A mechanism for quick hooking and unhooking of a handle, used particularly for fly screens and fly screen assemblies with a chain-operated movement. The invention includes a casing containing a rewind roll, a screen fastened to the rewind roll and a handle, and runners. The handle was a tubular profile with a hooking mechanism on one end. The hooking mechanism of the handle operates in conjunction with a reciprocal holder attached to a lower end of a runner.

1. Field of the Invention
The aim of this invention is a mechanism for the quick hooking and unhooking of a handle, used particularly for fly screens and fly screen assemblies made with this system.
The invention has particular, but not necessarily exclusive, application in the fixture accessories sector, such as fly screens, roller blinds and sun blinds.
2. Description of Related Art
Fly screens are divided into two categories. The first type is made to measure, manufactured according to the dimensions required for a given client, delivered to the said client and installed by a specialized installation technician. The other type is sold in kit form, and is the type that is most widely available on the market.
The latter type of fly screen is reasonably efficient and economic and is the type at which this invention is mainly aimed. Large quantities of components have to be fabricated and transported by the manufacturing companies, especially when dealing with overseas markets. The xe2x80x9cdo-it-yourselfxe2x80x9d concept is widely used and offers a product that satisfies most normal requirements, although it is not up to the standards of the made-to-measure type.
Both of the examples mentioned have certain components in common, such as the casing, which is generally made from extruded aluminum bar. It is used to contain the rewind mechanism for the fly screen, roller blind or sun blind, and the manual version has a corresponding loaded return spring. The ends of the casing are sealed by special plates or headers, which are supplied in two different versions, a fixed type or together with counter-plates or caps that can be regulated.
There are obviously a number of variations, although they are very similar to the systems described, and are just as common in fly screens as in roller blinds and sun blinds. One of these variations is a lower quality fly screen without the aforementioned return spring inside its mechanism. They differ from the first type in that they are manually operated both for unwinding and rewinding the fly screen. In this case, there is a closed-loop chain that hooks around a cog fixed on the relative rewind roll contained inside a casing for unwinding and rewinding the fly screen, roller blind or sun blind in a controlled manner.
These solutions foresee the fabrication of structures, for example fly screens, which are made up as follows:
a casing that is closed at the ends by corresponding headers;
a rewind roll contained inside the said casing, supported at both ends, that is fixed to the ends of the casing;
a helicoidal torsion spring positioned co-axially, that works in conjunction with the said rewind roll;
a rod positioned co-axially to the said helicoidal spring;
a piece of material or cloth, either net type or for shading purposes, joined at one end to the rewind roll, and at the other end to a handle;
and, two runners in which the two ends of the said handle and the edges of the said material or cloth slide.
Especially with the type that has the rewind roll controlled by the closed-loop chain mechanism, certain drawbacks have been encountered. They are due to the fact that the material or cloth is only held tight by the handle which is weighted. As a result, this type of structure has no means that acts upon the handle to counteract pressure exerted on the surface of the material or cloth. In fact, if the material or cloth is subjected to pressure on the surface, due to winds or a part of the body accidentally pushing against it, it is deformed according to the amount of pressure exerted, with the handle that is lifted proportionally to the said deformation of the material or cloth. This deformation, which is usually unstable, produces a phenomenon that is known as xe2x80x9csail effectxe2x80x9d and which is the main cause of the aforementioned drawbacks.
Firstly, the efficiency of the material or cloth may be compromised because, especially with the cheaper fly screens, the lateral edges tend to come out of the runners to leave openings through which insects or light may pass.
Secondly, because of the continuous effect of the wind which blows in various directions, the fly screen may be noisy, an effect that is increased by the sudden rubbing of the metallic components, due to the back and forth movement or the lateral play of the handle inside its relative runners.
To overcome these and other drawbacks, some consumers choose fly screens with two battens that slide horizontally rather than vertically. In this case, the material or cloth is wound by pulling the handle in one direction, and fixing it in position when it reaches its limit with vertically mobile fasteners, the ends of which go inside corresponding seats, usually positioned on the vertical runner. Since this type of fly screen has two battens, both purchase price and installation costs are higher. This is because two casings are usually required, each one positioned along the two sides in order to fit out the two spaces. A large part of the cost, according to the individual supplier, depends on the type of structure used which, operating in a different direction compared with traditional methods, requires complex manufacturing operations.
A fly screen known as Genius was recently put on the market, which was designed to overcome the aforementioned problems. It is particularly used for horizontal fly screens, with the movement of the rewind roll imposed by manual traction of a closed-loop chain. This type of fly screen structure, used for doors with a large inter-axis, is made up basically of:
a casing containing a rewind roll which is pre-charged by means of at least one torsion spring;
a screen fastened at one end to the rewind roll, with a handle at the other end;
runners in which the ends of the handle slide;
and, a handle, the ends of which have holding means on the lower side that fit inside the runners.
The user, when unwinding the screen, pulls the closed-loop chain in one direction to carry out the lowering of the screen, until its respective handle reaches the limit at the base of the opening in question. When this position has been reached, in order to fasten the handle and, therefore, the screen in a stretched position, the user carries out a further pull so that the handle, made out of a rectangular tubular profile, rotates and inclines slightly on one side. In this position, pieces that protrude from the two ends of the handle intercept dedicated seats formed on the lower side of the runners, forcing the pieces to take up a certain position. At this point, the user releases the closed-loop chain so that the screen, which is under tension, pulls the handle upwards to force it from a slightly inclined position into a vertical position, forcing the pieces into corresponding recesses with stop points.
In order to release the handle and rewind the screen, the structure has a type of pedal along the handle. The purpose of this pedal, which is located in a central position, is to co-operate with the action applied to the closed-loop chain when it is pushed by the user. In particular, the user has to apply a slight pull downward on the chain with one hand in order to move the screen, while pressing the pedal with a foot. The pressure applied in this way on the pedal obliges the handle to rotate on one side, releasing it from its holding point and, since it is now free, may be rewound due to elastic pull.
The drawbacks regard the complicated manoeuvre that the user has to carry out to release the handle so that the screen can be rewound, especially with fittings with a large inter-axis, for example the type with a double batten.
This manoeuvre requires co-ordination and simultaneous use of a hand and a foot, which not everybody is able to do. The manoeuvre requires the lifting of a leg, which is only possible if the person is not disabled and the distance is short. When the fitting is larger, on the other hand, the user has to almost be a contortionist, and it is certainly not possible for everybody to carry out this kind of manoeuvre, since it is difficult to reach the pedal with a foot, located at the centre of the handle.
The difficulty is increased if we consider that the manoeuvre has to be perfectly synchronised, and if it is not carried out correctly it is impossible to release the screen.
Secondly, and certainly not to be overlooked, regards the appearance of the system. With the system described above, in order to release the screen efficiently, there has to be a pedal, which is visible and may be an obstacle.
In view of the drawbacks mentioned above, alternative solutions are obviously required and the aim of the invention described herein is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.
This and other aims are achieved through the use of this invention according to the characteristics in the attached claims, solving the problems described by means of a mechanism for quick the hooking and unhooking of a handle, used particularly for fly screens and fly screen assemblies with a chain-operated movement, and that includes:
a casing containing a rewind roll that is pre-charged by means of at least one torsion spring;
a screen fastened at one end to the rewind roll, with a handle at the other end;
runners, in which the ends of the handle slide;
a handle with a tubular profile, with a hooking means on at least one end that operates in conjunction with a reciprocal holding means, located at the lower end of the corresponding runner. In the said holding means there is a block, which is fastened to the lower end of one of the runners. The said block is open on one side and has two surfaces that face each other that act as a guide with an entrance, an exit and an intermediate rest position. The said guide is hooked by a hooking means located at the end of the handle, and includes a guide piece, which longitudinally guides a mobile carriage. The said carriage has a protruding pin on at least one side that fits into at least one of the two guide-tracks in the block.
In this way, through the creative contribution of the system, which leads to an immediate technical progress, various advantages are achieved.
The first and, without a doubt, the most important advantage is that the hooking and releasing operations of the handle, while keeping the screen tight, are easier and more efficient. In order to unwind the screen, the user has to simply operate with the chain as with traditional systems to lower the handle down in the fitting in question, until a light resistance is felt. Upon continuing the operation, a mechanical xe2x80x9cclickxe2x80x9d is heard which means that the handle is now in place and the protective effect desired is guaranteed.
To rewind the screen, the user has to simply apply a further, light pull on the chain so as to unhook the handle, and control the movement of the chain during the rewinding of the screen, which is caused by the rewind spring that was put into tension during the lowering operation of the screen. No other part of the body is required, therefore, apart from the hands, an operation that is simple and that can be carried out by anybody, including old and most disabled people.
A second advantage is that the said mechanism is extremely efficient for all types of fly screens and rewind screens in general, whatever the size of the fitting to be fitted out. This leads to a rationalisation of components kept in stock by the manufacturers and suppliers, leading to a reduction in overall costs.
A further advantage is that the pieces that protrude from the handle are eliminated which, apart from increasing the cost of the component, meant that it was anti-aesthetic and formed an obstacle.
These and other advantages will be shown in the following detailed description and drawings of at least one preferred application of the system, which is to be considered merely an illustration and not a limitation.

Mechanism for the quick hooking and unhooking of a handle, used particularly for fly screens and fly screen assemblies


In an apparatus relating generally to the communication of data, a first and a second receive path block are respectively coupled to receive a first and a second data stream. A clock signal source is coupled to provide at least one clock signal to each of the first and the second receive path block. A control block is coupled to receive a first output signal pair and a second output signal pair from the first and the second receive path block, respectively. The first output signal pair includes a first crossing signal and a first data signal. The second output signal pair includes a second crossing signal and a second data signal. The control block is configured to provide first and second delay adjustment signals respectively to the first and second receive path blocks, to adjust delays of the first and second data streams, respectively.

Retrieval of data from a serial bit stream in a physical layer interface ("PHY") of a networking system, such as a Physical Medium Access ("PMA") layer of Gigabit Ethernet or PCIe, may be challenging due to a frequency difference between two oscillators, namely an oscillator associated with a transmitter to control the frequency of source data transmitted and an oscillator associated with a receiver used for data acquisition. Due to a relative difference between frequencies of such remote and local oscillators, conventionally local clocking may not be used to directly sample a received serial bit stream.
Instead, encoding may be added to a transmitted serial bit stream to guarantee a minimum toggle rate of such source data, and a clock may thus be recovered from such data transitions, namely clock data recovery ("CDR"), that is frequency locked to such transmitted data stream. While a recovered clock may be used to sample received data to pass such sampled data through buffering to a local clock domain, CDR is conventionally expensive in terms of both power consumption and hardware area used. Overhead associated with CDR conventionally is excessive for use with lower data rates, such as for Gigabit Ethernet (e.g., 1.25 gigabits-per-second ("gbps")) and PCIe 1.x (e.g., 2.5 gbps). Rather than CDR, in other instances, incrementally phase delayed versions of a local clock have been used to oversample a received data bitstream, and a simple majority rules algorithm has been used to extract data from such oversampled data. However, conventionally cost effective oversampling can be frequency limited due to having to tightly control a phase difference between two clocks. Jitter and phase error on clock signals may significantly contract a system's timing margin.
Hence, it would be desirable and useful to provide data retrieval from a serial bit stream that overcomes one or more of the above-described limitations associated with CDR or oversampling.

High-speed serial data interface for a physical layer interface


In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a waterproof LED lamp is disclosed. The waterproof LED lamp includes a housing having one or more LEDs disposed within said housing. The housing comprises a housing base including a body with a first opening, the first opening having an edge surrounded by a first sealing portion. The housing further includes an optical cover comprising a shell having a second opening, the second opening having a border surrounded by a second sealing portion. The second sealing portion is configured to be removably inserted into the first sealing portion, forming a water-tight seal between the housing base and the optical cover.

LED signals, such as LED traffic signals, present numerous advantages over incandescent lamp traffic signals. The use of LEDs provides a power consumption savings and extremely long life compared to incandescent light sources. The long life span of the LED signals leads to improved reliability and lower maintenance costs.
Due to the large number of existing incandescent traffic signals, most LED signals are designed for incandescent lamps. In order to meet existing signal standards and/or allow retrofitting into signals originally manufactured for use with incandescent light sources, LED signals mimic the front housing diameter and depth restrictions of the prior incandescent signals. To allow for an easy retrofit without requiring significant changes to the preexisting AC power distribution and logic circuits, LED signal assemblies typically incorporate a power supply to drive the LEDs at a lower, controlled, direct current power level.
LED signal lamps generally include a housing designed to be retrofit into existing incandescent traffic light signals, and is closed with a cover. Since the LED signal lamps are implemented substantially outside subject to nature's elements, it is important that the lamp is impervious to water. Typically, signal lamps are designed such that a watertight seal is created between the housing and cover with the use of an o-ring or gasket, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,237,924, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein. The o-ring provides a dust and water-resistant seal and is preferably made of EPDM material. However, the use of an o-ring or gasket creates the need for additional parts and therefore increases cost of production. It is therefore desirable to create an LED signal lamp capable of forming a watertight seal between the housing and cover without the use of an o-ring or gasket, thereby reducing costs and part count, while improving ease of assembly.


Novel farnesyl transferase inhibitors of general formula (I) ##STR1## preparation thereof and pharmaceutical compositions containing same. In general formula (I), R.sub.1 is Y--S--A.sub.1 -- (where Y is a hydrogen atom, an amino acid residue, a fatty acid residue, an alkyl or alkoxycarbonyl radical, or a radical R.sub.4 --S--, where R.sub.4 is a C.sub.1-6 alkyl radical optionally substituted by a phenyl radical, or a radical of general formula (II), ##STR2## wherein A.sub.1, X.sub.1, Y.sub.1, R'.sub.2, R'.sub.2, X.sub.2, Y.sub.2, R.sub.3, R'.sub.3 and R are as defined below, and A.sub.1 is a C.sub.1-4 alkylene radical optionally .alpha.-substituted in the >C(X.sub.1) (Y.sub.1) grouping by an amino, alkylamino, alkanoylamino or alkoxycarbonylamino radical); X.sub.1 and Y.sub.1 are each a hydrogen atom or, taken together with the carbon atom to which they are attached, a >C.dbd.O grouping; R.sub.2 is a straight or branched C.sub.1-4 alkyl radical optionally substituted by a cyclohexyl radical; R'.sub.2 is hydrogen or alkyl; X.sub.2 and Y.sub.2 are each a hydrogen atom or, taken together with the carbon atom to which they are attached, a >C.dbd.O grouping; R.sub.3 is a C.sub.1-4 alkyl radical optionally substituted by hydroxy, alkoxy, mercapto, alkylthio, alkylsulphinyl or alkylsulphonyl, with the proviso that, when R.sub.3 is an alkyl radical substituted by a hyroxy, alkoxy, mercapto, alkylthio, alkylsulphinyl or alkylsulphonyl, with the proviso that, when R.sub.3 is an alkyl radical substituted by a hydroxy radical, R.sub.3 may form a lactone with the .alpha.-carboxy radical; R'.sub.3 is hydrogen or alkyl; X is an oxygen or sulphur atom; and R is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted alkyl radical or an optionally substituted phenyl radical. These novel products have anticancer properties.

The inhibition of farnesyl transferase, and consequently of the farnesylation of the ras protein, blocks the capacity of the mutated ras protein to transform normal cells into cancerous cells.
The C-terminal sequence of the ras gene contains the unit "CAAX" or "Cys-Aaa.sub.1 -Aaa.sub.2 -Xaa", in which Aaa represents an aliphatic amino acid and Xaa represents any amino acid.
It is known that tetrapeptides with a CAAX sequence can inhibit the farnesylation of the ras protein. For example, peptide inhibitors of farnesyl transferase, Cys-Aaa.sub.1 -Aaa.sub.2 -Xaa, which are more particularly represented by the peptides Cys-Val-Leu-Ser, Cys-Val-Ile-Met and Cys-Val-Val-Met which manifest their inhibitory activity at concentrations in the region of 10.sup.-6 M or 10.sup.-7 M, have been described in PCT Application WO 91/16340 and in Application EP 0,461,869.

Farnesyl transferase inhibitors, preparation thereof, and pharmaceutical compositions containing same


A method of manufacturing a surface acoustic wave device formed in one chip and including over a semiconductor substrate at least an IC region and a surface acoustic wave element region that are horizontally disposed, the method including: forming in the IC region over the semiconductor substrate a semiconductor element layer that includes a semiconductor element and an insulation layer covering the semiconductor element and being deposited also in the surface acoustic wave element region; forming over the semiconductor element layer a wire layer that includes a plurality of wires coupled to the semiconductor element and a wire insulating film deposited over the plurality of wires to provide insulation among the wires, the wire insulating film being deposited also over the insulation layer in the surface acoustic wave element region; forming an interlayer insulating film having a flattened surface on the wire insulating film in the IC region and the surface acoustic wave element region; forming a piezoelectric thin film on the interlayer insulating film; and forming a surface acoustic wave element on the piezoelectric thin film in the surface acoustic wave element region.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a surface acoustic wave device that is obtained by forming in one chip an IC region and a surface acoustic wave element region over a semiconductor substrate, and a surface acoustic wave device.
2. Related Art
Surface acoustic wave elements typified by SAW resonators and SAW filters have excellent features: high frequency, small size, high productivity, etc., and therefore have been widely used in communication fields. In step with recent spread of portable communication apparatuses and the like, strong requirements for size and weight reduction of parts used in high frequency bands have been increasing.
In order to respond to the requirements, a related-art document, J. H. Viseer, IEEE, Ultrasonics Symposium, p. 195-200 (1989) for example, has proposed a surface acoustic wave device in which, instead of using a surface acoustic wave element as a unitary filter, a piezoelectric thin film is deposited over a semiconductor substrate part of which has thereon a high frequency amplifying circuit and the like, to thereby form a SAW filter over the semiconductor substrate.
In such a surface acoustic wave device formed in one chip by horizontally arranging an IC region and a surface acoustic wave element region over a semiconductor substrate, semiconductor elements and wires for connecting the semiconductor elements are disposed in the IC region with an insulating film therebetween. In contrast, only an insulating film is disposed in the surface acoustic wave element region. Accordingly, a step arises between the IC region and surface acoustic wave element region. Typically such surface acoustic wave devices are formed in such a manner that a large number of surface acoustic wave devices lie adjacent to each other on a semiconductor wafer. As the number of stacked layers such as insulating layers increases, the step proceeds over the surface acoustic wave element region with changing to a slope, which problematically precludes ensuring of favorable flatness of the surface of the surface acoustic wave element region. If the flatness of the surface is low, the size accuracy of a surface acoustic wave element cannot be ensured in the fabrication thereof, which deteriorates characteristics of the surface acoustic wave element. In addition, it is expected that unevenness of the surface due to the low flatness leads to variation in film thickness of a formed piezoelectric thin film, which results in the variation in resonant frequency of the surface acoustic wave element. Therefore, in such a surface acoustic wave device, the substrate needs to be flattened prior to forming a surface acoustic wave element. However, there has not been any knowledge of planarizing the surface of a surface acoustic wave element region by employing CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) treatment or the like.

Method of manufacturing monolithic surface acoustic wave device and integrated circuit


A method for manufacturing an optical fiber preform includes: producing a core preform including a core portion made of transparent glass and a first cladding layer obtained by adding fluorine to the core portion; and forming, on an outer periphery of the first cladding layer, a second cladding layer made of glass having a refractive index higher than that of the first cladding layer. Further, a refractive index profile is formed in the first cladding layer due to a fluorine concentration profile, the refractive index profile being provided at least near a boundary surface with the second cladding layer and having a profile such that a refractive index difference between a refractive index of the first cladding layer and a refractive index of the second cladding layer decreases in accordance with a reduction in a distance from the boundary surface with the second cladding layer.

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing an optical fiber preform, an optical fiber preform, a method for manufacturing an optical fiber, and an optical fiber.
An optical fiber including silica-based glass is typically manufactured by stretching an optical fiber preform including silica-based glass. To manufacture the optical fiber preform, for example, a vapor-phase axial deposition (VAD) method is used. In the VAD method, a glass material gas is supplied to a burner, and the glass material gas is subjected to hydrolysis reaction, whereby glass particles are synthesized. Then, while a start rod is rotated and pulled up, the glass particles are deposited on the start rod, and the porous body including the glass particles is caused to grow in the lower portion of the start rod; thus, a porous glass preform is produced. The porous glass preform is subjected to a sintering step (also referred to as a vitrification step) for transparent vitrification so as to be a core preform. The core preform includes a core portion and part of a cladding portion formed on the outer periphery of the core portion. Then, a porous glass body is formed on the outer periphery of the core preform by using, for example, the OVD (Outer Vapor Deposition) method, and the porous glass body is produced as a transparent glass so that the remaining part of the cladding portion is formed. Thus, a transparent optical fiber preform to be stretched is produced.
There is a known optical fiber including silica-based glass and including: a core portion; a first cladding layer formed on the outer periphery of the core portion and having a refractive index lower than the highest refractive index of the core portion; and a second cladding layer formed on the outer periphery of the first cladding layer and having a refractive index higher than that of the first cladding layer (Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2002-540057 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2014-071152). The refractive index profile of this type of optical fiber is also referred to as W-shape and may be used to achieve a low transmission loss and a low bending loss of the optical fiber. The first cladding layer is also referred to as a depressed layer. Typically, fluorine, which is a dopant for reducing the refractive index, is added to the first cladding layer. The second cladding layer has a small amount of fluorine added thereto as compared with the first cladding layer or includes pure silica glass that does not contain a dopant for adjusting the refractive index.

Method for manufacturing optical fiber preform, optical fiber preform, method for manufacturing optical fiber, and optical fiber


A method (100) for managing resource usage across domains in a communication network is disclosed. The communication network comprises a radio access domain, a core domain and a transport domain providing connectivity between the radio access domain and the core domain. The method comprises receiving from the core domain an indication of load status of gateway nodes in the core domain (110), receiving from the transport domain an indication of load status of transport resources in the transport domain (120), normalising across the core and transport domain a cost of using resources in each domain (130), calculating, on the basis of the normalised costs, optimal chains of resources in the core and transport domains for providing a service from different radio access nodes to different possible Access Point Names (APNs) (140), and sending to the core and transport domains information about the calculated optimal resource chains (150). Also disclosed are methods for managing resource usage in a core domain, a transport domain and a radio access domain of a communication network, together with cross domain, core domain, transport domain and radio access domain control elements.

A mobile user equipment (UE) may connect to a communication network using appropriate radio resources. The selection of such resources may be managed differently in different networks, and is discussed below with reference to a 3GPP communication network, and particularly with reference to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. While the architecture and terminology of the discussion below are specific to LTE, the concepts discussed are equally applicable to other networks including WCDMA (3G) and the emerging 5G.
3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.300 (E-UTRAN Overall Description) defines Connection Mobility Control (CMC), which defines the radio resources that must be used by a mobile UE. A resource calculation is performed during cell reselection in idle mode and during handover in connected mode. The calculation is normally based on radio signal characteristics, ensuring that the UE will attach to the cell with the best radio signal strength and/or quality. Some more advanced techniques also include load balancing considerations, enabling better distribution of user traffic among neighbouring cells.
FIG. 1 illustrates a UE 2 which may attach to cells provisioned by either of eNodeBs 4 or 6. The selected eNodeB continues the UE communication towards the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) via an S1 interface to a Serving Gateway (SGW) 8. The S1 interface is transported over a Mobile Backhauling Network (MBH).
Once an appropriate eNodeB for a particular UE has been determined, the selected eNodeB must connect to the relevant EPC nodes (such as the SGW and Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW)). This selection is normally controlled in LTE by the Mobility Management Entity (MME). TS 29.303 (DNS Procedures) describes how a Domain Name System supports the communication network in the discovery and selection of EPC gateways starting from the UE service request (APN) and its attachment Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes, which may be Identified by a Tracking Area Identity (TAI) and/or an eNodeB identity. TS 23.003 (Numbering, addressing and identification) specifies the entity names to allow this mechanism.
Clause 4A of TS 29.303303 (DNS Procedures) adds mechanisms to support load control in the PGW and SGW selection. The Load Control solution is an optional feature conceived to overcome the GTP-C overload problem (when the number of incoming requests exceeds the maximum request throughput supported by the receiving GTP-C entity, that is when the internal available resources of the GTP-C entity, such as processing power or memory, are not sufficient to serve the number of incoming requests). The Load Control solution is described in TS 29.274 (GTPv2-C), clause 12.2 and enables a better usage of the processing power of EPC gateways.
The interface between the selected eNodeB and selected EPC gateways is carried over the MBH, as discussed above. The MBH is comprised of a plurality of individual links and nodes which may assembled to form transport paths for the transport of traffic between eNodeBs and gateways. Each individual transport link and node has its own transport capacity which, when exceeded, may lead to congestion and/or bottlenecks in certain parts of the MBH. In addition, failure of individual nodes or links may result in disruption to traffic on all paths including the failed link or node, and consequent traffic redirection may contribute to congestion issues in other parts of the MBH.
On the basis of the above discussions, three domains may be identified in a communication network, each having specific domain resources, the use of which should be optimised to maximise the performance of the domain. The three domains are:
the Radio Access Network (RAN), in which with radio signal strength/quality and radio channel occupancy are the resources to be optimised;
the Transport Network (MBH), in which transport capacity is the resource to be optimised; and
the Packet Core (EPC), in which the computational load of individual gateways is the resource to be optimised.
If all the optional techniques available according to current standards are used (which is not always the case in existing deployments), the RAN parameters and the EPC load are optimised independently. However, conditions in each of the three domains may impact upon the overall performance experienced by a user, and in some cases, a sub-optimal resource allocation in one domain could enable avoidance of significant difficulties in another domain, resulting in an improved overall service experienced by a user. Resource allocation in the different domains of a communication network thus remains an ongoing challenge for network operators.

Methods and apparatus for managing resource usage across domains in a communication network


A method of displaying the full-charge-state of a battery according to the invention is characterized in that the displaying is retarded by a predetermined period of time after the full-charge-state is detected. According to the method, the delay time is so determined that the battery which requires a shorter charging time needed to full-charge the battery has a longer delay time period than the battery requiring a longer charging time.

This application is based on application No. 018233 filed in Japan on Jan. 27, 2000, the content of which incorporated hereinto by reference.
The present invention relates to a method of displaying the full-charge-state of a rechargeable battery, and more specifically to a method of displaying the-full-charge-state not at the time when the battery is fully charged but a predetermined period of time later from the full-charge-state.
As a battery undergoes charging, the battery temperature rises. The battery temperature rises as charging operation comes closer to completion, and it rises sharply after the full-charge-state is reached because the charging current is consumed as heat loss heating the battery after the full charge state.
FIG. 1 is a graph depicting how the temperature rises during charging. As shown in the figure, the battery temperature continues to rise after charging current is shut off when the full charge is reached. The phenomenon is caused by the fact that heat transfer from inner portion to the outer portion of the battery requires a certain period of time. Since the surface temperature of a battery continues to rise as shown in FIG. 1 even after the full charge-state is reached, the battery user often finds the battery too hot when he removes the battery from the battery charger following the full charge sign given at the time of full-charge. The surface temperature becomes especially high in case of fast charging where stronger charging currents are supplied. The standardized battery such as U1-U4 battery which has a metal casing with no outer cover or a thin layer of covering is easier to get higher surface temperature. The drawback of the battery charger making the battery user uncomfortable from excessive heat is eliminated by a method of displaying the full-charge-state after a delay time, i.e. displaying the full-charge-state a predetermined time after the battery is fully charged.
The longer the delay time, the lower the surface temperature at the time when full charge display appears. However, since the method retards the display of full charge, it is not capable of quickly displaying the full-charge-state for the user. The drawback will be eliminated by using a shorter delay time period. However, as the delay time period is shortened, the battery surface temperature increases, making the user feel uncomfortable when handling the battery.
Thus, protecting the user from excessive heat of the battery conflicts with quickly displaying of a full-charge-state.
The present invention has been completed as a result of intensive study conducted by the inventors about how battery, temperature rises after the full charge is reached. The present invention is based on the fact that the rate of temperature rise varies depending on the charging process. Therefore, the main objective of the present invention is to provide a method of displaying full charge state of a battery while keeping the battery temperature low.
The above and further objectives and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings.
The method of the present invention of displaying the full charge involves displaying the full-charge-state with a delay time period after the full-charge-state is detected. The method of the present invention of displaying full-charge-state resides in that in displaying the full-charge-state, a longer delay time period is selected for a rechargeable battery which has been charged with a shorter charging time.
According to the above-mentioned method of displaying the full-charge-state, full charge display can be performed with optimum delay time for the battery being charged, while the battery temperature is kept low. The method of the present invention of displaying the full charge involves displaying the full-charge-state with a longer delay time after the full-charge-state is detected for a battery having a shorter charging time which has a higher temperature rise on one hand, and displaying the full-charge-state with a shorter delay time for a battery having a longer charging time which has a lower temperature rise after the full-charge on the other hand.
According to the present method, the full-charge-state is displayed with a longer delay time for a battery having a shorter charging time, without causing substantial inconveniences to the use of the battery because the delay time is negligible as compared with the charging time. On the other hand, for the battery which requires a longer charging time, fill charge is displayed with a shorter delay time, thus enabling quick display of the full-charge-state after the full charge is detected.
The method of present invention of displaying the full-charge-state employs the delay time as a function of the charging time.
The method of the present invention of displaying the full-charge-state is preferably employed for charging Nixe2x80x94Cd or Nixe2x80x94MH batteries.
The method of the present invention of displaying the full-charge-state employs a charging current of 0.5-4C.


A communications network switch includes a plurality of network ports for transmitting and receiving packets to and from network nodes via network links, each of the packets having a destination address and a source address, the switch being operative to communicate with at least one trunking network device via at least one trunk formed by a plurality of aggregated network links. The communications network switch provides a method and apparatus for balancing the loading of aggregated network links of the trunk, thereby increasing the data transmission rate through the trunk. The switch includes: a packet buffer for temporarily storing a packet received at a source port of the network ports, the packet having a source address value, and a destination address value indicating a destination node that is communicatively coupled with the switch via a data path including a trunk; a packet routing unit for determining a destination trunked port associated with the packet, the destination trunked port including a subset of the plurality of network ports, the destination trunked port being coupled to the destination node via the data path; and load balancing unit for selecting a destination port associated with the packet from the subset of network ports; whereby transmission loading of the aggregated network links of the trunk is balanced. In varying embodiments, the load balancing unit is operative to select destination ports from the subsets of network ports as a function of source port ID values, source addresses, and destination addresses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer network systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for balancing the loading of network links of a trunked link.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Personal computers and engineering workstations are commonly inter-coupled into local area networks (LANs) that allow messages to be sent and programs to be downloaded, e.g., from file servers on the LAN. The ETHERNET, originally a joint effort of Intel, Xerox and Digital Equipment Corporations, is an example of a shared-access LAN now in widespread use. The ETHERNET was originally conceived as a ten megabit per second (Mbps) network that allowed every node on the LAN to transmit and receive.
Faster engineering workstations and distributed file systems have seriously increased the traffic placed on ordinary LANs. Many variations in ETHERNET have been developed. Different kinds of ETHERNET are referred to as "10BASE-T", "10BASE-2", "10BASE-5", "100BASE-VG", and "100BASE-X". Different speeds include ten Mbps, twenty Mbps, one hundred Mbps, and beyond. The ETHERNET 100 BaseFX specification defines transmission over fiber optic cable. 1 Gbit per second EHERNET
Servers are typically at the focus of network activity and are often subjected to parallel access requests from clients which have the same data transfer speed limitations as the server itself.
High performance computers are becoming affordable for use in applications including computing resources, high-performance file servers, and visualization workstations. However, the LANs that are now in use do not provide the capacity that is needed to support these higher performance computers. While bandwidths in the 10-100 Mbps range are sufficient for many applications, the more demanding computing and visualization applications require gigabit-per-second (Gbps) data transfer rates. Such applications include high-quality video applications, live video links, and meeting-support systems. Some of these applications, such as real-time video, will place a more continuous load on the network and require one-to-many ("multicasting") transmission in addition to point-point ("unicast") links. Therefore, a reasonable assumption is that LANs may soon require aggregate bandwidths in the 10-40 Gbps range for supporting a more or less ordinary community of users simultaneously. Different user communities typically have different needs, and the requirements of any given user community generally expand over time, so there is a need for a high performance LAN that scales gracefully and economically to satisfy the requirements of its user community.
ETHERNET switching provides for the connection of multiple ETHERNET LANs to a central switch. Within the ETHERNET switch, circuit switching allows the simultaneous transport of multiple packets across the switch.
What is needed is a local network switch including a plurality of network ports for transmitting and receiving packets to and from network nodes via network links, each of the packets having a destination address and a source address, the switch being operative to communicate with at least one trunking network device via at least one trunk formed by a plurality of aggregated network links.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Load balancing in link aggregation and trunking


The invention relates to a method of annotation of images captured by a digital camera equipped with a previewing means, comprising:                the supply with the camera of an operating mode enabling a user to select one image (12) to be annotated, and to capture at least one additional previewed image; the automatic extraction (20) of an annotation (A) from the additional image; and the creation (22) of a new image by combining the annotation (A) and the image to be annotated (12), while respecting, in the new image, a location and enlargement ratio of the annotation virtually identical to those of the annotation in the additional image.

The growing number of phonecam users has developed a mode of communication by image. Just like sound or emails, the image is transmitted and reproduced by the user's portable equipment. Indeed phonecams or digital cameras usually have a small control screen capable of displaying images. Transmission to a home computer with a larger screen is of course possible.
The images or "electronic postcards" transmitted are created from digital photographs. They can be customized to carry an indication of the sender's personality. They can, for example, be annotated. However, because of modest size of the control interface or keyboard of portable equipment, such as phonecams, the entry of annotations is tiresome.
Devices or methods enabling manual annotations to be combined with images are known. One can refer for information to U.S. 2002/0051262 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,972. There again, relatively sophisticated interfaces are necessary. This includes, for example, a scanner, capable of reading a document bearing the annotations, or a touch screen on which the user writes the annotations using a light pen. An illustration of this is given by U.S. 2002/0051262. However, portable equipment, and in particular equipment intended for the general public, generally lacks these interfaces.
An additional difficulty, which appears at the time of annotating an image, is related to the determination of the relative dimension of the annotation compared to the image and the position of the annotation in the image. This difficulty is also due to the modest size of the control interface of portable equipment. The above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,972 proposes the creation of composite images including annotations. However, it provides for predetermined locations for carrying annotations.
The fact of predetermining locations for the annotations facilitates the operations which the user has to carry out, but reduces the creative possibilities on offer.

Camera and method for creating annotated images


Compounds that bind cellular IAPs (inhibitor of apoptosis proteins) are disclosed. The compounds are mimetics of the N-terminal tetrapeptide of IAP-binding proteins, such as Smac/DIABOLO, IIid, Grim and Reaper, which interact with a specific surface groove of IAP. Also disclosed are methods of using these compounds for therapeutic, diagnostic and assay purposes.

Various scientific articles, patents and other publications are referred to throughout the specification. Each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Apoptosis (programmed cell death) plays a central role in the development and homeostasis of all multi-cellular organisms. Alterations in apoptotic pathways have been implicated in many types of human pathologies, including developmental disorders, cancer, autoimmune diseases, as well as neuro-degenerative disorders.
Thus, the programmed cell death pathways have become attractive targets for development of therapeutic agents. In particular, since it is conceptually easier to kill than to sustain cells, attention has been focused on anti-cancer therapies using pro-apoptotic agents such as conventional radiation and chemo-therapy. These treatments are generally believed to trigger activation of the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathways. However, these therapies lack molecular specificity, and more specific molecular targets are needed.
Apoptosis is executed primarily by activated caspases, a family of cysteine proteases with aspartate specificity in their substrates. Caspases are produced in cells as catalytically inactive zymogens and must be proteolytically processed to become active proteases during apoptosis. In normal surviving cells that have not received an apoptotic stimulus, most caspases remain inactive. Even if some caspases are aberrantly activated, their proteolytic activity can be fully inhibited by a family of evolutionarily conserved proteins called IAPs (inhibitors of apoptosis proteins) (Deveraux & Reed, Genes Dev. 13: 239-252, 1999). Each of the IAPs contains 1-3 copies of the so-called BIR (baculoviral IAP repeat) domain and directly interacts with and inhibits the enzymatic activity of mature caspases. Several distinct mammalian IAPs including XIAP, survivin, and Livin/ML-IAP (Kasof & Gomes, J. Biol. Chem. 276: 3238-3246, 2001; Vucic et al. Curr. Biol. 10:1359-1366, 2000; Ashhab et al. FEBS Lett. 495: 56-60, 2001), have been identified, and they all exhibit anti-apoptotic activity in cell culture (Deveraux & Reed, 1999, supra). As IAPs are expressed in most cancer cells, they may directly contribute to tumor progression and subsequent resistance to drug treatment.
In normal cells signaled to undergo apoptosis, however, the IAP-mediated inhibitory effect must be removed, a process at least in part performed by a mitochondrial protein named Smac (second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases; Du et al. Cell 102: 33-42, 2000) or DIABOLO (direct LIP binding protein with low pI; Verhagen et al. Cell 102: 43-53, 2000). Smac, synthesized in the cytoplasm, is targeted to the inter-membrane space of mitochondria. Upon apoptotic stimuli, Smac is released from mitochondria back into the cytosol, together with cytochrome c. Whereas cytochrome c induces multimerization of Apaf-1 to activate procaspase-9 and -3, Smac eliminates the inhibitory effect of multiple LPs. Smac interacts with all IAPs that have been examined to date, including XLIP, c-IAP1, c-IAP2, and survivin (Du et al., 2000, supra; Verhagen et al., 2000, supra). Thus, Smac appears to be a master regulator of apoptosis in mammals.
Smac is synthesized as a precursor molecule of 239 amino acids; the N-terminal 55 residues serve as the mitochondria targeting sequence that is removed after import (Du et al., 2000, supra). The mature form of Smac contains 184 amino acids and behaves as an oligomer in solution (Du et al., 2000, supra). Smac and various fragments thereof have been proposed for use as targets for identification of therapeutic agents. U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,691 to Wang et al. describes the Smac polypeptide and fragments ranging from at least 8 amino acid residues in length. However, the patent neither discloses nor teaches a structural basis for choosing a particular peptide fragment of Smac for use as a therapeutic agent or target.
Similar to mammals, flies contain two IAPs, DIAP1 and DIAP2, that bind and inactivate several Drosophila caspases (Hay, Cell Death Differ. 7: 1045-1056, 2000). DIAP1 contains two BIR domains; the second BIR domain (BIR2) is necessary and sufficient to block cell death in many contexts. In Drosophila cells, the anti-death function of DIAP1 is removed by three pro-apoptotic proteins, Hid, Grim, and Reaper, which physically interact with the BIR2 domain of DIAP1 and remove its inhibitory effect on caspases. Thus Hid, Grim, and Reaper represent the functional homologs of the mammalian protein Smac. However, except for their N-terminal 10 residues, Hid, Grim, and Reaper share no sequence homology with one another, and there is no apparent homology between the three Drosophila proteins and Smac.
In commonly-owned co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/965,967, it is disclosed that the above described biological activity of Smac is related to binding of its N-terminal four residues to a featured surface groove in a portion of XIAP referred to as the BIR3 domain. This binding prevents XIAP from exerting its apoptosis-suppressing function in the cell. It was further disclosed that N-terminal tetrapeptides from IAP binding proteins of the Drosophila pro-apoptotic proteins Hid, Grim and Veto function in the same manner.
Commonly-owned co-pending International Application No. PCT/US02/17342 describes assays for use in high throughput screening or rational drug design of agents that can, like the Smac tetrapeptide or its homologs in other species, bind to a BIR domain of an IAP, thereby relieving IAP-mediated suppression of apoptosis. Those assays are based on competitive displacement of a labeled IAP-binding tetrapetide by a test compound. That application also describes a library of peptides and N-methyl peptide analogs that were demonstrated by the assay method to bind to the BIR3 domain of XIAP.
The use of peptides for in vivo administration as diagnostic or therapeutic agents is associated with certain disadvantages. These include short half-life due to proteolytic degradation in the body, low absorption through intestinal walls and potential immunogenic reactions, as well as expense involved in peptide synthesis. For these reasons, many current efforts in drug development focus on non-peptidic mimetics that mimic the structure and biological activity of bioactive peptides, but possess improved pharmacologic properties and are easier or less expensive to synthesize.
In connection with the Smac tetrapeptides and homologs described above, then, it would be a significant advance in the art to develop partial peptide or non-peptide mimetics of those molecules. Such mimetics should possess the IAP-binding and apoptosis-promoting bioactivity of the Smac peptides, while also having the improved properties associated with non-peptide mimetics, for use as diagnostic and therapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer.


The invention relates to a device for supplying a shingled or overlapping sheet stream from a stack of sheets of a sheet feeder to a feed table of a sheet-processing machine with a belt table. The belt table is provided with at least one revolvingly driven suction belt, which is in operative connection with at least two suction boxes that can be acted upon by negative pressure. The invention can include a device for taking hold of the sheets. The invention also relates to altering a device so that, independently of the material to be processed, a last sheet of a sheet stream can be easily aligned. This objective is accomplished as follows: after the last sheet is detected and its front edge has been placed against the front guide stops, the operation of the suction belt is stopped.

The invention relates to an apparatus for supplying a shingled or overlapping sheet stream from a stack of sheets of a sheet feeder to a feed table of a sheet-processing machine.
Such devices are generally known. The sheets, segregated from a stack of sheets by a sheet feeder, are transported as a shingled or overlapping sheet stream on a belt table having suction belts, are taken hold of there by the suction belts and are transported to the feed table. At the same time, in the region where the sheets are taken over, the suction belts are acted upon with a negative pressure by a suction chamber facing the sheet feeder. At the same time, in the region of sheet transfer on the feed table, the suction belts are acted upon with negative pressure by a suction chamber facing the machine. The front sheet of the sheet stream is guided on the feed table with the front edge against front guide stop and thus is aligned with the font edge. Subsequently, the sheet is aligned, for example, with the side edge. During the alignment of the front sheet, the latter must be guided by the suction belt by a holding force, so that the front edge is not damaged while the sheet is fed to the front guide stop and thus lateral alignment is possible without problems. This becomes feasible owing the fact that, due to the under-shingled subsequent sheet, the suction belts are covered completely or almost completely, so that the sheet, which is to be aligned, is guided only with a slight holding force in the transfer region. If there is no subsequent sheet, for example, when the sheet stream is interrupted, the holding force acting on the last sheet to be aligned, during the processing of paper, presents a potential danger of damage to the front end of the sheet and an accurate lateral alignment is not possible.
In order to eliminate this disadvantage, it is proposed in EP 0 554 774 B1 that the supplying of the last sheet of the sheet stream be detected. When the final sheet in the stream reaches the alignment end, the supply of negative pressure to the suction chamber facing the machine is interrupted and this suction chamber is connected with a source of positive pressure. This device cannot be used for thin printing paper, since there is no defined guiding of the last sheet to the front guide stop.

Apparatus for supplying a shingled or overlapping sheet stream


Provided are examples of electrochemically active electrode materials, electrodes using such materials, and methods of manufacturing such electrodes. Electrochemically active electrode materials may include a high surface area template containing a metal silicide and a layer of high capacity active material deposited over the template. The template may serve as a mechanical support for the active material and/or an electrical conductor between the active material and, for example, a substrate. Due to the high surface area of the template, even a thin layer of the active material can provide sufficient active material loading and corresponding battery capacity. As such, a thickness of the layer may be maintained below the fracture threshold of the active material used and preserve its structural integrity during battery cycling.

The demand for high capacity rechargeable batteries is strong and growing stronger each year. Many applications, such as aerospace, medical devices, portable electronics, and automotive applications, require high gravimetric and/or volumetric capacity cells. Lithium ion electrode technology provided some improvements in this area. However, to date, lithium ion cells are mainly fabricated with graphite, which has a theoretical capacity of only 372 mAh/g.
Silicon, germanium, tin, and many other materials are attractive active materials because of their high electrochemical capacity. For example, silicon has a theoretical capacity of about 4200 mAh/g, which corresponds to the Li4.4Si phase. Yet, many of these materials are not widely used in commercial lithium ion batteries. One reason is that some of these materials exhibit substantial changes in volume during cycling. For example, silicon swells by as much as 400% when charged to its theoretical capacity. Volume changes of this magnitude can cause substantial stresses in the active material structures, resulting in fractures and pulverization, loss of electrical and mechanical connections within the electrode, and capacity fading.
Conventional electrodes include polymer binders that are used to hold active materials on the substrate. Most polymer binders are not sufficiently elastic to accommodate the large swelling of some high capacity materials. As a result, active material particles tend to separate from each other and the current collector. Overall, there is a need for improved applications of high capacity active materials in battery electrodes that minimize the drawbacks described above.

Template electrode structures for depositing active materials


A process and composition for forming a non-Newtonian oil composition in the form of a grease comprising an overbased calcium salicylate and solid particles of colloidally dispersed calcium carbonate in the form of calcite is disclosed wherein the process comprises the steps of heating overbased calcium salicylate, amorphous calcium carbonate, and a converting agent comprising a fatty acid of twelve to twenty-four carbon atoms in an oleaginous medium, and then adding sufficient water, alcohol, and carbon dioxide to the mixture to complete the conversion of the amorphous calcium carbonate to calcite.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high performance overbased calcium salicylate greases, the preparation of these greases and intermediates. More particularly, this invention relates to a process of forming a non-Newtonian oil composition in the form of a grease comprising an overbased calcium salicylate and solid particles of colloidally dispersed calcium carbonate in the form of calcite which comprises heating overbased calcium salicylate, amorphous calcium carbonate, and a converting agent comprising a fatty acid of twelve to twenty-four carbon atoms in an oleaginous vehicle, and then adding sufficient carbon dioxide to complete the conversion of the amorphous calcium carbonate to calcite.
2. Description of Related Art
As pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,489, thixotropic greases or grease-like overbased calcium sulfonate compositions have corrosion-inhibiting properties and have utility for a variety of uses such as, for instance, in automobile and truck body undercoating, and for various other purposes known to the art and are disclosed in various publications and patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,242,079; 3,372,115; 3,376,222; 3,377,283; 3,523,898; 3,661,622; 3,671,012; 3,746,643; 3,730,895; 3,816,310; and 3,492,231. Such greases or grease-like compositions have gone into wide-spread use either as such, or mixed with other ingredients to produce compositions for use in a variety of environments and, generally speaking, they are characterized by reasonably good E.P. & Antiwear Properties, high dropping points, reasonably good resistance to mechanical breakdown and salt spray- and water-corrosion, thermal stability at high temperatures, and other desirable properties.
As is well known, greases are sold in various grades depending upon the softness of the grease. The softer the grease the more fluid it is. Typically, these greases are rated or graded on the basis of their worked cone penetration range. For example, greases sold under the designation grade zero have a cone penetration number from about 355 to 385, those having a cone penetration range of 310 to 340 are designated grade one, and the most widely sold greases have a cone penetration range of 265 to 295 and are designated grade two. The lower the grade of the grease the more relatively inexpensive oleaginous vehicle and the cheaper the grease. For the purposes of this invention, cone penetration is measured by the ASTM cone penetration test (D217). Penetration is the depth, in tenths of a millimeter, to which a standard cone sinks into the grease under prescribed conditions. Thus, higher penetration numbers indicate softer greases, since the cone has sunk deeper into the sample.
The greases disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,489 can be prepared by one step or two step processes. In the one step process, neutral calcium sulfonate, hydrated lime, lubricating oil, a converting agent capable of converting amorphous calcium carbonate into crystalline calcium carbonate, and a catalyst suitable for promoting carbonation of the neutral calcium sulfonate, such as methanol, are carbonated to form a non-Newtonian highly overbased calcium sulfonate solution. Additional oil stock, lime, water, boric acid, and fatty acid are then added to complete the production of the overbased calcium sulfonate grease. In the two step process, a composition comprising a Newtonian highly overbased calcium sulfonate solution is first converted to a thickened intermediate non-Newtonian product by initial treatment thereof with a converting agent such as acetic acid, propionic acid, or an alcohol. Then, there is subsequently added thereto, at elevated temperatures, boric acid in admixture with, or dissolved or partially dissolved in, hot water, lime, or calcium hydroxide and the soap-forming aliphatic monocarboxylic or fatty acid such as a C12 to C24 acid. In both the one step and two step processes, the soap-forming aliphatic monocarboxylic acid or fatty acid containing from 12 to 24 carbon atoms is added to the non-Newtonian highly overbased calcium sulfonate solution containing calcium carbonate in the calcite form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,514 discloses high performance overbased calcium sulfonate greases comprising up to about 28% by weight overbased calcium sulfonate, solid particles of colloidally dispersed calcium carbonate essentially in the form of calcite, a calcium soap of a fatty acid of twelve to twenty-four carbon atoms, and oleaginous vehicle wherein at a concentration of about 28% by weight overbased calcium sulfonate said greases have a worked cone penetration rating of less than about 295.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,467 discloses a process of forming a non-Newtonian oil composition in the form of a grease comprising an overbased calcium sulfonate and solid particles of colloidally dispersed calcium carbonate in the form of calcite which comprises heating overbased calcium sulfonate, amorphous calcium carbonate and a converting agent comprising a fatty acid of twelve to twenty-four carbon atoms in an oleaginous medium.
The disclosures of the foregoing are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.


A data and clock recovery circuit includes a front end circuit for receiving a data signal encoded with a Manchester or other bi-phase level code having a sequence of bit frames, and for outputting a recovered data signal and a recovered clock signal in accordance with transitions in the data signal that overlap with a window signal. A window generation circuit generates the window signal in accordance with a delay control signal, and includes circuitry that delays and transforms the recovered clock signal into the window signal. A delay control circuit generates and adjusts the delay control signal. A phase comparison circuit compares the recovered clock signal with leading and lagging portions of the window signal, and generates signals that adjust the delay control signal when the recovered clock signal overlaps with either of the leading and lagging portions of the signal. The delay control signal is adjusted so as to re-position the window signal so that the recovered clock signal is positioned between the leading and lagging portions of the window signal.

The traditional way to recover a clock signal from a serial data bit stream is for the receiving system or circuit to generate a clock signal. The clock signal is synchronized to the incoming serial data bit stream, usually using a phase-locked loop or delay-locked loop. The receiving system's generated clock signals are synchronized with transitions in the incoming serial data bit stream.
Unlike the previously known methods, the present invention treats a subset of the transitions in the incoming Manchester or other bi-phase level encoded serial data bit stream as the clock signal itself, using a filter to filter out unwanted transitions in the received signal, retaining only the "informational" transitions in the received signal. The recovered clock is obtained by amplifying and reshaping the informational transitions. The circuit of the present invention does not use any analog or digital phase-locked loops or delay-locked loops. When using the same integrated circuit fabrication technology, circuitry using the present invention achieves similar speed performance as a typical phase-locked loop or delay-locked loop.
Advantages of the present invention are:
much higher jitter tolerance on the incoming signal than is practical using phase-locked loop technology. Jitter tolerance is vital for a clock and data recovery system. It is the most desirable characteristic of a clock and data recovery system. PA1 The present invention can be implemented using solely digital circuitry, which avoids the difficulties of mixing analog and digital circuits on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip. PA1 Avoiding the use of phase-locked or delay-locked loops avoids the difficulties normally associated with providing a stable control system. PA1 The present invention uses much simpler circuitry than clock and data recovery circuitry utilizing phase-locked and delay-locked loop, which results in higher integration levels on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip. A very large number of such clock and data recovery circuit blocks can be implemented on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip. This is important because it enables integration of some types of systems on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip which is not attainable using traditional clock and data recovery circuits. PA1 The present invention uses much less power than clock and data recovery circuitry utilizing phase-locked and delay-locked loop.

System and method for recovering data encoded using manchester code and other bi-phase level codes


A spacer clip allows sheet products such as panes of glass to be handled and transported. The upper part (2) of the spacer clip, which rests on at least one part of the edge face of a sheet product, is in contact with at least one other spacer clip positioned on a sheet product next to the product. Contact between the upper part (2) of the clip and the upper part (2) of each of the other neighboring spacer clips is along a generatrix (15).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a spacer clip allowing sheet products such as panes of glass, and especially windscreens, rear screens or side windows, of motor vehicles to be handled and transported.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices allowing sheets of glass, especially windscreens, to be handled and transported are known. A device of this kind is described, for example, in French patent application 2,506,728. This application describes a metal pallet or box forming a floor and provided with vertical curtain walls intended to protect the sheets of glass which are standing edgewise thereon.
To space the panes of glass apart, they are placed in the gaps between the teeth of racks arranged on the floor of the pallet. The gaps are as wide as the thickness of the sheets to be transported so that the sheets can be held fast.
Spacer clips intended to maintain the spacing between two sheets of glass over their entire area are placed on the upper edges of the glass sheets. These spacer clips may also provide supports for binding straps or bars, avoiding the risk of damaging the edges of the glass panes.
These devices are very widely used in the glazing industry for handling panes of glass. Improvements have already been made to these types of devices. For example, the materials of which the "boxes" are made have been modified to make them lighter, and the shapes of the "boxes" have been modified to reduce the amount of space they occupy when they are not in use. An important advantage of these pallets or boxes is that they can be reused.
As regards the insert clips, it is advantageous for their upper part to have an essentially horizontal surface, especially to provide a region suited to the passage of binding straps or bars. When a clip is placed on a sheet of glass, the position of its upper surface depends on the inclination of the panes of glass; these panes are not stored or transported precisely upright but always slightly inclined to make the "stacked" products more stable, this inclination being given by the gaps between teeth of the rack arranged on the floor of the pallet or box.
To compensate for this inclination, a common approach is to make such clips in such a way that the upper surface is at an angle to the direction of the jaws, so that this upper surface is more or less horizontal when the clip is placed on the pane of glass.
Added to this inclination is another inclination due to the shape of the pane of glass, especially when this pane is curved in the vertical direction, as arranged on the pallet. As the spacer clip straddles the edge of a sheet of glass, the direction given to the jaws is a tangent to the edge of the sheet and therefore depends on the curvature of the latter in the vertical direction. As panes of glass for motor vehicles, whether they be windscreens, rear screens or even side windows, increasingly have two curvatures, i.e., curvatures in two directions perpendicular to each other, a curvature in the vertical direction when the panes of glass are stacked on a box or pallet is very often encountered. This second inclination which is due to the curvature of the sheets of glass can also be compensated for by the angle between the upper surface and the direction of the lower jaws of the clip.
In contrast, although the inclination of the sheets of glass on a pallet can be made constant irrespective of the pallet or the sheets of glass, the inclination due to the curvature of the sheets of glass will vary from one series of sheets to another.
At present, it is necessary to have one type of spacer clip for each type of sheet of glass, so that the upper surfaces of the clips are always more or less horizontal. This solution is feasible but has many drawbacks: first, it leads to high costs because it is necessary to have several manufacturing molds, usually employed for short runs. In addition, it is necessary for each workshop that prepares the pallets to have a stock of various types of spacer clips. Furthermore, each type of clip needs to be indexed to let the operator know which clips correspond to a particular type of pane of glass. These requirements inevitably lead to higher costs.


A foamed pattern of a desired part is first formed. The pattern is then dipped into a ceramic slurry and the slurry dried in order to form a shell containing the foamed pattern. A heated bed of a particulate medium is formed around the ceramic shell which causes the pattern to evaporate and form a mold. A molten metal is then introduced into the mold and solidified while being held at an elevated temperature for a period of time to accomplish a desired heat treatment of the metal. With this method, the casting does not have to be subsequently heat treated in a separate operation. It can be removed as an as cast casting, having the desired microstructures.

(1) Technical Field
This invention relates to the formation of metal parts by the use of foam patterns which are consumed or evaporated during the casting of the metal followed by controlled heat treatment in a single reactor.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The casting or molding of metals is an art that has been in existence for a very long time and yet, surprisingly, has not experienced very many changes with respect to the basic techniques or materials used in the process.
Most of the prior art casting processes such as green sand molding or permanent molding require subsequent heat treatment in a separate operation to achieve the desired microstructures.
A typical prior art process for making a casting is by the "lost foam" or "evaporative pattern casting" method. This method initially requires the formation of a foam pattern out of a consumable polymeric material.
This foam pattern is then dipped or coated with a ceramic slurry and placed in a bed of dry, loose, cool sand. The sand bed is thoroughly vibrated to compact the particles around the coated pattern. After the compaction is completed, molten metal is poured directly onto the polymeric pattern. The pattern gradually evaporates as it comes in contact with the molten metal. The products of evaporation, mostly gases, are vented into the dry sand bed, leaving behind a cavity for the molten metal to fill. As the evaporation, followed by filling by molten metal, is completed, an exact replica of the polymeric pattern is reproduced in metal.
This typical prior art process of "lost foam" casting has problems in that the formation of the ceramic shell is costly and time consuming. The porosity of the ceramic shell also has to be carefully controlled in order to allow the gases evolved during the evaporation of the polymeric pattern to exit through the shell. Another problem with this conventional process is that the polymeric pattern often decomposes into lustrous carbon and gases which become defect core impurities in the metal part. In order to address this problem, the density of the pattern has to be carefully regulated, which also involves the expenditure of additional time and monitary expense.
There also exists the possibility that the ceramic shell may warp or crack because of the introduction of the molten metal therein. This would necessitate the formation of a new ceramic shell which would entail additional expenditures of time and expense.
In another "lost foam" or "evaporative casting" process, an oven is used to burn out the polymeric foam pattern from the ceramic shell. This process also requires the polymeric foam pattern to be coated with a large number of coats of the ceramic material since the ceramic shell ultimately must support the molten metal, and the problems also arise of damaging the ceramic shell during its removal from the oven and the ceramic shell warping during the burning out of the foam pattern.
Another prior art process for making a casting is the "lost wax" or "investment casting process". The "lost wax" process entails the coating of a wax pattern with a ceramic slurry. The coated wax pattern is inserted into a steam autoclave to remove the pattern. The removal of the wax pattern weakens the ceramic shell so the ceramic shell must be heated at temperatures up to 2000.degree. F., in order to strengthen it. Molten metal is then introduced into the ceramic shell in order to form a casting.
Due to the weakness of the ceramic shell, the subsequent handling of the shell in order to introduce the molten metal therein, and the need for the ceramic shell to have sufficient strength to contain the molten metal without external support, from 10-14 coats of the ceramic slurry are applied to the wax pattern. The application of the large number of ceramic coatings consume a great deal of time and money.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,417 discloses a method for casting or molding metals in a mold. The mold comprises a refractory inorganic oxide foam which has been formed by heating a filled organic foam at a temperature and time sufficient to substantially decompose an organic binder to a carbonaceous state, or, alternatively, to substantially consume the organic binder to form a refractory inorganic foam. This patent discloses the use of an oven to decompose the organic binder and to fuse or sinter the remaining inorganic components. However, the formation of the "green" mold is an extremely complicated process and the time and expense involved in heating the "green" mold to a temperature sufficient to decompose the organic binder and fuse the remaining inorganic components is unnecessarily high.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,504 discloses a method for casting vitreous materials using the lost wax process. In this patent, a pattern of the article to be cast is made using a substance which is vaporized during the casting. Wax, polystyrene and polyethylene are disclosed as being suitable materials for the pattern. The pattern can be coated with a thin layer of a mixture of graphite and a refractory powder and then embedded in a heat resistant silica compound to form a casting mold. The silica compound typically is moistened or contains a cohesive material, such as a resin, in order to insure that the portion of the sand mold adjacent to the surface of the cast articles dries thoroughly. A vitreous material having a viscosity of between 20 and 100 poises is introduced into the mold and decomposes the pattern. The article formed in the mold can be ceramified by fluidizing the sand by means of a hot stream of gas. It is to be noted that this reference deals with the formation of a vitreous article, not a metal article, and requires that the viscosity of the casting material be maintained in a certain range in order for the casting material not to pierce the mold.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,728 discloses a method of joining foam patterns which are used in evaporative casting processes. This patent discloses a method of assembling complex, consumable foam patterns for use in evaporative pattern metal casting but gives no particulars as to the evaporative pattern process per se.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,443 discloses a method for producing a cast metal object in which a heated particulate medium at a temperature of between 1500.degree.-2000.degree. F. is used to support a ceramic shell containing a consumable polymeric pattern. The heat from the heated particulate medium causes the polymeric pattern to decompose and vaporize and form a cavity in the ceramic shell into which molten metal may be introduced. The molten metal is then allowed to solidify and form the cast metal object. Due to the high temperature of the particulate medium in this method, problems arise with respect to the handling and disposal of the vapors from the decomposed pattern.
In the production of many cast articles of steels, cast irons and some nonferrous alloys, the casting is subsequently heat treated in a subsequent operation to achieve a desired microstructure. This subsequent heat treatment is very expensive in terms of energy consumption, time and handling costs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for forming a cast metal article by an evaporative casting process which does not contain the drawbacks of the processes used in the prior art.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an evaporative casting process followed by controlled heat treatment in a single reactor in an economical manner.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a process in which wasteful energy consumption in transporting cast parts to a heat treatment shop and repeated handling is eliminated. And as a result, economical production is achieved.

Process for combined casting and heat treatment

The Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University


In the case of an air-cooled electric machine with reverse cooling in the closed cooling circuit, a cooling arrangement is arranged in a foundation pit (10) underneath the machine and constructed in a modular fashion. It comprises a plurality of coolers (11) which are arranged independently of one another in the foundation pit (10) and separated from one another by separating walls extending perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the machine. The outlet openings of the coolers (11) are freely connected to cold-gas chambers (14, 16) between the machine housing (1) and stator laminated core (2). The inlet openings of the coolers (11) are freely connected to the outflow spaces of the two fans (12) at the machine end faces. This design permits rapid exchange and/or shutdown of a cooler in addition to optimum guidance of cooling gas.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a gas-cooled electric machine as described in the preamble of the first claim.
A gas-cooled electric machine having these features is disclosed, for example, in DE-43 32 304 A1.
2. Discussion of Background
The principle of so-called indirect cooling is to dissipate the losses produced in the stator winding bars to the gaseous cooling medium (hydrogen or air). The principal heat flux takes place in this case from the bar copper via the insulation into the tooth region of the stator laminated core. The heat is dissipated to the cooling medium from the stator teeth.
The limits of the warming are prescribed in this case by the temperature sensitivity of the insulation and, moreover, by corresponding maximum temperatures which are fixed in standards by different insulation classes (ANSI, IEC).
Because of the relatively large temperature difference between the stator copper conductors embedded in the insulation and the outer layer of the insulation, the maximum power of an indirectly gas-cooled turbine-driven generator is limited by the classical cooling principle.
For this reason there has been no lack of proposals for improving the cooling, it being the case that these efforts have concentrated, on the one hand, on intensifying the cooling in the central machine region and, on the other hand, on a fundamental reconfiguration of the cooling circuit, specifically on a transition from conventional pressure cooling to reverse flow cooling, as is described, for example, in the CIGRE Report "Development of Large Air Cooled Generators for Gas Turbines and Combined Cycles", in particular FIG. 1 on page 11-201, 1992 Session 30 Aug.-5 Sep. 1992.
In general, by comparison with pressure cooling, reverse flow cooling offers the advantage that the air leaving the coolers can be fed directly to the cooling ducts in the stator and that the temperature increase caused by the machine fan is eliminated. It could be regarded as disadvantageous that the guidance of the cooling gas in the machine becomes more complicated overall because, in particular in the overhang space, it is necessary to provide additional built-in components, and supplying the rotor with cooling gas also becomes more difficult.
A further problem is the arrangement of the coolers in machines with relatively high specific outputs. Accommodating the coolers in the housing is scarcely possible without increasing the housing diameter.

by Verena Zimmermann, Meinrad Werner Zimmermann, executors


According to one embodiment, an X-ray computed tomography apparatus includes an X-ray tube and an X-ray detector. The X-ray tube generates X-rays. The X-ray detector includes a first detection area detecting the X-rays and a second detection area detecting the X-rays. The first detection area includes a first scintillator having a first fluorescence decay time, the second detection area includes a second scintillator having a second fluorescence decay time shorter than the first fluorescence decay time. The second detection area is arranged at both ends of the first detection area with respect to a channel direction.

In an X-ray computed tomography (CT) apparatus, a technique of photon counting CT for imaging by counting the number of X-ray photons is known. For photon counting CT, a photon-counting type X-ray detector is used. A photon-counting type X-ray detector measures intensity of X-rays by counting the number of X-ray photons that enter the detector. A photon-counting X-ray detector also measures energy of each X-ray photon, using a phenomenon in which an amount of charge is generated in accordance with energy of an X-ray photon when converting an X-ray photon into a charge.
A frequency of entry (count rate) of X-ray photons into each detection element of a photon-counting type X-ray detector changes in accordance with an X-ray transmission distance in a subject. In other words, to obtain an image with appropriate quality with the photon counting CT technique, a sufficient number of photons needs to be detected by detection elements that detect X-rays in a path of a long X-ray transmission distance, such as a body trunk of a subject.
In this case, in detection elements that detect the X-rays of a path which does not pass through a subject, X-rays are not attenuated by a subject; as a result, a count rate of X-ray photons is increased. If a count rate is increased, pile-up occurs. The pile-up phenomenon occurs when the waveforms formed by X-ray photons overlap when the number of incident X-ray photons per unit time is increased and some X-ray photons are not counted.
When pile-up occurs, it becomes difficult to carry out counting and energy measurement for X-ray photons by dividing the X-ray photons separately, and a result of counting becomes invalid.
To reduce such pile-up phenomena, the number of elements in an X-ray detector per unit area may be increased, or the number of incident photons per unit area may be decreased.
However, the increase of the number of elements per unit area leads to complication of a structure of a detection element and an increase in the costs of manufacturing. Furthermore, in a case of decreasing the number of incident photons per unit area, it is necessary to make an opening of an X-ray filter small, or to decrease stopping power; as a result, some X-ray photons that pass through the subject are left out of being counted, and this may cause problems, such as unnecessary exposure, SN deterioration of a reconstructed image, and artifacts.

X-ray computed tomography apparatus and x-ray detector


A method is provided for directly determining the length of sub-picosecond electron bunches. A metallic grating is formed with a groove spacing greater than a length expected for the electron bunches. The electron bunches are passed over the metallic grating to generate coherent and incoherent Smith-Purcell radiation. The angular distribution of the coherent Smith-Purcell radiation is then mapped to directly deduce the length of the electron bunches.

This invention relates to measuring electron beam parameters, and, more particularly, to measuring the length of subpicosecond electron beam bunches.
Recent experiments using electron accelerators have demonstrated the generation of subpicosecond electron bunches. These short electron bunches are the enabling technology for many important radiation sources ranging in wavelength from x-rays to the far-infrared. The tunable femtosecond radiation bunches that are produced will greatly benefit the rapidly growing field of ultrafast phenomena, an area spanning femtosecond excitation and ionization of atoms and molecules, to imaging ultrafast motion of biological molecules. The femtosecond electron bunches can also be used to produce wakefield accelerators, an advanced accelerator concept that could usher mankind into a new era of high-energy physics.
As the generated electron bunch lengths get shorter, it becomes increasingly difficult to measure the bunch length. Unfortunately, diagnostic techniques for electron beam bunches have not kept pace with the technology for producing short electron bunch lengths. The present technique for measuring the length of sub-picosecond electron bunches fall into three main categories: the time-domain methods using a streak camera, the frequency-domain methods using either coherent undulator radiation or coherent synchrotron radiation, and the autocorrelation method using a Michelson interferometer. All these methods involve expensive instruments and sophisticated setups. An ideal diagnostic method for measuring electron beam bunch lengths must be inexpensive, easy to set up, non-intercepting, and capable of measuring a single electron bunch.
Time-domain method (Streak camera): This device uses a photocathode to convert incoming light into electrons that are swept by an applied radio-frequency field. The electrons impinge on a phosphorescent screen and cause the latter to emit light. The width of the electron image on the screen is a measure of the electron bunch length. This technique is a direct measurement of the electron bunch length. However, besides being very expensive, the streak camera method cannot measure bunch lengths shorter than 200 fs. Even with longer bunch lengths, a picosecond temporal resolution is difficult to achieve due to temporal jitter inherent in the streak camera. Furthermore, the method requires a means to convert electrons into visible light that falls within the wavelength response curve of the streak camera photocathode. A commonly used method to convert the electron bunches into light pulses is to impinge the electron beam on a metal screen and observe the so-called optical transition radiation (OTR). Because of the low intensity of OTR light, streak camera measurements often require that the measurement be done over many electron bunches. As the OTR screen also disrupts the electron beam, this is not a non-intercepting diagnostic method.
Frequency-domain method: This is an indirect method based on the frequency spectrum of light emitted when electrons traverse an undulator (a series of alternating magnets) or a circular bend. In the first case, the light emitted is called coherent undulator radiation; in the second, coherent synchrotron radiation. The method assumes a knowledge of the electron bunch shape in order to convert spectral information to bunch length. It also requires a spectrometer to measure the spectra of the coherent radiation. The spectra are often collected by scanning the spectrometer, thus making this a time-averaged measurement (not a single-bunch measurement).
Autocorrelation method: This technique uses a device called a Michelson interferometer to measure the overlap between the light pulses that the electrons produce. The electron bunches impinge on a screen to produce coherent OTR light. The light is split into two beams by a beam splitter and then sent to two perfectly aligned mirrors that return the lights back to the beam splitter where they recombine. One of the mirrors is moved to vary the distance between the two light paths. As its distance varies, the light patterns interfere to produce an interferogram from which the bunch length is reconstructed. This technique is indirect, intercepting (because it uses an OTR screen) and not a single-bunch method.
Recently, a group of researchers in Japan (K. Ishi et al., "Observation of coherent Smith-Purcell radiation from short-bunched electrons," 51 Phys. Rev. E, pg. R5212 (1995)) reported the observation of coherent Smith-Purcell radiation emitted from picosecond electron bunches traveling near the surface of a grating--a surface made out of aluminum on which small grooves are cut. In contrast to the usual incoherent Smith-Purcell radiation, the observed coherent Smith-Purcell radiation depends quadratically on the number of electrons in the bunch. The coherent Smith-Purcell radiation is, thus, many orders of magnitude greater than the incoherent radiation. These workers used the phenomenon to study the possibility of producing mm-wave radiation from short, but not subpicosecond, electron bunches. They detected the coherent Smith-Purcell radiation at large angles using a spectrometer.
The present invention recognizes that the coherent Smith-Purcell radiation observed for picosecond electron bunches can be used as a diagnostic for determining electron bunch lengths in electron beams. Electron beam bunches are made to travel above the surface of a grating. The coherent Smith-Purcell radiation is emitted at large angles with respect to the beam propagation direction. The angular distribution of the emitted radiation depends on the electron bunch length so that electron bunch length is directly deduced from measured angles of the emitted Smith-Purcell radiation.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to measure ultrashort electron bunch lengths down to a few femtoseconds.
Another object of the present invention is to measure electron bunch length with very few assumptions or complexities to yield a unique measurement of the bunch length.
One other object of the present invention is to provide a non-invasive, non-intercepting method of electron beam diagnostics.
Yet another object of the present invention is to measure the length of a single bunch of electrons.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Measuring short electron bunch lengths using coherent smith-purcell radiation

The Regents of the University of California


The present solution provides a system and a method for determining the wear compliance of a wearable sensor. More particularly, the systems and methods described herein enable the power-efficient and accurate determination of a sensor's wear and non-wear state. Accurately, detecting the wear and non-wear state ensures the correct and accurate measurement of behavioral signals. Additionally, the systems and methods enable caretakers to remotely monitor patient wear compliance and behavioral parameters.

Medical alert devices are often marketed to the elderly as a means to stay in contact with caretakers and emergency services. Some devices also enable the measurement of behavioral and environmental parameters. Unfortunately, many patients neglect to wear their medical alert devices, resulting in a disconnect between the patient and emergency services. Additionally, behavioral and environmental parameters collected by the device during a non-wear state can prove inaccurate. To date the devices cannot determine their wear state in a power-efficient and accurate method.

Systems and methods for a power efficient method for detecting wear and non-wear of a sensor