A automated toothpick dispenser includes a chamber for carrying a plurality of toothpicks and a lift system for dispensing a single toothpick to a position outside the dispenser. A drive system is coupled to the lift system and is activated by a sensor that detects the presence of a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toothpick dispensers, and more particularly, to automated sanitary toothpick dispensers.
2. Description of Related Art
Toothpick dispensers have been around for many years. For example, FIG. 1 shows a cutout, side view of a conventional toothpick dispenser 100. Dispenser 100 includes a housing 104 that carries a plurality of toothpicks 102. Top lid 106 pivotally attaches to joint 108 for pivotally rotation about arc A. A user may pivotally rotate lid 106 for restocking toothpicks 102 within housing 104. The user pushes a slide member 110 for retrieving toothpick 102, as shown with arrow B. Slide member 110 attaches to a spring 114 and includes a delivery slot 112 for placement of toothpick 102.
Dispenser 100 is one of many known dispensers. The known dispensers share a common problem, i.e., the dispensers and toothpicks within the dispensers typically are contaminated with the germs from multiple users. For example, dispenser 100 provides means wherein the user could open lid 106, reach into housing 104, and grab several toothpicks 102. As a result, the user contaminates unused toothpicks 102 and exposes the outside surface of dispenser 100 with germs.
Other types of toothpick dispensers use individually wrapped toothpicks. These embodiments create additional problems, such as increased manufacturing costs and litter caused by users failing to properly dispose of the paper wrappers.
Although great strides have been made in the are of toothpick dispensers, considerable shortcomings remain.


A liner for a body such as of an off-highway truck protects the body from wear. The liner has a plate with openings through the plate arranged in a preselected pattern. The plate is of a size to fit a particular portion of the body and is typically removably fastened to the body. The openings in the plate cause material to tumble, instead of to slide, when being removed from the truck. The tumbling action, and the thickness of the plate, reduces wear on the body during material dumping.

Work machines which carry material are subject to wear through the movement of material in the body of the machine. For example, an off-highway truck typically has a material-carrying body which can be moved to an upright position to eject the material through an opening in the body. This wear is particularly aggravated, for example, by the sliding of material across the portion of the bed or floor adjacent the rear opening from which the material is ejected. Other trucks for hauling and dumping may have similar problems with wear.
In an attempt reduce wear, many solutions have been tried. For example, sheets of material as liners are sometimes added to a truck body to provide additional protection. However, such liners are still subject to the same high wear of sliding materials as the truck bodies they protect. Another solution has been to attach bars to the bed or floor of a truck body in rows across the width of the bed. Similarly, a cross hatch of plates approximately two inches high have been added to provide "boxes" on the bed of the truck. The bars or boxes cause material to tumble instead of slide as it moves across the truck bed to be ejected from the rear opening. This tumbling motion reduces wear by tending to eliminate the high wear characteristics of sliding material.
These so-called tumbler bars or boxes require a considerable amount of welding to attach, involve the handling of a large number of different parts, are limited in the way they can be attached (typically only by welding) and are susceptible to breaking loose. If they do break loose, the metal parts can be ejected from the truck body into another material handling device, such as a rock crusher, and cause damage to that device.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a solution to the above problems.


A license plate cover security device 10 for use with a license plate 100 dimensioned to be received in a license plate receptacle 200 formed in the chassis 201 of a vehicle 202 equipped with an alarm system 203. The security device 10 includes a license plate cover member 20 operatively associated with a wiring system 40 connected to the alarm system 203. The wiring system 40 includes at least one electrical switch plate 45 operatively associated with one of the conventional fasteners 50 used to secure the license plate cover member 20 and the license plate 100 to the license plate receptacle 200 wherein the removal of the conventional fastener 50 will activate the vehicle alarm system 203.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of car alarms in general, and in particular to a security system that will sound an alarm when someone tries to steal a car license plate by removing the license plate cover.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,710,475; 3,340,639; 4,182,062; and 5,659,986, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse license plate cover security devices that lock a license plate within the license plate cover.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical device to warn the car owner and passerby that a person is attempting to illegally remove the license plate from a vehicle.
Unfortunately, in today's society there are certain individuals that require the unlawful possession of vehicle license plates in the furtherance of other illegal activities and it is a relatively simple task to defeat most of the prior art locking mechanisms to gain access to the license plates without drawing unwanted attention to themselves.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved type of license plate cover having a conventional securing mechanism that is tied into the vehicle alarm system such that the removal of any one of the fasteners triggers the vehicle alarm, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.


One aspect relates to a system that integrates a user interface of a device with a cloud based database system without use of a database application. A user may access a cloud based database system without the complexity of installing additional software or managing connections to the cloud based database system. The system may establish a communication link between the user interface and intelligent agents running on the database system in order to allow a user(s) to carry out various database monitoring and verification activities.

Cloud based services may be offered for running, using, and maintaining a database. A cloud based database service may include a plurality of servers hosting databases associated with a plurality of users. It is appreciated that many users of a cloud based database service may want functionality offered of low level control interfaces without the hassle and complexity of configuring a database and connecting to it. For example, users (e.g., developers, database administrators, analysts, etc.) may want to monitor data, verify data, and optimize performance. Current database systems may require installation of applications on client devices or accessing of another external application(s) in order to access information from a database. Users may further have to manage complex configurations and connections to connect to a database.

Systems and methods for monitoring distributed database deployments


This disclosure relates to a personal handheld electronic device with a touchscreen on a peripheral surface. In some implementations, the device may comprise one or more of a primary interface, a touchscreen, a processor, one or more information collection systems, electronic storage, a power supply, and/or other components. One or more components of the device may be disposed in or on a first housing body. In some implementations, one or more components of the device may be disposed in or on one or more housing bodies. The device may be configured such that the touchscreen is disposed on a peripheral surface of a housing body. The touchscreen being disposed on a peripheral surface may enable the device to receive information from a user and/or display information to the user when the device is in an open configuration and/or in a closed configuration.

Touchscreens provided on mobile devices are known. Typical mobile devices provide one touchscreen for presenting information to and/or receiving information from the user. In some instances, a secondary display may be provided by the mobile device. In instances where the secondary display is provided, the secondary display may be configured only to present information. The secondary display may not be configured to receive information from the user.

Personal handheld electronic device with a touchscreen on a peripheral surface


An offset printing device is provided for a rotary printing machine having a plate cylinder carrying a dry flatbed printing plate, the printing device having an improved inking unit which reduces the occurrence and effect of contaminants. In the inking unit, at least one ink application roller, which is frictionally engaged against the plate cylinder during printing, is drivable by at least one positively driven inking roller at a peripheral speed which is different from the peripheral speed of the plate cylinder. In an embodiment, a plurality of ink application rollers contact the plate cylinder and are respectively driven at successively differing peripheral speeds.

A conventional offset printing device is disclosed in German patent publication DE 44 23 286 Al, in which a plate cylinder carries a printing form suitable for offset printing without damping solution by a process known as dry offset printing. The printing form is inked with an appropriate printing ink. In order to eliminate or to prevent contaminants, which are undesirably reproduced in the printed image on the material being printed, an additional application roller can be thrown onto and off of the printing form, independently of the ink rollers present. The additional application roller can be switched into two operating positions. In the first operating position, the application roller is thrown onto the printing form, and the application roller can be operated at a peripheral speed which differs from the peripheral speed of the plate cylinder. In the in the second operating position, the application roller is thrown off from the printing form, but is integrated into the inking unit.
A wet offset printing device is disclosed in German patent publication DE-B 18 08 909. In order to remove contaminants from the printing form, at least one application roller of the damping or inking unit can be driven at a different peripheral speed than the peripheral speed of the plate cylinder by a gear train in a positively locking manner. This mode of operation is not suitable for a dry offset plate, which has a non-metallic surface coating, since the dry offset printing plate is less wear-resistant than a printing plate for offset printing which transfers damping medium. Furthermore, the contaminants in the inking unit or the damping unit are transported further to a roller, where the accumulated contaminants must be removed at specific intervals.

Offset printing device for a rotary printing machine


A vector network analyzer utilizes a single voltage controlled oscillator to produce a sweep frequency over time, which is supplied to a device under test. The return signal from the device under test is delayed and mixed with the original signal to produce an intermediate frequency signal that is digitized and the data manipulated by a computer to measure the reflection coefficient or transmission coefficient of the device under test.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vector network analyzer. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a vector network analyzer that operates in the microwave frequency range.
2. Description of Related Art
Measuring characteristics and parameters of microwave devices or using microwaves to measure characteristics of things or targets is difficult because at microwave frequencies circuit parameters that do not matter at lower frequencies become important. In addition to the conventional parameters of current and voltage, at the microwave frequencies the additional parameters of electrical and magnetic fields, phase and the physical position of a point of interest within a device become important. Furthermore, current and voltage cannot be directly measured in the microwave portion of the radio frequency spectrum. In addition, it is essential that phase information of the microwave signal be ascertainable. Therefore, special instruments are required to measure characteristics of microwave devices.
A linear electrical network is a number of impedances connected together to form a system that consists of a set of inter-related circuits and that performs specific functions. The behavior of the network depends on the network constants. Networks may be passive, i.e., those that contain no energy source or sink other than normal ohmic losses, or active, which contain an energy source or sink. Microwave circuits may be characterized by many other criteria, e.g., resistance, resistance-capacitance, inductance-capacitance, inductance, lattice structure, bridge structure, series or parallel structure, linear, nonlinear, bilateral, unilateral, etc.
Even more generally, for purposes of this specification, a network is an electrical black box with one or more inputs or outputs, called ports, and may include a network formed between the test device and a target device that may or may not be connected together by conductors. Measurements of microwave circuits and components involve the characterization of the circuit as a network, and measuring the reflection and transmission coefficients of the ports.
Network analyzers are useful for measuring the network characteristics of many electrical systems, such as cables, circuits, and so forth; for ranging, i.e., measuring the distance between the analyzer and objects that reflect microwaves, such as aircraft, buildings, discontinuities in cables, and for many other applications.
Network analyzers can measure the reflection coefficient for any device or target and the transmission coefficient for any electrical device. They must be vector analyzers to recover phase information. Reflection coefficients can be used to determine, among other things, range or distance, whether for guided or unguided propagation. For example, the reflection coefficient can be used to determine the distance from the point of connection to a coaxial cable to a break in the cable, or the distance to a target, such as an airplane in flight. The ability to work with vectors being assumed, the device will hereafter be referred to simply as a network analyzer.
Network analyzers of the prior art require at least one phase locked oscillator to generate the microwave signals they require. The oscillator must be very stable throughout the full range of operating conditions, e.g., temperature. They must produce cw signals that are stepped in frequency. Manufacturing precision oscillators is very tedious and expensive. Manufacturing pairs of precision phase locked oscillators, which are employed in some network analyzers, is even more expensive. In addition, many of the circuit elements of prior art network analyzers must be precision microwave frequency components, which are quite expensive relative to comparable components designed for operation at lower frequencies.
Network analyzers in the prior art are expensive, bulky, heavy, and not portable. These disadvantages have seriously limited their availability and uses.
Accordingly, there is a need for a network analyzer that is relatively inexpensive, compact, portable, does not require two phase locked oscillators, and that does not require precision microwave frequency components.


The invention provides a Web service which enables a publisher to share his digital resources such as an address card or a calendar with a number of subscribers based on different sharing relationships. The Web service includes a host-based interface called “My Community”, for example, with which the publisher manages the share-relationships with his community members. The community members are organized into different groups. Each group includes a number of community members who have a common sharing relationship with the publisher with respect to one or more views of the shared resources. A resource may have multiple views. Each of the views has Metadata describing sharing-styles, as well as version, creation date, size, and the like. Each sharing style corresponds to a specific sharing relationship between a community member and the publisher.

Technical Field
The invention relates generally to Internet based information sharing technology. More particularly, this invention relates to a system and method for providing a scheme for dynamic Web service which enables registered users to interactively share their digital resources with other registered users and non-registered users based on categorized sharing relationships with respect to different views of the digital resources.
Description of the Prior Art
The development of Internet technology has provided a vast new world of resource sharing. Digital files, such as text, photos, and audio/video programs, can be shared with almost any number of designated recipients in just a few seconds via e-mail. News, magazines and other resources can be digitally delivered from a central repository to many users based on subscription policies. Internet service providers now provide group e-mail services in which a registered user subscribes a service or services in connection with a specific group or several groups. Some other companies provide Internet based solutions to automatically update address book or contact information.
One such service, for example, is "Yahoo! Group" (http://groups.yahoo.com/), which provides an easy way for groups of people to communicate on the Internet—discussing sports, health and current events with a group of people, sharing photos and files, planning events, sending newsletters; and staying in touch with friends and family. To start a group, the user needs first to select a "Yahoo! Groups Category" by browsing or searching for the category that best describes his group. Then, the user needs to describe his group. This includes giving a "group name"; entering the group's e-mail address and giving a brief description about the group. When the user sends a message to the group e-mail address, all members of this group receives a copy of the message. A recipient of the message can unsubscribe from the group messages by returning an e-mail or clicking a URL embedded in the message.
Plaxo, Inc. (www.plaxo.com), for example, has developed an address book updating application which enables a user to automatically update his address books. Immediately after the user downloads the application, he is prompted to choose which people from his address book he wants to get updated contact information from. The user may choose as many people as he likes. The application then, on behalf of the user, sends out a simple message to each of the selected people, showing the contact information the user currently has in his address book on them and requesting them to correct the out-of-date information. The replies to these e-mails are processed by the application and automatically inserted into the user's address book. The user receives notifications from Plaxo as the updates replies come in. The user can also use Plaxo to send his own updated contact information to the selected people in his address book. Plaxo allows the user to create two cards, i.e. a business card and a personal card, so that the user can offer different information to different people. Once the user creates his cards, he can send them to anyone in his address book. If they are not Plaxo members, they will receive an e-mail containing the user's card. If they are Plaxo members and the user is in their address books, they receive a message asking them if they want to add the user. As friends and contacts join Plaxo, the user is automatically kept up-to-date without e-mails. The user's address book is automatically updated with the latest contact information of his friends and contacts that join Plaxo. This synchronization happens automatically on a daily basis as long as Outlook is running. The major weakness of Plaxo's solution is that until people download and use Plaxo, requests for contact information arrive in the form of e-mail, which may be construed as spam because it simply asks people for their information.
GoodContacts (www.goodcontacts.com) provides a solution to help a user to send a short e-mail message to the people that the user selects in his address book for verification. The e-mail incorporates a snapshot of the business card information the user has about them and asks them to review that information, make sure it is accurate, change it if it is wrong, and add anything that is missing. When they do so, the GoodContacts software updates the user's address book with the new information automatically. The user has the control to select the contacts he wants to verify. No e-mails are sent by the GoodContacts software without the user actively choosing to do so. To personalize the GoodContacts e-mails to be sent out, the user can choose to use the text in one of the standard templates that comes with the software, or he can personalize the message and subject header to his taste. He can also purchase a customized template that incorporates his or an organization's logo and colors in every keep-in-touch e-mail he sends. The GoodContacts software currently interfaces with Outlook, Outlook Express and ACT!. It does not store users' address books and thus unauthorized persons cannot access a user's address book and send spam to the user's contacts. The major weakness of the GoodContacts solution is its lower level automation because it has a very complicated setting feature, offering a suite of options for frequency of update requests, privacy settings, and sending requests to alternate e-mail addresses. Further, like Plaxo, until people download and use the software, requests for contact information arrive in the form of e-mail, which may be treated as spam.
AddresSender (www.addressendercorn) is a Web-based anywhere-accessible address book service that offers automatic updates within their network as well as synchronization capability with desktop PIMs. It forms links between one user and other AddresSender users to create a network and automatically sends and receives updates within the network. AddresSender's address book synchronizes with the user's Outlook (or OE or ACT!) contact list. It enables the user to send his information to his contacts. The user's in-network contacts get updates automatically; others get e-mails or even physical postcards. Unlike Plaxo and GoodContacts, AddresSender does not automatically import contact information for anybody except other users in the AddresSender network.
CardScan (www.cardscan.com/accucard) offers scanners and text-recognition software for transferring business cards into the user's electronic address book. The software is bundled with AccuCard Service with a functionality to confirm the accuracy of contact information and keep the user's entire address book up-to-date automatically. Like Plaxo, the AccuCard Service stores address information on a central server. On a quarterly basis, the AccuCard asks the user's contacts to confirm or update their information. It reminds the user whether a contact in his address book is out-of-state (i.e. if there is new information for that contact on the AccuCard server). The user must view the updates and accept or reject the changes for that contact. AccuCard allows the user to choose whether to reveal his identity or include a personal message with requests for updates. It stores images of business cards as well as the information therein.
CardScan is compatible with Microsoft Outlook, ACT!, Lotus Notes, and over 30 more contact managers. It synchronizes with any Palm, Handspring or Sony handheld, most Pocket PCs and the web. No matter where the user keeps his contact information, it can be up-to-date all the time. The primary weakness of this system is in privacy and control. For example, few controls are offered for distribution of information. Data need not originate with the contact himself, and updates are distributed to anyone who held the card originally. Update requestors need not reveal their identities though CardScan recommends that disclosing the requestor's name yields a better response rate. While this may be effective for a business application, it is not conducive to sharing personal information.
Now-defunct Ants.com developed a product called Scout for keeping address books up-to-date. It stores a user's "business card" information in a central database, and other Scout users who have that user's e-mail address could get the user's latest information automatically. Based on the e-mail address a user has, Scout automatically fills and automatically updates the user's Outlook address book with information from its database. Like several other products, Scout offers to send invitations for the user's other contacts to join. The critical weakness in Scout's model is that, although some limited restrictions can be set, it allows anyone with the user's e-mail address to get the rest of the data from the user's business card.
The approaches introduced above have many problems. For example, if a user wants to have a multiple-group sharing business, he has to set up many different groups manually and he has to spend a lot of time to manage these groups. For another example, if the user wants to send different views of a shared resource to different groups, he has to create different versions of the resource and send different versions to different groups manually. Further, when the shared resource is updated, the local copies cannot be automatically updated. Further more, the group members cannot interactively share a centric resource such as a calendar.
What is desired is a universal sharing scheme that includes the following features:                A convenient easy-to-use publishing subscription model for sharing, which puts a publisher in control about whom to share the resources and thus reduce privacy concerns;        A "My Community" centric management system, with which the publisher shares his resources with his own community only and, at the same time, his community is dynamically extended by accepting non-members to join;        A mechanism of multiple views based sharing, which enables the publisher to share different views of a shared resource and thus further reduces the privacy concerns;        A mechanism for automatically updating the shared resource within "My Community";        A flexible sharing model, with which different sharing relationships for different needs are defined; and        A mechanism for integration of agents as sharing facilitators which enables the sharing process to be automated whenever possible and enables different applications to provide sharing functions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for community centric resource sharing based on a publishing subscription model


Perovskite materials have a composition of the formula La.sub.1-x Sr.sub.x Cr.sub.1-y Ru.sub.y O.sub.3 wherein 0.1.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.5 and 0.01.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.10. The materials are used in catalysts for carbon monoxide oxidation, unsaturated hydrocarbon oxidation and/or nitrogen oxide reduction.

Various attempts have been made to use perovskite catalyst materials for the purification of exhaust gases from internal combustion engines such as automobile engines. The following references describe such materials: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,900,428, 3,905,918, 4,049,583, 4,110,254, 4,134,852, 4,151,123 and 4,182,694, Japanese Kokai Nos. 61-082843, 61-097032, 61-149245, 62-053737, 62-065746 and 63-158130 and German Reference No. DE 3,504,556. The ability of such materials to effectively treat internal combustion exhaust gases depends on the three-way activity of the individual catalyst materials, i.e., the carbon monoxide oxidation, unsaturated hydrocarbon oxidation and nitrogen oxide reduction capabilities of the materials. Also important are the thermal stability and resistance to sulfur oxide poisoning of such materials when used as catalysts. The various perovskite catalyst materials disclosed in the aforementioned references exhibit varying degrees of three-way activity, thermal stability and sulfur oxide poisoning resistance.
It has also been suggested to use ruthenium as a catalyst component for carbon monoxide oxidation, unsaturated hydrocarbon oxidation and nitrogen oxide reduction owing to its three-way activity as set forth, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,819,536, 3,835,069, 3,897,367, 3,900,428, 3,901,828, 3,905,918, 3,907,968, 4,001,143, 4,049,583, 4,110,254, 4,126,580, 4,134,852, 4,151,123 and 4,182,694. It has been shown that the addition of ruthenium to metallic platinum, palladium and rhodium catalysts on a support increases the selectivity of NO.sub.x reduction to nitrogen in richer mixtures and shifts the reaction of nitrogen oxides reduction to the region of lean mixtures. However, a disadvantage in the use of deposited ruthenium in such systems is the transformation of ruthenium, in the presence of oxygen, into toxic volatile RuO.sub.3 and RuO.sub.4 oxides.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved catalyst materials for use in treating internal combustion engine exhaust gases and industrial waste gases, which catalysts exhibit three-way activity for removal of carbon monoxide, unsaturated hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, good thermal stability and resistance to sulfur oxide poisoning.

Ruthenium-containing perovskite materials, catalysts and methods

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


At least one fusing electrode charging electrode portion is connected to an intermediate portion of a fuse body of a fuse that has the fuse body and connecting end electrode portions provided at both ends thereof. A fusing voltage for fusing the fuse is charged through this fusing voltage charging electrode portion. It allows the concentration of a current at a specific portion of the fuse body to assure fusing of the fuse body at the specified portion. In addition, it is not necessary to increase the overall resistance of the fuse, no problem will arise even when the fuse, and is used in the circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuse structure incorporated in an internal wiring of a semiconductor device and cut as required for modifying a circuit pattern of the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor device provided with a fuse and a fuse structure therefor are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 57-72368.
The fuse in the semiconductor device is typically formed of a polycrystalline silicon and have a planar configuration as illustrated in FIG. 5, for example. Namely, the fuse has a relatively elongated fuse body 110 and connecting end electrode portions 112 and 114 integrally formed at both ends of the fuse body 110. Respective of the connecting end electrode portions 112 and 114 are connected to internal aluminum wirings of the semiconductor device, for example.
For cutting the fuse, two ways are typically used. One is the method employing a laser beam, in which the laser beam is irradiated at the fuse body 110 of the fuse to be cut to fuse the fuse body 110 by the laser beam. The other method is to charge a high fusing voltage between the connecting end electrode portions 112 and 114 at both ends of the fuse for electrically fusing the fuse body 110 by heating through a resistance heating.
The fuse incorporated in the internal wiring of the semiconductor device is covered with a passivation layer. Either in case of fusing the fuse employing the laser beam or in case of fusing the fuse electrically, an opening 115 is frequently formed in the passivation layer at the portion corresponding to the fuse body 110 for discharging the vaporized silicon.
When the fuse is to be molten electrically by resistance heating, the high fusing voltage is applied to the connecting end electrode portions 112 and 114 at both ends of the fuse to be molten, as set forth above. However, since the fuse is also connected to other circuit portions of the semiconductor device, the voltage to be charged is limited. The limit of the voltage to be charged is normally 10.about.15V. Therefore, in the conventional structure of the fuse, the fuse body 110 is not sufficient and cannot assure fusing thereof.
As a solution to this, it is considered making the fuse body 110 thinner to increase the resistance thereof. However, when the fuse remains conductive without cutting, a current may constantly flow therethrough during normal use of the semiconductor device to cause fusing of the fuse during operation of the semiconductor device if the fuse is excessively thin. Therefore, there is also a limit in thinning the fuse.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuse structure for a semiconductor device that can be molten electrically by resistance heating.

Fuse construction of a semiconductor device


A first mirror (5) that can be located at a reflection position (I) at which an optical path is blocked and a laser beam (a) is reflected, and a second mirror (6) that reflects the laser beam (a) which is reflected by the first mirror (5) are disposed between the condenser lens (2) and the object to be irradiated (4). The first mirror (5) is located at the reflection position (I) so that the laser beam (a) that is transmitted through the condenser lens (2) is sequentially reflected by the first and second mirrors (5 and 6), and an intensity of the laser beam (a) that is again reflected by the first mirror (5) is made to coincide with an intensity of the laser beam (a) that is reflected from the object to be irradiated (4), and the condenser lens (2) is heated in the same manner that the processing laser beam (a) is transmitted through the condenser lens (2) and irradiated on the object to be irradiated (4).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a laser irradiating method and a device for the method, and more particularly, to a laser irradiating method of condensing or focusing a laser beam from a laser oscillator through a lens, and irradiating an object to be irradiated which is mounted on a stage with the laser beam to reform the object to be irradiated, and a device for the method, which have a mirror for maintaining a temperature of the lens and also a focal distance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, in manufacture of crystallized silicon of a thin film transistor, an object to be irradiated having a thin a-Si (amorphous silicon) film formed on a glass substrate is irradiated with a laser beam, and the a-Si film is crystallized to provide a p-Si (polysilicon) film. As one of methods of irradiating the a-Si film with a laser beam to reform the a-Si film, there is a method in which a laser beam having a uniform intensity is applied to a mask, and the laser beam is then projected and focused on the a-Si film of the object to be irradiated by means of a condenser lens of an optical device. Thus, the object is irradiated with the laser beam (see for example, JP 3204986 B).
In the method, a laser beam that is produced by a laser oscillator that generates an excimer laser beam is introduced into the optical device, and appropriately diverted by means of a reflective mirror, and the intensity of the laser beam is equalized. After that, the laser beam is allowed to pass through the mask and the condenser lens so as to be shaped in a square line beam (pulse laser beam), and then condensed and transferred to the object to be irradiated. The object to be irradiated is located within a vacuum chamber of a laser beam anneal device.

Laser irradiating method including maintaining temperature of a lens


An earphone case includes a base, a wind disc placed on the base for depositing an earphone and its lead wires thereon, and a cap pivotally connected with the base to close on the base. The base and the cap both have a space in an extended portion and a buffer placed in the space and having plural cavities for storing various plugs therein.

This invention concerns an earphone case, particularly having an extended portion for providing a space for storing various plugs and thus expanding the scope of utilization of an earphone.
The purpose of an earphone is to avoid annoying other people during listening to music, and to carrying it out with oneself for convenience. And an earphone case is used to protect and store it in carrying.
A conventional earphone case shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a base 10, a wind disc 20 and a cap 30.
The base 10 has a pivot portion 101 at one side to pivotally connect with a pivot portion 301 of the cap 3, a fit groove 102 at the other side, a notch 103 beside the fit groove 102, and a projection 104 on the middle of the bottom to combine with a nut 201 for securing the wind disc 20 on the base 10 after the wind disc 20 is placed in the base 10.
The wind disc 20 has a proper cavity 202 for depositing an earphone 40 therein, a mouth 203 formed at one end of the cavity 202 for a lead wire 401 of the earphone 40 to pass through, a recessed annular groove 204 for winding the lead wire 401 around it, and an annular rack 205 formed on an upper side for teeth 303 of a turn disc 302 of the cap 30 to engage and rotate along. The cap 30 has a hook 304 at one point of an annular wall to hook with the fit groove 102, a notch 305 beside the hook 304 facing the notch 103 of the base 10 to form a space for a plug 402 of the lead wire 401 to pass through out. Then in depositing the earphone 40 in the case, the turn disc 302 can be directly turned around for winding the lead wire 401 around the annular groove 204 of the wind disc 20.
However, acoustic appliances made by different makers may have different plug holes for inserting a plug, so a user of an earphone may have to prepare various plugs for corresponding to different acoustic appliances. But conventional earphone cases are not provided with a space for storing various plugs for different acoustic appliances.


The invention is directed to a method and an arrangement for controlling the speed of a vehicle. The actual speed of the vehicle is determined and a desired speed and/or limit speed is pregiven. Furthermore, an engine drag torque controller and/or a drive slip controller are provided. The deviation between desired and/or limit and actual speed is supplied to at least one of these controllers. In the active speed control operation, at least one of these controllers influences an output quantity of the drive unit in dependence upon the speed deviation. In the active road speed limit operation, the drive slip controller influences an output quantity of the drive unit in dependence upon the speed deviation.

Modern vehicles are in many instances equipped with a driving speed controller with the aid of which the speed of the vehicle is controlled to a predetermined desired value pregiven by the driver. An example for a road speed controller is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,203. Road speed controllers of this kind are complex and consume a certain portion of the available resources of a control apparatus (most of all of the computation time of the computer). The control apparatus is for controlling the drive unit of the vehicle. In some applications, the implementation of such a road speed controller can lead to problems.
The same applies also to road speed limiters which limit the speed of a vehicle to a maximum speed adjustable by the driver. An example for such a function is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,854,989.
A drive slip controller is known from German patent publication 197 34 112 wherein continuously the output torque is determined which is transmittable from the wheel to the roadway. If an instability occurs at least on one drive wheel of the vehicle, then the output quantity (preferably a desired torque value) of the drive slip controller, which is set to maximum value, is reset to a value corresponding to the maximum transmittable output torque. For a continuing slippage, this desired value is successively reduced and for lessening or vanishing drive slippage, the desired value is successively increased until the maximum value is again reached. If drive slip occurs anew, the desired value is set again to the quantity which represents the maximum transmittable value.
An engine drag slip control is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,111. There, a desired torque value is determined on the basis of the wheel behavior of at least one drive wheel and this desired torque value functions to adjust the drive unit. Here too, the desired value is successively increased when there is a tendency for blocking and for a lessening blocking or for a vanished tendency to block, the desired value is again reduced to the output value which is here preferably the value 0.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,178 discloses the determination of a driver desired torque on the basis of the accelerator pedal position and the engine rpm. A resulting desired torque is determined in the context of a maximum and minimum selection from this driver desired torque and the desired torque of the engine drag torque controller and the desired torque of the drive slip controller. The torque of the drive unit is adjusted in dependence upon this resulting desired torque.
The realization of a road speed limiter function (FGB) and/or a road speed controller function (FGR) via the control systems for the control of the drive slip or of the engine drag torque, which are anyway available, reduces the complexity of the software of the control unit of the drive unit because the complex road speed limiter (FGB) and/or road speed controller (FGR) can be omitted.
Notwithstanding the omission of a separate road speed limiter and/or road speed control function, a reliable, satisfactory limiting and/or control of the road speed of the vehicle is achieved.
Special advantages are presented when an additional road speed limiter control apparatus or road speed control apparatus is eliminated and thereby considerable costs are saved.
It is especially advantageous that the resource requirement, which is increased by a conventional complex road speed limiter and/or road speed controller, is omitted and the expansion of the resources is unnecessary which would be required for the use of such a function.
For a drive slip controller, which acts also on the wheel brakes, it is especially advantageous that a road speed limiter and/or road speed control with brake intervention is realized with additional complexity and the speed limiting and/or speed control is improved in this manner.
It is further advantageous that, to realize the road speed limiter (FGB), one can make use of the function of the road speed controller (FGR) so that this additional function can be realized without additional complexity.

Method and arrangement for controlling the speed of a vehicle


A method, system and computer program product relating to automatically validating a transaction between an issuer having a signing key, an emitter having an emitter key, an acceptor having a unique identity and a limit on transactions and a validator.

The present invention relates to a method for automatically validating a transaction between an issuer having a signing key, an emitter having an emitter key, an acceptor having a unique identity and a limit on transactions and a validator. The present invention further relates to an electronic payment system comprising a bank computer system, a user computer system, a merchant computer system and a validator computer system, a computer program and a computer program product.
Methods and systems for performing and validating transactions are faced with a variety of competing objectives. While on the one hand they should be provably correct and secure, such that no one participating in a transaction can gain an undue advantage, for example by assuming a false identity or willfully changing transaction values, on the other hand the identity of participants and their exact interaction should often remain anonymous. At the same time, operations to implement a transaction protocol should be computationally efficient and follow standard procedures.
Electronic payment systems for paying for goods and services on-line, in particular over the Internet, are a particular important example of electronic transaction systems. Without fast, secure, anonymous and easy-to-implement electronic payment systems, the growth of electronic commerce may be at risk. In consequence, several electronic payment systems have been developed by both researchers and financial institutions. One example of such a system is described in a paper by J. Camenisch, S. Hohenberger and A. Lysyanskaya titled "Compact E-Cash", published in EUROCRYPT, Vol. 3494 of LNCS, pages 302-321, 2005, which is herewith included by reference and referred to as CHL system. The CHL system is provably secure and anonymous, i.e. whilst coins cannot be reused within the system, a bank or coin issuer cannot recover the identity of a user or emitter, who spent the coin with a merchant or an acceptor when it is deposited with the bank again.
However, this and similar systems have one disadvantage: They are open to electronic money laundering. In various scenarios, a high number of transactions involving, representing, for example, high flows of cash between any two parties, should be detected, prevented or reported. Applications include the prevention of tax evasion, corruption and large-scale fraud, for example.
A system is described by M. Stadler, J.-M. Piveteau and J. Camenisch in a paper titled "Fair Blind Signatures" at EUROCRYPT '95, Vol. 921 of LNCS, pages 209-219, 1995, as having a trusted third party that can revoke anonymity of the users at any time to prevent money laundering. However, having a third party is a major drawback for an electronic payment system as users of the systems can never be sure, under what circumstances their anonymity may be revoked.
Other systems, for example an electronic payment system by T. Okamoto and K. Ohta described in a paper titled "Disposable Zero-Knowledge Authentications and their Applications to Untraceable Electronic Cash" in CRYPTO, Vol. 435 of LNCS, pages 481-496, 1990, offer users only a limited form of anonymity to prevent misuse. In this system, the coins of the user are anonymous but can be linked to one another. This severely restricts the anonymity of the electronic payment system.
Consequently, there exists a need for improved secure, anonymous transaction systems and methods. It is a particular challenge to devise an electronic payment system that can help to prevent electronic money laundering.

Method for automatically validating a transaction, electronic payment system and computer program

International Business Machines Corporation


‘Maestro Salmon’ is a new variety of geranium having dark leaves, free flowering, and pale salmon colored flowers.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Pelargonium×hortorum known by the varietal name 'Maestro Salmon'. The new variety was discovered in Lompoc, Calif. The new variety is a result of cross breeding Seedling #1509 (female parent) (unpatented) and 'Americana Light Salmon' (male parent) (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,936). The purpose of the breeding program was to introduce a compact and dark-leaved zonal geranium. The new variety has a paler flower color than its female parent. The new variety exhibits similar flower color to its male parent, but has a more compact habit. 'Maestro Salmon' is also more free flowering with a compact habit and exhibits excellent greenhouse and outdoor performance when compared to other varieties known to the breeder. The new variety was first asexually reproduced by cuttings in Connellsville, Pa. The new variety has been trial and field tested and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics and remain true to type through successive propagations.
The new variety was grown in a glass greenhouse in a 4″ pot in Connellsville, Pa. using full light, 16° C. night temperature and 20° C. day temperature and grown in a soilless media with constant fertilizer at 200-250 ppm nitrogen and potassium. The new variety exhibits developed roots at 21 days at an average temperature of 23° C. and has a response time of six to seven weeks from a rooted cutting to flowering in a 10 cm. container.


The present invention relates to systems and techniques for stimulating a user. For example, materials and methods for manipulating nystagmus and the related vestibular system with coupling of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) and visual cueing are provided herein. Use of GVS within the present invention may be applied to simulation, alleviating motion sickness, and directional cueing of a user to a precise target location.

Acceleration of the head evokes responses from the vestibular receptors in order to compensate for head motion. This is referred to as the vestibular ocular reflex (VOR). Under normal conditions, the VOR can allow an individual to maintain visual fixation during head movement, by ensuring that for every movement of the head, there is an equal and opposite compensatory movement of the eyes. Stimulation of the vestibular receptors in the semi-circular canals can result from angular head acceleration and from stimulation of the otolith organs from linear acceleration (i.e. gravity, head tilt, and centrifugal force). These signals can activate the central nervous system through reflexes that evoke changes in the extra-ocular muscles, the visual system, and posture, enhancing acuity during head rotation and balance during changes in body position. The semicircular canals, and the signals they send to the brain, function as yoked pairs. In the absence of head motion, a train of pulses is sent from each side of the head. As the head experiences acceleration (other than gravity), the pulse train on one side of the head increases in frequency while on the other side it decreases. Our brains have adapted to interpret this differential signal as acceleration. When the central nervous system cannot balance the excitatory and inhibitory inputs from the semi-circular canals and otolith organs, the individual can experience an illusion of motion and/or loss of balance.
There has been various research into the use of galvanic vestibular stimulation in terms of simulators, directional cueing, and alleviating symptoms of motion sickness, however, there are still many needed improvements to the current technology. In particular, there is a need for a simulator system that gives a user a more realistic view of driving a vehicle such as a boat, airplane, automobile, and the like. For example, even flight simulators that use a motion platform are limited in the amount and type of motions they can impart to the user. There has also been some work in the use of GVS to alleviate feelings of motion sickness. However, the current systems use AC current to override the natural brain signals that cause a person to feel sick. This overriding requires more electrical energy being provided to a user. The use of more electrical energy can be a safety concern to a user. Therefore, there is a need for GVS technology that uses less external electrical energy on a person. Additionally, GVS technology has been applied to users causing them to physically move side to side. However, there is a need to develop this technology to be more precise and accurate as well as be able to move a person in many different directions, including forward and backward. For example, it would be advantageous to the public to be able to precisely direct a person or a group of people to a specific distinct location with the use of GVS technology.

Galvanic vestibular stimulation system and method of use for simulation, directional cueing, and alleviating motion-related sickness

Mayo Foundation For Medical Education and Research


The invention relates to apparatus and method for ultrasonically and electromagnetically treating tissue to treat, for example, traumatized tissue or a bone injury. The apparatus includes at least one ultrasonic transducer assembly and at least one electromagnetic coil-assembly configured to cooperate with a placement module for placement in proximity to the treatment area. The apparatus also utilizes a portable main operating unit constructed to fit within a pouch or carrying case worn by the patient. In operation, at least one ultrasonic transducer and at least one electromagnetic coil are activated by transmitting control signals to the placement module from the main operating unit. The activation of the at least one ultrasonic transducer causes ultrasonic waves to be propagated toward the treatment area which are modulated by electrostatic and magnetic forces generated by the at least one electromagnetic coil. The activation of the at least one ultrasonic transducer and the at least one electromagnetic coil may be performed at the same time or at different times for varying periods.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and method for ultrasonically and electromagnetically stimulating treating tissue, for example, traumatized tissue or a bone injury. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods which utilize an ultrasonic transducer assembly in combination with an electromagnetic coil assembly to treat tissue.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of ultrasound to therapeutically treat and evaluate tissue and bone injuries is known. Impinging ultrasonic pulses having appropriate parameters, e.g., frequency, pulse-repetition, and amplitude, for suitable periods of time and at a proper external location adjacent to a tissue or bone injury has been determined to accelerate the natural healing of, for example, tissue tears, bone breaks and fractures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,360 to Duarte describes a basic non-invasive therapeutic technique and apparatus for applying ultrasonic pulses from an operative surface placed on the skin at a location adjacent a bone injury. To apply the ultrasound pulses during treatment an operator must manually hold the applicator in place until the treatment is complete.
The Duarte patent as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,612 to Winder et al. describe ranges of RF signal for creating the ultrasound, ultrasound power density levels, ranges of duration for each ultrasonic pulse, and ranges of ultrasonic pulse frequencies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,965 to Talish et al. relates to an ultrasonic body treatment system having a body-applicator unit connected to a remote control unit by sheathed fiber optic lines. The signal controlling the duration of ultrasonic pulses and the pulse repetition frequency are generated apart from the body-applicator unit. Talish et al. also describes a mounting fixture for attaching the body-applicator unit to a patient so that the operative surface is adjacent the skin location.
While the systems described in these patents relate to methods and apparatus for ultrasonic diagnosis and/or treatment of hard and soft tissue injuries and defects by applying ultrasound to traumatized tissue, it has been demonstrated that the traumatized tissue heals at a faster rate if the acoustic signal envelope of the applied ultrasonic waves is slowly modulated or perturbed. Modulating the signal envelope of the applied ultrasonic waves can be accomplished by either modulating the envelope of the electrical signal to the ultrasound transducer or by modulating the ultrasonic waves in the body by utilizing-controlled electromagnetic induced forces.
It has also been demonstrated that in the case of a non-union injury, i.e., where a bone fracture fails to heal, that electromagnetic-stimulation (E-stim) treatment of the non-union injury produces a therapeutic response in bone tissue. E-stim generally uses at least an external coil to produce a therapeutic pulsed uniform, electromagnetic field at the fracture site. For example, a pair of Helmholtz coils can produce a constant uniform field at the fracture or wound sites, above the local magnetic field in tissue.
It is generally believed that E-stim promotes and accelerates the healing of non-union injuries due to the creation of a magnetic flux density which causes the creation and movement of ionic charges within the bone tissue. Bone tissue is mainly an ionic-fluid-saturated porous medium having various ions in the intercellular and interstitial fluid such as potassium ions, sodium ions, magnesium ions, chloride ions, phosphate ions, carbonate ions, bicarbonate ions and those formed by the dissociation of amino acids, proteins, sugars, nucleotides and enzymes. The application of a pulsed electromagnetic field, i.e.; the controlled combination of electrostatic and magnetic forces, causes these ions to be charged and moved in a particular direction. The ions diffuse within cells at the treatment area, thereby accelerating the healing process.
According to the present disclosure, the healing of tissue, especially non-union injuries, can be further accelerated by combining ultrasound and E-stim. The forces produced by the applied electromagnetic field add a fluctuating or perturbing force, such as a low frequency modulation force, to the propagating ultrasonic or pressure wave to further stimulate the cells at the treatment area and enhance cellular permeability and ionic diffusion. The largest effect on the acoustic field by the electromagnetic field occurs when the direction of the longitudinal waves is perpendicular to the electromagnetic field, or if the transverse (shear) waves are traveling along the magnetic field lines. The electromagnetic field tends to increase the phase velocity of the ultrasonic waves. The associated magnetic force may be held constant or modulated at a low frequency rate.

Apparatus and method for ultrasonically and electromagnetically treating tissue


In order to provide a mounting device for light guides which is pre-mountable on a heating element or on a cooking surface and which can be equipped with the light guides in a simple way, several receptacles (20) for the light guide ends are arranged beside each other on a common receptacle support (1). The receptacle support (1) can itself be formed as an attaching element or can be provided with at least one attaching element. The receptacles are sleeves (24) under tension or crimped sockets in which the light guide ends are inserted and gripped under tension.

The present invention relates to a mounting device for light guides operating as a cooking zone marking and/or residual heat indicator.
Heat indicators or residual heat indicators are known in cooking apparatus with glass-ceramic cooking surfaces. These indicators signal the user whether the cooking zone is hot or already has been cooled sufficiently so that the user can touch the cooking zone without being burned.
German Patent Application DE 92 05 907 U1 describes a device of this type for indicating residual heat in an electric cooking plate. A holder with a pot-shaped light housing is attached by means of attaching arms to the heating element housing. One heating arm engages over an upper edge of the heating element housing and locks in there, while another arm engages under the base of the housing and engages in a hole found there.
Furthermore an apparatus for signaling information and operating condition of a heating apparatus is disclosed in German Patent Application DE 44 25 847 A1. A flat mounting adapter made from temperature-resistant plastic is glued to the underside of the glass-ceramic plate, whereby a dressing of the decor of the cooking surface occurs. The mounting adapter sets the position of the signaling element on the cooking surface upper side for decor, which only needs to be clipped into the mounting adapter. A mounting device is provided, which carries one or more lamps and which is provided with means for locking in the mounting adapter. Incandescent lamps are used as lighting devices, but there is no disclosure regarding their mounting means.
Besides this residual heat indicator illuminated cooking field boundaries are also known, in which a ring bounding the cooking field is primarily illuminated by means of a light source arranged under the cooking surface. The associated glass-ceramic plate is pressed until completely in this ring, so the internal light source is visible through the unpressed ring as a boundary. The required pressing of the glass-ceramic surface limits the freedom in developing newer ceramic designs.
In order to obtain a greater flexibility regarding heating surface boundaries, the use of a light guide system is suggested German Patent Application DE 44 05 610 A1. Several light guides extend from a single light source which end in several light output positions arranged in a circle in the vicinity of the heating field. The glass-ceramic plate is thus illuminated from below at several point-like spots. An attachment device for the light guide ends is however not disclosed.

Mounting device, for light guides, operating as a cooking zone marking with sleeve-like receptacles


A cable includes at least one electrical conductor and at least one electrically insulating layer surrounding the electrical conductor, wherein the at least one electrically insulating layer includes: (a) a thermoplastic polymer material selected from: at least one copolymer (i) of propylene with at least one olefin comonomer selected from ethylene and an a-olefin other than propylene, the copolymer having a melting point greater than or equal to 130° C. and a melting enthalpy of 20 J/g to 90 J/g; a blend of at least one copolymer (i) with at least one copolymer (ii) of ethylene with at least one α-olefin, the copolymer (ii) having a melting enthalpy of 0 J/g to 70 J/g; a blend of at least one propylene homopolymer with at least one copolymer (i) or copolymer (ii); at least one of copolymer (i) and copolymer (ii) being a heterophasic copolymer; (b) at least one dielectric fluid intimately admixed with the thermoplastic polymer material; and (c) at least one water tree retardant selected from ethoxylated fatty acids and amide derivatives thereof.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an energy cable. In particular, the present invention relates to a cable for transporting or distributing electric energy, especially medium or high voltage electric energy, said cable having at least one thermoplastic electrically insulating layer.
Description of the Related Art
Cables for transporting electric energy generally include at least one cable core. The cable core is usually formed by at least one conductor sequentially covered by an inner polymeric layer having semiconductive properties, an intermediate polymeric layer having electrically insulating properties, an outer polymeric layer having semiconductive properties. Cables for transporting medium or high voltage electric energy generally include at least one cable core surrounded by at least one screen layer, typically made of metal or of metal and polymeric material. The screen layer can be made in form of wires (braids), of a tape helically wound around the cable core or a sheet longitudinally surrounding the cable core. The polymeric layers surrounding the at least one conductor are commonly made from a polyolefin-based crosslinked polymer, in particular crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE), or elastomeric ethylene/propylene (EPR) or ethylene/propylene/diene (EPDM) copolymers, also crosslinked, as disclosed, e.g., in WO 98/52197.
To address requirements for materials which should not be harmful to the environment both during production and during use, and which should be recyclable at the end of the cable life, energy cables have been recently developed having a cable core made from thermoplastic materials, i.e. polymeric materials which are not crosslinked and thus can be recycled at the end of the cable life.
In this respect, electrical cables comprising at least one coating layer, for example the insulation layer, based on a polypropylene matrix intimately admixed with a dielectric fluid are known and disclosed in WO 02/03398, WO 02/27731, WO 04/066317, WO 04/066318, WO 07/048,422, and WO 08/058,572. The polypropylene matrix useful for this kind of cables comprises polypropylene homopolymer or copolymer or both, characterized by a relatively low cristallinity such to provide the cable with suitable flexibility, but not to impair mechanical properties and thermopressure resistance at the cable operative and overload temperatures. Performance of the cable coating, especially of the cable insulating layer, is also assisted by the presence of the dielectric fluid intimately admixed with said polypropylene matrix. The dielectric fluid should not affect the mentioned mechanical properties and thermopressure resistance and should be intimately and homogeneously admixed with the polymeric matrix.
More and more stringent long term cable performances, especially for medium and high voltage application, are increasingly requested by international standards, both for safety and economical reasons.
One of the major phenomenon possibly accelerating the cable ageing and shortening the lifetime thereof is the so called "water treeing" caused by moisture penetration into cable layers, especially into semiconductive and insulation layers. The moisture penetration and the consequent water trees are often eased by voids, defects (even micro-defects) and contaminants present in the layers.
In the field of energy cables having as insulating layer a crosslinked polyolefin composition, such as crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) or crosslinked elastomeric ethylene/propylene (EPR) or ethylene/propylene/diene (EPDM) copolymers, it is known, in order to prevent water-treeing and the harmful consequences thereof, to add to the material forming the insulating layer small quantities of additives commonly known as "water tree retardants", which should be able to prevent the water tree growth and to promote the dielectric strength retention and, as a consequence, the longevity of the cable.
Various kinds of water tree retardants are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,517 aims to suppress the generation of water trees in the insulator of electrical machinery such as cables, etc. by incorporating into the insulator surrounding an electrical conductor a specified ester group content. Various sources of ester groups can be used. Namely, salts or esters of fatty acids can be incorporated into the polyolefin. As the fatty acid, stearic acid, sebacate acid or adipate acid can be used, but those of ordinary skill in this art will find that any fatty acid and preferably those having from 6 to 31 carbon atoms are suitable, the essential point being the presence of the ester group itself in the polyolefin composition. Examples of suitable fatty acid salts are cadmium stearate, lead stearate, zinc stearate, and lithium stearate. Suitable esters are esters of the above fatty acids and a polyol or glycol. Preferred polyols contain 5 to 6 carbon atoms. The glycol, e.g., polyethylene glycol may contain 2 to 46 carbon atoms. Specific examples of the esters include polyethylene glycol distearate, polypropylene adipate, polypropylene sebacate, stearic acid monoglyceride, sorbitan trioleate, sorbitan tristearate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan tristearate, etc.
Alternatively, according to the same U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,517, the ester group can be introduced directly into the polyolefin polymer chain through the use of a predominantly polyolefin based copolymer containing as a comonomer a monomer containing an ester group, for example, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (hereafter EVA), ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer (hereafter EEA), ethylene-methyl acrylate copolymer (hereafter EMA), ethylene-methyl methacrylate copolymer and mixtures of each of them.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,849 relates to a polyolefin composition far less vulnerable to the deterioration that occurs as dendroid voids when employed as an electrical insulation of high-tension power cables which are operated under water. In particular this document teaches a polyolefin composition for electrical insulation which comprises polyolefin or crosslinked polyolefin and a small quantity of high-molecular weight polyethylene glycol. High-molecular weight polyethylene glycol which characterizes this invention was selected from a series ranging from 1,000 to 20,000 in the molecular weight.
EP 0 814 485 relates to an improved electrical insulation composition that maintains high breakdown strength over time, by minimizing the formation of water trees. Improved water treeing resistance can be obtained by using additives wherein the hydrophilic portion is made up of polar units, preferably linear alkene oxide units and, more preferably, ethylene oxide. In a preferred embodiment the compatible portion is made of aliphatic, aromatic or low polarity units; preferably a hindered alkene oxide, and, more preferably the compatible portion is propylene oxide. Most preferably, the additive is an ethylene-oxide/propylene-oxide block copolymer.
WO 2010/072396 relates to a process for preparing polymer composition by blending a masterbatch which comprises at least one water tree retardant additive and a polyolefin and the use of said polymer composition for preparing an article, preferably a cable. Said masterbatch comprises preferably one or more water tree retardant additive(s) selected from the group comprising, among the other, a polyethylene glycol(s), an amido group containing fatty acid ester(s), an ethoxylated and/or propoxylated fatty acid(s).
Though mentioning a variety of polymeric materials suitable for insulation, or semiconductive layers, none of the prior art documents deals with the problem of inhibiting the growth of water trees and with the improvement of longevity of an electric cable having a layer, especially the insulation layer, based on a polypropylene compound including a dielectric fluid.
The presence of a dielectric fluid, even if intimately admixed within the polypropylene matrix, could constitute a weakening point for the insulating layer from the water-treeing point of view, especially in cables designed for medium or high voltage current transport.

Energy cable having stabilized dielectric resistance


An aircraft for transporting passengers is provided having a raised and rearward positioned cockpit. The aircraft preferably has an elongate main body including a passenger compartment positioned in a forward end of the main body and a passenger window extending across the forward end of the main body for forward viewing by passengers positioned in the passenger compartment. The passenger window preferably extends substantially the entire height of the passenger compartment of the main body, the entire lateral extent of the forward end of the passenger compartment of the main body, and into forward side peripheries of the passenger compartment of the main body to thereby define a panoramic-type viewing window for passengers positioned in the forward end portion of the main body. A plurality of wings are connected to and extend outwardly from the main body. A tail is connected to a rearward end of the main body. A crew cockpit is connected to and positioned to overlie a rearward portion of the main body adjacent the tail and extending upwardly from the main body at a higher elevation than the passenger compartment so as to define a raised crew cockpit for improving overall vision of the operating crew during operation of the aircraft.

The aviation industry has developed over the years into what is now various sophisticated commercial, military, and private aircraft. Although aircraft in the aviation industry started as crude attempts to fly or crude attempts at a particular type of flying stunt or feat, the aviation industry now includes sophisticated flight simulation, design, testing, and engineering facilities for development of these aircraft.
Some aircraft have been developed over the years which positioned the crew cockpit or operating controls for the pilot, co-pilot, and others in a rearward portion of the main body or fuselage of an aircraft. Examples of such rearward positioned cockpits can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,999 by Meston titled "Spacecraft With A Crew Escape System", U.S. Pat. No. 1,625,700 by Black titled "Freight Airplane Body", United Kingdom Published Patent Application No. 470,650 by Tiltman titled "Improvements In Or Relating To Aircraft", and Italy Published Patent Application No. 627,727. Because of the specific problems in military and freight transporting applications, these rearward positioned cockpits for aircraft, however, have been targeted primarily for military and freight aircraft only and have not been considered extensively for commercial passenger aircraft.
Also, over the years, attempts to increase passenger space for commercial-passenger type aircraft have conventionally focused only on raising the height of the main body of the aircraft, e.g., a larger circumference, or widening the main body of the aircraft. Although these attempts have provided some comfort and advantages to passengers, especially commercial passengers, these changes can be expensive and still maintain the crew cockpit in the conventional forward or distal end of the main body of the aircraft.
Additionally, unlike windows and windshields on a car, a continual problem exists with passengers not being able to enjoy a full view of where they are travelling. Current viewing is limited to small windows positioned along the side portions of the main body of an aircraft. The current limited viewing, for example, requires passengers and commercial airlines to focus time and money on entertaining or occupying passengers during flight.

Aircraft having raised and rearward positioned cockpit


A particular method includes receiving, at a device, an identifier of a set top box. The method also includes determining, at the device, based on the identifier of the set top box, whether the set top box is capable of supporting a high-definition television service or a digital video recording service. The method further includes selectively sending a power-up event to a service provider based on determining whether the capabilities of the set top box match a pending order.

For years, televisions have been a staple of consumer electronics sales. As such, a large majority of households in the United States owns at least one television. Providing content to those televisions is a lucrative business and there are numerous types of television content to choose from. For example, viewers can subscribe to digital broadband television networks and digital satellite television networks in order to receive standard digital television content or high definition television content.
In many cases, a set top box device is required at a customer location in order to receive television content from a content provider and decode the television content before transmitting the content to a television. For new customers, it may be necessary to manually associate a set top box device with the customer account and location before installing the set top box device at the customer location. Further, each set top box device may only work at an assigned customer location.
In the event that a set top box device is installed at an incorrect customer location, e.g., at a customer location not assigned to the set top box device, the customer would not have service. Also, the content provider would not be able to begin billing the customer for the service. Moreover, some sort of manual intervention, e.g., obtaining the correct set top box or re-assigning the current set top box, would be required before service could be established.

System and method of authorizing a device in a network system


A method of improving a vehicle emergency call network used during an enhanced 911 call, which is especially useful in environments having degraded GPS signals. The present method utilizes an independent position enhancement algorithm, such as a dead reckoning algorithm, and converts the output of that algorithm into a compatible format compatible with a position determining entity (PDE). Some independent position enhancement algorithms return output in the form of position information (typically, two- or three-dimensional coordinates), however, most PDEs only accept information in the form of pseudo-ranges. Thus, the present method provides a technique in which the advantages of an independent position enhancement algorithm are enjoyed, yet a compatible output is sent to the PDE.

In recent years, vehicle GPS devices have grown in popularity and are now widely available in a variety of forms, including different types of In-Vehicle Navigation Systems (IVNSs). These systems are primarily based on a Global Positioning System (GPS) which was founded by the U.S. Department of Defense and consists of a constellation of twenty-four satellites working in conjunction with five base stations. The satellites orbit the Earth and transmit precise timing data to GPS receivers located on Earth. If strong signals from three or more satellites are received, then a latitude and longitude (two-dimensional) position can be determined; if strong signals from four or more satellites are received, then a latitude, longitude and altitude (three-dimensional) position can be calculated.
In addition to providing an occupant with navigation-related information, the IVNS can also transmit important vehicle position information during an emergency call. Telecommunication companies have successfully implemented enhanced 911 (E911) services throughout the country, giving the public fast and easy access to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) which is in turn connected to various local emergency responders. E911 systems automatically send certain information such as the caller's location to the PSAP so that it can dispatch emergency services to the caller's location without requiring the possibly panicked caller to convey their location. Traditional land-line telephone systems utilize the telecommunication company's records to lookup an address based upon the caller's phone number. However, this technique does not provide meaningful location information for E911 calls originating from a wireless telecommunication system, such as an IVNS or a mobile phone.
Therefore, in order to enable E911 systems to obtain quick and accurate information during an emergency wireless call, the federal government enacted wireless E911 rules. One of the purposes of the new E911 rules is to enable the PSAP to obtain as much helpful information as possible during an emergency call originating from a wireless INVS; particularly, information relating to the current position of the vehicle.

Method of improving a vehicle emergency call network


The present invention is a low cost carbon fiber-coating produced via a precursor/solvent solution and the methods and processes for fabricating such a carbon fiber-coating. The carbon fiber-coating comprises a fibrous substrate or fabric material and a carbon coating. The carbon coating prior to carbonization, is comprised of a coating solution made of a precursor dissolved directly within a solvent. Fabrication is achieved by first desizing the fibrous substrate, second immersing the desized fibrous substrate in the coating solution, third evaporating the solvent and curing the precursor via a low temperature pyrolysis in preferably an inert atmosphere, and fourth carbonizing the coating via a high temperature pyrolysis. These steps can be repeated as necessary, depending on the desired final thickness of the carbon coating. Multiple applications of the carbon coating can be used to provide limitless final coating thickness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to carbon coatings, and in particular to a low cost carbon fiber-coating produced via a precursor/solvent solution and the methods and processes for fabricating such a carbon fiber-coating.
2. Related Art
Tailored-conductivity fiber coatings are useful for many applications such as electromagnetic interference/radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI) shielding, static dissipation materials, and conductivity-tailoring of fiber-reinforcement for low observable applications. For lower temperature applications, such as tailored conductivity shielding applications, carbon is a very desirable fiber coating because of the relative ease of application, via chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and its availability. Also, carbon is a very desirable conductive coating because of its availability, resistance to environmental degradation, and low toxicity.
Also, interfacial coatings are very desirable for use with ceramic matrix composites (CMC's). For example, CMC's are useful for many applications because they possess high-temperature mechanical performance and exhibit a high strain-to-failure compared to monolithic ceramics. In order to achieve high strains-to-failure, many CMC systems require the interfacial coating between the fibrous reinforcement material and the ceramic matrix. The interfacial coating provides a weak bond between the fiber and matrix that allows fiber "pullout" (ductile shear movement instead of brittle fracture) during tensile stress application. In other words, the interfacial coating creates a weak disbond layer between the ceramic matrix and fibers, thereby imparting desired ductile qualities to the final CMC.
However, parts or fabrics that are coated via CVD, sputtering, or evaporation are limited in size to the internal capacity of the CVD furnace or sputtering/evaporation chamber. Also, coating uniformity is usually difficult to achieve due to line-of-sight masking during coating application. In addition, current methods for application of conductive coatings onto normally non-conductive fibers (for example, oxide ceramic fibers, such as Nextel, or fiberglass fibers) is often expensive and/or complex, such as sputtering or chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Further, the materials used for conductive coatings are often hazardous (such as chrome-silicide and titanium silicide), degrade via oxidation or moisture attack (such as nickel-based coatings), or are exorbitantly expensive (such as gold coatings).
As a result, the excess cost of the application techniques or inability to apply uniform coatings prevents the use of CMC's or conductive carbon coatings in low-cost, high volume applications, such as for the production of parts for the automotive industry or tailored-conductivity EMI/RFI shielding applications.
Therefore, what is needed is a low cost carbon coating application process capable of enabling tailored-conductivity fabric materials and/or CMC materials to compete effectively against other low-cost materials. What is also needed is a method to apply low-cost carbon coatings with inexpensive raw materials, low labor involvement, part size limited only by the capacity of the pyrolysis furnace, and improved coating uniformity.
Whatever the merits of the above mentioned systems and methods, they do not achieve the benefits of the present invention.

Carbon fiber-coating produced via precursor/solvent solution


In a motor driving device where a motor having a winding wire with small inductance value is driven by a digital control means comprised of control means including a current command value calculating means, a current control means and a PWM control means whose sampling periods are different from each other, when discrete signals sampled by the respective control means are zero-order-held, a motor current includes a lot of higher harmonic waves due to a quantization error, thereby increasing a motor noise.

Electric power steering apparatus, which gives assist power by means of auxiliary force of motors in order to enable smooth operation of steering wheel in automobile, is often used. The electric power steering apparatus gives drive power of motor as assist power to steering shaft or rack shaft using transmission mechanisms such as gear or belt via reduction gears. FIG. 1 illustrates a simple construction of such an electric power steering apparatus. A shaft 202 of a steering wheel 201 is jointed to a tie rod 206 of a front wheel via a reduction gear 203, universal joints 204a and 204b and a pinion rack mechanism 205. The shaft 202 is provided with a torque sensor 207 that detects steering torque of the steering wheel 201, and a motor 208 that assists the steering power of the steering wheel 201 is connected to the shaft 202 via the reduction gear 203.
FIG. 2 illustrates one example of control of motor drive to be used in such an electric power steering apparatus.
In the control of the motor drive, generally, an analog signal detected by a sensor is converted into a digital signal, and digitally controlled by a digital controller such as a microcomputer. In FIG. 2, a torque T detected by a torque sensor 207 and a vehicle speed V detected by a speed sensor, not shown, are converted into digital values, and the digital values are inputted into a current command value calculating unit 10 as a current command value calculating means so that a current command value Iref is calculated. In this case, the current command value Iref calculated by the current command value calculating unit 10 is zero-order-held by a zero-order hold circuit 14 as a zero-order hold means, so that a current command value Iref0 is output. The zero-order hold circuit 14 and its problem are explained in detail later.
A subtracting unit 20 calculates a difference ΔI between an actual motor current Im detected by a current detecting circuit 28 and the current command value Iref0. A current control means such as a current control unit 22 is used to control so that the difference ΔI is eliminated. A voltage command value Vref as an output from the current control unit 22 is inputted into a PWM control unit 24 as a PWM control means, and the PWM control unit 24 outputs a PWM signal to an inverter circuit 26 as one example of a motor driving circuit which supplies a current to the motor 208.
As shown in FIG. 2, a portion which is surrounded by a broken line A including the current command value calculating unit 10 through the PWM control unit 24 is comprised of a digital control means such as a microcomputer. That is to say, at least, the digital control means is comprised of a plurality of control means such as the current command value calculating means, the current control means and the PWM control means.
The motor 208 is PWM-driven based on the PWM signal, and a motor current Im is supplied from an inverter circuit 26 to the motor 208 so that the inverter circuit 26 conforms to the current command value Iref0.
As mentioned above, since the motor drive of the electric power steering apparatus is digitally controlled by the digital control means such as microcomputer, the motor is controlled by the current command value Iref0 which is zero-order-held. Examples of sampling periods of the current command value calculating unit 10 and the current control unit 22 are, for example, 2 ms and 1 ms, respectively, and thus they are different from each other. Further, the current command value Iref0, which is obtained by zero-order-holding the current command value Iref calculated by the current command value calculating unit 10 using the zero-order hold circuit 14, becomes a current command value which changes in a staircase pattern.
FIG. 3 illustrates one example of the current command value Iref0 which is zero-order-held. As shown in FIG. 3, even if the motor is controlled based on the current command value Iref0 having a staircase waveform, the motor cannot be energized by a motor current causing an abrupt change because conventionally the inductance value of the winding wire of the motor is comparatively large. As a result, the corner of the staircase-pattern current waveform is rounded off and smooth motor current is obtained.
Due to the reason explained below, in recent years, the inductance value of the winding wires of the motors used for the electric power steering apparatus becomes smaller, and accordingly the problem, mentioned later, arises.
In recent years, the high power and high efficiency electric power steering apparatus is required. However, a power source voltage of a vehicle is 12V, it is difficult to heighten a voltage for high output and high efficiency. In motors itself which are applied to electric power steering apparatus, the inductance value of winding wires tend to be small in order to heighten output and efficiency.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, since the inductance value of a winding wire of a motor is small with respect to the current command value Iref0 of staircase pattern which is zero-order-held, a waveform of the motor current Im to energize the motor also becomes a staircase-patterned waveform according to the waveform of the current command value Iref0. The actual motor current Im having the staircase-patterned current waveform includes many higher harmonic waves, and the higher harmonic wave causes noises. In other words, a quantization error in the digital control causes higher harmonic wave included in the actual motor current Im, thereby causing the problem of noise.
The inductance value of the winding wire of the motor becomes small, and further, in the electric power steering apparatus, a small-sized brushless DC motor with high output and rectangular wave current tends to be used increasingly in recent years. The rectangular wave current includes a portion where di/dt is large, and a quantization error obviously appears in the current portion with large di/dt. In the case, therefore, where the motor is driven by the rectangular wave current, the quantization error in the current portion of the rectangular wave current with large di/dt also causes an increase in higher harmonic waves, thereby causing the increase in noise.
In the electric power steering apparatus, since a battery voltage is 12V, namely low, when the output is tried to be increased, the current becomes high, and it is necessary to flow the current of maximally about 100 A. In order to supply high current, therefore, di/dt of the motor current becomes large as a result, and thus the above-mentioned problem is increased.
Here, there is a Patent Document (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-018069), which treats the problem similar to that the sampling periods of the respective control means in the digital control means are different. However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-018069, does not refer to an electric power steering apparatus but refers to a throttle valve control unit for automobile. FIG. 5 illustrates a control block diagram of the throttle valve control unit for automobile disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-018069. As shown in FIG. 5, feedback control is performed by a throttle opening signal as a feedback signal from an opening sensor 303 so that a check is made whether a motor 308 for opening a valve operates according to an opening command of the throttle valve.
Construction of the control block is as follows. The opening command is inputted into an opening control unit 301 comprised of a low-speed microcomputer via an interface 302, and a throttle opening signal detected by the opening sensor 303 is inputted into the opening control unit 301 via an operational amplifier 304. A current command calculated by the opening control unit 301 based on these input values and forward/reverse rotation signal are output. The forward/reverse rotation signal is inputted directly to a chopper 307 composed of an H bridge. Meanwhile, the current command is inputted into a current control unit 305 composed of an analog circuit via a filter 306. The current control unit 305 outputs a PWM signal which is calculated based on the current command via the filter 306 and a current (current detection signal) detected by a resistance 309 for detecting current, and the chopper 307 is controlled based on the PWM signal so that the current is supplied from the chopper 307 to the motor 308.
The opening control unit 301 is composed of a digital circuit of the low-speed microcomputer, and the current control unit 305 is composed of a high-speed analog circuit. This is because although the current control unit should perform an operation at high speed, the microcomputer which can calculates at high speed is expensive. For this reason, the opening control unit 301 is composed of the inexpensive low-speed microcomputer, whereas the current control unit 305 which requires high-speed operation is composed of the inexpensive high-speed analog circuit so that the high-speed control can be made inexpensively in the entire device. Since it is not, however, preferable that the digital signal is inputted directly into the analog circuit, it is inputted via the filter 306 as a low-pass filter composed of a capacitor and a resistance.
In the throttle valve control device for automobile disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-018069, even if a simple low-pass filter is used, a phase delay is large, and thus a high-speed response cannot be realized in an entire control system. Further, this publication does not refer to the problem relating to the motor where the inductance value of the winding wire is small, and namely, does not disclose any solving means in the case where a motor driving device using the motor with winding wire of small inductance value and an electric power steering apparatus having such a motor driving device are controlled digitally.
As mentioned above, in the motor driving device where the motor having the winding wire of small inductance value is controlled by a digital control means comprised of a plurality of control means such as a current command value calculating means, a current control means and a PWM control means whose sampling periods are different, when the current command value Iref calculated by the current command value calculating means is zero-order-held, the zero-order-held current command value Iref0 has a staircase pattern waveform, and thus also the waveform of a current to energize the winding wire of the motor is similar to the staircase waveform of the current command value Iref0. The staircase-pattern current waveform of the motor current Im includes a lot of higher harmonic wave components, and the higher harmonic wave current causes noise. Further, also in the electric power steering apparatus having the motor driving device, the noise makes a driver and/or passengers uncomfortable.
The present invention is made to solve the above problem, and its object is to provide a motor driving device in which a motor having a winding wire of small inductance value is controlled by a digital control means comprised of a plurality of control means such as a current command value calculating means, a current control means and a PWM control means whose sampling periods are different, and which reduces a quantization error so as to suppress higher harmonic wave (higher harmonic wave components) of a motor current and reduces motor noise, and to provide an electric power steering apparatus having the motor driving device.

Motor driving device and electric power steering apparatus

Abstract: When an n-th-order hold means is provided between the respective control means with different sampling periods, the quantization error can be reduced remarkably, and thus the higher harmonic wave components included in the motor current are reduced, thereby greatly reducing the motor noise.