A liquid applicator for an endoscope configured to apply liquid to in vivo tissue includes a flexible tube to be inserted into and extracted from a treatment tool insertion channel of the endoscope, a brush member provided at a distal end of the flexible tube, and a fluid channel formed in the flexible tube to supply the liquid to the brush member.

The present invention relates to a liquid applicator for an endoscope that is used in a manner inserted into a treatment tool insertion channel of the endoscope and configured to apply dye solution or medicinal solution to in vivo mucous membrane.
In an endoscope observation, it is possible, in some cases, to identify a condition of lesion that cannot be clarified in a usual endoscope observation by applying dye solution to in vivo mucous membrane. However, in such a method that the dye solution is conveyed with a catheter being inserted into a treatment tool insertion channel, it is undesired that a large amount of dye solution is caused to flow to a local portion, or that the dye solution is applied in the shape of waterdrop.
In order to solve this kind of problem, conventionally; a so-called spray tool for an endoscope that is configured to widely spray the dye solution in a human body has been employed (for example, see Japanese Patent Provisional Publications No. 2001-104489 and No. 2001-137349). Such a spray tool for an endoscope is used not only for spraying the dye solution, but also for spraying medicinal solution in the human body.
By observing a microscopically magnified image of the in vivo mucous membrane tissue using a confocal endoscope or other endoscopes having a so-called proximity magnification observation capability, it is possible to make a definite diagnosis about whether the in vivo mucous membrane tissue is a cancerous cell without taking the tissue. In such a case, a microscopic condition of the tissue can clearly be observed by applying the dye solution to a portion to be observed.
However, when spraying the dye solution into a stomach and intestines using the aforementioned spray tool for the endoscope, since the dye solution is caused to be sprayed to a wide area, the dye solution sometimes adheres to an observation port of the endoscope, and further it is impossible to confirm to which portion a cancerous cell found in the magnification observation corresponds after the observation has been completed. Accordingly, the dye solution is desired to be applied only to a small area of which a magnified image is to be observed.
In addition, since spraying the medicinal solution to a small lesioned part with the spray tool is similar to an undesired situation of applying an ointment to an entire arm to cure a damaged finger tip, it causes a need to consider side effects of the medicinal solution as well as a problem that a lot of medicinal solution is wasted.


A data acquisition system includes a programmable gain amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter, a filter, and control circuitry. The programmable gain amplifier is operatively connected to receive an analog input signal on its input and generates an amplified signal on its output in accordance with gain control signals. The analog-to-digital converter is operatively connected to receive the amplified signal from the amplifier and generates a digitized signal on its output. The filter is operatively connected to receive the digitized signal from the converter and generates a filtered digital signal on its output. The control circuitry is operatively connected to the amplifier and to the converter and is also responsive to the gain control signals for dynamically adjusting power between the amplifier and converter when the gain control signals are changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to electronic processing arrangements in a data acquisition system. More particularly, it relates to a method for reducing overall power in a data acquisition system. The present invention has use especially, but not exclusively, in the field of seismic sensing applications where it is desired to achieve significant power savings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is generally known in the art, a typical data acquisition system 100 comprises a PGA (programmable gain amplifier) block 102, an ADC (analog-to-digital converter) block 104, and a decimation filter block 106, as shown in FIG. 1 and labeled as "Prior Art." The system 100 may be used for converting an analog input signal of a signal source (seismic sensor or transducer) to a digital output signal. Specifically, the analog input signal is applied through input terminals 108, 110 to the PGA block 102 which, in turn, produces an amplified signal on its output lines 112, 114. The output lines 112, 114 from the PGA block 102 are coupled to the input of the ADC block 104 which generates a digitized signal on its output lines 116, 118. The digitized signal is passed to the decimation filter block 106 which produces the filtered digital output signal on output terminals 120, 122. The gain of the PGA block 102 is controlled by gain control signals at gain control lines 124-128. Since the input terminals 108, 110 may receive different input signals each having different voltage characteristics, the amount of amplification required to be provided by the amplifier block 102 can be adjusted via the signals applied at gain control lines 124-128 depending upon the signal level applied to the input terminals 108, 110.
In seismic applications, the dynamic range, power consumption and linearity of the PGA block 102 are critical parameters. Further, power conservation is a high priority since any power savings achieved will result in significant reduced cost for systems used for conducting seismic exploration. The total noise power of a channel in the digital acquisition system 100 is given by the sum (in RMS sense) of the noise power of the amplifier block 102 and the noise power of the ADC block 104. Depending upon the gain setting of PGA, the use of the PGA block 102 will reduce the ADC block's noise when that noise is input-referred to the PGA block's input. As defined herein, the "input-referred" noise at the input of the PGA block 102 means the noise of the ADC block 104 divided by the gain of the PGA block. The PGA block 102 is typically designed and rated for its input-referred noise. As the gain of the amplifier block 102 is increased, the noise at its output on lines 112, 114 will also be increased. Accordingly, at a lower gain setting of the PGA block 102, the contribution of the noise power from the amplifier will be invariably small when compared to the noise power from the ADC block 104, as the ADC block 104 may have a relatively high noise power.
However, the use of the PGA block 102 in the data acquisition system 100 of FIG. 1 suffers from a drawback of being power inefficient since there is no control of the power in either the amplifier block 102 and/or the ADC block 104 when the gain settings in the PGA block 102 are changed. It would therefore be desirable to provide a technique that reduces the overall power in a data acquisition system when the gain settings of the PGA block 102 are modified.

Power management in a data acquisition system


Video sources and inertial sensors are attached to a weapon and to goggles. A computer receives video images from the weapon- and goggles-mounted sources and inertial data from the sensors. The computer calculates a location for an image from the weapon-mounted source within an image from the goggles-mounted source using the inertial sensor data. The sensor-based location is checked (and possibly adjusted) based on a comparison of the images. A database contains information about real-world objects in a field of view of the goggles-mounted source, and is used to generate icons or other graphics concerning such objects.

Augmented reality systems offer a mechanism for providing a user with additional data about his or her environment. An example of such a system is a heads-up display (HUD) found in aircraft and automobiles. As is generally known, a HUD projects various navigational and/or operational data on a windshield or other transparent surface in a user's field of view. This allows a user to monitor various information without having to divert his or her gaze from the external environment.
Augmented reality systems have also been developed for use in a combat military environment. For example, commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/000,934 (filed Dec. 2, 2004, titled "System and Method for Video Image Registration in a Heads Up Display," published as Pub. No. US20060121993, and incorporated by reference herein) describes a system in which an image from a rifle-mounted video source is superimposed on an image seen through a pair of goggles. Sensors coupled to the rifle and to the goggles provide data indicating movement of the goggles and rifle. An image from the rifle-mounted source shows an external region within the source's field of view (FOV). The goggles have a wider FOV and provide an image that includes a portion showing the same region as is shown in the image from the rifle-mounted video source. The sensor data is then used to determine the relative orientation of the two sources and calculate a location for the rifle image within the image seen through the goggles.
Determining the relative orientations of two video sources based on inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor data, as is described for at least some embodiments of the aforementioned application, can pose challenges. For example, many low-cost IMU sensors experience bias drift over time. Such drift can result in relative orientation errors of several degrees per hour. In order to prevent such errors from accumulating, the IMU sensors must be periodically recalibrated. This recalibration typically requires user action and can disrupt system operation. The ability to minimize the need for manually-initiated recalibration would be highly advantageous.
Additional advantages could also be obtained by increasing the types of information provided by a HUD within goggles worn by a user.

System and method for video image registration and/or providing supplemental data in a heads up display

Science Applications International Corporation


An antenna structure of a Radio Frequency (RF) device includes an antenna and a transmission line circuit coupled to the antenna. The transmission line circuit includes a plurality of transmission line circuit elements and a transmission line coupling circuit that couples at least one of the transmission line circuit elements together to form the transmission line circuit based on a transmission line characteristic signal.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communication and more particularly to integrated circuits used to support wireless communications.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks to radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, RFID, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, RFID reader, RFID tag, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna and amplifies then. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert the amplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF) signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IF signals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filtered signals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.
As is also known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.
Currently, wireless communications occur within licensed or unlicensed frequency spectrums. For example, wireless local area network (WLAN) communications occur within the unlicensed Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequency spectrum of 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5 GHz. While the ISM frequency spectrum is unlicensed there are restrictions on power, modulation techniques, and antenna gain. Another unlicensed frequency spectrum is the V-band of 55-64 GHz.
Since the wireless part of a wireless communication begins and ends with the antenna, a properly designed antenna structure is an important component of wireless communication devices. As is known, the antenna structure is designed to have a desired impedance (e.g., 50 Ohms) at an operating frequency, a desired bandwidth centered at the desired operating frequency, and a desired length (e.g., ¼ wavelength of the operating frequency for a monopole antenna). As is further known, the antenna structure may include a single monopole or dipole antenna, a diversity antenna structure, the same polarization, different polarization, and/or any number of other electro-magnetic properties.
One popular antenna structure for RF transceivers is a three-dimensional in-air helix antenna, which resembles an expanded spring. The in-air helix antenna provides a magnetic omni-directional mono pole antenna. Other types of three-dimensional antennas include aperture antennas of a rectangular shape, horn shaped, etc,; three-dimensional dipole antennas having a conical shape, a cylinder shape, an elliptical shape, etc.; and reflector antennas having a plane reflector, a corner reflector, or a parabolic reflector. An issue with such three-dimensional antennas is that they cannot be implemented in the substantially two-dimensional space of an integrated circuit (IC) and/or on the printed circuit board (PCB) supporting the IC.
Two-dimensional antennas are known to include a meandering pattern or a micro strip configuration. For efficient antenna operation, the length of an antenna should be ¼ wavelength for a monopole antenna and ½ wavelength for a dipole antenna, where the wavelength (λ)=c/f, where c is the speed of light and f is frequency. For example, a ¼ wavelength antenna at 900 MHz has a total length of approximately 8.3 centimeters (i.e., 0.25*(3×108 m/s)/(900×106 c/s)=0.25*33 cm, where m/s is meters per second and c/s is cycles per second). As another example, a ¼ wavelength antenna at 2400 MHz has a total length of approximately 3.1 cm (i.e., 0.25*(3×108 m/s)/(2.4×109 c/s)=0.25*12.5 cm). As such, due to the antenna size, it cannot be implemented on-chip since a relatively complex IC having millions of transistors has a size of 2 to 20 millimeters by 2 to 20 millimeters.
As IC fabrication technology continues to advance, ICs will become smaller and smaller with more and more transistors. While this advancement allows for reduction in size of electronic devices, it does present a design challenge of providing and receiving signals, data, clock signals, operational instructions, etc., to and from a plurality of ICs of the device. Currently, this is addressed by improvements in IC packaging and multiple layer PCBs. For example, ICs may include a ball-grid array of 100-200 pins in a small space (e.g., 2 to 20 millimeters by 2 to 20 millimeters). A multiple layer PCB includes traces for each one of the pins of the IC to route to at least one other component on the PCB. Clearly, advancements in communication between ICs is needed to adequately support the forth-coming improvements in IC fabrication.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Adjustable integrated circuit antenna structure


The vortex pneumatic conveyance apparatus of the present application creates a vortex from blown and/or pressurized air rotating along the inner wall of an outlet tube to convey particles through a vacuum created within the center of the outlet tube at a relatively high flow rate and pressure. Without the blown and/or pressurized air molecules taking up space and colliding with the particles in the center of the outlet tube and because of the strong suction created by the vortex of air rotating along the inner wall of the outlet tube, the efficiency of the vortex pneumatic conveyance apparatus of this application is improved relative to well-known pneumatic conveyors in which air merely pushes the particles within an outlet tube.

Many industries produce waste, which can have an undesirable effect on human health and the environment. The collection of industrial waste for disposal or recycling is typically difficult and expensive. Currently, various systems are used to collect waste by using a blower, i.e., pneumatic conveyor, and a filtering means to separate waste from flowing air at the source of the industrial waste. For example, present dust collectors, such as wet dust collectors, dry dust collectors, dust collectors including bag filters, and dust collectors including electromagnetic filters, can be used to separate dust from blown air. In wet dust collectors, for example, a water bath scrubber separates the dust from the blown air and in dust collectors including bag filters, the blown air passes through the pores of a solid membrane to collect the dust.
However, the efficiencies of known dust collectors mostly depend on the efficiency of the filtering means and the lower the efficiency of the filtering means, the more energy and suction pressure is required by the blower. As such, typical blowers are not suitable for many applications due to their weak suction pressure and are not practical in applications that require a large volume of dust collection. The weak suction of typical blowers is due to their poor designs. In examples of typical blowers including fans to create suction, the particles being conveyed collide with the rotating fan blades, which deform or break over time, thereby lowering the suction pressure of the blowers. In other examples of typical blowers using compressed air, the particles being conveyed must travel within the stream of compressed air, thereby lowering the volume of particles that can be sucked.
As such, a new, more efficient pneumatic conveyor is needed to convey particles at a relatively higher flow rate and pressure.


The present invention relates to a method of conditioning suspended catalysts, wherein at least part of the catalyst-comprising reaction medium is taken from one or more reactors and the suspended, at least partially inactivated catalysts are separated off and purified by means of at least one membrane filtration, with at least one of the membrane filtrations being carried out as a diafiltration.

It is known that the activity of catalysts gradually decreases during use, for example as a result of ageing and poisoning. To be able to maintain a constant performance level of the reaction, fresh catalyst is generally added. However, tight limits are imposed on this procedure by the progressive increase in the catalyst or solids content of the reaction suspension. For this reason, an expensive interruption of the reaction has to be carried out at regular intervals in order to discharge part or all of the generally completely or partially inactivated catalysts and replace them by fresh catalysts of the same type or a different type. The inactivated catalysts can subsequently be disposed of or used for reusing individual catalyst constituents, in particular their noble metal content, as material.
A person skilled in the art will know of various techniques by means of which a catalyst can be separated off from the reaction medium and, if appropriate, concentrated and recirculated to the synthesis:
WO 99/01206 discloses, for example, a method which separates off suspended catalysts by means of crossflow filtration over a ceramic filter. The formation of troublesome covering layers on the filters is prevented by a high flow velocity.
In CN 1394672 A and CN 1377875 A, reaction medium is taken from a chemical synthesis. The suspension medium is separated off by means of a crossflow filtration and the catalyst is recirculated with the residual suspension medium to the reactor. In this way, the catalyst suspension which is recirculated to the reactor is slowly concentrated to a maximum concentration of 12% by weight of catalyst suspension.
WO 91/16294 presents a method of recovering catalyst in the preparation of ether carboxylic acids by catalytic oxidation. The catalyst is in this case concentrated to up to 30% by weight of the catalyst suspension by means of a crossflow filtration and recirculated to the reactor. It is disclosed that a solubilizer used in the oxidation can aid the filtration, with glycol ethers without hydroxy groups being described as solubilizers.
WO 04/112957 is concerned with the recovery of a homogeneous, if appropriate suspended, catalyst by filtration over a semipermeable membrane. It is stated that monoolefinically unsaturated compounds, which are one component of the reaction medium, can be used as auxiliary in the membrane separation.
JP 5-23680 presents a process for the photooxidative treatment of water, in which a titanium dioxide catalyst is kept within a reactor by means of a filter. Water flowing through the reactor is subjected to UV radiation. The reverse osmosis membrane used for the filtration is cleaned at regular intervals by means of a reverse stream of water. Use of a plurality of these reactors in series is disclosed.
A publication by the mott-corporation, 84 Spring Lane, Farmington, USA of April 1997 describes membrane filters which can be used, either individually or in a parallel arrangement, for retaining catalysts. The catalysts are concentrated in the reaction medium and either recirculated to the reaction medium or removed from the plant during a dead-end filtration by backflushing and discharge of the concentrate. Continuous removal of catalysts is only possible by means of filters used alternately. Further treatment or conditioning of discharged, exhausted catalysts is not described.
The disposal or reuse as material of the completely or partially inactivated catalysts is carried out as a function of their composition. Catalyst suspensions which, owing to the remaining amount of toxic organic solvents or reaction products, are classified as preparations hazardous to health or the environment have to be disposed of or recycled subject to strict safety regulations and accordingly by costly processes. In the case of classification as a preparation hazardous to health or the environment, handling, transport and incineration/ashing, for example, is only possible with considerable safety precautions and/or engineering outlay.
There is accordingly great economic interest in the inactivated catalyst suspensions having only a low residual content of problematical, organic compounds, e.g. the respective organic starting materials, products or solvents. Reducing the concentration of very toxic or carcinogenic (K1+K2) substances to less than or equal to 0.1% even allows classification as preparation hazardous to health or the environment to be completely avoided (see Dangerous Materials Regulations, Directive for Preparations 1999/45/EC). However, a reduction of the residual content of problematical, organic compounds to less than 1% also results in, for example, a reduction in the classification from T+ (very toxic) to Xn (hazardous to health) and thus aids handling.
There is also considerable interest in the inactivated catalysts taken from the respective reactors being obtained directly in a state in which firstly transport and secondly reuse as material or disposal is possible without further conditioning steps or without particular safety measures. In particular, the inactivated catalyst should be free of organic compounds and be present in a nontoxic solvent, preferably water. It is also advantageous for the catalyst to be present in a high concentration.
The methods described in the prior art leave the catalyst in the reaction medium which surrounds it originally. Accordingly, the problem of freeing the catalyst of adhering and possibly hazardous components of the reaction medium possibly or freeing it of the organic solvent has hitherto not been solved. Furthermore, these components can be materials of value whose recovery and work-up is economically advantageous. The catalyst is usually merely concentrated but not in any way prepared for subsequent disposal or work-up, i.e. it is not conditioned. Furthermore, the concentrated catalyst suspension has, in the previous methods, usually been recirculated to a reservoir or directly to the reactor and can therefore not be isolated. Continuous operation of the reactor with simultaneous catalyst discharge and conditioning is impossible as a result.

Method for conditioning catalysts by means of membrane filtration


A vise having machinable low profile removable jaws includes a stationary jaw attached between two movable jaws for holding two work pieces during a machining process. The stationary jaw is positioned adjacent to a pair of guide rails, which are mounted onto a base. The movable jaws are removably attached to a first and second slide member by a mating connection which is positioned below the work surface of the vise. The slide members are contained within a channel in the base. A screw shaft is disposed within a bore of the slide members and is contained within a tube and a sleeve which are telescopically connected together for protecting the threads of the screw shaft from metal chips and other debris. A tension mechanism is disposed in an aperture of the first and second slide members for controlling movement of the movable jaws. The base has interlocking edges for allowing vises positioned side by side to be mounted closer together.

The invention relates to vises used during machining processes and, more particularly, to a vise having a fixed central jaw and two movable jaws for holding two work pieces during a precision machining process.
There are several types of vises used during machining, particularly with computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,183 to Krason et al. The vise includes two movable jaws and a centrally located fixed jaw for holding two work pieces. However, the mating connection of the jaw member and the slide member is positioned above the work surface of the vise and within the body of the movable jaw, reducing the area of the movable jaw which may be machined during the machining process.
Another vise is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,138 to Walker which includes a mating connection of a jaw and a slide member positioned around a screw shaft. However, the positioning of the mating connection around the screw shaft requires the male connector to have two extensions, weakening the strength of the male connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,943 to Milz discloses a vise having two fixed jaws and two movable jaws. However, the mating connection includes vertical and horizontal walls, as compared to angularly designed walls which substantially prevent vertical movement during clamping.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,321 to Durfee and U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,636 to Swann disclose means for biasing one slide member toward the central jaw. However, Swann uses a block member mounted adjacent to the slide member and Durfee uses an offset assembly attached to the slide, lengthening the overall design of the vise.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,662 to Bernstein discloses positioning two vises side-by-side. However, the edges of the vises do not interlock together, creating the possibility of movement of one vise with respect to the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,183 to Krason discloses the slide member having a collar portion. However, the collar portion does not cover the entire length of the screw shaft, exposing the threads of the screw shaft to machining chips and other debris.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus for holding work pieces which utilizes a low profile type of mating connection, a soft base and hard guide rails, a compact means for controlling sequential movement of the movable jaws, means for interlocking the bases of the vises, and means for protecting the screw shaft.


A touch display panel and a touch display device are provided, relate to the field of display technology. In an embodiment, the touch display panel includes a plurality of first touch electrode units and a plurality of second touch electrode units. In an embodiment, each of the first touch electrode units includes first touch electrodes and first connection portions alternately arranged in a first direction. In an embodiment, each of the first touch electrodes includes at least one first touch electrode sub-unit that includes a plurality of first electrode sub-groups. In an embodiment, each of the first electrode sub-groups includes at least one first sub-electrode. In an embodiment, in each of the at least one first touch electrode sub-unit, the first sub-electrodes of two adjacent first electrode sub-groups have gradually increasing lengths and gradually decreasing widths in a direction from one of the first connection portions closest to the first touch electrode sub-unit to the first touch electrode.

In recent years, with the rapid development of digital information and wireless mobile communication technology, many electronic products, such as mobile phones, have used a touch screen as an input device instead of a traditional keyboard or mouse, in order to achieve portability and lightness.
A display panel is required to be additionally provided with a touch electrode in order to integrate touch functions on the display panel. A current research focus is how to ensure electrical reliability of the touch electrode, improve antistatic capability of the touch electrode, and avoid electrostatic breakdown of the touch electrode.

Touch display panel for improve antistatic breakdown capability of touch electrodes, and touch display device

Wuhan Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch


A turbine device, including: a turbine housing including an inlet, a flow channel, an outlet, a middle partition, an arced partition; a turbine impeller; a gas outlet; and an exhaust manifold. The turbine impeller and the gas outlet are arranged inside the turbine housing. The exhaust manifold is connected to the inlet. The flow channel is arranged inside the turbine housing. The outlet is arranged on the flow channel close to the turbine impeller. The middle partition is disposed inside the flow channel and divides the flow channel into a left flow channel and a right flow channel. The arced partition is arranged in both the left and right flow channels. One end of the arced partition is in a rigid connection with the middle partition, and the other end of the arced partition is close to the outlet of the turbine housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a compression device for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a turbine device with a variable flow for a vehicular turbocharger.
2. Description of the Related Art
In multi-cylinder engines, a double channeled turbine housing has been widely applied for employing the pulse energy produced by each opening of different cylinders. As shown in FIG. 1, a turbine of a conventional double channeled turbocharger includes: a turbine housing 1, an impeller 2, and a gas outlet 3. A flow channel of the turbine housing is divided into a left flow channel 4a and a right flow channel 4b by a middle partition 5.
In normal operating conditions, inlets of both the left flow channel 4a and the right flow channel 4b are connected to exhaust manifolds of different cylinders of the engine. The cylinders exhaust gas in the way of a pulse which flows into the left flow channel 4a and the right flow channel 4b and passes turbine nozzles; the gas flow finally reaches the turbine impeller 2 and does work in a flow channel of the turbine impeller 2 via expansion. Thus, the turbine impeller 2 is initiated into rotating and drives the compressor impeller to rotate via a turbine shaft, thereby achieving the supercharging of the engine. The gas after doing work flows into an exhaust main of the engine via the gas outlet 3.
However, if the double channeled turbine housing 1 is designed to match an engine at high operating conditions, when the engine is at a low operating condition, the gas flow is minimized. The flow channel of the turbine housing 1 has a relatively large volume, the pulse wave of the gas is correspondingly reduced, and thus, the pulse energy cannot be effectively used. If the double channeled turbine housing 1 is designed to match the engine at low operating conditions, the turbine housing 1 is relative small; and when the engine is at a high operating condition, a velocity of the flow inside the turbine is increased, and the flow loss is correspondingly increased. In the meanwhile, a relative small turbine housing has a poor performance of thermal load when the engine is at a high operating condition.
To satisfy the exhausting performance of high and low load of the engine and to improve the efficiency of the turbine, a plurality of turbine devices with variable cross section have been developed based on the double channeled turbine. However, the conventional turbine with variable cross section and the corresponding exhaust manifold of the engine are independently designed, so that the two are not well matched, thereby impacting the performance of the turbine. In the conventional turbine with variable cross section, the valve is arranged inside the turbine housing, which results in a flow loss at the valve. In the meanwhile, the conventional flow channels of the turbine housing are seldom well matched with the multi-cylinder engine, and a reasonable arrangement of the exhaust pulse is restricted.


The present invention relates to a data processor, and particularly in a data processor performing condition execution on the basis of flag information, aims at obtaining a data processor having excellent code efficiency, which can reduce branch penalty. In order to attain the aforementioned object, it is so structured that, when a first instruction decoded in a first decoder is an execution condition specifying instruction specifying the execution condition for a pair of second instructions executed in parallel, a first execution condition determination unit performs determination of the execution condition for the second instructions defined by the execution condition specifying instruction on the basis of the flag information and controls assertion/non-assertion of an execution inhibit signal on the basis of whether the execution condition defined by the execution condition specifying instruction is satisfied or not.

The present invention relates to a data processor of high performance, and more particularly, it relates to a data processor performing condition execution on the basis of a flag on which an operation result is reflected.
In a data processor, pipeline processing is frequently employed for improving the performance. As one of large factors hindering performance improvement in the pipeline processing, there is overhead resulting from execution of a branch. While various contrivances are made as to this, there is condition execution of an instruction as one thereof.
ARM (VLSI Technology), which is a 32-bit RISC processor, provides an execution condition specify field of four bits for instruction codes of all instructions, and can condition-execute all instructions. When executing one instruction only when a certain condition is satisfied, for example, it can be processed without causing a branch. When performing unconditional execution, one bit pattern of this field of four bits specifies regular execution.
Thus, some processors such as ARM reduce penalty of a branch by rendering many instructions condition-executable, for attaining performance improvement and reduction of power consumption. When making setting to perform condition execution in all instructions, however, fields specifying execution conditions are required for all instructions and hence the instruction length lengthens.
Particularly when ROMing and storing a program to be built in, reduction of the code size becomes important. When forcibly excessively suppressing the instruction length for reduction of the code size, an area describing actual instructions further reduces by the execution condition specify fields, and hence the number of encodable instructions reduces. Thus, when comprising condition specify fields for all instructions, there has been such a problem that the code size enlarges.
TMS320C54x series (TI), which is a 16-bit fixed-point DSP, comprises an XC instruction specifying execution of a next instruction (or subsequent two instructions) only when a condition is satisfied thereby reducing penalty of a branch. This technique requires one clock cycle for specifying the execution condition, and hence has a small effect. Further, there have been such problems that it is difficult to implement sophisticated parallel processing of a superscalar, VLIW and the like used in the processor, while an external interrupt immediately after the XC instruction is also limited.
In many data processors, an operation result or a comparison result is held as a flag in a processor status word, and this flag can be referred to as an execution condition for a condition branch instruction or a condition trap instruction. In this flag, information of a single operation result or comparison result is generally held. However, it is useful for reduction of code efficiency and reduction of penalty by a branch if a combination of a plurality of operation results or an operation result other than an immediately precedent operation can be referred to as the condition. Further, the number of registers used as those for working is also reducible.
For example, the processor Power PC (IBM) comprises a condition register consisting of eight flag groups consisting of 4-bit flags, and is contrived to be capable of specifying to which flag group to reflect the operation result in a comparison instruction and to be capable of referring to an arbitrary flag in a condition branch instruction or the like. A logical operation between the flags is also possible. However, fields for specifying a flag group storing the comparison result in the comparison instruction and the flag referred to in determination of the branch condition in the condition branch instruction are required and the instruction length lengthens by the field area. There has been such a problem that, when forcibly suppressing the instruction length, the number of instructions encodable to short instructions reduces and the code size enlarges similarly to the processor ARM.
In order to efficiently handle Boolean algebra, some processors comprise an instruction setting xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d when the condition is true or xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d when false. For example, the processor x86 series (Intel) comprises a SETcc instruction. However, there has been such another problem that, only one condition can be determined with these instructions and hence complex expressions cannot be efficiently processed when a composite condition of a plurality of condition is specified or the like.
The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the aforementioned problems, and aims at obtaining a high-performance data processor having excellent code efficiency, which can reduce penalty of a branch by condition execution.
It aims at obtaining a high-performance data processor implementing condition execution with an instruction set having a small instruction code size, which can reduce penalty of a branch.
A first aspect of the data processor according to the present invention is an apparatus receiving a parallel processing instruction including first and second instruction codes defining first and second instructions, which comprises a first decoder for decoding the first instruction code to output a first decoded result, a second decoder for decoding the second instruction code to output a second decoded result, flag information storage means for storing flag information, first execution control means for controlling execution of the first instruction on the basis of the first decoded result, second execution control means for controlling execution of the second instruction on the basis of the second decoded result and first execution condition judgment means for outputting second instruction execution control information which controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the second instruction to the second instruction execution control means on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies a second instruction execution condition when the first instruction is an execution condition specifying instruction defining an execution condition for the second instruction based on the flag information, and the second execution control means controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the second instruction on the basis of indication of the second instruction execution control information.
As in a second aspect of the data processor, it may further comprise second execution condition judgment means for outputting first instruction execution control information which controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the first instruction to the first execution control means on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies a first instruction execution condition when the second instruction is an execution condition specifying instruction defining an execution condition for the first instruction based on the flag information, and the first execution control means may control whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the first instruction on the basis of indication of the first instruction execution control information.
As in a third aspect of the data processor, the parallel processing instruction may further comprise third and fourth instruction codes defining third and fourth instructions, it may further include a third decoder for decoding the third instruction code to output a third decoded result; a fourth decoder for decoding the fourth instruction code to output a fourth decoded result; third execution control means for controlling execution of the third instruction on the basis of the third decoded result; fourth execution control means for controlling execution of the fourth instruction on the basis of the fourth decoded result; and third execution condition judgment means for outputting fourth instruction execution control information which controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the fourth instruction to the fourth execution control means on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies a fourth instruction execution condition when the third instruction is an execution condition specifying instruction defining an execution condition for the fourth instruction based on the flag information, wherein the fourth execution control means may control whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the fourth instruction on the basis of indication of the fourth instruction execution control information.
As in a fourth aspect of the data processor, the parallel processing instruction may further include a third instruction code defining a third instruction, it may further comprise a third decoder for decoding the third instruction code to output a third decoded result and third execution control means for controlling execution of the third instruction on the basis of the third decoded result, wherein the first execution condition judgment means may output third instruction execution control information which controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the third instruction to the third execution control means on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies a third instruction execution condition when the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction also defining an execution condition for the third instruction based on the flag information as well as the execution condition for the second instruction, and the third execution control means may control whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the third instruction on the basis of indication of the third instruction execution control information.
As in a fifth aspect of the data processor, the second instruction execution condition and the third instruction execution condition may be independently described in the first instruction code respectively when the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction.
As in a sixth aspect of the data processor, the second instruction execution condition and the third instruction execution condition may be partially duplicated in the first instruction code when the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction, the second instruction execution condition may consist of a common execution condition and an execution condition specific to the second instruction, and the third instruction execution condition may consist of the common execution condition and an execution condition specific to the third instruction.
As in a seventh aspect of the data processor, a common execution condition common to the second instruction execution condition and the third instruction execution condition may be described in the first instruction code when the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction, and the first execution condition judgment means may output the second instruction execution control information indicating permission of the execution of the second instruction while outputting the third instruction execution control information indicating inhibition of the execution of the third instruction when satisfying the common executing condition, and may output the second instruction execution control information indicating inhibition of the execution of the second instruction while outputting the third instruction execution control information indicating permission of the execution of the third instruction when not satisfying the common execution condition.
As in an eighth aspect of the data processor, the flag information may include first and second flag information, and the execution condition specifying instruction may be an instruction specifying an execution condition consisting of a composite condition decided by the first flag information and the second flag information.
A ninth aspect of the data processor according to the present invention is an apparatus capable of executing an instruction at least including a flag update instruction to update flag information and a flag control execution instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of the flag information, which comprises flag information storage means for storing the flag information and instruction execution control means for outputting flag update relevant information relevant to flag updating to the flag information storage means on the basis of the flag update instruction when an instruction to be executed is the flag update instruction and for execution-controlling the flag control execution instruction with an execution content decided on the basis of the content of the flag information when the instruction is the flag control execution instruction, the flag information includes first and second flag information each including information of at least one flag, and the flag information storage means may store the first flag information as the second flag information and update the first flag information on the basis of the flag update relevant information.
As in a tenth aspect of the data processor, the first flag information may include information of a plurality of flags, and the second flag information may include information of a plurality of flags.
As in an eleventh aspect of the data processor, the flag information may further include third flag information, and the flag information storage means may store the second flag information as the third flag information when the second flag information is updated.
A twelfth aspect of the data processor according to the present invention is an apparatus capable of executing an instruction at least including a flag update instruction to update flag information and a flag control execution instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of the flag information, which comprises flag information storage means for storing the flag information and instruction execution control means for outputting flag update relevant information relevant to flag updating to the flag information storage means on the basis of the flag update instruction when an instruction to be executed is the flag update instruction and for execution-controlling the flag control execution instruction with an execution content decided on the basis of the flag information when the instruction is the flag control execution instruction, the flag information includes first and second flag information each including information of at least one flag and update flag information specifying flag information to be updated in the first and second flag information, and the flag information storage means updates one of the first and second flag informations indicated by the update flag information on the basis of the flag update relevant information.
As in a thirteenth aspect of the data processor, the first flag information may include information of a plurality of flags, and the second flag information may include information of a plurality of flags.
As in a fourteenth aspect of the data processor, the flag control execution instruction may include an instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of only the second flag information.
As in a fifteenth aspect of the data processor, the flag control execution instruction may include an instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of a composite condition combining the first flag information and the second flag information.
A sixteenth aspect of the data processor according to the present invention is an apparatus capable of executing an instruction at least including a flag control execution instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of flag information, which comprises flag information storage means for storing the flag information and instruction execution control means for execution-controlling the flag control execution instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of the content of the flag information when the instruction is the flag control execution instruction, the flag information includes first and second flag information each including information of at least one flag, and the flag control execution instruction includes an instruction writing a first value in a prescribed storage unit on the basis of a composite condition decided by the first and second flag information when the composite condition is satisfied while writing a second value in the prescribed storage unit when not satisfied.
As in a seventeenth aspect of the data processor, the first flag information may include information of a plurality of flags, and the second flag information may include information of a plurality of flags.
As in an eighteenth aspect of the data processor, the prescribed storage unit may include at least one of a register, an accumulator and a memory.
In the first aspect of the data processor according to the present invention, the first execution condition judgment means outputs the second instruction execution control information which controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the second instruction to the second execution control means on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies the second instruction execution condition when the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction defining an execution condition for the second instruction based on the flag information, and the second execution control means controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the second instruction on the basis of indication of the second instruction execution control information.
When the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction, therefore, various execution conditions for the second instruction can be set while fully utilizing the first instruction code by describing the execution condition for the second instruction in the first instruction code, whereby processing employing a branch instruction can be decreased by this and reduction of branch penalty can be attained.
When the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction, further, the code size of the second instruction code can be reduced since it is not necessary to describe the execution condition for the second instruction in the second instruction code. Consequently, reduction of the cost can be attained following reduction of a program capacity created employing an instruction executable in this data processor.
In addition, prescribed processing can be efficiently executed by setting various execution conditions for the second instruction with the first instruction as the execution condition specifying instruction, whereby reduction of power consumption can be attained by reducing the number of clock cycles of the data processor necessary for implementation.
In the second aspect of the data processor, the second execution condition judgment means outputs the first instruction execution control information indicating whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the first instruction to the first execution control means on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies the first instruction execution condition when the second instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction defining an execution condition for the first instruction based on the flag information, and the first execution control means controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the first instruction on the basis of indication of the first instruction execution control information.
Also when the second instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction, therefore, various execution conditions for the first instruction can be set while fully utilizing the second instruction code by describing the execution condition for the first instruction in the second instruction code, and reduction of the branch penalty, reduction of the cost and reduction of power consumption can be attained beyond the first aspect.
In the third aspect of the data processor, the third execution condition judgment means outputs the fourth instruction execution control information indicating whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the fourth instruction on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies the fourth instruction execution condition when the third instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction defining the fourth instruction execution condition based on the flag information, and the fourth execution control means controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the fourth instruction on the basis of indication of the fourth instruction execution control information.
When the third instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction, therefore, various execution conditions for the fourth instruction can be set while fully utilizing the third instruction code by describing the execution condition for the fourth instruction in the third instruction code, whereby reduction of the branch penalty, reduction of the cost and reduction of power consumption can be attained beyond the first and second aspects.
In the fourth aspect of the data processor, the first execution control means outputs the third instruction execution control information indicating whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the third instruction to the third execution control means on the basis of whether or not the flag information satisfies the third instruction execution condition when the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction also defining an execution condition for the third instruction based on the flag information as well as the execution condition for the second instruction, and the third execution control means controls whether to permit or inhibit the execution of the third instruction on the basis of indication of the third instruction execution control information.
Consequently, the fourth aspect of the data processor can control execution and inhibition of two instructions (second and third instructions) by one execution condition specifying instruction (first instruction), whereby effective execution condition specification can be performed.
In the fifth aspect of the data processor, the second instruction execution condition and the third instruction execution condition are independently described in the first instruction code respectively, whereby the second and third instruction execution conditions can be inherently set.
In the sixth aspect of the data processor, the second instruction execution condition and the third instruction execution condition are partially duplicated in the first instruction code when the first instruction is the execution condition specifying instruction, whereby the second and third instruction execution conditions can be inherently set while effectively utilizing the first instruction code.
In the seventh aspect of the data processor, the first execution condition judgment means outputs the second instruction execution control information indicating permission of the execution of the second instruction while outputting the third instruction execution control information indicating inhibition of the execution of the third instruction when satisfying the common execution condition and outputs the second instruction execution control information indicating inhibition of the execution of the second instruction while outputting the third instruction execution control information indicating permission of the execution of the third instruction when not satisfying the common execution condition, whereby a series of processing accompanied by a condition branch instruction can be batch-performed on the basis of the determination of the first execution condition judgment means.
In the eighth aspect of the data processor, the first flag information includes the first and second information and the execution condition specifying instruction is the instruction specifying the execution condition consisting of the composite condition decided by the first flag information and the second flag information, whereby an execution condition consisting of a complex composite condition can be specified.
The flag information storage means in the ninth aspect of the data processor according to the present invention stores the first flag information as the second flag information and updates the first flag information on the basis of the flag update relevant information, whereby updating of the second flag information is also performed at the same time when updating of the first flag information is performed.
Therefore, the first and second flag information can be updated by simply supplying the flag update relevant information to the flag information storage means without specifying the flag information to be updated in the flag update instruction.
Consequently, the code size of the instruction code for the flag update instruction can be reduced since a specify area for the flag information to be updated can be omitted in relation to the first and second flag information, whereby the first and second flag information can be updated with a flag update instruction having a small code size.
In the tenth aspect of the data processor, the first flag information includes the information of the plurality of flags and the second flag information includes the information of the plurality of flags, whereby the information of the plurality of flags in the first and second flag information can be batch-updated respectively by simply supplying single flag update relevant information to the flag information storage means.
In the eleventh aspect of the data processor, the flag information storage means stores the second flag information as the third flag information when the second flag information is updated, whereby the first to third flag information can be updated by simply supplying the flag update relevant information to the flag information storage means without specifying the flag information to be updated in the flag update instruction.
Consequently, the code size of the instruction code for the flag update instruction can be reduced since the specify area for the flag information to be updated can be omitted in relation to the first to third flag information, whereby the first to third flag information can be updated with a flag update instruction having a small code size.
In the twelfth aspect of the data processor, the flag information includes the first and second flag information and information of a flag specify flag specifying the flag information to be updated in the first and second flag information, and the flag information storage means updates one of the first and second flag informations indicated by the update flag information on the basis of the flag update relevant information.
Therefore, the flag information to be updated can be intentionally decided by properly setting the updated flag information without providing information specifying the flag information to be updated in the flag update instruction.
In the thirteenth aspect of the data processor, the first flag information includes the information of the plurality of flags and the second flag information includes the information of the plurality of flags, whereby the information of the plurality of flags indicated by the updated flag information can be updated in the first and second flag information by simply supplying single flag update relevant information to the flag information storage means.
In the fourteenth aspect of the data processor, the flag control execution instruction includes the instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of only the second flag information, and execution control of an instruction based on a specific condition employing only the second flag information is enabled.
In the fifteenth aspect of the data processor, the flag control execution instruction includes the instruction whose execution content is decided on the basis of the composite condition combining the first flag information and the second flag information, whereby execution control of an instruction based on a complex composite condition is enabled.
In the sixteenth aspect of the data processor, the flag control execution instruction includes the instruction writing the first value in the prescribed storage unit when the composite condition is satisfied and writing the second value when not satisfied on the basis of the composite condition decided by the first and second flag information, whereby a sophisticated write instruction can be executed.
In the seventeenth aspect of the data processor, the first flag information includes the information of the plurality of flags and the second flag information includes the information of the plurality of flags, whereby a more sophisticated write instruction further complexing the aforementioned composite condition can be executed.
In the eighteenth aspect of the data processor, the prescribed storage unit includes at least one of the register, the accumulator and the memory, whereby a sophisticated write instruction for the accumulator or the memory can be executed.


A secondary surveillance radar system for use in surveillance of an airspace, which reliably achieves surveillance of the airspace even when an aircraft including a mode S transponder and an aircraft including an ATCRBS transponder are both located in the airspace, wherein both of a time interval between time when transmission of an all-call interrogation signal specific for mode S is completed and time when the transmission of an all-call interrogation signal specific for mode A is started and a time interval between time when transmission of the all-call interrogation signal specific for mode S is completed and time when transmission of an all-call interrogation signal specific for mode C is started is varied in units of one all-call time period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a secondary surveillance radar system and a ground equipment for use therein. Also, the present invention relates to improvement of a method for determining validity/invalidity of reply signals returned from an airborne equipment in reply to interrogation signals transmitted from the ground equipment, the method being applied to the ground equipment. The airborne equipment is an equipment mounted in an aircraft, such as a mode S transponder or an ATCRBS (Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System) transponder.
2. Description of the Related Art
A secondary surveillance radar (SSR) system comprises a ground equipment for transmitting interrogation signals to an aircraft and an airborne equipment for returning reply signals in reply to the interrogation signals. It should be noted that a related technique is disclosed on pages 227–233 of "Radar Engineering Revised Edition" written by Takashi Yoshida, and published by the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (1996). This literature discloses a secondary surveillance radar in detail.
Conventionally, an ATCRBS (Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System) transponder is used as the airborne equipment. In addition, in recent years, the number of aircrafts including mode S transponders has been increased. A mode S transponder has a function of incorporating various information into reply signals. By virtue of this function, the mode S transponder can transmit a larger number of information to the ground equipment.
The method of transmitting interrogation signals is variously designed in order that the ground equipment could acquire both the ATCRBS transponder and the mode S transponder.
In the SSR system, the time period for which interrogation signals are transmitted is divided into all-call time periods and roll-call time periods in units of one sweep time period of a radar. The all-call time period is a time period for acquiring the mode S transponder and the ATCRBS transponder. The roll-call time period is a time period in which an individual interrogation is sent to the mode S transponder, and a reply to the interrogation is returned from the mode S transponder. In a control zone, a number of aircrafts can be acquired with respective antenna main beams. Therefore, it is important how the all-call time periods and the roll-call time periods are set.
In a conventional secondary surveillance radar system, an all-call interrogation specific for mode S (mode S only all call) and an all-call interrogation specific for mode A (mode A only all call)(or an all-call interrogation specific for mode C (mode C only all call)) are transmitted in the same all-call time period such that the time interval between the time when the all-call interrogation specific for mode S is transmitted and the time when the all-call interrogation specific for mode A (or all-call interrogation specific for mode C) is transmitted is fixed. In this case, the above fixed time interval corresponds to the time interval between a sync phase reversal during an all call specific for mode S and a pulse P3 during an all call specific for mode A (or an all call specific for mode C).
Thus, if side lobe suppression using a pulse P2 fails, that is, all-call interrogations specific for mode S cannot be suppressed, there is a case where reply signals which should not be returned are returned from the ATCRBS transponder. That is, the ATCRBS transponder recognizes the sync phase reversal of P6 pulse as a P3 pulse. They interfere with surveillance of the airspace. Thus, this problem is required to be solved.
In such a manner, in the conventional secondary surveillance radar system, there is a case where invalid responses to all calls specific for mode S are returned from the ATCRBS transponder. In this case, in the ground equipment, in one sweep time period, invalid responses and valid responses are mixed, or only invalid responses can be obtained. The invalid responses interfere with surveillance of the airspace. They thus need to be avoided by some measure.

Secondary surveillance radar system, ground equipment for use therein, and response signal checking method applied thereto


A method of soldering for surface mounting of a printed circuit board, which comprises performing reflow soldering with a rosin-based cream solder in a special atmospheric gas comprising an inert gas such as N.sub.2, Ar or He and containing about 10,000 ppm or less of oxygen and 0.5-3.0% of moisture is disclosed.

This invention relates to a soldering method and a gas feeding method for use in mounting electronic parts on a packaged printed circuit board for an electronic circuit by reflow soldering. These methods upgrade the quality of a soldering procedure.
So far the soldering of electronic parts has been performed in an airy atmosphere with the use of a rosin-based cream solder, thus requiring the use of a high-activity flux. The cream solder using the high-activity flux is satisfactory in soldering property, but produces a large amount of residue. Because of this questionable reliability, etc., it needs to be washed with freon or the like. Freon used in the washing step, however, leads to environmental pollution, and its use has been restricted. In an attempt to eliminate the washing step, a cream solder containing a low-activity flux has been developed. A non-washing method which performs soldering using such a cream solder in an inert gas such as nitrogen gas has recently come into practical use.
When a rosin-based cream solder containing a flux with a low solids content is used, reflow soldering is carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere. This soldering procedure in a nitrogen atmosphere enhances soldering property, and generates minimal residue because of a low activity. The low activity, however, may lead to the occurrence of "solder balls," and if many such solder balls develop, a washing step becomes necessary irrespective of minimal residue. A cream solder for a fine pitch comprises small solder particles, and have a higher possibility of producing solder balls.

Method of soldering using a special atmospheric gas


In order to improve cooling of a blade 31, 41/disc 32, 42 combination, a pre-swirler feature 40, 50 is utilised in order to present coolant air through presentational pathways typically incorporating holes 37 or grooves/slots such that coolant air displaces hotter air leaked past a seal 35, 45. The swirler features 40, 50 are located within stationary housing components 34, 44 such that the coolant air is propelled at substantially the same rotational speed as the disc 32, 42 whilst presentation of the coolant air flow A, C, E is such that hot air displacement is achieved at least adjacent front faces 36, 46 of blade roots 33, 43.

Operation of turbine engines is well known in order to provide propulsion for aircraft.
Referring to FIG. 1, a gas turbine engine is generally indicated at 10 and comprises, in axial flow series, an air intake 11, a propulsive fan 12, an intermediate pressure compressor 13, a high pressure compressor 14, a combustor 15, a turbine arrangement comprising a high pressure turbine 16, an intermediate pressure turbine 17 and a low pressure turbine 18, and an exhaust nozzle 19.
The gas turbine engine 10 operates in a conventional manner so that air entering the intake 11 is accelerated by the fan 12 which produce two air flows: a first air flow into the intermediate pressure compressor 13 and a second air flow which provides propulsive thrust. The intermediate pressure compressor compresses the air flow directed into it before delivering that air to the high pressure compressor 14 where further compression takes place.
The compressed air exhausted from the high pressure compressor 14 is directed into the combustor 15 where it is mixed with fuel and the mixture combusted. The resultant hot combustion products then expand through, and thereby drive, the high, intermediate and low pressure turbines 16, 17 and 18 before being exhausted through the nozzle 19 to provide additional propulsive thrust. The high, intermediate and low pressure turbines 16, 17 and 18 respectively drive the high and intermediate pressure compressors 14 and 13 and the fan 12 by suitable interconnecting shafts.
The present invention in particular relates to mounting arrangements for turbine blades in order to provide more efficient cooling of the disc.
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a prior nozzle guide vane and turbine vane cooling arrangement. The present invention particularly relates to mounting arrangements for turbine blades 118. As can be seen, high pressure coolant air 100 passes through apertures 101 and pre-swirler nozzles 102 into a plenum chamber 103 where it is distributed to root galleries 104 at the base of each blade 118. It will also be understood that coolant air 107, 108, 109 is presented through apertures in guide nozzles 110 and the blades 118 in order to provide surface cooling for these components.
It will be understood that high engine thermal efficiency is dependent upon high turbine entry temperatures which in turn is limited by the material properties of the turbine blades and nozzle guide vane materials. It is for these reasons that cooling is provided within a turbine engine. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that there is heat conduction and convection from the turbine blades 118 to the turbine disc 111 upon which the blades 118 are secured. Typically, in order to achieve cooling, multi-pass coolant systems are provided in which coolant air flows are controlled and regulated through passageways, apertures and nozzles in order to maximise the cooling effect. For example, the pre swirler nozzles 102 act to reduce temperature and pressure of the cooling air flow 100 as it is presented to the rotor disc assembly for cooling purposes.
A particular problem relates to the space, commonly referred to as the wheel space, in front of and behind each rotor disc assembly upon which turbine blades are secured. In short, the air within these spaces has tended to be warmed and is of lower cooling quality due to passing through a rotor stator cavity where it has been exposed to windage and drag from the static components adjacent to the rotor disc. It will be understood for cooling efficiency, it is desirable for there to be a positive flow of relatively cool air. Unfortunately, in some previous arrangements for cooling the blade platform 106 and disc air has been taken from these fore and aft wheel spaces with the result that inefficient cooling has occurred. It will be understood in engines where there is no cooling passage, ingress of air from the relatively hot spaces in front of the blade pocket 105 and its substantial retention and re-circulation within that pocket 105 contributes significantly to high disc 111 temperatures which in turn may limit acceptable gas path temperatures attainable by an engine or reduce effective operational component lifes in the engine.
In order to avoid this particular problem, previous solutions have included adding mechanical features to the front and rear of the disc 111 in order to effectively seal the blade pocket 105 from ingress of the relatively hot wheel space air whilst providing a separate supply of cooling air to cool the blade platform and disc 111 itself. Nevertheless, it will still be appreciated that problems can still arise with high temperatures in the blade pocket 105 leading to higher operating temperatures or restrictions on engine efficiency or limited component life. Furthermore, such mechanical features add to design and assembly complexities as well as weight.
The air flow blowing up the front face of a high pressure turbine disc formed by the front face of that disc and the blade mounting firtree is normally the efflux from a rotary seal which is typically of a labyrinth type. Having flowed through the seal, this airflow impinging upon the front face has been heated and has a tangential velocity in the direction of the rotation of the disc which is less than that of the disc. The result is that there is a raised environmental disc temperature due to the air picking up heat at the seal and the energy input required to bring this air up to disc velocity at the boundary layer with the front face of the high pressure turbine disc.


A system for reducing the number of I/O requests required to write data to an redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) of a computer system including a host central processor unit and a memory buffer cache. The system includes determinations for writing new data stored in the cache to the disk drives, as stripes, using the least number of I/O requests possible. The system uses the best of two alternative techniques in which the parity for the stripe can be generated. A first procedure determines the number of I/O requests that would be required to generate the parity data from the entire stripe including the new data to be written to the disk drives. A second procedure determines the number of I/O requests that would be required to generate the parity data from the new data to be written to the disk drives and the old parity data of the stripe. The system then aggregates in memory the blocks necessary to generate the parity data as either an entire stripe or as individual blocks using the technique which requires the least number of I/O requests as determined by the first and second procedures.

It is a problem in the field of computer systems to provide an inexpensive, high performance, high reliability, and high capacity disk storage device. Traditional high performance and high capacity disk devices have typically used single large expensive disks (SLED) having form factors in the range of 12 or 14 inches.
The rapid acceptance of personal computers has created a market for inexpensive small form factor drives, such as 51/4, 31/2 inch, or smaller. Consequently, a disk storage device comprising a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) has become a viable alternative for storing large amounts of data. Raid products substitute many small disk drives for a few very large expensive drives to provide higher storage capacities and throughput.
Striping is one well known technique used with RAID to improve I/O throughput. Striping involves the concurrent transfer of data to an array of disk drives in "stripes." For example, if the RAID has five disk drives, a stripe would consist of five blocks of data, and one block is transferred from each of the disk drives. In a five disk RAID, a data can typically be processed in about 1/5 the amount of time by transferring one block of data to each of the disk drives concurrently.
The drawback to replacing a single large disk drive with several small disks is reliability, since there is a much higher probability that one of the disk drives in the array will fail making the array inoperable. However, by means of data redundancy techniques, the reliability of RAID products can be substantially improved. Raid products typically use parity encoding to survive and recover from disk drive failures. Different levels of RAID organizations using parity encoding are currently known, see "A case for redundant arrays of inexpensive disks" David A. Patterson et al., Report No. UCB/CSD 87/891, December 1987, Computer Science Division (EECS), Berkeley, Calif. 94720. In RAID levels 4 and 5, one block of a stripe is reserved for parity data. RAID level 4 stores all parity blocks on the same drive, RAID level 5 distributes the parity blocks over all of the drives in the array.
Parity data are generally generated by using an exclusive or (XOR) function. RAID parity protection suffers from inherent problem that the number of I/O requests that must be serviced to maintain the parity data are many more than would be the case with non-RAID disks not using parity protection. For example, to write a block of new data to disk, the following steps must be performed: a) read the block storing the old data from the disk; b) read the block storing the old parity data from the disk) generate new parity data from the old data, the old parity data, and the new data; d) write the block storing the new data; and e) write the block storing the new parity data. In other words, the writing of a block of data in traditional RAID products typically requires four times the number I/O requests than would be the case with non-RAID disks.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a system which reduces the number of I/O requests required to maintain parity data for the stripes of a RAID product.

Optimized stripe detection for redundant arrays of disk drives


A facsimile apparatus and an information processing apparatus are connected with one another through connecting portions over wires or by radio in a facsimile system. The facsimile apparatus includes a power supply instructing portion which outputs a power supply instruction signal through the connecting portions, the power supply instruction signal instructing whether power supply is on in all the portions of the information processing apparatus or power supply is on only in certain portions of the information processing apparatus, the certain portions being used for receiving the power supply instruction signal from the facsimile apparatus and causing power supply to be on in all the portions of the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes a power supply controlling portion which causes power supply to be on in all the portions of the information processing apparatus or power supply to be on only in the certain portions of the information processing apparatus, according to the power supply instruction signal from the power supply instructing portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile system, and, in particular, to a facsimile system in which a facsimile apparatus and an information processing apparatus are connected so that data transfer between the two apparatuses can be performed.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, a facsimile apparatus is not only used alone but also is connected with an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or the like so that information is transferred between the two apparatus.
In a facsimile system in which a facsimile system is connected with such a separate information processing apparatus, for example, with a personal computer, data produced in the personal computer is transferred to the facsimile apparatus. The data is externally transmitted from the facsimile apparatus. Further, image data which has been received by the facsimile apparatus is transferred to the personal computer. The image data is printed out by a printer which is connected to the personal computer.
When image data received by a facsimile apparatus is transferred to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, and is printed out by a printer connected to the personal computer, power supply should always be on not only in all the portions of the facsimile apparatus but also in all the portions of the information processing apparatus. In order for such a facsimile apparatus to be able to receive image data at any time, power supply should always be on in all the portions of the facsimile apparatus. However, it may not be necessary that the power supply always be on in all the portions of such an information processing apparatus connected to such a facsimile apparatus. When power supply is always on in both all the portions of such a facsimile apparatus and all the portions of such an information processing apparatus connected to the facsimile apparatus, power consumption is large. It is required to reduce power consumption of such a facsimile system.


An exposed lens retroreflective article that includes a binder layer; a layer of spaced apart optical elements that are partially embedded in the binder layer; a penetrated colored layer that is located between the spaced apart optical elements; and a reflective layer that is located functionally behind the layer of optical elements and the penetrated colored layer.

Persons who work or exercise near motor vehicle traffic can be made safer by wearing clothing that highlights the person's presence to passing motor vehicles. To promote the safety of roadway workers and pedestrians, clothing manufacturers commonly produce bright clothing to make the wearer more conspicuous. Manufacturers also routinely secure retroreflective articles to the outer surface of the clothing to improve wearer conspicuity. Retroreflective articles are passive devices that return incident light back toward the light source. The articles highlight a person's presence to motorists at nighttime by reflecting light from the motor vehicles' headlamps back to the motor vehicle driver. The bright image displayed by the retroreflective article ultimately gives motorists more time to react to the person's presence.
Originally, retroreflective materials were generally all silver in color. As the need arose for retroreflective articles that were colored other than silver, the retroreflective nature of the articles suffered. Therefore, there remains a need for colored retroreflective articles that have increased retroreflective properties.


A three-wheeled self-propelled pedal vehicle with front wheel bicycle steering and independently suspended rear drive wheels. The three-wheeled self-propelled pedal vehicle may include a tubular frame comprising a bicycle front triangle down and seat tube members connected to a longitudinal symmetrical support frame with upper and lower longitudinal chords where the lower longitudinal chord supports a drive mechanism comprising a tractive element drive from a bicycle crank chain ring to a freehub transfer shaft assembly and a separate tractive element between the freehub transfer shaft assembly and an articulating telescoping drive shaft assembly which drives rear wheel axles supported by mirrored independent transverse suspension arms.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to human-powered or self-propelled vehicles, such as bicycles and tricycles and, more specifically, to a human-powered tricycle having rear independent transverse suspension and related components thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various motorized and/or self-propelled tricycle apparatuses are known, which include different types of suspension arrangements, such as, for example, the tricycle apparatuses shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,829 to Prince and U.S. Pat. No. 8,066,089 to Murad. Such tricycle apparatuses, however, may suffer from a variety of deficiencies and drawbacks, including, for example, excessive complexity or inferior compatibility or serviceability.

Tricycle apparatus with rear independent transverse suspension and related components


A social networking system selects a set of social endorsements for display within or in conjunction with an advertisement. Candidate social endorsements are identified in response to receiving a request for social endorsements information, each associated with an amount of display space, an affinity with a viewing user, and one or more social networking system objects. The amount of space available to display social endorsement information is determined, and sets of candidate social endorsements are generated to fit within the amount of space available to display social endorsements. The sets of candidate social endorsements are ranked, for instance based on the affinities associated with the candidate social endorsements within each set of candidate social endorsements. A set of candidate social endorsements is selected based on the ranking, and is provided for display within or in conjunction with an advertisement.

This invention relates generally to online advertising, and in particular to selecting social endorsement information to provide to a user of a social networking system in conjunction with an online advertisement.
Online advertising has evolved into a profitable business, allowing commercial and private entities alike to place advertisements on websites and within native applications, and then display the advertisements to viewing users who access the websites and applications. The ability to analyze data associated with a particular website, application, and/or the viewing user has allowed advertisers to provide ads that are more relevant to a viewing user's interests. More relevant ads increase the likelihood of ad conversion (e.g., that the viewing user will observe the ad, click on the ad, proceed to the advertiser's website, or otherwise respond to the ad with the intended result) and/or the likelihood of greater demand for or awareness of the advertiser's goods or services, thereby raising the effectiveness of the ad.
Ad targeting attempts to increase ad conversion by showing ads that are more relevant to the viewing user's interests. Ads accompanied by social context, such as information about a friend's activities related to the thing being advertised, may further increase the relevance of the ads. Although providing social context information in conjunction with an advertisement increases the advertisement's effectiveness, for any given individual there may be an abundance of social context information available. Current ad systems lack the ability to select the most relevant and effective social information to provide as a social context, or social endorsement, in conjunction with an ad. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive solution to identify candidate social endorsements and select the most relevant and effective to provide as social endorsement information in conjunction with advertisements.

Adaptive selection of social context for display to a viewing user


A bearing drawer slide (10) has an inner slide member (16) which is slidably extensible from within an outer slide member (14). Captives bearings (28) have elongate bodies (29) for locating in fixed relation to a rearward end (20) of the inner slide member (16), disposed within the bearing spaces (48) between the inner slide member (16) and the outer slide member (14), with sides (31, 33) of the elongate bodies fitting against bearing races (36, 46) of the outer and inner slide members (14, 16). The captive bearings (28) are moveable with the inner slide member (16) relative to the outer slide member (14), and prevent movement of the rearward end (20) of the inner slide member (16) relative to the outer slide member (14) in directions which are transverse to the directions in which inner slide member (14) extends relative to the outer slide member (16), particularly when the inner slide member (14) is fully retracted within the outer slide member (16).

Prior art drawer slides have included two and three part drawer slides. Three-part bearing type drawer slides have included a cabinet member, and intermediate member and a chassis member, each having edges which define bearing races. Adjacent bearing races are spaced apart to define bearing spaces for receiving bearings there-between, such as for ball bearings, or bearing cages. The bearings are preferably spaced apart in fixed relation to one another along one of the edges by bearing retainers. As the chassis member is removed from within the intermediate member, the bearings and the bearing retainer move to a forward position in relation to the intermediate member, and are disposed adjacent a rearwardly disposed portion of the chassis member. When the chassis member is moved for retracting into the intermediate member, the bearings and the bearing retainer will move to an intermediate or forward position within the intermediate member, and are disposed adjacent an intermediate portion or a forward portion of the chassis member. This occurs due to a rolling engagement between the bearings and the respective edges of the intermediate member and the chassis member. Ball bearings and the bearing races in linear slides are free to travel back and forth through out the length of the slide. The act of sliding one member causes the balls in contact with that member to rotate, thus the bearings and races move in the same linear direction as the moving slide member. When the moveable slide member is returned to its starting position the bearings, captive in the races, also return to the starting position. Once again they are driven by the movement of the member, similar to a pinion moving on a rack. But rather than being driven by teeth engaging, the balls are driven by the friction of engagement with the slide member linear bearing race surface.
When a bearing drawer slide is fully retraced into a cabinet within which it is mounted, movement of the bearings away from the rearward end of a cabinet member will leave some free-play between a load carrying cabinet member and an intermediate member since the bearings are disposed between intermediate portions along the lengths of the intermediate member and the chassis member. Any large torque or bending moment applied on the opposite end of the sliding member can result in the slide members separating. This problem is especially acute in very long length slides and applications that require longer slides and when drawer slides are made of lighter weight materials. Separation of the slide members can result in the edges of the rearward end of a chassis member jumping out of engagement between the edges of the rearward end of an intermediate member, causing failure of the slide. For bearing drawer slides used in computer and telecommunications servers, the edges of a chassis member may jump out of engagement from within the edges of an intermediate member when force is applied to install cable management arms to the rearward ends of the drawer slide and a chassis.