Method, system, and computer readable medium for processing graphics using an OpenGL Embedded Systems Application Programming Interface (Open GLES API) include: decoding a source graphic to generate a graphic object, where the graphic object includes a set of index values and a color palette; providing the graphic object to a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) through the Open GLES API, including providing the set of index values in a first acceptable graphic format of the Open GLES API to the GPU, and providing the color palette in a second acceptable graphic format of the Open GLES API to the GPU; and triggering the GPU to render the source graphic according to the set of index values received in the first acceptable graphic format of Open GLES API and the palette received in the second acceptable graphic format of Open GLES API.

Graphics processing on a computing device transforms stored image data into a visible rendering of an image in accordance with one or more graphics process procedures that are dictated by the storage format and/or intermediate processing formats of the graphics required by the operating system and/or application software, as well as the application program interfaces (APIs) of the graphic processing units that perform the graphics data processing and rendering of the images.
Some image formats require more processing power and memory usage for certain operating systems and graphics processing APIs. Some image formats are not compatible or acceptable for certain operating systems and graphics processing APIs, without customized reprogramming or pre-processing of the images.
OpenGL ES is a commonly used computer graphics rendering program interface for rendering 2D and 3D graphics that are typically processed by a graphics processing unit (GPU). It is designed for embedded systems, such as smartphones, tablet computers, video game consoles, PDAs, etc. due to its relative lightweight and small footprint. OpenGL ES (e.g., OpenGL ES 2.0) is based on a corresponding OpenGL version (e.g., 2.0) but eliminates many of its fixed-function rendering pipelines. As a result, many commonly used graphics storage formats are not accepted as graphics inputs by the GPU through the formally defined OpenGL ES API, thereby limiting the utility of OpenGL ES, particularly, on mobile devices.
There is a need therefore, for improved methods, and particularly for small, handheld devices that implement the OpenGL ES API to process graphics and circumvent at least some of the limitations imposed by the OpenGL ES API.

Methods and systems for processing graphics

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


Provided is a display device including: a display panel; a support member that is in contact with at least a part of a lower side of the display panel; and a panel holder that has a first member supporting via the support member the lower side of the display panel. The support member is an elastic body that, in a case where the display panel is deformed, deforms accordingly as a result of a part thereof moving relative to the first member.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device.
Description of the Related Art
A display panel such as a liquid crystal panel and an organic electroluminescence (EL) panel is provided with display elements such as liquid crystals or organic light-emitting elements between two glass substrates on which thin-film devices have been formed.
An image display device equipped with the display panel is configured such that a metal case in which the display panel is accommodated or to which it is adhesively bonded is disposed on a side opposite that of the display surface, and the display surface side is covered with a metal frame.
An image display device in which a display panel is a liquid crystal panel is provided with the liquid crystal panel, a backlight irradiating the liquid crystal panel, and an optical sheet condensing the light from the backlight. Those members are disposed in the order of the optical sheet and the backlight at the back surface side of the liquid crystal panel. A panel holder made from a resin is disposed such as to cover the circumference of the liquid crystal panel and the back surface on the outside of the display region with the object of maintaining a constant space between the liquid crystal panel and the optical sheet and also to hold the liquid crystal panel itself. Further, a metal frame is disposed on the front surface side of the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel is sandwiched between the panel holder and the frame, with elastic bodies such as cushions being interposed therebetween.
The structure of an image display device will be explained hereinbelow using FIG. 16 that depicts an image display device provided with a liquid crystal panel.
When a display panel 20 is a liquid crystal panel, the display panel is constituted by glass substrates having thin-film devices formed thereon, such as a color filter substrate 20a and a TFT substrate 20b. The display panel 20 is obtained by cutting a large mother glass substrate in a state in which those substrates are sealed. Since the cutting is performed by scribing and breaking by using a diamond cutter, a burr 20c appears on the end surface of the glass substrate. Since the display device such as an organic EL is also configured of a glass substrate, the following phenomenon can occur.
When the image display device is disposed vertically, the lower end of the display panel 20 comes into contact with a panel support section 30a that supports the lower end of the display panel 20 in the panel holder 30. In this case, the lower end of the display panel 20 is sometimes caught by the panel support section 30a under the effect of the weight of the display panel 20 and the burr 20c. The display panel 20 can move on the panel holder 30 for various reasons such as impacts and outer forces occurring when the image display panel is transported. Where the display panel 20 moves, the positional relationship with the cushion changes, a local force can be applied to the display panel 20, the display panel 20 can be deformed, and local stresses can be generated therein. When the aforementioned catching occurs, the display panel 20 that has moved sometimes cannot return to the original position preceding the movement because the display panel has been caught, and the display panel 20 remains in the deformed state. Further, with certain methods for processing the display panel 20, a high friction coefficient can be realized between the end surface of the display panel 20 and the panel support section 30a, even when the burr is not present, and the friction can result in catching. The stresses caused by the catching cannot be removed unless the catching is eliminated.
In a liquid crystal panel, the stresses disturb the orientation of liquid crystals and the application of voltage cannot be accurately controlled. As a result, brightness uniformity and chromaticity uniformity of the displayed image locally decreases at a location where the stresses have appeared in the display panel 20. Such lack of uniformity is called "display unevenness". The display unevenness can occur close to the panel support section 30a because the burr 20c of the display panel 20 is caught by the panel support section 30a, as mentioned hereinabove. The display unevenness also occurs at other positions when stresses are locally concentrated. A structure that temporarily reduces the stresses applied to the display panel has been suggested to avoid the above-described problems (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-204357).


An illuminated, shallow weatherproof signage character has individual three dimensional back-lighted/front/side and/or silhouette-lighting, with frosted areas of plastic, with virtually no limitation on the size or number of individual characters, which may be moulded or machined from solid plastic, which is U/V protected. Miniature, preferably LED lamps are concealed in the character. The life of the LED lamps is extended by limiting the applied voltage and the “on” time. The signage characters are usually elevated from their supporting surface, to effect back-lighting. Colored LED's or a RBG LED, can be used selectively to color the plastic signage.

1. This invention is directed to house numbers and signage characters that are back-lighted and silhouette-lighted using refractional and diffusional projection illumination in conjunction with miniature lamps in association with a shallow character body, for advertising signage, and for identification purposes, such as house numbers. The preferred tamps are light emitting diodes (LED's)
2. There are products presently available in the market that use neon tube lights to back-light signs such as house address numbers, and other uses. Such prior arrangements operate at high voltages, and are incorporated with an electrical box of some four inches depth to accommodate the neon lamp and its associated wiring. Cooling of the neon lamp presents problems.
There is currently a need to illuminate house numbers, so that they can be readily seen from a distance, as when viewed from the street.
Under present circumstances, when an emergency call is made to a service such as the Fire Service, involving a domestic fire or a heart attack, it is frequently necessary for a pilot spotter vehicle to precede the response team, in order to locate the given address of the premises where the crisis exists. In such instances, the currently available illuminated signage is frequently indecipherable from the street, due to its limited size. This renders it virtually useless at a time when it is most urgently needed. The delay associated with such circumstances can prove to be fatally critical.

LED illuminated house number and sign characters


Disclosed is a hall sensor cover including: mag-mate terminal portions each having a mag-mate terminal having a coil insertion slit formed thereon and a power terminal pin extended toward one side direction of the mag-mate terminal; and a power connector portion having a base having mag-mate terminal insertion slots formed to insert the mag-mate terminal portions thereinto and power terminal insertion portions each adapted to insert the power terminal pin thereinto, wherein the power connector portion is coupled to the end portions of teeth of an insulator.

In general, a motor consists of a stator and a rotor, and the motor used for electric machinery such as a drum type washing machine and the like is configured to have an insulator adapted to surround a stator core in such a manner as to allow coils to be wound thereon. The coils are electrically connected to a hall sensor cover and a printed circuit board to perform the application of power.
FIG. 1 shows the state where the hall sensor cover is coupled to the insulator of the stator core in the conventional practice. As shown in FIG. 1, an insulator 1 is made of an electrical insulation resin and coupled to the top portion of a stator core (not shown). The insulator 1 has teeth 11 extended outwardly therefrom in a radial direction. The insulator 1 also has an inner peripheral portion 10 formed at the inside of the teeth 11, and mag-mate terminal portions 13 are formed on the inner peripheral portion 10 to conduct the connection with external power connectors. A plurality of mag-mate terminals 14 is inserted into the mag-mate terminal portions 13 to conduct the electrical connection with the coils. In FIG. 1, three mag-mate terminals 14 are provided to conduct the power connection of the phases U, V, W.
So as to connect the external power to the mag-mate terminal portions 13, a hall sensor cover 100 has mag-mate terminal insertion portions 101 formed at the corresponding positions to the mag-mate terminal portions 13. The mag-mate terminal insertion portions 101 have pins (not shown) formed at the inside thereof in such a manner as to be connected to the mag-mate terminals 14, and the pins are electrically connected to power terminal pins 104 by means of lead wires 103. The power terminal pins 104 are located at the inside of power terminal insertion portions 102, and the external power connectors are coupled to the power terminal insertion portions 102 to conduct the electrical connection thereto. Further, the hall sensor cover 100 has a printed circuit board (not shown) mounted in the interior of one side thereof, and the printed circuit board is protected by means of a silicone cover 105.
Like this, the hall sensor cover 100 serves to supply the external power to the coils wound on the insulator and to measure the size or polarity of a magnetic field to transmit the measured signal to a control unit of a device using the motor.
According to the external power connection using the conventional hall sensor cover 100, the mag-mate terminal portions 13 of the insulator 1 and the power terminal insertion portions 102 of the hall sensor cover 100 are located on the inner peripheral portion 10 of the insulator 1, so that the lead wires 103 should be introduced into the hall sensor cover 100 to conduct the external power connection. Therefore, the manufacturing process of the hall sensor cover 100 becomes complicated, and the size of the hall sensor cover 100 has to be longer than the length of each tooth 11, which makes the quantity of plastic molding resin consumed undesirably increased. Moreover, the printed circuit board is fixed by means of the silicone cover 105, which needs the time for curing the silicone during the manufacturing process, thereby undesirably increasing the manufacturing time and process.
So as to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, thus, the inventors propose to a hall sensor cover having a new structure in which the external power connection through the mag-mate terminals is conducted not on the inner peripheral portion of the insulator, but on the outer peripheral portion of the insulator, and to a motor using the same.

Hall sensor cover and motor using the same


The present disclosure relates to novel macrocyclic compounds and libraries thereof containing heteroaryl moieties that are useful as research tools for drug discovery efforts. The present disclosure also relates to methods of preparing these compounds and libraries and methods of using these libraries, such as in high throughput screening. In particular, these libraries are useful for evaluation of bioactivity at existing and newly identified pharmacologically relevant targets, including G protein-coupled receptors, nuclear receptors, enzymes, ion channels, transporters, transcription factors, protein-protein interactions and nucleic acid-protein interactions. As such, these libraries can be applied to the search for new pharmaceutical agents for the treatment and prevention of a range of medical conditions.

From its start in the 1990's, high throughput screening (HTS) of chemical compound libraries has become an essential part of the drug discovery process with the successful generation of many lead molecules, clinical candidates and marketed pharmaceuticals (Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2001, 5, 273-284; Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2003, 7, 308-325; J. Biomol. Screen. 2006, 11, 864-869; Drug Disc. Today 2006, 11, 277-279; Nat. Rev. Drug Disc. 2011, 10, 188-195). Current collections of molecules for HTS, however, often are overpopulated by compounds related to known pharmaceutical agents, with a continuing need to expand chemical diversity and improve the content of screening collections (Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2010, 14, 289-298; Drug Disc. Today 2013, 18, 298-304). Indeed, the diversity of molecular structures available in the library collections utilized for HTS has been identified as an area that needs to be dramatically improved (Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2010, 14, 289-298; Biochem. Pharmacol. 2009, 78, 217-223; Curr. Med. Chem. 2009, 16, 4374-4381). Whereas the initial efforts at building screening libraries focused primarily on numbers of compounds, the focus has shifted to providing higher quality molecules (Fut. Med. Chem. 2014, 6, 497-502) that permit more complete sampling of "chemical space". Fortunately, given the estimated vastness of this space (J. Chem. Info. Model. 2007, 47, 342-353), significant opportunity exists for finding and exploring new or underexplored compound classes for desirable biological activity.
As an additional consideration, HTS has traditionally varied considerably in success rate depending on the type of target being interrogated, with certain target classes identified as being particularly challenging, for example protein-protein interactions (PPI). To address such intractable targets, a wider range of compounds and chemotypes will need to be explored. This situation has been exacerbated as advances in genomics and proteomics have led to the identification and characterization of large numbers of new potential pharmacological targets (Nat. Rev. Drug Disc. 2002, 1, 727-730; Drug Disc. Today 2005, 10, 1607-1610; Nat. Biotechnol. 2006, 24, 805-815), many of which fall into these difficult classes.
Recently, macrocycles have been identified as an underexplored class of biologically relevant synthetic molecules that possess properties amenable to these more difficult targets (Nat. Rev. Drug Disc. 2008, 7, 608-624; J. Med. Chem. 2011, 54, 1961-2004; Fut. Med. Chem. 2012, 4, 1409-1438; Molecules 2013, 18, 6230-6268; J. Med. Chem. 2014, 57, 278-295; Curr. Pharm. Design 2016, 22, 4086-4093). Although such structures are widespread in natural products, considerable challenges of synthetic accessibility have to date limited their presence in screening collections.
The interest in macrocycles originates in part from their ability to bridge the gap between traditional small molecules and biomolecules such as proteins, nucleotides and antibodies. They are considered to fill an intermediate chemical space between these two broad classes, but possessing favorable features of each: the high potency and exceptional selectivity of biomolecules with the ease of manufacturing and formulation, favorable drug-like properties and attractive cost-of-goods of small molecules. Hence, macrocycles provide a novel approach to addressing targets on which existing screening collections have not proven effective.
Indeed, macrocycles display dense functionality in a rather compact structural framework, but still occupy a sufficiently large topological surface area to enable interaction at the disparate binding sites often present in PPI and other difficult targets. In addition, macrocycles possess defined conformations, which can preorganize interacting functionality into appropriate regions of three-dimensional space, thereby permitting high selectivity and potency to be achieved even in early stage hits. Interestingly, spatial or shape diversity in the design of libraries has been identified as an important factor for broad biological activity (J. Chem. Info. Comput. Sci. 2003, 43, 987-1003).
Although cyclic peptide libraries of both synthetic and biosynthetic origin have been prepared and studied in some depth (J. Comput. Aided. Mol. Des. 2002, 16, 415-430; Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 2013, 23, 571-580), libraries of macrocyclic non-peptidic or semi-peptidic structures remain more problematic to construct and their bioactivity only perfunctorily investigated (J. Med. Chem. 2011, 54, 1961-2004; Macrocycles in Drug Discovery, J. Levin, ed., RSC Publishing, 2015, pp 398-486, ISBN 978-1-84973-701-2).
Thiazoles, oxazoles and, to a lesser extent, imidazoles have been found to be common structural features of natural products, particularly those of marine origin (Marine Drugs. 2010, 8, 2755-2780; Nat. Prod. Rep. 2011, 28, 1143-1191; Nat. Prod. Rep. 2013, 30, 869-915). In fact, many such products contain multiple azole rings. In addition, compounds containing the thiazole ring have been found to have significant pharmacological and therapeutic impact (Curr. Top. Med. Chem. 2016, 16, 284-2862). Further, the imidazole ring, partly from its presence in the natural amino acid histidine, plays a vital role in many biological interactions due to its unique combination of basic and aromatic character (Curr. Med. Chem. 2006, 13, 1-23; Med. Chem. Res. 2011, 20, 1119-1140).
However, the incorporation of these heteroaromatic components into the ring backbone of synthetic macrocycles and libraries, as well as assessment of bioactivity for the resulting molecules, have not been widely explored (Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 4567-4570; J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 7014-7028; J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 7939-7941; Intl. Pat. Appl. Publ. WO 2012/062777; Tetrahedron 2012, 68, 1029-1051; Chem. Biodivers. 2012, 9, 2473-2484; J. Org. Chem. 2012, 77, 11079-11090; Chem. Rec. 2013, 13, 539-548; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2013, 110, E3753-E3760; ACS Comb. Sci. 2014, 16, 71-77).
Hence, the macrocyclic compounds and libraries of the disclosure, which include these heteroaryl moieties, provide distinct structural scaffolds from those previously known. In that manner, they satisfy a significant need in the art for novel compounds and libraries that are useful in the search for new therapeutic agents for the prevention or treatment of a wide variety of disease states.

Libraries of heteroaryl-containing macrocyclic compounds and methods of making and using the same


A toy apparatus having a surface is provided. The toy apparatus may include a mesh including a plurality of loop structures having cooperative mating surfaces disposed at least partially around an outer perimeter of each loop structure. The plurality of loop structures may have curved inside perimeter surfaces, and the cooperative mating surfaces of adjacent loop structures may be configured to couple together for a distance along their lengths. The loop structures form the surface of the toy when the cooperative mating surfaces are coupled with each other. The toy apparatus may further include a rattle positioned in a loop structure in the mesh, the rattle having a body with a mounting structure having an outer perimeter sized to conform to the curved inside perimeter surface of the loop structure in which the rattle is mounted.

Balls are one of the oldest forms of toys and sports equipment, and many popular games today still involve rolling, passing, kicking, tossing, catching, bouncing, or hitting balls. Other toys may have similar play patterns as balls, and both balls and other toys may have smooth surfaces. Children and young adults and are also drawn to toys that can be accessorized with characters or other accessories that give the ball visual, acoustic and tactile interest. However, conventional balls and other toys having a smooth surface are not always suitable for attaching accessories, and can be difficult to grasp for some users, especially small children and infants.


A power conversion circuit capable of varying an output voltage within a range from a negative voltage lower than a ground voltage to a positive voltage higher than a supply voltage, and a driving method and a drive unit are provided. A power conversion circuit includes a transformer with a 1:1 ratio between the primary winding and secondary winding, a voltage outputting capacitor, and four switches. The power conversion circuit can be operated as a DC-DC converter of a step-up type, a step-up-and-down type, a step-down type, an inverted-output step-up-and-down type, or an inverted-output step-up type by selecting two switches used for control from among the four switches and alternately turning the two switches on. By switching the operating modes of the power conversion circuit, the output voltage can be varied within a range from a negative voltage to a positive voltage higher than a supply voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-isolated power conversion circuit, and more specifically to a DC-DC converter including one having a step-up, step-down and combined capabilities, a driving method and a drive unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally non-isolated power conversion circuits are known that include DC-DC converters in which a capacitor is charged via a coil by making or breaking a conduction path extending from a direct-current (DC) power supply to the coil, via a switching element, and causing a desired DC voltage to be output.
Moreover, as for non-isolated DC-DC converters, a step-down type that produces a DC voltage lower than a supply voltage of a DC power supply, a step-up type that produces a DC voltage higher than the supply voltage of the DC power supply, and a step-up-and-down type capable of producing a DC voltage higher than the supply voltage, from a DC voltage lower than the supply voltage of the DC power supply are representative. None of these types of non-isolated DC-DC converters however can produce a negative voltage lower than a ground voltage of 0V corresponding to the potential on a negative electrode side of the DC power supply.
Moreover, non-isolated DC-DC converter types such as a Ćuk converter, a Zeta converter, a single ended primary inductor converter (SEPIC), or any other type of converter that charges and discharges a capacitor are known. However, while such types of converters can output a voltage lower than the supply voltage or a voltage higher than the ground voltage, none can control an output voltage over a wide range from a negative voltage equal to or lower than the ground voltage to a positive voltage exceeding the supply voltage.
Multiple-output DC-DC converters including combinations of various types of DC-DC converters are also known, for example as described in JP-A-2003-164143, and have been developed in an attempt to address limitations of the above described converters.
For example, the multiple-output DC-DC converter described in JP-A-2003-164143 includes, as shown, for example, in FIG. 17 of the present application, a DC power supply 20, and a coil 23 having one terminal connected to a negative electrode side of the DC power supply 20, that is, a ground, via a switch 21 and having the other terminal connected to a positive electrode side of the DC power supply 20 Via a switch 22. The anode of a diode 24 is connected to a node between the coil 23 and switch 21. A capacitor 25 having one terminal grounded to the ground and a load 31 having one terminal grounded to the ground are connected to the cathode of the diode 24. The cathode of a diode 26 is connected to a node between the coil 23 and switch 22. A capacitor 27 having one terminal grounded to the ground and a load 32 having one terminal grounded to the ground are connected to the anode of the diode 26.
A control circuit 30 turns the switch 21 on or off while the switch 22 is held on causing a current to flow into the coil 23 while the switch 21 is held on. The control circuit 30 further controls the capacitor 25 via the diode 24 using a high voltage generated at the coil 23 while the switch 21 is held off so that the voltage at the capacitor 25 will have a voltage value larger than the supply voltage. In other words, the switch 22 being held on causes the coil 23, switch 21, and diode 24 to operate as a step-up DC-DC converter, and supplies a DC voltage Vo1, which is higher than the supply voltage of the DC power supply 20, to the load 31.
The control circuit 30 turns the switch 22 on or off while the switch 21 is held on causing a current to flow into the coil 23 while the switch 22 is on and causes a current to flow into the coil 23 via the diode 26 while the switch 22 is off. Thus, the control circuit 30 controls an output voltage fed from the capacitor 27 to the load 32 to be a negative voltage lower than the ground voltage. In other words, the control circuit 30 holds the switch 21 on allowing the coil 23, switch 22, and diode 26 to operate as an inverted-output step-up-and-down DC-DC converter.
While, according to the foregoing multiple-output DC-DC converter, both a positive voltage and a negative voltage can be outputted to an external load, disadvantages are present in that the multiple-output DC-DC converter outputs the positive voltage and negative voltage through different terminals thereof. Therefore, although the multiple-output DC-DC converter can output the positive voltage and negative voltage to loads connected to the respective terminals, the multiple-output DC-DC converter cannot change an output voltage directed to one load from the negative voltage to the positive voltage.
Moreover, even if circuitry that outputs a positive voltage and a negative voltage to one load via a switch or the like can be devised and a range of voltages that can be outputted falls into a voltage range higher than the supply voltage of the DC power supply 20 and a negative voltage range lower than the ground voltage disadvantages are still present. For example, since the DC-DC converter that produces the positive voltage is of a step-up type and the DC-DC converter that produces the negative voltage is of a step-up-and-down type, an inverted output provided. The inversion poses a disadvantage in that voltages in a range relative to the ground voltage of 0V to the supply voltage cannot be outputted.

Power conversion circuit, driving method and drive unit thereof


A support structure (1) that includes a support panel (11), at least one pile (14) having associated therewith at least one bracket (17) and at least one mounting strap (20). Each bracket (17) includes a lower portion (70), at least one extension (91, 92) extending upward from the lower portion (70), and a retainer (85) extending outward from a first surface (73) of the lower portion (70). The retainer (85) of the bracket (17) is received within an aperture (67) of an apertured sidewall (64, 215, 218) of the pile (14). At least one mounting strap (20, 23) maintains: the first surface (73) of the lower portion (70) of the bracket (17) in abutting relationship with the apertured sidewall (64) of the pile; and the retainer (85) within the aperture (67) thereof. A first surface (94) of the extension (91, 92) of the bracket (17) and the apertured sidewall (64) of the pile (14) together define a vertical slot (112) having an open top (115) and a closed bottom (118). The support panel (11) includes at least one downwardly extending sidewall (33) that is received within the vertical slot (112). Receipt of the sidewall (33) within the vertical slot (112) serves to support the support panel (11). The support structure may be used as a dock, such as a marine dock.

Support structures, such as decks and docks are typically fabricated from numerous components, such as posts, cross-members, stringers, brackets, and deck members. Typically, the various components of docks and decks are attached together by means of fasteners, such as screws and/or bolts. For example, brackets are typically attached to the posts and cross-members and/or decks by means of screws and/or bolts. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,999,397, 4,349,297 and 6,695,541 B1. The use of fasteners generally contributes to difficulties experienced when assembling and more particularly when disassembling such decks and docks. For example, the use of fasteners usually requires additional tools. In the case of docks, exposure of the fasteners to fresh water and in particular salt water environments results in corrosion and fusing thereof, which can make disassembly of the dock exceptionally difficult (e.g., requiring cutting the fasteners, which can result in damage to the dock components).
The presence of cross-members in the deck or dock assemblies increases the weight and volume of materials that are shipped to the point of assembly. Increased shipping weights and volumes typically result in increased shipping costs, due at least in part to increased fuel costs. In addition, cross-members can also increase difficulties encountered in assembling the deck or dock (e.g., resulting from additional bracket attachment and leveling steps).
It would be desirable to develop new support structure designs that do not require the use of fasteners. In addition, it would be desirable that such newly developed support structure designs include self supporting deck or support panels that do not require the use of cross-members.


A compound or its tautomer of Formula I, ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is hydrogen, a 6-methyl, 6-fluoro, 6-chloro, 6-bromo, or 6,7-dimethoxy residue,. R.sup.2 is hydrogen, or a methyl residue, PA0 and n is 1 or 2, PA0 and tautomers and their pharmaceutically acceptable alkali, or ammonium salts.

There are drugs known which contain a low molecular weight active ingredient capable of creating an immunostimulating and/or immunorestorative effect. Most often levamisole hydrochloride and inosine benzoate are used at this time for such purposes.
Other active ingredients, such as NPT 15 392, i.e. erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)hypoxanthine, also azimexone and ditiocarb are known to have immunomodulating, such as immunostimulating and immunorestorative effect. However, no medicinal drugs have yet been introduced, containing these active ingredients.
A standardization of known and new active ingredients, which stimulate and/or restore the immune system, is not readily possible at this time. This is due to the complexity of the immune system with its various regulatory and counterregulatory mechanisms and also to the absence of internationally agreed upon conditions for testing such agents in laboratory animals, and for clinical investigations of such agents in man. Furthermore, the aforementioned active ingredients are not available for marketing because they continue to be investigated to a greater extent with respect to their immunomodulating, immunostimulating and/or immunorestorative activity.
The difference in effect of the active ingredients on the various immunocompetent cells that react to, or are responsible for, an immune reaction also create a barrier towards a comprehensive comparability of compounds with immunostimulating and/or immunorestorative effect. These differences in effect do not permit uniform control of specific and nonspecific defense mechanisms. For example, levamisole hydrochloride has a predominantly immunorestorative effect in immunosuppressed organisms. Predominantly the T cells are stimulated, but with only a slight effect on the humoral response. Activation of nonspecific defence mechanisms is brought about by the stimulation of the hemocytophages, and the proliferation and bactericidal effect of macrophages. On the other hand, inosine benzoate manifests primarily an immunostimulating effect, among others, by an increase in the humoral immune response. The proliferation and differentiation of the T lymphocytes are also increased. The function of the macrophages is also increased through lymphokine induction.
Despite the progress in developing substances with immunomodulating, immunostimulating and/or immunorestoring activity, difficulties have been encountered in the few known methods in preparing such drugs. For example, the optical isomer of levamisole hydrochloride can be obtained by separating the diastereoisomer of the racemic tetramisole hydrochloride. The compound has a bitter, metallic taste, and after oral administration to man can result in vomiting, nausea, leucopenia, and agranulocytosis. Moreover, the physiological effect of levamisole hydrochloride is remarkably dependent on genetic factors, and the age and sex of the patient.
Inosine benzoate, which must be administered in relatively higher doses, such as about 50 mg/kg/day, can produce lead to vomiting, hyperuricemia and an increase in hematocrits. In the case of azimexone, headaches, vomiting and a decrease in haemoglobin (Hb) and erythrocytes are observed as side effects.
Therefore there is a need for drugs for the treatment of diseases of the immune system and/or for the treatment of virus infections in man and animals, as well as for methods for their preparation. There is a particular need for new drugs with immunomodulating, such as immunostimulating and/or immunorestorative action for man and animals, having improved specific and nonspecific defensive protective activity.


The present invention provides:. a method for the feeding of a coating, which comprises:. (1) a step of fitting a cartridge filled with a predetermined coating, to an automatic coating device or an apparatus capable of feeding a coating to an automatic coating device, and PA2 (2) applying an external pressure to the fitted cartridge to feed the coating in the cartridge, to a coating gun; and PA2 a method for the application of a top coating onto an automobile body, which comprises applying, onto an automobile body which is a material to be coated, a top coating fed to a coating gun by the above-mentioned method for feeding of coating.

In automobile manufacture, several to several tens of coating colors are used in application of top coatings onto automobile bodies of different vehicle types or models, and coating pipes corresponding to the number of coating colors used are provided at each coating line. Since these pipes extend several hundred meters, in some cases, from coating storage tanks to a coating booth via a circulating device, the initial investment cost for coating line and the maintenance cost thereof are very large and become even larger with an increase in number of coating colors. Moreover, the coating colors are generally changed to new colors at the time of each full or minor model change of automobile body.
Of automobile bodies, those of commercial vehicles (e.g. trucks and vans), in particular, generally have requirements different from those of other vehicles because of their application purposes; in order to satisfy the requirements of individual vehicle types, their coating is conducted in a coating mode for vehicle production of many kinds each of small production amount and, in an extreme case, a coating mode of different coating to each automobile is employed. However, it has been very difficult for automobile makers to feed coatings of all required colors (including colors of extremely low use amounts) according to conventional methods. Therefore, when the coating mode of different coating to each automobile is necessary, such coating has often been conducted at subcontractors. This coating at subcontractors has incurred a very high cost as compared with efficient line coating, because of (1) the transfer cost of vehicle between automobile maker and subcontractor and (2) extra cost associated with coating, required at subcontractor.


The present invention provides a method for manufacturing an OLED panel. The method is simple and fixes a first substrate and a flexible material layer together by forming a support layer on the first substrate and forming, through etching, a groove in the support layer and coating UV resin in the groove so as to obtain a flexible material layer that is flat, operable, and not prone to deformation. After the formation of an OLED element, the portion outside an area delimited by the groove is trimmed off and the first substrate and the flexible material layer are separated to obtain a flexible OLED panel. This method allows for automation and does not cause damage to the components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of flat panel displaying, and in particular to a method for manufacturing a flexible OLED (Organic Light Emitting Display) panel.
2. The Related Arts
A flat panel display device has various advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and is thus of wide applications. The flat panel display devices that are currently available include liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and organic light emitting displays (OLEDs).
The organic light emitting displays have characteristics of self luminescence, high brightness, wide view angle, high contrast, flexibility, and low power consumption and thus get wide attentions for serving as next generation displaying measures used in electronic products, such as mobile phone screens, computer displays, and full color televisions to replace the traditional liquid crystal displays. The OLED displaying technology, which is different the conventional LCD displaying technology, requires no backlighting and instead uses extremely thin organic material coating and glass substrate, whereby when an electrical current flowing therethrough, the organic material emits light.
The development of the OLED displaying technology brings flexible OLED displaying technology a new hot spot of the display panel business. However, since a flexible substrate is prone to deformation, the operations of a manufacturing process are hard to achieve, particularly alignment, film formation of TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) or OLED.

Method for manufacturing flexible OLED (organic light emitting display) panel

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


Systems for imaging a sample are provided. The system includes an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging portion having an associated OCT path defined by one set of optical elements between an OCT signal delivery optical fiber and the sample; an image capture portion having an associated image capture path defined by a second set of optical elements between an image capture device and the sample, different from the OCT path; and an illuminator portion having an associated illumination path defined by a third set of optical elements between an illumination source and the sample. The OCT path, the image capture path, and the illuminator path have at least one optical element in common, and the respective paths differ from each other by at least one optical element. The OCT path and the image capture path share a common intermediate conjugate image plane. Focal control is achieved for the OCT path and the image capture path concurrently through adjustment of one or more common optical elements distal to the common intermediate conjugate plane, such that focal control requires no differential adjustment between optical elements not in common to both paths.

Visual field testing is a conventional clinical method utilized in the diagnosis of eye diseases that cause degradation of vision sensitivity. One method utilized in the diagnosis of such diseases is the Standard Automated Perimeter (SAP) test, which tests brightness contrast sensitivity over a large visual field. There are many instruments for performing an SAP test routinely used in clinics including, for example, those produced by Carl Zeiss Meditec (Dublin, Calif.).
Typically, visual field testing utilizes functional field testing techniques. However, a functional field test technique is a functional test of vision degradation. Due to the human eye's complex multiplexing capability, the functional field test is not a sensitive measure of eye structure, which would be highly useful in the early diagnoses of such eye diseases before substantial degradation has occurred. Such structural tests include, for example, retinal image testing and optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Retinal image testing can be performed with conventional optical imaging methodology and has been routinely used in clinics for retinal structure change evaluation in addition to visual field tests. Devices such as a fundus camera, a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) or an indirect ophthalmoscope are routinely used for such testing. The retinal image provides valuable information that clinicians can utilize to diagnosis eye diseases. However, only qualitative interpretation of eye structure changes from the retinal photographs can be observed by highly experienced clinicians.
Accordingly, OCT has been used for non-invasive human eye retinal imaging. The cross sectional retinal image provided by an OCT system may allow a clinician to quantitatively evaluate the retinal nerve layer and retinal thickness. Thus, the OCT system may provide valuable clinical information that can be used for early diagnosis of eye diseases, such as Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy and Glaucoma.
OCT has been adopted as a standard of care for structural imaging of the eye for retinal and anterior structures. Video fundus photography and scanning laser ophthalmoscopy remain important modalities for capturing high resolution, high contrast en face photographs. Additionally, these modalities are useful for color photography and fluorescent imaging that provide complementary signatures of disease.
To date, OCT imaging systems have been largely bulky tabletop systems appropriate to clinical imaging of ambulatory patients. Handheld OCT produced by Bioptigen is the first compact system for ophthalmic imaging of pediatric, confined, or infirm patients that does not require the patient to sit a tabletop instrument as discussed in commonly assigned United States Patent Publication No. 2009/0268020.
The details of OCT systems used for imaging the human eye are discussed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,730 to Jay Wei et al. entitled Optical Apparatus and Method for Comprehensive Eye Diagnosis, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in its entirety. OCT scanners used for imaging the human eye are discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,359 to Jay Wei et al. entitled Optical Coherence Tomography Optical Scanner, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in its entirety.
Further discussion of OCT and related systems, methods and computer program product can be found in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,830,525 and United States Patent Publication Nos. 2007/0081166; 2010/0315592; 2010/0321636; 2009/0141237 and 2009/0268161, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in their entirety.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compact multimodality optical coherence tomography imaging systems having a ring of optical fibers in image capture path


A gear transmission for keeping a load in balance at both ends of a crank shaft in an all-terrain saddle type vehicle provided with a transmitting unit capable of transmitting power from the crank shaft to the gear transmission and a generator connected to the crank shaft. A torque converter is provided with a lock-up clutch mounted on the crank case side of the torque converter and capable of directly connecting a pump to a turbine. A driving gear fixed to the turbine and capable of transmitting the output of the torque converter to the gear transmission is mounted on one end side of a crank shaft outside the crank case such that the lock-up clutch is sandwiched between the torque converter and the driving gear. A generator is mounted on the other end side of the crank shaft outside the crank case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an all-terrain saddle type vehicle provided with a gear transmission capable of selectively establishing a plurality of speed change steps, a transmitting unit capable of transmitting power from a crank shaft rotatably supported by the crank case of an engine, and a generator connected to the crank shaft.
2. Description of Background Art
An all-terrain saddle type vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H7-195949, in which a centrifugal automatic clutch is used as a transmitting unit for transmitting the power of a crankshaft to a gear transmission side. A power transmitting unit using a belt converter mechanism using a V belt is utilized. However, in such a centrifugal automatic clutch or such a belt converter mechanism, a torque amplification operation can not be expected and the number of the speed change steps of a gear transmission considerably increases to complicate the constitution of the gear transmission. In particular, in the power transmitting unit using the belt converter mechanism, a belt needs to be changed at regular time intervals and when water or dirt is attached to the belt, the belt slips to reduce the durability of the belt, which complicates a cooling air system for cooling the V belt because the system that is introduces the cooling air needs to be made waterproof.
In order to considerably reduce the number of the speed change steps of a gear transmission and to simplify the constitution of the gear transmission and to realize a maintenance-free gear transmission, a torque converter may be used instead of the above centrifugal automatic clutch or the belt converter mechanism and a power transmitting unit using such a torque converter is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. S57-69163. However, the power transmitting unit disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. S57-69163 has a constitution in which power from a crankshaft is applied, via a gear train, to the pump of a torque converter whose turbine is coaxially connected to the input shaft of a gear transmission. On the other hand, a power transmitting unit for driving a generator by a crankshaft usually has a generator coaxially mounted on the crankshaft and hence if the arrangement of the torque converter disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. S57-69163 is applied to the power transmitting unit of an all-terrain vehicle provided with the generator as it is, the crankshaft is placed out of balance in load at both its ends.
The present invention has been made in view of above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an all-terrain saddle type vehicle capable of simplifying the constitution of a gear transmission using a torque converter and keeping load in balance at both ends of a crankshaft.
In order to accomplish the above object, a first aspect of the invention is an all-terrain saddle type vehicle including a gear transmission capable of selectively establishing a plurality of speed change steps. A transmitting unit is provided that is capable of transmitting power from a crankshaft rotatably supported by the crank case of an engine to the gear transmission. A generator is connected to the crankshaft. The transmitting unit is a torque converter having a pump rotated by the power from the crankshaft. The torque converter, a lock-up clutch mounted on the crank case side of the torque converter and capable of directly connecting the pump to the turbine of the torque converter and a driving gear rotating integrally with the turbine and capable of transmitting the output of the torque converter to the gear transmission are mounted on one end side of the crankshaft outside the crank case wherein the lock-up clutch is sandwiched between the torque converter and the driving gear and that the generator is mounted on the other end side of the crank shaft outside the crank case.
According to the constitution described above, it is possible to considerably reduce the number of speed change steps of the gear transmission, to simplify the constitution of the gear transmission, to improve durability, and to establish a maintenance-free all-terrain saddle type vehicle by using the torque converter having a torque amplifying function as the transmitting unit capable of transmitting power from the crankshaft to the gear transmission. Further, since the torque converter is mounted on one end side of the crankshaft and the generator is mounted on the other end side of the crankshaft, it is possible to keep the load in balance at both the ends of the crankshaft and to increase the power transmitting rigidity from the crankshaft to the gear transmission by compactly arranging the torque converter, the lock-up clutch, and the driving gear outside the crank case at the position near to the crank case.
A second aspect of the present invention includes a starting clutch capable of transmitting power between the pump of the torque converter and the crankshaft or interrupting the transmission of the power is arranged such that the torque converter is sandwiched between the starting clutch and the lock-up clutch. According to such a constitution, it is possible to compactly arrange a starting clutch capable of transmitting the power between the crankshaft and the torque converter or interrupting the transmission of the power according to the running condition of the all-terrain saddle type vehicle, the torque converter, and the lock-up clutch.
A third aspect of the present invention includes a valve system driving cam chain of a 4-cycle overhead cam type engine that is interposed between the driving gear and the crank case. According to such a constitution, it is possible to reduce the size of a power transmitting unit in the direction along the axis of the crank shaft by effectively arranging the valve system driving cam chain having a narrow width along the axial direction of the crankshaft in a space between the driving gear and the crank case.
A fourth aspect of the present invention includes a cover fixed to the crank case to form an operation chamber between itself and the crank case, and that the generator and the gear transmission both of which are arranged at the almost same position along the axial direction of the crankshaft are received in the operation chamber. According to such a constitution, it is possible to mount or dismount the generator and the gear transmission in the state where they are removed from the crank case and hence to easily maintain the generator and the gear transmission.
Further, a fifth aspect of the present invention includes an all-terrain saddle type vehicle that further includes a control unit for controlling the operation of the lock-up clutch such that the lock-up clutch is turned to the ON state immediately after the all-terrain vehicle starts in the state where the lowest speed change step in the forward direction is established in the gear transmission. According to such a constitution, since the torque converter is put into the lock-up state immediately after the all-terrain saddle type vehicle starts to eliminate the speed change range of the torque converter to produce a vehicle speed proportional to the rotational speed of the engine, it is convenient for performing work at a constant speed such as planting seeds, dusting agricultural chemicals, or the like.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.


A sealing gasket assembly includes one or more carriers each having an offset flexible stopper portion spaced laterally outwardly away from an offset inner sealing portion that is adjacent an opening or other area requiring sealing between mating members adapted to be clamped together. An optional shim can be disposed adjacent to, and aligned with, the carrier. A resilient sealing material is applied to at least portions of the carrier and/or the shim, such as by screen printing, for example. The gasket assembly can be used advantageously in sealing applications such as those for cylinder heads and blocks, intake or exhaust manifolds, piping or other fluid conveying devices, housings, enclosures, or other situations where relative movement can occur between the members to be sealed to each other.

The invention relates to a gasket for sealing between opposed mating surfaces of two or more members adapted to be forcibly mated together and to clamp the sealing gasket therebetween. More particularly, in a preferred form, the invention relates to such gaskets preferably having a single-layer carrier with unique embossments and a flexible stopper portion.
Conventional gaskets, such as those used to seal between a cylinder head and cylinder block of an internal combustion engine, include two or more carrier members, such as those composed of spring steel, having various embossments to achieve proper sealing as well as the recovery needed to accommodate dynamic lifting of the cylinder head or other relative movement between the head and block. Such gaskets frequently include a stopper, which is an additional thin strip of metal or other material having a high stiffness. The stopper is located adjacent or near the combustion opening of the gasket in order to distribute sufficient load around the combustion opening area to properly seal and to prevent over-compression of adjacent combustion sealing embossments. In such constructions, the stopper is typically welded onto the carrier or formed from a folded-over portion of the carrier around the circumference of the combustion opening. In these designs, the stopper acts as the primary seal, with one or more other embossments acting as a secondary seal.
Although performing relatively well, such prior art constructions often suffer from certain disadvantages caused by the high rigidity of the stopper, such as high bore distortion, cylinder liner recessing, and inadequate accommodation of dynamic head lifting. Such disadvantages are frequently aggravated by the location of such highly rigid stoppers at or closely adjacent the combustion opening of the gasket, the cylinder head and the cylinder block.
In order to improve upon such gasket designs and to address the disadvantages of gaskets of the type discussed above, as well as others, the present invention seeks to reduce bore distortion, to reduce liner recession, and to accommodate greater dynamic head lifting while more evenly distributing loads circumferentially about the combustion opening. In addition, since the preferred form of a gasket according to the invention has a lower-cost single layer carrier, it significantly reduces load loss resulting from the greater amount of creep caused by multiple layer constructions, as well as eliminating misalignment between multiple layers, tolerance stack up among multiple layers and associated load variations. A preferred form of the inventive gasket allows for carrier embossments that are preselected to have a desired relative flexibility, that provides greater capability to follow relative motion between the members being sealed, and that increases the gasket's ability to accommodate rough mating surfaces of the members over that of prior art multiple layer gaskets. It should be noted that gaskets constructed according to the present invention are applicable in a variety of cylinder head and cylinder block applications, such as those found in internal combustion engines or gas compressors, for example, as well as in intake or exhaust manifold sealing, fuel cell component sealing and numerous other automotive or non-automotive industrial applications.
The present invention provides an improved gasket for sealing between opposed mating surfaces of two or more members having openings therein and that are adapted to be forcibly mated together, continuously or at least intermittently, to clamp the gasket therebetween, thus sealing around such openings, which are laterally aligned for longitudinal communication with each other. A gasket according to the present invention includes a carrier having first and second laterally extending sides or surfaces defining a longitudinal thickness therebetween. The carrier includes a gasket opening (as well as other coolant, lubricant, fastener or other openings, as required in a given application), with the gasket opening being adapted to be laterally aligned in longitudinal communication with the openings in the mating surface of the members when the gasket is clamped between the mated members. The preferred carrier is resiliently flexible in the longitudinal direction, but is relatively rigid in comparison to other elements of the gasket. A resilient sealing material that is substantially more flexible than the carrier material is disposed on at least portions of the laterally extending sides of the carrier for sealingly engaging the mated surfaces of the members at least adjacent their openings when the gasket is clamped between the mated members.
The carrier preferably includes a longitudinally flexible inner sealing portion disposed laterally adjacent the gasket opening with the inner sealing portion being longitudinally offset relative to the remainder of said carrier portion (or relative to an intermediate carrier portion located laterally outward of the inner sealing portion). The inner sealing portion is preferably offset in a longitudinal direction toward a first of the mating surfaces of the members when the gasket is being clamped therebetween and can be formed by way of embossing the relatively rigid (but still resiliently flexible) carrier, as well as by way of other forming methods or devices known to those skilled in the art. The inner sealing portion preferably includes the above-mentioned resilient sealing material disposed on at least portions of its laterally-extending sides for sealing engagement with the mating surfaces of the members when the gasket is clamped therebetween. These carrier features can be formed as embossments, for example, either before or after application of the resilient sealing material.
The preferred carrier also includes a longitudinally flexible stopper portion spaced laterally outwardly, away from the gasket opening so that the inner sealing portion and the flexible stopper portion are on opposite lateral sides of the above-mentioned the intermediate portion, or at least so that the flexible stopper portion is laterally outward relative to the inner sealing portion (i.e., with or without the intermediate carrier portion). The preferred flexible stopper portion is longitudinally convex relative to the remainder of the carrier (or relative to the intermediate carrier portion) on a side of the flexible stopper oriented toward one of the mating surfaces and is longitudinally concave relative to the remainder of the carrier (or relative to the intermediate carrier portion) on an opposite side of the flexible stopper oriented toward another of the mating surfaces of the members. The stopper, which can have a generally trapezoidal shape, for example, thus flexibly and resiliently limits the amount of longitudinal compression of the inner sealing portion but is typically less flexible than the inner sealing portion. The inner sealing portion is thus maintained in sealing engagement with the mating surfaces of both of the members during any relative movement therebetween when the members are mated together.
In a preferred form of the invention, the inner sealing portion is longitudinally offset to an extent greater than the extent of the longitudinal convexity of the flexible stopper so as to assure deflection of the inner sealing portion prior to compression of the flexible stopper. In addition, the resilient sealing material is preferably disposed within, and can completely fill or at least partially fill the concave side of the flexible stopper member. In specific applications, however, it may be satisfactory to optionally omit the resilient sealing from completely filling the concave flexible stopper side altogether in any of the embodiments of the invention.
In any of the gasket embodiments according to the present invention, the inner sealing portion can optionally be longitudinally offset in various configurations, such as a generally "Z-shaped" half-embossment or a inclined or angled partially embossed or bent configuration, for example, as will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the drawings and from the following description and claims. Additionally, the inner sealing portion of the carrier, instead of being integrally formed by bending or by embossing as part of the carrier, can optionally be substantially separated from the remainder of the carrier member but interconnected and held in place by two or more connecting struts or by one or more "living hinges" formed of the resilient sealing material. Such living hinge or hinges can be between any pair of, or any combination of, the inner sealing portion, the intermediate carrier portion and/or the flexible stopper. Two or more flexible stoppers can also be optionally included in some or all of the embodiments of the invention, with such multiple flexible stoppers facing in opposite longitudinal directions, facing in the same longitudinal direction, or any combination of such orientations.
It should further be noted that gaskets according to the present invention can be advantageously used in a wide variety of applications, such as cylinder head and block sealing for internal combustion engines, gas compressors, or other devices having a sealed cylinder containing liquid or gaseous fluids, sealing intake, exhaust or other fluid conveying manifold applications, sealing between piping flanges, or sealingly isolating the interior from the exterior of housings or enclosures, for example. The present invention provides special advantages where relative movement can occur between the members being sealed, such as that due to thermal, mechanical or fluid conditions or environments presented by a particular applications. Those skilled in the art will undoubtedly recognize many other advantageous applications of gaskets according to the present invention.
In addition, it should be emphasized that in any of the embodiments discussed herein, more than one layer of a gasket according to the present invention can be used if desired or needed in various applications. Such applications include those where additional thickness is needed to match the thickness of a previous gasket or gasket assembly that is being replaced by a gasket assembly according to the present invention, or where particular (e.g., increased) spring rate, loading and/or deflection characteristics are desired or needed in conjunction with the flexible stopper characteristics and features discussed herein.
Additional objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


Systems and methods for controlling a head-up display (HUD) in a vehicle are disclosed herein. One embodiment deactivates the HUD in response to a command from a driver of the vehicle; assigns a level of urgency to an item of information associated with a current vehicular context; and activates the HUD to display the item of information to the driver, when the level of urgency exceeds a predetermined threshold.

It is becoming increasingly common for a new vehicle to be equipped with a head-up display (sometimes also referred to as a "heads-up display") (HUD). A HUD permits the driver of a vehicle to see information such as current vehicle speed, outside or interior temperature, and navigation information (e.g., instructions to turn left at the next intersection) without looking away from the roadway ahead. Despite the usefulness of vehicle HUDs, some drivers find information displayed on a HUD to be annoying or distracting, so they deactivate the HUD. With the HUD deactivated, a driver might miss urgent and important items of information, including items pertaining to safety.

Systems and methods for controlling a head-up display in a vehicle


According to the present embodiment, a serving module includes: a tray; a main body formed therein with a tray space configured to accommodate the tray and having a tray entrance; a tray moving device configured to move at least a part of the tray out of the tray entrance or move an entire of the tray into the tray space; a door configured to open and close the tray entrance; and a door driving device connected to the door to open and close the door.

Robots have been developed for industrial use in order to serve as a part of factory automation. Recently, industrial fields employing the robots have been extensively increased, so that medical robots and aerospace robots as well as robots that can be used in daily life have been developed.
Such daily life robots provide specific services (e.g., shopping, serving, talking, cleaning, etc.) in response to a command of a user.
However, the existing daily life robot is designed to provide only a specific service, so that the utilization against the cost invested for developing the robot is not high.
Accordingly, the demand for a robot that can provide various services has recently emerged.

Serving module and robot having the same


Disclosed herein are systems and methods for generating injection-locked, frequency-multiplied output signals. In an embodiment, a circuit includes a ring of a number (N) serially connected delay-buffer elements and an injection-pulse-generation circuit. Each delay-buffer element provides a time delay (D), and at least some of them have at least one pulse-locking injection port. The injection-pulse-generation circuit is configured to transmit balanced-delay injection-pulse signals—that are generated by applying balanced-delay selection logic to a clock signal according to pulse-selection control signals—to the pulse-locking injection ports to provide, at the ring output port, an injection-locked, frequency-multiplied output signal having a frequency that equals the reciprocal of (N*D) and that bears the same proportional relationship to the frequency of the clock signal that the period of the clock signal bears to (N*D).

Complex electronic devices are important in modern society and to the modern economy, and becoming more so all the time. Some examples of such devices include laptop computers, mobile phones (e.g., smartphones), tablets, Wi-Fi routers and other Wi-Fi access points, wireless-network base stations and other components, servers, routers, switches, transmitters, receivers, transceivers, and the like. Certainly numerous other examples of complex modern electronic devices could be listed here.
From the beginning of the modern electronics and computing age, and continuing up to and including the present day, the ability to generate precisely clocked electrical signals has been important for synchronizing the functions of multiple parts of computer processors and other electronic devices, and also for the synchronization of cooperative and/or complimentary functions of multiple electronic devices. In a typical example, an electric potential is applied to a quartz crystal, causing the quartz crystal to emit an electrical signal having a reliably fixed frequency. Such a signal then often forms the basis for what is referred to in the electronics arts as a "clock" signal for a given circuit or electronic device. This clock signal then drives the timing of the functioning of the various elements of the given circuit or electronic device, defining the points in time at which, for example, a given data register can be written, the given data register can be read, and the like.
In order to function properly and/or up to or near their full potential, some circuits and other electronic devices require clock signals having frequencies that are greater than the precise frequencies that can be generated by application of electricity to a naturally occurring material such as a quartz crystal. Accordingly, for this reason and others, there is a need for the presently disclosed systems and methods for generating injection-locked, frequency-multiplied output signals.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Systems and methods for generating injection-locked, frequency-multiplied output signals


A resin molding apparatus provided with a first mold and a second mold for pressing a flat thermoplastic resin sheet into a molded article, wherein the molded article has a shape provided with a flat plate part and a concave-convex part continuous with the flat plate part, and a heating part is provided to locally heat a concave-convex molding region corresponding to the concave-convex part in the thermoplastic resin sheet when the thermoplastic resin sheet is pressed.

A conventional example of molding apparatuses for thermoplastic resin sheets is described in Patent Literature 1. In the disclosure of Patent Literature 1, heat shield panels are provided between heaters, and in the process of heating a thermoplastic resin sheet with heaters, the entire thermoplastic resin sheet is uniformly heated by controlling the vertical positions of the heat shield panels.


Methods, devices, and software for selecting image slices. The image slices are preferably taken during a quiet part of the patient's heart cycle in which the heart is relatively motionless so as to reduce blurring and the introduction of artifacts into the resultant reconstructed projection image of the heart. The methods of the present invention can analyze information regarding the duration of the patient's R-R cycles and allow the user to choose from a plurality of selection criteria, typically an absolute time or a percentage of the R-R cycle, so as to select slice images for inclusion in a projection image. The ability to choose from a plurality of selection criteria provides for flexibility to account for irregular heartbeats or a change in the duration of the patient's R-R cycles. In exemplary embodiments, the resultant projection image can be used for coronary calcium scoring or 3-D rendering of the heart.

The present invention relates generally to medical imaging. More specifically, the present invention relates to gating of an image scan to improve calcium scoring of a patient's heart and coronary arteries.
CT scanning of the heart is an increasingly common procedure to obtain information about the presence of calcification in the coronary arteries. Unfortunately, two body motions can interfere with the quality of the images obtained by the CT scanner: the heart motion and the patient's breathing motion. A normal heart scan takes about 20 seconds and to reduce the effect of the breathing motion, the patient is generally asked to hold their breath to eliminate the breath motion. The heart motion, on the other hand, cannot be readily eliminated and can lead to blurring, introduction of artifacts into the images, and misregistration.
A common procedure to reduce the heart motion is gating. As is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,370,217 B1 and 6,243,437 to Hu et al., the motion of the heart is fastest during systole and relatively motionless during diastole. Prospective gating methodologies use an electrocardiograph signal (ECG) to predict the time of the diastole such that the CT scanner can be activated to obtain an image during the relatively motionless diastole period. A major issue with prospective gating in subjects with irregular heart beats is that the trigger can only be set to acquire data after the R-wave. If the following beat is short, the data acquisition may overlap the next systolic period. Retrospective gating, on the other hand, uses the electrocardiograph signal to retrospectively find motionless points in the heart cycle to select the image slice. In retrospective gating, the ECG signal information can be used, in retrospect, to select the slice images that were acquired during the diastole. The heart moves through a cycle in somewhat under a second, and a scanners generally take from a quarter second to a half second to acquire the information for each slice, thus it is possible to select from a number of slices for each cardiac cycle.
There are two major issues with retrospective gating. The first is that while reconstruction at finer intervals than the whole acquisition cycle does not increase the radiation dose to the subject to produce the extra images, the overlap of the scanned volume and the fact that the scanner's x-ray tube is continuously on (instead of being turned off during the parts of the cardiac cycle that are not of interest) increase the radiation dosage. The second problem is that gating from an ECG signal requires the placement of electrodes on the subject and testing to confirm that their placement is adequate. In a busy screening or diagnostic practice the added steps can decrease utilization and negatively affect the economics of the imaging operation.
There are various shortcomings in existing software for retrospective gating. When the operator is performing the selection of slices, there is no real time feedback as to the adequacy of the selection. Information as to the length of the cardiac cycle during the study, convenient ways to ascertain whether it changed during the study, and measurement of any one cycle are also not readily available. Except for manually adjusting each slice (there can be 350–500 slices in a study), there is no way to account for changes in the cardiac cycle. All of these contribute to decreasing the certainty with which a particular coronary calcium score is known, and to increasing the variability of the resulting calcium scores.
Consequently, what is needed are improved methods and software for generating a reconstructed projection image of the patient's heart which more fully utilizes the information content of the acquisition cycle, so that less of the increased dose is wasted or thrown out. Additionally, what is also needed are methods and software that can gate an image scan without the use of an ECG signal.

Methods and software for retrospectively gating a set of images


A method is described for detecting an object with target radar. After the first detection of an object, the antenna is tilted. The original direction towards the object is restored by electronically steering the emitted beam. The beamsteering is obtained by changing the frequency of the emitted signal. Thus, the object may be detected several times on different frequencies. The method is particularly applicable in search and track radars.

Currently, in radars searching and tracking the path of projectiles, successive rounds from the same gun or other trajectories will be detected and tracked with the radar using the same frequencies each time. Thus both the detection probability and the tracking errors will be correlated, since these depend on the frequency characteristics of the radar cross-section (RCS). RCS is the measure of a target's ability to reflect radar signals in the direction of the radar receiver.
Solutions are known in which the antenna orientation/position of the radar are changed. However, changing the antenna orientation/radar position will cause a period of time where the radar is not searching/tracking.
Another solution is to use two or more radars. Using several radars to get better search and tracking is expensive.


A multiuser detector for a CDMA system for real-time processing. Interference information of cross correlation from the signals of different users is processed to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio by suppressing the interference noise in a multiple-stage processing. A sampling processor is implemented to obtain at least two sets of data for each user with different integration times. The operation of the detector is dynamically adjusted to the operating condition of the CDMA system in a near real-time manner.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) has emerged as a key technology for communication services. CDMA intentionally uses a transmission bandwidth that is usually several orders of magnitude larger than the minimum required signal or information bandwidth, e.g., the bandwidth implied by the basic message symbol rate in a communication system. The power of each user's signal is spread over a wide bandwidth. This results in low power spectral density and thereby the interference to another narrow band signal occupying the same frequency range is reduced. It also makes the presence of the signal less detectable to an invader.
A digital signal from each user in a CDMA system is modulated with a pseudo-noise (PN) binary sequence that is unique to that particular user. This modulation causes the spreading over the wide bandwidth. Each PN sequence appears random to a naive observer but can be reproduced in a deterministic manner by an intended receiver. Any two PN sequences are made substantially orthogonal to each other but some degree of cross correlation still exists. The mutual interference in the same frequency range of multiple users is greatly reduced in a CDMA system. This orthogonality allows multiple access within the same frequency spectrum and makes CDMA systems less vulnerable to intentional or unintentional interference. However, the cross correlation becomes limiting the system capacity as the number of users increases.
Detection of a CDMA system usually involves cross correlation with a locally-generated version of the PN sequence. A desired user signal is generally detected by cross correlating with the exact same PN sequence that is uniquely assigned to that particular user by the system. Signals from other users contribute a small amount of wideband noise due to non-zero cross correlation value produced by the cross correlation operation.
The ratio of the transmission bandwidth over the information bandwidth indicates the degree of the spectrum spreading of a CDMA system. This ratio is often referred as the processing gain. Many beneficial properties of CDMA relate to the processing gain.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified CDMA system 100. User message symbols (e.g., encoded data bits) are modulated with a carrier frequency and spreaded by PN sequence waveforms prior to transmission. A receiver system 130 process the received signals by filtering and correlation operation to recover the embedded user message symbols. A CDMA detector 137 is an essential part of the receiver 130.
CDMA systems have many unique properties. For example, multiple access communication by a large number of users in a common frequency range in the same and neighboring geographical areas are possible. This has particular significance in satellite and cellular communication systems. The number of users simultaneously supported by the system is usually proportional to the processing gain of the CDMA system. The resistance to interference increases with the processing gain. In addition, position location and velocity estimation can be measured with high accuracy in a CDMA system.
The application of CDMA in communication has been demonstrated in a number of systems in use including the IS-95 based CDMA cellular system disclosed in "On the Capacity of A Cellular CDMA System", by Gilhousen et al., IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., Vol. VT-40(2), pp303-312, May, 1991, a PCS system based on IS-95, and the Globalstar LEO satellite system. The high capacity, high resolution time-of-arrival for positioning measurement, low probability of interception, and independent interference rejection makes CDMA communication systems one of the most promising candidates for multiuser communications.
The multiuser detection system is an important aspect of the CDMA technology. A portion of a simplified CDMA detection system is indicated by the signal mixers 133 and 135 and the detector 137 in FIG. 1. The CDMA detection system plays a substantially role in terms of the system capacity, processing speed, interference resistance, and noise reduction.
One significant limitation of the prior-art multiuser detectors in CDMA systems involves the cross-correlation information among users in signal detection. Many prior-art systems essentially neglect the cross correlation. This increases the symbol error rate performance and consequently reduces the capacity of the system. Specifically, the cross correlation noise is not separated from the autocorrelated signal in many prior-art detectors.
Another limitation of the prior-art systems is the slow processing speed inherent in the detectors. This is partially due to the complexity of the prior-art decoder processing techniques. For example, Verdu first disclosed the idea of the optimal multiuser detector in "Minimum Probability of Error for Asynchronous Gaussian Multiple Access Channels", IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, Vol. IT-32(1), pp.85-96, 1986. An ensemble of K received asynchronous signals as convolutional codes was used in the proposed system, where K is the number of users in the system. The well-known Viterbi algorithm was used to decode these signals. Lupas and Verdu proved that Verdu's multiuser detector has a low bit error rate and is near-far resistant in "Near-Far Resistance of Multiuser Detectors in Asynchronous Channels", IEEE Trans. Comm, Vol.38(4), 1990. However, Verdu's scheme exhibited two major problems. First, the complexity of the system grows exponentially with the number of transmitted signals K. Even for a moderate value of K, Verdu's system is already hard to implement. Secondly, the whole period of the PN sequence is assumed to be modulated by only one symbol to reduce the computation, which makes the trellis become time invariant.
Several suboptimal multiuser detectors have been introduced after Verdu's detector, aiming at reducing the complexity of Verdu's system. For example, Xie et al. described a detector using sequential decoding in "Multiuser Signal Detection Using Sequential Decoding", IEEE Trans. Commm. Vol.38(5), pp.578-583, 1990. This system has a complexity proportional to K. Lupus and Verdu also disclosed a linear de-correlating detector with complexity proportional to K. However, both of the above systems make the same assumption as in Verdu's system, i.e., the whole period of the PN sequence is modulated by a single symbol.
In view of the above limitations, a new type of multiuser detector with high capacity and fast processing speed is needed to improve the existing CDMA systems. In particular, separation of the cross correlation noise from the signal and reduction of the processing complexity are desirable.
The present invention describes a multiuser detector with a dynamical system control at a high processing speed. Specifically, a double-sampling front-end processor is implemented in the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. The detector further includes a dynamic control module for generating a system control .delta.-parameter based on the characteristics of the received signals (i.e., the number of users and the processing gain) a correlation processor for processing cross correlation information of the received signals, a plurality of approximation processors for recursively suppressing the cross correlation noise below a predetermined noise tolerance level based on the .delta.-parameter, and a decision processor for estimating the received symbols. The approximation processors form a plurality of substantially identical processing layers connected to each other in series. The correlation processor feeds information on both auto correlation and cross correlation of the input signals of multiple users to the first approximation processor in the series. In a preferred operation, received signals are processed layer by layer until the cross correlation noise is reduced below the predetermined level.
One aspect of the present invention is the linear dependence of the processing complexity with the number of the simultaneous users present in the system. This feature in combination with other unique properties of the preferred embodiment allows greater system capacity at faster processing speed in comparison with the prior-art systems.
Another aspect is the use of cross correlation information to substantially cancel the interference contributed by the cross correlation signals. This feature presents significant advantage over the prior-art system wherein the cross correlation signals is either neglected or is canceled by using repeated spreading or despreading of the signals. This use of cross correlation information increases the system capacity and reduces hardware complexity.
Still another aspect is the dynamically adjusted system control for a high-speed convergence in the multi-layer processing. The detector of the preferred embodiment controls the decorrelation processing in each processing layers by feeding the layer with a dynamic control parameter .delta.. An optimized .delta.-parameter is preferably adjusted and determined individually by the characteristics of a received signal such as the number of the simultaneous users, K, the processing gain, the PN sequence, and the user delay. Generation of the .delta.-parameter is a simple digital operation at a high speed in the present invention.
Other aspects of the present invention include additional system enhancement by optimally combining the two output signals from the double-sampling front-end processor, digital generation of the PN sequence, and a mechanism for handling decorrelation process at very small user delay times relative to the signal symbol duration.
The details of the preferred embodiment of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Once the details of the invention are known, numerous additional innovations and changes will become obvious to one skilled in the art.

Signal detection and interference cancellation based on simplified matrix inversion for CDMA applications


A method of making bread dough, pizza dough, and bread using a food processor having a cutting blade. Flour, yeast, and salt are placed in a bowl of the mixer and their temperature is taken to obtain a dry component temperature. Depending on the type of mixer selected, a base temperature of either about 130.degree. F. or about 150.degree. F. is selected. The dry component temperature is subtracted from the base temperature to obtain a calculated liquid temperature. The temperature of a quantity of water is adjusted to the calculated liquid temperature. The mixer is started and the water is added to the bowl. The mixer is allowed to run for about 45 seconds and is then turned off. The dough is allowed to ferment and is then formed into loaves or pizza crusts, which are baked in an oven.

This invention relates to food preparation in general and, more particularly, to a method of making bread dough, pizza dough, bread, and pizza crust.
Bread has four basic components: flour, salt, yeast, and a liquid. The components are typically added together in a container at the same time to form a mass of dough. The yeast, however, is usually mixed with a small amount of warm water before it is added to the container in order to dissolve the yeast.
Flour contains proteins, starches, and sugars. When flour is mixed with a liquid, such as water, the proteins react and form gluten. Gluten creates an elastic strand in the bread dough. The yeast in the dough consumes the sugars in the dough as the yeast feeds itself. As the yeast feeds, the dough ferments. The elastic strands in the gluten trap and retain the carbon dioxide in the dough, thereby causing the dough to rise. The yeast in the dough ferments the sugars to generate alcohol and carbon dioxide. In order to increase the retention of carbon dioxide in the dough, the gluten is formed into an elastic web by physically manipulating the dough through kneading.
Many home bakers knead the dough by hand, using an electric mixer equipped with a helical mixing arm called a "dough hook", or using an electric mixer such as a food processor equipped with a plastic dough blade. Commercial bakeries mix dough by hand or using an electric mixer equipped with a helical, spiral, or oblique mixing arm. Often, the home baker kneads the dough in the mechanical mixer for 10 minutes or so. The commercial baker kneads the dough in the mechanical mixer for up to 20 minutes.
After the dough is kneaded, the dough is left to ferment and then molded into a desired shape, such as a loaf. The dough is then "proofed", that is, allowed to sit for a period of time in order to allow the dough to rise and take its final shape. Typically, the bread is proofed at a slightly elevated temperature to increase the activity of the yeast. After being proofed, the dough is baked for a period of time to form bread.
The quality of the bread made pursuant to the foregoing prior art method can be adversely affected by several factors. For example, the mechanical mixer exposes the dough to an enormous amount of air when it kneads the dough, especially if the mechanical mixer is utilized for an extended period of time such as ten minutes. The chemical process known as "oxidation" takes place. During oxidation, oxygen in the ambient air leaches out some of the color, flavor, and nutrients in the dough. In many instances, the mechanical mixer actually puts air into the dough, thereby causing the bread to be featherlight and bland.
Another factor that can adversely affect the quality of the bread is mixing the dough at too high of a temperature. The mechanical mixer heats the dough significantly, especially if the mechanical mixer is utilized for an extended period of time such as ten minutes. If the temperature of the dough is too high, the yeast is too active, might be killed and, thus, the bread will not rise properly. Some techniques have attempted to overcome the problem of heating during mixing by precooling the ingredients, cooling the bowl during mixing, or both.
Based upon the foregoing, there is a need in the art for an improved method of making bread dough and pizza dough. The present invention is directed to such a method.


A network system that can easily augment security is provided. The network system includes an information device included in an internal network connected to an external network, the information device transmitting specific information including its own identification information and device information provided in advance, in conformity with a predefined protocol; and a management unit that monitors the internal network, and collects the specific information from the information device in conformity with the predefined protocol. The management unit collects specific information from an unknown information device, notifies a user of an authorization request for the unknown information device on the basis of the collected specific information, and determines whether or not to authorize access of the unknown information device to the internal network, in accordance with a response from the user to the authorization request.

Home network systems are often used by general users who do not understand network technology in enough detail. Thus, even if an unauthorized information device breaks through a firewall provided in a router or the like and is connected to the home network system, the user may not become aware of the connection and allow the unauthorized information device to use the home network system fraudulently.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a system in which a security switch is provided in a router or the like. The system switches between a mode of enabling a connection to a local area network and a mode of disabling the connection thereto, in accordance with a state of the security switch, in order to augment the security of the network.