A voltage regulating device includes a power supply adapter, a voltage and current signal processing module, a control module, and a voltage regulating module. The power supply adapter supplies voltage to an electronic device. The voltage and current signal processing module detects the current and voltage supplied by the power supply adapter, and calculated the desired voltage adapted for the electronic device according to the detected current and voltage and a preset voltage for the electronic device. The control module generates a control signal according to the calculated desired voltage. The voltage regulating module regulates the voltage supplied by the power supply adapter according to the control signal, to cause the voltage supplied by the power supply adapter to adapt for the electronic device. As a result, the voltage regulating device can regulate the voltage supplied by the power supply adapter to adapt for the electronic device, which can be used conveniently.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to voltage regulating devices, and more particularly to a voltage regulating device for regulating voltage supplied by power supply equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
External power sources are frequently needed to provide power to electronic devices, such as panel computers, mobile phones, notebook computers, or the like. Usually, each kind of digital products is equipped with a special adapter for supplying a predetermined voltage. However, the voltages supplied by various adapters are generally different, thus when the electronic device is powered for a long time by an unequipped adapter, the life of the electronic device may be lessen, even more serious, the electronic device may be burned. In the market, some adapter capable of regulating voltage is provided, but there are a lot of obvious shortcomings to employ the adapter for supplying voltage, for example, unsafely and badly using.
Therefore, there is a perspective for improvement in the art.

MINWA ENERGY AUTO SWITCH TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LIMITED


The length of a waterproof and dustproof connector can be reduced to decrease its occupation area so as to secure the occupied area of the circuit board for electronic equipment and so as to design the layout of the electronic equipment more freely and so as to downsize the electronic equipment. The connector for electronic equipment includes an approximately cylindrical housing 2, a support 21 provided in the form of a wall in the housing 2, a contact terminal 3 and a power terminal 4 supported by the support 21, a shell 5 mounted inside the housing 2, and a seal 6 provided along the outer circumference adjacent to the end on the connection terminal inserting side of the housing 2. Preferably, the seal 6 is welded to the housing 2 and made of a resin softer than the resin of the housing 2.

Conventionally, there is a connector assembly for a mobile phone of PLT 1 as a connection device for electronic equipment with a waterproof function. In the connector assembly of PLT 1, a contact terminal and a grounding terminal are formed in a resin housing by insert molding, a shell is installed at the front of this housing, and an oval collar seal is engaged with a connecting recess formed on the outer circumference of the housing from outside. On the seal disposed at the back of the connector assembly, an airtight recess is formed along the outer circumference of the seal. The respective airtight projections of the bottom and the top cases in which the connector assembly is placed are engaged with the airtight recess. The seal prevents water from being entered from the outside of the shell of this connector assembly while the insert molding prevents water from being entered from the inside of the shell.

Connector and connection device for electronic equipment


An apparatus and a method of detecting arc faults that have reduced susceptibility to nuisance tripping. The apparatus includes a current sensor, a differential current input sense circuit, a differential current (di/dt) characteristics sense circuit, an absolute current input sense circuit, an absolute current characteristics sense circuit, a power supply, a tripping circuit, a processing unit, and an electromechanical interface. The di/dt characteristics sense circuit provides information relating to the characteristic di/dt signature of a power line current. The absolute current characteristics sense circuit provides information relating to the absolute current waveform characteristics of the power line current. The processing unit correlates the di/dt characteristics to the absolute current characteristics to distinguish between electrical arc faults and nuisance loads, thereby reducing the susceptibility of the apparatus to nuisance tripping.

The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for detecting arc faults, and more specifically to arc fault detection apparatus and methods that are less susceptible to nuisance tripping.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/937,487 filed Sep. 9, 2004 entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING ARC FAULTS (the '487 application) discloses an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) device that can detect and distinguish between electrical arc faults and nuisance loads, and trip a circuit breaker to disconnect power to a load in the event electrical arcing has occurred. Electrical arc faults are generally non-periodic arcing events that may be caused by corroded, worn, aged, or otherwise damaged wiring or wire insulation, and/or faulty electrical connections. For example, electrical arcing can occur between the ends of a two wire conductor, between a conductor and ground, or between respective conductors connected to a load. In contrast, nuisance loads are generally associated with periodic electrical events that may be caused by triac-controlled dimmer circuits, switch-mode power supplies, appliance thermostat switching, drill current transitions, random line voltage spikes, or EMI bursts. Whereas electrical arcing may have the capability of igniting adjacent flammable material and therefore generally constitutes a fire hazard, nuisance loads typically do not create such hazardous conditions. Because the arc fault circuit interrupter disclosed in the '487 application can distinguish between many different types of electrical arc faults and nuisance loads, the AFCI device can disconnect power to a load upon detection of electrical arcing while being less susceptible to nuisance tripping.
Although the above-described arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) device has been successfully employed to detect and distinguish between electrical arcing and nuisance loads, there is a need for arc fault detection techniques that have increased reliability. For example, as described in the '487 application, the AFCI device is configured to generate an output that is a function of the differential of the power line current (di/dt). Because different types of electrical arcing typically produce different characteristic di/dt signatures, the AFCI device distinguishes between electrical arcing and nuisance loads based at least in part on characteristics of the differential current such as the di/dt level and the di/dt variation.
However, not only can different electrical arcing types produce different characteristic di/dt signatures, but they can also be associated with different characteristics in the line current waveform. For example, point contact electrical arcing can produce a number of sporadic high-level di/dt events with a large variation from cycle-to-cycle, while being associated with a line current waveform having a high peak-to-RMS current ratio. Further, series electrical arcing can produce an increased number of lower level di/dt events with reduced variation from cycle-to-cycle, while being associated with a line current waveform having a relatively low peak-to-RMS current ratio. Because the above-described AFCI device detects and distinguishes between electrical arcing and nuisance loads based on a consideration of the characteristic di/dt signature without considering the associated line current waveform characteristics, the device may detect what appears to be electrical arcing but instead is merely a nuisance load. This is because the line current waveform characteristics associated with the suspected electrical arc may not match the waveform characteristics normally associated with such arcing. As a result, the AFCI device may be prone to nuisance tripping.
It would therefore be desirable to have improved arc fault detection devices and techniques that avoid the drawbacks of conventional arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) devices and techniques.


An apparatus accesses a resource in a computer system. The resource is accessible at a physical memory address (49) of the computer system. The apparatus comprises means for determining at least one identity parameter for the resource and means for storing a translation (261.1, 26.2, . . . , 26.n) between the at least one identity parameter and the physical memory address (49) in a network interface table (26). The network interface table (26) is accessible by a Remote Direct Memory Access enabled network interface (48) of the computer system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to an addressing scheme for addressing resources in a computer system.
2. Background Art
Most of today's computer systems may include a client using at least one remotely accessible resource. For example, the remotely accessible resource may be data stored in a computer memory or data stored on a mass storage device. The remotely accessible resource may be located within a computer system together with the client or in a remote computer system connected to a client computer system through a network.
Computer systems generally experience a gain in overall performance as CPU data handling capacities and communication bandwidth within a computer system or between computer systems (connected through a network) are increased and memory access times are reduced. A few years ago, the traffic on the communication bandwidth would allow data transfer rates that could be easily handled by a computer system's CPU without impeding on general performance of the computer system. Today, the available communication bandwidth is reaching values where processing incoming and outgoing data may use excessive amounts of CPU processing time. Consequently, a once relatively large communication bandwidth may be reduced de facto from a bottleneck condition when communicated data is processed by the CPUs of remote computer systems.
In traditional hardware and software architecture, a significant load is imposed on a server's CPU and memory because data is often copied between a network subsystem of a kernel of the computer system and an application executed on the computer system. Various solutions have been developed to avoid or at least reduce the described bottleneck effect. One solution is known as Remote Direct Memory Access ("RDMA"). RDMA is a network interface ("NI") feature that allows one computer system to directly place information into the memory of another computer. RDMA minimizes demands on bandwidth and processing overhead.
RDMA is widely used to read or write data in a computer system's memory. A RDMA write request allows the copying of data directly into a physical memory used by an application on a remote computer system. The RDMA write request therefore includes an address at which the data should be copied. A RDMA read request allows the reading of data directly from the physical memory of a remote computer system and copying the data into the memory of the requesting computer system. The RDMA read request includes two addresses: source of data and destination of data.
To make memory available for writing or reading data, the RDMA-enabled remote computer system publishes a process identity and a virtual address of the available memory for use by other computer systems. Any other computer system may use the process identity and the virtual address of the available memory in a RDMA request directed to the remote computer system. The process identity and the virtual address are recognized by the remote system and access to the corresponding memory for writing and/or reading is immediately enabled.
A RDMA write or read request usually submits the process identity together with a virtual address to the network interface of the remote computer system. The network interface has access to a shared translation table that is maintained by the kernel of the system. The shared translation table identifies a link between the couple comprising a process identity and a virtual address, and a corresponding physical address in the computer system.
While the virtual address for a memory location remains constant, the physical address of the storage location may vary in time depending on various factors, such as how the data stored at the virtual address is used in the computer system. Specifically, the data may be moved from one physical location in memory to another. In this case, the kernel updates the link corresponding to the virtual address in the shared translation table with the address of the other physical location.
Similarly, each client computer issuing a RDMA write and/or RDMA read request(s) may also include a RDMA-enabled network interface and a shared translation table. In fact, each computer system containing a RDMA-enabled network interface may potentially act as a client or as a server during a RDMA operation.
Accessing certain resources in a remote computer system may continue to involve manipulation of data by the host CPU of the remote computer system. For example, manipulation may be required for resources that are made accessible through a cache memory system, such as cached hard disks, when a cache system may not cooperate with a RDMA functionality of the NI.

Generalized addressing scheme for remote direct memory access enabled devices


The material to be metered fills the cylinder 1 when it is in front of the admission orifice 31, whereupon the cylinder 1 moves opposite the delivery orifice 32 where the piston 2 describes a movement towards top dead center in order to eject said material out of the cylinder 1. The cylinder 1 then moves towards the admission orifice while the piston 2 remains at top dead center to avoid any return flow, whereupon the cycle starts over again.

The present invention relates to the quantitative metering of granular or powdered products.
The metering of products, by weight or by volume, has numerous applications in industry. In certain cases, it is highly desirable that the weight or volume measurement can be effected continuously. While continuous quantitative metering has been fully mastered in the case of liquid products, this is not true in the case of products which are in powder or even granular form. Numerous systems of quantitative metering which operate, in particular, on the basis of weighings are already known. However, all the known metering techniques have recourse to automatic control, to complex instrumentation, or to attached calculation means, making the systems complicated, bulky, expensive and/or unreliable in an industrial atmosphere or poorly adapted to operate at variable rates. Furthermore, the volumetric systems raise difficulties with respect to the filling and removal of the unit metered volume or do not lend themselves to operation at high rates.

Device for the metering of granular or powdered products


A method and an apparatus for the manufacture of concrete pipes (2) made of an outer layer and having an inner layer of greater density in surface structure is described. The inner layer is applied by an applicator in a mould (1) having both outer (3) and inner (4) mould parts. The applicator is formed by an inner mould part or core (4) or by an applicator unit in immediate connection with the core (4). The applicator applies the inner layer simultaneously or immediately following vibration of the concrete forming the pipe. The inner layer is applied during movement of the inner mould part or core (4) in its longitudinal direction, the core having one or more supply openings (14) provided along the circumference of the core (4) at the upper end of the core (4) for supplying a further material of greater density to form the inner layer.

Concrete pipes, which are normally used for the discharge of wastewater via sewers as well as for the discharge of rainwater, are generally manufactured such that the pipe exclusively consists of the base concrete which is used for the casting of the pipe.
Since the development within the field of environment and wastewater has involved the separation of wastewater and rainwater, rainwater by-passes the cleaning systems passing through separate conduits to reduce the load on the wastewater cleaning systems, a concentration of the wastewater increases at the same time, which means that the wastewater is even more corrosive for the concrete pipes than before.
To prevent the corrosive wastewater from attacking the concrete pipes, it has been attempted to line the pipes with a material other than concrete for the manufacture of what is called lined pipes. Such a lining may be carried out in several different ways, but generally it is done in that the lining is placed on the core in the mould, following which the concrete pipe is cast and removed from the mould in a conventional manner, which means that the cast pipe and the outer form are lifted off the core, and the outer form is lifted off the pipe.
In addition to increased manufacturing costs and problems of density when joining the pipes to a conduit, this also involves a reduction of the capacity in the manufacture of such pipes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,223 discloses another method of manufacturing corrosion resistant concrete pipes. Here, use is made of a radial pressing head which is basically composed of a plurality of oppositely running rolls which form the internal part of a concrete pipe. The external part is formed in an ordinary manner by means of an outer form.
Concrete is poured into the mould, while the radial pressing head is run up through the vertically positioned outer form. When the radial pressing head with its oppositely running rolls runs up through the outer form, these oppositely running rolls form the inner surface of the pipe. A smoothing device is provided at a fixed distance after the oppositely running rolls, seen in the direction of travel of the radial pressing head, an impregnation liquid supplied to the internal surface of the concrete pipe by the smoothing device. This impregnation liquid is supplied while the concrete is still wet, whereby the impregnation liquid in the subsequent smoothing permeates about 10 mm into the inner surface of the pipe wall. This subsequent smoothing, also called polishing, takes place after the pipe has been formed.
Today, however, a large number of concrete pipes are manufactured according to a different method, viz. by the so-called vibration method. For this manufacturing method, it is not possible to use the above-mentioned known technique for the manufacture of corrosion resistant concrete pipes.
In the manufacture of concrete pipes according to the vibration casting method, the technique may again be divided into two methods, viz. the method with a rising core and the method with a fixed core.
In the rising core method, as shown for example in European Patent No. 0 674 573 B, the casting machine comprises a casting mould which basically consists of an outer formwork in the form of an outer form, an inner formwork in the form of a core, a bottom formwork in the form of a bottom ring and a feed system. In addition, there is a profile ring for the forming of the spigot end of the pipe, defining the upward boundary of the casting mould.
In the making of the pipe, vibration is applied via vibration means which may be arranged in the core, on the outer form or as table vibration, where the core or outer form stands on a vibrating table.
In the manufacture of a pipe according to the rising core method, the casting process basically takes place in that the core is moved up through the bottom ring, following which it is stopped, the core being present at a certain height in the mould. Then, concrete is poured into the mould from its upper part. Subsequently, the core is moved continuously up through the mould while concrete is being filled into the mould. The concrete is distributed and compacted during the process by a rotor arranged on the top of the core, while the concrete is vibrated under the action of a strong vibrator, normally arranged centrally in the core. A profile ring is arranged at the upper end of the outer form, and when the mould is filled with concrete, this profile ring defines the upper boundary of the mould, together with the outer form and the core. When the mould has been filled with concrete, pressing is performed, and then the profile ring is rotated slightly to and fro in order to smooth the spigot end. One of the effects of this casting process is that it ensures that the manufactured pipes have the same length.
In the manufacture of pipes according to the fixed core method, the casting process basically takes place in that the core is fixedly positioned, and that an outer form having a bottom ring clamped thereto is arranged over the core. The concrete is then poured down into the mould from above, while vibration is applied to the mould. When the mould has been filled, a profile ring is moved down at the top of the mould, and thereby the spigot end of the pipe is formed. Then the core is removed from the mould by means of a crane or similar lifting tool which positions the pipe, bottom ring and outer form for setting at a suitable location, where the outer form is loosened from the bottom ring and the crane lifts the outer form off and away.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing concrete pipes with an inner surface, where the properties are improved with respect to surface quality, e.g. in that the inner surface exhibits a greater corrosion resistance, better flow properties and a more attractive surface structure.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for the manufacture of such pipes.
The method of the invention, ensures that when the pipe itself has been formed, a further layer of greater structural density is applied to the inner side of the pipe through the inner mould part, the so-called core, via nozzles or gaps, while the mould and thereby the concrete are vibrated. Vibration of the mould keeps it in a form of a fluid phase. When the concrete is maintained in such a fluid phase during the feeding of material of greater structural density, the effect is achieved that the two materials merge to a mutually denser structure, thereby providing a tighter bond between the two materials.
An advantageous way of feeding the material of greater density in structure, is by feeding the further material through the inner mould part, the core, while it is displaced into the outer mould part, feed openings being provided in the core along its circumference at the upper end of the core for the supply of the further material.
A method is described where the applicator in the apparatus is formed by a core which is rotated after the forming of the pipe, a further layer being applied internally to the pipe from one or more rows of nozzles. In this case, the apparatus for the performance of the method is preferably of the fixed core type.
A method is described where the applicator for the application of the inner layer is formed by the rotor, which is also used for forming the pipe beforehand. At its lower part, the rotor is provided with one or more supply openings for the further material.
A method is described where the inner layer is applied to a top and/or bottom ring before these are applied to the other mould parts. This ensures that the parts of the finished concrete pipe which will constitute the parts to be joined in the laying of a pipeline, also have a surface of greater density than the outer surface of the concrete pipe.
A similar method is also described but where the further layer is applied to the bottom and/or top ring after the bottom and/or top ring has been connected with the other mould parts, and before the mould is filled with concrete.
An embodiment of the method is also described where the spigot end of the pipe is provided with the further material to form the inner layer of greater structural density.
The further material may be fed in the form of a paste, powder or liquid.
An apparatus is defined for the performance of the method, where the core, according to the rising core principle, constitutes the applicator. The further material is fed through one or more annular grooves, said grooves extending along the circumference of the core and being arranged at the front end of the core seen in the direction of travel of the core.
An apparatus is also defined with an applicator for a core according to the rising core principle, where the annular groove or grooves are formed with a plurality of nozzles or gaps for the supply of the further material.
An apparatus is also defined with an applicator according to the fixed core principle, where the core is rotated after or during the forming of the pipe. The core is provided with one or more grooves which extend in the longitudinal direction of the core, said groove or grooves extending in the entire effective length of the core. The further material is fed though the groove or grooves adapted for the purpose, while the core is rotated about its longitudinal axis. The core is rotated at least enough so that the entire inner surface of the pipe is covered by the further material.
The apparatus as described above may have the groove or grooves extend as straight grooves in the longitudinal direction of the core.
The apparatus may have the groove or grooves extend in a form of a spiral along the surface of the core in the longitudinal direction.
An apparatus is further defined where the applicator is placed on a rotor in the lower part thereof, so that the further material is fed to the inner surface of the pipe by means of a plurality of nozzles or gaps, just after the pipe itself has been formed.
The further material is preferably fed under pressure and while the mould and/or pipe are vibrated. The pressure may be provided by the supply of the further material, or may optionally be applied by an expedient configuration of the core in connection with the provided gap or gaps in the surface of the core.

Method and an apparatus for the manufacture of concrete pipes


A dental handpiece is disclosed, which contains a handpiece body for giving dental treatment on a site in oral cavity of a patient, and an optical semiconductor device in the handpiece body for illuminating the site during the treatment. The optical semiconductor device is preferably LED, more preferably VLED.

Some conventional dental handpieces are provided with lighting means for illuminating treatment site in the oral cavity of a patient during treatment. Light sources employed as such lighting means are predominantly high intensity halogen lamps.
FIG. 2 illustrates such a conventional handpiece 30 having turbine head 10' and a coupling 10". Halogen lamp 40 is disposed inside the coupling 10", and the light emitted by the lamp 40 is transmitted through a light transmitting fiber 42 such as rod fiber or glass fibers in the turbine head 10' to light projecting window 41 located in head 11 or neck 12 of the turbine head 10', which is to be positioned close to the treatment site in use, for illuminating the treatment site.
However, halogen lamp 40 has the following drawbacks:
(1) Halogen lamps employ filaments to generate light from electrical current passing therethrough. However, not a little portion of the electrical current is also converted to heat. Thus, the conversion efficiency from electric current to light is low, which increases consumption of electric power. In addition, the heated filaments endanger the safety of the handpiece.
(2) Filaments tend to rupture due to the rotational vibration caused by a micromotor in the dental handpiece or high speed rotation mechanism in an angle type handpiece, or due to cutting vibration generated in cutting the treatment site. Therefore, filaments in the halogen lamps have low shock resistance and thus short service life.
(3) The halogen lamps and the light transmitting fibers are not durable against steam when sterilized in an autoclave. Therefore, the lamps and the fibers require frequent replacement and repair, which causes unreasonably high cost.
(4) The halogen lamps cannot be disposed in the head or neck of the turbine head for direct illumination of the treatment site, since the size of the lamp cannot be decreased sufficiently for this arrangement. Accordingly, expensive light transmitting fibers should be used for light transmission, which makes the handpiece structure complex. Further, the light emitted by the halogen lamp attenuates physically through the light transmitting fibers by more than 20% .
In the field of display device, optical semiconductor device is often used as an optical display element due to its quick on-off response. Further, the optical semiconductor device is also used as a light source for various measurements. However, there has never been proposed to use an optical semiconductor device as lighting means in a dental handpiece.


An apparatus for treating a disc-shaped article comprises a spin chuck and at least three individually controllable infrared heating elements. The infrared heating elements are mounted in a stationary manner with respect to rotation of said spin chuck. At least the transparent plate positioned between the infrared heating elements and the underside of a wafer is mounted for rotation with the spin chuck. Alternatively, the transparent plate is part of a housing that encloses the infrared heating elements and that rotates with the spin chuck as the heating elements are stationary relative thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for liquid treatment of wafer-shaped articles, and to a heating system for use in such an apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid treatment includes both wet etching and wet cleaning, wherein the surface area of a wafer to be treated is wetted with a treatment liquid and a layer of the wafer is thereby removed or impurities are thereby carried off. A device for liquid treatment is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,717. In this device the distribution of the liquid may be assisted by the rotational motion imparted to the wafer.
Techniques for processing a surface of a disc-shaped article are typically used in the semiconductor industry on silicon wafers, for example of 300 mm or 450 mm diameter. However, such techniques may be applied for other plate-like articles such as compact discs, photo masks, reticles, magnetic discs or flat panel displays. When used in semiconductor industry they may also be applied for glass substrates (e.g. in silicon-on-insulator processes), III-V substrates (e.g. GaAs) or any other substrate or carrier used for producing integrated circuits.
When using heated process liquids, there is a problem in achieving temperature uniformity across the surface of the wafer, and the need to address that problem becomes more acute as wafer diameters increase.
In particular, as the wafer diameter increases, so too will the temperature differential between a liquid at the point where it is applied in a central region of the wafer and the same liquid after it has travelled radially outwardly to the periphery of the wafer. This results in varied etch rates as a function of the distance from the center of the wafer, and hence poor process uniformity.
Conventional approaches to alleviate this problem have included dispensing process liquid from movable arms, so-called "boom swing" dispensers; however, this involves an increase in the cost and complexity of the device as well as its operation. The problem can be addressed to some extent by increasing the flow of process liquid, and/or by dispensing a high temperature liquid such as deionized water on the opposite side of the wafer; however, these techniques result in higher consumption of process liquids.
U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2013/0061873 describes improved apparatus equipped with an infrared heater for heating a wafer to enhance process uniformity. Although the devices of that patent application represent an improvement over conventional techniques, there remains a need to provide further enhanced process uniformity and equipment that is more robust and easier to maintain.

Apparatus for liquid treatment of wafer shaped articles and heating system for use in such apparatus


The original cover of an image reading apparatus for covering an original stand which is provided on the image reading apparatus and on which an original is placed is provided with a cover member for covering the original placed on the original stand, and a hinge member having one end thereof pivotally supported by the cover member and having the other end thereof mounted on and pivotally supported by the original stand. The original cover is characterized in that the cover member is biased in a direction in which it is opened relative to the hinge member and is biased toward a rotary shaft, by biasing means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image reading apparatus for reading the image of an original, such as a scanner, a copier or a facsimile apparatus, and particularly to an original cover provided in these apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings is a schematic view showing the construction of a color image reading apparatus.
The letter P designates an original to be read placed on an original glass stand 100, and a contact image sensor 101 is scanned in parallelism to the original glass stand 100 to thereby read an image on the original.
The contact image sensor 101, as schematically shown in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings, has incorporated therein LED's 101R, 101G and 101B of three colors which are light sources for irradiating the original, a rod lens array 101L for imaging the reflected light from the original on the light receiving element of an image sensor 101S, and the image sensor 101S. The light sources of three colors are successively changed over and turned on, and the image sensor 101S reads the reflected light of each color from the original to thereby effect color resolving and reading.
The contact image sensor 101, as shown in FIG. 7, is fixedly supported on a slider 102 sliding on a guide shaft 103 fixed to the main body of the apparatus. Also, a belt 104 for transmitting motive power from a motor 105 which is a scanning drive source is fixed to the slider 102. By the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, the contact image sensor 101 is capable of reciprocally scanning within the range of the original glass stand 100.
The constituent elements of the image reading apparatus include, besides those elements described above, an electrical equipment portion 106 comprising a control board and an electric power source. These constituent elements are disposed in a cover 110 for fixedly supporting the original glass stand 100.
On the original glass stand 100, an original cover 111 for pressing the original against a glass plate is openably and closably mounted with the fitted portion of a recess 110a formed in the rear end portion of the cover 110 and the convex portion 111a of the rear end portion of the original cover as a fulcrum. Also, an original pressure sheet 112 comprising a sheet material 112a and a sponge 112b is stuck on the inner surface of the cover which is opposed to the original glass stand 100.
FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings is a read image data processing block diagram by the image reading apparatus. An image output signal read by the image sensor 101S in synchronism with the LED's successively turned on and off is sent to an amplifier 121 and is amplified thereby, and thereafter is converted into a digital image signal by an A/D converter 122.
The A/D converter divides the dynamic range of the image sensor (the reading output difference between the pure while portion and the inky-black portion of the original) into the bit number thereof and allots the number of gradations in conformity with the brightness of the image on the original.
For example, when an A/D converter having resolving power of 8 bits is used, white to black can be discriminated into 256 gradation levels, and in the case of an A/D converter having resolving power of 10 bits, white to black can be discriminated into 1024 gradation levels.
Accordingly, in an image reading apparatus using an A/D converter of 8 bits, in the color reading by light sources of three colors R, G and B, 24 bits=about 16,700,000 colors can be discriminated, and in the case of an A/D converter of 10 bits, 30 bits=about 1,074,000,000 colors can be discriminated.
There are several kinds as the output forms of the image signal of the image reading apparatus, and an output form suitable for the use of a read image can be selected.
When a writing is to be read and the substance thereof is to be applied to OCR or when a monochromatic drawing is to be read, a monochromatic binary image is suitable therefor, and use is made of image data obtained by transforming an image signal obtained by turning on e.g. only G of the light sources of R, G and B into a binary value by a certain threshold value in an image processing circuit incorporated in a gate array 123.
When an image is to be read with a view to read such as image as a photograph and output it to a monochrome printer, use is made of image data obtained by transforming the image signal also by the G light source into a binary value by the use of halftone processing such as the dither method or the error diffusion method.
When the processing of a color image is to be effected, multivalue (24 bits, etc.) image data is suitable therefor.
The image signal passed through the above-mentioned image processing circuit is outputted to an apparatus 200 such as a personal computer through an interface circuit 124.
In the case of the related art as described above, however, the following problem has arisen.
An image scanner comprising the above-described construction makes the most of the features of a contact image sensor and is very compact and light in weight and therefore, there is one which, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B of the accompanying drawings, is vertically placed with one side thereof underlaid by the use of an accessory stand 300 and is made usable even in this state. Originals which can be scanned with the scanner vertically placed are limited to sheet-like originals, and an original cover and the fore end of the apparatus are made closable by a sucker or the like and an original is scanned while being urged against the glass plate.
On the other hand, the original cover in the construction of the related art is opened and closed by the pivotal movement thereof about a fulcrum at the rear end thereof, but in such system, it cannot press a thick original such as a book. Generally, the original cover is adapted to slide in a vertical direction to thereof cope with a thick original.
In such an image scanner, however, if the hinge construction as described above is used, the hinge is opened when the scanner is vertically placed and the original cover floats from the glass plate and becomes incapable of pressing an original and therefore, use could not be made of a hinge for coping with a thick original.

Image reading apparatus and original cover thereof


A wireless data communication system for a down hole environment. The system includes a housing containing a sensor, positioned within a tubular, for collecting information and processing the information, a modulator for modulating the information from the sensor into an analog signal, and a sensor antenna electrically connected to the first modulator for generating a modulated electromagnetic wave. The system further includes a probe housing, concentrically disposed within the tubular, comprising a probe antenna for receiving the modulated electromagnetic wave and generating an output, and a demodulator for demodulating the electromagnetic wave received from the sensor to a digital record. A method of wirelessly communicating between a probe and a remote sensor is also disclosed.

This invention relates to an apparatus that provides communication between a probe and a sensor. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this invention relates to an apparatus and method that provides communication between a probe located in the central bore of a drill collar and sensor electronics located in the drill collar wall.
In the course of drilling wells, an operator finds it necessary to learn geologic properties of the subterranean zones. Regardless of whether the zones contain hydrocarbons, the knowledge of specific features and characteristics of the various reservoirs is imperative for the economical exploitation of a field. One way to obtain geologic information of the formation is to lower a probe on a wire line. The probe may contain various sensors such as resistivity, gamma ray, gamma density, neutron porosity, pressure, etc. As those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, the probes may be lowered in open hole situations intermittent of drilling operations, or in post drilling applications where the well contains casing. These type of operations are commonly referred to as well logging.
Another prior art technique is the use of sensors during actual drilling operations. Two techniques commonly used in the industry are logging while drilling (LWD) and measurement while drilling (MWD) devices. Both the LWD and MWD devices employ sensors that collects specific types of information, and wherein that information is transferred to a down hole processor. The down hole processor in turn transmits the information to the surface. The transmission media may be a cable that electrically connects the down hole processor to a surface processor. Alternatively, the transmission media may be the fluid column in the well, and wherein the down hole device contains a vibrating valve that transmits coded fluid pressure pulses that will be decoded at the surface.
Typically the MWD sensors are placed in a cylindrical probe that is located in the central bore of the drill collar. Theses sensors are not affected by the steel of the surrounding drill collar and are able to make measurements continuously while drilling. However, some of the LWD sensors and some of the newer generation MWD sensors can be strongly affected by the surrounding drill collar and have to be located in the external wall of the drill collar. Examples of LWD/MWD measurements that are affected by the drill collar are resistivity, annulus pressure, gamma density, and to some extent natural gamma ray. Quite often the drilling operation will make use of both MWD and LWD measurement systems. In these situations there can be sensors located in both the probe positioned in the central bore of the drill collar and sensors located in the external wall of the drill collar. As a result, some form of communication is required between these sensor systems to coordinate the measurement functions and transmit data to the surface.
Prior art techniques require that the probe located in the central bore of the drill collar and the sensors located in the collar wall contain a wired connection. However, wired connections are very problematic. Therefore, there is a need for a wireless link between the collar sensors and probe. More specifically, there is a need for an electromagnetic (EM) communication between an LWD/MWD probe located in the internal bore of a drill collar and sensor electronics located in the drill-collar wall. These, and many other needs will be met by the invention herein disclosed.

Apparatus and method for providing communication between a probe and a sensor


A technique for securing a subsea well that has had some of its components damaged as a result of a storm or other catastrophic event. The techniques utilizes a casing head assembly that may secured to the casing of the damaged well by tightening a plurality of set screws to drive slips into the casing. The casing head assembly may also comprise a tubing hanger. Tubing head set screws may then be tightened to activate the tubing hanger to secure the production tubing to the casing head. The casing head assembly may also comprise a latch-lock connector that may be secured to the casing head by stabbing the latch-lock connector into the casing head and rotating the connector approximately one-quarter turn. A corrosion cap may then be secured to the latch-lock connector to cover the end of the production tubing.

The invention relates generally to a system and method of securing a wellhead connector to casing of a wellhead assembly that has been damaged by a storm or other similarly destructive event. In particular, the invention relates to a system and method of installing a wellhead connector to the casing of a well having casing and production tubing, which extends from the sea floor to a surface wellhead.
Surface wellheads are a common feature of oil production. A production tree is attached to the wellhead to control the flow of oil and/or gas produced by the well. The oil and/or gas from the well passes through production tubing to a production tree. The production tree, in turn, may be coupled to a platform that couples the oil and gas to a pipeline for transfer to a processing facility.
A violent storm, such as a hurricane, can damage wells located on land, as well as offshore. For example, a storm can damage an offshore platform, the production tubing, and/or the production tree of a well by pulling the production tubing from its platform. Furthermore, tidal forces from a storm can blow over a production tree, damaging both the production tree and the production tubing.
Previous efforts at securing wells damaged by storms have been time-consuming and ineffective. These efforts have included installing devices using numerous loose bolts. However, installing these loose bolts is time-consuming and the bolts may be lost or misplaced, adding to the installation time. This is even more problematic for subsea well heads.
Therefore, a more efficient technique is desired for securing a well damaged by a storm or any other catastrophic event. In particular, a technique is desired that would enable a well to be secured quickly and securely.


In a mobile communication terminal connectable to a first base station using a first communication mode and a second base station using a second communication mode that is different from the first communication mode, a control message coming from an acquired one of the first and second base stations is received. Based on the received control message, the communication mode used in the base station is recognized, and information indicative of the recognized communication mode is informed to the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal capable of being connected to a plurality of kinds of base stations that use different communication modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a mobile communication system includes a plurality of base stations which are distributed over the service area. A mobile communication terminal selects one of the base stations, which has the best condition for communication and acquires the selected base station. Thereby, radio communication is enabled.
In the mobile communication system, there may be a case where a part of the standards of the communication mode is upgraded while the system is being in operation. For example, in mobile communication systems using CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), a preparation is now progressing to upgrade IS95A/IS95B standards to IS2000-1X standards designed to increase a data communication speed, while basic portions of the IS95A/IS95B standards remain unchanged.
It is not possible, however, to upgrade the standards of the communication mode for all the base stations of the system at the same time. In general, the standards are upgraded step by step. Consequently, base stations with different standards are mixedly present in the service area until completion of the work for upgrading the standards for all base stations.
If a mobile communication terminal corresponding to both old and new standards is to start information communication in this state, it is uncertain whether the terminal is connected to a base station with new standards or a base station with old standards, depending on the conditions for communication, such as the current location of the terminal or the condition of radio waves. For example, if the mobile communication terminal of a use who wishes high-speed data communication is connected to a base station with old standards, a longer time than expected may be consumed until completion of data communication, or a high communication charge may occur. This is very disadvantageous.

Mobile communication terminal capable of displaying communication mode


A bolometer type uncooled infrared ray sensor includes: an image pickup region having detection pixels arranged in a matrix form on a semiconductor substrate to detect incident infrared rays; a plurality of row selection lines provided in the image pickup region; current sources capable of letting constant currents flow through the respective row selection lines; a plurality of signal lines provided in the image pickup region; voltage readout circuits provided so as to respectively correspond to the signal lines to read out signal voltages generated on the respectively corresponding signal lines; coupling capacitances respectively provided between the respective signal lines and the corresponding voltage readout circuits; and a calculator which calculates a difference between two signal voltages read out by the voltage readout circuits, corresponding to outputs of the same detection pixel for two different current values supplied from the current sources.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bolometer type uncooled infrared ray sensor and its driving method.
2. Related Art
Image sensors utilizing infrared rays have features that they can pick up images night and day and the infrared rays are higher in permeability through smoke or fog than visible light. In addition, the image sensors utilizing infrared rays have a feature that temperature information of a subject can also be obtained. Therefore, the image sensors utilizing infrared rays have a wide application range as surveillance cameras and fire sensing cameras not to speak of the defense field.
A greatest drawback of quantum type infrared ray solid image pickup devices which are conventional mainstream devices is that a cooling mechanism for low temperature operation is needed. In recent years, however, uncooled infrared ray image sensors which do not need such a cooling mechanism have been developed (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3793033).
However, it can be said that the infrared ray image sensors are insufficient in sensitivity and dynamic range as compared with image sensors utilizing visible rays. For example, if it is attempted to use the infrared ray image sensors in surveillance camera, sensors having a NETD (Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference) of approximately 0.1 K and a dynamic range of approximately 30 K are needed. Development of a sensor having enhanced output linearity, a higher sensitivity and a wider dynamic range is anticipated.
On the other hand, noise generated in image sensors can be broadly classified into random noise and fixed pattern noise. As the random noise, there are 1/f noise having a power spectrum which is in inverse proportion to the frequency f and kTC noise which is thermal noise caused by capacitance. The fixed pattern noise is caused mainly by characteristic variations of diodes and threshold variations of transistors.
For reducing such noise, the noise can be canceled in principle by finding a difference between a signal voltage and a reference signal before and after resetting. Such a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit with an electrical reset switch is typically used in visible region image sensors using photodiodes. In the case of thermal sensors using a bolometer, a thermal reset mechanism must be fabricated, making the CDS circuit unpractical.
Although the fixed pattern noise and 1/f noise are dominant in conventional bolometer type uncooled infrared ray sensors as described above, there are no effective means, resulting in a problem.

Bolometer type uncooled infrared ray sensor and method for driving the same


A method for measuring temperature on a silicon device includes activating a heat source on the silicon device. A value of a parameter of an electronic component on the silicon device is measured. A temperature associated with the electronic component is determined from the value of the parameter.

When designing devices such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) on silicon, modeling is often performed to determine the properties and characteristics of materials and components on the silicon for performance purposes. Among the properties and characteristics that are modeled, temperature is one which requires special consideration as it impacts the performance and operability of components. As process technology has moved to and beyond 45 nm, the impact of temperature has only increased.
Pulse current measurement techniques have been used in the past to perform temperature readings on a silicon device. Measurement using pulses on a nanosecond time scale eliminates self-heating which had previously affected static measurements of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). Elimination of self-heating during measurement required that the measurements be made on a short time scale, and that there be a long relaxation time between measurements. The output characteristics of 0.2 μm partially depleted SOI transistors measured by this technique reproduced the kink effect, and represented the true output conductance and transconductance.
In order to utilize pulse current measurement techniques, an elaborate measurement system was needed. For example, a pulse generator was used to apply short voltage pulses to the device. An oscilloscope was also used to measure currents. The pulse current measurement techniques provided limited information regarding temperatures at multiple locations on a silicon device.

Method and apparatus for measuring temperature on a silicon device


A poly(phenylene ether) resin composed of structural units represented by the general formula: ##STR1## (wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 represent each alkyl, cycloalkyl, etc. or H (provided that two or more of R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 do not represent H at the same time), or one of R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 represents alkyl or H while the others together form a saturated ring, or R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 together form an aromatic ring; A represents alkyl; p is an integer of from 3 to 5; and Y.sup.- represents a pharmaceutically acceptable acid residue) and/or structural units represented by the general formula: ##STR2## (wherein R.sup.4, R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 represents each alkyl, cycloalkyl, etc. or H (provided that two or more of R.sup.4, R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 do not represent H at the same time), or one of R.sup.4, R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 represents alkyl or H while the others together form a saturated ring, or R.sup.4, R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 together form an aromatic ring; and A, p and Y.sup.- have same meanings as defined above) and structural units represented by the general formula: ##STR3## (wherein R.sup.7 and R.sup.8 represents each alkyl, cycloalkyl, etc. or together form a saturated ring; q is an integer of from 3 to 20; and A, p, and Y.sup.- have same meanings as defined above) wherein the sum of the contents of the structural units represented by the general formula (I) and the structural units represented by the general formula (II) amounts to 40 to 96% by mole and the content of the structural units represented by the general formula (III) amounts to 4 to 60% by mole based upon the content of phenylene ether component and a process for producing the same. The poly(phenylene ether) resins have the effect of adsorbing bile acids and are useful as a cholesterol reducing agent.

It is already known that a certain anion exchange resin has the effect of lowering the level of cholesterol in blood and therefore is applicable as a cholesterol reducing agent (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,499,960 and 3,780,171, U. K. Patent No. 929,391, a published Japanese Patent Application (Kokai) No. Sho 53-10386). The mechanism by which the level of cholesterol in blood is lowered by taking the anion exchange resin is considered as follows. Namely, the anion exchange resin adsorbs and fixes bile acids in the intestinal tract to prevent the reabsorption of the bile acids, and in the liver conversion from cholesterol, which is in an equilibrium relation with bile acids, to bile acids is stimulated by this action, and consequently, the cholesterol in blood is reduced.
Cholestyramine, a typical anion exchange resin which is used as a cholesterol reducing agent, has been employed as an agent for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia extensively and clinically. However, cholestyramine has the disadvantage that it must be taken in high doses (from 8 to 16 g per day except for excipients) to obtain effective action clinically. Furthermore, cholestyramine is chemical-structurally unstable and eliminates amines easily because it has quaternary ammonium groups at the benzyl position. Accordingly, cholestyramine has a bad smell typical to an aliphatic amine and is difficult to use by itself. Therefore, cholestyramine must be used together with a deodorant or a fragrance, or must be used after coating on the surface to reduce the bad smell. In consequence, there remains a problem that it is obliged to increase the amount of the dosage owing to use of an additive.


The present invention provides an apparatus and method of multiple antenna receiver combining of high data rate wideband packetized wireless communication signals, where the apparatus includes M receive antennas, receiving M high data rate wideband packetized wireless communication signals, where each of the signals includes N frequency bins. The apparatus, in an exemplary embodiment, includes (1) a joint timing recovery units that perform joint coarse signal timing estimation, joint frequency offset estimation, and joint fine timing estimation on each of the signals, (2) M Fast Fourier Transform units (FFTs) that each convert the digital data for each of the M signals into frequency domain information for each of the N received frequencies and that output Q pilots for each of the signals, where Q is a positive integer, and (3) a combiner that weights and combines the outputs of the M FFTs for each of the N received frequencies.

Wireless communication systems use antennas to communicate signals. A wireless local area network (WLAN) is a type of wireless communication system that communicates information between nodes in a given area.
Types of Signals
Narrowband and Wideband Signals
Most current wireless communications systems are narrowband signal systems. Narrowband signals have signal bandwidths typically ranging from tens of kilohertz (kHz) (e.g. 50 kHz) to hundreds of kilohertz (500 KHz). In contrast, wideband, or broadband, signals have signal bandwidths greater than 1 MHz.
802.11 and 802.11a
One type of wideband signal is the signal used in WLANs using the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. The IEEE 802.11 standard (802.11) outlines Media Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications for WLANs. The IEEE 802.11a standard (802.11a) is a part of 802.11 and addresses communications in high data rate wideband packetized wireless communication systems, covering frequencies of operation between 5 GHz and 6 GHz. 802.11a uses orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation, which allows communication to occur at very high data rates by transmitting data over multiple frequency bins over a wide frequency range. Discussions herein applicable to 802.11a are also applicable to IEEE 802.11g. The IEEE 802.11g OFDM standard is the same as 802.11a, with the exception of operating in the 2.4 GHz band. 802.11 takes into account the successful and unsuccessful transmission of packets and includes mechanisms designed for dealing with packet transmission problems. 802.11a wireless communications systems and other wireless communication systems can experience numerous problems during the transmission and reception of signals.
Circuit Impairments
For example, wireless communication systems can encounter problems with circuit impairments in their receiver circuits. In particular, receiver circuits can experience the following circuit impairments: (1) frequency offset; (2) direct current (DC) offset; (3) carrier phase offset, and (4) timing offset.
A typical prior art receiver circuit 100 is depicted in FIG. 1A. Receiver circuit 100 includes an antenna 110, an analog front end 120, and a baseband system 130, logically interconnected as shown in FIG. 1A. Analog front end 120 includes a local oscillator 122, a low noise amplifier (LNA) 123, a mixer 124, analog amplifier 125, and analog filters 126. Baseband system 130 includes an analog-to-digital converter (A/D) 132 and a digital signal processor (DSP) 134. The non-idealities in the components of analog front ends and baseband systems, such as the non-idealities in local oscillator 122, mixer 124, filters 126, A/D 132, and DSP 134, provide the circuit impairments that would be encountered by receiver circuits, such as receiver circuit 100.
Prior art receiver circuits attempt to correct for circuit impairments with circuit impairment cancellation circuitry. For example, in FIG. 1B, prior art receiver circuit 140 includes a modified baseband system 150 logically coupled to analog front end 120. Modified baseband system 150 includes a circuit impairment cancellation unit 152 logically interconnected between A/D 132 and DSP 134. Circuit impairment cancellation unit 152 estimates the circuit impairments from the digital output of A/D 132. Then, circuit impairment cancellation unit 152 cancels the circuit impairments in the signals from A/D 132.
Channel Effects—Fading and Multipath Communication Channels
For example, a wireless communication system could encounter channel effects, such as transmitting signals across a fading communication channel. The fading in the communication channel may be caused by mutipath and propagation loss.
In the case of multipath channel, the RF energy that is transmitted between transmit and receive antennas experiences destructive and constructive interference due to multiple paths taken by the RF energy with multiple delays on the way to a receive antenna. Such multipath interference modulates the phase and attenuates the amplitude of signals across all frequencies and carriers used by a wireless communication system. In a WLAN, such multipath interference could cause a receiver to receive a packet in error or to miss a packet entirely.
Prior art receiver circuits attempt to correct for channel effects, such as fading channels and multipath interference, with channel correction circuitry. For example, in FIG. 1C, prior art receiver circuit 160 includes a modified baseband system 170 logically interconnected with analog front end 120 and a decoder 176. Modified baseband system 170 includes a channel correction unit 172 logically interconnected between A/D 132 and decoder 176. Channel correction unit 172 performs channel equalization on the output of A/D 132 for narrowband signals.
Antenna Diversity
Prior art receiver circuits attempt to correct for channel effects, such as fading channels and multipath interference, with antenna diversity. In a wireless communication system with antenna diversity there is a multiple antenna receiver A receiver with multiple antennas is used so that in the event of poor signal reception due to a fading channel on one antenna, a good channel with no fading will likely exist on another antenna. For example, in FIG. 1D, prior art multiple antenna receiver 180 includes multiple antennas 181, 182, the receive chain 183, and a diversity switch 189, logically interconnected as shown. Receive chain 183 includes an analog front end 185 and a baseband system 187. Analog front end 185 could be like analog front end 120, and baseband system 187 could be like baseband system 130. When a particular communication channel is fading, diversity switch 189 switches from one antenna to another antenna in order to obtain a communication channel that is not fading. Unfortunately, diversity switch 189 causes switch loss in received signals. Moreover, switching diversity provides limited diversity gain, since only the signal of the selected antenna is used at receiver. Whereas, optimal combining of the signals from the antennas would result in greater diversity gain.
Fast Antenna Switched Diversity
Prior art fast antenna diversity techniques have been used to manage multiple antennas. For example, in a fast antenna diversity communication system with two antennas, when a packet arrives, a first antenna is used to receive the signal. After receiving the signal for a sufficient period of time to judge reception quality, the communication system switches to a second antenna. The second antenna is then used to receive the signal until the quality of reception can be judged. Finally, the system switches to the antenna with the best reception. In some cases, more than two antennas are used in a fast antenna diversity communication system.
Trying and testing multiple antennas using fast antenna diversity typically takes place during a preamble, header, or training portion of the packet being received. The preamble is examined rather than the data so that no data is lost while the different antennas are being tested.
Problems with Fast Antenna Diversity and 802.11a
Fast antenna diversity is undesirable for 802.11a signals and for other high data rate wireless communication signals for several reasons.
Poor Estimation of Channel Quality
First, the packet length of 802.11a signals and other high data rate wireless communication signals leads to a poor estimation of channel quality with fast antenna diversity techniques. For example, the packet preamble in a 802.11a signal is quite short at eight microseconds total duration. A Short preamble is desirable in any high data rate communication system in order to keep the efficiency of the communication system high. As data rates increase, the duration of packets tend to decrease.
Degradation of Communication Performance
In addition, fast antenna diversity degrades the performance of 802.11a and other high data rate wireless communication systems. Time that is consumed in switching and measuring the signals from different antennas reduces the amount of time available to perform other functions that commonly need to be performed during the packet preamble in 802.11a signals and other high data rate wireless communication signals. These functions may include (1) correctly setting the gains of amplifiers in a receive chain, (2) extracting the frequency offset of a received signal, and (3) finding proper symbol boundaries for determining symbol timing. When the preamble is short, the quality of the frequency offset, gain setting, or symbol timing could be compromised if time is spent selecting the best antenna. Therefore, forcing antenna selection into the time of the preamble would degrade the overall performance of high data rate wireless communications systems, such as 802.11a systems.
Difficulty in Detecting Differences Among Antennas
Also, fast antenna diversity switching during the packet preamble creates an additional challenge for wideband signals such as 802.11a OFDM signals. The preamble does not have the frequency resolution to identify narrowband notches in the received signals. Therefore, the preamble can not be used to sense many of the narrow notches within the narrow frequency bands that could occur as a result of multipath interference with wideband signals. A switching decision only based on the preamble power, could cause switching to an antenna with a frequency domain notch, and hence loss of the packet.
An additional challenge for detecting differences among the channels during the packet preamble for certain wideband and signals, 802.11a OFDM signals in particular, is that the very small duration of the combined Short and Long training symbol sequences, and in particular the very limited duration of the Short training symbol sequence. Due to this short duration, which provides the desired period of time during when a decision on which one of many different antennas is best to use must be made, conventional techniques that require longer period of time to make such decisions cannot be used.
Combining Signals
Combining the antenna signals is another diversity method. The antenna signals have to be co-phased first and then combined, in order to achieve the coherent combining gain. This task is easier when signals are narrowband and more challenging for wideband signals.
Combining Narrowband Signals
In a narrowband signal wireless communication system, two or more receive signals from two or more antennas generally do not show significant variations across the frequency band (i.e., the signals have a relatively flat response). Thus, the two or more narrowband signals can be coherently combined rather easily using an antenna diversity combining technique with little risk of either (1) losing information by deviating from the true signal or (2) the received signals canceling each other out. Generally, the amplitude and phase responses of narrowband signals do not vary as significantly across the frequency band as the amplitude and phase responses of wideband signals, such as 802.11a signals. Hence, the combining weights for narrowband signals are not frequency dependent and narrowband signals from different antennas can be easily phase corrected and combined.
Problems with Combining Wideband Signals
In contrast to narrowband signals, combining wideband wireless signals is much more complicated via traditional combination methods or conventional narrowband diversity techniques if they are to overcome frequency selectively because of the wide variations in the phase and amplitudes of the signals across the wide frequency bandwidth.
Antenna Diversity Combining
Several conventional antenna diversity combining techniques exist. Many of these techniques are based on examining a combination of signals from two or more antennas. One combining method is maximal ratio combining (MRC) where signals coming from two or more antennas are cophased and weighted proportionally to their signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and are added together to form a weighted combination signal. MRC results in optimal SNR improvement, where the combined signal SNR is equal to the sum of SNRs for each antenna signal.
Another combining method is Equal Gain Combining (EGC). In equal gain combining, weights with same magnitudes and different phases are used for all signals. Referring to FIG. 1E, prior art equal gain combiner 190 includes analog front ends 191, 192, baseband units 194, 195, phase correction units 196, 197, and the summer 198, logically interconnected as shown. However, EGC's performance is suboptimal, where the combined SNR is typically higher than each antenna SNR, but smaller than the sum of SNRs.
Such prior art antenna diversity combining techniques may work well for narrowband signals, where the phase and weights are not frequency dependent. However, the conventional techniques do not work well for wideband signals that have received phase and power that are not constant over the received signal bandwidth and that are frequency dependent, such as 802.11a signals. Therefore, conventional antenna diversity combining techniques are not applicable to wideband signal wireless communication signals, such as 802.11a signals.
Therefore, a cost effective and efficient multiple antenna receiver antenna combining technique that is suited to confront the challenges posed by high data rate wideband packetized wireless communication signals, such as 802.11a signals, and that implements frequency dependent weighting in combining such signals is needed. Thus, the present invention provides an efficient and low cost system and method of multiple antenna receiver combining of high data rate wideband packetized wireless communication signals.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and method of multiple antenna receiver combining of high data rate wideband packetized wireless communication signals


A cutter wheel type can opener includes a first handlebar and a second handlebar pivoted together, a lever pivoted to the first handlebar, a gear mounted on the first handlebar at one end, a cutter wheel mounted on the second handlebar at one end and rotated by the gear, a ratchet wheel mounted on the lever, and a stop plate mounted on the lever and retained in engagement with the ratchet wheel by spring means to limit the direction of rotation of the ratchet wheel, wherein continuously turning the lever up and down relative to the handlebars causes the cutter wheel to be continuously rotated in one direction in opening the lid of a can.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a can opener, and more particularly to a cutter wheel type can opener.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional can opener, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a handle 10 having a can piercer 101 at one end and a bottle cap opener 102 at an opposite end. When operating this structure of can opener to open the lid of a can 20, must effort shall be employed to the can piercer 101 through the handle 10. FIG. 2 shows a cutter wheel type can opener according to the prior art. This structure of cutter wheel type can opener comprises a two handlebars 301,302, a drive wheel (not shown) mounted on the first handlebar 301, a driven wheel 40 mounted on the second handlebar 302 and meshed with the drive wheel, a cutter wheel 50 fixedly connected to the wheel shaft of the driven wheel 40, and a rotary knob 60 mounted on the first handlebar 301 for operation by hand to turn the drive wheel. Because the rotary knob 60 has a limited size, turning the rotary knob 60 with the fingers causes the fingers to ache quickly.


The membrane electrode assembly 1 has an anode 10, a cathode 20, and an electrolyte membrane 30 disposed between the anode and cathode; the anode and cathode are gas diffusion electrodes; the electrolyte membrane contains a solid electrolyte in which a plurality of pores with mean pore diameters of 1 to 30 nm are formed; and the solid electrolyte has a backbone comprising organic groups having one or more metal atoms, oxygen atoms bonded to the metal atoms, and carbon atoms bonded to the metal atoms or oxygen atoms, and also has functional groups with ion-exchange capabilities that are bonded to the organic groups in the pores.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a membrane electrode assembly, fuel cell, electrolytic cell, and solid electrolyte.
2. Related Background Art
Fuel cells are devices for directly supplying to the outside electric energy generated using electrochemical reactions that comprise oxidation reactions involving a reductant-containing gas (referred to hereinbelow as "fuel gas" or "anode reaction gas") fed to the anode, and reduction reactions involving an oxidizer-containing gas (referred to hereinbelow as "cathode reaction gas") fed to the cathode to make it possible to obtain high power generation efficiency under the operating conditions of a relatively low-temperature region. In addition, fuel cells make it easier to recover thermal energy generated in the course of the aforementioned electric cells. For this reason, power generation systems equipped with fuel cells can achieve higher overall energy efficiency in comparison with heat engines, which are limited by the Carnot efficiency. Furthermore, fuel cells have achieved prominence as clean power generation systems that have minimal impact on the global environment because water is theoretically the only reaction product obtained when hydrogen is used as the reductant, and oxygen as the oxidant.
Such fuel cells are classified by electrode active material, electrolyte, operating temperature, and the like. Among these cells, solid-polymer fuel cells (or polymer-electrolyte fuel cells) featuring ion-exchange membranes composed of polymer electrolytes or the like as certain types of electrolyte have potential for practical use as power supplies in small-size cogeneration systems or in electric cars and other moving vehicles, and are being extensively studied with the aim of achieving performance improvements because these cells can operate at comparatively low temperatures and can easily be fashioned into compact and lightweight devices.
In conventional practice, a common solid-polymer fuel cell has as the constituent elements thereof at least membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) obtained by employing gas diffusion electrodes as the anode and cathode, and interposing and bonding (or contacting) an electrolyte membrane between the anode and cathode. In addition, gas diffusion electrodes used in such membrane electrode assemblies commonly comprise catalyst layers containing catalyst-carrying carbon microparticles coated with an electrolyte (ion-exchange resin or the like), and gas diffusion layers for feeding reaction gas to the catalyst layers and collecting the electric charge generated in the catalyst layers. Voids composed of micropores formed between the secondary particles and/or tertiary particles of carbon or another porous microparticulate material are present in the catalyst layers of the gas diffusion electrodes, and these voids function as diffusion channels for the reaction gas.
In a conventional membrane electrode assembly, the ionic conductance of the electrolyte membrane and of the electrolyte coating on the aforementioned catalyst decreases when the membrane and the electrolyte become dry and their moisture content is reduced, with the result that the cell voltage decreases and the power generation efficiency of the cell decreases as well. Consequently, the polymer electrolyte membrane and the electrolyte coating on the catalyst in an operating electric cell must be prevented from drying in order to maintain a high level of operation without lowering the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell.
For this reason, conventionally known methods include those in which, for example, anode reaction gas and/or cathode reaction gas is humidified in advance at a temperature that is equal or nearly equal to the cell temperature, and the value of the water vapor partial pressure in at least one of the anode reaction gas and/or cathode reaction gas is adjusted to reach substantial agreement with the value of saturated water vapor pressure at the operating temperature of the membrane electrode assembly before the gas is fed to the electric cell; and those in which water for humidification is directly fed to the electric cell, and the water is vaporized in the electric cell to achieve humidification or the like.
In addition, currently researched solid-electrolyte fuel cells generally have low operating temperatures and do not lend themselves easily to the utilization of waste heat because of limitations imposed by the heat resistance, ionic conductance, and other properties of polymer electrolyte membranes, requiring that a performance capable of ensuring high power generation efficiency and high output density under the operating conditions of high anode reaction gas (pure hydrogen or the like) utilization efficiency and cathode reaction gas (air or the like) utilization efficiency be established in order to allow such cells to be used in actual practice.
However, the quantity of water transported together with the protons that travel through the polymer electrolyte membrane from the anode to the cathode increases, as does the quantity of condensed water produced by the electrode reactions on the cathode, under operating conditions characterized by the comparatively high reaction velocity of such cell reactions. This tends to produce a so-called flooding phenomenon, which is a phenomenon in which water fails to rapidly drain to the outside and plugs the voids in the catalyst layer of the cathode. When the flooding phenomenon occurs, the cathode reaction gas is prevented from being fed to the reaction site on the catalyst layer, and it becomes impossible to obtain the desired cell output in a stable manner.
For this reason, a solid-polymer fuel cell in which flooding can be prevented and the desired cell output obtained in a stable manner by adding polytetrafluoroethylene (referred to hereinbelow as "PTFE"), tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene polymer, tetrafluoroethylene/perfluoro(alkyl vinyl ether) copolymer, or another such fluororesin as a hydrophobization agent to the cathode catalyst layer to endow the cathode with adequate water drainage is proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H5-36418. As used in the present specification, the term "A/B copolymer" refers to a copolymer comprising polymerization units based on A and polymerization units based on B.

Polymer electrolyte membrane with an inorganic backbone


A device for manufacturing a metal wheel (1) from a pre-form, with stretching rolls (3) engaging on the rim region of the pre-form, by means of which rolls a rim (1.1) is end-formed which, for forming a rim flange (1.7). Freely rotatable rolls (4) are arranged underneath the stretching rolls (3) and cooperate with them. A method for manufacturing a metal wheel (1) from a pre-form, the pre-form of the metal wheel (1) to be manufactured is placed on a clamping mandrel (2) and is caused to rotate, stretching rolls (3) engage an axially outer side of a rotation-symmetrical jacket of the pre-form with the exertion of radial pressure, and move along the jacket wall of the pre-form with compression and stretching of the jacket wall to form a rim (1.1) with a main movement component parallel with the axis of rotation (2.1) of the pre-form.

In this case the pre-form of a wheel with a rotation-symmetrical jacket configuration is placed on a simple rotating tool, a clamping mandrel, which is caused to rotate with the pre-form. On the peripheral edge a plurality of differently shaped stretching rolls engage with radial pressure on the rotation-symmetrical peripheral wall of the pre-form and are moved along this, i.e. in an axial component during the rotation of the pre-form, which on the one hand compresses the material and on the other stretches this material by means of the stretching rolls moving essentially in the axial direction, thereby deforming it to form the rim when a metal wheel is manufactured. On the lower peripheral edge the generally inner rim flange of the wheel to be formed is formed on a recess of the rotary mandrel. This machining process, which is actually a cold forming process, may be carried out an elevated temperature of up to 350° C., but it must be borne in mind here that heating takes place in any case simply because the deformation process takes place by means of the stretching rolls. Such processes are in principle disclosed in US 2003/0145466 A1 or ITVI20040061 A.
One disadvantage is the fact that the inner or lower side of the wheel to be produced is predetermined by the shape of the stretching mandrel and that the peripheral edge of the rim flange can only be end-formed at high cost by lowering the same with the stretching rolls, for which purpose complicated processes are required for controlling the movement on the one hand, and the clamping mandrel may cause interference on the other.

Device and method for manufacturing a metal wheel


A modulation circuit includes a microelectronic electromechanical system (MEMS) based resonant structure having a resonant frequency, an excitation input and an output. A control module is coupled to the excitation input of the MEMS based resonant structure. The control module modifies resonant characteristics of the MEMS based resonant structure to modulate the resonant frequency of the MEMS based resonant structure to produce a modulated signal at the output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal generator circuits, and, more particularly, to a modulation circuit configured with integrated microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern electronic devices often use microprocessors or other digital circuits which require one or more clock signals for synchronization. For example, a clock signal permits the precise timing of events in the microprocessor. Typical microprocessors may be supervised or synchronized by a free-running oscillator, such as driven by a crystal, an LC-tuned circuit, or an external clock source. Over the years, clocking rates have continued to increase, and currently clock rates in personal computes may exceed 2.0 gigahertz (GHz). As clock rates increase, the circuits generating and processing the clock signals are susceptible to generating and radiating electromagnetic interference (EMI). The spectral components of the EMI emissions typically have peak amplitudes at harmonics of the fundamental frequency of the clock circuit.
In order to comply with such government limits on EMI emissions, spread spectrum clock generation (SSCG), such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,920, has been used to reduce EMI emissions. In summary, an SSCG circuit may include a clock pulse generator for generating a series of clock pulses, and a spread spectrum modulator for frequency modulating the clock pulse generator to broaden and flatten amplitudes of EMI spectral components which would otherwise be produced by the clock pulse generator. The spread spectrum modulator frequency modulates the clock pulses with specific profiles of frequency deviation versus the period of the profile. Currently, for example, the SSCG clock signal is generated on the system printed circuit board by either a discrete clock integrated circuit (IC), or by a phase lock loop (PLL) that is integrated into one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Modulation circuit with integrated microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) components


An incinerator plant is provided having a primary and secondary incinerator and a combustion furnace connected thereof, the incinerators having a cooling chamber filled with cooling water which is formed between the bottom plate and a partition wall plate, with the combustion chamber formed above the bottom plate. A fan chamber is formed under the partition wall plate and connected to the combustion chamber by a draft tube installed through the bottom plate and partition wall plate so that outside air fed in to the fan chamber flows in to the combustion through the draft tubes, and the bottom plate which has become hot will be cooled by cooling water in the cooling chamber. Gases produced from the incinerator are passed into the combustion chamber which is adapted to burn combustion gases generated in the primary and secondary incinerators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of an incinerator plant for incineration of wastes such as waste tires, and more particularly, to improvements in the structure of an incinerator plant which is capable of controlling discharge of black smoke gases to the utmost, and improving convenience of use, and furthermore protecting the incinerator plant from combustion heat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Great developments in recent years in industry and economics have brought about a tremendous growth in demands for automobiles, such as passenger cars, trucks, etc., being accompanied by an ever increasing volume of waste tires of these automobiles, and consequently presenting a serious social problem as in the case of a growing amount of other kinds of wastes and refuses.
Waste tires now increasing are brought chiefly to a specific waste disposal yard where they will be incinerated. Incineration of waste tires, however, produces excessive quantities of black smoke, making it very difficult to perform waste tire incineration. In addition, there are vicious waste disposal and treatment contractors will illegally discharge waste tires in forests, which is also presenting a serious environmental problem.
To solve these problems, there have been developed various kinds of incinerators now in practical use.
For example, there is known an incinerator plant of such a design that waste tires are burned in a fully enclosed incinerator furnace by supplying the outside air into the furnace, and at the same time gases of black smoke and other gases produced in the course of tire incineration are brought out into a chamber where water is sprayed from above or from the side in an attempt to carry dusts and other particles contained in the gases away in the sprayed water.
Also known is an incinerator plant as shown in FIG. 8, that is constituted by connecting, through a passageway 3, an incinerator 1 of a cylindrical form to a combustion furnace 2 of a cylindrical form and having a stack 5 erected on the top thereof. In the incinerator 1, waste tires are burned while gases generated in the combustion process are blown into the combustion furnace 2 by means of a fan 7, being burned completely within this combustion furnace 2.
Furthermore, there has been known such an incinerator plant (FIG. 9) that incinerators 1' and 1" of a cylindrical form and a combustion furnace 2' of a cylindrical form and having a stack 5' erected on the top thereof are arranged in a nearly triangular form; the incinerator 1' and the combustion furnace 2' are connected by a passageway 3', and the incinerator 1" and the combustion furnace 2' are connected by a passageway 3"; and furthermore doors 7', 8' and 9' for discharging unburned substances and ash are arranged in three places in the sides of the incinerators 1' and 1" and the combustion furnace 2'.
In the passageways 3' and 3" is inserted a duct, which is not illustrated, in a direction toward the combustion furnace 23', to send gases produced in the incinerators 1' and 1" into the combustion furnace 2' by the outside air drawn in through the duct. The gases are ignited at the outlet of the passageways 3' and 3" for burning the gases in the combustion furnace 2'.
In the bottom of each of the incinerators 1, 1' and 1" is installed a bottom plate provided with a plurality of air vent holes. In the fan chamber formed under the bottom plate is installed a duct 6 (not illustrated in FIG. 9) for supplying the outside air as shown in FIG. 8. The outside air thus supplied is blown upward through the air vent holes to promote the combustion of wastes.

Kankyouhozen Kotobuki-Seisakusyo Co., Ltd.


An apparatus including a flashlamp; a lens member connected to the flashlamp; and a reflector connected to the lens member. The lens member is located between the flashlamp and the reflector. A method includes connecting the lens member to the flashlamp, where the lens member substantially surrounds the flashlamp, and connecting the reflector around an exterior side of the lens member, where an exit side of the lens member is not covered by the reflector.

1. Technical Field
The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments relate generally to a flashlamp and, more particularly, to an apparatus having a flashlamp.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
A flashtube, also called a flashlamp, is an electric arc lamp designed to produce extremely intense, incoherent, full-spectrum white light for very short durations. Flashtubes are made of a length of glass tubing with electrodes at either end. The tubing is filled with a gas which, when triggered, ionizes and conducts a high voltage pulse to produce the light. Flashtubes are used mostly for photographic purposes, but are also employed in scientific, medical and industrial applications.


A method for manufacturing a starting element, in particular a sheathed-element glow plug, for the combustion process in an internal combustion engine having a ceramic element (1, 3) is proposed, which substantially improves the glazing of the ceramic element (1, 3). According to the present invention, this is achieved by a dry glaze (2) being applied on the ceramic element (1, 3).

Known starting elements for the combustion process in an internal combustion engine, such as a spark plug or a sheathed-element glow plug, include a ceramic element. Until now these ceramic elements were coated with a slip in a wet process, for example using a casting, dipping, spraying, sprinkling or roll-on method. Once the slip has been applied, the ceramic element is fired, the bakable material contained in the slip fusing or sintering to form a vitreous layer, often also referred to as ceramic layer.
However, a disadvantage of such wet chemical treatment methods is that the manufacture of the slip is comparatively expensive, that fouling processes may destroy the slip and that sedimentation processes must be counteracted, which results in waste-water problems and high energy consumption. Draining slip may form droplets and necessitate expensive aftertreatment. In heaters for a sheathed-element glow plug of a diesel engine the draining slip may result in a thin layer thickness, thereby increasing the danger of a short circuit.

Starting element having ceramic component electrostatically coated with a dry glaze


A yarn breakage detecting system includes yarn detectors for detecting warp yarns forming a warp and for providing yarn detection signals, and a signal processing unit for counting peaks in the yarn detection signals, representing the warp yarns and for providing a yarn breakage detection signal when the number of peaks is smaller than a predetermined number. The warp yarns are divided into a plurality of groups and the adjacent groups are spaced apart by a predetermined distance greater than the pitches of the warp yarns in the groups by spacers or demarcated by identifiers, and the yarn detectors are respectively assigned to the groups of warp yarns. Since the monitoring range of each yarn detector is relatively narrow, the yarn detector can accurately detect the warp yarns at a high resolution in a relatively short time.

Field of the Invention
Yarn breakage detecting systems disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent (Kokai) Application Nos. 50-25860, 51-35759 and 50-25861 (cited references 1, 2 and 3, respectively) detect the number of warp yarns forming a warp and determine that yarn breakage has occurred when the number of the warp yarns is smaller than a predetermined number. The yarn breakage detecting systems disclosed in the cited references 1 and 2 employ a fixed yarn detector which is held fixedly, and the yarn breakage detecting system disclosed in the cited reference 3 employs a moving yarn detector which moves along the warp.
The disadvantages of these prior art yarn breakage detecting systems are exposed when the prior art yarn breakage detecting systems are applied to detecting the breakage of warp yarns of a wide warp. First, the fixed yarn detector is incapable of accurately detecting the warp yarns in the opposite ends of the warp remote from the yarn detector and hence the yarn breakage detecting system is unable to count the number of warp yarns accurately, because the virtual pitches of the warp yarns remote from the fixed yarn detector as viewed from the fixed yarn detector are small and the fixed yarn detector is unable to distinguish individual warp yarns separately.
The moving yarn detector requires a relatively long time to scan all the warp yarns and hence the yarn breakage detecting system is unable to detect the breakage of a warp yarn as soon as it is broken. Consequently, it is possible for serious problems to occur, such as the additional breakage of warp yarns caused by the broken warp yarn and the winding of the broken warp yarn on the cloth beam. The yarn breakage detecting system employing the fixed yarn detector has similar disadvantages.
Such disadvantages may be overcome by dividing the width of the warp into a plurality of monitoring ranges and allocating a plurality of yarn detectors respectively to the plurality of monitoring ranges. Such a means, however, entails other problems; that is, since the warp yarns swing to make the boundaries of the monitoring ranges indistinct and the yarn detectors vibrate and are unable to detect the numbers of the warp yarns in the corresponding monitoring ranges accurately, it is impossible to count the number of the warp yarns accurately. Accordingly, it is impossible to apply such a means to practical use.