The present invention comprises a method and apparatus for controlling an IGBT device. The method comprises, upon receipt of a first and at least one further IGBT control signals, the first IGBT control signal indicating a required change in operating state of the IGBT device, controlling an IGBT driver module for the IGBT device to change an operating state of the IGBT device by applying a first logical state modulation at an input of an IGBT coupling channel, and applying at least one further modulation to the logical state at the input of the IGBT coupling channel in accordance with the at least one further IGBT control signal within a time period from the first logical state modulation, the time period being less than a state change reaction period Δt for the at least one IGBT device.

In the field of high voltage electronic devices, it is known to implement high voltage (e.g. ˜1500V) isolation between a low voltage (e.g. ˜5V) control integrated circuit (IC) device and a high voltage output driver module. Such isolation is required in order to avoid shorting between the high voltage output and the low voltage control circuitry.
Typically, such high voltage isolation is implemented using galvanic isolation. Galvanic isolation is a principle of isolating functional sections of electrical systems to prevent current flow; no metallic conduction path is permitted. Energy or information can still be exchanged between the sections by other means, such as capacitance, induction or electromagnetic waves, or by optical, acoustic or mechanical means.
In some applications it is desirable to implement a dual slew rate for a high voltage output driver. For example, a first (fast) turn off rate of, say, an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) device may be required to be implemented in order to optimise the turn off energy of the IGBT device. In addition, a second (slow) turn off rate of the IGBT device may be required to be implemented in order to avoid overshoot of a load current.
Implementation of such a dual slew rate requires two kinds of information to be conveyed from the control component to the high voltage output driver module: 1) information for controlling the turning on and off of the driver device; and 2) information for controlling the slew rate (i.e. controlling whether the driver device is turned off at a fast rate or a slow rate). A conventional approach for conveying the two kinds of information from the control component to the high voltage output driver module is to use two coupling channels: a first signal for controlling the turning on and off of the driver device; a second signal controlling the slew rate. An example of such a conventional approach is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,741,896.
A problem with this conventional approach is that in order to maintain the isolation between the low voltage control circuitry and the high voltage driver module, isolation circuits have to be implemented for both of the two coupling channels. Such isolation circuits require a significant amount of die area, and thus the need for duplication of the isolation circuits is undesirable.

Method and apparatus for controlling an IGBT device


In a system for estimating the launch point of a missile, Doppler shifted signals reflected from the missile as it travels from its launch point are used in a Kalman filter to estimate the missile position, velocity and acceleration, in earth centered fixed coordinates. The coordinate system is rotated to a rotated earth fixed (REF) coordinate system in which the X-axis passes through the estimated missile launch point and the Z-axis is made parallel to the missile azimuth as represented by the missile velocity determined by the Kalman filter. The error in the downrange component of the missile launch point is then reduced to a minimum in the REF coordinate system using a square root information filter. The coordinate system is then rotated to a second rotated earth fixed coordinate system in which the X-axis passes through the updated launch point position and the Z-axis is positioned at 45 degrees from the missile azimuth. The Z-axis component and the Y-axis component of the error in the launch point is then reduced to a minimum in the new REF coordinate system using a square root information filter.

This invention is directed to a system for estimating the launch point of a missile from Doppler data. The launch point of the missile can be estimated from Doppler by standard differential correction techniques. However, these techniques do not give an accurate estimate of the launch point because of a lack of sensitivity of the techniques to cross range error. More specifically, the launch point error can be decomposed into a downrange error which is the error parallel to the azimuth of the missile velocity and a cross range error which is error perpendicular to the missile velocity. With Doppler measurements alone, standard differential correction techniques result in small downrange error, but achieve very little reduction in the cross range error relative to the initial estimate of the launch position. As a result, the accuracy of the launch point is adversely constrained by the cross range error in the initial estimate of the launch point.
In earth centered fixed coordinates (ECF), the launch point is estimated by its latitude and longitude and is equivalent to a two-dimensional problem. In accordance with the invention, the cross range error in the estimation is reduced by decoupling this two-dimensional problem into two one-dimensional problems. This decoupling is carried out by changing the coordinate system from ECF to rotated earth fixed coordinates (REF). The ECF coordinate system is a Cartesian coordinate system having its center of origin at the center of the earth and having a Z-axis extending between the poles of the earth. An X-axis extends from the origin to the intersection of the equator and the prime meridian and a Y-axis extends perpendicular to the X-axis in the plane of the equator. To convert this system in accordance with the invention to REF, which is also a Cartesian coordinate system having its origin at the earth""s center, the X-axis is rotated to extend from the origin or earth""s center to the estimated launch point and the Z-axis is rotated to be parallel to the azimuth of the missile velocity. The Y-axis will then be parallel to the cross range movement of the missile. In this REF coordinate system, the measurements are angular measurements like latitude and longitude. Position estimates along the Z-axis, called downrange estimates, are equivalent to latitude measurements and position estimates along on the Y-axis, called cross range estimates, are equivalent to longitude estimates. In accordance with the invention, the cross range estimate is held fixed and the error in the downrange component of the launch point estimate is reduced to a minimum using differential correction techniques. The solving of this problem is essentially a one-dimensional problem and decoupling of the problem from the cross range component of the launch point estimate is possible because the Doppler measurements predicted from the estimated missile trajectory have very little sensitivity to the cross range component of the launch point error. Thus, the process provides an accurate estimate of the downrange component of the launch point, but the cross range component still needs to be determined. In order to reduce the cross range error in the launch point estimate, a coordinate system must be selected, the axes of which are not parallel to the azimuth of the missile velocity. In the second phase of the process, to obtain an accurate estimate of the cross range component of the launch point, the coordinates are rotated to a second REF coordinate system in which the X-axis is again positioned to extend from the earth""s center to the updated estimated launch point and the Z-axis is rotated 45 degrees with respect to the missile velocity azimuth. In this coordinate system changes in the Z component of the launch point position correspond to changes in both the downrange and cross range components of the launch point. Similarly, changes in the Y component in this coordinate system corresponds to changes in both the downrange and the cross range components of the launch point. In the second stage of the algorithm, the current estimate of either the Y component or the Z component, corresponding to longitude or latitude in REF coordinates, is held constant and the launch point is searched for within a narrow band which is rotated 45 degrees with respect to the initial direction of missile motion again using differential correction techniques. This second stage of computation is again essentially a one-dimensional problem. The second stage can be iterated to the extent necessary to achieve a desired accuracy by searching for the launch point along axes which are rotated at a variety of angles with respect to the missile azimuth.
In order to carry out the above-described method, the knowledge of the missile""s velocity azimuth is required. The Doppler measurements provide accurate data from which the missile velocity can be estimated using a Kalman filter. The azimuth of the missile velocity is computed from the velocity vector prior to the first stage cutoff.


The present application discloses a method for data forwarding in a small cell system, comprising: sending by a master base station (MeNB) to a target secondary base station (SeNB) information of a source SeNB or a source SeNB cell where a user equipment (UE) is located; determining by the target SeNB whether a direct data forwarding is feasible; notifying, by the target SeNB, the MeNB whether the direct data forwarding is feasible; and determining by the MeNB whether it is a direct data forwarding or an indirect data forwarding. The method for data forwarding provided in the present application may support both the direct data forwarding and the indirect data forwarding based on actual situation of the network, reduce data loss and failure of data forwarding, and improve the efficiency of data forwarding.

Current mobile communication is more and more tending to provide multimedia service with high rate transmission to users. A system architecture of System Architecture Evolution (SAE) includes elements to provide mobility context, session context and security information of the UE.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has proposed requirements of small cell enhancement in release 12 (Rel-12). Target scenarios of the small cell enhancement include scenarios with macro cell coverage and without macro cell coverage, indoor and outdoor, ideal and non-ideal backhaul enhancement.

Method for data forwarding in a small cell system


In a system and method to minimize downtimes of medical apparatuses one or more medical apparatuses each has at least: one detection module to detect error situations of the respective medical apparatus, one local database to provide data and information regarding error situations, associated error correction measures and additional information, one analysis module to analyze a present error situation with regard to measures for error correction and/or continued usability of the medical apparatus on the basis of the data stored in the local database, and one output module to output the results of the analysis. The apparatuses are connected with a central database in which data regarding known error situations of the medical apparatuses, associated error correction measures and additional information are provided. The local databases are updated on the basis of the central database. Given detection of a previously unknown error situation at an apparatus, the error situation is evaluated, error correction measures are established, additional information is compiled such as information regarding usability of the medical apparatus before implementation of the error correction measures, etc., the aforementioned data and information are provided to the central database, and the local databases are updated on the basis of the data of the central database.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of medical technology and concerns a system and a method to minimize downtimes of medical apparatuses, in particular of imaging modalities such as computed tomography systems, MR apparatuses, radioscopy and acquisition systems, ultrasound apparatuses, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is known, technical systems or apparatuses of any type can fail or develop errors after a time period that cannot be individually predicted. Depending on the severity of the error that occurs, the systems or apparatuses are not at all affected in terms of their functionality, only slightly, or entirely. In the prior art, given the presence of an error situation, the user must initially make the decision as to whether the system or the apparatus can continue to be operated in spite of a (slight) error. In order to make this decision, the user must be able to estimate the degree of severity of the error situation. However, the user on site is typically not capable of correctly assessing error situations (in particular given complex technical apparatuses as are used in medical technology), such that the user overwhelmingly tends to not continue to use the medical apparatus given the occurrence of any error, but rather immediately requests a service technician. The medical apparatus therefore remains unused until the arrival of a service technician on site.
The called service technician inspects the malfunctioning medical apparatus (for example a CT apparatus) in order to obtain an impression of the current apparatus or error situation. Based on his or her experience, the technician then attempts to correct the error. In the event that this is not possible, the technician forwards a description of the error situation to a supervisory entity known as an uptime service center (USC). In the event that the USC cannot correct the error, the error is relayed to an entity known as a headquarter support center (HSC). In the event that the error still cannot be corrected here, the software or hardware development department of the manufacturer is called in order to analyze and correct the present error situation. Error situations that have previously occurred in user operation and their remedy are typically centrally known to the software or hardware development departments of the manufacturer, such that this knowledge is in principle available to the service technician. If a previously unknown (new) error situation occurs, this is analyzed on site by the service technician, described and transferred to the manufacturer, including a suggestion for error correction, an estimation of the effect of the error on the continued operation of the medical apparatus, and with data from the system log. An evaluation occurs at the manufacturer, with the result of the evaluation—for example the description of the error situation, the estimation of the effect of the error on the functionality and therefore the continued usability of the apparatus, the generation of instructions for error correction by the user, the generation of instructions for error correction and servicing to the service technician etc.—being centrally available at the manufacturer.
The previous procedure has proven to be disadvantageous for multiple reasons. It leads to long apparatus downtimes and in almost all error cases it requires the use of a service technician on site, which in turn incurs high costs. According to the conventional procedure, the risk also exists that it is easily possible that individual parameters with regard to the apparatus to be analyzed and/or the error situation to be analyzed are overlooked by the service technician, such that the technician possibly arrives at misinterpretations, which overall increases the risk of error.

System and method to minimize downtimes of medical apparatuses


According to an embodiment of a time to digital converter, the time difference between a signal of interest and a reference signal is measured by operating a digitally controlled oscillator at a first frequency during a first portion of the reference signal period and changing the operating frequency from the first frequency to a second frequency during the reference signal period as a function of the time difference between the signal of interest and the reference signal. The time to digital converter continuously counts how many signal transitions occur at an output of the digitally controlled oscillator during the reference signal period. The time difference between the signal of interest and the reference signal is estimated based on the number of signal transitions counted during the reference signal period.

A time to digital converter (TDC) outputs a digital representation of the time of arrival for each incoming pulse of a signal. A TDC can be formed by chaining together a string of inverters. A start-pulse is propagated through the inverter chain and sampled with a stop pulse. The number of inverters through which the start pulse passes provides a digital measure of the time from start to stop. The resolution associated with this type of TDC is typically limited by the gate delay of the inverters which is highly dependent on current, voltage and temperature. Also, the linearity of the TDC is limited because of device mismatches and typically traded against speed and resolution. Relatively small inverter stages are needed to improve the resolution of the TDC because small inverters have reduced parasitic capacitance. However, relatively large inverter stages are needed to improve device mismatch and linearity. Digital correction techniques and statistical methods can be used to linearize the transfer function of the TDC, but the resolution remains limited by gate delay.
Another type of TDC is the Vernier delay line which utilizes the difference in delay between two delay lines. However, device mismatch has an even greater adverse impact on the linearity of Vernier-based TDCs. In addition, a very long delay line is needed to achieve sufficient dynamic range. Other types of TDCs use a ring oscillator which is switched on when the time period measurement starts and off when the time period measurement ends. Switching can be done by gating inverter cells. Switching the ring oscillator on and off in this way sets the internal nodes of the TDC to a high impedance state when turned off. Noise shaping occurs when the parasitic capacitances of the ring oscillator maintain their voltages during the high impedance off state. Ring oscillator-based TDCs can achieve relatively high resolution and reject transistor mismatch effects. However, the high impedance off state creates a large sensitivity to noise and leakage currents. For example, conventional ring oscillator-based TDCs suffer from high leakage currents which affect oscillator voltages during high impedance states. With process scaling, the leakage current worsens and becomes strongly dependent of temperature. In addition, noise currents are injected into the high impedance nodes which also affect the oscillator voltages. Furthermore, the high impedance node voltages may be adversely affected by charge injection during switching. Counting errors can occur in the high impedance state because of the problems mentioned above. Conventional ring oscillator-based TDCs are highly voltage dependent during periods of stopping and starting, decreasing the noise-shaping performance of the TDCs.


An occupant detection system includes a controller, a sensing electrode, and a shield electrode, the electrodes disposed in a vehicle seat. The controller is electrically coupled to the sensing electrode and shield electrode by a sensing circuit. The controller is configured to send an input signal to the sensing electrode, the shield electrode, or both and measures current, impedance, or capacitance values to determine the presence of an object on the seat, to classify the object, or both.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of capacitive sensing systems and sensing methods. More specifically, the disclosure relates to capacitive sensing systems and sensing methods for a vehicle seat.
There is a need for a system and method for accurate differentiation of an occupant from an object placed on a seat in an occupant classification system.

Occupant detection and classification system


A communication device operates according to a communication protocol defines a first set of frequency resource units (RUs) and a second set of frequency RUs. The first set of frequency RUs includes at least a first subset of frequency RUs having a first bandwidth and a second set of RUs having a second bandwidth greater than the first bandwidth, and the second set of frequency RUs omits at least some of the frequency RUs in the first subset of frequency RUs. The communication device determines that a communication channel to be used for an uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmission spans a frequency bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and allocates one or more frequency RUs for the UL MU transmission, including: in response to determining that the communication channel spans the frequency bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, selecting one or more frequency RUs from a second set of frequency RUs.

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) have evolved rapidly over the past two decades, and development of WLAN standards such as the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 Standard family has improved single-user peak data rates. One way in which data rates have been increased is by increasing the frequency bandwidth of communication channels used in WLANs. For example, the IEEE 802.11n Standard permits aggregation of two 20 MHz sub-channels to form a 40 MHz aggregate communication channel, whereas the more recent IEEE 802.11ax Standard permits aggregation of up to eight 20 MHz sub-channels to form up to 160 MHz aggregate communication channels. Work has now begun on a new iteration of the IEEE 802.11 Standard, which is referred to as the IEEE 802.11be Standard, or Extremely High Throughput (EHT) WLAN. The IEEE 802.11be Standard may permit aggregation of as many as sixteen 20 MHz sub-channels (or perhaps even more) to form up to 320 MHz aggregate communication channels (or perhaps even wider aggregate communication channels).
The current draft of the IEEE 802.11ax Standard (referred to herein as "the IEEE 802.11ax Standard" for simplicity) permits uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmissions in which multiple client stations simultaneously transmit independent data streams to an access point in different frequency segments (sometimes referred to as frequency resource units (RUs)) of a communication channel Additionally, the IEEE 802.11ax Standard defines an RU hierarchy comprising a plurality of levels of different RU bandwidths. For example, the 802.11ax Standard defines 26-tone RUs (having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 2.2 MHz), 52-tone RUs (having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 4.4 MHz), 106-tone RUs (having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 8.8 MHz), 242-tone RUs (having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz), 484-tone RUs (having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 40 MHz), and 996-tone RUs (having a frequency bandwidth of approximately 80 MHz). The number of "tones" in each RU refers to a number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers or "tones" in the RU.
To prompt an UL MU transmission, the AP transmits a trigger frame that includes allocation information that indicates, for each client station that is to transmit during the UL MU transmission, the RU in which the client station is to transmit. Upon receiving the trigger frame, a client station analyzes allocation information in the trigger frame that corresponds to the client station to determine the RU for the client station. Then, in response to the trigger frame, the client station transmits in the determined RU as part of the UL MU transmission.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Allocating resource units for uplink multi-user transmissions in wide bandwidths


A device for implanting an intramedullary nail includes a base member and an adjustable member coupled together and translatable relative to each other along a direction. The device includes an insertion handle configured to carry the nail and mount to the adjustable member. A drill guide is attachable to the base member and configured to carry one or more guide sleeves for alignment with locking holes of the intramedullary nail. A first reference member extends from the base or adjustable member and has a first contact portion configured to contact an exterior location of a patient's limb. A second reference member extends from the other of the base and adjustable members and has a second contact portion configured to contact another exterior location of the limb. At least one of the first and second reference members is positionally adjustable relative to the base or adjustable member from which it extends.

Surgical implants can include mechanisms that require external manipulation during or after implantation. For example, an implant can include anchoring elements, locking elements, position-adjusting elements, or other types of elements or features that allow the implant to operate in a manner to promote healing and/or stabilization of the anatomy of the patient. One example of such an implant includes an intramedullary nail implanted within a medullary cavity of a long bone, such as a femur, for example, to stabilize a fracture in the bone. It has been common practice to affix the intramedullary nail with respect to the bone by placing locking members, such as screws, through access holes drilled through at least a cortex of the bone and in alignment with locking holes, such as threaded bores, that are pre-drilled transversely in the nail. The procedure presents technical difficulties, as the pre-drilled bores in the intramedullary nail are not generally visible to the surgeon, and are difficult to localize and to align with surgical drills and placement instruments for drilling the access holes in the bone and/or inserting the locking members.
Distal targeting systems are used in many instances to detect the location of various elements of an implant during a surgical procedure. With respect to the foregoing intramedullary nail example, a distal targeting system can be employed with the surgical drill to locate the position of the one or more locking holes in the intramedullary nail and provide feedback to the physician indicating the relative positions of the locking holes with respect to a distal end of a drill bit of the surgical drill. Such distal targeting systems commonly employ radioscopy to obtain a visual image of the implanted intramedullary nail and the locking holes thereof. However, in certain medical environments, such as those in the field (e.g., search and rescue, remote ambulatory environments, and battlefields) and/or in health care facilities of developing nations (i.e., "third world" nations), radioscopy might not be available for targeting and guiding insertion of the locking members within the locking holes of the intramedullary nail.

Aiming device for intramedullary nails, and related systems and methods


Methods and systems for collecting payments from customers having delinquent accounts are disclosed. Under a debt recovery partnership, a debt recovery service extends an offer for a debt recovery product to a customer with a delinquent account. If the offer is accepted, the debt recovery service receives an acceptance to the offer from the customer and, thereafter, pays a commission for the delinquent account to the partner. The partner ceases attempts to collect payments on the delinquent account corresponding to the accepted offer and continues attempts to collect payments on delinquent accounts not corresponding to an accepted offer.

Credit issuing businesses of all sizes and types sometimes have problems with customers who are delinquent in paying off debt. Non-payment of debt, such as credit card debt, has cost businesses billions of dollars in revenue. Most credit issuers do not merely wait for delinquent customers to pay their debt. Instead, to recover all or a portion of the debt, they usually employ various tactics to collect payments from their customers.
Many credit issuers initially make an effort to collect overdue payments using some type of reminder, such as a letter or a phone call. Initial efforts are usually non-confrontational in case there has been a misunderstanding, such as the customer erroneously believing that all debt was previously paid or the credit issuer not receiving payments that actually were sent by the customer. A credit issuer often will receive payments from some customers in response to such a reminder. However, for other customers, the reminder will not be sufficient and their debts will remain unpaid.
Accounts that remain overdue for a lengthy period of time may be designated as a charged-off account. A charged-off account is an account on which a customer has not made a payment for a predetermined time period. Credit issuers consider charged-off accounts "written off" from their books (e.g., no longer receivable). Credit issuers may continue to attempt collection on charged-off accounts, but customers may no longer use the account to create further debt.
If initial collection efforts fail, some credit issuers resort to using debt collection agencies to collect payments from delinquent customers. For example, a credit issuer may give a number of charged off accounts to an agency, while retaining ownership of the accounts. When customers provide payments to the agency, the agency keeps a percentage (e.g., 50%) and forwards the remainder to the credit issuer. Credit issuers may also try selling a portfolio of charged off accounts to an agency. Under this arrangement, agencies essentially buy portfolios for a fraction of the debt amount (e.g., less than one cent per dollar) and attempt collection. Accordingly, a customer then owes the debt collecting agency instead of the original credit issuing business. However, the practice of buying portfolios of charged-off debt may not be very attractive to the purchasing agency. Some businesses believe the practice is high risk because there is a good chance that the customer will not pay.
Some businesses wish to avoid jeopardizing the relationship they have with their customers and continue to attempt collection themselves. For example, hospitals may not want to sell debt to collection agencies because they do not like forceful tactics, they are happy with the money they get from insurance, and/or want repeat business. Other motivations for businesses keeping control of debt include not wanting to lose control of that debt, not wanting to damage their reputations, and concern over the debt purchaser's compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Continuing collection attempts may result in a diversion of management time which would be better spent doing something more constructive.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and system for collecting payments on charged-off accounts and other debt. There is also presently a need for a method and system for making the sale or purchase of debt more acceptable to businesses, so that debt can be more quickly recovered at less risk to businesses.

Methods and systems for providing debt recovery partnership


A method and apparatus for accessing messages from a message server. Messages are stored on the message server in their current format without transcoding. When a client opens a session with the message server, a data transfer rate is determined for the client. In response to a message retrieve request, the bit rate of the message is compared to the data transfer rate, and if less than the data transfer rate, the message is downloaded to the user terminal without transcoding. If the bit rate is greater than the data transfer rate, then the message is transcoded to a lower bit rate according to a codec supported by the user. The codec may be selected from a set of codecs supported by the user terminal. The user is provided with the capability to override the system selected codec, for example, to pick a codec for secure encoding or encryption.

Voice over Internet (i.e. VoIP) communication terminals provide the capability to receive both voice mail messages and conventional email or data messages. Such systems may incorporate unified messaging. In unified messaging, voice messages show up as items in an email inbox.
When the client, i.e. user, retrieves the voice message, a file is read from the message stored in the communication terminal and sent across the communication network to the message server to retrieve the voice message stream. The message server includes an inbox which stores the voice messages for the user.
The inboxes in a unified messaging system are accessed from the message server over network connections, e.g. Internet network connections, having varying speeds, i.e. bandwidths or data transfer rates. As a result, a single encoding, i.e. digital conversion, for voice messages is not suitable for all speeds. For example, the G.711 encoding protocol has a bit rate of 64 kbit/s. This bit rate is suitable for transmission over an office LAN, but will be constrained and too slow over a 28.8 kbit/s dial-up network connection.
Various approaches have been tried in the art. One approach involves always using the lowest bit rate codec (Coder/Decoder) for storage. But when there is abundant bandwidth in the network connection, there will be extra transcodings, i.e. conversions between different codecs or voice compression formats, which increases the load in the messaging system. Transcoding also degrades voice quality.
Another known approach comprises a per user configuration. If a user can access a unified messaging system over a slow dial-up network connection, then all of the users' messages are stored using a low bit rate codec, i.e. tailored to the bandwidth of the dial-up network connection. However, this means that the voice quality the user gets if accessing the unified messaging inbox using a broadband (i.e. high bandwidth) network connection will be a lower voice quality for the voice message. For example, a user in the office configured with a low bit rate codec (e.g. for dial-up access) will experience lower voice quality than a co-worker who has voice messages configured for broadband access, even though both office workers are accessing their messages over the same LAN in the office. Furthermore, a user who is not configured with a low bit rate setting (i.e. low bit rate codec) might want to access their unified messaging inbox over a network connection from a hotel.
Yet another approach involves allowing a voice message to appear several times in the unified messaging inbox, with each appearance corresponding to a particular encoding (i.e. codec). The user then decides on which encoding to use by selecting the appropriate appearance, e.g. icon, of the voice message. It will be appreciated that this approach tends to clutter up the user's inbox, and requires the user to correlate the available bandwidth capacity with the appropriate voice message icon. Furthermore, when any one version of a message is deleted, all of the other versions of the message must also be deleted or erased.
In view of these deficiencies in the art, there remains a need for a mechanism for varying encoding of voice messages in a unified messaging system.

Method and apparatus for providing an interface for a messaging mailbox


Disclosed herein are compounds of formula I. Compounds of formula I inhibit, regulate and/or modulate kinase receptor, particularly Axl and Mer signal transduction pathways related to the changes in cellular activities as mentioned above, compositions which contain these compounds, and methods of using them to treat kinase-dependent diseases and conditions. The present invention also provides methods for making compounds as mentioned above, and compositions which contain these compounds.

Human Axl belongs to the TAM subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases that includes Mer. TAM kinases are characterized by an extracellular ligand binding domain consisting of two immunoglobulin-like domains and two fibronectin type III domains. Axl is overexpressed in a number of tumor cell types and was initially cloned from patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia. When overexpressed, Axl exhibits transforming potential. Axl signaling is believed to cause tumor growth through activation of proliferative and anti-apoptotic signaling pathways. Axl has been associated with cancers such as lung cancer, myeloid leukemia, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, gliomas, melanoma, thyroid cancer, renal cell carcinoma, osteosarcoma, gastric cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. The over-expression of Axl results in a poor prognosis for patients with the indicated cancers.
Activation of Mer, like Axl, conveys downstream signaling pathways that cause tumor growth and activation. Mer binds ligands such as the soluble protein Gas-6. Gas-6 binding to Mer induces autophosphorylation of Mer on its intracellular domain, resulting in downstream signal activation. Over-expression of Mer in cancer cells leads to increased metastasis, most likely by generation of soluble Mer extracellular domain protein as a decoy receptor. Tumor cells secrete a soluble form of the extracellular Mer receptor which reduces the ability of soluble Gas-6 ligand to activate Mer on endothelial cells, leading to cancer progression.
Therefore a need exists for compounds that inhibit TAM receptor tyrosine kinases such as Axl and Mer for the treatment of selected cancers.

Compounds for the treatment of kinase-dependent disorders


A structure for preventing surge of a 2-cylinder engine may include a first line communicating a crank room of the engine with a cylinder head cover, a first valve which may be disposed on the first line and allows a fluid within the crank room to flow into the cylinder head cover, a second line communicating the crank room of the engine with an intake manifold and a second valve which may be disposed on the second line and allows a fluid within the intake manifold into the crank room.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for preventing surge of a 2-cylinder engine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a structure for preventing surge of a 2-cylinder engine which may prevent sharp pressure rising and descending within a crank room when 2 pistons of the engine moves up and down simultaneously and surge generated in an intake manifold.
2. Description of Related Art
In a general 2-cylinder engine, a first and a second piston are simultaneously and reciprocally moved for balancing in cranking.
That is, when a first cylinder is operated sequentially from intake stroke (piston descending), compression stroke (piston rising), explosion stroke (piston descending) and exhaust stroke (piston rising), a second cylinder is operated sequentially from explosion stroke (piston descending), exhaust stroke (piston rising), intake stroke (piston descending) and compress stroke (piston rising).
And thus, since two pistons of the 2-cylinder engine moves to the same direction simultaneously, so that when the pistons descend, pressure within a crank room is rapidly increased and negative pressure is created when the pistons rise.
Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the first cylinder and the second cylinder forms 1 cycle intake stroke during a 720 degree interval. From about 240 degree to about 480 degree, it is a deactivation of an intake valve and at this moment air compressed by a turbocharger is accumulated in the intake manifold.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Structure for preventing surge of 2-cylinder engine


A device and method for coupling a battery to a mobile terminal. The device comprises a main body having a main board on which circuit components are mounted, a battery receiving portion disposed on the main body for receiving the battery, and an input/output connector mounted on a side of the battery receiving portion for supplying electrical power to the main body. A power terminal is disposed on a first side face of the battery for detachably coupling to the input/output connector. The power terminal being arranged to electrically connect to the input/output connector as the power terminal is moved in a longitudinal direction toward the input/output connector. The input/output connector provides an elastic restorative force to the first side face of the battery for maintaining electrical contact between the power terminal and the input/output connector upon a shift in position of the battery within the battery receiving portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and method for coupling a battery to a mobile terminal capable of maintaining a reliable contact even upon an external impact or deformation of a case of the mobile terminal utilizing an improved connection structure between a main body of a mobile terminal and a battery connected to the main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile terminal provides multimedia and internet access, and voice and data transmission. The mobile terminal may have a camera for transmitting and/or receiving image shots from other mobile terminals.
In general, a mobile terminal is a communication device a user conveniently carries to make voice transmission/reception to and from another party anywhere. With the rapid development of information communication technologies, a mobile terminal may provide internet connectivity, TV reception, still image or video photographic capability, and image or video transmission/reception capability. Mobile terminals with such functionality are used in a wide variety of applications.
The mobile terminal is provided with a battery. The battery is detachably attached to the mobile terminal and is rechargeable.
A contact terminal is electrically connected to a power terminal of the battery. The contact terminal is coupled to a battery mounting portion of the mobile terminal coupled to the battery.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional mobile terminal.
As shown therein, the conventional mobile terminal includes a main body 10. A battery 20 which is detachably attached to the main body 10 supplies power to the conventional mobile terminal.
The main body 10 is provided with a main body case 15 forming an exterior and a main board, not shown, in which a circuit component, not shown, is mounted within the main body case 15. A battery receiving portion 50 formed on an inner side of the main body case 15 receives the battery 20.
A lock 25 is provided along one side of the battery receiving portion 50 to prevent detachment of the battery 20 from the main body 10. A recessed portion 45 couples to a coupling block 60 of the battery 20 on another side of the battery receiving portion 50. An input/output connector 30 exchanging power and data with the battery 20 is provided on the main body 10.
Contact terminals 35 protrude from the input/output connector 30 within the main body 10 contacting the battery 20. The contact terminals 35 are positioned on the input/output connector 30 and coupled to a surface of the main board, not shown, by surface mount technology (SMT).
SMT is also used to connect an electronic component to a conductive pattern on a printed circuit board (PCB) by soldering without connecting through an opening in the PCB.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a detachment/attachment structure of a battery in a conventional mobile terminal.
A power terminal 40 is provided at a terminal block 22 and is coupled to the battery 20. The power terminal 40 provides power exchange between the battery 20 and the main body 10.
An attachment/detachment process of the battery of the conventional mobile terminal is described below.
A user aligns the battery 20 along the battery receiving portion 50 formed on the main body 10, as shown in FIG. 1. The user inserts coupling blocks 60 positioned on a first side of the battery 20 into the recessed portion, not shown, of the battery receiving portion 50. The user positions a lock 25 upon one portion of a second side of the battery 20 by engaging the lock 25. The lock 25 prevents detachment of the battery 20 from the main body 10.
The power terminal 40 of the battery 20 contacts with the contact terminal 35 of the input/output connector 30 from its upper portion to the lower portion. A mobile terminal, such as a folder type handset (not shown), which has a battery connected in an up/down direction as described above, may experience several problems.
For example, when a user handles the mobile terminal, or if the mobile terminal is dropped, the power terminal 40 may lose contact with the contact terminal 35 because of a gap formed between coupling blocks 60 and the recessed portion, not shown, of the battery 20. This loss in contact may result in power to the mobile terminal being undesirably turned-off.
The power terminal 40 of the conventional mobile terminal requires for proper operation additional structures such as a separate terminal block, a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB), or the like in the battery 20.
In the conventional mobile terminal, the contact terminal 35 of the input/output connector 30 is restricted in height, typically 1 mm or less, which creates a small contact force. If an exterior of a conventional mobile terminal is deformed, the contact terminals 35 may lose contact with the power terminal 40.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus that overcomes the above problems and provides advantages over other mobile terminal battery coupling structures.

Device and method for coupling a battery to a mobile terminal


An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system for projecting a pattern of a reticle onto an object to be exposed, via a liquid that is filled in a space between said projection optical system and the object, and a removing part for removing an air bubble and/or a foreign particle mixed in the liquid by forming a predetermined flow velocity distribution in the liquid.

The present invention relates generally to an exposure apparatus and method, and more particularly to an exposure apparatus and method that exposes an object, such as a single crystal substrate of a semiconductor wafer and a glass plate for a liquid crystal display ("LCD"). The present invention is suitable for a so-called immersion exposure apparatus that fills a space with liquid between a final surface of a projection optical system and a surface of an object, and exposes the object via the liquid.
Conventionally, the photolithography technology has employed a reduction projection exposure apparatus using a projection optical system to project a circuit pattern of a reticle (mask) onto a wafer, etc., in manufacturing fine semiconductor devices such as a semiconductor memory and a logic circuit.
The minimum critical dimension to be transferred by the projection exposure apparatus or resolution is proportionate to a wavelength of light used for exposure, and inversely proportionate to the numerical aperture ("NA") of the projection optical system. The shorter the wavelength is, the better the resolution is. Along with recent demands for finer processing to the semiconductor devices, a shorter wavelength of ultraviolet light has been promoted from a KrF excimer laser (with a wavelength of approximately 248 nm) to an ArF excimer laser (with a wavelength of approximately 193 nm). Currently, the next generation light sources are being developed, such as an F2 laser (with a wavelength of approximately 157 nm) and extremely ultraviolet ("EUV") light.
With this background, the immersion exposure has attracted attentions as a method that uses the ArF laser for more improved resolution. The immersion exposure fills a space with the liquid between the final lens surface of the projection optical system and the image surface of the wafer (or arranges the liquid as a medium at a wafer side of the projection optical system). The immersion exposure shortens the effective wavelength of the exposure light, enlarges the apparent NA of the projection optical system, and improves the resolution.
In the immersion exposure, there are proposed two methods for filling liquid between the final lens surface of the projection optical system and the wafer. The first method puts the final lens surface of the projection optical system and the wafer under the liquid in a sink. The second method is a local fill method that flows liquid in a space between the projection optical system and the wafer and creates a liquid film. An exposure apparatus using this method is proposed. See, for example, "Bruce Smith, Exterme-NA Water Immersion Lithography for 35–65 nm Technology, International Symposium on 157 nm Lithography 3–6 Sep. 2002, Belgium" and International Publication No. WO99/49504.
FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional immersion exposure apparatus. Referring to FIG. 8, the conventional exposure apparatus supplies a liquid 1600 between opposing surfaces of a final lens surface 1100 and a wafer 1200 through a liquid supply nozzle 1300 installed near an edge part of the final lens surface 1100. Then, the conventional exposure apparatus recovers the liquid 1600 through a liquid recovery nozzle 1400 installed opposite to the final lens surface 1100. Moreover, an air curtain 1500 is formed by spraying compressed air from the outside of the liquid supply nozzle 1300 and the liquid recovery nozzle 1400, and maintains the liquid 1600 between the final lens surface 1100 and the wafer 1200.
International Publication No. WO99/49504 does not disclose the air curtain. However, the composition of the liquid supply nozzle and the liquid recovery nozzle is the same as FIG. 8. International Publication No. WO99/49504 has disclosed adjustments of a supply amount and recovery amount of the liquid according to a moving velocity of the water.
It is important for the immersion exposure to keep the liquid away from air bubbles, because they scatter the exposure light and deteriorates the imaging performance. The air bubbles are likely to occur, when a solid contacts a liquid surface (interface) and liquids contact each other. Therefore, continuous supplies of the liquid can reduce mixtures of the air bubbles.
However, at the time of the initial filling or when the liquid surfaces of the liquid supplied from the liquid supply nozzle are separated although the liquid exists between the final lens surface and the wafer, the liquid surfaces contact each other and the air bubbles likely to occur. This results in the reduced imaging performance due to the generated air bubbles, and the decreased productivity of semiconductor device manufacture. Moreover, the air bubbles are likely to mix the liquid in the structure shown in FIG. 8, because this structure sprays the compressed air to the liquid surface (meniscus surface) with which the air bubbles are likely to mix.
In International Publication No. WO99/49504, it is possible to keep the air bubbles hard away from the liquid by controlling flow rates of the supply and recovery of the liquid at the time of the initial filling. Where the liquid surface of the liquid supplied between the final lens surface and the wafer separates from that of the liquid supplied from the liquid supply nozzle are separated, the air bubbles are likely to occur when the continuously supplied liquids' surfaces contact each other. Therefore, the supply flow rate must be lowered. This configuration decreases the throughput of the exposure apparatus, and the productivity of semiconductor device manufacture.


A broadband digital broadcast 1 network is described in which the cellular topology is dynamically configurable to maintain spectral efficiency. The reconfiguration of the topology occurs in response to changes in the demand for content. Thus, a single cell could be defined to cover an area in which the same content is being delivered to a substantial number of users. Conversely, a large number of cells could be defined to cover an area in which a substantial number of users are each having different content delivered to them.

The present invention relates to content delivery over a cellular radio network, particularly although not exclusively a broadband digital broadcast network.
In a cellular radio network, each cell may be capable of transmitting content on a particular frequency chosen to meet the frequency re-use requirements of the network. The spectral efficiency of such a network is reduced if the network is capable of delivering content, as in the case of a broadband digital broadcast network, as a broadcast to every cell in the network or as a multicast to a subset of cells in the network Such a situation arises in the case of the well-known terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T) system found in Europe.
FIG. 1, illustrates a prior art broadband digital broadcast network which lacks spectral efficiency as the same content is being delivered using different frequencies in different cells. Thus, in the Figure, the network 1 is made up of a plurality of cells A to K utilising seven frequencies f1 to f7 and content is being multicast to terminals in cells A, B and C on three respective frequencies namely f1, f2 and f3.

System and method for dynamically configuring a cellular radio network topology based on content demand


An image forming apparatus having a front loading paper feeding member is described which has an improved jam removing mechanism. The apparatus includes a sheet holding section having sheet trays arranged in a vertical direction for holding copy sheets. A conveying section is included for conveying a sheet sent from one sheet tray of the sheet holding section to an image forming section. A connecting member is included in the conveying section to allow the sheet trays to be drawn out from the body of the image forming apparatus conjointly with the conveying section. Other connecting members may be included to connect the sheet trays together. Further, a door member including a sheet tray may be included in the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a printer for visualizing a still image as a hard copy, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus of a type where a paper feed cassette and a paper feed tray are attached and drawn from the front of the image forming apparatus (this type will hereinafter be referred to as "front loading").
2. Description of the Prior Art
Of various imaging technologies, the electrophotographic technology, especially the Carlson process has become an established technology in the field of the image forming technology because of its characteristics: being a dry process and having rapid processability.
For practical use, paper processing mechanism for feeding a sheet to the image forming section is an important matter of the technology. To live up to the recent rapid development of the office automation, it is an important factor to reduce the size of an image forming apparatus. To meet such a trend, the basic structure having been employed from the beginning, i.e. a structure where paper feed cassettes are arranged on the right side of the apparatus has been reconsidered, and a front loading structure has been devised where a sheet is loaded and unloaded from the front surface of the apparatus. For example, an image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is one of such image forming apparatuses of the front loading structure. On the front surface of a base 101, drawer type trays 102a to 102d are provided where cassettes for sheets of various sizes (B5, A4, B4) to be used are attached. A sheet of selected size is conveyed from the tray to the upper part through a paper conveying section 103 (indicated by broken lines). And, an image is transferred to the sheet at a transferring section of the image forming apparatus provided in a copying machine body 104, and is fixed at a fusing section. Then, the sheet is fed into a copy receiving tray 108.
FIG. 2 shows a condition where a front plate 109, a side plate 106 and an original cover 111 of this image forming apparatus are opened. In this situation, the paper conveying section 103 is seen on the side portion of the image forming apparatus which is disclosed by opening the side plate 106.
Sheet jam is one of the troubles that reduce copy productivity of an image forming apparatuses. For practical use, how rapid a jam state is removed to retrieve the normal state is important to increase the reliability of the apparatus. In the apparatus of FIG. 1, since the paper conveying section 103 is disclosed as shown in FIG. 2 by opening with a pull 107 a side plate 106 pivotably attached to the base 101 on a hinge 105, when sheet jam is caused, jammed sheets can easily be cleared so that the normal state is swiftly retrieved.
On the other hand, a demand for mass copying has been increasing recently, which has made it necessary that copying machines are provided with a cassette which holds a large number of sheets. The conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 1 does not have a space for attaching a drawer type tray that holds a large number of sheets.
In a prior art shown in FIG. 3, a door 11 is provided in front of a body of an image forming apparatus and a side plate is stationarily fixed. FIG. 4 schematically shows a main portion of the copying machine of FIG. 3.
In the copying machine of FIG. 3, to remove a jam state, first, the door 11 is opened to disclose a conveying portion 13 as shown in the figure, and then a guide plate 16 is opened by operating an opening and closing handle 12 in a space 15 provided in the copying machine body to separate pairs of conveying rollers 17 provided in correspondence with the trays 10.
In this copying machine, however, the space 15 for operation (for example, a space with a width of 150 mm to 200 mm) is required inside the copying machine in order to open the guide plate 16 and to thereby separate pairs of the conveying rollers 17. As a result, the size of the apparatus cannot be reduced and moreover the jam state cannot rapidly be removed.

Image forming apparatus having a front loading paper feeding member with an improved paper jam removing mechanism


An apparatus and method for loading insulation batts into a packaging station of a batt-packaging machine includes: an up-stacking station for receiving a plurality of the insulation batts to form a vertical stack of the insulation batts; a staging station from which the insulation batts are elevated into the up-stacking station of the batt-packaging machine; batt engaging members of a first endless conveyor on the first side of the staging station for successively feeding batts into the staging station; batt engaging members of a second endless conveyor on the second side of the staging station for successively engaging the bottom major surfaces of the insulation batts as the insulation batts are successively fed into the staging station and in cooperation with the batt engaging members of the first endless conveyor for vertically raising the insulation batts from the staging station into the up-stacking station.

The subject invention relates to an insulation batt-packaging machine and, in particular, to an improved, versatile, high-speed apparatus and method of loading insulation batts into a packaging station of a batt-packaging machine, a batt-packaging machine incorporating such an apparatus, and the method of utilizing such an apparatus for loading insulation batts into a packaging station of a packaging machine. The apparatus and method of the subject invention are especially well suited for economically, efficiently, and rapidly delivering unfolded and single-fold insulation batts into the loading station of an insulation batt-packaging machine.
Faced and unfaced fiberglass insulation batts are currently produced and packaged in unfolded and single-fold insulation batt form on high capacity production lines. Typically, these high capacity production lines each include a high capacity fiberglass insulation batt manufacturing operation that produces the fiberglass insulation batts, ready for packaging, as batts in unfolded or single-fold form and a packaging operation for packaging the insulation batts in packages that contain between two and twelve compressed batts per package. For sales to builders and commercial insulation contractors, the fiberglass insulation batts are commonly sold in a package containing between four and sixteen compressed batts. The shorter length batts (e.g. batts about four feet in length) are typically packaged in an unfolded condition. The longer batts (e.g. batts about eight feet in length) are typically folded in half so that the length of the package containing the batts approximates one-half of the length of the batts within the package (e.g. about four feet)
Current packaging operations may use a batt-packaging machine and method, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,383, issued Feb. 21, 1989, that up-stacks unfolded or single-fold insulation batts into an up-stacking station of the packaging machine to form a vertical stack of the insulation batts. This stack of insulation batts is then delivered to a packaging station of the packaging machine where the stack of insulation batts is compressed and packaged. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,383, this type of batt-packaging machine currently utilizes a reciprocating loader mechanism to individually up-stack insulation batts into an up-stacking station of the packaging machine and form the vertical stack of the insulation batts. This vertical stack of insulation batts is then delivered to the packaging station of the machine. To load each individual insulation batt into the up-stacking station of the packaging machine and form the vertical stack of insulation batts, the current reciprocating loader mechanism cycles through a loading stroke and a return stroke. While the return stroke of this reciprocating loader mechanism cycle may be somewhat faster than the loading stroke, in general, the need for the reciprocating loader mechanism to return to its initial position before the up-stacking of the next insulation batt can commence causes a pause in the batt up-stacking operation and essentially doubles the loading time for each batt loading cycle. Thus, there has remained a need for an apparatus and method for use in such packaging machines that enables the continuous or substantially continuous loading of insulation batts into an up-stacking station of the packaging machine to thereby essentially reduce by half the time for forming a stack of insulation batts in the up-stacking station. The apparatus and method of the subject invention provide for the continuous up-stacking of insulation batts into the up-stacking station of such a packaging machine and thereby essentially reduce the up-stacking time of the packaging operation by half. By replacing the up-stacking apparatus and method currently used in packaging machines of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,383 with the up-stacking apparatus and method of the subject invention, packaging machines of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,383 will easily accommodate the production capacities of current fiberglass insulation batt production lines and other insulation batt production lines as well as increased production line capacities for these and other insulation batt production lines.

Apparatus and method for loading a packaging station of an insulation batt packager


A method for new wireless extender onboarding in a wireless network includes scanning a machine readable indicia on the new wireless extender, transmitting an identifier represented by the machine readable indicia to a network gateway of the wireless network, computing a secure hash of the identifier provided into a proprietary information element, transmitting the secure hash to existing wireless extenders in the wireless network, communicating beacons comprising the secure hash to the new wireless extender, determining a strongest received signal strength indication from received signal strength indications associated with the network gateway and the existing wireless extenders, and initiating a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) pairing session with one of the network gateway and the existing wireless extenders associated with the strongest received signal strength.

Home wireless networks include residential gateways and various access points, such as wireless extenders. The wireless extenders may be connected downstream of the gateway or another extender. The wireless networks may be connected by a backhaul link.
Connecting a new wireless extender to a network (e.g., to another residential gateway or extender) via Wi-Fi typically involves establishing a secure backhaul connection for the extender. Connecting a new wireless extender to the wireless network can be technically difficult for a user and involve complicated physical processes at multiple devices. For example, particular sequences of buttons need to be pushed in a specific time frame. In some instances, users must make technical assumptions about the onboarding and existing units, such as, what is the physical range in which units can sufficiently communicate.

Method and system for wireless extender onboarding


Gerber data for a substrate includes coordinates for physical features on the substrate. The coordinates are relative to a substrate origin point on the substrate. The gerber data allows a user to specify any of the physical features as soldering targets of a soldering apparatus that includes a motor for moving a soldering iron according to coordinates relative to a system origin point of the soldering apparatus. When the substrate is placed on the soldering apparatus, its substrate origin point differs from the system origin point of the soldering apparatus. The user may input coordinates for the substrate origin point, which are used by the soldering apparatus to derive coordinates, usable by soldering apparatus, from coordinates in the gerber data. In this way, it is possible to reduce the workload of the user when programming the soldering apparatus to perform a soldering process.

Various soldering apparatuses for automatically soldering at predetermined soldering target positions have been developed. For example, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-75912, an operator can input coordinate values of soldering target positions to a personal computer and set the soldering target positions (a so-called teaching operation). The soldering apparatus can perform soldering at the positions represented by the input coordinate values.
Under the technique of setting the soldering target positions described above, an operator needs to input all coordinate values of many soldering target positions on a substrate. Therefore, the technique of setting the soldering target positions described above requires a great deal of labor of the operator who inputs the coordinate values of the soldering target positions.

Soldering apparatus, computer-readable medium, and soldering method


A method for preventing a return address from being falsified due to a buffer overflow during the program execution, and for detecting the buffer-overflow beforehand.

An operating system operating on an electronic computer is designed with complex architecture. Therefore, the operating system has a vulnerability called a security hole. The security hole is a vulnerable structure due to a defect or a bug of the software design. By intruding inappropriately into the operating system, taking advantage of the security hole of the operating system, a malicious user may perform a malicious action such as hacking, cracking, etc. A method using a buffer-overflow occurring in a memory is used as the means for the malicious action.
Herein, the buffer-overflow is described. A program running on the electronic computer consists of two parts, which are a program code and program data. The program code is a read-only code written in a machine code. The program data is an information part, such as the memory address of the program code that is executed by the execution instructions of the operating system.
Generally, the program is stored in the hard disk of the electronic computer. The program is called up by the operating system and is executed. At this time, the entire or a part of the program is stored in RAM (Random Access Memory), which is the main memory of the electronic computer. The main memory is the memory that can read and write data directly from the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of the electronic computer. The main memory is managed by applying a memory address to each unit that stores data. The main memory is divided into a high memory address (High Memory) area and a low memory address (Low Memory) area. The high memory address area is an area that has addresses with small numbers. When the address number grows, it is defined as low memory address area. Hereafter, the main memory is described only as memory.
When the program is loaded by the operating system, a part of the memory is allocated for the program. The program data is stored in the high memory area of the allocated memory. And the program code is stored in the low memory area of the allocated memory. The program data is divided into the three data areas of stack data, heap data, and static data. These three data areas are arranged in the memory mutually independent of each other. When the program for execution is called up by the operating system from the hard disk, at first the program code is loaded and stored in the memory. The program data is continuously loaded and stored in the memory.
FIG. 5 is a schematic showing the architecture of the memory in the electronic computer. The high address side of the memory is a stack memory area. Whenever the program is executed, stack memories for the program and the subroutine of the program are reserved in the stack memory area. The stack memories are stored in order to the lower memory address side of the memory. The stack memory consists of an argument area, a return address area, a stack data area, etc.
The low memory address side of the memory consists of areas such as a heap data area, a static data area, a program code area, etc. The static data area is located more to the high memory address side than the program code area. The static data area is the memory area where global variables and static C++ class members are reserved. The heap data area is located more to the high memory address side than the static data area. The heap data area is the area allocated for malloc( ), alloc( ) functions of C language and for "new" operator of C++ language.
The stack memory area is accessed by the LIFO (Last-in, first-out) method. Function parameters e.g. the return address, local variables, etc. are stored in the stack memory. The return address indicates the address of the instruction, which follows the end of the executing instruction. This return address is the most important value.
FIG. 6 shows a program written in C language as an example. When the program is executed, the main( ) function is executed at first (Line 1 to Line 3), then sub(Data1) of the subroutine in Line 4 is called up, and the processing of the program is shifted to Line 10. In the sub( ) subroutine, the processing is shifted to the original address, which is called sub( ), by the return instruction in Line 16. At this time, it is explained how the data is stored in the memory.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the subroutine is called up, data is stored in the stack memory area. The "return address to main( )" is stored in the high memory address side of the stack memory area. Then, an area for storing local variables in the subroutine is reserved. In this example, variables i (in Line 11) and buf (in Line 12) are shown. The value of the argument Data of the subroutine is copied into buf by the strcpy instruction in Line 14. At this time, if the value of the Data argument is larger than the size of buf, the local variable i is overwritten. The return address to the main( ) routine is also overwritten only if the value is greater than the local variable i. Thus, if the data overflows the area, which is reserved for the data, of the memory, the overflowed data are stored in the area for another variable. This is the buffer-overflow. The return address is re-written to another value; therefore, the program can not operate normally.
Generally, when the program, the subroutine and the functions of the program are ended after the execution thereof, they are returned to the position indicated by the return addresses and the execution thereof is continued. However, as explained above, if the program has a defect in the structure, it becomes possible to overwrite the return address with the data overflowing the reserved area for the local variable during the writing of the data.
Generally, the program that produces the buffer-overflow due to re-writing the return address comes to be in an irregular running state. Depending on the circumstances, most programs get out of control or stop. When the return address returned to a memory address, which is intentionally prepared, the operating system continuously executes the instruction stored in this memory address without understanding that it is a false code. An attack taking advantage of the vulnerability caused by the buffer-overflow is the execution of the intentionally prepared code in this way.
The false code execution using the buffer-overflow cannot be grasped by the operating system, which is managing the execution of the program. To prevent this false code execution, it is very important that the means for preventing or to being able to detect the falsification or the re-writing of the return address.
Methods, for example, the following method 1 and method 2, are proposed to solve this problem. The method 1 is a method adding a correction to the operating system. The method 2 is a method making a mechanism for preventing the buffer-overflow in the compiler. The non-patent document 1 uses the method 1. In this project, to prevent the buffer-overflow of open source operating systems, the return address area of the stack is moved to another memory area where the function does not execute.
The non-patent document 2 uses the method 2. In this method, in the GCC compiler, the overwriting of data is detected by preparing a protection section in the lower memory area of the stack memory.
Moreover, in the case of patent document 1, a protection value area is defined in a memory device, and data of the stack memory is protected by preserving it in the protection value area, and the processing instruction is executed. Even if the processing instruction, such as a subroutine (and so on), is executed, the program counter is protected because the return address (and so on) is protected in the protection value area.    Non-patent document 1: Openwall Linux kernel patch project, URL: http://www.openwall.com/linux/    Non-patent document 2: StackGuard: Simple Stack Smash Protection go GCC, URL: http://www.immunix.com/˜wagle    Patent document 1: US20010013094 A1-2001-08-09, "Memory device, stack protection system, computer system, compiler, stack protection method, storage medium and program transmission apparatus"

False code execution prevention method, program for the method, and recording medium for recording the program

Abstract: When the return address is re-written during program execution, the debug function of the central processing unit is used to output an error. The falsification of the return address is detected through the error output. Then the falsified return address is re-written to a value stored in advance to enable the program to return to normal operation. When the falsification of the return address is detected, the executing program is terminated.


A construction vehicle of an all-round traverse type is configured such that when working by using one working machine of an excavating machine and a loading machine mounted on front and rear sides of a cabin, the working machine in use can perform operation without influence from the other working machine in an unused state, as the excavating machine and the loading machine are configured to be folded and retracted under an unused state into an orientation of substantially fitting along respective surfaces of the front side and the rear side of the cabin. A cabin 3 is mounted on a turn frame 2 that makes an all-round traverse and is mounted on a vehicle body 1, and a mounting bracket 40 is provided on one end of the front end and the rear end of the turn frame 2. An excavator 4 is mounted in front of the cabin 3 by mounting and connecting the excavator 4 to the mounting bracket 40. Boom stands 50 on which a loading machine is to be mounted is provided on both right and left sides of the turn frame 2, and root ends of right and left booms 5a and 5a of a bucket loader 5 are mounted and connected to the boom stands 50. Accordingly, the bucket loader 5 is mounted on the vehicle body 1 such that a bucket 5b supported on tip ends of the booms 5a rises and falls along the rear surface of the cabin 3.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a construction machine (construction vehicle) that includes two working machines, namely, an excavating machine that performs excavating works, such as an excavator, and a loading machine that performs loading works, such as a bucket loader, both of which are mounted on a vehicle body configured to run with travel devices including crawlers or wheels.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a construction vehicle equipped with, for example, a bucket loader as a loading machine to perform loading works mounted on a vehicle body configured to run with crawlers or wheels, and additionally equipped with an excavator mounted on the vehicle body as a working machine to perform excavating works.
The conventional construction vehicle equipped with the two working machines includes a cabin on the upper side of the vehicle body configured to run with the crawlers or the wheels, and an excavator that performs excavating works mounted on the front end of the vehicle body in front of the cabin, and configured to swivel and to rotate rightward and leftward, and additionally a working machine for loading, such as a bucket loader, is installed on the rear end of the vehicle body for an excavation operator to perform loading and carrying works as an option during an excavating work. The conventional construction vehicle is not an all-round traverse type. Conventionally, among construction vehicles configured such that a turn frame is mounted on the upper side of the vehicle body of the construction vehicle in a 360-degree rotatable manner via a turn bearing that turns around a vertical axis, and a cabin and a working machine are mounted on the turn frame, and the working machine is configured to work by shifting a working position around the vehicle body by turning the turn frame, there has been known no construction vehicle of an all-round traverse type that includes two working machines of an excavating machine and a loading machine.
The reason for this is because the loading machine is built and supported on the vehicle body of the construction vehicle in a working-position fixed manner, because a loading work performed by the loading machine, such as a bucket loader, can be performed by moving a bucket of the working machine forward and backward, hoisting and lowering it upward and downward, and making a dumping-turn of it.
Furthermore, if the loading machine is mounted on the rear side of the vehicle body of the construction vehicle of the all-round traverse type in a working-position fixed manner; when turning the turn frame equipped with the excavating machine, interference with the loading machine mounted on the rear side of the vehicle body occurs, and turning operation of the turn frame cannot be performed. Even if the turn frame can be turned; when the turn frame is turned 180 degrees, and the working position of the excavating machine is located in a rearward position of the construction machine, the excavating machine overlaps with the loading machine provided on the rear side of the vehicle body of the construction vehicle, so that the excavating machine cannot work.
The above problem arising when a vehicle body of a construction vehicle of an all-round traverse type includes two working machines, namely, an excavating machine and a loading machine, can be solved as a cabin is mounted on the upper side of a turn frame mounted in a 360-degree rotatable manner via a turn bearing on the upper side of the vehicle body, a driver seat and a controlling device are installed inside the cabin, the excavating machine is mounted on the front end of the turn frame in front of the cabin, and the loading machine is mounted on the rear end of the turn frame on the rear side of the cabin.
However, because a loading machine, particularly a bucket loader, which is the most universal equipment, is configured such that a bucket is supported on a turn end of a large boom that rises and falls and turns so as to make a bumping-turn of the bucket as required; if the loading machine is installed at the rear end of the turn frame on which the excavating machine is supported at the front end, operation of turning the turn frame when performing an excavating work by the excavating machine supported at the front end of the turn frame is largely influenced by the loading machine provided at the rear end of the turn frame, such as a bucket loader, which includes a long and large boom configured to rise and fall and turn and projects backward largely, consequently, a smooth turn operation cannot be obtained. Moreover, another problem arises such that the construction vehicle cannot be used in a narrow space and a location of use is limited, because the construction vehicle requires a large working space around the vehicle body due to the bucket loader that is configured to project backward largely from the turn frame when turning the turn frame.
An object of the present invention is to provide a construction vehicle of an all-round traverse type that when working by using one working machine of an excavating machine and a loading machine mounted on a front side and a rear side of a cabin, the working machine in use can perform operation without influence from the other working machine in an unused state, as the excavating machine and the loading machine are configured to be folded and retracted under an unused state into an attitude of substantially fitting along respective outer surfaces of the front side and the rear side of the cabin, to construct a construction vehicle of an all-round traverse type that an excavating machine and a loading machine are mounted on a front side and a rear side of a cabin mounted on a turn frame, by mounting onto the upper side of the turn frame the cabin inside which a driver seat, a control device, and the like are accommodated and placed, mounting the excavating machine on one end of the front end of the turn frame on the front side of the cabin and the rear end of the turn frame on the rear side of the cabin, and mounting the loading machine on the other end of the turn frame, on the construction vehicle of an all-round traverse type that includes the turn frame being mounted on a vehicle body in a 360-degree rotatable manner with respect to a vertical rotational axis via a turn bearing, the cabin and the working machines being mounted on the turn frame, and a driver seat, a control device, and the like being installed in the cabin,


An apparatus for the independent control of the amount of heat produced by a right and a left side heated hand grip includes a control panel with various input buttons and a pair of LEDS that each indicates a relative power setting of one of the heated hand grips. A microprocessor receives input instructions from the input buttons and provides a first pulsed DC output having a desired duty cycle to one of the heated hand grips and a second pulsed DC output having either the same or a different duty cycle to a remaining one of the heated hand grips, thereby controlling the amount of heat produced by each respective heated hand grip. This improves comfort. Reverse polarity protection, a return to previous power settings, including a remembrance of a differential between the two heated hand grips, and automatic shutoff when battery voltage reaches a predetermined value are described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in general, relates to hand grips, such as are found on the handlebars of motorcycles, snowmobiles, etc. and, more particularly, to heated types of handlebar hand grips.
Devices that require two hands to grip each side of a handlebar are well-known and include all manner of machines, including but not limited to bicycles, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and even yard tools, such as snow blowers and garden roto-tillers.
Often, the hands get cold when grasping the handlebars on certain of these types of devices. Accordingly, heated handlebar hand grips have been invented to help ameliorate cold hands when, for example, a person is driving a motorcycle on a chilly day.
At best, current heated grips include two positions, a low heat and a high heat position. Both hand grips (i.e., simultaneously both the right and left sides of the handlebars) are then set to produce the same amount of heat. While certainly better than nothing, these types of devices do not provide the degree of control or regulation that is necessary to maintain the hands at an optimum temperature.
There is, at times, a need to supply a different amount of thermal energy to one side of a handlebar grip than to the opposite side. This can be a function of the control levers that each hand may, at times, be required to operate. It may also be a function of the type of grip that is required on each side of the handlebars, where a firmer grip is required on one side and a less firm grip is required on the other side. Or, one side may offer greater protection from the wind than the other.
For example on a motorcycle, the right hand operates a rotary throttle. As such, the right hand wraps around the throttle control, squeezing and rotating it as required. This position is maintained for the majority of time, changing only on rare occasion when a front brake is applied. Otherwise, the grip around the throttle ensures ample area for contact between the right hand and the heated throttle grip. A large area for physical contact between the hand and the right side heated grip provides good thermal transfer of heat energy from the heated throttle grip to the right hand.
However, the left hand is also used to operate the clutch lever which is used during each successive gear change, whether increasing or decreasing the gear ratio. Many riders constantly maintain some or all of the fingers of their left hand in contact with the clutch lever, extending the fingers away from the left side grip. The clutch lever is not heated. The extended fingers, rather than absorbing heat from the grip, are now exposed to ambient air where they release what little thermal energy they may have to the ambient air. Only a small portion of the palm of the hand remains in constant contact with the heated left side handlebar grip, where heat can be absorbed.
Accordingly, when the same amount of heat energy is applied to both the right and left hand sides of a motorcycle handlebar, the left hand will often feel colder than the right. If the heat setting for both sides is set to its highest setting sufficient to heat the left hand, then the right hand often becomes too hot.
A similar uneven heating and cooling situation occurs whenever a chilly crosswind is removing heat from an exposed hand faster than from a downwind hand that is shielded from the wind.
Additionally, the heat setting for current devices requires the operator to remember to turn it off, lest it come on again the next time the machine i.e., the motorcycle, is used. This is undesirable for at least two reasons. First, heating may not be required the next time the machine is used. If the heated handlebar grips were turned and left on for a chilly evening ride home and then the next ride occurs on a following warm sunny afternoon, heat will not be required. Unless the operator remembers to turn the heat off after his or her ride, it will automatically resume again the next time the motorcycle is used.
Second, leaving the hand grips in a heated "on" position when heat is not required imposes a needless drain on the battery. The charging system must compensate for that drain and the ultimate source of that energy is the fuel that is consumed by the engine. Accordingly, fuel economy is compromised.
There is another related need that previous heated handlebar grips have not addressed. As mentioned above, there is a natural differential in the amount of thermal energy that is typically required between a right and left hand due to the normal position of the hand. If a left and a right side could be adjusted for a difference in temperature that felt comfortable at a particular ambient temperature, when the ambient temperature rises or falls, it is desirable to be able to increase or decrease the heat that is applied while still preserving the basic differential between the left and right hand sides.
Similarly, if an ideal and typical setting for each side were obtained and the motorcycle (machine) were shut off, it would be desirable for the device to remember and to automatically return to the previous settings for both the right and left hand sides the next time the heated hand grip control is activated. This would ensure that the remembered setting was either the ideal or close to ideal from which one could easily fine tune the previous settings. It would be especially ideal to remember and restore the differential amount between the right and left heated hand grips, as well.
As mentioned above, it is common to forget to turn heated hand grips off at the end of a ride or other type of usage. An automotive type of battery, when fully charged and during charging, will express a voltage that typically is above 12.75 VDC. When the alternator stops supplying electrical power to the battery the voltage begins to drop. Before the battery begins to substantially drain and lose its reserve capacity, it is desirable to sense this condition. It would be ideal for heated grips to automatically shut off when the battery voltage drops to about 12.75 volts.
This capability would provide the expected benefit of not draining the battery when the motorcycle (machine) was not in use. It would also provide the unexpected benefit of preventing use of the heated handlebar grips when a defect in the vehicle's charging system is occurring.
Under such a failure condition, the battery would not be properly charged by the alternator during normal use and it would begin to lose its charge. Once its output voltage fell below a predetermined level (12.75 volts), the heated hand grip control would, ideally, cease to operate.
This would reduce current drain on the battery which in turn would extend the distance that the vehicle could be used (driven). It would also alert the operator by tactile feedback to the fact that an electrical failure is occurring. The operator would sense the cooling hands and a lack of indicator lights on a control panel of the heated handlebar grips, which would inform the operator that an electrical failure was occurring. The operator would then hasten home or to a repair facility. The operator might not notice the illumination of a battery charging warning light in the vehicle's instrument cluster when the electrical failure occurred because the operator might be concentrating on road conditions, however, the resultant chilly hands would soon attract his or her attention.
It is also desirable to provide ease in adjusting the left and right hand sides to produce the desired level of heat output as well as to provide a visual indication of the relative settings of each side.
Accordingly, there exists today a need for a heated hand grip control that helps ameliorate the above-mentioned problems and difficulties.
Clearly, such an apparatus would be a useful and desirable device.
2. Description of Prior Art
Heated motorcycle and snowmobile hand grips are, in general, known. While the structural arrangements of the above described devices may, at first appearance, have certain similarities with the present invention, they differ in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior devices.


A packaging container has a heavy duty integrated handle. The container is formed from a rigid unit of generally U-shaped cross-section having a main body portion with a generally flat bottom wall and upstanding, opposing sidewalls, wherein the bottom wall is reinforced with reinforcing material. Reinforced hand openings are formed in the reinforced bottom wall, configured for a user to insert a hand for use as the handle for the packaging container.

The present invention is directed to a packaging container. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a packaging container formed from a reinforced U-board having a heavy duty integrated handle.
U-shaped material, or U-board, is a known packaging material for many objects. The material is formed from a layered construction (a lamination) of paper and/or paper board that is formed into a U-shape (U-shaped cross-section). The U-board is rigid. That is, the walls are rigidly formed into the U-shape (the walls are formed transverse relative to the base) and are rigid longitudinally along the length of the U-board. The walls typically do not fold down onto the base, nor can the U-board be folded, length-wise onto itself.
U-board is used for a wide variety of commonly packaged items. It can be used to package long, fragile items and in a common use, U-board is used for packaging doors and windows to protect the edges of items from bumping, dropping or general handling.
While U-board has been used with a great deal of success for packaging such items, in order to carry or otherwise handle the U-board, it has been found that handles or grasping members are required to supplement the U-board. In large measure, such handles have been attached to the U-board to carry the items surrounded by the U-board. Handles that are presently used are made from paperboard-type materials, wood, metal or some combination of these materials. Handles can be strapped or taped to the U-board. The strapping or taping requires time and additional materials and on occasion, although seldom, the handles can be pulled from the package.
Accordingly, there is a need for a heavy-duty integrated handle for U-board packaging. Desirably, such a handle minimizes the amount of additional materials and cost, needed to form or create the handle. More desirably, such a handle is readily made and usable, and has a high degree of integrity.


Adapter plate (1) for connecting a gearbox to a motor, having a plate (3) having a continuous through opening (11) for introducing an output shaft of a motor capable of being assembled on the plate (3); a clearance (9) which in terms of the axis of the through opening (11) in the plate (3) opens in a radially outward manner and is configured as a pocket hole opening, and a sensor mechanism installation which is completely received in the clearance (9) and comprises a sensor, a memory, and an evaluation unit, wherein the sensor and the memory are connected to the evaluation unit.

The disclosure relates to an adapter plate for connecting a gearbox to a motor, and to a method for producing an adapter plate.
Adapter plates for connecting a motor to a gearbox are known from the prior art, for example from DE 10 2017 106 311 A1, wherein a sensor is provided on the adapter plate.
However, the adapter plates known from the prior art are constructed so as to be comparatively large, or in geometrical or mechanical terms so as to require further adaptation to other systems.