In an accumulator type fuel injection control system, a fuel pressure setting means determines a basic fuel injection pressure from both fuel injection volume and engine speed, and when the temperature of a fuel discharged to a fuel tank is high, a fuel pressure correcting means subtracts, from the basic fuel injection pressure, a pressure reduction quantity which has been set according to the fuel temperature. Further, a fuel injection timing correcting means adds, to a basic fuel injection timing, an advance quantity which has been set according to the pressure reduction quantity and thereby determines a corrected fuel injection timing. A fuel pressure control means controls the fuel pressure in a fuel pump in accordance with the corrected fuel injection pressure, and a fuel pressure control means controls the injection timing of an accumulator type unit injector in accordance with the corrected fuel injection timing, whereby a rubber hose and the fuel tank both included in a fuel return system are prevented from being damaged by the fuel of high temperature which returns to the fuel return system.

The present invention relates to an accumulator type fuel injection system for controlling the injection of fuel with use of an accumulator type unit injector.
Generally, an accumulator type fuel injection control system is mounted in a fuel supply system of a diesel engine, and provided with an accumulator type unit injector in the fuel supply system, a fuel pressure pump, and a controller which functions as a control system.
In the accumulator type fuel injection control system for a diesel engine, therefore, a plunger is driven by an eccentric cam, which is driven in interlock with a crank shaft of the engine, and a fuel of a low pressure, which has been fed into a pump chamber by means of a feed pump, is pressurized to a high pressure and then fed to an accumulator. In accordance with an operating condition of the engine, a drive command is outputted from the controller to an electromagnetic actuator to open or close a spill valve, whereby the fuel pressure in the accumulator is controlled to a high level. On the other hand, a signal indicating the fuel pressure in the accumulator is fed back to the controller from a fuel pressure sensor.
The high-pressure fuel present in the accumulator is fed to a fuel reservoir through a feed hole of a fuel injection nozzle to urge a needle valve in its opening direction. When the fuel injection nozzle is not in operation, an electromagnetic actuator of a three-way solenoid valve is de-energized and the high-pressure fuel in the accumulator is fed to an oil chamber. A hydraulic piston applies a depressing force based on such hydraulic pressure to the needle valve, whereby the needle valve is held in its closed position.
When the electromagnetic actuator is energized in accordance with a drive command outputted from the controller, the oil chamber is connected to a fuel tank by means of the three-way solenoid valve and the fuel pressure exerted on the hydraulic piston is relieved, so that the needle valve is opened by virtue of a pressure spring, and the high-pressure fuel present in the fuel reservoir is injected into a cylinder through the nozzle hole.
In such an accumulator type fuel injection control system for a diesel engine, the amount of fuel to be injected is calculated and set in the controller on the basis of both engine speed and accelerator opening. Fuel injection pressure and fuel injection timing are determined on the basis of both engine speed and fuel injection volume. Therefore, the control system controls the electromagnetic actuator on the basis of both fuel injection pressure and fuel injection volume so that a required amount of fuel is injected at a required pressure.
For example, such an accumulator type fuel injection control system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No.93936/94.
In the accumulator type fuel injection control system for a diesel engine as described above, the fuel tank is provided on the vehicle body side, while the fuel pressure pump and the injection nozzle, with fuel supplied thereto from the fuel tank, are provided on the engine side. Since the engine vibrates during operation, it is supported to limit rolling motion with respect to the vehicle body by means of a mount. Therefore, a hose on the engine side extending from the injection nozzle is connected to a pipe on the vehicle body side through a rubber hose, and this piping is extended up to the fuel tank. On the other hand, a pipe on the engine side extended from the fuel pressure pump through the feed pump is also connected to a pipe on the vehicle body side through a rubber hose, and this piping is extended up to the fuel tank.
In the injection nozzle, the electromagnetic actuator is energized in accordance with a drive command outputted from the controller, and by an operation of the three-way solenoid valve, the fuel in the oil chamber is discharged to the fuel tank through a pipe and a rubber hose or the like. The amount of fuel thus discharged into the fuel tank is almost equal to or larger than the amount of fuel injected and it is an amount of return. This fuel is in a condition of high temperature due to the heat generated when the fuel is pressurized by the fuel pressure pump after the high-pressure injection of fuel has been continued for a long time or due to the heat generated as a result of conversion from energy generated when the pressurized fuel is released to the atmospheric pressure through the injection nozzle which injects the fuel at a high pressure.
Consequently, a large amount of fuel held at a high temperature is discharged from the injection nozzle into the fuel tank through the pipe and rubber hose. There has so far been the likelihood of the rubber hose being damaged when the high-temperature fuel flows in a large amount through the rubber hose. There has also been the problem that the deterioration of the fuel tank which is made of resin and which holds the return fuel of high temperature therein, is accelerated.
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. It is an object of the invention to provide an accumulator type fuel injection control system and the method thereof wherein the temperature rise of fuel flowing to a fuel return system is suppressed to prevent damage of the members used in the fuel return system and improve the safety.

Accumulator type fuel injection control system and the method thereof

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A portable device for connecting to a host information processing platform includes: a digital information storage medium storing an operating system image, secure data, applications, and system state of an owner of the portable device, wherein the medium is in read only mode until a set of tests are run on the host platform; and a platform validation program for: running the plurality of tests on the host computer to determine whether the host is safe, depending on the outcome of the tests, presenting the owner with a user-identifiable message, prompting the owner to enter decryption credentials, and receiving the decryption credentials. The portable device could also optionally include subsystems that provide additional functionality to the owner such as media playback, communications, and entertainment.

A personal computer (PC) usage model that is gaining popularity is for users to carry their data and applications on portable storage media (such as USB flash drives, or keys, or USB hard drives) and access their data or run their applications on several different PCs. A common usage model occurs when a user downloads files and/or applications from an office computer onto a flash drive and then transports the flash drive to a home computer, and vice versa. Business travel and field work are other very common uses for this type of data handling. Several portable devices such as music and media players, PDAs, digital cameras, game consoles, and cellular phones include large amounts of storage. Such devices may appear as portable storage devices when connected to a host computer, for example through a USB cable. Therefore users may carry data and programs on such devices and use the host computer to access the data or execute the programs resident on the portable device. These devices may be used for their primary purpose, e.g., listening to music, when they are not connected to a host computer.
Sometimes users store their sensitive content on the portable storage media in encrypted form, using password protection, to prevent the data from being compromised if the storage media is lost. In some cases, biometrics, such as finger prints, are employed to protect the encrypted data on the portable storage media. It is also possible to have different levels of encryption to protect data that has different levels of confidentiality.
While the security mechanisms mentioned above help protect the user's data if the media is lost, these mechanisms do not protect the user's data from viruses, or other malicious software that may be present on the foreign PCs used to access the data. When the user plugs in his media into a foreign PC and provides one or more decryption credentials (passwords or biometrics), the data is potentially accessible to malicious software that may be present on that PC.
The user needs a way to validate the PC that he is about to use, and verify that it is not compromised by malicious software before proceeding to use the machine in a more full-fledged manner, for example presenting his decryption credentials on the PC to enable access to his sensitive data. This is somewhat similar to the problem of securely booting a regular PC platform, i.e., making sure all the software started on a PC during the boot process is valid. Over the past several years, major players in the PC industry have agreed on generic hardware/software architecture (e.g., the Trust Computing Group or TCG Specification) designed to support important security capabilities (secure boot included) on the most popular computing architectures (PCs, PDAs, cell phones).
Unfortunately, when booting from external storage devices, TCG compliant PCs cannot be easily configured to verify the integrity of the host platform before asking for the user credentials, which are later used to decrypt user data on the portable storage medium. This is because TCG was designed with the assumption that TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is used to verify the integrity of a boot sequence that was previously performed on the platform; while booting from an external storage device brings together in a boot sequence software components that have never worked together before. For basically the same reason, not even the TPM 1.2 capabilities, including DRTM (Dynamic Root of Trust Measurement), can be used in the case of booting from an external device. In addition, TPM-equipped PCs are not yet widely available. As a result, there is a need for a different approach to verifying a PC platform when booting from an external device.

System and method for validating a computer platform when booting from an external device

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for mechanical and/or chemical-mechanical planarization of microelectronic substrates. In one embodiment, an apparatus for controlling the planarizing characteristics of a microelectronic substrate has a carrier that may be positioned with respect to a polishing medium of a planarizing machine to move with respect to a microelectronic substrate during planarization. The apparatus may also have a modulator with a contact element, and the modulator may be attached to the carrier to position at least a portion of a contact element in front of a leading edge of the substrate by a selected distance during planarization. In operation, the modulator causes the contact element to selectively engage a region of the planarizing surface to modulate the contour of the planarizing surface during planarization.

Mechanical and chemical-mechanical planarization processes remove material from the surface of semiconductor wafers, field emission displays and many other microelectronic substrates to form a flat surface at a desired elevation. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a planarizing machine 10 with a platen or base 20, a carrier assembly 30, a polishing pad 40, and a planarizing solution 44 on the polishing pad 40. The planarizing machine 10 may also have an under-pad 25 attached to an upper surface 22 of the platen 20 for supporting the polishing pad 40. In many planarizing machines, a drive assembly 26 rotates (arrow A) and/or reciprocates (arrow B) the platen 20 to move the polishing pad 40 during planarization.
The carrier assembly 30 controls and protects a substrate 12 during planarization. The carrier assembly 30 generally has a substrate holder 32 with a pad 34 that holds the substrate 12 via suction, and an actuator assembly 36 typically rotates and/or translates the substrate holder 32 (arrows C and D, respectively). However, the substrate holder 32 may be a weighted, free-floating disk (not shown) that slides over the polishing pad 40.
The polishing pad 40 and the planarizing solution 44 may separately, or in combination, define a polishing environment that mechanically and/or chemically removes material from the surface of the substrate 12. The polishing pad 40 may be a conventional polishing pad made from a relatively compressible, porous continuous phase matrix material (e.g., polyurethane), or it may be an abrasive polishing pad with abrasive particles fixedly bonded to a suspension medium. In a typical application, the planarizing solution 44 may be a chemical-mechanical planarization slurry with abrasive particles and chemicals for use with a conventional non-abrasive polishing pad, or the planarizing solution 44 may be a liquid without abrasive particles for use with an abrasive polishing pad. To planarize the substrate 12 with the planarizing machine 10, the carrier assembly 30 presses the substrate 12 against a planarizing surface 42 of the polishing pad 40 in the presence of the planarizing solution 44. The platen 20 and/or the substrate holder 32 then move relative to one another to translate the substrate 12 across the planarizing surface 42. As a result, the abrasive particles and/or the chemicals in the polishing environment remove material from the surface of the substrate 12.
Planarizing processes must consistently and accurately produce a uniformly planar surface on the substrate to enable precise fabrication of circuits and photo-patterns on the substrate. As the density of integrated circuits increases, the uniformity and planarity of the substrate surface is becoming increasingly important because it is difficult to form sub-micron features or photo-patterns to within a tolerance of approximately 0.1 .mu.m when the substrate surface is not uniformly planar. Thus, planarizing processes must create a highly uniform, planar surface on the substrate.
In the competitive semiconductor and microelectronic device manufacturing industries, it is also desirable to maximize the yield of individual devices or dies on each substrate. Typical semiconductor manufacturing processes fabricate a plurality of dies (e.g., 50-250) on each substrate. To increase the number of dies that may be fabricated on each substrate, many manufacturers are increasing the size of the substrates to provide more surface area for fabricating additional dies. Thus, to enhance the yield of operable dies on each substrate, planarizing processes should form a planar surface across the substrate surface.
In conventional planarizing processes, however, the substrate surface may not be uniformly planar because the rate at which material is removed from the substrate surface (the "polishing rate") typically varies from one region on the substrate to another. The polishing rate is a function of several factors, and many of the factors may change throughout the planarizing process. For example, some of the factors that effect the polishing rate across the surface of the substrate are as follows: (1) the distribution of abrasive particles and chemicals between the substrate surface and the polishing pad; (2) the relative velocity between the polishing pad and the substrate surface; and (3) the pressure distribution across the substrate surface.
One particular problem with conventional planarizing devices and methods is that the deviation of the surface uniformity in a perimeter region of the substrate is generally much greater than that of a central region. In conventional planarizing processes, the polishing rate in a 5-15 mm perimeter region at the substrate edge is generally higher than the polishing rate in a central region. One reason for the difference in the polishing rate is that the relative velocity between the substrate and the polishing pad is generally higher in the perimeter region of the substrate than the central region. Another reason for the difference in the polishing rate is that the edge of the substrate wipes a significant amount of the planarizing solution off of the polishing pad before the planarizing solution can contact the central region. Conventional planarizing devices and methods, therefore, typically produce a non-uniform, center-to-edge planarizing profile across the substrate surface.
To reduce such center-to-edge planarizing profiles, several existing polishing pads have holes or grooves that transport a portion of the planarizing solution below the substrate surface during planarization. A Rodel IC-1000 polishing pad, for example, is a relatively soft, porous polyurethane pad with a number of large slurry wells approximately 0.05-0.10 inches in diameter that are spaced apart from one another across the planarizing surface by approximately 0.125-0.25 inches. During planarization, small volumes of slurry are expected to fill the large wells, and then hydrodynamic forces created by the motion of the substrate are expected to draw the slurry out of the wells in a manner that wets the substrate surface. However, even IC-1000 pads may produce significant center-to-edge planarizing profiles indicating that the perimeter of the substrate presses some of the slurry out of the wells ahead of the center of the substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,843 describes another polishing pad with a plurality of macro-grooves formed in concentric circles and a plurality of micro-grooves radially crossing the macro-grooves. Although grooved pads may improve the planarity of the substrate surface, substrates planarized with such pads still exhibit non-uniformities across the substrate surface indicating a non-uniform distribution of planarizing solution and abrasive particles under the substrate.
Other techniques for reducing the center-to-edge planarizing profile reduce the differences in the relative velocity between the perimeter and central regions. For example, one existing planarizing machine holds the polishing pad stationary and orbits the substrate in an eccentric pattern across the polishing pad. In another related planarization process, the substrate is held in a precession wafer holder that allows the substrate to precess with respect to the wafer holder during planarization. Although reducing the difference in the relative velocity across the substrate surface reduces the center-to-edge planarizing profile, existing planarizing machines may still produce significant deviations in the surface uniformity between the perimeter region and the central region.
In light of the results of conventional planarizing devices, the deviation of the surface uniformity in the perimeter region may be so great that it impairs or ruins dies formed in the perimeter region. Thus, because a defective 5-15 mm perimeter region affects a larger surface area and more dies on a 12-inch substrate than an 8-inch substrate, the center-to-edge planarizing profile significantly impacts the yield of larger substrates.

Method and apparatus for controlling planarizing characteristics in mechanical and chemical-mechanical planarization of microelectronic substrates


A substance and method for treating a subterranean formation using hydraulic fracturing. A non-metallic, substantially deformable, proppant particle is “elastically flexible” or “plastically compressible” and adapted for use at concentrations which will substantially create a partial monolayer. The method for treating a formation with a non-metallic deformable proppant, includes the steps of injecting a carrier fluid into the formation, the carrier fluid carrying an amount of the deformable proppant, wherein the carrier fluid is injected at a pressure and a flow rate sufficient to create or open an existing fracture or fracture network in the formation, and placing at least a portion of the deformable proppant in the fracture, the deformable proppant forming substantially a partial monolayer in the fracture, and reducing the pressure and/or the flow rate sufficient to allow the fracture in the formation to at least partially close, wherein at least a portion of the deformable proppant remains in the fracture to prop open at least a portion of the fracture.

In oil and gas operations, stimulation or treatment of the subterranean formations using a fluid containing suspended particles, referred to as hydraulic fracturing, may be used to improve production. That is, a fluid, referred to in the art as a fracturing fluid, is pumped or injected through a well bore into a subterranean formation to be stimulated at a rate and pressure such that existing fractures are opened and/or new fractures are formed and extended into the subterranean formation. The fracturing fluid carries particles, referred to in the art as proppant particles, into the fractures. The particles are deposited in the fractures and the fracturing fluid dissipates into the subterranean formation and/or is returned to the surface. The particles function to "prop" open or prevent the fractures from closing whereby conductive channels remain through which produced fluids can flow to the well bore.
The paper "Propping Fractures with Aluminum Particles", Kern L. R. in (Petroleum Technology, June 1961 p. 583) teaches the use of malleable aluminum particles for producing high-conductivity fractures. Kern also teaches that flow capacity may be increased several fold with a sparse distribution of particles, but such flow capacity is limited by both crushing of the propping particles and by embedment of the propping particles in the walls of the formation. Kern teaches that as high loads are applied to the malleable aluminum particles, they deform slightly but do not shatter resulting in an increased bearing area against the formation wall, reducing stress on the malleable aluminum particle and reducing penetration of the malleable aluminum particle into the formation. Kern assesses the performance of nearly spherical aluminum particles which are deformed to produce nearly uniform disks (deformed thickness less than or equal to 0.5 times the original nearly spherical diameter). Kern suggests that malleable aluminum could be used in combination with sand to lower costs (compared to aluminum alone) and to provide a safety net in the event the aluminum does not perform as expected.
Disadvantages of propping with aluminum include limitations associated with the specific gravity of aluminum which restricts the fluids which may be used to place aluminum proppant particles, and the fluid may require special treatment such as viscosification or emulsification, etc., and in addition, as suggested by Kern, the high cost of aluminum is a factor. In addition, formations typically fractured today are very susceptible to damage produced by the fracturing fluid itself. This requires the use of less viscous fluids and physically less liquid (or foam) or gas (nitrogen, carbon dioxide etc.). Less viscous fluids and less volume of liquid or foam or gas means less carrying capacity for proppants, which may mean that proppants may not always enter the fracture or many not be distributed along the full length of the fracture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,205 (Kiel) teaches a method for increasing well productivity by multiple hydraulic fracturing cycles using no proppant (self propping) or using sand as a proppant. The initial cycles are designed to form spalls of the formation material in the fracture and subsequent cycles displace the spalls into the fracture, thus propping the fracture open or creating extensions or branches and propping open the extensions or branches.
However, this method relies on causing formation damage to create the desired spalls and teaches only the use of no proppant or sand as a proppant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,274 (Bienvenu) teaches a high strength, lightweight proppant for use in hydraulic fracturing, having a specific gravity approximately equal to the specific gravity of water. Bienvenu teaches that such a proppant, such as a styrene-divinyl-benzene copolymer bead, set in a formation as a packed mass of particles adjacent to a fracture, will prop open the fracture.
However, when closure stress exceeds the deformation limits of the proppant in the packed mass, the effective permeability of the packed mass (and the related conductivity of the formation) decreases as the proppant is deformed, thus reducing or eliminating the flow channels that normally exist between the particles forming the packed mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,034 (Rickards et al.) teaches a formation treatment method using deformable particles, the deformable particles formed of a blend of fracture proppant material and deformable particulate. As examples, the fracture proppant material may be a material such as sand, and the deformable particulate may be a material such as polystyrene, as divinylbenzene beads.
However, this blend requires that both materials be blended and sufficiently mixed, and may result in the usual problems with sand type fracturing, such as fines.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a deformable proppant that avoids the problems of metallic proppants, that is not formed into a deformed packed mass, and can be used on its own without additional proppants to improve stimulation and increase productivity in the fracturing operations of subterranean formations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of treating a formation using deformable proppants


Providing a noise signal comprises providing a first signal corresponding to a first band of a frequency spectrum of the noise signal and providing a first signal low corresponding to the first band of the freguency spectrum of the noise signal. Next, providing a noise signal comprises providing a second signal corresponding to a second band of the frequency spectrum of the noise signal, the second signal based on the first signal low. And finally, the first signal and the second signal are summed to provide the noise signal.

Noises may be characterized as sounds that are not pleasant to human ears. Among the noises, white noise is often used as a simulation source in the engineering field due to its uniformly distributed power density in the frequency domain. Pink noise, on the other hand, is often used as a source for frequency response measurements on stereo systems. Instead of being flat in the linear frequency domain, pink noise, as opposed to white noise, has energy uniformly distributed over octaves. More specifically, the total energy of each pink noise octave has substantially the same value over a given frequency range, for example, 20 Hz to 20 kHz. This resembles the psycho-acoustic model of human hearing, specifically, as the frequency increases, the ear is less sensitive to the frequency change by, for example, a factor of 2.
There are generally two methods for generating pink noise in real time that are conventionally focused on time domain processing; 1) filtering white noise and 2) the Voss algorithm. The filtering white noise method generates a white noise signal using random number generators and then passes the white noise through a low pass filter. The disadvantage of this method is that a low pass filter with a proper frequency response is very difficult to construct. Therefore, the quality of the pink noise generated by this method may largely depend on how well the filter is designed. Because it is difficult to construct a suitable digital filter operating in the time domain, a pink noise generated by this method is problematic.
Another method uses the Voss algorithm. This is a very well known method that also starts with white noise generated by some random number generator. White noise generated for different octaves are then added together to yield a signal very close to a pink noise signal. Using this method, however, a 1 db deviation from the perfect pink noise spectrum may be created that cannot be eliminated no matter how many octaves or samples are used.
Besides the aforementioned problems, there is another disadvantage in using the methods described above. For both methods, because the signal is generated by random process, a very large sample space is needed to show the expected statistical behavior. Specifically, in order to get a good measurement, the source must generate for a long time in order to produce a satisfactory pink noise

Methods and systems for providing a noise signal

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Methods and systems are disclosed for generating a summary view of raw data to emphasize similar orders or patterns. Raw data is received comprising a set of orders in a non-standard format, each order including a quantity and a value. The raw data is disaggregated, which includes converting the raw data to a standard format and identifying similar orders. The similar orders are identified using a data disaggregation model. A graphical object is generated to represent some orders in the set of orders based on the disaggregated data. Each graphical object is defined based on a quantity at a particular value and sized in proportion to a total number of orders at a particular price or differentiated from a quantity of orders associated with other groups of orders. A summary view comprising the graphical objects is displayed in a graphical user interface.

A trader is a market participant who places or manages one or more orders to buy and/or sell a number of stocks, bonds, futures, securities, commodities, options, currencies, swaps, and other financial instruments or derivatives thereof. A modern trader may use computer software (e.g., "trading software") to search for and analyze financial instruments that exhibit specific characteristics or patterns. Current trading software inefficiently occupies a computer screen's space by, for example, displaying a portion of market data without prioritizing data of importance to a trader. For example, current trading software does not efficiently occupy small screens, such as screens for mobile devices, tablets, and so forth. And current trading software does not prioritize data of importance to a trader using a device with a small screen, which can result in potential loss of value to the trader. Lack of knowledge of the current market activities and/or inefficient display of market data obscures pertinent trading information that can result in a potential loss of value to the trader.
The need exists for a system that overcomes the above problems, as well as one that provides additional benefits. Overall, the examples herein of some prior or related systems and their associated limitations are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of existing or prior systems will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the following Detailed Description.

Generating actionable graphical objects based on disaggregated non-standardized raw data


A portable insulating device kit may be configured to fit within a smaller container for easier shipment. In one example, the assembly may include a base, a top wall having an opening, an inner liner configured to extend into the opening of the top wall to form an interior cavity defining a volumetric storage capacity and an exterior wall. The container can have a flat configuration defining a length, height, and width. The base, the top wall, the inner liner, and the exterior wall may be configured to be assembled into a portable insulating device. The volume of the container may be less than the volumetric storage capacity of the assembled portable insulating device, and the base, the inner liner, and the exterior wall are configured to be detached from one another and shipped in the container.

Ice barrels can be shipped fully assembled to the point of use from a distant location. This can result in empty space in the interior cavity of the barrel to be shipped along with the fully assembled barrel. An example shipping container may be roughly 24 inches by 24 inches by 24 inches with a total volume capacity of roughly 13,824 cubic inches. Assembled ice barrels can exceed the volume capacity of a standard shipping container. As a result of wasted space and size limitations, the cost of shipping a fully assembled barrel may be greater than the cost of the barrel itself. Although injection molding can be used in conjunction with the examples disclosed herein, injection molded components may add to the weight of the barrel adding to the cost of shipment. Also when turning over a heavier weight barrel to empty water and ice from the interior cavity, in certain instances may lead to injury due to the weight of the barrel.


A power window actuator including an electric motor, a reduction gear train for reducing rotational speed of the motor and a linkage mechanism connected to the gear train opens and closes a pivotable quarter window or a rear side vent. The rotation of the motor is mechanically stopped by structural members totally enclosed in a housing containing the motor and the gear train when the pivotable window comes to a fully opened or a fully closed position. An electric current supply to the motor is automatically discontinued by operation of a controller. An output shaft connected to a final stage gear of the speed reduction mechanism is extended outwardly from both sides of the housing. The linkage mechanism is composed of a pair of first links connected to the extended output shaft and a second link pivotably connected to the first links, so that the first links do not drop off from the output shaft without being fastened by a fastening member. Thus, the assembling process of the linkage mechanism is simplified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power window actuator for a rear side vent or a rear quarter window of an automotive vehicle such as a two-door vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
An example of a power window actuator for a pivotable quarter window of a vehicle is disclosed in Japanese utility model laid-open publication No. JP-U-63-116678. The actuator comprises an electric motor, a rotational speed reduction device and a linkage mechanism. The linkage mechanism disclosed therein has first links connected to the speed reduction mechanism and a second link connected to a connecting rod which in turn drives the pivotable window. The first and second links are rotatably connected, and the second link is disposed so that it covers and encloses the first links therein when the pivotable window is fully closed. Since the structure of the linkage mechanism is complicated, its assembling is not easy.


A stationary children's toilet assembly may include a potty with a pedaling mechanism (e.g., one or more cycling pedals) coupled thereto that together may act as a defecation postural modification device by raising a child's legs up and increasing hip flexion during user, which may support proper squatting posture and aid elimination.

It is well established that constipation symptoms, as well as hemorrhoids, are common ailments that frequently plague individuals. It has further been established that defecation devices that promote a proper squatting position positively influence bowel movement duration, straining patterns, and complete evacuation of bowels. It is commonly held that the greater the hip flexion, the straighter the rectoanal canal and, accordingly, the less strain required for emptying the bowels. Individuals from non-Western cultures who customarily adopt a squatting posture when defecating have been shown typically to suffer less often from constipation-related ailments.

Defecation postural modification devices


An automatic transmission that includes two clutches that are disposed at positions that overlap in an axial direction and are different in a radial direction. The two clutches each include: a clutch drum, a piston that structures a working oil chamber with a portion of the clutch drum used as a cylinder, a plurality of friction plates that engage the clutch drum, and a cancel oil chamber that is disposed on a back surface side of the piston and that cancels a centrifugal hydraulic pressure that acts on the working oil chamber. An inner spline is formed on the clutch drum of one clutch, among the two clutches, that is positioned on an outer diameter side. An outer spline is formed on the clutch drum of the other clutch, among the two clutches, that is positioned on an inner diameter side.

The present invention relates to automatic transmissions.
In recent years, multiple speeds, for example, eight forward speeds, have been realized in automatic transmissions that are mounted in vehicles. At the same time, from the point of view of vehicle mounting characteristics, disposing many structural components, for example, clutches, compactly is required.
Conventionally, an automatic transmission has been proposed in which, for two clutches having one input member that is shared and the other that is different, one clutch that is disposed on the inner diameter side is fit in the clutch drum of the other clutch that is disposed on the outer diameter side, and the two clutches are aligned in parallel in the axial direction. A reduction in the size is thus realized in the axial direction (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application, JP-A-2006-342845).
The clutch drum of the one clutch that is disposed on the outer diameter side and the clutch drum of the other clutch that is disposed on the inner diameter side are spline engaged together in a rotational direction at a cylindrical boss portion that is formed at the inner diameter side thereof. The outer spline is formed on the outer circumference of the boss portion of the one clutch, and the inner spline is formed on the inner periphery of the boss portion of the other clutch.
In addition, the working oil chamber and a cancel oil chamber of the other clutch are provided on the boss portion of the one clutch on which the spline is formed, the hydraulic pressure (or oil) is supplied via oil holes that are provided in the boss portion of the other clutch, and the working oil chamber and the cancel oil chamber of the other clutch on the outer diameter side is structured by changing the position on the back side of the other clutch in the radial direction.


A method for reading the state of a plurality of contact variables (Var-1, Var-i, Var-n) of a motor vehicle by a read module (MOD) including a plurality of read ports (P1, Pi, Pn) connected by an electric circuit to the plurality of contact variables, each read port being configured to read the state of a contact variable, the read module being configured to order periodically the reading of the contact, a period including a read interval (Ton) and a sleep interval (Toff), includes a step of detecting a current (Σi=1nIinj_i) injected via the electric circuit across at least one of the read ports during a sleep interval and a step of adapting the period in which the contact variables are read by the read module, such that the detected current (Σi=1nIinj_i) injected during a sleep interval is consumed by the read module during the consecutive read interval.

A motor vehicle usually comprises contact variables, which must be monitored periodically in order to determine the state of the vehicle.
Examples of a contact variable include: a door closing contact, a luggage compartment closing contact, a headlight activation lever contact, a windscreen wiper activation lever contact, etc. A contact variable has two states: an open state and a closed state. To this end, a contact variable is traditionally constituted by a two-state switch, as will be detailed hereinafter.
Usually, the vehicle comprises an electronic read device adapted to monitor the contact variables and to respond in accordance with the states thereof. By way of example, if the luggage compartment of the vehicle is open, the read device can order the activation of a warning light on the dashboard of the vehicle so as to warn the driver.
The read device monitors the state of the contact variables periodically so as to limit its electrical consumption. Read intervals that are alternated with sleep intervals are also distinguished, that is to say a period comprises a read interval and a sleep interval.
The read device, also known to a person skilled in the art by the name ECU or "electronic control unit", usually comprises a read module provided for example in the form of a microcontroller.
The read module comprises a plurality of read ports connected to the contact variables to be monitored. In practice, the contact variables are connected to the read ports by an electric circuit.
In a known embodiment called "low-side input", the electric circuit comprises a supply point connected to a general power source via a switch adapted to be controlled by the read module in such a way that the switch is closed during a read interval and open during a sleep interval. In other words, the switch makes it possible to supply the electric circuit periodically so as to limit the electrical consumption of the read device.
By way of example, FIG. 1 shows a "low-side input" device, in which a read module MOD is connected to a power source Vcc in order to electrically power said module, for example with an electric voltage of approximately 5 volts. In this example, the read module MOD comprises a read port P1 connected to a contact variable Var-1 by an electric circuit CE comprising a supply point A. This supply point is connected to a general power source SGEN via a read switch INT, controlled by the read module MOD, making it possible to electrically connect or disconnect the electric circuit CE to/from the general power source SGEN.
By way of example, with reference to FIG. 1, the electric circuit CE comprises:                an injection branch BI, connecting the read port P1 to the contact variable Var-1, comprising an injection resistor Rs1 and        a supply branch BA, connecting the contact variable Var-1 to the supply point A, comprising a power supply resistor Rp1.
The read module MOD periodically controls the switch INT so as to close said switch, thus connecting the electric circuit CE to the general power source SGEN, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Following the closure of the switch INT, an electric current Iinj-1 is generated in the injection branch BI of the electric circuit CE when the contact variable Var-1 is open. The electric current generated Iinj-1 is received by the read port P1 of the read module MOD. When the contact variable Var-1 is closed, no electric current circulates in the injection branch, the current circulating instead in the supply branch. It is also sufficient to measure the electric voltage of the read port P1 to determine whether the monitored contact variable Var-1 is open or closed.
FIG. 3 shows the monitoring of a plurality of contact variables Var-1, . . . Var-i, . . . Var-n connected to a plurality of read ports P1, . . . Pi, . . . Pn. The electric circuit CE makes it possible to connect each contact variable to its read port by an injection branch BI-1, BI-i, BI-n, whereas each contact variable Var-1, Var-i, Var-n is connected to the supply point A of the electric circuit CE by a supply branch BA-1, BA-i, BA-n. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the injection branches BI-1, BI-i, BI-n and the supply branches BA-1, BA-i, BA-n comprise, respectively, an injection resistor Rs1, Rsi, Rsn and a power supply resistor Rp1, Rpi, Rpn.
Similarly to the first example, during a read interval, when the switch INT is closed, an electric current Iinj-1, Iinj-i, Iinj-n is generated in each injection branch BI-1, BI-i, BI-n if the contact variable Var-1, Var-i, Var-n is open. Each electric current generated Iinj-1, Iinj-i, Iinj-n is received by a read port P1, Pi, Pn. The read module MOD can thus determine the state of the contact variables Var-1, Var-i, Var-n.
During a sleep interval, when the switch INT is open, no electric current Iinj is generated in the injection branches BA-1, BA-i, BA-n.
In the case of a wiring fault or malfunction, a short circuit may appear and may connect a contact variable to a battery voltage ABAT of the vehicle as illustrated in FIG. 4. In practice, the battery voltage ABAT is approximately 12 volts.
If the malfunction appears during a sleep interval, the battery voltage ABAT basically performs the same function as the power source SGEN and an electric current Iinj-1, Iinj-i, Iinj-n is thus generated in each injection branch BI-1, BI-i, BI-n if the contact variable Var-1, Var-i, Var-n is open for said injection branch BI-1, BI-i, BI-n. In other words due to the malfunction, the read ports P1, Pi, Pn of the read module MOD receive the electric currents of all the injection branches BI-1, BI-i, BI-n while the read module MOD is in sleep mode.
In practice, the read module MOD is not affected by the sum of received currents ΣInj as long as this sum is less than the value of the current consumed IC by the read module MOD. During a read interval, the electric current Iinj-1, Iinj-i, Iinj-n generated in each injection branch BI-1, BI-i, BI-n via the short circuit is thus less than the current consumed IC by the read module MOD. In other words, the read module MOD consumes the current generated by the short circuit.
A disadvantage appears for last-generation vehicles, of which the read module MOD comprises a mode of use implemented when the vehicle is started, and also a sleep mode implemented when the vehicle is switched off. In sleep, the current consumed IC by the read module MOD is very low. As a result, the sum of received currents ΣInj may exceed the value of the consumed current IC, which affects the power supply of the read module MOD and may lead to damage of the electronic components of the read module MOD.
In order to eliminate this disadvantage, an immediate solution would be to block the electric current received by the read ports of the read module MOD by means of diodes, however the use of additional components complicates the device and leads to additional manufacturing costs.

Method and device for reading the state of contact variables of a motor vehicle


A double walled container has a container bottom that is blow molded after an intermediate portion of a parison in the vertical direction is sandwiched by a split mold from the horizontal direction; at least a portion of the container bottom is sandwiched by the split mold; the container bottom has a bottom projection on the underside of the container bottom made of the outer layer of a rigid outer layer container and the outer layer of a flexible inner layer container; in the bottom projection, an extended portion of the rigid outer layer container and an extended portion of the flexible inner layer container have protrusions and recesses of different heights in the horizontal direction; and the protrusions and recesses are combined so that the extended portions of the rigid outer layer container and the flexible inner layer container do not shift vertically with respect to each other.

In this specification, the expression of "direction" is used in terms of the double walled container that is held upright. Thus, if the double walled container is cylindrical, the vertical direction is the direction in which the center axis of the double walled container runs, whereas the horizontal direction is the direction that is orthogonal relative to the center axis of the double walled container. The term of "split mold" typically refers to a metal mold consists of two parts, or two mold halves, although the term does not exclude a split mold that consists of other than two parts.
It is desirable for a container that, if the contents thereof are partly consumed and the volume of the contents are reduced, the contents are not exposed to external air and hence prevented from being oxidized.
More specifically, for ordinary containers, after the container is filled with its contents, it is easy to evacuate the remaining space in the container or fill the remaining space with non-active gas such as nitrogen gas in order to prevent the contents from being oxidized until the container is unsealed. However, for ordinary rigid containers, after the container is unsealed and the contents are partly consumed so that the remaining part of the contents is left in the container, external air gets into the container by the volume that corresponds to the volume of the consumed contents to consequently oxidize the remaining contents. While, in some instances, the contents are made to contain antioxidant, it is not desirable for the contents to contain antioxidant from the viewpoint of the health of the consumer etc.
In order to prevent the remaining contents from being oxidized, double walled containers comprising a rigid outer container (rigid outer layer container part) and a flexible inner container (flexible inner layer container part) have been made available. Such double walled containers are designed and manufactured such that the rigid outer container thereof is not deformed and the self-standing capability of the double walled container is maintained when the contents are partly consumed but the capacity of the flexible inner container is reduced by the volume that corresponds to the consumed amount of the contents so as not to allow external air to enter the flexible inner container. Such double walled containers are being employed as containers of seasonings, cosmetics and so on.
In some instances, liquid is contained in deformable containers. Such containers shrink and get deformed from their original shapes as the contents are consumed. However, containers that have shrunk and got deformed become disagreeable to give rise to a problem that such containers desirably are not be placed on the tables in restaurants. Additionally, when containers are employed for foods, they normally bear instructions to be observed, the instructions normally including the best-before date of the contents, allergy-related notices, the performance of the container etc., on the outer surfaces thereof. Then, as the container shrinks and gets deformed, those descriptions become difficult to read and even unreadable. Furthermore, as the remaining contents decrease, the remaining contents may be held to a middle part or a corner of the container to make it difficult for the container to stand upright on a plane by itself or may require the user to move the contents toward the mouth of the container in order to smoothly pour them out from the container.
In order to prevent the remaining contents from being oxidized and get rid of adverse effects such as shrinkage and deformation of the container, arrangements for forming a container by using a rigid outer container (rigid outer layer container part) and a flexible inner container (flexible inner layer container part) have been proposed. According to such proposed arrangements, when the contents are consumed, the rigid outer container is not deformed but the capacity of the flexible inner container is reduced by the volume that corresponds to the consumed amount of the contents so as not to allow external air to enter the flexible inner container. Such containers have been put to use to contain liquid seasonings such as soy source.
As double walled containers that comprise a rigid outer container that would not be deformed and a flexible inner container adapted to reduce its capacity by the volume that corresponds to the consumed amount of the contents and can be produced by conventional techniques, there have been proposed discharge containers comprising a container main body including a flexible inner container for containing contents, the flexible inner container being adapted to shrink and get deformed as the contents are reduced, and an outer container containing the inner container, the outer container being adapted to be elastically deformed and provided with an air intake for taking in external air between itself and the inner container, a discharge cap having a discharge port for discharging the contents, the discharge port being formed at the top surface of the discharge cap, and fitted to the mouth section of the container main body, an external air introducing hole for holding the outside of the double walled container and the air intake in communication with each other and an air valve for switching from a state of holding the external air introducing hole and the air intake in communication with each other to a state of shutting off the communication between them and vice versa, a gas containing space being formed in the inner container to contain gas that is more liable to be compressed than the contents, the gas containing capacity of the gas containing space being not less than 4% of the capacity of the inner container, the gas being adapted to quickly move in the inner container when the discharge container is tilted to discharge the contents from the discharge port (see, for example, Patent Literature 1)
The problem yet to be solved for double walled containers comprising a flexible inner container whose capacity is to be reduced by the volume that corresponds to the consumed amount of its contents and that is adapted to shrink and get deformed without allowing external air to enter it and a rigid outer container that is not to be deformed is that the flexible inner container needs to be held in contact with the inner surface of the outer container during the manufacturing process and the flexible inner container needs to separate from the inner surface of the outer container as the contents are consumed so as to correspond to the consumed amount of the contents and external air needs to be taken in between the flexible inner container and the outer container. As conventional techniques characterized by that an opening for taking in external air can relatively easily be formed, there have been proposed blow molded synthetic resin-made containers having an outer layer that forms an outer shell and an inner layer that forms an inner bag and separably laid on the outer layer, wherein a flat knob piece is formed at the part of the outer layer that is laid on the inner layer and located at and near the front end section of a bulged part of the inner layer, which bulged part is formed at the peripheral wall of the cylindrical mouth section of the double walled container, so as to stand up from a front end peripheral edge part, which front end peripheral edge part operates as the base end section of the flat knob piece, the base end section having a notched profile so that it can be ripped off, the bulged part of the inner layer being produced as part of the peripheral wall of the cylindrical mouth section is made to become bulged with the outer layer at the time of blow molding the container, and the knob piece is formed by pressing the part of the outer layer laid on the inner layer and located near the front end of the inner layer between the mating faces of the split mold halves that are employed for the blow molding, while the notched profile of the base end section is formed along the profile of the mold cavity at the time of forming the bulged part and the outer layer is separated from near the front end section of the inner layer and removed by the knob piece to open an air intake for introducing external air between the outer layer and the inner layer (see, for example, Patent Literature 2).
On the other hand, the bottom section of a double walled container is formed by blow molding after pinching a parison, which is made of a material for forming a rigid outer container and a material for forming a flexible inner container, by vertically middle sections of split mold halves. Therefore, the material for forming a rigid outer container and the material for forming a flexible inner container that are separable from each other are integrally united at the parting line of the bottom section of the double walled container. Thus, the material for forming the rigid outer container and the material for forming the flexible inner container will eventually separate from each other along the parting line of the bottom section of the double walled container to produce a gap that allows external air to enter between the rigid outer container and the flexible inner container unless some special measures are taken. Then, as a result, as the contents of the double walled container is reduced and the capacity of the flexible inner container is reduced accordingly, the bottom section of the flexible inner container that rigidly adheres to the spout at the top end of the container is lifted up from the bottom section of the rigid outer container.
As the bottom section of the flexible inner container is lifted up from the bottom section of the rigid outer container, the flexible inner container becomes to bear wrinkles and deformed from its proper substantially cylindrical or substantially prismatic profile. Then, as a result, if the suction tube of a pump spout extends to near the bottom section, the contents will be left unconsumed at the bottom section. The remaining contents are undesirable not only from the point of view of economy but also from the point of view of appearance particularly when the double walled container is for containing a cosmetic product. On the other hand, since how the flexible inner container is deformed varies from container to container, the amount of the contents left in the container is not uniform. In other words, in order for the container to contain a predetermined consumable amount of contents, the container needs to be filled with an excessive amount of contents. This means that the contents will undesirably and inevitably be wasted.
To date, arrangements for pressing the bottom section of the flexible inner container against the bottom section of the rigid outer container by a pump dispenser have been proposed in an attempt to solve the problem that the bottom section of the flexible inner container is lifted up from the bottom section of the rigid outer container as the contents are reduced (see, for example, Patent Literature 3).
As other arrangements for solving the problem that the bottom section of the flexible inner container is lifted up from the bottom section of the rigid outer container, there have been proposed arrangements for forming a ridge on the parting line at the underside of the bottom section of a blow molded container by pinching a vertically middle part of the parison in a horizontal direction and, at the same time, pushing down the ridge on the parting line together by means of the projected part and the recessed parts to be engaged with the projected parts formed respectively at the parison-pinching sections of the split mold halves so as to make the extended portion of the flexible inner container and the extended portion of the rigid outer container interlock with each other (see, for example, FIG. 5 of Patent Literature 4).
As arrangements for solving the problem that the bottom section of the flexible inner container is lifted up from the bottom section of the rigid outer container that are still different from the above-described ones, there have been proposed arrangements for forming a sealing ridge in a substantially center region of the bottom seal section of the container by pinching a vertically middle part of the parison in a horizontal direction and forming an adhesion layer between the layer of the material of the flexible inner container and the layer of the material of the rigid outer container at the part corresponding to the sealing ridge (see, for example, Patent Literature 5). The sealing ridge not only makes the material of the flexible inner container and the material of the rigid outer container to firmly adhere to each other to thereby solve the problem that the bottom section of the flexible inner container is lifted up from the bottom section of the rigid outer container but also suppresses the problem that the strength of the bottom section of the double walled container is reduced as the bottom section of the flexible inner container becomes separated from the bottom section of the rigid outer container.
Furthermore, there have been proposed arrangements for coating and sealing the parting line of the bottom section of the flexible inner container and that of the bottom section of the rigid outer container by means of a coating film layer and arrangements for covering the parting line from outside (underside) by means of a resin layer (see, for example, Patent Literatures 6 and 7).
With all the above-cited prior art, an opening or a gap is formed in an upper part of the double walled container to take in external air between the flexible inner container and the rigid outer container that are separated from each other. On the other hand, a special arrangement is made to rigidly unite the bottom section of the flexible inner container and the bottom section of the rigid outer container to prevent any opening or gap that can take in external air from being formed there. Then, as a result, the bottom section of the flexible inner container does not separate and rise from the bottom section of the rigid outer container if the contents are reduced.


An exhaust gas turbocharger for an internal combustion engine comprises a turbine in the exhaust line and a compressor, which is driven by the turbine and which is located inside the intake tract of the internal combustion engine. The turbine comprises a flow duct having a radial flow entrance cross-section, and a flow ring is provided that delimits the flow entrance cross-section. An adjustable vane is placed in the radial flow entrance cross-section for variably adjusting this flow entrance cross-section. The flow ring inside the housing of the exhaust gas turbine can be axially displaced between a contact position toward the vane and a position that frees a gap toward the vane.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an exhaust gas turbocharger for an internal combustion engine.
2. Related Art of the Invention
From the publication DE 196 15 237 C2 an exhaust gas turbocharger of this general type is known, having a turbine with a radial and a semi-axial flow intake cross-section in the exhaust flow area of the turbine. The flow intake profiles, between which a flow promoting contoured flow ring is provided in the flow intake area of the turbine, makes possible both a radial and also a semi-axial impinging onto the turbine wheel. In the radial flow entry cross-section a variable geometry arrangement is provided with adjustable guide vanes, via which the flow entry cross-section can be varied. By adjustment of the guide vanes the gas pressure, as well as the type and manner of the flow of the exhaust gas onto the turbine wheel, can be influenced, whereby the performance of the turbine and the output of the compressor can be adjusted depending upon the requirements and operating condition of the internal combustion engine.
This type of exhaust gas turbocharger, having variable turbine geometry, is employed also in braking operation of the internal combustion engine. In the braking operation the guide vanes are adjusted into a blocking or choking position, in which the intake cross-section is significantly reduced, whereupon an elevated exhaust pressure builds up in the conduit upstream of the turbine, which brings about, that the exhaust gas flows with increased velocity through the channels between the guide vanes, whereupon the turbine wheel is impinged with a stronger impulse. This brings about an elevated compressor output, so that the fresh or combustible air reaching the motor is also placed under an elevated charge pressure. The cylinder is acted on with increased charge pressure on the inlet side, at the same time the exhaust side is experiencing elevated exhaust gas pressure, which opposes the evacuation or exhausting of the compressed air via the brake value in the exhaust gas conduit. During motor operation the piston in the compression and exhaust stroke must perform compression work against the high overpressure in the exhaust side, whereby a strong brake effect is achieved.
The desired high brake power can however only be achieved when a desired pressure distribution exists within the turbine and when the exhaust gas flows through the turbine in the intended manner. It is a problem herein that leakages occur on the axial sides of the adjustable guide vanes, which can occur due to construction and manufacturing tolerances, however also due to wear and thermal expansion, and can strongly compromise the desired pressure relationship within the turbine, which negatively influences the motor brake power, and however also negatively influences the motor power in the combustion drive mode. This type of guide vane leakage results also from gaps inherently required in construction to enable movement of the guide vanes of the guide vane ring of the variable turbine geometry in the flow entry cross-section.
Similarly, from the publication DE 39 41 399 C1 an exhaust gas turbocharger for an internal combustion engine is known, which is equipped with a twin flow spiral channel with radial and semi-axial flow entry cross-section in the turbine housing, wherein the two flow channels are separated by a fixed separating wall. Between the radial and the semi-axial flow entry cross-section of the two flow channels there is, in the area of the end surface of the separating wall separating the two flow channels, an axially adjustable slider, which is adjustable between a position blocking the radial inflow cross-section and a position blocking the semi-axial inflow cross-section. The slider assumes the function of a variable geometry turbine part, via which the flow behavior of the flow onto the turbine wheel is to be influenced. Even with this turbocharger design, flow leakage or by-pass cannot be prevented.
The publication DE 35 41 508 C1 discloses an exhaust gas turbocharger with radial flow entry cross-section towards the turbine wheel, wherein in the flow entry cross-section a guide ring with adjustable guide vanes is provided. Two holder- or mount-rings engaging the guide vanes on their end surfaces are connected to each other via multiple screws distributed about the circumference. The screws are within spacer sleeves, which ensure a minimal separation of the two mounting rings. An axial relative movement of the outer support rings relative to the inner support ring is not possible on the basis of the screw connection, and namely neither in the direction of a larger separation of the support rings nor in the direction of a coming together of the support rings. This has only the consequence, that the gap between the axial end surfaces of the vanes of the guide vane assembly and the two support rings are arranged with fixed, non-changeable dimensions. Therein a compromise is entered into between having a sufficiently large degree of movement for the blades and a sufficiently small gap for avoidance of by-pass flows. Thermal expansion in the construction components can lead within the turbocharger to an enlargement of the gaps and thereby bring about undesired increase in leakage with correspondingly smaller compressor output.
The publication DE 100 29 640 A1 discloses an exhaust gas turbocharger with semi-axial and with radial flow entry cross-section to the turbine wheel which are separated by an axially displaceable flow ring. In the radial flow entry cross-section a guide vane ring with adjustable guide vanes and in the semi-axial cross-section a grid with fixed geometry are provided. If the guide vane ring in the radial cross-section is moved into the choke or blocking position, then a larger proportion of the exhaust gas flows through the semi-axial cross-section. Aerodynamic effects can be caused by the displacement of the flow ring in the direction of the radial ring of guide vanes.

Exhaust gas turbocharger for an internal combustion engine


A biodegradable copolymer with a core block comprising bioresorbable hydrophobic polyester segment and from 3 to 10 shell blocks comprising hydrophilic polyethylene glycol segment. The hydrophobic polyester segment and each of the hydrophilic polyethylene glycol segments are linked by a urethane linkage. A polymeric micelle composition containing the copolymer is also provided. The copolymer forms micelles when the concentration of the copolymer in a dispersing medium reaches or exceeds the critical micelle concentration. The micelles possess good drug and bioactive agent delivery characteristics and are suitable for use in drug delivery or cosmetic applications.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a biodegradable copolymer and a biodegradable polymeric micelle composition containing the copolymer. The biodegradable polymeric micelle composition has good drug and bioactive agent delivery characteristics and is suitable for use in drug delivery or cosmetic applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many biodelivery technologies (such as encapsulation and delivery) have been developed for clinical applications, is which prevent pharmaceutical drugs, bioactive substances, or living cells from deterioration by the physiological environment of the body during the course of delivery or to enable slow and stable release in the body. Drugs or bioactive substances are typically encapsulated in bioresorbable polymeric material, such as, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), or lactic acid/glycolic acid copolymer (PLGA) in many commercialized techniques before being administrated to organisms.
PLA and PGA, linear polymeric material, have been used mainly for drug and bioactive substance encapsulation and delivery. However, the encapsulation efficiency of hydrophilic drugs and peptides with high molecular weight are poor due to hydrophobicity. Therefore, many researches are oriented to amphiphilic biodegradable material to overcome this problem.
A. S. Sawhney et al., Macromolecules, Vol 26, No. 4, 581-589 (1993) disclose macromers having a polyethylene glycol central block, extended with oligomers of α-hydroxy acids such as oligo(D,L-lactic acid) or oligo(glycolic acid) and terminated with acrylate groups. Using photoinitiators, these multifunctional macromers can be crosslinked under ultraviolet. The rates of biodegradation upon hydrolysis can be tailored by appropriate choice of the PEG and the oligo(α-hydroxy acid) from less than 1 day to up to 4 months.
Okada et al., in Japanese Patent 2-78629 (1990), disclose a segment-type linear block copolymer formed from PLA or PLGA and PEG. The molecular weight range for PLGA is 400 to 5,000 and for PEG, 200 to 2,000. The reaction is performed under high temperature and the reaction product could precipitate and form a hydrogel in water above room temperature.
T. Matsuda, ASAIO Journal, M512-M517 (1993) used a biodegradable polymeric gel to deliver a potent peptidyl antiproliferative agent. The gel was a highly viscous fluid of a linear block copolymer composed of PLA and PEG block segments and used as a drug carrier.
L. Martini et al., J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans., 90(13), 1961-1966 (1994) synthesized very low molecular weight ABA type tri-block copolymers by copolymerizing hydrophobic poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) block and hydrophilic PEG block, forming a PCL-PEG-PCL tri-block copolymer. Different cloud points were observed with various components. For example, the cloud points of 2 wt % aqueous solutions of the copolymers were 65° C. and 55° C. for PCL-PEG-PCL (450:4000:450) and PCL-PEG-PCL (680:4000:680), respectively. When the molecular weight of PCL was higher, the in vivo degradation rate was slower. A slow degradation was favorable to the drug release control efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,072 issued to MacroMed Company discloses an ABA- or BAB-linear type tri-block copolymer containing a biodegradable polyester (block A) and PEG (block B). The tri-block copolymer is water soluble and possesses reverse thermal gelation properties when the copolymer molecular weight is between 2000 and 4990 and wt % of the hydrophobic segment is between 51 to 83%. A drug delivery composition containing said copolymer is also disclosed. ReGel®, an injectable drug release system developed using PLA-PEG-PLA tri-block copolymer by MacroMed company has been approved by the FDA for years.
In view of the above description, a linear amphiphilic copolymer has been disclosed, but neither a branched amphiphilic copolymer having a hydrophobic segment as a core nor a polymeric micelle composition containing a linear or branched amphiphilic copolymer in use of drug delivery has been disclosed.
G. S. Kwon et al., in Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 12, No. 2, 192-195 (1995) and Journal of Controlled Release, Vol. 48, 195-201 (1997) reported micelles of PEO-PBLA copolymer with a diameter of about 20 to 40 nm. The encapsulating rate for the micelles to encapsulate a highly lipid soluble antitumor agent, adriamycin, could be 5-12% (w/w). Compared with un-encapsulated adriamycin, the drug encapsulated with PEO-PBLA copolymer exhibited an extended recycling period in vivo and an improved phagocytic efficiency on cancer cells. In addition, the degradation rate of the drug decreased after encapsulation, thus, the micelles could be deemed as a storage unit for the drug and a long-term release effect could be achieved.
T. Minko et al., International Journal of Cancer, Vol. 86, 108-117 (2000) reported an ex vivo experiment using human ovarian carcinoma cell line and the comparison of administrating an antitumor drug, adriamycin (i.e. doxorubicin), by means of conventional methods and by means of micelles of HPMA copolymer with adriamycin attached. The result indicated a higher antitumor activity and lower systemic toxicity of HPMA copolymer-bound adriamycin when compared with free adriamycin.
S. C. Kim et al., Journal of Controlled Release, Vol. 72, 191-202 (2001) reported micelles formed by encapsulating paclitaxol in mPEG-PDLLA copolymer molecules. The result of the experiment for the ovarian carcinoma cell line and the human breast cancer cell line indicated that the dosage form of paclitaxol in the micelles reduced cytotoxicity, improved maximum tolerated dose (MTD), improved median lethal dose (LD50) and improved antitumor activity, as compared with un-encapsulated paclitaxol.

Biodegradable copolymer, and polymeric micelle composition containing the same


A method and system for calculating an atrio-ventricular delay interval based upon an inter-atrial delay exhibited by a patient's heart. The aforementioned atrio-ventricular delay interval may optimize the stroke volume exhibited by a patient's heart. The aforementioned atrio-ventricular delay interval may be blended with another atrio-ventricular delay interval that may optimize another performance characteristic, such as left ventricular contractility. Such blending may include finding an arithmetic mean, geometric mean, or weighted mean of two or more proposed atrio-ventricular delay intervals.

FIG. 1 depicts a human heart 100. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the heart 100 includes four chambers, the right and left atria 102 and 104, respectively, and the right and left ventricles 106 and 108, respectively. The heart 100 pumps so as to circulate blood through the human body in the following manner. Blood flows from the peripheral venous system to the right atrium 102. From the right atrium 102, blood passes through the tricuspid valve 110 to the right ventricle 106. Blood exits the right ventricle 106 through the pulmonary artery and is directed through the lungs, so that the blood may be reoxygenated. Oxygenated blood from the lungs is drawn from the pulmonary vein to the left atrium 104. From the left atrium, blood passes though the mitral valve 112 to the left ventricle 108. Finally, the blood flows from the left ventricle 108, through the aortic valve, to the peripheral arterial system in order to transfer oxygenated blood to the organs of the body.
To cause the blood to circulate in the above-described manner, electrical pulses propagate through the heart 100, causing the various cardiac muscle cells to contract when excited by the pulses. Usually, the cycle of electrical excitation of the heart 100 is initiated by the sinoatrial node 114. An electrical impulse is generated by the sinoatrial node 114. The impulse propagates from the sinoatrial node 114 to the right and left atria 102 and 104. As a consequence of normal propagation, the right and left atria 102 and 104 contract at substantially the same time. Contraction of the atria 102 and 104 force blood from the right and left atria 102 and 104 into the right and left ventricles 106 and 108, respectively. Eventually, the electrical impulse reaches the atrioventricular node 116. From the atrioventricular node 116, the electrical impulse is carried along right and left bundle branch fibers (not depicted) to a network of fast-conducting Purkinje fibers (not depicted) that extend throughout most of the endocardial surface of the ventricles 106 and 108. The ventricles 106 and 108, when excited by the electrical impulse, contract at substantially the same time, causing the blood therein to exit and travel to either the lungs or the peripheral arterial system, as mentioned above.
Efficiency of heart function may be influenced by several factors. Amongst those factors is synchrony between the chambers of the heart. Efficient heart function is encouraged by atrio-ventricular synchrony, meaning that the ventricles 106 and 108 should contract shortly after contraction of the atria 102 and 104. Premature ventricular contraction may lead to inefficiency because the ventricles 106 and 108 do not become fully filled with blood before contraction. On the other hand, retarded ventricular contraction may permit some of the blood contained in the ventricles 106 and 108 to flow back into the atria 102 and 104 prior to ventricular contraction—an effect that is also inimical to efficient heart function.
Efficient heart function is also encouraged by interventricular synchrony. The right and left ventricles 106 and 108 share a wall in common, the septum 118. Should the right ventricle 106 contract prior to contraction of the left ventricle 108, the septum 118 may initially contract with the right ventricle 106, shifting to the right. Then, upon contraction of the left ventricle 108, the septum 118 may contract with the left ventricle 108, and shift to the left. Thus, the septum 118 may exhibit a sort of "waffling" action, shifting first to the right and then to the left. Such waffling yields an inefficient cardiac stroke.
To encourage proper synchrony amongst the ventricles 106 and 108 or atria 102 and 104, cardiac resynchronization therapy may be employed by a cardiac rhythm management device, such as a pacemaker or defibrillator with pacing capabilities. Herein, the terms pacemaker, pulse generator device, and cardioverter/defibrillator (with pacing functionality) are used interchangeably and refer to a cardiac rhythm management device. Cardiac resynchronization therapy involves pacing one or both ventricles 106 and 108 in order to synchronize their contraction with one another or with one or both of the atria 102 and 104.
One important variable governing cardiac resynchronization therapy is an atrio-ventricular pacing delay interval that is employed by the device applying the resynchronization therapy. As explained in more detail, below, the atrio-ventricular pacing delay interval is responsible for determining the timing of pacing of one or both of the ventricles relative to a paced or sensed event occurring in the right atrium 102.
In atrial tracking and AV sequential pacing modes, a ventricular escape interval is defined between atrial and ventricular events. This escape interval is the aforementioned atrio-ventricular pacing delay interval or AVD interval, where a ventricular pacing pulse is delivered upon expiration of the atrio-ventricular pacing delay interval if no ventricular sense occurs before such expiration. In an atrial tracking mode, the atrio-ventricular pacing delay interval is triggered by an atrial sense and stopped by a ventricular sense or pace. An atrial escape interval can also be defined for pacing the atria either alone or in addition to pacing the ventricles. In an AV sequential pacing mode, the atrio-ventricular delay interval is triggered by an atrial pace and stopped by a ventricular sense or pace. Atrial tracking and AV sequential pacing are commonly combined so that the AVD interval starts with either an atrial pace or sense.

Selective resynchronization therapy optimization based on user preference


A display system and method for graphically representing a host aircraft comprises a display, a first source host aircraft position data and a second source of data representative of airspace in the vicinity of the host aircraft. A processor is coupled to the display, the first source, and the second source and is configured to (1) determine a position of the host aircraft that expands the visualization of an intended trajectory of the host aircraft, and (2) display the host aircraft at the position on the display.

Modern electronic displays for vehicles (such as aircraft, automobiles, marine vessels, or trains) display a considerable amount of information, such as vehicle position, navigation data, and terrain information. In the case of an aircraft, many modern flight deck displays (or cockpit displays) include a lateral view, generally known as a lateral moving map display, which is basically a top-down view of the flight plan that may include, for example, a top-down view of an aircraft symbol, terrain information, political boundaries, navigation aids and/or waypoint symbols, line segments that interconnect the waypoint symbols, and range rings.
Often, a pilot may pan the lateral moving map display to achieve, for example, a preferred forward planned path. For example, if the route of a planned trajectory extends west to east, the pilot may orient the map with North up and then pan the map such that the aircraft symbology is at the far left of the display since the pilot is less concerned about features to the rear of the current position of the aircraft than features and waypoints that are ahead of the current location of the aircraft within the flight plan.
In known systems, a user (e.g., a crewmember) may manually adjust the area displayed in the lateral moving map display by scrolling the map in either a lateral direction (e.g., up or down, left or right) or a cardinal direction (e.g., North or South, East or West), or by manually dragging the map to a desired area. However, in some situations, adjusting the area displayed on the lateral moving map in the proper direction can be difficult and/or not intuitive; e.g. when the lateral map is oriented in the direction of travel (e.g., heading up) or when the flight plan turns in a direction that is not evident by the current state of the lateral map display. In addition, it is difficult to adjust the lateral moving map display diagonally and/or in a non-cardinal direction. At times, the aircraft may even travel off the display without the pilot noticing, thus decreasing the pilot's situational awareness. In addition, repositioning the lateral moving map display undesirably increases the workload of the pilot.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for determining a preferred or optimal position on a display at which the ownship or host aircraft symbology should be generated and graphically securing the aircraft (i.e. "sticking" the aircraft) to that position. It would also be desirable to provide a system and method for dynamically determining an optimal position on a display at which the ownship or host aircraft symbology should be generated based on a heading, projected flight plan, and/or changes to the flight plan.

System and method for displaying optimized ownship position on a navigation display


There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor including: a ceramic body including a plurality of dielectric layers; a plurality of first and second internal electrodes disposed in the ceramic body to be alternately exposed to the third and fourth end surfaces, having the dielectric layers interposed therebetween; and first and second external electrodes electrically connected to the first and second internal electrodes, wherein the first and second external electrodes include: first and second conductive glass layers; first and second conductive resin layers containing copper and an epoxy; and first and second insulating layers.

The present disclosure relates to a multilayer ceramic capacitor, a board having the same mounted thereon, and a method of manufacturing the same.
Since such a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) has advantages such as a small size, high capacitance, ease of mounting, or the like, such a multilayer ceramic capacitor may be used as a component in various electronic devices.
For example, the multilayer ceramic capacitor may be used as a chip shaped condenser mounted on printed circuit boards of various electronic products such as a display device, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), and the like, as well as including a computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a mobile phone to serve to charge electricity or discharge electricity.
Generally, the multilayer ceramic capacitor may have a structure in which a plurality of dielectric layers and internal electrodes having different polarities between the dielectric layers are alternately disposed.
In this case, since the dielectric layers have piezoelectric properties, when a direct current (DC) voltage or an alternating current (AC) voltage is applied to the multilayer ceramic capacitor, a piezoelectric phenomenon may be generated between the internal electrodes, such that a volume of a ceramic body is expanded and contracted according to a frequency, thereby generating periodic vibrations.
The vibrations are transmitted to a printed circuit board through external electrodes and a solder connecting the external electrodes of the multilayer ceramic capacitor to the printed circuit board, such that the entire printed circuit board becomes a sound reflective surface to generate a vibration sound to be a noise.
In this case, the solder connecting the external electrode and the printed circuit board is inclined from both side surfaces and both end surfaces of the ceramic body along a surface of the external electrode at a predetermined height. As a volume and a height of the solder increase, vibrations of the multilayer ceramic capacitor may be further easily transferred to the printed circuit board, such that vibration sound could be severely generated.
The vibration sound may be in an audible frequency region of 20 to 20,000 Hz, causing listener discomfort, and the vibration sound causing listener discomfort refers to an acoustic noise.
Recently, in electronic devices, since acoustic noise generated in the multilayer ceramic capacitor as described above may be significant due to a decreased noise of components, research into a technology of effectively decreasing the acoustic noise generated in the multilayer ceramic capacitor has been required.
A multilayer ceramic capacitor and a board having the same mounted thereon have been disclosed in the following Patent Document 1, but a structure in which an external electrode includes an insulating layer for decreasing acoustic noise has not been disclosed therein.

Multilayer ceramic capacitor, board having the same mounted thereon, and method of manufacturing the same


A solid-state image sensor, comprising an image sensor chip including a pixel region where a plurality of pixels are arranged and a peripheral region arranged around the pixel region, and a fixing portion including a substrate which supports the image sensor chip and a joint portion which joins the substrate to an external base, wherein the peripheral region includes a first portion, and a second portion which is smaller in an amount of generated heat than the first portion, the substrate includes a first side and a second side, the first portion is arranged nearer the first side than the second side, the second portion is arranged nearer the second side than the first side, and the joint portion is arranged on the first side of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state image sensor and camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
A solid-state image sensor includes an image sensor chip including a pixel region where a plurality of pixels are arranged and a processing unit which processes a pixel signal from the pixel region. The solid-state image sensor generates heat when, for example, the signal processing unit processes a pixel signal. The heat may generate noise in the pixel region and degrade the image quality.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-49362 discloses an arrangement in which an accommodating hole 201 is formed in a substrate 20 to which an image sensor chip 21 is fixed, and a heat sink 22 is arranged in the accommodating hole 201 which contacts the image sensor chip 21. Heat generated in the image sensor chip 21 is dissipated via the heat sink 22.
When the image sensor chip has a portion where the amount of generated heat is locally large, a nonuniform heat distribution is generated in the pixel region, and as a result, the acquired image data may become nonuniform. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-49362 does not consider how to uniform the heat distribution.


The invention relates to a method for vehicle communication via a vehicle-implemented vehicle diagnosis system (3), to which a vehicle diagnosis interface (10) having an interface connector (11), an interface module (12) and an air interface (13) is connected, and in which: vehicle diagnosis data (I) from a vehicle are transmitted from the vehicle-implemented vehicle diagnosis system (3) of the vehicle to a mobile user communication terminal (20) via the air interface, and the mobile user communication terminal (20) is associated with the vehicle and also the vehicle diagnosis data (I) are transmitted from the mobile user communication terminal (20) to a data network system (40) via a communication network (30), wherein the data network system (40) makes the vehicle diagnosis data (I) available to the mobile user communication terminal (20) again.

Vehicle diagnosis systems that are limited to vehicle diagnosis, such as an onboard diagnosis system (OBD system), are known. During driving, all systems, particularly those that influence exhaust gases, are monitored, and also additionally further important controllers such as temperature controllers or the like, the data of which are accessible through their software. Errors that occur are indicated to the driver by means of a warning light and are permanently stored in the respective controller. Error reports can then be requested later by a technical workshop using standardized interfaces or suchlike vehicle diagnosis interfaces.
What are known as OBD diagnosis interfaces are also known that—as can be gleaned from the website www.obd-2.de, for example—can use a Bluetooth or suchlike air interface to couple to the vehicle diagnosis interface in order to make vehicle diagnosis data available for a smartphone, Android or pocket PC or suchlike mobile user communication terminal. Such devices dispense with the need to go to the workshop, but are limited to making only the vehicle diagnosis data available to the vehicle driver and user of the mobile user communication terminal. A problem with such devices is simply the flexibility with regard to usability with reference to the vehicle diagnosis interface. Although the errors or other codes of the vehicle diagnosis data are standardized (ISO Standard 15031-6), the protocol for transmitting them is not. Therefore, it has also been necessary to date for a separate OBD interface, separate from mobile user communication terminals, still to be limited to a particular interpreter chip (e.g. ELM327).
US 2010/0210254 A1 discloses a system that restricts the use of a mobile user communication terminal, coupled to a vehicle diagnosis interface in this manner, for particular driving situations for the vehicle. Thus a piece of blocking software may be designed to receive vehicle diagnosis data and to block the operation of at least one communication function of the mobile user communication terminal on the basis of the received vehicle diagnosis data. This may be an increased speed or a switching process or suchlike result of a vehicle diagnosis, for example.
US 2010/0256861 discloses a system for monitoring the integrity status of a vehicle using a vehicle monitoring computer system and a mobile telephone that can receive a piece of diagnostic information relating to a vehicle from a vehicle. This is also intended to be used to automatically determine a severity status for vehicle states on the basis of predefined severity status values, and if the severity status exceeds a predefined severity threshold value for any of the vehicle states then a text message is intended to be automatically transmitted to the mobile telephone. In this case, a vehicle identification number (FIN) or an identification for the mobile telephone (PIN) is able to be implemented in a suitable data packet. The mobile telephone in the system is wirelessly connected to the vehicle or to its environment and can communicate with the environment, for example, via a communication network or an Internet, in order to transmit vehicle diagnosis data to the network. This allows the data to be evaluated, whether by the vehicle keeper and mobile telephone user from an external center or whether by a control center belonging to third parties. The mobile telephone and the CPU of the vehicle controller can enter a paired state using Bluetooth in this case without the need for user intervention, which means the vehicle diagnosis data are transmitted automatically.
The aforementioned diagnosis connections coupled to a vehicle-implemented vehicle diagnosis system by air interface are limited to the evaluation of vehicle diagnosis data that, in this respect, can be transmitted in an uplink—from the vehicle-implemented vehicle diagnosis system to the mobile user communication terminal—only unidirectionally. The systems are limited either to restricting the communication function of the mobile user communication terminal as a result of the vehicle diagnosis data, as in US 2010/0210254 A1, or else to transmitting a message to the mobile user communication terminal merely for the purpose of informing the user of the mobile user communication terminal, as in US 2010/0256861, who is not necessarily the vehicle driver. Such systems are limited to merely rendering the pure vehicle diagnosis data transparently visible to a mobile telephone user and possibly to dispensing with the need to go to the workshop.
US 2008/0015748 A1 discloses a system and method for representing and analyzing vehicle diagnosis data from a vehicle diagnosis interface that has, inter alia, an air interface coupling to a mobile user communication terminal, which means that the vehicle diagnosis data can be transmitted wirelessly. In this case, in addition to the vehicle diagnosis data, geographical position data are also transmitted from the vehicle diagnosis interface to the mobile user communication terminal or a navigation device and forwarded to an Internet server or a Wide Area Network (WAN). Thus, the data can be inspected by end users or software applications can gain access to such data in a manner automated by a program. Such a software application may be coupled to the mobile user communication terminal only from a network in dynamically configurable fashion. The vehicle diagnosis data can be made available to an authorized user, namely a recovery service.
This system is also limited to a unidirectional connection within the context of an uplink—for a vehicle-implemented vehicle diagnosis system to the mobile user communication terminal—in order to spur on an action from external authorized users on the basis of an analysis that uses the vehicle diagnosis data.

Method for vehicle communication by means of a vehicle-implemented vehicle diagnostic system, vehicle diagnostic interface, interace module, user communication terminal, data connection system, and diagnostic and control network for a plurality of vehicles