A process and apparatus for the continuous production of mineral wool nonwovens in which the objective is to provide a process and an apparatus for the continuous production of mineral wool nonwovens, by means of which a stable flow pattern is created in the chute, thus facilitating a clearly defined, homogeneous layer of deposited mineral wool in which at least one backflow region (24, 25) is generated in the chute (9) outside the fibre flow (23), which backflow region (24, 25) is sufficient for such a large-volume backflow with such a low mean velocity that appreciable upward fibre transport is avoided. In this connection, a portion (32) of the process air entrained with the fibre flow is deflected upward in the backflow, and another portion (34) of the process air is extracted.

The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for continuous production of nonwovens, particularly mineral wool nonwovens.
In the production of mineral wool nonwovens, e.g. from rock wool or glass wool, not only is the fiberisation process of importance, but also the formation of the nonwoven fabric as such constitutes an important process step. It is customary in this respect for a fibre/gas/air mixture produced by a fiberisation unit to be introduced into a box-like so-called chute to separate the fibres, which chute usually features at the bottom an accumulating conveyor acting as a type of filter screen which is constructed in the form of a gas-permeable, rotating, plane conveyor belt. Under the conveyor belt is located an extraction device which generates a certain partial vacuum. In addition, drum-shaped accumulating conveyors with curved suction surfaces are also known from, for example, German patent specification DE-PS 39 21 399.
If the fibre/gas/air mixture--which can also contain a binder--impinges on the accumulating conveyor, the gas/air mixture is sucked through to below the accumulating conveyor acting as a filter, and the fibres are retained on the conveyor in the form of a nonwoven fabric.
In the known process for nonwoven fabric production, there are generally a plurality of adjacently arranged fiberisation units which produce fibre flows in a manner familiar to a person knowledgeable in the art. For the sake of simplicity, the term "fibre flow" or "fibre stream" used in the following shall refer to the flow bundle comprising fibres, process air, and binder where appropriate, with the term "process air" also covering the propellant gas required in order to draw out the fibres, the secondary air entrained during fiberisation, and any false air which may be sucked into the process for the purpose of cooling following fibre drawing.
Into the space bounded by the accumulating conveyor and the side walls of the chute, are thus introduced from the top fibre flows arranged in the form of adjacent core streams which carry fibres which are in the process of production or which have just been produced. In order to facilitate a directed flow and orderly deposition of the fibres as a nonwoven fabric on the accumulating conveyor, it is therefore necessary to extract the introduced process air from below the accumulating conveyor. By this means, one obtains in the chute a vertical stream of the fibre flows, from which the fibre content is trapped at the accumulating conveyor, as if at a filter, to form a nonwoven fabric which is then conveyed away while the process air continues to flow to extraction devices.
The extraction process under and in the accumulating conveyor presents certain difficulties as extraction has to be performed through the forming wool nonwoven, so that at the beginning of nonwoven formation there is, of necessity, less flow resistance while after partially completed nonwoven formation, a greater level of flow resistance has to be overcome. Directly above the nonwoven formation zone, therefore, a non-uniform flow pattern prevails owing to the spatially differing thicknesses of the nonwoven fabric lying below.
At the entry end of the chute, i.e. above the nonwoven formation zone, the fibre flow pattern is made up of a plurality of core streams, with each core stream initially being readily assignable to an individual fiberisation unit. The core streams which occur immediately below the fiberisation units, which core streams exhibit the energy of the propellant gas flows injected for fibre production and as a result of their elevated velocity represent regions of reduced static pressure, are located in relatively close mutual vicinity and exert a mutual suction effect which can lead to unstable oscillating flows in the individual core streams or in the fibre flow as a whole. The overall result is that, above the accumulating conveyor, there is a heterogeneous, spatially and temporally unstable flow pattern which, although in snapshot terms can be regarded as a downward flow, nevertheless exhibits locally a plurality of different flow components acting in the most varied of directions. The minutest changes in a boundary condition lead in this chaotic flow system to changes in the flow pattern which are difficult to control from the outside, which changes, in turn, adversely affect the degree of uniformity with which the nonwoven is formed and which are therefore undesirable.
In the boundary zone in particular around the fibre flows, fibres exhibiting rapid upward movements can also be observed. These upward streams in the boundary zone of the fibre flows are attributable to the fact that, as a rule, only a certain portion of the process air flowing in from above is completely extracted, while another portion at the side of the actual fibre flows is pushed upward again, or is sucked upward by partial vacuum zones in the region of the injected drawing gas flows. These air streams exhibit high flow velocities in an upward direction and entrain fibres in an upward direction to the area of fiberisation. In the case of fibre production by the blast drawing process, for example, suction of already solidified fibres into the nozzle slot together with the secondary air can lead to massive disruptions to production. In addition, the transport of already solidified fibres into the region of binder injection which, in the blast drawing process, is usually located at the entry zone of the chute, can lead to these fibre elements once again coming into contact with binder and then adhering to the chute wall or falling onto the nonwoven fabric as fibres with an excessive accumulation of binder, for example in the form of highly undesirable lumps.
In order to achieve orderly fibre deposition under these conditions, it is necessary to perform a plurality of fine adjustments for a given production process, so as to optimise, by trial and error, the fibre deposition conditions. Any change in the production conditions leads to the requirement that new fine adjustment be performed.

Process and apparatus for the continuous production of mineral wool nonwovens


The battery comprises a positive electrode which has a positive electrode active material compound layer containing a positive electrode active material formed on a positive electrode current collector; a negative electrode which has at least one negative electrode thin film layer and at least one negative electrode active material compound layer, on a negative electrode current collector, and a non-aqueous electrolyte containing an electrolyte salt. The negative electrode thin film layer contains at least one Group 14 element, and is formed by a thin-film formation technology, and the negative electrode active material compound layer contains a binder and a negative electrode active material, which contains at least any one of Sn, Si, Sn compound, Si compound and carbonaceous material. With this negative electrode, the negative electrode thin film layer containing a high-capacity Group 14 element raises the battery capacity, and the negative electrode active material compound layer provides excellent charge/discharge cycle characteristics while suppressing degradation of the negative electrode even under repetitive charge/discharge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-aqueous electrolyte battery which comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a non-aqueous electrolyte, and has battery characteristics improved to a large degree, and also relates to a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent development activities on secondary batteries are directed to reduced-weight and larger energy density intended for use as a power source for electronic appliances such as a laptop personal computer, a mobile phone and a camera-integrated VTR (video tape recorder). One known secondary battery having a large energy density is lithium ion secondary battery which typically has an energy density larger than those of a lead battery, a nickel-cadmium battery, a nickel-hydrogen battery or the like.
The lithium ion secondary battery uses, for a negative electrode active material thereof, a carbonaceous material such as non-graphitizable carbon, graphite or the like in order to obtain a relatively large capacity and excellent cycle characteristics. As for the negative electrode active material for ensuring large capacity, Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open No. Hei 8-315825 discloses that appropriate selection of a starting source material for the carbonaceous material and proper control of production conditions for the carbonaceous material can further increase the capacity.
It is, however, intrinsically difficult for the above-described lithium ion secondary battery to further increase the capacity because critical capacity of the carbonaceous material used for the negative electrode active material is limited as high as 370 mAh/g or around.
One possible solution for this problem relates to a lithium ion secondary battery, in which a special kind of lithium alloy, having still some room for upgrading in capacity, is used as a negative electrode active material in place of a carbonaceous material, where the charge/discharge is based on reversible electrochemical generation/decomposition of the lithium alloy.
As for use of the lithium alloy as the negative electrode active material, use of a Li—Al alloy, a Li—Si alloy and so forth has already been known. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,566 describes use of a Li—Si alloy for the negative electrode.
The lithium ion secondary battery using a lithium alloy for the negative electrode, however, suffers from a problem that the lithium alloy considerably expands or shrinks during the charge/discharge cycle, and the repetitive charge/discharge cycles cause repetitive expansion/shrinkage of the lithium alloy, which may pulverize the lithium alloy, may disconnect mutual contact among grains of the negative electrode active material, may degrade conductivity of the negative electrode, and thus may ruin battery characteristics.
One known measure proposed for solving this problem is such that the surface of the negative electrode active material is covered, for example, with a highly-conductive material so as to keep conductivity among grains of the lithium alloy even after the alloy is pulverized due to repetitive charge/discharge. More specifically, methods of covering the surface of the negative electrode active material with a highly conductive material using techniques such as immersing a lithium alloy into an organic solvent dissolved with a highly-conductive material, or based on a mechano-chemical reaction such as hybridization, are disclosed for example in Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open Nos. 2000-173669, 2000-173670 and 2001-68096.
It is, however, still difficult for these proposals to fully suppress the degradation of the large-capacity negative electrode active material such as lithium alloy under repetitive charge/discharge cycles, and the negative electrode active materials still cannot fully exhibit their potential for higher capacity at present.

Non-aqueous electrolyte battery and method of manufacturing the same


Provided is a testing system for a drivetrain, the testing system capable of simulating the slip behavior of a tire. A testing system is provided with: tire speed calculation units; a vehicle speed calculation unit; vehicle driving torque calculation units which calculate vehicle driving torque values; and speed control devices which output command signals such that the deviations between command values and output values from encoders are eliminated, respectively. The tire speed calculation units calculate the tire speed values on the basis of tire driving torque values obtained by subtracting the vehicle driving torque values from output values from shaft torque meters, respectively, and the vehicle speed calculation unit calculates the vehicle speed value on the basis of the vehicle driving torque values.

A drive train is a collective term representing a plurality of devices for transmitting energy generated in an engine to driving wheels, and is composed of an engine, a clutch, a transmission, a drive shaft, a propeller shaft, a differential gear, driving wheels, etc. The drive-train test system actually drives the transmission by the engine, and executes electric inertia control on a dynamometer connected to the output shaft, thereby evaluating durability performance or quality of the drive train, while giving appropriate load torque to the output shaft.
Many types of the electric inertia control employed in such a test system can set only a single inertia amount corresponding to a vehicle moment of inertia, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. This is equivalent to simulating a state where the tires of a real vehicle are always running while gripping on a road surface without slipping. The tires are likely to slip on a slippery road surface such as a snowy or icy surface that actually exists; however, the test system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is difficult to reproduce a state where the tires are slipping on such a road surface.
Patent Document 2 discloses a technique of calculating load torque, on the basis of a dynamic model of a vehicle carrying a drive train. This dynamic model includes a slip model for calculating front and back forces acting on a vehicle, on the basis of a slip ratio of tires, and vertical load acting on the vehicle; and a dynamometer generates load torque in consideration of the slip behavior of the tires.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2009-74834
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2005-61889


A draw bar replacement strap and method for temporarily coupling and moving a disabled railroad car without actuating the drawbar. The strap comprises an elongated, multi-section, multi-ply body extending between a terminal two ply eye through which the strap may be looped and a remote tail. The strap is integrally formed from an elongated, single ply that is appropriately looped and folded. A ratchet system is attached to the strap for tightening. An auxiliary pad is provided for preventing abrasion of the strap when deployed, and for restraining the strap when stored. A multiple ply section forms the eye and extends from the eye to an end journalled to the ratchet. An elongated, double ply body section extends between the ratchet journal and the tail. Through the multi-ply multi-segment structure the tow strength of the cable is vastly improved. In the method the strap is coupled around the towing drawbar, and the tail and ratchet are drawn through the eye. The tail is wrapped over the wear pad and around a drawbar of the disabled car, passing through the slot in the ratchet take up spool until the multi-ply body portion of the strap contacts the take up spool. Optionally the strap may be looped about a captivated ring.

The present invention broadly relates to methods and apparatus for moving railroad cars. More particularly, my invention relates to cables or straps capable of temporarily substituting for defective draw bars during railroad car maneuvering. The invention pertains to art classified in U.S. Class 213, subclass 67R and Class 224, subclass 58.
Modern railroad cars are coupled together by complex draw bar systems. When these draw bars fail, a section of the train or an individual car must be serviced. Stranded or disabled cars are often moved out of the way of traffic onto a siding. They must be moved out of the way of traffic as soon as possible for safety and efficiency. Temporary maneuvering of railroad cars is conventionally effectuated by heavy tow chains.
Chains can be cumbersome and difficult to work with, particularly in cold, dark and rainy conditions. While chains have very high tensile strengths they are relatively brittle, making them somewhat unreliable when exposed to the violent forces caused by the take-up of slack as a train begins to move. In other words, when a disabled car is hooked to the operative portion of a train by chains, as the slack between the cars is taken up, the force of the locomotive is amplified as it travels through the cars to the chains holding the disabled car. Therefore, a sudden jerk is exerted on the chains increasing the likelihood of their immediate or subsequent failure.
When chains break, flying metal can injure bystanders. The dangerous whipping effects of a snapped tow chain are well known. Replacement of the chains by steel cables is inappropriate for the same reasons. When steel cables fail, the whipping motion is even more severe. Even where the temporary hook-up proceeds smoothly, chains take significant time to install and then remove. Because of the tremendous pull forces involved, metal parts can bind and become stuck, complicating the removal process. A more reliable, and easier-to-use replacement for the conventional heavy metal tow chain is thus desirable.
These disadvantages, coupled with the great weight of high strength chains and the difficulty in managing high strength cables as well as the time required to deploy such cables, begs for a more appropriate, safer, lighter-weight, easily deployed system to move disabled railroad cars.
Webbing straps are well know to the art of towing and/or load binding. Webbing straps have long been employed for the towing of automobiles, trucks, and particularly off-road vehicles. Furthermore, webbing straps have been used to secure loads in the trucking industry, airline industry, and by individuals, for quite some time. Reese, U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,734 discloses a tow strap assembly which is adjustable and has adjustable eyes on either end. The nature of the adjustments for this strap allows the strap to be looped back around itself several times and employs mechanical clamps and other keeper systems to dispose the strap at a user selected length. The military air services have employed webbing straps not only to strap down and hold loads, but also to pick-up loads from the ground in order to hoist them into fixed as well as rotary wing aircraft.
However, the use of webbing straps in the railroad industry is somewhat limited. Hanula, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,804 discloses the use of a yoke to couple railroad cars using two straps. This yoke calls for the metallic portion of the yoke itself and a bridge to bear the loads where the strap contacts elements of the railroad cars.
As mentioned above it is therefore desirable to develop a strap of relatively light-weight yet high tensile strength that can be employed to temporarily couple a disabled railroad car to the operative portion of a train. If failure were to occur, such a strap would not suddenly snap, but rather it would more-slowly tear apart. When it does break the light-weight nature of the strap prevents it from developing the momentum present in a chain or cable which has suddenly failed. Another significant advantage of a strap system would be that it would be relatively adjustable. Furthermore, a strap system would afford a more flexible connection than chains. In other words, the strap would give rather than fail when subjected to a sever sudden shock. Such shocks are common when trains first start up as the locomotive pulls the slack from each coupling. This shock has an a cumulative effect as it passes down the train from the locomotive. Therefore, if the temporarily coupled disabled cars were near the end of the train the shock forces would be too great for the relatively brittle chain to endure. Conversely, the strap assembly would stand a better chance of giving and holding when the shock was encountered.
Even though fabric straps have advantages over tow chains, no prior fabric strap of which I am aware has ever worked reliably in the railroad environment. The strap must be carefully constructed to work at all. Notwithstanding the strap's construction, it must be carefully and precisely bound about the disabled draw bar sections to avoid snapping.

Temporary drawbar replacement strap and method


An illuminating structure of a key operating unit for operating a key switch includes a housing unit to have a window portion formed correspondingly to the key switch, a circuit substrate to be provided inside the housing unit, to be disposed with the key switch, and to be provided with a light-guiding window portion, a keypad unit to include a key top portion inserted in the window portion of the housing unit, the keypad unit including a light-guiding portion at least in the key top portion, a light-emitting element to be arranged on a back surface side of the circuit substrate, and an illuminating plate to have a reflecting portion reflecting outgoing light of the light-emitting element to apply the reflected light from the reflecting portion to the keypad unit through the light-guiding window portion of the circuit substrate.

A portable apparatus and an electronic apparatus such as a portable telephone and a portable terminal apparatus include a plurality of key switches and a key operating unit for operating the key switches. The key operation unit is provided with symbol display representative of numbers, characters, etc., assigned to each of the key switches and function display representative of various functions, and an illuminating configuration is used that includes light-emitting elements within a housing to apply light from the inside of the housing such that display contents thereof become recognizable in a dark place to become possible to operate the key operating unit corresponding to the desired key switch.
For such an illuminating configuration, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-174866 discloses that a translucent resin key top on the surface of a base sheet and an illumination light source on the rear face of the base sheet are included to form a striped face having heaped stripes in a floodlight area of the illumination light source on the base sheet and that the illuminative property of the resin key top is enhanced since the light transmitting through the base sheet is reflected by the heaped stripes of the striped face and turned back to the inside of the base sheet (Abstract and FIG. 1, etc.).
For example, as depicted in FIG. 1, an illuminating configuration of a key operating unit is arranged with a plurality of key domes 602 housing key switches on the upper surface of a circuit substrate 600 such as a key flexible substrate and is disposed with light-emitting elements 604 between the key domes 602. The upper surface of the circuit substrate 600 is disposed with a keypad 606 covering the key domes 602 and the light-emitting elements 604, and light-transmitting units 608 and light-shielding units 610 are formed on the keypad 606. The symbol display and the function display on the key dome 602 are added to the light-transmitting units 608.
Such an illuminating structure applies direct light 612 of the light-emitting elements 604 from the upper surface of the circuit substrate 600 to the back surface of the keypad 606. Therefore, if an apparatus employing such illuminating structure is miniaturized and the light-emitting elements 604 come closer to the keypad 606, no diffusion is caused in the light emitted from the light-emitting elements 604 until reaching the keypad 606. In this case, since the direct light 612 of the light-emitting elements 604 is concentrated and applied to the back surface of the keypad 606, there occurs inconvenience that the light looks like an eyeball (note: the expression like eyeball and eyeball-like (shape) hereinafter is used as a pattern of a concentric circle due to interfering light) through the keypad 606 and that a uniform light emission (illuminance) is not acquired. Such localized light is impossible to be avoided by a light-shielding member.
If the light-emitting elements 604 come closer to an inner surface of an apparatus housing, there also occurs inconvenience that the light of the light-emitting elements and the light-emitting positions thereof are visible through the housing. To hide such a localized light-emitting position, a light-shielding coating, etc. may be applied or a light-shielding member may be used, and a degree of freedom is reduced in a housing material and a housing structure.
If the direct light of the light-emitting elements is used, an apparatus including a plurality of key operating units may be disposed with the light-emitting elements for the respective key operating units and the number of the disposed light-emitting elements is inconveniently increased.
Such problems are not suggested or disclosed and means for solving them is not disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-174866.

Illuminating structure of key operating unit, electronic apparatus, portable apparatus, and illuminating method of key operating unit


A graphical user interface for direct control of data displayed in a window-based computing environment. A slider element is displayed which is variable in size according to user input. The slider defines a selected area of an image, which is then displayed. The scope of the selected area corresponds to the size of the slider. The resizable slider is then resized by a user's direct manipulation, e.g. by a click-and-drag technique, to redefine the selected area, which is then displayed. The scope of the redefined selected area corresponds to the size of the resized slider. Accordingly, a user directly controls (by resizing the slider) the scope of data displayed in a window, and directly controls the presentation of data by translating the slider to define various selected areas. More than one independently resizable slider may intersect to define the selected area and provide independent control of scope in various directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to graphical user interfaces for computer systems. In particular, the present invention relates to a graphical user interface for providing a user with direct control of a scope and presentation of data displayed in a display window of a window-based computing environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers are widely used in schools, homes, and the workplace, and the inexperience of many computer users has imposed a requirement for enhanced user interfaces. Graphical user interfaces (or GUIs) make human interactions with computers more intuitive by conveying information to users by way of a video monitor or other display device by various combinations of graphical items. Examples of graphical user interfaces are those provided with operating systems such as IBM's OS/2® and Microsoft's Windows 2000®. These operating systems rely on a "window-based" workspace for displaying application programs, operating system information and program groupings. A window is typically user-sizable to occupy a larger or smaller portion of a workstation's video monitor. Typically, the size of the text data, images, etc. (collectively, "data") displayed as an image in the window remains constant, and the portion of the data file displayed in the window varies, e.g. a smaller window permits viewing of a smaller portion of the document, image, etc. ("data file"). Resizing features, and programming techniques for implementing such resizing features are well known in the art.
Windows typically include scroll controls allowing a user to manipulate data displayed in a window of a given size. A relatively large data file can be viewed a portion at a time in a relatively small window by manipulating the scroll controls to control which portion of the data file is displayed in the window at any point in time. Such scroll controls, and programming techniques for implementing them, are well known in the art.
Exemplary scroll controls of the prior art are shown in FIG. 1A, which depicts a window 100 showing an image of an exemplary graph that is part of a data file that is viewable in the window 100. The image shown in FIG. 1A is an excerpt of data shown in the exemplary graph shown in FIG. 1B, as discussed further below. These exemplary graphs represent application server resource and performance metrics "counters". On the right hand side of the window 100 is a scroll bar 130. The scroll bar 130 includes a browse up arrow 132 which can be selected, e.g. by clicking a button of a mouse when a mouse pointer is displayed on a video monitor over arrow 132, to scroll upward and view an upper portion of the data file; a browse down arrow 134 which can be selected to scroll downward; a scroll field 138; and a scroll box 136 slidably moveable within the scroll field 138 as discussed further below.
The scroll box 136 is "yoked" to the display window 100 such that selecting, i.e. clicking, the scroll box 136 and dragging it within the scroll bar 130 along the scroll field 138 causes substantially simultaneous display of an associated portion of the data file in the window. This allows expedited traversal of the related information. In other words, a user's direct manipulation of the scroll box 136 controls the portion of the data file displayed in the window 100. This "yoked" feature, and programming methods for implementing this feature, is well known in the art. Accordingly, traversal of such data may be made at a variable speed. For example, one may rapidly drag the scroll box 136 toward the bottom of the scroll field 138 to view the end of a data file displayed in window 100, then drag slowly to locate an area of interest in the data file, and then drag very slowly to locate a precise point of interest in the data file. These are intuitive and advantageous features of a GUI. However, from a window displaying only a small portion of a data file, it is difficult to determine where one might find an area of interest in the data file, so the data file must be traversed slowly.
As is typical of scroll controls, the size of the scroll bar 130, and therefore the scroll field 138, is determined by the size of the window 100. The scale of the scroll field will vary, however, dependent upon the size of the scroll field 138 corresponds to the size/length of the data file viewable in the window associated with the scroll bar 130. Accordingly, a four inch long scroll field 138 may at one time correspond to a length of a two page document and at another time correspond to a length of a fifty-page document. The scroll box 136 may travel within the scroll field. The scroll box is automatically sized by application software such that the size/length of the scroll box 136 relative to the entire length of the scroll field 138 corresponds to the portion of the data file currently displayed in the window relative to the entire data file. In other words, the scroll box 136 indicates a scope of data displayed in the window. For example, consider a five-page long document data file that is being viewed, a portion at a time, in a window having scroll controls that is sized to display one page of the document at a time (i.e. the scope of the data displayed in the window is one page). In this example, the scroll box 136 would be automatically sized to correspond to approximately one-fifth of the size of the scroll field 138 to represent that the scope of the data being displayed in the window is approximately one-fifth of the size of the data file. The size of the scroll box cannot be varied by the user. Accordingly, a user cannot use the scroll box 136 to control the scope of data displayed in a window. Accordingly, in the example of the five page document, the scroll box could not be resized to display more (or less) than one page of the document in the window.
FIG. 1B shows an exemplary overview graph 110 of application server resource and performance metrics gathered by a "Resource Analyzer" tool of WebSphere® Application Server software manufactured and/or distributed by International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, N.Y., U.S.A. Such software allows a user to record such data by saving it in a log file. The exemplary graph shows data collected from 12:23 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Points of interest can be quickly located from this overview graph 110, e.g., at a glance, but cannot be viewed in detail because of the small scale on which the data is displayed. Consider a point of interest at the intersection of lines A and B as shown in overview graph 110. It is difficult to view the overview graph 110 with precision. Accordingly, it is advantageous to view an enlarged portion of the overview graph as a detail graph, such that the data may be viewed more precisely. In other words, it is advantageous to view the data in a display window having a smaller scope. For example, FIG. 1A shows a detail graph 120 of a portion C of the overview graph 110 shown in FIG. 1B. From the detail graph 120 it may be determined that lines A and B intersect at a magnitude of approximately 5.5, although this information is indeterminable from overview graph 110. However, when viewing only a detail graph, as in FIG. 1A, it becomes difficult to locate a point of interest.
Some software applications, such as IBM's WebSphere® Application Server, provide for viewing of log file data using a videocassette recorder ("VCR")—like interface. Such an interface allows a user to rewind, play, stop, fast forward etc. the data displayed in the window or view port, e.g. using corresponding buttons 140a, 140b, 140c 140d shown in FIG. 1A. Such a detail view does not provide an overview which allows for quick, "at-a-glance" location of points of interest on the graph. Additionally, such an interface requires the data to be traversed in a linear, i.e. sequential, fashion, and at a constant, predetermined speed (albeit at a play-rate or a faster fast forward-rate). What is needed is a GUI which provides for control over the speed of data traversal and the scope of data displayed in the window by direct manipulation of an element, e.g. using a "click and drag" technique.
As described above, the detail graph 120 could be displayed in a window that is manipulable with a scroll bar, as described above (not shown in FIG. 1A), e.g. by providing a horizontal scroll bar to traverse data from 12:23 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. However, the portion shown in the detail view window would be a fixed proportion of the overview graph 110, as is known in the prior art, e.g. 8 minutes (from 12:35 to 12:43) as shown in the example of FIG. 1A. Applicants have determined that it is desirable to provide a GUI which provides for direct control of the amount, i.e. scope, of data displayed in the detail view, e.g., to view more or less than 8 minutes. It is also desirable to provide a user with direct control of such scope in a GUI, e.g., using "click and drag" and/or "drag and drop" techniques (collectively, "click and drag" techniques) which allow for direct manipulation of elements and which are common to window-based environments.
In some software applications, such as word processing software, zoom controls are provided to control an amount of data displayed within a window of a given size. Zooming results in a change in size of data displayed within the window, and for a given window, a corresponding change in scope of the data displayed within the window. Such zoom controls are typically selected from a menu, e.g. by selecting "200% zoom". Such a zoom is uniform across the entire data file/image, e.g., in both the x and y directions, which may sometimes be undesirable, e.g. when the data varies more widely in one direction than in another direction.
What is needed is a GUI which provides for control over the speed of data traversal and the scope of data displayed in the window by direct manipulation of an element, e.g. using a "click and drag" technique.
Applicants have determined that it is desirable to provide a GUI which provides for direct control of the amount, i.e. scope, of data displayed in the detail view. It is also desirable to provide a user with direct control of such scope in a GUI, e.g., using "click and drag" and/or "drag and drop" techniques (collectively, "click and drag" techniques) which allow for direct manipulation of elements and which are common to window-based environments.
It is also desirable to provide a GUI which allows for independent control of the scope in various directions such that the zoom, or adjusted scope, is not uniform across the data file.
The present invention fulfills these needs, among others.

Graphical user interface for direct control of display of data


Methods and compositions for treating CF by mobilizing mutant forms of CFTR, which retain at least some functional activity, to the plasma membrane where they can mediate chloride ion transport are disclosed.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common fatal genetic disease in humans (Boat et al. (1989), Cystic Fibrosis, In: THE METABOLIC BASIS OF INHERITED DISEASE, Scriver, Beaudet, Sly and Valle, eds., McGraw Hill, New York, pp. 2649-2860). Based on both genetic and molecular analysis, a gene associated with CF was isolated as part of 21 individual cDNA clones and its protein product predicted (Kerem et al. (1989), Science 245: 1073-1080; Riordan et al. (1989), Science 245: 1066-1073; Rommens et al. (1989), Science 245: 1059-1065).
The product of the CF-associated gene, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), is a protein of approximately 1480 amino acids made up of two repeated elements, each having six transmembrane segments and a nucleotide binding domain. The two repeats are separated by a large, polar, so-called R-domain containing multiple potential phosphorylation sites. Based on its predicted domain structure, CFTR is a member or a class of related proteins which includes the multi-drug resistance (MDR) or P-glycoprotein, bovine adenyl cyclase, the yeast STE6 protein as well as several bacterial amino acid transport proteins (Riordan et al., supra; Hyde et al. (1990), Nature 346: 362-365). Proteins in this group, characteristically, are involved in pumping molecules into or out of cells.
CFTR has been postulated to regulate the outward flow of anions from epithelial cells in response to phosphorylation by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase or protein kinase C (Riordan et al., supra; Frizzell et al., supra.; Welsh and Liedtke (1986), Nature 322: 467; Li et al. (1988), Nature 331: 358-360; Hwang et al. (1989), Science 244: 1351-1353).
Sequence analysis of the CF associated gene has revealed a variety of mutations (Cutting et al. (1990a), Nature 346: 366-369; Cutting et al. (1990b), Am. J. Hum. Genet. 47: 213; Dean et al. (1990), Cell 61: 863-870; Kerem et al. (1989), Science 245: 1073-1080; and Kerem et al. (1990), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 87: 8447-8451). Mutations in the gene encoding CFTR result in the synthesis of aberrant variants that are either unstable, mislocalized, or whose Cl.sup.- channel activity is dysfunctional as a consequence of defective regulation or conduction (Welsh and Smith (1993), Cell 73: 1251-1254). Over 200 different mutations have been described to date, but by far the most prevalent is a deletion of the three nucleotides that encode phenylalanine at position 508 (Phe.sup.508) located within the first nucleotide binding domain of CFTR (Tsui, L. C. (1992), Hum. Mutat. 1: 197-203). The Phe.sup.508 deletion (.DELTA.F508) is associated with approximately 70% of the cases of cystic fibrosis.
Studies on the biosynthesis (Cheng et al. (1990), Cell 63: 827-834; Gregory et al. (1990), Nature 347: 382-386) and localization (Denning et al. (1992), J. Cell Biol. 118: 551-559) of .DELTA.F508, as well as other CFTR mutants, indicate that many CFTR mutant proteins are not processed correctly and, as a result, are not delivered to the plasma membrane (Gregory et al., supra). These conclusions are consistent with earlier functional studies which failed to detect cAMP stimulated Cl.sup.- channels in cells expressing CFTR .DELTA.F508 (Rich et al., supra; Anderson et al. (1991), Science 251: 679-682).
It is believed that the deletion of residue 508 in .DELTA.F508-CFTR prevents the nascent protein from folding correctly, and consequently the variant is recognized by the quality control mechanism present within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to select out against misfolded or mutant proteins (Cheng et al. (1990), supra.; Gregory et al. supra.). The mutant .DELTA.F508-CFTR bears carbohydrate structures characteristic of glycosylation at the ER and is eventually degraded. The inability of this mutant protein to exit the ER, to pass through the Golgi where it normally would be fully glycosylated, and traffic to the plasma membrane most likely accounts for the defective Cl.sup.- transport found in CF epithelia harboring this mutation (Quinton, P. M. (1990), FASEB J. 4: 2709-2727). Studies have shown, however, that .DELTA.F508-CFTR, when presented at the plasma membrane is functional as a cAMP-responsive Cl.sup.- channel (Dalemans et al. (1991), Nature Lond. 354: 526-528; Denning et al., supra.; Pasyk and Foskett (1995), J. Cell. Biochem. 270: 12347-50).
Thus, there is a need in the art for methods and compositions which enable relocation of mislocalized CFTR mutants which retain at least some functional activity (i.e., .DELTA.F508) to the plasma membrane of epithelial cells where they can effectively mediate chloride ion transport and restore sufficient membrane conductance. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.

Methods and compositions for treating cystic fibrosis


A foldable tongs unit of the type having two pivotally joined legs has a storage position in which the legs lie in flush abutting relation so that the total thickness of the tongs unit in its storage position is the thickness of the two legs. Three transversely spaced fingers on each leg, when unstressed, reside in the plane of the leg and provide both the pivotal connection and the resilient bias against which the tongs are operated. The thickness of each of the joined non-flexing fingers is increased at the proximal end of the unit (i.e., at the hinge), permitting the pivot axis to be located substantially in the plane of abutment between the two legs in the storage position of the unit. In the actuation position, the ends of the foreshortened flexing fingers abut non-flexing fingers of the opposite leg to provide the desired resilient gripping function.

1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to folding tongs and, more particularly, to improvements in tongs of the type in which two legs are resiliently biased to an open position and foldable to a collapsed storage position.
2. Discussion of the Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2,346,537 discloses wood tongs comprising two legs pivotally joined at their proximal ends. A first of the legs is configured with three longitudinally extending fingers at its proximal ends formed by cutting two longitudinal slits in the leg. The center or inner finger is pivotally joined to the proximal end of the second leg between two non-flexing fingers of the second leg. The pivot axis extends along the width dimensions of the legs at a location midway of the thickness of each joined leg. The ends of the two outer fingers resiliently abut the second leg proximate the pivot axis. The second leg has a complementary longitudinally extending slot defined therein and configured to receive portions of the central finger of the first leg as the distal ends of the legs are forced together during operation. Such forcing together causes the ends of the outer fingers to be resiliently flexed away from the second leg as increasing portions of the inner finger enter the slot in the second leg. Upon release of the force the spring-like resilient abutment of the ends of the outer fingers against the second leg causes the distal ends of the legs to spread apart to a quiescent or open position. Although this arrangement provides for a satisfactory gripping function, it suffers from the disadvantage of not lying optimally flat when the unit is stored. Specifically, the legs either remain in their open pivot position when stored, or are rotated in the opposite direction (i.e., opposite to the actuation direction) to a storage position in which the legs lie adjacent one another without any bias force acting between them. In this storage position the ends of the outer fingers project out of the plane of the first leg, thereby precluding flush surface to surface stacking of multiple tongs. In other words, the total thickness of the unit in the storage position is the width of the two legs plus the amount of out of plane projection of the fingers. This adds to the required storage space for one or more units and renders stacking awkward in view of the inability to stack flat planar surfaces flush against one another.
A second configuration of prior art tongs provides complementary fingers on both legs wherein the non-flexing center finger of the first leg is pivotally secured to the non-flexing outer fingers of the second leg. Specifically, the pivot point extends along the width dimension of the non-flexing legs at a location substantially midway of the thickness dimension of those legs. The resilient and foreshortened outer fingers of the first leg and center finger of the second leg are configured such that their ends biased out of plane relative to the adjacent fingers on the same leg. Specifically, the two resilient outer fingers of the first leg bend in a slight arc toward the second leg, and the single resilient fingers of the second leg bend in a slight arc toward the first leg. When the legs are forced together in use, the exposed ends of the resilient fingers of each leg abut the non-flexing fingers of the other leg to provide a resilient bias force against closure of the tongs. These tongs, like the tongs in the '537 patent, also function to grip in a satisfactory manner, but due to the normally out of plane projection of the ends of the resilient fingers, the tongs cannot be stacked flat when the legs are rotated to the storage position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tongs unit constructed in a manner that permits it to lay flat and use a minimum amount of space when stored and transported.
The objects of the invention are achieved individually and in combination, and it is not intended that the present invention be construed as requiring two or more of objects to be combined unless expressly required by the claims attached hereto.


A component mounting station is divided into two component mounting areas in a board conveyance direction according to the size of circuit boards used in two types of production that are performed in order, and the area in which a backup pin is arranged on a backup plate is divided into two pin arrangement areas corresponding to the two component mounting areas. The quantity of backup pins necessary to support the component mounting board are arranged in a predetermined arrangement pattern, the circuit boards transported using the conveyor are stopped in the component mounting areas according to the type of component mounting board produced, the backup plate is lifted up, and the circuit boards are clamped by the clamp member, and the circuit boards supported by the backup pins in the pin arrangement areas are positioned below the circuit boards, and components are mounted on the circuit boards.

Typically, as described in PTL 1 (JP-A-2010-62591), PTL 2 (JP-A-2011-233736), and the like, a component mounting machine is provided with a conveyor which transports a circuit board to a component mounting station, a backup plate is disposed below the component mounting station to be movable up and down, multiple backup pins are disposed on the backup plate to be replaceable, and a component mounting board is produced by picking up various components that are supplied from a component supply device using an suction nozzle of a mounting head and mounting the components on a circuit board in a state with the circuit board supported from below by an upper end portion of the multiple backup pins by lifting the backup plate after transporting of the circuit board. In this case, in a case where the type, size, and the like of a component mounting board to be produced is changed, setup changeover is carried out to change the arrangement pattern or quantity of backup pins that are disposed on the backup plate in advance according to the type, size, and the like of the component mounting board to be produced.
Setup changeover work in which a backup pin is arranged on the backup plate is manual work performed by an operator, or as described in PTL 3 (WO-2014/136212), a stocker that stores multiple backup pins to be arranged on the backup plate is disposed in a component mounting machine, and the backup pins are grasped in the stocker using a chuck that is attached to a mounting head of the component mounting machine and are automatically arranged on the backup plate.


Embodiments of a system and method are disclosed for providing a renewable energy network optimization tool. A method for optimizing a renewable energy network determines an initial configuration state, populates a pool of candidate sites for placement of renewable-energy generating units a hybrid simulated annealing-genetic algorithm, constructs a plurality of candidate renewable energy generation networks from the pool of candidate sites using random selection, evaluates the candidate renewable energy generation networks using scoring metrics, ranks the evaluated candidate renewable energy generation networks with respect to each other and prior iteration candidate renewable energy generation networks, adds candidate sites from a top ranked candidate renewable energy generation network to a list of candidate sites to be kept repeats the above until a final best candidate renewable energy generation network of kept sites is determined.

As the renewable energy industry continues to grow so does the requirement for atmospheric modeling and analysis tools to maximize both wind and solar power. Renewable energy generation is variable, however, presenting challenges for electrical grid operation and requiring a variety of measures to adequately provide power. These measures include the production of non-renewable generation during times when renewables are not available.
Typically, renewable energy generation sites and networks have been placed and created based on limited data and without significant thought given to optimizing the production of energy from such networks. Often, the efficiency and stability of power generation has not been the driving factor for selection of renewable energy generation sites, such as wind farms and solar collection farms. This has lead to failed projects and lower returns on investments.
What is needed is a tool that optimizes the selection of renewable energy generation sites and the creation of optimal networks for renewable energy generation.

System and method for providing a renewable energy network optimization tool


Systems and methods for calibrating calculations based on catheter-originated measurements. One embodiment comprises a method for calibrating volume calculations for a fluid-filled cavity, such as a heart chamber. In this method, a first catheter configured to measure electrical characteristics and a second catheter configured to measure geometric characteristics are inserted into a fluid-filled cavity. Electrical characteristics of the fluid-filled cavity are measured with the first catheter and geometric characteristics of the cavity are measured with the second catheter. A volume segment is determined based on the measured geometric characteristics of the cavity, and a corresponding volume segment is determined based on the measured electrical characteristics of the cavity. Because the geometric calculation of the volume is known to be more accurate, the volume calculation based on the electrical measurements is adjusted (calibrated) to match the geometric calculation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention involves systems and methods for calibrating measurements made by catheters usable in medical evaluations of a condition of a living body.
2. Related art
Evaluating cardiac function and hemodynamics is an integral component in managing patients with heart disease. Various invasive and noninvasive techniques have been used to assess volumes inside the hearts of these patients and include echocardiography, contrast angiography, radionuclide ventriculography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging.
However, none of these methods enables instantaneous and beat-by-beat assessment of cardiac cavitary volume.
A method for examining instantaneous changes in cavitary volume was previously developed on the basis of a conductance catheter carrying about 10 equidistant ring electrodes along the catheter shaft. The method involves delivering a very small alternating current between a pair of ring electrodes located at the distal and proximal ends of the catheter along the major axis of the heart cavity (such as the left ventricle), and recording resulting potentials between pairs of ring electrodes located on the catheter shaft between the current-delivering ring electrodes. Conductance (defined as 1/impedance) is the ratio of delivered current to measured varying potential. During the heartbeat, continuous changes in cavitary cross-sectional areas perpendicular to the catheter shaft (i.e. segmental volumes) cause instantaneous changes in conductance between catheter electrodes. Since injected current is fixed externally, measured potentials are inversely related to volume changes between recording electrode pairs. Hence, the conductance catheter method has been successfully used in recording instantaneous volume signals and assessing ventricular function. However, the conductance catheter method requires additional laborious steps for calibrating conductance signals into volume, which include (1) applying the thermodilution method to determine peak-to-peak change in cavitary volume (i.e. stroke volume), and (2) using the hypertonic saline infusion method to estimate a fixed value for parallel conductance brought about by electric current leakage into the myocardium and adjacent cavities. Calibration of conductance signals is adversely affected by procedural errors in these steps and by theoretical error in assuming constant parallel conductance effect throughout the heartbeat. Meanwhile, locations of current injecting and potential recording electrodes inside the heart cavity impacts the quality and accuracy of conductance signals. Yet, conductance signals have been predominantly recorded without accurate knowledge of electrode locations inside the heart cavity.

Conductance-imaging catheter and determination of cavitary volume


A thermal cycler for a microfluidic device includes a controller operable to provide a series of electrical signals, a heat sink, and a heating element in thermal communication with the heat sink and operable to receive the series of electrical signals from the controller. The thermal cycler also includes a thermal chuck in thermal communication with the heating element. The thermal chuck comprises a heating surface operable to make thermal contact with the microfluidic device. The heating surface is characterized by a temperature ramp rate between 2.5 degrees Celsius per second and 5.5 degrees Celsius per second and a temperature difference between a first portion of the heating surface supporting a first portion of the microfluidic device and a second portion of the heating surface supporting a second portion of the microfluidic device is less than 0.25° C.

To amplify DNA (Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process, it is necessary to cycle a specially constituted liquid reaction mixture through a PCR protocol including several different temperature incubation periods. The reaction mixture is comprised of various components such as the DNA to be amplified and at least two primers selected in a predetermined way so as to be sufficiently complementary to the sample DNA as to be able to create extension products of the DNA to be amplified. The reaction mixture includes various enzymes and/or other reagents, as well as several deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates such as dATP, dCTP, dGTP and dTTP. Generally, the primers are oligonucleotides which are capable of acting as a point of initiation of synthesis when placed under conditions in which synthesis of a primer extension product which is complimentary to a nucleic acid strand is induced, i.e., in the presence of nucleotides and inducing agents such as thermostable DNA polymerase at a suitable temperature and pH.
The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has proven a phenomenally successful technology for genetic analysis, largely because it is so simple and requires relatively low cost instrumentation. A key to PCR is the concept of thermocycling: alternating steps of melting DNA, annealing short primers to the resulting single strands, and extending those primers to make new copies of double stranded DNA. In thermocycling, the PCR reaction mixture is repeatedly cycled from high temperatures (>90° C.) for melting the DNA, to lower temperatures (40° C. to 70° C.) for primer annealing and extension. The first commercial system for performing the thermal cycling required in the polymerase chain reaction, the Perkin-Elmer Cetus DNA Thermal Cycler, was introduced in 1987.
In addition to PCR, thermal cyclers have been used in other biochemical analysis, DNA sequencing, and the like.

Method for thermal cycling of microfluidic samples


An apparatus for detecting surge voltage and a method thereof are proposed, by which a surge voltage can be detected to prevent damage to output parts by using a shunt regulator, when a surge voltage exceeding a maximum voltage limitable by a zener diode is applied, and trouble shooting and system maintenance/repair of a system can be more effectively performed, the apparatus including a voltage distributor configured to output a driving voltage, when an applied surge voltage exceeds a reference surge voltage, a signal output unit configured to generate an output signal by being driven by a driving voltage outputted by the voltage distributor, and a surge voltage detection signal output unit configured to output a surge voltage detection signal indicating that a surge voltage exceeding the reference surge voltage in response to a signal outputted by the signal output unit.

1. Field of the Disclosure
Exemplary aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus for detecting surge voltage and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an apparatus for detecting surge voltage configured to efficiently perform a trouble shooting of parts and maintenance/repair of a system by detecting a surge voltage using a shunt regulator, and a method using the apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of methods across an entire industrial field are used to protect various products from surge voltages. To be more specific, a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) provides various functions of such as, but not limited to, digital input/output, analog input/output, communications, position determining and high speed counter. The digital input/output is one of the most frequently used functions among the variety of functions. Hence, the digital input/output takes the highest rate in field claims, and particularly, parts damage is most frequently generated due to surge voltages inputted to a DC output terminal.
FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit configuration of a DC output module in a PLC according to prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the DC output module transmits an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) output signal to an output driving transistor (TR) using a photo coupler (PC1) and facilitates a stable output by limiting a surge voltage through a zener diode (ZD). A DC output is turned on or off according to a program prepared by a PADT (Programming and Debugging Tool), and a load, which is an external device used by a user, is connected to a power source (15) of a predetermined voltage (e.g., 24V).
The photo coupler (PC1) is driven when a DC output is applied through an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), whereby an output signal of the photo transistor is transmitted to the output driving transistor (TR). As a result, the output driving transistor (TR) is turned on to realize an output operation, in which a current flows from the power source (15) along the load (14). At this time, a zener diode (ZD) was conventionally used to limit a surge voltage. However, parts are frequently damaged to result in a product defect, when a surge voltage (e.g., 40V) is applied for a long time that exceeds a maximum voltage (e.g., 38.7V) limitable by the zener diode (ZD).

Apparatus for detecting surge voltage and method thereof


A digital copying/printing machine and method by which a set of images can be assembled from document images input in separate actions. This set can then be printed as a whole. Document images can be input by a scanner (physical documents) or via a connection to a digital environment, such as a network (digital document images). For digital document images, a storage unit is provided in which different images can be stored and which is provided with a selection function for selecting the required image for inclusion in the set. A separate input key is provided on the operating panel for starting an input action. Individual adjustments for the printed product can be made for each input action, e.g., for lighter or darker or single or double-sided printing. An image input in this manner is included in a set file in the memory of the machine. In response to actuation of a print key on the operating panel, the entire set file is printed.

A system and method of assembling scanned images is known: U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,262. In the known system, a set of images can be assembled from document images generated by a scanner in separate actions and can be printed after such assembly. For this purpose, a non-print mode is first set by a key on the operating panel, whereafter the digital image data of scanned documents are not printed directly, but are simply stored in a memory. In these conditions documents can be fed to the scanner by an automatic feed unit or be manually placed on the glass platen forming part of the scanner. The starting key on the operating panel has to be actuated to start the scan action for each document or stack of documents (in the case of an automatic feed unit). The set of images thus built up can be printed by leaving the non-print mode and actuating the start key.
If the non-print mode has not been set, the start key has the function of starting a complete copying cycle, comprising scanning and printing. Its function is thus changed by setting the non-print mode.
The known system offers the possibility of assembling documents of different types to form a set. These documents, however, must all be physical documents because they must be scanned by the scanner. Due to developments in information processing, however, documents are increasingly available only in digital form. If these "documents" are also to be added to the set assembled by the system of the '262 patent, a print of the digital information must first be made so that this print can be scanned by the scanner. This not only entails extra work, but the consecutive actions of printing and then scanning may result in a loss of quality. It is therefore desirable to be able to add information in digital form as well to the set of images.
Other systems for assembling and printing a set of images are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,081,494 and 5,299,021. The common feature of these known systems with the '262 patent described above is that they also can only process physical documents.

Digital copying/printing apparatus and method for assembling a set of images


The invention relates to a rotatable power supply apparatus, which includes a shell and a cap for receiving an inner power supply. The apparatus also includes a connector and a cover for connecting any ornament with light string. The apparatus can provide power for the lighting ornament and rotates the ornament at the same time easily that obtains a utilized beautiful rotating decoration.

It is known to use some lighting ornaments for providing a beautiful indoor dressing. The conventional ornament usually includes a light string as the lighting means, which has an electrical wire connecting with many bulb assemblies. Because of the used light string, the known ornament cannot be a rotary one, since the electrical wire will be winded. Hence, the conventional lighting ornaments are almost static and cannot be rotated. It is a drawback to be improved.


A method comprises creating an electronic module design having a plurality of electronic components and defining a model of functional behavior of a subset of the plurality of electronic components, the subset of the plurality of electronic components excluding a first electronic component. Functional behavior of the first electronic component is defined in a user-defined functional design intent file based on a first template, and a power behavior of the first electronic component is defined in a user-defined power design intent file based on a second template. A simulation file is generated based on the model of functional behavior and based on the functional behavior and the power behavior of the first electronic component. The simulation file is run to simulate operation of the electronic module design. A performance status is determined of the electronic module design in response to running the simulation file.

In electronic design, a semiconductor intellectual property ("IP") core (often referred to as an "IP core," or "IP block") references a reusable unit of logic, cell, or integrated circuit (commonly called a "chip") layout and design. It gets its name because it may refer to information that is the legal Intellectual Property of a particular party. In the context of this disclosure, IP will refer to the logic and/or metadata associated with design specifications of a chip or System on a Chip ("SoC"). Modern circuit design often involves electronic design automation (EDA) tools to simulate and verify circuit block operation and interconnections. Third-party EDA tool vendors provide services such as the generation of simulation files including executable simulator software for the simulation of circuit block operation and interconnection verification.
Generation of the EDA tool simulation files may use pre-validated cells from a standard library and/or standard primitive functions from hardware description language (HDL) standards when possible to simulate cells or components of the chip design that are described by the pre-validated cells or HDL primitive functions. For example, logic gates in the chip design that behave according to long-established rules may be simulated by using corresponding pre-validated cells or HDL primitive functions. However, when the chip design involves IP cores utilizing specially-designed cells that behave differently than any of the pre-validated cells in the standard library or the HDL primitive functions, the functionality and behavior of the cells can be shared with the EDA tool vendor to incorporate the new behavior into the provided simulation file package.
Working with the EDA tool vendor to obtain a simulation file package can also be time consuming Often, the turn-around time from requesting to receiving the simulation file package can lead to delays in the design and manufacture of the chip that can reduce competitive advantage in the field. Further, when changes are made in the design of the IP cores and simulation of the changes are desired, the changes are sent to the EDA tool vendor for the creation of a new simulation file package, which can further delay the design project.


A self-contained, rechargeable battery pack uses a coulomb-counting control circuit to measure charge received by and taken from the cells and to store a current charge status of those cells. The control circuit controls a charge/discharge pass transistor in the pack to provide overcharge protection. An always-on trickle charge resistor insures that the controller is in operation during charging even when the cells associated with the controller are completely discharged. A Schottky diode is placed across the charge/discharge pass transistor in order to minimize the discharge dropoff voltage between the terminal of the cell and a corresponding external terminal. The present invention considerably lengthens the useful life of nickel-based rechargeable batteries, as measured in terms of both the number of cycles and the available capacity per cycle, while requiring no extra terminals.

Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries have been widely used for more than two decades as rechargeable power sources for portable devices. NiCd batteries, however, can cause environmental pollution, if improperly disposed of, since Cd is a highly poisonous material. NiMHi batteries, on the other hand, provide more power, are free of "memory effect" and are environment-friendly. But these batteries are more tricky and dangerous to charge and discharge than NiCd batteries due to the potential danger of overheating, subsequent venting of hydrogen and then catching fire. Therefore, "smart" or "intelligent" battery packs have gained more and more popularity in portable equipment, especially in laptop computer systems. Unfortunately, these conventional battery packs have not been introduced to small portable equipment such as cellular telephones because they are complex systems more suitable for higher power systems, like laptop and notebook computers, where the protected battery pack's own power consumption, size and ability to communicate with the computer are appropriate.
A serious problem exists today among those subscribers to cellular service who use portable phones: diminished battery life on their portable cell phones due to improper charging. The problem impacts the subscriber because he or she cannot use the portable phone to the extent desired without lugging along one or more spare battery packs. Also, many subscribers turn off their phones between calls to "save the battery", resulting in missed calls.
The problem impacts the cellular service provider also, in that the subscribers will use fewer "minutes" of air-time because of the problem with their batteries. Also, because many subscribers turn off their phones between calls to "save the battery", air-time revenue is lost which otherwise would have been generated by incoming calls to the subscriber. This is actually a more serious problem than the former, because air-time is used anyway trying to establish the call, but no billable call occurs.
It has been shown statistically that users of portable phones make 80 second calls on the average, while users of mobile phones make 180 second calls on the average, a significant lessening of billable air-time. This is caused, of course, by the subscriber's fear of using up his or her battery mid-call.
The manufacturers of portable cellular phones have traditionally incorporated a temperature sensing device, typically a thermistor, into their battery packs. The thermistor signals the associated charger that the battery cells are quite hot. At that point, the charger switches itself off or to a safe trickle current, the assumption being that reaching a predetermined high temperature of the battery cells means they are completely charged. Some chargers incorporate a voltage sensing circuit to determine the point of complete charge, although this is more difficult because of mismatched cells and performance changes over time, and is extremely difficult in a vehicle because of noise on the power feed. Some chargers incorporate both forms of protection.
Although these approaches may be appropriate for nickel cadmium (NiCd) cells, which are better able to tolerate abuse, they are insufficient for Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMHi) cells. As noted above, NiMHi cells vent explosive hydrogen gas when overheated, as can occur during overcharging. Also, venting of electrolyte, which occurs on both cell chemistries when severely overcharged, dramatically reduces remaining cell capacity.
Many manufacturers of chargers for battery packs do not make use of the battery pack thermistor. This is especially prevalent with charger-cords designed to be used in the vehicle's cigar lighter socket. It is not atypical for battery packs to deform from the heat caused by being left in a car overnight, as attached to a charger-cord. Other chargers, such as car-kits and overnight desk chargers, provide an intermediate level of current in an attempt to keep from overheating the cells. Depending on the environmental conditions to which the cells are subjected, the cells can be abused, especially NiMHi. Among those chargers which do take advantage of the battery pack thermistor, the failure mode often is to overcharge.
The state of the art is to focus on charger-based techniques of determining the end of the charge cycle using dT/dt, -dV/dt, etc. The focus of the inventors was instead to discover a way of assuring the subscriber the maximum use of his or her battery pack. The inventors looked for ways of building that assurance into the battery pack itself, so that the pack could be protected against abuse from any charger of any type, whether in good repair or not. Since the charge and discharge contacts are the same on most manufacturer's battery packs, and since packs would be charged while the phone was in use, any "charge" control circuit applied to the pack would have to simultaneously maintain a low-loss "discharge" path.
When a cellular subscriber purchases a brand-new battery today, one that should last for 180 minutes of talking between charges, the first thing he does on the way home is plug the pack into his car charger cord. The charger cord applies full charge current to the pack, whether the pack is charged or not. Later, at home, the subscriber drops the new pack in his desk charger because everyone knows one should charge a battery before one uses it. Later in the day he may drop the unit in his car kit, where it will be further overcharged. By the end of the first day he may have lost half of the battery's initial capacity.
The typical problems encountered by cellular users can be summarized as follows:
1. The chargers "cook" the batteries. PA1 2. Many types of chargers, good and bad, are in use. The consumer may accidentally charge a NiMHi pack using a wrong charger, such as a NiCd charger, or a charger of poor design. PA1 3. Some batteries, although equipped with a "gas-gauge" capacity indicator, can only measure the remaining power and cannot terminate charging when appropriate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,284 (Burns et. al.) discloses a "universal battery" which embeds a switch matrix and switching power supply circuit to regulate the charge and discharge. It is a very complicated system, and its switching power supply converter has a conversion power loss. The useful efficiency is about 80 to 90%. Additionally, in order to block reverse current, a diode is used at the output which drops the output voltage, reducing the efficiency further.
Due to the limitations mentioned above, the prior art has not realized a NiMHi battery system with proper overcharge protection. A need therefore continues to exist for a low-cost NiMHi embedded charge control system for a cellular battery pack.
In recent years, many efforts have been made to develop battery protection circuits but almost all the work has been focused on chargers, not on the battery pack itself. Since the end user still may still mix the use of chargers and batteries, the prior art has not provided a workable solution to the problems noted above.

Overcharge protection circuitry for rechargeable battery pack


A tip fairing of a horizontal airfoil of an aircraft is provided. The tip fairing comprises stiffening elements and a skin covering the stiffening elements. The stiffening elements comprise a central web and two flanges located at the tips of the web, with contact between the skin and the stiffening elements being made through the flanges of the stiffening elements. The tip fairing is manufactured from a composite material, is manufactured from a single part, and the planes defining the webs of any pair of stiffening elements taken in twos form an angle less than about 30°.

The manufacture of an aircraft includes designing and assembling very different parts. These parts have very different weight and stress requirements due to the particular characteristics of the structures on which they are assembled.
The tip fairing of a horizontal airfoil of the aircraft is among these parts. The tip fairing is placed at the tip of the horizontal airfoil that is farthest from the fuselage. The so-called "torsion box", which is what withstands the loads of the horizontal airfoil, is closed by means of the fairing.
There are two types of requirements for the tip fairing of the horizontal airfoil: external and internal. Externally, the fairing must be able to be designed following the required aerodynamic profile and minimizing weight as it is a part to be assembled in aircraft structures. Internally it must assure a stiffness characteristic of the site in which it is located and it must enable attachment with the rest of the airfoil in a simple and safe manner.
All the fairings of this type manufactured today are made of metal (usually aluminum) and are made up of a series of elements, such as skin, stringers, ribs, rivets and welded attachments. A part with a known structure that is readily compatible with and connectable to the rest of the airfoil is thereby achieved.
Nevertheless, these fairings are heavy because they are manufactured from metal materials. Furthermore, their manufacture and maintenance have the complexity derived from being the result of the attachment of different elements. Precisely the fact that they are the result of the attachment of several elements is also a source of the problems relating to assembling and changing the fairing when repair is needed because the fairing is built from a number of elements with their respective tolerances and their respective attachments.
Other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

Tip fairing of a horizontal airfoil of an aircraft


A vehicle bumper assembly includes an elongated energy absorbing member, a plurality of mounting members, a wiring harness and a bumper fascia. The elongated energy absorbing member is dimensioned to extend between first and second sides of a vehicle. The energy absorbing member has an inboard facing surface, an outboard facing surface and an upper surface disposed between the inboard and outboard facing surfaces. The mounting members are longitudinally spaced along the upper surface of the energy absorbing member, each of the mounting members having a wire attachment structure. The wiring harness is coupled to the wire attachment structures of the mounting members such that the wiring harness is supported longitudinally above the upper surface of the energy absorbing member at the mounting members. The bumper fascia fits over the energy absorbing member thereby concealing the wiring harness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle bumper assembly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle bumper assembly that includes a wiring harness attachment structure.
2. Background Information
Various components and assemblies of motor vehicles are routinely being redesigned in order to improve functionality. One such assembly undergoing redesign is the vehicle bumper assembly of passenger vehicles. Years ago, a vehicle bumper assembly typically included monolithic chrome plated metallic member that was bolted to either the front or rear end of the vehicle. In more recent years such bumper assemblies have been redesigned to include an energy absorbing inner member and an outer fascia member that covers and conceals the energy absorbing inner member. The energy absorbing inner member is typically a resilient member that absorbs energy upon vehicular impact. The fascia member in such vehicle bumper assembly designs is typically a flexible member that has shapes and contours that compliment the aesthetics of the vehicle. In some vehicle bumper assembly designs there are spaces between the fascia member and the energy absorbing inner member that are not utilized.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle bumper assembly that makes use of the spaces between the energy absorbing inner member and the fascia member. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc.


A device includes a first switch configured to control a connection between a first voltage node and a capacitor, and a second switch configured to control a connection between a common charge node and the capacitor. The device further includes a plurality of bit-lines, and a plurality of bit-line charge switches, each configured to control a connection between a respective one of the plurality of bit-lines and the common charge node.

Memories such as Static Random Access Memories (SRAM) and Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAM) are widely used in high-speed applications due to their improved performance.
A typical memory array includes word-lines and bit-lines connected to the memory cells in the memory array. The bit lines may include one bit-line or a pair of bit-lines (with often-inversed phases) connected to each column of the memory cells. Before a read operation is started to read the value stored in a memory cell, the respective bit-line is pre-charged, for example, to 0.6V. In the read operation, the voltage on the pre-charged bit-line may be updated in accordance with the value stored in the SRAM cell. By detecting the voltage on the bit-line, the value stored in the memory cell is thus determined.
In a conventional bit-line pre-charge scheme, each of the bit-lines in a memory array is connected to a common charge line through a switch. The common charge line is further connected to a bias voltage that the bit-lines are to be charged to. A charge transistor connects the common charge line to the bias voltage. The charge transistor is typically an NMOS transistor. When a bit-line needs to be pre-charged, the switch of the respective bit-line and the charge transistor are both turned on, so that the bias voltage is connected to the respective bit-line, and the bit-line is pre-charged by the voltage.
When the bit-line capacitance is high, for example, when the respective bit-line is long due to the high number of memory cells connected to this bit-line, the pre-charge may take long time to finish, and hence the operation speed of the memory array is adversely affected. Particularly, the charging speed is increasingly reduced with the proceeding of the pre-charge process. This is caused by the increasing reduction in the gate-to-source voltage of the charge transistor. When the bit-line has been charged to, for example, 80 percent or 90 percent of the target bit-line voltage, the gate-to-source voltage of the charge transistor is reduced to a very low level, and the current flowing through the charge transistor, hence the pre-charging speed, becomes very low. Although a large charge transistor may be used to accelerate the pre-charge process, the required chip area is also increased.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A portable personal computer that utilizes a combination of an open ended card cage and a passive backplane with a double-sided staggered array of connectors that allows for the horizontal placement of a large number of computer circuit boards in a low profile design as well as allowing easy access to the circuit boards for repair and replacement The open ended cage design also affords adequate cooling of the circuit components in the confines of a portable case. By hinging the card cage to the portable case, increased accessibility to the circuit boards is afforded. A welding data acquisition and control system embodiment is described that utilizes the portable computer for the acquisition of welding data for use in either operator or automated welding control. The system is capable of utilizing a wide range of welding programs for a wide rang of welding processes. The system is capable of utilizing analog and digital data inputs and can produce both analog and digital outputs for operator and automated welding process control.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a welding data acquisition and control system and more particularly to a portable, digital computer-based welding data acquisition and control system using a passive backplane with staggered connectors on both sides of the backplane that receive and hold circuit boards onto which the central processing unit and other components of a digital computer are mounted and which provide for the use of operator and sensor input for monitoring the welding process and operator and automated control output for use by the operator or for direct control of the welding process.
2. Background
The use of computers for the input and control of the welding process is known in the art. Such use includes those applications where the computer is used to monitor one or more input variables and provide data to an operator to change the welding process Other use includes applications where the computer is used not only to monitor one or more input variables but also to automatically control the welding process.
Illustrative of computer use to monitor input data and provide the operator with data on the welding process include the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,409 to Paton et al. discloses the use of a computer to monitor the voltage, current, welding speed, feed rate and slope of the electrode in an arc welding process which data is processed with a resultant output of audible signals that provide information to the operator of incremental changes in the monitored parameters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,026 to Kearney discloses voltage, current and travel speed sensors that are compared with reference data using analog computer modules to set off high or low alarms. U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,614 to Morris et al. discloses a speed and temperature sensor that is processed by a computer and compared with acceptable rates of change of weld temperature. A light indicator in the operator's helmet indicates to the operator whether the speed of the welding torch is too slow, within range, or too fast so that the operator can adjust the speed accordingly.
UK Patent Application GB 2,173,316 A to Brown discloses a welding monitor for monitoring voltage, current, gas flow or wire feed speed and comparing them with predetermined values to indicate by means of light emitting diodes when the process is within acceptable ranges of the monitored variables.
Patents illustrative of the use of computer processing to monitor input variables and automatically control the welding process include:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,020 to Chande et al. uses an IBM PC/AT computer for determining cooling rates to effect control of a robotic and laser controller. This system also employs a seam tracking/imaging processing module to control movement of a robotic arm. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,283 to Sciaky et al. discloses a computer system for determining the special coordinates of a work piece which in turn is used to control the position of a welding device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,795 to Calcagno shows an apparatus for monitoring current, voltage and firing angle of a welding gun to automatically control various parameters of the welding process including the firing angle and the number of cycles of the welding process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,798 to Hurlebaus et al. describes an automatic electric welding system that uses welding speed, current and voltage in combination to produce an electrical signal that is used to control a variable of the welding operation, for example, the wire feed rate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,425 to Ramsey et al. describes a computer driven apparatus that senses the seam contour of a part and then is able to control the position of an arch welder along the seam contour of a similar part. U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,724 to Dix et al. discloses a digital welder control system that provides diagnostics or common welding problems such as half-cycling, low water flow, etc. as well as a compensator control to automatically increase weld heat to compensate for electrode mushrooming. U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,075 to Collom uses a minicomputer to monitor and control a large number of welding heads. U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,371 to Drake shows a monitoring and control system for a pulse-type welding that senses voltage and current in order to control the welding process by shortening or lengthening the heating or cooling cycles.
Typically such computer driven processes have used computer systems that are bulky and unsuitable for field operations such as pipeline, plant and building construction and modification, and welded part diagnosis and repair. Furthermore, the rapid change in computer and associated component technology requires that all components of a computer system including the central processing unit be easily interchangeable and upgradeable to take maximum advantage of changes and improvements in welding technology. These problems are only beginning to be addressed in the welding filed although some development has occurred in other areas. For example, in reducing the size of a retail, point of sale, terminal, Landis et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,205) uses a bus board to provide communication between a processor board and additional circuit boards that are placed in a staggered configuration on opposite sides of the bus board Such a configuration allows for a smaller electronic enclosure The Landis bus board serves as a data bus between peripheral circuit boards which are plugged into the bus. However, the Landis design hinders plugging the bus board into the processor board socket in view of the obstruction of the view of the mating of the bus board and the processor socket by the sides of the cabinet housing. Furthermore the Landis configuration does not allow for ready replacement of the main processor or other circuit boards nor does it insure adequate cooling of the various component parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,717 to Reimer discloses a circuit board interconnect arrangement in which some of the wiring boards are staggered in alternating positions on either side of an interconnect plane. In addition, Reimer requires the use of backplanes and cross-connect boards in a complex arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,660 to Cotti discloses a zero-insertion forces interconnect system for intended circuit boards. U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,660 to Claeys et al. discloses a connecting device for electrically and mechanically linking multiple circuit boards arranged into perpendicular stacks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,241 to Smoot discloses two sets of circuit boards that are aligned in right angles to each other by means of a circuit board edge connector that utilizes alternating conductive and nonconductive segments.
As is apparent from the above discussion, a wide variety of computer-controlled systems have been developed to monitor and control welding operations To date, these systems have been essentially dedicated systems for controlling specific welding operations using methodologies that are directed to a particular type of welding or a particular variable in the welding process. Calcagno has made some effort to use a computer system in providing a more generalized welding system; however, even the Landis invention is limited to sixteen welding programs that control a limited number of parameters in single-phased resistance welding application using one or two guns controlled by a group of static switches.
Some effort has been made in reducing the size of enclosures for personal computers while allowing the continued use of standard plug-in boards as exemplified by Landis et al. However, even Landis is directed to a specific application, i.e., a compact, computer housing that plugs into a point-of-sale unit. Furthermore the Landis housing does not allow for ready cooling or easy accessibility when placed in a portable carrying case.
None of the above references suggest a portable welding data acquisition and control system for field use. Nor do they suggest the use of a wide range of operator and sensor inputs as well as a wide range of operator and automated control outputs that are applicable to a wide range of welding processes including robotic operations. As a result, none of the prior art devises afford or suggest a portable welding unit with a multitude of operator and sensor inputs and operator and automated control outputs that are applicable to a wide variety of welding operations including robotic welding not currently available for field use.

Portable personal computer with passive backplane having a doublesided staggered connector array


A multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprises: a fuselage; a plurality of rotor mechanisms disposed on the fuselage, each rotor mechanism including a rotor; and a plurality of connection mechanisms disposed on the fuselage. The plurality of connection mechanisms have a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of rotor mechanisms, each connection mechanism corresponding to one of the plurality of rotor mechanisms. Each rotor mechanism is movably connected to the fuselage through the corresponding connection mechanism; and the plurality of rotor mechanisms are configured to be rotated with respect to the corresponding connection mechanisms to cause the plurality of rotor mechanisms to overlap with each other and form a rotor mechanism assembly.

Existing multi-rotor UAVs are generally configured with protective covers on their rotors. Due to the relatively large sizes of the protective cover, a multi-rotor UAV may be inconvenient to carry.
At present, a small number of quadrotor UAVs are designed in a foldable form and are more convenient for a user to carry. However, only the two side rotors may be foldable in these quadrotor UAVs. Therefore, although it is more convenient to carry these quadrotor UAVs compared to the non-foldable ones, the problem of the large size of the UAV is still unsolved.


A digital communication system using superposed transmission of high and low speed digital signals capable of transmitting superposed high and low speed digital signals through an identical frequency band efficiently by increasing a simultaneously transmittable number of channels in the low speed digital signals, while achieving the practically reasonable bit error rate performances for both the high speed digital signals and the low speed digital signals. In this system, the low speed digital signals are transmitted in a form of spread spectrum signals and the high speed digital signals are cancelled out from the superposed transmission signals in obtaining the output low speed digital signals by using the phase inverted replica of the high speed digital signals to be combined with the superposed transmission signals, so that it becomes possible to increase a number of channels for the low speed digital signals, while achieving the practically reasonable bit error rate performances for both the high speed digital signals and the low speed digital signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a superposed digital signal transmission scheme for transmitting high speed digital signals and low speed digital signals used in a digital communication system.
2. Description of the Background Art
The currently adopted satellite video communication system uses a video signal transmission earth station capable of transmitting both video signals and voice signals and small earth stations capable of transmitting only voice signals, in which the transmission of the video signals is realized as a one-way transmission in an analog FM mode from the video signal transmission earth station, while the transmission of the answer-back voice signals from the small earth station which receives the video signals from the video signal transmission earth station is realized by using a terrestrial network.
However, such a current satellite video communication system has been associated with a problem concerning a limited flexibility available in setting up a new small earth station because of the use of the terrestrial network for the answer-back voice signal transmission.
In order to economize a practical implementation of such a satellite video communication system by improving the flexibility in setting up of a new small earth station, it has been considered desirable to realize a video communication system which fully uses digital satellite transmissions for all the signal transmissions involved.
Now, if such a video communication system using fully digital satellite transmissions is to be realized by utilizing the FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) mode, it would become necessary to expand the available frequency band considerably in order to avoid the mutual interference among different channels, whereas if such a video communication system using fully digital satellite transmissions is to be realized by utilizing the TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) mode, it would become necessary for each station to be provided with an expensive high power amplifier equipment such as TWTA (Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier), and this can lead to a very large-sized earth station.

Digital communication system using superposed transmission of high speed and low speed digital signals

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation