4a, 4b) disposed on two respective first inner walls (1a, 1b) parallel to the septum phase plate (3), out of four inner walls of the rectangular waveguide (1), in such a way as to project toward an inside of the rectangular waveguide (1).

In Patent Literature 1 mentioned below, an antenna device that includes a septum phase plate inside a rectangular waveguide in order to convert an inputted circularly polarized wave into a linearly polarized wave is disclosed.
In this antenna device, a projecting portion is disposed on an inner wall of the rectangular waveguide in order to shift a resonance frequency in a TM11 mode toward a high frequency and implement band broadening.
The position at which this projecting portion is disposed is in a corner of an inner wall of the rectangular waveguide. Concretely, the position is at a part connecting between an inner wall parallel to the septum phase plate and an inner wall perpendicular to the septum phase plate, out of four inner walls of the rectangular waveguide.


The invention relates to a method for producing a protein of interest comprising transforming a target insect with a non-viral expression system that expresses the protein in the insect larvae, breeding the insect to produce larvae, culturing the larvae and isolating the protein from the larvae.

The present invention relates to a system for the production of proteins in insect larvae. In particular, the invention encompasses the production of proteins of interest in Drosophila and Medfly larvae.
Protein production systems, in which polypeptides or proteins of interest are produced in recombinant organisms or cells, are the backbone of commercial biotechnology. The earliest systems, based on bacterial expression in hosts such as E. coli, have been joined by systems based on eukaryotic hosts, in particular mammalian cells in culture, insect cells both in culture and in the form of whole insects, and transgenic mammals such as sheep and goats.
Prokaryotic cell culture systems are easy to maintain and cheap to operate. However, prokaryotic cells are not capable of post-translational modification of eukaryotic proteins. Moreover, many proteins are incorrectly folded, requiring specific procedures to refold them, which adds to the cost of production.
Eukaryotic cell culture systems have been described for a number of applications. For example, mammalian cells are capable of post-translational modification, and generally produce proteins which are correctly folded and soluble. The chief disadvantages of mammalian cell systems include the requirement for specialised and expensive culture facilities, and the risk of infection, which can lead to loss of the whole culture.
Plant production systems may be used for protein expression, and may achieve high-yield production. However, transgenic plants crops are difficult to contain, raising the risk of contamination of the environment with genetically manipulated material.
Insect cells are also used for polypeptide expression. The most widespread expression system used in insect cells is based on baculovirus vectors. A baculovirus expression vector is constructed by replacing the polyhedrin gene of baculovirus, which encodes a major structural protein of the baculovirus, with a heterologous gene, under the control of the strong native polyhedrin promoter. Cultured insect host cells are infected with the recombinant virus, and the protein produced thereby can be recovered from the cells themselves or from the culture medium if suitable secretion signals are employed. These systems also, however, suffer from problems associated with infection of the culture and the requirement for specialised culture facilities.
Organism based expression systems avoid many of the infection disadvantages and are easier to grow than cell cultures. For instance, the use of virus vectors such as baculovirus allows infection of entire insects, which have fewer requirements for special growth conditions. Large insects, such as silk moths, provide a high yield of heterologous protein. The protein can be extracted from the insects according to conventional extraction techniques.
Also known are techniques based on expression of proteins of interest in mammals such as goats and sheep, under the control of milk protein expression control sequences such that they are expressed in milk: Such techniques have great potential advantages, but are expensive due to the requirement for isolation of endogenous mammalian viruses, prions and proteins from the final product. Moreover, the cost of generating and keeping large transgenic animals is high.
The use of insect larvae, those of Trichoplusa ni, have been proposed for use in protein production systems (Pham et al., 1999 Biotech Bioeng 62:175–182). However, such systems have only been suggested in combination with viral vector technology based around baculoviruses.
Where proteins are intended for dietary or pharmaceutical use, the use of bacterial systems and/or viral vectors is undesirable. There is therefore a requirement in the art for a protein production system which is both robust and scaleable, as whole organism based systems are, and free from virus-based vectors, as well as inexpensive to operate in a contained environment.


The invention relates to a method for providing vehicle steering support by differential wheel braking, the vehicle comprising: at least two axles with at least two wheels per axle; a braking system allowing individual braking of the wheels; and means for determining and/or estimating an operator input torque applied on a steering wheel, wherein the vehicle is configured with a positive scrub radius; the method comprising the steps of: identifying a need for steering support; determining a braking value required for achieving the needed steering support based on an integration of a function of at least one input value (Tinput) related to a determined or estimated operator input torque; and controlling the braking system based on the determined braking value.

Heavy vehicles, such as trucks, busses, construction vehicles etc. comprise a steering servomechanism assisting the operator of the vehicle when changing the steering angle by means of the steering wheel. This way, the large and heavy vehicle can easily be maneuvered by using the steering wheel. Without the servomechanism such heavy vehicles would be more or less impossible to steer. To ensure safety, legal requirements specify a maximum allowed steering wheel force to steer the vehicle in case of primary servomechanism failure. To fulfil this requirement some vehicles comprise a redundant steering aid system helping the driver to control the vehicle. Such steering aid system may comprise a second hydraulic circuit with a second hydraulic pump, for the event of failure in the hydraulics of the servomechanism. Other known solutions are to add a strong electric motor to the steering column, the electric motor supporting the driver in case of failure in the servomechanism. However, adding components to a vehicle requires extra space and it is often difficult to find this space on a vehicle.
An alternative way of providing steering support is disclosed in document DE 102008046007 A1. The document discloses steering force support provided by braking the inner wheels of the steered axle in the event of failure of the servomechanism. The braking is performed depending on the applied steering torque or as a function of the requested steering angle.
One problem with steering support by applying wheel brakes is the delay in building up brake pressure in the wheel brake cylinders. If the applied brake pressure corresponds to an applied steering torque the delay in building up brake pressure may make the process unstable. The instability is caused by the driver continuing to increase the steering torque until the brake force is applied on the wheel, whereby too much brake force is applied, the steering wheel moves significantly and the driver will apply a steering torque in the opposite direction. This way, oscillation occurs and hence the instability.

Method for providing vehicle steering support by differential wheel braking, a system, a vehicle, a computer program and a computer-readable medium


An undermount sink system for mounting beneath a countertop having an upper counter surface. The undermount sink system includes a sink basin and a discharge conduit coupled to the sink basin, which is positioned to expel fluid into the sink basin via an outlet thereof. The discharge conduit and basin are configured to mount to the countertop entirely below the upper counter surface. The flow of fluid through the discharge conduit may be activated via a motion sensor or switch coupled directly to the basin or a spacer ring positioned between the basin and the countertop. Controls for adjusting the temperature and/or flow rate of fluid through the discharge conduit may also be coupled to the basin or a spacer ring positioned between the basin and the countertop, or alternatively, to a surface of the countertop. Methods of making and using undermount sink systems are also provided.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to sinks, and more particularly to undermount sinks with enhanced functionality.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional undermount sink 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1, which shows a basin 12 mounted directly to the underside of a countertop 14 such that no portion of the basin 12 extends to the upper surface of the countertop 14. A conventional faucet 16 with controls for turning on the faucet 16 and adjusting water temperature is also shown mounted to the countertop 14 in a position to discharge water into the basin 12 in a generally downward direction. This type of sink arrangement provides a substantially flat working surface in the area immediately adjacent the sink and eliminates a sink interface that would otherwise be present on the surface of the countertop 14 where food particles or other debris can collect. The presence of the faucet 16 on the surface of the countertop 14, however, can create various shortcomings. For example, the interface between the faucet 16 and the countertop 14 provides areas where debris and grime may collect. The faucet 16 can also serve as an obstruction to various culinary activities. Still further, manipulating the controls of the faucet 12 can lead to unsanitary conditions around the sink 10.


A wrap for a body part such as a human wrist. The wrap includes an elongated flexible and helical-shaped member which is constructed of a material having shape memory so that, upon release of the member following deflection of the member, the member returns to its original helical shape. A covering is disposed around the member which either absorbs perspiration or applies a medication.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wraps for a human body.
II. Description of Related Art
Body wraps are conventionally used to absorb perspiration during physical exertion such as exercising or engaging in a sport. For example, tubular cylindrical wristbands are oftentimes slid over the wearer's hand and around the wrist to absorb perspiration and protect the wearer's hand from perspiration. Such sweatbands, for example, are oftentimes used in the game of tennis.
One disadvantage of these previously known sweatbands, however, is that the sweatband must be slid over the user's hand in order to position it around the wrist and, likewise, slid over the user's hand after use. Such positioning of the sweatband around the user's wrist and removal of the sweatband from the user's wrist is cumbersome and oftentimes an undesirable procedure.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known sweatbands is that such sweatbands typically include an elastic material in order to maintain the contact between the sweatband and the user's wrist. The constant stretching of the elastic material while positioning the sweatband onto the user's wrist or removing the sweatband from the user's wrist stretches the elastic material. Repeated stretching of the elastic material may result in its deterioration to the extent that the sweatband may no longer be used.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known sweatbands is that the sweatband typically comprises a single band encompassing the user's wrist or other body part. This single loop, furthermore, is only capable of absorbing a limited amount of perspiration. Consequently, in some situations, it is necessary to frequently remove the sweatband and replace it with a fresh sweatband.


A wind turbine blade of a wind turbine, the wind turbine blade including a shell and a spar having at least one spar cap is provided. At least one of the at least one spar cap includes at least two longitudinal support structure elements, whereby at least two of the at least two longitudinal support structure elements are arranged adjacent to one another in a longitudinal direction of the wind turbine blade and at least one longitudinal support structure includes carbon fiber-reinforced plastic and at least one other longitudinal support structure includes at least one fiber-reinforced plastic different from carbon fiber-reinforced plastic.

Wind turbine blades must be able to efficiently convert wind into spinning movement of the wind turbine blades, so that energy of the wind can be converted into rotary mechanical movement of a rotor to which the wind turbine blades are attached. It is preferable, to use materials having a high specific modulus (elastic modulus per mass density of a material), also known as stiffness to weight ratio, in wind turbine blades. This is particularly important in the spar caps of wind turbine blades, because the spar caps are subjected to high bending loads (also referred to as flapwise loads) occurring in the operation of the wind turbine.
EP 2922690 A1 relates to a wind turbine blade having a shell made from glass fiber-reinforced plastic and spar caps made from carbon fiber-reinforced plastics. Carbon fiber-reinforced plastics have a considerably higher stiffness and specific modulus than glass fiber-reinforced plastics. Thus, carbon fiber-reinforced plastics are preferable over glass fiber-reinforced plastics for usage in spar caps because they provide more resistance against bending loads at equal weight. However, it is challenging to introduce carbon fiber-reinforced plastics in spar caps of wind turbine blades without wrinkles. Wrinkling is one of the most common flaws that occurs during textile composite reinforcement forming processes. Thus, the proposed wind turbine blade is susceptible to failure.
U.S. 2010/0104447 A1 relates to a wind turbine blade comprising a pressure side spar cap and a suction side spar cap, wherein the suction side spar cap is fabricated from a material comprising a fiber reinforced matrix comprising at least one layer of glass fibers and at least one layer of carbon fibers embedded in a common matrix material. By using a hybrid carbon-glass material in spar caps it is possible to reduce structural risk of failure due to wrinkling while increasing the specific modulus. Thereby, a stiffness and weight between that of pure carbon and that of pure glass can be achieved. However, the carbon fibers are not used to their fullest potential in a hybrid material mix.
Thus, there is still a need for a wind turbine blade and a wind turbine with a high specific modulus and low risk of structural failure.
Features and details discussed with respect to the wind turbine blade are also related to features and details discussed with respect to the wind turbine and vice versa.


A flicker measurement method is described. The flicker measurement method includes: providing an electrical measurement device, wherein the electrical measurement device includes at least one signal input; providing an LED driver, wherein the LED driver is configured to generate a power signal; electrically connecting the LED driver with the at least one signal input; generating a power signal by the LED driver; and determining a flicker metric based on the power signal by the electrical measurement device. Further, a flicker measurement system is described.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have to be powered with direct current in order to be operated efficiently. Accordingly, an AC-DC converter is necessary in order to operate LEDs with an AC source. Electronic devices that control the current supplied to an LED are generally known as "LED drivers".
In order to ensure that a light generating system comprising an LED and an LED driver provides light in a desired way, usually so-called "flicker measurements" are performed.
During such flicker measurements, the LED is powered by the LED driver. Light generated by the LED is measured via an optical measurement system and converted into a flicker metric, wherein the flicker metric is representative of a quality of the generated light.
However, such flicker measurements only allow for limited conclusions on the performance of the LED driver, as the quality of the light is considerably influenced by ageing effects of the LED and/or spectral line effects of the LED.
Thus, there is a need for a flicker measurement method as well as a flicker measurement system that allow for a more precise evaluation of the performance of an LED driver.

Flicker measurement method and flicker measurement system


A method and apparatus are provided an interconnect cladding layer. In one embodiment, a first sacrificial layer is deposited over a substrate and patterned. In the vias created during the patterning operation, a conductive material is placed to create conductive interconnects. After planarizing the conductive material, the sacrificial layer is removed leaving the interconnect exposed. A cladding layer is then deposited over the conductive material.

Modern integrated circuits use conductive interconnects to connect the individual devices on a chip or to send and/or receive signals external to the chip. Popular interconnect materials include copper, aluminum, copper alloys, and aluminum alloys. In order to accommodate desired interconnect densities, multiple layers of interconnects, referred to as "metallization layers" may be used.
A typical method of forming an interconnect, particularly a copper interconnect, is a damascene process. A common conventional damascene process usually involves the following, as illustrated by FIGS. 1(a)–1(c):    (1) Deposit an etch stop 120 on a substrate 110.    (2) Deposit a dielectric layer 130. Because dielectric layer 130 will ultimately fill the space between interconnects within a particular layer, it may be referred to as an interlayer dielectric or ILD.    (3) Form a trench 132 having via openings 134 in the dielectric layer 130 and etch stop 120 to an underlying layer, such as substrate 110. For example, via openings 134 may expose the source, drain, or gate of a transistor. A hard mask 140 may be used to form the trench, but is not necessary. Structure 11 shows a partially fabricated interconnect layer after operation 3.    (4) Line the trench 132 and via opening 134 with a barrier layer of a refractory material, for example titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum (Ta) or tantalum nitride (TaN). The barrier layer serves to inhibit the diffusion of the interconnect material that will subsequently be introduced in the via and trench into the interlayer dielectric.    (5) Deposit a suitable seed material on the wall or walls of trench 132 and via opening 134. Suitable seed materials for the deposition of copper interconnect material include copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co).    (6) Deposit an interconnect material 150, such as copper, into the trench and via openings. Deposition methods include electroplating and physical deposition. Structure 12 shows a partially fabricated interconnect layer after operation 6.    (7) Planarize to remove any excess interconnect material and to form interconnect 160. Structure 13 shows an interconnect layer after operation 7.
Operations 1 through 7 may be repeated multiple times to fabricate multiple layers of metallization. After the final layer of metallization is fabricated, a dielectric material may be deposited to isolate the structure.
Although many different materials have been used as interconnect materials, copper has become a popular choice for various reasons. For example, copper has a low resistivity and a high melting point compared to aluminum or aluminum alloys. Low resistivity enables the use of thinner interconnects without sacrificing conductivity, and high melting point decreases susceptibility to migration during operation, which can lead to undesirable voids in the interconnect.
As chip processing technology advances and the packing density of devices increases, it is desirable to similarly increase the density of interconnects. This may be achieved by reducing the interconnect metal pitch, and by increasing the number of metallization levels. However, reduced interconnect pitch and/or increased metallization levels may lead to problems such as increased capacitance and degraded RC delay, cross-talk noise, and voids in the interconnect due to electro migration or stress migration.
What is needed are improved interconnect structures and techniques for improving the fabrication and properties of an interconnect structure.

Method of making semiconductor device using a novel interconnect cladding layer


A loan system program comprises a loan account having a loan principal on a purchased item, and a secondary account used to pay the amortized interest on the loan principal. A user deposits, such as through automatic deposit, user payments directly into the loan account, thus paying down the loan principal. The user then uses the secondary account for personal expenses that would otherwise be met by the deposited user payments. At the end of the month or grace period, the user pays off the monthly interest on the loan account with the secondary account. The lender than raises the loan balance of the loan account to cover the secondary account balance. At least a portion of the next user deposit to the loan account covers the raise loan balance, and another portion is used to pay down the loan principal.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems, methods, and computer program products for debt reduction.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Monetary debt, which and entails paying for an item at a later date, is a growing problem for many people. For example, a consumer can now finance any number of secured debts, such as homes, cars, property, expensive goods, as well as unsecured debts, such as items purchased through a credit card or line of credit, education loans, etc. In each case, paying for the item at a later date can add to the expense of the item, and therefore create an unanticipated financial burden on the user.
In particular, most debts require that the consumer pay back the debt with a certain amount of interest that is amortized over time, making the items far more expensive in the long-run than when purchased initially. As shown in FIG. 1, for example, a user (100) may purchase an item (e.g., a home 105) for a principal amount of $100,000 (117) by asking a lender (110) to finance the item (105) at a certain interest rate (118), such as an interest rate of 5%, amortized over 30 years. Using a simple interest calculation, the monthly payment (120) of principal (117) and interest (118) on such a purchase would be approximately $540, with the total amount paid on the loan being approximately $194,000. After making the final payment in the 30 year period, the user will have paid almost double ($194,000) the amount of the initial purchase ($100,000).
In some cases, the financed items will appreciate in value over time, such that the value of the item is still greater than the total amount paid in the end. This, however, is not the case for many other depreciating items, such as debts to purchase cars, clothing, food, etc., which lose value with use over time In particular, depreciating items are typically not worth the amount paid for them with interest, especially at the time the consumer makes the last payment on the debt. For example, a payment of $100 in clothing (e.g., one or two pairs of pants) could accrue approximately $20 in interest assuming conventional interest rates, and assuming conventional minimum monthly payments. Thus, the used clothing is usually worth far less than paid initially by the time the final payment has been made (roughly a year in this example). This problem becomes far worse when the consumer fails to make timely payments, and hence incurs additional fees and interest rate increases.
Accordingly, it is ideal in many cases to purchase an item up front, rather than paying at a later date (i.e., financing the item). While this sort of monetary discipline can be exercised for many types of wanted items, there are some necessary items that cannot ordinarily be purchased by most consumers without incurring at least some debt. For example, most people do not make enough money, or have enough cash on hand, to purchase a home with without incurring at least some debt.
Furthermore, many people cannot afford even to purchase a home with financing that allows the home to be paid off within a relatively short time to minimize their interest payments, such as a time period of 10–15 years. In particular, short term loans, such as 10–15 year home loans, typically require a high monthly payment. This can be particularly difficult for a user since mortgage payments are usually required in a single monthly payment, such that the user cannot spread the total monthly payment in two partial payments, consistent with the user's bi-weekly paychecks.
Thus, it is fairly common for users to purchase a home with financing that allows the home to be paid off within approximately 30 years. While this provides the benefit of a relatively low monthly payment, the total interest paid on the home is extremely high, often twice the value of the home. Furthermore, this means the user is likely to hold a significant amount of debt on a home up until (or just after) the user is ready to retire, depending on when the user purchased the home.
Accordingly, some programs have been developed to help ease the debt burdens some users may face with large loans. In particular, some programs, such as bi-weekly payment programs, offer a person to pay down a debt, such as a home debt, more quickly than possible under a 30-year loan, without significantly burdening the user's monthly budget.
For example, assuming a monthly mortgage costs $1,000 for a user. A bi-weekly program might allow the user to pay $542 every two weeks, such that the user has overpaid by $84 each month. The program administrator saves the extra $84 until $1000 has been saved up, and then makes an extra payment into the loan at the end of the year. Making an extra payment such as this has been shown to reduce the total term of the loan from approximately 30 years to approximately 22 or 23 years, representing a significant interest savings for the user.
Unfortunately, payoff periods of 20 or more years can still represent a significant burden to many users in terms of time and cost, particularly those users who delay purchasing a home until they are somewhat advanced in age. For example, users who purchase homes while in their forties will still be paying down the debt as they approach retirement. Furthermore bi-weekly programs are not typically cost-free. With reference to the prior example, the program administrator might require the user to pay $684 per check (rather than $584) to operate the program, such that the user pays an additional approximately $200 a month ($100 extra every two weeks) in service fees.
As such, in some cases, a user may believe that the benefits of reducing the term of the debt from 30 years to 20 years is difficult to justify compared to the burden of paying extra service fees with the reapportioned loan amounts each month. For example, biweekly programs, with their service fees, may be too expensive for some users who struggle to pay even the standard monthly debt payment. Still further, bi-weekly programs generally require a person to make additional efforts with their loans, after having spent considerable effort negotiating, procuring, and signing the original home loan.
Accordingly, an advantage in the art can be realized with systems, methods, and computer program products that help a user pay off large debts in a relatively short period of time, such as paying off a home debt in less than 10 years, without substantially burdening the user's monthly budget for other expenses.

System and method for paying down debt using an equity loan revolving line of credit


The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing and managing a repository of free and/or open source software (FOSS) which is free of malware and/or vulnerabilities. The invention comprises scanning FOSS with a malware scanner and adding the FOSS to an anti-malware package management system when the malware scanner indicates no malicious code and/or vulnerabilities have been detected. The anti-malware package management system is accessible by users as a trusted source to obtain FOSS which is free of malware and believed to be safe to use. The anti-malware package management system is updated over time to keep up with changing FOSS libraries and changing malware detection capabilities so that the anti-malware package management system remains a trusted source for users to obtain FOSS.

Free and/or open source software (FOSS) is often used by developers to aid in developing larger software applications for various uses. Many developers may trust FOSS and/or use FOSS without analysis as to whether use of such software exposes their software application to potential malware and/or vulnerability issues. Currently, there is no known central source for obtaining FOSS which has been scanned for malware and/or vulnerabilities. Furthermore, as FOSS packages are updated and change over time via input from users, the security of such updates may change over time as well. Since anyone can contribute to FOSS libraries, there is potential for a user to add malicious code, yet many, if not all, FOSS sources fail to monitor FOSS libraries for malicious code. Again, users are left without certainty regarding the security of these changing software packages and there is currently no known system to continually evaluate the security of changing FOSS packages.
Moreover, as detection capabilities change (e.g. improved or updated malware scanners, etc.) packages which may have previously been considered safe and secure, may become vulnerable and/or corrupted. It can become overwhelming for a developer to ensure the FOSS packages they are using are clean and/or secure, between trying to keep up with the changes in FOSS packages and changes in malware and/or vulnerability detection. Furthermore, it is unlikely that a developer would discover any changes in malware and/or vulnerability status of FOSS packages they are using, without routine evaluation of FOSS packages being used by a developer which can be time consuming and unproductive.

Systems and methods for managing and providing software packages which have undergone malware and/or vulnerability analysis


Techniques for intelligent proactive template-driven data caching are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed comprising receiving notification of input by the user of a user computing device, identifying a user activity corresponding to the user input, using the identified user activity to obtain a template comprising a number of data retrieval operations for the identified activity and timing information indicating, for each data retrieval operation, a corresponding timing for performing the data retrieval operation, performing a data retrieval operation identified by the template to retrieve data item(s) from data storage remote to the user computing device in accordance with the corresponding timing indicated by the template, causing the retrieved data items to be stored in data storage local to the user computing device.

The functionality available to a user of a personal computing device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) is limited to the device's finite compute and memory resources. In comparison to a smartphone (or tablet, laptop, etc.), a non-smartphone (also referred to as a basic or dumb phone) is even more limited in compute and memory resources and has even less capabilities as a result. User computing devices such as tablets and laptops typically have more compute and memory resources than a smartphone. Nonetheless, each of these devices has limited compute and memory resources.
A user computing device can make use of external resources. For example, in a cloud computing environment, a user computing device can make use of the resources of a cloud computing device, such as an edge computing device. While a cloud computing device typically has more compute and memory resources than a user computing device, its resources are still limited. In addition, the resources of the cloud computing device must be shared across multiple user computing devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Intelligent proactive template driven edge caching method and apparatus


A fuel injection pump includes a cam rotating with a camshaft, a cam ring revolving around the camshaft, a housing, plungers for pressurizing and pressure-feeding fuel drawn into fuel pressurizing chambers, and a rotary pump for supplying the fuel to the fuel pressurizing chambers. The housing includes a first housing portion for rotatably housing the rotary pump and second housing portions for housing the plungers so that the plungers can reciprocate. A filter is disposed in one of an outlet portion of a first low-pressure fuel passage in the first housing streaming the fuel from the rotary pump toward the fuel pressurizing chamber, an inlet portion of a second low-pressure fuel passage of the second housing portion facing the outlet portion, and a certain point in the second low-pressure fuel passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel injection pump. For instance, the present invention can be suitably applied to a fuel injection pump used in an accumulation type fuel injection system of a diesel engine.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a fuel injection pump having a camshaft, a cam ring and at least one plunger, for instance, as disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-364480 (Patent Document 1, hereafter) or No. 2002-250459 (Patent Document 2, hereafter). The camshaft has a cam, which has a circular section, thereon. The cam ring is rotatably fitted to an outer periphery of the cam through a bush. The plunger is held inside a cylinder so that the plunger can reciprocate in the cylinder. If an engine drives the camshaft to rotate, the rotational movement of the cam is transmitted to the plunger through the cam ring. Thus, the plunger reciprocates inside the cylinder and pressure-feeds the fuel. The fuel injection pump has two fuel pressurizing chambers, which are alternately pressurized by the two reciprocating plungers. The fuel injection pump has discharge valves for alternately discharging the fuel pressurized in the fuel pressurizing chambers.
There is a possibility that extraneous matters are mixed into the fuel and get stuck between operating members, which perform rotational movement, reciprocating movement, and the like.
The fuel injection pump disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a rotary pump for supplying low-pressure fuel into the fuel pressurizing chamber. An inner rotor of the rotary pump is screwed to the camshaft at a predetermined torque through a bolt having a lead directed in the same direction as the rotation direction of the camshaft. If the extraneous matters in the fuel get stuck between gears of the inner rotor and an outer rotor, an abnormal turning force will be generated in the camshaft. In this case, the abnormal turning force will overmatch a force fastening the bolt, and the bolt will be loosened. As a result, the camshaft and the inner rotor are uncoupled.
The fuel injection pump disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a suction quantity control electromagnetic valve for supplying the fuel into the fuel pressurizing chamber and for controlling the quantity of the fuel pressurized and pressure-fed by the plunger. A valve member and an armature of the suction quantity control electromagnetic valve are formed with penetration passages axially penetrating the valve member and the armature. The suction quantity control electromagnetic valve is formed with a communication passage for connecting an upstream passage of control fuel with an armature chamber. Since a flow of the fuel is generated in the armature chamber, the fuel will not stay around the armature. Therefore, even if the extraneous matters included in the fuel exist in the armature chamber, the extraneous matters will be discharged outward along the flow of the fuel.
Usually, a filter is attached to a fuel inlet portion of the fuel injection pump in order to prevent the entry of the extraneous matters in the fuel from the outside.
The conventional technology can prevent defective operations or damages caused by the extraneous matters included in the fuel but cannot eliminate the extraneous matters sufficiently. The filter disposed in the fuel inlet portion of the fuel injection pump alone cannot sufficiently eliminate the extraneous matters, which can cause the defective operations or the damages.
There is a possibility that the extraneous matters such as burrs or chips generated during the manufacturing of components of the fuel injection pump remain inside. Therefore, the remaining extraneous matters are eliminated through cleaning and the like after the manufacturing. However, a housing has relatively complicated fuel passages among the components. Therefore, actually, there is a possibility that the extraneous matters remain in the fuel passages of the housing because of insufficient cleaning in high-pressure cleaning and the like performed after the manufacturing.
If the extraneous matters remaining because of the insufficient cleaning get stuck in a seat portion of a suction valve or a discharge valve as an operating member, fluid-tightness of the seat portion cannot be maintained and an appropriate fuel pressure-feeding quantity (a discharging quantity) cannot be obtained. If the extraneous matters get stuck in the seat portion of one of the discharge valves, which alternately discharge the fuel pressurized in the two fuel pressurizing chambers, and if the discharge valve is brought to a continuously opened state, the high pressure of the pressurized fuel is continuously applied to the plunger. As a result, poor lubrication will be caused between the plunger and a plunger sliding hole and seizing in the plunger will be caused. If the high pressure is continuously applied to the plunger, an excessive thrust force is applied to the cam ring. In this case, there is a possibility that the plunger breaks.
Moreover, in the case where the fraction produced when the plunger breaks moves inside a cam chamber and gets stuck between the housing and the cam ring, the housing will be damaged if the housing is made of aluminum.


The present disclosure generally relates to generating and modifying virtual avatars. An electronic device having a camera and a display apparatus displays a virtual avatar that changes appearance in response to changes in a face in a field of view of the camera. In response to detecting changes in one or more physical features of the face in the field of view of the camera, the electronic device modifies one or more features of the virtual avatar.

Multimedia content, such as emojis and virtual avatars, are sometimes sent as part of messaging communications. The emojis and virtual avatars represent a variety of predefined people, objects, actions, and/or other things. Some messaging applications allow users to select from a predefined library of emojis and virtual avatars which are sent as part of a message that can contain other content (e.g., other multimedia and/or textual content). Stickers are another type of multimedia content that are sometimes sent with messaging applications. In some ways, stickers are similar to emojis and virtual avatars in that they can represent people, objects, actions, and/or other things. Some stickers and/or messaging applications allow for stickers to be associated with previously sent or received messages.


Filtering a signal with an adaptive digital filter includes updating the filter by performing an approximate division of a constant number by a variable number in binary form. The variable number represents a magnitude of energy of the signal to be filtered, and consists of a character bit and a plurality of bits which define the absolute value of the number. The variable number is first transformed by substituting with logic zeros any logic ones that have a lower significance than the most significant logic one of the bits. The first transformed number is then further transformed by reading the character bit of the variable number as a character bit and by reading the bits in the digital word in a reversed order. The resulting value is applied to adjust the adaptive digital filter which filters the signal.

When updating an adaptive digital filter in accordance, for instance, with the LMS-algorithm (Least Mean Square), there is calculated a convergence factor which defines the stop size. In order for the filter to function in the manner desired for different input signals, the step size must be inversely proportional to the signal energy of the filter input signal. When calculating this convergence factor there is therefore a need to divide a constant number by a variable number whose value represents the signal energy. Division operations, however, are often relatively demanding processes and thereby also relatively time consuming.
For instance, an arithmethical division operation according to one known method is performed as a series of repeated, conditional subtractions. The absolute accuracy obtained is proportional to the number of iterations. Arithmethical division operations can also be performed with the aid of equipment that has a relatively large memory capacity. One example in this regard is found described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,798, according to which an approximate arithmethical division is effected by table loop-up memory in combination with interpolation.

Filtering a signal with the use of approximate arithmetical division


A method of joining two vehicle axle housing components made from the same or dissimilar materials includes providing a first axle housing component, and providing a second axle housing component, where one of the first and second axle housing components is a metallic component made of a metallic material. A portion of one of the first and second axle housing components is positioned within a portion of the other of the axle housing components in an overlapping manner, thereby forming an overlapping portion. A metallic band may be disposed around the overlapping portion. An inductor is positioned around the overlapping portion. The inductor is energized to generate a magnetic field for collapsing at least one of the overlapping portion and the metallic band, thereby securing the first and second axle housing components together.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to vehicular axle assemblies and in particular to a method for joining together vehicle components, especially those manufactured from dissimilar materials, to form such a vehicle axle assembly.
2. Background of the Invention
Axle assemblies are well known structures that are in common use in most vehicles.
Such axle assemblies include a number of components, which are adapted to transmit rotational power from an engine of the vehicle to the wheels thereof. Typically, an axle assembly includes a differential assembly that is rotatably supported within a non-rotating carrier. The differential is connected between an input drive shaft extending from the vehicle engine/transmission and a pair of output axle shafts extending to the vehicle wheels. The axle shafts are contained in respective non-rotating beam portions, which are secured to the carrier. Thus, rotation of the differential by the drive shaft causes corresponding rotation of the axle shafts. The carrier and the beam portions form an axle housing for these drive train components of the axle assembly, inasmuch as the differential and the axle shafts are supported for rotation therein.
Axle housings are generally classified into two basic types. The first axle housing type is a unitized carrier construction, commonly referred to as a Salisbury or Spicer type axle assembly. In this structure, the carrier (which houses the differential assembly) is directly connected to the two beam portions (which house the rotatable axle shafts). An opening is provided at the rear of the carrier to permit assembly of the differential therein. A cover closes this opening during use. Unitized carrier axle housing constructions of this type are economical to manufacture and are readily adaptable for a variety of vehicles.
The second axle housing type is a separable carrier construction. In this structure, the axle beam portions are connected together by a central portion of the axle housing that is formed separate and apart from the differential carrier. This central portion is generally hollow and cylindrical in shape, having a large generally circular opening formed therethrough. During assembly, the differential is first assembled within the carrier, then the carrier is secured to the central member. The overall shape of this type of axle housing (i.e., the generally round shape of the central portion and the elongated beam portions extending therefrom) generally resembles the shape of a banjo musical instrument. Hence, this type of axle housing is commonly referred to as a banjo type axle housing. Banjo type axle housings are advantageous because the carrier and differential can be removed from the axle assembly for service without disturbing the other components thereof. In addition, the beaming loads of the vehicle weight are carried via a separate structure from that structure which orients and rotatably supports the differential assembly and the ring and pinion set. Because of this separation of function, banjo-style axles will support higher vehicle weights than a Salisbury-style axle assembly of similar size.
In the past, several methods have been employed to form axle housings, and many of these methods employ welding to form the housing.
In the past, virtually all of these axle assemblies have been manufactured from a metallic material. Steel has traditionally been the preferred material for manufacturing all of such vehicle axle components because of its relatively high strength, relatively low cost, and ease of manufacture. As mentioned above, vehicle axle housing assemblies manufactured from metallic materials have been secured together by conventional welding techniques. More recently, however, in an effort to reduce the weight of the vehicle axle assembly, it has been found desirable to use alternative materials to form some or all of the vehicle axle components. Thus, in some instances, it may be desirable to form some or all of the vehicle axle components from materials which cannot be easily secured together, or in some cases cannot be secured together at all by conventional welding techniques. For example, conventional welding techniques cannot be used to secure a metallic vehicle axle component to another non-metallic vehicle axle component. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a method for joining vehicle components together to form a vehicle axle assembly, where the components are formed from alternative materials, and particularly those components manufactured from dissimilar materials, such as cast iron or aluminum carrier housings and fiber-reinforced composite tubes.


Circuits and methods involve an integrated circuit (IC) device, a plurality of application-specific sub-circuits, and a plurality of instances of a measuring circuit. The application-specific sub-circuits are disposed within respective areas of the IC device. Each instance of the measuring circuit is associated with one of the application-specific sub-circuits and is disposed within a respective one of the areas of the device. Each instance of the measuring circuit further includes a ring oscillator and a register for storage of a value indicative of an interval of time. Each instance of the measuring circuit is configured to measure passage of the interval of time based on a first clock signal, count oscillations of an output signal of the ring oscillator during the interval of time, and output a value indicating a number of oscillations counted during the interval of time.

As semiconductor dies increase in size, process variations across the die are more likely to cause variations in power consumption and performance of circuitry instantiated at different locations on the die. As a die ages, the power and performance profile can change. Small differences in power and performance between different areas of the die may become more pronounced over time. Adverse aging effects may be even greater in multi-die packages. Changes in performance can lead to operational anomalies, and finding and repairing the root-cause of a problem can be complex and costly.

Runtime measurement of process variations and supply voltage characteristics


A processing apparatus capable of easily giving compatibility to corresponding information and thereby improving efficiencies of operations in a plurality of processing apparatus. Corresponding information set in a processing apparatus is written in storing means and an image processing function assigned to each operation key is changed in accordance with the corresponding information read into the processing apparatus from the storing means. Thereby, it is possible to easily give compatibility to the corresponding information and resultingly, improve efficiencies of operations in a plurality of the processing apparatuses.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a processing apparatus and, more particularly, is applicable to a processing apparatus used to edit images.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of processing apparatus is conventionally used for various purposes for processing images such as edition of images, transmission of broadcast, and copying. The processing apparatus forms and outputs the video information signal which is processed by processing the input video information signal in accordance with a predetermined processing procedure.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, a controller 3 reading an initialization program output from a ROM (read only memory) 2 executes a setting procedure according to the program when a processing apparatus 1 is started so as to display predetermined functional items and setting contents on the screen of a display 4. Moreover, a reproducer 5 outputs a video information signal to be image-processed to the controller 3 and also outputs the signal to a monitor (not illustrated) connected to the reproducer 5 so as to display an image on the monitor.
An operator confirms a portion to be image-processed of the image displayed on the monitor (not illustrated) by observing the image and selects a desired image processing function out of the predetermined functional items displayed on the screen of the display 4 to operate an input unit (hereafter referred to as operation keys) 6. The operation keys 6 output a command signal corresponding to the selected image processing function to the controller 3 by being pressed by the operator.
Moreover, the controller 3 inputs the command signal output from the operation keys 6, image-processes a video information signal input from the reproducer 5 by the image processing function corresponding to the input command signal, and outputs the image-processed signal to a recorder 7. The recorder 7 records the image-processed video information signal output from the controller 3. Here, whenever receiving the command signal, the controller 3 reads an image processing function processing procedure corresponding to the command from the ROM 2.
Thus, the processing apparatus 1 image-processes the input video information signal by an image processing function desired by the operator and records the image-processed video information signal by the recorder 7.
In this type of processing apparatus 1, functions to be used depend on the purpose. For example, the operation requiring fine edition in image edition uses a lot of functions but a simple edition uses a small number of functions. Therefore, a small number of operation keys 6 are enough for practical use in a simple edition. Moreover, functions used for edition are hardly used for other image processing (e.g. transmission of broadcast) but operation is executed by using other functions (e.g. switcher) instead.
That is, a lot of functions for editing an image are unnecessary for simple edition or transmission of broadcast. However, these unnecessary operation keys 6 are adjacent to other operation keys 6 used for operations. Therefore, if the operator erroneously presses one of these unnecessary keys, the image processing function corresponding to the key is executed. Thus, the unnecessary operation keys 6 cause the operator to perform erroneous operations. Moreover, in general, respective functions have setting contents for regulating the functions, the change of the setting contents according to environment for executing the functions (characteristics of input signal, type of tape for editing and purpose of edition, etc.) is necessary.
For this reason, in this type of processing apparatus 1, it is possible to change the corresponding relations between each image processing function and each operation key 6 and delete unnecessary functions by changing pieces of setting information (hereafter referred to as corresponding information) showing which image processing function is assigned to which operation key 6 or what about setting contents of respective image processing functions in accordance with the instruction input by the operator. In this connection, a changed piece of corresponding information is stored in a storage circuit (not illustrated) in the processing apparatus.
Thus, the processing apparatus 1 allows an operator to assign each image processing function to each operation key 6 so that the operator easily performs operations by changing pieces of corresponding information in accordance with the purpose. Thereby, the processing apparatus 1 allows the operator to perform image processing by easy operations and makes it possible to prevent erroneous operations.
However, the processing apparatus 1 comprising the above structure has the problem that a piece of corresponding information set by an operator can be stored only in the processing apparatus. That is, the correspondence between each image processing function and each operation key 6 set by a processing apparatus is inherent in the processing apparatus.
An operator changes a piece of corresponding information which is able to be combined in various ways into a combination decided as being suitable to perform an operation. Therefore, when the image processing is tried to continue by using another processing apparatus, after the image processing is performed by a processing apparatus up to the middle, in case the image processing has been already used for another purpose or used by another operator, piece of corresponding information is not generally a combination decided as being suitable in an image processing to be continued. Therefore, the former processing apparatus is different from the latter processing apparatus in the image processing function and the setting contents corresponding to each operation key 6 and it is difficult for the operator having been operating the former processing apparatus to operate the latter processing apparatus.
Thus, because each processing apparatus is set so that an operator operating the processing apparatus can easily operate the processing apparatus, the operating method of each processing apparatus is not compatible.
For this reason, when an operator having been operating a processing apparatus operates another processing apparatus, the operator has to change pieces of corresponding information in order to operate the latter processing apparatus by the same operating method as that of the former processing apparatus. However, changing pieces of corresponding information whenever changing processing apparatuses makes operations troublesome, and resultingly, causes the operator to perform erroneous operations and decreases the operation efficiency.

Processing apparatus for processing video images having removable storage memory


Container assembly comprising a container and a top chime fixed to each other, the container having a top part and a peripheral side wall, characterized in that the fixation between the chime and the container is situated at the top part of the container and at a distance from said peripheral side wall.

It is general practice to provide a container or keg with bottom and top chimes. These chimes usually perform several functions. A first function is purely protection of the base and top part of the kegs such that they are not damaged during handling. The base chime also provides a flat base for the keg, such that this can easily be placed in an upright position. In most cases, the top and bottom chime are designed to make kegs stackable and as such simplify transport and storage of the kegs. A further important function of chimes is to facilitate handling of the kegs. Indeed, most chimes are provided with a skirt that in a mounted position is situated at the periphery of the keg and that forms a rolling ring, such that when kegs are provided with bottom and top chimes, the kegs can be rolled easily when placed on their side, without the kegs sidewall touching ground.
In order to fix the chimes on a keg, several options are known. In most cases however the chimes are welded to the sidewall of the keg, which has the drawback that once applied, the chimes can not be removed, making the assembly of keg and chime difficult to recycle, especially since the chime and keg are usually manufactured in different materials.
This drawback has been overcome by DE3336681, wherein a chime is described that is snap-fitted behind protrusions provided at the periphery of a corresponding keg. In this case the chimes can be readily removed and replaced from the keg which simplifies both repair and recycling of both chimes and kegs. A drawback of this chimes however is that the snap fit is located quite distant from the center of the chime, such that the when tilting the keg by the chime on one side, the snap fit is subject of large stress and may loose and hence creates a safety problem.
With the growing demand for plastic kegs and the growing need for recycling and cost reducing processing, the application of the chimes on the kegs and the removal of said chimes off the kegs needs to be further simplified whilst assuring maximal safety.