A DPLA (dynamic programmable logic array) uses an enable unit for each output line that provides OR-functionality, to eliminate a clock signal in the OR-plane. A clock signal is used only in the AND-plane for pre-charging the product term lines. Such a DPLA operates properly without a delay constraint between clock signals in both the AND-plane and the OR-plane for proper operation at higher frequencies.

A PLA (programmable logic array) is commonly known as flexibly providing a sum of products function of input signals. A PLA typically includes an AND-plane and an OR-plane for providing the sum of products. A DPLA (dynamic programmable logic array) also includes clock signals for controlling timing of operation of the DPLA.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional DPLA 100 using a first clock signal CLK1 for an AND-plane and a second clock signal CLK2 for an OR-plane. The AND-plane includes first and second product term lines, 102 and 104 respectively, having product terms, f1* and f2* respectively, generated thereon. Four inputs, a*, b*, c, and d* are applied on four input lines 106 as illustrated in FIG. 1. (Note that "*" herein refers to a complement of a signal as commonly known to one of ordinary skill in the art).
CLK1 is coupled to the gates of a first PMOSFET MP1 and a first NMOSFET MN1 that are coupled to high and low voltages, VDD and VSS respectively, for charging/discharging the first product term line 102 depending on a logical state of CLK1. CLK1 is also coupled to the gates of a second PMOSFET MP2 and a second NMOSFET MN2 that are coupled to VDD and VSS respectively for charging/discharging the second product term line 104 depending on the logical state of CLK1.
When CLK1 is a logical low state (i.e., "0") during a pre-charge time, the product term lines 102 and 104 are each pre-charged to a logical high state (i.e., "1"). Because of the connections of NMOSFETs MN5, MN6, MN7, and MN8 in the AND-plane of FIG. 1, when CLK1 is a logical high state during an evaluation time, the respective logical state of each of f1* and f2* on the product term lines 102 and 104 depends on the logical states of the inputs, a*, b*, c, and d*, as follows:f1*=a×bf2*=c*×d(Note that "x" herein refers to an AND operation, and "+" herein refers to an OR operation, as commonly known to one of ordinary skill in the art.)
Further referring to FIG. 1, CLK2 is coupled to the gates of a third NMOSFET MN3, a third PMOSFET MP3, a fourth NMOSFET MN4, and a fourth PMOSFET MP4. The PMOSFETs MP3 and MP4 are coupled to VDD, and the NMOSFETs MN3 and MN4 are coupled to VSS. When CLK2 is a logical low state during a pre-charge time, a pre-output line 108 having a signal F* generated thereon is pre-charged to a logical high state. An output line 110 having a signal F generated thereon is coupled to the pre-output line 108 via an inverter 112.
Because of the connections of NMOSFETs MN9 and MN10 in the OR-plane of FIG. 1, when CLK2 is a logical high state during an evaluation time, the respective logical state of F depends on the logical states of f1* and f2* and thus of the inputs, a*, b*, c, and d*, as follows:F*=f1×f2F=f1*+f2*=(a×b)+(c*×d)Thus, the output line 110 provides an OR-function of the product terms f1* and f2*.
FIG. 2 shows a DPLA (dynamic programmable logic array) 150, and FIG. 3 shows a timing diagram during operation of the DPLA 150 of FIG. 2, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,047 to Horie et al. The AND-plane of the DPLA 150 generates product terms on product term lines 1011 from inputs A, A*, B, and B* on input lines 1010. The OR-plane of the DPLA 150 generates outputs, Y1 and Y2, via output lines 1012.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the DPLA 150 includes a first clock signal Ø1 for the AND-plane and a second clock signal Ø2 for the OR-plane. A first group of PMOSFETs and NMOSFETs 152 are coupled to VDD and a ground node and receive Ø1 for charging/discharging the product term lines 1011 depending on the logical state of Ø1. A second group of PMOSFETs and NMOSFETs 154 are coupled to VDD and the ground node and receive Ø2 for charging/discharging the output lines 1012 depending on the logical state of Ø2.
The connections of NMOSFETs N1 determine a respective product term on each of the product term lines 1011 as an AND-function of a respective set of inputs. The connections of the NMOSFETs N2 determine an OR-function of a respective set of product terms for each of the output lines 1012.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, when Ø1 is a logical high state during an AND-plane pre-charge time, each of the product term lines 1011 is pre-charged to a logical high state. When Ø2 is a logical high state during an OR-plane pre-charge time, each of the output lines 1012 is pre-charged to a logical high state. When Ø1 turns to a logical low state for an AND-plane evaluation time, the respective logical state for each of the product term lines 1011 becomes valid after a propagation delay tp from when Ø1 turns to the logical low state.
Further referring to FIG. 3, Ø2 for the OR-plane is delayed from Ø1 for the AND-plane by Δt to ensure that the product terms are valid before generating the OR-function of such product terms on the output lines 1012. Thus, Δt is desired to be greater than tp to ensure proper operation of the prior art DPLA 150.
On the other hand, the DPLA 150 is also desired to operate with ever faster speed with Ø1 and Ø2 having higher frequency. With such higher frequency of Ø1 and Ø2, the delay relationship of Δt>tp is more difficult to maintain since Δt cannot be easily controlled with the higher frequency of Ø1 and Ø2. In addition, tp is difficult to control as the propagation delay through the AND-plane.
As an unfortunate result, with higher frequency of Ø1 and Ø2, the DPLA 150 may not operate properly because of the delay constraint between Ø1 and Ø2. Thus, a DPLA (dynamic programmable logic array) without such a delay constraint between the two clock signals Ø1 and Ø2 of the AND-plane and the OR-plane is desired such that the DPLA may properly operate even at higher frequency.

Dynamic programmable logic array having enable unit


A memory (110) having sections of memory cells used ATD to generate the required timing signals, includes ATD generators (189), first summation circuits (180-183), and local summation circuits 185-187. An ATD pulse is generated by the ATD generators (189) when an address signal transitions from one logic state to another. The outputs of the ATD generators (189) are wired-OR connected to input terminals of first summation circuits (180-183). A first summation signal is provided by the first summation circuits (180-183) to each of the local summation circuits (185-187). The local summation circuits (185-187) are positioned in the vicinity of the areas where the timing signals are used. Localized generation of the ATD signals prevents the timing signals for being excessively skewed from each other in different portions of the memory (110).

Integrated circuit memories, such as static random access memories (SRAMs) require increasingly short access times. SRAMs are often used in the portion of a processing system where speed is very important, such as a cache memory for microprocessor. Address transition detection is one method that has been used to decrease access time by allowing a memory access to begin as soon as a change in an address is detected. ATD decreases memory access times, and may also reduce power consumption, by providing both preconditioning signals and activation signals in the memory. For example, ATD may be used for a word line driving, bit line driving and precharge, data line sensing, and for data outputting.
An address transition detector generates a pulse in response to an address change. It is typical to have a separate address transition detector for each address signal which transitions are to be detected. For example, if a transition of the row address is to be detected, then an address transition detector is commonly used for a row address signal. The output pulses of these detectors are then logically combined by logic gates to provide a single summation signal. This summation signal is then used to provide timing and control signals for the memory.
In the past, the summation of ATD pulses has been accomplished by using centrally located ATD summation logic circuitry. Metal lines have been used to route the ATD summation signal to portions of the memory where the ATD summation signal is to be used, such as to the word line drivers or to the bit line loads. However, as memories increase in size and density, the distance from the centrally located ATD summation circuitry to the most distant circuits of the memory increases, resulting in the need for longer metal lines. A problem with using longer metal lines to route the ATD pulses is the increased parasitic capacitance that the centrally located ATD summation logic circuit must drive, increasing power consumption, and requiring the use of larger drive transistors in the centrally located ATD summation logic circuitry. In addition, the timing signals may be excessively skewed from one another in different portions of the memory because the signals have to travel different distance across the memory. Excessively skewed timing signals may seriously degrade the performance and reliability of the memory.


A process for manufacturing a blade of a turbomachine using the lost-wax moulding technique, where the blade includes a first central longitudinal cavity and at least one second longitudinal cavity together forming a cooling circuit and communicating with each other at one longitudinal end via a transverse channel. The process includes manufacturing first and second cores corresponding to the cavities, where the two cores each have an end portion, by which they are connected together by an assembly of the mortise and tenon type. The assembly of the two cores is then positioned in a shell mould and the metal poured into the mould.

The mobile or stator turbine blades, which are subject to high thermal stresses, include resources for cooling by the circulation of a heat-bearing fluid, generally air in the case of a gas-turbine engine, inside cavities created inside the vane.
In addition, the cooled turbine blades are now generally manufactured by the lost-wax moulding process. This technique has several stages. A first stage consists of creating a model of the part that one wishes to mould, in wax or another equivalent material. In a second stage, one then surrounds the model in a shell mould made from a ceramic material. The latter is manufactured by successive soakings of the model in slurries containing a ceramic material, alternating with stucco operations, between the soakings, on the layer formed. When it has been formed, the mould is dried and the wax that it contains is removed by a first firing at a suitable temperature, and then the mould is further fired at a high temperature in order to provide it with the strength necessary for the pouring process. This then leaves the hollow image of the model, into which the molten metal is poured. After cooling, the mould is broken to release the part. The latter is then subjected to a simple finishing process.
When the vane includes cavities for the circulation of a cooling fluid, it is necessary to incorporate one or more cores into the model, before the manufacture of the shell mould. This phase of the process includes firstly the separate manufacture of the core or cores by the moulding of a ceramic material consolidated by a binder, followed by their assembly where necessary, and the positioning of the core or cores inside a wax mould. The said model is thus moulded by the injection of wax into the wax mould. The wax fills the spaces created between the core or the assembly of core elements and the volume of the wax mould. The model obtained in wax forms the replica of the part to be manufactured, with the difference that the internal cavities are occupied by the core or cores.
During the alloy pouring stage, the molten metal flows between the walls of the shell mould and those of the core. After appropriate cooling of the alloy, the shell mould is firstly removed and then the elements constituting the core, in order to produce the cavities. The part finally undergoes a simple finishing process.
The technique presented above allows the creation of parts with complex internal geometries. The patent application in the name of the applicant, FR 0,309,535, filed on 1 Aug. 2003, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,136, describes a turbine blade with several cooling circuits, a first along a central cavity and cavities on the upper and lower surfaces of the vane, with a second that is independent of the first circuit, along the leading edge of the blade, and a third which is independent of the first two, along the trailing edge of the blade.
A high-pressure turbine blade 10 for a gas-turbine engine is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The blade includes an aerodynamic surface 12 called a vane, which extends in a radial direction between a blade root 14 and a blade tip 16. The root is shaped so as to allow mounting of the blade on a rotor disk. Here, the tip of the blade has a part said to be in the shape of a bathtub 28. This is composed of a bottom 26 transverse to the vane and a wall forming its edge as an extension to the wall of the vane 12.
FIG. 2 shows the vane in section, slightly enlarged, in the plane II-II of FIG. 1. Here the vane 12 includes a variety of cavities. A first cavity is central 34, and extends from the root up to the tip of the vane. Three cavities 30 are located along the wall of the upper blade surface between the central cavity 34 and the upper blade wall, and along the latter. The cavities 30 are narrow and positioned behind each other along this wall. Two cavities 32 are located between the central cavity and the lower blade surface, and along the latter. These also are narrow. One cavity 50 is located in the part of the blade close to the trailing edge. One cavity 60 is located in the part of the blade close to the leading edge.
FIG. 3 shows a view of the blade in section in the plane III-III of FIG. 2. The cooling air first circulates along the upper-surface and lower-surface cavities and then is routed to the central cavity, to be extracted via openings created appropriately. One or two different circuits feed air into the two cavities labelled 50 and 60.
For the manufacture by moulding of a part with such a structure, cores are created corresponding to the different cavities, in the form of a first core 1 whose shape corresponds to that of the first cavity, a second core 2 whose shape corresponds to the three cavities 30 of the upper blade surface and a third core 3 whose forms corresponds to the two lower-surface cavities 32. Cores are also created for cavities 50 and 60. In the remainder of the presentation however, we will consider only the first three cavities with their associated cores to the extent that they form a single cooling circuit.
FIG. 4 shows a partial view of the tip of the part in its state following the cooling of the metal. It is shown in section in a radial direction, after the shell mould has been removed. The cavities created inside the wall 13 of the blade are occupied by the assembled cores 1, 2 and 3, which now have to be removed.
It can be seen that the three cores have been created so that they can constitute a rigid assembly during the moulding operations. In fact it is important that the different elements should remain in position, and not be disturbed during the pouring of the molten metal in particular. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the three cores fit into the zone at the tip of the blade, at the position where a passage has to be created between the three cavities. They form a compact rigid assembly at this position. The central core 1 includes a part forming the body 1C corresponding to the central cavity 34, a slimmed-down part 1D and a wider head part 1E. The height of the slimmed-down part 1D corresponds more or less to the height of the passage created between the cavities. Core 2 includes a part forming the body 2C, here in three parts, corresponding to the three upper blade surface cavities 30a, 30b, 30c. These three parts 2C are joined at the tip of the blade to an element 2D inserted between parts 1C and 1E of the core 1, resting against part 1D. In like manner, core 3 includes a part forming a body 3C in two elements corresponding to the two lower-surface cavities 32a and 32b. These two elements are connected by an element 3D at the tip of the blade, which is inserted between parts 1C and 1E of core 1, resting against part 1D. This assembly allows the manufacture of the blade by pouring of the molten metal between the shell mould and the cores, thus creating the wanted cavities and passages.
However, as can be seen in FIG. 4, in practice an interstitial space remains between the parts of the cores thus assembled. The molten metal occupies the space left by these parts. This means that after the removal of the cores, there remain flashings B1 to B4. These metal flashings must be removed since they form a location at which cracks appear during operation of the machine on which the part is mounted. They also result in pressure drops in the flow of the cooling fluid inside the blade.
These are therefore removed by chemical or mechanical means. These operations are lengthy and difficult, and their cost is not negligible. Moreover, it is necessary to create a relatively large opening in the transverse wall forming the bottom of the bathtub, through which one introduces the tool used for removal of the flashings. An edge is created along this opening, and this serves as a base for a close-off plate forming the bottom of the bathtub. We have already seen that because of the size of this opening, the plate is prone to collapsing, leading to significant operational disruptions.

Process for manufacturing the blade of turbomachine, and assembly of the cores for implementation of the process


A method of fabricating a multi-level 3D memory array includes: preparing a wafer and peripheral circuits thereon; layers of metal, memory resistor material, and metal are deposited, patterned and etched. The steps of the method of the invention are repeated for N levels of a memory array.

The prior art, including the above-identified related application, describes three dimensional RRAM memory arrays having two resistors (2R) per cell, in which two bit lines of a given cell are located in the same plane. The memory resistors are fabricated on top of the two bit lines, while the word line is fabricated on top of the memory resistors. Thus the plan area is relatively large. A disadvantage of the 3-D RRAM of the related application is a large cell size. This disclosure demonstrate a 2-R Cell RRAM array with cell size of 4F2 and a method of making this memory array.

Method of making three dimensional, 2R memory having a 4F2 cell size RRAM


A portable reader is arranged to read a card. The card is provided with a set of contact areas. The reader is provided with a connector. The connector is provided with a set of contact pads. The portable reader comprises a first and a second holding elements arranged to hold the card so that at least one contact pad of the set contact pads can be connected to at least one contact area of the set of contact areas. At least the one of the holding elements is arranged to be movable.

EP1181663 A1 discloses a portable reader. The reader comprises a part for electric connection to the port of a computer, whereby said part exhibits four conduction lines in addition to a part for the insertion of a module which is removable and which can store confidential information, comprising the body of a plastic module which is substantially parallelepiped and rectangular whereby the dimensions thereof are 25 mm long, 15 mm wide and 0.76 mm thick, further comprising an integrated circuit chip provided with contact pads which are electrically connected to contact pads which are flush with one of the surfaces of said module, whereby the insertion part comprises a connector which has pins which are electrically connected to the electric connection lines of the reader and, when the module is inserted into said reader, to the contact pads of said module. The portable reader is specifically designed for readers, which are to be connected electrically to a USB port in a computer.


An axial swirler, in particular for premixing of oxidizer and fuel in gas turbines, includes a series of swirl vanes with a streamline cross-section. Each swirl vane has a leading edge, a trailing edge, and a suction side and a pressure side extending each between the leading and trailing edges. The swirl vanes are arranged around a swirler axis, wherein the leading edges extend essentially in radial direction. Flow slots are formed between the suction side of each swirl vane and the pressure side of its nearest neighboring swirl vane. Furthermore, at least one swirl vane has a discharge flow angle between a tangent to its camber line at its trailing edge and the swirler axis that is monotonically increasing with increasing radial distance from the swirler axis. The invention also relates to a burner with such a swirler and a method of operating the burner.

Swirlers are used as mixing devices in various technical applications. Optimization of swirlers aims at reducing the energy required to obtain a specified degree of homogeneity of a mixture. In continuous flow mixing the pressure drop over a mixing device is a measure for the required energy. Further, the time and space required to obtain the specified degree of homogeneity are important parameters for the evaluation of mixing devices or mixing elements. Swirlers are typically used for mixing of two or more continuous fluid streams. Axial swirlers are most commonly used as premixers in gas turbine combustors.
A socalled swirl number sn characterizes the swirl strength of an axial swirler. The swirl number is defined as the ratio between the axial flux of azimuthal momentum and the axial flux of axial momentum multiplied by the swirler radius. The swirl number is an indication of the intensity of swirl in the annular flow induced by the swirler.
With conventional axial swirlers a required recirculation zone is formed only if the swirl number is equal to or larger than about 0.4. The larger is the swirl number, the larger is the pressure drop entailing an unfavorable energy loss.
Conventional Axial swirlers with upstream fuel injection typically produce unfavorable wakes and recirculation regions at the fuel injection location.
Axial swirlers with fuel injection via the swirlers, so-called swozzles, require for good air-fuel mixing swirl numbers that are so high that it is difficult to avoid wakes and flow-separation regions at the fuel injection location and trailing edge.
Dual annular counter-rotating axial swirlers result in a radially varying velocity distribution that is unfavorable for the combustion process for e.g. poor flame holding resistance and combustion dynamics.


A spring arrangement for a trampoline includes a rebounding surface, a frame structure having a top portion and a bottom portion, and a plurality of spring members that are mechanically coupled between the rebounding surface and the frame structure. A first group of spring members are mechanically coupled to the top portion of the frame structure and a second group of spring members are mechanically coupled to the bottom portion of the frame structure. In one exemplary embodiment, the spring members of the first group and the second group are alternately arranged along the frame structure. In another exemplary embodiment, the frame structure is formed by a plurality of frame members.

1. Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to recreational structures. More particularly, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to a spring arrangement for a recreational structure, such as a trampoline.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 depicts the forces that are applied to a frame of a trampoline that has conventionally configured spring members. More specifically, FIG. 1 depicts a cross-sectional view of a frame 101 is part of, for example, a circular frame that forms the perimeter of a trampoline. Frame 101 is disposed on a vertical frame member 102, such as a leg of the trampoline. A spring member 103 mechanically connects a rebounding surface (not shown) to frame 101. In particular, a hook member 104 that is part of spring member 103 is inserted through a hole 105 (not plainly shown in FIG. 1) that is in the "top" of frame 101. Other spring members that are disposed behind spring member 103 and are not visible in FIG. 1 are mechanically connected to frame 101 in the same manner has shown in FIG. 1.
As the rebounding surface of the trampoline is jumped on, a horizontal force 106 and a vertical force 107 are applied to spring member 103 that is transmitted to frame 101. The nature of the mechanical connection of spring member 103 to frame 101, that is, the mechanical connection of hook member 104 through hole 105, causes a torque 108 to be applied to frame 101. Torque 108 causes vertical frame member 102 to bow outward from the center of the trampoline, as depicted by arrow 109.
The cyclic loading caused by torque 108 has a tendency to cause fatigue in vertical frame member 102 at the mechanical connection between frame 101 and vertical frame member 102 and along the length of vertical frame member 102.
What is needed is a technique for reducing the torque applied to a frame member of a trampoline, thereby minimizing the bowing and the fatigue caused in a vertical frame member of a trampoline.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Spring arrangement for a recreational structure


A hawser system between a tension leg platform (TLP) and another vessel employs two lines, oriented in a V-shape, to restrict the vertical motion of a hawser near the bow of the other vessel which may be a semi-submersible tender assisted drilling vessel (TAD). Drilling operations may be performed from the TLP while the semi-submersible provides the supporting services for the drilling operation, e.g. drilling fluid and drill pipe storage. The restricted vertical motion of the hawsers significantly reduces the possibility of the hawsers contacting each other. A hawser system according to the invention couples the semi-submersible TAD vessel to the TLP and may be implemented without passing the hawsers through sheaves.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to offshore platforms used for drilling operations. More particularly, it relates to tension leg platforms used in conjunction with another vessel in tender-assisted drilling operations.
2. Description of the Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
Both tension leg platforms (TLP's) and semi-submersible floating vessels ("semis") can be used for offshore drilling and production operations.
It can be difficult and costly to provide a TLP with adequate space for all the drilling and completion equipment needed to drill and complete a well—e.g., drill pipe, drilling and completion risers, casings, other tubular goods and drilling and completion fluids. Tenders are often employed to provide the required space needed on a rig and/or platform during the initial drilling and completion phase of an offshore oilfield. However, a problem exists in that most tenders cannot be kept alongside a platform in a constant spaced-apart relationship during extreme weather so as to colliding with the platform. Specifically, tenders have not been able to remain in a connected capacity and avoid the risk of collision.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,223 to Beato and entitled "Tender with hawser lines" describes a hawser system for connecting a semisubmersible tender to a deep draft caisson vessel comprising: a first winch and a second winch disposed on the first end of the tender; a first hawser connected to the first winch and a second hawser connected to the second winch; a first sheave and a second sheave disposed on a second end of the tender opposite the first end of the tender, the first sheave for engaging the first hawser and the second sheave for engaging the second hawser; a first hawser fairlead disposed on a first side of the tender for receiving the first hawser and a second hawser fairlead disposed on the second side of the tender for receiving the second hawser and wherein the first hawser crosses the second hawser three times as each is reaved to each fairlead and wherein the first and second hawsers pass beneath the deck of the tender to the deep draft caisson vessel; at least one connector or joining the first and second hawsers at a position in the deep draft caisson vessel, after the hawsers pass each fairlead.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,111 also to Beato and entitled "Method for tendering" describes a method of using a semi-submersible tender with a deck, a shape that results in a combined environmental load less than 1000 kips in a 100-year extreme weather condition, a plurality of supports each with a rounded shape connected to the deck, a plurality of pontoons connecting the supports with each pontoon being capable of ballast transfer, wherein the tender is used for mooring in a tendering position relative to an offshore platform using hawsers with adequate elasticity to accommodate the wave frequency between the platform and the tender and adequate stiffness to synchronize the mean/low frequency movement between the platform and the tender under an environmental load produced during a 10-year winter storm, and enough slack during a 10-year storm to enable the tender to move to a tender standby position, and wherein the tender uses an at least 6-point mooring system for creating global equilibrium between the platform and the tender.

Method and apparatus for hawser connection in a TLP—TAD system


The present disclosure generally relates to the field of pest elimination including all life stages of bed bugs. The present disclosure includes articles, systems, and methods of heat treatment to target and kill pests.

Some methods of pest treatment require discarding suspected infested articles. These items can be expensive to replace, especially in the case of large objects like furniture, mattresses, and box springs. Some methods of pest treatment exclusively rely on pesticides, which may be restricted or prohibited on certain items, particularly items that contact people. Finally, some methods of pest treatment use heat but can damage objects, create cold spots that provide a harborage for pests, require large amounts of heat, or are energy inefficient, for example in the case of heat treatments that heat entire rooms or buildings.
It is against this background that the present disclosure is made.


A journal of a crankshaft is rotatably supported by a journal-supporting portion of a cylinder block and a bearing cap. An arcuate oil guide groove is defined in a side face of the bearing cap, and coils which are portions of a stator of a generator or motor are fitted into an oil guide groove. Oil flowing down from an oil return passage provided in the cylinder block and oil flowing down from a blow-by gas passage, flow downwards from an upper end of the oil guide groove and return through an opening to an oil pan. In this process, the oil is brought into contact with the coils to cool the stator. Therefore, even if the stator is located above the oil stored in the oil pan, the stator having a raised temperature can be cooled efficiently, to thereby prevent degradation of the performance of the generator or motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine including a generator or motor, whose stator comprised of a core and coils mounted to the core is opposed to permanent magnets mounted at a moving portion of the internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
An internal combustion engine including a generator or motor is conventionally known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.9-182371. The generator or motor is comprised of permanent magnets mounted at a moving portion of the internal combustion engine, and coils mounted so that they are opposed to the permanent magnets. Thus, the generator or motor can function as the generator by supplying electric current to the coils to assist the power output from the internal combustion engine, and the generator or motor can function as the motor to generate an electric power by rotating a crankshaft by an output or an external force from the internal combustion engine.
The internal combustion engine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-182371 has no means for cooling the stator. Therefore, when the generator or motor functions, the coils generate heat to raise the temperature of the stator, which may affect the function and durability of the generator or motor, and thus it is necessary to cool the stator by any means.


An absorbent article having a main body portion, a pair of flaps joined to the main body portion, and an adhesive patch joined to each flap. Each adhesive patch comprises a first half and a second half releasably secured to the first half. The first half has adhesive zones and release zones, and the second half has adhesive zones and release zones which are removably securable to the release zones and adhesive zones of the first half.

All manner and variety of absorbent articles configured for the absorption of body fluids such as menses, urine, and feces are, of course, well known. Absorbent articles, particularly sanitary napkins, having wings or flaps are disclosed in the literature and are available in the marketplace.
Generally, the flaps extend laterally from a central absorbent means and are intended to be folded around the edges of the wearer's panties in the crotch region. Thus, the flaps are disposed between the edges of the wearer's panties in the crotch region and the wearer's thighs.
The flaps serve at least two purposes. First, the flaps prevent exudates which otherwise would soil the edges of the wearer's panties from doing such. Second, the flaps help stabilize the napkin from shifting out of place, especially when the flaps are affixed to the underside of the panties.
Sanitary napkins having flaps of various types are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,478, entitled "Shaped Sanitary Napkin With Flaps", which issued to Van Tilburg on Aug. 18, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,047, entitled "Sanitary Napkin Attachment Means", which issued to Mattingly on Aug. 26, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,876, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to Van Tilburg on May 20, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,343, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to McNair on Aug. 25, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,697, entitled "Disposable Sanitary Shield For Undergarments", which issued to Rickard on Aug. 20, 1968, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,271, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to Clark on Apr. 2, 1957. All of the above Patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Commonly, the flaps are provided with an adhesive attachment means, or flap adhesive, for affixing the flaps to the underside of the wearer's panties. The flap adhesive is generally provided with a release liner to protect the adhesive from contaminants such as dirt, keep the adhesive from drying out and keep the adhesive from sticking to the skin of the wearer and/or extraneous surfaces prior to use. The release liner is peeled from the flap adhesive to expose the adhesive surface. The adhesive surface is then applied to the underside of the panties to secure the flap in place. After being peeled from the flap adhesive, the release liner is discarded. However, this arrangement requires the use of two hands to remove the release liner from each flap, i.e., the user must hold the flap with one hand and peel the release liner with the other hand. This also requires the user to dispose of the release liners which have been removed from the flaps of the sanitary napkin. Therefore, there is a need for a sanitary napkin having flaps which can be manipulated and applied using one hand. There is also a need for a sanitary napkin with adhesive attachment means comprising an adhesive patch that can be releasably secured to itself thereby eliminating the need for separate pieces of release paper for the adhesive attachment means.
While flaps greatly improve the effectiveness of a sanitary napkin, the flaps of a sanitary napkin may hinder or impede application of the sanitary napkin to the crotch of the wearer's panty. Currently, each of the flaps of a sanitary napkin have an end, the distal end, which may move freely relative to the sanitary napkin. Once the release paper of the central pad adhesive is removed by the wearer, the distal ends of the flaps may fall between the crotch portion of the wearer's panty and the sanitary napkin and may become adhered to the central pad adhesive. Therefore, there is a need for a sanitary napkin having flaps positioned so that they will not interfere with the application of the sanitary napkin to the panty.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, having flaps with an adhesive patch which is releasable from itself and can protect itself from contaminants, drying out, or sticking to extraneous surfaces.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having flaps with an adhesive patch which eliminates the need for separate pieces of release liner and maintains the flap in a folded configuration until the flap is used.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Absorbent article having a releasable adhesive patch


A transversally electrically excited gas discharge laser for generating light pulses with a high pulse repetition rate. The gas discharge laser has components include a gas-tight discharge tube with opposed wall passages and front ends. The discharge tube includes ceramic material with laser gas sealed therein. The components also include partial metal layers disposed on the discharge tube. Decoupling and holding elements including support trays are disposed in the wall passages, with the support trays being adhered with solder to the discharge tube via the partial metal layers. The components also include a pair of electrodes extending axially and disposed in the decoupling and holding elements so as to form a gas discharge path. The components also include a pair of rod-shaped electrodes disposed in the discharge tube that are substantially parallel to the main electrodes and operable to control the starting conditions of gas discharge. The electrical excitation circuit includes a switch to generate a high-current discharge from an energy storage device. Support rings are joined to the front ends of the discharge tube and a pair of optical resonator mirrors are welded into the support rings. At least some of the components are usable with an ultrahigh vacuum and heatable to above a second water boundary. The support trays and the support rings are deformable so as to enable fine adjustment of the main electrodes and of the resonator mirrors.

Transversally excited gas discharge lasers, especially transversally electrically excited lasers—TEA (Transverse Electrical discharge in gas at Atmospheric pressure) lasers—have been known since the mid-70s. These lasers stand out for a number of properties that are particularly important for various applications: very high laser output power with an adjustable magnitude and course, high beam quality, high operating safety, good controllability, compact construction and high quantum-optical efficiency. The gas discharge lasers have a broad application spectrum, among other things, as an excitation source in laser-induced, time-resolved spectroscopy, for intensity-dependent absorption and fluorescence examinations, as a test light source for electronic components and modules, as a source of ionization light in time-of-flight spectroscopy, for the opto-acoustic surface diagnostics of extremely thin layers, as a tool in micromaterial processing and for numerous applications under a UV microscope. The important aspect for many applications is especially the high pulse repetition rate with light pulses in the nanosecond and sub-nanosecond ranges.
The active laser cavity of a gas discharge laser consists of the height, the distance and the length of the main electrodes; this is where the stimulated light amplification takes place. The laser-active material is in the form of a gas or a gas mixture or vapor. The gas discharge can be excited optically or electrically. Popular gas lasers include CO2 lasers having a wavelength of 10.6 μm (far-infrared), for instance, for material processing, HeNe lasers having a wavelength of 633 nm (red), for example, for measuring technology, and excimer lasers having a wavelength ranging from 157 nm to 351 nm (ultraviolet, 157 nm F2, 31 nm XeF), for instance, for measuring technology and photochemistry. Mention should also be made of nitrogen lasers, which exhibit all of the prerequisites to become a significant and cost-effective UV source at 337.1 nm and at a bandwidth of 100 pm. The wavelength of 337.1 nm is ideal for many applications. Important methods that have been adopted worldwide are based on this wavelength. The active laser medium, nitrogen, does not require any laborious preparation for the operation of the laser. No chemical compounds are formed that would burden the environment. The physical characteristics of the laser allow the generation of very short light pulses ranging from a few nanoseconds to a few 100 ps without any complicated additional equipment. The use of excimer gas mixtures is likewise possible, also when halogen gases are involved.
The energy feed needed to amplify the light is obtained by means of a high-current discharge of 1000 to 3000 A cm−2 through the entire active laser cavity. The high-current discharge causes most of the gas molecules of the laser medium to be brought into a higher-energy excited state. A randomly occurring photon of the same direction and wavelength or a fed-in oscillator photon then starts the amplification process. The light wave runs between the two resonator mirrors until most of the gas molecules are no longer in the laser-active excited state. Part of the light energy is outcoupled via the output coupler and is then available as a monochromatic, oriented light pulse. The high-current discharge is fed from low-inductivity capacitors in which the requisite electric energy is temporarily stored during the time span between the laser pulses. The temporarily stored energy is conducted into the laser cavity via a heavy-duty circuit-breaker at a rate of current rise ranging from 100 to 500 kAμ−1.
There are gas discharge lasers in various versions in terms of their essential components, namely, the laser channel and the excitation circuit. The laser channel is arranged in a discharge vessel in which the gas discharge path is located, and it usually consists of two main electrodes situated across from each other and having an overall length of 10 mm to 500 mm. There are gas discharge lasers with an external gas reservoir (German patent application DE 41 27 566 A1) as well as gas discharge lasers with a gas cavity that is sealed-off in the discharge vessel and that is cooled by passive or active circulation. In many gas discharge lasers, a first problem is encountered with the gas-tightness of the gas discharge vessel. German utility model DE 295 20 820 U1 describes a laser tube for gas discharge lasers containing halogen in which all of the openings are sealed off by interposed metal gaskets. German utility model DE 297 13 755 U1 describes a gas discharge laser with a ceramic gas discharge tube in which the metal gaskets have an elastic core. German patent application DE 40 10 149 A1 describes a high-frequency excited strip conductor laser in which the resonator mirror is connected galvanically directly to the main electrodes. German patent application DE 101 47 655 A1 describes a gas discharge laser in which an insulator is provided that largely encloses the gas discharge chamber and that is configured as a single piece in order to save on gaskets. German utility model DE 202 12 624 U1 describes a compact excimer laser for generating high pulse rates in which a main electrode is arranged in a ceramic discharge tube, with the main electrode forming the gas discharge path leading to several heat exchanger tubes. The front ends of the discharge tube are sealed off by two flanges, with interposed gaskets. In addition to a pre-ionizer, several current formers and a fan are arranged in the discharge tube. Several larger ionization capacitors are provided on the outside of the discharge vessel as part of the discharge circuit. German patent application De 36 19 354 A1 describes a transversally excited pulse gas laser that has radially adjustable main electrodes, which requires an asymmetrical construction.
In addition to the laser channel with the discharge vessel and the main electrodes, the electrical excitation circuit may also play a role in a gas discharge laser when it comes to achieving a high current discharge between the main electrodes. Generally, the electrical excitation circuit consists of at least two capacitors, the main electrodes, a fast switch, for example, a spark gap or thyratron, as well as ribbon cables for fast and low-loss energy transmission. German utility model G 80 25 354 U1 describes a high-energy laser of the TEA type with pre-ionization rods arranged parallel to the laser axis, whereby the pulse-forming electrical excitation circuit can be configured as a Blümlein circuit or as a charge-transfer circuit. With the Blümlein circuit, the high voltage is applied to a first charging capacitor via a low-inductivity switch. Parallel to this is the series connection of a second charging capacitor and the gas discharge path. The basic circuit diagram of the Blümlein circuit is shown in German patent application DE 44 08 041 A1 for a sub-nanosecond nitrogen laser. The charge-transfer circuit differs from the Blümlein circuit especially in that the second charging capacitor lies parallel to the gas discharge path and in that the first charging capacitor is connected in series to the low-inductivity switch and thus to the high-voltage supply. Therefore, with the charge-transfer circuit, only switching pulses of up to about 1 ns with a pulse rise time of the switch of about 40 ns are possible, in contrast to which the Blümlein circuit can generate pulses of up to 50 ps at a switch rise time of less than 12 ns. The product brochure titled "ALLTEC Power Switch" of the ALLTEC company describes the use of a semiconductor switch for operating the high-voltage discharge of TEA CO2 lasers. This can replace conventional thyristors but still has similarly large dimensions within the range of a few 100 mm.
In order to obtain a laser discharge with a uniform volume while avoiding the formation of an electric arc at high gas pressures, it is advantageous to attain an initial concentration of ions and electrons in the gas discharge path prior to applying the electric main pulse. This technique is referred to as pre-ionization and is described in German patent application 28 11 198 A1. One way to achieve a pre-ionization includes using the characteristic Blümlein voltage pre-pulse that is formed at the main electrodes during the charging cycle of the Blümlein transmission line. The amplitude of this fast pulse is sufficiently large so that an initial disturbance of electrons in the vicinity of the main electrodes is achieved. It is, however, also sufficiently short so that a complete breakdown of the laser gas is prevented. The magnitude and time behavior of the pre-pulse are controlled by the pulse-charging rate of the Blümlein transmission line and can be changed over a wide range of values so that optimal pre-ionization is achieved. The high-current discharge is applied directly to the auxiliary electrodes in order to achieve a pre-ionization and via the contact electrodes on the outside of the discharge vessel on the main electrodes. German patent application DE 37 34 690 A1 describes a procedure to use a contact electrode on the outside of the discharge vessel as a capacitor electrode.
DE 33 13 811 A1 is a gas discharge laser with the above-mentioned components that has a cylindrical, gas-tight (sealed-off) discharge vessel, for instance, made of ceramic aluminum oxide Al2O3 that is sealed off at both ends by resonator mirrors, with interposed gaskets. Between each pair of electrodes, the pre-ionization is brought about outside of the gas discharge path. The main electrodes are mushroom-shaped and are secured by means of decoupled supports and feed lines that pass through the vessel wall and are connected to the excitation circuit. The excitation circuit has, in addition to a capacitor connected in parallel to a gas discharge path, also a triggerable spark gap and is likewise connected to main and auxiliary electrodes. No statements are made about the adjustment possibilities of the main electrodes and of the resonator mirrors. Such a gas discharge laser, however, entails several drawbacks, as a result of which it is difficult to condition. These drawbacks include the fact that the static and dynamic service life of the gas is limited due to leaks that occur at the joints on the discharge vessel and due to the relatively high diffusion rates of the individual components. Moreover, since these lasers typically cannot be heated to temperatures very much above 100° C., it becomes very time consuming (approximately 24 hours) to create the requisite hygienic conditions for the gas in the discharge vessel, especially with respect to the dipolar water residues that inevitably lead to aggressive compounds containing laser-gas components that can render the laser non-operational, in addition to which the gas has to be purged several times. The switch in the excitation circuit and the discharge channel are modules that are subject to wear and tear. A standby power source has to be provided. The external construction elements give rise to losses and the need for additional resources. Finally, the gas discharge laser displays a time jitter, a temperature gradient and especially a tolerance zone for the optical interface owing to adjustment inaccuracies during the production of the laser and to errors in the readjustment possibilities during operation.

Electrically excited gas discharge laser for generating high-repetition frequency light pulses and method for the production thereof


A connection structure connects a plate-like terminal main body (11) on the ground terminal fitting (10) in surface contact with a grounding member (20) that has female screw holes (41, 42) and a receiving portion (23). A wire connecting portion (12) on the ground terminal fitting (10) is connected to a wire (60). A lock (13) on the terminal main body (11) engages the receiving portion (23) and is on an axis line extension (70) of the wire (60). Mounting holes (151, 152) formed on the terminal main body (11) and aligned with the female screw holes (41, 42) by locking the lock (13) to the receiving portion (23). The ground terminal fitting (10) is connected to the grounding member (20) by screwing bolts (51, 52) inserted through the mounting holes (151, 152) into the female screw holes (41, 42).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection structure for ground terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-253167 discloses a connection structure for fitting and connecting through holes of a ground terminal to two stud bolts projecting on a ground panel. The connection structure that has stud bolts projecting on the ground panel easily positions the ground terminal with respect to the ground panel. However, positioning the ground terminal with respect to the ground panel is difficult with a connection structure that has a female screw hole provided on a ground panel and a through hole of a ground terminal positioned with respect to the female screw hole.
Consideration has been given to providing a lock on the ground terminal for locking to a receiving portion formed on the ground panel to facilitate positioning the ground terminal. However, this approach presents a new problem of positioning the lock and the receiving portion prior to locking the lock to the receiving portion.
The invention was completed based on the above situation and aims to improve operability.

Connection structure for ground terminal fitting


Systems and methods of dynamically presenting a website. The system includes a storage medium and a server. The storage medium includes data adapted for presentation on a first website. The server includes computer executable instructions configured to receive initial preference data and build a preference profile based on the initial preference data. The server also includes computer executable instructions configured to retrieve select first data from the storage medium based on the preference profile, structure a presentation of the first website based on the select first data; and provide targeted queries or prompts based on the first data.

There are many websites where users regularly visit either to access information that periodically changes (e.g., newspapers, journals, TV Channels, etc.) or to plan their week-ends, vacations (e.g., tourist information, leisure information, etc.), or to collect their e-mails (e-mail portals), or to buy books, clothing, movies or other consumer products. These types of sites are designed with the knowledge that multiple types of users will visit their sites. Generally, the navigation structure of the website is designed based on this knowledge. Further, websites are designed with the presumption that a user navigates by himself/herself. Most of the times such websites have an enormous amount of information. Often users get lost while navigating, get distracted to various other links, or spend far more time than anticipated or needed. In the end, the user may feel exhausted and decide to either not visit the site again, or plan to visit the site only when he or she has sufficient time to spare. This may result in the decrease of user visits. Additionally, advertisements on websites are typically placed on the website based on presumption that persons with specific interest would visit that website the most. That is, the advertisements are geared toward a narrow subset of all visitors, albeit the presumed most likely visitor. Furthermore, the advertisements of the website may also become irritating to those persons who do not share the specific interest.
To address these problems, websites (e.g., News Paper/TV Channel sites) that attract regular visitors advises users to provide information for a "user profile". The user profile typically includes both personal information about the user and personal preferences data. The personal information may include such information as the user's name, address, and telephone number. The preference data may vary with the type of website. For example, the web page of an electronic bookstore may keep data about the user's favorite author and/or favorite genre. The user profile may be stored in a database on the website's server or in a cookie residing on the user's computer. The user profile helps the website to present itself as more user-friendly to the visiting users by orienting itself according to the visitor's user profile.
The concept of user profiles, however, is not meaningful for the navigation of those sites that have occasional visitors. In particular, user profiles are not helpful for websites that have large information content and which typically attracts occasional visitors with specific needs/intentions. These websites may be visited only once by users seeking specific information or may not be visited again for a very long time when a new need for information arises.


An electric, wire protecting wall 37a is formed on a lever 26 which is rotatably attached to a connector body 24 of a male connector 25, so that, under provisional fixing and complete fixing states, the connector body 24 and the lever 26 protect portions in the vicinity of connections of electric wires L which are attached to a rear end side of the connector body 24. According to this configuration, even when the electric wires are packed, transported, or laid under a state where the male connector 25 is attached to the electric wires, the electric wires can be prevented from being damaged.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lever fitting-type connector in which fitting of male and female connectors is easily performed by operating a lever.
2. Related Art
FIG. 7 shows a frame-coupling type connector 1 which is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese patent publication HEI 6-251826. The connector 1 includes: a female connector section 3 which is disposed on a connection box body 2 such as an electric connection box; male connectors 5 which are to be inserted and fitted into a hood portion 4 of the female connector section 3; and a frame 6 which causes the male connectors 5 to be inserted and fitted into the female connector section 3. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a plurality of electric wires 13 are connected to the male connectors 5, and drawn out from the rear end sides of the male connectors 5. Although FIG. 7 shows that the electric wires 13 are connected to only one of the male connectors 5, the electric wires 13 in an actual connector are connected to both the male connectors 5. The frame 6 consists of a body 7 in which the male connector 5 is rotatably accommodated, a rotation leg 8 which protrudes from one end of the body 7, and an operating projection 9 which projects from the other end. A sliding shaft 10 is formed at the tip end portion of the rotation leg 8. The sliding shaft 10 is inserted into and engagingly held to a slide groove 12 of a frame support 11 which is disposed in the periphery of the female connector section 3.
As shown in FIG. 8, the sliding shaft 10 is engagingly held in the slide groove 12, and the operating projection 9 is pressed so that the frame 6 is rotated in the direction of the arrow a about the sliding shaft 10, whereby the male connector 5 is inserted and fitted into the female connector section 3. When the male connector 5 is to be extracted from the state where it is fitted into the female connector section 3, the operating projection 9 is pressed in the reverse direction so that the frame 6 is rotated in the direction opposite to that of the arrow a, whereby the male connector 5 is extracted from the hood portion 4 of the female connector section 3.
In this case, the sliding shaft 10 functions as the fulcrum, and the operating projection 9 as the point of force, so that the supporting portion where the male connector 5 is rotatably supported on the frame 6 serves as the point of action, thereby enabling the male connector 5 to be fitted into the female connector section 3 with a small force. Therefore, the operating force to be exerted when the male connector 5 is fitted into the female connector section 3 can be reduced.
In the frame-coupling type connector 1, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the electric wires 13 are drawn out from the rear end sides of the male connectors 5, and the electric wires 13 drawn out from the male connectors 5 are not protected by any means. When a wire harness to which the male connectors 5 are attached is packed or transported, or when an operation of laying the electric wires is conducted, there is a fear that the electric wires 13 are damaged.

Connector having a can lever with an electric wire protecting wall


The present invention is directed to a defect imaging device that has an energy beam that is directed at a device under test. The energy beam creates positrons deep within the material of the device under test. When the positrons combine with electrons in the material they produce a pair of annihilation photons. The annihilation photons are detected. The Doppler broadening of the annihilation photons is used to determine if a defect is present in the material. Three dimensional images of the device under test are created by directing the energy beam at different portions of the device under test.

The failure of structural and industrial materials costs the U.S. economy approximately $100 billion per year. Various non-destructive testing techniques have been employed over the years, one of them being Doppler broadening measurements using either slow positron beams or wide-energy spectrum positron beams originated from radioactive sources. However, the thickness of the samples under investigation by these methods is severely limited by the range of the impinging positrons inside the samples being tested, generally only tens of microns. In addition, the high cost and complexity of obtaining positron beams has limited the application of Doppler broadening spectroscopy techniques to basic materials science with little commercial or industrial application.

Idaho State University and the Board of Educa


The present invention is an aromatic evaporator consisting of a base, a heater, a heat conduction aluminum plate, a constant temperature controller, a plug, a ceramic carriers and a cover. The plug sets inside the base to deliver D.C. power; the heater converts the electricity from the plug into heat; the heat conduction aluminum plate adhered to the heater directly evens the heat; the constant temperature controller contains the electric conduction switch and the memory alloy plate connected with the heat conduction aluminum. When the memory alloy plate is straight, the electric conduction switch is switched off and stops the heater from heating. When the temperature reduces, the memory alloy plate is curved by external force and switches on the electric conduction switch, making the heater reheat. The memory alloy plate of the constant temperature controller controls the heater to heat intermittently, making the heater heat at constant temperature.

Traditional aromatic evaporators for automobiles and indoor use contain two types: one is placed at the vent that blows away the aroma and the other is placed directly in the automobile or indoors to disperse the aroma. The aroma dispersed from these two types of aromatic evaporators usually comes from low-volatility and unstable synthetic attar and causes allergy to human bodies. Moreover, the dispersion of aroma by constantly heating and evaporating might fresh people's spirits and help people stay sober; however, its persistent heating method for a long time might turn out thickening or overheating the aroma and deteriorates the attar, putting people under the weather. Besides, the deposition of the evaporated attar contaminates everything inside the automobile.
For automobile aromatic evaporators, a need exists to replace the whole aromatic evaporator or the whole attar bottle when running up the attar, which is cost-consuming and against economic benefits. Therefore, the necessity for improvement does exist.


An aqueous emulsion composition comprising: i) partially fluorinated copolymer; ii) one or more co-solvents; iii) one or more surfactants; and optionally iv) one or more defoamers; wherein the co-solvent comprises fatty acids, esters of fatty acids, glycerides, glycols, or mixture thereof, and is useful for providing water and oil repellency to fibrous substrates without excessive pad roller build-up during application.

Partially fluorinated copolymers have been used to provide oil and water repellency and stain release to fibrous substrates fabrics. The current trend in these copolymers is to use shorter fluorinated monomers to reduce costs. By shortening the fluorinated components, the industry has experienced additional, unexpected difficulties. Some of these difficulties include roller build-up and foaming conditions. Several attempts have been made to eliminate these issues without creating other issues such as reduction in oil and water repellency and/or reduction in stain release performance.
It has been surprisingly found that the present invention meets this need.

Partially fluorinated copolymer emulsions containing fatty acids and esters


A solid state relay is formed by mounting a light-emitting element on a light-emitting side lead frame, mounting a light-receiving element or a switching element which operates in response to the light-receiving element and signals from the light-receiving element on a light-receiving side lead frame, arranging these lead frames on the light-emitting side and the light-receiving side to opposite each other, and sealing into one package and is formed by mounting protective element that protects the light-emitting element or the light-receiving element on at least one of the lead frames and arranging the protective element or the protective element and the switching element inside a primary mold resin that seals the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to solid state relays such as Triac output, MOS output or IGBT output, provided in various types of electronic devices as switching elements. The present invention relates especially to solid state relays best suited for electronic devices such as power supply devices, household electrical appliances, inverter control devices, and the like having circuits that transmit signals while electrically isolating input from the output.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 12, for example, a conventional solid state relay is formed by mounting a light coupling element 91, a switching element 93 such as a transistor, a Triac, an IGBT, or a C-MOS switching element electrically connected to a light-receiving portion on the light coupling element 91, a chip resistor 94 serving as a protective element on the output side, a chip capacitor 95, and a chip resistor 96 serving as an LED limiting resistor (protective element on the input side) inside the light coupling element 91, on a metallic lead 92 with silver paste or high temperature solder, for example, and sealing with a black light blocking resin 97 in order to protect a chip mounting portion, ensure electrical isolation, and protect the light coupling element 91 from external stray light.
Here, in the light coupling element 91, a light path is formed by mounting an LED (used as a light-emitting element) and a photodiode, a phototransistor, a phototriac, a photovoltaic, or the like (used as a light-receiving element) on two opposing lead frames and sealing the two lead frames by a translucent resin, for example.
It should be noted that conventional solid state relays as described above are also disclosed in JP 2001-127099A and JP H5-206504A, for example.
However, in the above-described conventional solid state relay in which the light-emitting element, the light-receiving element, the switching element, and the protective elements such as the chip resistor and the chip capacitor are mounted, the two lead frames on which the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element are respectively mounted are first placed in opposition to each other and sealed with resin through transfer molding, for example, to fabricate the light coupling element, and this light coupling element, the switching element, and the protective elements are then mounted on a substrate of still another lead frame, for example, after which the substrate is sealed by resin.
In such a conventional method, the number of resin sealing steps and part mounting steps increases, and the degree of integration decreases. Thus, there is the problem that the costs rise and also the package size of the device becomes large.
The present invention was achieved in view of this situation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a solid state relay that allows a simplification of the assembly steps and a miniaturization of the device.


A method of performing loop closure detection is described. The method comprises detecting a movement of a device having a camera; and adaptively disabling or enabling, using a processor of the device, a loop closure detection of the device based upon the detected movement of the device.

Object detection using images captured by an electronic device can have many practical applications. However, object detection can require significant computational resources and may take considerable time. Smart eyewear, such as smart glasses and Head-Mounted-Display (HMD) wearable devices have many emerging applications. Useful features to enable such applications for smart eyewear or other tracking devices having cameras (e.g. robotic tracking devices) include object detection, recognition, and tracking and showing the result on a display. Object detection is also important for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM).
Loop Closure Detection (LCD) is an important component in SLAM applications. While a SLAM engine is running on an electronic device, LCD identifies previously visited places so that global bundle adjustment (BA) can be invoked at such instances. Global BA may be used to optimize and realign the camera pose information (of keyframes) and 3D map point positions, which may have accumulated a certain amount of drift during navigation. In conventional implementations of SLAM, the LCD is run at a fixed periodic rate, thus causing unnecessary false alarms in situations where the user is not moving at all or when a user is not interacting with the Augmented Reality (AR) application. Unnecessarily running LCD also causes an increase in power consumption.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved LCD operation to improve the efficiency of smart eyewear or other devices having cameras for tracking objects.


This invention relates to a novel process which comprises feeding a mixture formed from diphenylethane and bromine to a stirrable reaction mass comprised of bromine and a bromination catalyst to yield a decabromodiphenylethane wet cake which can be most economically treated to provide a high quality decabromodiphenylethane product.

This invention relates to an improved process for the bromination of diphenylalkanes.
Brominated diphenylalkanes, e.g., decabromodiphenylethane, are known flame retardants for use in polystyrene and polyolefin-based thermoplastic formulations. It is predicted that decabromodiphenylethane will soon become one of the major flame retardants used by the thermoplastic industry. In response to this market opportunity, several decabromodiphenylethane processes have been proposed. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,334, U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,477 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,778.
While these processes are quite efficacious, there is always a desire to develop more economical and technologically beneficent processes. It is an object of this invention to provide such a process.


The invention relates to metal complexes used to bind proteins and enzymes.

The area of inorganic pharmaceuticals is in its infancy. The most common and well studied inorganic pharmaceutical is cis-platinum, an anticancer drug (Lippard, Science 218:1075-1082 (1982); Rosenberg, Nature 222:385 (1969); Cleare et al., Bioinorg. Chem. 2:187 (1973)). This inorganic pharmaceutical is clinically used to treat a variety of cancers. The mode of action of cis-platinum is believed to be by interacting with DNA to prevent the cell from proliferating.
Three gold compounds have also been investigated and clinically used to treat arthritis (Dash Metal Ions Biol. Systm. 14:179 (1982); Elder et al., Chem. Rev. 87:1027 (1987)). These include Auranofin, a gold sodium thiomalate and a gold thioglucose compound, depicted below: ##STR1##
The current understanding on the therapeutic action of gold compounds to treat arthritis is limited. The mode of action of anti-arthritic gold drugs is largely unknown, but it may involve binding of Au(I) to protein thiol groups, thus inhibiting the formation of disulfide bonds, and could lead to denaturation and subsequent formation of macroglobulins. See Bioinorganic Chemistry (Eds Bertini, Gray, Lippard, and Valentine, pg 519, 1994).
A class of cobalt (III) schiff-base compounds have been reported to have antivirial, antitumor, and antimicrobial activities, as well as antiinflammatory properties (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,866,054; 4,866,053; 5,049,577; 5,106,841; 5,142,076; and 5,210,096).

Metal complexes as cysteine protease inhibitors


The process for producing a fluorine-containing compound such as 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorohexafluorobutane of the present invention is characterized in that a halogenated hydrocarbon compound such as 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobutane is brought into contact with fluorine gas in a liquid phase or in a solid-liquid coexistence state in the absence of a solvent and a catalyst. According to the present invention, a fluorine-containing compound is readily produced from a halogenated hydrocarbon compound using neither a reaction solvent nor a reaction catalyst.

1,2,3,4-Tetrachlorohexafluorobutane is a compound which is important as a raw material for synthesizing hexafluoro-1,3-butadiene having been noted as, for example, a fine processing etching gas for semiconductors.
As a process for producing the 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorohexafluorobutane, the following process has been hitherto known.
(1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-342059 (patent document 1) describes a process for producing 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorohexafluorobutane by bringing a halogenated compound represented by CClX1X2—CClX3—CClX4—CClX5X6 (X is a hydrogen atom or a fluorine atom) into contact with fluorine gas in a liquid phase.
In this process, a reaction solvent is used. The patent document 1 describes that perfluoroalkanes, perfluoroethers, perfluoropolyethers, chlorinated fluorinated hydrocarbons and perfluoroalkylamines are used as the reaction solvents.
However, if a reaction solvent is used as above, it is necessary to separate the reaction product from the reaction solvent. Although the separated reaction solvent can be separated from the product, recovered and recycled, it cannot be denied that the operation of separating the reaction solvent is complicated. When 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorohexafluorobutane is used as a reaction solvent, there is an advantage that the separation between the reaction solvent and the product is unnecessary. In this reaction, however, the fluorination reaction is carried out with a low concentration of the reaction raw material diluted with a reaction solvent, so that from the viewpoint of industrially efficient production of a desired product, a problem is left.
As described above, in the conventional process, the reaction solvent is used as an essential component and therefore, there is also a problem that the operation of separating it is extremely complicated.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-342059

Process for producing 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorohexafluorobutane


A stator core includes: a laminated body in which a plurality of intermediate plates that have dowels are laminated so as to be integrated by dowel crimping between layers; and a pair of end plates that are disposed so as to be positioned on opposite sides of two end surfaces of the laminated body, and a receiving aperture that extends parallel to an axis of rotation is formed on the laminated body, a bent portion is disposed on the end plates, and the end plates are joined to the laminated body by engaging the bent portion in the receiving aperture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetoelectric generator that generates power by electromagnetic induction between a permanent magnet and a generating coil due to rotation of a flywheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known examples of conventional magnetoelectric generators include magnetoelectric generators that have: a bowl-shaped flywheel rotating around an axis of rotation; a plurality of permanent magnets that are fixed to an inner wall surface of the flywheel and that rotate together with the flywheel; a stator core that is disposed radially inside the permanent magnets and that has: an annulus portion; and a plurality of teeth that project radially outward from the annulus portion; an epoxy resin coating that is formed on a surface of the stator core; and a generating coil that is configured by winding conducting wire onto the teeth (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
Known examples of means of integrating a plurality of laminated plates that constitute a stator core include sequentially laminating a plurality of lamina plates that have dowels and integrating them by dowel crimping between those layers (see Patent Literature 2, for example).
[Patent Literature 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-135382 (Gazette)
[Patent Literature 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-96319 (Gazette)
In stator cores integrated by dowel crimping in magnetoelectric generators having the above configuration, the joining strength of two end plates onto intermediate plates between the two end plates is low because the end plates and the intermediate plates are also joined by dowel crimping, and one problem has been that gaps may arise between the end plates and the intermediate plates because of this, giving rise to pinholes in the epoxy resin coating at those gaps, for example.


The invention provides herbal treatments for aged skin employing valerian extracts and other active herbal agents that are effective as relaxants. Surprisingly, mere ingestion of valerian tea on a daily basis is effective to reduce deep wrinkles. The treatments are particularly effective on persons afflicted by stress and are shown by clinical tests to reduce wrinkles and acne lesions and to improve skin texture and skin color without an increase in puffiness such as might be expected from mere hydration of the skin. The herbal agents can be administered either in a tea or a topical composition, and a combination of the two treatments is particularly effective. A preferred herbal agent is an aqueous valerian root extract. Other herbal agents include extracts of passion flower and mullein.

As skin ages it loses its attractive youthful appearance. Aging may be simple chronological passing of the years or photoaging induced by exposure to the sun. Wind, rain or other environmental stresses can cause or aggravate declines due to aging. With aging smooth, firm, clear, attractively colored skin can develop wrinkles, fine lines, flaccid texture, acne lesions, puffiness and poor color. These negative effects tend to congregate around the eyes and are particularly noticeable in the eye area, which is the focal point of a person's appearance.
Many people, especially women, wish to ward off the visual effects of aging, if only superficially. This desire has spawned the use of the cosmetics to modify the appearance of the skin since ancient times, and has led to the creation of a vast industry in modern times. Most cosmetics, for example foundation, blusher, eye shadow and lipstick, provide an opaque film which is overlaid on the skin to display the film's own visual characteristics or to enhance those of the underlying skin. However the benefits of opaque, masking or film-forming cosmetics are transitory and limited or artificial in effect. Accordingly, there is a need for skin treatments that provide more durable, natural and substantial effects.
Some cosmetic treatments actually induce biological changes in the skin. Perhaps if they were used sufficiently diligently, ancient treatments employing yogurt, fruit acids or vinegar may have ben effective to induce such changes because these natural sources contain simple alpha hydroxy acids which are now known to be quite effective in inducing structural changes in the skin and are widely incorporated in commercial cosmetic and therapeutic treatments and treatment compositions.
Also, many people shun the achievements of modern science and cosmetology and prefer herbal treatments perceiving them to be more natural and more desirable. A number of successful present-day beauty treatments and lines of cosmetics are promoted for their plant-origin ingredients, although often such products contain little in the way of active ingredients obtained from plants. In many cases, the supposed activity of the plant-origin ingredients is unsubstantiated. However there are efficacious herbs with useful properties for cosmetic applications.
There is a rich lode of knowledge of herbal treatments, much compiled also in ancient times, by the Chinese, Indians, Africans, American Indians and indeed probably most ancient cultures, and most people, even scientists, recognize that at least some herbal remedies have genuine therapeutic value. Nowadays modern drug companies are focusing increased resources on research into therapeutic agents derived from plant sources, as more traditional synthetic organic chemistry research provides diminishing returns. In medicine a famous, effective drug derived from plant sources is the anti-malarial agent quinine. More modern successful plant-derived drugs include the cardiac drug digitalis, which is isolated from the foxglove plant and the anti-cancer agents visblastine and vincristine, both isolated from periwinkle. Current research efforts are finding interesting potential anti-cancer properties to be exhibited by tasol an experimental drug isolated from the Pacific yew and certain polyphenols isolated from Chinese green tea.
The efficacy of a number of herbal remedies has been demonstrated in clinical trails or animals studies. For example, chamomile has been shown to be effective against inflammation and spasms in the digestive tract. Echinacea has a mild stimulatory effect on the immune system. Feverfew can apparently relieve migraine pain and is used to prevent migraine and for arthritic, menstrual irregularities, stomach ache and fever. Clinical studies also support an ability of garlic to lower cholesterol. Laboratory finding suggest ginger and peppermint can help stave off or fight colds, and there is some evidence to back claims for the digestive properties of peppermint. Gingko is apparently effective for brain-related mild disorders such as short-term memory loss, headache and depression as well as tinnitus. Goldenseal is widely used in a tea for eye inflammations and for respiratory conditions and has been shown in animal studies to be effective against a number of microorganisms, but may have some mild toxicity.
Milk thistle has been shown effective in treating liver conditions and is so approved in Germany. Valerian is also approved in Germany as a mild tranquilizer for restlessness and sleep disturbances. Willow bark is traditionally used in a tea for headache, fever, muscle pain and arthritis and the presence of salicylates in willow bark is consistent with such used, but the concentration of active ingredients may be too low for it to be an effective medication. Much of this data is reported in "Health" magazine May/June 1995, pages 86-92.
Some herbs, or plant-derived biological materials, have bene used to treat the skin, and may, or may not improve its appearance. For example, aloe and Malvaceae extract (Hibiscus lipids) have been used as moisturizers; licorice (.beta.-glyceritinate) and rosemary as anti-irritants; and extracts of queen-of-the-meadow and willow bark have been promoted as having anti-aging properties believed attributable to their content of salicylic acid.
Other plants are known whose extracts may have useful topical anti-aging properties. For example, Centella asiatica contains asiatic acid which is believed to stimulate collagen synthesis and heather extracts are used as inhibitors of elastic breakdown.
Many of these herbal treatments are popular and commercialized in European and other countries outside the United States where drug regulatory bodies are generally more receptive to drugs derived from natural products than they are in the U.S.A.
Some herbal technology has reached the patent literature, for example at least 50 U.S. patents reference garlic in their abstracts or titles, and at least four reference chamomile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,948 to Cerise et al. discloses a manufacturing method for producing a powdered concentrated extract of valerian. U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,503 discloses an herbal dietary supplement comprising a solution of at least two herbal ingredients selected from a wide-ranging list which is allegedly holistically effective for treatment of multiple complaints especially oral complaints such as cold sores and oral boils, pimples and acne, employing a treatment medium in a variety of forms including a cream. To the extent that it applies to the application of a cream to pimples or acne, patent '502 apparently discloses a topically applied herbal treatment. However, patent '503 teaches nothing about improving the appearance of unadorned aged skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,677 to Toiminaga et al. discloses an herbal gel composition containing inter alia fennel extract intended to be applied to the skin to increase lipase activity and thus accelerate lipid metabolism. The purpose of the treatment is apparently to reduce excess or undesired subcutaneous fat. Again, although patent '677 discloses a topically applied herbal treatment, there is no teaching regarding improving the appearance of aged skin nor does it suggest any treatment for reducing wrinkles.
Bonne et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,573 discloses a cosmetic composition for topical application containing an extract of the fruits of Silybum marianum, common name "milk thistle". The treatments disclosed are reported to be effective in opposing aging of the skin. More specifically, they apparently protect against free radical damage in animal and in vitro studies. Thus the
Bonne's treatments are prophylactic not proactive. Bonne does not teach any treatment that will improve the appearance of skin that has already aged: Bonne's objective is to prevent photoaging occurring.
None of these patents teaches a herbal treatment that significantly reduces the signs of aging of the skin or that is effective in treating wrinkles, especially deep wrinkles. As used herein, the term "deep wrinkles" (or "deeply wrinkled") refers to wrinkles with a depth of at least 1 mm, that involve, or are controlled or influenced by the musculature, and distinguishes from fine, superficial wrinkles that can be relatively easily removed or concealed.
Though not regarded as herbal ingredients, alpha hydroxy acids are known to be effective in stimulating skin renewal thereby improving the appearance of aged skin, and of wrinkles in the aged skin even although the wrinkles may still be present. Yu and Van Scott in U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,370 claim a method of reducing wrinkles by topical application of latic acid to the wrinkle. Alpha hydroxy acids are believed to work via epidermal stimulation and, accordingly only small or superficial wrinkles are susceptible to reduction by alpha hydroxy acids. Deep, muscle-controlled wrinkles are non-superficial and although they may be less noticeable because their skin surface is smoother.
To solve this problem, some plastic surgeons are known to have injected botulism toxin into facial muscles to improve the look of the skin immediately. The botulism toxin paralyses the muscle receiving it and in doing so the deep wrinkles controlled by the muscle become relaxed. There are obvious drawbacks to this procedure. It does not produce long-term effects, employs toxins, and cannot be performed regularly.
Psychologists report, anecdotally, that the side of the face controlled by the harder working side of the brain becomes wrinkled the more readily. Such reports are consistent with long-held anecdotal associations of wrinkles with anxiety. Though interesting, this knowledge does not suggest an effective treatment for deep wrinkles that can be commercialized.
Many or most of the known skin treatments are topical in nature, requiring to be spread on, or rubbed into, all areas of the skin to be treated. Topical applications of creams, gels or lotions may be acceptable, or agreeable, for many users, but others may find them tiresome or disagreeable, especially if many areas of the body are to be treated repeatedly. A herbal deep wrinkle treatment which also solved the problem of repeated topical application would be particularly desirable.

Herbal treatments for improving skin appearance


A system is provided for hiding a data group in a wireless communication device, in which a predetermined data group is hidden according to a hiding request. The system for hiding a data group comprises an encryption module for receiving the hiding request and the predetermined groups in a memory in the wireless communication device and an access module. Next, the encryption module establishes mechanism for hiding a data group to hide the predetermined data group. The access module performs the mechanism for hiding a data group and decrypts a secret code encrypted by the encryption module when data in the predetermined data group is to be read.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a system and method for hiding a data group in a wireless communication device and particularly to a system and method for hiding a predetermined data group from a plurality of data groups in the wireless communication device.
(2). Description of the Prior Art
With the availability of wireless communication devices such as a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA), many users thereof may have chances to interchange the devices each other for fun. However, messages or data stored in the wireless communication devices may be private or secret to individuals and which are in conflict with communication device interchanges between users. To those who take secret seriously, the sharing of the communication devices with others may be a troublesome matter. In addition, some important data or messages may also be lost when the wireless communication devices are interchanged with others.
For the currently existing wireless communication devices, the procedure to keep data hidden can only hide and encrypt a set of telephone number of a single individual in the communication book of the communication device a time. When data associated with two or more individuals, a user is required to repeat several times the hiding operations, which seems rather troublesome. Further, the prior hiding procedure can only apply to hide the single set of data of the communication book in the wireless communication device and may do nothing about hiding of other important messages or data in the wireless communication device. Therefore, the prior method of hiding data has poor efficiency in practical use.
In view of this drawback, it is a need to provide a method for hiding and encrypting data stored in the wireless communication device.

Systems and methods for hiding a data group


A heat assisted friction stir welding system and fastener for use therewith allows the joining a variety of dissimilar materials, including joining composites and plastics to metal, in which the fastener becomes part of the bond. The fastener can be constructed from multiple materials, allowing for the joining of dissimilar metals. Heating the materials to be joined reduces the clamping force and torque required by the friction stir weld process. The result is a bond that is stronger with less energy input.

Fastening dissimilar materials has proven challenging. Friction stir welding allows for the joining of dissimilar metals, but the torque required to hold the materials in place so they do not spin is quite high. That is why most friction stir welding applications involve flat parts or parts with flat contours. More complicated parts such as those used in the automotive industry require more extensive clamping. Further, friction stir welding does not completely support the joining of some dissimilar metals, such as steel and magnesium or steel and titanium, or metals to plastics or composite materials. Instead, adhesives or rivets are used. However, adhesives are typically weaker than the materials being joined and rivets are susceptible to fatigue fractures and galvanic corrosion, making them unsuitable for joining dissimilar materials for use in high stress applications.


An apparatus for ejecting fasteners from a magazine by an impact member. The magazine includes an adjustment device for selective adaptation of the magazine to fasteners of a plurality of predetermined lengths. The adjustment device has a body which is rotatable about a longitudinal axis and fixable in at least two positions. The body has two or more longitudinally extending slots, each of different depth, for accommodating a portion of the fasteners. The slots are arranged in the cylindrical body such that when each slot si aligned with a row of fasteners, the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body is offset from the row of fasteners in a manner such that the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body does not lie directly above the row of fasteners.

Apparatus of the above-mentioned type is usually pneumatically, electrically or spring powered and is used for ejecting different types of fasteners, such as nails, staples or brads. The apparatus's magazine is, however, adapted to one sort of the above-mentioned types of fasteners. The most common type of apparatus includes a magazine which is normally charged with a plurality of fasteners, often joined together in a so called strip, which are inserted in a feed channel, whereat a spring-biased pusher feeds the fasteners on demand to a discharge opening. With magazines intended for certain types of fasteners, for example in the form of brads, it is usual for the magazine to be constructed so as to be able to take fasteners of various predetermined lengths. Apparatus presently on the market are hereby usually adjustable in three different positions.
According to a previously known solution, said adjustment is achieved by means of a guide for the impact region of the fasteners being displaceable in the direction of ejection of the fasteners to a plurality of fixed positions adapted to fasteners of certain predetermined lengths. The rear guide is hereby moved back and forth between its various positions by way of the introduction of two pins or screws through one side surface of the magazine into cooperating holes provided in the guide, wherein each hole corresponds to a predetermined position. The disadvantage with such a construction is that a two-handed grip is required for adjustment of the guide.
Another known method for displacing the guide between predetermined positions presents an eccentric member controlable from the side surface of the magazine which runs in a longitudinally extending groove in the guide, whereby the guide can be displaced in the direction of ejection of the fasteners.
A problem with these types of magazines is that the manual adaptation of the magazine to fasteners of differing lengths often gives the impression to the user of being very time-consuming.
A magazine of the type mentioned in the introduction of the description is disclosed in GB-A-2 063 754. In said document, the adjustment device is in the form of a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending rotatable body having slots or cut-outs to accomodate different sized glazier's points. The axis of rotation of the rotatable body lies directly above, and parallel to, the feed channel for the glazier's points. Accordingly, it is not possible to provide a slot or cut-out in the rotatable body which is deeper than the radius of said rotatable body, thereby restricting the range of sizes of the fasteners which can be used.

Magazine for apparatus for ejecting fasteners