In a speech recognition system of a mobile telephone the words are organized in a trellis structure. Thus, at each instant the speech recognition system only needs to search a limited part of the entire vocabulary. Such an arrangement solves the problem of having to search many words at a time, which is time consuming and imposes a high computational load on the system, and will therefore significantly increase the accuracy for the speech recognition system.

In speech recognition systems, the main object is to make a machine understand an utterance made by a human speaker. Thus, speech recognition is used for facilitating a man-machine interface (MMI) by means of allowing entering of commands, text and data to the machine directly from the speech.
In speech recognition, the task for the computer is to transform the acoustic input signal into a text, so called transcription. The characteristics of the input signal varies within a broad range for the same word depending on the sex, age, dialect, etc. of the speaker. Furthermore, if several words are entered into the system at the same time, for example if a whole sentence is given to the speech recognition system, the pronunciation of the different words may differ depending on the words preceding and/or succeeding a present word.
Furthermore, the presence of noise and echoing effects may distort the original signal before it enters the speech recognition system.
In general, speech recognition systems can be divided into two main groups:                i) Speaker independent systems and        ii) Speaker dependent systems
Speaker independent systems, in particular those designed for a large vocabulary and for accepting speech without pausing between the different words, i.e. sentences or parts thereof, requires the use of large speech data bases and use different statistical properties of speech and words. Grammatical rules and predictions of what is likely to be said can also be incorporated in such systems.
Speaker dependent systems, on the other hand, and in particular those using a limited vocabulary (typically a few hundred words) and where only one word is spoken at the time, does not require any large data bases. Instead such systems requires training of the particular speaker, or, in some cases speakers, using the system.
A speaker dependent speech recognition system will of course provide a much better performance compared to a speaker independent system for a number of reasons. For example, the number of words is limited and also the system has an exact knowledge of how a particular word should sound, since it has been trained by the particular person using the system.
However, a speaker dependent system can only be used for a limited range of applications. An application, in which a speaker dependent system is to prefer to a speaker independent system is for example entering of commands to a machine.
In such a case the task for the speech recognition system is to transcript the command given orally into a form which can be understood by the machine, i.e. usually a binary word, which is used for controlling the machine. For example, commands such as "Go", "Stop", "Left", "Right" "Yes", "No", etc. can be given orally to a machine, which then executes the corresponding actions.
Nevertheless, even though the number of possible words that the machine has to recognise is limited, typically to a few hundred words, and even though the speech recognition system of the machine has been trained by the voice of the user and therefore has an exact knowledge of how a particular word sounds when spoken by that particular user, a number of possible sources for making a wrong decision still exists.
Thus, noise and echoing effects in the environment will distort the signal entering the speech recognition system. Also, the frequency spectrum of the same word will experience small variations from time to time, and in particular if the speaker has a cold or the like.
Another problem is that the number of words, even though limited to, typically a few hundred, requires a very large amount of processing power. In a typical speech recognition system the sampling rate is 8000 samples per second and where each sample consists of about 13 bits. This results in that a typical word, which typically lasts for a second, consists of about 100 000 bits.
Thus, in a system where real time constrains exists, for example requiring a response time of 1 second or less, the speech recognition system has to be able to process the large amount of information contained in each word very quickly.
Furthermore, the computational load on the system increases heavily when the number of words increases. This is due to a number of different reasons. Thus, the system has to search a greater number of words when trying to determine which word or command has been spoken. Also, when the number of words/commands increases the risque for that a given command has characteristics which resembles another command increases. In order to avoid a faulty decision the system then has to extract more features from the different words in order to make a correct decision with a required probability. Finally, the possibility that the system interprets a non-existing command word as a command increases if the number of word increases, i.e. the performance of the out of vocabulary rejection (OVR) function decreases.
In a system, which is designed to operate under difficult conditions, such as a mobile telephone comprising a voice controlled dialling system (VCD), i.e. having means for receiving commands orally, and which may be used in a car, the accuracy of existing speech recognition systems is in most cases too low.
A system using speech recognition for entering commands is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,494. The system as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,494 displays a number of different icons on a screen. By selecting a certain icon a user can limit the possible commands to the commands associated with the selected icon shown on the screen. However, it is difficult to use such a system in a mobile telephone, which usually lacks a suitable graphical display.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,475 describes a speech recognition system designed to build word models starting from phonemes or allophones.


A mixer for a fluid flow in a pipe connection, especially for homogenizing a multiphase flow, has a housing to be inserted in the pipe connection for the fluid to flow through. In the housing there are at least one and preferably two or more adjoining and individually displaceable regulating elements having cooperating wall portions with flow passages. At an upstream side radial flow passages cause the fluid to converge into a central chamber. In the cooperating wall portions, a number of flow channels can be aligned or misaligned with one another and/or the inlet and outlet openings to regulate and control flow by movement of the regulating elements. The regulating elements also define a full cross-section opening at 90.degree. to the flow passages, which can clear the passage between the inlet and outlet for passage of a pipe pig.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a mixer for mixing the components of a fluid flow in a pipe connection, in particular a multi-phase flow as e.g. fluids produced from an oil or gas well, comprising a housing adapted to be inserted in the pipe connection and to have the fluid flow running therethrough, whereby the housing comprises an inlet and an outlet opening respectively.

Mixing valve with adjustable regulating elements and central chamber


A multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor where a main element holder and an additional element holder are relatively moved in a direction perpendicular to an arrangement direction of optical axes. An engagement projection of the additional element holder is fit into a receiving hole of the main element holder and the hook of the additional element holder engages with the end edge of the main element holder, whereby the main element holder and the additional element holder are mechanically coupled to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor configured by light projecting and receiving units each of which is formed by disposing a plurality of optical elements in a line.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, a multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor is used in order to form a safety light curtain around a press machine. The multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor is configured by a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit each of which is formed by disposing a plurality of optical elements in a line. The light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are disposed opposite to each other so that light beams projected from respective light projecting elements of the light projecting unit are received by the corresponding light receiving elements of the light receiving unit, respectively. For example, when a worker shields a part of the light curtain, a light shielding signal is outputted from the multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor, whereby the press machine is immediately stopped during its operation.
A multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor disclosed in JP-A-2000-251595 is arranged in a manner that a circuit board is disposed at the rear surface of the optical elements, and a screw is inserted into a first hole formed in an optical block and also into a second hole formed in a casing corresponding to the first hole to thereby perform relative positioning between the casing and the optical block. Two sets each formed by the optical block and the circuit board disposed at the rear surface thereof are housed within the casing and these two circuit boards are electrically coupled by a flat cable.
A multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor disclosed in JP-A-2001-135208 is arranged in a manner that a board housed within a casing is formed by laminating a base board and a photoelectric element board. Further, a circuit to be coupled to the respective optical elements and on which the optical elements are disposed in a line is printed on the photoelectric element board. Resistors, capacitors and transistors are mounted on one surface of the base board which is opposite to the other surface facing on the photoelectric element board. In the photoelectric element board, two positioning holes are formed so as to be separated from each other. Further, two bosses capable of being inserted into these two positioning holes are formed in the optical block, whereby the bosses and the positioning holes perform the relative positioning between the optical block and the photoelectric element board. A first hole for positioning with respect to the casing is formed in the optical block and a second hole corresponding to the first hole is formed in the casing, whereby a screw is inserted into the first and second holes to thereby perform the relative positioning between the optical block and the casing.
According to the inventions disclosed in the aforesaid publications, the multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor having many optical axes can be formed by providing plural units each formed by the optical block and the photoelectric element board disposed at the rear surface thereof. However, a pitch between the end optical axis of one of the units and the end optical axis of another of the units varies depending on where the screw is fastened. It is important for the multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor to keep the distance (pitch) between the respective adjacent optical axes constant. In particular, when the pitch is set to be as short as possible in order to enhance the detection ability, it is important to keep the pitch constant.


Disclosed is a system for controlling discharged-air temperature for a vehicular air-conditioning system, comprising a duct, a cooling medium circuit, a heating medium circuit, an air-mixing unit, and an automatic air-conditioning ECU. The automatic air-conditioning ECU performs air-mixing control for cold air and hot air by means of the air-mixing unit to adjust the temperature of air discharged from a face outlet into a passenger's compartment only when an estimated discharged-air temperature in an operation mode is not lower than a reference temperature setting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for controlling discharged-air temperature for a vehicular air-conditioning system including an upper outlet disposed at an upper position for discharging air into a passenger's compartment and a lower outlet disposed at a lower position for discharging air into the passenger's compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a variety of systems are adopted in order to perform air-conditioning in a passenger's compartment of a vehicle. Those widely used include, for example, a reheat system in which all of cold air, which has been dehumidified after passing through an evaporator, is allowed to pass through a heater core to heat the cold air so that the temperature-controlled and/or humidity-controlled air is discharged from respective outlets into the passenger's compartment, and an air-mixing system in which air, which has passed through an evaporator, is divided by an air-mixing damper into air to make a passage through a heater core and air to make a detour to avoid the heater core, followed by mixing hot air and cold air at a position downstream of the heater core to obtain mixed air which is discharged from respective outlets into the passenger's compartment.
The outlet mode of the vehicular air-conditioning system for discharging air into the passenger's compartment includes a "DEF" (defrosting) mode, a "FOOT/DEF" mode, a "FOOT" mode, a "B/L" (bi-level) mode, and a "VENT" mode (or "FACE" mode).
In the case of such a vehicular air-conditioning system, it is required to heat the passenger's compartment such that the passenger feels no burning sensation at face or head while maintaining a heating sensation at foot of the passenger. For this purpose, for example, the air-mixing control is performed, in which a predetermined temperature difference is given between temperatures of airs discharged from upper and lower outlets, i.e., airs discharged from the face outlet and the foot outlet during the "FOOT/DEF" mode and the "B/L" mode.
However, in the case of a heat pump air-conditioning system provided with a heat pump-type cooling cycle arranged with a condenser for heating the passenger's compartment by condensing a coolant in a duct to radiate heat, it is impossible to give the temperature difference between the discharged-air temperature at the face outlet and the discharged-air temperature at the foot outlet. Therefore, it is conceived for the heat pump air-conditioning system to combine the reheat type temperature control and the air-mixing type temperature control. As for such a combination, for example, a vehicular air-conditioning system is known as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-67134.
An object of the conventional air-conditioning system is to avoid excessive increase in motive power and excessive increase in electric power consumption of an electric compressor used for the heat pump air-conditioning system. In order to achieve the object, the conventional air-conditioning system comprises a discharged-air temperature control unit based on the use of both of the reheat type temperature control effected by controlling a compressor and the air-mixing type temperature control effected by controlling an air-mixing damper, for controlling the temperature of air discharged from the face outlet and the foot outlet. The discharged-air temperature control unit performs the air-mixing type temperature control only when the electric power consumed by the compressor is not more than a reference electric power. The discharged-air temperature control unit performs the air-mixing type temperature control only when the calculated target discharged-air temperature is not higher than a reference temperature, for example, 70.degree. C.
However, in the case of the conventional air-conditioning system, the air-mixing type temperature control is not performed when the target discharged-air temperature is higher than the reference discharged-air temperature. Therefore, it is feared that high temperature air is discharged especially from the face outlet.
Further, the conventional air-conditioning system performs the air-mixing type temperature control in order to give the difference in temperature between the upper and lower outlets. When the outlet mode is the "VENT" mode, the ordinary reheat type temperature control is performed. Therefore, the following problem is pointed out. That is, when the operation mode is changed during the heating operation from the "HEAT" mode to the "VENT" mode, then air at a considerably high temperature is discharged against the face of the passenger, and the passenger feels an uncomfortable sensation. Especially, when it is intended to suddenly lower the discharged-air temperature, it is feared that air at a high temperature may be discharged from the face outlet against the face of the passenger.

Method and apparatus for controlling discharged-air temperature for vehicular air-conditioning system


A telecommunications closure (1) includes a pressure clamp (21) for sealingly clamping mating parts (47, 48) of the closure together so as to form a water tight seal. The clamp member requires no tools during installation and creates no uncertainty as to the generation of appropriate clamp pressure on a sealing O-ring when installed. The pressure clamp includes an over-center latch which is rotatable between a first unlatched position and a second latched position, a clamping pressure generated by the latch increasing to a maximum value as the rotatable latch is moved from its first position to an intermediate position between the first and second positions and then decreases from this maximum value as the latch is moved from the intermediate position to the second position so as to generate a predetermined appropriate clamping pressure when in its second position so as to appropriately compress the O-ring disposed within a groove between the closure parts at their mating area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application is directed to a pressure clamp for a telecommunications closure, preferably a telecommunications closure which contains circuit cards and electronic components thereon such as microprocessors, and also preferably includes either optical fiber or copper wire drops, or both.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various closures have been proposed in the prior art for enclosing electronic components associated with optical fiber systems designed to delivery either voice, video, and/or data information to end users, the closures also typically including optical fiber and electrical twisted wire and sometimes electrical coaxial cables. It is essential that such closures be water tight so that deployment in underground environments will not allow water to come in contact with the optical fiber cable and electronic components, and water tight closures are also preferable in above-ground, i.e. pedestal, applications.
Prior art pressure clamps for clamping and creating a seal between first and second parts of a telecommunications closure utilize a nut and bolt arrangement whereby the clamp is tightened by torquing the nut to get an apparent mechanical advantage of the pitch of bolt threads to enable a clamp to be tightened without an inordinate amount of work by a craftsperson. Such prior art clamps are disadvantageous since they require tools, are not particularly user friendly, and there is a substantial amount of uncertainty when tightening the nut as to when sufficient clamp pressure has been generated so as to result in a water tight seal and also result in an arrangement whereby the pressure is still low enough to prevent mechanical parts of the clamp from being unduly stressed which can result in premature failure of the clamp. Furthermore, prior art clamps are generally made of metal and hence are subject to corrosion, and are relatively expensive. Finally, prior art clamps generally utilize clamp legs which have an angled interior surface equal to or greater than 20.degree. which slidingly engages a mating confronting surface of the closure parts. Though such large angles result in requiring minimum movement of the clamp when tightening the nut to generate sufficient clamp pressure, such large angles are disadvantageous since in low temperature conditions the closure parts tend to contract radially creating a significant possibility that pat of the seal generated by the clamp may be broken on a side of the clamp from which the closure parts retract.

Pressure clamp for telecommunications closure


The present invention discloses discloses a composite PTFE membrane comprising an expanded PTFE membrane as substrate and a sintered porous PTFE membrane on top of it. The porous PTFE membrane on top has porous structure with interconnected channels formed with a sintering process that fuses the PTFE fine powders coated on the ePTFE membrane. Furthermore, the present invention discloses a method for forming the composite PTFE membrane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to composite membranes, and more particularly to composite polytetrafluoroethylene membranes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a highly crystalline polymer containing two types of chemical bonds, C—C and C—F bonds. These two types of chemical bonds are strong, given the bond energy of the C—C bond about 290-335 kJ/mole and that of the C—F bond about 482 kJ/mole. Thus, PTFE has a very stable chemical property and an excellent electrical insulation property and has also low friction coefficients. In addition, PTFE can be used at 250° C. for a long period of time and is unaffected by solvent or chemical substance, when being operated below its melting point. PTFE has many applications, such as for electrical insulation, corrosion-resistance and abrasion resistance.
Due to difficulty in dissolving PTFE in common solvents, traditionally PTFE porous films have been made by extruding PTFE powders into paste rods, calendering the rods to form films, and stretching the films to make them porous. Such porous films are also called expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes. However, the application of ePTFE membranes to membrane separation is limited to microfiltration, because the pores generated by stretching are usually larger than 0.1 μm and not uniform. To extend the application of PTFE membranes for separating particles smaller than 0.1 μm, such as ultrafiltration, new membrane fabrication process are still needed to manufacture PTFE membranes with smaller pores and more uniform size distribution.

Composite membrane and method for forming the same


A support stand for supporting the leg and hoof of a horse includes a base member adapted for seating on a horizontal support surface, and a hoof receptacle including bottom, rear end, and side walls that cooperate to define an open topped hoof-receiving chamber that is open at its forward end. A vertical adjustment device serves to adjust the vertical position of the hoof receptacle relative to the base. The hoof receptacle is connected with the vertical adjustment device for pivotal displacement about a horizontal pivot axis parallel with the receptacle rear wall, and an angle adjustment device serves to adjust the angular orientation of the hoof receptacle relative to the vertical adjustment rod. Accordingly, the horse leg is held in a flexed, pre-set position by adjustment of the leg and hoof support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a support stand for a horse's leg and hoof for use by veterinarians, horse owners and other people, who need a stable, adjustable and safe support device.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The current method of support of a horse's leg by most veterinarians, horse owners and other people places such individuals in a dangerous and physically demanding position. Many veterinarians physically support a horse's leg during their medical operations by holding the horse's leg between their own legs. In the alternative, veterinarians and others may simply hold the horse's leg above ground level during the medical procedure. These individuals become physically tired, are in risk of injury due to sudden movements by the horse, and are exposed repeatedly to radiation during such operations.
The Keeler U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,387,171 and 7,334,643 disclose an adjustable horse leg stand. The horse leg stand includes a stable base and a hoof platform that is slidably received by the receiving portion of the base and can be adjusted in the vertical direction and can be locked at selected heights in a non-incremental, continuous range of heights. One hoof platform of the subject invention includes a diverging U-shaped cradle. This hoof platform may include a flexible strap used to form a hoof receiving sling. Other hoof platforms are discussed and include one such hoof platform, which sits horizontally and is not adjustable, to receive the bottom of a hoof.
The Tyree U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,021 discloses a hoof care stand that includes a two-dimensionally curved leg receiving portion which is flexibly attached to the stand base via a flexible attachment member such as a spring. The vertical attachment rod provides for adjustment in the vertical direction.
The prior art devices uncomfortably restrain the horse leg in a manner that would result in injury to both the horse and the individual performing the operations. When a horse becomes startled, the horse's natural inclination is to move backwards. If restrained, the horse's sudden movement will likely injure both the horse and the personnel working with the horse. Moreover, the prior art devices tend to support the horse's leg in a manner that slows the completion of the operations, and reduces the quality and consistency of such operations, because the prior art devices do not afford adjustment from the horizontal and fail to provide adequate support necessary to perform certain medical processes.
What is needed is a safe stand that comfortably holds the horse leg and hoof in a pre-set position by adjustment of the leg and hoof support. By setting the position of the hoof through a range from the horizontal position to other positions relative to the horizontal, the horse leg would be positioned in a flexed, pre-set position. What is further needed is to comfortably hold the horse leg in such pre-set position while not strapping in place or excessively restraining the horse's leg.


A coated cutting tool with a hard coating layer formed on a substrate. The substrate comprises a binder phase and a hard phase. The coating layer comprises a smooth face having a surface roughness of 0.2 μm or less substantially at the blade-edge ridge and in a region which extends at least 200 μm from the rake face side boundary of the ridge toward the rake face side, and extends at least 50 μm from the flank side boundary of the ridge toward the flank side.

There have been attempts to improve fracture resistance and wear resistance of super hard alloy cutting tools and lengthen the life of tools by depositing a coating layer of titanium carbide, titanium nitride, titanium carbonitride, aluminum oxide, or the like on the surface of a WC-group sintered hard alloy or cermet substrate.
When cutting is carried out, particularly, when a workpiece which easily welds is cut by using these coated cutting tools, problems have frequently occurred in which the coating layer spalls away due to such welding and adhesion, and furthermore, fracturing of the substrate progresses, resulting in a decrease in the life of the tools.
In order to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Nos. 2105396 and 2825693 disclose a technique for suppressing welding and adhesion of a workpiece and enhancing wear resistance and toughness by improving surface roughness by mechanically grinding the surface of the coating layer at the blade-edge ridge of a cutting tool.
However, these techniques are insufficient to suppress the shortening of the tool life due to the progress of wear accompanying layer spalling at the rake face side and layer chipping at the flank side particularly in the case of cutting a workpiece of ductile cast iron, stainless steel, Inconel, or the like which easily welds and adheres.
Furthermore, since the surface roughness of a workpiece deteriorates, the desired roughness of the machined surface cannot be obtained in the case of finishing in which machining accuracy is required.
Recently, considering environmental problems, cutting without using a cutting oil (dry cutting) has become prevalent. However, in this case, due to loss of the lubricating effect of a cutting oil, welding and adhesion of a workpiece accelerates, and accordingly, decrease in the life and deterioration in roughness of machined surface have come into question.
Therefore, the main object of the invention is to provide a coated cutting tool in which fracture resistance and wear resistance are simultaneously realized, tool life is improved, and surface roughness of machined workpiece is improved.


The present invention relates to a convertible scooter ride-on and, more particularly, to a convertible toy that converts between a scooter and ride-on toy. The convertible scooter ride-on includes a base with a plurality of wheels attached thereto and a seat portion pivotally attached with the base. A handle pole is pivotally attached with the seat portion. Notably, the seat portion and handle pole are convertible between a first ride-on configuration in which the seat portion operates as a seat for a rider and a second scooter configuration in which the seat portion and handle pole are pivoted up and securely locked into an erect position, whereby in the scooter configuration, a user can stand on the base.

(1) Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a convertible scooter ride-on and, more particularly, to a convertible toy that converts between a scooter and ride-on toy.
(2) Description of Related Art
Ride-on toy vehicles have long been known in the art. Ride-on vehicles are typically miniature vehicles or toys with a seat that a child can sit on and push themselves around on. Alternatively, a scooter is a toy vehicle that allows a user to stand while scooting about Each of the ride-on and scooter provide for a distinct and unique riding experience. Traditionally, if a child wanted a scooter or ride-on, they would need to obtain two separate items which, as can be appreciated, can be costly.
Thus, a continuing need exists for a single convertible to that converts between a scooter and a ride-on toy.


The trans-reflective liquid crystal display device of this invention includes a plurality of data and gate lines defining a plurality of pixels, the pixels having a reflection region and a transmission region; a timing controller that receives, converts, and outputs image data; a switching unit that determines the output signal of the timing controller according to a transmission mode or reflection mode; a gate driver that receives a gate signal from the timing controller; a data driver that receives a data signal from the timing controller; a liquid crystal display panel with a TFT array substrate and a color filter substrate, the liquid crystal display panel displaying the image according to a gate pulse and a data voltage applied by the gate driver and the data driver; a sequential backlight including red, green, and blue lamps wherein, the backlight is turned on in a transmission mode to sequentially transmit the light into the transmission region and is turned off in a reflection mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trans-reflective liquid crystal display device, more particularly to the trans-reflective liquid crystal display device in which the brightness may be improved by using sequential backlight in reflection mode and transmission mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display device LCD realizes an image by modulating the light emitted from a light source called a backlight disposed at the rear or one side of a liquid crystal display device panel. Because only a small quantity of the light passes through the liquid crystal display panel, the power consumption of the backlight may be increased.
In order to decrease the power consumption of LCD displays, a reflective liquid crystal display device has been introduced. In the reflective liquid crystal display device, there is no need for a backlight, because external light is used to display the images. This means the power consumption may be decreased in the reflective liquid crystal display device and as a result, this device may be suitable for portable display devices.
The reflective liquid crystal display device is provided with reflective opaque materials to reflect the external light.
Because external light such as natural light or artificial light is not always available, the reflective liquid crystal display device may be used only where natural light or artificial light is available.
Accordingly, to overcome this problem, a trans-reflective liquid crystal display device having the advantages of transmissive and reflective liquid crystal display devices has been studied. The trans-reflective liquid crystal display device may be used as a transmission mode display device or a reflection mode display device.
Generally, because the trans-reflective liquid crystal display device has transmission and reflection modes, it is possible to use both the backlight and the external light as a light source. It has the advantage of reducing the power consumption in the trans-reflective liquid crystal display device as compared to a transmissive backlight liquid crystal display.
Referring to FIG. 1, a related art trans-reflective liquid crystal display device includes a thin film transistor TFT array substrate 105 on which a plurality of switching elements such as TFTs are formed, a color filter substrate on which color filters are formed, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the TFT array substrate 105 and color filter substrate.
The TFT array substrate 105 includes a plurality of TFTs, formed on a first transparent substrate 100. The TFTs are each arranged in a pixel to apply a voltage signal to the liquid crystal layer. On the TFT array substrate 105, a gate insulator layer 110, an organic layer 120, a reflection electrode 130, a passivation layer 140 and a pixel electrode 150 are formed sequentially. A backlight is disposed to the rear of the TFT array substrate 105 or under the TFT array substrate 105 to emit the light to the TFT array substrate. Each pixel formed in the trans-reflective LCD panel may be divided into a reflection region and a transmission region. At this time, the reflection electrode is formed only in the reflection region.
The color filter substrate 165 includes a color filter 180 on the second transparent substrate 160 to display color when the light passes through the color filter layer 180. The color filter layer 180 comprises red, green or blue sub layers which are divided by a black matrix (not shown) from each other.
In the transmission mode, the light emitted from the backlight passes sequentially through the TFT array substrate 105, liquid crystal layer 190 and the color filter substrate 165 as shown by a solid line arrow in the FIG. 1.
In the reflection mode, the external light incident on the color filter substrate 165 passes through the liquid crystal layer 190 and then is reflected by the reflection electrode 130. Therefore, the reflected light is then emitted through the liquid crystal layer 190 and the color filter substrate 165 as a dotted line arrow in FIG. 1.
The light passes through the color filter layer 180 twice in the reflection mode, and the light passes through the color filter layer only once in the transmission mode. Because the light path through the color filter 180 is different in the transmission region and reflection region, the color purity is also different in the transmission and reflection modes.
The nonuniformity of the color purity causes the color of the trans-reflective LCD device to deteriorate. This nonuniformity of the color purity may be compensated by a color filter layer with a transmission region having a thickness that is twice the thickness of the color filter layer in the reflection region.
There are two methods used for forming the color filter layer having a thickness difference in the transmission and reflection regions. One method is to form a transparent organic layer 170 in the reflection region on the second transparent substrate 160 and then to form the color filter layer 180 on the transparent organic layer 170 and transmission region. Thus, the thickness of the color filter layer in the transmission region may be increased according to the thickness as the organic layer 170.
The other method is to etch the second transparent substrate 160 in the transmission region and then to form the color layer on the second transparent substrate 160. By this etching, the thickness of the color filter layer in the transmission region may be increased based upon the depth of the etched substrate.
In the above methods, however, the fabricating process is complicated. In the transmission mode, the light has to pass through the thick color filter 180, so that the transmission ratio and the brightness is lower.
In addition, if the area of the transmission region is increased to improve the brightness in transmission mode, the brightness may be decreased in reflection mode.

Trans-reflective liquid crystal display device for improving color reproducibility and brightness and method for driving thereof


A desalination unit for production of potable water from sub-soil brine including in combination a trapezoidal basin, a condenser, a feed tank, a header, a heat exchanger, a flush valve, a sprinkling system, exhaust heat pipe and water collecting channel; where the exhaust heat pipe is connected to a heat source at one end and to the header at the another end, the header being coupled with the heat exchanger to provide the heat flow, and the heat exchanger being fitted at the inner portion of the trapezoidal basin to heat the sub-soil brine.

Many salt farms in India are located in the remote desert area known as the Little Rann of Kutch. These salt farms are typically manned by marginal workers and are mostly devoid of basic facilities such as electricity, transportation, clean water, etc. In these areas, the available ground water is salty (brine) which is a gift of nature for salt manufacturers. However, this invites the other difficulty with challenges for survival due to scarcity of drinking water. The salt producers sometimes have to travel long distances in search of potable water. Occasionally, drinking water is provided through tankers from sources far away from the salt farms. The supply, unfortunately, is not always regular and there are times when the land becomes so slushy that vehicles cannot ply. There is thus a need for an alternative and more dependable solution.
Techniques of desalination such as reverse osmosis and electrodialysis are good solutions when the water has salinity below that of seawater but become impractical solutions when the salinity of water is high as is the case with most sub-soil brines. Moreover, being in distant locations, salt farms often do not have electricity connection whereas power is required to drive the above units. On the other hand, operation through solar power, etc., is a costly proposition even if it were to be technically feasible.
The normal thermal desalination techniques require large inputs of fuel besides high capital cost and cumbersome size. These too are therefore unsuitable for such remote locations and unsophisticated users.
Solar stills have been used occasionally in salt farms to convert the saline water into drinking water. In such stills the average production rate is around 0.8 liters per square meter per sun hour. These could not become much popular in salt farms due to their low productivity.
The essential quality of heat is not the amount but rather its "value". The strategy of how to recover this heat depends in part on the temperature of the waste heat gases and the economics involved.
Large quantity of hot flue gases is generated from boilers, kilns, ovens and furnaces. If some of this waste heat could be recovered, a considerable amount of primary fuel could be saved. The energy lost in waste gases cannot be fully recovered. However, much of the heat could be recovered and loss minimized by adopting suitable techniques.
Industrial units are typically designed incorporating heat recovery units to improve the overall thermal efficiency of the system. A common utilization of this principle is in systems which have an exhaust stream or waste stream which is discharged from the system to its surroundings. Thermal energy is often recovered from liquid or gaseous waste streams to fresh make-up air and water intakes in buildings, such as for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, or any process systems.
Typical waste heat sources and their temperature range released in atmosphere are given in Table 1. Flue gas at 450° C. is used in the Waste Heat Recovery Boiler (WHRB) to produce process steam. The large quantity of lower temperature waste heat from the engine cooling system (jacket cooling water, oil cooler and inlet air cooler) will be used to preheat to about 110° C. the feed water to the WHRB to increase its efficiency and produce more steam. The existing cooling tower will be replaced with heat exchangers and a de-aerator will be added for non-condense gases removal and further preheating of the WHRB feed water temperature to 130° C. which increases the system efficiency even more. The waste heat in the form of flue gases from thermal power plants and decentralized electricity generating sets are employed occasionally for processes requiring thermal energy. This directly reduces fuel costs and combustion emissions significantly, and further benefits the environment, albeit to a lesser degree, through reduced amount of effluents and reduced exhaust temperatures [Subramanyam, Waste heat recovery, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, February 2005, pp. 1-18].
TABLE 1Typical waste heat sources and temperatureSourceTemperature (° C.)Steel heating furnaces 925-1050Steam Boiler Exhausts230-480Gas Turbine Exhausts370-540Reciprocating engine exhausts325-600Heating treating furnaces425-650Internal Combustion Engines 66-120Hot Processed Liquids 32-232Welding Machines32-88Air compressors27-50pumps27-88
Reference may be made to Journal "Usability of low temperature waste heat for sea water desalination", 1981, 39, 147-158, Risto Saari, a multi-effect-distillation unit is used for desalination of sea water using waste heat having 50° C. higher temperature than atmosphere. The energy that is cooled away from a process—appears at two very different temperature levels. This article states that even for temperatures less than 20° C. above the ambient temperature, waste heat can be technically and economically utilized.
Many other investigators have used waste heat to produce make-up water for different purposes like make-up, heating, cooling and drinking from sea water. Raha et al. (International Journal of Nuclear Desalination—2007, 2, 342) utilised waste heat to produce desalinated water by low-temperature evaporation (LTE) desalination technology. Low-pressure steam (0.13 bar) and even hot water (ΔT˜50° C.) has been used to produce high-purity water directly from seawater. LTE technology has found major applications in nuclear reactors to produce high-quality desalted water for make-up water requirements.
Reference may be made to US Patent Application No. 2007084778 A1 by S. T. Germain discloses a power generation system consisting of gas turbine for the production of electricity. A desalination system for production of potable water from sea water is attached to the exhaust of gas turbine. This desalination system comprises heat recovery steam generator and a condenser to condense the steam. Thus the system has dual functioning like power generation and to create a source of fresh water from sea water.
Reference may be made to Chinese patent No. CN201660459 by Huang discloses sea water desalination using the engine exhaust heat interchanger by overheating the sea water used for engine cooling. The water is circulated using a pump. The unit is claimed to be useful in ships.
Reference may be made to the web site http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/marine/articles/29189.aspx discloses a system wherein hot water from water cooled diesel engine is passed through the evaporator which is at low pressure and steam is generated. This steam is passed through steam separator and further passed to condenser to get fresh water which is extracted with the help of a pump.
Although the prior art above teaches us the utilization of waste heat for desalination, the units are typically fairly large units having sophisticated operation and requiring additional devices/electrical power for running different types of pumps. None of the prior art teaches the utilization of waste heat from small capacity air cooled diesel engines for desalination of highly saline—up to 3-5 times seawater salinity—sub-soil brine for the purpose of meeting drinking water needs of marginal salt workers in cost-effective manner in remote locations who have to otherwise struggle to procure drinking water.
Diesel engines are used to run pumps in salt works mainly to pump the sub-soil brine from high depths. Invariably all salt workers in places such as the Little Rann of Kutch possess such diesel engines to conduct their work of producing salt. The exhaust gas of a typical diesel engine is emitted at temperatures in excess of 150° C. and no use is made presently of this energy in such salt works. The present invention discloses the design of a device which enables this energy to be utilised gainfully for the production of potable water from highly saline brines in cost effective manner and at a rate in excess of that achievable through a solar still of similar size.

Desalination unit for the production of potable water from sub-soil brine

COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH


An investment casting shell is made by providing an investment casting pattern that defines a cavity and filling the cavity with a fluid. The fluid is sealed within the cavity and a ceramic material is applied to the exterior of the pattern. The ceramic-encased pattern is heated and the pattern and fluid are removed from the ceramic.

Various metal casting processes, such as investment (or "lost wax") casting are well known for the fabrication of metal objects. This process requires several steps, the first of which is to create or provide a pattern or shape to be replicated. The pattern, often made of a heat destructible material such as wax or resin, is used to make a mold that is then used to form cast metal articles.
Typically, several wax patterns are joined together on a "tree" to enable the simultaneous manufacture of several parts. The tree is usually a solid wax or resin tube that has side walls to which a stem of each pattern is joined to form a cluster. The tree defines what will become a gate leading to passages for allowing molten metal to travel through the mold to each cluster and part pattern. Once all of the patterns are joined to the tree, the cluster is coated with one or more coats of a refractory material. This can be accomplished by dipping the pattern/tree assembly in a ceramic slurry.
After the slurry dries, fabrication of a shell or mold is completed by heating the slurry coated pattern/tree to cure or harden the ceramic and to burn-out the solid patterns and the tree. Molten metal is then poured into the shell so that it fills each of the cavities formerly occupied by the patterns and the tree. After the metal has cooled and hardened, the shell is fractured and removed, and the cast metal parts are severed from the metal tree. The cast parts are then subjected to post-machining, grinding off the gates, bead blasting, and polishing, as required.
The above-described burn-out step for removing heat destructible pattern/tree elements from a ceramic shell is commonly performed in an oven or furnace. Although resin is readily destroyed in this manner, it sometimes expands and cracks the shell while being heated. Wax is even more likely to expand and crack the shell. If the pattern/tree includes voids or hollow regions filled with gas, expansion of the gas can also cause the pattern to expand and the shell to crack. Thus, regardless of whether wax or resin are used individually or in combination to provide a solid or void-filled pattern/tree, a burn-out step performed in a furnace can cause substantial loss of ceramic shells due to pattern/tree material expansion or due to trapped gas expansion.
When a pressure differential exists between the interior and the exterior of the ceramic shell as the shell is being heated, regardless of how the pressure differential is created, the pressure differential can cause the shell to crack. To compensate for, or eliminate pressure differentials, it is known to create vents or bleeders in ceramic shells by filing down a portion of the ceramic shell to reveal or to create a pathway for low resistance airflow. Alternatively, a vent can be created in the ceramic shell by clearing slurry from a surface region of the pattern each time the pattern is dipped and before the slurry dries.
Regardless of how the hole or vent is formed, the hole must be repaired or sealed after the burn-out step and prior to metal pouring. The repair process, however, is labor intensive and can cause shell failure. Furthermore, the repair material may become dislodged, causing the hole to partially or completely reopen prior to, during, or after the step of pouring molten metal into the shell. This can result in spilled metal and a defective casting.
It is desirable to provide additional investment casting techniques that address the challenges of reducing mold failure, and more particularly the problems associated with hollow patterns, pattern removal, and pressure differentials.

Method of producing investment castings for stereolithography patterns


Duplex audio communications over a network use compressed audio data, with linear prediction coefficients (LPCs) and variances by which sample values differ from predictions. A adaptive echo canceller for a transceiver develops finite impulse response filter (FIR) coefficients characterizing an echo path between its local audio output and audio input. The received/decompressed audio data is applied to the FIR coefficients, and the predicted echo is subtracted from the uplink signal. Echo is detected as cross-correlation of the receive signal versus the uplink/send signal over time. In one embodiment, the cross-correlation is determined using a pre-whitened receive signal, obtained by adopting the variance values received over the network by the downlink Codec. Apart from the uplink Codec, no speech analysis filter or process is needed. The technique is apt for GSM, AMR and similar compressed audio communications.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an echo canceller with a filter that adaptively updates a set of coefficients representing an estimated impulse response of an echo path, and subtracts the anticipated echo from a transmitted signal.
2. Prior Art
Echo cancellers are useful in duplex audio communications, speakerphone and hands-free apparatus and in other situations wherein an audio signal may be coupled from the output audio stages back to the input audio stages at one or both ends of a bidirectional communications path. Such coupling can be due to electrical circuit coupling or due to an acoustic path between an audio speaker back and a nearby microphone of a telephone handset or a desktop speakerphone or another communications device.
Echo can be experienced at either or both ends of a communication path. Both ends might have echo cancellers that operate independently. The existence of an echo path at one of the ends is perceived as an echo by the party speaking and listening at the opposite end.
For providing a frame of reference, echo cancellation can be discussed with respect to transceiver equipment at a "near" end, namely the end with the echo path, and the end with which the echo canceller is associated. The echo canceller associated with the near end is intended to prevent an echo from being perceived by a party speaking and listening at the "far" end.
The acoustic and/or electric echo path at the near end causes a delayed and typically-attenuated representation of the audio input signal originating at the "far" end microphone to be echoed back from the near end to the far end and to be heard in the far end audio speaker after a delay. There can be plural audio signal paths affecting the echo, for example reflection from respective walls in a room that are at different distances from a speakerphone.
An echo canceling apparatus is provided, typically disposed in the equipment at the near end but also potentially as an intervening element or process in network communications. The echo canceller senses the presence of an echo component by detecting correlation between the incoming signal received from the far end and the outgoing signal sent from the near end, at a time lag. The echo canceller adaptively characterizes the transfer function of the echo path (or paths), applies the incoming signal to the transfer function to predict the echo component that the far end party's speech is likely to produce, and subtracts away the predicted echo from the signal before that signal is sent from the near end to the far end.
More specifically, the echo path is modeled using an adaptive filter to develop a numerical characterization of the impulse response of the echo path. An "impulse" is a theoretical pulse of infinite amplitude and zero time duration. A theoretical impulse is considered to produce an echo response characterized as a list of amplitudes (known as coefficients), finite in number, at successive time sample points following the impulse. The filter is termed a finite impulse response filter ("FIR") because the number of filter coefficients, and the time period the coefficients encompass, are limited.
The estimate of the expected echo signal is continuously generated by applying the instantaneous value of the audio signal to the impulse response filter. Each instantaneous audio signal value, or sample, produces a list of echo component values that are predicted to result, at sample times extending into the future. As each successively sampled instantaneous value is applied to the impulse response filter, the resulting echo component values at subsequent times are added to the echo component values that were predicted to result from earlier instantaneous values. The accumulated estimated echo component values are subtracted from the audio signal that is being transmitted from the near end to the far end.
Insofar as the adaptive filter coefficients prove to be inaccurate, residual echo remains in the signal. Residual echo can be detected by the correlation between the audio received at the near end, versus the audio sent from the near end less the predicted echo. The residual echo is used as an error value in a feedback control loop that causes the filter coefficients to be adjusted. Over time, the filter coefficients home in on an accurate characterization of the echo path. The coefficients are said to "converge." Ideally, convergence is quick and accurate, leaving virtually no echo in the signal sent back from the near end to the far end.
A new convergence may become necessary if the situation changes. For example, an echo path affected by a speakerphone at the near end may be changed if the speakerphone is physically moved or if acoustically reflective structures are moved near the speakerphone.
The echo component (and the residual echo) can be identified and measured in the cross correlation of the audio received from the far end and the audio sent from the near end, due to the echo path. There may be plural echo paths with distinct lag times, but echo is synonymous with correlation at some lag time(s) due to such paths. Minimizing residual echo might be conceived as adjusting the filter coefficients to eliminate echo-related correlation. But there is a problem. There is substantial correlation between the audio received from the far end and the audio sent from the near end, which correlation is not due to echo. For example, normal human speech has a high level of autocorrelation over the time spans of interest. Anomalies occur, such as opposite-end parties speaking at the same time ("double-talk"), that give rise to momentary cross-correlation that is not echo. If the controls that attempt to adjust and converge the adaptive filter coefficients are highly responsive, which seems advantageous to converge the coefficients quickly, then the controls will respond to autocorrelation and to non-echo correlation, rendering the filter coefficients inaccurate or actually increasing the time needed to converge.
As a technique to improve the rate at which the impulse response filter converges on an accurate characterization of the echo path, the received audio signal from the far end and the outgoing audio signal from the near end can be processed to reduce their inherent autocorrelation and non-echo cross-correlation, before attempting to detect cross correlation that may represent echo. In one technique, these signals are "pre-whitened" using a filter to remove components of the audio signal that may correlate for reasons other than echo. This reduces the signal to noise ratio of the signals input to the process or device that assesses correlation, but the rate of convergence actually is improved because correction of the filter coefficients is driven more strongly by the echo component and less strongly by the confounding factors of inherent autocorrelation and cross correlation in speech signals.
The adaptive circuits that converge the impulse response definition coefficients employ an error correction algorithm. A high or continuous degree of cross correlation of the audio signal being transmitted and a component of the audio signal received over the echo path after a time lag, indicate the presence an error to be minimized by adjusting the impulse response coefficients. The algorithm may make stepwise corrections in an amount related to the magnitude of detected error, to speed convergence. The algorithm may be arranged to suspend making corrections when a double talk situation is detected, to avoid making changes that actually degrade the accuracy of already converged coefficients. Some echo cancellers generate plural sets of impulse response filter coefficients, and switch back and forth to use the set of filter coefficients that is found to result in the least residual echo.
The error correction algorithm for the near end transceiver needs to respond to cross-correlation at a time lag, between the signal received from the far end and the signal sent from the near end, when the cross-correlation is due to echo. A challenge is presented in the fact that human speech inherently contains substantial autocorrelation (namely correlation of a given signal to itself at points spaced in time), and also cross-correlation independent of echo, such as cross-correlation between the audio characteristics of the speech of different speakers).
In theory, convergence is quickest when conducted without the influence of inherent forms of correlation of audio speech signals. An adaptive filter might converge most quickly if the input signals (the near end transmit signal and the receive signal from the far end) are not cross-correlated and have low autocorrelation. There is no such correlation between audio signals that are broadband white noise. Correlation of speech signals may be low if the speech contains fricative sounds (e.g., hiss, "th" or "sh" sounds, etc.). Normal voiced speech sounds correlate inherently.
A known technique intended to improve the rate of convergence of an echo canceller, filters the audio signals by pre-processing to select for attributes of the signals that most resemble broadband noise. These attributes do not have the high levels of autocorrelation or cross-correlation inherent in the original speech signals. U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,261—Wang et al., the teachings of which are hereby incorporated, discloses the step of pre-whitening the received speech signal to improve the rate of convergence, citing S. Yamamoto et al., "An Adaptive Echo Canceller with Linear Predictor," Trans. IDE Japan, 1979, pp. 851-857 and international application PCT/US85/02168 (WO 86/02726). Pre-whitening is accomplished using a speech analysis and speech synthesis unit as implemented in a digital signal processor according to WO 86/02726. The received audio signal is applied to a spectral analysis unit that produces linear prediction coefficients substantially characterizing the frequency components of the signal, and residual values ("variances") representing the differences between the actual values of audio signal samples and the values that would have been predicted by the linear prediction coefficients.
The linear prediction coefficients represent the redundant aspects of the audio signal during a sampling interval. The residual values or variances provide a pre-whitened representation of the received speech signal from the far end because redundancies that would lead to high autocorrelation apart from echo are contained in the linear prediction coefficients, not in the residual sample values (variances). This pre-whitened receive signal is the input used for correlation with the send signal in the detection and suppression of residual echo. In order to exploit this technique, it is necessary to provide a digital signal processor embodying a speech analysis unit devoted to producing the pre-whitened version of the receive signal as described. This solution is expensive and complex.
It would be advantageous to de-correlate the send and receive signals so as to improve the speed of convergence as described, but to do so in a manner that is less complicated and expensive while remaining effective. These objectives are difficult to achieve if the already complex echo canceller adaptive filter elements also need to include a digital signal processor devoted to pre-whitening the received signal. The objectives are likewise difficult if the transceiver unit is based on a processor because a substantial portion of available processing capacity may be devoted to the pre-whitening function. What is needed is a better way to separate the transmitted near end audio signal and the received far end audio signal into constituent signal components that are inherently de-correlated, and to use the de-correlated components to control the echo canceller error estimation and convergence of the impulse response filter coefficients.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Echo canceller with correlation using pre-whitened data values received by downlink codec


This disclosure relates to a system for automatically measuring and compensating for any angle of misalignment of a forward-looking sensor of a vehicle. The sensor provides data representing the azimuth angle and the range of a target such as another vehicle. For each angle and range reading of the sensor, the location point of the target is estimated; after a series of such readings, the trajectory line of the target is estimated. The angle of misalignment is estimated from the angle between the trajectory line and the path of travel of the host vehicle. In subsequent readings of the sensor, the estimated angle of misalignment is subtracted from the measured azimuth angle to produce an accurate azimuth angle of the target. The accurate azimuth angle is provided for use by another unit such as a collision warning system and/or an intelligent cruise control.

Collision warning systems, primarily for use in road vehicles, are being developed and tested. In a typical system of this nature, a sensor (referred to as a Forward Looking Sensor or FLS) is mounted at the forward end of a host vehicle and provides data representative of the range of a target vehicle or other object, the range rate, and the azimuth angle of the target. The range is the distance between the host and the target, the range rate is the rate of change of the range, and the azimuth angle is the angle in a horizontal plane between the target and the direction of travel (the path or trajectory) of the host vehicle. A microprocessor receives the data plus path prediction data (from the yaw rate and the speed of the host vehicle), and calculates whether a collision is likely. An alarm may be sounded, the throttle may be backed off, and/or the brakes may be applied by the system, to avoid a collision.
A system generally as described above may also be incorporated in an Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) system and operate to adjust the vehicle speed to maintain an appropriate timed headway or following distance.
As mentioned above, a system of this character provides a close estimate of the location of the target relative to the path of travel of the host vehicle. A close estimate, in turn, has in the past required that the FLS viewing axis be closely aligned, in a horizontal plane, with the axis of the host vehicle (the direction of travel) so that the range and azimuth angle relative to the host vehicle may be accurately estimated.
Such FLS sensors rely on radar, laser or ultrasonic signal transmitter/receivers, and typical installation tolerances in vehicle assembly at the factory do not normally meet the required accuracy of alignment. A more precise mechanical alignment at the factory or at a service facility is possible but it would be time consuming and costly.
Even if a practical arrangement were feasible for accurately aligning the FLS with the vehicle axis during manufacture, it would not solve all problems. For example, there might be subsequent changes in the FLS alignment during usage and/or misalignment relative to the path of travel of the host vehicle caused by vehicle "crabbing" (wherein the vehicle axles are not perpendicular to the path of travel) which would not be detected.
It is a general object of the present invention to avoid the foregoing problems by providing improved apparatus and method for automatically sensing, during operation of a host vehicle, any misalignment of the sensor, and for automatically compensating for any misalignment.


A catalyst for the production of synthesis gas (CO and H.sub.2) by reaction of CO.sub.2 and CH.sub.4 and/or other light hydrocarbons, having a support material with at least 80 wt. % ZrO.sub.2 of oxides selected from the group of Y, La, Al, Ca, Ce and Si, as well as of a coating with metals of Group VIII which is applied physically by adsorption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catalyst for the production of synthesis gas in the form of CO and H.sub.2 from CO.sub.2 and CH.sub.4 and/or other light hydrocarbons.
2. Description of the Related Art
The combustion of fossil fuels in the form of coal, petroleum or natural gas or of secondary fuels produced therefrom which is effected predominantly in the industrialized countries is leading to an increased concentration of CO.sub.2 in the atmosphere. Since CO.sub.2 is one of the so-called greenhouse gases, even relatively slight increases in concentration lead to traumatic changes which have their effect throughout the world. An increase of the average temperature in the atmosphere has already been observed and a further increase is expected in the coming years, resulting in more frequent and more violent natural catastrophes (for instance periods of drought, flood, storm). Therefore, increased efforts are required to at least reduce the tempo of the further increase in the concentration of CO.sub.2. It is being attempted to achieve this primarily by decreasing the consumption of energy. To achieve this, some countries have thought, for instance, of introducing an energy tax, the amount of which is based on the amount of CO.sub.2 liberated upon the consumption of energy. Another possible manner of reducing the liberation of CO.sub.2 is to reuse this gas for instance, for the production of other products.
Synthesis gas (CO+H.sub.2) is used in a number of chemical processes. Such synthesis gas can be produced in different ways. The method most used consists of the reforming of methane. This leads to a product having an H.sub.2 /CO ratio of 3 in accordance with the reaction: EQU CH.sub.4 +H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.CO+3H.sub.2
The H.sub.2 /CO ratio can be shifted further to even higher values by increasing the amount of H.sub.2 O relative to the amount of CH.sub.4, followed by a CO-shift reaction: EQU CO+H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.CO.sub.2 +H.sub.2
A synthesis gas produced in this manner is particularly suitable for the synthesis of methanol, which in its turn can be further converted into other petrochemical products.
The partial oxidation of methane with oxygen represents another method for the production of synthesis gas and is characterized by a H.sub.2 /CO ratio of 2: EQU CH.sub.4 +0.5 O.sub.2 .fwdarw.CO+2H.sub.2
Such a synthesis gas is particularly suitable for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, which requires an H.sub.2 /CO ratio of about 1.7-2.5.
The production of oxoalcohols is another important field of use of synthesis gas. Oxoalcohols are produced by hydroforming .alpha.-olefins in accordance with the reaction: EQU CH.sub.3 --CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 +CO+H.sub.2 .fwdarw.CH.sub.3 --CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --CHO
The aldehyde is then hydrogenated to form the desired alcohol. In this production process an H.sub.2 /CO ratio of about 1 is required. One possibility for producing such a synthesis gas is afforded by the gasification of coal.
Another possibility of producing such a synthesis gas having an H.sub.2 /CO ratio of 1 is the reaction of CO.sub.2 with CH.sub.2 : EQU CO.sub.2 +CH.sub.4 .fwdarw.2CO+2H.sub.2
It is known to effect this reaction at, for instance, 500.degree. C. under increased pressure in the presence of a catalyst. Since such processes have not acquired any practical importance up to now, there are relatively few publications on this subject (for instance, Chem. Eng. Science 1988, No. 11, pages 3049-3062, and Chem. Eng. Science 1989, No. 12, pages 2825-2829). As suitable catalysts the metals Ni, Pt, Rh and Pd are mentioned, these elements being applied in each case to a support material which consists of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 or SiO.sub.2. The effectiveness in principle of such catalysts can easily be shown in a laboratory test. However, they are unsuitable for commercial use. This is due to the fact that undesired side reactions are also promoted by the action of the catalyst, namely: EQU 2CO.fwdarw.C+CO.sub.2 (Boudouard reaction) EQU CH.sub.4 .fwdarw.C+2H.sub.2 (methane cracking) EQU CO+H.sub.2 .fwdarw.C+H.sub.2 O (CO reduction)
These side reactions are undesired, since they lead to the formation of free carbon which deposits on the catalyst (coking) and reduces the activity thereof more and more (deactivation). The coking can, to be sure, be reduced by a drastic increase in the amount of CO.sub.2 beyond the amount stoichiometrically necessary for the amount of CH.sub.4 used, but this, of course, results in the need to separate large amounts of excess CO.sub.2 from the synthesis gas produced and return it to the process. The economy of such a process is placed in question by the additional expense necessary for this.
In order to reduce the tendency towards coking, it is known to permit the reaction between CO.sub.2 and CH.sub.4 to take place in the presence of steam. This also impairs the economy of the process, without giving results which are truly technically satisfactory.
In Federal Republic of Germany 41 02 185 A1, a catalytic system for the production of synthesis gas by the reforming of light hydrocarbons with CO.sub.2 is described in which a metal or a compound of metals of the platinum group is provided as catalytically active coating substance. The preferred metals are rhodium, ruthenium and iridium. These metals are applied to an oxidic support material which is selected from the group consisting of Al, Mg, Zr, Si, Ce and/or La. The examples of embodiments are limited to two support materials MgO.sub.2 and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3. Before the application of the coating material to the support material, the support material is silicified in a prior treatment. Upon the application of the coating material itself, a chemical reaction of the materials used takes place in the form of a heterogeneous solid-liquid reaction, in connection with which a CO atmosphere or an inert atmosphere must be maintained. Thereupon, the material which is obtained in this manner is dried and calcined in a known manner. By the special manner of production of this catalytic system, the tendency towards coking is to be substantially reduced.

Process for the production of synthesis gas

Mannesmann Aktiengesellschaft & K.T.I. Group B.V.


A game structure includes mat members including ring portions arranged for selective securement to the mat members, with the ring members optionally mounted employing hook and loop fastener structure securing the ring members relative to the target structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to bag toss game structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved bag toss game apparatus wherein the same employs portable ring members arranged for selective positioning functioning as targets to receive bean bags directed thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bean bag toss game structure is indicated in the prior art and exemplified by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,986,549; 4,927,160; 4,943,065; 4,923,201; and 4,938,485.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a bean bag toss game structure wherein the same employs bean bags of various colorations for demarcation of various players relative to the coloration and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


Disclosed are a message processing method, a message processing system, a message processing apparatus, a computing device, and a computer-readable storage medium. The message processing method includes receiving a first message sent by at least one client in the ward, determining whether the format of the first message is at least one of a plurality of first preset formats, in response to the format of the first message is at least one of a plurality of first preset formats, converting the format of the first message into a second preset format according to a preset conversion rule corresponding to the format of the first message, so as to obtain a second message, receiving a data processing request, and in response to the data processing request, processing the second message.

With the rapid development of Internet information technology, smart medical care has been widely used in more and more hospitals. Among them, smart medical care is a medical service model centered on patient data, which can help hospitals realize intelligent medical care for people and intelligent management for things, especially in the field of smart wards. Its main concept is to provide supplementary medical services as the goal, and that, by integrating the ward medical information system and cooperating with the communication function of the medical Internet of Things (IoT), medical staff may provide services in real time without having to wait on the patient's side at any time.

Message processing method, message processing system, message processing apparatus, computing device, and computer-readable storage medium


At least one switching instance is provided in a VoIP system in order to set up a useful data link between a calling terminal and a called terminal. A first signaling link is set up between each terminal and the at least one switching instance for interchanging information on the basis of a first protocol, a second signaling link is set up between them for interchanging information on the basis of a standardization second protocol, in which the useful data link is set up on the basis of the information interchanged on the basis of the second protocol. At least the second signaling link is initiated by the calling terminal, with the information which is transmitted via the first signaling link and in parallel via the second signaling link from the terminals being in each case combined.

The invention relates to a method for setting up a useful data link between terminals in a VoIP system.
Communication networks whose components communicate with one another on a packet-switched basis are being increasingly used instead of line-switching communication networks. Networks such as these are also referred to in the literature as Voice-over-IP system (VoIP for short) networks, if the Internet Protocol (IP) is used for interchanging acoustic information in the form of data.
While telephones are generally used as terminals for line-switching telephony, the expression terminals is generally used in VoIP communication networks, because other devices, for example multimedia PCs, can also be used in addition to voice terminals, that is to say telephones.
The terminals in VoIP communication networks interchange data with one another during active operation. In this case, a distinction is drawn between control data and useful data. While the useful data in the case of voice terminals comprises the digitized speech signal, a control data is used to initiate and to control links between terminals. The service features which are also already known from line-switching-telephony, such as dialing, call back, call brokering, display indications and connection clearing, are provided by the control data in VoIP communication networks.
In "classical" line switching telephony, the terminals are not directly connected to one another, but are connected to a central switching instance, that is to say to a communication system. The control data sent by the terminals is evaluated by the communication system, and the useful data, that is to say the digitized speech information, is passed from the communication system to the respective terminal.
In the case of VoIP communication networks, on the other hand, the useful data is interchanged on direct paths between the terminals, while the control data is in most cases evaluated and passed on via a central instance. In networks such as these, this central instance is, for example, what is referred to as a gatekeeper, which, inter alia, carries out the conversion between call numbers and network addresses, and, thus, controls the setting up of links between the two terminals.
When interchanging control data and useful data, all the terminals, terminals and other network components in the communication networks have to comply with conventions (norms), which are defined in protocols and protocol families. By way of example, the Euro-ISDN Protocol E-DSS1 and the company-specific protocol CorNet-TS protocol are used in the line-switching communication network such as the ISDN, while the ITU-T H.323 protocol is widely used in VoIP communication networks. In this case, the only functions and service features which can ever be implemented in the communication networks are those which are defined in the protocol or protocol family that is being used. In this case, compliance with the conventions agreed in the protocols is important in order to make it possible to use components from different manufacturers and also to connect networks of different operators or different national states to one another.
While that part of the H.323 protocol family which defines the convention for transmission of the useful data in most cases corresponds to the requirements of the terminals that are used nowadays, the H.323 protocol elements for connection control (signaling) often do not (any longer) comply with the requirements. For example, these protocol elements do not allow the implementation of all the functions and service features which are known from the line-switching telephony protocols mentioned above. For this reason, not only is a control data channel set up on the basis of the H.323 protocol between the terminals and the gatekeeper (or the gatekeepers) in VoIP communication networks, but, in addition to this, a further controlled data channel is setup in parallel, which generally operates in accordance with a company-specific protocol and is required to provide functions and service features which are not defined in the H.323 protocol. This relates in particular to functions and convenience functions which are required for setting up links to modern terminals and which are not supported in the H.323 standard, such as short code dialing, extensive display indications and special calling and ringing tones. Thus, when setting up a connection which is initiated from one terminal, a control data link is first of all set up in accordance with a company-specific protocol between the calling terminal and the associated VoIP communication system with the gatekeeper functionality, and this VoIP communication system then sets up a control data channel to the calling terminal in accordance with the H.323 protocol.
The known method for setting up the link in VoIP communication networks has been found to have the disadvantage that the setting up of the H.323 link from the VoIP communication system to the terminal makes it impossible to use terminals which comply with H.323 standard to set up the connection in the opposite direction.

Method for setting up a useful data link between terminals in a VoIP system


The present disclosure provides a polyester composition suitable for ultrasonic welding and preparation method thereof, the composition includes the following components in parts by weight: 30˜50 parts of poly(1,4-cyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate), 40˜60 parts of ABS, 5˜10 parts of a melt enhancer, 0.1˜1 parts of an antioxidant, and 0.1˜1 parts of a lubricant. Compared with the existing technologies, the polyester composition provided by the present disclosure improves melt strength by using the melt enhancer. The melt enhancer used is an ultra-high density polyethylene resin having a glycidyl methacrylate group after an irradiation treatment, so that the compatibility of the melt enhancer to the poly(1,4-cyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate) is improved. In addition, by controlling a glass-transition temperature of the composition, no chipping is generated during ultrasonic welding, and the composition has a high welding strength, which is suitable for ultrasonic welding.

Ultrasonic welding is transmitted to two objects surfaces to be welded by using high-frequency vibration waves, in the case of pressurization, the two objects surfaces rub against each other to form a fusion between molecular layers. Due to a large acoustic resistance of the soldering zone, local high temperature is generated; plastic has a poor thermal conductivity, and heat cannot be dissipated in time, which causes the plastic of the contact surface is rapidly melted, and after a certain pressure, it is fused together to achieve the purpose of welding. In addition, a molten state of the contact surfaces of two plastics affects welding strength.
Ultrasonic welding as a rapid welding mode and can be widely applied to automobile lamps, especially automotive tail lamps. Automotive tail lamps need to weld a transparent article of PMMA with a PC/ABS shell. While PMMA and PC/ABS are prone chipping and have a low welding strength during ultrasonic welding.
Compared with PC (polycarbonate), poly(1,4-cyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate) contains a cyclohexane dimethanol ester functional group, and a glass transition temperature thereof lower than PC and more closer to PMMA. LDPE is a high molecular weight resin that can effectively increase melt strength, but has compatibility problems with polyester and ABS materials. Therefore, it is difficult to mix LDPE with polyester and ABS to prepare a composition with a good compatibility in the existing technologies.

Polyester composition suitable for ultrasonic welding and preparation method thereof


An educational medical mannequin comprising head, neck, torso, arms and legs. Alternate embodiments of the educational medical mannequin may comprise, in any combination, a tracheostomy opening, injection zones disposed at various locations, nitro patches, a J feeding tube, a stoma, a supra pubic catheter opening, a wound, a decubitus site, a vein with phlebitis, an edematous hand, a breathing sound generator, and kidney location indicia. Additional equipment that may be used in combination with the educational medical mannequin include an intravenous assembly, a catheter and a hypodermic syringe. The educational medical mannequin is used for training nurses and lay persons in various medical procedures.

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to training devices, and in particular to an educational medical mannequin.
2. Background of the Invention
The present invention is intended to aid in the training of two groups of individuals: those being cared for in a home care environment and their caregivers, and professional individuals such as nurses.


A specially designed sonotrode and anvil are adapted to be used in combination for ultrasonic welding of work pieces, to produce a narrower weld region, but one exhibiting greater durability, thereby permitting use of less packaging material. The contact surfaces comprise a surface of the anvil having a plurality of energy directors, where the plurality of energy directors are arranged into a three-dimensional grid pattern to be capable of distributed vibration-transmissive contact. The energy directors may comprise a series of plateau surfaces being regularly spaced apart from each other in a first direction, and in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction, to form the grid pattern. The rectangular-shaped plateaus may be spaced apart by valleys. Engagement of the energy directors of the anvil with the corresponding surface of the sonotrode may cause minor elastic deformation of work pieces positioned therebetween prior to ultrasonic welding.

There are many products sold today—in supermarkets, mini-marts, vending machines, and in other non-food related retail locations—that require the use of packaging, other than a cardboard box, where the packaging may preferably be flexible and be sealed to be air-tight or liquid-tight. Such packaging is commonly made of a plastic film. Today, such films may typically be made from one or more of the following materials: polyethylene (PA); low, medium or high density polypropylene (LLDPE, LDPE, MDPE, or HDPE); polypropylene (PP), cast polypropylene (CPP), and oriented polypropylene (OPP); polyamide (PA); polyester (linear ester plastics); a polyethylene (PE) such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET); Polyvinylchloride (PVC); polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC); cellulose acetate (CA); cellophane; and aluminum (Al).
Machines for taking rolls of these films and shaping/creating a package, filling it with a pre-set amount of product, sealing the package, and separating successive packages in a continuous process are known in the art as form and fill packaging machines. There are generally two types—a vertical form-fill-sealing (VFFS) machine and a horizontal form-fill-sealing (HFFS) machine.
In the past, many of those thermoplastic materials (or thermo-softening plastics) had been joined to create a package by sealing through the direct application of heat to fuse adjoining sheets, typically in a lap or fin joint. An improvement was made in the sealing process by the introduction of ultrasonic welding techniques, which can be faster, and do not have some of the disadvantages of heat sealing, such as the potential for damage to the packaging material or product due to an excessive application of heat.
Ultrasonic welding techniques comprise the joining of similar or dissimilar material(s) by passing the material(s) between an anvil and a sonotrode, which is often referred to as a horn. The sonotrode may generally be connected to either a magnetostrictive transducer or a piezoelectric transducer. A magnetostrictive transducer uses electrical power to generate an electro-magnetic field that may cause the magnetostrictive material to vibrate. With a piezoelectric transducer, the supplied electrical power is directly converted, and more efficiently converted, into longitudinal vibrations. Use of the piezoelectric transducer reduces the cooling requirements, which result from the generation of the heat, which is a byproduct of the friction. The frequencies used in ultrasonic welding are typically in the range of 15 kHz to 70 kHz, and use of such frequencies causes local melting of the thermoplastic material due to absorption of heat generated from the vibration energy.
One of the earlier U.S. patents granted for ultrasonic welding was U.S. Pat. No. 2,946,119 to Jones for "Method and Apparatus Employing Vibratory Energy for bonding Metals," while an early example of a machine utilizing ultrasonic welding principles is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,224,915 to Balamuth for "Method of Joining Thermoplastic Sheet Material by Ultrasonic Vibrations." Balamuth cites improvement over the prior art, by inclusion of a rotary vibrator, which emits radial vibrations that are operative to join thermoplastic sheet materials being continuously advanced past the device. However, Balamuth does not disclose a complete VFFS or HFFS machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,965 to James does disclose a "Form-Fill-Seal Packaging Method and Apparatus," in the form of a VFFS machine. The James VFFS machine pulls material from a roll, into a vertical tube for longitudinal seam sealing and product delivery, but advantageously requires a reduced amount of pull needed to form the package, thereby reducing tension in the material, along with its resultant degradation. The James VFFS machine represents an improvement over then expired U.S. Pat. No. 2,899,875 to Leasure titled "Apparatus for Packaging," which had used a heated shoe to activate a heat sealing compound in order to create a tubular package. The James VFFS machine also enabled a relatively high rate of production of packages. Transverse sealing to create a top seal for a completed package and a bottom seal for a next package was accomplished using a pair of sealing bars operable in a horizontal plane, which may include an integral cutting means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,790 to Kreager for "Apparatus and Method for Ultrasonic Sealing of Packages" provides improvements over prior art form-fill-seal machines which had generally featured intermittent motion in the discrete process steps of forming and filling, and then sealing. Kreager permitted transverse end sealing "on the fly," meaning continuously. The Kreager machine "utilizes a rotary back-up anvil and a simulated rotary motion ultrasonic sealing horn in synchronism with one another," to "provide an appropriate end seal for each package while on the move."
There has been a long felt but unmet need, as to form-fill-seal machines, with respect to efficiency in the use of the film materials to create each package. When a consumer purchases a bag of chips or other product, a significant percentage of the cost of the purchase is attributable to the packaging. The major factors in determining the costs of the packaging are materials and labor. One of the ways to reduce the materials required for the package is to use a narrower ultrasonic weld to seal the package, and conserve the excess. There have been several inventions in related art, but they only peripherally address the issue.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,538 to Vance, Jr. for "Ultrasonic Film Splicer" stated that "The method of the instant invention comprises . . . binding said film strips together by applying oscillatory energy to the overlapped edges of the film strips by confining them between transducer means comprising a narrow elongated horn member . . . ." Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,420 to Clarke for "Ultrasonic Method for Manufacturing Brassiere Tapes" taught having an anvil with a knife edge and beveled sections to "provide a comparatively narrow path responsive to the ultrasonic energy applied to the horn." However, both of these inventions merely teach using a "narrow" anvil/horn combination to produce a narrow width of welded material, but offer nothing toward maintaining the integrity of the seal, which is crucially important for preserving product freshness, and when seeking to securely package liquids. The invention disclosed herein provides a means of producing a narrower weld to reduce the material costs of packaging, while simultaneously achieving weld integrity matching or exceeding that of the standard ultrasonic welding of existing form-fill-seal machines.

Sonotrode and anvil linear energy directors for narrow/complex ultrasonic welds of improved durability


A new adhesive pad set for attachment to eyeglasses to help hold the eyeglasses to the face of a wearer. The inventive device includes a pair of nose pads adapted for attaching to the nose tabs of a pair of eyeglasses and a pair of ear pads adapted for attaching to the end pieces of the temples of the frame of a pair of eyeglasses. Each nose pad has a first and second surfaces, a pair of ends and a pair of sides extending between the ends of the nose pad. An adhesive is provided on the first and second surfaces of each nose pad. The adhesive on the second surface is designed for adhesively attaching the second surface to a nose tab of a pair of glasses. The adhesive on the first surface is designed for adhesively attaching the first surface to the nose of a wearer to help hold the eyeglasses on the nose of the wearer. Each ear pad has a first and second surfaces, a pair of ends and a pair of sides extending between the ends of the ear pad. An adhesive is provided on the first and second surfaces of each ear pad. The adhesive on the second surface is designed for adhesively attaching the second surface to an end piece of a temple of a frame of a pair of glasses. The adhesive on the first surface is designed for adhesively attaching the first surface to the ear of a wearer to help hold the eyeglasses on the ear of the wearer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pads for eyeglasses and more particularly pertains to a new adhesive pad set for attachment to eyeglasses to help hold the eyeglasses to the face of a wearer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pads for eyeglasses is known in the prior art. More specifically, pads for eyeglasses heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art pads for eyeglasses include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,196,871; 3,186,001; 4,657,364; 3,233,956; 4,070,104; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 311,196.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new adhesive pad set. The inventive device includes a pair of nose pads adapted for attaching to the nose tabs of a pair of eyeglasses and a pair of ear pads adapted for attaching to the end pieces of the temples of the frame of a pair of eyeglasses. Each nose pad has a first and second surfaces, a pair of ends and a pair of sides extending between the ends of the nose pad. An adhesive is provided on the first and second surfaces of each nose pad. The adhesive on the second surface is designed for adhesively attaching the second surface to a nose tab of a pair of glasses. The adhesive on the first surface is designed for adhesively attaching the first surface to the nose of a wearer to help hold the eyeglasses on the nose of the wearer. Each ear pad has a first and second surfaces, a pair of ends and a pair of sides extending between the ends of the ear pad. An adhesive is provided on the first and second surfaces of each ear pad. The adhesive on the second surface is designed for adhesively attaching the second surface to an end piece of a temple of a frame of a pair of glasses. The adhesive on the first surface is designed for adhesively attaching the first surface to the ear of a wearer to help hold the eyeglasses on the ear of the wearer.
In these respects, the adhesive pad set according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of attachment to eyeglasses to help hold the eyeglasses to the face of a wearer.

Nose pad and ear pad having two surfaces adhesive