An electrical energy storage unit for a motor vehicle, having at least one storage unit cell designed to store electrical energy, which storage unit cell has a cell housing in which an electrolyte and an electrode device are arranged, and having a temperature control device that has at least one temperature control channel arranged outside the cell housing, which temperature control channel is able to be flowed through by a temperature control fluid in order to control the temperature of the storage unit cell. At least one heating device is able to be supplied with the electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell and thereby able to be electrically operated. By way of the heating device, the storage unit cell is able to be heated, wherein the heating device is able to be operated without any damage only when the storage unit cell has a state of charge that is not more than 60% of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell.

The invention relates to an electrical energy storage unit for a motor vehicle. The invention furthermore relates to a method for operating such an electrical energy storage unit.
DE 10 2017 213 250 A1 discloses a battery module having at least one battery cell and having a cooling plate that is thermally conductively connected to the at least one battery cell. A thermal compensation layer, which is designed to increase the thermal conductivity between the battery cell and the cooling plate, is arranged between the battery cell and the cooling plate. DE 10 2017 219 552 A1 furthermore discloses a battery module having a plurality of battery cells. The battery cells are electrically conductively connected to one another in series and/or in parallel.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical energy storage unit for a motor vehicle and a method for operating such an electrical energy storage unit, such that particularly advantageous temperature control of the energy storage unit is able to be achieved.
This and other objects are achieved according to the invention by an electrical energy storage unit and by a method having the features of the independent claims. Advantageous refinements of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.
A first aspect of the invention relates to an electrical energy storage unit for a motor vehicle, in particular for a motor vehicle that is preferably designed as a passenger motor vehicle. This means that the motor vehicle, in its fully manufactured state, has the electrical energy storage unit. The motor vehicle furthermore has, in its fully manufactured state, at least one electric machine by way of which the motor vehicle is able to be driven electrically, in particular fully electrically. The motor vehicle is thus preferably a hybrid vehicle or else an electric vehicle, in particular a battery electric vehicle (BEV). In order to drive the motor vehicle electrically, in particular fully electrically, by way of the electric machine, the electric machine is for example operated or able to be operated in a motor mode and is thus operated or able to be operated as an electric motor. In this case, electrical energy, that is to say electric current, is stored in the energy storage unit or by way of the energy storage unit. In order to operate the electric machine in the motor mode, the electric machine is supplied or is able to be supplied with electrical energy stored in the energy storage unit. Since the motor vehicle is able to be driven by way of the electric machine, the electric machine is also referred to as traction machine. Since the electric machine is supplied with electrical energy stored in the energy storage unit in order to drive the motor vehicle electrically, in particular fully electrically, the energy storage unit is also referred to as traction storage unit or else traction battery, in particular when the energy storage unit is designed as a battery. This means that the energy storage unit may be designed as a battery or as an accumulator battery, in particular as a lithium-ion battery or accumulator battery. The electric machine and the energy storage unit are preferably high-voltage components (HV components) whose respective electric voltage, in particular electric operating or nominal voltage, is preferably at least 48 volts and very preferably greater than 50 volts, in particular greater than 60 volts. The electric voltage, in particular the electric operating or nominal voltage, is preferably several hundred volts, in order thereby to be able to achieve particularly great electric powers for the electric driving, in particular fully electric driving, of the motor vehicle. The energy storage unit may thus be designed in particular as a high-voltage battery (HV battery). It is in particular conceivable for the electric machine also be able to be operated in a generator mode, and thus as a generator. The generator converts kinetic energy of the moving motor vehicle into electrical energy that is provided by the generator. The electrical energy provided by the generator may be stored in the energy storage unit and provided again later.
The electrical energy storage unit has at least one storage unit cell by way of which electrical energy, that is to say electric current, is able to be stored, in particular electrochemically stored. The storage unit cell is in particular designed as a battery cell, in particular as a lithium-ion cell, and is also referred to simply as cell. The energy storage unit may in particular have a plurality of storage unit cells that are electrically connected to one another and are thereby connected or able to be connected to one another in series and/or in parallel. The above and below explanations regarding the at least one storage unit cell may also readily be transferred to the other storage unit cells of the energy storage unit, and vice versa. The at least one storage unit cell has a cell housing in which an in particular liquid electrolyte and an electrode device are arranged, in particular at the same time. The electrolyte of course does not have to be liquid. It is also conceivable to use a solid electrolyte and/or a polymer electrolyte that is formed from at least one polymer.
This means for example that the cell housing may in particular directly delimit a reception space, wherein the electrode device and the electrolyte are arranged or received, in particular at the same time, in the reception space. The electrode device is in this case for example immersed at least partially, in particular at least predominantly or completely, in the electrolyte. This should be understood to mean in particular that the electrolyte is in direct contact with the electrode device. The electrode device may for example have at least or precisely two electrodes, in particular having a different electrical polarity. The electrode device and the electrolyte are thus for example combined to form a galvanic cell or form such a galvanic cell, by way of which the electrical energy is able to be stored, in particular electrochemically stored. One of the electrodes is for example an anode, wherein the other of the electrodes is for example a cathode. A first of the electrodes is for example electrically connected to a first connection element of the storage unit cell, wherein a second of the electrodes is for example electrically connected to a second connection element of the storage unit cell. The electrodes are for example electrically insulated from one another. The connection elements are for example electrically insulated from one another. The connection elements may be arranged outside the cell housing, such that the electrodes are guided outwardly as it were via the connection elements, that is to say to surroundings of the cell housing. As a result, for example, one of the connection elements forms a positive electrical pole of the storage unit cell, wherein the other connection element for example forms a negative electrical pole of the storage unit cell. By way of the connection elements, also referred to as terminals, the storage unit cell is able to provide the electrical energy stored therein, or the electrical energy provided by the generator may be fed into the storage unit cell by the connection elements for storage and thus be stored in the storage unit cell.
The electrical energy storage unit furthermore has a temperature control device by way of which the temperature of the storage unit cell is able to be controlled, that is to say the storage unit cell is able to be heated and/or cooled. The temperature control device has at least one temperature control channel arranged outside the cell housing, wherein the temperature control device is arranged for example outside the cell housing. The temperature control channel is able to be flowed through by a temperature control fluid in order to control the temperature, that is to say in order to heat and/or cool, the storage unit cell. With regard to the abovementioned plurality of storage unit cells, the temperature control device or the temperature control channel is for example arranged between respective adjacently or successively arranged cell housings of two of the storage unit cells, such that there is preferably provision for the temperature control device or the temperature control channel to be arranged outside all of the cell housings of the or all of the storage unit cells of the energy storage unit. The temperature control device is therefore also referred to for example as cell intermediate temperature controller or cell intermediate cooler, since the temperature control channel or the temperature control device is arranged between the storage unit cells or between the cell housings of the storage unit cells.
The storage unit cell may be cooled by way of the temperature control fluid for example in such a way that there is a transfer of heat from the storage unit cell, in particular from the cell housing, to the temperature control fluid. The storage unit cell may be heated by way of the temperature control fluid for example in such a way that there is a transfer of heat from the temperature control fluid to the storage unit cell, in particular to the cell housing.
In order then to be able to achieve particularly advantageous temperature control of the energy storage unit, there is provision according to the invention for the electrical energy storage unit to have at least one heating device that is able to be supplied with the electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell and is thereby able to be electrically operated. The heating device is thus an electrical heating device, that is to say an electrically operable heating device, by way of which the storage unit cell is able to be heated using the electrical energy originating from the storage unit cell, the heating device being supplied or being able to be supplied with this electrical energy. There is furthermore provision in this case according to the invention for the heating device to be able to be operated without any damage only when the storage unit cell or the energy storage unit has an overall state of charge that is not more than 60% of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell. There is in particular preferably provision for the heating device to be able to be operated without any interruption, that is to say continuously, and without any damage over or during an operating time only when the storage unit cell or the energy storage unit has an overall state of charge that is not more than 60% of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell, wherein the operating time is at most or precisely 30 minutes, in particular at most or precisely 15 minutes and very preferably at most or exactly five minutes. In particular when the heating device is designed as a cell intermediate heater, the operating time is preferably at most five minutes, in particular at most or precisely three minutes and very preferably at most or precisely two minutes. It has proven to be particularly advantageous, in particular when the heating device is designed as a cell-internal heater, for the operating time to be at most or precisely 60 seconds, in particular at most or precisely 30 seconds. This should be understood to mean in particular that, if the heating device were to be supplied with electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell and thereby operated at a state of charge of the storage unit cell greater than 60 percent of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell, before expiry of the operating time, the heating device would be damaged or destroyed, in particular burnt out, wherein the operating time begins when the storage unit cell begins to be operated, that is to say when the heating device begins to be supplied with electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell and is thereby operated.
The maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell should be understood to mean that the storage unit cell is completely charged with electrical energy when it reaches its maximum state of charge, such that no further electrical energy is able to be fed into the storage unit cell for storage. Expressed in yet other words, a greatest possible state of charge of the storage unit cell is at most 60 percent of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell, wherein the heating device is able to be operated over or during the operating time without any interruption and without any damage only when the storage unit cell or the energy storage unit has an overall state of charge that is not greater than the greatest possible state of charge. The in particular current state of charge of the storage unit cell is also referred to as SOC and denotes for example an in particular current amount of electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell. If the heating device were to be supplied with electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell and thereby operated in the case of an SOC of more than 60 percent, then the heating device, for example in the form of a heating resistor, would be damaged or destroyed, in particular burnt out, before the expiry of the operating time.
It may be identified overall that the invention combines the cell intermediate temperature controller with the heating device, which is designed or configured as described. It was found that, through this combination, it is possible overall to achieve particularly advantageous temperature control of the storage unit cell or of the energy storage unit, such that it is possible firstly to achieve particularly good what is known as fast charging of the energy storage unit. Secondly, the temperature of the energy storage unit may particularly advantageously be controlled during normal driving operation. Fast charging of the energy storage unit should in particular be understood to mean that electrical energy is fed into the energy storage unit for storage with an electric power, also referred to as charging power, and has a peak value in particular of at least 100 kilowatts, in particular at least 250 kilowatts, and in this case for example is in a range from 250 kilowatts inclusive to 350 kilowatts inclusive. The invention in particular makes use of the finding that the temperature control fluid, also referred to as temperature control medium, is able to be used as a heater for heating the storage unit cell, a heating power of the temperature control fluid however usually being limited to five to ten kilowatts. This is the case in particular for the entire energy storage unit. With regard to the respective storage unit cell, the heating power is limited for example to 10 to 30 watts per storage unit cell. Heating rates that are provided for the heating of the storage unit cell and that are able to be achieved by way of the temperature control device, that is to say by way of the temperature control fluid on its own, are thereby too low to be able to achieve the abovementioned fast charging or to perform or start it within a sufficiently short time. Sufficiently high heating rates for the fast charging are able to be achieved by way of the heating device on its own. The electrical heating device however has a conflict of interest in terms of its technical design. The electrical heating device may be designed either for low voltage levels and thus for low states of charge of the energy storage unit or of the storage unit cell, or else for high voltage levels and thus for high states of charge of the storage unit cell or of the energy storage unit. The maximum heating time for which the storage unit cell is able to be heated by way of the heating device, in particular continuously or without any interruption, is additionally limited, specifically by a temperature rise of the heating device itself, in particular its heating structure, that occurs in the case of the heating of the storage unit cell brought about by the heating device. The heating device or its heating structure for heating the storage unit cell should not become hotter than a limit temperature, since otherwise materials, such as for example an adhesive layer or an insulating layer of the storage unit cell and/or other cell components of the storage unit cell, could be damaged. If the heating device is designed for lower states of charge, then the full heating time is only possible there. In the case of comparatively high states of charge, the maximum possible heating time is greatly restricted, since otherwise the heating device or its heating structure becomes too hot. In the case of high states of charge, a heating power of the heating device is higher than in the case of low states of charge, as a result of which the maximum temperature is reached faster.
A further finding on which the invention is based is, for example, that when the current state of charge of the storage unit cell has a first value, the storage unit cell has or provides a first electric voltage that is present for example at the heating device. If the current state of charge of the storage unit cell however has for example a second value that is lower than the first value, then the storage unit cell has a second electric voltage that is lower than the first electric voltage, or the storage unit cell provides the second electric voltage that is lower than the first electric voltage and that is present for example at the heating device. High states of charge of the storage unit cell thus lead to high voltage levels that are present at the heating device or with which the heating device is able to be operated, and low states of charge of the storage unit cell lead to low states of charge that are present at the heating device or with which the heating device is able to be operated. If the heating device is designed for example for a high, greatest possible state of charge, then, although the heating device could be operated at states of charge of the storage unit cell greater than 60 percent of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell without any interruption and without any damage during the operating time, an in particular internal electrical resistance of the heating device would then for example be so great that the heating device, at low states of charge, would not be able to be operated or would be able to be operated only in such a way that there would be only insufficient heating power. On the other hand, although, in the case of low current states of charge of the storage unit cell, sufficiently high heating rates could be achieved, in the case of very high states of charge, the heating device would be damaged, in particular burnt out, before the expiry, that is to say before the end of the operating time.
By virtue of the combination, provided according to the invention, of cell intermediate temperature controller and heating device, the abovementioned conflict of interest is able to be confronted, since the heating device, designed for example as a cell intermediate heater having a heating power of for example 200 watts per storage unit cell or as a cell-internal heater having for example a heating power of up to 400 watts per storage unit cell, is designed or is able to be operated particularly efficiently in the case of SOCs that are less than or equal to 60 percent of the maximum state of charge. This thereby allows a particularly high heating effect for the or in the case of the fast charging, in particular including when the current state of charge of the storage unit cell is less than 60 percent of the maximum state of charge. By virtue of the combination of the heating device with the efficient cell intermediate temperature controller, which may work for example with a supply temperature of 30 degrees Celsius, the temperature control medium may serve as heater, in particular by heating the temperature control medium. The temperature control medium or the cell intermediate temperature controller may in this case for example have a heating power that is in a range from ten watts inclusive to 25 watts inclusive per storage unit cell. Heating of the temperature control fluid may in particular be understood to mean that the temperature control fluid is able to be heated or is heated, in particular actively, using electrical energy, for example by way of a further heater that is provided in addition to the heating device and differs from heating device. The supply temperature of the temperature control fluid should in particular be understood to mean for example that the temperature control fluid is introduced into the temperature control channel at the supply temperature, whereupon the temperature control fluid flows through the temperature control channel and accordingly controls the temperature of the storage unit cell, in particular heats it. The supply temperature may for example be in a range from 30 degrees Celsius inclusive to 35 degrees Celsius inclusive. When it leaves the temperature control channel, in particular when the temperature control fluid has heated the storage unit cell, it has an exit temperature that is for example lower than the supply temperature.
The heating of the storage unit cell able to be brought about by way of the temperature control medium, when the current state of charge of the storage unit cell is greater than the greatest possible state of charge, may for example heat the storage cell or support the heating device where this is not able to be operated or is able to be operated only for a short time. In the case of states of charge of the storage unit cell higher than the greatest possible state of charge, the motor vehicle is driven normally, wherein in this case heating rates that are not as great or as fast as in the case of fast charging may be necessary. The temperature control fluid, in particular with or without circulation of the temperature control fluid, may generally help to achieve a sufficiently high heating time, since the temperature control medium may function as cooling medium and thus as a heat sink in order to prevent overheating of the heating device.
It has proven to be particularly advantageous for the heating device to be able to be operated without any damage, in particular without any interruption and without any damage during the operating time, only when the storage unit cell has a state of charge, in particular during the entire operating time, that is not more than 50%, in particular not more than 40%, of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell. Particularly advantageous temperature control, in particular heating, of the storage unit cell, and accordingly particularly advantageous fast charging, is thereby able to be achieved.
A further embodiment is distinguished in that the heating device has at least one electrical heating element arranged outside the cell housing. The heating device is thus designed for example as a cell intermediate heater by way of which it is possible firstly to achieve particularly advantageous heating of the storage unit cell. Secondly, a particularly simple and thus inexpensive construction of the storage unit cell or of the energy storage unit is able to be achieved overall. This means that the cell intermediate heater is not arranged in the cell housing or is not arranged inside the cell housing, but rather is arranged outside the cell housing, and in this case for example between the cell housings of the storage unit cells.
A check as to whether the heating device is able to be operated without any damage only when the storage unit cell has a state of charge that is not more than 60%, in particular 50% and very particularly 40%, of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell takes place for example in such a way that a state of charge lower than 60%, 50% or 40% of the maximum state of charge or an in particular current state of charge of the storage unit cell that corresponds to 60%, 50% or 40% of the maximum state of charge is set and is kept at least substantially constant, for example during the entire operating time during which the heating device is supplied with electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell. If the heating device in this case survives the operating time undamaged, then for example a state of charge of the storage unit cell greater than 60%, 50% or 40% of the maximum state of charge is set and kept at least substantially constant. The heating device is then supplied with energy stored in the storage unit cell. If the heating device is damaged or destroyed before the end of the operating time, then the invention is achieved.
There is thus preferably provision for the heating device per se, that is to say on its own and in this case in particular considered without the temperature control device or the operation thereof, to be able to be operated without any damage only when the storage unit cell has a state of charge that is not more than 60% of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell. There is thus preferably provision, in the case of the abovementioned check, for temperature control of the heating device that is brought about in a targeted manner by the temperature control device to be omitted, such that the heating device is checked in a manner considered on its own. It is thus conceivable in principle for the heating device per se, that is to say considered on its own and without operation of the temperature control device taking place, to be supplied with electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell without any damage and thereby operated briefly and thus during a time interval shorter than the operating time without any interruption or continuously in the case of states of charge of the storage unit cell higher or greater than the greatest possible state of charge of the storage unit cell. Such operation of the heating device per se that takes place in the case of states of charge of the storage unit cell greater than the greatest possible state of charge is however not possible without any interruption over the entire operating time and without any damage with regard to the heating device, since the state of charge of the storage unit cell and thus its voltage level would then be too high in order to be able to operate the heating device on its own, that is to say considered on its own, during the stated operating time without any interruption and without any damage.
In order to be able to achieve particularly effective heating of the storage unit cell, there is provision, in a further refinement of the invention, for the heating device to have at least one electrical heating element arranged inside the cell housing. The heating element is in this case for example formed from a heating foil that is integrated into the storage unit cell or into the cell housing.
It has proven to be particularly advantageous in this case for the electrical heating element arranged inside the cell housing, the electrode device and the electrolyte to be arranged at the same time in a reception space delimited by the cell housing, in particular in such a way that the electrolyte is in direct contact with at least part of the electrical heating element. Particularly fast and effective heating of the storage unit cell is thereby able to be guaranteed.
In a further refinement of the invention, there is provision for the maximum temperature of the heating device to be in a range from 60° C. inclusive to 90° C. inclusive, preferably to be 70° C. The maximum temperature of the heating device, when the heating device is designed as an external cell intermediate heater, that is to say one arranged outside the cell housing, and in particular when the storage unit cell is designed as a lithium-ion cell and/or the electrolyte is a liquid electrolyte, is preferably 70° C. The maximum temperature of the heating device when the heating device is designed as an internal cell-internal heater, that is to say one arranged inside the cell housing, and in particular when the storage unit cell is designed as a lithium-ion cell and/or the electrolyte is a liquid electrolyte, is preferably 60° C. If for example the electrolyte is a solid electrolyte, then the maximum temperature is for example 90° C. Excessive temperatures and resultant damage are thereby able to be reliably avoided.
In order to be able to achieve particularly efficient and effective temperature control of the storage unit cell, a further configuration of the invention makes provision for the temperature control fluid to be a liquid. The liquid preferably at least partially, in particular at least predominantly or fully, comprises water. It is furthermore conceivable for the liquid to contain at least one alcohol. The liquid may thus be a mixture that may comprise at least water and at least one alcohol. The liquid may in particular be a non-electrically conductive liquid such as for example an oil or comprise at least one or more oils.
In a further embodiment of the invention, there is provision for the storage unit cell to be received in a storage unit housing of the electrical energy storage unit that is formed separately from the storage unit cell. In this case, there may in particular be provision for the abovementioned plurality of storage unit cells to be received in the storage unit housing, wherein the storage unit housing is formed separately from the storage unit cells and in particular their cell housings.
In order to achieve targeted guidance of the temperature control fluid and thus effective and efficient temperature control, in one embodiment of the invention, there is provision for the temperature control channel to be completely formed or delimited, at least in a length region of the temperature control channel, by a temperature control element that is formed separately from the storage unit housing and separately from the cell housing and received in the storage unit housing, wherein the temperature control element is arranged for example between two of the storage unit cells. Effective and efficient cell intermediate temperature control may thereby be achieved.
It has furthermore proven to be particularly advantageous for the temperature control channel to be at least partially delimited directly by the storage unit housing. What is called immersion cooling or immersion temperature control of the storage unit cell or of the storage unit cells is thereby able to be achieved. This should in particular be understood to mean that the temperature control fluid received in the temperature control channel or flowing through the temperature control channel forms a temperature control bath, also referred to bath, in the storage unit housing, in which bath the storage unit cell or the storage unit cells is or are received.
A second aspect of the invention relates to a method for operating an electrical energy storage unit for a motor vehicle. In the method, the energy storage unit has at least one storage unit cell designed to in particular electrochemically store electrical energy or electric current, which storage unit cell has a cell housing. An in particular liquid electrolyte is arranged in the cell housing. An electrode device of the storage unit cell is also arranged in the cell housing. In the method, the energy storage unit also has a temperature control device that comprises at least one temperature control channel arranged outside the cell housing, which temperature control channel is able to be flowed through or is flowed through by a temperature control fluid in order to control the temperature of the storage unit cell.
In order then to be able to particularly effectively and efficiently control the temperature of the energy storage unit, that is to say to be able to heat and/or cool it, there is provision according to the invention for the energy storage unit to have at least one heating device that is able to be supplied or is supplied with electrical energy stored in the storage unit cell and thereby to be able to be electrically operated or to be electrically operated. The storage unit cell is able to be heated by way of the heating device using the electrical energy originating from the storage unit cell. The heating device is in this case able to operate without any damage only when the storage unit cell has a state of charge that is not more than 60% of the maximum state of charge of the storage unit cell. Advantages and advantageous configurations of the first aspect of the invention should be considered to be advantages and advantageous configurations of the second aspect of the invention, and vice versa.
It has furthermore proven to be advantageous when the temperature control fluid is used as heating fluid at least during a time interval, by way of which heating fluid the storage unit cell is heated, in particular while the storage unit cell is heated by way of the heating device. There is in particular provision in this case for the temperature control fluid to circulate during the time interval. This should be understood to mean in particular that targeted cooling of the temperature control fluid is omitted during the time interval, in particular during the entire time interval. In other words, the energy storage unit comprises for example a fluid circuit able to be flowed through by the temperature control fluid and in which at least one cooler for the targeted cooling of the temperature control fluid is arranged. Circulation should be understood to mean in particular that the temperature control fluid bypasses the cooler or all of the coolers arranged in the fluid circuit and provided for the targeted cooling of the temperature control fluid and thus, after the temperature control fluid has flowed away from the storage unit cell and has for example flowed out of the temperature control channel, is fed back to the temperature control channel or the storage unit cell without being cooled in a targeted manner by way of a cooler. This makes it possible to achieve particularly high heating rates, such that the abovementioned fast charging is able to be achieved particularly well.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In the figures, identical or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference signs.

Electrical energy storage unit for a motor vehicle, and method for operating such an electrical energy storage unit

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A type of feather-like polyester fiber and a preparing method thereof are disclosed. The preparing method is to manufacture filament from a modified polyester through a POY process with a four-fold flat spinneret and a successive DTY processes, wherein said modified polyester is the product of the esterification and the successive polycondensation reactions of evenly mixed terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, main-chain silicated diol and fluorinated dicarboxylic acid, and the spinneret is the one set with four-fold flat shaped orifices. The obtained fiber has a dye uptake of 89.6-93.7% when dyed at 130° C., and has an intrinsic viscosity drop of 13-20% when stored at 25° C. and R.H. 65% for 60 months. This invention is simple to apply and features a product with good dyeing and degradation performance.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber, with the characteristics of high strength, good elasticity, good heat resistance, good chemical resistance and good dimensional stability, has become the most important textile material since its coming out as an important supplement to natural fibers. With the continuous improvement of living standards in modern society, the requirement for the quantity and quality of the fiber material in the field of clothing, decoration and industrial polyester has become higher and higher. To this end, it is necessary to develop the differential fibers with novel performance and added value.
Being smooth and uniform cylinders from the longitudinal view, common polyester fibers are of poor coherent due to their smooth surface. Therefore, the ends of polyester fiber are easy to expose outside the fabrics to form villi or further to cause pilling. At the same time, polyester fiber is also easy to generate static electricity under the friction because of its poor hygroscopicity and conductivity. In view of the above problems in ordinary circular cross-section fiber, the industry has carried out relevant research on the profiled polyester fibers. The study found that the polyester fiber with flat shaped cross-section (feather-like fiber) will possess improved luster, fluffiness, moisture absorption, elasticity and handle, as well as the pilling resistance. Although being used in plush toys, blankets, knitted fabrics and woven fabrics as a kind of high-grad raw material, the flat polyester fiber has the disadvantages of easy to break, low profiled degree and dyeing fault.
PET fiber belongs to a hydrophobic material lack of hydrophilic group, and is a rather dyeing inert one shorting of the dye attractive groups existed in cellulose fiber or protein fiber. In fact, PET fiber possesses a type of partly crystallized supramolecular structure, specifically, a coexistence state of crystalline regions composed of parallel molecular chains mostly in trans-conformation and amorphous regions composed of molecular chains mostly in cis-conformation, and such tight molecular arrangement cause the dyeing difficulties therefore. At present, the conventional PET fibers such as the common polyester DTY is usually dyed with disperse dyes at high temperature and high pressure, which can hardly get to the root of dyeing difficulties but bring high equipment requirement, long dyeing time and high energy consumption.
Furthermore, with the rapid development of PET industry, although PET will not directly cause harm to the environment, the difficulties in the PET waste treatment can indirectly increase environmental pressure due to its huge amount and strong resistance to atmospheric and microbial degradation. In present, landfill, incineration and recovery are the main methods to treat PET waste, from the environmental protection point of view, landfill and incineration are easy but dirty. Conversely, chemical degradation, i.e., to recover alcohol, carboxylic acid and ester from the alcoholysis reaction or aminolysis of polyester, has been believed as an efficient and scientific treatment for PET waste. However, the tight structure, the high crystallinity and the long natural degradation time (a period up to 16-48 years) of PET bring much restriction to the realization of chemical degradation recovery.
Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a kind of feather-like polyester fiber with the characteristics of easy to dye, low dyeing equipment requirement, low dyeing cost and high recovery efficiency.

Feather-like polyester fiber and preparing method thereof


A buried object detector comprising: a loop antenna and an RF source, the RF source coupled to the loop antenna and arranged to feed the loop antenna with an RF signal, the detector further comprising a detector circuit coupled to the loop antenna and arranged to detect changes in the quality factor of a resonant circuit formed by the loop antenna, wherein the loop antenna is arranged to magnetically couple with a buried object, thereby reducing the quality factor of the resonant circuit.

Hand held metal detectors are well known and may be used to detect metallic objects hidden in the ground or under a surface. Metal detectors operate by transmitting an alternating magnetic field into the ground or other surface. The reflected magnetic field is detected by a detector coil. Changes in the magnetic field due to the presence of metallic objects can then be detected. Metal detectors for the commercial and domestic markets have been available for many years.


A storage apparatus including a memory; a first buffer into which data words are read from said memory; and a word selector receiving on a first input data words from the buffer and on a second input data words from another source, and producing on an output for storage back into the memory data words that are selected from the first and second inputs to the word selector.

The invention relates generally to a DRAM memories and, more specifically, to a fault tolerant design for such memories.
In the past large digital memories have been implemented using large arrays of one bit DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memories), i.e., DRAM made up of a very large number of single bit cells. More recently, DRAM made up of 4-bit cells has become popular and the prices of such devices have dropped sufficiently to make their use in systems requiring RAM or cache storage more practical. However, the 4-bit DRAM has characteristics that are different from the single bit DRAM. For example, one cannot simply write directly to a single bit location in one of the 4-bit cells within the DRAM chip but rather must write to all four locations in the cell. These differences have produced some issues regarding how to utilize the 4-bit DRAM in existing system designs.

Bit interleaving in a memory which uses multi-bit DRAMs


The present invention provides a display system capable of efficiently calibrating image content even when the image is displayed and thereby capable of reducing the time and cost required for calibration, and also provides a computer-readable recording medium. The control device thereof processes an image to be displayed on a display section beforehand so as to be usable for calibration. While the image is actually being displayed on the display section, the control device captures an image displayed on the display section using a capturing device at the timing at which a calibration image is displayed, compares the luminance or color in the calibration image with the luminance or color in the image obtained by capturing the calibration image, and creates correction information for correcting an image signal to be output to the display section on the basis of the result of the comparison.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display system for calibrating luminance unevenness, color unevenness, etc. on the display sections thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display system capable of performing calibration while content is displayed, and to a recording medium on which computer programs for causing a computer to perform calibration are recorded.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a multi-display system (or a multi-vision system) constituting a single large display screen is used in which a plurality of display devices, each having a display section formed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or a plasma display, are arranged. In such a multi-display system, a large display screen is formed of a plurality of display devices. Hence, it is possible to produce various visual effects; for example, a large image is displayed, different images are displayed on the respective display devices, and the same image is displayed on the display devices disposed symmetrically with each other. With these effects, the multi-display system is used for digital signage to obtain great advertising effects. Furthermore, the multi-display system is sometimes used to relay images effectively or to produce events at an open space, such as an event site or a public facility.
In the multi-display system, a continuous image is sometimes displayed on two display devices adjacent to each other, for example, in the case that one image is displayed on the display sections formed of a plurality of display devices. It is therefore necessary to reduce the differences in color and luminance among the respective display sections. On the other hand, the display properties of the display sections, such as color representation and luminance gradation property, have individual differences. Furthermore, color drift or luminance change occurs because the display properties vary due to temperature change or deterioration with age. For this reason, in the multi-display system, it is necessary to periodically perform calibration to reduce the differences in color and luminance among the display sections formed of the plurality of display devices. Hence, a method capable of performing this kind of calibration simply and efficiently is gaining importance as such multi-display systems become widely used.
As an example of a simple calibration method according to a prior art, a method has been proposed in which a color chart serving as a standard is displayed on a display section and is imaged using a digital camera, and the profile of the display section is obtained from the image signal of the captured image. In the prior art, for the purpose of obtaining an image signal represented in a color space independent of a capturing device, that is, an image signal in the color space inherent in the display section to be subjected to calibration, from the image signal of the captured image, the profile of the capturing device (image sensor) is applied to the image signal and converted so as to eliminate the elements of the color space inherent in the image sensor.

Display system and computer-readable medium


The present invention relates to pyrrole substituted 2-indolinone compounds and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts which modulate the activity of protein kinases and therefore are expected to be useful in the prevention and treatment of protein kinase related cellular disorders such as cancer.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to certain 3-(4-amidopyrrol-2-ylmethylidene)-2-indolinone derivatives which modulate the activity of protein kinases ("PKs"). The compounds of this invention are therefore useful in treating disorders related to abnormal PK activity. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds, methods of treating diseases utilizing pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds and methods of preparing them are also disclosed.
2. State of the Art
PKs are enzymes that catalyze the phosphorylation of hydroxy groups on tyrosine, serine and threonine residues of proteins. The consequences of this seemingly simple activity are staggering; cell growth, differentiation and proliferation, i.e., virtually all aspects of cell life in one way or another depend on PK activity. Furthermore, abnormal PK activity has been related to a host of disorders, ranging from relatively non life threatening diseases such as psoriasis to extremely virulent diseases such as glioblastoma (brain cancer).
The PKs can be conveniently broken down into two classes, the protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and the serine-threonine kinases (STKs).
One of the prime aspects of PTK activity is their involvement with growth factor receptors. Growth factor receptors are cell-surface proteins. When bound by a growth factor ligand, growth factor receptors are converted to an active form which interacts with proteins on the inner surface of a cell membrane. This leads to phosphorylation on tyrosine residues of the receptor and other proteins and to the formation inside the cell of complexes with a variety of cytoplasm signaling molecules that, in turn, effect numerous cellular responses such as cell division (proliferation), cell differentiation, cell growth, expression of metabolic effects to the extracellular microenvironment, etc. For a more complete discussion, see Schlessinger and Ullrich, Neuron, 9:303-391 (1992) which is incorporated by reference, including any drawings, as if fully set forth herein.
Growth factor receptors with PTK activity are known as receptor tyrosine kinases ("RTKs"). They comprise a large family of transmembrane receptors with diverse biological activity. At present, at least nineteen (19) distinct subfamilies of RTKs have been identified. An example of these is the subfamily designated the "HER" RTKs, which include EGFR (epithelial growth factor receptor), HER2, HER3 and HER4. These RTKs consist of an extracellular glycosylated ligand binding domain, a transmembrane domain and an intracellular cytoplasm catalytic domain that can phosphorylate tyrosine residues on proteins.
Another RTK subfamily consists of insulin receptor (IR), insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-1R) and insulin receptor related receptor (IRR). IR and IGF-1R interact with insulin, IGF-I and IGF-II to form a heterotetramer of two entirely extracellular glycosylated α subunits and two β subunits which cross the cell membrane and which contain the tyrosine kinase domain.
A third RTK subfamily is referred to as the platelet derived growth factor receptor ("PDGFR") group, which includes PDGFRα, PDGFRβ, CSFIR, c-kit and c-fms. These receptors consist of glycosylated extracellular domains composed of variable numbers of immunoglobin-like loops and an intracellular domain wherein the tyrosine kinase domain is interrupted by unrelated amino acid sequences.
Another group which, because of its similarity to the PDGFR subfamily, is sometimes subsumed into the later group is the fetus liver kinase ("flk") receptor subfamily. This group is believed to be made up of kinase insert domain-receptor fetal liver kinase-1 (KDR/FLK-1, VEGF-R2), flk-1R, flk-4 and fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (flt-1).
A further member of the tyrosine kinase growth factor receptor family is the fibroblast growth factor ("FGF") receptor subgroup. This group consists of four receptors, FGFR1-4, and seven ligands, FGF1-7. While not yet well defined, it appears that the receptors consist of a glycosylated extracellular domain containing a variable number of immunoglobin-like loops and an intracellular domain in which the tyrosine kinase sequence is interrupted by regions of unrelated amino acid sequences.
Still another member of the tyrosine kinase growth factor receptor family is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF″) receptor subgroup. VEGF is a dimeric glycoprotein similar to PDGF but has different biological functions and target cell specificity in vivo. In particular, VEGF is presently thought to play an essential role is vasculogenesis and angiogenesis.
A more complete listing of the known RTK subfamilies is described in Plowman et al., DN & P, 7(6):334-339 (1994) which is incorporated by reference, including any drawings, as if fully set forth herein.
In addition to the RTKs, there also exists a family of entirely intracellular PTKs called "non-receptor tyrosine kinases" or "cellular tyrosine kinases." This latter designation, abbreviated "CTK," will be used herein. CTKs do not contain extracellular and transmembrane domains. At present, over 24 CTKs in 11 subfamilies (Src, Frk, Btk, Csk, Abl, Zap70, Fes, Fps, Fak, Jak and Ack) have been identified. The Src subfamily appear so far to be the largest group of CTKs and includes Src, Yes, Fyn, Lyn, Lck, Blk, Hck, Fgr and Yrk. For a more detailed discussion of CTKs, see Bolen, Oncogene, 8:2025-2031 (1993), which is incorporated by reference, including any drawings, as if fully set forth herein.
The serine/threonine kinases, STKs, like the CTKs, are predominantly intracellular although there are a few receptor kinases of the STK type. STKs are the most common of the cytosolic kinases; i.e., kinases that perform their function in that part of the cytoplasm other than the cytoplasmic organelles and cytoskelton. The cytosol is the region within the cell where much of the cell's intermediary metabolic and biosynthetic activity occurs; e.g., it is in the cytosol that proteins are synthesized on ribosomes.
RTKs, CTKs and STKs have all been implicated in a host of pathogenic conditions including, significantly, cancer. Other pathogenic conditions which have been associated with PTKs include, without limitation, psoriasis, hepatic cirrhosis, diabetes, angiogenesis, restenosis, ocular diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders, immunological disorders such as autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis and a variety of renal disorders.
With regard to cancer, two of the major hypotheses advanced to explain the excessive cellular proliferation that drives tumor development relate to functions known to be PK regulated. That is, it has been suggested that malignant cell growth results from a breakdown in the mechanisms that control cell division and/or differentiation. It has been shown that the protein products of a number of proto-oncogenes are involved in the signal transduction pathways that regulate cell growth and differentiation. These protein products of proto-oncogenes include the extracellular growth factors, transmembrane growth factor PTK receptors (RTKs), cytoplasmic PTKs (CTKs) and cytosolic STKs, discussed above.
In view of the apparent link between PK-related cellular activities and wide variety of human disorders, it is no surprise that a great deal of effort is being expended in an attempt to identify ways to modulate PK activity. Some of this effort has involved biomimetic approaches using large molecules patterned on those involved in the actual cellular processes (e.g., mutant ligands (U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,849); soluble receptors and antibodies (App. No. WO 94/10202, Kendall and Thomas, Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci., 90:10705-09 (1994), Kim, et al., Nature, 362:841-844 (1993)); RNA ligands (Jelinek, et al., Biochemistry, 33:10450-56); Takano, et al., Mol. Bio. Cell 4:358A (1993); Kinsella, et al., Exp. Cell Res. 199:56-62 (1992); Wright, et al., J. Cellular Phys., 152:448-57) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (WO 94/03427; WO 92/21660; WO 91/15495; WO 94/14808; U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,992; Mariani, et al., Proc. Am. Assoc. Cancer Res., 35:2268 (1994)).
In addition to the above, attempts have been made to identify small molecules which act as PK inhibitors. For example, bis-monocylic, bicyclic and heterocyclic aryl compounds (PCT WO 92/20642), vinyleneazaindole derivatives (PCT WO 94/14808) and 1-cyclopropyl-4-pyridylquinolones (U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,992) have been described as tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Styryl compounds (U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,999), styryl-substituted pyridyl compounds (U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,606), quinazoline derivatives (EP App. No. 0 566 266 A1), selenaindoles and selenides (PCT WO 94/03427), tricyclic polyhydroxylic compounds (PCT WO 92/21660) and benzylphosphonic acid compounds (PCT WO 91/15495) have all been described as PTK inhibitors useful in the treatment of cancer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

3-(4-amidopyrrol-2-ylmethylidene)-2-indolinone der derivatives as protein kinase inhibitors


In general, one embodiment of the invention is directed to food holding apparatus for holding pre-cooked food at a selected holding temperature. The apparatus comprises a cabinet having at least one holding compartment therein, and pre-cooked food in the holding compartment, the food having been previously cooked in a cooking appliance. At least one radiant heat source is spaced above the food a distance less than 12 inches for delivering radiant heat to the food. A control mechanism varies the amount of radiant heat delivered by the heat source to the food to maintain the food at the selected holding temperature. A related method is also disclosed.

This invention relates generally to food service equipment and more particularly to equipment for maintaining foods at temperatures suitable for serving food.
In one embodiment, this invention is especially (but not exclusively) directed to food service equipment that uses infrared (IR) heaters to maintain pre-cooked food at proper temperatures before serving. This type of equipment is referred to using such terms as holding oven, holding unit, and food warmer, and these terms are used interchangeably hereinafter. Such equipment is often used in, for example, the fast food service industry to heat food. However, such equipment has certain disadvantages. For example, short holding times (e.g., twenty minutes or less) and rapid product quality degradation often limit the effectiveness of this technology for holding applications. Additionally, different food products require different amounts of IR energy to be held in optimum condition. The quality of the food being held is affected in large part by the temperature and the air flow in the holding oven. As the food loses moisture due to evaporation, flavor is lost. This affects the texture and taste of the product. For example, chicken meat fibers will dry out and become tough, while the breading will become dry and greasy. French fries will develop a dry, rubbery texture as moisture is lost and the outer skin loses its crispness.
Conventional IR holding devices are not adjustable to control the amount of IR energy delivered to the food being heated. Rather, the heat source is on full power all of the time, and the food is placed relatively far from the heat source to prevent overheating. As a result, the typical prior holding device requires a large amount of vertical space. This can present a problem in a situation where space is at a premium, as in a fast-food restaurant.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,175,099, 6,262,394 and 6,541,739, assigned to Duke Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis, Mo. and incorporated herein by reference, are directed to a holding or cooking oven which is an improvement over prior designs and which has proven to be successful with various fried products. However, there is still a need for a technology that extends the holding time and quality of food products, especially fried products such as hash browns, French fries, rotisserie chicken, deep-fried chicken and shrimp.


Techniques for managing data involve receiving a write request to write a data block into a first stripe in a disk array, the write request comprising a first storage address for storing the data block. The techniques further involve determining, based on the first storage address, a first group of disks related to a data portion of the first stripe and a second group of disks related to a parity portion of the first stripe. The techniques further involve, in response to a first disk in the first group of disks being unavailable, storing a data sub-block related to the first disk into a first parity portion of the parity portion such that the data block is stored in the first stripe, the first parity portion being located at a second disk in the second group of disks. The techniques further involve returning a response to the write request, the response comprising a first indication indicating a status of the disks in the disk array.

A Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) is a disk group formed by combining a plurality of independent disks in different manners. From a user's point of view, the redundant array of independent disks is like one disk, but it can provide a higher storage capacity than a single hard disk, and can also provide data backup. When data of a disk extent is damaged, the damaged data can also be recovered with the data backup, thereby protecting security of the user's data. Different manners for forming a disk array are called RAID Levels, such as RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, and so on.
With development of RAID technologies, data reading and writing are performed at a level of disk slice rather than at a level of disk. According to this technique, each of the plurality of disks is divided into a plurality of disk slices. By creating a RAID in units of disk slices, more flexible disk management and I/O control are achieved, and operation performance of a system is improved. However, as price of storage disks decreases, more disks are used for storing data. Therefore, there is a problem about how to use more disks to store data in a RAID.

Method, device and computer program product for managing data


The invention comprises a method for indicating that an LED flash light for an aircraft such as an anti-collision or beacon or strobe LED light has reached a near-end-of-life status, wherein the LED flash light under normal operational condition within a given time interval generates a predetermined number of normal flashes with the number being one or more than one, e.g. two. The method comprises the steps of determining the actual photometric condition of the LED flash light, and comparing the actual photometric condition to a given condition in a normal flashing mode. If the actual condition deviates from the given condition by more than a predetermined amount, the LED flash light is operated in order to generate within the given time interval one additional near-end-of-life-indicating flash.

The present invention relates to a method for indicating that an LED flash light for an aircraft such as an anti-collision or beacon or strobe LED light has reached a near-end-of-life status. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an LED flash light for an aircraft, such as an anti-collision or beacon or strobe aircraft light.
Aircrafts are provided with different types of flash lights such as anti-collision, beacon or strobe lights.
Beacon lights are known as anti-collision lights in the aircraft industry. Beacon and anti-collision lights are synonymous terms. In order to attract the required optical attention on the side of pilots, the intensity of light emitted by an anti-collision aircraft light must follow the formula of Blondel-Rey.
For maintenance and service reasons, anti-collision lights for aircrafts and, in general, aviation flash lights ever more often include LEDs instead of xenon light sources. However, the properties of LEDs degrade due to aging effects. It is known that LEDs degrade depending on the temperature and their useful life so far. These two influencing factors result in a reduced light intensity over time. This can be compensated by increasing the operational current supplied to the LEDs.
With LED technology and other light sources that rather degrade than completely fail at one point in time, such as filament based lights, it is very 5 difficult to determine when these lights no longer meet the photometric requirements. For these light sources it might be suitable to internally monitor and control the light sources accordingly. The control unit recognizes that an end-of-light status is reached but communicating this state so that the appropriate action can be performed (namely replacement) is difficult for these 10 lights. Typically, these flashing lights have no signal line or other electronic communication means to indicate an end-of-life status to a remote maintenance device or observer. The flashes are of fairly high intensity so that a direct observation of the light may be harmful to the observer, and some of the lights are located on top of the aircraft, thus not allowing to see a flashing blue LED or similar device from a distance in daylight.
Accordingly, there is a need in the state of the art to indicate in a fairly easy manner that an LED flash light has reached its end-of-light status.

LED flash light and method for indicating near-end-of-life status of such an LED flash light


Quick connect fluid connectors with modular connection state sensors removably or detachably mounted thereon. Each modular connection state sensor is configured to sense a connection state of the fluid connector it is mounted on. The connection state sensor indicates that the fluid connector of the first fluid system is connected to the second fluid system prior to initiating fluid flow between the first and second fluid systems. The connection state sensor senses movements of one or more elements of the quick connect fluid connector that is involved in the actual connection of the fluid connector to the second fluid system. The elements that are sensed can be, for example, one or more cylindrical sleeves of the fluid connector or a piston of the fluid connector. Therefore, the connection state of the fluid connectors can be determined accurately.

Quick connect fluid connectors are known for connecting fluid systems to one another to transfer fluids from one system to another. In fluid connectors, disconnection of the connector while transferring fluids needs to be avoided. Also, it is important to ensure that the connector is actually connected before processing occurs to avoid accidental disconnection once the fluid begins to flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,844,979 describes examples of quick connect fluid connectors that can be used for transferring fluids, including gaseous or liquid fluids, between first and second fluid systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,841,357 describes a fluid connector that uses a magnet and a sensor to sense movement of a piston. Based on the sensed movement of the piston, a connection state of the connector is estimated. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,841,357, an assumption is made that connection has been achieved based on piston movement. However, even though the piston may have moved to a fully open position, the connection member described therein may not have achieved proper connection to the mating coupler, for example due to a failure of the connection member or use of an improper mating coupler. Therefore, the fluid connector in U.S. Pat. No. 7,841,357 can still become disconnected under pressure even though complete movement of the piston has been detected.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017/0037991 discloses examples of the use of sensors on fluid connectors that sense the connection state of the fluid connectors.

Fluid connectors with modular connection state sensors


A display unit is disclosed. A display apparatus includes a panel unit displaying images, a circuit unit provided a rear surface of the panel unit, a chamber surrounding the circuit unit, the chamber forming a predetermined space and at least one ventilation fan ventilating air inside the chamber along a circulation path passing beyond the circuit unit. According to a display apparatus according to the present invention, parts which are mounted in the display apparatus may be protected from external moisture or dust. Furthermore, heat radiation may be performed efficiently in the display apparatus according to the present invention even if environments of heat exchanging with an outside may not be formed enough in a structure of the display apparatus.

A display apparatus typically for displaying images of a TV or monitor may include a power supply device, a circuit device for processing predetermined information and other parts. Here, the display apparatus may be embodied in a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), organic light emitting diode (OLED), field emission display (FED), 3D display and variations of them.
Such the parts may corrode or malfunction if they are exposed to moisture or dust. A conventional display apparatus may have an inside in communication with an outside to radiate heat generated by the inner parts efficiently.
That is, a vent is formed at a housing of the conventional display apparatus and a ventilation fan is provided in the display apparatus, such that inner hot air is discharged outside and the inner heat is radiated.


A holder comprises an upper section with a generally longitudinal slot forming a passage through a tubular wall member, a lower section with an open first end and an opposite second end, a connecting means for attaching the upper section with the lower section, and an end closure at the bottom of the lower section is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, the lower section has a tubular wall member with a generally frustoconical inner surface.. An apparatus comprises a container placed in the holder. In a preferred embodiment, the container may be placed on the connecting means of the holder. In another preferred embodiment, the container may rest on the frustoconical inner surface of the tubular wall member of the lower section of the holder. In yet another preferred embodiment, the container may be positioned on the end closure of the lower section.. A method for decreasing spills from the container comprises positioning the container in the holder; restraining movements of the container inside the holder; directing a spill from the container through an existing annular gap between the outer surface of the container and the inner surface of the holder into a reservoir; and collecting a spill from the container in the annular gap in the holder which serves as the reservoir.

In one aspect, this invention relates to preventing and/or controlling spills from a container placed in a holder. In another aspect, the invention relates to a holder for containers. In yet another aspect, the invention relates to an adaptor for a container holder.
Many vehicles have a circular socket for accomodating standard sized drink containers. However, these sockets are not always conveniently placed. A drink holder which can be positioned in any one of several places would be very desirable.
The integral drink holders found in many vehicles collect spills and are difficult to keep clean and sanitary. A removable insert for such holders which can be removed and cleaned would be very desirable.
The integral drink holders found in many vehicles further are very large to accomodate a wide range of container sizes. This results in a sloppy fit between the container and the sidewall, and spill can occur when the container is jostled. A holder which closely accomodates containers over a wide size range would be very desirable.
The integral drink holders found in many vehicles also permit the bottom of the container to rest in the bottom of the well. When a spill occurs, the bottom of the container will rest in a pool of liquid--which will drip when the container is removed from the well. A holder which avoids this shortcoming and which can be used to modifiy existing wells would be very desirable.


A beverage brewing machine, a method for brewing a beverage preparation material and a beverage brewing envelope are provided. The beverage brewing machine has an upper brewing chamber adapted to receive hot water and a beverage preparation material and having an open lower end. A cylinder with an upper end normally in registration with the open lower end of the upper brewing chamber is further provided. An envelope enclosing a packet is provided wherein the packet encloses the beverage preparation material. The customer may remove the packet from the envelope and place it on a carrier plate which automatically moves into brewing position and then is discarded by the customer, or, in a different execution, the carrier plate receives the envelope and extracts the packet including the beverage preparation material from the envelope and places the packet over the cylinder. Further, the packet may include a machine readable code such that a scanner associated with the machine is capable of scanning the code associated with the product.

The present invention generally relates to a beverage brewing machine and a beverage preparation method. In addition,. the present invention further relates to a beverage brewing envelope for storing and brewing a "packet" of beverage preparation material for a single cup of beverage. Preferably, the packet is stored within the envelope. Further, preferably, the envelope and/or packet includes a machine readable code.
It is, of course, generally known to brew beverages, such as coffee, tea, or the like. To brew, for example, coffee, a filter or packet that includes coffee is typically placed in a machine and a brewing process begins. Once the process is completed, the filter containing the brewed coffee is wet and is easily removed from the brewing device and discarded.
Further, often inappropriate filters including beverage preparation material, such as coffee, are placed within a beverage brewing machine. Therefore, it is important to provide a device or brewing machine that first prevents inappropriate packets from being used within the machine as well as a device that, as much as possible, eliminates handling of a beverage preparation material packet, both before and after the brewing process.

Electronic coded coffee packets sealed in a gas flushed envelope, a beverage brewing machine using same as well as a method for brewing


An apparatus for detecting a head wind in a gas boiler and method is disclosed which is capable of the magnitude of variation of voltage corresponding to the R.P.M. of an exhaust fan and the combustion state of flame. A microcomputer in the gas boiler detects the R.P.M of exhaust fan and voltage applied to the exhaust fan when the R.P.M exceeds a normal limit. The detected voltage is compared with a reference voltage. If the compared result exceeds a predetermined value, to sense the combustion state of flame an infrared rays sensor is used. When the head wind is introduced into an exhaust conduit, the red wavelength is sensed at flame due to incomplete combustion. Accordingly, in case that the magnitude of variation of voltage exceeds a predetermined value and the red wavelength is sensed, microcomputer can detect the head wind.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a head wind in a gas boiler and a method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a detecting method and a detecting apparatus capable of performing the detecting method for detecting a head wind introduced in a gas boiler according to the magnitude of variation of voltage corresponding to the R.P.M.(rotation per minute) of an exhaust fan and the combustion state of flame.
2. Prior Arts
In general, boilers are classified into a gas boiler and an oil boiler according to a fuel to be used. Especially, because the gas boiler uses gas as the fuel, it does not generate waste gas which contaminates environment in comparison with the oil boiler. Accordingly, it has been widely used in many housings or apartments.
However, there frequently generates a problem in a conventional gas boiler which the operation of gas boiler is stopped by the head wind introduced through an exhaust conduit. The head wind has an effect upon the operation of gas boiler and prevents the discharge of exhaust gas which is generated by the combustion of gas to thereby introduce the exhaust gas into the room. Especially, if the harmful exhaust gas generated by the incomplete combustion of gas is introduced into the room, it causes the human body to be deadly damaged.
Accordingly, various type of apparatuses and methods for detecting the head wind have been proposed and used.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional apparatus for detecting a head wind is described thereunder.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional apparatus for detecting the head wind has an exhaust fan housing 2 which an inflow port 1 is formed on one side thereof, an exhaust fan 4 connected to a motor 3 of exhaust fan housing 2, an exhaust conduit 6 connected to exhaust port 5 for exhausting a combustion gas introduced by exhaust fan 4, a head wind detecting plate 7 for swinging according to head wind introduced through exhaust conduit 6, and a head wind detecting rod 10 for rotating round a hinge 8 as a center according to the swing state of head wind detecting plate 7 and turning on/off a microswitch 9 attached to motor 3 to supply/cut off the power source to gas boiler.
The operation of conventional apparatus with above construction will be described in detail thereunder.
The gas boiler is turned on according to the user's command or a specific condition. Then, motor 3 is rotated, and exhaust fan 4 mounted on the axis of motor is rotated and intakes the remained combustion gas or air in a combustor of gas boiler. The combustion gas or air upwardly pulls head wind detecting plate 7 through exhaust port 5 formed in exhaust fan housing 2 and is exhausted to exhaust conduit 6.
Then, the head wind detecting rod 10 attached to head wind detecting plate 7 swings round hinge 8 as a center and turns on microswitch 9 connected to motor 3. Therefore, an igniter of gas boiler flames out and ignites the supplied gas. However, if the strong head wind is introduced along exhaust conduit 6 during ignition, head wind detecting plate 7 is downwardly pulled. Then, head wind detecting rod 10 swings round hinge 8 as a center and turns off microswitch 9 attached to motor 3. If this state is maintained during a predetermined period, the gas valve of gas boiler is cut off and the operation of gas boiler is stopped.
However, the conventional apparatus for detecting a head wind makes the operation of gas boiler be often discontinued by temporary and strong head wind. Also, if the above apparatus is used during long-term period, the accuracy is lowered.
As another conventional apparatus, there is an apparatus for detecting a head wind which measures the R.P.M. (rotation per minute) of exhaust fan and determines whether the head wind is introduced. The apparatus sets the standard R.P.M. in accordance with an applied voltage, measures the R.P.M. of exhaust fan during operation of gas boiler, and detects whether the head wind is introduced. That is, when the difference between the R.P.M. of normal exhaust state and that of measured exhaust state is more than a predetermined value, it is determined that the head wind is introduced (if the head wind is introduced, the movement of exhaust gas is stopped and the resistance is reduced to thereby increase the R.P.M. of the exhaust fan).
However, because the introduction of head wind is only sensed by the R.P.M. of exhaust fan, when the power supply applied to the exhaust fan is varied, it is recognized for the head wind to be introduced and the operation of gas boiler is stopped.

Apparatus for detecting a head wind in a gas boiler and method thereof


A container includes a container body (201), optionally a lid (220), and an insert (100) secured, optionally fixedly secured within an interior of the container body. The insert has a base material, optionally a polymer, for providing structure to the insert, and a desiccant. The insert further has an opening leading to an interior compartment (102) configured for housing products and an outer surface (104) facing an inner surface of the container body. A void is provided between an exposed portion of the outer surface of the insert and a portion of the inner surface of the container body. At least one fluid pathway is provided between the void and the interior compartment of the insert.

The efficacy of some products, particularly in the medical field, can be adversely affected by ambient conditions, e.g., through exposure to moisture or oxygen. Medications, for example, may be compromised by moisture. As the medication absorbs moisture, the medication may become less effective for its intended purpose. Diagnostic test strips, such as blood glucose test strips that are used in diabetic care, can also be adversely affected by exposure to moisture.
Medication and diagnostic test strips can encounter moisture at multiple times in their lifecycles. Such an encounter may occur during the manufacturing stage, during shipping, while the product is in storage prior to being sold, while the product is in storage after being sold, and each and every time a container containing the product is opened so that the product can be used. Even if the medication or diagnostic test strips have been manufactured and stored in a moisture tight container, each time the container is opened so that the medication or test strips can be extracted, moisture enters the container. The moisture that enters the container surrounds the medication or test strips inside the container after the container is closed. Such exposure to moisture can adversely affect the medication or test strips and reduce shelf life.
Because a medication/test strip container is repeatedly opened and closed, and because moisture enters the container each time it is opened, it is often provided with a desiccating unit adapted to absorb moisture. The desiccating unit typically includes desiccant within a small bag or canister that comingles with the medication. Various problems may be associated with such a small bag or canister. For example, the bag/canister may be ingested by a small child, which can result in a choking hazard. Also, it is possible that the bag/canister may be thrown away after the first time the container is opened. With the bag/canister absent, there is nothing to absorb moisture as the container continues to be opened and closed each time a consumer removes products therefrom.
To address the aforementioned deficiencies associated with loose desiccant bags/canisters, desiccant entrained immovable inserts have been provided in containers. Such inserts may comprise desiccant entrained polymer formulations including a base polymer (for structure), a desiccant and optionally a channeling agent. These types of inserts and methods of making and assembling the same are disclosed, e.g., in applicant's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,911,937, 6,214,255, 6,130,263, 6,080,350, 6,174,952, 6,124,006 and 6,221,446, and U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2011/0127269, all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. These desiccant inserts provide distinct advantages over loosely placed desiccant bags/canisters.
One challenge with desiccant inserts relates to maximizing exposure of the insert's surface area to the air within the container to absorb moisture to a desired level of efficacy and efficiency. Typical desiccant inserts are provided in the form of a sleeve, liner or the like, having an inner surface exposed to air within the container, but an outer surface that is flush with—or integral with—the inner surface of the container body. As such, only approximately half of the outer surface of the insert is in contact with air inside the container. While desiccant inserts are typically designed to promote communication of moisture in the air to desiccant within the insert (e.g., via channels made by channeling agents in the desiccant entrained polymer), limiting surface contact of the air to only the inner surface of the insert may not provide optimal moisture absorption activity. In addition, for some applications it may be desirable to use channeling agents that provide slower moisture uptake rates, because they may provide other desirable properties. In such circumstances, providing only the inner wall of the insert as exposed surface area to moisture may provide insufficient moisture absorption capacity for some applications.
There is thus a need for containers with desiccant inserts that increase surface area contact of the desiccant entrained polymer that may be exposed to air within the container. A similar need exists with respect to inserts entrained with alternative active agents, such as oxygen scavengers.

Containers, container inserts and associated methods for making containers


System and method to search audio data, including: receiving audio data representing speech; receiving a search query related to the audio data; compiling, by use of a processor, the search query into a hierarchy of scored speech recognition sub-searches; searching, by use of a processor, the audio data for speech identified by one or more of the sub-searches to produce hits; and combining, by use of a processor, the hits by use of at least one combination function to provide a composite search score of the audio data. The combination function may include an at-least-M-of-N function that produces a high score when at least M of N function inputs exceed a predetermined threshold value. The composite search score employ a soft time window such as a spline function.

Field of the Invention
System and method for searching for audio portions of an audio-containing file or streaming audio-containing link, and combining occurrences of the detected audio portions into an overall relevancy score.
Description of Related Art
Searching audio material is typically a non-deterministic process, characterized by the association of relevancy scores with each possible match found. Simple queries search for occurrences of an individual word or phrase. Compound queries are used to search for the occurrences of combinations of words, phrases and other compound queries. The search mechanism is required to compute a compound relevancy score from the constituent relevancy scores.
When searching information stored or available in a computerized medium (e.g., stored audio files or streaming audio communication link), there are two known approaches for combining partial matches into an overall relevancy score: (1) normal Boolean operators, so that "at least 2 of 3" could be formally expressed as (A and B and not C) or (A and C and not B) or (B and C and not A) or (A and B and C); (2) the use of weighted combinations of hit counts as reported in the art.
The specification of at least M of N via Boolean operators is extremely complex. Current audio search systems do not formally apply probability calculus, so the mathematically correct expression is usually simplified to reporting a hit if hits are scored for (A and B) or (B and C) or (C and A) in the at least 2 of 3″ case. As N and M increase, these expressions become longer and longer—for example there are three ways of selecting two from three, as shown, but forty-five distinct ways of selecting two from ten.
Some approaches known in the art are based on weighted combinations of hit counts and require labeled audio training data to derive the weights. The art does not specify how weights can be derived in the absence of such labeled data and does not describe a method for incorporating the individual hit relevancy scores into this process. The art thresholds individual hit scores and subsequently derives hit counts by treating each hit with a score above threshold as being a definite hit.
Some processes known in the art describe a process in which the weights are obtained as "usefulness" scores, but this also requires labeled audio training data.
A process known in the art for audio information retrieval is to apply speech-to-text methods and then use normal text retrieval approaches. This technique is less relevant as the final operation tends to be a support vector machine, again trained on pre-labeled data.

“At least” operator for combining audio search hits


An image forming system includes an image forming apparatus which can wirelessly transmit information that there is a waiting job and has a plurality of modes concerning power consumption, a portable terminal which can receive the information transmitted from the image forming apparatus, a position detector which detects a position of the portable terminal, and a mode switcher which switches from one mode concerning power consumption of the image forming apparatus to another in accordance with the position of the portable terminal which received the information. The position detector detects the distance between a user carrying the portable terminal and the image forming apparatus. Based on the distance data at the time when the portable terminal received the information that there is a document waiting for being outputted by the image forming apparatus, the mode concerning power consumption of the image forming apparatus is switched by the mode switcher.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and printers connected to a network, it is known to provide a power-saving mode for saving power at the time of waiting a job. In the power-saving mode, for example, a fixing device is kept low in temperature.
However, even if the power-saving mode is switched to a normal operation mode by releasing the power-saving mode, the user have to wait for some time because the image output operation will start only after the temperature of the fixing roller in the fixing device has risen to a predetermined value.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H8-320635 discloses an image forming apparatus with a power-saving mode. The image forming apparatus is provided with a human body detection sensor. In this image forming apparatus, when the sensor detects that a human body is located near the image forming apparatus, a power is supplied to the control portion and the driving portion. On the other hand, when the sensor does not detect a human body, the power source other than that of the human body sensor is turned off.
However, according to the aforementioned known structure in which a human body sensor is used to detect an existence of a human body near the image forming apparatus and it is judged whether or not the power-saving mode is to be released based on the detected results by the human body sensor, there is a possibility of misjudging that a user is located near the image forming apparatus even if another person other than the user passes near the image forming apparatus, resulting in ineffective power-saving effect. Furthermore, even if the user returns to the image forming apparatus and the human body sensor detects the user, an image output operation such as a copying operation will not start immediately. Thus, it is required to take some time until the fixing device returns to its operable temperature or the like.

Image forming system and image forming apparatus


A nanostructure is described. The nanostructure includes a nanoparticle, a shell encompassing the nanoparticle, and a gap having a width ranging from 1.0 nm to 6.0 nm and located between the nanoparticle and the shell to enable the nanostructure to generate a fluorescence.

In recent years, nano-materials and nanotechnology have become the key point for research in every nation. A nanomaterial usually refers to a material with a size range from 1 nm to 100 nm. Since nanoparticles have a very small particle size and the number of atoms constituting the nanoparticle is far less than the typical particle, it thus has a great surface area and a high surface atomic ratio, and thereby the nanoparticle itself has a quantum effect. Therefore, nanoparticles have many specific properties and potential applications in the aspects of the catalyst, the electrode, the optical property and the mechanical property. Hence, nanomaterials and nanotechnology can be applied to various fields that have developmental potential.
Among the many metal materials for producing nanoparticles, gold was the earliest one to be investigated generally. Gold nanoparticles are considered as the best material for use in the living body due to its many advantages such as simple preparation method and high biocompatibility, such that biomedical research and development of gold nanoparticles has increased year by year.
The near infrared ray (NIR), especially between the region 1000˜1350 nm, is known as the biological window in which the electromagnetic wave has better tissue penetration while not being absorbed by the skin tissue to achieve the detection and treatment for the deep tissues. Meanwhile, the biological tissue significantly reduces generation of autofluorescence when irradiated by the NIR. It goes without saying that a material that has the abilities of absorbing the NIR and generating the fluorescence can be applied in the biomedical field. However, an NIR-absorber with a size less than 100 nm is not available in that region, and so the application of the NIR-absorber in the living body is limited.
In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention describes a nanostructure which has a dominant component of gold having the ability of absorbing the NIR, and has the functions of combining the targeted drug, imaging and treatment. This nanostructure can serve as an imaging agent to combine with existing ultrasound and endoscope technology currently in development to become a novel diagnostic and treatment platform and to provide more applications. The summary of the present invention is below.

Nanostructure, applied device and preparation method thereof


The device comprises a cylinder (1) which is divided in two variable volume chambers (3,4) by a piston (2,2'), which has conduits (5,5') for the passage of a fluid from one chamber to the other, and spring means (15) for pushing the piston in a predetermined direction, tending to cause a pressure increase in one of the chambers; the piston is mounted on a rod formed of two aligned rod elements (7,8), with means (9) for bringing closer and separating their adjacent extremities; it comprises means for providing a controlled fluid leak through the conduits (5,5') of the piston, said means consisting of a groove (25) provided in the piston (2') or washers (12,13) which can be deformed due to the existence of an undercut (33) in one of the rod elements. It provides for the automatic return of the seat and/or the back of the seat to a predetermined position when the passenger leaves the seat.

In most omnibuses, coaches railway wagons and other means of collective transport, passengers can for their greater comfort incline the backrests of their seats at will; it is also possible in some cases to move the seat laterally towards the gangway, in order to move it further away from the adjacent seat and thus make more room available.
Once the passengers have left the vehicle it is advisable to return each of the seats to its initial position, an operation which is mostly performed manually by the driver of the coach or the ticket inspector, with the attendant loss of time.
Systems have been developed to allow the driver to carry out this operation for all the seats at once, but such systems involve a system of electrical control for each seat and a connection to the driver's position, and therefore represent a very high cost in materials, equipment and labor for fitting.

Automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats


Disclosed are a virtual viewpoint combination method and device in a multi-viewpoint video, improving the quality of the virtual viewpoint images and improving the display effects of the virtual viewpoint images under the premise of not introducing geometrical distortion. The method includes: taking two viewpoint images provided by a first camera and a second camera as reference viewpoint images, and respectively performing 3D image conversion, pinhole filling, image compensation and image convergence processing on the two viewpoint images to obtain a main virtual viewpoint image; then respectively performing depth-image processing, 3D image conversion, pinhole filling, image compensation and image convergence processing on the two viewpoint images to obtain a subordinate virtual viewpoint image; and performing filling the remaining holes in the main virtual viewpoint image on the basis of the subordinate virtual viewpoint image to obtain a final virtual viewpoint image to be combine.

Along with the development of television technologies and multimedia processing technologies, people have an increasing demand for the most realistic visual experience, and three-dimension televisions are regarded as the next generation of products subsequent to color televisions and high-definition televisions. With the principle that a person observes an object with his or her eyes at slightly different angles and thus can discern how far the object is away and obtain a stereo vision, a three-dimension television separates images as seen by the left and right eyes from each other so that the user can experience a stereo perception with his or her naked eyes without any stereo glasses. Particularly multi-viewpoint videos are ascertained to have a very wide application prospect, and virtual viewpoint synthesis in the multi-viewpoint videos is a key technology.
At present, depth image based rendering is a method for synthesizing virtual viewpoints using a reference viewpoint image and corresponding depth information, and this method has gained increasing attention and applications in recent years due to its good encoding efficiency, two-dimension/three-dimension selectivity and user interactivity. However, this method still suffers from the following drawback: an area which shall be visible at a virtual viewpoint is obscured at an original viewpoint, that is, an object or a background present in a virtual viewpoint image (hereinafter an area where the object or the background is present is referred to as an exposed area) is absent at a corresponding location in an original image, and information about the exposed area is absent in the original image, so the exposed area is a hole. The hole is embodied by a boundary with a sudden change in gray scale value in a depth image, so the hole has to be filled if the image quality of the virtual viewpoint needs to be improved.
At present, in order to improve the image quality of the virtual viewpoint and generate a resulting image with an optimum stereo effect, in a general approach to address the problem of a hole, depth image preprocessing is performed on the original image before three-dimension image transformation is performed on the original image to make a sharp sudden change in grade scale value in the depth image of the original image become smooth and further alleviate the difference in depth between a foreground object and a background to thereby lower the number of holes in the virtual viewpoint image and improve the quality of the view. Although this approach improves the quality of the virtual viewpoint image to some extent, depth image preprocessing may result in unrecoverable serious geometrical distortion of the virtual viewpoint image.

Method and apparatus for virtual viewpoint synthesis in multi-viewpoint video