An electronic device includes a first housing, a first lock mechanism disposed in the first housing, a second housing, and a second lock mechanism disposed at the second housing. The first housing has a first surface. The second housing pivoted to the first housing is suitable for rotating relatively to the first housing. The second housing has a second surface and a third surface which are respectively disposed at the two opposite sides of the second housing. When the second surface is closed to the first surface and a first portion of the second slider is protruded from the second surface, the first portion is locked with the first lock mechanism. When the third surface is closed to the first surface and a second portion of the second slider is protruded from the third surface, the second portion is locked with the first lock mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic device having lock mechanisms of high interactive stability when a first housing and a second housing thereof are locked together.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional electronic device. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional electronic device 100 includes a first housing 110, a second housing 120, and a lock mechanism 130 for locking the first housing 110 and the second housing 120. The lock mechanism 130 mainly includes a push button 132, a spring (not shown), and a lock clasp 134, and the second housing 120 has an opening 122 for lodging the lock clasp 134. When the first housing 110 and the second housing 120 are locked together, the lock clasp 134 produces structural interference with the second housing 120 around the opening 122 so that the lock clasp 134 clasps the second housing 120.
Generally speaking, when a user is using the electronic device 100, the user first pushes the push button 132 to move the lock clasp 134 into the opening 122, so as to release the structural interference between the lock clasp 134 and the second housing 120, and then open the first housing 110. When the hand of the user leaves the push button 132, the spring makes the lock clasp 134 back to its original position.
When the user wants to lock the first housing 110 and the second housing 120, the user forces the first housing 110 to rotate relatively to the second housing 120 with a rotating shaft (not shown) of the second housing 120 as an axis so that the first housing 110 gets close to the second housing 120. When the lock clasp 134 gets in contact with the second housing 120, the guiding surface 134a of the lock clasp 134 moves along the second housing 120 at the opening 122 so that the lock clasp 134 presses the spring and enters the opening 122. Then, when the guiding surface 134a and the second housing 120 stop interfering structurally, the resilience of the spring makes the lock clasp 134 to go back to its original position and produce structural interference with the second housing 120 to lock the first housing 110 and the second housing 120.
However, the resilience of the spring is released instantaneously, thus, when the lock clasp 134 goes back to its original position to produce structural interference with the second housing 120, the lock clasp 134 is not moved back to its original position stably and is easily damaged due to collision with the second housing 120.


A system and method of cooling a steam turbine having internal moving components to a predetermined temperature by controlling a flow of nitrogen through the turbine, thus decreasing the downtime associated with maintaining the turbine. This provides a more efficient and cost effective method of operating a power plant.

In the power industry, electricity is produced with a spinning turbine that is turned at high speeds to generate electricity. This turbine can be turned by water, by gas, or by high temperature steam. The steam turbine is driven by high temperature steam from a conventional boiler reactor or nuclear reactor at speeds averaging 1800 to 3600 rpm. Many of the modern stream turbines operate at temperature in excess of 1,000° F.
Approximately 49 percent of the U.S. power generation in 2003 was coal-fired and 28 percent of the generation from nuclear fuel sources. Both fossil and nuclear steam turbines experience substantial cool down time delays associated with planned major outages, planned minor outages, and unplanned outages. A typical steam turbine requires a minimum of one week to cool down to ambient temperatures using the current methods of shutdown and outage disassembly. This inefficiency represents a substantial amount of lost production and associated revenues for a given generating unit on an annual basis.
Power plant steam turbine metal temperatures cool down at a fairly rapid rate while steam is flowing through the turbine and the generator is connected to the electrical grid. However, most all plant designs include provisions to close the steam turbine valves when the turbines are removed from service. These design provisions are included for many reasons, one of which is to prevent slugs of water from traveling through the steam turbine and causing damage to the blades and other components. The technical term for this is "turbine water induction" and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers ("ASME") developed a steam turbine design standard many years ago after turbine water induction failures were reported in the industry.
When steam turbines are removed from service the emergency stop valve and the control valves remain in the closed position. This restricts steam flow through the steam turbine and results in a "bottled up" steam turbine. Typical steam turbines with weights of 125 to 200 tons and operating temperatures of 1000° F. have significant thermal mass. After removing the steam turbines from service, the shell and rotor temperature remains above 700° F. at many locations while the turbine is "bottled" up for many days. Even after one week of conventional cooling down methods, it is not uncommon to measure temperatures in excess of 150° F. on the rotor and thick shell locations.
The prior art fails to provide for a cooling down large steam turbines at electrical generation stations. Steam turbine sizes increased rapidly from 1950 to 1970. During this period, manufactures focused on minimizing rotor stresses and reducing large temperature changes to that result in shell cracking. Moreover, the prior art failed to minimize turbine outages to the extent that commonly exists today. Therefore, there exists a need to cool down steam turbines and to optimize outage time.
The prior art has approached these problems by pre-staging and mobilizing while the turbines are in a cooling down period. Generally, the cool down period in the prior art is concurrent with the disassembly of the steam turbine and occupies the first week of most outages. In recent years the electric utility industry has attempted to reduce the costs associated with turbine outages. The prior art has focused on rapid disassembly and repair techniques while accommodating this cool down period. Therefore, a need exists to improve and optimize outages associated with steam turbines in the electric utility industry that would offer cost incentives associated with electric production including replacement power costs, labor costs, repair costs, and plant operating availability requirements.
There are many factors that attribute to the cool down time of a steam turbine. When turbines are taken off-line or removed from service, electrical breakers are opened, thus removing the generators from the electrical grid. Next, the main steam stop valve and control valves shut automatically to prevent damage due to water induction. The turbine is de-pressurized minutes after shut-down but the steam turbine is in effect "bottled up" as it related to metal temperature. There is no substantial cooling fluid available internally and the turbine cools very slowly as heat escapes only through the shell and outer insulation. After a steam turbine is removed from the grid, the turbine is allowed to spin freely from its nominal operating speed down to approximately 90 rpm in twenty to thirty minutes.
During the spin-down there is usually only minimal steam flow in the reverse direction through the high pressure turbine to prevent excessive temperatures due to steam stagnation. The lube oil system remains in operation while the "hot" turbine is on turning gear until the first stage metal temperature reaches approximately 500° F. This takes approximately 40 to 80 hours depending on the turbine. At this time the oil system can be taken offline and the turbine can be completely disassembled. The initial outer and inner shells are often removed with some component temperatures at several hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The turbine rotor usually is removed and placed on the stands near the turbine with internal temperatures exceeding 150° F. Most high pressure turbine rotors are not physically removed from the inner shell casing until five to eight days after the unit is taken off-line.
Though there is no consistent method of turbine disassembly, the turbine is disassembled hot and cooling occurs after disassembly in the prior art. The current practices are followed to reduce the metal temperatures without damage to the turbine. In the prior art, cooling down the turbine assembly can only occur as long as steam flows through the turbine.
Because these methods require workers to disassemble the turbine prior to the cool down process, cool down the turbine and disassembly may occur at temperatures between 200 and 500° F. The rate of turbine cool down depends on the willingness of workers to work on hot components, safety concerns, rigging limitations, and insulation removal activities. On large steam turbines, meaningful turbine cooling of the shell is usually not achieved until the crossover pipe between the high pressure turbine section and/or intermediate pressure turbine sections and the low pressure turbine section is removed. This is usually not attempted until the turbine's metal temperatures are less than 600° F. Once the crossover pipe is removed, the rate of cooling due to air convection increases dramatically. In summary, this method does not provide reasonable, efficient, or adequate cooling for outage and cost optimization.
The prior art offers two methods to improve the cooling time associated with large steam turbines. The primary method of reducing the cool down time is to force cool the turbine components prior to bringing the turbine off-line. This typically consists of reducing the main steam temperature just prior to removing the steam turbine from service. The main steam temperature is reduced by closing the extraction steam sources to the feedwater heaters, reducing steam temperature through attemperation, and slowly lowering the steam temperature to near saturation temperatures. This forced cool down method is expected to be used on 400 megawatt and larger units.
Though this method of forced cool down removes a substantial amount of heat from the steam turbine, the saturation temperature limitations and potential for water induction fails to provide for a substantial cool down of the steam turbine. This method only cools the turbine down from over 1000° F. to temperatures between 700-900° F. in the high pressure turbine section of the turbine. This only saves about one to about one and one half days in the unit's outage shutdown.
Moreover, this method offers the additional problem that even after this forced cool down, the operator cannot shut off the lubrication system on the turbine and the operator cannot disassemble the turbine until the metal temperatures are between 500-600° F. Furthermore, there is a significant hazard with disassembling the turbine at this high temperature.
In addition, using this cool down method while the unit is still in service may fail because the turbine operations will trip for several reasons. Therefore, this method of forced cool down is unable to offer an efficient method of cooling down the turbine to allow maintenance of the turbine. Moreover, the calibration of station instrumentation, the condition of level detection devices, the inadequate operational staff during shutdown, the system power levels and load changes, the boiler tuning, and the other plant configuration matters will further limit the usefulness of this method.
The second method of the prior art is air cooling. Various air horns are placed at limited internal access points throughout the turbine. This method does not provide efficient cool down of the turbine because air at near ambient pressure does not provide enough heat transport and non-uniform distribution of cooling. This method results in humping, which is stagnant steam distributing in large turning shells in a manner that stratifies the steam and results in convective heating that is cooler on the bottom and warmer on the top. This problem occurs when the turbine is "bottled up" with hot steam and the metal is slightly longer at the top of the shell than at the bottom of the shell. This misalignment can cause rotor contact.
This method is also deficient because of limited accessibility, limited compressed air capacity, and non-uniform distribution of cooling throughout the turbine. These three factors result in not only a lack of cooling capacity but problems with shell humping and non-uniform component cooling. Moreover, two limitations of forced cooling using air injection are adequate cooling capacity and uniform cooling. This method has only been shown to save minimal time in the shut down of steam turbines.
The electric utility industry has experienced dramatic changes over the past two decades and continues to encounter significant competitive changes associated with the generation of electricity. These competitive changes are a driving force to produce electricity more efficiently and cost effectively. Electric utility power plant outages are an integral part of the electric power industry and therefore are a critical component in evaluating electrical demand and the ability to satisfy the demand through generation resource allocation.
These outages consist of both planned and unplanned events that have variable time durations depending on various factors. The cost consequences of outages is highest during summer and winter peak power demand periods, whereas outage costs during other time periods are more predictable. Other factors that influence outage consequences include reduced electric capacity, power plant age, wholesale market price and volatility, environmental regulations, electric deregulation, and other factors. With respect to power plant age, it is noted that the average age of most of the large power plants in the U.S. is over 30 years which emphasizes the importance of regular scheduled maintenance outages which in turn requires time and money. Therefore, a need exists to minimize the costs associated with an outage by reducing the amount of time needed to service the turbines.
Flows of nitrogen have been used in different arts, but this technology has not been implemented on devices with internal moving parts. In the chemical, petrochemical and oil refining industry, various reactor vessels that operate at 1,000° F. are taken off line for maintenance. These processes are used to reduce crude oil to useable end products. These large reactor vessels contain various catalysts that aid the crude processing. These catalysts become spent and are required to be periodically replaced. The reactor vessels must be cooled down from their operating temperatures over 600° F. to less than 100° F. The process equipment being cooled in this art are reactor vessels that are stationary and static with no moving parts. Care must be taken to not cool the metal too fast that can cause metal fatigue and cracking from stresses caused from shocking the metal. For vessels with no moving parts, liquid nitrogen has been forced through vessels having metal surfaces at greater than 350° F. Most metal can be cooled down at rates of 75-1000° F. per hour.
In the early 1980s, Union Carbide Industrial Services used liquid nitrogen to cool down reactor vessels instead of recycling process nitrogen and hydrogen gases through the units compressor systems. In operation, the plant systems allowed recycling the gas through the reactor to absorb heat, and then passing that gas through the system's heat exchangers to cool the gas. The compressors pumped the gas back through the reactor to force cooling. This required four to six days to obtain temperatures below 100° F.
In contrast, a steam turbine operates under very dramatic conditions with a large spindle spinning at 3600 rpm inside a stationary shell. The heat shrinkage of the stationary shell to the spindle and the stationary shell to the spindle blades of the turbine is a factor. If the cooling is not completed with careful control so that all parts of the machinery cool at the same rate, damage can occur to the machine with spinning parts coming into contact with stationary parts, humping occurring, and the weight of the turbine shifting from one end to the other too fast, thus causing damage. Therefore, a need exists to provide for a cool down of a turbine with moving internal parts such that the cool down rate may be controlled.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method of cooling steam turbines


A sensor device includes sensor elements two-dimensionally arranged and a sensor driving section driving the sensor elements. Each of the sensor elements includes a photoelectric conversion element generating electric charge according to an amount of received light, a charge storage section connected to one end of the photoelectric conversion element and storing electric charge generated by the photoelectric conversion element, a readout section reading either a voltage value resulted from the electric charge in the charge storage section or the stored electric charge, to output the read voltage value or the read electric charge and a reset section resetting the electric charge in the charge storage section through supplying a predetermined reset voltage to the charge storage section. The sensor driving section controls the reset section so that the predetermined reset voltage is continuously or intermittently supplied to the charge storage section over a period exceeding one horizontal scan period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sensor device picking up an image of an object and detecting the position of a proximity object, a method of diving a sensor element applied to such a sensor device, a display device with an input function, which includes a sensor function (input function) and a display function, and an electronic unit including such a display device. The present invention also relates to a radiation image pickup device reading information based on radiation by converting the waveform of radiation represented by alpha-ray, beta-ray, gamma-ray, and X-ray.
2. Description of the Related Art
Previously, there has been known an optical sensor device including a sensor panel in which photoelectric conversion elements are arranged in a matrix form (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 09-92807 and No. 2001-345440). Further, there has been developed a display device in which display pixels and photoelectric conversion elements are arranged in a matrix form within a display panel so that the display panel itself has an optical sensor function (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 2006-276223 and No. 2008-233257).

Sensor device, method of driving sensor element, display device with input function, electronic unit and radiation image pickup device


Provided herein are systems and methods for monitoring one or more health or physiological parameters in a subject. The systems and methods may comprise a patch coupled to an injector. Data may be transmitted to a mobile device or remote server, where the data may be processed. Processed data may be used to inform a subject on a health or physiological condition.

Vials are one of the preferred reservoirs or container closure systems used by the pharmaceutical industry due to their extensive clinical history and record of long-term stability with a wide variety of drugs. Pharmaceutical drugs including biologics are provided in standard containers such as vials. Additionally, the industry has made a significant investment in capital equipment for aseptic vial filling. However, vials require the transfer of the contained drug from the vial to an injection device (e.g., injector, autoinjector, infuser, etc.) for delivery to the patient. New container closure systems such as prefilled syringes and cartridges have been introduced that allow direct transfer of the drug from the syringe or cartridge to the patient. Injection devices such as auto-injectors and pens have been developed to utilize these newer forms of container closure. Because of uncertainty about long-term drug stability, and the extensive manufacturing resources already in place, devices that incorporate standard container closure systems such as vials, prefilled syringes or cartridges are greatly preferred by the pharmaceutical industry over devices that require a custom form of drug containment.
However, vials, prefilled syringes and cartridges are not necessarily the optimum containers for a drug delivery device. This is especially true in the case of delivery devices that deliver relatively high volumes of drugs (2-50 cc) or high viscosity (over 15 cP and up to about 100 cP). Vials, prefilled syringes, and cartridges are almost exclusively cylinders made of glass, which imposes design constraints on forces and geometries. Typical syringes and auto-injectors are limited on the viscosities of drug that can be delivered as well as by the forces that can be applied to the glass container closure systems. New injection devices have been developed including pumps for the delivery of insulin that use custom container closures, but these systems are very expensive, cannot generate high forces or pressures and typically reusable and/or refillable.
On-body injection devices have been the subject of continuing development in efforts to develop injection devices and methods that offer benefits such as greater comfort and less pain while providing effective subcutaneous injection.

Medical fluid injection apparatus and method with detachable patch and monitoring


An information processing apparatus, having a hibernation state, includes a hibernation controller that stores information required to resume the information processing apparatus from the hibernation state to an arbitrary operational state when the information processing apparatus is shifted from the arbitrary operational state to the hibernation state and that turns off the information processing apparatus; a determiner determining whether the information processing apparatus is started up from the hibernation state when the information processing apparatus is turned on after the information processing apparatus is turned off by the hibernation controller; and a resume controller returning the information processing apparatus from the hibernation state to the arbitrary operational state based on the required information when the determiner determines that the information processing apparatus is resumed from the hibernation state.

1. Field
The present invention relates to information processing apparatuses, methods of starting up the information processing apparatuses, and startup programs of the information processing apparatuses. Particularly, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of being started up from a hibernation state, a method of starting up the information processing apparatus, and a startup program of the information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The power consumption of information processing apparatuses tends to increase as the information processing apparatuses have become sophisticated and faster in recent years. On the other hand, various technologies of reducing the power consumption in the information processing apparatuses are under development with the object of decreasing the calorific value and of energy saving.
Particularly, in portable information processing apparatuses typified by notebook computers, there is a great need for electric power saving because power is supplied from batteries, such as secondary cells, to the portable information processing apparatuses.
In order to satisfy such a need, for example, a method in which the operation of an information processing apparatus is automatically suspended when a user does not operate the information processing apparatus for a predetermined time period and a predetermined device in the information processing apparatus is turned off to reduce power requirements has been adopted hitherto.
In another method of reducing power requirements, an information processing apparatus is set to a suspended state called a standby state. In the standby state, the devices, other than the main memory and the video memory, in the information processing apparatus are turned off.
The main memory and the video memory store information required to return the information processing apparatus to the state immediately before the suspension when the information processing apparatus is resumed from the suspended state. Accordingly, when the information processing apparatus is resumed from the standby state, or the suspended state, by the user who presses an arbitrary key on the keyboard or the power switch, the information processing apparatus can resume the operation from the screen state or operational state immediately before the suspension.
Although the main devices, including the central processing unit (CPU) and the display, are turned off in the standby state, it is necessary to continue to supply power to the main memory and the video memory for maintaining the content of storage.
Consequently, for example, when the information processing apparatus is driven only by the battery, a long standby state exhausts the power in the battery and, as a result, the information processing apparatus eventually loses the content of the main memory and the video memory.
In contrast, there is a method which has a high power saving function and in which the information processing apparatus is set to a dormant state, or a hibernation state.
In the hibernation state, or the dormant state, all the devices in the information processing apparatus are turned off after the state immediately before the halt of the information processing apparatus is stored in a nonvolatile memory, such as the hard disk.
Since there is no need to supply power to the main memory and the video memory in the hibernation state, the power consumption is none in principle (a weak power is supplied to some parts, such as a built-in clock function). Hence, it is possible to halt the information processing apparatus for a long time and, therefore, the hibernation state is particularly advantageous for the operation of the information processing apparatus using the battery as the power supply.
In order to shift the information processing apparatus to the hibernation state, it is necessary to control storage of information required to resume the operation in a predetermined area in the hard disk in a predetermined procedure. In order to resume the information processing apparatus from the hibernation state, it is necessary to control return of the information stored in the predetermined area in the hard disk to the main memory and the video memory.
The control relating to the shift to and resume from the hibernation state (hereinafter referred to as hibernation control) is performed by basic software called a basic input/output system (BIOS), stored in a read only memory (ROM), or by an operating system (hereinafter referred to as the OS).
Although the BIOS has played a leading role in the hibernation control, the hibernation control is shifting from the BIOS-driven control to the OS-driven control with the object of easily addressing the diversity of devices connected to the information processing apparatus in recent years (for example, Jpn Pat. Publication No. 2002-324012).
As described above, the hibernation control can reduce the power consumption of the information processing apparatus in the halt state to zero in principle. In addition, the information processing apparatus can resume the operational state immediately before the halt of the information processing apparatus in resuming from the hibernation state.
In the OS-driven hibernation control, the OS can issue instructions to drivers to store and restore the states of various external devices as long as the drivers of the various external devices (including a card compliant with a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) standard, such as an audio card) connected to the information processing apparatus support the function of the hibernation control.
Since the BIOS must have the control function separately supporting the connected external devices in known BIOS-driven hibernation control, it is difficult to perform the hibernation control for an external device newly added unless the software in the BIOS is changed.
The OS-driven hibernation control can resolve the above problem.
In the OS-driven hibernation control, after a shift request to the hibernation is submitted, the OS stores a variety of information required to resume from the hibernation state in the hard disk and, then, issues a power off instruction. The power supply to each device in the information processing apparatus is stopped in response to the power off instruction to shift the information processing apparatus to the hibernation state.
In the return from the hibernation state, the BIOS is started up in the same manner as in normal startup. After the BIOS performs predetermined processes, the OS is started up.
After the OS is started up, the OS restores the variety of information for the return, stored in the predetermined area in the hard disk, to various devices, including the main memory and the video memory, to resume the information processing apparatus to the state immediately before the hibernation.
In known methods, the same process as in the normal startup is performed in the return from the hibernation state by the BIOS.
Accordingly, in the known OS-driven hibernation control, the same BIOS software can be used in the normal startup and in the return from the hibernation state.
However, the normal startup process performed by the BIOS also includes processes that are not indispensable for the return for the hibernation state and, therefore, there is room for improvement in the known OS-driven hibernation control in terms of the time required for the return from the hibernation state.
In addition, the normal startup process performed by the BIOS includes a setup process in which the user changes the parameters of the devices connected to the information processing apparatus.
It is important to reliably return to the operational state immediately before the hibernation in the hibernation and return control. Accordingly, there is also room for improvement in the known methods, which allows the user to change the parameters of the devices in the return control from the hibernation state, in terms of the reliability of the process.

Information processing apparatus, method of starting up the same, and startup program of the same


This invention provides an electrically conductive ink comprising an electrically conductive material and a vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate/hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate copolymer resin. There is also provided a noncontact-type medium comprising a base material and, provided on the base material, an electrically conductive circuit formed using the electrically conductive ink, and an IC chip mounted in the state of being electrically conducted to the electrically conductive circuit. An electrically conductive circuit, which is in a thin film form, can be used as an antenna circuit for noncontact-type media, has a low volume resistivity on the order of 10−5 Ω·cm, and is highly reliable under a high temperature and high humidity environment, can be formed by using the electrically conductive ink at a low temperature in a short time.

An electrically conductive coating film has a variety of uses of electromagnetic radiation shielding for cathode-ray tubes, plasma display panels etc., infrared ray shielding for construction materials or automobiles, coverage for preventing electrostatic charging of electronics and cell-phones, heating wires for defogging of glass, wirings on circuit boards etc., coatings for giving electric conductivity to resin, or a circuit itself. As methods of forming such electrically conductive coating films, there have been known conventionally methods such as a vacuum metal deposition method, a chemical vapor deposition method, an ion sputtering method and a method of applying a metallic colloid solution having metallic particles dispersed in a dispersion medium on a base material and then heat-calcining it. These methods have some problems such as cumbersome operation, low mass productivity, and necessity for heating at high temperatures. On the other hand, there have been conducted so far to form wirings on printed boards by etching an electrically conductive film or by using an electrically conductive paste. However, the etching method has problems such as troublesome operation, high cost and liquid waste disposal and is also undesirable from an environmental point of view. Further, the method of using the electrically conductive paste requires necessity for formation of electrically conductive circuits such as wirings by screen process printing which is problematic in productivity, and has another problem of heating at high temperatures after printing in order to attain excellent electric conductivity.
IC cards capable of noncontact reading and rewriting of information, such as banking cash cards, train passes, and various prepaid cards, appear recently in place of cards utilizing a contact-type magnetic recording system, and their demand is increasing. Further, IC tags using this noncontact communication system are also proposed and come into practical use. As the method of recognizing media utilizing this system capable of noncontact reading and rewriting information, that is, noncontact-type media, there are two system at present: an electromagnetic induction system and a radio wave system. In both the systems, media are composed of a IC chip and an antenna, and it is essential that the antenna portion that is an electrically conductive circuit is of low resistance for lowering loss at the time of transmitting and receiving radio waves. The antenna portion that is an electrically conductive circuit of noncontact-type media such as IC cards and IC tags is formed by a method of transferring a metal foil such as copper foil or aluminum foil to a base material or by a method of printing an etching-resist ink in an antenna circuit pattern on a metal foil laminated on a base material such as a plastic film and then etching it. A copper-line coil or a wire may be used as an antenna. However, any of these methods have limits of productivity and are unsuitable for mass production. Further, as described above, there is also a method of utilizing an etching method. The method, however, is not preferable from an environmental point of view because of having the problems such as a liquid waste disposal as described above, and is also problematic in respect of cost.
As another method of forming an electrically conductive circuit for noncontact-type media, a method of screen process printing an electrically conductive paste has been carried out. A polyester resin or an epoxy resin is mainly used as a binder in conventional electrically conductive pastes above, from which a conductive circuit having a volume resistivity on the order of 10−5 Ω·cm has been obtained (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, these conventional electrically conductive pastes require drying conditions of high temperatures of 100° C. or more and several minutes to several dozen minutes, as well as a coating thickness of about 10 μm or more after drying. The method, therefore, have limitations in consideration of cost and mass productivity for use in IC tags. Electrically conductive circuits formed from the conventional electroconductive pastes using a polyester resin or an epoxy resin as a binder have also a problem of low reliability under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment at 85° C. in 85% RH.
On the other hand, it is known recently that a volume resistivity on the order of 10−6 Ω·cm can be obtained with a relatively thin coating of about 0.1 to 5 μm in thickness by using silver nano-particles (see Non-Patent Document 1). For exhibiting this resistivity, however, sintering of the paste at 200° C. is necessary, thus making this method hardly applicable to usual paper base materials and plastic base materials such as polyester used in IC cards or IC tags. In addition, this method has a problem of inferior adhesiveness to a base material under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment.
There is also an attempt at reducing resistance without influencing a base material, which comprises combining an active energy ray-curable electrically conductive paste using urethane acrylate or the like as a binder with heat pressure roll treatment (see Patent Document 3). However, the resulting electrically conductive circuit has a volume resistivity on the order of 10−4 Ω·cm, which is too high to cope with a broad range of frequency used in an antenna circuit. There is also a problem of lack of reliability because of instable resistance under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-260224    Patent Document 2: JP-A-2003-16836    Patent Document 3: JP-A-2001-64547    Non-Patent Document 1: Journal of Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging, Vol. 5, No. 6 (2002), pp. 523-528
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrically conductive ink utilizable in various uses and free of the conventional problems, an electrically conductive circuit using the electrically conductive ink and a noncontact-type medium having an electrically conductive circuit formed by using the electrically conductive ink, as well as a method of forming the electrically conductive circuit.
Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrically conductive ink, from which an electrically conductive coating that is highly reliable under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment can be formed at low temperatures in a short time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrically conductive ink having the above feature and capable of forming a thin electrically conductive circuit having such a low volume resistivity on the order of 10−5 Ω·cm as to be usable as an antenna circuit for noncontact-type media.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electrically conductive circuit having a low volume resistivity on the order of 10−5 Ω·cm and being highly reliable under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, and a method of forming the same.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a noncontact-type medium provided with an electroconductive circuit having a low volume resistivity on the order of 10−5 Ω·cm and being highly reliable under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment.

Electrically conductive ink, electrically conductive circuit, and non-contact-type medium


Precise CMOS bandgap voltage and current references which uses the difference of MOS source-gate voltages to perform efficient curvature compensation are proposed and analyzed. Applying the developed design strategies, bandgap voltage references (BVR) with a temperature drift below 10 ppm/.degree.C. and a power supply drift below 10 ppm/V can be realized. For bandgap current references, both drifts can be under 15 ppm. An experimental BVR chip shows an average drift of 5.5 ppm/.degree.C. from -60.degree. C. to 150.degree. C. and 25 .mu.V/V for supply voltages between 5 V and 15 V at 25.degree. C. Due to novel curvature compensation, the circuit structure of the proposed references is simple and both chip area and power consumption are small.

The present invention relates to CMOS bandgap voltage reference (BVR) devices and CMOS bandgap current reference (BCR) devices, particularly to provide stable voltage references and current references independent of power supply voltage and temperature.
Stable voltage and current references are essential in many electronic systems. The required performance of voltage and current references can be critical, especially in sensor/transducer systems and data converters. Generally, the ability to integrate an entire data acquisition or sensor/transducer system within a single CMOS VLSI chip is dependent upon being able to realize a CMOS compatible voltage or current reference with very low temperature drift and power supply voltage sensitivity. So far many techniques have been proposed to develop power-supply and temperature independent references.
Among them, the bandgap reference technique has shown the most potential. The principle of bandgap reference was first proposed by Widlar (refer to R. J. Wildar, "New developments in IC voltage regulators", IEEE J. Solid-state Circuits, vol. SC-6, pp. 2-7, Feb. 1979) and has been widely employed to implement stable voltage references in bipolar technology.
In CMOS technology, high-precision bandgap references using parasitic vertical bipolar transistors have recently been proposed (refer to B. S. Song and P. R. Gray, "A precision curvature-compensated CMOS bandgap reference", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. SC-18, pp. 634-643, Dec. 1983; J. Michejda and S. K. Kim, "A precision CMOS bandgap reference", IEEE J. Solid-state Circuits,, vol. SC-19, pp. 1014-1021, Dec. 1984; M. G. R. Degrauwe et al. "CMOS voltage references using lateral bipolar transistors", IEEE J. Solid-state Circuits, vol. SC-20, pp. 1151-1157, Dec. 1985; and S. L. Lin and C. A. T. Salama, "A Vbe(T) model with application to bandgap reference design", IEEE J. Solid-state Circuits, vol. SC-20, pp. 1283-1285, Dec. 1985), which demonstrate a temperature drift below 40 ppm/.degree.C.
However, the proposed references either suffer from high offset and drift of CMOS operational amplifiers or have very complex structures. Besides, the power supply voltage sensitivity is not low enough.


A membrane valve wherein the shutter disk is retained in contact with the valve seat during ejection of liquid or gas by means of one or more ribs that are substantially in contact with the shutter disk along one or more lines secant to the shutter disk and/or by means of one or more rows of secondary clamping pins that are engaged in matching openings on the valve seat. Further, a second stage pressure reducer for two-stage underwater regulators incorporating a membrane valve wherein the shutter disk is retained in contact with the valve seat during exhalation of gas by means of one or more ribs that are substantially in contact with the shutter disk along one or more lines secant to the shutter disk and/or by means of one or more rows of secondary clamping pins that are engaged in matching openings on the valve seat.

Membrane valves are used in a variety of fields and more particularly in underwater breathing apparatus, for example to regulate air outflow in pressure regulators and water outflow in masks and snorkels.
FIG. 1 illustrates a membrane valve according to the prior art, which comprises a shutter disk 1 of flexible material and a valve seat 2 with a continuous surface and one opening. Shutter disk 1 includes a cap of circular perimeter with a central portion that is essentially flat and further with a peripheral sealing lip 101, of essentially conical shape, that rests on annular wall 202 of valve seat 2. A primary clamping pin 201 extends from the central portion of the concave side of the cap of shutter disk 1 and elastically engages shutter disk 1 in the opening of valve seat 2.
The side of valve seat 2 that is opposite to shutter disk 1 delimits a chamber with controlled pressure. As shown in FIG. 2, in the event of overpressure within the chamber, shutter disk 1 deforms from its rest position and sealing lip 101 lifts up from annular wall 202, causing the membrane valve to open. While the lifting height of sealing lip 101 is substantially uniform along the perimeter of shutter disk 1, the outflow of gas or liquid through the central opening of valve seat 2 causes a swelling deformation of shutter disk 1. Because some of the chamber overpressure is absorbed by the deformation of shutter disk 1, such swelling deformation contributes beneficially to a decrease in chamber pressure, but at the same time hinders the outflow of liquid or gas through the valve opening, causing only a relatively thin passage to develop between sealing lip 101 and circular wall 202.
FIG. 3 illustrates a variation in the prior art wherein a shutter disk of elongated shape is employed. In this variation, the shutter disk may have one primary clamping pin, as shown in FIG. 3, or two primary clamping pins, each situated substantially in one of the foci of the elongated shape or in one of the centers of the arched end. While the elongated shape increases the outflow area due to the longer perimeter of sealing lip 101, the two-pin design does not improve on the swelling problem encountered with circular membranes and with one-pin designs. On the contrary, the portion of the shutter disk situated between the two primary clamping pins is more prone to swelling than with a single pin design, thereby causing the detrimental effect on the outflow of liquid or gas to worsen as compared to a one-pin design.
The swelling problems of shutter disks are also present in membrane valve designs wherein no annular wall 202 is present on the surface of valve seat 2.
Membrane valves are employed in a variety of applications. Specifically, membrane valves are employed in second stage pressure reducers for two-stage underwater regulators to regulate the outflow of spent gas that the diver has exhaled.
In second stage pressure reducers according to the prior art, a case contains a supply chamber where breathing gas is stored. Breathing gas is drawn into the supply chamber through an inlet connected to a first stage pressure reducer, which inlet is opened or closed by a spring valve housed inside the supply chamber. The spring valve opens when a depression, generally caused by the inhalation of the diver, causes the spring to contract and remains closed otherwise. Breathing gas is eventually delivered to the user through a mouthpiece connected to an outlet extending from the supply chamber.
A level area on the peripheral wall of second stage case includes a membrane valve regulating the outflow of spent gas that the user has exhaled. The membrane valve comprises a valve seat with an annular wall, which annular wall is in sealing contact with the sealing peripheral lip of the shutter disk, and the valve seat further comprises an opening, through which the spent gas is discharged. A primary clamping pin engages the shutter disk to the valve seat.
The shutter disk is in contact with the outer face of the level area on the second stage case and may be surrounded by an outflow duct, which is defined by the peripheral wall of the second stage case and by a C-shaped element affixed to the second stage wall. The outflow duct communicates with the external environment through orifices at the head sections of such outflow duct.

Membrane valve and second stage pressure reducer for two-stage underwater regulators incorporating said valve


A method performed by a physical computing system includes, with a hypervisor, presenting a virtualized Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) device to a guest, with the hypervisor, allocating a portion of total guest memory to the guest, with the hypervisor, determining a memory threshold for the guest, the memory threshold being based on a number of virtual machines managed by the hypervisor and a size of total guest memory, with the hypervisor, receiving from the guest, a first request to register a first size sub-portion of the portion of total guest memory to the virtualized RDMA device, and with the hypervisor, in response to determining that the first size sub-portion exceeds the memory threshold, returning a notification to the guest, the notification indicating that the first request failed. The first size sub-portion is less than the portion of total guest memory.

The present disclosure relates generally to virtual systems, and more particularly, to management of remote direct memory access (RDMA) devices within virtual systems.
A host machine (e.g., computer or server) is a computing system that is typically enabled to simultaneously run one or more virtual machines, where each virtual machine may be used by a local or remote client. The host machine allocates a certain amount of execution time from the host's physical processors to each of the virtual processors. Each virtual machine may use the allocated resources to execute applications, including operating systems known as guest operating systems.
A virtual machine is a piece of software that, when executed on appropriate hardware, creates an environment allowing the virtualization of an actual physical computer system. Each virtual machine running on the physical system may function as a self-contained platform, running its own operating system (OS) and software applications (processes) on one or more virtual processors.
A virtual machine may function as a self-contained platform, executing its own "guest" operating system and software applications. Typically, software on the host machine known as a "hypervisor" (or a "virtual machine monitor") manages the execution of one or more virtual machines, providing a variety of functions such as virtualizing and allocating resources, context switching among virtual machines, etc. It is desirable to find methods and systems to improve the operating efficiency of such virtual systems.

Methods for managing virtualized remote direct memory access devices


A unitary cowling assembly for covering a fore-to-aft extending marine propulsion engine comprising a front cowling section adapted to extend around a front portion of the marine propulsion engine and a rear cowling section adapted to be fixedly connected to the front cowling section and to extend around a rear portion of the marine propulsion engine is disclosed. By extending the front and rear cowling sections fore and aft of the engine and interconnecting the cowling sections along a stiffened joint that extends laterally across the engine, the top surface and the side surfaces of the cowling, which are subjected to the highest vibrational loads from operation of the marine engine, can be structurally reinforced so as to inhibit such vibrations and the associated noise, while still providing an easily moldable cowling assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a cowling assembly for a marine propulsion engine and, more specifically, to a cowling assembly formed from two or more fore-to-aft extending sections which are fixedly connected to form a unitary cowling member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is widely known in the marine art to cover a propulsion engine with a cowling. Since such cowlings often need to be manually removed to gain access to the engines, it is desirable to minimize the weight of the cowling. To achieve this minimal weighing, it has been proposed to mold such cowlings from plastic or other lightweight materials. In order for the cowling to have sufficient strength and in order to avoid noise problems associated with vibrations developed during running of the marine engine, prior art cowlings have been made relatively thick which undesirably increases the weight of the cowling.
As exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,693, it has heretobefore been proposed to form an upper cowling member from two parts which are divided in the lengthwise direction so as to form right and left halves which are permanently joined together. Constructing the cowling from two halves takes advantage of known mold manufacturing processes resulting in reduced costs. Unfortunately, although such a cowling formed from left and right halves which are joined together increases the strength of the top of the cowling, the left and right sides remain low in strength.
Due to the inherent vibrations developed during operation of a marine engine, the left and right sides of the cowling, as well as the top, are subject to the greatest vibrational fatigue stress and strains. Therefore, although the prior art teaches providing a cowling formed from two parts which are secured together in the lengthwise direction so as to increase the strength of the top of the cowling, such prior art does not provide for increasing the strength of the left and right sides of the cowling and therefore there is a need in the art for a cowling assembly which can inhibit vibrations on not only the top of the cowling but also the left and right sides as well.

Cowling assembly for a marine propulsion engine


A sealing member which is compressed by a contactless temperature sensor and a cover member of a fixing unit is provided between the sensor and the cover member. An opening portion for temperature detection is shut off from a space around the fixing unit by the sealing member, thereby preventing the air from flowing from the opening portion into the fixing unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as copying apparatus and printer having a function of forming an image onto a recording medium such as a sheet and, more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having a contactless type temperature sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, in an image forming apparatus, a toner image formed on a sheet is thermally fixed onto a sheet surface by using a fixing unit (fixing roller, fixing belt) having a heat source. Since a management of a fixing temperature in this instance is very important to stabilize sheet conveying performance and image quality, generally, proper heating control is made to the heat source while monitoring a temperature of a surface of the fixing unit by using a temperature detecting sensor.
Hitherto, a contact type sensor such as a thermistor has widely been used as a temperature detecting sensor.
However, if the contact type sensor is used, since surface states (temperature distribution and a consumption degree) of the fixing roller and the fixing belt, particularly, only regions which come into contact with the sensor change, such a change is liable to appear as a gloss variation on the image fixed onto the sheet. Since micro toner foulings deposited onto the fixing roller and the fixing belt are accumulated into the contact type sensor, there is such a problem that when the accumulated fouling is suddenly peeled off, it is deposited onto the fixed image.
Since it is necessary to avoid those problems in order to realize high picture quality of the image forming apparatus, a contactless type sensor such as a thermopile is becoming a main stream.
However, since the contactless type sensor is very expensive, if it is built in the fixing unit which is presumed to be exchanged as consumables, it directly exerts an influence on the costs of the consumables. Since such a sensor is a contactless type, it has to be arranged at a predetermined distance from the surface of one of the fixing roller and the fixing belt. Therefore, when the sensor is built in the fixing unit, it is necessary to assure a certain space into the fixing unit.
From the above circumstances, as a construction of the image forming apparatus, generally, the contactless type sensor is provided on the image forming apparatus main body side and the temperature of the fixing unit is detected through an opening portion for temperature detection provided for a cover of the fixing unit.
As literatures disclosing the related arts, there are Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2001-228742, 2002-296953, and 2003-098866.
FIG. 5 illustrates a conventional construction in which a contactless type sensor 151 is provided on the main body side of an image forming apparatus 150 and a temperature of a fixing unit 140 is detected through an opening portion for temperature detection 144 provided for a cover 143 of a fixing unit 125.
In such a conventional construction, there is a case where the temperature detection is influenced by a flow (shown by an arrow in FIG. 5) of the air around the fixing unit.
Such a problem occurs because the low-temperature air out of the fixing unit flows from the temperature detecting opening portion 144 provided for the cover 143 of the fixing unit and the surface temperature of the fixing unit 140 is locally cooled. A controller of the image forming apparatus makes the heating control to the heat sources 142 of the fixing unit so as to maintain a temperature of a cooled detection area 140a to a target control temperature. Therefore, temperatures of areas other than the detection area exceed the target temperature. The over-temperature of the fixing unit becomes a cause of winding of a sheet or an over-gloss of the picture quality. A temperature difference between the detection area and the other areas becomes a cause of the gloss variation of the fixed image.
Generally, there is a tendency that a flow occurs in the air around the fixing unit by a heat convection. Especially, in the construction in which the contactless type sensor is arranged under the fixing unit, an influence of the heat convection from the temperature detecting opening portion is liable to occur. In dependence on the apparatus construction, a heat insulating air flow is often formed near the fixing unit in order to protect an image forming portion adjacent to the fixing unit and a laser scanner from the heat. In such a case, the air flows easily from the temperature detecting opening portion into the fixing unit in terms of such characteristics of the air that flows in the direction of a lower atmospheric pressure. The problem of deterioration in temperature detecting precision appears further typically.
As a conventional method of avoiding the foregoing problems, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a method whereby a window 145 made of an infrared transmitting material is attached to the temperature detecting opening portion 144 of the fixing unit 125 and the inflow of the air is prevented has been known.
However, since transmittance of infrared rays of the window 145 made of the infrared transmitting material changes depending on the surface state, there is a risk that the detecting precision becomes unstable due to a factor such as variation among parts or deposition of the fouling. When the sheet passes through the fixing unit 125, there is a case where the inner surface of the window 145 forms dew and becomes cloudy by an influence of the moisture evaporated from the sheet by the heat. Thus, there is also a risk that the temperature cannot be detected but an abnormality occurs in the heating control and, in the worst case, a temperature of the fixing unit exceeds a limit temperature and the fixing unit is broken.

Image forming apparatus having contactless type temperature sensor


A plasma display panel comprising an energy recovery circuit and a driving method thereof are provided. The plasma display panel comprises an energy charging part for supplying a predetermined voltage, an energy supply and recovery part for receiving an energy of the predetermined voltage from the energy charging part, and a pulse forming part. The pulse forming part supplies the energy of the predetermined voltage supplied from the energy supply and recovery part to the plasma display panel, maintains a sustain voltage of the plasma display panel, and recovers the energy of the predetermined voltage to the energy supply and recovery part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel comprising an energy recovery circuit and a driving method thereof, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel capable of removing a peak voltage of a scan electrode and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a general plasma display panel, ultraviolet rays of 147 nm emitted by discharging a He—Xe gas mixture or a Ne—Xe gas mixture excite phosphors. Images of characters or graphics are displayed on the plasma display panel by the excited phosphors.
FIG. 1 shows a structure of a related art plasma display panel.
As shown in FIG. 1, a plasma display panel 30 comprises a scan electrode 12A and a sustain electrode 12B formed on a front substrate 10 and a data electrode 20 formed on a rear substrate 18.
The scan electrode 12A and the sustain electrode 12B each comprise a transparent electrode and a bus electrode. The transparent electrode is formed of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) and the bus electrode is formed of a metal capable of reducing a resistance of the transparent electrode.
An upper dielectric layer 14 and a protective layer 16 are stacked on the front substrate 10 on which the scan electrode 12A and the sustain electrode 12B are formed.
Wall charges generated by a plasma discharge of the plasma display panel 30 are accumulated on the upper dielectric layer 14. The protective layer 16 prevents a damage of the upper dielectric layer 14 caused by sputtering generated by the plasma discharge, and also increases a secondary electron emission coefficient. The protective layer 16 is generally formed of MgO.
A lower dielectric layer 22 and a barrier rib 24 are formed on the rear substrate 18 on which the data electrode 20 is formed. A phosphor layer 26 is coated on the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 22 and the barrier rib 24.
The data electrode 20 is formed to intersect the scan electrode 12A and the sustain electrode 12B. The barrier rib 24 is formed in parallel with the data electrode 20. The barrier rib 24 prevents the ultraviolet rays and visible light emitted by the plasma discharge from being radiated to adjacent discharge cells.
The ultraviolet rays generated by the plasma discharge excite the phosphor layer 26 to generate any one of red, green or blue light. A He—Xe gas mixture or a Ne—Xe gas mixture is injected into a discharge space of the discharge cell between the front and rear substrates 10 and 18 and the barrier rib 24.
FIG. 2 shows a driving waveform of a related art plasma display panel.
As shown in FIG. 2, the related art plasma display panel is driven by dividing each of a plurality of subfields into a reset period for initializing the whole screen, an address period for selecting cells to be discharged, a sustain period for maintaining discharges of the selected cells, and an erase period for erasing wall charges in the discharged cells.
In the reset period, a rising pulse Ramp-up is simultaneously applied to all scan electrodes Y during a set-up period SU to generate a dark discharge within discharge cells of the whole screen. By the discharge performed during the set-up period SU, positive wall charges are accumulated on address electrodes X and sustain electrodes Z, while negative wall charges are accumulated on the scan electrodes Y.
A falling pulse Ramp-down is applied to the discharge cells during a set-down period SD. The falling pulse Ramp-down which falls from a positive voltage less than a peak voltage of the rising pulse Ramp-up to a ground voltage or a certain negative voltage partially removes wall charges excessively formed in the cells. As a result, wall charges required for performing a stable address discharge uniformly remains in the cells.
In the address period, a scan pulse Sp is sequentially applied to the scan electrodes Y and at the same time, a data pulse Dp is applied to the address electrodes X in synchronous with the scan pulse Sp. A data voltage Vd of the data pulse Dp is commonly 65 V.
While the voltage difference between the scan pulse Sp and the data pulse Dp is added to the wall charges produced during the reset period, the address discharge is generated within the discharge cells to which the data pulse Dp is applied. Wall charges required for a sustain discharge generated by supplying a sustain voltage Vs are formed within the cells selected by the address discharge.
A bias voltage Zdc is supplied to the sustain electrodes Z during the set-down period SD and the address period to decrease the voltage difference between the sustain electrodes Z and the scan electrodes Y. Accordingly, the supply of the bias voltage Zdc prevents misdischarge between the sustain electrodes Z and the scan electrodes Y.
In the sustain period, a sustain pulse SUSp is alternately applied to the scan electrodes Y and the sustain electrodes Z. While the wall voltages within the cells selected by the address discharge are added to the sustain pulse SUSp, a sustain discharge, that is, a display discharge is generated between the scan electrodes Y and the sustain electrodes Z whenever the sustain pulse SUSp is applied.
In the erase period, after completing the sustain discharge, an erase pulse Ramp-ers having a narrow pulse width and a low voltage is supplied to the sustain electrodes Z to remove the wall charges remaining in the cells of the whole screen.
FIG. 3 is a related art energy recovery circuit diagram of the plasma display panel.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the plasma display panel is driven according to the driving waveform of FIG. 2, the sustain pulse SUSp is formed by an energy recovery circuit. When the plasma display panel is normally driven, charges corresponding to 0.5 Vs are charged to a capacitor C of the energy recovery circuit. When a first switch Q1 is turned on in a charged state of the capacitor C, a voltage of the scan electrode Y rises up to a sustain voltage Vs by LC resonance between the plasma display panel and an inductor L. When a second switch Q2 is turned on, a voltage of the scan electrode Y is maintained with the sustain voltage Vs. When a third switch Q3 is turned on, a voltage of the scan electrode Y falls to a ground voltage GND by LC resonance between the plasma display panel and the inductor L. Afterwards, when a fourth switch Q4 is turned on, a voltage of the scan electrode Y is maintained with the ground voltage GND.
FIG. 4 shows a voltage waveform of the scan electrode shown according to an operation of the energy recovery circuit of FIG. 3 when initially driving the plasma display panel.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the plasma display panel is initially driven by the supply of a power supply, charges corresponding to 0.5 Vs are not charged to the capacitor C of the energy recovery circuit. Afterwards, the charges corresponding to 0.5 Vs are charged to the capacitor C by continuously performing turn-on and turn-off operations of the first to fourth switches Q1 to Q4 in order.
In a period indicated by a reference numeral {circle around (1)} of FIG. 4, when the first switch Q1 is turned on in a state that the charges corresponding to 0.5 Vs are not charged to the capacitor C, a voltage of the scan electrode Y rises up to a voltage less than the sustain voltage Vs.
Next, in a period indicated by a reference numeral {circle around (2)} of FIG. 4, when the second switch Q2 is turned on, the sustain voltage Vs is applied to the scan electrode Y. Here, since the voltage difference between the sustain voltage and the voltage of the scan electrode Y is large, a large current flows to the energy recovery circuit. As a result, a peak voltage of the scan electrode Y is generated. When the peak voltage generated in the scan electrode Y is larger than a breakdown voltage of the switches or diodes constituting the energy recovery circuit, problems in normal operations of the switches or the diodes are generated.

Plasma display panel comprising energy recovery circuit and driving method thereof


The disclosure of the present application includes accessories for securing mobile devices. In an exemplary embodiment of an accessory for securing a mobile device of the present disclosure, the accessory includes a socket having a receiver portion opposite an attachment surface, where the attachment surface is capable of attaching to a mobile device, and a connector including a connecting member disposed on a base, where the receiver portion is configured to engage and retain the connecting member. In at least one embodiment, the accessory further includes a sleeve having a tubular wall defining an opening through the sleeve, where the sleeve is adapted to accept and retain a digit of a user and is mechanically connected to the connecting member.

Handheld mobile electronic devices are becoming ubiquitous in modern society and include such devices as mobile phones, electronic readers, tablets, gaming devices, media players, and the like. Though these devices come in various sizes and shapes, each is ostensibly designed to be held in a user's hands. Despite this intended purpose, most mobile devices are not ergonomically designed to fit well in a user's hands. The devices can be awkward to hold and operate and, therefore, can be prone to being dropped. Unfortunately, most mobile devices are not very robust, and a drop from any appreciable height can irreparably damage the device.
Many smaller mobile devices are specifically designed fit in a user's pocket or a belt carrier pouch for easy transportation of the device. The small size that allows for easy transport often makes the device difficult to use for those users with lesser manual dexterity, particularly older users. For these and many additional users, the need to both securely grip the device and keep fingers free to operate the device negatively affects the users' ability to operate the device effectively. As a result, many users will set the device down on a flat surface to operate their device. For these users, having a stable base that presents the device at an appropriate viewing and operating angle is desirable.
To address these issues, there is a need for a mobile device accessory that aids a user in securely and ergonomically holding a mobile device, prevents the device from being dropped while being operated, and enables the device to be secured when being transported.


An emergency evacuation slide has an internal energy dissipation characteristic so that the slide is especially suitable for evacuation of persons from a relatively great height. By dissipating the energy internally in the slide rather than by frictional heating of the clothing and skin of the evacuating persons, the danger of skin burns and other injuries to the persons is reduced or avoided. The slide surface of the slide is made up of a plurality of slide modules that each include an elastically elongatable segment, an interconnecting segment, and an anti-slip segment, which are respectively connected together one after another. The anti-slip segment has an upper anti-slip surface with a high coefficient of friction so that the anti-slip segment remains in static frictional contact and moves along with the evacuating person. The bottom surface of the anti-slip segment has a predefined coefficient of friction. The upstream end of the elongatable segment and the downstream end of the anti-slip segment are connected mechanically to a slide support body. As a person slides down the slide, the anti-slip segment moves downward along with the person and the downstream end thereof curls or rolls under itself, while the elongatable segment stretches elastically. Energy is dissipated by internal friction within the elastic elongatable segment and by friction of the bottom surface of the anti-slip segment curling or rolling under itself.

In conventional emergency evacuation slides, such as inflatable slides deployed from aircraft for an emergency evacuation, it is generally known that the energy released while a person slides down the slide is dissipated, i.e. converted to heat, by the friction between the clothing or skin of the person and the sliding surface of the emergency slide. Namely, the gravitational potential energy of a person sliding from a higher level to a lower level is converted to kinetic energy, and is then ultimately converted to and dissipated as heat due to the frictional contact of the person on the sliding surface. As a result, the sliding surface and the clothing and skin of the evacuating persons can become quite hot, whereby the degree of heating is ultimately dependent on the height difference that is spanned by the emergency slide. Also, sufficient friction must be provided so that the evacuating persons are discharged from the bottom end of the slide at acceptably low speeds for avoiding injuries.
It has been found in practice that the temperature levels reached during the use of conventional slides for single-deck aircraft are just barely within an acceptable range. However, in the next generation of high capacity aircraft and especially multi-deck aircraft, it will be necessary to provide emergency slides that can safely span substantially greater height differences between the upper deck of the aircraft and the ground. First of all, the emergency slides must be made substantially longer to span the greater height differences while still maintaining a slide angle within an acceptable range. More importantly, if the conventional slides with conventional sliding surfaces are simply made longer, then the thermally dissipated energy would heat the clothing and skin of the evacuated persons to such a high temperature that the persons could suffer burns.
Evacuation slides are also known, having deceleration means such as bumps, ridges, grooves or a high friction surface treatment on the sliding surface, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,980 (Miller). Such slide surfaces dissipate the kinetic energy of the evacuating persons by frictional heating resulting from frictional sliding, as well as through the impact between the evacuating person and the ridges or ripples provided for the deceleration. If such slides are used for a greater height difference with a greater associated energy to be dissipated, the impact rubbing of the body of the evacuating person against the ridged surface can result in bruising as well as frictional skin burns to the person.

Energy dissipating emergency evacuation slide


A system and method and loading articles onto a sorting conveyor. An exemplary embodiment of the system includes a computer processor to control system function, a scanning device for identifying articles to be sorted, a conveyor for transporting articles loaded thereon, and a loading device for accomplishing the physical loading of articles onto the conveyor. The computer processor controls the motion of the conveyor, receives information from the scanning and loading devices and builds a database therewith useful for sorting the articles loaded onto the second conveyor. An exemplary method concerns conveying a sequence of one or more articles to be sorted; scanning the articles in the sequence with a scanning system to determine the identification of the articles; communicating the identification of the scanned articles from the scanning system to a processor; storing in memory article identification information; communicating commands from the processor to a loading device to effect the loading of articles onto a conveyor, each article being loaded at a conveyor location; communicating conveyor position information from the loading device to the processor; and storing in memory the location at which an identified article is loaded on the conveyor and associating with the location the identification of the loaded article.

When sorting a collection of articles is desired, a sorting conveyor can be used to accomplish the task. A sorting conveyor is a circular, rectangular, or other shape endless chain or line having associated with it one or more loading stations where articles to be sorted are placed onto the conveyor and one or more drop stations where articles are deposited into sorted groups.
Loading the sorting conveyor with articles to be sorted involves moving the conveyor past a loading station. At the loading station, such articles to be sorted (the "unsorted sequence") are placed, one by one, onto the sorting conveyor at discrete points along its length. The sorting conveyor can be loaded with articles in any unsorted order.
The sorting of articles is accomplished by moving the loaded conveyor past a drop station which selects certain articles from the conveyor in a specified order. In this way, an unsorted sequence of articles loaded on the sorting conveyor can be converted into a sorted sequence at one or more drop stations.
In order to sort a collection of unsorted articles using a sorting conveyor, it is necessary to determine the identity of each article. Furthermore, unsorted articles must be loaded onto the sorting conveyor and their identities must be associated with locations on the sorting conveyor.
Identifying and loading each article in an unsorted sequence of articles can be a manual-labor intensive task. Determining and recording an article's identification may be performed by one or more operators by hand. Once identified, each article may be loaded by hand in some fashion onto the sorting conveyor. These manual labor-intensive aspects of identifying and loading articles create a bottle-neck, slowing the overall process undesirably.

Computer control system and method for scanning and loading articles on a conveyor


An organotemplate-free synthetic process for the production of a zeolite of TON framework type structure is provided. The process includes the steps of: (1) preparing a mixture comprising: (a) an alumina-coated silica; (b) a source of an alkali metal; (c) an alcohol; (d) a source of hydroxide ions; (e) seed crystals comprising a zeolitic material having a TON framework type structure; and (f) water; and (2) crystallizing the mixture obtained in step (1).

Zeolites are porous crystalline materials constructed of repeating SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedral units. These units are linked together to form frameworks having regular intra-crystalline cavities and channels of molecular dimensions. Numerous types of synthetic zeolites have been synthesized and each has a unique framework based on the specific arrangement of its tetrahedral units. By convention, each framework type is assigned a unique three-letter code by the International Zeolite Association (IZA).
Zeolitic materials of the TON framework type are characterized by one-dimensional elliptical 10-membered ring (10-MR) channels. Examples of zeolitic materials of the TON framework type include ISI-1, KZ-2, NU-10, Theta-1, and ZSM-22. TON framework type zeolites can be used as a catalyst for various processes, such as dewaxing hydrocarbon feedstocks.
Generally, the synthesis of TON framework type zeolites is carried out in the presence of a nitrogen-containing organotemplate, where the organotemplate is involved in crystallization directing and micropore filling. Subsequent removal of the organotemplate in the micropores of the resulting zeolite is necessary that it may be effectively employed in an application. The organotemplate may usually only be removed by a calcination process or the like, such that a recycling of the organotemplate is not possible. Furthermore, removal of the organotemplate by calcination at higher temperatures, normally at 450° C. to 930° C. or even higher, is not only disadvantageous due to the destruction of the organotemplate, but also results in excess energy consumption and produces harmful gases and other unwanted waste products.
Accordingly, there also exists a need for an organotemplate-free synthetic process which may provide a zeolite having the TON framework type structure.

Organotemplate-free synthesis of a zeolite of ton framework type


Occlusive tissue dressings and methods including an elastomeric drape and a liquid component, at least partially cross-linked at least after one of drying and curing, suitable for application at a dressing-to-skin interface in order to create a substantially air-tight seal. The same or a different liquid component may be applied by a user at a tube-to-dressing interface in order to create a similar air-tight seal around the tube, if not occlusively sealed during its manufacture.

Negative pressure wound therapy ("NPWT") is an effective technology for treating open wounds. NPWT devices were originally accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") in 1995, when the FDA approved a 510(K) for the Kinetic Concepts Inc. ("KCI")'s V.A.C.® device. The definition of NPWT devices by the FDA has changed over the years; in general terms, its definition is: a system that is used to apply negative pressure for wound management purposes, including the removal of fluids (i.e., wound exudates, irrigation fluids, and infectious materials). The negative pressure is applied through a porous dressing positioned into or over the wound cavity, depending on wound type and depth, or over a flap or graft; the dressing distributes the pressure while removing fluids from the wound. NWPT systems typically include:                Non-adhesive wound dressing used to fill the wound cavity (e.g., a sterilized medical sponge or gauze; a.k.a., non-adhesive packing materials);        Drainage tube placed adjacent to or into the dressing;        Occlusive transparent film placed over the dressing (and potentially the drainage tube) and adhered to the skin to maintain a seal;        Collection container for drained fluids from the wound; and        Low pressure vacuum source.
NPWT has been approved by the FDA to treat many wound types: chronic, acute, traumatic, sub-acute and dehisced wounds, partial-thickness burns, ulcers (such as diabetic, venous or pressure), surgically closed incisions (a.k.a., closed surgical incisions), flaps and grafts. The prescribed therapy time depends on wound type, wound dimensions, and patient conditions; it typically lasts from four weeks to four months. Disposable dressing components are changed approximately every three days.
Extensive clinical trials have demonstrated the success of negative pressure in healing the approved wound types by applying a controlled negative pressure typically between 20 mmHg and 200 mmHg. Most studies applied a constant vacuum pressure, with 125 mmHg being the most common, although cyclic and intermittent studies are currently underway. Evidence supporting the use of NPWT in the treatment of chronic, non-healing wounds exists primarily in the form of nonrandomized, controlled trials; prospective and retrospective large and small case series; single-center studies; and single case studies, with few randomized, controlled clinical trials. Studies also exist that demonstrate NPWT benefits in healing acute wounds. Additionally, since 2006, benefits of managing surgical incisions post-operatively have been shown with improved clinical outcomes; at least ten studies have been published to date. From these studies, proven medical benefits of NPWT treatment include:                Promotes blood flow (perfusion) at the wound;        Removes interstitial fluid (a.k.a., wound exudates), reduces edema;        Decreases counts of bacteria and infectious materials;        Increases rate of granulation tissue formation, reducing scar tissue formation, increases growth factors and fibroblasts;        Uniformly draws the wound edges together;        Provides a protected healing environment; and        Provides a moist environment.
Although significant clinical evidence exists to support the benefit of NPWT as a safe therapy in healing chronic wounds, it is possible during NPWT to rupture a vein or artery. Usually, a machine safety alarm will signify a fluid leak rate that exceeds the rate that the machine was designed for. This alarmed leak rate typically includes the combination of both air and liquid, and typically has an upper safety limit of the minimum blood flow rate possible out of a wound cavity with an actively bleeding vein or artery. If a vein or artery accidently ruptures, the system must shut down. Therefore, it is very important to have a safety feature that stops blood flow if this occurs, in order not to exsanguinate the patient.
Lina et al. describe in U.S. Pat. No. 7,611,500 and WO1996/005873 an initial apparatus used for NPWT. In practice, the device proved to be effective; however, one major limitation was detected: the high electrical grid power source needed to operate the device limited the mobility of a patient. Therefore, future refinements, such as that described by Hunt et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,982, incorporated rechargeable batteries for the power source. Batteries increased patient mobility, but time was limited by the life of the batteries between charges. Additionally, battery management became an issue, especially for facilities with a high number of NPWT patients, and electrical grid power was still needed to recharge the batteries.
Eliminating the need for electrical power, via the grid or batteries, would create a more widely applicable, clinically viable therapy. The power requirement variability of a system is dependent on the desired vacuum pressure, rate of wound exudate removal from the wound cavity, and the leak rate of air into the system. As the air leak rate increases, more power is needed to supply a continuous negative pressure at a predetermined value or threshold range at the wound bed. Air leakage into the NPWT system requires the most power of any other component. Air leaks are the obstacle to creating a vacuum system that does not require a continuous external power source or frequent recharging of its internal power storage. Therefore, the feasibility of a mechanical NPWT system is heavily reliant on the seal quality of every interface in the system. The dressing system has been identified as the main source of air leaks in current NPWT systems, particularly at the interfaces between 1) the dressing and the skin and 2) the tube and the dressing. The amount of air leaks into these interfaces determines the time frequency that the pump needs to be recharged and the magnitude of vacuum pressure applied to the wound cavity at a specific time. These two latter characteristics are dependent system parameters.
Few mechanical NPWT systems are currently available, as described by the present inventor in "Development of a simplified Negative Pressure Wound Device" submitted in 2007 for her Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Certain lower-pressure, mechanical devices were disclosed later by Hu et al. in U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0228205. Current mechanical systems typically use sophisticated-material, planar dressings, such as hydrocolloid dressings, to try to solve the air leak problem. However, the inherent geometry mismatch of a planar dressing and the contoured skin surface often leads to air leaks. The mechanical devices therefore are only applicable for select, relatively flat surfaces on the body and, even then, it is difficult to eliminate air leaks entirely.
Non-electrical pumps are at the low end of the spectrum of medical pumps, typically utilizing bladder pumps and capillary action materials. Bladder pumps are used for both extracting and inserting fluids. By their physical characteristics, they are governed by non-linear spring like properties. Currently, bladder pumps are used in wound treatments for drainage purposes, particularly for internal, body cavity drainage. C. R. Bard, Inc. manufacturers many of these non-electrical pumps; one bladder model frequently used to drain internal cavities is commonly referred to as a Jackson Pratt Drain.
There are various limitations to applying NPWT with existing mechanical, bladder pumps. There are no pressure gauges on the pumps and, therefore, the user does not know the initial magnitude of the negative pressure pulled, and cannot monitor the pressure during therapy. Additionally, there are no air leak detection systems for the current pumps, except to visually watch for the expansion of the bladder at a rate higher than expected. If the pump is clear, one can also visually monitor if the expansion rate is due to air leaks or due to drainage fluid.
Capillary action materials are also currently used to treat wounds by providing very low negative pressure treatment, too low to be considered NPWT. This form of treatment is usually found in dressings such as small topical bandages to provide NPWT-like benefits to very small, self-healing wounds, such as blisters and brush burns. Treating a wound with this technology enhances the healing environment. Capillary action materials are filled with small capillaries between the wound and outside environment. A negative pressure is applied by capillary action of fluid flowing from the wound to the outside environment, thereby, removing interstitial fluid. One example of a capillary action material is Johnson & Johnson's First Aid Advanced Care Advanced Healing Adhesive Pads.
Dressing technologies have tried to address the issue of air leaks into NPWT systems. This is important to both electrical and mechanical systems to reduce their necessary power requirements. In mechanical systems, it is necessary for clinically relevant device functionality, such that power input and pump recharge time is reasonable for a caregiver and/or patient to perform. For electrical systems, air leak reduction reduces the number of, if not completely eliminates, false-positive, alarmed emergency system shutdowns. Air leak reduction allows battery designs to last longer on one battery charge and use lower power capacity batteries altogether. Air leak elimination potentially eliminates the need for a continuous power supply, as the vacuum pressure can be maintained in the occlusive environment within a specified threshold, for which the timeframe depends on the pump parameters and exudate removal rate (typically less than 100 mL/day) from the wound.
Currently, most NPWT dressings (the drape component) are thin, planar, tape-like adhesive dressings that must be applied to a contoured area of skin. A backing on the dressing must be removed to expose the adhesive, and then the dressing is applied to the skin. The pre-application handling of the dressings alone introduces a probability for air leaks, as the dressing typically folds onto itself or creases very easily due to its low bending stiffness; many dressings are thinner than a piece of standard paper, and the bending stiffness of a material is proportional to the inverse of its thickness cubed. As a dressing is applied, it must often fold onto itself in order to accommodate for a geometrical mismatch between the planar dressing and the contours of the body surrounding the wound to be treated. This creates creases, also referred to herein as wrinkles, in the dressing that have a high potential for causing air leaks into the NPWT system.
Adding to the geometrical mismatch, the dressings often become less adhesive due to the introduction of foreign materials onto the adhesive before dressing application. This is most common and almost unavoidable at the edges of the dressing due to handling by the caregiver. At times, the caregiver's hands introduce enough foreign particles onto the adhesive to forbid further adhesion of that area of the dressing. In the U.S., this often happens when a caregiver uses powdered gloves. This is a critical issue as the edges of the dressing are an area where leak propagation from the edge of the dressing to the wound cavity is potentially very high, based on the theory of interface fracture mechanics.
For the electrical NPWT systems, a thin plastic, adhesive backed dressing is typically used. Electrical NPWT dressing systems have not readily addressed the air leak issues listed above that form at the dressing-to-skin interface. Instead, dressing iterations have focused on air leaks at the tube-to-dressing interface. When NPWT was first introduced into the market, the drainage tube was inserted into the wound cavity through the edge of the dressing. This introduced a high potential for air leaks, which often alarmed the shut-off system. Caregivers began to solve this problem by raising the tube from the skin surface at the dressing edge, and pinching the dressing under the tube before the dressing contacts the skin. This caused the dressing to adhere to itself in an upside-down "T" pattern onto the skin.
Eventually, some of the NPWT dressing, commercial designs incorporated their own solutions to the high air leak rate at the tubing interface. Out of these solutions, the T.R.A.C. Pad by KCI was highly effective, which is driving the current design trends. The T.R.A.C. Pad prefabricates the drainage tube to a semi-rigid, tubing connector, which is then attached to a small, circular, planar adhesive dressing (a.k.a., drape). All of these connections are made air-tight during its manufacture. The tubing does not travel beyond the plane of the adhesive dressing, and therefore its opening remains at the skin surface. When the T.R.A.C. Pad is used, the standard dressing is initially applied to the wound, without a tubing connection. Then, a small incision is made in the dressing, over the wound cavity; this hole may also be prefabricated into the drape component of the dressing during its manufacture. The film backing of the circular adhesive component is removed from the Pad, and the tube opening is centered over the incision. Since the adhesive surface of the Pad is small, it is easier to handle than the procedure of tunneling the tube into the initial dressing. Although the Pad does not guarantee elimination of air leaks at the tube-to-dressing interface, it highly reduces the probable amount of air leaks into the dressing, based on its ergonomic design and small profile. A minimal amount of air leaks is almost unavoidable for all applications with planar adhesive components, due to the geometrical mismatch and user handling that still remain.
Many efforts have been made in order to overcome the identified barriers of low end, mechanical pumps for application in NPWT. Most of the focus has been on reducing air leaks and creating more predictable vacuum sources. New materials used in NPWT dressings have been the main driver in reducing the air leak rate into the system at the dressing-skin interface. These materials are often not new to wound dressings; however, they are new to NPWT. Pump design has been the focus of creating more predictable vacuum sources; mechanical components, such as linear or constant force springs, are often introduced into the system and maintain a more predictable behavior throughout therapy.
Only one mechanical NPWT system is on the market today, but is not widely used: SNaP® Wound Care System by Spiracur (Sunnyvale, Calif.). The SNaP® Wound Care System uses a hydrocolloid dressing with specific mechanical connectors from the tube to the dressing, in order to accommodate for air leaks; the provided hydrocolloid dressing is relatively small in size. Hydrocolloids are used in many wound-dressing systems, and are a common trend in the NPWT market. They are stiffer and thicker than most common, adhesive, planar, NPWT specific dressings. This causes the dressing to fold onto itself less during its handling and application. However, it cannot accommodate for geometrical mismatch without creases, especially as the dressing surface area increases. Since the dressing is stiffer and thicker, these creases are difficult to seal in an air-tight manner, due to its increased bending stiffness. Therefore, hydrocolloids are often only applicable to smaller wounds. Much effort is currently being taken to make them thinner, in order to increase their applicable surface area and accommodate more for contours, such as the Replicare Thin Hydrocolloid Dressing by Smith and Nephew. Hydrocolloids rely on their extremely sticky adhesive properties to account for increased skin adhesion and reduced air leaks. If they come in contact with wound exudate, the polymers in the hydrocolloid swell with water until saturation, forming a gel, which is held solid in its adhesive matrix structure.
In the SNaP® Wound Care System, the hydrocolloid dressings are connected to the tubing with a mechanical connector component, similar to the T.R.A.C. Pad, KCI. The SNaP® Wound Care System eliminates any potential air leaks from this mechanical connector by prefabricating it to the center of the entire dressing during manufacture. The prefabrication eliminates any potential air leaks at the tube-to-dressing interface due to user interface and geometrical mismatch, but it is not capable of being moved on the dressing surface. Therefore, it may need to be placed on an inconvenient area of the wound, such as a location that is uncomfortable for the patient. Additionally, the tube runs parallel to the plane of the drape; the direction of the tube along the plane of the drape is fixed. Since the dressings are not typically round, the tube path may be required to travel in an undesirable path, in order to cover the wound area with the preset shape of the drape.
For its vacuum source, the SNaP® Wound Care System uses a complex system, driven by constant force springs. Therefore, as the pump expands, mainly due to air leaks and potentially exudate removal, the pressure remains relatively constant for the length of the pressure application. This system is expensive and highly technical when compared to the non-electrical pumps at the low end of the medical pump spectrum (e.g., bladder pumps); however, it is the first commercial mechanical NPWT pump, which has been proven to be a potential NPWT pump design. Since air leaks into the dressing system remain highly probable, depending on wound location and caregiver experience, the successful application of the SNaP® Wound Care System is limited in practice.