A flash flocculation tank system having a plurality of tanks and a plurality of settling spheres that are magnetic and treat wastewater and/or landfill leachate and a process for decreasing the amount of time for settling solids in biologically and/or chemically treated wastewater and/or landfill leachate. The plurality of settling spheres each have a rare earth magnet and are calibrated by weight to float, sink, and to be suspending in the treated water or leachate. Insoluble waste solids gain a ferromagnetic quality after attaching to the settling spheres. The flash flocculation tank system with the settling spheres and process improve the settleability rate of the insoluble solids of the treated leachate and also allow for a smaller settling tank.

Wastewater and landfill leachate has been managed and controlled for decades to reduce and help prevent contamination of surrounding soils, waterways, and underground aquifers. Landfills are generally built away from natural habitat and where there is not an underground water source, and are used to discard solid waste materials, including old televisions, computers, telephones, paint cans, motor oil, batteries, electronic devices, and countless other waste materials and substances which are not degradable or recyclable, by burying them in layers in the soil. Besides large economic advantages to be gained, e.g., including from international and municipal sources or entities paying for waste disposal, landfills help minimize environmental harm from these solid wastes and allow waste to decompose under controlled conditions until its eventual transformation into relatively inert, stabilized material.
Landfill leachate is a "toxic soup" of liquid material that drains from a landfill and contains a wide concentration range of undesirable and toxic materials that can be harmful to the environment and health. The leachate consists of many organic and inorganic compounds that may be either dissolved or suspended in the leachate liquid, including, but not limited to, toluene, phenols, benzene, ammonia, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides, heavy metals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Modern landfills are lined with impermeable layers to prevent leachate from leaking out and contaminating groundwater or surface water of a nearby community. The leachate treatment typically consists of two basic types: biological and physical/chemical. Depending on the treatment goals, sometimes both types are combined. The organic strength of landfill leachate can be greater than 20 to 100 times the strength of raw sewage, which is why the landfills typically have pipes designed to route and collect leachate and have non permeable liners to keep the leachate from contaminating ground water and entering the drinking water in neighborhoods near the landfill.
Landfill leachate is known to be very difficult to treat. One of the main reasons for this is its often changing matrix. The pH can also fluctuate from day-to-day, making it even more difficult to treat. Factors affecting the composition of landfill leachate include: the landfill conditions (climate, pH, temperature, degree of ongoing decomposition, and landfill age); the type of waste discharged to the landfill (biodegradable or non-biodegradable, soluble or insoluble, organic or inorganic, liquid or solid, toxic or nontoxic); the landfill features (size, depth, permeability and soil mineral characteristics under the landfill), and the moisture content of the wastes.
Landfill leachate constitutes a major environmental, economical and social problem worldwide, largely because the waste volume is growing faster than the world's population. Moreover, as stricter environmental requirements are continuously imposed regarding ground and surface waters, the treatment of landfill leachate becomes a major environmental concern.
Magnetic separation for the purpose of cleaning and purifying drinking water is generally known. Also employed is sand clarification for water treatment systems because sand is inexpensive and has a density about two times that of water. This helps to settle the solids of the wastewater, usually in a clarifier. Magnetite, a fully oxidized non-toxic form of iron (Fe3O4) commonly found in the environment, has become an alternative to sand as the ballast of choice because of its inexpensiveness and its five times greater density than water. The magnetite is also ferromagnetic, allowing it to be recovered by rare earth magnets.
Another known method for treating landfill leachate in a 20 foot shipping container is known. The leachate is collected in an equalization tank which is placed underground and just below the 20 foot shipping container which houses the cleaning system. A biological tank and sedimentation tank are also placed underground. After aerating and biologically treating the raw leachate, the leachate is pumped into a flash flocculation (floc) tank inside the shipping container. Inside the shipping container is the flash floc tank, a magnetic separator, chemical feed pumps and a control panel. In this known method the customer was landlocked and had a very limited space to treat their leachate. The system uses magnetic seeding technology with magnetite as the ballast of choice. The leachate water is treated with coagulants, polymers and magnetite in the flash floc tank and then passed through fifteen magnetic disks. This process is not successful and has many disadvantages. The most difficult problem is the amount of solids and the many different types of solids in the leachate which make it practically impossible to precipitate all of the dissolved ions of the leachate and to allow them to clump or floc on a daily basis.
Another problem with this process is that if the leachate in the biological tank is not allowed enough retention time, for any reason, the raw leachate's buffering capacity is not removed and almost no benefit is gained by the biologically treated leachate. Some days there will be good floc in the flash floc tank, while other days no floc is created. In an attempt to overcome the aforementioned problems in order to treat the customer's leachate in a limited footprint, it is required to pretreat the dissolved ions in solution by removing some of them in a coagulation flocculation and sedimentation tank. By reducing the settling time of the insoluble solids the settling tanks could be reduced in size to fit inside the 20 foot shipping container. Therefore, there are several disadvantages including, but not limited to, increased complexity and steps, costs and processing time.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a leachate treating system and method for treating wastewater and/or landfill leachate that is more efficient and cost effective and allows for the benefit of a smaller processing footprint without limiting treatment effectiveness.

Leachate treating system having settling spheres and method for same


This invention relates to methods and apparatus for making and using noded cuffs on transcutaneous or intrabody prosthetic devices, such as catheters, to effect improved stability of the prosthesis/tissue opening site interface. In particular, the noded cuff apparatus of the present invention provides for positioning of the tissue opening site in a manner which facilitates more rapid establishment of a stably biointegrated and well-healed prosthesis/tissue opening site interface. In addition, in accord with the methods of the present invention, non-biointegrated portions of the noded cuff can be simply and easily removed from the underlying prosthetic device to facilitate maintenance of the stably biointegrated interface. Preferably, this removal takes place after a period of time during which the interface has become stably established. In accord with the methods and apparatus of the present invention, thus, infections or healing difficulties at the prosthesis/tissue opening site interface are greatly reduced and a more comfortable and stable interface is more rapidly established and more easily maintained.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cuffs for use on transcutaneous or intrabody prosthetic devices at locations where the devices pass through or into a tissue opening site, i.e., a natural or surgically created opening made in the skin or internal body part to accommodate the device. More specifically, the present invention is directed to methods and apparatus for establishing and maintaining more stable interfaces between the cuffed device and the tissue opening site.
2. The Relevant Technology
Many medical situations require relatively long term implantation of a prosthetic device such as a transcutaneous or intrabody catheter. An example of a transcutaneous catheter is a peritoneal catheter used in patients requiring continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). An intrabody catheter is a catheter placed entirely within the body such as, for example, a hydrocephalic shunt coursing from the ventricle of the brain to the peritoneum. Such protheses desirably establish and maintain a long-term stable interface with the surrounding tissue and particularly at tissue opening sites, i.e., natural or surgically created openings made in the skin or internal body part to accommodate the prosthesis. Problems with such devices, however, include instability of this prosthesis/tissue opening site interface and accompanying discomfort, prolonged or absent wound healing, and infectious complications which, in a worst case scenario, may prevent proper functioning of the device and/or force removal of the device.
Typically, cuffs, such as DACRON in the form of felts, velours, meshes and weaves, have been utilized at various locations along implanted prosthetic devices, including at the prosthesis/tissue opening site interface, to provide an attachment surface for biointegration with surrounding tissue to thereby stabilize the underlying prosthetic device in a desired position. It has been found, however, particularly at prosthesis/tissue opening site interfaces, that these cuffs may permit contaminants to traverse the site. For example, with CAPD and other transcutaneous catheters, the tissue opening site is generally referred to as the skin exit site. It has been observed that old blood, serum, antiseptic, lint, keratin, etc. tend to accumulate in the portion of the cuff external to the catheter/skin exit site interface. Colonization by bacteria and formation of a bacteria biofilm rapidly occurs within these accumulations. Contamination sometimes progresses through the skin exit site, resulting in a localized exit site infection. Such a local infection can easily become internalized, increasing the difficulty of treatment and the risks to the patient and creating increased morbidity and expense.
With respect to CAPD catheters, for example, infectious complications can be described as falling into several general categories, although it will be appreciated that these problems are interrelated, and may also be thought of as lying along a continuum. Clinical experience has shown that cuffing material, typically DACRON, brought through the skin exit site almost universally becomes an infection site. For this reason, it has become conventional practice to place the DACRON cuff some distance beneath the skin surface, usually 1.0-2.5 cm. Even with this design, however, a common problem is manifested as a fairly localized skin exit site infection, which involves an infection from the location where the catheter enters the skin opening site to, generally speaking, the subcutaneous portion of this first cuff. The next is a tunnel infection, which is an infection involving the first DACRON cuff, if one is applied, and along the tunnel of the subcutaneous course of the uncuffed or underlying catheter up to, or involving, the deep DACRON cuff, which is generally located in the rectus abdominus muscle. Another type of infection is peritonitis, which involves the peritoneal space surrounding the entire catheter within the peritoneum or even beyond the catheter region. It is believed that skin exit site infection can proceed to a tunnel infection and subsequently cause peritonitis, demonstrating the interrelationships of these infections. Many efforts have been directed toward reducing the incidence of skin exit site infection, but little change in infection rates has been observed, despite new advances in cuffing materials, implant techniques and skin exit site care.
Another example of these problems has been observed in connection with artificial heart and heart assist lines, where transcutaneous access is needed for electrical power and possibly venting, or for pneumatic powering of the heart. Here the infection(s) may involve the skin exit site, proceed along the drive line to the pump pocket where it can involve the entire pocket of the pump and subsequently to the valve conduits and vascular grafts. Even though it is rare for these infections to cause the demise of the patient, they do create significant morbidity and expense associated with treatment, and may require operative intervention.
It would be an advancement in the art to provide methods and apparatus permitting establishment and maintenance of a prosthesis/tissue opening site interface with improved stability. In particular, such a stable interface would be less prone to infection and/or wound healing difficulties.
Such methods and apparatus are disclosed and claimed herein.

Noded cuffs for transcutaneous intrabody prosthetic devices


An antibiotic and pharmaceutical pellet system and method provides localized sustained antibiotic release as part of a single therapeutic procedure in order to prevent infections at the injection site. The system includes an implanter apparatus for subcutaneously implanting pharmaceutical pellets in an animal through the bore of a hypodermic needle which is operably coupled to a pellet magazine, a pellet magazine, and a plurality of pellets sized to be implanted through the needle and positioned in the magazine for selective alignment of a pellet with the needle. The pellets include pharmaceutical dose pellets and antibiotic dose pellets which are packaged in the magazine in sequential order for delivery of the pharmaceutical dose followed by the antibiotic dose as part of a single injection. The system permits localized controlled and sustained absorption of the antibiotic pellet dose to combat infection in and around the site of the injection.

The present invention is broadly concerned with a pellet implant system which administers an antibiotic pellet subcutaneously along with a pharmaceutical pellet implant in a single combined procedure which provides controlled, sustained localized antibiotic release in order to prevent infections at the injection site. More particularly, it is concerned with an implanter having a pellet magazine containing antibiotic and pharmaceutical pellets with an associated injection needle, as well as structure permitting injection of pellets from the magazine through the needle for implantation under the skin of an animal. The magazine is loaded with antibiotic and pharmaceutical pellets for distribution in sequence singly or in multiples into the same injection site.
Implant technology, that is to say, procedures involving subcutaneous implant of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, is now well accepted and widespread in the areas of animal health and production enhancement as well as human health. Growth stimulants are commonly used to enhance the body weight of animals which are raised for slaughtering, such as cattle, swine, sheep, turkeys, chickens, and the like.
In the case of cattle, swine and sheep, approved growth stimulants are administered as solid pellets which are injected by an implanter equipped with a hypodermic needle. The needle is used to make a surface self-sealing and, non-coring implant receiving puncture beneath the skin of the ear of the animal. Small pellets of growth hormone are forced through the needle and left under the skin as the needle is removed from the ear. The ears are commonly discarded in slaughtering, such that no unabsorbed residues of such pellets will end up in food products intended for humans or domestic animals. The pharmaceutical in the pellets is normally formulated for timed release and continuous, sustained absorption of the active ingredients over an extended period of time.
Many types of pharmaceuticals such as bioactive compounds may also be implanted and include insulin, endocrine hormones for control of reproduction, vaccines, and biocides for flea and parasite control in humans, horses, and domestic animals such as dogs and cats. The compounds may be administered subcutaneously at any suitable location on the body.
Similar therapeutic procedures may be employed to implant drug delivery devices such as controlled release osmotic pumps in humans and animals as well as transponder devices in animals.
In the case of farm animals, the pellets are normally implanted while an animal is confined in a chute. An ear is grasped in one hand, and an implanter device having a large hypodermic needle is used to puncture the hide and subcutaneously inject a pellet dose into an implant receiving puncture. The implanting must be done carefully to insure that the pellets are properly placed and that no pellet remains extending from the puncture outside the hide. The procedure must be carried out quickly since the animals are not entirely cooperative and may shake their heads to free the held ear.
It is virtually impossible in such situations to provide a sterile injection site on a single animal or to prevent transfer of infective microbes from one animal to the next on the injecting needle. Further complicating the matter is that other procedures may be occurring at the same time as the implanting operation while the animal is confined, such as ear tagging, branding, veterinary inspections or procedures, or the like, which may further excite the animal and make injecting and disinfecting difficult. It is not unusual to even have manure at the injection site.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,797 (hereinafter "the '797 patent"), and entitled Slide Action Veterinary Implanter, which patent is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses an implanter which employs a slide action mechanism to retract an impeller, store an impeller driving force in a spring in cooperation with a latch mechanism, reset a trigger, and advance a pellet magazine, all by a single trigger actuated reciprocation of the slide mechanism. Operation of the trigger also forces the pellets from the magazine through the needle and under the skin of the animal.
Efficient implanters such as that taught in the '797 patent permit rapid sequential injection of many animals in a single session, leaving each animal with an open implant receiving puncture at the site of each injection. The injections are administered at locations such as feedlots where skin heavily contaminated with bacteria is common. Following the procedure, the implant receiving puncture is not bandaged, leaving the puncture open to contamination caused by contact with other animals, structures or the ground and by migration across the skin.
Consequently, bacteria introduced into the implant site, either during the delivery of the implant or thereafter may cause an infection at the site. Such infections may and often do result in abscesses, which may reduce the effectiveness of the implant by encapsulation of the implant pellet or by pushing the therapeutic pellet out of the original insertion implant receiving puncture, thereby preventing absorption and transport of the active ingredients. It is estimated that from about 10% to about 15% of feedlot cattle which are implanted in the United States subsequently develop abscesses.
A variety of techniques are currently employed to reduce the incidence of abscesses. Implant manufacturers recommend disinfection of the implanting tool, pellet magazines and needles, and observation of good sanitation practices during the implantation process. The implantation site may be cleaned or disinfected prior to injection to help prevent entry of resident bacteria into the implant receiving puncture and the needle, which may be employed to inject dozens of animals, may be disinfected between animals to prevent the transfer of bacteria from one animal to the next.
In addition, attempts have been made to augment the formulation of the pharmaceutical pellets themselves with boric acid, and to dust the implants prior to sale with an antibacterial compound such as oxytetracycline.
While all such measures may serve to increase sanitation and to reduce initial contamination of the implant receiving puncture, they do not administer an effective and predetermined quantity of an antibacterial agent and do not provide sustained inhibition of bacterial growth inside the implant receiving puncture itself. Controlled, sustained release of an antibacterial agent is needed to combat both microorganisms which have been introduced during the implant process and later multiply and new bacteria which may later enter through the implant receiving puncture from the surface of the hide.
Previous sustained release antibiotics for ruminants such as disclosed by Chou in U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,754 have been administered orally in bolus form. Such antibiotic preparations are systemic, rather than localized in their effects, and they must be administered orally in a separate procedure from the pellet implantation disclosed in the '797 patent.
Accordingly, there is a need for an antibiotic or bacteriostatic pellet system which delivers subcutaneously both pharmaceutical and antibiotic or bacteriostatic pellets to provide sustained localized prevention of infections at the injection site, and which does so without causing any additional implant receiving punctures.


A passive thermal system for use in aerospace vehicles includes a plurality of core-bearing radiator panels having at least one heat pipe embedded therein. The portion of the heat pipe embedded in each panel is fluidically coupled to the portions of the heat pipe in the other core-bearing radiator panels.

Communication satellites receive and transmit radio signals from and to the surface of the Earth. Although Earth-orbiting communications satellites have been in use for many years, providing adequate cooling and heat distribution for the thermally sensitive electronics components onboard such satellites continues to be a problem.
There are two primary sources of heat with which a satellite's thermal systems must contend. One source is solar radiation. Solar radiation can be absorbed by thermal insulation shields or readily reflected away from the satellite by providing the satellite with a suitably reflective exterior surface. A second source of heat is the electronics onboard the satellite. The removal of electronics-generated heat is more problematic since such heat must be collected from various locations within the satellite, transported to a site at which it can be rejected from the satellite, and then radiated into space.
Passive thermal panels can be used to dissipate heat from satellites. In one configuration, the passive thermal panel includes a honeycomb core having heat pipes embedded therein. A heat pipe is a closed chamber, typically in the form of tube, having an internal capillary structure which is filled with a working fluid. The operating-temperature range of the satellite sets the choice of working fluid; ammonia, ethane and propylene are typical choices. Heat input (i.e., from heat-generating electronics) causes the working fluid to evaporate. The evaporated fluid carries the heat towards a colder heat-output section, where heat is rejected as the fluid condenses. The rejected heat is absorbed by the cooler surfaces of the heat-output section and then radiated into space. The condensate returns to the heat input section (near to heat-generating components) by capillary forces to complete the cycle.
When two mechanically independent honeycomb panels need to be thermally coupled, such as to move heat from one panel to the next, an external "jumper" heat pipe or thermal strap is used. The jumper or thermal strap bridges the heat pipes within the two panels via a bolted interface. Because the heat pipe embedded within a given panel is a self-contained structure, the thermal interface between that heat pipe and another heat pipe is conduction only. In some cases, a small part of an embedded heat pipe from one panel will protrude therefrom and interface conductively with the embedded heat pipe in the adjacent panel.
Because each of the thermal interfaces in the scenarios discussed above is a conduction-only interface, a significant thermal resistance is created to the flow of heat from panel to panel, even when using state-of-the-art interface materials and techniques.
FIG. 4 depicts a method in the prior art for forming a passive thermal system consisting of a several honeycomb radiator panels and a plurality of heat pipes. In accordance with step 401 of method 400, the heat pipes are formed. Suppose, for example, that the passive thermal system is to have three radiator panels with three heat pipes in each panel. As a consequence, a total of nine heat pipes of appropriate length would be formed, typically via an extrusion process. The heat pipes are then filled with fluid, such as ammonia, per step 403.
In accordance with step 405, the heat pipes are next bent into appropriate shapes, as dictated by the satellite design. For example, there might be various holes in the radiator panels to accommodate wires, rods, etc. that connect structures disposed on the exterior of the satellite to internal components (e.g., processors, motors, etc.). Because each radiator panel has its own captive heat pipes, all bends in the heat pipes are substantially in plane (i.e., parallel to the radiator panel). Filling step 403 and bending step 405 can be performed in reverse order.
The heat pipes are then processed and tested, in known fashion, per step 407. Assuming all the heat pipes pass the test protocol, they are then embedded into the honeycomb radiator panels in accordance with step 409. To continue with the example, three heat pipes would be embedded in each of the three panels. Of course, to embed the heat pipes, one of the two face sheets of metal that sandwich the honeycomb interior of each radiator panel must remain off. And passage ways through the honeycomb core must be formed to accommodate the heat pipes. Care is required to ensure that at the junction between radiator panels, the ends of the heat pipes in the adjacent panels align with one another so that they can be thermally coupled. This requires that each passage way through the honeycomb core of each panel is in the correct location.
In step 411, the second face sheet is placed on each panel. And in step 413, a film adhesive that is used to attach the second face sheet to the honeycomb is cured, thereby completing each panel.
Finally, in step 415, the radiator panels are thermally coupled, such as by using jumpers or thermal straps to thermally couple each heat pipe in one of the panels to a respective heat pipe in the adjacent radiator panel. As previously indicated, the jumpers or thermal straps facilitate conductive heat transfer across the interface of the heat pipes in adjacent panels. Step 415 is rather labor intensive.
A need therefore remains for transporting heat from panel to panel in satellites and other aeronautical applications.

Fluidicially coupled heat pipes and method therefor


A loudspeaker system composed of a flexible panel with an affixed array of force actuators, a signal processing system, and interface electronic circuits is described. The system described is capable of creating a pattern of standing bending waves at any location on the panel and the instantaneous amplitude, velocity, or acceleration of the standing waves can be controlled by an audio signal to create localized acoustic sources at the selected locations in the plane of the panel.

Loudspeakers that employ bending mode vibrations of a diaphragm or plate to reproduce sound were first proposed at least 90 years ago. The design concept reappeared in the 1960's when it was commercialized as the "Natural Sound Loudspeaker," a trapezoidal shaped, resin-Styrofoam composite diaphragm structure driven at a central point by a dynamic force transducer. In the description of that device, the inventors identified the "multi-resonance" properties of the diaphragm and emphasized that the presence of higher-order modes increased the efficiency of sound production. The Natural Sound Loudspeaker was employed in musical instruments and hi-fi speakers marketed by Yamaha, Fender, and others but it is rare to find surviving examples today. Similar planar loudspeaker designs were patented around the same time by Bertagni and marketed by Bertagni Electroacoustic Systems (BES).
The basic concept of generating sound from bending waves in plates was revisited by New Transducers Limited in the late 1990's and named the "Distributed-Mode Loudspeaker" (DML). Further research on the mechanics, acoustics, and psychoacoustics of vibrating plate loudspeakers illuminated many of the issues of such designs and provided design tools for the further development of the technology, which remains commercially available from Redux Sound and Touch, a descendant of the original New Transducers Limited by Sonance, which can be traced back to the original BES Corporation in the 1970's, and by others including Tectonic Audio Labs and Clearview Audio.
Though flat-panel loudspeakers possess clear advantages over traditional cone loudspeakers in the areas of weight, form-factor, and the potential to serve as low-cost wave field synthesis arrays, they have yet to experience any significant integration into commercial products. The boundary conditions of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and TV's can be difficult to model, as the edges of the panel are rarely fixed uniformly around the perimeter. The sound radiation qualities of localized regions of vibration can exhibit irregularities in frequency response and directivity, as no specification is made regarding the vibration amplitude or spatial response within the vibrating region.
Therefore, what are needed are devices, systems and methods that overcome challenges in the present art, some of which are described above.

Method for rendering localized vibrations on panels


After the active layer including indium is formed, the evaporation preventing layer is formed at a temperature which does not cause liberation of indium. The p-type Al.sub.X Ga.sub.1-X N (0.ltoreq.X.ltoreq.1) or the like is used for the evaporation preventing layer. Increasing the substrate temperature to as high as 1020.degree. C. for forming the upper cladding layer does not cause liberation of indium from the active layer because the evaporation preventing layer is provided. As a result, the composition ratio of indium can be easily controlled and the high-quality active layer and the high-quality interface between the active layer and the upper cladding layer can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compound semiconductor light emitting devices and manufacturing methods thereof and, more particularly, to a semiconductor laser diode and a light emitting diode capable of emitting blue light.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 17 schematically shows a cross sectional structure of a conventional AlGaN/InGaN/AlGaN type compound semiconductor light emitting device (semiconductor laser, light emitting diode) capable of emitting blue light.
Referring to FIG. 17, the semiconductor light emitting device includes a sapphire (0001) substrate 1, a GaN or AlN buffer layer 2, an n-type GaN layer 3, n-type Al.sub.Z Ga.sub.1-Z N (0.ltoreq.Z.ltoreq.1) lower cladding layer 4, a non-doped or Zn-doped In.sub.Y Ga.sub.1-Y N (0.ltoreq.Y.ltoreq.1) active layer (or referred to as a light emitting layer) 5, a p-type Al.sub.Z Ga.sub.1-Z N (0.ltoreq.Z.ltoreq.1) upper cladding layer 7, and a p-type GaN cap layer 8, stacked on sapphire (0001) substrate 1 in this order. An n-type electrode 10 and a p-type electrode 9 are formed at n-type GaN layer 3 and p-type GaN cap layer 8, respectively.
Such compound semiconductor light emitting device is generally manufactured through the steps below by metal organic chemical vapor deposition method (hereinafter referred to as "MOCVD method").
(1) A surface of sapphire substrate 1 is processed at the temperature of approximately 1050.degree. C.
(2) The substrate temperature is lowered to approximately 510.degree. C. to grow thin GaN or AlN buffer layer 2.
(3) The substrate temperature is elevated to 1020.degree. C. to grow n-type GaN layer 3.
(4) The n-type AlGaN lower cladding layer 4 is grown at the same temperature.
(5) The substrate temperature is lowered to approximately 800.degree. C. to grow non-doped InGaN type active layer (or Zn-doped light emitting layer) 5 to have a thickness of approximately 100-500.ANG..
(6) The substrate temperature is increased to approximately 1020.degree. C. to grow p-type AlGaN upper cladding layer 7.
(7) The p-type GaN cap layer 8 is grown at the same temperature.
(8) After etching, p-type electrode 9 and n-type electrode 10 are formed.
In the steps above, active layer 5 including indium is grown at the temperature of approximately 800.degree. C. because a desired indium ratio cannot be obtained at a growth temperature of 1000.degree. C. or higher since the vapor pressure of indium is relatively high. In addition, AlGaN cladding layer 7 is grown at 1020.degree. C. because the layer cannot have high quality crystal unless it is grown at a temperature of 1000.degree. C. or higher.
Therefore, in the steps (4)-(6) above the light emitting device goes through the growth temperature profile shown in FIG. 16. In FIG. 16, the horizontal axis shows the growth direction of the semiconductor and the vertical axis shows the growth temperature.
However, the conventional method of manufacturing compound semiconductor device described above has a problem that, when the substrate temperature is increased to approximately 1020.degree. C. to grow p-type AlGaN upper cladding layer 7, indium liberates from active layer (light emitting layer) 5 including indium formed at the previous step. Such liberation of indium leads to degradation of the interface between active layer 5 and upper cladding layer 7 and makes it difficult to control the mixed crystal ratio of indium and the thickness of active layer 5.

Method of making compound semiconductor light emitting device having evaporation preventing layer Al.sub.x Ga.sub.(1-x) N


A transfer case control system or apparatus 10 is provided for use on a four-wheel drive vehicle of the type having a transfer case 32, a front driveshaft 22 and a rear driveshaft 26. Transfer case control system 10 includes a conventional microcontroller or controller 40 having a memory unit 42 and operating under stored program control. Controller 40 is communicatively coupled to sensors 44, 46, 48, and to transfer case 32. Controller 40 selectively transmits a torque control or minimum duty cycle signal to transfer case 32, which is at least partially based upon the angular position of the vehicle""s steering wheel and the speed of driveshafts 22, 26.

This invention relates to a method for controlling a transfer case and more particularly, to a method for controlling a transfer case within a four wheel drive vehicle which provides an improved response by monitoring and reacting to the position or angle of the vehicle""s steering wheel.
Four-wheel drive vehicles typically include a transfer case which selectively transfers torque and power from the vehicle""s input shaft to a front and a rear driveshaft, thereby selectively rotating the front and rear driveshafts. The transfer case includes a conventional electromagnetic clutch assembly which typically and selectively transfers torque from a primary driveshaft (e.g., the rear driveshaft) to a secondary driveshaft (e.g., the front driveshaft), thereby reducing the torque provided to the primary driveshaft and increasing the torque provided to the secondary driveshaft. The clutch assembly is typically and communicatively coupled to a controller and/or control system which determines the amount of torque that is to be provided to the front and rear driveshafts (e.g., primary and secondary driveshafts), based upon vehicle sensory data, and which generates a control or command signal to the clutch assembly, thereby controlling the amount of torque which is provided to front and rear driveshafts. Particularly, in order to provide torque and traction to the front and rear wheels of the vehicle and to avoid relative slip between the front and rear wheels, the transfer case controller and/or control system typically monitor the speed of both the front and rear driveshafts and the position of the vehicle""s throttle (i.e., xe2x80x9cthrottle positionxe2x80x9d).
While these types of prior systems provide sufficient traction and control to the front and rear wheels of a vehicle in many situations, they suffer from some drawbacks. One drawback associated with these prior systems is that, while they typically monitor and react to the throttle position and the respective speeds of the front and rear wheels, they do not monitor the angle and/or position of the steering wheel of the vehicle. Hence, these systems do not adequately account for situations in which the front and rear wheel speeds naturally differ, such as when the vehicle is engaged in a turn. These prior systems must allow for an undesirable amount of slip to compensate for situations in which the vehicle is in a turn. As a result, these prior systems often allow slippage to occur between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle, or cause and/or suffer from undesirable noise and vibration harshness (xe2x80x9cNVHxe2x80x9d), which is perceived by the operator and/or passengers of the vehicle.
There is therefore a need for a method and an apparatus for controlling a transfer case within a four-wheel drive vehicle which provides an improved response by monitoring and considering the position or angle of the vehicle""s steering wheel.
It is a first object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for controlling a transfer case within a four-wheel drive vehicle which overcomes at least some of the previously delineated drawbacks of the prior systems, devices, and/or methods.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for controlling a transfer case within a four-wheel drive vehicle which monitors and desirably reacts to the position or angle of the vehicle""s steering wheel.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a system for controlling a transfer case is provided. The transfer case is operatively disposed within a four-wheel drive vehicle of the type having a steering wheel and a primary and a secondary driveshaft, and is effective to selectively transfer torque between the primary and secondary driveshafts. The system includes a sensor which senses an angle in which the steering wheel is positioned and which generates at least one signal representing the sensed angle; and a controller which is communicatively coupled to the transfer case and to the sensor, which receives the at least one signal and which utilizes the at least one signal to selectively generate an output signal which is based upon the sensed angle and which is effective to selectively control the torque which is transferred to the primary and secondary driveshafts.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for controlling a transfer case which is operatively disposed within a four wheel drive vehicle. The vehicle is of the type having a selectively positionable steering wheel, a front driveshaft and a rear driveshaft. The transfer case is adapted to selectively provide torque to the front and rear driveshafts. The method comprises the steps of: determining an angular position of the steering wheel; using the angular position to calculate a minimum duty cycle value; and selectively providing the minimum duty cycle value to the transfer case, effective to alter the torque provided to the front and rear driveshafts.

Method for controlling a transfer case which reacts to steering wheel angle position


In one embodiment, a method is provided. In the method of this embodiment, a stimulus signal set may be generated and supplied, as input, to first circuitry. Each respective stimulus signal in the stimulus signal set may be generated based at least in part upon a respective non-null subset of an input signal set. No two respective stimulus signals in the stimulus signal set may be generated based upon the same respective non-null subset of the input signal set. The stimulus signal set may include a respective number of stimulus signals that is greater than a respective number of input signals in the input signal set. Of course, many modifications, variations, and alternatives are possible without departing from the method of this embodiment.

In one conventional integrated circuit test technique, the integrated circuit includes built-in scan chains for testing. During testing of the integrated circuit, each scan chain receives, via a respective input terminal of the integrated circuit, test inputs from an external test input generator, and generates test outputs in response to these inputs. The test outputs generated by the scan chains are supplied, via respective output terminals of the integrated circuit, to an external test analyzer. The test analyzer compares the test outputs that it receives to expected outputs to determine therefrom whether the integrated circuit is operating properly.
The cost of testing integrated circuits using this conventional technique typically is related to factors such as the time involved in carrying out the test and test complexity. Typically, these factors may be related to other factors, such as, the volume of test inputs supplied to the integrated circuit by the test input generator, the volume of test outputs analyzed by the test analyzer, and the cost of the test input generator and the test analyzer. By increasing the number of input and output terminals via which such inputs and outputs are propagated to and from, respectively, the integrated circuit, the time involved in carrying out such testing may be reduced, at least to some extent. However, increasing the number of input and output terminals may result in increasing the integrated circuit's packaging size and manufacturing cost.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly, and be defined only as set forth in the accompanying claims.


A modular chemical/biological headgear system includes a helmet liner of a resilient shock absorbing material that conforms generally to the shape of a wearer's head, provides a cavity for removable installation of one or more modular filters in the back, and a duct to convey filtered air from the one or more modular filters to a face mask. The helmet liner may be equipped and configured with a variety of interchangeable modular components including hardened outer shells, communications modules, enhanced chemical biological filters, and the like, to meet a wide variety of operational needs.

Historically, air-purifying respirator masks such as those intended for protection against chemical and biological agents were not specifically designed for use in combination with helmets, headsets, and other head mounted gear. Increasingly, however, military, homeland security, and civilian law enforcement personnel are required to wear chemical/biological air purifying filtration apparatus along with helmets, headsets, face shields and other head mounted gear. The lack of integration between traditional respirator masks and other head mounted equipment has caused discomfort, difficulty in fitting and obtaining a proper air seal, premature fatigue and diminished capabilities for wearers, especially after extended periods of use. The addition of night vision goggles, communications gear, and Other head mounted apparatus further exacerbates the problem.
Various efforts have been directed to integrating air-purifying filtration apparatus with head mounted gear. One example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,826,783 issued on Dec. 7, 2004 to Grove, et al., a co-applicant herein ("'783 patent"), and is incorporated by reference in its entirety. The '783 patent discloses a chemical/biological protection helmet, especially suited to use by aircraft personnel, that incorporates a self-contained air-purifying filter system to provide protection against a range of chemical and biological agents. The air-purifying filter in the '783 patent is attached to the helmet behind the wearer's head. Ducting within the helmet connects the rear mounted filter to the front to provide filtered air to the user. Placement of the filter behind the head advantageously positions the center-of-gravity of the helmet system closer to a point lying over the shoulders of the wearer. This results in improved stability and comfort and removes the filter from the wearer's field of view for better visibility. While the '781 patent provides significant improvements over the prior art, further improvements are needed, particularly in the areas of operational flexibility and modularity. For example, components of the '783 patent's chemical/biological protection helmet are not configured to be interchangeably incorporated into different chemical/biological personal protection systems. In addition, reconfiguration of system component parts to meet different operational needs is limited. Embodiments according to the present invention are designed to address at least the foregoing needs.

Modular chemical/biological headgear system

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


A digitally controlled oscillator includes a ring oscillator, a parallel resistor bank connected to a first terminal of the ring oscillator and having a resistance that varies according to a digital code, and a serial resistor bank connected to a second terminal of the ring oscillator and having a resistance that varies according to the digital code. A frequency of the ring oscillator linearly varies with a variation in the resistance of the parallel resistor bank and the resistance of the serial resistor bank according to the digital code.

The inventive concepts described herein generally relate to oscillators, and more particularly, the invention concepts relate to digitally controlled oscillators.
Generally, a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) must have a relatively wide tuning range in order to execute digital automatic frequency calibration of a phase locked loop (PLL) or a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) of a wide operating range.
In the meantime, when frequency is controlled in a ring oscillator type DCO using a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a current starved transistor, a transistor used for a current source has a size that is significantly larger than a transistor used for a ring oscillator, and it is difficult to obtain a wide tuning range of about 2 decades.
In an effort to obtain an oscillator of a wide tuning range, a resistor or a capacitor may be switched according to a digital code. In this case, a frequency output from the oscillator varies generally along a 1/x curve since the frequency is inversely proportional to the resistance and the capacitance. If the frequency varies nonlinearly, the resolution of the frequency, which varies with the digital code, is degraded.


Circuits and methods for retiming a frequency-divided clock are provided. A first sampling circuit samples the frequency-divided clock with a rising edge of a sampling clock. A second sampling circuit samples the frequency-divided clock with a falling edge of the sampling clock. A multiplexer in communication with the first and second sampling circuits selects one of the samples as a retimed version of the frequency-divided clock. The particular sample selected is preferably the sample less likely to produce an erroneous retimed version of the frequency-divided clock.

This invention relates to phase-locked loops (PLLs). More particularly, this invention relates to PLLs with improved retiming circuits.
PLLs are widely used in many applications. Typically, PLLs output one or more clock signals locked to both the phase and frequency of a reference clock. PLLs lock the output clock(s) to the reference clock by adjusting the phase and frequency of a PLL internal oscillator.
In one PLL implementation, sometimes referred to as a frequency-multiplying PLL, the PLL adjusts the frequency of the internal oscillator (fOSC) to a frequency equal to the reference clock frequency (fREF) multiplied by n (i.e., fOSC=n*fREF). The PLL locks the phase of the internal oscillator to the reference clock. A clock output by the internal oscillator is frequency divided by n before the divided clock is compared to the reference clock by a phase/frequency detector.
Frequency dividing a clock output by a PLL oscillator produces spurs (i.e., unwanted frequency components) in the frequency spectrum of the divided clock. These spurs undesirably modulate the output of the phase/frequency detector, which increases the total jitter produced by the PLL and therefore degrades the integrity of the PLL output clock(s). Some PLLs use retiming circuits to reduce amplitudes of the spurs. A PLL retiming circuit typically receives the divided clock as input, and outputs a retimed clock for comparison to the reference clock.
Conventional retiming circuits sample the frequency-divided clock with the PLL oscillator clock. This produces a retimed clock with reduced spur levels, but can cause the retimed clock to be erroneous when the sampling occurs during a logic transition of the divided clock (e.g., a transition from logic "0" to logic "1"). Particularly, samples taken during a logic transition of the divided clock may have voltages insufficient for comparison to the reference clock. Additionally, the voltage sampled during a logic transition of the divided clock may be attributable to the spurs in the divided clock, and not to a desired component of the divided clock at the reference clock frequency. The likelihood that conventional retiming circuits will produce an erroneous retimed clock increases with process and temperature variations.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide PLL retiming circuits that are less likely to produce an erroneous retimed clock.

Retiming circuits for phase-locked loops


An angle-torque sensor has: a torque detection coil that detects a change in state quantity in a mechanism to detect a relative angle made between input axis and output axis of a torsion bar to be twisted by a torque; an angle detection coil that detects a change in state quantity in a mechanism to detect a rotation angle of a reduction axis which rotates with a rotation being transmitted from the input axis or output axis and being reduced by a reduction mechanism; a torque detection circuit that detects the relative angle from the output of the torque detection coil; and an angle detection circuit that detects the rotation angle from the output of the angle detection coil.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an angle sensor for detecting the rotation angle of a rotating axis, an angle-torque sensor for detecting the rotation angle and torque of a rotating axis, and an electric power steering unit using the angle sensor or angle-torque sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Steering sensors are used in an electric power steering unit for automobile in generating a motor torque according to a steering torque by the driver to assist the steering of tires. For example, such a steering sensor is disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open Nos. 5-149805 and 6-102113. This steering sensor is a noncontact type sensor, detecting the twisting of torsion bar through a change in inductance, thereby obtaining the steering torque. Also, Japanese patent application laid-open Nos. 2001-91375 and 2001-91377 discloses an angle-torque sensor that a torque sensor is integrated with an angle sensor.
For the electric power steering unit, a torque sensor for detecting the steering torque is needed to control the motor torque. An inexpensive torque sensor is desired to lower the manufacturing cost of the electric power steering unit.
Also, for the electric power steering unit, an angle sensor, so called steering angle sensor, for detecting the angle of tires to the straight driving direction of car is needed other than the torque sensor. Because, when the driver releases his hands from the steering wheel while driving a car, the motor should be controlled such that the steering direction of the tires is automatically returned to the straight driving direction as done by a car with no electric power steering unit installed.
By using such an angle-torque sensor that a torque sensor is integrated with an angle sensor as disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open Nos. 2001-91375 and 2001-91377, the electric power steering unit can have a reduced size.
A sensor is at present desired that can detect the absolute angle of steering axis to make three to four turns with high precision while offering a low manufacturing cost thereof.
In the sensor disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-91375, a rotation angle of input axis is obtained from the output of first and second magnetic sensors to detect the intensity of magnetic filed in magnetic wave bar disposed on input axis, a steering torque applied to input axis is obtained from an angle difference between a rotation angle of input axis to be obtained from a detection signal of first magnetic sensor for detecting the intensity of magnetic field in magnetic wave bar disposed on input axis and a rotation angle of output axis to be obtained from a detection signal of third magnetic sensor for detecting the intensity of magnetic field in magnetic wave bar disposed on output axis, and its principle is that a fraction of one turn in steering axis is detected as one cycle. In general, since the steering wheel rotates more than one turn clockwise or counterclockwise, the angle sensor is needed to detect an absolute angle of 720° or more. However, the sensor disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-91375 lacks a precision in detecting the absolute angle since it uses the above principle.
The sensor disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-91377 is capable of rotating with input axis and sliding in the direction of input axis, a sliding member to which magnets with different polarities are alternately attached on the circumference is fitted into input axis, a change in flux of magnet according to the sliding and rotation in the axis direction of the sliding member is detected by a first and second magnetic sensors, and a steering torque applied to input axis and a rotation angle is thus detected. However, the sensor uses the sliding member with such a complicated structure and, therefore, the manufacturing cost becomes expensive.

Angle sensor, angle-torque sensor and electric power steering unit using same


An open fluid channel with wind powered cyclonic separation for debris removal. The present disclosure is a channel shape, applied to a rain gutter, that harnesses wind energy to create cyclonic separation wherein channel debris, excited to rotary motion by a vortex are, upon gaining sufficient angular momentum ejected from the channel, reducing the need to manually clear the rain gutter.

The present disclosure relates to a rain gutter and more specifically a fluid flow channel with features to foster cyclonic circulation within the channel to eject debris.
Conventional rain gutter systems include generally horizontal gutters to collect water from a roof surface, and vertical downspouts to drain water from the gutters to the ground below. A problem with such gutters is that they also accumulate debris such as leaves. These accumulations must be removed from time to time, and someone standing on a ladder typically does this manually.
Cyclonic clearing of debris, from a channel used for rainwater conveyance, serendipitously discovered while testing a channel adapted to a fluid flow scavenging system without the benefit of the scavenger assembly. The fluid flow scavenging system is the subject of pending application Ser. No. 12/930,218.
Environmental tests of the fluid flow channel without a scavenger system showed it to be unusually clear for its location relative to tree foliage and expected debris deposition rates. Initial observation showed a gutter channel would fill with leaf and seed litter and subsequent inspection showed a clear channel. It was then theorized that wind action was somehow interacting with the channel to eject leaf litter better than anticipated. To check if a similar result would be observed, testing was conducted on two additional homes with correlating outcomes. Video analysis, under controlled conditions, showed rotational movement of leaf litter in the channel prior to expelling, which is consistent with particle movement in cyclonic separation devices that harness vortical motion to separate particles from a gas.
A search of prior art gutter channel profiles has shown that none appear to efficiently harness cyclonic circulation as a means to eject debris from a gutter channel. An extensive search of gutter profiles that could potentially act in a similar manner found the Victorian Ogee profile, common in Great Britain, to be relevant prior art. Testing of a simulated Victorian Ogee profile showed it was not well optimized to take advantage of cyclonic separation.
Other prior art shows ogee wooden gutter profiles to also be relevant. None were tested as of the writing of this application. However, analysis of the shape in light of what this application reveals shows them to be suboptimal in terms of cyclonic separation as a debris ejection mechanism.
The present disclosure reveals what is a previously unharnessed functionality applied to rain gutters which can offer a lower cost simplified solution to the problem of maintaining clear rain gutters.

Rain gutter with cyclonic debris ejection


A process for producing one or more white oils, by: a) hydroisomerization dewaxing a waxy feed with a defined composition over a highly selective and active wax hydroisomerization catalyst with a defined composition under conditions sufficient to produce a white oil; and b) collecting one or more white oils, wherein the yield of white oils is high, and they have a low pour point and a good Saybolt color. Also, a process for producing medicinal grade white oils, by a)hydroisomerization dewaxing a waxy feed with a defined composition over a highly selective and active wax hydroisomerization catalyst with a defined composition under conditions sufficient to produce a white oil, b) collecting technical grade white oils having a low pour point and good Saybolt color in high yield, and c) hydrofinishing the technical grade white oils at conditions sufficient to produce medicinal grade white oils that pass the RCS test.

White oils are essentially colorless. White oils may be either technical or medicinal grade. Technical white oils have a Saybolt color by ASTM D 156-02 of greater than +20. Medicinal grade white oils have a Saybolt color of greater than +25, more particularly equal to +30. Medicinal and technical white oil specifications require that the products have a low UV absorbance at different UV spectral ranges, as defined in FDA 178.3620 and FDA 178.3620. Medicinal grade white oils for use in food applications are required to have a kinematic viscosity at 100 degrees C. greater than 8.5 cSt and a 5 wt % boiling point greater than 391 degrees C.
White oils have high commercial value but generally are expensive to produce since they require a number of process steps including hydrocracking, high pressure hydrogen treatment, and treating by an adsorbent or a solvent. There is an incentive to produce oils which meet white oil specifications at lower processing cost. What is desired are processes not requiring hydrocracking, which will produce high quality technical and medicinal grade white oils in high yield. The desired processes would also reduce costs by requiring a lower hydrogen partial pressure for hydroisomerization dewaxing, and having a reduced number of process steps. What is also desired is a composition of white oil with high viscosity index, desired composition of molecules with cycloparaffin functionality, and low pour point, such that it may be used in a wide variety of applications.
The present invention provides solutions to shortcomings in the prior art, where white oils are either made using process steps that significantly reduce the yield of white oils that are produced out of waxy feed, utilize hydroisomerization dewaxing catalysts having low selectivity and activity, or require significant processing after catalytic dewaxing. Examples of processes that require hydrocracking prior to catalytic dewaxing, which would reduce the yield of white oils produced from a waxy feed are described in WO2004/000975, EP1382639A1, EP1366137, EP1366134, EP876446, WO200181508A1, WO200027950A1. Examples of processes that did not recognize the benefits associated with the use of highly selective and active hydroisomerization dewaxing catalysts under low hydrogen partial pressure to produce white oils at high yield without extensive processing after catalytic dewaxing are described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/744,870 and 10/747,152, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,402. Other processes, such as U.S. 20040004021A1, teach how to make white oils with high viscosity indexes, but they are not appropriate when using waxy feeds having greater than 45 wt % n-paraffins and having very low sulfur and nitrogen; and/or the processes are not optimized to produce high yields of white oil from waxy feed.

Process to make white oil from waxy feed using highly selective and active wax hydroisomerization catalyst


An image-capturing apparatus is provided that comprises an imaging device, a support member, a drive mechanism, and a fixed member. The support member supports the imaging device. The drive mechanism moves the support member in a plane parallel to an imaging surface of the imaging device and in an independent first and second directions. The fixed member is placed within a support-member movable-range, in which the support member is moved by the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism induces impact on the support member by engaging the support member with the fixed member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-capturing apparatus that compensates for a camera-shake by motion of an imaging device, in particular, a digital camera having an interchangeable lens that is provided with a camera-shake compensation mechanism or an anti-shake mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of camera-shake compensation devices are proposed that compensate for a blur of a captured image induced by a shake of a camera body. Conventionally, a camera-shake compensation device, which counterbalances a camera-shake with movement of an imaging device, is known. However, when using a camera with a camera-shake compensation device that shakes the imaging device, it is difficult to hermetically insulate the imaging device from the open air. Therefore, alien substances including dust may stick on the surface of the imaging device, so that such a camera can have problems in which the alien substances deteriorate the image quality when the alien substances come out in the captured image. Particularly, for digital camera with an interchangeable lens, the dust easily enters the camera so that image deterioration due to alien substances is a substantial problem.
To solve the above problem, an image-capturing apparatus is proposed in U.S. 2003/0067544A1 that hermetically encloses an imaging device inside optical filters, such as an optical low-pass filter, an infrared cut-off filter, and so on, to prevent the surface of the imaging device from being exposed to the alien substances. Even for the above image-capturing apparatus, the alien substances stick on the outer surface of the optical filters. However, the image deterioration can be suppressed by blurring the images of the alien substances by having a sufficient distance between the surface of the imaging device (or the imaging surface) and the outer surface of the optical filters.

Image-capturing apparatus and camera-shake compensation mechanism


An aerating device adapted to be retrofit to existing household lawn mowers comprising a pair of wheels each having a plurality of tines extending therefrom for penetrating a lawn and removing therefrom a section of soil, thereby aerating the lawn. The tines are offset from the center of the wheel to utilize the rotational energy of the wheel and the weight of the lawn mower to penetrate the lawn without the application of additional force by the user. In this manner, a user can simultaneously cut his/her lawn and aerate the same.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for aerating lawns and, in particular, to a aerating device for use with a conventional household lawn mower.
Aeration of a lawn is necessary to permit nutrients and water to reach the root system, thereby promoting a lush, healthy lawn. Aeration is accomplished by creating holes in the soil or by removing cylinders of soil from the lawn. The majority of aerating devices currently available are large, expensive commercial units that are impractical for the average homeowner.
Other devices, designed for use by the homeowner, have failed to achieve commercial success due to various shortcomings, namely difficulty in use and expense. One such device is a manually operable unit designed to be plunged by the user into the soil, requiring significant physical strength as well as a great deal of time to aerate an average sized lawn.
Attempts at providing aeration devices have been made in which their is a spiked wheel attached to the rear end of a lawn mower as well as another wheel attached spring device which in turn is attached to the rear end of a lawn mower. This apparatus is rather complicated in construction and its rearward location interferes with the bagging operation of the lawn mowers. Furthermore, when this device is used on lawn mowers that are manufactured with protective guards designed to stop debris from hitting the operator's feet its rearward location may interfere with the protective guard and in fact endanger the user. It is also difficult to both aerate and mow at the same time.
It is therefore, the object of the present invention to provide an aerating device that can be retrofit to existing manual and power lawn mowers, which does not have the disadvantages found in the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an aerating device for attachment to an existing lawn mower that is inexpensive, safe and simple in construction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an aerating device that does not interfere with the normal operation of the lawn mower, thereby allowing a user to simultaneously cut and aerate his/her lawn.
These advantages as well as others will be found in the following disclosure. Full details of the present invention are set forth in the following description and in the appended drawings.


When a downlink transmission is performed in the handover state in a mobile communication system having a mobile station, base stations and a base station controller, user data from the base station controller is transmitted from a first base station to the mobile station and error correction code for the user data from the base station controller is transmitted from a second base station to the mobile station. The mobile station subjects the received user data to error correction processing using the received error correction code and decodes the user data. Also, at the time of an uplink transmission in the handover state, user data and error correction code are transmitted from the mobile station to the base station controller via separate transmission paths.

This invention relates to a communication system and to a handover communication method thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a communication system, which is equipped with a mobile station, base station and base station controller, for sending and receiving user data via two or more transmission paths between the base station controller and mobile station at the time of handover, and to a handover communication method.
A wireless communication system that employs the W-CDMA scheme has been standardized by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), and actual service has begun in Japan as well. FIG. 34 is a schematic view of the configuration of a wireless communication system. A radio access system (RAN: Radio Access Network) in 3GPP comprises an RNC (Radio Network Controller) 1, base stations (Node B's) 3a, 3b, . . . and UE's (User Equipment: mobile stations) 5, 6, . . . . A base station controller 1 is connected to a CN (Core Network) 7 by a Iu interface, and the base stations 3a, 3b are connected to the base station controller 1 by Iub interfaces.
In such a mobile communication system compliant with 3GPP specifications, transmission power control is carried out in such a manner that a prescribed error rate is obtained at the base stations 3a, 3b and mobile stations 5, 6 and in such a manner that transmission power will not become excessive. FIG. 35 is a diagram for describing such transmission power control (inner-loop control) and illustrates a case where the transmission power of a base station is controlled.
A spread-spectrum modulator 3a1 of the base station 3a spread-spectrum modulates transmit data using a spreading code conforming to a specified channel. The spread-spectrum modulated signal is subjected to processing such as orthogonal modulation and frequency conversion and the resultant signal is input to a power amplifier 3a2, which amplifies this signal and transmits the amplified signal toward the mobile station 5 from an antenna. A despreading unit 5a in the receiver of the mobile station applies despread processing to the receive signal and a demodulator 5b demodulates the receive data. A SIR measurement unit 5c measures the power ratio between the receive signal and an interference signal and a comparator 5d compares target SIR and measured SIR. If the measured SIR is greater than the target SIR, the comparator 5d creates a command (a down command) that lowers the transmission power by TPC (Transmission Power Control) bits. If the measured SIR is less than the target SIR, the comparator 5d creates a command (an up command) that raises the transmission power by the TPC bits. The target SIR is a SIR value necessary to obtain, e.g., 10−3 (error occurrence at a rate of once every 1000 times). This value is input to the comparator 5d from a target-SIR setting unit 5e. A spread-spectrum modulator 5f spread-spectrum modulates the transmit data and TPC bits. After spread-spectrum modulation, the mobile station 5 subjects the signal to processing such as a DA conversion, orthogonal modulation, frequency conversion and power amplification and transmits the resultant signal toward the base station 3a from an antenna. A despreading unit 3a3 on the side of the base station applies despread processing to the signal received from the mobile station 5, and a demodulator 3a4 demodulates the receive data and TPC bits and controls the transmission power of the power amplifier 3a2 in accordance with a command specified by the TPC bits.
FIGS. 36 and 37 are uplink and downlink frame structures, respectively, standardized by 3GPP. "Down" indicates the direction in which a base station transmits data to a mobile station. Conversely, "up" indicates the direction in which a mobile station transmits data to a base station.
As illustrated in FIG. 36, the uplink frame has a dedicated data channel (Dedicated Physical Data Channel: DPDCH) on which only transmit data is transmitted, and a dedicated control channel (Dedicated Physical Control Channel: DPCCH) on which a pilot and control data such as TPC bit information are multiplexed and transmitted. After each of these is spread by an orthogonal code, they are mapped onto real and imaginary axes and multiplexed. One frame on the uplink has a duration of 10 msec and is composed of 15 slots (slot #0 to slot #14). Each slot of the dedicated control channel DPCCH consists of ten bits, the symbol rate is 15 ksps, and the slot transmits a pilot PILOT, transmission power control data TPC, a transport format combination indicator TFCI and feedback information FBI. It should be noted that DPCCH and DPDCH are both referred to as a DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel).
As illustrated in FIG. 37, the downlink frame is such that one frame is equal to 10 msec and is composed of 15 slots #0 to slot #14. A dedicated physical data channel DPDCH that transmits a first data portion Data1 and a second data portion Data2 and a dedicated physical control channel DPCCH that transmits PILOT, TPC and TFCI are time-division multiplexed slot by slot. The dedicated physical data channel DPDCH has {circle around (1)} a dedicated traffic channel DTCH and {circle around (2)} a dedicated control channel DCCH. The dedicated traffic channel DTCH is a channel that transmits dedicated traffic information between the mobile station and network, and the dedicated control channel DCCH is a channel used in the transmission of dedicated control information between the mobile station and network.
The foregoing relates to a case where one mobile station is communicating with one base station. At the time of handover due to travel, however, the mobile station 5 communicates with two or more base stations 3a, 3b simultaneously, as illustrated in FIG. 38. At the time of such handover, the base station controller 1 selects the uplink data of the best quality from the uplink data received from the plurality of base stations 3a, 3b. Selecting the data having the best quality is referred to as "selective combining", and such control at the time of handover is referred to as "diversity handover (DHO)".
DHO is not limited to the uplink and is performed similarly also on the downlink. As shown in FIG. 39, the mobile station 5 selects the downlink data of the best quality from among a plurality of items of downlink data received from the base station controller 1 via the plurality of base stations 3a, 3b. That is, when the DHO state is in effect, the base station controller 1 duplicates data that has entered from a core network, which is the host network, and allocates the data to the base stations 3a, 3b. The data allocated is subjected to error correction encoding processing such as convolutional encoding, after which it is transmitted from each of the base stations 3a, 3b to the mobile station 5 utilizing a wireless section. The routes connecting the base station controller 1 to the mobile station 5 via the base stations 3a, 3b are expressed by transmission paths, and the system has two transmission paths in the illustration. Since error readily occurs in a wireless section, the mobile station 5 selects whichever of the data received from the base stations 3a, 3b has the better quality.
More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 40, the mobile station 5 receives data from the base stations 3a, 3b via multipaths 6a1, 6a2, . . . ; 6b1, 6b2, . . . , maximum-ratio combines the data received via the multipaths on a per-base-station basis, applies error correction processing to the respective items of data that are the result of maximum ratio combining, compares the qualities with one another and selects the data having the best quality.
The foregoing relates to the case of DHO, in which the same data is transmitted from separate base stations 3a, 3b. However, handover control (sector handover: SHO) similar to DHO is carried out also in a second scheme in which, as shown in FIG. 41, the area surrounding one base station 3 is divided into sectors and directional beams are emitted from antennas AT1 to AT3 in sectors SC1 to SC3. That is, if mobile station 5 is present in sector SC1, data is transmitted only from antenna AT1. However, if the mobile station 5 moves and reaches the area at the boundary of the neighboring sector SC2, then the base station 3 transmits identical data from both antennas AT1 and AT2. In a manner similar to that of DHO, the mobile station 5 maximum-ratio combines data received via multipaths on a per-sector-antenna basis, applies error correction processing to the respective items of data that are the result of maximum ratio combining, compares the qualities with one another and selects the data having the best quality.
Such DHO and SHO control is advantageous in that reception quality can be improved. However, the following problems arise:
The first problem is that the amount of data involved in DHO increases and so does the frequency band. The fact that the same data is transmitted from the mobile station 5 to the base stations 3a and 3b or the fact that the same data is transmitted from the base stations 3a and 3b to the mobile station 5 means that the band required for transmission needs to be doubled. The principle of DHO allows a plurality of different base stations to serve as relay nodes for transmitting data. Consequently, there are cases where three or more base stations are adopted as relay nodes. The band required for transmission in such case increases by a factor of three or four, etc., namely by the number of relay nodes.
The second problem is that the amount of data involved in SHO increases and so does the frequency band. In the case of SHO, the band required for transmission needs to be doubled because the base station 3 transmits the same data to a plurality of sectors. The principle of SHO allows a plurality of different sectors to serve as transmission paths for data transmission. Consequently, there are cases where three or more sectors are adopted as transmission paths. The band required for transmission in such case increases by a factor of three or four, etc., namely by the number of transmission paths.
The third problem is an increase in transmission power, and this causes noise in other mobile stations. If the band of the data to be transmitted is large, transmission power in the wireless section is raised in a CDMA scheme in order to maintain quality. If communication is being performed via a plurality of transmission paths at the time of handover, the same band is necessary on all transmission paths. As a result, the power value used by a single mobile station rises and this causes noise in other mobile stations.
A fourth problem is excessive quality owing to superfluous power. If the quality of data from only one of the base stations 3a, 3b in the DHO state is good (i.e., if the error in the wireless section can be corrected) at the mobile station 5, then the transmission power value in the wireless section can be made the minimum necessary value. In actuality, however, it is difficult to exercise control so as to assure the quality of only one of these items data by power control. With transmission power control according to 3GPP, a transmission power adjustment (interleave power control) is carried out depending upon whether the target SIR is satisfied at each of the base and mobile stations, and control (outer-loop power control) for adjusting the target SIR depending upon the reception quality is performed. However, control is not performed so as to assure the quality of only one of the items of data. Consequently, there are cases where the qualities of both items of data that the mobile station 5 receives from the base stations 3a, 3b are good. In the selective combining method, this represents excessive quality and consumes extra power.
The fifth problem is that radio resources are exhausted. Transmitting a large quantity of data means placing a corresponding limit on spreading code that can be used simultaneously. In the case of orthogonal code used in DS-CDMA, if a short code (Walsh code) used as a channelization code is such that the spreading length (SF) is small, i.e., if a large quantity of data is about to be transmitted, other orthogonal code capable of being used simultaneously is diminished.
There is prior art (JP2000-197095A) in which a base station after handover is selected accurately by a base station controller. In this prior art, each base station detects the reliability of the receive signal based upon the TPC signal and the base station controller selects one base station based upon the reliability of each base station, applies error correction decoding processing to the receive signal that enters from this base station and decides the data.
However, this example of the prior art does not reduce the increase in amount of data and increase in necessary band in the DHO state or SHO state. Further, with this example of the prior art, transmission power is not reduced, there is no improvement in terms of excessive quality and exhausting of radio resources cannot be prevented.

Communication system and handover communication method


A method of ablating a tissue site includes at least two stages. A first stage involves conducting bipolar ablation between a first pair of electrodes situated in an opposing arrangement on opposing sides of the tissue site to form a pair of opposing first stage ablation regions extending from respective sides of the tissue towards the center. A second stage involves conducting bipolar ablation between a second pair of electrodes situated in a diametrical arrangement with respect to the first stage ablation regions, which forms a second stage ablation region intermediate the pair of first stage ablation regions. The second stage completes the ablation through the entire depth of the tissue site. Since the overall process can accommodate incomplete ablation during the first stage, lower power, reduced ablation times or both may be used during the first stage, avoiding overheating and with a decrease in ablated tissue volume.

a. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to ablation systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for radiofrequency ablation with increased depth and/or decreased volume of ablated tissue.
b. Background Art
It is known to deliver radiofrequency (RF) energy to a desired target area through an electrode assembly to ablate tissue at the target site. RF ablation may generate significant heat, which if not controlled can result, generally, in undesired or excessive tissue damage. It is particularly difficult to achieve successful RF ablation of live, relatively thick biological tissue, for a number of reasons. The cross-sectional profile (i.e., depth) of ablation is often too shallow, in part because most of the Ohmic heat is generated near the RF electrodes, i.e., at the surface of the tissue. Furthermore, the rate at which heat diffuses deep into the tissue layer(s) is extremely slow, and may be counteracted by the cooling effects due to blood perfusion, for example, during epicardial ablation. As the tissue surrounding the electrodes is being ablated, its Ohmic resistivity increases. This increase in resistivity further exacerbates the problem of non-uniform heating, because at a given current density, the heating intensity experienced by the tissue is proportional to its then-existing Ohmic resistivity.
Moreover, the goals of thick layer RF cardiac ablation are often at odds. It is often necessary to ablate all the way through the thickness of the tissue, while at the same time avoiding tissue overheating and minimizing the volume of ablated tissue. However, the thicker the tissue layer, the less possible it is to achieve adequate ablation through its thickness without overheating the tissue near the RF electrodes (i.e., damaging the tissue in an unacceptable way) and without ablating an undesirable excess volume of tissue.
There are a number of two-electrode or multi-electrode RF ablating devices known in the art, for example as seen by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 7,241,292 entitled CARDIAC ABLATION DEVICE WITH MOVABLE HINGE issued to Hooven. Hooven discloses a transmural RF ablation device. However, Hooven does not address the problems of inadequate ablation depth or excessive ablated tissue volume described above, particularly for a relatively thick biological tissue layer.
There is therefore a need to minimize or eliminate one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method and apparatus for radiofrequency ablation with increased depth and/or decreased volume of ablated tissue

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


A diverter nozzle assembly for use on jet boats. The diverter nozzle assembly has a nozzle portion with a collar at the nozzle entrance and a reversing chamber at the exit end. The reversing chamber contains the entrance of a reversing nozzle and the exit of the reversing nozzle extends to the bottom of the diverter nozzle assembly. A ride plate a flat planer portion which curves upwardly to the forward edge of the assembly and curves slightly downwardly just before the forward edge of the outlet of the reversing nozzle. The ride plate provides a quicker planing action to the boat and reduces drag.

The field of the invention is boating and the invention relates more particularly to jet boats which are driven by pumping a flow of water through a nozzle at the stern of the boat.
Jet boat nozzles are typically provided with a means for diverting the flow of water from the pump of the jet boat from its normal rearward direction to a slightly forward direction so that the boat may be propelled in reverse. Various patents disclose ways of carrying this out such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,945,201; 3,949,700; 3,823,683; and 3,827,390. The reversing nozzle of most of these designs extends below the bottom of the nozzle assembly and can cause drag particularly as the boat is accelerating.

Jet boat diverter nozzle with built-in ride plate


According to an embodiment, a cochlear implant system is disclosed. The system includes an input unit, a filterbank, a processing unit and an implant. The input unit is configured to provide a first electrical signal from a first sound source and a second electrical signal from a second sound source. The filterbank is configured to filter the first electrical signal into a plurality of first band limited signals and the second electrical signal into a plurality of second band limited signals. The processing unit is configured to generate a primary pulse pattern based on a first band selected from the plurality of first band limited signals and to generate a secondary pulse pattern based on a second band selected from the plurality of second band limited signals, the first band and the second band being defined by same or substantially overlapping frequency ranges and the implant is configured to receive the primary pulse pattern and the secondary pulse pattern from the processing unit. The primary pulse pattern is configured to stimulate a cochlea of a user of the cochlear implant system during a first time slot, and the secondary pulse pattern is configured to stimulate the cochlea of the user of the cochlear implant system during a second time slot. The first time slot and the second time slot are sequential time slots.

A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a perception of sound to a person having a hearing impairment. In some people, cochlear implants may enable sufficient hearing for better understanding of speech. The quality of sound is different from natural hearing, with less sound information being received and processed by the brain. Conventionally, the information received from a single sound source is presented to the user. Until now, no attempt has been made to provide information from multiple sound sources to the CI user. This results in the CI user missing out on an auditory experience that is more natural.
Implanting both cochleas of hearing-impaired listeners with cochlear implants (referred to as bilateral cochlear implants) has become more common in recent years. Using binaural hearing in normal hearing listeners, i.e. where input along the auditory pathway after both ears are presented with the sound are integrated, boosts a person's ability to focus on speech in noisy situations, and allows a person to tune into sounds that are even low in level compared with the competing noise. There is thus a need for an effective system and method for providing these binaural benefits to hearing-impaired subjects, such as those subject that have bilateral cochlear implants.
Improving quality of life for CI users such as by prioritizing improving speech intelligibility in noise, sound localization, and pitch discrimination may require new types of information to be sent to and output by the CI implant.
One such new type of information that would help the CI users are spatial cues, i.e. synchronized information between the two ears. There are two main spatial cues for localizing sound in a plane of azimuth, i.e. angle of a sound source on the horizon relative to a point in the center of the head between the ears, namely (i) interaural time differences (ITDs), and (ii) interaural level differences (ILDs). ILDs are primarily a high-frequency cue, and occur because the listener's head shadowing the sound at the ear contralateral with respect to a sound source. Acoustically ITDs exist at all frequencies, however, normal hearing humans are typically most sensitive to ITDs at 500-900 Hz. In existing cochlear implant systems, the ITDs are not well-coded. It is expected that including such timing information will enhance spatial sound perception.
In an auditory environment (auditory scene) containing multiple sound sources (talkers or other sources of sound), an individual receives a mixed signal from multiple sound sources. Individual with normal hearing is capable of un-mixing the mixed signal and utilize the spatial cues from multiple sound sources along with neural machinery for sound localization and to improve speech intelligibility in the auditory scene.
In a bilateral cochlear implant system comprising microphone(s) for receiving sound from the auditory scene, multiple sounds comprising different properties such as spatial cues are combined at the microphone(s). Unfortunately, users of bilateral cochlear implant system are unable to un-mix the mixed signal received at the microphone(s). Even if the mixed signal is resolved into different unmixed signals, presentation of the un-mixed signals separately to a CIS user is a challenge, thereby limiting information transfer from multiple sound sources.
The disclosure offers a solution that allows for presenting information corresponding to separated distinct sound sources. Such information may include different spatial cues specific to each sound source.

Cochlear implant system for processing multiple sound source information


A light-emitting device may include: one first light source group having at least one light source and one second light source group having at least one light source, at least one reflector, which is configured and arranged for the purpose of reflecting light emitted by the first light source group to an optical plane, and at least one light conducting element, which is configured and arranged for the purpose of conducting light emitted by the second light source group to the optical plane, wherein the light conducting element is configured and arranged as an aperture for light reflected by the at least one reflector.

DE 10 2008 015 510 A1 discloses a light-emitting unit of a vehicle headlight, having: a projector lens having an optical axis; a light source, which includes a semiconductor light emitter element; a first reflector, which reflects light from the light source so that the light converges on the optical axis or in proximity thereto; and a screen, which is arranged between the light source and the projector lens so that it extends in the direction of the optical axis. The screen screens off a part of the light reflected from the first reflector. In the light-emitting unit of the vehicle headlight, a screen surface extends to the rear from a front end of the screen, where the screen is arranged in proximity to a rear focal point of the projector lens. The screen surface is used as a second reflector, which reflects light from the first reflector to the projector lens. Furthermore, a transparent section is provided on a part of the second reflector so that a part of the light which is reflected from the first reflector passes below the rear focal point of the projector lens, and is then incident on the projector lens.

Light-emitting device having multiple light source groups


A car charger interface, adapted for connection with a car charger socket, is connected to an electronic device or portable charger unit and movable between an extended condition for use and a retracted condition for storage. The interface has a generally flat shape when not in use and can be unfolded to a shape adapted for complementary connection with the car charger socket for use. The interface comprises a first portion and a second portion movable relative to one another between folded and unfolded conditions. The second portion may comprise wings pivotally connected along the first portion for pivoting to an unfolded position projecting from the first portion to form a generally X-shaped adapter body. Alternately, the second portion may be positioned at the longitudinal end of the first portion and connected thereto via a pivot point at the central longitudinal axis thereof for pivotal movement.

Present day consumers typically own several electronic devices specifically designed for portability and on-the-go use, including, for example, a mobile phone or smart phone, a portable music player like an iPod® or an MP3 player, a tablet like an iPad®, a portable gaming unit, a digital camera or camcorder, and the like. Each of these devices requires frequent recharging. Portable power chargers are also common for on-the-go recharging of other devices.
Such electronic devices and portable power chargers typically utilize a power cord or cable for connecting the device to a power source, such as a wall outlet, a car charger socket, an airplane charger socket, or a computer. Often, a separate cable is usually required for each power source. Some devices have built in connection interfaces adapted to connect to an external power source for charger. For example, it is common for a device to have a car charger interface built in to the device housing whereby the car charger interface can be pivoted between an extended condition for use and a retracted condition for storage (when not in use). When the car charger interface is extended, it can be inserted into a complementary car charger socket such that the electronic device, or any device connected to an adapter with such a car charger interface, is recharged when the car is turned on. When the car charger interface is retracted for storage, it is optimally contained within the device housing so as to keep the three-dimensional footprint of the device small, efficient and sleek.
An issue with existing car charger interface designs is that they effect how small a device can truly be. Consumers desire portable power chargers that take up as little space as possible without compromising the power available in the charger. However, if a portion of the charger housing is taken up by a storage cavity for a car charger interface of common shape and size, then there is less room for the rechargeable battery contained within the portable charger in order to keep the three-dimensional footprint of the charger device small and compact. It is generally not desirable to store the car charger interface outside the housing because the interface can easily get snagged when placed in a purse or bag or the user's pocket and possibly get damaged. Moreover, the electrical contacts on the interface could be damaged if exposed to or contacted by other items. Accordingly, it remains a desire to pivot and retract the car charger interface for storage within a device housing while not restricting or comprising the size, shape and power of the device.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a compact car charger interface that may be connected to and used to charge electronic devices and portable power charger while allowing the size of the device to be reduced without unnecessarily comprising power capacity of said device. Additionally, there is a need for such a car charger interface that can be stored within a device housing when not in use or needed without affecting the overall size and shape of the device housing. For example, there is a need for a storable car charger interface that can be stored within the three-dimensional footprint of a device without inhibiting the size of a rechargeable battery disposed within the device, or compromising the intended operation and function of the interface. Still further, there is a need for a car charger interface that is easily accessible, extendible and easy to use for recharging a device via connection with a car charger socket, including an interface design that has increased flexibility, accessibility and functionality to connect an electronic device or a portable power charger with a power source for recharging purposes. Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a compact car charger interface that improves upon conventional car charger interface designs currently on the market and that overcomes the problems and drawbacks associated with such prior art adapters.