A traffic light system (10) with an impedance matching circuit (14) for electrically coupling an optical assembly (12) to a switched AC power supply (26) is described. The impedance matching circuit (14) has a matching transformer (20), a first resistor chain (22) and a second resistor chain (24). Each resistor chain (22,24) has an input and an output. Each of the inputs is common with a respective electrical node of the matching transformer (20). Each of the outputs is common with a respective supply node provided by the primary windings (18a) of an input transformer (18) of the optical assembly (12).

The present invention relates to impedance matching circuits for switched alternating current (AC) power supplies. In particular, this invention relates to an impedance matching circuit having an inductive input impedance for matching switched AC power supplies to electronic lighting elements such as, for example, LED optical assemblies of traffic light systems.
Traffic light systems using electronic lighting elements such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) provide advantages of lower costs, energy savings, better overall brightness and reliability compared with electrical lighting elements such as incandescent lamps or halogen bulbs. The LEDs used in such traffic light systems are typically arrayed to provide light signals at desired colors. Each array of LEDs is commonly referred to as an optical assembly.
Electrical AC power to the different lighting elements or optical assemblies of a set of traffic lights is typically provided with an alternating current (AC) power source. The AC power is switched to each of the different lighting elements or optical assemblies by a controller. Such switching enables the different traffic light signals to be provided as desired. The AC power is then rectified with a transformer to provide direct current (DC) power.
The electrical power required by electronic lighting elements is typically lower than that for electrical lighting elements. Consequently, transformers for electronic lighting elements require more primary windings to step down the AC power to desired DC levels. Furthermore, as electronic components are generally more temperature sensitive than electrical components, such transformers should preferably be efficient to minimize heat generation.
For an efficient transformer, less heat is dissipated through its coils compared with less efficient or lossy transformers. Hence, unused AC power during the return power is typically reflected back to the AC power source. However for a triac switched AC power source during periods of non-conduction, the reflected AC power is not absorbed or sunk but is reflected back. This is because of the high impedance of the triac during such non-conduction periods. The reflection of the AC power by the triac switched AC power source at zero-crossings of an AC power cycle is a known problem that causes distortion of the AC power cycle. A power cycle of a triac switched AC power source is illustrated in the waveform of FIG. 1 with two zero-crossing distortions 8a,8b indicated.
Distortion of the AC power cycle results in a non-symmetrical AC waveform that has a net DC component. Such a net DC component is known to cause undesired heat dissipation in AC transformers and damage components such as, for example, fuses of the optical assemblies. Therefore, a need clearly exists for traffic light systems having electronic lighting elements to operate reliably with triac switched AC power supplies.
The present invention seeks to provide an impedance matching circuit, an optical assembly having the impedance matching circuit and a traffic light system that comprises at least one of the optical assembly.
Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention provides an impedance matching circuit for matching a switched alternating-current (AC) power supply to an optical assembly, the impedance matching circuit comprising:
at least one matching transformer electrically coupled to the switched AC power supply;
a first resistor chain comprising at least one resistor connected in series and having an input and an output, the input being common with an electrical node of the matching transformer, the output being common with a supply node of the optical assembly; and
a second resistor chain comprising at least one resistor connected in series and having an input and an output, the input being common with another electrical node of the matching transformer, the output being common with another supply node of the optical assembly.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an optical assembly for traffic light signaling, the optical assembly comprising:
a plurality of lighting elements;
an input transformer having primary windings and secondary windings, the secondary windings being electrically coupled to the plurality of lighting elements; and
an impedance matching circuit electrically coupled to the input transformer, the impedance matching circuit comprising:
at least one matching transformer;
a first resistor chain comprising at least one resistor connected in series and having an input and an output, the input being common with an electrical node of the matching transformer, the output being common with a supply node of the primary windings; and
a second resistor chain comprising at least one resistor connected in series and having an input and an output, the input being common with another electrical node of the matching transformer, the output being common with another supply node of the primary windings.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a traffic light system to provide traffic light signals, the traffic light system comprising:
at least one optical assembly comprising:
a plurality of lighting elements; and
an input transformer having primary windings and secondary windings, the secondary windings being electrically coupled to the plurality of lighting elements; and
at least one impedance matching circuit electrically coupled to the optical assembly, each of the impedance matching circuit comprising:
at least one matching transformer;
a first resistor chain comprising at least one resistor connected in series and having an input and an output, the input being common with an electrical node of the matching transformer, the output being common with a supply node of the primary windings; and
a second resistor chain comprising at least one resistor connected in series and having an input and an output, the input being common with another electrical node of the matching transformer, the output being common with another supply node of the primary windings.

Impedance matching circuit for switched alternating current power supplies

Singapore Technologies Electronics, Ltd.


An apparatus and a method are disclosed for recording images of events in a medium wherein the images that are recorded are of conditions existing just prior to and during the occurrence of an event that triggers recording of these images. The apparatus and method use an optical delay path that employs a spherical focusing mirror facing a circular array of flat return mirrors around a central flat mirror. The image is reflected in a symmetric pattern which balances astigmatism which is created by the spherical mirror. Delays on the order of hundreds of nanoseconds are possible.

In studying the effectiveness of insulation in dielectrics or electrical phenomenon such as lightening, it is important to acquire information as to the phenomenon which occur just prior to the electrical discharge. Such information is of enormous value to industries such as the aircraft industry, which is currently utilizing and exploring further utilization of high-strength, light weight materials which are non-metallic. It is very unusual for lightening strikes on an airplane having a metallic skin to cause damage because the electrons are simply conducted from the part of impact over the metallic skin and back into the atmosphere from a discharge point. If the aircraft is made of a dielectric material, there is the distinct possibility that the aircraft will no longer be protected from lightening strikes, thus severely limiting or perhaps negating altogether further widespread use of dielectric materials as aircraft skins. There are, of course, many other reasons to study electrical breakdown phenomena or partial discharges through insulation so as to improve the design of electrical equipment generally. For example, in the electrical power industry, blown transformers cost utilities and their customers tens of millions of dollars per year. A better understanding of the behavior of the insulating liquids used in large electrical transformers could lead to improved transformer design, resulting in enormous savings to these utilities and their customers.
In electrical breakdown processes in general, it is the pre-breakdown events that are often of interest. These events may last only a few microseconds or less prior to the breakdown. In studying phenomenon such as electric breakdown, it is most helpful to have photographs of the event; however, due to the random nature of electrical discharges even within a very constricted time frame, it is sometimes very difficult to predict exactly when the discharge will occur. Consequently, the approach generally taken is to arrange for the photographic recording device to take pictures approximately when the breakdown is anticipated. After many pictures one may be able to capture the phenomena of interest. This is difficult if the phenomena are fast and the time between occurrences is long. Alternatively, it is possible to operate a trigger upon the occurrence of the discharge and to operate an image-converter camera or other highspeed photographic device with the trigger at the instant of discharge. The resulting photograph does not include what happened just prior to discharge, and thus a complete visual understanding of electrical discharge phenomenon is extremely difficult to precisely obtain. Since the time of a random discharge cannot be known precisely over time intervals which are long compared to the camera recording time, it is extremely difficult to plan for photographing the events which occur a few microseconds or less prior to dielectric breakdown. Accordingly, there is a need for a method of optically recording these prior phenomena and a need for an apparatus to practice the method.
Though there are inventions involving optical delay paths, none have the following features basic to the present invention: a spherical focusing mirror facing an array of flat mirrors arranged to preserve a well-focused image by repeatedly refocusing and correcting for asigmatism; recording triggered by a random event and recording only the images of interest; and recording images of conditions that occurred before recording was triggered.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,787, Kaneko, discloses an image-forming apparatus with displaying and printing functions. Unlike the present invention, images are continually recorded as a negative and printed as a positive. Thus, everything must be recorded. There is no optical delay path that uses only the repeated reflection and refocusing of a light beam to achieve an optical delay.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,406, Stewart et al., discloses a light screen for ballistic uses. Light is reflected back and forth between two screens, but the reflections are not intended to refocus an image and recording is not triggered by a random event.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,954, Herriott et al., discloses an optical delay line device with a pair of curved mirrors that form a resonator. A well-focused image is not produced, nor is recording triggered by a random event.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,571,738, Gloge, discloses a folded optical delay path. A well-focused image is not produced, nor is recording triggered by a random event.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,078, Chernin et al., discloses a multiple pass optical matrix system. A well-focused image is not produced, nor is recording triggered by a random event.

Methods of and apparatus for recording images occurring just prior to a rapid, random event

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


Apparatus for executing the connection admission control for PVC and SVC efficiently in an ATM network system which includes a network management equipment and a network equipment. The control function of the network management equipment executes resource allocation to PVC and SVC and notifies the network equipment of resource management information for SVC. For a request of PVC setup, the control function of the network management equipment executes the connection admission control for PVC and notifies the network equipment of the admission result. For a request of SVC setup, the network equipment executes the connection admission control for SVC. Communication overhead is reduced since it is not necessary to inquire the network equipment about connection admission from the network management equipment during PVC setup. Furthermore, the network equipment can count call blocking of SVC.

The present invention relates to an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) network system and more particularly to PVC and SVC resource management in an ATM network, a method for connection admission control, and a system configuration.
In this specification, the following abbreviations are used.PVC: Permanent virtual connection
SVC: Switched virtual connection PA1 VPC: Virtual path connection PA1 VCC: Virtual channel connection PA1 PVPC: Permanent virtual path connection PA1 PVCC: Permanent virtual channel connection PA1 SVCC: Switched virtual channel connection PA1 ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union--Telecommunication Standardization Sector) Recommendation I.732 PA1 (1) The SVC is set by sending and receiving messages between the network equipment 200 and the terminal equipment or another network equipment and it is not necessary to send and receive messages between the network equipment 200 and the network management equipment. Therefore, this request condition is satisfied. PA1 (2) For PVC setup, a setup request is issued to the network management equipment first. Thereafter, the network management equipment sends the setup request to the network equipment 200 and the network equipment 200 executes connection admission control. The network management equipment obtains the result, updates the resource management data in the network management equipment, and then instructs PVC setup to the network equipment 200. Therefore, it is necessary to send and receive a message two times between the network management equipment and the network equipment 200. PA1 (3) Since the common connection admission control 804 is applied to PVC and SVC, the resource allocation can be executed without considering the classification of PVC and SVC. PA1 (4) Since the common connection admission control 804 is applied to PVC and SVC, the resource allocation can be executed without considering the classification of PVC and SVC. However, on the other hand, for example, it is difficult to perform an individual process such as counting call blocking for SVC but not counting call blocking for PVC.
"Functional characteristics of ATM equipment" (hereinafter expressed by Draft I. 732) specifies the function model of the ATM network equipment (ATM exchange or ATM crossconnect). According to the Draft I. 732 mentioned above, the connection admission control function for setting the VPC or VCC is arranged in the ATM network equipment.
FIG. 14 shows a function model for connection admission control in an ATM network equipment 200 extracted from FIG. 6.1 of the Draft I. 732.
The network equipment 200 has a signaling application 800 for controlling SVC connected to a terminal equipment or another network equipment, a message communications function 802 for communicating with a network management equipment for controlling PVC, and an equipment management function 801 for controlling the operation of the equipment on the basis of a message received by the message communications function 802, and the signaling application 800 has a routing table 803 for routing SVC, and the equipment management function 801 has a routing table 804 for routing PVC.
The SVC control and PVC control are executed via an application program and a function program which are different between the controls, so that a coordination function 803 is provided in the network equipment 200 so as to coordinate these controls. The coordination function 803 has a connection admission control 804 for executing the connection admission control for PVC and SVC at the same time and the connection admission control 804 comprises an admission control algorithm 805 shared by PVC and SVC, an identifier management table 806, and a bandwidth management table 807.
However, when PVC and SVC which are different in the setup method from each other are controlled in the coexisting state, the following conditions (1) to (4) are required. A term of "resource" in the following explanation in this specification indicates, for example, an identifier (VPI and VCI) and a bandwidth.
(1) The SVC setup delay time should be satisfied.
For SVC, the setup delay time is specified and it is necessary to complete setup within several hundreds ms. The network management equipment and network equipment are generally connected via a wide area network and the required communication time between them is long. Therefore, the resource management system in which the network management equipment and network equipment send and receive messages between them every connection setup cannot satisfy this request condition.
(2) The communication overhead during PVC setup should be reduced.
For PVC, the aforementioned setup delay time specified for SVC is not specified. However, for connection setup, it is desirable to reduce the communication count or the communication data amount between the network management equipment and the network equipment. The reason is that the required communication time between the network management equipment and the network equipment is long in the same way as with (1) mentioned above.
(3) The PVC and SVC can coexist in the same low-order layer.
For example, to make PVCC and SVCC coexist in the same VPC, it is necessary to allocate resources in the same VPC to a plurality of connections which are different from each other in the setup method.
(4) The call blocking of SVC setup can be counted.
When resources are insufficient during connection admission control, SVC becomes call blocking but PVC is free of call blocking. Therefore, in SVC, the resource allocation by network designing is not changed immediately at the point of time when call blocking occurs but the resource allocation is changed at the point of time when the call blocking rate (call blocking count per hour) becomes worse than a certain threshold value. On the other hand, in PVC, when connections cannot be admitted due to insufficient resources during connection admission control, the PVC resource allocation is changed immediately by network designing.
According to the conventional resource management model shown in the aforementioned Draft I. 732, as shown in FIG. 14, the connection admission control function which is one of the resource managements is arranged in the network equipment 200 and the connection admission control function is used for both PVC setup and SVC setup. When the aforementioned request conditions (1) to (4) are examined in this constitution, the following results are obtained.
According to the conventional resource management system as mentioned above, for the request condition (2) of reduction of the communication overhead between the network management equipment and the network equipment during PVC setup, a problem arises that it is necessary to send and receive a message two times. For the request condition (4) of counting SVC call blocking, the network equipment executes the connection admission control without considering the classification of PVC and SVC, so that it is difficult to count call blocking only of SVC.

ATM network system and connection admission control method


A method of operating an electric vehicle charging station. The charging station may include a console housing components configured to receive current from an electric grid and convert the current to a form adapted to be received by the electric vehicle. The method may include transferring heat from the components in the console to air flowing through the console to form heated air, and directing the heated air from the console into a duct fluidly coupled to the console. The method may further include exhausting the heated air from the duct to a location remote from the console.

An electric vehicle (EV), also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses an electric motor for propulsion. Electric vehicles may include all-electric vehicles where the electric motor is the sole source of power, and hybrid electric vehicles that include an auxiliary power source in addition to the electric motor. In an electric vehicle, energy may be stored in one or more batteries (located in the electric vehicle) to power the electric motor. When the stored energy decreases, the batteries may be charged (or recharged) by connecting the vehicle to an external charger. As current flows, components in the external charger and the battery may get heated due to joule heating. The vehicle cooling system may cool the components of battery, and an air handling system may force air past the heated components of the external charger to cool them. Typically, the heated air is exhausted into the atmosphere thereby wasting the heat extracted from the components. An increase in efficiency and cost savings may be achieved by harnessing the waste heat produced during charging to do useful work.

Harnessing heat during electric vehicle charging


Systems, methods, apparatus and software can provide object interaction tools and techniques that allow a user to interact with a software object using familiar user interface elements. Information about the target object is provided so that an instance can be constructed. The object is introspect so available data and methods information can be used to populate a corresponding object interaction description and present an object interaction session.

Today, more and more software developers are choosing to write distributed transactional applications for the enterprise and leverage the speed, security, and reliability of server-side technology. Such distributed enterprise applications typically have to be designed, built, tested, and produced quickly, inexpensively, and with fewer resources than ever before. To reduce development costs and reduce enterprise application design and development time, various component-based platforms and approaches to the design, development, assembly, and deployment of enterprise applications have been developed.
Chief among these platforms are the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)™ (more recently named the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE)™) from Sun Microsystems, Inc.™, and the .NET platform for web services and applications development from Microsoft Corporation™.
In general, such distributed application platforms provide a set of coordinated specifications and practices that together enable solutions for developing, deploying, and managing multi-tier server-centric applications. These platforms use object-oriented technology and a component-based approach to the design, development, assembly, and deployment of enterprise applications. Typical features include multitiered distributed application models, the ability to reuse components, a unified security model, and flexible transaction control.
The ability to develop software components that can be written once and re-used many times (in many different applications) means that reliability of component functionality is very important. Ensuring the integrity of the component product through thorough and high quality testing is therefore critical to developers. A common approach to assuring software quality is to perform extensive quality assurance testing QA late in the development process to test the end product. However, this approach can be counterproductive when testing component based systems. For example, defects in a software component that is used several different places in a distributed application can manifest themselves in numerous different ways, making it very difficult to trace the source of the defect back to the defective component. In short, quality cannot be ensured on a consistent basis unless testing is part of multiple stages in the development process.
Still another problem with software component testing is the complexity inherent in many prior art test techniques. For example, many software testing tools require users to develop complex testing scripts, include instrumentation code in the code to be tested, or otherwise require in-depth knowledge of the code under test. This typically means that fewer people can be involved in testing, e.g., those who authored the code under test are the only ones with sufficient knowledge or experience to use existing test tools. Moreover, because these prior art tools require authoring of some sort of code or script based testing logic, there is an increased likelihood that the testing software itself will have defects introduced in the authoring process.
Accordingly, to make testing part of multiple stages in the development process, simpler tools are desirable. Moreover, it is desirable to have tools that allow complex testing of software components without the need for extensive programming experience or the generation of complex testing code or scripts.

System and method for live software object interaction


A connection point of a chamber subjected to high pressure in a body subjected to high pressure of a high-pressure injection system for fuel at a bore extending substantially vertically through the body. In the chamber subjected to high pressure of the body, a cylindrically shaped pocket or an encompassing groove is embodied, into which the bore discharges, forming an intersection point.

1. Field of the Invention
For introducing fuel into direct-injection internal combustion engines, stroke-controlled injection systems with a high-pressure reservoir (common rail) are used, as are unit fuel injector systems or pump-line-nozzle systems. In fuel injection systems with a common rail, the injection pressure can advantageously be adapted to the load and rpm of an engine over wide operating ranges. To reduce emissions and to attain a high specific performance, a high injection pressure is necessary. The attainable pressure level in high-pressure fuel pumps is limited for reasons of strength, so that to further increase the pressure in fuel injection systems, pressure amplifiers in the fuel injectors are employed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
German Patent Disclosure DE 101 23 913 A1 discloses a fuel injection system for internal combustion engines with a fuel injector that can be supplied from a high-pressure fuel source. A pressure booster device having a movable pressure booster piston is connected between the fuel injector and the high-pressure fuel source. The pressure booster piston divides a chamber, which can be made to communicate with the high-pressure fuel source, from a high-pressure chamber that communicates with the fuel injector. For filling a differential pressure chamber of the pressure booster device with fuel or evacuating the differential pressure chamber of fuel, the fuel pressure in the high-pressure chamber can be varied. The fuel injector has a movable closing piston for opening and closing injection openings. The closing piston protrudes into a closing-pressure chamber, so that the closing piston can be acted upon by fuel pressure to attain a force acting in the closing direction on the closing piston. The closing-pressure chamber and the differential pressure chamber are formed by a common closing-pressure differential pressure chamber, and all the portions of the closing-pressure differential pressure chamber communicate permanently with one another from exchanging fuel. A pressure chamber is provided for supplying the injection openings with fuel and for subjecting the closing piston to a force acting in the opening direction. A high-pressure chamber communicates with the high-pressure fuel source in such a way that aside from pressure fluctuations, at least the fuel pressure of the high-pressure fuel source can be applied constantly to the high-pressure chamber; the pressure chamber and the high-pressure chamber are formed by a common injection chamber. All the portions of the injection chamber communicate permanently with one another for exchanging fuel.
German Patent Disclosure DE 102 47 903.8 A1 discloses a pressure-amplified fuel injection system with an internal control line. The fuel injection system, which communicates with a high-pressure source, has a multi-part injector body. In it, a pressure booster that can be actuated via a differential pressure chamber is received, and its pressure booster piston divides a work chamber from the differential pressure chamber. The fuel injection system is actuatable via a switching valve. A change in pressure in the differential pressure chamber of the pressure booster is effected via a central control line, which extends through the pressure booster piston. The central control line is passed through the work chamber of the pressure booster and is sealed off from it via a high-pressure-proof connection.
German Patent Disclosure DE 196 11 884 A1 relates to a fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines. It includes a pistonlike valve member that is axially displaceable in a bore of a valve body. This valve member, on its end toward the combustion chamber, has a valve sealing face, which to open an injection cross section cooperates with a valve seat provided on the end of the bore toward the combustion chamber. Moreover, the valve member has a pressure shoulder, pointing in the direction of the valve sealing face, by means of which shoulder the valve member is subdivided into a larger-diameter guide part guided slidingly in the bore and a smaller-diameter free shaft part. A pressure chamber formed by a cross-sectional expansion of the bore is provided, which communicates with the valve seat via a gap formed between the free shaft of the valve member and the wall of the bore and which is adjoined, on the end facing away from the valve seat, by a guide portion of the bore that receives the guide part of the valve member. The valve body is penetrated by a pressure conduit, which discharges radially outward of the bore into the end of the pressure chamber facing away from the valve seat. The pressure shoulder on the valve member constantly plunges so far into the guide portion of the bore that an annular gap remains between the valve member and the wall of the bore on the end of the guide portion of the bore adjacent to the pressure chamber. In this gap, a contrary force on a remaining web between the bore and the pressure conduit is built up.
In previous version of pressure amplifiers controlled via the differential pressure chamber, the differential pressure chamber communicates, through what is as a rule a horizontal bore, with a second, valve-carrying bore. The horizontal bore proves to be extremely difficult to make. Time-consuming, expensive processes such as electrochemical countersinking or erosion must be employed. Moreover, at the intersection points between the differential pressure chamber and the horizontal bore, the maximum stresses occur in the component. High surface quality and rounding off of the edges that necessarily occur in manufacture, given the desired system pressures that must still be increased further, no longer suffice to obtain durable components. The internal central control line known from DE 102 47 903 A1 requires greater effort and expense of production and assembly than simple bores inside the injector body.

Connection for high-pressure chambers of fuel injectors


An apparatus and method are used for disaggregating and classifying energy consumption data from the overall energy consumption data of a building. Both high frequency sampling data classified by a convolutional neural network running on a cloud server and low frequency sampling data analyzed by a convolutional neural net running locally on an electric smart meter are used in the method. A control circuit switches between high and low frequency sampling modes based on the activity level of the building. Individual devices can also be controlled through a mobile application connected to the control circuit.

Non-intrusive load monitoring is a method of decomposing the electrical consumption of a building down to individual appliance usage. This allows the building's occupants to better understand how best to conserve energy without installing measurement devices on each appliance. NILM can also be used to detect anomalous behavior that indicates an appliance is faulty.
Non-intrusive load monitoring has been known since the 1980's (see Hart U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,141) and since then various types of data sampling have been used. High frequency sampling takes fifty samples or more per second, whereas low frequency sampling takes less than one sample per second, often sampling at once per minute or hour. High frequency data is valuable because it can be used to analyze not just the energy used, but the current-voltage waveform of the appliances. This enables algorithms to identify appliances with greater accuracy even during periods of high activity when many appliances are overlapping. However, low frequency sampling is more common because it can be more easily analyzed with a client side smart meter and because of the availability of low frequency datasets.
High frequency data can be disaggregated with great accuracy by using a deep learning classifier such as a convolutional neural network. However, this method processes a vast amount of data, and is better conducted in a back-end cloud server rather than in a client side smart meter. Constant use of the cloud server causes bandwidth issues for the client and unnecessarily high traffic for the server. Thus, a need exists for a method and apparatus to dynamically switch between high frequency and low frequency sampling.

Apparatus and method for non-intrusive load monitoring aided hybrid high and low frequency approaches


Trace runs for Planar Line Source Transducers (or speakers) are separated into multiple trace circuits which are electrically isolated but occupy the same area on the planar film. The separate trace runs are then driven with different electrical signals with tailored spectral content in order to achieve an overall acoustical frequency response. By having the separate trace runs occupy the same area, the line source nature of the transducer is preserved over the entire intended spectral response of the transducer and the mechanical structure is also kept simple. External spectral filtering circuits are used to pre-shape the spectral signal into each individual trace run and in most cases, the filtering components are passive and inexpensive.

Planar transducers (also referred to as speakers) have a film composed of mylar, polyester, kapton, etc, suspended between rows of fixed magnetic bars composed of ceramic, neodymium(a rare earth), etc. Electronic signals carrying the sound to be generated are sent through the wires imbedded in the film. The variable magnetic fields created by the thin wires interact with the nearby fixed magnets to vibrate the film, thereby creating sound waves. They are similar to electrostatic speakers only in that thin film propagates the sound waves. Electrostatics don't use magnets, but create a magnetic field by reciprocating the field back and forth through high voltage stators via a transformer. A planar can handle much more power and produce higher sound pressure levels (SPL). The best version of a planar is a Line Source type. A "Line Source" version planar is narrow in width and very long compared to its width. This produces a cylindrical pattern, yielding enormous lateral coverage and almost no directionality above or below the ends of the driver. They also are very rugged and present an almost purely resistive load to the amplifier. Line source speakers can also handle a lot of power as the relatively large area of film results in a large distribution of the power. Developed many years ago, they have recently become more popular with the advent of high power magnets, durable thin films, advanced adhesives to hold the aluminum traces to the film, sturdier metals for lighter framework, and tensioning techniques. No other speaker design offers the low distortion, excellent coverage, even dispersion, limited ceiling-floor reflections, and high SPL's as does a Planar Line Source.
Higher frequency audio components are more directional, and it has been discovered that in a diaphragm type transducer, it is desirable to have the higher frequency audio sounds emanate from a narrow and long strip like zone or area of the vibrating diaphragm. If the strip transducer is oriented in an upright position, the higher frequency audio sounds will emanate horizontally in substantially all directions resulting in a more uniform distribution of the audio signal. Sound attenuates only 3 dB for each doubling of distance instead of 6 dB as in conventional point source speakers. This provides for more consistent coverage and minimizes lost acoustic power.
Lower audible frequencies on the other hand do not tend to be as directional as the higher frequencies and can either be handled with a planar speaker or a separate more conventional point source speaker with no loss in performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,499 (incorporated herein by reference) (Nov. 11, 1975) discloses a planar film speaker composed of planar zones where each zone may have a separate circuit for reproducing a different spectrum of the audio signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,061 (incorporated herein by reference) (Jul. 19, 1977) discloses a mechanical structure which permits a rapid and relatively simple assembly where the tolerances are automatically obtained as a result of the transducer design.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,499 (incorporated herein by reference) is believed to be the closest prior art. However, it differs from this invention in that the different line circuits for reproducing different audio spectrum are in separate structures or locations which can require a larger physical structure or result in a larger aperture which may diminish the speaker's "sweet spot" area of audio sound reproduction.


The present invention relates to systems and methods for control of a steam generating process having a steam generator with multiple water flow conduits disposed in a convection section and a radiant section. A first conduit may have a first diverted convection section water that may flow through a second preheater of a second conduit intermediate a first element of the convection section and a first radiant section. The second conduit may have a second diverted convection section water that may flow through a first section preheater intermediate a second element of the convection section and a second radiant section. A first temperature controlled valve may control the first diverted convection section water flow rate and a second temperature controlled valve may control the second diverted convection water flow rate.

This invention relates to apparatus and systems for generating steam. The new system and method may allow for control of the steam generating process to output a desired steam quality from a multipath or multipass steam generator using crossover preheating of influent water flow in multiple fluid flow conduits or pipes.
Currently steam generators may be used to convert water to steam that may not be saturated. The water conversion may convert 70 percent to 80 percent of influent water to steam. The percent conversion achieved may be known as the steam quality. The unconverted or residual water may be effluent water from the steam generation process.
A single fluid flow conduit or multiple fluid flow conduits may be disposed in a heating container or vessel that may be heated by a combustible fuel, such as, a petroleum product, coal or the like. The fluid of water and steam may be heated in two steps in a steam generator convection section and in a radiant section. The steam generator may be structured for the influent water to be heated first in the convection section that may be downstream in the heated gas flow from the radiant section of the heating container. A heating gas may be at a lower temperature in the convection section relative to the radiant section. The convection section heated water may then be routed to the radiant section for heating to produce a steam effluent.
As water may be converted to steam the velocity of the fluid that may be a water and steam mixture may increase as a result of an increase in the volume of the fluid flowing in the conduit. This increase in velocity may result in an increased pressure drop in the conduit and increased conduit deterioration or wear. To reduce this effect multiple fluid flow conduit, such as, dual path or dual pass, steam generators may be used to generate steam. A dual conduit steam generator may have two approximately parallel or similar fluid flow conduits through which approximately the same total amount of water flows as may flow in a single fluid flow conduit steam generator. In a dual conduit steam generator the total water flow may be divided between the two conduits such that the fluid velocity in each conduit may be reduced which may reduce the wear on the conduits.
In a dual conduit steam generator the steam quality of the two conduit flows may be unequal as a result of differences in heat transfer rates or other factors. It may be necessary to control the water flow rate in each conduit to reduce conduit damage that may result from more water conversion to steam in one conduit relative to the other conduit. Controlling the water flow through each conduit as a function of steam quality may maintain the steam quality between each conduit as approximately equal. This method or process may result in each conduit flow producing approximately equal steam quality, but having unequal water flow.
In order to improve steam generator performance a portion of the heat energy in the water exiting the convection section may be used to heat the cooler influent water prior to its entering the convection section. Water exiting the convection section may be diverted prior to entering the radiant section and may be used to preheat the influent water. Existing steam generator systems may preheat the influent water to a temperature that may be a controlled fixed value.

Method for control of steam quality on multipath steam generator


A sensor is attached to an apparatus having a fixing unit which fixes an image on a recording medium by heating the recording medium. The sensor includes: a transmission unit transmitting an ultrasonic wave to the recording medium; a reception unit receiving the ultrasonic wave via the recording medium, and output a signal corresponding to the received ultrasonic wave; and a detecting unit detecting information relating to a state of the recording medium which has changed by passing through the fixing unit, based on a first signal which the reception unit has output upon having received the ultrasonic wave before the recording medium has passed through the fixing unit, and a second signal which the reception unit has output upon having received the ultrasonic wave after the recording medium has passed through the fixing unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for detecting the state of a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, printers, and so forth, which have sensors to detect the state of recording media, inside of the image forming apparatus. These apparatuses automatically detect the state of a recording medium, and control transfer conditions (e.g., transfer voltage, conveyance speed of the recording medium at the time of transfer) and fixing conditions (e.g., fixing temperature, conveyance speed of the recording medium at the time of fixing), according to the detection results.
One example of a state of the recording medium to be detected is the moisture included in the recording medium. Different moisture amounts included in the recording medium changes the resistance value and heat capacity of the recording medium, so image quality may deteriorate of images are recorded on recording media under the same transfer conditions and fixing conditions. Accordingly, these apparatuses detect the amount of moisture included in the recording medium, and control the transfer conditions and fixing conditions according to the results of detection.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-145514 describes an image forming apparatus where a lever to detect the thickness of the recording medium is provided in a conveyance path. When the recording medium is conveyed, the lever is pressed upwards by an amount equivalent to the thickness of the recording medium, and the thickness of the recording medium can be detected by the amount of displacement of the lever. This image forming apparatus detects the amount of moisture included in the recording medium by comparing the thickness of the recording medium before passing through a fixing unit and after having passed through the fixing unit. The transfer conditions and the like are controlled according to the moisture amount detection results, thereby improving image quality.
However, the configuration described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-145514 is a configuration to detect thickness by the lever coming into direct contact with the recording medium, there are cases where the precision of thickness detection, and accordingly the precision of moisture amount detection, deteriorates due to the effects of flapping of the recording medium being conveyed. Also, in a case where the recording medium is thin paper, change in the amount of moisture hardly changes the thickness at all, so accurately detecting the amount of moisture has been difficult. Accordingly, while the configuration described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-145514 could obtain moisture amount detection precision sufficient for satisfying the image quality desired at that time, there has been demand in recent years for improved moisture amount detection precision, to satisfy the image quality demanded nowadays.

Ultrasonic wave sensor and image forming apparatus


The present invention provides a power supply circuit performing constant voltage control by switching frequency control and achieving minimization of a necessary control range of the switching frequency control and implementation of a configuration ready for a wide range. A switching power supply circuit includes a switching circuit, a switching driving unit, an insulating converter transformer, a primary side series resonance circuit, a secondary side series resonance circuit, a secondary side DC output voltage production unit, a constant voltage control circuit, and a composite coupling coefficient setting mechanism.

This invention relates to a switching power supply circuit to be used as a power supply for various electronic apparatus.
Various power supply circuits having a resonance type converter on the primary side have been proposed by the assignee of the present application. One such power supply circuit is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-235259 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).
FIG. 44 shows the switching power supply circuit disclosed in Patent Document 1 which includes a resonance type converter. Referring to FIG. 44, the power supply circuit shown includes a switching converter. The switching converter is configured such that a partial voltage resonance circuit for performing a voltage resonance operation only upon turn-off during switching is combined with a separately excited current resonance type converter of a half bridge coupling scheme.
The switching power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 is provided, for example, as a power supply of a printer apparatus. In the printer apparatus, for example, the load power exhibits a variation over a comparatively wide range from approximately 100 W or more to no load.
In the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44, a common mode noise filter formed from two filter capacitors CL and a common mode choke coil CMC is connected to a commercial AC power supply AC.
Further, as a rectification smoothing circuit for producing a DC input voltage from the commercial AC power supply AC, a full wave rectification circuit formed from a bridge rectification circuit Di and a smoothing capacitor Ci is provided at the stage following the common mode noise filter.
The rectification output of the bridge rectification circuit Di is charged into the smoothing capacitor Ci, and as a result, a rectification smoothed voltage Ei (DC input voltage) having a level equal to that of an AC input voltage VAC is obtained across the smoothing capacitor Ci.
The current resonance type converter for receiving and switching the DC input voltage includes a switching circuit system wherein two switching devices Q1 and Q2, each formed from a MOS-FET, are connected to each other in a half bridge coupling scheme as seen in FIG. 44. Damper diodes DD1 and DD2 each formed from a body diode are individually connected in parallel to each other and in such directions as seen in FIG. 44 between the drain-source of the switching devices Q1 and Q2, respectively.
Further, a partial resonance capacitor Cp is connected in parallel between the drain-source of the switching device Q2. A parallel resonance circuit (partial voltage resonance circuit) is formed from the capacitance of the partial resonance capacitor Cp and the leakage inductance L1 of a primary winding N1. The partial voltage resonance circuit performs a partial voltage resonance operation wherein it voltage resonates only when the switching devices Q1 and Q2 are turned off.
In the power supply circuit, in order to switching drive the switching devices Q1 and Q2, an oscillation and driving circuit 2 formed from, for example, a general-purpose IC is provided. The oscillation and driving circuit 2 includes an oscillation circuit and a driving circuit, and applies a driving signal (gate voltage) having a required frequency to the gates of the switching devices Q1 and Q2. Consequently, the switching devices Q1 and Q2 perform a switching operation such that they are turned on and off alternately at a required switching frequency.
An insulating converter transformer PIT (Power Isolation Transformer) transmits the switching outputs of the switching devices Q1 and Q2 to the secondary side.
In this instance, the primary winding N1 of the insulating converter transformer PIT is connected at one end thereof to a node (switching output point) between the source of the switching device Q1 and the drain of the switching device Q2 through a series connection with a primary side series resonance capacitor C1 so that the switching output can be obtained from the node. The primary winding N1 is connected at the other end thereof to the primary side ground as seen in FIG. 44.
In this instance, the series resonance capacitor C1 and the primary winding N1 are connected in series to each other. Thus, a primary side series resonance circuit for making the operation of the switching converter that of a current resonance type is formed from the capacitance of the series resonance capacitor C1 and the leakage inductance L1 of the primary winding N1 (series resonance winding) of the insulating converter transformer PIT.
From the description above, resonance operation of the current resonance type by the primary side series resonance circuit (L1–C1) and partial voltage resonance operation by the partial voltage resonance circuit (Cp//L1) described hereinabove can be obtained by the primary side switching converter shown in FIG. 44.
In particular, the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 adopts a form in which the resonance circuit for making the operation of the primary side switching converter that of the resonance type is combined with another resonance circuit. A switching converter of the type just described is hereinafter referred to as a composite resonance type converter.
While a description with reference to the drawings is omitted here, the insulating converter transformer PIT described above is structured such that it includes an EE type core formed by combining E type cores made of, for example, a ferrite material with each other. Further, the primary winding N1 and a secondary winding N2 are wound on an inner magnetic leg of the EE type core at winding portions provided divisionally for the primary and secondary sides.
Further, a gap of 1.5 mm or less is formed in the inner magnetic leg of the EE type core of the insulating converter transformer PIT. Consequently, a coupling coefficient of 0.75 or more is obtained between the primary winding N1 and the secondary winding N2.
For the secondary winding N2 of the insulating converter transformer PIT, a full wave rectification circuit is provided. The full wave rectification circuit is formed from a bridge rectification circuit formed from rectification diodes Do1 to Do4, and a smoothing capacitor Co.
Consequently, a secondary side DC output voltage Eo, which is a DC voltage having a level equal to that of the alternating voltage induced in the secondary winding N2, can be obtained as a voltage across the smoothing capacitor Co. The secondary side DC output voltage Eo is supplied as a main DC power supply to a main load (not shown), and is also branched and input as a detection voltage for constant voltage control to the control circuit 1.
The control circuit 1 outputs a control signal to the oscillation and driving circuit 2 in the form of a current or a voltage whose level is adjusted corresponding to that of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo.
The frequency of an oscillation signal produced by the oscillation circuit in the oscillation and driving circuit 2 is adjusted based on the control signal input from the control circuit 1 to adjust the frequency of the switching driving signal to be applied to the gates of the switching devices Q1 and Q2. Consequently, the switching frequency is adjusted. Since the switching frequency of the switching devices Q1 and Q2 is adjustably controlled in response to the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo in this manner, the resonance impedance of the primary side series resonance circuit is varied and also the energy to be transferred from the primary winding N1, which forms the primary side series resonance circuit, to the secondary side is varied. Further, at this time, the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo is also adjustably controlled. Consequently, constant voltage control for the secondary side DC output voltage Eo can be implemented.
It is to be noted that such constant voltage control for adjustably controlling the switching frequency to achieve stabilization as described above is hereinafter referred to as the "switching frequency controlling method".
FIG. 46 is a waveform diagram illustrating the operation of part of the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44. Referring to FIG. 46, waveforms on the left side indicate the operation when the load power Po is Po=150 W, and waveforms on the right side indicate the operation of the same portions when the load power Po is Po=25 W. As an input voltage condition, the AC input voltage VAC is fixed at VAC=100 V.
Referring to FIG. 46, the voltage V1 of a rectangular wave is a voltage across the switching device Q2 and indicates on and off timings of the switching device Q2. The period that the voltage V1 is at the 0 level is an on period in which the switching device Q2 conducts. Within the on period, switching current IQ2 having the waveform illustrated in FIG. 46 is supplied to the switching circuit system formed from the switching device Q2 and the clamp diode DD2. Further, the period that the voltage V1 is clamped at the level of a rectification smoothed voltage Ei is a period in which the switching device Q2 is off, and the switching current IQ2 has the zero level as seen in FIG. 46.
Further, though not shown, the voltage obtained across the other switching device Q1 and the switching current flowing to the switching circuit (Q1, DD1) have waveforms shifted by 180° in phase from the waveforms of the voltage V1 and the switching current IQ2, respectively. In short, as described above, the switching devices Q1 and Q2 perform the switching operation such that they are turned on and off alternately.
Further, the switching currents flowing to the switching circuits (Q1, DD1 and Q2, DD2) are composed to obtain a current having the waveform shown in FIG. 46, and the resulting current is used as the primary side series resonance current Io to flow to the primary side series resonance circuit (C1–N1(L1)).
Further, it can be recognized, for example, from a comparison between the waveform of the voltage V1 shown in FIG. 46 when the load power Po=150 W and the waveform of the voltage V1 shown in FIG. 46 when the load power Po=25 W that the switching frequency is controlled. The switching frequency on the primary side, when the load to the secondary side DC output voltage Eo is heavy (Po=150 W), is lower than that when the load to the secondary side DC output voltage Eo is light (Po=25 W). In particular, the switching frequency decreases in response to a decrease in the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo as the load becomes heavier, but the switching frequency increases in response to an increase in the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo as the load becomes lighter. This indicates the fact that a constant voltage controlling operation by upper side control is performed as a switching frequency controlling method.
Further, since the operation on the primary side described above is obtained, an alternating voltage V2 having the waveform shown in FIG. 46 is induced in the secondary winding N2 of the insulating converter transformer PIT. Then, within the period of any one of the half cycles in which the alternating voltage V2 has a positive polarity, the rectification diodes [Do1, Do4] on the secondary side conduct to allow rectification current ID1 to flow in the waveform and at the timing shown in FIG. 46. Further, within the period of the other one of the half cycles in which the alternating voltage V2 has a negative polarity, the rectification diodes [Do2, Do3] on the secondary side conduct to allow rectification current ID3 to flow in the waveform and at the timing shown in FIG. 46. Further, as seen in FIG. 46, the rectification currents ID1 and ID3 are composed to form secondary winding current I2 to flow to the secondary winding N2.
FIG. 47 illustrates an AC→DC power conversion efficiency and a characteristic of the switching frequency of the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 with respect to the load variation under the input voltage condition of the AC input voltage VAC=100 V.
The switching frequency fs has a characteristic that it decreases as the load increases because the constant voltage controlling operation is performed. However, the characteristic just described is not a linear variation characteristic with respect to the load variation. For example, within a range from the load power Po=approximately 25 W to Po=0 W or less, the tendency is exhibited that the switching frequency fs increases steeply.
Meanwhile, the AC→DC power conversion efficiency (ηAC→DC) has a tendency that it increases as the load power Po increases, and when the load power Po=150 W, an ηAC→DC power conversion efficiency of approximately 91.0% is obtained.
It is to be noted that, in order to obtain the experimental results described with reference to FIGS. 46 and 47, the components shown in FIG. 44 are set as mentioned just below.    Insulating converter transformer PIT(EER-35 type ferrite core, gap length=1.4 mm, coupling coefficient k=0.75)Primary winding N1=35 T (turns), secondary winding N2=50 T    Primary side series resonance capacitor C1=0.039 μF    Partial resonance capacitor Cp=330 pF
Another example of the switching power supply circuit is shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 45. It is to be noted that, in FIG. 45, like elements to those of FIG. 44 are denoted by like reference characters, and a description of them is omitted herein to avoid redundancy.
The secondary side rectification circuit of the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 45 includes a full wave rectification circuit. In particular, a center tap is provided for the secondary winding N2 such that the secondary winding N2 is divided into secondary winding sections N2A and N2B. In this instance, the secondary winding sections N2A and N2B are formed from numbers of turns equal to each other. Further, the center tap is grounded to the secondary side ground. Furthermore, the rectification diodes Do1 and Do2 and the secondary side smoothing capacitor Co are connected to the secondary winding N2. By the full wave rectification circuit, the secondary side DC output voltage Eo can be obtained as a voltage across the smoothing capacitor Co.
A power supply circuit having the configuration described above may be provided as the power supply of a plasma display apparatus. In the plasma display apparatus, the load power Po varies over a comparatively wide range, for example, from Po=100 W or more to no load. Further, a secondary side DC output voltage having, for examples a comparatively high level of 200 V or more is required.
When an experiment regarding the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 45 was performed, results of operation and a characteristic substantially equal to those illustrated in FIGS. 46 and 47 were obtained.
It is to be noted that, when the experiment was performed, the components of the circuit shown in FIG. 45 were set as given below.    Insulating converter transformer PIT(EER-35 type ferrite core, gap length=1.4 mm, coupling coefficient k=0.75)Primary winding N1=35 T (turns), secondary winding N2=secondary winding section N2A+secondary winding N2B=50 T+50 T=100 T    Primary side series resonance capacitor C1=0.039 μF    Partial resonance capacitor Cp=330 pF
As described above, the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 45 is provided as a power supply of a plasma display apparatus and is configured so that the secondary side DC output voltage Eo obtained has a comparatively high level. In order to cope with this, in the circuit shown in FIG. 45, the secondary side rectification circuit is formed as a full wave rectification circuit, and the number of turns of the secondary winding N2 is suitably increased to 100 T.
Incidentally, where the configuration as a resonance type converter for implementing stabilization of the secondary side DC output voltage by the switching frequency controlling method is adopted as in the case of the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45), the adjustable controlling range of the switching frequency for stabilization is a comparatively wide range.
This is described with reference to FIG. 48. FIG. 48 illustrates a constant voltage controlling characteristic of the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45) in the form of a relationship between the level of the switching frequency fs and the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo.
It is to be noted that, in the description given with reference to FIG. 48, it is a premise that the power supply circuit in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45) adopts upper side control as the switching frequency controlling method. Upper side control as used herein is a controlling method for adjustably controlling the switching frequency within a frequency range higher than a resonance frequency fo1 of the primary side series resonance circuit and utilizing the variation of the resonance impedance caused by the adjustment control to control the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo.
Generally, the resonance impedance of the series resonance circuit is lowest at the resonance frequency fo1. Consequently, as a relationship between the secondary side DC output voltage Eo and the switching frequency fs in upper side control, the level of the secondary DC output voltage Eo increases as the switching frequency fs approaches the resonance frequency fo1, but decreases as the switching frequency fs moves away from the resonance frequency fo1.
Accordingly, as seen in FIG. 48, the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo with respect to the switching frequency fs in a condition that the load power Po is constant exhibits a quadratic curve variation. In particular, the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo exhibits a peak when the switching frequency fs is equal to the resonance frequency fo1 of the primary side series resonance circuit, and decreases as the switching frequency fs moves away from the resonance frequency fo1.
Further, the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo corresponding to the switching frequency fs in the same condition as that described above exhibits a characteristic that it shifts such that the level at the maximum load power Pomax is less by a predetermined amount than the level at the minimum load power Pomin. In particular, where it is considered that the switching frequency fs is fixed, the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo decreases as the load condition becomes heavier.
If an attempt is made to stabilize the secondary side DC output voltage Eo by upper side control so that Eo=tg may be satisfied where such a characteristic as just described is exhibited, then the adjustment range (necessary control range) of the switching frequency necessary for the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45) is a range indicated by the reference character Δ fs.
Actually, the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 performs the constant voltage control based on the switching frequency controlling method so that the secondary side DC output voltage Eo is stabilized at 135 V so as to cope with the input variation range and the load conditions. The variation range is from the AC input voltage VAC=85 V to 120 V of the AC 100 V type. The load conditions are the maximum load power Pomax=150 W and the minimum load power Pomin=0 W (no load) to the secondary side DC output voltage Eo, which is a main DC power supply.
In this instance, the variation range of the switching frequency fs that is varied for the constant voltage control by the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 is fs=80 kHz to 200 kHz or more, and also the range Δ fs is a correspondingly wide range of 120 kHz or more.
Further, the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 45 performs the constant voltage control so that the secondary side DC output voltage Eo is stabilized at the rated level of approximately 200 V. Therefore, similar to the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44, the range Δ fs of the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 45 is a correspondingly wide range.
As one of the power supply circuits, a power supply circuit ready for a wide range is known, which is configured so as to operate with an AC input voltage range, for example, from approximately AC 85 V to 288 V. It can be applied both in an area in which the AC input voltage of the AC 100 V type is used, such as, for example, Japan, U.S.A. and so forth, and in another area in which the AC input voltage of the AC 200 V type is used, such as, for example, Europe.
Thus, it is considered here that the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45) is configured as a power supply circuit ready for a wide range as described above.
As described above, where the power supply circuit is ready for a wide range, it is ready for an AC input voltage range, for example, from AC 85 V to 288 V. Accordingly, the variation range of the level of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo increases when compared with that in an alternative case in which the power supply circuit is ready for a single range of, for example, only the AC 100 V type or only the AC 200 V type. In order to perform the constant voltage control for the secondary side DC output voltage Eo whose variation range is expanded in correspondence to such an AC input voltage range as described above, switching frequency control over a still wider range is required. For example, in the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45), it is necessary to expand the controlling range of the switching frequency fs to approximately 80 kHz to 500 kHz.
However, the upper limit to the driving frequency with which an IC (oscillation driving circuit 2) for driving an actual switching device can cope is approximately 200 kHz. Further, even if a switching driving IC that can be driven with such a high frequency as described above is configured and mounted, when the switching device is driven with such a high frequency as described above, the power conversion efficiency drops remarkably. Therefore, it is difficult to practically use the switching driving IC described above as an actual power supply circuit. Incidentally, the upper limit to the AC input voltage VAC which can be stabilized, for example, by the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45), is approximately 100 V.
Therefore, in order to configure a switching power supply circuit using switching frequency control for stabilization as a switching power supply circuit ready for a wide range, it is known to adopt, for example, such a configuration as described below.
In particular, a rectification circuit system receiving a commercial AC power supply to produce the DC input voltage (Ei) is provided with a function of performing a changeover between a voltage doubler rectification circuit and a full wave rectification circuit in response to an input of commercial AC power supply of the AC 100 V type and the AC 200 V type.
In this instance, the circuit is configured such that the level of the commercial AC power supply is detected and the circuit connection of the rectification circuit system is changed over by a switch using an electromagnetic relay such that a voltage doubler rectification circuit or a full wave rectification circuit is formed in response to the detected level.
However, in such a configuration for the changeover of the rectification circuit system as described above, a number of electromagnetic relays are required as described above. Further, at least a pair of smoothing capacitors must be provided in order to form a voltage doubler rectification circuit. Therefore, the number of parts increases and this increases the cost. Also, the mounting area of a power supply circuit board is expanded to increase the size of the circuit. In particular, since the smoothing capacitors and the electromagnetic relays are large-size parts from among those parts forming the power supply circuit, the size of the board becomes rather large.
Where the configuration for changeover between full wave rectification operation and voltage doubler rectification operation is applied, if, when the commercial AC power supply of the AC 200 V type is input, the level of the AC input voltage becomes lower than that corresponding to the AC 200 type because an instantaneous service interruption occurs or the AC input voltage decreases to a voltage level lower than the rated voltage or the like, then a malfunction may occur in which it is detected that the commercial AC power supply input is the AC 100 V type and a changeover from the full wave rectification circuit to the voltage doubler rectification circuit is performed. If such a malfunction occurs, then the voltage doubler rectification will be performed for an AC input voltage having the level of the AC 200 V type. Therefore, there is the possibility that, for example, the switching devices Q1, Q2 and so forth may be broken by being subjected to a voltage higher than that which they can withstand.
Therefore, as an actual circuit, in order to prevent the occurrence of such a malfunction as described above, a configuration is adopted in which not only is the DC input voltage of the switching converter on the main power supply side detected, but the DC input voltage of the converter circuit on the standby power supply side is also detected. Consequently, a member for detecting the converter circuit on the standby power supply side must be added, and an increase of the cost described above and an increase of the size of the circuit board result.
Further, the DC input voltage of the converter on the standby power supply side is detected in order to prevent a malfunction. This signifies that only an electronic apparatus which includes not only a main power supply but also a standby power supply can actually use a power supply circuit which includes a circuit for changing over the rectification operation and which is ready for a wide range. In other words, the type of electronic apparatus in which the power supply can be incorporated is limited to that which includes a standby power supply, and the range of utilization becomes much narrower.
Further, as a configuration ready for a wide range, a configuration is also known in which the form of the current resonance converter on the primary side is changed over between that of a half bridge connection and that of a full bridge connection in response to an input of a commercial power supply of the A 100 V type/AC 200 V type.
With the configuration just described, even if the AC input voltage of the AC 200 V type drops to the level of the AC 100 V type, for example, as a result of such instantaneous interruption as described above or the like to cause a malfunction, the switching operation is only changed over from a half bridge operation to a full bridge operation. As a result, a situation does not arise in which a voltage higher than the withstanding voltage is applied to the switching devices. Therefore, the DC input voltage on the standby power supply side need not be detected. Consequently, the configuration can be applied to an electronic apparatus that does not include a standby power supply. Further, since a changeover of the commercial power supply line is not involved, a changeover of the circuit formation by a semiconductor switch is possible. Therefore, a large-size switching member such as an electromagnetic relay need not be provided.
However, with the configuration described above, at least four switching devices must be provided in order to form a full bridge connection in response to the AC 100 V type. In particular, in comparison with the configuration of a converter using only a half bridge connection, which can be formed from two switching devices, an additional two switching devices must be added.
Further, in the configuration described, four switching devices perform the switching operation in the full bridge operation, and three switching devices perform the switching operation even in the half bridge operation. While the resonance converter produces low switching noise, the disadvantage in regard to switching noise increases as the number of switching devices performing switching operations in such a manner as described above increases.
Also, where any one of the configurations described above is adopted as a configuration ready for a wide range in such a manner as described above, when compared with an alternative configuration ready for a single range, an increase in the circuit scale and an increase in the cost caused by an increase in the number of parts cannot be avoided. Further, intrinsic problems which do not appear with the configuration ready for a single range, such as a limitation on the range of apparatuses which can be utilized and an increase in the switching noise and so forth occur with the former configuration and the latter configuration, respectively.
Further, where the control range of the switching frequency is a suitably wide range as in the case of the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45), a problem also occurs that a high-speed response characteristic in the stabilization of the secondary side DC output voltage Eo decreases.
Some electronic apparatus involve varying operations such that the load condition changes over instantaneously, for example, between a state in which the load has a maximum level and another state in which the load is substantially zero. A load exhibiting such a load variation as just described is also called a switching load. The power supply circuit to be incorporated in such an apparatus as just described must be configured so that the secondary side DC output voltage is appropriately stabilized against a load variation such as that of a switching load.
However, as described above with reference to FIG. 48, where the switching frequency has a characteristic of a wide control range, a comparatively long time is required to adjust the switching frequency with which the secondary side DC output voltage is provided to the required level in response to a load variation such as that of the switching load described above. In short, an undesirable result is obtained as the response characteristic of the constant voltage control.
It can be recognized that the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 44 (FIG. 45) is particularly disadvantageous in the constant voltage control response characteristic to a switching load as described above. In the switching frequency characteristic according to the constant voltage control, the switching frequency varies by a great amount within the load range from the load power Po=approximately 25 W to 0 W as seen in FIG. 47.


An absorption refrigerating/heating apparatus in which a refrigerant vapor generated in the evaporator (1) is absorbed to produce absorption heat by the absorbent in an absorber (2). There are first tube for chilled water in the evaporator, a second tube for cooling water in the absorber, a third tube in an indoor unit (15), and a forth tube in a sensible heat exchanger. The first tube and the second tube are respectively connected to the third tube and the fourth tube in a cooling operation, while to the fourth tube and the third tube respectively in a heating operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an absorption refrigerating/heating apparatus or airconditioner and particularly, an absorption refrigerating/heating apparatus for heating at high efficiency with a heat pump in an ordinary heating mode and, when the outside air temperature is too low to pump up heat, shifting to a direct flame heating mode to maintain the heating capacity to a desired level as well as permitting simple switchover between the refrigerating mode, the thermodynamic heating mode, and the direct flame heating mode.
Also, the present invention is directed towards an absorption refrigerating/heating apparatus which improves the start of shifting from the direct flame heating mode to the thermodynamic heating mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
As absorption type refrigerating apparatuses have commonly been used for only refrigerating, they are now arranged for not only refrigerating action but also carrying out a thermodynamic heating action in which heat pumped up by the absorber is used for heating. In such a thermodynamic heating action, however, the efficiency of pumping up heat from the outside air is declined when the temperature of the outside air drops. A modification is provided for shifting from the thermodynamic heating action to the direct flame heating mode when the outside air temperature drops to some lower limit.
Disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. Hei 1-47714 and Hei 7-96977 and Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei 6-2980 are such a modified absorption heat-pump apparatus and a refrigerating/heating apparatus. An absorption refrigerating/heating apparatus which performs in any of three modes; refrigerating, thermodynamic heating, and direct flame heating is depicted in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-97127.
Those conventional absorption refrigerating/heating apparatuses of air-cooling type are complicated in the construction where switching is needed from refrigerating mode to heating mode and vice versa and will thus hardly be feasible in practice.
For example, to shift between the refrigerating mode and the thermodynamic heating mode in the apparatus disclosed in the Patent Publication No. Hei 6-97127, the passage for a refrigerant or an absorbent solution has to be switched. This causes undesired mixture of the absorbent solution with the refrigerant. For implementation, therefore, the switching between the three modes of cooling, thermodynamic heating, and direct flame heating can only be realized with the use of intricate mechanisms. Although the apparatus disclosed in the Patent Publication No. Hei 1-47714 employs four-way valves for switching between the refrigerating mode and the heating mode to form a simplified passage switching mechanism, the switching between the refrigerant passage and the absorbent solution passage is inevitable. Accordingly, the mixture of the refrigerant with the absorbent solution will occur hence requiring a length of time to return back to an expected level of performance after the switching.


A system and method for using a shared bus to control a keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) output is disclosed. The system may include a mid-plane having a video bus. At least one server module, including a video output module, may be placed in communications with the video bus. The video output module may transmit a video signal over the bus and receives a control signal over the bus. A management module may also be placed in communications with the video bus. The management module may receive the video signal from the server module via the bus and provide a control signal through the video bus to each server module. The control signal may activate or deactivate the video output module on each server module.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
As consumer demand increases for smaller and denser information handling systems, manufacturers strive to integrate more computer components into a smaller space. This integration has led to the development of several applications, including high density servers. A high density server provides the computer processing resources of several computers in a small amount of space. A typical arrangement for a high density server includes a shared power supply, a management module, a connection board (e.g., a back-plane or mid-plane) and server modules, such as blade server modules.
Blade server modules, or blades, are miniaturized server modules that typically share a common power supply and cooling system within a server. Typically, a blade includes a circuit board with one or more processors, memory, a connection port, and possibly a disk drive for storage. By stacking several blades in a server like books on a shelf, a high density server achieves significant cost savings over conventional servers. This saving is a direct result from the sharing of common resources (i.e., electrical power) and the reduction of space within the server while providing a significant increase in computer processing power.
Because each blade in a server may be viewed as a computer system, each blade may require separate input and output (I/O) connections. This creates a potential problem when there are several blades installed in a server and each requires a separate I/O connection for a video, keyboard and mouse (KVM) connection. Because the blades are ultra small and closely stacked in a server, connectivity (i.e., cabling) to each blade becomes quite difficult.

System and method for using a shared bus for video communications


An example implementation includes (i) receiving sensor data that indicates topographical features of an environment in which a robotic device is operating, (ii) determining, for a particular topographical feature of the environment in a direction of travel of the robotic device, a height of the particular topographical feature and a distance between the robotic device and the particular topographical feature, (iii) estimating a ground plane extending from the robotic device in the direction of travel toward the particular topographical feature, the ground plane fitting to the determined distance and height, (iv) determining a grade of the estimated ground plane, and (v) directing the robotic device to adjust pitch in proportion to the determined grade.

Some types of robots can be classified as legged robotic devices in that they are equipped with one or more legs by which they are able to move about an environment. Some examples of legged robotic devices include biped, or two-legged robots, and quadruped, or four-legged robots. During locomotion, legged robots may move according to a gait, or pattern of leg movements. Each cycle of this pattern may be referred to as a step. A robotic device may alter certain steps based on features of the environment.

Ground plane compensation for legged robots


A game dart includes a dart barrel having a hollow chamber and front and rear ends each having a screw hole communicating with the hollow chamber. A ballast is retained in the chamber of the dart barrel, and includes two ends each having an engaging member for suspending the ballast in the chamber of the dart barrel, a dart point and a longitudinal flight shaft each includes a threaded coupler for detachably threading with the screw holes of the ends of the dart barrel, and the shaft includes a flight attached to the trailing end. The ballast may be molded within the dart barrel, and the dart barrel may have the screw holes directly formed in the ends for threading with the dart point and the shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game dart, and more particularly to a game dart having a ballast for stabilizing or balancing the game dart.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various kinds of typical game darts have been developed and comprise a dart barrel including a needle like dart point extended forwardly therefrom, and including a longitudinal flight shaft extended rearwardly therefrom, and the trailing end of the shaft being terminated by a flight.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,004 to Mariella et al. discloses one of the typical game darts comprising a longitudinal flight shaft detachably attached to a dart barrel by a threading engagement. However, the dart barrels of the typical game darts have no weight or ballast or other balancing members disposed therein such that the typical game darts may not be stabilized or balanced while shooting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,331 to Rinehart discloses another typical game dart also comprising a longitudinal flight shaft detachably attached to a dart barrel by a threading engagement, and a needle like dart point also detachably attached to the dart barrel by a threading engagement, and a heavy and very malleable ballast material, such as a wad of the lead wool ballast is engaged into the dart barrel.
However, it will be inconvenient to insert the lead wool ballast into the dart barrels of the typical game darts, and thus expensive man power is required to assemble the typical game darts. In addition, for coupling or attaching the flight shaft and the dart point to the dart barrel, solid brass nose and tail bushings are further required to be provided and attached or secured onto the dart barrel, and having inner threads formed or provided therein, for threading and attaching the flight shaft and the dart point to the dart barrel, such that the typical game dart may not be quickly manufactured or assembled, and such that the manufacturing cost for the typical game dart will be greatly increased.
Great British Patent No. GB 2086243A to Halpern discloses a further typical game dart comprising a longitudinal flight shaft detachably attached to a dart barrel by a threading engagement, and a needle like dart point and a number of magnets attached to the dart barrel. However, the dart barrel is required to be pressed or spun with a recess therein, to solidly retain the needle like dart point and the magnets within the dart barrel, such that the needle like dart point and the magnets may not be easily engaged into and assembled to the dart barrel.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional game darts.


A display device is connectible to a first video signal output device and a second video signal output device. Upon receiving an input switch instruction from the first video signal output device, the display device is configured to inhibit a first video from the first video signal output device from being displayed when displaying a second video from the second video signal output device.

It becomes mainstream that multiple video signal output devices having digital broadcasting receiving functions such as DVD players and personal computers (PC) are digitally connected to display devices configured to display videos corresponding to video signals supplied from multiple video signal output devices through cables according to HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface: Trademark Registration) standards (hereinafter, referred to as HDMI cables).
The HDMI has a CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) function enabling cooperation with peripheral devices. For example, CEC standards include a one-touch play function. According to the one-touch play function, a display device connected to multiple video signal output devices through HDMI cables may turn on its power if its power is off when any one of video signal output devices is activated by its playback button being pressed. When the display device inputs a different video signal than a video signal from the video signal output device which is activated, the display device changes its video signal input thereto to the video signal from the activated video signal output device.
The one-touch play function allows a user to simply press a playback button of a video signal output device, thus displaying a video from the video signal output device with its playback button being pressed. To display a video on the display device, for example, the user does not need to power on the display device using a remote control or to change a video signal input to the display device; hence, it is possible to display a video with a simple operation.
Patent Document 1 discloses an AV device able to suppress power consumption when multiple video signal output devices (e.g. AV devices) are connected to a display device with HDMI cables. When the display device displays a video of a video signal from one AV device, another AV device is activated so that a video signal of a video to be displayed on the display device is changed with another video signal from another video signal output device according to a one-touch play function, wherein it is possible to suppress power consumption since one AV device reduces its power consumption.
Patent Document 2 discloses a display device incorporating a video signal output device (or a device) such as a TV tuner, wherein it is assumed that an information device may compete with a display device in terms of device use when the display device and the information device connected to the display device are able to concurrently use the same device. Due to conflicts in device use, the display device allows a user to determine whether or not to select the display device or the information device in an attempt to use a device lately rather than the display device or the information device having used a device previously upon detecting the operating condition of the device.

Display device and video display method therefor


The present disclosure relates to a coaxial lead structure and method for radiating a GIS partial discharge UHF signal outward. The structure includes a GIS cavity, a circular hole provided on the GIS cavity, a medium cylinder provided at the circular hole and sealing the circular hole, a thin cylindrical metal lead that extends into and is fixed to the medium cylinder, and a ground lead connected to the thin cylindrical metal lead. According to the present disclosure, a relatively strong signal may be obtained outside a coaxial lead structure, and detection of a partial discharge UHF signal at this position may increase the detection sensitivity by one time compared with the detection methods of built-in and external disc insulators.

GIS (Gas Insulated Switchgear) is key equipment in a power system. A large area of power outage may occur once the GIS has an insulation failure. This may cause huge losses to the national economy and also cause social unrest. In order to avoid GIS insulation failures, it is necessary to detect and repair insulation defects in time. A partial discharge UHF (ultra-high-frequency) detection technology is an effective method. A UHF signal is an electromagnetic wave. At present, partial discharge detection is implemented by a built-in sensor, an external sensor, and the like. The built-in sensor has poor universality and is incapable of maintenance at outage. The external sensor is often affected by metal rings and has extremely low detection sensitivity. Therefore, finding an appropriate detection window is the key to GIS PD (partial discharge) detection.

Coaxial lead structure and method for radiating GIS partial discharge UHF signal outward

State Grid Fujian Electric Power Co., Ltd.

State Grid Fujian Electric Power Research Institute