An OLED display panel and a manufacturing method of the OLED display panel are provided. A light-transmissive hole is in the OLED display panel, a blocking wall is arranged outside some sub-pixel regions around the light-transmissive hole, and a thin-film encapsulation layer is on the blocking wall. A portion of light emitted from the sub-pixel regions inside the blocking wall is reflected at an interface of the thin film encapsulation layer by total internal reflection to cause a bright light spot, so that an image can also be displayed in the light-transmissive hole. Therefore, an opening for an under-screen camera less affects aesthetics and appearance integrity of the OLED display panel.

The present invention relates to a field of display devices and in particular, to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices have advantages such as a simple structure, fast response, active illumination, and low power consumption, and have been widely used in the field of display devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and televisions. With the development of differentiated portable products, higher screen ratios have become a trend. In order to achieve ultimate full screen schemes, mobile phone manufacturers have adopted a variety of different designs, like notch screens, a water-drop notch screens, pop-up cameras, and slide screens. These designs can all increase a screen ratio of mobile phones to a certain extent; however, all of them affects aesthetics and appearance integrity of the mobile phones, and limits a three-proof ability (waterproof, dustproof, and shock-resistant) of the mobile phones.
Mobile phone manufacturers are pursuing an ultimate full screen design, but a series of sensors such as a front camera occupy a space of the display panel and therefore limit a further increase of the screen ratio. In order to place the front camera under a screen of the display panel, an opening is defined in the display panel, but the opening for the camera compromises aesthetics and appearance integrity of the display panel and affects a display effect.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a new OLED display panel and a manufacturing method thereof to solve the above technical problems.

OLED display panel and manufacturing method thereof

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd.


The present invention concerns the use of E6 and/or E7 peptides from human papilloma virus (HPV) to evaluate a cell-mediated response in a patient infected with HPV to determine the prognosis for that patient with respect to the development or recurrence of pre-cancerous or cancerous growths, including cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of immunology, virology, and oncology. More particularly, it concerns diagnostic and therapeutic methods related to the development and recurrence of pre-cancerous and cancerous growths or lesions, including cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), caused by human papilloma virus (HPV).
2. Description of Related Art
Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy in women worldwide, accounting for 15% of all cancers diagnosed in women (Parkin et al., 1993). In the United States, cervical cancer is one of the most common neoplasm of the female genital tract. Laboratory and epidemiological research has focused on the etiological role of some types of human papilloma virus (HPV) in the pathogenesis of cervical neoplasia (Brinton, 1992; Munoz et al., 1992). Overall, HPV DNA has been detected in more than 79% of specimens of women with definite cervical disease. The most prevalent HPV type is HPV 16, which is detected in high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and cancer (Lörincz et al., 1992). Results from epidemiological studies support an association between cervical neoplasia and HPV, which is markedly stronger with HPV type 16 (Morrison et al., 1991; Koutsky et al., 1992; and Munoz et al., 1992). Neoplasia is characterized by abnormal growth of cells, which often results in the invasion of normal tissues, e.g., primary tumors or the spread to distant organs, e.g., metastasis.
The E6 and E7 genes of HPV 16 are frequently co-expressed and are most abundant viral transcripts in biopsies from HPV 16 positive cervical carcinoma (Wettstein, 1990; Seedorf et al., 1987). There is a strong evidence that co-expression of both E6 and E7 open reading frames is necessary and sufficient for efficient malignant transformation of a variety of mammalian cells (Munger et al., 1989). Furthermore, continued expression of the E6 and E7 regions of the viral genome appears to be required to maintain the malignant phenotype (von Knebel Doeberitz et al., 1988).
While some HPV infected patients develop cervical neoplasia, others do not. Also there is a high rate of spontaneous regression observed indicating the role of host immune responses. The induction of a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response constitutes a significant defense mechanism against viral infections; occasionally, a virus-specific. CTL response can render full protection without a concomitant antibody response (Sastry et al., 1992; Bevan, 1989; Lukacher, 1984). Based on reports in the literature describing a relation between increased prevalence of anti-HPV antibodies, in particular those directed against the E 7 oncoprotein, with severity of the cervical disease (Cason et al., 1992; Hamsikova et al., 1994; Jha et al., 1993), it has been suggested that HPV-specific humoral response may not play a protective role against HPV-associated cervical neoplasia (Nakagawa et al., 1996). On the other hand, it has been reported that individuals with defects in CMI have an increased prevalence of HPV-associated cervical neoplasia, indicating that T cells participate in the control of HPV-associated neoplasia in humans (Nakagawa et al., 1996; Tsukui et al.; 1996; Feltkamp et al., 1993 and Clerici et al., 1997). Decreased IL-2 production and proliferative responses to mitogens such as PHA and concanavalin-A have been observed in patients with invasive cervical carcinoma (Park et al., 1992). A number of in vitro and in vivo strategies have been described to identify peptides from HPV-16 E6, E7, and L1 proteins that induce T-cell activity in mice and humans (Feltkamp et al., 1993; Strang et al., 1990; Tindel et al., 1991; Shepherd et al., 1992; Stauss et al., 1992; Kast et al., 1993). Typically, induction of virus-specific CTLs can be effected by infection with a virus or recombinant virus that expresses a viral gene product. The viral gene product is processed and presented as a peptide on the surface of infected cells in association with an MHC class I molecule for recognition by the CTL (Unanue, 1989).
Additionally, research efforts have concentrated on identifying and characterizing HIV peptides that elicit a viral-specific CTL response. Townsend et al. illustrated the concept of using T-cell epitopes in proteins as vaccine candidates when their group demonstrated the use of short synthetic peptides from influenza nucleoprotein as epitopes for CTL responses (Townsend et al., 1986). The inventors and others have reported using synthetic peptides to generate virus-specific CTLs in vivo (Kast et al, 1991; Aichele et al., 1990; Deres et al, 1989; Sastry et al., 1992; Sastry et al., 1994; Casement et al., 1995) against influenza, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Sendai virus and HIV.
Over 90% of cervical carcinomas express human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 and E7 proteins. These unique antigens are ideal targets for the development of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) for antitumor immunotherapy. Synthetic peptides have been identified corresponding with the E6 and E7 oncoproteins of HPV-16 that were effective in including HPV-specific CTL responses in vivo (Sarkar et al., 1995). Recently, Nakagawa et al. reported that systemic T-cell proliferative responses and CTL responses to HPV-16 peptides and proteins were detectable in many virgin as well as sexually active women without cervical lesions but not in those with active disease (Nakagawa et al., 1997). Similarly, Tsukui et al. reported that TH lymphocyte response, particularly IL-2 production, to HPV antigens was greater among cytologically normal women than in women with different degrees of progressive cervical neoplasia (Tsukui et al., 1996). Also, Clerici et al observed that production of TH1 cytokines (IL-2 and IFN-γ) which potentially enhances CMI, to be defective in women with extensive HPV infection and that progression to CIN to be associated with a shift from TH1 to TH2 cytokine production (Clerici et al., 1997). Employing a long term in vitro stimulation protocol for determining the TH activity Kadish et al. reported that lymphoproliferative responses to specific HPV peptides were associated with HPV clearance and regression to CIN (Kadish et al., 1997). On the other hand, de Gruijil et al. reported that T-cell proliferative responses to HPV16 E7 peptides correlated with persistence of HPV infection, but antigen-specific IL-2 production was associated with both virus clearance as well as progression of cervical lesions (de Gruijil et al., 1996).
A common clinical management strategy for CIN patients includes excisional or ablative treatment. However, follow-up studies indicate that a significant number of patients experience recurrence. At present no clear understanding exists regarding the development of pre-cancerous or cancerous growths, their recurrence, or disease-free status in the patients who have undergone ablative or excisional treatment for CIN. Better and improved strategies for effective diagnostics of HPV-associated pre-cancerous or cancerous growths and lesions is needed.

Methods and compositions relating to HPV-associated pre-cancerous and cancerous growths, including CIN

Board of Regents, the University of Texas System


The present disclosure relates generally to well operations. The present disclosure relates more particularly to a systems and methods for independently and/or simultaneously treating multiple wells from a centralized location using a split flow pumping system configuration. The split flow pumping system configuration may comprise one or more blenders, one or more boost pumps, a pumping system comprising one or more pumps, a component storage system, and a fluid storage system for treatment of two or more wells using two or more treatment compositions. The split flow pumping system configuration may comprise one or more controllers for controlling the one or more blenders, the one or more boost pumps, the pumping system comprising one or more pumps, the component storage system, and the fluid storage system. The system may comprise one or more sensors for collecting data corresponding to the one or more pressures, flow rates, injection rates, compositions, temperatures, and densities of at least one of the first composition and the second composition, wherein the controller controls the one or more pressures, flow rates, injection rates, compositions, temperatures, and densities of at least one of the first composition and the second composition based, at least in part, on the data.

In the production of oil and gas in the field, it is often required to stimulate and treat multiple well locations within a designated amount of time. Stimulation and treatment processes often involve mobile equipment that is set up and put in place at a pad and then moved by truck from pad to pad within short time periods.
Traditionally, a fluid composition produced at the pad flows into a single well. In current configurations, multiple wells may be treated simultaneously, but only where each of the wells are treated with one fluid composition. Further, each of the wells receive the same treatment using the one fluid composition. For example, if multiple wells are simultaneously in treatment and one well sands out, such that treatment of that one well must cease, treatment of the other wells must similarly cease.


An electrolyte membrane assembly for use in a fuel cell or other electrochemical device includes an ion exchange membrane, a base electrolyte reservoir configured and operable to maintain a volume of a basic electrolyte solution in contact with at least some of the first face of the membrane, and an acid electrolyte reservoir configured and operable to maintain a volume of an acidic electrolyte in contact with at least a portion of the second face of the membrane. The membrane may be a cation exchange membrane or an anion exchange membrane. Also disclosed are fuel cells which incorporate the electrolyte membrane assembly.

Fuel cells are highly efficient, silent, power generating systems in which a fuel undergoes an oxidative chemical reaction and generates electrical current. Fuel cells are coming into increasing use as power sources for a variety of fixed and mobile applications: including transportation systems; electronic devices: including computers, cellular phones, and specialized electronic equipment; and the like. Fuel cells are also being used as stationery power sources for communication installations, off-grid building power, and as backup power sources.
In a fuel cell, an oxidative reaction, typically oxidation of a fuel, occurs at a catalytic surface of a first electrode, and a reduction reaction, typically reduction of oxygen, occurs at a second electrode surface. The electrodes are separated, as for example, by a membrane which is ion permeable but has very low electron conductivity. In a cell of this type, an external circuit allows for the passage of electrons from one electrode to the other so as to balance the chemical reactions, and it is this flow of electrons which generates power. For reasons of simplicity, and material compatibility, most fuel cells presently in use utilize hydrogen as a fuel gas and air or oxygen as an oxidizer. Storage and delivery of the hydrogen fuel can complicate and limit the utility of such fuel cells. In order to overcome these problems, significant efforts have been extended to develop fuel cells running on liquid fuels, and methanol-fueled fuel cells, referred to also as direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), have been developed.
In conventional direct methanol fuel cells of the type known in the art, methanol is oxidized at an anode, which is typically comprised of a body of electrically conductive material having a platinum-based catalyst thereupon. The anode reaction is as follows:CH3OH+H2O→CO2+6H++6e− 0.02VIn a cell of this type, the cathode reaction is as follows: 3/2O2+6e−+6H+→3H2O 1.23V
In a cell of this type, the anode and cathode are separated by an ion exchange membrane which allows protons generated in the anode reaction to pass therethrough to the cathode. The membrane does not permit the passage of electrons, and these flow through an external circuit to provide an output voltage. Membranes of the type typically used in such cells can include perfluorosulfonate materials such as those sold under the trademark Nafion by the DuPont Chemical Corporation. The theoretical potential difference in a cell in which the foregoing reactions take place is 1.21V. However, the practical cell voltage of such fuel cells is only 0.7V under open circuit conditions and 0.4V under typical operational discharge rates. This is because of the slow catalytic kinetic rate of methanol oxidation at the anode, and methanol cross-over from the anode to the cathode through the electrolyte membrane, which causes cathode-electrode depolarization. These phenomena are well known in the art.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that there is significant room for improvement in the field of direct methanol fuel cells. Any improvement which can increase the voltage of such cells will greatly enhance their utility by allowing more compact power sources to be implemented. As will be described in detail hereinbelow, the present invention concerns membrane assemblies for fuel cells which may be advantageously incorporated into a variety of fuel cells, including direct methanol (or other liquid fuel) fuel cells. The direct methanol fuel cells incorporating the assembly of the present invention are reliable, rugged, and operate at high-output voltages. These and other advantages will be apparent from the drawings, discussion and description which follow.

High voltage methanol fuel cell assembly using proton exchange membranes and base/acid electrolytes

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


An inventive method for determining the bulb temperature (T) of high pressure discharge lamps is disclosed that comprises the following steps: ascertaining a first spectral radiant power (MP) at a first wavelength (λP); ascertaining a second spectral radiant power (MC) at a second wavelength (λC) different from the first; determining the quotient (β) from the first and second radiant power; and determining the temperature (T) of the bulb on the basis of this quotient. It likewise discloses an apparatus for carrying out the inventive method.

High pressure discharge lamps, for example high-pressure mercury discharge lamps, are currently used in diverse fields of application, for example in projectors.
It is important here to set the temperature of the lamp bulb to an optimum operating temperature with a relatively narrow tolerance band, preferably ±50 K. Since the lamp would quickly devitrify above this temperature range, while the effectiveness of the cycle process would no longer be obtained below the temperature range, the service life is reduced by an excessively high or excessively low temperature. Furthermore, an excessively high lamp temperature can impair units and electronic systems connected to the lamp.
It is known in principle for this purpose to determine the temperature of the bulb and to keep the operating temperature in the above named temperature range by setting a cooling regime.
A number of methods are known for determining the temperature of the bulb.
Firstly, thermocouples can be fastened on the surface of the bulb. However, the usual problems with the use of thermocouples exist in this case. For example, the elements cemented on can become detached from the bulb or supply false values in certain configurations. In addition, such thermocouples require additional outlay on mounting, and electric wiring.
A further possibility consists in determining the lamp voltage and using it with the aid of a known relationship between lamp voltage and temperature for the purpose of determining the latter. However, because the relationship varies according to operating states this method is very inaccurate.
In order to avoid above named disadvantages, it is therefore customary at present to use a pyrometer or infrared camera to measure the temperature of the bulb. However, these methods require a separate optical connection to the bulb, that is to say all the housings surrounding the bulb (for example reflector, lamp housing, projector housing) must have appropriate bores, but this is not always possible in design terms. Moreover, there is the risk of errors owing to vignetting.

Method and apparatus for determining the bulb temperature of high pressure discharge lamps

Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft für elektrische Gluhlampen mbH


Various systems, methods and apparatus for calibrating a clock generating circuit are discussed herein. As one example, a method for calibrating a voltage controlled oscillator is disclosed. The method includes fixing the control voltage of a fine tune capacitor in the voltage controlled oscillator at a predetermined level. A binary search is performed in a digital circuit for a value of a calibration word that is used to enable switched capacitors in a coarse tune capacitor bank in the voltage controlled oscillator. The calibration word is fixed at the value determined by the binary search, and the control voltage of the fine tune capacitor is released to enable adjustment of the control voltage by a feedback signal to the voltage controlled oscillator.

The present invention is related to clock synthesizing, and in particular to calibration of voltage controlled oscillators.
Electronic circuits often use clock signals to regulate and control their operation. Events in the electronic circuits are timed by rising and/or falling edges of the clock signals. Clock signals may be generated by a number of oscillating circuits, such as an LC voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). In this type of oscillating circuit, an electrical charge is alternately accumulated and discharged to form the basis of the clock signal. The charge accumulates in inductors and capacitors of an LC tank circuit in the VCO, and the time needed for the charge to accumulate and discharge is based on the inductance and capacitance values. The frequency of the clock signal in one exemplary VCO may thus be controlled by varying the capacitance of the LC tank circuit in the VCO. For example, the VCO may include a voltage controlled variable capacitor so that the voltage of a control signal may be used to control the output frequency.
It is often desirable for a VCO to have a wide tuning range so that the VCO may be tuned to produce any of a wide range of output frequencies. The gain of the VCO may be increased so that is more sensitive to the voltage of the control signal, allowing the input voltage to select a wider range of capacitance values in the VCO and produce a wider range of output frequencies. However, increasing the gain of the VCO also makes it more susceptible to electrical noise on the control signal. A very sensitive VCO may have difficulties locking onto a reference frequency, because noise on the control signal can make the output frequency of the VCO fluctuate too greatly.
Hence, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for advanced VCOs.

Systems and methods for voltage controlled oscillator calibration


A radio terminal (3) can perform carrier aggregation using a first cell (10) of a first radio station (1) and a second cell (20) of a second radio station (2). The first radio station (1) or the second radio station (2) transmits constraint information to the radio terminal (3). The constraint information contains an information element necessary to specify a reception constraint and/or transmission constraint related to the first cell (10) and/or the second cell (20) when the carrier aggregation is performed. The reception/transmission constraint is a constraint related to downlink signal reception/uplink signal transmission by the radio terminal over one or more subframe periods of the primary cell (10) and the secondary cell (20). It is thus, for example, possible to contribute to reduction in wasteful power consumption in the radio terminal in the carrier aggregation of a plurality of cells served by different radio stations.

In order to improve the deterioration of communication quality due to drastic increases in mobile traffic in recent years and achieve faster communication, the standardization of Carrier Aggregation (CA) functions that enable a radio terminal (User Equipment (UE)) to communicate with a radio base station (eNode B (eNB)) by using a plurality of cells has been undertaken in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE). Note that the cells that a UE (User Equipment) can use in CA are limited to a plurality of cells of one eNB (i.e., a plurality of cells served by one eNB).
The cells that are used by a UE in CA are categorized into a Primary Cell (PCell) that has already been used as a serving cell when the CA is started and a Secondary Cell(s) (SCell(s)) that is used in addition to the PCell or in dependence thereon. Each SCell can be used by a UE as the need arises, and the use of them can be stopped. Note that starting the use of an SCell is called "activating" or "activation". Similarly, stopping the use of an SCell is called "deactivating" or "deactivation". Non-Access Stratum (NAS) mobility information, security information (security input) and the like are transmitted and received through a PCell during radio connection (re)-establishment (RRC connection Establishment/Re-establishment) (see Non-patent Literature 1). A downlink (DL) Carrier and an uplink (UL) Carrier corresponding to a PCell are called "DL Primary Component Carrier (PCC)" and "UL PCC", respectively. Similarly, a DL Carrier and a UL Carrier corresponding to a SCell are called "DL Secondary Component Carrier (SCC)" and "UL SCC", respectively.
A downlink data (DL data) transmission operation in CA is explained with reference to FIG. 17 (Non-patent Literature 2). Here, it is assumed that a UE uses a first cell (Cell1) and a second cell (Cell2) served by an eNB as a PCell and an SCell, respectively. In a step S1, the eNB transmits, to the UE, configuration information for the SCell (i.e., the Cell2) (RRC Connection Reconfiguration (Cell configuration)). In a step S2, the eNB transmits to the UE instruction indicating the activation of the Cell2 (Activation control element (activation of SCell)). In a step S3, the UE starts to use the SCell (SCell activation). In steps S4 and S5, the eNB transmits DL data to the UE by using the PCell and the SCell.
In a step SC, the eNB determines that it no longer needs to use the SCell for the UE and hence transmits an instruction indicating the deactivation of the SCell (Deactivation control element (deactivation of SCell)). In a step S7, the UE suspends the use of the Cell2 (SCell deactivation). In a step S8, the eNB and the UE transmit/receive DL data by using only the PCell.
In a step S9, the eNB determines that it needs to use the SCell for the UE again and hence transmits an instruction indicating the activation of the SCell (Activation control element (activation of SCell)). In a step S10, the UE starts to use the SCell (SCell activation). In steps S11 and S12, the eNB transmits DL data to the UE by using the PCell and the SCell.
As explained above, the eNB can control whether the SCell should be used (activated) or not according to the data amount (also called "traffic amount") regarding the UE. This makes it possible to improve the throughput for each UE while avoiding the increase in the power consumption which would be otherwise caused by the unnecessary decoding of DL control signals (Physical Downlink Control Channel: PDCCH) performed by the UE.

Radio communication system, radio station, radio terminal, communication control method, and non-transitory computer readable medium


A method and system for controlling access by groups of users to multiple objects stored within a data processing system implemented library wherein each object has an access list associated therewith explicitly listing individual users permitted access to that object. A group identification is established which encompasses all users within the data processing system, a selected subset of users with the data processing system, or a single selected user and his or her designated affinity users or proxies. The group identification is then listed within an associated access list for a particular object and upon an attempted access of the particular object by a user not listed explicitly within the associated access list, a determination is made as to whether or not that user is listed within a group identification which is permitted access. In one embodiment of the present invention selected objects and users each have associated therewith a clearance level and access to a selected object by a particular user listed within a group identification may be denied if that particular user's clearance level does not meet or exceed the clearance level of the selected object.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to access control within a data processing system implemented library and in particular to access control within a data processing system implemented library wherein access to objects is limited to explicitly listed users for each object within the library. Still more particularly, the present invention is directed to a method and system which permits all users within a data processing system, designated groups of users, or a single selected user and his or her designated affinity users or proxies to access an object within a data processing system implemented library without requiring an explicit listing of each user who is permitted access.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronically implemented "libraries" are rapidly surpassing more traditional information storage in the world today. It is quite common for data processing system implemented libraries to maintain control thousands of different objects, or documents. The rules by which such documents may be altered and/or maintained are typically governed by various standards, such as the International Standard ISO/IEC 10166, Document Filing and Retrieval (DFR).
One problem which exists in such electronic libraries is the management and control of the documents stored therein. Generally, two specific security mechanisms are provided by such electronic libraries. Firstly, authentication of the identity of a particular user is generally addressed in an electronic library. This is generally accomplished utilizing a password known only to the system operator and the user, or, in cases where a user has been previously authenticated elsewhere, by checking a certified identity. An authentication mechanism is usually utilized to verify the credentials of a user requesting access to documents within an electronic library. Access to an electronic library does not, in and of itself, qualify the user to access all objects stored within the library.
The access by a user to a particular object or document within an electronic library is generally controlled by access authorization. Documents or objects within an electronic library generally have designated an Owner who is a user within the system having specific privileges with regard to the owned object or document. Generally each Owner within electronic library may add further owners, or delete existing ones. The Owner of a document may typically specify the authority of other non-owner individuals with respect to a particular object or document within the electronic library. For example, the Owner may grant a particular user read, copy, extended-read, read-modify, or read-modify-delete access to a particular object or document within an electronic library.
Certain electronic libraries are known as explicit access libraries in that in order for a user to access a particular object or document within the electronic library, the identification of that user must be explicitly listed in a control access list associated with the particular object or document. This is particularly true for International Standard ISO/IEC 10166, Document Filing and Retrieval (DFR) systems, as noted above. While such systems permit accurate control of objects or documents stored within the electronic library those skilled in the art will appreciate that an explicit access listing type electronic library rapidly becomes inefficient in that each user within the data processing system permitted to access an object within a library of this type must be explicitly listed within the access control listing for each object.
Therefore, it should be apparent that a need exists for a method and system whereby large groups of designated users or so-called "affinity" users of authorized accessors may be permitted to access an object within a data processing system which is implemented utilizing such an explicit listing access authorization system.

System for controlling group access to objects using group access control folder and group identification as individual user

International Business Machines Corporation


A process and apparatus are disclosed for recovering hydroprocessing effluent from a hydroprocessing unit utilizing a hot stripping column and a cold stripping column. A light fractionation column fractionates naphtha from kerosene predominantly from a cold stripped stream. A heavy fractionation column fractionates diesel from unconverted oil predominantly present in a hot stripped stream. Only the hot hydroprocessing effluent is heated in a fired heater prior to entering the heavy fractionation column, resulting in substantial operating and capital savings.

Hydroprocessing can include processes which convert hydrocarbons in the presence of hydroprocessing catalyst and hydrogen to more valuable products.
Hydrocracking is a hydroprocessing process in which hydrocarbons crack in the presence of hydrogen and hydrocracking catalyst to lower molecular weight hydrocarbons. Depending on the desired output, a hydrocracking unit may contain one or more fixed beds of the same or different catalyst. Slurry hydrocracking is a slurried catalytic process used to crack residue feeds to gas oils and fuels.
Due to environmental concerns and newly enacted rules and regulations, saleable fuels must meet lower and lower limits on contaminates, such as sulfur and nitrogen. New regulations require essentially complete removal of sulfur from diesel. For example, the ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) requirement is typically less than about 10 wppm sulfur.
Hydrotreating is a hydroprocessing process used to remove heteroatoms such as sulfur and nitrogen from hydrocarbon streams to meet fuel specifications and to saturate olefinic compounds. Hydrotreating can be performed at high or low pressures, but is typically operated at lower pressure than hydrocracking.
Hydroprocessing recovery units typically include a stripping column for stripping hydroprocessed effluent with a stripping medium such as steam to remove unwanted hydrogen sulfide. The stripped effluent then is heated in a fired heater to fractionation temperature before entering a product fractionation column to recover products such as naphtha, kerosene and diesel.
Hydroprocessing and particularly hydrocracking is very energy-intensive due to the severe process conditions such as the high temperature and pressure used. Over time, although much effort has been spent on improving energy performance for hydrocracking, the focus has been on reducing reactor section heater duty through efficient heat exchange network design. However, a large heater duty is required to heat stripped effluent before entering the product fractionation column to separate diesel from unconverted oil.
Newly enacted rules and regulations impose boiling point ranges on commercial diesel. Euro IV and V diesel specifications require diesel product to have a T95 at 360° C. meaning that 95 vol % of the diesel stream must boil off when it is heated to 360° C. To meet this specification, a conventional product fractionator requires a large heat input, a large number of trays and more operating expense to effect the separation.
There is a continuing need, therefore, for improved methods of recovering fuel products from hydroprocessed effluents. Such methods must be more energy efficient and less capital intensive to meet the increasing needs of refiners.

Process and apparatus for hydroprocessing with two product fractionators


A pickup for an electric guitar includes a housing made to fill an existing cavity in an electric guitar body originally used for a dual-coil humbucking pickup. The pickup also has a single pickup coil mounted in the housing.

This invention relates generally to electric guitar pickups and more particularly to such pickups that have a single coil.
As a rule there are two kinds of pickups for guitars: single-coil and compound coil pickups. Usually the different types of pickups have characteristic and therefore different designs which have established themselves as standard in the guitar industry.
The single-coil pickup typically not only transfers a response to the oscillation of the strings but also undesirable interferences such as those from transformers, which results in a humming noise. The compound coil pickup known as a humbucking pickup (see FIG. 7) eliminates external hum interference by using two parallel coils with opposite winding directions and magnetization.
The invention of the compound, humbucking coil pickup has made it possible to suppress hum interference. However, this system of parallel coil design (vertical or horizontal) may be disadvantageous in that in addition to suppressing humming noise, desirable signals can be suppressed and sound volume lost.
In some instances, a guitar player may want the hum-suppressed tonality of a humbucking pickup, but at another time the guitar player may want the tonality of a single-coil pickup. One way to accommodate this is to physically change out the humbucking pickup for the single-coil pickup. To do this has required:
a) modifications to the instrument (drilling and milling work) or PA1 b) optical/aesthetic deficiencies on the instrument because the different types of pickups have not been interchangeable due to their different structures. There is thus the need for an improved single-coil pickup that can directly replace a humbucking pickup without having these shortcomings.

Single-coil electric guitar pickup with humbucking-sized housing


An AMOLED display backboard, a display device and a manufacturing method of an AMOLED display backboard are provided. In the AMOLED display backboard, the number of VDD lines (601) is less than that of sub-pixels in one row, thus reducing area occupied by the VDD lines (601), lessening occupation of VDD lines (601) on the area of circuit board, while realizing connection of circuit input terminals (603) of respective sub-pixels and VDD lines (601) by the VDD connecting line (602).

Typically, gridded wiring is used for power source signal lines of an active matrix display, for example, VDD (power source voltage), that is, each of sub-pixel units is connected with the VDD, as shown in FIG. 1. Such backboard power source signal wiring is applicable to the backboard circuit design of flat panel displays with use of an active matrix drive method, such as, active matrix liquid crystal displays and active matrix organic light-emitting-diode displays. A pixel unit 1 is surrounded and formed by a data line 101 and a gate line 102, and each pixel unit has a power source signal line VDD connected therewith.
FIGS. 2-3 are schematic views of a sub-pixel layout of an AMOLED backboard. A circuit in FIG. 2 is located on a backboard glass (not shown). See FIG. 3, a part of the circuit below line 2-2′ also includes an encapsulation region enclosed by an encapsulation glass 5, that is, the part of the circuit below line 2-2′ is located between a backboard glass 10 and the encapsulation glass 5. As shown in FIG. 2, each sub-pixel R, G, B is connected with a power source signal line VDD by metal wiring, meanwhile each sub-pixel R, G, B is connected to a gate scanning line 102 and a display data line 101R, 101G 101B, thus forming the gridded wiring.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of layout of an AMOLED backboard circuit. For small and medium sized AMOLED displays, direct current (DC) power source signal VDD is provided directly from periphery modular circuits with use of FPC connector 20, and in an effective display region of the backboard circuit, a connection way as shown in FIG. 3 is used, and a test unit 50 is included. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of layout design of a pixel circuit of current AMOLED backboard, and FIGS. 5 and 5b are a circuit diagram and a schematic layout of a 2T1C sub-pixel structure (2 triodes and 1 capacitor). Two-TFT structure is a common structure, which includes a gate electrode and a source electrode, drain electrode (not shown), and a DTFT (drive thin film transistor) is a drive TFT supplying power to a pixel electrode. As shown in FIG. 5a-5b, an AMOLED backboard gate scanning line 102, a display data line 101 and a power source signal VDD line form an orthogonal web structure, wherein wirings in the horizontal direction and vertical direction are generally of different metal layers.

Active matrix organic light-emitting-diode display backboard and manufacturing method thereof, display device


In an apparatus, a first control unit performs current-feedback control, and a second control unit performs torque-feedback control. The torque-feedback control samples values of each output current at phases. The sampled values of each output current at the phases are referred to as phase-related sampled values of the corresponding output current. The apparatus causes the second control unit to sample values of each output current at the predetermined phases while the first control unit is performing the current-feedback control when switching the current-feedback control to the torque-feedback control. The second control unit uses the values of each output current sampled by the first control unit as the phase-related sampled values of the corresponding output current to start the torque-feedback control when the current-feedback control is switched to the torque-feedback control.

There are various control methods for adjusting an output voltage, i.e. an alternating-current (AC) voltage, of an inverter to a rotary electric machine to control the rotary electric machine accordingly. The various control routines include, as two typical control routines, a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control routine and a torque-feedback control routine; the PWM control routine is a type of current-feedback control routines.
The PWM control routine sets a sinusoidal base voltage as a voltage command for the output voltage of an inverter based on both a command value for output torque of a rotary electric machine and output currents output from the inverter to the rotary electric machine. Next, the PWM control routine compares the sinusoidal base voltage with a carrier wave having a higher frequency than the frequency of the sinusoidal base voltage. Then, the PWM control routine controls, based on the comparison results, the inverter to adjust the output voltage of the inverter accordingly.
The torque-feedback control routine obtains measured values of output currents, each of which has a predetermined phase, to a rotary electric machine. Then, the torque-feedback control routine calculates an estimated value of output torque of the rotary electric machine according to the measured values of the output currents. The torque-feedback control routine compares the estimated value of the output torque with a command value for the output torque of the rotary electric machine. The torque-feedback control routine adjusts, based on the comparison results, the pattern of a pulse output voltage to be output to the rotary electric machine.
The PWM control routine has an advantageous effect of reducing fluctuations of the output torque in a low rotational speed of the rotary electric machine, but may limit the voltage utilization factor of the inverter. The torque-feedback control routine has a higher inverter voltage utilization factor, but may have more fluctuated output torque of the rotary electric machine in a low rotational speed range thereof. In view of these circumstances, some control apparatuses are configured to selectively use the PWM control routine and the torque-feedback control routine to control a rotary electric machine, one example of which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5368777.

Apparatus for controlling rotary electric machine


A multi-pronged tool configured to remove plugs of HVAC units. The multi-pronged tool has a member having a first end and a second end. A plurality of rectangular protrusions extends from each end and each lateral side thereof, wherein each protrusion is designed to pair with a plug of an HVAC unit. One or more apertures are on a surface of the member, wherein each aperture is designed to pair with a connector of an HVAC unit. In this way, a user is able to easily remove or apply a plurality of different drain plugs of HVAC units.

The present invention relates to a multi-pronged tool configured to remove drain plugs. More specifically, the present invention provides a planar member having a perimeter and a plurality of protrusions extending therefrom, including a plurality of apertures disposed on the planar member.
Many homes and companies have HVAC units that require drain pans, which require drain plugs. Unfortunately, HVAC units are made by a variety of different manufacturers, which leads to a variety of different drain plugs used. This leads to HVAC maintenance workers or homeowners searching for multiple types of different tools to remove the variety of drain plugs, creating extensive frustration and a waste of time for the user. Additionally, often the plugs and threaded connectors are installed tightly and require excessive effort to remove, thereby increasing the risk of injury or damage to the HVAC unit. Therefore, a multi-pronged tool adapted to easily remove or install common drain plugs on varying HVAC units is needed.


A method of blending delayed coker feedstocks to produce a coke that is easier to remove from a coker drum. A first feedstock is selected having less than about 250 wppm dispersed metals content and greater than about 5.24 API gravity. A second delayed coker feedstock is blended with said first resid feedstock so that the total dispersed metals content of the blend will be greater than about 250 wppm and the API gravity will be less than about 5.24.

Delayed coking involves thermal decomposition of petroleum residua (resids) to produce gas, liquid streams of various boiling ranges, and coke. Delayed coking of resids from heavy and heavy sour (high sulfur) crude oils is carried out primarily as a means of disposing of these low value resids by converting part of the resids to more valuable liquid and gaseous products, and leaving a solid coke product residue. Although the resulting coke product is generally thought of as a low value by-product, it may have some value, depending on its grade, as a fuel (fuel grade coke), electrodes for aluminum manufacture (anode grade coke), etc.
The feedstock in a delayed coking process is rapidly heated in a fired heater or tubular furnace. The heated feedstock is then passed to a large steel vessel, commonly known as a coking drum that is maintained at conditions under which coking occurs, generally at temperatures above about 400° C. under super-atmospheric pressures. The heated residuum feed in the coker drum results in volatile components that are removed overhead and passed to a fractionator, leaving coke behind. When the coker drum is full of coke, the heated feed is switched to a "sister" drum and hydrocarbon vapors are purged from the drum with steam. The drum is then quenched first by flowing steam and then by filling it with water to lower the temperature to less than about 300° F. (148.89° C.) after which the water is drained. The draining is usually done back through the inlet line. When the cooling and draining steps are complete, the drum is opened and the coke is removed after drilling and/or cutting using high velocity water jets.
Cutting is typically accomplished by boring a hole through the center of the coke bed using water jet nozzles located on a boring tool. Nozzles oriented horizontally on the head of a cutting tool then cut the coke so it can be removed from the drum. The coke cutting and removal steps add considerably to the throughput time of the overall process. Thus, it would be desirable to be able to produce a coke that can be removed from a coker drum with little or no cutting. Such coke would preferably be a substantially free-flowing coke. It would also be desirable to be able to safely remove such substantially free-flowing coke at a controlled flow rate.
Even when the coker drum appears to be completely cooled, some areas of the drum may still be hot. This phenomenon, sometimes referred to as "hot drum", may be the result of a combination of different coke morphologies being present in the drum at the same time. For example, there may be a combination of one or more needle coke, sponge coke or shot coke. Since unagglomerated shot coke may cool faster than other coke morphologies, such as large shot coke masses and sponge coke, it would be desirable to produce predominantly substantially free-flowing unagglomerated shot coke in a delayed coker, in order to avoid or minimize hot drums.

Blending of resid feedstocks to produce a coke that is easier to remove from a coker drum

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A method, comprising generating a water-in-fuel indication responsive to a water-in-fuel content increasing more than a threshold amount within a threshold time of a refueling event is presented.

Water-in-fuel can cause corrosion and other damage to engine components such as fuel injection systems. As such, diesel engines typically employ a fuel/water separator to remove water from the fuel prior to fuel injection into the engine system. A water reservoir serves to collect the separated water from the fuel/water separator so that it can be manually drained at a suitable time such as when the engine is off, or automatically drained to the exhaust system under suitable conditions. Water reservoir sensors are used to determine when the reservoir levels are high and to trigger warning indicators to the vehicle operator signaling when reservoir draining is due.
Fisher et. al. (US 20110259088) describes a high water content fuel detection system where sensors determine a rate of accumulation of water in a water filter sump, which is monitored as an indication of the fuel quality. Depending on the sensor output, the system may request draining of the fuel filtration or fuel tank sump, and alert the operator of high water content fuel.
The inventors have recognized potential issues with the above system. Namely, conventional warning indicators only alert operators to high water reservoir levels or high water reservoir accumulation rates, and the operator has no way of knowing if the water capacity of the water separator reservoir has been exceeded. In particular, if a vehicle is refueled with high water content fuel, the risk of passing water to the fuel injection system is increased because water will immediately and steadily accumulate in the reservoir as fuel is consumed during vehicle operation. Accordingly, water can potentially be passed to the fuel injection system, resulting in degradation.
One approach which at least partially addresses the above issues is a method, comprising generating a water-in-fuel indication responsive to a water-in-fuel content increasing more than a threshold amount within a threshold time of a refueling event. In another embodiment, a method may comprise, responsive to a refueling condition and following completion of refueling, measuring a change in a water-in-fuel content, and generating a water-in-fuel operator indication if the change in the water-in-fuel content is greater than a non-zero threshold amount. In this manner, it may be possible to achieve the technical result of identifying a large increase in water volume in a short time interval following a refueling event and generate an operator warning to reduce degradation to the engine system.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Method for detecting water-in-fuel after refueling event


To determine the angular orientation of polarization axes within a length of polarization-maintaining optical fiber, a coherent light source, such as a laser, is focused onto the side of the polarization-maintaining optical fiber and a resultant scattered pattern is generated. A sensor/analyzer monitors the resultant scattered pattern and determines the location of the polarization axes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polarization-maintaining optical fiber and more particularly to determining the angular orientation of the polarization axes within a length of such fiber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polarization-maintaining (PM) optical fiber generally has some physical provision for maintaining the state of linearly polarized light traveling through a single-mode core (Noda, J., Okamoto, K. and Sasaki, Y., "Polarization Maintaining Fibers and Their Applications", J. Lightwave Technology, LT.4, No. 8, pg. 1071, 1986). In most instances, this involves either the use of an elliptical core geometry or application of preferentially oriented compressive or tensile stresses surrounding a circular optical core (see FIGS. 1-4). The latter fibers have some form of stress-applying parts (SAPs) made of a glass having different thermal expansion properties than the surrounding fiber's glass matrix. By observing a cleaved or polished fiber endface under high magnification, one can readily discern the angular orientation of either the geometric core or SAP-style fibers, and hence the orientation of the principle polarization axes. Direct observation of PM fiber ends is, however, not always possible. Procedures including PM fiber splicing often require angular alignment while the fiber ends are butted together or otherwise visually inaccessible. A new means for determining the angular orientation of these polarization axes within a length of such fiber without examination of prepared endfaces is required.
The prior art of probing the orientation of polarization axes in PM optical fiber fall into only two categories known. The first consists of applying a compressive stress to the side of a PM fiber and observing a change in the fiber's polarization crosstalk or extinction ratio (Carrara, S. L. A., Kim, B. Y. and Shaw, H. J., "Elasto-optic alignment of birefringent axes in polarization-holding optical fiber", Optics Letters, 11, pg. 470, 1986). The other method is the Profile Alignment System (PAS) developed by Fujikura (Fujikura Ltd. product bulletin #88112000 on the FSM-20 PM, pg 2, 1990). A collimated whitelight source is incident to the side of a PM fiber and the resulting refracted image through the fiber is sensed via a CCD video camera and processed to resolve the apparent position of the SAP's, thus locating the polarization axes. Although the PAS method is best suited to the circular SAP geometry of Fujikura PANDA fiber (see FIG. 3), it has shown to have some success in locating polarization axes in one other type of non. circular SAP fiber (shown in FIG. 2) manufactured by Corning. The invention described herein, besides being able to locate polarization axes in these two types of SAP-containing fibers, can also locate axes in PM fiber having elliptical core regions as well.

System for determining birefringent axes in polarization-maintaining optical fiber


A gait rehabilitation machine and a method of using the same for lower-limb rehabilitation. The gait rehabilitation machine includes: a frame; a rear supporting member provided at the frame so that the back side of a human body can lean against the rear supporting member; a thigh supporting member corresponding to a thigh of the human body and pivotally connected to the frame; a shank supporting member corresponding to the corresponding shank of the human body, pivotally connected to the thigh supporting member, and having a pedal to be stepped on by the human body; a knee supporting member corresponding to the corresponding knee of the human body and provided at the thigh supporting member or the shank supporting member; and a transmission device for driving the shank supporting member to move. Thus, a patient can do lower-limb gait rehabilitation exercise without using a suspension system.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to rehabilitation apparatuses and, more particularly, to a gait rehabilitation machine for assisting in a patient's gait rehabilitation and a method of using the gait rehabilitation machine.
2. Description of Related Art
People with paraplegia resulting from spinal cord injuries, strokes, nerve injuries, etc. rely on medical assistive apparatuses in their daily lives not only to move and position their bodies but also to assist in rehabilitation. Typically, the purpose of rehabilitative exercise is to restore patients' mobility. In restoring a patient's walking ability for example, assistive apparatuses for gait rehabilitation play a very important role.
The structure of commercially available assistive gait rehabilitation apparatuses, such as those based on U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,315 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,821,233, mainly includes a suspension system for suspending a patient so that the patient is standing on a treadmill and ready to do gait rehabilitation exercise. As the patient's body must be suspended on the suspension system for a long time to stay in the standing position required by the rehabilitative exercise, bodily discomfort tends to ensue. Besides, it is a time-consuming process for the patient to suspend his or her own body onto the suspension system. Those who help the patient put on or take off the gears must also be properly trained in order to assist the patient in getting on or off the suspension system safely. Moreover, an assistive gait rehabilitation apparatus composed of a treadmill and an ancillary suspension system has a very large volume and, although the operating speed of the treadmill can be controlled to provide walking exercises at different paces, does not allow postural adjustment of the patient's lower limbs; consequently, the training effect on the lower limbs leaves much to be desired.

Gait rehabilitation machine and method of using the same


Apparatus for measuring the level of liquid in a container has a substrate on which a plurality of piezoelectric elements are mounted that are to transmit ultrasonic energy upwardly through the bottom of a container placed on and supported by the substrate into the container and to receive ultrasonic energy reflected back from the liquid/air interface within the container from which the round trip time can be measured and the liquid level calculated. The plurality of piezoelectric elements are of predetermined shapes and mounted spaced apart on the substrate in an array to accommodate containers with different shape bottoms.

Medical biotechnology, semiconductor, automated laboratory and other industries use containers, such as bottles, which store chemicals reagents, waste liquid and other materials. Such bottles have different shapes and sizes with irregularities and different construction at the bottom of each bottle. Also, sometimes these industries fill different types of liquid in the same bottle type or use different bottle types with the same type of liquid. In both cases, a user has no knowledge of the full/empty condition of a liquid in the bottle. This may damage or delay manufacturing and analysis processes due to lack of reagents not being known to be available or to cause overflow of the container if already filled completely, which possibly can be hazardous.
It is known in the art to use ultrasonic measuring systems to determine the level of a liquid in a container. When the container is large, such as an open tank, an invasive transducer is used in which a hole is made in the wall. An ultrasonic transducer is mounted in the hole and the transducer comes in contact with the liquid. Where the liquid is to be in a bottle, it is not usually possible to use an invasive transducer. Also, if the liquid in the bottle is to be kept in a sterile condition a transducer coming in contact with the liquid would spoil the sterility. In such cases, a non-invasive ultrasonic transducer is used. Such a transducer is usually mounted on the outside surface of the container by a mechanical arrangement or by an adhesive. It also requires the application of a coupling substance, such as a gel, between the transducer and the container surface. Therefore, mounting of a liquid level transducer either removably or permanently can be costly and time consuming.
Accordingly it would be advantageous to be able to provide an ultrasonic liquid level measuring system having a non-invasive transducer that can be used with containers of different shapes without having to mount the transducer to the container to achieve the measurement.

Non-invasive bottom up continuous liquid level transmitter


An electrical device characterized by alternative battery power supplies including an electrical circuit, a pre-installed first battery power supply disposed in a non-user-accessible portion of the device and a user-accessible compartment for receipt of a second battery power supply. The first supply is initially operatively connected to the circuit, and the presence of a second supply in the compartment operatively connects the second supply to the circuit to power the circuit regardless of the presence or absence of the first supply in the circuit. Preferably the first supply is mechanically operatively disconnected from the circuit when the second supply is in the compartment.

The present invention relates to a battery-powered electrical device, and more particularly to such a device which is characterized by alternative battery power supplies.
Stores which sell battery-powered electrical devices must either expend the money and effort required to obtain and place batteries in the device specimens to be displayed or risk losing sales because the prospective customer cannot see the device in action and thus cannot fully appreciate it. Accordingly, many stores expend the requisite effort and money to place batteries in the designated user-accessible battery compartment before putting a device on display. Even this does not completely solve the problem since on occasion the person handling the device is less interested in the operation of the device than he is in acquiring batteries free of charge simply by removing them from the user-accessible compartment.
While the store might prefer to use relatively inexpensive button-cell batteries rather than the conventional cylindrical batteries, such button-cell batteries are typically relatively short-lived where the device has a relatively high power drain or is used extensively. Furthermore, the button-cell batteries because of their small size, when present in a user-accessible compartment, present a danger to children who may remove and swallow them (either in the store or at home) and thus are a potential legal liability for both the manufacturer and the seller of the device using the button-cell batteries. Accordingly, many electrical devices are simply not manufactured to be powered by button-cell batteries.
In addition to the differences in expense, power and the like, a critical difference between button-cell and cylindrical batteries is that the former fail, and the latter pass, a standard choke chamber test designed to distinguish between those objects which present a threat when swallowed and those which do not. Even the relatively small AA or AAA cylindrical batteries pass the choke chamber test, while button-cell batteries typically do not.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical device with alternative battery power supplies so that the retail seller thereof avoids the effort and expense of installing a cylindrical battery supply while still obtaining the benefit of an operable electrical device for display purposes.
Another object is to provide such a device wherein the power supply cannot be removed from demonstration models.
A further object is to provide such a device providing a user-accessible compartment into which the user can insert and replace cylindrical batteries as necessary.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device which can be powered for demonstration purposes and still pass a choke chamber test since there are no user-accessible button-cell batteries.
It is a further object to provide such a device which is simple and economical to manufacture, maintain and use.

Electrical device with alternative battery power supplies


The invention relates to a transflective liquid crystal display (LCD) comprising a patterned quarter wave foil (QWF) and having improved chromaticity.

The demand for colour mobile displays that are thin, light weight, low power, but clear and bright in all ambient light conditions has been increasing due to the increasing popularity of mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras and laptop computers. The fact that these devices are required to work in varied ambient conditions and need high battery power has raised interest in transflective colour liquid crystal displays, which use a backlight to illuminate the display, but can reduce power consumption by making use of the ambient light in bright conditions.
In prior art transflective displays of twisted and non-twisted modes like TN (twisted nematic) and ECB (electrically controlled birefringence) are disclosed, wherein each pixel is split into a reflective and a transmissive subpixel (see for example Kubo et al., IDW 1999, page 183-187; Baek et al., IDW 2000, page 41-44; Roosendaal et al., SID Digest 2003, page 78-81 and WO 2003/019276 A2). The transmissive subpixel has transparent front and back electrodes whereas the reflective subpixel has a transmissive front electrode and a reflective back electrode, requiring a patterned electrode structure which is achieved for example by "hole-in-mirror" technology.
As the transmissive mode uses half-wave (λ/2) optical modulation (λ=wavelength of incident light) and the reflective mode uses quarter wave (λ/4) optical modulation it was suggested to use a different cell gap (or LC layer thickness) for the subpixels, so that the reflective subpixel has about half the cell gap of the transmissive subpixel.
In order to make the reflective sub-pixel work with the transmissive subpixel, an achromatic (or "wide-band") quarter wave foil (AQWF) is required to produce circularly polarised light (an AQWF exhibits an optical retardation of λ/4 for a wide wavelength band preferably encompassing the entire visible spectrum, and is formed for example by combining a QWF with a half wave foil (HWF, having an optical retardation of λ/2)). The AQWF also covers the transmissive pixel, hence requiring that an equivalent AQWF is placed on the backlight side of the cell.
However, the use of circularly polarised light in the transmissive portion of the display has the disadvantageous side-effect that twisted LC modes are less efficient at converting circular polarised light to the opposite handedness, thus reducing the brightness of the display and making the 90° twisted mode less effective.
To address the problems with circularly polarised light in the transmissive portion of the transflective display, it was proposed to use a patterned QWF having a pattern of areas with QWF retardation covering the reflective subpixels and non-retarding areas covering the transmissive subpixels (WO 03/019276; Van der Zande et al., Proc. of the SID 2003, page 194-197). This allows the reflective and transmissive subpixels to be optimised separately and hence allows the use of linearly polarised light in the transmissive portion.
Reducing the number of films and manufacturing process steps in a display is of great importance to reduce cost and make the manufacturing process easier. The ideal situation would be to develop a patterned AQWF, as this would mean that the transmissive and reflective portions of the display could be optimised independently and no unnecessary films would be required on the backlight side of the cell, reducing the number of films by two. However, there are great technical difficulties of patterning two layers that are aligned at different angles. Therefore, the use of a single patterned QWF would be preferred. This introduces the problem of how to achieve an achromatic reflective mode. This can be achieved by using an external HWF that will combine with the patterned QWF to produce an AQWF, but this affects the contrast and colour of the transmissive state, hence a second HWF is required on the backlight side to compensate (see Roosendaal et al., Proceedings of the SID 2003, page 78-81). On the other hand, using a patterned transflective 90° twist cell with a single patterned QWF in a standard set up produces too great an angular colour shift and reduces reflective contrast.
Hence, there is still a need for a transflective display comprising a patterned QWF which does not have the drawbacks of prior art displays described above.
It was an aim of the present invention to provide a display that does not have the above mentioned disadvantages, shows high contrast, good brightness and low colour shift over a large range of viewing angles and is easy to manufacture in a time- and cost-effective way. Other aims of the present invention are immediately evident to the person skilled in the art from the following detailed description.
The inventors of the present invention have found that these aims can be achieved by providing displays according to the present invention. These displays use a specific combination of a 90°-twisted transflective cell with a patterned QWF that produces reduced chromaticity in the reflective mode, without the need for a half wave foil to complete the AQWF. Rotation of the 90°-twisted cell relative to the polarisers, so that the director of the LC molecules at the surface of the LC cell is oriented at specific angles relative to the polarisation direction of the respective adjacent polariser, effectively reduces or cancels the chromaticity due to the single chromatic QWF.


A mat may be transitioned into at least three different operational configurations: (1) a substantially flat work surface configuration, for using the mat as a work or play surface; (2) a funnel like collection configuration, for facilizing collection and/or clean-up of articles upon a top of the mat; and (3) a folded configuration, for storage of the mat. The mat may have a removably sealable trapdoor for emptying of articles collected above the trapdoor. The trapdoor may be utilized in the funnel like collection configuration. Straps and/or handles may be used to transition from the substantially flat work surface configuration to the funnel like collection configuration.

It is often desirable to use a substantially flat surface as a supportive substrate (e.g., a ground, a floor, a table top, etc.) for working with and/or for playing with various articles, that may be about hand sized or smaller. For example, when playing with small toys, such as, building blocks, further such as, but not limited to LEGOs, it may be desirable to play and build on top of a substantially flat surface. However, because of the relatively small size of such building blocks and their possible numerosity, cleaning up after use may be time consuming and/or inefficient.
This problem is not limited to cleaning up of groups of small toys, but rather is a problem for cleaning up any group of hand sized articles or smaller. This problem exists with the clean-up of: small toys, gaming parts, hobby components, crafting components, assembly components, and/or the like.
It would be desirable if the substantially flat surface used as the substrate surface could aid and facilitate timely and efficient clean-up of the various articles used on top of the given substantially flat surface.
There is a need in the art for a mat, that in one configuration may function as the substantially flat surface substrate (e.g., something that functions as a flat ground, floor, tabletop, etc. in one configuration), but that may in another configuration facilitate clean-up of articles used on top of the mat.
It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.


A door closer actuated by an eccentric cam plate includes a one-piece piston that is displaced axially by the rotation of the eccentric cam plate. The one-piece piston includes a damping piston portion located axially on one side of the eccentric cam plate and a spring support element located on the opposite side of the eccentric cam plate. The one-piece piston incorporates in a unitary piece both functions of a separate damping piston and spring support element to increase the relative efficiency of the door closer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a door closer, preferably a top-mounted or overhead door closer. The door closer can include a closer shaft, which closer shaft can be actuated by a spring system in the closing direction. The door closer can also include a damping piston. The damping piston can, in effect, be connected to the closer shaft. An end of the closer shaft can extend out of the door closer housing. The end of the closer shaft can be coupled and connected to an actuator arm. The actuator arm can preferably be formed as a slide rail linkage. The slide rail linkage can be engaged in a guide rail by use of a slide. The slide can be located at the other end of the actuator arm. The closer shaft can include an eccentric cam plate. The cam profile of the eccentric cam plate corresponding to the opening direction can be pressurized by a spring assist element by use of at least one roller, and the cam profile of the eccentric cam plate corresponding to the closing direction can be pressurized by a damping piston by use of an additional roller. The roller of the damping piston and the roller of the spring assist element can be oriented substantially coaxially with the closer shaft.
In the door closer realized in accordance with the present invention, the damping piston and the spring assist element can preferably be manufactured as a single part. Placed inside a recess, between two rollers, there can be the eccentric cam plate. The eccentric cam plate can be mounted inside the door closer, and the projecting closer shaft can be connected to one end of the actuator arm. The other end of the actuator arm can interact with the sliding block of the slide rail.
2. Background Information
A known top-mounted door closer with a slide rail linkage is described in German Patent No. 40 38 720 C2, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This sliding rail door closer is suitable for all types of installation, i.e. right or left stop on the strip or band side or on the side opposite the strip, both in a normal installation on the door panel and in an overhead installation on the door frame. An eccentric cam plate is used, the two eccentric cam plates of which are symmetrically constructed. As a result of the symmetrical cam profiles, the same torque curve is achieved in both directions of rotation. The eccentric cam plate is thereby fastened to a closer shaft. The closer shaft is mounted on one end in the lower portion of the housing, and is held in the other direction by an end-cap which is provided with a bearing. On one side, the eccentric cam plate thereby comes into contact with a roller which is inserted in the damping piston and on the other side with a roller which is inserted in the spring assist element. The damping piston and the spring assist element can execute movements independently of one another. For that purpose, pressure is applied to the damping piston by a compression spring and pressure is applied to the spring assist element by the compression spring of the spring actuator so that the two above-mentioned rollers come into contact on the inside against the eccentric cam disc. Inside the damping piston there is a non-return and pressure relief valve.
An additional door closer is described in German Patent No. 40 41 824 C1, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, in which there are also a separate damping piston and a separate spring assist element. Each of the damping piston and the spring assist element is equipped with a roller. The damping piston and the spring assist element are located to the left and right in a housing so that the eccentric cam plate which is located on a shaft between them is engaged with these rollers. Pressure is applied to both the damping piston and the spring assist element by a compression spring toward the spring assist element. There are securing means to prevent a rotation of the spring assist element with respect to the damping piston. The function of the door closer is not in the least adversely affected by the presence of securing means in the form of pins, because even then, the damping piston and the spring assist element can operate completely separately from one another. The securing means can thereby be anchored, for example, on one end in the spring assist element and on the other end can be inserted without friction in blind holes on the opposite side inside the damping piston. The securing rods thereby run horizontally in relation to the vertical axis of the door closer shaft. If the damping piston and the spring assist element have a tendency to rotate with respect to one another, this rotation can be securely prevented by the securing means, because the rotational movement is prevented by the contact against the eccentric cam plate.


A drapery mounting system comprised of a drapery rod member, a drapery hanger element, and a support member for the rod. The support member is positioned below and intermediate the respective opposed ends of the drapery rod. The support member includes a saddle, a support arm, and a retainer. The saddle is shaped to support a lower external portion of said drapery rod. The saddle extends laterally of the drapery rod for less than about the cross-sectional width of the rod to permit a drapery hanger to pass unimpeded over the saddle. The saddle element preferably has longitudinally opposed edges disposed along the drapery rod. The longitudinally opposed edges are generally convexly arcuate relative to a longitudinal axis of the drapery rod. The support and retention functions are separated. The saddle supports the rod and the retainer releasably retains the drapery rod in engagement with the saddle. A support arm supports from below the saddle. The drapery hanger is slidably supported on the drapery rod member for substantially unimpeded movement past the support member. The drapery hanger typically has a generally question mark shaped form including a hook portion with an open mouth and a depending leg portion, with the open mouth preferably being of sufficient width to pass the drapery rod member laterally therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to methods and devices for pass through sliding drapery mounting systems, and, more particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to drapery rod mounting systems and associated drapery hangers that permit the hangers to directly engage and slide freely over securely mounted rods.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional support systems for draperies typically include a horizontally extending rod and hangers or hooks that engage the drapery at a lower end and are supported on the rod at an upper end. Typically, the span of the drapes is such that the rod must be supported at its endpoints and in the middle. This mid section support prevents the mid section of the rod from bending downwardly under the weight of the drapes. Typically, the drapes need to be openable to permit light to enter the room. This requires that the hangers be free to move longitudinally over the rod to carry the drapes between open and closed positions. The intermediate support for the rod interferes with this longitudinal movement of the hanger along the rod. Certain expedients had been previously proposed to facilitate the movement of hooks or hangers relative to a supporting rod where the rod enjoys intermediate support. These include, for example, Bradley U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,755 (rotatable rod supported from below by bearings mounted in a support bracket, and curtain hooks engaging the top side of the rotatable rod through bias mounted rollers so that the curtain hooks are driven laterally of the rod as the rod rotates), and Bradley U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,923 (curtain rod suspended from above on hangers and "C" shaped bearing mounted curtain hooks traversably mounted open mouth up on the curtain rod). Silverman U.S. Pat. No. 2,320,308 proposes a sliding shower curtain hook on a rod, but shower curtains are generally short enough that the rod does not require the provision of any intermediate support. Where ornamental rods, particularly round rods, are employed to moveably support drapes, typical support systems employ torus shaped rings that fully encircle and slide over the rod. The drapes are hung from the lower sides of the rings. The intermediate rod supports prevent these rings from sliding axially of the rod past its midpoint mounting. The prior art devices and methods are not without their shortcomings. A major shortcoming of typical prior art devices and methods is that the structures were complicated and therefore expensive and difficult to make and install. For example, the provision and mounting of bearings on the hooks and rods greatly complicated the prior devices. The proposed expedients for mounting the rods were complicated and expensive to make, and required considerable skill and time to mount. The prior proposed expedients were prone to failure. For example, the failure of just one of a dozen or more bearings rendered the whole system inoperable. The expense associated with the production, installation, and maintenance of the prior art devices foreclosed their usage in many markets.
These and other difficulties of the prior art have been overcome according to the present invention.

Pass through sliding drapery suspension system


A clutch having a pre-clutch and a main clutch, where the pre-clutch can be brought to an engaged or a disengaged state by a tensioning means, the pre-clutch being connected to the main clutch by means of an operative connection in such a way that the disengaged position and the engaged position are transmitted to the main clutch, and where the tensioning means is supported on a clutch basket of the main clutch.

So-called booster clutches with torque sensors are known from the patent applicant. Clutches of this type are used to be able to transmit high torques with low actuating forces of the clutch. To that end, the booster clutches enable a reduction in the actuating energy, and offer a limitation of the drag torque (anti-hopping function).

Clutch having a pre-clutch and a main clutch


A seal assembly for the protection of a static seal device for use in a vacuum pump. The seal assembly comprising at least two components which are sealingly connected together, an o-ring seal, which is engaged between the two components to prevent transfer of fluid to and from the pump between these two components and a fluid channel. The fluid channel being in the plane of the o-ring and located between the o-ring seal and a process gas flow path. The fluid channel provides a path for a barrier gas to be routed when the apparatus is in use. The channel being connectable to an external source of barrier fluid and having an outlet in fluid communication with the pump swept volume.

Vacuum pumps are known which are oil-free in their vacuum chambers and which are therefore useful in clean environments such as those found in the semiconductor industry. In such a manufacturing environment, if lubricants were present in the vacuum chambers, these materials could potentially back migrate into the process chamber and, in so doing, may cause contamination of the product being manufactured. Such dry vacuum pumps are commonly multi-stage positive displacement pumps employing intermeshing rotors in each vacuum chamber. The rotors may have the same type of profile in each chamber or the profile may change from chamber to chamber.
In either a Roots or Northey ("claw") type device, each chamber is typically formed from two separate machined stator components with the rotor components being located in the cavity formed there between. It is necessary to provide a sealing means between the two stator components in order to prevent leakage of the process gas from the pump and to prevent any ambient air from entering the pump. An o-ring is typically provided to perform this sealing function. However, given the harsh corrosive nature of the process gases these o-rings are readily attacked and need to be replaced frequently, thus causing costly servicing down times for the entire process. Furthermore, the contact surfaces of the stator can experience corrosion, which can lead to anomalies in these surfaces such that distortion of the pump case can occur. This distortion leads to a reduction in clearance between rotating and static components that, in turn, can affect the mechanical reliability of the pump.
Conventional systems are known which introduce mechanical barriers to protect the static sealing mechanism by preventing some of the hazardous/corrosive gaseous material from reaching the o-ring component. However, compatibility must be achieved between the material chosen to form this mechanical barrier and the process gas. Furthermore, additional complexity is introduced into the system by the presence of such a mechanical barrier and such a mechanical barrier will not generally protect the contact faces of the stators.
The present invention aims at overcoming the aforementioned problems by providing an alternative, simple means for protecting the sealing mechanism and the contacting stator faces.


An error detection-correction unit reads system information for operating a system from a first memory and performs error detection-correction processing. A control unit supplies the system information to a host computer in a case where the error detection-correction processing is successful. In addition, the control unit reads a backup of the system information from a second memory that is different from the first memory and supplies the backup of the system information to the host computer in a case where the detection-correction processing fails.

The present application relates to a storage control device in which a plurality of types of memory is handled. Specifically, the present application relates to a storage control device, a storage device, and an information processing system, in which system information for operating a system is stored in a plurality of types of memory, and relates to a processing method therefor and a program for causing a computer to execute the method.
In an information processing system, startup information necessary for starting up a system is prepared in advance, and the information processing system is configured to read the startup information at the time of startup. Generally, the startup information is stored in a non-volatile recording medium such as a disk or a non-volatile memory and is deployed on a main memory at the time of startup. In addition, it is similar to system information for operating the system. For example, an electronic apparatus is disclosed, in which a boot program is compressed and stored in a non-volatile memory, and the boot program is decompressed and deployed on a RAM when the power is turned on (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-072989).

Storage control device, storage device, information processing system and storage control method


A laminate structure for containers produced using an unique extrudable adhesive tie layer which incorporates an antioxidant material. The antioxidant additive provides for the necessary and superior high temperature end-uses and stability of containers made therefrom.

The invention addresses a polymer coated paperboard which can be utilized for dual ovenable applications. The polymer coating contains a product contact layer of a polyethylene terephthalate polyester. The structures make use of an adhesive tie layer which contains ethylene-methyl acrylate and an essential antioxidant component.
In the past, dual ovenable containers have been constructed from a laminate containing paperboard, a tie layer made from ethylene-methyl acrylate (EMA), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, acrylic acid copolymers, physical blends of polyethylene with about 20% polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or physical blends of ethylene-methyl acrylate with polyethylene terephthalate. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,184.
The adhesive tie material of the present invention is neither discussed nor suggested by the '184 patent. The tie material used in the '184 patent fails cooking tests as compared directly to adhesive tie layers of ethylene-methyl acrylate containing an antioxidant. This unique additive allows the container produced to exhibit the necessary and superior cooking performance. The superior materials and resultant structures allow for coating weights of the polyester to be below 25 lbs/3,000 sq. ft., something not previously successfully practical in a conventional polyethylene terephthalate structure. Weights below 25 lbs/3,000 sq. ft. of polyethylene terephthalate exhibited poor adhesion to the paperboard substrate, in addition to deleterious pinholes formed therein. Reduction of the coating weights of the product contact layer provided significant economic savings in production of the structure.
It is an object of the present invention to produce a coating for contact with a product in a dual ovenable container that is less costly than conventional polyethylene terephthalate structures using ethylene-methyl acrylate and an essential antioxidant component and further maintains product quality.
It is a further object of the present invention that reduces coating neck-in during extrusion coating and therefor high trimming and waste.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to increase adhesion of the product contact layer coating to paperboard.
Another object of the present invention is to increase flexibility of the coating structure.
Another object of the present invention is to increase coating line speed without causing detrimental effect on the quality of products being produced.
Yet another object of the present invention is the production of high temperature cooking coated paper containers.

Enhanced ethylene methyl acrylate adhesive tie material for polyester paperboard ovenable container


This inductive position sensor includes: a primary winding, and at least two secondary windings (4, 6) each constituted by several turns (8) produced on two layers of a printed circuit board. A secondary winding has turns (8) each having substantially the same shape, aligned in a direction referred to as longitudinal, each time with an offset between them. The turns (8) each have a first globally concave part (12) disposed on one layer of the printed circuit board and a second globally concave part (14) disposed on the other layer of the printed circuit board, the first part of a turn is connected to the second part of the same turn by a first via (36a) passing through the printed circuit board, the first part of a turn is connected to the second part of an adjacent turn by a second via (36b) passing through the printed circuit board.

The operating principle of an inductive sensor is based on the variation of coupling between a primary winding and secondary windings of a transformer operating at high frequency and without using a magnetic circuit. The coupling between these windings varies according to the position of a moving (electrically) conductive part, generally called the "target". Currents induced in the target in fact modify the currents induced in the secondary windings. By adapting the configuration of the windings and knowing the current injected in the primary winding, measuring the current induced in the secondary windings makes it possible to determine the position of the target.
In order to integrate such an inductive sensor in a device, notably an electronic device, it is known to produce the transformer mentioned above on a printed circuit board. The primary winding and the secondary windings are then constituted by tracks formed on the printed circuit board. The primary winding is then for example supplied by an external source and the secondary windings then carry currents induced by the magnetic field created by a current flowing in the primary winding. The target, which is a conductive part, for example made of metal, can have a simple shape. It can for example be a part cut out from sheet metal. In order to produce a linear sensor, the cutting for producing the target is for example rectangular whereas, for a rotary sensor, this cutting will be for example in the shape of an angular sector, the radius and angle of which are adapted to the movement of the part.
Generally, two sets of secondary windings are designed to produce sine and cosine functions of the position of the target over a complete travel of the sensor. Such functions (cos and sin) are well known and can be processed easily by an electronic system. By forming the ratio of the sine to the cosine and then by applying an arctangent function, an image of the position of the target is obtained. The argument of the sine and cosine functions is a linear (or affine) function of the position of the target whose travel then represents a greater or lesser portion of the spatial period of these trigonometric functions.
In order to obtain measurable induced currents reliably, it is preferable to have either a large number of turns or turns of large size. The second option is not compatible with the production of a compact sensor. Because of this, it is generally chosen to have a large number of turns.
In order to limit the space occupied on the printed circuit board, the present invention proposes producing turns to form the secondary windings on two separate layers.
In order to do this, it is appropriate to produce vias passing through the printed circuit board to allow the connection of the turns thus produced.
A purpose of the present invention is to propose an arrangement of turns for producing secondary windings of an inductive position sensor which is easy to implement.
Another purpose of the invention is to propose an arrangement making it possible to limit, for a given number of turns, the number of vias to be produced in the corresponding printed circuit board.
Advantageously, the turns will be able to be arranged in a compact manner in order to limit the overall dimensions of the sensor.
In order to facilitate the use of measurements made at the level of the secondary windings, the proposed arrangement will preferably make it possible to have a substantially constant distance between the different turns of the secondary windings and the primary winding.