An apparatus for driving a pile section having a central opening into the ground includes a mast attachment with roped hydraulic cylinders, a high frequency hydraulic impact hammer connected with the mast, and a drive cap. The mast with roped hydraulic cylinders provides for vertical movement of the high frequency hydraulic impact hammer, and the drive cap connects with the high frequency hydraulic impact hammer and a pile section to transfer the drive force of the hammer to the pile section. When the mast is connected with an excavator and the drive cap is connected with the high frequency hydraulic impact hammer, a pile section is connected with the drive cap lower end and the high frequency hydraulic impact hammer is operated to drive the pile section into the ground.

The present disclosure relates to a system and apparatus for driving piles, and specifically for installing deep foundation pile systems.
The deep foundation industry has used technology to incrementally increase the capacity of an individual piling/caisson element. The more capacity per element, the less elements needed to support a structure. Less elements have intuitively meant less cost. The implementation of hydraulics has increased the size of equipment and subsequently the forces that a deep foundation rig can utilize to increase the capacity of a single foundation element. This coupled with computer aided controls, which has increased over the past two decades, has led to even larger and more complex equipment in all facets of the industry.
As the size of equipment has increased, systems have become more complicated, harder to maintain and difficult to operate. Large equipment is also more expensive to service and to move from site to site. Further, computers and electronics are not conducive to construction sites, which typically include a surrounding environment that can be harmful to such technology. All of these factors have driven up the overall cost of purchasing, using and maintaining such equipment.
As the size and cost of the equipment has risen, the tooling needed by the equipment has also increased. Likewise, the materials installed by such systems are long, heavy and expensive. The size of the materials often requires a large support crane to handle the material and deliver it to the foundation installation equipment. Adding a crane to the overall system increases time and cost. Cranes are expensive and carry with them an increased liability, further driving up the overall cost of a project. Beyond the crane itself, a certified crane operator is needed, adding to the challenges of using the current systems and materials in the deep foundation industry. All of these issues have made deep foundation systems challenging, inefficient, and ultimately more costly than they should be. There is a need for a system that reduces or removes the challenges noted above, providing for a smaller, more cost effective and efficient solution.

Abstract: A system for driving piles into the ground includes an excavator, an apparatus connected with the excavator, and a plurality of base pile sections. The pile sections have an upper end surface containing a central opening which connects with the apparatus prior to driving the pile sections into the ground. The apparatus includes a mast with roped hydraulic cylinders, a high frequency hydraulic impact hammer connected with the mast, and a drive cap. The mast with roped hydraulic cylinders provides for vertical movement of the high frequency hydraulic impact hammer, and the drive cap connects with the high frequency hydraulic impact hammer and a pile section to transfer the drive force of the hammer to the pile section.


An access system having a communication component that interfaces with a first device and a second device, where the first device is located inside or on an entity and coupled to a biological organism of the entity, and where the second device is located outside the entity and a controller component that controls a function of the first device, employing the communication component, to provide treatment to the biological organism of the entity coupled to the first device based on a request received from the second device.

The subject disclosure relates generally to devices that access one or more body parts of a living being, and more particularly, to a device that provides access to a brain.
Today, electronic devices are being developed that treat brain disorders. Optical and electrical interactions with neurons can improve the health and functioning of the brain and/or organic tissues. Some treatment providers implant various types of electrical and optical stimulation and/or sensing devices inside a skull of a subject for treatment or diagnosis purposes. As technology for the sensor and stimuli devices increases, these devices can be communicatively coupled to the tissues of the brain by use of a stem cell technology. In one or more embodiments herein, once the devices are coupled to the brain tissues, specific optical and electrical treatments can be provided to the brain. In some cases, it can fix damaged portions of the brain tissues. The treatment providers or scientists, can place these devices to monitor or provide periodic treatment. However, to provide treatment periodically or check status, a medical procedure is required to access the sensors or stimuli devices to collect the data or provide additional treatment.
Thus, it is desirable to have devices, systems, computer-implemented methods and/or computer program products that can interface with devices implanted inside a skull to enable access (e.g., provide a window to see inside the skull of a living being) to the brain. Also, it is desirable to have devices, systems, computer-implemented methods and/or computer program products that can that can be permanently placed in the bone portion of the skull, one that can bind to the skull and the skin that covers the skull, and interface with all the devices implanted inside the skull and various diagnostics or medical devices outside the skull.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A controller for controlling valve timing imbalance between cylinder groups of an engine. For each cylinder group, the controller has a variable mechanism for varying the valve timing. A lock mechanism locks the variable mechanism so as to maintain the valve timing of the cylinder group at a lock value. An ECU sets a valve timing target value based on the operating condition of the engine. The ECU and an oil control valve drive the variable mechanism. The ECU restricts the valve timing target value of at least one of the variable mechanisms of which operation is unlocked when the operation of at least one of the variable mechanisms is locked so that difference between the target value and the lock value decreases.

The present invention relates to a device for controlling engine valves, and more specifically relates to a controller for varying the valve operating characteristics of intake valves and exhaust valves of an internal combustion engine.
An example of a conventional controller for controlling the valve timing of engine valves is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-55935. This controller is provided with a variable mechanism for varying the valve timing by changing the relative rotation phase of a camshaft, and a lock mechanism for locking the relative rotation of the camshaft when the relative rotation phase is at a predetermined lock phase. In this controller, the change in the relative rotation phase, that is, the varying of the valve timing, is possible by unlocking the relative rotation of the camshaft. This controller is further provided with a means for detecting the unlocking of the relative rotation of the camshaft. When the unlocking is detected by the detecting means, the controller provides feedback control of the relative rotation phase such that the relative rotation phase approaches a target relative rotation phase.
When such a valve timing controller is applied to an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinder groups as in the case of V-type engines, each cylinder group is generally provided with a separate variable mechanism and lock mechanism. In this structure, it is desirable that the relative rotation phases be equal in all variable mechanisms. This arrangement is used because when a difference occurs in the relative rotation phases among the variable mechanisms, a change in torque is generated due to the torque difference among the cylinder groups.
When an unlocking operation is not performed properly in one of the lock mechanisms, however, the relative phase rotation of the camshaft is not properly unlocked. The relative rotation phase is maintained in the lock phase in the variable mechanism corresponding to the lock mechanism which cannot unlock the relative rotation of the camshaft. The previously mentioned feedback control is performed in the other variable mechanism corresponding to the lock mechanisms which unlocks the relative rotation of the camshaft. That is, the relative rotation phase is only changed to the target rotation phase in the other variable mechanism. As a result, a difference in the relative rotation phases is generated between the variable mechanism that does not unlock the relative rotation and the variable mechanism that unlocks the relative rotation, and a change in torque is generated in conjunction with this condition.

Controller for controlling valve operating characteristic in an internal combustion engine


According to one embodiment, a secure network portal includes a number of application servers coupled to one or more clients through a portal server. The application servers serve a number of secure services that may be consumed by clients. The portal server creates a login session with a graphical user interface in which the login session is associated with a particular authorization level. The portal server then displays a service access point for each of the plurality of secure services and restricts access to each of the secure services according to the authorization level of the login session.

Computing systems used by organizations typically incorporate numerous services to perform various useful services, such as e-mail messaging services, word processing services, and/or computer aided design (CAD) services. To enhance performance and maintainability, services of computing systems may be configured to operate in a client/server model in which their execution is shared between a server and a client. Services of distributed computing systems may incorporate various levels of security to protect the organization's information from illicit use. Due to the relatively disparate nature of these services, security is often applied individually through each service.


A position detection system includes: a first device that is separate from a moving object, and is provided such that a position of the first device can be specified; and a second device that is mounted on the moving object. One of the first and second devices includes a first signal transmission unit that transmits a first first-signal, the other of the first and second devices includes a first signal reception unit that receives the first first-signal, one of the first and second devices includes a second signal transmission unit that transmits a first second-signal, and the other of the first and second devices includes a second signal reception unit that receives the first second-signal.

In the related art, there is a technique of recognizing a position of a moving object with a positioning system using a satellite such as a global positioning system (GPS).
An example of the related art includes JP 2005-173736A.
In the technique, a function thereof cannot be sufficiently exhibited in an environment in which an error of positioning using a satellite is likely to become large, such as an indoor place or a valley of buildings.
Thus, a need exists for a position detection system and a processing device which are not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.

Position detection system and processing device


A winch wherein a rope or cable is self-feeding onto a sheave by a spring that is biased so as to push a rope into contact with a grooved outer surface of the sheave. One end of the spring is pivotally supported on a frame that supports the sheave for rotation about its central axis, while the opposite end of the spring is freely flexible. A supporting block is provided for the free end of the spring to support and minimize or prevent damage to the spring. The block has an angled surface for urging the rope away from the sheave, thus, together with a stripper member, assisting removal of the rope from the sheave at a point at which the rope exits the sheave.

This application provides improvements of the devices described and claimed in my earlier applications: Ser. No. 382, filed Jan. 4, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,281 issued Nov. 29, 1994; Ser. No. 719636, filed Sep. 25, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,640 issued Mar. 3, 1998; and Ser. No. 974177 filed Nov. 19, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,133 issued Nov. 21, 2000. The disclosure of said patents is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention to an improved winch that incorporates a sheave, wherein a rope is pulled under tension by either manual or power-driven rotational forces applied to the sheave. This invention relates to pulleys for tightening and tensioning ropes or cords having a ratchet mechanism to permit retaining the same under tension, and more particularly, to such a mechanism which employs the improved sheave to secure a cord or rope which is reeved thereon. The improved winch has particular applicability to boat trailer winches where a cable or rope used to secure a watercraft for transportation and to launch the craft for use in water.


The invention is an interlocking lockout device for a computer system. The lockout device comprises a locking disk dimensioned similarly to a floppy disk for so that it can be inserted and locked into a disk-drive. An engagement member of the locking disk interlocks with a bezel. In a locked position, the bezel covers the disk-drive preventing the locking disk from being removed from the disk-drive and preventing foreign matter from being inserted into the computer and disk-drive. While inserted, the locking disk keeps the computer system from booting and thereby prevents unauthorized operation of the computer system. The bezel and locking disk are adaptable on any size disk-drive and can easily be installed on different systems. This provides a lockout capability for computer systems with multiple drives and variable sized disks.

This invention relates generally to a mechanism for locking a computer system and more particularly to a lockout device that inserts into and interlocks with a computer disk-drive to prohibit operation and access to the computer.
A typical computer system has an external input/output port (I/O port). The I/O port is used for transferring data between an external data storage medium (e.g., a floppy disk, CD RAM, CD ROM, optical disk, magnetic tape) and either an internal memory or an internal hard disk of the computer. For example, personal computers such as an IBM PC typically have a floppy disk-drive, a hard disk drive, and internal random access memory (RAM). Data is transferred from the floppy disk to RAM by simply directing the computer to read a file residing on the floppy disk. Data is transferred from the floppy disk to the hard disk (via RAM) with a simple copy command.
The disk-drive, while designed for convenient data transfer, also allows unauthorized access to the computer system. For example, copying data from a computer's hard drive simply requires turning on the computer, inserting a diskette into the floppy disk drive, and copying data from the computer hard disk to the diskette. Alternatively, if an unauthorized user wants to destroy files currently residing in the computer system, he or she simply has to turn on the computer and delete the file. Disk-drive lockout systems have been developed to prevent unauthorized access to a computer's data base. These lockout systems, however, are not completely effective in preventing access to the computer or preventing damage to the internal circuitry of the disk-drive and computer system. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,285 to Lakoski et. al., a locking device is used to block the floppy disk slot of a computer disk-drive. The locking device, while preventing insertion of a diskette into a floppy disk drive, does not effectively prohibit operation of the computer system.
For example, most computer systems require a start-up program (boot program) to begin normal operation. The start up program resides either on an external diskette or on an internal hard disk. An internal read only memory (ROM) in the computer directs the system to look first for the start up program on a floppy disk in the external disk-drive. If there is no disk in the external disk-drive, the ROM program directs the system to look for the start up routine on the internal hard disk drive. Therefore, even if the locking system in Lakoski is activated (i.e., the device is locked over the drive slot of the disk-drive) the system can still be operated by simply turning on the computer system. The data on the computer's hard disk could then be viewed and/or destroyed by an unauthorized user. In addition, the data on the computer hard disk could be extracted through an alternative data I/O port such as the computer's printer. The locking device in Lakoski, however, only covers a small portion of the disk-drive slot. Thus, a floppy disk locked in the computer's disk-drive, is still accessible. For example, the disk can be literally torn or jimmied out of the disk-drive allowing the computer to boot from the hard disk. In the alternative the disk could be mangled with a screwdriver destroying the data on the floppy disk. Since the disk-drive slot is not completely covered, potentially damaging foreign matter can also be injected into the disk-drive slot. For example, a young child could pour water into the slot, damaging the internal circuitry of the computer system and the disk-drive.
The effectiveness of a lockout system also depends upon how securely it is mounted on the computer system casing. For example, if the mounting screws of the lockout device are accessible, the lockout device can be disabled simply by unscrewing it from the computer. In addition, holes must be drilled into the metal casing of the computer system to mount the lockout device. Therefore, retrofitting the lockout device on existing computer systems is time consuming and expensive.
Lockout devices are usually permanently mounted on one specific computer system. Therefore, each additional computer must have its own separate locking device. However, some computer systems only need to be secured when certain confidential data is residing in memory. If the locking device were easily portable, it could "follow" the confidential data, and a single lockout device could effectively protect multiple systems.
Accordingly, a need remains for inexpensive portable computer lockout system that prevents both operation of the computer system and access to the internal circuitry of the disk-drive.


A semiconductor memory includes non-volatile memory cells which can be electrically programmed and erased by means of tunnel current (EEPROM) with a floating-gate transistor, the cell being arranged in memory cell groups of n lines and m columns each, n cells being connected in series, which serial connection forms the bit line for the columns of a cell block. The control gate is common to m memory cells of one line of the cell block situated next to one another and forms the word line for the line in the memory cell group. The floating gate does not extend over the entire width of the channel, so that in each memory cell a parallel transistor is formed which is connected in parallel to the floating-gate transistor and is controlled only by the control gate, which parallel transistor is conducting during reading for each non-selected cell. As a result, the problem of over-erasing is solved even in the case of short access times, without an additional access transistor being required.

The invention relates to a semiconductor memory comprising non-volatile memory cells which are electrically programmable and erasable by means of tunnel currents (EEPROM) and which are arranged in memory cell groups of n lines and m columns each, and comprising memory cells formed in a semiconductor body with source and drain zones and a channel formed between these zones and covered by a gate oxide, a floating gate extending over the gate oxide, and a control gate extending over the floating gate and separated therefrom by a thin dielectric, thus forming a floating-gate transistor, the gate oxide and the thin dielectric being so chosen that electrons can flow towards or from the floating gate owing to Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling current, while the memory cell groups are so formed that the sources and drains of n cells are connected in series and this serial connection forms the bit line for the columns of a cell block, and that the control gate is common to m memory cells of a line of the cell block lying next to one another and forms the word line for the line of the memory cell group.
The invention also relates to a method of operating such a semiconductor memory.
A semiconductor memory of this kind is known from IEEE Journ. of Solid-State-Circuits 24 (1989) 5, 1238-1243. In this known semiconductor memory, problems of over-erasing of memory cells can arise in the case of short access times, which problems are usually solved through the introduction of an additional access transistor. This involves, however, a considerable increase in the surface area of the memory.

Electrically programmable and erasable semiconductor memory and method of operating same


A farm management system that is an interactive system to acquire, portray, and process field related data to thereby set rates on a field by field basis, verify that each policy complies with company, state, and federal regulations, verify that the configuration of each field allows the field to be insurable, and provide a method to validate claims of crop damage caused by weather.

Crop insurance is a heavily regulated industry. Insurance agents must comply with many regulations regarding the sale of Multi-Peril Crop Insurance ("MPCI"), Crop Hail Insurance, and other named peril insurance. Many of these requirements, as they relate to AgriPeril's Farm Mapping System, are specified below.
MPCI Industry
The acreage and production information required to underwrite MPCI policies is grouped by an insurance term called a "unit". These unit groupings are used by the insurance company and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation ("FCIC") to calculate premium, liability, and claim payments. A unit may contain several fields owned and/or operated by the same farmer. The production history of these fields are used to calculate the insured's Actual Production History ("APH"), which is also maintained on a unit-basis. The calculation of each unit's APH must meet many underwriting regulations as established by the FCIC. The APH has a significant impact on the insured's premium, liability, and loss processing.
The total production of all fields contained within a unit is used to calculate potential loss payments. For example, if a farmer chooses to purchase coverage at a level of 75% of the unit's APH, the farmer will only receive a loss payment if the total actual and/or appraised production is less than 75% of the insured's coverage. Therefore, a farmer could have 25 acres of a 100 acre unit totally destroyed by hail, but would not be in a loss situation if the other 75 acres met or exceeded their APH for the given unit.
Consequently, when several fields are grouped into one unit, the company's risk for potential claims is reduced because damage in one field may be offset by harvested production in excess of the unit's APH from other fields comprising the unit. Therefore, it is generally in the best interests of the farmer to have as many units as possible, and it is generally in the best interests of the insurance company and the FCIC to have as few units as possible.
There are regulations an insurer and agent must follow in determining which field or fields comprise a unit. For instance, under FCIC regulations, it is generally not acceptable to have multiple units for the same crop in the same section (a section is a land description generally pertaining to one continuous land block that is one square mile or 640 acres and forms one of the thirty-six (36) subdivisions of a township. However, the acreage and shape of the section and/or township can vary by state and/or county.).
Currently, a farmer reports the acreage and production information on a unit basis. Reporting such crop data by unit requires the farmer to know the fields which compose each unit and correctly aggregate the required information. There are several problems with this method of gathering field-related information: (1) this method is cumbersome to the farmer, as farmers seed, cultivate, and harvest individual fields, not units; (2) this method is susceptible to unreported field information and mathematical errors by the farmer; and (3) this method relies on the farmer to make sure the insurance company is complying with FCIC regulations.
First, this method is cumbersome because a farmer seeds, cultivates, and harvests an individual fields, not units. The unit is an insurance derived term with which a farmer is not initially familiar. Moreover, unit structure can vary from year to year and crop to crop. These issues unnecessarily complicate the reporting of field related information and are susceptible to unintended mistakes.
Second, this process leads to errors in totalling the acreage and production information when units and/or fields are inadvertently missed and unreported. Such errors will give the farmer a false sense of security, since he believes that all his fields were reported and are insured, only to find out later when he files a claim that the field with the crop damage was not reported. Moreover, the insurance companies' records regarding the historical yield on a particular unit (APH) could be inaccurate, which can have an effect on insurance premiums paid by the farmer and on any potential loss payments. Reporting unit totals, rather than field totals, is also susceptible to inadvertent mathematical errors made by the farmer when aggregating acreage and production information.
Third, the farmer's or agent's field grouping may not meet the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation ("FCIC") underwriting standards. Usually, the agent does not know the number or location of all the fields grouped within each unit. The agent would have to locate the farmer's land on a map, and then determine if the groupings meet FCIC standards, assuming the agent has kept up with the regulations. This method is cumbersome and prone to error.
Clearly, there is a need for a system that allows the agent to obtain this field-related data more accurately, verify that all fields are reported, and verify that FCIC and company underwriting standards have been met.
Hail and Other Named Peril Insurance
When purchasing crop hail and other named peril insurance, the farmer must provide detailed legal descriptions of each field, specifically the section, township and range of the fields to be insured before the policy can be rated. Unfortunately, many farmers incorrectly state or do not know the correct legal description of each field they own and/or operate and the policy could possibly be rated incorrectly. In addition, if the field extends across more than one township/range (a range is one of the north-south townships in the U.S. land survey that are numbered east and west from the principal meridian of the survey), then it is often rated at the lowest rate township or range. Consequently, the insurance company may not be charging a premium which accurately corresponds to the risk being taken. This inaccurate correspondence between premium and risk can also occur if a farmer reports his land as being in a particular township so that he can pay a lower premium. For all these reasons, the current system may result in inaccurate ratings for each field.
Clearly, there is a need for a system that will not require the farmer to know the detailed legal description of his fields and a system which will enable the agent to correctly rate each field. Such a system would protect both the insured and the insurer.
A further problem can arise when a farmer submits claims to his insurance company after a crop has been damaged, including damage caused by weather. Currently, to determine the validity of a weather-related claim, the insurer must retrieve regional weather data where the field is located for the specified damage date. The insurer must then compare the weather conditions from the weather report to the weather conditions stated in the claim and determine if the claim is valid. This method is inconvenient, time consuming, and cumbersome.
Clearly, there is a need for a system which can easily verify the validity of crop-damage claims for damage caused by weather conditions.


A distributed data-parallel execution (DDPE) system splits a computational problem into a plurality of sub-problems using a branch-and-bound algorithm, designates a synchronous stop time for a “plurality of processors” (for example, a cluster) for each round of execution, processes the search tree by recursively using a branch-and-bound algorithm in multiple rounds (without inter-processor communications), determines if further processing is required based on the processing round state data, and terminates processing on the processors when processing is completed.

A distributed data-parallel execution engine (DDPE engine or DDPEE)—such as Dryad, MapReduce, and Hadoop—provides a computation model that performs in parallel several independent sequential computations comprising subcomponents of a larger computation. However, in order to achieve necessary processing efficiencies, there are several requirements (or restrictions) common to these models. One requirement is that each subcomponent must run in a separate isolated address space for its complete lifetime. Another requirement is that data exchanges can only occur between each "round" of processing (since communications are expensive). Since a DDPE engine is generally used to process a large number of independent data items, these items must be grouped into relatively large batches (also referred to as partitions or shards) with a relatively uniform execution time per batch in order to ameliorate the expensive costs of communication and process creation/destruction. These several requirements, however, make it difficult to solve general optimization problems on a DDPE engine which typically require substantial communications between separate tasks, and especially in the communication of intermediate results.
A well-known approach to solving hard optimization problems is to traverse branch-and-bound (B&B) trees where the root of the tree is the original problem and the nodes stemming therefrom represent logical sub-problems that collectively correspond to the original problem to be solved. In the worst case scenario, the total number of nodes—which correspond to the problem size—can be exponentially large, and thus in practice the algorithms used with B&B trees attempt to resolve that certain branches of the tree cannot possibly contain the optimal solution and can therefore be pruned without negatively impacting the correctness of the solution. Even with pruning, however, seemingly small problems can lead to huge search trees, which are seemingly well-suited for a distributed execution approach where a cluster of computers could significantly reduce execution time. Nevertheless, existing B&B tree solvers are typically based on complex parallel computation frameworks that employ frequent communications between cluster machines, while DDPE engines have generally been deemed to be unsuited to these tasks because of their rigid requirements/restrictions regarding inter-machine communications.

Distributed data-parallel execution engines for user-defined serial problems using branch-and-bound algorithm


A mounting bracket for a slot machine is disclosed herein, where the slot machine is slid onto the mounting bracket. The mounting bracket insures proper alignment of the slot machine onto the platform and secures the slot machine into position.

A typical slot machine has a height of between 1 and 1.5 meters. Typically, the casino provides a platform for a slot machine to raise the machine up to a convenient level for the average player. The platform is typically wood laminated with a plastic material. This platform typically has a hole to allow electrical cables to extend from the slot machine, into the hollow platform, and to a conduit running through the casino. These platforms typically also have within them a receptacle for coins diverted from the slot machine's coin hopper when the hopper is full. The diverted coins pass through a coin drainage hole in the bottom of the slot machine that aligns with a coin drainage hole in the platform leading to the receptacle.
The slot machines must be securely fastened to the platform. The typical method for mounting a slot machine on the platform is to carefully place the slot machine on the platform, then affix the base of the slot machine to the platform using screws, where the heads of the screws are accessed by the installer reaching into the slot machine. Typically, four screws are needed to prevent the slot machine from tipping and to prevent rotation of the slot machine on the platform. Accessing and tightening the screws are difficult. It is also difficult to position the extremely heavy slot machine accurately on the platform. The same installation process needs to be done when the installed slot machine is replaced with a different slot machine.
Accordingly such mounting is difficult, time-consuming, and a distraction to players in the area.


A clamping device (01), for use on a lathe, includes a plurality of basic clamping supports (06), which can be moved in a star-shaped formation in relation to an axis of rotation and on each of which a clamping jaw (11) for clamping workpieces can be attached. The basic clamping supports (06) can be adjusted simultaneously by means of an adjusting drive (21, 36) of the clamping device (01). At least two basic clamping supports (06) are coupled directly or indirectly to one another by an outer rocker (15). At least in the middle of the adjusting path, a limited inward displacement of a basic clamping support (06a, 06c, and 06b, 06d, respectively) leads to a swiveling of the outer rocker (15a, 15c) and an outward displacement of the other coupled basic clamping support (06b, 06d, and 06a, 06c, respectively).

Chucks for lathes in different designs are well-known from the state of the art. For clamping round workpieces, the state of the art normally uses a three-jaw chuck with lathes and a so-called four jaw chuck for clamping square workpieces. In this regard there is no need for further elaboration. Normal chucks have in common that the plurality of clamping jaws—normally three or four—are simultaneously adjusted manually, hydraulically or electrically and always have the same distance to the axis of rotation.
The present invention in particular relates to a clamping device for centric clamping of workpieces with a shape deviating from perfect roundness or of rectangular workpieces or of round workpieces with defects in shape.
It is apparent that such a clamping task cannot be accomplished with a normal three- or four-jaw chuck.
To this effect, chucks with four clamping jaws are known from the state of the art, wherein in each case two opposite clamping jaws have a common drive and can be adjusted simultaneously. The method used in this context is based on a pair of jaws, opposite to one another by 180 degrees, being initially moved toward the workpiece and centering the workpiece on the common axis toward the axis of rotation. Subsequently, the pair of jaws shifted by 90 degrees is moved toward the workpiece and also performs the task of ensuring the centering in the direction of the axis of rotation. After this centering process, the clamping pressure necessary for lathing is applied. This method has proven successful in connection with clamping using clamping jaws even though the workpiece is not centered exactly on the axis of rotation and the clamping pressure on the four jaws is normally slightly different. Building on this method, in order to improve and accelerate the clamping process, hydraulically operated chucks are known instead of the mechanic drive, wherein an essential difference to manual clamping is based on the double-stroke cylinder.
What is disadvantageous with this solution is, however, that centric clamping with a uniform clamping pressure on all clamping jaws is still not possible, in particular in connection with defects in shape. There is no real possibility for reliable centric clamping of blanks with shape deviations. In particular in connection with unroundnesses, it follows inevitably that a jaw does not abut on the workpiece or that the pairs of jaws shifted by 90 degrees abut on the workpiece with different clamping pressures.
In particular the attempt at centric clamping of the workpiece leads to a significant clamping effort when several concentricity checks and subsequent recentering of the workpiece become necessary. Furthermore, the chuck has to be rotated each time to that end, or the machine operator has to go around the face chuck when working at a big rotary table.
For the application under consideration, the workpieces are therefore normally clamped on so-called face chucks. In this respect, the clamping jaws of the chuck—normally, there are four of them—can be adjusted separately. In this respect, the clamping jaws are mounted directly or indirectly in guides with a radial orientation. In this respect, it is possible to clamp workpieces with largely any geometry.
A well-known embodiment comprises four guides on the upper section of the face chuck, which are arranged at an angle of 90 degrees in relation to one another and centric in relation to the axis of rotation. In these guides, basic jaws are mounted slidably. These basic jaws serve to hold the actual clamping jaws, which are normally screwed onto the basic jaws. The basic jaws are each equipped with a spindle drive and can thus be adjusted separately. In this respect, the basic jaws cover the whole clamping range of the face chuck. This design can be compared with a typical chuck, except that each clamping jaw is adjusted separately.
In another well-known embodiment, the face chuck surface is equipped with four detent devices shifted by 90 degrees in relation to one another. These detent devices are also centric in relation to the axis of rotation. So-called jaw boxes are mounted here, wherein these can be adjusted and fixed radially by means of the detent devices. These jaw boxes are each equipped with a guide, which is also radial in relation to the axis of rotation. In these guides, basic jaws are mounted slidably, which serve to hold the clamping jaws. Here, each individual basic jaw can also be adjusted by means of a spindle drive. With this embodiment, the jaw stroke is restricted to a short path. Due to the adjustability of the jaw boxes, a large clamping range is also covered with such a chuck.
Consequently, it is not at all guaranteed with this clamping method that all jaws abut on the workpiece with the same clamping pressure. In particular in connection with clamping thin-walled workpieces or rings, clamping errors can occur. A particularly problematic situation arises when thin-walled workpiece blanks are not perfectly round. This can lead to misjudgements on the part of the machine operator when concentricity checks at the workpiece reveal constant deviations. In this respect, with this clamping method the quality of the workpiece to be processed is highly dependent on the experience and skills of the machine operator.
Furthermore, so-called pendulum jaws or system pendulum apparatuses are known from the state of the art, wherein two clamping jaws are swivelably mounted to a basic support in each case. Even though this solution allocates a uniform clamping pressure to two clamping jaws at a time in an advantageous fashion, it is almost impossible to clamp unround workpieces. As soon as the opposite clamping jaws of two pendulum jaws abut on the workpiece fixing it, it is almost impossible to displace the workpiece by means of the other transverse clamping jaws. Consequently, the other two pairs of pendulum jaws can only be adjusted toward the workpiece without allowing an exact centering in the second orientation thereof, however. It seems to suggest itself that, in order to ensure the retention force required, only one pendulum jaw belonging to the second pair of pendulum jaws can abut rigidly during the clamping process whereas at least one pendulum jaw cannot generate enough clamping pressure. A clamping process at staggered intervals with the jaw pairs shifted at an angle of 90 degrees, which would be necessary for workpieces which are not round, therefore prevents the use of pendulum jaws with the purpose of enabling centric clamping of workpieces without any deformations arising.


A temperature sensor of the present invention includes a sensor element (11) that includes a main body (13) and paired lead wires (15 and 15) drawn from the main body (13), and a first housing (19) that includes a resin mold layer and covers the sensor element (11). The main body (13) is partially or entirely exposed, continuously in a circumferential direction, from the first housing (19) without being covered with the first housing. In the temperature sensor, the main body (13) includes a thermosensitive body (13A) and a sealing glass (13B) covering the thermosensitive body (13A), and the sealing glass (13B) is exposed from the first housing (19).

There is a known temperature sensor in which a housing supports a temperature detection element and covers the temperature detection element. The housing is formed through injection molding with use of a resin more inexpensive than a metal.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a temperature sensor in which a main body is covered with a resin mold. The main body includes a thermosensitive body that includes a thermistor and is embedded inside a glass insulator.
The resin mold in the temperature sensor is formed by disposing a detection element at a predetermined position in a cavity of a mold, and performing injection molding of a molten resin. The detection element includes a main body and a lead wire communicating with the main body. The main body and the like with which the molten resin flowing inside the cavity comes into contact cannot stay at a position before injection and are displaced because pressure of the molten resin injected into the cavity is considerably large. So-called short mold that is not preferable in the injection molding occurs at the displaced part. Accordingly, although Patent Literature 1 and the like describes that the main body is coincident with a center of the resin mold, the main body of the temperature sensor actually manufactured is displaced.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, a main body 100 is largely displaced from a center of a resin mold 101 in injection molding, and the main body 100 is accordingly exposed to outside from the resin mold 101 in some cases. If the temperature sensor is continuously used, gas or liquid as a temperature detection target may enter the inside of the resin mold 101 from a part at which the main body 100 is exposed to the outside.
Accordingly, as disclosed in Patent Literature 2, a primary molded body in which the main body is fixed by a resin mold is fabricated, and the injection molding is performed while the primary molded body is placed at a predetermined position inside the mold. This makes it possible to prevent displacement of the main body in secondary molding.


A paper coating composition is provided comprising pigment, binder and a cyclic phosphate salt as an insolubilizer for the binder.

This invention relates to a paper coating composition, more particularly to a cyclic phosphate salt which is added to insolubilize the binder in the paper coating.
Paper coating compositions are generally a fluid suspension of pigment, such as clay with or without titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, or the like, in an aqueous medium which includes a binder such as starch, modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol, polymers, or protein to adhere the pigment to paper.
The hydrophilic nature of the binder requires the presence of an insolubilizing material which crosslinks the binder upon curing of the coated paper, making it hydrophobic and thus improving the off-set printing characteristics of the surface of the coated paper. The most widely used crosslinking materials are glyoxal resins and formaldehyde-donor agents such as melamine-formaldehyde, urea-melamine-formaldehyde, and partially or wholly methylated derivatives thereof. While these systems are effective, alternative systems are sometimes needed as glyoxal resins are highly reactive and tend to build viscosity and the melamine-formaldehyde resins have an unpleasant odor and release free formaldehyde.
The reaction of various phosphates with binders for use in a variety of applications has been disclosed in the literature. Sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) has long been used in the detergent industry and the food starch industry. STMP has been used to crosslink granular starch in food use applications such as puddings or pie fillings and has also been used as a wet end additive and a sizepress or water box additive in the paper industry to obtain wet strength. U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,412 discloses preparing a starch phosphate by reacting starch with sodium, potassium or lithium phosphate and using the starch phosphate as a sizing agent in the surface finishing of paper, as a thickening agent in food products, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,412 discloses coating paper with a pigment and a binder consisting of a depolymerized starch phosphate ester. U.S. Pat. No. 2,699,432 discloses a paper coating composition containing pigment, an alkali metal silicate, latex or starch and tetrasodium pyrophosphate. U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,242 discloses preparing distarch phosphate esters by reacting starch and a metaphosphate salt, with the product useful for pasting papers products, dusting surgeon's gloves, applying adhesives and sizes or in food products. However, these references do not disclose the use of a cyclic phosphate salt as an insolubilizer for binders in paper coating compositions, much less the improved control of coating viscosity and wet rub resistance obtained thereby.


The present invention relates to novel LXR ligands of Formula I and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts, esters and tautomers thereof, which are useful in the treatment of dyslipidemic conditions, particularly depressed levels of HDL cholesterol.

Recent publications in Nature Genetics, August, 1999 (Young et al., page 316; Bodzioch et al., page 347; Brooks-Wilson et al., page 335, and Rust et al., page 352) showed that humans with mutations in the gene ABCA1 (also previously known in the art as ABC1) have low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL). Low HDL levels are a risk factor for atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction and related conditions such as ischemic stroke. Therefore, increasing the expression of the ABCA1 gene would be expected to increase HDL levels and decrease the occurrence of atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction and related conditions such as ischemic stroke. It has been reported that expression of the ABCA1 gene is increased by cholesterol loading of cells (Langmann et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 257, 29–33 (1999)). LXRα is a nuclear receptor that is required for the induction of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase in mouse liver following cholesterol feeding (Peet et al., Cell, 93, 693–704 (1998)). LXRα and LXRβ are activated by 22-(R)-hydroxycholesterol and other oxysterols (Janowski et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 96, 266–271 (1999), Thomas A. Spencer et al. J. Med. Chem., 44, 886–897, (2001)). Some non-steroidal small molecule agonists of LYRα and LXRβ have been reported to affect circulating HDL levels, cholesterol absorption, reverse cholesterol transport and ABCA1 expression in vivo (J. R. Schultz, et al. Genes & Devel. 14, 2831–2838, (2000), J. J. Repa et al. Science, 289, 1524–1529, (2000)). It has been found that LXRα and/or LXRβ cause the induction or regulation of ABCA1 expression, and that small molecule ligands of LXR are useful as drugs to increase the expression of ABCA1, increase levels of HDL and thereby decrease the risk of atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction and related conditions such as peripheral vascular disease and ischemic stroke.
The various dyslipidemic conditions, which are risk factors for atherosclerosis, are currently treated with several different classes of drugs, such as statins which are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, bile acid sequestrants (e.g., cholestyramine and colestipol), nicotinic acid (niacin), and fibrates. However, except for niacin, most of these treatments do not raise HDL as their primary effect. With favorable outcomes in many human studies, the statin class of drugs is used to modulate LDL and, to a lesser extent, HDL and triglycerides. Conditions principally characterized by elevated plasma triglycerides and low HDL are frequently treated with drugs belonging to the fibrate class. The fibrates are PPAR alpha agonists that lower triglycerides and raise HDL in many instances. There are no currently marketed drugs whose principal actions are mediated by LXR.
We have now discovered a new class of small molecules which are LXR ligands, i.e., LXRα and/or LXRβ ligands, and are therefore expected to be useful for modulation of HDL levels, ABCA1 gene expression and reverse cholesterol transport. The instant compounds have been shown to raise plasma levels of HDL in animal models and to increase cholesterol efflux from cells in vitro. These biological activities are critical for reverse cholesterol transport.
The novel compounds of this invention are intended as a treatment for dyslipidemias, especially low plasma HDL cholesterol levels, as well as for treatment and/or prevention of lipid accumulation in atherosclerotic plaques, which is an underlying cause or aggravating factor in atherosclerosis.

Therapeutic compounds for treating dyslipidemic conditions


A new chemotactic cytokine, NC28 or Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-3 (MCP-3), is provided. Fragments of the cytokine comprising its 13 C-terminal amino acids also exhibit chemotactic activity. The polypeptides may be used as anticancer agents or immunomodulators. DNA encoding the NC28/MCP-3 polypeptides, as well as corresponding vectors and recombinant expression systems, are also provided.

The present invention relates to a novel protein having a cytokinin-type activity, to the genetic engineering tools for its production, namely a recombinant DNA, an expression vector carrying this recombinant DNA, and the procaryotic microorganisms and the eucaryotic cells containing this recombinant DNA, and to a drug, useful especially as an anticancer agent or immunomodulator, in which this protein is present as the active principle.
It is well known that the immune system comprises cellular elements and soluble substances, called cytokinins, secreted by said elements. Cytokinins are proteins which effect communication between an emitter cell and a target cell belonging either to the immune system or to another biological system of the organism. In general, cytokinins have a so-called pleiotropic biological activity, i.e. they can have multiple effects on the target cell: proliferation, differentiation, cytolysis, activation, chemotaxis etc. Several of these molecules have already found applications in therapeutics: for example, interleukin-2 or interferon-.alpha. used for the treatment of certain tumors by immuno-therapy, and myelopoietic factors, such as GCSF (Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor) or GMCSF (Granulocyte Monocyte Colony Stimulating Factor), which stimulate the growth and differentiation of blood cells and whereby blood which has been impoverished in blood cells as a result of chemotherapy can be enriched therewith.
One of the first cytokinins to be discovered was interleukin-1, to which a central activity in inflammation--chemotaxis of neutrophils--was initially attributed following experiments showing an activity of this type in vivo after injection (J. Oppenheim et al., 1986, Imm. Today, 7, 45-56). It is now known that interleukin-1 stimulates in vivo the expression of another cytokinin which is chemotactic towards neutrophils, namely interleukin-8 (originally called Neutrophil Chemotactic Factor, NCF). This cytokinin, whose amino acid sequence was determined in 1987 after isolation and purification and also by cloning and sequencing of its complementary DNA (K. Matsushima et al., 1988, J. Exp. Med., 1883-1893), is homologous with other cytokinins already known at the time of its discovery, namely the cytokinins produced by the .alpha. granules of platelets, such as PF4 (Platelet Factor 4) and PBP (Platelet Basic Protein). The family of known proteins homologous with interleukin-8, usually called the SIS family (representing Small Induced Secreted proteins), has grown considerably since 1987 [J. Oppenheim et al., 1991, Ann. Rev. Immun., 9, 617]. It currently includes the following cytokinins in particular: gro (also called MGSA: Melanoma Growth Stimulatory Activity) described by A. Anisowicz et al., 1987, Proc. Ntl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 84, 7188-7192, and A. Richmond et al., 1988, EMBO J., 7, 2025-2033, RANTES (Regulated upon Activation Normal T Expressed and presumably Secreted) described by T. Schall et al., 1988, J. Imm., 141, 1018-1025, MIP-1 (Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 1) described by S. D. Wolpe et al., 1988, J. Exp. Med., 167, 570-581, MIP-2 (Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 2) described by S. D. Wolpe et al., 1989, Proc. Ntl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 86, 612-616, and MCP-1 (Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1, also called MCAF: Monocyte Chemotactic and Activating Factor) described by Yoshimura et al., 1989, Proc. Ntl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 84, 9233-9237, and K. Matsushima et al., 1989, J. Expr. Med., 169, 1485-1489.
The cytokinin MCP-1, isolated from a line of gliomas by T. Yoshimura, op. cit., and from a line of monocytes by K. Matsushima et al., op. cit., exists in two forms with apparent molecular weights of 13 and 15 kDa, called MCP-1.alpha. and MCP-1.beta., which seem to correspond to post-translational modifications [Y. Jiang et al., 1990, J. Biol. Chem., 265, 1318-321]. The cytokinin MCP-1 has a chemotactic activity towards monocytes and basophils but not towards neutrophils (E. J. Leonard, 1990, Immunology Today, 11, 3, 97-101) and a stimulating effect on the cytostatic activity of monocytes on certain tumoral lines (K. Matsushima et al., 1989, J. Exp. Med., 169, 1485-1490).
Three-dimensional structural studies on interleukin-8 and PF4 by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy or X-ray diffraction have shown that these two cytokinins have the same conformation, with a carboxy-terminal peptide of 12 to 15 amino acids in the form of an .alpha. helix (R. St. Charles et al., 1988, J. Biol. Chem., 264, 4, 2092-2099, and G. M. Clore, 1990, Biochem., 29, 1689-1696). According to G. M. Clore, the majority of cytokinins in the SIS family have such a carboxy-terminal part in the form of an a helix, the role of this helix being as yet undetermined [C. Herbert et al., 1991, J. Biol. Chem., 266, 18989-994].
It has recently been shown that the carboxy-terminal peptide of 13 amino acids can have the anti-angiogenic activity (inhibition of the proliferation of blood vessels) of the cytokinin PF4 (T. Maione et al., 1990, Science, 247, 77-79). According to D. G. Osterman, 1982, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 107, 130-135, this peptide has a chemotactic activity towards monocytes which is thirty times greater than that of PF4.

Chemokine NC28 (monocyte chemotactic protein-3, MCP-3) polypeptides and their recombinant production


A white anti-collision light mounted on an aircraft utilizes a set of high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and dedicated reflectors to distribute the light in a particular pattern that satisfies predetermined intensity requirements along a horizontal coverage area. The anti-collision light may include heat pipes for transferring heat from the LEDs to a set of cooling fins. Also, the LEDs may be electrically connected and controlled to provide redundancy and mitigate the effects of LED failures.

The Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) requirements for minimum effective intensities for an anti-collision light system are shown in FIG. 1. The illustrated coverage may be satisfied by multiple light installations, provided that each light meets the required photometric specification for its respective area. Typically, each red fuselage anti-collision light will cover either the upper or lower portion of the specification, while the white anti-collision lights will cover specific horizontal sections (e.g., wingtip anti-collision lights will have 110-degree coverage each and the aft light will cover the remaining 140 degrees).
Conventional white anti-collision lights utilize Xenon flash tube technology. However, anti-collision lights using high-power LEDs are advantageous because of their longer lives, lower power consumption, and reduced weight (because a separate power supply is not needed) compared to Xenon-based systems.

White anti-collision light utilizing light-emitting diode (LED) technology


A rapier for a rapier loom comprises:—a low mass self-tightening rotary clamp with its axis of rotation aligned to the direction of maximum acceleration;—a collapsing pivot linkage that converts the force used to close the self-tightening clamp into the force used to open it;—a piezo-electric trigger device system that controls the change of state of the collapsing pivot linkage wherein the device is charged at the start of the insertion cycle and discharged at the centre of the loom to change the state of the system; and an electronic circuit comprising a photo-transistor that is connected with the piezo-electric of the trigger system such that when a suitable level of light is introduced to the device the actuator becomes discharged

Rapier looms are known and are distinguished from other types of loom by the nature in which the yarn is moved through the warp threads. On a traditional shuttle loom a quantity of yarn is carried on the shuttle and the assembly is projected through the warp threads to the other side of the loom.
The primary benefit of a rapier loom is that the yarn is pulled from the main spool, reducing waste and increasing speed. In order to maintain stiffness of the insertion part and the speed of weaving, there are two rapiers on the loom, and the yarn is handed over at the centre of the shed. The yarn is fed by a part commonly termed the giver and is collected by a part termed the taker.
In order to effect a consistent weave it is essential that the yarn is held reliably and can be freely released by the giver at the centre. Some rapiers, termed negative rapiers, use vee slots to capture the yarn and rely upon friction to hold it during the insertion process. Other devices, most specifically those manufactured by Dornier, are termed positive rapiers and use a spring clamp that is opened at the centre of the loom by external fingers pressing upon suitable release faces.
Negative rapiers have two key disadvantages. Firstly, not all yarns can be woven, due to the relationship of friction and fibre stiffness. Secondly, the yarn must travel through the vee during the capture process so high wear can occur, resulting in material being wasted.
Positive rapiers have the disadvantage that the insertion parts are of high mass causing the maximum speed of weaving to be much lower, resulting in productivity losses. The external fingers can also cause damage to the warp threads, creating an imperfection in the yarn.
It is impractical to mount a stored energy system such as a capacitor and solenoid upon the rapier arms, because the energy density to mass ratio is very poor. In any high speed reciprocating system, mass is a serious impediment, because acceleration will decrease for a given force as the mass increases, from F=ma. Any energy store will greatly increase the inertia in the system.
In a negative rapier loom the heads can accelerate at up to 5000 ms−2, equivalent to 500 gravities. Any weight therefore acts as if it is 500 times heavier. To keep the clamps of a positive rapier closed under such forces stiff springs are used. The springs act like masses and so slow down the opening at the centre of the loom, limiting the operating speed further.
It will be beneficial to eliminate the need to overcome the closure springs at the time the system condition needs to be changed. It is further beneficial to reduce the force needed to close upon and retain the yarn.
It is further a feature of high speed devices that the forces within the system cause elongation and associated shape changes in the working parts. Some rapier systems use rods to insert the heads whereas others use stiff belts, preferably reinforced with carbon fibre. These belts elongate under the acceleration, changing the physical relationship of the heads, and so making the handover process speed dependent. Setting up the loom at low speeds requires consideration of the behaviour of the belts and anticipation of the weave speed. It will be beneficial to be able to dynamically alter the loom timing by some electronic means.

High speed yarn transfer system incorporating reversing linkage and electro-optical synchronization


According to an embodiment, a gas turbine includes: a casing; a rotor shaft penetrating through the casing; a plurality of turbine stages which are in the casing and are arranged along an axial direction of the rotor shaft and through which a working fluid passes; two bearings disposed on outer sides of the casing in terms of the axial direction and supporting the rotor shaft in a rotatable manner; and a plurality of outlet pipes through which the working fluid having finished work in the turbine stages is discharged. The outlet pipes are provided in an upper half and a lower half of the casing.

In turbines such as gas turbines and steam turbines, a high-temperature and high-pressure fluid is supplied through an inlet and expands in the turbine to give rotational energy to the turbine, and after doing work, flows out through an outlet pipe.
Turbines have recently increased in capacity and pressure, but increasing the capacity of a turbine as well as increasing turbine plant performance leads to a size increase of the turbine, often resulting in a larger distance between bearings.
In recent years, a whirl phenomenon such as steam whirl or gas whirl has been experienced with the increases in capacity and pressure of turbines. The whirl phenomenon is self-excited vibration of a rotor shaft caused by working fluid force generated in a working fluid sealing part. That is, this is a phenomenon of primary-mode vibration of shafting caused by excitation force that is generated when a working fluid leaks at turbine rotor blade tips, excitation force that is generated when the pressure of labyrinth seal parts between turbine stator blades and a rotor shaft varies, or other such force. The whirl phenomenon easily occurs with a load increase to be a factor to hinder the normal operation of a turbine plant.
Since the whirl vibration is the primary-mode vibration of the shafting as described above, it is desired that the distance between the bearings be reduced as much as possible.

Gas turbine and gas turbine manufacturing method

TOSHIBA ENERGY SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


A wire bonder comprises a pattern recognition mechanism. The pattern recognition mechanism includes a TV camera head, a camera control unit, a program research unit, and a bonder controller. The bonder controller includes a microcomputer, a control circuit, and a servo drive unit. The TV camera head and camera control unit detect locations of a first bonding pad formed on a first semiconductor chip and a second bonding pad formed on a second semiconductor chip. The program research unit calculates amounts of shift of the detected locations of the first and second bonding pads from reference locations thereof. The microcomputer corrects locations of first and second bonding points and those of first and second cutting points in accordance with the calculated amounts of shift. The control circuit and servo drive unit control the first and second bonding points and the first and second cutting points based on the corrected locations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire bonder for electrically bonding chips together by a bonding wire, for example, in a multichip package, and a wire bonding method using the wire bonder.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a multichip package, a plurality of chips is sealed in one package. This type of multichip package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,823. In the multichip package, there is a case where a pad formed on a chip is bonded to a pad formed on another chip by a bonding wire. To electrically bond different chips together, a wire bonding method using ball bonding and wedge bonding is known. This method is described in the paragraph of "Prior Art" of Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 2-114545. The method includes first and second bonding steps. The first bonding step is executed by the ball bonding in which a wire is bonded to a bonding pad on a first semiconductor chip using a metal ball formed at the end of a capillary. The second bonding step is executed by the wedge bonding in which the wire extended from the first semiconductor chip, which is formed line a loop, is bonded to a bonding pad on a second semiconductor chip, and then cut.
A method of forming a metal ball on the bonding pad on the second semiconductor chip in advance in the second bonding step, is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 2-114545 and 60-41236. According to this method, the metal ball is previously formed on the bonding pad (second bonding point) on the second semiconductor chip before the first bonding step. After the first bonding step, the wire extended from a first bonding point is bonded to the metal ball by the wedge bonding. When the metal ball is formed at the second bonding point, a wire cutting point has to be located at a predetermined distance d1 from the second bonding point. Further, when the wire extended from the first bonding point is bonded to the metal ball, a wire cutting point has to be located at a predetermined distance d2 (d2>d1) from the second bonding point.
Conventionally, an operator of the wire bonder calculates coordinates of the first and second bonding points and distances d1 and d2 (coordinates of the wire cutting points) and inputs the calculated coordinates to the wire bonder as data of bonding.
In the aforementioned bonding method, however, if the mount locations of the first and second semiconductor chips are shifted from each other, the operator has to correct the coordinates of the first and second bonding points and those of the wire cutting points to input them to the wire bonder. For this reason, the calculation of the coordinates is complicated when a plurality of wires is bonded to semiconductor chips. When bonding is executed, the facing sides of two semiconductor chips do not often cross a wire extending from the first bonding point at right angles. If the mount locations of the chips are shifted from each other, both a bonding point of a metal ball and a wire cutting point are shifted from the extended wire. This shift deforms a loop of the wire, that is, an under loop or a loop curl is formed. Therefore, the wire contacts the semiconductor chips to cause a short circuit or the wires contact each other, causing a defective chip.


Provided is a system and method for processing data and images including, but not limited to separating data into a plurality of data planes; performing noise analysis to determine an average noise amplitude and noise distribution for each data plane via a gradient calculation; applying an edge mask to weaken isolated transients in one or more of the data planes; applying a noise filter using one or more levels of filtering to one or more of the data planes; and performing detail recovery combining a composite data plane and filtered and unfiltered data planes according to the noise analysis.

Image sensors in low-resource environments, such as inexpensive machine vision products and cell phone cameras, have three major image quality problems to overcome. First is the source noise, which is random noise from low-cost CMOS image sensors. Second is that some color image sensors use color filter arrays such as the Bayer pattern made of red, green and blue color filters. Other types of color filter arrays for color image sensors may contain other colors including colorless/clear filters. Color filter arrays create a single array of data from mixed color sources, which makes simple noise filtering difficult. For example, Bayer pattern data from an image sensor cannot be filtered directly by normal means. Typically the Bayer pattern data is interpolated to complete the data plane for each color. The interpolation of noisy data creates both more data to be processed and more noisy data that must then be filtered. Third is the lack of memory and processing power typically required to filter noise with a spatial frequency spanning several pixels. What is needed is a solution for reducing noise in images and video that requires a minimum of processing power and memory space, and can take advantage of mixed source data to avoid the interpolation step. Other paradigms that have quality problems that could benefit from a filtering technique include data arranged in one dimension, such as audio data, data arranged in two dimensions such as financial data, and other data in different dimensions from one to beyond four dimensions. The data in different dimensions can have similar problems to images in that random noise can interfere with definable regions of the data necessary for understanding or performing operations on the data. Another paradigm that can benefit from a filtering technique is multiple data arrays from multiple sources, such as images taken of the same scene from cameras sensitive to different areas of the light spectrum, for example IR and UV combined with visible, or even different types of data from the same scene, for example visible images and range data. Accordingly there is a need for a noise filter that can overcome data noise in single-source data arrays, multiple-source data arrays, and multiple data arrays from multiple sources.


A method of forming a corrosion-resistant ceramic coating on a metallic substrate, the method comprising providing a passivation layer on a surface of the metallic substrate by electrochemical passivation of the metallic substrate under a first electrical current and using a first electrically conducting solution; and providing the corrosion-resistant ceramic coating on an outermost surface of the metallic substrate, the outermost surface in use adapted to be exposed to a corrosive environment, by plasma electrolytic oxidation of the metallic substrate with the passivation layer, in a second electrically conducting solution and under a second electrical current having a discharge voltage. The first and the second electrically conducting solutions comprise a tetrafluoroborate compound.

Spark discharge oxidation is a plasma electrolytic oxidation process used to form oxide coating on metallic substrate. Plasma electrolytic oxidation allows hard ceramic coatings to be applied on diverse metallic alloys. Micro-discharges occurring on the electrode surface during the process promotes the creation of ceramic oxides phases, which may improve mechanical properties of the coating.
However, if the metallic substrate to be coated has a complicated spatial shape, a complicated surface configuration, through holes, and/or blind holes, obtaining a uniform coating over the surface of the substrate can be challenging.

Method of forming corrosion resistant coating and related apparatus


A video graphics system is provided with a framestore 3 and a viewing store 10. The framestore 3 is arranged to receive new image data created by a processor 6 in response to user manipulations of a stylus/touch tablet device 1. The framestore 3 and the viewing store 10 both have the capacity to store a high definition image and to facilitate display of the image on a high definition monitor 13 the framestore is arranged to transfer only portions of its data contents to the viewing store 10 during a frame period. The portion transferred is determined by the position of the stylus on the touch tablet at the beginning of a frame period. Data in the viewing store 10 is output in faster sequence for display on the monitor 13.

One example of an electronic graphic apparatus or system is described in our British Patent No. 2 089 625 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,818. This system includes a touch tablet and stylus combination for generating position signals designating the position of the stylus relative to the touch tablet. The user or operator paints or draws (hereinafter referred to simply as "paints") by selecting a color and a so called brush distribution from a range of predefined color and distribution functions. Movement of the stylus relative to the touch tablet causes the generation of a series of position signals. The system also includes a pixel processing circuit and a frame storage means which can store an array of pixels representing a picture. On moving the stylus to designate different positions, a patch of pixels in the frame storage means referenced by each designated position is modified in response to the selected color and distribution. All the pixels in the frame storage means, representing the picture, can moreover be read repeatedly and applied to a monitor to display the picture as it is built up by the operator.
The frame storage means for a system such as referred to in the preceding paragraph requires three ports, one for reading back pixels from the frame storage means to the processing circuit, one for writing the modified pixels from the processing circuit into the frame storage means and the third for repeatedly reading the pixels from the frame storage means to the monitor for display. Serial access is sufficient for reading the pixels as a video signal to the monitor, but random access is required via the first and second ports.
These requirements make it difficult to transfer pixels to the monitor at high rates, such as would be needed for example to refresh a monitor displaying a picture of high definition, say HDTV standard.
One object of the present invention is to reduce this difficulty.

Electronic graphic apparatus with low data transfer rate between data stores


A safety gate mounting kit is disclosed for use in the installation of a safety gate to a post, such as a newel post or similar structure, such kit having a first pair of clamping members for attachment to a top portion of a rectangular post and a second pair of clamping members for attachment to a lower portion of a rectangular post. First and second round post adapters for positioning around opposite sides of a round section of the post are provided for insertion between one pair of the clamping members. A wooden gate attachment member is provided to be attached to the first and second clamping members to which wooden gate attachment member the assembly/attachment hardware of a safety gate can be attached.

1. Field of the Invention
The kit of this invention resides in the area of safety gates and more particularly relates to a device sold in kit form for assembly and mounting on a newel post or similar structure to which device a safety gate can be mounted to retain a child or pet within a designated area.
2. History of the Prior Art
Safety gates are well known for keeping young children and pets within certain areas and for preventing them from traveling to areas where they should not go. Safety gates come in a variety of styles and types, and many are hingeably attached at one side and open and close at the other side where they can be locked. Some safety gates extend across openings. Safety gate manufacturers build child safety gates with the assumption that their gates will be installed on a vertical flat surface which is not normally provided at the top of stairwells where a newel post may be present. Most newel posts have sections that are round, square, rectangular or a combination of these and/or other shapes.


A reference chamber for a fluid sensor comprises a housing, a deflectable structure, which is arranged movably within the housing, a control device configured to drive the deflectable structure at a first point in time such that the deflectable structure assumes a defined position, and to drive the deflectable structure at a second point in time such that the deflectable structure moves out of the defined position and a movement of the deflectable structure in the housing is obtained. The reference chamber comprises an evaluation device configured to determine a movement characteristic of the movement of the deflectable structure on the basis of the moving into the defined position or on the basis of the moving out of the defined position and to determine an atmospheric property in the housing on the basis of the movement characteristic.

Photoacoustic sensors (PAS) can have an infrared emitter (signal source) and a reference chamber (signal sink), between which an absorption path is arranged. Thermal radiation can be emitted from the emitter through the absorption path to the reference cell, wherein a portion of the thermal radiation is manipulated or absorbed in the absorption path by a gas situated there, that is to say that gas acts like a filter. The filtered radiation can be received in the reference chamber and be evaluated, thereby enabling a conclusion to be drawn about the gas situated in the absorption path.
Reference chambers for fluid sensors and fluid sensors and apparatuses comprising fluid sensors of this type which are reliable and/or enable a reliable evaluation of the gas in the absorption path would be desirable.

System and method for a reference chamber with a housing and a deflectable structure