A down converter for converting an input DC voltage (Vin) into a lower output DC voltage (Vout). The down converter has on the primary side (2) an LC series resonance circuit (4) that can be connected via a first switch (S1) to the input voltage (Vin) and via a second switch (S2) to ground. On the secondary side (3), an output switch (S3) and an output capacitor (C) are each connected in parallel to the DC voltage output (Vout) and connected to each other through an inductor (L). The output switch (S3) is connected via a diode (Dr) to the input voltage (Vin) so as to divert voltage overshoots.

The invention is directed to a voltage converter, particularly a down converter, for converting an input DC voltage into a lower output DC voltage.
Such a down converter, also called a step-down converter or buck converter, according to the prior art is shown in FIG. 1 by way of example. The down converter has a primary side 2 having a DC voltage input Vin and a secondary side 3 having a DC voltage output Vout. Disposed on the primary side 2 is an LC series resonance circuit 4 made up of a coil Lr and a capacitor Cr that can be connected via a first switch S1 to the input voltage Vin and via a second switch S2 to ground. On the secondary side 3, an output switch S3 and an output capacitor C are each connected in parallel to the DC voltage output Vout and connected to each other through an inductor L. The switches preferably take the form of field-effect transistors.
Not illustrated is a control unit, such as a microcontroller, that controls the individual switches.
The resonance circuit makes it possible to avoid the losses that occur when switching on S1 in conventional down converters in continuous operation due to the discharge of the parasitic drain-source capacitance of S1. In explaining the function of zero voltage switching, initially S1=ON and S2, S3=OUT. Then the current increases through the choke coils, where Cr is sufficiently large that its voltage only changes slightly in comparison to the input voltage. If S1 is switched off, the current from the energy supplied by the choke coils continues to flow and recharges the parasitic capacitances of S1 and S2 until finally the body diode of S2 is conductive and S2 can be switched on without losses. At this point of time, the voltage at S3 is also close to zero because Lr<<L, so that S3 can also be simultaneously switched on quasi loss-free. L now feeds its residual energy into C, while Lr charges the capacitor Cr. As soon as the energy in Lr is exhausted, the current in Lr changes its direction and increases according to a sine function. The time it takes to reach the current maximum is solely determined by the values of Lr and Cr. As soon as the current is close to maximum, S2 is switched off and the magnetic energy in Lr recharges the parasitic capacitances of S1 and S2, so that S1 can be switched on loss-free. S3 has to be open at the same time S1 is switched on (FIG. 1b). More detailed analysis shows that it is advantageous if S3 is only switched off somewhat later so as to prevent the body diode of S3 from opening. A short ON overlap of S1 and S3 is possible, particularly since Lr limits the increase in current.
Typical operating frequencies lie between 50 kHz and 200 kHz. The OFF time of the half bridge is constant and the level of the output voltage is set via the duty cycle.
This circuit may also be set up using galvanic isolation in accordance with FIG. 2. Here, the primary side having the primary winding of a transformer 5 is connected to a core 6. On the secondary side, an additional capacitor Cr is connected between the secondary winding 8 and the output switch S3.
In the circuit in FIG. 3, in addition to galvanic isolation, the ripple-steering technique is applied in which the choke coil L is disposed on the core of the transformer.
Other embodiments of down converters are known, for example, from WO 2009/158230 A1.
After extensive testing of the circuit according to FIG. 1a, the inventors have now discovered that when switching on the switch S1, strong voltage overshoots occur at switch S3. These oscillations occur in that the parasitic capacitance of the switch S3 together with Lr and Cr form a series resonance circuit having a very high natural frequency. The voltage at S3 thus swings up to double the input voltage. These voltage overshoots pose a threat to the switch S3 which could be damaged by the high voltage. Moreover, the voltage oscillations cause undesired EMC emissions and reduce the efficiency of the voltage converter.


A virtual reality data presentation system capable of improving naturalness of the system operation and data presentation. In the system, 3D model is presented according to 3D model data; input data for manipulating objects in the presented 3D model is entered; and a presentation of the 3D model is controlled according to the 3D model data, the entered input data, and control data specifying reactions of the objects in the presented 3D model with respect to the entered input data. In addition, in the system, real object data are obtained from actual objects represented by the objects in the 3D model; and a presentation of the presented 3D model is controlled to selectively present selected ones of the objects in the 3D model in terms of the obtained real object data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data presentation system for such data as visual image data and audio sound data, and more particularly, to a data presentation system suitable for the so called virtual reality data presentation.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, there has been an image display for displaying the computer graphic images on a display screen of a work station at which the displayed images can be manipulated, and such an image display has been utilized in various designing purposes.
More recently, there has been a development of a virtual reality image display device having an input unit in a form of a data glove or a data suit which measures the body motion of an operator directly and inputs the measured data as input data for an input coupled image, such that the operator is allowed to make an active access to a virtual space formed within the displayed images in real time.
In such a virtual reality image display device, the 3D (three-dimensional) images are displayed, and the objects shown in the displayed images can be lifted up, twisted, or pulled within the virtual space, in response to the corresponding operations of the input unit made by the operator and detected by the input unit, by reflecting the operations of the input unit made by the operator in the input coupled image in the displayed images.
In a conventionally available virtual reality image display device, the correspondence between the displayed image and the operations of the input unit by the operator have been made as follows.
Namely, the position of the input coupled image is determined in terms of a displacement from an origin of the input unit. In this case, the operation of the input unit always coincides with the motion of the input coupled image in the virtual space, so that the motion in the displayed image may appear unnatural or unreal in some cases.
For example, consider a case of using the data glove as the input unit and a hand image as the input coupled image, where the position and configuration of the data glove operated by the operator correspond to the position and the configuration of the hand image in the displayed image. In this case, when the operator carries out the operation to pick up an object in the virtual space and displaces it to the other location within the virtual space, the operator's hand operating the data glove is freely movable in the real space, so that the object in the virtual space can be moved in response to the unintentional slight trembling of the operator's hand. However, such a motion of the object in the virtual space can appear unnatural in view of the real space in which the object has some weight or the object has some support so that the object cannot be moved so easily by such a slight trembling of the hand.
In this regard, in order to realize the more realistic presentation of the virtual space, an additional control mechanism for limiting the operation of the input unit by the operator may be provided such that this control mechanism is activated to increase the reality in the virtual space. (See, H. Iwata, "Artificial Reality with Force-feedback: Development of Desktop Virtual Space with Compact Master Manipulator", Computer graphics, Vol. 24, No. 4, August 1990.)
For example, by providing a feedback for controlling the input unit to the input unit according to the positions of the hand image and the object in the displayed image, the operator's operation of the data glove can be appropriately limited when the object is heavy, such that the sense of a reality in the operation of the input unit can be realized, and consequently the displayed image can appear more natural. In addition, because of the presence of the feedback to the input unit, it also becomes possible for the operator to sense the situation within the virtual space.
However, such an additional control mechanism requires a highly specialized equipment to be attached to the input unit, which also makes the input unit as a whole to be quite large, and its applicability and operational range can be quite limited, so that this scheme is not very practical.
There has also been a problem concerning a relationship among the objects in the displayed virtual space. Namely, in a conventional virtual reality image display device, because the objects in the virtual space can be moved by the operator through the input unit, the interference checking has been carried out in order to avoid the unnatural display of the objects overlapped with each other. For example, when a box located on top of a table is to be moved to another table in the virtual space, the box should not appear to be overlapping with another table after the box has been moved, and should properly appear to be located on top of another table.
Although this interference checking is capable of avoiding the unnatural display very strictly, it requires a large amount of calculations for determining the display positions of the objects, so that it is quite time consuming. In particular, when the virtual space contains many objects, the amount of calculations required by the interference checking can be so enormous that the real time processing of the display in response to the operation of the input unit by the operator becomes practically impossible.
Now, consider a case in which the operator is to move through the virtual space representing 3D model of the interior of a building or a city. In such a case, it is often difficult for the operator to comprehend where he is located presently and which way he is oriented presently, so that there is a need to provide such a position information to the operator. Here, the position information useful for the operator includes the operator's viewpoint indicating the present position in the displayed virtual space, the operator's reference point indicating the object presently attracting the operator's attention in the displayed virtual space, and the operator's field of view indicating the range that the operator can presently see in the displayed virtual space.
Conventionally, such a position information has been presented either in terms of numerical data for the viewpoint, the reference point, and the field of view, displayed at a part of the display, or in a form of a two-dimensional overview of the entire virtual space looked from a particular direction on which the viewpoint is indicated by a dot and which is displayed at a part of the display.
However, these conventional manners of presenting the position information have been associated with the drawbacks in that the numerical data are very difficult to comprehend immediately, and that the overview can only provide the very rough information, so that the more informative information such as what is located in a vicinity of the operator's present position cannot be obtained from the overview.
Now, in a conventional computer graphics technique, the shape of the object and the material of the object are usually defined separately. For example, when the 3D shape data for a pot are provided, the material property of this pot can be quite different depending on a texture with which its surface is presented.
The simplest method for presenting the material property of an object is to change the color and the amount of light reflection of its surface. For example, when the surface makes a mirror like reflection of lights, the object can appear metallic. On the other hand, when the surface makes a uniform scattering of the lights, the object appear can plastic. However, this simplest manner can only present a uniform surface quality.
Another conventionally known method for presenting the material property of an object is a so called texture mapping, in which the patterns indicative of the texture is attached on a surface of the object. For example, when the characteristic pattern of the grain of the wood is attached to an object, the object can appear to be made of wood, whereas when the characteristic pattern of marble is attached to an object, the object can appear to be made of marble. It is also possible to attach a picture such as a label. However, in this texture mapping method, only a flat pattern is attached to a flat surface, so that the material property of concavity or convexity cannot be presented.
In order to make up for this shortcoming of the texture mapping method, there is also a method called bump mapping, in which a divergence of normal vectors is attached to a surface of an object. In this bump mapping method, it is therefore possible to provide an uneven appearance of the surface, which can be put in a pattern of a rock face, a brass work, or a water ring. Even in such a case, there is no need to complicate the original object shape data in this bump mapping method.
Yet, these texture mapping method and the bump mapping method are exclusively directed toward the presentation of the visual material property alone, despite of the fact that the object in the real space has many other characteristic material properties. For example, a wooden pot not only has a pattern of the grain of the wood on its surface, but it also makes a dull sound when it is hit, and it has rather rough feel when it is touched. The texture mapping method and the bump mapping method described above totally ignore these other material properties of the objects.
On the other hand, in the recent virtual reality data presentation, the virtually realistic situation is realized by utilizing various material property presentation techniques such as 3D image display, computer graphics, 3D sound space production, and artificial touch sense presentation.
By using this technique of the virtual reality, it is possible to provide an opportunity for anyone to experience an event that is rather difficult to experience in real space. Also, this virtual reality technique can be utilized in as a simulator for the various trainings such as a flight training, such that the training can be carried out in a realistic situation.
In a conventional virtual reality data presentation system, various presentation parameters for determining the manner of data presentation such as the viewpoint for the image display, the repulsive force to be given back, the loudness of the sound to be outputted, etc. are designed in view of a prescribed standard user's attributed values such as height, strength, etc., so that a user having the attributed values which are greatly different from those of the standard user may not be able to receive the presented data to be natural because of the setting of these presentation parameters which seems unbalanced or distorted to such a user.
For example, when the viewpoint of the image display is designed in view of an adult male user, a child user who has much shorter arm length compared with the adjust male would have a difficulty in reaching to an object which is designed to be placed in the displayed virtual space at a position reachable by a standard adult male user. Also, in a case there is a repulsive force to be given back from the data presentation system to the user, the repulsive force designed in view of an adult male user can be dangerously strong for a child user.
Similarly, in the virtual reality data presentation system using the 3D image display or the 3D sound space production, the presented images and sounds may not necessarily have the truly 3D quality for some users who have attributed values greatly different from those of a standard user in view of whom the system had been designed.
Also, in a case of utilizing the virtual reality data presentation system for evaluating the proto-type product, it is preferable to make an evaluation from a standpoint of the actual user of the product. Thus, when the product is a toy to be used by a child, it is preferable to make an evaluation from a standpoint of a child user who has much different attributed values compared with an adult who has developed the product. Similarly, when the product is a kitchen system, it may not be sufficient to make an evaluation from a standpoint of an adult female in general, and it is rather preferable to make an evaluation from a standpoint of a younger adult female, a standpoint of an older adult female, etc. who have largely different physical attributed values as well as greatly different preferences.
However, the conventional virtual reality data presentation system has been designed in view of a specific standard user, and it has been impossible to adjust the settings of the presentation parameters according to the attributed values of the individual user or to experience the different standpoints of various different users.
Now, conventionally, the training of an operator of a monitoring system for a nuclear plant or a steel plant, has been achieved by using a replica of the actual monitoring system, such that the training for various situations including those of the serious troubles can be carried out, while the actual monitoring system remains in operation.
However, such a replica monitoring system for training purpose is made in the actual size of the actual monitoring system, which is quite large. In addition, a number of different replica monitoring systems must be provided for a number of different monitoring targets, so that this scheme of training can be quite costly. In addition, at a time of updating the replica monitoring system in accordance with the updating of the actual monitoring system, the physical construction works must be carried out, so that this scheme is both time consuming as well as ineconomical.
In view of such problems encountered in the conventional training scheme suing replica, the use of the virtual reality data presentation system as a simulator for such a training is increasing. In this application of the virtual reality data presentation system, the simulated monitoring system can be updated easily as it is realized as 3D model on a computer, so that it is much less time consuming as well as less costly.
In such a virtual reality data presentation system, hen the straightforward 3D model presentation alone is not realistic enough, the reality of the presented data can be increased by the method called texture mapping in which the texture expressing the material property of the objects in the 3D model is attached to the objects in the 3D model, as described above.
Now, in this texture mapping method, the texture to be attached to the object is usually obtained as images taken through an image scanner. For this reason, the attached image itself remains unchanged regardless of whether it is looked at from far away or nearby. However, in the real space, the each small pat-tern in the image is not clearly visible and appears to be absorbed into the image as a whole from far away, while it becomes clearly and distinctively visible from nearby, and such a perspective cannot be obtained by the texture mapping.
In order to improve in this aspect, there is a proposition for switching one texture image with another texture image in which the pattern is shown more clearly whenever the distance from the viewpoint becomes less than a prescribed value. However, in this modified method, there is a drawback in that the switching of the images must be made so abruptly that the large changes of the details of the appearance before and after the switching can make it appear rather unnatural. In order to achieve the smooth changes of the appearance, a large number of images must be provided and the switching operation must be repeated.
On the other hand, the monitoring screen on the monitoring system shows various data given in terms of letters, figures, and graphs from which the operator makes judgements, these data are constantly changing in time in the real space, but the image attached by the texture mapping is unchangeable, so that the various data necessary for making judgements cannot be provided to the operator in the simulated monitoring system using the texture mapping method.
In order to overcome this drawback, there is a proposition for using the real computer output. However, in such a scheme, the data provided by the real computer output are practically invisible when the viewpoint is located far away, so that the time and the system function for maintaining the display of the real computer output is wasteful in such a case.
Furthermore, in a conventional virtual reality data presentation system, the presented data are largely biased toward the visual image data. However, in the actual monitoring system, the audio sound data such as the vibration sounds of the motors and the sounds of fluid flows through the pipes can provide the variable information, so that there are cases in which the actual sounds collected by the microphones located at the monitoring target cite are outputted at the monitoring system through speakers.
However, in a case the number of monitoring targets increases, if all the sounds collected from all the monitoring target are outputted continually, the slight abnormal sound indicative of the malfunction can be inaudible because of all the sounds outputted concurrently.
Now, the designing the various office rooms and monitoring rooms has conventionally been made on a basis of a sketches from various viewpoints prepared by a designer. However, it is practically impossible to prepare the sketches from arbitrary viewpoint, accounting for every possible settings of the variable parameters, so that the designed arrangement can be evaluated only from a limited number of viewpoints.
In order to resolve this problem of the conventional designing procedure, it is possible to utilize the computer graphics technique for the designing purpose.
In this case, the displayed 3D model representing the designed arrangement can be prepared by using the CAD system and displayed in a form of a perspective projection from arbitrary viewpoint, so that the designed arrangement can be evaluated more thoroughly.
However, even when the replacement of the designer's sketches with the computer graphics is made, it is still impossible to check the reflections due to the ceiling lights on the monitor screens, which is very serious practical concern.
Moreover, in the conventional computer graphics, even when the defect of the arrangement is found on the displayed 3D model, it has been impossible to make the necessary corrections on the displayed 3D model, because the computer graphics is basically the display tool which utilizes the 3D model data solely for the purpose of displaying.
On the other hand, the human comprehension of the 3D arrangement of the 3D objects is largely helped by the presence of the shadows on the floor. In the conventional computer graphics, there are several shadow calculation algorithms including the ray tracing algorithm based on the mirror reflection model, and the radio city algorithm based on the total scattering model. The former is known to be suitable for the reflection at the metallic surface, while the latter is known to be suitable for calculating the soft shadow images.
However, these conventionally known shadow calculation algorithms have the serious drawback of the enormous time required for their calculations.
There has also been a proposition for the high speed shadow calculation algorithm called fake shadow algorithm. however, this algorithm is capable of producing only very clear shadow images which may not necessarily be very realistic.
Now, in the monitoring room or the office room which is equipped with many ceiling fluorescent lights, the actual shadows on the floor appear rather dim, with uncertain boundary. Thus, the shadows calculated by the fake shadow algorithm appear too distinct to be natural.

Virtual reality control using image, model and control data to manipulate interactions


The present invention relates to a carbon dioxide conversion reactor and more particularly, to a carbon dioxide conversion reactor capable of converting carbon dioxide contained in flue gas into an aqueous bicarbonate solution that may be used in many applications; and at the same time, preventing back pressure from increasing due to supplied flue gas by allowing a conversion process to rapidly proceed, thereby significantly reducing the level of carbon dioxide contained in flue gas with high efficiency and high conversion speed, a series reactor for converting and capturing carbon dioxide including the carbon dioxide conversion reactor, and a process of converting and capturing carbon dioxide using the carbon dioxide conversion reactor.

Traditionally, technology for capturing and storing carbon dioxide has been proposed as a method of reducing carbon dioxide. The technology for capturing and storing carbon dioxide refers to technology that captures carbon dioxide generated from emission sources such as a power plant before carbon dioxide is discharged into the atmosphere, and then transports and stores the carbon dioxide in a stable form. A step of capturing carbon dioxide consists of adsorption and desorption processes. First, in the adsorption process, carbon dioxide is captured from flue gas using an absorbent capable of forming a strong physical or chemical bond with carbon dioxide. In the desorption process, external energy is applied to the absorbent that is in contact with carbon dioxide, so that the absorbent is regenerated and only pure carbon dioxide is extracted.
To stably reduce a large amount of carbon dioxide and to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide discharged without being captured, it is inevitably necessary to use an absorbent having a strong bonding force with carbon dioxide. However, a process of desorbing captured carbon dioxide consumes a considerable amount of energy, and a process that produces a large amount of energy may involve the generation of carbon dioxide. Accordingly, it is possible to form a circulation structure that generates more carbon dioxide while reducing already-generated carbon dioxide. Therefore, when considering the reduction of carbon dioxide in the entire atmosphere of the earth, it is undesirable to use absorbents having a strong bonding force with carbon dioxide.
On the contrary, when an absorbent having a weak bonding force with carbon dioxide is used, energy consumed in the extraction of carbon dioxide and the regeneration of the absorbent is reduced. However, since it is difficult to capture carbon dioxide at a high rate to a desired level from flue gas supplied at a high flow rate, carbon dioxide may be released without being sufficiently captured.
Furthermore, when such a problem is solved by increasing the residence time of carbon dioxide in a collector, it is necessary to expand the size of the collector. In this case, space and cost problems arise due to additional equipment. In addition, to increase the fluidity of carbon dioxide supplied into the larger collector, flue gas must be supplied to the collector at a higher pressure. At this time, as back pressure applied to the collector increases, a capture process may become unstable, and equipment may be damaged and/or destroyed.
Recently, techniques for converting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into useful byproducts such as bicarbonate ions and using bicarbonate ions to culture algae have been introduced. However, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 400 ppm, so the amount of carbon dioxide is too small to use for converting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into useful byproducts such as bicarbonate ions. Also, as described above, when carbon dioxide captured from flue gas is regenerated and then converted, conversion efficiency is relatively low as compared with the amount of carbon dioxide supplied. Thereby, a large amount of the supplied carbon dioxide may be released back into the atmosphere.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop a system capable of capturing carbon dioxide contained in flue gas discharged at a high rate with high efficiency, stably capturing carbon dioxide by preventing a sudden increase in back pressure, and at the same time, obtaining a useful byproduct which may be applied to various fields.

Carbon dioxide conversion reactor, series reactor for converting and capturing carbon dioxide including the same, and process of converting and capturing carbon dioxide using the same

KOREA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND BUSINESS FOUNDATION


Methods are disclosed using trospium, an antimuscarinic smooth muscle relaxant, for the treatment of smooth muscle disorders, while avoiding the concomitant liability of adverse side effects associated with conventional antimuscarinic treatment.

Trospium has been shown to reduce bladder hyperactivity in patients suffering from urinary incontinence and exerts spasmolytic effects on the bladder by inhibiting the effects of acetylcholine on smooth muscle. Thus, Trospium Chloride is an anticholinergic drug. Trospium Chloride has selectivity for muscarinic receptors over nicotinic receptors and as a result, no blocking effects are observed at skeletal neuromuscular junctions. Thus, the anticholinergic drug Trospium Chloride can also be called an antimuscarinic drug. Active metabolites of Trospium Chloride exert antimuscarinic activities that are believed to account for part of the therapeutic activity of trospium.
The terms 'anticholinergic' and 'antimuscarinic' are interchangeable in this document.
The terms 'Memory Disorders' and 'memory disorders' are interchangeable in this document.
The terms "predisposed" (to memory disorder) and "propensity" (for developing memory disorders), which are interchangeably used herein, refer to individuals who are at risk for developing Memory Disorders.
The term "urge incontinence" is in this document includes "over-active bladder" (OAB) and includes the disease called pollakiuria (frequent urinations).
Individuals who are predisposed to memory disorder may suffer from intermittent or "on and off" expression of memory disorders. After being diagnosed, memory disorders may also be intermittent, or appear "on-and-off" in patients; thus patients suffering from memory disorders may have symptoms that alternate between more or less severe.
Memory is the ability of the brain to retain and recall information.
Anti-cholinergic drugs are known to cause impairment of memory (Katz I. R., et al., J Am Geriatr Soc 1998, 46: 8-13). The leading drugs for Alzheimer's disease are cholinergic drugs, such as cholinesterase inhibitors, which have the opposite effect of common anticholinergic drugs, such as for example oxybutynin. Examples of cholinergic drugs that are used to improve memory functions are tacrine, (Cognex®, Pfizer); galantamine, (Reminyl®, Janssen); revastigmine, (Exelon®, Novartis) and donepezil, (Aricept®, Pfizer). Furthermore, withdrawal of anticholinergic medication usually causes immediate improvement of memory (Mori K., et al. Pharmacopsychiatry 2002, 35: 6-11).
Memory disorders can be of different types, such as Mild Impairment of Memory (including for examples forgetfulness and difficulty in remembering names), Amnesia (memory disorder affecting recollection of recent events), and Dementia (memory disorders affecting recollection of both recent and distant events). Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Vascular Dementia (VaD) are the two leading causes of dementia in the elderly, with AD being the most prevalent type). A common type of memory disorders in the elderly is Senile Dementia, with various sub-forms, such as for example pre-senile dementia, which can be diagnosed in individuals that most often are of the age 65 years or older. In the case of pre-senile dementia, the disorder is often diagnosed in patients younger than 65 years of age. Thus, memory impairment can be a symptom of any of the aforementioned memory disorders.
While local concentrations of acetylcholine in the basalis magnocellularis of the forebrain are important for cognition, the physiological/anatomical basis for recollection (memory) is far less obvious. It is also very likely that short-term memory functions are different from long-term memory functions. Thus AD patients often have vivid long-term memory, but severe lack of short-term memory. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that cholinergic mechanisms are involved in memory functions, although it cannot of course be excluded that other neurotransmitters in the brain may also be involved. Basic and clinical studies have revealed that memory dysfunction in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease is correlated with low concentrations of acetylcholine in the brain.
Memory disorders are usually diagnosed when a patient complains of memory loss. While a sophisticated diagnosis is usually made by a specialist, general practitioners often rely on specific diagnostic criteria. Physicians have also found The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to be useful for the diagnosis of certain forms of memory disorders, such as for example dementia. (Santacruz K. S., Swagerty D.: Early diagnosis of Dementia. Am Fam Physician 2001; 63: 703-713) . The MMSE shall only be performed by qualified medical personnel, and the test can be purchased by physicians from PAR Customer Support, 16204 N. Florida Avenue, Lutz, Fla. 33549. However, patients suffering from Mild Memory Impairment often perform like normal elderly persons and when given the MMSE, their score is usually 24 or higher, but they perform worse than normal individuals when tested for verbal and spatial memory (Brandt J. Am Fam Physician 2001, Vol. 63: Number 4, Editorial).
Test exist that can be used instead of the MMSE or in conjuncture with the MMSE. Furthermore, experienced physicians may be able to diagnose memory disorders without the help of a standardized test.
It is a method of the present invention to determine if patients, who are suffering from smooth muscle disorders, are simultaneously suffering from or having a propensity for developing memory disorders and if said determination is positive, administering to said patients a therapeutically effective amount of trospium or an active metabolite thereof or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof. Said determinations can be performed by a physician using interviews, physical examination and/or application of a standardized test, such as for example the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). While it is fairly easy to determine if a patient suffers from a memory disorder, it can be more difficult to determine if a patient is predisposed for the development of a memory disorder. While the ultimate ability to make this diagnose depends on the experience of the physician, age is most often considered to be a risk factor for the development of memory disorders. Other risk factors are for example cerebral atherosclerosis, untreated hypertension, alcohol or illegal drug abuse. It is possible that hereditary factors can be involved.
It is well known to those skilled in the art of psychiatric health care that anticholinergic drugs have a worsening effect on memory function in patients suffering from memory disorders and said types of drugs may induce memory disorders in patients who are predisposed to memory disorders or in patients who are at an early stage in the development of a memory disorder.
To have a direct effect on certain areas of the brain, drugs have to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This barrier is made up of layers of cells, surrounding the small blood vessels that supply the brain with oxygen and nutrition. The BBB was previously believed to be a simple mechanical barrier, keeping all large molecules and all charged molecule out of the brain. Thus, factors believed to influence the ability of drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier were believed to include ionization (pKa), lipophilicity (log P) and molecular weight (MW). However, the knowledge about the nature of the BBB, its functions and its limitations have improved tremendously and it is now known that the BBB is not simply a mechanical barrier, but also has mechanisms in place for the active transport of molecules out of the brain. The BBB can become "leaky" (more permeable) of numerous reasons, such as for example by influence from the hormone epinephrine that is known to cause leakage of the BBB, thereby making it possible for various molecules to pass through the BBB and enter into the brain. Diseases, such as cognitive disorders, type-II diabetes and hypertension are often correlated with increased permeability of the EBB. It is also known that certain drugs can induce increased permeability of the BBB. Examples of such drugs are certain angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and phenylephrine. It is also well-known that the bloodbrain barrier deteriorates with age (Toornvliet J R, et al. J Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 2005, 25: 273; Bronge L, et. al. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord, 2000, 11:263-267.) This is of importance in connection with the pharmacology of drugs for geriatric diseases like urinary urge incontinence, which almost exclusively affect the elderly. Acute studies on blood-brain barrier in healthy young volunteers (with healthy and well functioning BBB) are of no or very limited relevance to the elderly patients who are suffering from various chronic disorders, such as for example urinary urge incontinence (Todorova A, B, J Clin Pharmacol. 2001; 41:636-644). In general, quaternary amines penetrate the healthy BBB less readily than tertiary amines, however, quaternary amines are known to cross the BBB, even in healthy individuals. Thus, as a well-known example, the quaternary choline esterase inhibitor pyridostigmine was able to penetrate the BBB in American soldiers, causing the Persian Gulf Syndrome (PGS) in gulf war soldiers (Haley et al. JAMA, 1977, 277: 223-230.) Numerous other quaternary cholinergic drugs are known to cross the BBB and cause CNS-related side effects, such as for example the quaternary drugs edrophonium that causes convulsions and restlessness and neostigmine that causes dizziness, convulsions, drowsiness and headache and hyoscine (Buscolysin®, Sopharma) that has side effects such as anxiety and hallucinations.
Furthermore, the BBB is absent from significant parts of the brain, such as for example the hypothalamus, the pituitary and pineal areas, area postrema and areas of the choroids plexus.
It can be assumed that quaternary compounds, such as trospium will be able to cross the blood-brain barrier rather slowly in healthy and young individuals, but in elderly individuals and particularly in elderly patients with existing diseases, quaternary compounds have the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. The reason why trospium does not have negative effects on memory and why trospium does not aggravate existing memory disorders is unknown.
To our knowledge, no known reference teaches or enables the methods of the present invention comprising administering trospium to a human suffering from Memory Disorders or being at risk for developing Memory Disorders; nor do the published references alone or in combination suggest these methods. It is of importance to note that many patients in earlier stages of Memory Disorders, express memory malfunctions that have a tendency to be intermittent or "come and go". Elderly patients are considered to be at increased risk for developing memory disorders of various types.

Methods for treating urinary incontinence in patients suffering from memory disorders


A collision of data transmitted in an ad hoc network in which a communication system such as a wireless LAN system is managed without a master control station is minimized. A communication station in the network estimates a time at which a neighboring station will transmit a signal and, when a communication start request is received from some other communication station, adds time information, generated based on the length of time to the estimated time, to a response to the communication start request. This allows the reception side communication station, which knows in advance that the transmission will be occupied by a transmission from other communication stations, to cause the transmission side communication station to transmit data at a time other than that occupation time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication apparatus, a communication method, and a program executing communication processing that is advantageously applicable to a wireless ad hoc network in which a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) system for use in a data communication performs operation without a master control station.
2. Description of Related Art
One of widely known conventional media access control methods used in a wireless LAN system is an access control method defined by the IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 standard. The IEEE 802.11 standard is described in detail in International Standard ISO/IEC 8802-11:1999(E) ANSI/IEEE Std 802.11, 1999 Edition, Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, and so on.
Networking conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard is based on the concept of BSS (Basic Service Set). There are two types of BSS, wherein one is BSS defined in an infrastructure mode in which the system has a master control station such as an access point (AP) and the other is IBSS (Independent BSS) defined in an ad hoc mode in which the system is composed of multiple mobile terminals only (Mobile Terminal: MT). For communication in the ad hoc mode, it is known that communication is performed in the CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) mode using the RTS/CTS procedure. This processing is employed also by the IEEE 802.11 standard described above.
The following describes an example of the RTS/CTS procedure operation with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B. FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrams showing the conventional access control procedure executed by exchanging the RTS/CTS signals. As shown in FIG. 12A, the transmission side communication apparatus transmits the RTS signal before transmitting data and, upon receiving the CTS signal from the reception side communication apparatus shown in FIG. 12B, can start transmitting data.
In addition, the ACK signal, an acknowledgement signal indicating that data is received correctly, is usually returned from the reception side communication apparatus immediately after the data transmission is terminated, as shown in FIG. 12B. By transmitting and receiving the RTS signal and the CTS signal before starting data transmission in this way, communication can be performed while confirming if data can be transmitted through the wireless transmission line.
The Patent publication 1 discloses an example in which the RTS signal and the CTS signal are transmitted and received for performing wireless communication access control.
[Patent Publication 1]
Japanese Laid-Open Patent JPH8-37528.
However, even when the RTS signal and the CTS signal are transmitted and received before the data is transmitted through an ad hoc network, the data transmission sometimes fails if there is a so-called hidden terminal apparatus. FIGS. 13A to 13C show an example of a collision that is caused when the conventional RTS/CTS signal exchange is used to perform the access control. When the RTS signal is transmitted from the transmission side communication apparatus, the reception side communication apparatus returns the CTS signal in response to the RTS signal and, immediately after that, receives data as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B.
Now, assume that there is a so-called hidden terminal apparatus that can not directly communicate with the transmission side communication apparatus through a wireless communication line, but can directly communicate with the reception side communication apparatus, as shown in FIG. 13C. At this time, if the hidden terminal apparatus regularly transmits a beacon signal to notify its presence to some other communication apparatus in the network, there is a possibility that the transmission timing of the beacon signal coincides with the transmission timing of data transmission from the transmission side communication apparatus as shown in FIGS. 13A to 13C. The hidden terminal apparatus is able to temporarily stop the transmission of the beacon signal if the hidden terminal apparatus can receive the RTS signal from the transmission side communication apparatus. However, because the hidden terminal apparatus in this example cannot receive the RTS signal from the transmission side communication apparatus, there exits a problem that cannot be solved.
One of the solutions of this problem is that, if there is a possibility of a collision between the reception of data and the reception of the beacon signal, it is thought that the reception side communication apparatus does not return the CTS signal to prevent the data transmission from being started. That is, the transmission side communication apparatus transmits the RTS signal prior to the transmission of data, for example, as shown in FIG. 14A. In this case, the reception side communication apparatus that receives the RTS signal does not return the CTS signal but enters the waiting state as shown in FIG. 14B (The broken line indicates the timing at which the CTS signal is to be transmitted). Although this method prevents the transmission side communication apparatus from transmitting data, the transmission side communication apparatus transmits the RTS signal again because it has a request to transmit data. However, there is a higher possibility of a collision between the transmission of the RTS signal and the transmission of the beacon signal transmitted from the hidden terminal apparatus shown in FIG. 14C. This collision between the RTS signal and the beacon signal prevents the reception side communication apparatus from correctly identifying the RTS signal, further delaying the chance for the data communication.
To solve this problem, the patent publication 1 described above discloses a technology that, if there is a possibility that the reception side communication apparatus receives the RTS signal but cannot receive data that will be transmitted following the RTS signal, the reception side communication apparatus returns the cancel signal instead of the CTS signal to cancel the data transmission at that time. The cancel signal disclosed in the patent publication 1 may also be used to return the cancel signal to cancel the RTS signal, for example, when the time at which the hidden terminal apparatus transmit the beacon signal is known.
However, because the transmission side communication apparatus that receives the cancel signal has data to be transmitted to the opponent, the transmission side communication apparatus must transmit the RTS signal again after a predetermined time to retry the communication. FIGS. 15A to 15C are diagrams showing an example of the above case. For example, the transmission side communication apparatus transmits the RTS signal before the data transmission as shown in FIG. 15A. In this case, the reception side communication apparatus returns the cancel signal in response to the RTS signal as shown in FIG. 15B. Then, after a predetermine time, the transmission side communication apparatus transmits the RTS signal again. However, if the hidden terminal apparatus starts the transmission of the RTS signal or data to some other terminal as shown in FIG. 15C, the retransmission of the RTS signal from the transmission side communication apparatus may collide with the transmission of the RTS signal or data from the hidden terminal apparatus.
As described above, the collision with the transmission from a hidden terminal apparatus is not avoided sufficiently and simply by delaying the transmission. Therefore, it is hard to say that the collision avoiding processing is carried out very efficiently.

Communication system, communication apparatus, communication method, and program


A refrigeration system for an ice-making machine is provided with an inlet filter system having a replaceable filter element to trap dirt, dust and other airborne contaminants which would otherwise accumulate on heat transfer surfaces. The system is further provided with a device to indicate that the filter element should be changed.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to refrigeration systems, particularly to those of the vapor compression variety exemplified by so-called "split" systems which are well known and includes separate compartments for cooling and heat dissipation. The cooling or refrigeration compartment is a closed system that includes an evaporator which absorbs heat from and cools the surrounding air and the heat dissipating compartment is open and houses a compressor, together with an air cooled condenser unit, typically a fin and tube heat exchange device. More specifically, the present invention deals with the provision of a protective air filter arrangement for the condenser unit associated with the compressor that prevents dirt buildup on heat transfer surfaces without unduly restricting cooling air flow.
II. Related Art
High duty refrigeration systems such as those utilized in conjunction with packaged ice merchandizing or vending storage chests, or indoor ice making and dispensing machines such as those found in hotels, require the dissipation of relatively large amounts of heat at the condenser during operation. This requires large amounts of cooling air to be utilized to cool the condenser to maintain the temperature of the condenser at or less than the desired maximum operating temperature. The well-known coil and high surface fin heat transfer heat exchange devices used for such systems may be open and totally unprotected, but more often are enclosed in a metal box structure provided with a series of louvered slots or openings through which air is admitted and discharged. Air flow is maintained by a shroud enclosed cooling fan which pulls ambient air in through the louvers and over the closely spaced fins and discharges it from the opposite side of the structure. While this generally assures an adequate supply of cooling air for the condenser, dust and other foreign airborne materials and debris in the ambient air are also sucked through the system. These tend to accumulate on the heat transfer surfaces of the system and are difficult to clean particularly in view of the close parallel spacing of the fin surfaces. In some instances, complete clogging between some of the fins may occur. Contaminates on the cooling surfaces, of course, tend to reduce heat transfer efficiency and may result in the condenser operating at a higher than ideal temperature thereby reducing overall system efficiency. This also, of course, requires the compressor to operate less efficiently and for more of the time than designed each cycle and may lead to premature compressor failure.
The problem is particularly severe with regard to self-contained ice making machines and packaged ice storage chests such as those located inside convenience stores, or the like, where the condenser is exposed to a dusty environment. Dust, lint and other airborne debris are known to accumulate indoors and this problem has worsened more recently because energy efficiency concerns with regard to heating and cooling have led people to reduce air leakage and ventilation. Also, because of factors such as theft and vandalism, many units, formerly outdoors have simply been moved indoors to avoid crime problems. In some instances, where clogging or dust buildup may not have been much of a concern outdoors, problems occurred when the system was moved inside. Units located outside buildings are more susceptible to buildup of dust where unpaved parking or other dust sources are nearby. Presently, nothing is provided to prevent or reduce natural buildup and contamination of the cooling surfaces from dust and airborne debris.
In most applications, the heat transfer fins are hard to access for cleaning and difficult to clean without special tools and sources of high pressure air or water to blast accumulated debris from the surfaces. On the other hand, failure to clean the system on a regular basis may lead to higher inefficiency and shorter compressor life as indicated above.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a low cost inlet filter system to reduce contamination of the heat transfer surfaces of a refrigerant condenser system utilizing ambient cooling air.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a low cost cooling air inlet filter for a condenser unit that uses a replaceable filter element.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an inlet filter system that minimizes associated flow restriction and refrigerant temperature rise in the condenser unit.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air filter system that includes a replaceable filter element and signaling device to indicate that the element needs changing.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art upon further familiarization with the specification, drawings and claims contained herein.


A spanner wrench is clamped to one component of a conventional pair of pliers and is prevented from turning relative to that component by the same pivot element which pivotably connects the two plier components to one another.

In taverns and bars which dispense draft beer, several hand tools are required in order to assemble and disassembly various components of the dispensing equipment. Tools which are typically used include pliers, a screwdriver, an adjustable wrench and a spanner wrench. The spanner wrench is a specialized tool which is used to screw a dispensing faucet onto and off of a beer dispensing line. The faucet must be removed from the line at frequent intervals for purposes of cleaning the faucet.
The need to have several tools at a bar is an inconvenience, both from the standpoint of storing the tools in the bar area and from the standpoint of finding the proper tool for the proper job.


A method of progressively coding/decoding 3-D mesh information, and an apparatus therefor are provided. The progressive 3-D mesh information coding method includes the steps of reconstructing an input 3-D mesh into a plurality of mesh components, coding each of the plurality of mesh components, and multiplexing the plurality of coded mesh components into a compressed bit stream and transmitting the compressed bit stream. The method of progressively decoding the transmitted, compressed bit stream which has been coded by the coding method, includes dividing the transmitted bit stream into a plurality of coded mesh components, decoding each of the plurality of coded mesh components, and reconstructing a 3-D mesh by synthesizing the plurality of decoded mesh components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coding/decoding of 3-D mesh information, and more particularly, to a progressive coding/decoding method for 3-D mesh information which is used in the field of moving picture expert group (MPEG)-4 synthetic and natural hybrid coding (SNHC) and a virtual reality modeling language (VRML), and an apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Not only efficient coding of mesh data but also progressive reconstruction of transmitted mesh data is recognized as an important requisite for transmission of a 3-D object including 3-D mesh. When mesh data is damaged by a communications line error during transmission, part of the damaged mesh data can be reconstructed with already-transmitted mesh data by a progressive reconstruction technique. Thus, the amount of mesh data to be retransmitted is minimized. This progressive reconstruction technique is expected to be effectively used in future wireless communications or communications at a low transmission rate, since this technique has strong characteristics with respect to communications line errors.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram of a conventional 3-D mesh information coding/decoding apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, a coding unit 101 is comprised of a connectivity information coder 102, a geometry information coder 103, and an entropy coder 104, and a decoding unit 112 is comprised of an entropy decoder 106, a connectivity information decoder 107, and a geometry information decoder 108.
A conventional method of compressing 3-D mesh data, which is used in MPEG, will now be described referring to FIG. 1. 3-D mesh data 100 input to the coding unit 101 includes connectivity information and geometry information, and the two types of information are coded respectively by the connectivity information coder 102 and the geometry information coder 103. Here, information 105 on a vertex structure is transmitted from the connectivity information coder 102 to the geometry information coder 103. Information compressed by the connectivity information coder 102 and the geometry information coder 103 is converted into a compressed bit stream 111 by the entropy coder 104.
The compressed bit stream 111 is input to the decoding unit 112 and decoded as follows. The compressed bit stream 111 is divided into connectivity information and geometry information via the entropy decoder 106, and the two types of information are decoded by the connectivity information decoder 107 and the geometry information decoder 108, respectively. Similar to the coding unit 101, information 109 on a vertex structure is transmitted from the connectivity information decoder 107 to the geometry information decoder 108. A reconstructed 3-D mesh 110 can be obtained by decoded connectivity information and decoded geometry information.
As shown in FIG. 1, a 3-D mesh is transmitted in the form of a compressed bit stream on a communications line. However, since the conventional method uses the entropy coder, it has poor resistance to transmission errors which may be generated in a communications line.
Since conventional coding with respect to 3-D mesh data is accomplished in units of the entire mesh data, it is almost impossible to perform partial reconstruction before the entire bit stream is transmitted upon transmission of coded data. Also, conventional 3-D mesh coding has an inefficiency problem in that even when a very small portion of data is damaged by an error of a communications line caused upon transmission, the entire mesh data must be transmitted again. For example, an encoding method (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 MPEG98/W2301, MPEG-4 SNHC Verification Model 9.0) proposed by the IBM company has been used for MPEG-4 SNHC 3-D mesh coding.

Method of progressively coding/decoding 3-D mesh information and apparatus thereof


A process for making polyurethaneureas using cryogenic mixing is provided. Such polyurethaneureas are useful for making spandex and, ultimately, various types of clothing. The process involves cooling an isocyanate prepolymer or the like to a temperature of less than about -100.degree. C., forming a powder from the isocyanate prepolymer, adding at least one chain extender and/or chain terminator, and warming the powder to at least about room temperature to produce a polyurethaneurea. Such polyurethaneureas are useful for making spandex and, ultimately, various types of clothing.

Polyurethaneureas are used to make "spandex," herein defined as a manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a long-chain synthetic polymer comprised of at least 85% of a segmented polyurethane. Spandex, in turn, is used to make many articles of commerce, especially various types of clothing, including swimsuits, hosiery, intimate apparel, outerwear and the like. Polyurethaneureas also find use in molded and extruded products. Polyurethanes may be blended with other materials before being spun, molded, and/or extruded into products.
Polymers used in making spandex are themselves usually made by forming a prepolymer between a polymeric diol and a diisocyanate, and then reacting the resulting prepolymer with a diamine in a solvent such as N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) or dimethylformamide (DMF). (The aforementioned prepolymer is sometimes referred to as a "capped glycol.") The resulting polymer chains may then be extended by further reaction with one or more chain extenders, typically diamines. The chains may subsequently be terminated by the addition of a chain terminator, e.g., a monoamine. This chain terminator can be mixed with the chain extender or can be added separately, after the chain extender.
From an economic standpoint, it would be desirable to prepare polyurethaneureas, suitable for use in spandex and other applications, in the substantial absence of solvent, and to be able to either melt spin, solution spin, or isolate such polymers for later spinning.
Processes for making and using polyurethaneureas are well known to those skilled in the art. See H. Mark, et al., Ed., Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering, Vol. 6 (3d ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 1986) at pages 733-755, and Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 10 (4th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 1993) at pages 624-638.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,456 describes the grinding of a thermoplastic coating materials in blenders, attritors and hammer mills at temperatures to -50.degree. C. using dry ice (solid CO.sub.2). Japanese Patent Application Publication 55-30,008 discloses a process for the preparation of thermoplastic polyurethane powder while adding dry ice immediately before, simultaneously, or immediately after adding the chain-propagating agent.

Low temperature process for making polyurethaneureas


A hybrid system (18) for control and monitoring of an amplifier (330) is provided. The hybrid control system (18) includes an analog control subsystem (81) and a digital control subsystem (82). The analog control system provides an automatic gain control loop for maintaining the gain of amplifier (330) at a predetermined level. The digital control subsystem (82) monitors a plurality of operating characteristics of amplifier (330) and commands the analog control subsystem (81) to reduce the gain of amplifier (330) responsive to certain predetermined fault conditions. The digital control subsystem (82) shuts down amplifier (330) responsive to other predetermined fault conditions. The digital control subsystem (82) also controls the power-on sequence and power-down sequence for amplifier (330), insuring that the gate bias voltage is first applied or maintained before the drain voltage is applied or removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a controller for an amplifier. More particularly, the subject invention is directed to a system for monitoring, protecting, and controlling an amplifier. Further, the subject invention is directed to the monitoring and controlling of a high power amplifier implemented using silicon carbide transistor technology. Even further, the subject invention directs itself to a monitor and control system including hybrid digital and analog control circuitry to provide an integrated, flexible architectural solution to the monitoring, protection and control of a silicon carbide high power amplifier. The amplifier of the present invention is suited to exemplary applications including, but not being limited to, analog and digital communications, radar transponding, position locating, and standard and high definition digital television broadcasting.
2. Prior Art
Various monitoring and control systems for amplifiers are known in the prior art. For instance, analog automatic gain control loops are known which include the sampling of the input and output of an amplifier, the gain of which is to be controlled, these sampled signals being used by an analog gain loop controller to maintain a predetermined gain of the amplifier. However, such prior art systems fail to concurrently provide along with the analog control loop, sufficient monitoring of the amplifier's other critical operational parameters such as gate voltage, drain voltage and current, and VSWR, to insure safe and effective operation of the amplifier.
Also known in the art are monitoring circuits that monitor the gate and drain of an amplifier, however, such prior art systems fail to teach an integrated operating scheme whereby analog control loops are coupled to and controlled by a digital monitoring and control subsystem for providing a flexible solution for the necessary control, monitoring and protection of the subject amplifier.

Hybrid system for control and monitoring of an amplifier


An electric vehicle (EV) charging system includes a number of output connections (e.g., cables). Each of the output connections is connected to at least one head, and each head can be connected concurrently to an EV. A controller can direct a charging current, delivered over a dedicated circuit from an electric power supply, to a first one of the output connections if a first EV is connected to a head connected to the first one of the output connections. Then, the charging current to the first one of the output connections can be stopped, switched to a second one of the output connections, and restarted if a second EV is connected to a head connected to the second one of the output connections.

Electric vehicles (EVs) rely on batteries that periodically need to be charged. EV owners can readily charge their vehicles at home, where they have exclusive access to home charging stations or electrical outlets. But when away from home, EV owners rely on and have to share charging stations in public or private places such as workplaces, shopping centers, movie venues, restaurants, and hotels.
The demand for charging stations is increasing as the number of EVs continues to increase. Businesses are starting to add charging stations to their parking lots as a perk for their employees and customers. Also, some local governments are mandating that businesses add charging stations.
Thus, whether driven by consumer demand or government mandate, more charging stations are being installed outside the home. However, the cost of a charging station (hardware, including dedicated power lines, and installation) is relatively high and is usually borne by the business owner. Accordingly, a solution that reduces the cost of a charging station would be valuable, by lessening the burden on businesses while increasing the availability of charging stations to EV owners.
Even if the cost of a charging station (including installation) is reduced, it will remain inefficient from a cost point-of-view to install enough charging stations to satisfy peak demand. Thus, charging stations will still need to be shared. EV owners by their nature understand the need to share charging stations, but nevertheless they are inconvenienced by the need to move their vehicle from a parking space to a charging station once the charging station becomes available, and then move their vehicle to another parking space after their vehicle is charged to make room for another vehicle. Accordingly, a solution that makes it easier for EV owners to share charging stations would also be valuable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A data-driving apparatus of an electro-luminescence display panel includes a display panel receiving a current signal to display an image, and a data driver having a plurality of current sink data drive parts in order to supply data to the display panel based on a constant current, wherein the current sink data drive part comprises a current sink data drive integrated circuit for supplying the data to the display panel based on the constant current, and a reference current supply/path part for supplying the constant current to the current sink data drive integrated circuit and, at a same time, supplying the same constant current to an adjacent current sink data driver in a cascade circuit configuration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel device, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for data-driving an electro-luminescence display panel device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, various flat panel displays are being developed to have reduced weight and overall size to replace cathode ray tube (CRT) devices. These flat panel displays include liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, field emission display (FED) devices, plasma display panel (PDP) devices, and electro-luminescence display (ELD) devices. Accordingly, these flat panel display devices can be classified into voltage drive devices and current drive devices.
The ELD devices are self-luminous, wherein fluorescent materials emit light by re-combining electrons with holes. The ELD devices have fast response speeds, as compared to CRT devices and passive-type luminous devices that require separate light sources, such as the LCD devices. The ELD devices may be considered current drive-type and voltage drive-type, and can generally be classified into inorganic ELD and organic ELD devices in accordance with their materials and structures.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of an organic electro-luminescence display device according to the related art. In FIG. 1, an organic ELD device includes an electron injection layer 4, an electron transport layer 6, a light emission layer 8, a hole transport layer 10, and a hole injection layer 12 that are deposited between a cathode 2 and an anode 14. If a voltage is supplied between the anode electrode 14 of a transparent electrode material and the cathode electrode 2 of a metal electrode material, electrons generated from the cathode 2 move toward the light emission layer 8 through the electron injection layer 4 and the electron transport layer 6. Furthermore, holes generated from the anode 14 move toward the light emission layer 8 through the hole injection layer 12 and the hole transport layer 10. Accordingly, the electrons and the holes supplied from the electron transport layer 6 and the hole transport layer 10 collide in the light emission layer 8 to re-combine, thereby generating light that is emitted through the anode 14 to an exterior to display an image. A luminous brightness of the ELD device is not proportional to a voltage supplied to both ends of the device, but is proportional to a supply current. Thus, the anode 14 is normally connected to a constant current source.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of an active matrix-type electro-luminescence display device according to the related art. In FIG. 2, an active matrix-type ELD device includes an ELD panel 16 having a pixel 22 arranged at each intersection part of scan lines SL and data lines DL, a scan driver 18 to drive the scan lines SL, and a data driver 20 to drive the data lines DL. Each of the pixels 22 are selected when scan pulses are supplied to the scan line SL of a cathode to generate light corresponding to a pixel signal, i.e., a current signal supplied to the data line DL of anode. The pixels 22 include an electro-luminescence (OEL) cell and a cell driver. Each OEL cell may be equivalently expressed as a diode connected between the data line DL and the scan line SL, wherein each OEL cell emits light when a negative scan pulse is supplied to the scan line SL and a positive current is simultaneously supplied to the data line DL in accordance with a data signal, thereby supplying a forward voltage. Alternatively, a reverse voltage is supplied to the OEL cell included in an unselected scan line, whereby no light is emitted. In other words, the light-emitting OEL cell is charged with a forward charge, whereas the OEL cell with no light emission is charged with a reverse charge.
The scan driver 18 sequentially supplies the negative scan pulse to scan lines SL, and the data driver 20 supplies a current signal to the data lines DL, wherein the current signal has a current level or pulse width corresponding to a data signal for each horizontal period. Accordingly, the ELD device supplies the current signal with the current level or pulse width proportional to input data to the OEL cell, and each OEL cell emits light in proportion to the amount of current applied from the data line DL.
FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of a data driver shown in FIG. 2 according to the related art. The data driver 20 controls the pulse width of the current signal in response to the input data, and includes a plurality of data drive integrated circuits (ICs) and a data drive IC 21, which mainly uses a current mirror circuit in order to create a constant current.
In FIG. 3, the data driver IC 21 includes a reference MOSFET M0 connected between a voltage source VDD and a ground voltage source, wherein the constant current sources, i.e., constant current supply MOSFETs M1 to M4 that are connected to the voltage source VDD and, at the same time, connected in parallel to the reference MOSFET M0, form a current mirror circuit for supplying the constant current (i) to each data line connected to the OEL cell 24. In addition, the data drive IC 21 includes switch devices S1 to S4 that are connected between the constant current supply MOSFET M1 to M4 and the data line to control a supply time of the constant current (i) from the constant supply MOSFET M1 to M4 in response to the input data, thereby controlling the pulse width of the current signal. Accordingly, it is possible for the data drive IC 21 not to include the switch devices S1 to S4.
Each of the constant current supply MOSFETs M1 to M4 together with the reference MOSFET M0 receive the supply voltage of the voltage source VDD in parallel to form a current mirror circuit with the reference MOSFET M0. Accordingly, the same amount of constant current (i) or 2n times the constant current, i.e., 2i, 4i, 8i, . . . , is supplied. The constant current (i) supplied from the constant current supply MOSFETs M1 to M4 changes in accordance with the amount of load, i.e., line resistance, of the data lines and capacitance that are both related to the amount of light emission of the OEL cell 24 due to the structure of the ELD panel. Accordingly, the data drive IC 21 includes a plurality of current control resistors each having resistance values different from each other in order to control the changing current in accordance with the amount of load. In addition, a resistor is selected among the plurality of current control resistors in accordance with an average amount of load of the data drive IC 21 to be connected between the reference MOSFET M0 and ground, thereby controlling the constant current (i) of the data drive IC 21.
The data driver 20 includes a plurality of data drive IC's 21, as shown in FIG. 3. In addition, another reference current source to the external voltage source is required for each data drive IC 21 to supply the reference current to the reference MOSFET M0. Accordingly, the output of each reference current source needs to be equal in order to reduce the current output deviation between the data drive IC's 21. Thus, each data drive IC 21 uses the same external voltage source VDD, and each current source needs to be adjusted for equalizing the reference current.
However, the active matrix-type ELD device has its own problems. For example, when the number of reference current sources increases, more operational time is required to adjust the reference current sources when a plurality of data drive IC's 21 are used.

Method and apparatus for data-driving electro-luminescence display panel device


The invention relates to a synchronous AC electric motor with concentrated windings (2), whereby one primary side pole is comprised of a series of toothed-modules (4) with each toothed-module (4) being connected in the correct electrical phase sequence to a corresponding phase (11) of the motor electrical supply (5). In order to provide a highly optimized concentrated winding motor design applicable equally to either linear or rotating machines, which retains the performance benefits of existing concentrated-winding motors it is proposed that neighboring modules (4) are wound so as to have alternating polarities, whereby the number of toothed-modules (4) comprising a primary side pole is exactly equal to twice the number of motor phases (5), and that the motor is designed to operate using an air-gap flux component which is harmonic of the fundamental phase current frequency.

The invention relates to a method for reducing torque ripple in AC brush-less motors with concentrated windings. AC synchronous travelling or rotating field motors with concentrated primary side windings i.e. windings in which individual coils, wound onto single primary side toothed-modules are connected together to form one phase of the motor winding, have significant performance benefits when compared to standard rotating AC field motors with overlapping or so called distributed or sine-weighted windings.
These benefits have been well understood for several years and include reduced power loss, increased torque density, simplified and more highly automated manufacturing processes and lower tooling costs. All of these advantages spring from the fact that the concentrated winding occupies less physical space than a distributed winding.
A distributed winding must traverse the motor primary side, and must be wound such that the coils of one winding overlap with those of a second winding. The difficulties in physically fitting such windings into the available space on the primary side result in reduced slot fill factor i.e. less wire in each of the primary side slots, and large lengths of wire running between the primary side slots at the ends of the motor. These so called end-windings do not contribute to torque production, but do increase the winding resistance and thus the heat losses which are proportional to the resistance, and thus reduce motor efficiency.
Concentrated winding motors on the other hand, are usually formed by winding coils onto individually produced primary side toothed-modules, which are themselves built up from multiple laminations. The wound modules are subsequently welded or otherwise joined together to form the primary side of the motor.


A delivery of content to the unspecified number of persons is prevented by limiting the content delivery range. A delivery source terminal 110 generates an authentication code based on the number of possible transmission times of content and an authentication code key 116, and configures the number of possible transmission times and the generated authentication code in a packet. The delivery source terminal 110 transmits the packet to a delivery destination terminal 130. A router 120 verifies whether the authentication code generated based on the number of possible transmission times and the authentication code key 124 that are received agrees with the authentication code received from the delivery source terminal 110, updates the number of possible transmission times when the two codes agree, generates a new authentication code, and configures it in the packet. The router 120 transmits the packet thus generated to the delivery destination terminal 130.

The present invention relates to a technology to deliver content, and more specifically to a content transmission control device that executes routing control to limit the delivery range of content, a device to deliver content and a device to receive content.
Services to deliver content such as motion pictures and music through communication means of the Internet, satellite broadcasting, etc. have been proposed. Data handled in such services is digitized, which allows easy duplication. It is therefore important to protect copyrights of the content. As one of the protection means, a method of enciphering and delivering content has been proposed. With the method, content is enciphered, and a decryption key to decrypt the enciphered content is simultaneously generated. Since the enciphered content cannot be reproduced without the decryption key, it is possible to prevent fraudulent use of content by managing a license consisting of a pair of a decryption key and use conditions thereof, thus enabling to protect rights of copyright owners of content.
In addition, when delivered on the Internet, content is delivered via a plurality of networks. Such networks are connected to each other via respective devices called "router" which controls data transmission. The content issued from a device is delivered to a receiving terminal through a plurality of routers and networks. Content is delivered through the Internet as described above. On the other hand, however, it becomes possible for a user to record digital broadcast content, etc. and deliver the content to the unspecified number of persons. Under such circumstances, requests for limiting the use of content to users who duly purchased the content are being proposed by content holders, etc.
For example, to prevent delivery of content to the unspecified number of persons, an idea to limit the number of times that content passes through a router has been proposed (see Non-patent Document 1). Hereinafter, operations of the proposed system will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Here, consideration will be made on a case where content is delivered to a delivery destination terminal 30 connected to a delivery destination network 2 from a delivery source terminal 10 connected to a delivery source network 1. First, a device authentication controller 13 of the delivery source terminal 10 checks if the delivery destination terminal 30 is a right device, exchanges information used to generate a content encryption key with the delivery destination terminal 30, and shares an encryption key with the delivery destination terminal 30. In addition, the delivery destination terminal 30 checks if the delivery source terminal 10 is a right device, as required. When the delivery destination terminal 30 is verified to be a right device, delivery of the content is practically initiated. If it is judged that the delivery destination terminal 30 is not a right device, the content will not be delivered.
To deliver content, a content encryption unit 14 executes the following steps of: generating a key to encrypt content by using information for generating a key to encrypt the shared content; encrypting content to be delivered by using the encryption key, creating a packet in which the delivery destination address on network and the port, the delivery source address and the port, the maximum number of times that the content passes through the router (hereinafter referred to as TTL: Time to Live), etc. are configured in header; and delivering the encrypted content to the delivery source network 1 via a delivery controller 11. A router 20 refers to the delivery destination address of the packet, detects that the address is an address managed by the delivery destination network 2, and delivers the packet to the delivery destination network 2. The delivery destination terminal 30, upon confirming that the packet is addressed to the delivery destination terminal 30, receives the packet, generates a content encryption key by using information for generating a shared key to encrypt the content, decrypts the encrypted content by using the key, and uses the content.
Hereinafter, operations of the router 20 will be described in detail. When the router 20 receives the packet sent by the delivery source terminal 10, a routing controller 21 judges, by referring to a routing table 22, if transmission of the packet which has a delivery destination address and a port, and a delivery source address and a port that are stored in the header of the packet has been permitted or prohibited. If transmission has been permitted, the routing controller 21 subtracts "1" from the value stored in TTL of the header and updates the TTL, thus showing that the packet has passed the router. Here, if subtraction of "1" from the TTL value results in "0", the routing controller 21 does not allow the packet to pass through the router even if transmission of packets is permitted and notify the delivery source terminal 10 of the status accordingly. When subtraction of "1" from the TTL value results in a value exceeding "0", the routing controller 21 transmits the packet to the delivery destination network 2. In addition, when transmission of the packet is prohibited in the routing table 22, the packet will not be transmitted to the delivery destination network 2.
As stated above, by limiting the value that is configured for TTL by the packet creation unit 12 of the delivery source terminal 10, it is possible to limit and determine the network through which content is delivered, thus enabling to prevent delivery of content to the unspecified number of persons. In addition, in non-patent document 1, the TTL value should be set to "3" or below. More specifically, the number of routers through which content can pass is limited up to 2.
With the content delivery system stated above, a method of managing TTL values with the delivery source terminal 10 or the router 20 constitutes an important factor.
[Non-Patent Document 1] DTCP Volume 1, Supplement E, "Mapping DTCP to IP" (Informational Version), DRAFT Revision 0.9, Sep. 12, 2003 (pp. 18, V1SE.6.2).

Content transmission control device, content distribution device and content receiving device


A nonvolatile memory device includes a control circuit that generates an integrated activation signal based on a read command signal for instructing start of an read operation and a ready/busy signal, and simultaneously generates a voltage control signal and a path control signal in response to the integrated activation signal, a voltage providing circuit that generates voltages used to perform the read operation in response to the voltage control signal, and path control circuits that control electrical path connection to a memory cell array in which the read operation is performed in response to the path control signal.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a nonvolatile memory device and a method of operating the same, and more particularly, to a nonvolatile memory device including circuitry to control a read operation, and a method of operating the nonvolatile memory device.
2. Related Art
Memory devices are classified as volatile memory devices and nonvolatile memory devices according to whether stored data is retained or not when a power source is off.
Flash memory devices are a representative type of nonvolatile memory devices. In a memory cell in a flash memory device, a threshold voltage of the memory cell is determined by an amount of charges stored therein through Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling between a floating gate and a control gate, and data is stored in the memory cell according to the threshold voltage.

Nonvolatile memory device and merthod of operating the same


A magnetic head slider or a precise positioning actuator is electrically and mechanically connected to a suspension, by performing molten-solder connections using solder balls with cores that will not melt even at a solder-melting temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting method of a magnetic head component, to a magnetic head device and to a manufacturing method of a magnetic head device. Particularly, the present invention relates to a mounting method of a magnetic head component such as a flying-type magnetic head slider with at least one magnetic write head element and/or at least one magnetic read head element or a micro-actuator, to a magnetic head device and to a manufacturing method of a magnetic head device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are three practical variations of a flying-type magnetic head device in a magnetic disk drive apparatus, that is, a head gimbal assembly (HGA) with a suspension and a magnetic head slider attached on the suspension, a head arm assembly (HAA) with a support arm and at least one HGA attached to the support arm, and a head stack assembly (HSA) with a plurality of HAAs stacked on each other.
A typical HGA has a suspension and a magnetic head slider fixed on the suspension by a resin adhesive. Terminal pads of the magnetic head slider are electrically connected by solder with connection pads of trace conductors supported by the suspension. Thus, the magnetic head slider is fixed to the suspension by both the resin adhesive and the solder. Such structure is known by for example Japanese patent publication No. 2002-050017A.
A solder reflow method is known as for a method of electrically connecting terminal pads of a magnetic head slider and lead conductors of a suspension with each other and as for a method of detaching the magnetic head slider from the suspension in order to reuse. The solder reflow method is very popularly used for the solder connection because it is possible to provide high adhesion strength. Particularly, in the HGA process, a laser reflow method for reflowing the solder by means of a laser beam is utilized. Such laser reflow method is disclosed in for example Japanese patent publication No. 2002-050017A and U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,031.
The laser reflow method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,031 has a process of providing a solder ball via a capillary to place it between the terminal pad of the magnetic head slider and the lead connection pad on the suspension, and a process of supplying a laser beam through the capillary to melt the solder ball so as to make solder connection between the terminal pad and the lead connection pad.
However, if conventional solders ball are used for the solder connection between the terminal pad of the magnetic head slider and the lead connection pad on the suspension, it is quite difficult to control the shape of the solder portion. That is, since each solder ball is very small in size and lead-free solder is popularly used as the solder ball, solder shape control may be close to impossible. Attached roll and/or pitch angle of the magnetic head slider after the solder connection with respect to the suspension may greatly change due to such as shrink-distortion occurring when the molten solder is solidified. Such great change in the attached angle may deteriorate flying performance of the magnetic head slider and therefore output characteristics of the magnetic head. Also, lack of the solder shape control will make difficult a so-called rework process for detaching a magnetic head slider with the deteriorated output characteristics from a suspension and for attaching a new magnetic head slider to the reused suspension.

Mounting method of magnetic head component, magnetic head device and manufacturing method of magnetic head device utilizing solder balls with nonmelting cores


The invention relates to a process for separation or purification of gaseous streams by removal of acid gases using a liquid amine solution. The process involves the steps of —contacting the gaseous stream with liquid lean amine solution in at least one continuous flow stirred-tank reactor (10; 10a, 10b; 10c); —removing a sweetened gaseous flow from said continuous flow stirred-tank reactor (10); —removing rich amine from said continuous flow stirred-tank reactor (10; 10a, 10b; 10c) for regeneration; —passing rich amine solution through at least one flash tank stripper 20; 20a, 20b; 20c; —removing acid gases and vapor from said flash tank stripper 20; 20a, 20b; 20c; —removing lean amine from said flash tank stripper for recirculation to said continuous flow stirred-tank reactor (10; 10a, 10b; 10c).

The production of hydrocarbons from a reservoir often causes production of non-hydrocarbon gases. Such gases include contaminants such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2). When H2S and CO2 are produced as part of a hydrocarbon gas stream (such as methane or ethane), the raw gas stream is sometimes referred to as "sour gas." The H2S and CO2 are often referred to together as "acid gases."
Acid gases may also be associated with synthesis or refinery gas streams. Acid gases may also be generated by the combustion of carbon based materials such as coal, natural gas or other carbon based fuels. In any instance, raw gas streams may contain other "acidic" impurities. These include mercaptans and other trace sulphur compounds. Such impurities should be removed prior to industrial or residential use.
While H2S, mercaptans and trace sulphur compounds have long been captured through separation processes, CO2 has oftentimes simply been vented to the atmosphere. However, the practice of venting CO2 is coming into conflict with national or regional emission requirements which can limit CO2 emissions. Hence, processes for removing CO2 are of greater interest to industries that operate gas processing facilities, particularly within the oil and gas production industry.
There are a number of processes for removing acid gas from a raw natural gas stream or flue gas streams. A common method involves treating the hydrocarbon fluid stream with a solvent. Solvents may include chemical solvents such as amines. Examples of amines used in sour gas treatment include monoethanol amine (MEA), diethanol amine (DEA), and methyl diethanol amine (MDEA). Amine-based solvents rely on a chemical reaction with the acid gases. The reaction process is sometimes referred to as "gas sweetening." As a result of the gas sweetening process, a treated or "sweet" gas stream is created. The sweet gas stream has been substantially depleted of H2S and/or CO2 components. The sweet gas can be further processed for liquids recovery, that is, by condensing out heavier hydrocarbon gases. The extracted CO2 may be sold or otherwise used for enhanced oil recovery operations.
Traditionally, the removal of acid gases using chemical solvents involves counter-currently contacting the natural gas/flue gas stream with the solvent. The raw gas stream is introduced into the bottom section of a contacting tower column absorber, which is also referred to as a contacting tower, a column absorber, or simply a tower. In the subsequent text the term "column absorber" will be used. At the same time, the solvent solution is directed into a top section of the column absorber. The column absorber has trays, packings or other internal components. As the liquid solvent cascades through the column absorber it absorbs the undesirable acid gas components and carries them away through the bottom of the contacting column absorber as part of a "rich" solvent solution. At the same time, gaseous fluid that is largely depleted of H2S and/or CO2 exits at the top of the column absorber.
It is common to use a variety of absorbent liquids to absorb acid gases such as H2S and/or CO2 from gas or hydrocarbon liquid streams. Upon absorption, the absorbent liquid is said to be "rich." Following absorption, a process of regeneration (also called "desorption") may be employed to separate acid gases from the active solvent of the absorbent liquid. This produces a "lean" solvent that is then typically recycled for further absorption.
Known counter-current contactor towers used for H2S and CO2 scrubbing tend to be very large and heavy. This creates particular difficulty in offshore oil and gas production applications, where both space and weight is an issue. Similar problems are created in power generation plants requiring removal of CO2 from large quantities of generated flue gas. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved gas processing facility useful for the removal of acid gases from hydrocarbon gas streams in connection with oil and gas recovery that employs primarily smaller contacting devices.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide an improved solution that solves the above problems relating to the separation of acid gases from a gaseous hydrocarbon fluid stream or from a flue gas stream. These objects and others will become apparent from the following description.

Continuously stirred tank reactor absorber and flash tank stripper system