In an in-vehicle power line communication system in which a power line communication network and a battery are connected to each other via a first power line, the power line communication network includes a master power line communication node connected to the battery via the first power line, a second power line, slave power line communication nodes including at least a transmitting slave power line communication node and a receiving slave power line communication node, a transmitting-side in-vehicle device, and a receiving-side in-vehicle device. The master power line communication node and the slave power line communication nodes communicate with each other using a time-triggered communication protocol. The mutual communicating of the slave power line communication nodes are controlled by a token signal output from the master power line communication node. Only the master power line communication node and the slave power line communication nodes are connected to the second power line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle power line communication system.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-278538, filed Dec. 14, 2010, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, an in-vehicle communication system was known in the past, in which plural in-vehicle components are connected to each other through the use of a data bus structure capable of only transmitting information and a supply line structure capable of supplying power and transmitting information, information with low importance is transmitted through the use of only the data bus structure, and information with high importance is redundantly transmitted through the use of the data bus structure and the supply line structure (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 4331777).

In-vehicle power line communication system


A plasma-enhanced electron shower (62) for an ion implantation system (10) is provided, including an extension tube (66) having a replaceable graphite inner liner (88). The inner liner is biased to a low negative potential (-6 V) to prevent low energy secondary electrons generated by the electron shower target from being shunted away from the wafer, keeping them available for wafer charge neutralization. The electrically biased inner surface is provided with serrations (126) comprising alternating wafer-facing surfaces (128) and target-facing surfaces (130). During operation of the electron shower (62), photoresist or other material which may sputter back from the wafer collects on the wafer-facing surfaces (128), rendering them non-conductive, while the target-facing surfaces (130) remain clean and therefore conductive. The conductive target-facing surfaces provide a shunt (low resistance) path to electrical ground for high energy electrons generated in the electron shower.

Ion implantation has become the technology preferred by industry to dope semiconductors with impurities in the large scale manufacture of integrated circuits. A typical ion implanter comprises three sections or subsystems: (i) a terminal for outputting an ion beam, (ii) a beamline for directing and conditioning the beam output by the terminal, and (iii) an end station which contains a semiconductor wafer to be implanted by the conditioned ion beam. The terminal includes a source from which a beam of positively charged ions is extracted. The beamline components adjust the energy level and focus of the extracted positively charged ion beam on its way toward the wafer to be implanted.
A problem encountered in the use of such an ion implanter is that of wafer charging. As the positively charged ion beam continues to impact the wafer, the surface of the wafer may accumulate an undesirable excessive positive charge. Resulting electric fields at the wafer surface can damage microcircuitry on the wafer. The problem of accumulated surface charge becomes more pronounced as implanted circuit elements become smaller, because smaller circuit elements are more susceptible to damage caused by the resultant electric fields.
Another problem encountered in the use of such an ion implanter, especially in low energy applications, is a phenomenon referred to as beam "blow-up", which concerns the tendency for like (positively)-charged ions within the beam to mutually repel each other (also known as the space charge effect). Such mutual repulsion causes a beam of otherwise desired shape to diverge away from an intended beamline path. Beam blow-up is particularly problematic in high current, low energy applications because the high density of ions in the beam (high current) exaggerates the force of mutual repulsion of the ions, and the small velocities (low energy) of the ions allows more time for the repulsive force to act upon the ions before they reach the wafer.
A known solution to both wafer charging and the beam blow-up phenomenon is the use of an electron or plasma shower. Such showers may also be referred to as electron or plasma floods. Both electron and plasma showers generate low energy electrons and introduce these electrons into the beam. Plasma floods generate a plasma in an arc chamber and the ion beam potential extracts low energy plasma and electrons into the beam. Electron showers generate secondary (low energy) electrons which are used to enhance the beam to reduce space charge (beam blow-up) tendencies and wafer charging effects.
A typical electron shower shower includes a target chamber in which secondary electrons are generated and an extension tube connected downstream of the target chamber. As the ion beam passes through the target chamber, secondary electrons infiltrate and partially neutralize the beam. The partially neutralized beam passes through the extension tube toward the wafer to be implanted. The trapped low energy electrons thereby neutralize the net charge of the beam which in turn reduces the positive charge accumulation on wafer as the ion beam strikes the wafer surface. The neutralized beam is also less likely to experience detrimental beam blow-up characteristics. Such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,837 to Farley, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
The extension tube of a typical electron shower is made of graphite which provides a conductive path to ground for high energy primary electrons which are preferably prevented from reaching the surface of the wafer. High energy primary electrons could otherwise negatively charge and damage the surface of the wafer. Low energy secondary electrons are preferably passed through the extension tube along with the ion beam to beneficially neutralize positive wafer charging, without negatively charging the wafer.
When the graphite extension tube is new, however, it provides a highly conductive shunt path to ground. As such, even secondary low energy electrons are shunted to ground, removing these shunted electrons from the available supply of charge neutralizing secondary electrons. Over the course of operation of the electron shower, the ion beam passing therethrough impacts the wafer to be implanted, causing a sputtering effect of surface material such as photoresist or silicon or silicon dioxide. The photoresist or other material is back-sputtered to the interior surface of the extension tube, which is the closest portion of the electron shower to the wafer.
Soon after a thin layer of photoresist or other material is back-sputtered to the extension tube, optimal operation results. Because the tube has become slightly less conductive, the tube will charge negatively from the impinging electrons and create a potential barrier preventing low energy electrons from being shunted to ground. Thus, low energy secondary electrons are passed through the tube along with the ion beam to serve their charge neutralizing function. Primary high energy electrons, however, continue to be shunted to ground. Thus, an extension tube must be in use for a "break-in" time before it operates as intended.
As operation continues, however, effectiveness of the extension tube deteriorates. As back-sputtering of photoresist or other material continues, the extension tube becomes increasingly electrically insulating. If the tube becomes sufficiently insulating, even high energy primary electrons will be undesirably passed on to the wafer. In addition, high energy primary electrons which strike the inner insulating surface of the extension tube charge this surface. Secondary electrons which may originate on the surface of the tube, rather than the chamber, therefore assume energy levels consistent with the potential of the insulating surface. The energy level and current density of the secondary electrons therefore drifts higher and higher as the photoresist or other material coating continues to thicken over time, creating more undesirable high energy secondary electrons.
The effectiveness of a particular electron shower depends in part on the efficient generation of a sufficient supply of secondary electrons having consistently low and predictable energy levels. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electron or plasma shower extension tube which increases the number of secondary electrons which are available for charge neutralization purposes, while insuring that secondary electron energy levels are minimal and constant, by providing better control over the energy levels of secondary electrons passed therethrough.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electron or plasma shower extension tube which prevents high energy primary electrons from reaching the surface of the wafer.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an electron or plasma shower extension tube which minimizes the adverse effects of back-sputtered contamination.

Biased and serrated extension tube for ion implanter electron shower


An antenna mount comprising a front cylindrical mount, the front cylindrical mount having a threaded interior for installing an antenna; a flanged central portion; a base mount consisting of a hollow cylinder cut away along a longitudinal axis, leaving a half-circular cross section. The antenna mount can be installed by inserting it into an opening in the casing of a device and rotating the antenna mount until it abuts a stop stud.

Devices such as cellular telephones or personal digital assistants (PDAs), which will sometimes be collectively referred to as "mobile devices" in the following description, have extreme space restrictions for internal components. Significant design efforts are used to ensure the devices are as small as possible.
One of the larger components within such a device is the antenna mount. Antennas need to be screwed into these mounts, which are installed within the device. However, currently these antenna mounts have large rectangular cross section dimensions at the base end of the mount, creating the need for a significant bulge in the casing to accommodate the mount, or for significant space to be set aside within the device itself.
Another problem with current mounts is then installation. Due to the rectangular or square cross-sectional shape of current mounts, installing them requires sufficient space within the casing to slide the mounts into place. Thus installation process itself also requires more availability of space in the casing.


A method and system for determining at least one DC offset compensation value used to suppress carrier leakage occurring on real and imaginary signal paths in an analog radio transmitter when a significant temperature change in the transmitter is detected. At least one DC offset signal having a level that corresponds to the at least one DC offset compensation value is provided to a digital DC offset compensation module which adjusts the DC level of at least one of the real and imaginary signal paths.

Existing wireless system architectural configurations impose stringent constraints on the system designer with regards to transmitting communication signals. Moreover, such configurations often provide low reliability communication links, high operating costs, and an undesirably low level of integration with other system components.
In the radio frequency (RF) section of a conventional low-cost wireless transmitter configured with analog components, a considerable level of distortion occurs when RF signals are processed. Higher cost components with better distortion characteristics that enhance signal quality may be overlooked during the design phase in order to reduce the cost of the end-product.
For example, a common problem associated with conventional wireless communication systems is that a local oscillator (LO) signal, used for the modulator of an analog radio transmitter, leaks to the output of an RF power amplifier in the transmitter. This LO leakage is caused by suboptimal isolation of the LO with respect to analog circuit components in the transmitter, as well as an unavoidable direct current (DC) offset voltage at the mixer stage of the modulator due to mismatches and imperfections in the analog circuit components.
There are several reasons for suppressing carrier leakage. Technical specifications for many mobile communication systems, including universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), define a mask which sets forth the maximum permissible radiated signal energy as a function of frequency. Radiated signals that do not fall within the mask may violate existing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or other rules governing spurious emissions, and may disrupt services provided by the communication systems. Moreover, an unwanted carrier component at the output of the RF power amplifier can degrade the linearity of the RF power amplifier, due to the presence of increased signal levels.
In transmitters and transceivers that employ heterodyne circuitry, LO feedthrough can be dramatically reduced through the use of proper frequency planning and filtering. However, in broadband systems, the RF and LO bands often overlap. For homodyne transmitters, the RF and LO bands virtually always overlap.
There are several current methods which exist to suppress LO leakage, including those that utilize RF parameter balancing techniques. However, practical component tolerances rarely permit more than approximately 30 dB of carrier leakage suppression.
Another technique of adding a correctly leveled and phase-shifted part of the LO signal to the RF signal has the disadvantage of requiring very complex mixers.
Because the costs of components that process RF analog signals are higher than the components that use DSP, it is desired to provide a digital baseband (DBB) system, including a low cost transmitter with low noise and minimal power requirements, that utilizes DSP techniques to provide an improved and less complex method and system for suppressing carrier leakage in an analog radio transmitter.

Method and apparatus for suppressing carrier leakage


To provide a laminate which enables pattern formation with excellent opening shape even in the case where a chemically amplified negative type resist material is used, and a pattern forming method in which the laminate is used.

Attendant on the trend toward smaller size and higher functionality in various electronic apparatuses such as personal computers, digital cameras, and mobile phones, there has been a rapidly increasing demand for further smaller size, smaller thickness, and higher density in regard of semiconductor devices. Accordingly, it is desired to develop a photosensitive insulating material which makes it possible to cope with an increase in substrate area for enhanced productivity and also to cope with a structure having fine ruggedness (fine projections and recesses) with a high aspect ratio on a substrate, in high-density mounting technologies such as chip size packaging or chip scale packaging (CSP) and three-dimensional lamination.
Furthermore, in recent years, in the high density mounting technologies such as chip size packaging or chip scale packaging (CSP) and three-dimensional lamination, a technology has been used vigorously in which a fine pattern with a high aspect ratio is formed on a substrate, and a metal such as copper is stacked on the thus obtained pattern to thereby achieve rewiring from the chip. Attendant on the tendency toward higher density and higher integration of chips, there is an extremely keen demand for a finer pattern line width and a finer contact hole size in connection between substrates in the rewiring technology. As a method for obtaining a fine pattern, lithographic techniques are generally used, and, among others, a chemically amplified negative type resist material is suitable for obtaining a fine pattern. In addition, the pattern used for the rewiring is permanently left in and between the device chips, and is required to have a curability and also serve as an electric/electronic part-protecting film excellent in flexibility, heat resistance, electric properties, adhesion, reliability, and chemical resistance. For this reason, a negative type resist material is thought to be suitable for obtaining such a pattern.
Therefore, a chemically amplified negative type resist material can be suitably used as a pattern forming material permitting fine rewiring, for forming an electric/electronic part-protective film excellent in flexibility, heat resistance, electric properties, adhesion, reliability, and chemical resistance.
On the other hand, in regard of the negative type resist material used in recent years, development of a material is demanded in which the shape of openings for processing fine rewiring is controlled. Since the exposure value at the time of pattern formation increases as the film thickness increases, the efficiency of acid generation of a photo acid generator at a light-exposed surface becomes relatively higher than that at a light exposure bottom portion, so that the shape of openings at the pattern surface portion is liable to be a T-top shape. When the T-top shape is present, it causes a trouble such as defects upon formation of a film coat in the subsequent rewiring process or generation of pattern cracking in various environmental load tests. As a cause of formation of the T-top shape, in the case where a chemically amplified negative type resist material is used, there may be mentioned the formation of a pattern by crosslinking with an acid generated upon light exposure. Therefore, this problem can be solved if an appropriate amount of a basic component is present in the surface layer at the time of pattern formation. However, even if a basic compound can be made present together with other components in a composition, it is impossible to cause the basic compound to be unevenly distributed predominantly in the surface layer. Accordingly, it is difficult to solve the problem by this approach.

Abstract: The laminate includes a chemically amplified negative type resist layer, and a basic resin coat layer thereon that contains 0.001 to 10% by weight of a basic compound having a molecular weight of up to 10,000.


Closed-loop stimulation of the Vagus nerve in response to a detected myocardial ischemia state within a therapeutic window can mitigate or reverse effects of the ischemia. This window is between 0 and 50 seconds of the onset of ischemia, before the myocardial ischemia reaches a statistically significant evolution level. A properly trained machine learning system such as a long short-term memory system can be used to analyze cardiovascular features and detect myocardial ischemia within the therapeutic window.

Myocardial ischemia is a physiological state in which blood flow to the heart is reduced, thereby reducing the oxygen received by the heart. This can lead to irreversible heart damage and/or a heart attack if not treated. Several options currently exist for treating myocardial ischemia. For example, pharmacological drugs can be used to dilate coronary arteries; however, these are often accompanied by debilitating side effects and cannot easily be given during a spontaneous myocardial ischemia episode. Additionally, surgery may be used to graft new blood vessels into the ischemic myocardium for enhanced oxygen delivery; however, open-heart procedures can be extremely dangerous and expensive.

Therapeutic window for treatment of ischemia by vagus nerve stimulation


A method and apparatus for Time Of Flight sensor 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional map generation. The method includes retrieving Time Of Flight sensor fixed point data to obtain four phases of Time Of Flight fixed point raw data, computing Gray scale image array and phase differential signal arrays utilizing four phases of TOF fixed point raw data, computing Gray image array and Amplitude image array for fixed point, converting the phase differential signal array from fixed point to floating point, performing the floating point division for computing Arctan, TOF depthmap, and 3-dimensional point cloud map for Q format fixed point, and generating depthmap, 3-dimensional cloud coefficients and 3-dimensional point cloud for Q format fixed point.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and apparatus for time of flight (TOF) sensor 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional map generation.
2. Description of the Related Art
TOF (Time Of Flight) based sensor captures TOF raw data. TOF raw data array is converted to depth map and then to 3-dimensional point cloud, which are ultimately used for 3-dimensional map array. As 2-dimensional image map array, TOF amplitude image array and gray scale array are obtained.
These operations inevitably require expensive operations, such as, recursive computation, iterative computation, floating point multiplication, floating point division and the like. These features prevent obtaining the real-time processing of TOF based vision systems and make it difficult to perform parallel processing.
Floating point division is a commonly and frequently used operation for 3-dimensional vision applications. However, this is a considerably expensive operation and makes it difficult to support a real-time processing of DSP, vision, and image applications.
Furthermore, arctan function is a heavily computed expensive operation on general purpose processing units, which also prevents real-time processing of DSP, vision, and Image applications. In addition, vector processing is difficult due to intrinsic operational characteristics of arctan and its dependency on angle regions. Ultimately, arctan operation is one of bottleneck for 3-dimensional vision applications.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and/or apparatus for improving the generation of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional maps in TOF sensors and cameras.

Method and apparatus for time of flight sensor 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional map generation


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for performing floating-point operations. The apparatus of the present invention comprises a floating point unit which comprises standard multiply accumulate units (MACs) which are capable of performing multiply accumulate operations on a plurality of data type formats. The standard MACs are configured to operate on traditional data type formats and on single instruction multiple data (SIMD) type formats. Therefore, dedicated SIMD MAC units are not needed, thus allowing a significant savings in die area to be realized. When a SIMD instruction is to be operated on by one of the MAC units, the data is presented to the upper and lower MAC units as 64-bit words. Each MAC unit also receives one or more bits which cause the MAC units to each select either the upper or lower halves of the 64-bit words. Each MAC unit then operates on its respective 32-bit words. The results of the operations performed by the MAC units are then coalesced by the bypass blocks of the floating-point unit into a 64-bit word. The results are coalesced in such a manner that the results appear identical to the results obtained in floating-point units which utilize dedicated SIMD hardware.

The present invention relates to a floating-point unit and, more particularly, to a floating-point unit that is capable of utilizing standard MAC units for performing operations on traditional data type formats and on SIMD data type formats.
As processor speeds and data sizes increase, a critical bottleneck in computation performance for floating-point operations exists with respect to the amount of data that can be brought into the floating-point unit at any one time. With the evolution of processor architectures to 64-bit architectures and greater, the impact of this bottleneck can only be reduced by either utilizing more data load ports, and thus more load bandwidth, or by dividing the 64-bit data into smaller pieces and performing multiple operations on these smaller pieces. This later technique is particularly useful for performing many small operations that do not require precision as great as one 64-bit floating-point number, which is referred to in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) floating-point form standard as a double word. For example, in typical graphics display operations, floating-point operations are computationally intensive, but do not require the range that a 64-bit number is capable of representing. Therefore, this later method of dividing the data into smaller pieces and operating on these smaller pieces can be used advantageously in this type of environment.
Some known architectures that are designed to implement this technique utilize what is commonly referred to as single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) operations. A SIMD instruction causes identical operations to be performed on multiple pieces of data at the same time, i.e., in parallel. Storing smaller pieces of data in one larger register is a more efficient use of die area than storing the smaller pieces of data in a plurality of smaller registers. Therefore, SIMD operations are normally performed on the smaller data pieces in a single, larger register simultaneously. Also, it is necessary to perform the SIMD operations on the smaller data pieces at the same time in order to meet the requirements of SIMD operations.
Processor architectures are currently being designed to support both traditional and SIMD type data formats. Traditional data type formats typically have wider bit sizes than SIMD data type formats. In order to support both of these types of operations, SIMD and standard functional units have been implemented in these architectures for processing traditional and SIMD data type formats. These functional units, one type of which is commonly referred to as multiply accumulate (MAC) blocks, perform various types of arithmetic functions, such as, for example, adds, subtracts and multiplies on the data presented to them. The primary reason for utilizing dedicated MACs for handling SIMD operations is that these dedicated MACs are capable of simultaneously performing two SIMD operations. However, implementing these dedicated SIMD MACs in a floating-point unit is costly in terms of the amount of additional die area consumed by the SIMD MACs. Furthermore, since SIMD operations typically represent approximately less than five percent of all operations performed by the floating-point unit, the tradeoff of die area for processing throughput is expensive.
Accordingly, a need exists for a floating-point unit which is capable of operating on multiple data type formats and which does not require dedicated hardware for each of the different data type formats.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for performing floating-point operations. The apparatus of the present invention comprises a floating point unit which comprises two standard multiply accumulate units (MACs) which are capable of performing multiply accumulate operations on a plurality of data type formats. The standard MACs are configured to operate on traditional data type formats and on single instruction multiple data (SIMD) type formats. Therefore, dedicated SIMD MAC units are not needed, thus allowing a significant savings in die area to be realized.
In accordance with the present invention, when a SIMD instruction is to be operated on by one of the MAC units, the data is presented to the upper and lower MAC units as 64-bit words. Each MAC unit also receives one or more bits which cause the MAC units to each select either the upper or lower halves of the 64-bit words, depending on the MAC unit. For example, the lower 32-bit words may be processed by the upper MAC unit and the upper 32-bit words may be processed by the lower MAC unit.
Each MAC unit operates on its respective 32-bit words. The results of the operations performed by the MAC units are then coalesced by the bypass blocks of the floating-point unit into a 64-bit word. The results are coalesced in such a manner that the results appear identical to the results obtained in floating-point units which utilize dedicated SIMD hardware.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, drawings and claims.

Floating-point unit which utilizes standard MAC units for performing SIMD operations


A method, apparatus, and computer program product for implementing remote control processes is provided. The method includes receiving a request to execute an operation on a target device via selection of a function key on a remote control device. The function key is associated with the operation and the target device that performs the operation for remotely controlling operation of the target device via a signal transmitted from the remote control device to the target device when the function key is selected. The method also includes approving the request to execute the operation when authorization has been secured, and transmitting the signal from the remote control device to the target device in response to the approval.

The present invention relates generally to remote control processes, and more particularly, to methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for providing authorized remote control over safety devices.
First responders and other emergency or management personnel oftentimes have very limited knowledge about the current conditions present at a location when an incident is reported. For example, it may be that an alarm was activated at a facility, which caused a first responding entity to be notified. However, the alarm activation itself may not provide sufficient information as to the nature and/or extent of the conditions within the facility. In fact, most first responders do not fully appreciate the nature and extent of conditions at a facility until they are physically present at the facility, and even then, may be not aware of all of the conditions needed to protect themselves and others.
Another disadvantage faced by first responders relates to the operation and procedures followed by various safety devices located throughout a facility. For example, suppose that a first responder detects smoke in one area of the facility. Suppose also that a sprinkler system was activated due to a level of heat detected in the area. Sprinkler systems are typically configured such that the heat of a fire will open a sprinkler head. As the fire spreads, additional sprinkler heads open, even those where the fire is no longer present. Alternatively, a concussion produced via a high-impact explosion has been known to cause many sprinkler heads to simultaneously open. These scenarios may cause a reduction in water pressure due to the number of active sprinkler heads. The reduction in water pressure, particularly in locations of the facility where the water is most needed, may negatively impact the first responders' efforts in containing the fire. In addition, if sprinkler heads are still active in an area that does not require the water, then valuable equipment, furnishings, and valuables may needlessly become damaged.
What is needed, therefore, is way to selectively and remotely operate (e.g., activate/de-activate) various devices in response to known conditions at a location. What is also needed is a way to control or restrict this selective operation based upon an authorization scheme.

Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for implementing remote control processes


An audio signal processing method, belongs to the field of terminal technologies. The audio signal processing method includes: acquiring a first audio signal of a target song sung by a user; extracting timbre information of the user from the first audio signal; acquiring intonation information of a standard audio signal of the target song; and generating a second audio signal of the target song based on the timbre information and the intonation information.

With the development of the terminal technologies, a terminal supports more and more applications, not only applications implementing basic communication functions but also applications implementing entertainment functions. A user may engage in recreational activities through the applications installed on the terminal for implementing the entertainment functions. For example, the terminal supports a karaoke application, and the user may record a song through the karaoke application installed on the terminal.

Audio signal processing method and apparatus, and storage medium thereof

Guangzhou Kugou Computer Technology Co., LTD.


A reduction gear for producing and feeding the rotation of a low pressure turbine driven by a combustion gas generated in a combustor to an output shaft is received in a central opening of a rotary type heat exchanger which is disposed so as to be perpendicular to a turbine shaft at a rear portion of a body housing of a gas turbine engine. As a result, not only the engine can be made small but also the output can be produced at to the opposite side of the heat exchanger. The combustor and a collector housing for collecting combustion gas are disposed on diametrical opposite sides in a transverse cross section of the body housing whereby an internal space of the body housing is effectively utilized and an axial dimension of the engine is shortened. Since the compressed air is supplied to the heat exchanger through peripheral walls of the body housing having a double construction, prevention of heat radiation from the body housing and effective utilization of an internal space of the body housing are realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention is gas turbine engines of the type in which the turbine rotor is driven for rotation by the combustion gas generated in the combustor, and more particularly, gas turbine engines of the type provided with a heat exchanger which utilizes the thermal energy of the combustion gas to heat air to be supplied to the combustor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, gas turbine engines are roughly grouped into a single shaft type in which one turbine shaft is commonly used for driving a compressor rotor and for producing an output, and a two-shaft type (a multi-shaft type) which is separately provided with a high pressure turbine shaft for driving the compressor rotor and a low pressure turbine shaft for producing the output. In either type of gas turbine engine, the layout of the heat exchanger thereof greatly influences the layout of the turbine shaft and the compactness of the casing, imparting a large restriction to the freedom of design of the gas turbine engine.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 244121/89, there is disclosed a two-shaft type gas turbine engine having the high pressure turbine shaft and the low pressure turbine shaft disposed in series, wherein two heat exchangers are arranged parallel with the turbine shaft at a radial outer position of a turbine rotor to thereby avoid an interference between the turbine shaft and the heat exchangers.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4173/83 discloses a single shaft type gas turbine engine, wherein the heat exchanger is arranged axially externally of that end of the turbine shaft closer to the turbine rotor so as to be perpendicular to said turbine shaft, and the output is produced from the other end of the turbine shaft closer to the compressor rotor so as not to interfere with the heat exchanger.
In addition to the layouts of the aforementioned heat exchangers, the layout of a combustor for generating a combustion gas and of a collector housing for collecting the combustion gas which has driven the turbine rotor is important, and such layouts are important factors in achieving a compactness of the engine.


An apparatus for communication. A headend supports a plurality of customer premises equipment (CPEs) in a cable service network. An NCP carrier selector selects at least one orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) subcarrier taken from a radio frequency (RF) spectrum available for broadcasting signals over the cable service network using a plurality of profiles, wherein each selected OFDM subcarrier comprises a corresponding bit loading for each supported profile that meets or exceeds a minimum number of bits used for delivering next codeword pointer (NCP) messages that is acceptable for each of a plurality of profiles used in the plurality of CPEs for receiving signals over the cable service network. A profile generator generates an NCP profile identifying one or more selected OFDM subcarriers, wherein the NCP profile indicates which OFDM subcarriers within the RF spectrum are usable to carry NCP messages, and an associated bit loading for each selected subcarrier.

A cable network sends downstream and upstream signals using various protocols, including Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) and EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) Protocol over Coax (EPoC). For downstream channels, some of these protocols have selected to use multiple profiles to send broadcast signals over a physical coax network to accommodate for varying channel conditions. However, these profiles are defined for sending data and not for sending control signaling.
For example, DOCSIS 3.1 has selected 16 or more downstream profiles. In each of the profiles, some subcarriers are muted. It may follow that a muted subcarrier in one profile may not be muted in another profile. Every cable modem associated with a corresponding subscriber or customer must be able to receive the control signaling on a reliable basis.
However, a problem arises when signaling messages land on a muted subcarrier for a particular cable modem. In that case, for the same subcarrier, other cable modems may be able to decode the control signaling, but the cable modem having muted that subcarrier would not be able to decode the control signaling.
It would be advantageous to provide for a reliable method for delivering signaling messages.

Method and apparatus for allocating OFDM subcarriers for next codeword pointers or other signaling messages


A cutting tool has a tool body in which a cutting insert is secured to an insert pocket in the tool body by a fastener. In contrast to the use of a threaded clamping screw, the fastener remains in engagement with the tool body during all stages of the attachment and clamping, or unclamping and removal of the cutting insert. The fastener is rotatable between a clamping position and a non-clamping position by means of one of two keys. One key being capable of engaging one of the fastener's ends, and the other key being capable of engaging the other of the fastener's ends. This is particularly convenient for circumstances where the approach to one or the other of the fastener's ends may be obstructed.

Such cutting tools are well known particularly where the cutting insert is replaceably retained by a clamping screw in an insert pocket of the cutting tool. Often with such cutting tools handling difficulties are encountered when removing or replacing the cutting insert, seeing that this requires loosening, removal and screw insertion of the clamping screw in environments in which approach to the clamping screw is either awkward or impossible. For example, in Swiss-type automatic machines cutting tools have tool shanks that are typically made of rectangular shaped bars having a cross-sectional width of between 7 and 12 mm. The cutting insert is clamped in the insert pocket either by means of a screw or a clamp. Screw clamping is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,400 and DE 3114460 A1. Clamps form part of a clamping mechanism that is rather bulky and are not suitable for shanks of very small cross-section. On the other hand, a problem that is encountered with screw-clamped cutting inserts in cutting tools having elongated shanks is that the screw-head is located on one side of the shank. This means that the operator, in order to loosen, remove or insert the screw has to have an approach to the side of the tool shank in which the screw-head is located, which is not always possible.


Examples are disclosed for determining a logical address of one or more victim rows of a volatile memory based on a logical address of an aggressor row and address translation schemes associated with the volatile memory. Other examples are described and claimed.

As dynamic random access memory (DRAM) technologies are scaled to smaller dimensions, reliability issues arise that require mitigation by careful design. One such issue is the noise or disturbance injected into neighboring cells when a row is activated and refreshed repeatedly. The voltage swings and current driven when a row (called the aggressor) is activated or refreshed can inject noise into neighboring cells (victims), potentially draining a little bit of charge from the victim's storage capacitors. The more often the aggressor row is activated before its victim neighbors are activated or refreshed, and the weaker the victim cells (smaller charge, higher leakage, etc.), the higher the probability that one or more cells in the victim row will flip and thus may cause data corruption. The multiple activates to an aggressor row is typically referred to as row hammer.

Techniques for determining victim row addresses in a volatile memory


A ratchet screwdriver includes a mounting seat, a fixing ring, a control member, a driving shaft, four pawls and four springs. The mounting seat has a space, two first slots and two second slots. A passage is defined through the mounting seat. The first slots each have a first hole and the second slots each have a second hole. The driving shaft has a ratchet portion located in the space. The four pawls are biased by the four springs so as to be engaged with the ratchet portion. The fixing ring is connected to the mounting seat and the four pawls are pivotably connected to the fixing ring. The control member is rotatably mounted to the mounting seat and the driving shaft. The control member has two control plates to pivot the pawls to disengage from the ratchet portion of the driving shaft.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,970 discloses a conventional ratchet screwdriver and comprises a mounting seat with multiple through holes which are defined radially therein and the actuating portions of the pawls are movably inserted into the through holes. There are circular holes defined axially in the front end of the mounting seat and the pivot ends of the pawls are engaged with the circular holes. It is noted that the assembling steps will be a time-consuming task because the pawls are inserted into the radial through holes and the axial circular holes. Especially for that the pivot end of each pawl is located at the middle portion of the top and bottom of the pawl, and the recess-conflicting wall of the tubular sleeve and the springs are respectively in contact the two opposite ends of the pawl, so that the pawl is pivoted about the pivot end. The pawl has to be made to large and this increases the size of the driving device of the screwdriver. Besides, the recess-conflicting walls of the tubular sleeve and the springs are respectively in contact the two opposite ends of the pawl so as to control the direction of the pawl, this will cause that driving direction to be unstable.
The present invention intends to provide a ratchet driving device for a ratchet screwdriver to improve the shortcomings mentioned above.


An acoustic source for seismic exploration has a generally cylindrical tube ith spaced upper and lower closed ends. An insulated continuous conductor has a first portion with an exposed internal conductive end within the tube and a second portion extending therefrom through the upper end. A selectively closeable port is operably associated with the tube for permitting the tube to be filled and maintained filled with a conductive solution. A gas vent has a first open end within the tube adjacent the upper end and a second end exteriorly disposed of the tube.

Recent interest in high-resolution tomography has stimulated interest in high-frequency short wavelength energy sources. Two general types of transducers have emerged, one employing piezoelectric principles and the other electric arc discharge principles. Regardless of type, these prior transducers are relatively expensive to manufacture, frequently application specific, and lack a repeatable seismic signature in all geologic settings.
Piezoelectric transducers transmitting a continuous signal in a frequency band of 300 to 2,500 Hz. at an acoustic power of 10 W have been deployed in a manner similar to that of vibrator style surface seismology. Cross-well seismic measurements in sedimentary rocks have been employed, particularly when a piezoelectric cylindrical bender bar transducer operating with gated sinusoidal pulses has been used.
Arc discharge transducers capable of generating pulse signals having dominant frequencies within the 1-2 kHz. range with sufficient energy to allow pulse signal detection at distances of 300 meters or more in relatively low quality rock are known. High-frequency arc discharge devices have principally been used for sub-bottom profiling, although borehole versions of marine sparking devices are known.
One problem with prior seismic sources has been the cost of the equipment, which may be excessive in the event the transducer cannot be retrieved from the borehole. In that event, the transducer is lost and all its costs wasted. Yet another problem is the fact that these seismic sources are generally application specific, so that each is custom engineered and therefore essentially not useable in some other borehole.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there is a need for a high-frequency borehole seismic source which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture so that loss in a borehole is tolerable, the source is not application specific so that a single unit may be used in any number of boreholes, and the source has excellent repeatability of seismic signature in a variety of geologic settings. The disclosed invention meets these criteria in a device which may be manufactured and assembled from commercially available components which are relatively inexpensive.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


The invention provides methods and compositions for simultaneously detecting the activation state of a plurality of proteins in single cells using flow cytometry. The invention further provides methods and compositions of screening for bioactive agents capable of coordinately modulating the activity of a plurality of proteins in single cells. The methods and compositions can be used to determine the protein activation profile of a cell for predicting or diagnosing a disease state, and for monitoring treatment of a disease state.

Proteins are the major components of cells. The spatiotemporal expression pattern and the subcellular localization of proteins determines the shape, structure, and function of cells. Proteins are assembled from 20 different amino acids, each with a distinct side chain and chemical property. This provides for enormous variety in the chemical properties of proteins and the activities they exhibit.
Many proteins are dynamically regulated such that their activity is altered in response to certain intracellular or extracellular cues. In general, the response to these cues is mediated by a broad class of proteins termed receptors. While receptors employ a wide variety of means to transduce intracellular and extracellular cues, a general mechanism involves a receptor binding a ligand, which activates the receptor to propagate a signal that eventually results in altered protein activity within the cell. Because receptors play such an integral role in transducing intracellular and extracellular signals, they have been the subject of intense biochemical study.
Study of receptor function often requires immobilization of a receptor on a solid support. In Western blot analysis, receptors of interest are first separated by electrophoresis and then transferred and immobilized onto a nitrocellulose or a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane. In the phage display screening of a protein expression library, several hundred thousand proteins expressed by phages are immobilized on membranes. In both Western blotting and phage display screening, receptors are immobilized non-covalently. The receptor of interest is then selected by its unique property, i.e., interaction with an antibody. In some other applications such as immunoprecipitation and affinity purification, agents (e.g., antibodies, ligands) are covalently conjugated onto solid supports (e.g., agarose beads) through their primary amines, sulfhydryls or other reactive groups. In general, receptors retain their abilities of interacting with other proteins or ligands after immobilization. However, even with the immobilization of a multiplicity of receptors from a sample, the problems of simultaneous detection of receptor expression, receptor form, and receptor activity for a multiplicity of receptors remains.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to overcome the problems described above. Accordingly, the present invention provides an approach for the simultaneous determination of the clustering and activation states of a plurality of receptors in single cells. This approach permits the rapid detection of heterogeneity in a complex cell population based on receptor clustering and activation states, and the identification of cellular subsets that exhibit correlated changes in receptor clustering and activation within the cell population. Moreover, this approach allows the correlation of cellular activities or properties, such as surface molecule expression or cell granularity, with receptor clustering and activation at the single cell level.

Methods and compositions for detecting receptor-ligand interactions in single cells

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A surface acoustic wave resonator unit using surface acoustic wave, in which a surface acoustic wave resonator formed by disposing an IDT and reflectors on a piezoelectric member thereof is mounted by a cantilever method so that a surface acoustic wave resonator unit exhibiting very stable resonance frequency, a low resonance resistance and a large Q-value is realized. By accommodating the surface acoustic wave resonator in a housing in a vacuum state, the Q-value can be enlarged. By anodic-oxidizing the electrodes forming the IDT, a thick oxide film can be formed, the oxide film enabling the electrodes to be protected from problems, such as short circuit taking due to foreign matters, such as dust, with the characteristics maintained. If the high performance surface acoustic wave resonator unit is molded together with a lead frame by resin, a surface acoustic wave device, that can be mounted on the surface, and that exhibits excellent reliability and high quality, can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface acoustic wave resonator unit suitable to form a high-frequency oscillation circuit and an apparatus that exhibit excellent stability.
2. Description of Related Art
A technique for machining small articles, such as integrated circuits, causes fine electrodes to be formed on the surface of a piezoelectric member, thus enabling surface acoustic waves (SAW) to be electrically driven or detected. By using this technique, high frequency waves from about 100 MHz to the GHz level have been stably obtained. A surface acoustic wave device using the surface acoustic waves has been used to form a high-frequency filter (a surface acoustic wave filter) or a surface acoustic wave resonator unit (a SAW resonator unit) for forming an oscillation circuit.
FIG. 27 shows a known surface acoustic wave device. The device 90 has a surface acoustic wave resonator 92 that is, by an adhesive agent 93, secured to a supporting metal portion 91 and sealed in a case 96, by resistance welding or the like, performed in a nitrogen atmosphere. Leads 94 for establishing the electrical connection with the surface acoustic wave resonator 92, penetrate an insulating portion in the metal portion 91, which is a sealing glass 97. The leads 94 are electrically connected to electrodes disposed on the surface acoustic wave device by bonding wires 95.
The known surface acoustic wave device 90 shown in FIG. 28 is a so-called entire-surface adhesive type surface acoustic wave device that has: a base 101 made of ceramic or the like; and a surface acoustic wave resonator 92 attached to the base 101 by an adhesive agent 93. The base 101 has electrodes metallized thereon for establishing the electrical connection with the surface acoustic wave resonator 92 so that the electrodes on the base 101 and the electrodes on the surface acoustic wave resonator 92 are electrically connected to one another by bonding wires 95 similarly to the foregoing structure. Furthermore, a cap 102 is, by an adhesive agent or the like, attached above the base 101 in an atmosphere of nitrogen. The cap 102 is sometimes attached by brazing, welding or the like.
FIG. 29 shows a surface acoustic wave resonator 110 to be accommodated in the foregoing surface acoustic wave device. The surface acoustic wave resonator 110 is formed by using a piezoelectric member 111, such as a quartz crystal member. The piezoelectric member 111 is obtained by cutting a flat piezoelectric substrate to a predetermined size and dimension, the piezoelectric member 111 being usually formed into a rectangular shape as later described by cutting because an area for disposing a reflector can be obtained, a satisfactory mass productivity can be realized, and machining can easily be performed. An interdigital transducer (IDT) 112 is formed in a substantially central portion of either side (the main surface) of the piezoelectric member 111 by using a thin film electrodes made of aluminum material or the like. Furthermore, reflectors 113, each of which is made of a thin film of aluminum material or the like similar to the electrodes, are disposed on the two sides of the IDT 112 in the lengthwise direction of the same, that is, on the two sides of the longer sides of the piezoelectric member 111. Along the lengthwise directional edges of the piezoelectric member 111, connection lands 114 are connected to the IDT 112 for conducting electric power are formed by using the same material as that of the IDT 112. Therefore, the electrical connection can be established by performing wire-bonding to the connection lands 114.
To form a high-frequency-range and stable oscillator by using the surface acoustic wave device, a surface acoustic wave device having a large Q-value (sharpness of resonance) and a low resonance resistance and, therefore capable of resonating a stable resonance frequency, is required. A conventional surface acoustic wave device of the foregoing type comprises a surface acoustic wave resonator brought into close contact with a support substrate by an adhesive agent. Therefore, the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the surface acoustic wave resonator and a portion for supporting the same, contraction of the adhesive agent, deformation of the supporting portion and the like cause the surface acoustic wave resonator to be distorted, as a result of which the resonance frequency to be made instable or the resonance resistance, is increased. Since many of these surface acoustic wave devices have been used as surface acoustic wave filters, considerably large Q-values have not been required. However, a surface acoustic wave resonator that forms an oscillator must be capable of generating resonance frequencies more stably than that required for the filter. Therefore, it is important to use a surface acoustic wave resonator unit having a low resonance resistance and a large Q-value in order to realize a stable oscillator.
In order to obtain a reliable oscillator, the device for forming the same must have excellent reliability. In a surface acoustic wave device, adhesion of foreign matter, such as dust, to the surface, on which the IDT has been formed, causes a problem to arise in that the frequency is changed or stable resonance characteristics cannot be obtained. If the connection between the IDT and the lead becomes defective, stable oscillation characteristics cannot, of course, be obtained, and an increase in the connection resistance occurring due to the defective connection causes the frequency to be changed and the Q-value to be lowered. Accordingly, it is also important to provide a reliable device by eliminating influence of foreign matter and preventing a defective state of connection while preventing influence of distortion on the surface of the surface acoustic wave resonator.

Surface acoustic wave resonator, surface acoustic wave resonator unit, surface mounting type surface acoustic wave resonator unit


A condensate overflow detection device includes a frame, a housing, an affixing device, a surface placement mechanism, a float and an actuator. The housing has a bottom and a plurality of pan engagement side surfaces extending upwardly from the bottom, each of which is disposed at a different angle relative to the bottom surface. The housing defines a vent structure passing therethrough that allows water to pass into the housing. The affixing device clamps a pan engagement side surface to a sidewall of a secondary condensate pan. The surface placement mechanism places one of the pan engagement side surfaces opposite from the affixing device. The float, disposed within the housing, has a first position when no water has entered the housing and a second position when a predetermined level of water has entered the housing. The actuator causes an event when the float is in the second position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to condensate overflow detection devices and, more specifically, to a condensate overflow detection device adapted to fit a variety of condensate pan types.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical central air conditioner system includes an evaporator unit disposed inside of the building being cooled. The evaporator unit includes a refrigerant coil, which absorbs heat from air flowing through the coil. Water vapor condenses on the coil as the coil cools the air. Water droplets forming on the coil through condensation coalesce and eventually drip off of the coil into a primary condensate pan. Water in this pan usually is either drained or pumped to a location outside of the building. However, most systems include a secondary condensate pan below the primary condensate pan that is configured to receive water in case water is not properly evacuated from the primary condensate pan.
It is important to detect water accumulation in the secondary condensate pan, as failing to do so could result in water damage to the building being cooled. One method of detecting water build-up in the secondary condensate pan is to place a float switch detector in the pan that disables the air conditioning unit upon detection of water accumulation. Such a detector is typically attached to the circumferential wall of a pan and includes a float that opens a switch as a result of being pushed up by water.
Secondary condensate pans include a flat portion and a peripheral wall. The peripheral walls of many systems are disposed at 90° relative to the flat portion. However, some peripheral walls are disposed at different angles. In many cases, when a detector is affixed to a wall that has an angle relative to the flat portion that is different than 90°, its float is oriented at the same angle as the wall. When a detector is disposed at an angle that is not normal to the floor, it will require more water in the secondary condensate pan to deactivate an air conditioner than a detector that is disposed normal to the floor.
Therefore, there is a need for a detector that maintains the float in an upright position irrespective of the angle of the wall of the secondary condensate pan.


An imaging target tracker and a method for determining thresholds that are used to optimally distinguish a target from background. The present invention is an imaging target tracker that comprises a likelihood-based threshold selection method that uses knowledge of the location of a target to build up temporally-smoothed grey-level distribution or likelihood maps. Inner and outer histograms are formed that comprise inner and outer regions of an image, respectively, using inner, buffer and outer gates that segment the image. The inner and outer histograms are then recursively smoothed. A lookup table of actually observed pixel values is formed. A target likelihood value for actually observed pixel values is then computed. Legal start and end points of histogram segments are identified. Valid histogram segments are identified. The longest histogram segment is identified. Finally, two optimal thresholds are selected 8 and are set at respective ends of histogram segments. The likelihood maps adapt over time to the signature of the target. The grey-level distribution of the target is used to select thresholds that pass a band of grey levels whose likelihood that they belong to the target is high.

The present invention relates to imaging target trackers, and more particularly, to a likelihood-based threshold selection method and imaging target tracker using same.
Many gated imaging target trackers use thresholding to distinguish target regions from background areas in the input imagery. The thresholding operation and calculation of geometric moments from the resulting binary image are computationally inexpensive enough to be performed every cycle, allowing the estimate of target position to be updated very frequently.
A typical centroid tracker might employ a threshold in concert with a polarity indicator to separate from the remainder of the image the bright or dark pixels that belong to the target. Extensions of this technique include the use of multiple thresholds, with the target pixels being those whose grey levels fall between or outside the bands specified by the threshold values.
Most threshold selection algorithms find thresholds that are optimal according to specific regional or global statistics. These traditional approaches do not involve any model of the target except that it is expected to be separable from the background by a threshold suite. Thus they fail to make use of the most important unique feature of imaging target trackers: the well-known location of the target in each frame.
The shortcomings of prior art are that most threshold selection algorithms described in the literature are not concerned with segmentation of the image into target and background components. Instead, most are designed to optimize some global statistic, such as entropy, edge prevalence, or visual appearance, for example. Such methods are described by T. Pun, "Entropic Thresholding: A New Approach," Computer Vision, Graphics and Image Processing Vol. 16, pp. 210-239, 1981, R. Kohler, "A Segmentation System Based on Thresholding," Computer Graphics and Image Processing Vol. 15, pp. 319-338, 1981, and R. Whatmough, "Automatic Threshold Selection from a Histogram Using the 'Exponential Hull," CVGIP: Graphical Models and Image Processing Vol. 53, p. 592-600, 1991, respectively. For instance, an approach that attempts to maximize information content might result in a threshold pair like that in FIG. 1(d), yielding a silhouette in which the true target pixels are split between the foreground and background of the resulting binary image. Methods of this nature are not suited for use with centroid trackers that expect the silhouette image to contain only target pixels in its foreground.
Threshold selection algorithms used in most imaging target trackers benefit from knowledge of the target position, and can therefore use metrics of threshold quality that favor extraction of foreground pixels only within the track gate. Additionally, since thresholding occurs only in the region immediately surrounding the track gate, behavior of the thresholds over the remainder of the image does not affect track measurement accuracy.
Despite these advantages, traditional methods of selecting thresholds for imaging trackers have not taken advantage of the fact that the object to be segmented is the same in each frame over time. Standard approaches typically look at each frame separately, using temporal continuity only to prevent the thresholds from changing too rapidly. The traditional methods often assume that the target contrasts with the background at one or the other end of the grey scale dynamic range, and that it maintains this polarity throughout the life of the track. Such approaches are described in U.S. Pat. No, 4,849,906, issued to Chodos et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,584 issued to Rue et al., for example. These approaches cannot find thresholds to segment out a target if it is neither uniformly brighter nor darker than its background. Furthermore, even if the target was tracked in a dark area of the background where the target contrasts positively against the background, if the target subsequently moved over a bright portion of the background, the positive contrast assumption would be incorrect and loss of lock would likely result.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for an improved threshold selection method and imaging target tracker using same.

Likelihood-based threshold selection for imaging target trackers


A driving belt (2) operatively mounted on at least a first (3a) and second (4) pulleys electrically insulated from each other, is provided with an electrically conductive covering fabric acting in contact relationship with the pulleys. By applying an electric voltage to the pulleys (3a, 4) the electric resistance value offered by the belt (2) is detected and this value is compared with a reference value to which a given degree of wear of the belt corresponds. When the detected resistance value is greater than the reference value, a danger signal is emitted. The danger signal is inhibited during the belt operation and during a predetermined waiting time starting from the moment of the belt stopping in order to avoid the resistance detection to be altered by electrostatic charges present on one of the pulleys (3a, 4) and/or the high temperature in the vicinity of the belt (2).

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus to check the state of wear in a coating fabric of a driving belt.
It is well known that for driving belts periodical inspections and/or replacements are required in order to avoid the risk, above all where positive drive belts are concerned, of the mechanical devices or members driving or driven by the belt being damaged, which would occur in case of accidental breakage of the belt itself.
Belts are usually comprised of an elastomeric body and a coating fabric applied to at least one of the belt surfaces designed to come into contact with the active surfaces of the belt pulleys.
In toothed belts this fabric is provided to coat the belt toothing designed to mesh with the pulley teeth.
In many cases the periodical inspection and/or replacements carried out directly by the person utilizing and/or taking care of the machine or apparatus on which the belt is mounted, is not sufficient to avoid the risk of breakage of the belt resulting from the wear of the coating fabric for example.
For the purpose of avoiding this problem, the applicant has developed a method and apparatus capable of checking the acceptability of the state of wear of the coating fabric in a driving belt in a completely automatic manner.
In particular this method and apparatus, being the object of the European Patent Application No. 91830544.2, disclose the use of a driving belt, a toothed belt for example, provided with a reinforcing textile cover applied to the work surface acting in contact with the pulleys.
The covering fabric is treated with electrically conductive charges so that, by applying an electric voltage between two pulleys engaging the belt which are electrically insulated from each other, it is possible to detect the resistance offered to the passage of current by at least two belt branches kept taut between said pulleys.
The belt use brings about the progressive consumption of the electrically conductive charges of the covering fabric and, consequently, the progressive increase in the detectable resistance value, so that, based on the detected resistance value, it is possible to ascertain to the state of wear of the belt fabric.
In particular, the resistance value detected on the belt is provided to be compared with a previously input resistance value corresponding to a given state of wear of the belt fabric.
When the belt fabric resistance overcomes the previously input value, a danger signal is emitted which informs the operator about the necessity of replacing the belt, which operation must be planned in due time in order to avoid the occurrence of irreparable damage not only to the belt but also to the motor to which the belt is connected.

Method and apparatus to check the state of wear in a covering fabric of a driving belt

Pirelli Transmissioni Industriali S.p.A.


A display device includes: a first chassis including a bottom surface, and a side wall which extends from an edge of the bottom surface; a light guide plate in the first chassis; a first fixing member which overlaps the side wall of the first chassis and contacts an upper surface of the light guide plate; and a first fastening member which fastens the first fixing member to the side wall of the first chassis. The first chassis includes a groove which extends through the side wall of the first chassis, the light guide plate includes a first protrusion which protrudes from an edge of the light guide plate and extends into the groove, and the first fixing member contacts an upper surface of the first protrusion of the light guide plate.

(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a display device capable of reducing a bezel space that is not used for displaying images on a screen.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A computer monitor, a television, a mobile phone or the like that are widely used need a display device. Examples of the display device are a cathode ray tube display device, a liquid crystal display and a plasma display device.
A liquid crystal display, which is one of the most common types of flat panel displays in use, includes two sheets of display panels on which field generating electrodes such as a pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed, and a liquid crystal layer that is interposed therebetween. The liquid crystal display displays an image by applying voltage to the field generating electrodes to generate an electric field on the liquid crystal layer, thereby determining orientations of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer and controlling the polarization of incident light.
Since the liquid crystal display is not a self-luminous device, the liquid crystal display needs a light source. In this case, the light source may be a separately mounted artificial light source or natural light. Examples of the artificial light source used in the liquid crystal display are a light emitting diode ("LED"), a cold cathode fluorescent lamp ("CCFL"), and an external electrode fluorescent lamp ("EEFL").
In order for light emitted from the artificial light source to reach the entire display panel uniformly, a light guide plate ("LGP") is required.
The liquid crystal display includes a bottom chassis receiving constituent elements such as a display panel, a light source and a light guide plate. The constituent elements need to be fixed to the bottom chassis so as to prevent the constituent elements from being separated and damaged during processes of manufacturing and transporting the liquid crystal display.
In the related art, a groove is formed on a light guide plate and a pin passing through the groove is pressed into the bottom chassis, thereby fixing the light guide plate to the bottom chassis. As a result, a bezel space that is not used for displaying a screen increases.
In addition, since the light guide plate continues to be heated by the light source while being fixed to the bottom chassis, the light guide plate may be deformed at high temperature and humidity. In this case, since the light source is also fixed to the bottom chassis, the distance between the light source and the light guide plate is designed to be widened in order to prevent the light source from being influenced by the deformation of the light guide plate, which increases the bezel space that is not used for displaying images on a screen.


An Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) gasket formed of a hollow, conductive material which is mechanically fastened to a metal support layer. The assembly can be installed using standard high speed SMT pick and place equipment.

An EMI gasket is an electrically conductive interface material that is used to connect an electrically conductive shield with a corresponding section of an electrical ground, such as a ground trace of a printed circuit board (PCB). The ground trace typically encircles components that either emit electromagnetic interference or are sensitive to such interference. Preferably, an EMI gasket should be highly electrically conductive and conformal under pressure. Once assembled, the gasket material mechanically (and thus, electrically) fills the gaps between the shield and ground trace, forming a Faraday Cage around the components, thereby shielding them from EMI.
Since the mating surfaces of both a shield and PCB are not perfectly parallel and flat (for tolerance reasons), gaps are created at the interface, which can leak EMI. Gaps can also result from flexing. An EMI gasket must be compressible so that it fills in these gaps, thereby consistently maintaining electrical contact between the shield and ground trace over the intended design range of tolerances and flexing. As cellular phones and other devices become smaller and lighter, the materials they are made from become more susceptible to this flexing. As market pressures continue to push pricing downwards, designers have been forced to loosen flatness specifications on shield and PCB parts, and decrease the number of typical screw fasteners (replacing them with snap features). Typically, previous shield and PCB designs have required approximately 0.2 to 0.3 mm of conformability (compression) out of an EMI gasket material. Today's designs are pushing that requirement more towards 0.4 to 0.6 mm, yet with less available force. These trends place a higher demand upon the EMI gasket, forcing it to be more compressible under lower forces (i.e. softer), yet still delivering proper electrical performance. This is pushing the very limits of EMI gasket technology.
Presently, EMI gaskets are almost exclusively installed directly onto the shield, as opposed to the PCB, and often must have a customized pattern for each application. These EMI gaskets are typically comprised of conductive particles in a binder, such as silicone. They are typically dense and difficult to compress, since they necessarily rely on the conductive particles to contact each other. Stamped metal parts with formed compressible spring-like 'fingers' are another type of gasket material, but these are known to have high-frequency performance issues due to the 'finger' spacing, as well as electrical reliability issues over time and exposure to elevated temperature and humidity. The present manufacturing techniques for installing such EMI gaskets include the following: dispensing a conductive particle-filled paste or liquid material directly onto the shield's surface and curing the dispensed material in-situ; die-cutting a conductive sheet material having an adhesive backer and then transferring, positioning and adhering the dimensioned material directly to the shield's surface; or mechanically fastening a conductive spring-like metal material to the shield's surface.
Conductive EMI gasket "ropes" have been developed to address the issue of softness. These are typically extruded tubes that are either somewhat homogeneously comprised of conductive particles in an elastomeric binder, or so-called "dual-extrusion" types which are comprised of a dielectric, elastomeric inner core and an electrically conductive outer layer, typically conductive particles in an elastomeric binder. Silicone is often used for the binder and/or core, due to its mechanical resiliency and high temperature resistance. These "ropes" can offer high compressibility with low forces, owing to their tube-like shape and hollow center (compression hole). Since they are extruded, however, they cannot be customized to complex, customized shapes, which limits their flexibility particularly in complicated handset designs. Using separate individual pieces of such a material can add design flexibility, but requires the use of an adhesive and complex peel-and-stick automation, which is cumbersome, difficult and often unreliable. Alternatively, a groove in the shield can be used to retain the tube or tube pieces, but this consumes significant space in a design, which is at a premium in handsets.
As is well understood by those skilled in the art, SMT (Surface Mount Technology) machines typically utilize a vacuum head on the end of a high-speed pick-and-place system to install tape-and-reel-fed PCB components onto surface-mount pads on a PCB. These pads are usually pre-screened with solder-paste (or conductive adhesive) and then sent through a reflow process (such as infrared-IR, vapor-phase, or convection) to melt the solder joints (or cure the adhesive), thereby forming an electrical and mechanical connection. As stated before, EMI gaskets are generally installed directly onto the shielding cover, which mates to a matching ground trace on the PCB. However, there is an SMT-compatible EMI gasket assembly that can be placed directly onto the PCB, and soldered (or bonded) to the ground trace. This gasket assembly can also be soldered or bonded to the shielding cover, as well, for additional flexibility. This type of gasket assembly is available under the trade name of GORE-SHIELD® SMT EMI gaskets. Gore's U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,235,986 and 6,255,581 are incorporated herein by reference. A typical SMT-compatible gasket assembly solution might be made up of a multitude of individual, gasket assemblies combined to form a more-or-less continuous gasket design, or just a few discrete assemblies used in selected areas, depending upon the shielding performance required. The benefits of this approach are well known, but include allowing for standard assembly sizes, design flexibility, speed of incorporating design changes, and providing a cost-effective way to add consistent, discrete point grounding to an EMI shielding scheme. These SMT-compatible EMI gasket assemblies have been particle-filled, which suffer from some of the same compressibility issues as dispensed type gaskets. What is needed for today's designs, however, is an SMT-compatible gasket assembly that is softer than existing products. This would allow for lighter, thinner, less expensive covers and housings with a larger range of tolerances, and allow for larger ranges of deflection, as described previously.

Soft surface mount technology compatible EMI gasket


An X-ray diagnosis apparatus is disclosed which includes two different cooling circuits and a single cooling portion. A first heat transfer medium is circulated for absorbing heat generated in the X-ray generator. A second heat transfer medium is circulated for absorbing the heat generated in the planer type X-ray detector. A heat exchanger is provided for exchanging heat between the first heat transfer medium and the second heat transfer medium. The cooling portion is coupled to the cooling circuit carrying the second heat transfer medium in order to cool the second heat transfer medium.

An X-ray diagnosis apparatus is used for diagnosis and the like of an object by taking an X-ray photograph of the object by irradiating X-rays generated from an X-ray generator to the object and exposing a film with X-rays having passed through the object. Further, the X-ray diagnosis apparatus is also used for diagnosis and the like by detecting X-rays having passed though the object using a planer type X-ray detector composed of a plurality of X-ray detecting elements disposed two-dimensionally and flatly, and by drawing an X-ray image having a distribution of intensity and density of the detected X-rays on a monitor in place of a film.
Since the planer type X-ray detector used in the X-ray diagnosis apparatus and the like generates heat in operation, when the characteristics of detected X-rays are changed by a temperature change due to the generated heat, there is a possibility that the quality of the X-ray image is changed.
To cope with this problem, temperature change of the planer type X-ray detector is prevented by a cooler using a Peltier element as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-271456. That is, the planer type X-ray detector including semiconductor materials such as gallium and arsenic etc. is hermetically sealed in a glass casing or the like so that it is not adversely affected by moisture and the like, the Peltier element is bonded on the glass casing, and a heat sink is attached to the radiating surface of the Peltier element. The heat sink is forcibly cooled by an air cooling fan as well as heat is radiated therefrom by convection, thereby the X-ray detector is cooled through the Peltier element and the glass casing.
On the other hand, as a cooler of the X-ray generator for generating X-rays, there is a circulation cooling system is employed as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 11-367296. In the circulation cooling system, a vessel, in which an X-ray tube is accommodated, is filled with insulating oil as a heat transfer medium, the insulating oil is continuously extracted to the outside of the vessel and returned thereinto after it is cooled.
Although the heat generated by the planer type X-ray detector is about 0.1 kw, it is required to stably keep the X-ray detector within a predetermined temperature range (for example, from a room temperature to about 35° C.) to prevent deterioration of image quality. In contrast, when imaging is executed using a film, since the X-ray generator consumes power of about 20 to 30 kw for several seconds, it generates heat in a quantity large than that of the planer type X-ray detector. However, it is sufficient to keep the X-ray generator at a temperature equal to or less than 75° C. Further, although power consumption in fluoroscopy executed using the planer type X-ray detector is about 0.2 to 0.6 kw, power is consumed for a long time (for example, one hour).
As described above, since the planer type X-ray detector and the X-ray generator generate heat in a different quantity and are kept at a different temperature, they have coolers provided individually in the conventional art, and it is not taken into consideration to commonly use one of the coolers by both the devices.

X-ray diagnosis apparatus having a common cooler


A fluid power conversion apparatus (1) serving fluid pumping and/or power-generation functions, including: (a) an impeller (5) having a hub (8) and a periphery; (b) a housing (13) around the impeller; (e) a diffuser (12) having an outer wall attached to the housing, a diffuser hub (7) axially-aligned with the impeller hub, rotatable support of the impeller being provided only by a bearing assembly (6) internal to the hubs, and at least one stator vane (11) securing the diffuser hub to the outer wall; and (d) a rotating electrical machine with an armature (16) attached to the housing and a rotor (20) attached to the impeller periphery and positioned to form a gap (18) between rotor and armature, the impeller and the rotor form an integrated unit, the armature has radially-inward protrusions having laminations (73) and windings (74), and the rotor has parallel magnetic tings (71) configured to sandwich the protrusions, the rings each having a plurality of magnetic poles configured so each north pole is aligned with a south pole on its neighboring ring(s).

Fluid power conversion apparatus such as a turbine-generator combination or an electrically-driven continuous flow pump, an example of which is shown in FIG. 1, typically has an external motor 105 driving the pump 106 which causes fluid flow through pump 106 in direction A. Since the process is reversible, the same configuration can be used to convert fluid flow to electrical power. In such a case, a turbine 106 is driven by the kinetic energy of fluid flow through turbine 106 in direction B and drives an electrical generator 105 that is placed outside the turbine housing.
In both of these cases, the drawback of separating the functions of the motor and the pump (or the turbine and the generator) is that it requires that a shaft 102 pass through a housing penetration 100. Housing penetration 100 requires a rotary seal 101 between shaft 102 and housing 103 to prevent escape of the fluid or the ingress of ambient air. In both cases, an external bearing 104 is needed to support shaft 102 connected to impeller 107.
Another drawback of such systems is that a bend in the inlet or outlet duct 103 is needed to allow shaft 102 to exit in line with impeller 107, disturbing the natural flow direction of the fluid and adversely affecting efficiency. Also, the presence of shaft 102 in the flow creates turbulence and drag, also adversely affecting efficiency.
A further drawback is that the bend in duct 103 complicates the installation, especially in locations with tight space requirements. Installation with in-line flange connections is not possible.
Lastly, the motor or generator is a separate entity from the pump or turbine, requiring that these components be installed so as to maintain the alignment of the shafts of each of the pair of components. This requires that a coupling 108 be placed in between the pair of shafts. The motor and pump or turbine and generator need to be mounted to a common base (not shown) to maintain such alignment during operation and to transmit the generated torque from one to the other.
To adapt the high rotational speed of an electric motor/generator to the lower speed of the pump/turbine, a gearbox is frequently placed between pump/turbine and motor/generator, adding another component which then requires yet another coupling. Alignment between motor/generator and pump/turbine are required, and the torque compensation provided by a common base is also necessary.
An electric motor or generator rejects heat during the consumption or generation of electric power and requires the removal of the heat through an external cooling system for the motor or generator.
These drawbacks, which result in higher costs, inefficient operation and inefficient use of space, are summarized in the following list:                the need for a drive shaft, fluid seal and external bearing;        separate components resulting in high acquisition costs;        flow turbulence caused by the duct bend and the drive shaft;        the duct bend complicating installation and preventing in-line installation;        the need to align and install separate components on a common base;        the need for a gearbox further complicating the installation; and        the need for an external cooling system.
The present invention arranges the fluid power conversion apparatus by combining the impeller and the motor/generator rotor concentrically and in radially-coincidental planes whereby the armature windings are outside the fluid flow path at the pump periphery, and the armature is fixed to an outer housing. The motor/generator rotor is attached directly to the impeller at the periphery of the impeller blade tips.
The present invention eliminates all extraneous requirements of the conventional pump or turbine as described above, namely the drive shaft, the external bearing, the shaft seal, the bend in the duct, the installation and alignment of the motor/generator, a common installation base, a gearbox, and the external cooling requirements of the motor/generator. All of this is accomplished by integrating the motor/generator with the pump/turbine impeller in a more efficient and compact way.
The motor/generator rotor is affixed directly to the pump/turbine impeller and is "wet" (exposed to the fluid flow) while the armature with windings is located outside the fluid flow pump/turbine housing. The gap between armature and rotor is situated at a greater diameter from the centerline than is economically practical with a suitable conventional electric motor or generator so that more torque can be generated and more power can be transmitted at lower shaft speed than in an otherwise identical motor envelope. The fluid is forced through the rotor/armature gap to cool the motor/generator by the pressure difference between the intake and outlet side of the impeller. An impeller support bearing serves as a common bearing for both pump/turbine and motor/generator.
The wet rotor consists of magnets and encapsulating material and contains no electrical windings or brushes, thereby eliminating the need to keep the rotor dry. The larger diameter of the rotor of the electric motor/generator in combination with electronic speed control/power conditioning can perform the function of a conventional gearbox.
In a hollow rotor design that is entirely supported at the periphery, the bearing and the water seal are placed at the periphery of the rotor around the impeller. This requires an expensive, large diameter bearing and seal and is difficult to maintain over extended periods of operation. In the present invention, the impeller/rotor bearing is not placed at the periphery of the impeller but at the centerline of the pump/turbine, and the support is supplied by a hub held in place by the pump/turbine diffuser stator vanes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,768 (Veronesi et al.) discloses an electrically-driven waterjet propulsion system in which the electric motor portion is placed forward of the pump over the reduced-diameter suction portion of the rotor. The rotating portion is supported by a peripheral bearing 54 as well as bearings 56 and 58 mounted inside the impeller hub 30. The combined arrangement, as a result of the motor portion being placed in front of the pump, considerably lengthens the waterjet intake. Moreover, it places the intake opening on the bottom of the vessel hull substantially farther forward, unfavorably affecting waterjet performance (increasing the likelihood of picking up boundary air at high speeds). Furthermore, placing the motor forward of the pump greatly increases the requirement for structural support and the complexity of additional structure, both resulting in increased weight and cost.
In addition, Veronesi et al. utilize water-lubricated bearings for each of the three bearings 54, 56 and 58. Water-lubricated bearings are by nature less precise than precision roller bearings, thus requiring both a larger gap tolerance and an impeller peripheral clearance, resulting in loss of overall system efficiency. Further, the AC-powered squirrel cage motor in such systems has severe limitations in power density (power output per volume of the apparatus), thus causing a scale mismatch between the capability of the electric motor and the waterjet positioned therein and powered thereby. The motor can only provide a fraction of the power that the waterjet would be capable of providing.

Integrated fluid power conversion system


A gas supply member is disposed in a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus and has a planar surface facing an inner space of the chamber and a plurality of gas holes bored in the planar surface to supply a gas through the gas holes to the inner space. An outer periphery portion of each gas hole at the planar surface has a slant surface formed to correspond to a flow of the gas injected through each gas hole. Further, the slant surface includes at least any one of a flat surface and a curved surface. An angle formed between the slant surface and the planar surface is equal to or greater than that formed between the planar surface and a distribution of the gas injected through each gas hole.

In general, a plasma processing apparatus for performing a predetermined plasma processing on a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, a flat display panel or the like, includes an accommodation chamber (hereinafter, referred to as a "chamber") for accommodating therein the substrate. In the plasma processing apparatus, a processing gas is introduced into the chamber through a gas introduction shower head functioning as a gas supply member and a high frequency power is applied thereto to produce a plasma from the processing gas, wherein the plasma is used in performing a plasma processing on the substrate.
A portion facing the chamber (to be referred as a "chamber-facing portion" hereinafter) of the gas introduction shower head is normally made of a flat plate having a plurality of gas holes for injecting the processing gas. However, when the high frequency power is applied to the chamber, an electric field tends to be concentrated at an outer periphery portion of a gas hole of the gas introduction shower head, which may cause an abnormal discharge. Such an abnormal discharge incurs damage on the substrate or constituent components disposed in the chamber. Specifically, crack, notch or the like may be developed on a surface of a semiconductor wafer employed as the substrate, or the constituent component may be damaged.
Thus, there has been known in the conventional plasma processing apparatus that a curved surface is formed at the outer periphery portion of the gas injection hole to prevent the concentration of the electric field and the abnormal discharge (e.g., see Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. S59-4011).
Since, however, there are planar portions between gas holes in the chamber-facing portion of the gas introduction shower head of the conventional plasma processing apparatus, a flow of the processing gas injected through the gas holes is abated in the middle portions between the gas holes where the planar portions exist, so that the processing gas remains stagnant thereat. Particles produced in the chamber move towards where a gas viscous force caused by collisions with gas molecules of the processing gas injected through the gas holes, an ion viscous force caused by collisions with ions and an electrostatic force applied thereto are balanced with each other (FIGS. 8 and 9). Therefore, the particles are left stagnant in the middle portions between the gas holes, where the flow of the processing gas is abated and thus the gas viscous force becomes weak. Further, since radicals serving as precursors also remain stagnant in the middle portions between the gas holes as in the case of the particles, deposits are likely to be made on the middle portions and then peeled off therefrom to become foreign substances adhering on the semiconductor wafer. Moreover, accumulation of deposits may lead to changes in the reaction process in the chamber (memory effect).

Gas supply member and plasma processing apparatus