A coupling for coupling hoses comprising a pair of coupling main bodies that are structurally identical and undiscriminable for male and female. Each of said coupling main bodies is provided at the front end surface with a sealing surface for mutual abutment and at the front end with a plurality of engaging projections and engaging recesses, each of said engaging recesses being arranged between any two adjacent engaging projections, so that the engaging projections and the engaging recesses of the two coupling main bodies can be complementarily engaged with the corresponding engaging projections and engaging recesses of the other coupling main bodies. The engaging projections are provided with respective hooked anchor sections that are peripherally engaged to restrict axial movement and consequently couple the pair of coupling main bodies.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coupling for connecting fire fighting hoses or the like or for connecting a hose and a pump or some other apparatus and to a method of manufacturing such a coupling. More particularly, the present invention relates to a coupling comprising a pair of coupling main bodies that are structurally identical and not discriminable as male and female and to a method of manufacturing such a coupling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plug-in type couplings for connecting hoses including fire fighting hose are known. A plug-in type coupling of the type under consideration typically comprises a pair of coupling main bodies that are to be brought into axial engagement with each other to connect hoses. Such a plug-in type coupling is defined by Japanese Industrial Standards JIS B 9911 and referred to "Machino-shiki coupling", which is currently very popular.
Such a plug-in type coupling can connect and release hoses with simple operation and hence is advantageously used as a coupling for connecting fire fighting hoses that requires an enhanced level of fast and reliable operability.
However, such a known plug-in type coupling comprises a pair of coupling main bodies that are discriminable as male and female. In other words, a plug-in type coupling is comprised of a male metal fitting and a female metal fitting and two male or female metal fittings cannot be brought into engagement if they are put together. Thus, there arises a problem when fire breaks out and fire fighting hoses have to be connected for extension that male or female metal fittings are put together for hose connection by mistake. This is a problem that should preferably be totally eliminated for fast and reliable fire fighting operations. Additionally, such a known plug-in type coupling is costly because two structurally different metal fittings, a male metal fitting and a female metal fitting, have to be manufactured for it.

Coupling for hose and method of manufacturing the same


Provided is an actuator device used in a plurality of sites of a multi-shaft driving mechanism such as a multi-shaft manipulator, a robot arm, a leg structure and a snake-shaped robot. A torque sensor is connected to a bearing such as a cross roller bearing through a mount part. The torque sensor is driven by an outer ring relative to a stationary part case of an actuator device. An attachment surface of an output shaft frame is arranged in a position offset from the bearing on a side of the stationary part case. An entire length of the actuator device in an output shaft direction does not change also after the output shaft frame is attached and an occupied space does not increase.

The actuator device is formed of an actuator motor alone or is modularized with a peripheral circuit, wiring, a connector, an attachment frame and the like. It is possible to realize a simple mechanism, a reduced cost, reduction in types of parts, and improved maintainability by using the same actuator devices in a plurality of sites in the multi-shaft driving mechanism such as the multi-shaft manipulator, the robot arm, the leg structure, and the snake-shaped robot. For example, a manipulator of an industrial robot formed of same modular driving devices is suggested (refer to Patent Document 1, for example).
A substantial outer shape of the modularized actuator device is a cylinder (refer to Patent Document 2, for example), a cuboid, combination of the cylinder and cuboid (semicylinder) (refer to Patent Document 3, for example), an oval sphere and the like.
In the multi-shaft driving mechanism, a structure in which another actuator is attached to an output shaft of the actuator is common. FIG. 18 illustrates a configuration example of the multi-shaft driving mechanism in which a second actuator is attached to the output shaft of a first actuator such that the output shafts thereof are orthogonal to each other and a frame is attached to the output shaft of the second actuator. In the multi-shaft driving mechanism, the first actuator and the second actuator correspond to a preceding stage and a subsequent stage, respectively. According to the illustrated mechanism, a posture (a direction of the output shaft) of the second actuator changes by rotary drive of the output shaft of the first actuator and the frame rotates about the output shaft of the second actuator to change a posture.
In a case of the multi-shaft driving mechanism illustrated in FIG. 18, a substantial occupied space of the second actuator is a space formed by a rotating body with an outermost diameter including the second actuator and the frame as illustrated in FIG. 19. In other words, when the second actuator is rotated by the first actuator, the occupied space thereof depends on shapes of the frame attached to the output shaft of the second actuator and an end of the second actuator, and the substantial occupied space is larger than an original volume of the second actuator. It may also be said that the occupied space increases when the frame is attached to the second actuator.
When the substantial occupied space of the actuator becomes large, possibility of interference with the surroundings increases correspondingly and a risk that user's finger, wiring and the like get caught therein arises. A spherical exterior (cover) may be arranged, for example, on an outer side of the driving mechanism in order to avoid such risk. However, a structure body covered with the exterior has a wasted space (vacuum or containing only air) not for an original object of the actuator (parts, torque generation, torque conversion and the like) in the driving mechanism, so that output density of the actuator device and mounting density of the parts are deteriorated. As a result, this makes a multi-joint robot formed of the actuator devices used in a plurality of sites large and limits a range in which an entire multi-joint robot may move and an operable range thereof, or reduces a range of motion of each joint.

Actuator device, multi-shaft driving device, and robot device


A system and method are provided for scheduling the emptying or replacement of a waste container based on the fullness of the container or the usage of the container. These factors may be considered to determine when the waste container will become completely full. Additionally, the system and method may consider the customer preferences or the limitations of the waste hauler. All of these factors may be considered to determine an optimal time for the waste container to be emptied or replaced. These factors are also considered to determine when to accomplish the scheduling (i.e. when to notify the waste hauler that the waste container should be emptied or replaced at a given time).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a scheduling system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a scheduling system for emptying or replacing waste containers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Waste units have been able to measure their own fullness and report that measurement to a central unit for a number of years. Furthermore, systems exist which predict when a waste unit will be completely full.

Systems and methods for material management


A cable guide includes a rod support member which is pivotally and slidably mounted on a cable guard rod on a compound bow, and a cable receiver member which is selectively connected and disconnected from the rod support member along an axis which is orthogonal to both the cable guard rod, and the cables of the bow. The rod support member includes a pair of spaced apart rearwardly projecting loops extending rearwardly from upper and lower walls. The receiver is designed to snap fit between the loops and the rearward edges of the upper and lower walls of the rod support member. A roller is rotatably mounted on an axle which extends vertically between the upper and lower walls of the rod support member, for rotatable engagement with the guard rod. The cable receiver member includes a lightweight body with a pair of spaced apart slots extending rearwardly from a forward face of the body. The slots will receive the cables of the bow. A pair of rollers are rotatably mounted on axles which are operably mounted within each of the slots of the receiver, such that the cables will engage the rollers and the receiver, as the cables extend through the slots and the receiver body.

Compound bows include pulleys at the free ends of the bow limbs and carry cables or strands to connect the opposite ends of the bowstring. Because the pulleys lie within the same spatial plane as the bowstring and arrow, the arrow shaft will contact the intermediate strands when the arrow is nocked on the bowstring. Such contact with the cable strands will interfere with the flight of the arrow upon release.
This has led to the use of a deflection rod or cable guard which extends from a midpoint on the bow and is laterally offset from the plane of the bow and bowstring, so as to offset the cables or strands laterally from the plane of the arrow, to provide a clear and unencumbered path for the arrow's flight.
Initial cable guards simply utilize a bent rod for deflecting the intermediate cables or strands. However, the frictional contact of the cables with the rod would reduce the "speed" of return of the bowstring, thereby reducing the potential velocity of the arrow during release. For this reason, cable guides have been attached to the cable guard rods for reducing friction between the cables and the rod. The majority of such prior art cable guides are formed of plastic members with two guide grooves therein, one for each cable. Such grooved cable guides were not entirely effective because of the frictional forces generated between the cables and the guide groove surfaces, as well as between the guide and the rod during the slight longitudinal movement of the guide on the rod.
In order to further reduce such frictional forces, the prior art discloses rollers provided in the cable guide grooves, as well as rollers or other bearings supporting the cable guide on the guide rod.
However, even these more recent advancements for cable guides suffer several drawbacks. First, all such cable guides require that the cables be pulled back around the free end of the cable guard rod, either prior to connection to the cable guide, or while connected to the cable guide. This requirement is both annoying and inconvenient when using the bow.
In addition, the prior art wheeled cable guides were "heavy" reducing the potential velocity of an arrow, as well as expensive to manufacture.
Finally, the prior art guides conventionally use open grooves to guide the cables, thereby potentially permitting the cables to become dislodged from the cable guide during release of the arrow.


An organizer apparatus for carrying numerous samples or other items. Organizer has a single flexible sheet which is divided into six or more panels by parallel folds or plications. The panels have inner faces upon which pockets, loops and the like may be provided for holding and displaying items. The organizer may be folded in a pattern which places the panels in a certain parallel position so that the organizer is compact for carriage or storage. When the organizer is collapsed into the compact position, specially located fasteners hold the organizer in this closed position in a manner which secures the contained items. The specially located fasteners, combined with the particular folding pattern, permit the organizer to be unfolded and used in a manner which promotes an orderly, pleasant presentation of the contained items to the user or potential customer. A mode of construction is disclosed which permits the organizer to hold bulkier, non-planar items, without impeding the integrity or compactness of the apparatus. Certain specialized cases are disclosed which can be used to carry the organizer.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates generally to cases and pocketbooks, particularly pocketed cases for holding several items in an organized manner, and more particularly to an organizer apparatus which holds numerous items in an easily organized manner for retrieval or display, and which is foldable for compactness.
2. Background Art
Previous efforts abound to provide an item organizer that is conveniently sized, and yet permits a vast array of items to be neatly organized for carrying and retrieval. An older example of an effort in this regard is U.S. Pat. No. 860,264 to Stevens, which teaches the construction of a case for holding many eyeglass lenses, and which rolls up for compact storage. A number of early devices in the art of pocketbooks and portfolios were directed to providing a way to display samples, for example, for use in sales presentations. U.S. Pat. No. 1,085,950 to Steinthal, entitled "Portfolio for Displaying Samples," and U.S. Pat. No. 1,128,542 to Steinthal, entitled "Case for Displaying Samples," disclose types of sample cases which can be collapsed to smaller sizes for carrying. Frequently, folders and portfolios which may hold several items are folded to reduce their size, as seen for example in the older U.S. Pat. No. 2,468,973 to Hambrock, entitled "Multisectioned Folder," U.S. Pat. No. 2,754,867 to Langer, entitled "Hosiery Purse," and U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,677 to Toomey, entitled "Wallet." While all these devices include either multiple pockets and/or foldable multi-panel construction, they all are either too complicated for convenient use, especially for display, or sacrifice security of contents for the sake of simplicity. Also, many previous foldable portfolios have been unable to hold thicker, substantially non-planar items.
The need for simple yet effective organizer portfolios has continued to the present, and efforts to meet the need are manifest by the more recent U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,153 to Valls Rius, entitled "Display Device for Displaying Articles in a Bulged Condition," U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,852 to Hess, entitled "Plastic Siding Sample Case," and U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,547 to Brown, entitled "Carrying Bag." Even more recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,899 was issued to Barrett, U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,401 was issued to Blackman, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,673 was issued to Adams. The more modem cases typically are comparatively complex and expensive which, while perhaps providing some added specialized features, are too cumbersome for an organized, appealing display during use. Against this background of unfilled needs, the instant invention was developed.


The device includes a stent and a separating device, the stent having a number of areas of separation and the separating device being able to be introduced through the wall of the stent at an area of separation. According to embodiments of the invention, each area of separation has a number of separable junctions; the activation of the separating device separates at least one of the separable junctions of the area of separation so as to separate the stent into two stent sections at the area of the bifurcation and to allow the stent sections to further expand to respectively conform to a shape of the main conduit and to a shape of the secondary conduit at the area of the bifurcation.

Treating stenosis of a bodily conduit by means of a radially expandable tubular implant with a cutout or meshed structure, currently called a "stent", is well known. This device is introduced in the unexpanded state into the conduit to be treated up to the area of the stenosis, and is then expanded, particularly by means of an inflatable balloon, or, when it has an self-expandable structure, is released by a sheath that contains it in its contracted state.
In particular, the use of one or two stents to treat a bifurcation is known. In the simplest case, a single stent is implanted through the bifurcation (method called "provisional stenting"). In more complex cases, two tubular, stents are positioned according to various methods (called "T-stenting, "culotte," "crush," etc.). These methods, that aim to hold two tubes in the bifurcation, have the disadvantages of involving either a very significant metallic bulk, or a partial and incomplete support of the arterial wall in the "carena," that is, the area where the secondary conduits are connected to each other. Consequently, and in all scenarios, simple tubular stents do not provide good clinical results even if they are coated with an active molecule; in fact, stenosis of the conduits of the bifurcation tends to reappear after several months (restenosis), which involves a new intervention.
It is to be noted that in order to improve blood flow in the secondary duct that is partially obstructed by the stent, the practitioner may introduce a balloon through a mesh of the stent in order to enlarge this mesh. This enlargement is limited by the perimeter of the mesh, which has a smaller diameter than the arterial section in the bifurcation, and therefore does not allow a sufficient opening to be offered.
EP 1,034,751 A2 discloses a balloon expandable stent capable of reducing the degree of inhibition of a blood stream to a branched blood vessel. In the stent, connection portions between adjacent wavy annular members are weaker than other parts and can be broken. In use, the stent may be placed in a blood vessel passing a side branch, and dilated. A balloon may then be inserted through the side wall of the already-dilated stent at the opening to the side branch and inflated, as shown in FIG. 18. As a result, while the stent dilation does not change, connection portions adjacent the balloon are broken to form a hole in the stent side wall almost equal to the inflated diameter of the balloon. Because of the plastic nature of the stent material, the hole remains open, facilitating flow through the side branch. This stent is intended to be used in T-bifurcations, i.e. where the main conduit is straight and the side branch has a much smaller diameter than the main the conduit.
Stents called "dedicated" stents for treating a bifurcation are known from, for example, documents WO 2005/094728, WO 01/074273 or U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,429. In general they have a special feature of having an opening in a portion of the stent in order to allow communication with the secondary conduit without disturbing the blood flow. However, this previously made, single opening necessitates that the stent be placed very precisely longitudinally and angularly in the bifurcation. Different means are provided to facilitate this placement, such as a second guide or a second balloon, but their utilization makes the implantation procedure complex and long, and the placement remains especially uncertain.
Providing a stent in at least two partially separated parts, wherein one, in a truncated form, is designed to be placed in the main conduit, and wherein at least one other, in a cylindrical form, is designed to be placed in a secondary conduit, is known from documents EP 0,909,147 or WO 2004/017865.
However, treatment of a bifurcation with such stents remains a relatively long operation that is difficult and delicate to carry out, particularly considering the necessary precise position of the stent in the bifurcation.
Documents U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,117 or EP 1,290,987 describe stents comprising a plurality of connection structures delimiting portions of the stent between them, these connection structures allow different portions of the stent to be separated after implantation. Said stent portions, therefore released from each other after implantation, allow a better adaptation of the stent to the shape of the bodily conduit treated.
These stents are not adapted to the treatment of a bifurcation and do not solve the aforementioned disadvantage connected to such treatment.

Device allowing the treatment of bodily conduits at an area of a bifurcation


An anti-saturation circuit controls the gain of a variable-gain element in the front-end section of a receiver, responsive to a desired signal strength indicated by an indicator signal. The gain of the variable-gain element varies monotonically over a certain range, being reduced as the desired signal strength increases, in order to avoid intermodulation of the desired signal with an interfering signal. If the receiver also has an automatic-gain-control circuit, the automatic-gain-control signal is adjusted to compensate for the changing gain of the variable-gain element.

The present invention relates to an anti-saturation circuit for preventing saturation in a communications receiver despite the presence of a strong interfering signal.
Saturation in this context refers to a condition in which an amplifier or other circuit element becomes overloaded and cannot respond linearly to an input signal. Communications receivers generally have an automatic-gain-control facility that avoids this condition by keeping the level of the desired signal below the saturation level, but when an interfering signal stronger than the desired signal is present, saturation may occur despite automatic gain control. Depending on the frequency relationship between the desired signal and interfering signal, the result will be intermodulation interference, defined in the IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms as "modulation products attributable to the components of a complex wave that on injection into a nonlinear circuit produce interference on the desired signal."
One system in which intermodulation causes problems is the North American code-division multiple-access (CDMA) digital cellular telephone system, which receives strong interfering signals from the analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). CDMA receivers are designed for linear operation of their circuit elements up to a specified level of interference, but interference from nearby AMPS stations can easily exceed the specified level. If saturation occurs, the resulting intermodulation products impair the sensitivity of the receiver, making further anti-saturation measures necessary.
A simple anti-saturation scheme employed in conventional CDMA receivers reduces the gain of the low-noise amplifier that amplifies the radio-frequency signal received from the antenna. The low-noise amplifier operates with a standard fixed gain until the strength of the desired signal reaches a certain threshold; then the gain is reduced by a fixed amount. To avoid oscillation between the standard and reduced gain values, a pair of thresholds is employed. The standard gain is used below the lower threshold, the reduced gain is used above the upper threshold, and the standard or reduced gain is left unchanged between the two thresholds. The gain control characteristic is thus a step-function with hysteresis.
This simple system is unsatisfactory for several reasons. A first reason is that, to allow a margin for fading, the lower threshold must be set conservatively, at a relatively high value, leaving a large range of signal strengths over which no anti-saturation measures are taken. A second reason is that a gain reduction large enough to have an adequate anti-saturation effect is also large enough to impair the receiver sensitivity in the region just above the lower threshold. A third reason is that the abrupt switching of the low-noise-amplifier gain between the standard and reduced values tends to disrupt automatic gain control, even if a compensatory signal is applied to the automatic-gain-control amplifier. In CDMA systems, the strength of the received signal is used for both receiving and transmitting gain control, so both forms of automatic gain control are disrupted. Further details will be given later.


Chrysanthemum Wain's Pink Lady is a new cultivar, distinguished by its overall pink color with a rose colored eye, an exceptionally upright to spreading branching habit and good flowering characteristics. Wain's Pink Lady originated from a cross made by Peter Wain in a controlled breeding program in Havant, Hampshire, England. The female parent of Wain's Pink Lady was the commercial plant Pink Arola and the male parent was a numbered unnamed seedling designated "1 WX-87". Wain's Pink Lady was selected as one flowering plant from the progeny of the stated cross because of the unusual overall pink color of the flowers. The unique flower color is distinct from the lavender color of the female parent Pink Arola. Additionally, Wain's Pink Lady's contrasting rose colored eye makes its appearance even more distinguishable from either the male parent, 1 WX-87, or a commercially marketed Chrysanthemum named Charm which is similar in capitulum and habit to Wain's Pink Lady.

The new Chrysanthemum cultivar was among the progeny of a cross made by Peter Wain between the female parent Pink Arola (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,129) and an unnamed male Chrysanthemum plant designated "1 WX-87." The cross which produced Wain's Pink Lady was made as part of a controlled breeding program conducted in Havant, Hampshire, England. Selection of Wain's Pink Lady was based on the overall flat appearance of the capitulum, its exceptional upright to spreading habit, ease in control of plant height and, in particular, on the rose-pink bud color that contrasts with the pale red-purple ray color which give the flower a contrasting rose colored eye and an overall pink appearance. Wain's Pink Lady resembles the commercial Chrysanthemum Charm (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,502) in capitulum form and branching pattern, but is distinctly more pink in color.
Wain's Pink Lady was asexually reproduced from vegetative cuttings grown in a green house in Havant, England. Horticultural examination of controlled flowerings of successive plantings showed that the characteristics herein disclosed for Wain's Pink Lady are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.

Chrysanthemum plant named `Wain's Pink Lady`


A tandem windshield wiper system including a first windshield wiper assembly having a first lever arm that is adapted to operatively move in a repeated wiping motion across the surface of a windshield. A second windshield wiper assembly having a second lever arm is spaced apart from the first windshield wiper assembly and is rotatable about a second wiper longitudinal axis and adapted to operative move in a repeated wiping motion across the surface of the windshield. A brushless DC motor that includes a planetary gear set having an output shaft is disposed between the first and the second wiper assemblies. The gear set is operable to reduce the speed of the rotational output of the motor through the output shaft of said gear set. A bellcrank having a central attachment point and a first and a second end is also included. The central attachment point is fixedly mounted to the output shaft of the motor. A first connecting arm is operatively disposed between the first lever arm and the first end of the bellcrank and is adapted to translate the drive torque from the motor to the first windshield wiper assembly. A second connecting arm is operatively disposed between the second lever arm and the second end of the bellcrank and is adapted to translate the drive torque from the motor to the second windshield wiper assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to windshield wiper systems and, more particularly, to a windshield wiper system that utilizes a single drive motor having a bellcrank linkage that is disposed between tandem windshield wipers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Windshield wiper systems commonly employed in the related art include pivotally mounted wiper blades that are oscillated across a windshield between an in-wipe position, typically located near the cowl of an automotive vehicle, and an out-wipe position, usually associated with an A-pillar on the vehicle, in the case of the driver side wiper blade in this representative example. It is typically desirable to maximize the angular velocity of the blade assemblies between the in-wipe and out-wipe positions where the blade assembly is moving across the windshield in front of the driver to reduce the duration of each wipe cycle. On the other hand, it is also desirable to limit noise and inertia loading by reducing the velocity of the blade assemblies as they approach the wipe limits. These are two competing objectives that must be balanced in order to be successfully and economically obtained.
One long-standing design approach that has been employed in the related art includes the use of a single motor assembly, driven in one rotational direction, driving two separate wiper arms across the windshield of a vehicle. This approach requires a fairly complex linkage system to convert the singular angular motion of the wiper motor into the two-way linear reciprocal motion to drive both wiper arms. In the dashboard-firewall area, where these systems are typically installed, this mechanical linkage required a large amount of underhood space. Moreover, the area near this moving linkage must be kept clear of wires and other vehicle components. Additionally, the moving linkage, with its several pivot and rotational points is subject to mechanical inaccuracies and wear, readily introducing excessive wiper movement.
Nevertheless, for many years, designers and manufacturers were reluctant to depart from this established approach. However, improved vehicle aerodynamics that have fostered vehicle designs having longer sloped front surfaces are leading to windshield designs with more pronounced rake angles that result in larger window surfaces. A wiper system for such windshields must therefore include longer, more massive wiper arms and blades to wipe the required percentage of the larger surface. This has created a number of problems. Most notably, the larger arms and swept surface area increases the size of conventional wiper systems to such an extent that it becomes difficult to fit a single motor system within the typically allotted underhood space. This problem is further aggravated by the same aerodynamic sloped front surfaces of the newer vehicle designs, which reduce the available underhood space. Additionally, the larger area to be swept by the wiper system requires more power and control over the wiper arm that can be provided by a linkage type system.
In response to the changes in vehicle front face design and the loss of available underhood space, the dual motor wiper system has evolved. Representative examples of such systems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,980 to Gille et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,488 to Graham et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,995 to Wainwright, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,897 to Porter et al. These wiper systems are generally directly driven. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,061 to Forham employs a brushless DC motor to operate a direct drive windshield wiper system, as do others that follow. The more recent tandem wiper blade systems employing dual motors have utilized some hardware and/or software controlled switching scheme to control each individual motor, in reference to the other, to provide blade control across the windshield and prevent blade-to-blade contact.
Conventional tandem wiper systems use high-speed DC motors. This is undesirable, as it requires large counter-rotational forces to stop and then reverse the wiper arm at the end of its sweep. Also, large current draws are necessary to produce the counter-rotational forces which causes repetitive surges in the supplied power and induces great amounts of electro-magnetic interference to the immediately surrounding parts of the vehicle. With a high-speed DC motor, it is also problematic to vary the speed of the wiper arm as it sweeps across the windshield, if this is desired as part of a sweeping pattern or predetermined clearing scheme. These drawbacks stem from the conventional construction of tandem wiper motors, which have either a one-to-one direct drive or an inefficient gearing assembly to differ the wiper arm speed from motor speed. Thus, there is a need in the art for a direct drive motor for a windshield wiper system that is efficient and controllable at a lower drive speed and that is electro-magnetically clean.
One other drawback to conventional wiper motor systems has recently emerged. The conventional direct drive windshield wiper systems employ DC motors that are of the standard 12-volt operating standard. This is presently adequate, but current design trends are moving toward more efficient 42 volt based automotive electrical systems. The change over to a 42 volt automotive electrical systems will be highly problematic for the prior dual tandem wiper systems and presents a considerable drawback as the prior systems are not compatible. Therefore, there is a need to not only provide a tandem windshield wiper system that overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks but that also has the ability to be employed in the newly emerging 42 volt automotive electrical system environment.
Additionally, there also remains a need in the art for a superior DC drive motor that can be employed in smaller vehicle applications having smaller windshields and an under cowl areas where space is limited. More specifically, there remains a need in the art for a single reciprocating DC drive motor of a type that satisfies the above mentioned needs and that can be employed with a bell crank and a pair of simple connecting arms to efficiently drive a tandem wiper assembly. Thus, not only is there a need in the art for a direct drive motor for a windshield wiper system that is efficient and controllable at a lower drive speed, is electro-magnetically clean, and has the ability to be employed in the newly emerging 42 volt automotive electrical system environment, but there also remains a need in the art for such a system that also can be efficiently employed as a single drive motor utilizing a bell crank linkage for a tandem wiper assembly.

Tandem windshield wiper system with bellcrank linkage


The invention provides a method of avoiding peeling on the wafer edge and the mark number. The method uses a design rule to expose the multi-layer on a wafer. The limit and the scope of the exposed distance are taken to ensure the polysilicon layers and the metal layers are covered by the dielectric layer after exposure. The polysilicon layers or the metal layers don't unclothe from the overlarge distance at the exposed dielectric layer, so the next structure formed on the exposed dielectric layer doesn't peeling from contacting with the polysilicon layer or the metal layer. The invention avoids to contaminate the wafer and the machine after the particles forming from peeling.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to the fabrication of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs), and more particularly to a method of forming metal layers and other layers and avoiding peeling in the back-ending process to form semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
When semiconductor integrated circuits are fabricated, several methods are used to form multi-layer structures to offer different functions such as conductor layer, dielectric layer, insulating layer or adhesion layer. The structures use various materials to make the device achieve the best efficiency. In present semiconductor industry, tungsten silicide has those advantages of high melting point, high stability and low resistance. It is mostly used to enhance the ohmic contact between polysilicon layers and used as partial metal layer of a gate in the metal oxide semiconductor (MOS).
A dielectric layer is provided between a tungsten silicide layer and a metal layer during the back-ending process to form a tungsten silicide layer. It is easy to find the tungsten silicide layer and the metal layer contacting directly and peeling in the wafer edge and the mark number section which is used to distinguish a wafer. A titanium/titanium nitride layer is usually formed on the oxide layer to enhance the metal adhesion of the oxide layer before forming the metal layer. The titanium nitride layer has a bad adhesion of the polysilicon layer and the tungsten silicide layer. When they touch each other directly, they peel and form particles. The particles contaminate the devices and the holo-machine and affect the process.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a tungsten silicide layer contacting with a metal layer. A conductive layer 102 and an oxide layer 104 are formed on a semiconductor device 100. A titanium/titanium nitride layer 106 and a metal layer 108 are formed on the oxide layer 104. The oxide layer 104 may not completely cover the conductive layer 102 at the edge of the semiconductor device 100. That makes a region 100 nearing the wafer edge of the conductive layer 102 contacting with the titanium/titanium nitride layer 106 and metal layer 108. Since the adhesion between etch layer is poor, the metal layer 108 or the titanium/titanium nitride layer may peel and form particles to contaminate the process and the machine. This phenomenon doesn't only happen at the wafer edge but also at the mark number used to distinguish the wafer.

Method of avoiding peeling on wafer edge and mark number


An automatic para-virtualization apparatus of an OS kernel is provided. The automatic para-virtualization apparatus includes a kernel profiler that detects profile information from a native OS kernel, and a virtualization unit that automatically generates a para-virtualized OS kernel that operates on a para-virtualization virtual machine monitor by combining the native OS kernel and the profile information.

1. Field
The following description relates to virtualization technology, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for virtualizing an OS (operating system) kernel which is not virtualized.
2. Description of the Related Art
An OS (operating system) is an aggregate of programs providing an interface so that a user can more easily use hardware of a computer device such as a personal computer (PC), and it manages resources such as processors, storage devices, input and output devices, communication devices, data, and the like.
Meanwhile, users may install and use a plurality of OSs in a single system in accordance with purposes or needs. For example, Windows XP and LINUX are respectively installed in two regions which are logically divided in a single system storage medium, application programs supported by each of the OSs are installed on the corresponding OS and then booted into the OS desired by the computer device to thereby perform operations in the corresponding OS.
The way in which the plurality of OSs are installed to be booted into an OS selected by a user is referred to as multi-booting. However, in multi-booting, to convert from a predetermined OS to another OS, the computer device inconveniently has to be re-booted.
To overcome this problem, in the related art, virtualization technology that drives a plurality of OSs on a single platform has been proposed. More specifically, the virtualization technology in which a virtualization layer is formed on a host OS, or a virtual machine monitor or a hypervisor that directly provides the virtualization layer is provided, so that a plurality of logical virtual machines are generated on the virtualization layer. A guest operating program is installed in each of the plurality of virtual machines, and a program supported by the corresponding OS may be installed on each of guest OSs.
Examples of the virtualization technology are full-virtualization that does not require correction of the guest OS, and para-virtualization that requires correction of the guest OS so as to enhance performance, a minimum value, security, and the like, compared to an existing guest OS.
Full-virtualization performs virtualization by providing, to an OS kernel, an illusion that an interface and an environment provided in a system are completely provided. Here, it is very difficult to perform full-virtualization without access permission to a source code of the OS kernel, and a maintenance operation that is routinely performed each times there is a change in a kernel code requires additional development and testing even when access to the source code is permitted.
Para-virtualization involves recognizing virtualization by an OS regardless of hardware, and thus the OS is operated using an interface defined by a virtual machine monitor which is different from an existing hardware interface, and thereby the virtual machine monitor emulates a hardware interface, and monitoring for a code of the OS kernel is not required. As a result, there is less of a performance reduction due to the virtualization compared to full-virtualization, and a size of the virtual machine monitor is also reduced.
However, in the related art, porting in which the OS kernel performing a hardware operation is operated in the virtual machine monitor is required.
When virtualizing a system in the virtual machine monitor, the above-described full-virtualization is conveniently used and has low maintenance costs, but is sensitive to a performance or a function provided by hardware, and therefore it is difficult to apply full-virtualization in an environment sensitive to hardware resources.
However, since there is little use of hardware when performing para-virtualization, para-virtualization may be used in environments sensitive to hardware resources.

Apparatus and method for automatic para-virtualization of OS kernel

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


The invention relates to an electrical component having a resistance area and contacts electrically connected to the resistance area, the resistance area including electrically conductive diamond. The resistance area can be configured as a resistance layer on top of a substrate while the substrate can be made at least in part of electrically non-conducting diamond.

For the practical application of resistant components in electronic circuits the common surface-mounted device (SMD) resistances in particular are known in terms of state-of-the-art, whereby a metal glaze layer is imprinted onto a high-purity, quadrate ceramic substrate serigraphically. Such SMD resistors are therefore encapsulated components that are mounted on the printed circuit board of an electronic circuit, e.g., by soldering.
Alternatively, the utilization of doped semi-conductors on the basis of aluminum nitride (AlN) to realize a resistance function is also known. Here, a thin, high-resistance, doped circuit path on an electrically insulating substrate is used.
Both methods of realizing resistances named here are subject to limitations, which restrict the scope of the component's utilization. For example, the stability of the resistance layer in the face of high temperatures is limited, as well as the ability to divert heat resulting from the resistance, meaning that the power such resistors can handle is relatively small. Another disadvantage of the aforementioned "semiconductor resistors", in addition to the large amount of space required, is the fact that the resistance value has a relatively large tolerance; in addition, the temperature dependence of such resistors is often an undesirable disadvantage.
The task of the invention at hand is to provide an electrical resistor component, in particular a cable termination resistor as well as a method of production thereof, whose resistance layers retain their integrity even at very high temperatures and at the same time feature a high level of heat conductivity, meaning that the resistor component meets the high demands placed on its load capacity and implements a high level of thermal power loss within a small area. The electrical features of the component are that it is non-temperature-sensitive in an area of high temperature.

Diamond-based electrical resistor component

Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik GmbH & Co. KG


An improved multilevel interconnect structure is provided. The interconnect structure includes pillars spaced from each other across a wafer. The pillars are placed between levels of interconnect or between an interconnect level and a semiconductor substrate. The pillars are spaced from each other by an air gap, such that each conductor within a level of interconnect is spaced by air from one another. Furthermore, each conductor within one level of interconnect is spaced by air from each conductor within another level of interconnect. Air gaps afford a smaller interlevel and intralevel capacitance within the multilevel interconnect structure, and a smaller parasitic capacitance value affords minimal propagation delay and cross-coupling noise of signals sent through the conductors. The air gaps are formed by dissolving a sacrificial dielectric, and the conductors are prevented from bending or warping in regions removed of sacrificial dielectric by employing anodization on not just the upper surfaces of each conductor, but the sidewalls as well. The upper and sidewall anodization provides a more rigid metal conductor structure than if merely the upper or sidewall surfaces were anodized. Accordingly, the pillars can be spaced further apart and yet provide all necessary support to the overlying conductors.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor fabrication and more particularly to an integrated circuit which employs a multilevel interconnect structure having a layer of air which separates conductors within each level of interconnect and conductors between levels of interconnect. Pillars are spaced within the layer of air to support conductors within each interconnect level. The conductors are made rigid using a layer of anodized aluminum formed on each conductor. Conductors on dissimilar levels are electrically connected by contacts arranged within select pillars.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Fabrication of an integrated circuit involves placing numerous devices on a single monolithic substrate. Each device is electrically isolated from the others, but later in the fabrication sequence specific devices are electrically interconnected so as to implement desired circuit function. Interconnect of those devices often takes place on more than one elevational level, each level having a set of substantially coplanar interconnect conductors. Numerous levels of interconnect arranged above a monolithic substrate is generally referred to as a multilevel interconnect structure.
A level of interconnect is made simultaneously using lithography techniques from electrically conductive material, a suitable material includes Al, Ti, Ta, W, Mo, Cu, polysilicon, or a combination thereof. The multilevel interconnect structure is deposited layer-by-layer upon a semiconductor substrate, a suitable substrate includes any type of material which can retain dopant ions and the isolated conductivity regions brought about by those ions. Typically, a substrate is a silicon-based material which receives P-type or N-type ions.
Generally speaking, each conductor within a level of conductors is dielectrically spaced from one another by a relatively small distance. That spacing to some extent determines interlevel capacitance between conductors on dissimilar levels and intralevel capacitance between conductors on the same level. Thus, a multilevel interconnect structure comprises conductors which are horizontally and vertically spaced from each other across a semiconductor topography. Dielectric constant of dielectric material arranged horizontally and vertically between conductors also determines intralevel and interlevel capacitance, and interlevel and intralevel capacitance determine, to some extent, the electrical performance of a signal forwarded through a conductor. For example, large intralevel and interlevel capacitance not only causes noise cross-coupling between conductors, but also increases the propagation delay of a signal forwarded through the conductors.
Modern integrated circuits generally employ close conductor spacing which cause unacceptably large propagation delays and cross-talk noise within the conductors. Even if a conductor does not transition, it nonetheless receives cross-talk noise from neighboring, closely spaced conductors which do. It is thereby important to minimize propagation delay and cross-talk noise problems by paying close attention to the dielectric properties of dielectrics which are horizontally or vertically spaced between conductors. The primary dielectric property of concern is the dielectric constant. By lowering the dielectric constant, problems of propagation delay and cross-coupling can be reduced even when conductor spacings are fairly small.
It would therefore be desirable to employ a dielectric which reduces the intralevel and interlevel capacitance, and thereby reduces propagation delay and cross-coupling noise. A dielectric of lowest possible dielectric constant affords closer spacing between conductors on separate levels or within the same level.

Multilevel interconnect structure of an integrated circuit having air gaps and pillars separating levels of interconnect


A data structure and method are disclosed for transferring object attributes between platforms in a distributed computing environment. The method includes creating an application description file. The application description file includes a type ID and an object name. The type ID references a type information file. The application file includes an attribute data block and the attribute data block contains data for attributes that are included in the object. The attribute description file is transferred to a platform that includes the type information file and the type information file includes a memory offset map that determines a sequence of attribute data storage in the attribute data block. Thus, the object attributes are received by the platform and the type information file provides a memory offset map for individual attributes in the attribute description file.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data structures and methods for improving data transfer in object oriented distributed applications. More specifically, the invention relates to data structures and methods for defining and using attribute data blocks to instantiate objects and to communicate objects or object information among different machines running a distributed application. The distributed application may be run over the Internet or an intranet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Object oriented programming is a useful programming technique that results in code that may be conveniently debugged and maintained. One object oriented technique referred to as encapsulation includes or encapsulates data inside of an object that also contains methods and events. In an application such as a distributed application where data is processed in more than one location and frequently transferred between locations, encapsulation can result in excessive demands on the data channel between machines running the application.
One way of transferring data between machines, usually from a server to a client, is hypertext markup language (HTML). When HTML is used, each time the user of a client machine selects hypertext on, for example, a web page, the server supporting that page transmits or "pushes" an entirely new page over the communication link between the machines, e.g., the internet, even where the new page differs from the previous page in only some small, incremental aspect. With the size of these pages being relatively large and the amount of traffic on the World Wide Web ever increasing, it would be desirable if the transmission bandwidth required by this technology could be reduced.
The Java virtual machine (JVM) and the Java programming language represent a significant improvement in the efficiency with which such interactive content may be transmitted between client and server platforms. Initially, when a client requests that a particular Java object subclass on the server platform be instantiated on the client platform, the server sends the subclass definition and the actual application or applet program associated with that subclass including any methods and data required to execute the object. Java's advantage over HTML is realized for each subsequent request from the client for that subclass. This is because the JVM determines the information delta, that is, the information which has changed for that object instance since the last request, and transmits only the delta for the subsequent request. This information delta is typically much smaller than the original amount of information transmitted with the object although there may significant overhead associated with identifying individual data fields within the delta transmission.
Although the delta method implemented in Java as described above is relatively efficient for simple data transmission, the amount of bandwidth required to perform relatively simple operations associated with a distributed applications is large. For example, a class of object called a button class may be described for an application. Each instance of the button class includes methods, events and data. Each time a new button is created by the server or the client, if the client is given that privilege, a new instance of the class button is created. In order to transfer the data associated with the new button from one machine to another, the data is encapsulated in an object that includes, among other things, all of the methods and events that are included in button objects.
The number of methods can become very large since, in general, for each attribute of the object, there is a set method and a get method used to store and retrieve attribute data from memory. The JVM compiles the different methods to handle storing and retrieving data. When an attribute of an object is changed, for example, by a client, the attribute is encapsulated in an object and the amount of information that is sent from the client must include set and get methods for each attribute. Each set and get method is compiled and used to pass data to and from memory for its corresponding attribute. Thus, while representing a considerable conservation of bandwidth resources with respect to HTML, Java as currently used still requires a relatively large amount of bandwidth for sending data.
What is needed is an alternative to the object oriented model for instantiating objects and passing objects and attribute data that is encapsulated within objects between machines that are running a distributed application. It would be useful if a way could be found of retaining the benefits of object oriented programming in the conceptualization of a program, while detaching data from an encapsulating object in an implementation so that the process of instantiating an object could be simplified and the bandwidth requirements of a channel transferring data between machines running a distributed application could be reduced.

Data structure and methods for defining and using attribute data blocks to instantiate objects and describe changes to objects


An organic electroluminescence display. The display comprises a transparent electrode, a metal electrode and a organic thin layer which is disposed between the pair of electrodes and which includes a light emitting layer. The metal electrode has a reflection scattering property. Since the metal electrode has a reflection scattering property, the ambient light is reflected in various directions so that the reflected light returns and is incident on the color filter. In this way, within the incident light due to reflection scattering on any of the filter regions that has a different color from that of light already transmitted through the filter regions, light with different wavelength from that of the incident light is attenuated. Accordingly, the reflection of the ambient light is further attenuated.

The present invention relates to an electroluminescence (EL) display using a metal electrode having a reflection scattering property, in particular, for preventing a decrease in contrast due to reflection of ambient light.
Recently, development of illumination devices having electroluminescence elements (hereinafter referred to as "EL display") is in progress. As shown in FIG. 5, an EL display 51 comprises a transparent substrate 56 and an EL element 57. The EL element 57 is formed from a laminate structure in which a organic thin layer 53 is provided. The organic thin layer 53 which includes at least a light emitting layer provided with blue, green and red light emitting regions and which is sandwiched between a metal electrode 52 with a small work function and a transparent electrode 54. Electrons are injected into the organic thin layer 53 from one of the electrodes and holes are injected from the other electrode. Light is emitted when the electrons and holes recombine within the light emitting material layer. The emitted light is visible from the transparent substrate 56 side.
Luminance of the display is often enhanced by reflecting the light rays from the metal electrode 52 in the EL device 57, by using metals having high reflectivity, such as magnesium (Mg), magnesium-silver alloy (MgAg), magnesium-indium alloy (MgIn), aluminum (Al), lithium-aluminum alloy (LiAl), for the metal electrode 52. Accordingly, in the device structure described above, the metal electrodes 52 can function as a mirror with a high light reflecting property when the device is not generating light by electroluminescence, which can project the ambient environmental view, or can cause problems in the application of the display. The problems are for example a decrease in contrast due to reflection of ambient light, and failing to display the color of black.
In order to solve the above described requirements, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 9-127885 discloses an organic electroluminescence device in which a ¼ wavelength plate and a linear polarizer are disposed in that order, on the transparent substrate side, which functions as the light emitting surface.
However in this organic EL device, the light emitted from the light emitting layer is also transmitted through the polarizer, so that the light attenuates during the transmission therethrough and decreases the amount of light emitted.


The invention relates to an overvoltage protection circuit comprising an MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) voltage limiting device (3) which is disposed in series with a GDT (Gas Discharge Tube) voltage limiting device (4). The invention is characterized in that a resistor (5) is disposed in parallel with the aforementioned GDT device (4), the value of said resistor being such that the voltage supported by the GDT device (4) is less than the holdover voltage thereof. In another embodiment of the invention, a second resistor (6) is disposed in parallel with the MOV device (3) and, together with the above-mentioned resistor (5), forms a resistive divider such that the voltage applied the GDT device (4) under steady-state conditions is less than the holdover voltage of the GDT. The invention is suitable for communication systems and, preferably, for applications involving communication via electrical network, since the protection effectiveness is improved owing to the fact that the holdover voltage of the GDT device (4) must be less than that normally required.

A variety of devices are available on the market that are designed to protect those devices that are susceptible to damage by voltage surge when the voltage applied between their power terminals exceeds a maximum acceptable threshold.
In this sense, the devices most used are MOV, based on semiconductors and the like, as well as GDT devices. The use of hybrid arrestors based on a combination of MOV and GDT devices is also known.
MOV devices are fast acting which is very desirable in certain applications, but with the inconvenience of not being able to absorb an unlimited number of surges, that is, they degrade with use and in the end fail. The number of times an MOV device shall function correctly depends on the energy absorbed each time it functions. Furthermore, there is the inconvenience that they may short circuit in case of malfunction so that it is necessary to anticipate some other type of protection against this inconvenience. Furthermore these MOV devices have relatively high capacity. With regard to the GDT devices, it must be stated that these are slower acting devices that function by producing an electric arc in their interior when nominal voltage is surpassed. When in action impedance between their terminals diminishes drastically causing a short circuit. They have relatively small capacity making them ideal for use in telecommunications.
As a solution to these problems the use of GDT devices in combination with MOV devices connected in series between the terminals of the element to be protected is known. This combination has the advantage that taken together capacity is approximately equal to that of the GDT device (a few pF) and protection is similar to that of the MOV but without short-circuiting the line while the protection is in action. However it must be stated that the combination of these devices have one important inconvenience that is the GDT device needed to carry out effective protection must have a holdover voltage greater than the working voltage of the communication line, which requires the use of GDT devices with very high nominal voltage.
Due to the difference of capacity between the MOV device (high capacity) and the GDT device (very low capacity), the voltage capacitive divider formed by both devices causes almost all the voltage to be applied to the GDT device so that when a voltage surges occurs on the line, the GDT device turns the MOV device on, limiting the voltage absorbing the transient energy, but when the voltage surge ends and voltage on the line returns to its nominal value, if the holdover voltage of the GDT device is below maximum voltage on the line it beings to impulsively start and stop the capacitance of the MOV causing a malfunction and this is translated to noise in the channel something which is not admissible in telecommunications applications.

Overvoltage protecting circuit in a steady state


A downhole tool for providing a pressure differential between sub-assemblies, the downhole tool including an elongated body, a tubular assembly disposed within the elongated body, the tubular assembly including a central flowbore with an inner diameter and a central longitudinal axis, a camming device, an actuator member located below the tubular assembly, having a dual-bore configuration, the actuator member including a first bore, a second bore, and a concave seating surface formed within the second bore for receiving a obstructing device, wherein the first bore and the second bore are oriented 90 degrees to one another so that fluid may flow through the actuator while it is in either a first or a second position, and a stationary sleeve concentrically disposed between the actuator member and the elongated body is disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to downhole tools, particularly setting tools for hydraulic liners and other hydraulic actuated devices. More specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to setting tools that actuate hydraulic liner hangers in deviated wellbores.
2. Background Art
Typically, liners are used below casing in wellbores to extend the length of the casing. A liner is a section of smaller casing that is suspended downhole in existing casing. In most cases, the liner extends downwardly into an open hole and overlaps the existing casing by approximately 200-400 ft. In certain application, the liner may be cemented in place. A conventional liner hanger is used to attach or hang liners from the internal wall of a casing segment. Hydraulic liner hangers have been preferred by operators in deviated wellbores over mechanical liner hangers. This is because deviation of the wellbore makes it less certain that the mechanical hanger mechanism will be properly actuated in a deviated wellbore. In this instance hydraulic liners provide advantages over mechanical hangers, because hydraulic hangers may not require mechanical movement of the pipe or tubular.
In conventional designs, the liner with a setting tool is lowered into position, and pressure within the setting tool is used to set the hydraulic liner hanger through a lateral port therein. In some designs, the flow passage through the setting tool is obstructed at its lowermost end so the applied pressure in the setting tool properly reaches the hydraulic liner hanger. Other designs place the obstruction for the setting tool near the bottom of the liner to allow a cement wiper plug to pass completely through the liner to remove residual cement therefrom. If the residual cement is not removed, cutting or grinding operations may be required to remove excess cement within the liner.
Some aspects of using a conventional setting tool may lengthen the time required to complete the placement and cementing of a liner. In addition to an increase in completion time, other setting tool designs are subject to inadvertent damage within the tool. For example, collet-type valve seats have been used in applications where the drop ball seats on relatively short upwardly directed collet fingers, thus compressing the collet fingers when the ball is seated. A shear pin release permits a shift of the fingers to a location where the collet fingers are expanded to release the ball member. The collet fingers are typically short, thereby preventing the compressive forces from damaging them. (The design, thus, requires that the fingers have little resilience and prevents them from fully expanding unless a large diameter ball is used. In addition to damaging the tool, using a large diameter ball raises the possibility of prematurely actuating a wiper plug upon release.) A collet mechanism is also prone to damaging fins of a pump-down plug or dart by folding the fins backwards as they pass through the unsupported slots of the collet. Additionally, fluid cuts as it passes around the fins and through the slots.
In a system where the end of the liner with a setting tool is located in a non-vertical location, such as a deviated or horizontal section of well bore, other problems arise. In these instances it can be extremely difficult, and sometimes not possible, to obtain seating of a ball or an obstructing device in a small, centrally located valve seat opening at the lower end of a liner. In such a design, the valve seat has a convex upper surface, as shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,672. In this design, as the ball rolls along the inner diameter of the tool, gravity may move the ball into a dead fluid area that is adjacent to the seat. In order to seat the drop ball, the ball must be lifted off of the low side of the tool and moved to the center of the valve with the fluid flow. This process can be time constraining and difficult to accomplish.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a setting tool that provides a pressure differential for actuating downhole tools that includes an improved ball valve assembly.


A locking element and a corresponding housing are disclosed, for the locking of the locking element in housing. The locking element includes a locking piece, for example a head, with a peripheral outer surface, running essentially in the direction of a longitudinal axis with at least one clamping surface extending outwards from the longitudinal axis in the form of a wedge, in order to lock the locking piece on the locking element with a corresponding inner contour of the housing. The peripheral outer surface is at least approximately spherical, parabolic, elliptical or hyperbolic in embodiment, viewed in the direction of the longitudinal axis in the region of the clamping surface, which is also true for the inner contour of the housing in the region of the recess, whereby the recess cooperating with the clamping surface can also be cylindrical.

Depending on their type, such housings and locking elements are used for the connection of various elements in cases where such elements are to be connected fixedly to one another, for example in general mechanical engineering (e.g. in shaft-hub connections, as are known from DE-A-42 09 153, or in other connections, e.g. in screw connections where two structural parts are to be locked fixedly to one another).
A specific field of application of such connections is the field of medical engineering, for example the field of traumatology, where it is not uncommon to perform fixation of bone segments, for example in fractures. For optimal treatment of the fractures, the individual bone segments have to be repositioned as exactly as possible and have to be fixed in the desired position with the aid of a bone plate and bone screws, to ensure that treatment is as successful as possible.
For successful treatment, it is important, after they have been fixed, that the bone segments remain stable with the aid of the bone plate; for example, a bone screw must not come loose from the bone plate, as can happen, for example, in rare cases of undesired loading of a treated fracture. In such cases, the bone segments may then assume a position different than the desired position, which may reduce the degree of success of the treatment.
WO-A-00/66012 has already proposed a bone plate in which an engagement contour made in the plate aperture has a plurality of horizontally and radially extending contour valleys and, adjacent to these, contour peaks. However, the engagement contour does not extend completely round the plate aperture, and instead runs out at two horizontally opposite ends. There, uncontoured wall areas remain in the plate aperture, as a result of which the plate aperture has an oblong hole shape. The associated bone screw has a bone thread on its shank, and above the bone thread, but below the screw head, there is an additional locking thread. While the bone thread is screwed in the usual manner into the bone segment, the locking thread engages in the engagement contour of the plate aperture in the final phase of screwing-in of the bone screw. Since the locking thread with its helical course and its pitch does not complement the engagement contour in the plate aperture, this causes deformation of both parts and, therefore, a strong connection of bone plate and bone screw and, although this connection can in principle be released again, automatic loosening of the screw is reliably avoided.
For example, when two bone segments, namely a first bone segment on one side of a fracture and a second bone segment on the other side of the fracture, are brought into a desired position relative to one another, a bone screw is screwed into each of the two bone segments via the plate aperture of the bone plate, and the bone screws are locked in the plate aperture of the bone plate, so that the bone segments remain in the desired position after locking. The stable locking in the plate aperture also ensures, inter alia, that the bone plate does not have to lie on the bone, and instead, for example, can also be arranged in a stable manner at a short distance from the bone. This may be of advantage, because the periosteum ensures better blood circulation and nutrition of the bone, and an intact periosteum thus promotes the healing process. This very functionally reliable bone plate described in WO-A-00/66012 allows the screw to be introduced with a slight deviation from the perpendicular axis of screwing; the perpendicular axis of the plate aperture and the actual direction of screwing can therefore enclose a small angle between each other. However, such a deviation of the actual axis of screwing from the perpendicular axis of the plate aperture (tilting of the actual axis of screwing relative to the perpendicular axis of the plate aperture) can only be present in the direction of the longer axis of the oblong plate aperture (that is to say in the direction of the two ends of the plate aperture with the uncontoured wall areas), and it is possible only within a relatively small angle range.
In many cases, however, it would be advantageous for the operating surgeon to be able to fit a bone screw as freely as possible in respect of direction, for example if a fracture to be treated lies outside the access route, or if the amount of available bone substance is such that the screw would be best fitted in a specific direction. It should further be noted that, in many cases, subsequent repositioning of a bone segment may be desirable. Although this is possible in principle in the bone plate known from WO-A-00/66012, such repositioning is more difficult because of the deformation of locking thread and engagement contour. However, in complicated fractures in particular, with several bone segments, in some cases with small bone segments, for example in the region of the hand, it is often very important, for optimal positioning of the individual bone segments, that the locking can be released again without damaging the screw and/or the plate and that individual bone segments are able to a certain extent to be positioned differently.

Housing for a locking element and locking element


A lidded pet food dish uses wireless technology to independently and selectively open one of a plurality of lidded food compartments for access by a pet. The dish discriminates between pets by means of a tag worn by each pet to allow or prevent access to a given food compartment. Electronic circuitry for this functionality is operable by any wireless technology and provides for manual system override by the pet owner as well as remote control capability.

In the area of data acquisition, the use of wireless communication devices is well known. For example, infrared (IR) technology and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, in particular, are well known in the art of wireless communication devices and in the art of electronic identification methods.
RFID technology relies on the storage and remote retrieval of data by means of one or more transmission or transponder devices that are frequently called RFID "tags." An RFID tag is a small electronic device that can be attached to or incorporated within a physical item or object for a number of different purposes. RFID tags contain micro-circuitry and antennas that enable them to receive and respond to radio frequency queries from an RFID transceiver. Passive tags require no internal power source, whereas active tags typically require a power source.
IR technology refers to the use of free-space propagation of light waves in the near infrared band as a transmission medium for communication. IR technology has advantages over RFID technology in that IR systems are generally cheaper to produce than wireless RFID links. Using IR technology, a point-to-point connection between two devices may be constructed for very low cost, with one or two emitter light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally, numerous modulation methods have been developed for transmitting data using infrared signals. Modulation methods that are currently in commercial use include baseband pulsing, frequency shift keying, amplitude shift keying, phase shift keying, pulse position modulation and burst-pulse position modulation. Each of these modulation methods involves tradeoffs between cost, signal distance, signal rate and "ambient immunity". Ambient immunity is the ability to receive information sent over infrared signals while rejecting ambient sources of light. Ambient sources of light include, for example, sunlight, fluorescent lighting and incandescent lighting.
The use of containers or dishes for feeding and watering pets is also well known. Such dishes can be used to provide a pet, or several of them, with a quantity of pet food and water. In the situation where only one pet has access to the contents of such a dish, the pet owner clearly has control over how much food is consumed by his or her pet and when that food is made available to the pet. However, in a multiple pet household, or in an animal care facility where multiple pets can be found, the control over how much food is consumed by any one pet is subject to far less accurate assessment. That is, in a multiple-pet setting, one pet may be consuming more than its "fair share" of food, thus shorting other pets of their food requirements. This problem is even more evident in a situation where, for example, a household is inhabited by a dog and a cat where the dog has access to the cat's food. In that situation, it has been observed by this inventor that dogs seem to prefer cat food which tends to be more expensive. Not only does this often result in the cat going hungry, it also results in each pet getting an incorrect diet. This situation is made worse where, for example, one pet requires that some sort of medication be added to its food and diet. In that situation, the wrong pet may be medicated and the pet that was intended to be medicated is denied its proper level of medication. While the obvious solution to these situations would be to separate the pets, such is not always easy for the pet owner to do and may have no effect since some pets, when separated, will not eat.
Another undesirable consequence of leaving pet food dishes unmonitored is that other "eaters" may, from time to time, attempt to access the pet food dishes. For example, curious infants are known to attempt to gain access the contents of pet food dishes, as will hungry rodents and pesky insects, assuming that the food dish is in such an area that it can be accessed in that fashion.
In the view of this inventor, there is a need to devise a lidded pet food dish that allows selective access to the dish contents by the particular intended pet or pets and that denies access to all other pets and other eaters.


An exemplary lens module includes a number of optical components, a barrel, a holder, a filter base, a filter carrying member, an infrared-cut filter and a visible-light-cut filter. The barrel is configured for receiving the optical components therein. The holder holds the barrel therein. The filter base is disposed in the barrel. The filter carrying member is movably mounted on the filter base. The infrared-cut filter and the visible-light-cut filter are mounted on the filter carrying member. The filter carrying member is movable relative to the filter base so as to selectively bring either the infrared-cut filter or the visible-light-cut filter into optical alignment with the optical components in the barrel. The lens module can be capable of performing infrared and visible-spectrum photography.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to lens modules, and more particularly to a lens module that is capable of performing infrared and visible-spectrum photography.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, camera modules are now in widespread use. Camera modules are being combined with various portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants) and computers to be increasingly multi-functional.
A typical camera module generally includes a lens module. The lens module is a very important component of the camera module. The lens module is coupled with an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) so as to capture images. Generally speaking, the image sensor reacts to light both in the visible spectrum and in the infrared spectrum. Light in the infrared spectrum can cause interference that causes the image sensor signal-to-noise ratio to be reduced, when the lens module is used in natural light conditions for visible-spectrum photography. Therefore, an infrared-cut filter that blocks light in the infrared spectrum is fitted in the lens module to prevent such interference.
However, such lens module having an infrared-cut filter fitted therein is only capable of performing visible-spectrum photography. Thus use of the lens module is restricted to some extent. For example, such a lens module cannot ideally be used in dark environments for photography because of the lack of visible-spectrum. Although infrared is emitted by all objects all the time, even in dark environments, the lens module cannot be used for infrared photography due to infrared light being blocked by the infrared-cut filter.
What is needed, therefore, is a lens module that is capable of performing both infrared and visible-spectrum photography.


Microbicidal compositions comprising one or more 3-isothiazolones and 1-methyl-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniatricyclo(3.3.1.1)decane chloride in synergistic amounts, methods, and articles are disclosed.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns microbicidal compositions which are used as bactericides, fungicides and algaecides to eliminate, inhibit and/or prevent the growth of microbial organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae in various systems and products.
B. Prior Art
The 3-isothiazolones described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,761,488; 4,105,431; 4,252,694; 4,265,899; and 4,279,762 are known to have excellent microbicidal activity. Two important commercially available 3-isothiazolones are 2-n-octyl-3-isothiazolone, and a mixture of 5-chloro-2-methyl-3-isothiazolone and 2-methyl-3-isothiazolone.
1-Methyl-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniatricyclodecane chloride is a known microbicide according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,866.
Combinations of certain microbicides, some of which exhibit synergy together, are known. However, several of such combinations exhibit disadvantages, either due to toxicity, cost, compatibility, or due to other problems.
It is the principal object of this invention to provide a microbicidal composition which is more efficacious than known microbicidal compositions, and overcomes other disadvantages of the prior art combinations.

Synergistic microbicidal composition comprising 3-isothiazolones and 1-methyl-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniatricyclo(3.3.1.1)decane chloride


A composition is provided that includes a carbonaceous feed material to be combusted to generate an off-gas and an identifier. The identifier is associated with a predetermined composition, characteristic or property of the feed material or the off-gas.

Increasingly stringent pollution control standards for acid gases and trace air toxics, including hydrochloric acid (HCl), sulfur trioxide (SO3), and mercury (Hg), pose greater challenges for industries. Current best control practices for sorbent pollution control processes, such as activated carbon injection (ACI) and dry sorbent injection (DSI), must be improved. In many cases, a further increase in sorbent injection rate is uneconomical, ineffective, and/or otherwise adversely impacts the waste gas treatment process.
The operational performance of a coal fired power plant and contaminant emission levels is dependent on the type of coal the plant burns. It is well known that discrete coal seams have different qualities and composition. However, even within a coal seam, variability of certain characteristics (without limitation: heating value, mercury, sulfur, chlorine or other halogens, etc.) can be large enough to have a measureable impact on plant performance and contaminate emissions.
In attempting to optimize plant performance, predictive technologies can be utilized to estimate desired parameters, such as mercury or other emissions, or heat rate. Variability in the coal source imposes performance limitations on predictive technologies.

Method and system to identify coal characteristics at the mine


A method for the control of a phase shift between a transmission signal and a received signal of an electromechanical transducer unit to a predetermined value in an oscillatory circuit. The received signal is sampled at discrete points in time predetermined based on the transmission signal. Sampled voltage values are compared with desired values, which the received signal assumes at the respective points in time, when the predetermined phase shift is present, and, in the case of a deviation of a voltage value from its desired value, based on the sign of the deviation, the frequency of the transmission signal is decreased or increased.

The exciting of vibronic oscillatory systems, composed of an oscillatable unit and a electromechanical transducer unit, occurs, most often, by means of an analog oscillatory circuit. The oscillatory circuit provokes oscillation with the frequency, at which the phase shift between transmission signal and received signal of the electromechanical transducer unit fulfills the oscillatory circuit condition, i.e., together with the remaining phases arising in the oscillatory circuit, a natural multiple of 360° results. The analog electronic components of such an oscillatory circuit are matched specially to the particular oscillatory system, e.g. to an oscillatory fork with a certain geometry, so that one oscillatory system is not easily replaceable by another, without replacing the oscillatory circuit with one correspondingly matched.
Likewise known are methods, in the case of which the oscillatory system is excited by means of a so-called PLL (phase locked loop) to execute oscillations at a certain phase relationship. This control loop can be embodied with analog parts or partially or completely digitally. A digital PLL has the advantage that it is adaptable to other oscillatory systems. Disadvantageous, however, is that, for exciting by means of a digital PLL, an increased electrical current consumption is needed, since the hardware resources must be driven.

Method for control of phase in an oscillatory circuit


A pill storage system includes a housing that with a bottom wall and a peripheral wall is attached to and extends upwardly from the bottom wall. The peripheral wall has an upper edge defining an opening into an interior of the housing. A cover is removably positioned over the opening and closes the housing. At least one loop is attached to an outer surface of the bottom wall. A bracelet for being worn by a user of the housing extends through the at least one loop. The bracelet removably secures the housing to the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pill holding devices and more particularly pertains to a new pill holding device for storing pills on the wrist of a person.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pill holding devices is known in the prior art. While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a system that can hold a plurality of pills and can be added to, modularly, as needed for the inclusion of addition pills. Further, the device should be capable of alerting the user of the system when the pills are to be taken. This should be accomplished in a manner that allows schedule variations so that the user is alerting at a selected time for each pill.


A manufacturing method of a rhodamine dye oligomer, a solid color material, and a liquid crystal display device are provided. By oligomerization of rhodamine dyes, monodispersion of rhodamine dyes can be achieved, preventing the enhanced shoulder peak caused by aggregation of rhodamine dye molecules, Meanwhile, the purification of color gamut is achieved, and the thermal stability of rhodamine dyes is increased, thereby meeting the need of liquid crystal display devices. Moreover, applying the rhodamine dye oligomer to the solid color material and fabricating the solid color film for application in the liquid crystal display devices can prevent a great loss of brightness of display devices.

The development process of display technologies is embodied by the ability to reproduce color. From the first generation of the universal color standard (standard Red Green Blue, sRGB) to the film color gamut (DCI), and even to the next generation of television display standards (BT.2020), the color gamut has been improving. High color gamut means that a TV can display more plentiful colors and have stronger color display ability that can effectively prevent distortion or color block during display. Due to the increased variety of colors, color switching in TV pictures can be more natural, making the picture layer more distinct, and showing more details and being closer to the real effect. For liquid crystal display, because the screen itself doesn't have self-luminous property, improved color gamut is mainly achieved by color filters of three primary colors (red, green, blue); besides, it can also be achieved by adjusting the backlight. Presently, there are two primary methods for improving backlight purity: one is using blue LEDs plus red and green fluorescent materials as the backlight, and the other is using quantum dot backlight technology.
However, the biggest drawback of the above two methods for improving backlight purity is that the red, green and blue primary colors of the display are not pure. This is because the red, green, and blue primary colors are not purified during the process of improving color gamut, and turquoise light and yellow-orange light exist; therefore, by light with the red, green, and blue primary colors emitted is not pure. Besides, as the color gamut increases, light transmittance is decreased, making it difficult to achieve improvement of brightness while realizing improvement of color gamut.
Rhodamine-based materials can achieve good absorption of stray light other than RGB to improve the purity of the three primary colors. However, rhodamine dyes have a shoulder peak on the left side of the maximum absorption peak in the spectrum, causing absorption of partial blue light and partial green light, particularly the partial green light. In addition, a greater loss in transmittance is caused, mainly because of aggregation of rhodamine dyes, which leads to enhanced absorption of the shoulder peak. These factors will inhibit the application of rhodamine dyes in solid color display technologies.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new manufacturing method of a rhodamine dye oligomer to achieve the purification of color gamut while preventing excessive loss of brightness of display devices. The manufacturing method can also improve the thermal stability of rhodamine dyes, and meets the need of manufacturing process of liquid crystal display devices.

Manufacturing method of rhodamine dye oligomer, solid color material and liquid crystal display device

TCL CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method is provided for accurately controlling a vehicle having a mini tire mounted as the spare tire. A short-term correction coefficient and a long-term correction coefficient are computed periodically for the left and right wheels, and a probable lateral acceleration G is computed from the difference between the ratio of the short-term correction coefficient to the long-term correction coefficient for the left and right wheels. A revised probable lateral acceleration G' is computed using the value of the long-term correction coefficient fixed at the point at which the absolute value of the probable lateral acceleration G has exceeded a prescribed value and the most recent short-term correction coefficient, from which a decision is made as to the state of a turn. The most recent long-term correction coefficient is used to make a correction for a mounted mini tire.

This invention relates to a method for controlling a vehicle equipped with a mini tire as the spare tire.
Conventionally, to make a definitive recognition that a vehicle is turning, the ratio of a short-term correction coefficient to a long-term correction coefficient is determined for the left and right non-drive wheels, and a probable lateral acceleration G is computed from the difference in these ratios. If it is doubtful that the vehicle is turning, computation of the long-term correction coefficient is suspended, and a probable lateral acceleration G is computed using the long-term correction coefficient fixed in value as computed at the point of suspension and a short-term correction coefficient re-computed periodically.
In this method, in the event that a turn is in doubt, for example, when an antilock control operation is to be performed, the vehicle cannot be controlled accurately since the long-term correction coefficient fixed at the point of suspension is being used.

Vehicle control method using short-term and long-term correction coefficients to determine turn status


A windmill blade assembly that is rotated in response to the wind. Each of a first and a second blade member has first and opposite ends and a hub mounting hole located between the ends. The first blade member is located above the second blade member such that the hub mounting holes thereof are axially aligned to receive a hub therethrough. The first and second blade members are turned along the hub or bent so as to provide a pitch that is aerodynamically configured to cause the rotatable blade assembly to spin. The windmill blade assembly is connected by a correspondingly rotatable shaft which extends from the hub thereof to an electrical power generator.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rotatable windmill blade assembly that is rotated in response to the wind. The rotatable windmill blade assembly is connected by means of a correspondingly rotatable shaft to, for example, an electrical power generator.
2. Background Art
Clean, efficient and low-cost sources of energy are regularly being sought by individuals and government agencies alike. By way of example, attempts have been made to harness the wind to produce electricity to power individual households or communities. To this end, arrays of tall windmills have been erected in out-of-doors areas where regular air currents are prevalent. The windmills have rotatable propellers that spin in response to the wind. Each windmill functions as a turbine, whereby a rotation of the propeller thereof results in the generation of electricity.
The efficiency of the windmill and the power output of the turbine are dictated to a large extent by the size and pitch of the blades of the rotatable propeller. The blades of the propeller typically project outwardly from a common hub such that all of the blades are coplanar. It would be desirable to vary the pitch of the blades of a rotatable windmill blade assembly to optimize the aerodynamic characteristics thereof in order to maximize the responsiveness of the blades to wind flow, whereby the blade assembly can spin at higher speeds so that the turbine can correspondingly generate electricity more efficiently.


A pastry rolling board, comprising an upper sheet, and a lower sheet with a space defined there between, and a freezable coolant material accommodated in the space to provide a chilled surface for rolling pastry dough.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a board useful for rolling pastry dough.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically pastry dough is rolled on a conventional rolling board whose temperature is close to the ambient room temperature. When pastry dough is rolled in the typical manner, heat absorbed by the pastry dough from the rolling pin, rolling board and handling of the dough throughout the rolling process heats a shortening, or fat, ingredient in the dough, causing sticking.
While it is possible to reduce sticking by applying excess flour to the conventional rolling board and rolling pin, this can have adverse consequences for the final pastry product. For example, adding excessive amounts of flour causes the pastry to be hard and dry.
Maintaining the dough chilled while rolling is believed to reduce the gluten strands in the dough, which can make the pastry dough tough. Also, chilling relaxes the gluten in the flour and helps to prevent stickiness. Several methods have been tried to maintain chilled conditions during the rolling process, however they all suffer several adverse consequences.
First, the addition of a small amount of cold water to the pastry dough has been tried. However, pastry dough requires only a small amount of water which is sufficient to hold the pastry dough together. This small amount of water is hardly adequate for keeping the pastry dough mixture cold for the length of time required to roll the pastry dough.
Second, keeping a conventional rolling board, for example a marble slab, chilled prior to rolling the pastry dough has also been tried. However, the conventional pastry board soon heats up from the rolling process and loses its effectiveness in keeping the pastry dough chilled throughout the rolling process. This method is even more inadequate when several batches of pastry dough are to be rolled over a period of several hours. Also, it is difficult to obtain a substantially constant and uniform temperature across the rolling board when using this method.
Third, a rolling pin filled with ice has been used in an attempt at maintaining the pastry dough chilled during the rolling process. This method is also flawed in terms of providing a uniform cold temperature for the pastry dough and maintaining the uniform cold temperature over an extended period of several hours. In addition, this method does not account for the thermal transfer of heat from the conventional rolling board to the pastry dough, thus also making this conventional method of chilling pastry dough inadequate.
It can be seen that there is a need for an improved apparatus and method of maintaining pastry dough chilled during the rolling process.