A portable audio speaker system includes at least one speaker/housing assembly, each speaker/housing assembly including a speaker disposed inside of a housing, wherein the housing includes at least one of a magnet or a metal plate allowing the speaker/housing assembly to be attached to an item magnetically. The portable audio speaker system may include wired or wireless communication connection to the speaker/housing assembly, such as from a portable music player or other audio source.

Portable Audio Devices, such as MP3 Players, Smartphones, etc., are often used with headphones in a variety of situations. Unfortunately, headphones can be unsafe in some of these situations and there are situations in which headphones are simply not permitted. For example the wearing of headphones can reduce the ability of a person to hear extraneous sounds and therefore the person may not recognize dangerous or important situations (e.g., an oncoming vehicle, an approaching attacker, emergency instructions, etc.)
Portable speaker systems exist that are not worn in or on the ears. Some of these portable speaker systems can be attached to items such as clothing. For example the speaker by Safe Sound Sports can be clipped onto a shirt, while the speaker described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,585 can be pinned to a shirt. However, such speakers are inconvenient because they can damage the clothing and can limit other uses of the speaker. In addition, portable speaker systems which merely clip to the shirt are limited to edges that can hold the clip, which offers little support for the speaker. The speakers are fastened to the shirt but have a great deal of movement to pull at and annoy the user.
Portable audio devices have truly changed the way that users are able to enjoy music. With the size of audio speakers shrinking, a speaker system will soon have no noticeable weight or any restrictions on the free movement of the user.

Portable audio speaker system that attaches to clothing or other structures via magnet


The invention relates to a device for actuating the horn on steering wheels, comprising a steering wheel frame and at least one fixed horn contact provided thereon, and comprising a moving paddling support i.e. generator support and at least one horn contact, which is provided thereon and to which the fixed horn contact is assigned. The invention provides that the padding support i.e. the generator support is mounted on the steering wheel frame in a manner that enables it to pivot at a position.

In addition to steering wheels having axially moveable contact links on which at least one contact is provided which is assigned a fixed mating contact on the steering wheel frame, WO 98/42544 discloses a steering wheel, in which the moveable contact is provided on the generator support. Said contact is fastened to at least one section of the steering wheel that is elastically deformable in the direction of the associated mating contact. Compared to the previously mentioned arrangement, in this steering wheel the contact link is omitted, thus reducing the manufacturing costs. The drawback is that this arrangement is suitable only for module-integrated steering wheels, i.e. for steering wheels in which the airbag covering situated over the airbag unit is part of the steering wheel rim. Furthermore, in this arrangement a considerable effort has to be expended to actuate the horn, since the elastic section of the steering wheel is not able to be designed to be as soft as desired because of the fastening function for the generator support.

Device for actuating the horn on steering wheels


The present application provides an electric protection circuit, which relates to the field of battery power. The electric protection circuit includes a battery pack, a main positive switch, a load device and a main negative switch connected in series. The main positive switch and/or the main negative switch include at least one semiconductor switch. The main positive switch and/or the main negative switch in the electric protection circuit are connected in parallel to a protection module, which absorbs electric energy across two terminals of the main positive switch and/or the main negative switch when the main positive switch and/or the main negative switch are turned off. The technical solution of the present application can improve the safety of the electric protection circuit.

With the rapid development of new energy, more and more types of equipment can be powered by new energy. For example, battery modules, battery packs and the like can be used as power sources to provide power to new energy vehicles, new energy ships, new energy aircraft and so on.
There are electric circuits in new energy vehicles, new energy ships, new energy aircraft and other equipment, and battery modules, battery packs and the like supply power to electric loads through electric circuits. In the specific implementation process, a switch is arranged in the electric circuit to control the conduction of the electric circuit. There is various equivalent capacitance and equivalent inductance in the electric circuit. When the switch is turned off, the potential at both terminals of the switch will be adversely affected by the equivalent capacitors, the equivalent inductors, and the abnormal conditions that may happen to the electric load. For example, when the switch is turned off, an electrical breakdown may happen to the switch. The safety of the electric circuit is reduced.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited


The present invention relates to reducing corrosion of distillation equipment during azeotropic distillation of (meth)acrylic acid in the presence of dissolved copper, by providing aqueous (meth)acrylic acid having not more than 0.1% by weight formaldehyde, based on the total weight of the aqueous (meth)acrylic acid. The source of the copper may, for example, be copper-based polymerization inhibitors added to the aqueous (meth)acrylic acid and/or distillation equipment.

Monomers, such as unsaturated carboxylic acids and unsaturated nitrites, are industrially important as starting and intermediate materials for producing various synthetic resins, coating materials, fibers, plasticizers, synthetic resins, and the like. Commercially, there are various processes for producing unsaturated carboxylic acids (e.g., acrylic acid and methacrylic acid) and unsaturated nitrites (e.g., acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile), but broadly, all such processes begin in essentially the same manner, via the catalytic reaction of one or more hydrocarbons to produce an impure gaseous material comprising the desired monomer. It is then necessary to recover the desired monomer from the impure gaseous material, and then to further purify it in order to minimize the amount of other materials, by-products, and impurities present in the recovered monomer stream.
For example, one well-known and commercially successful process for acrylic acid manufacture involves a two-step vapor phase catalytic oxidation reaction wherein propylene is converted first to acrolein in a first process step, and the acrolein is then converted to acrylic acid in a second process step. The resulting gaseous material stream comprises acrylic acid, but also water, unreacted propylene and acrolein, and several by-products including, but not limited to, one or more of the following compounds: formaldehyde, acetic acid, propionic acid, benzaldehyde, furfural, and maleic acid. Another known process which is currently being explored and developed is the single step vapor phase catalytic oxidation of propane in the presence of a suitable catalyst, and which also produces a gaseous material stream comprising acrylic acid, water, carbon oxides, unreacted propane, propylene, acrolein and several by-products including, but not limited to, one or more of the following compounds: formaldehyde, acetic acid, propionic acid, benzaldehyde, furfural, and maleic acid.
Regardless of the reaction process which produces it, aqueous acrylic acid is then most typically recovered from the raw gaseous product stream in an absorption tower, wherein a cooled absorbent, such as water or an organic compound (e.g., phenyl ether) directly contacts the gaseous material stream, simultaneously condensing and absorbing various components, including acrylic acid and water, from the gaseous material stream to produce an aqueous acrylic acid stream. This aqueous mixture typically contains appreciable amounts of by-products and impurities such as acrolein, formaldehyde, and water. This is, at least in part, because direct-contact absorption processes also capture by-products and impurities with the (meth)acrylic acid from the gaseous (meth)acrylic acid-containing material, rather than only the desired (meth)acrylic acid product. For this reason, it is common for the resulting aqueous acrylic acid stream to be subjected to one or more purification steps. The intended use for the acrylic acid will often determine the degree to which the material stream must be purified and the extent to which the other materials must be removed or separated from the acrylic acid.
Purification, or separation of the desired acrylic acid product from other materials in the aqueous acrylic acid stream may be accomplished by one or more well-known and understood processes including distillation, extraction, and/or crystallization. One of the most common of these purification steps is the use of azeotropic distillation to remove water from the aqueous acrylic acid stream. The purification of aqueous acrylic acid streams via azeotropic distillation is well known in the art of acrylic acid production. Various azeotropic distillation processes have been developed over the years based upon different azeotropic agents, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,264 teaches the use of isobutyl acetate (IBAc) as the azeotropic agent, GB Patent No. 2146636 teaches the use of methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) as the azeotropic agent, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,817 teaches the use of toluene as the azeotropic agent.
Further purification processes, such as multiple distillation steps in series, or crystallization processes, are often necessary to meet final product quality requirements. Of course, each additional purification step requires additional initial capital investment, as well as higher operational costs.
For example, the process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,981 involves absorption of (meth)acrylic acid by direct contact of the material stream with water, followed by azeotropic distillation, and then by crystallization of the resulting aqueous acrylic acid to remove additional impurities and thereby minimize polymerization and formation of other solids. Such a complex process is therefore economically unattractive to construct and operate.
The prevention of polymer formation has also been a subject of great interest in the production of acrylic acid and many inhibitors have been identified for use at various points within the production process, including within the azeotropic distillation step. The large volume of prior art teaches that one or more inhibitors may be used, and that such inhibitors may include water soluble or alcohol soluble polymerization inhibitors. Polymerization inhibitors are typically used at levels ranging from 100 ppm to 4,000 ppm by weight. Particularly good polymer inhibition results have been achieved by using copper-based inhibitors, such as, for example one or more of copper dibutyldithiocarbamate (CB), copper dimethyldithiocarbamate, copper diethyldithiocarbamate, copper salicylate, copper naphthenate, and copper acetate, are added to the azeotropic distillation column. When such copper-based inhibitors are used along with a phenolic inhibitor, such as hydroquinone (HQ) or 4-methoxyphenol (MEHQ), the inhibition is improved even more.
It is important to note that some of the by-products and impurities in the aqueous acrylic acid stream may interfere with the operation and efficiency of downstream processes, such as further purification, storage, or reaction to produce other materials (e.g., esters of (meth)acrylic acids). For example, as explained in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0167650, high levels of formaldehyde in acrylic acid streams interact adversely with some polymerization inhibitors (e.g., phenothiazine ("PTZ"), hydroquinone ("HQ"), and monomethyl ether of hydroquinone (MeHQ")) resulting in formation of solid precipitates in the acrylic acid product. This reaction also reduces the effectiveness of the inhibitor molecules in preventing polymerization of the acrylic acid monomer, since some of the inhibitor is consumed in forming the solid precipitates. Further, these effects worsen with increasing temperatures, such as are often used in azeotropic distillation columns. It would therefore be advantageous to remove as much of these impurities as possible at the recovery step, prior to downstream purification of the aqueous acrylic acid. The disclosure of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0167650 fails to provide guidance for removing such impurities. Instead, the application only proposes that one limit, i.e., reduce, the concentration of inhibitors in the process to avoid the formation of precipitates. Such an approach is clearly at odds with reliable process operation, as it obtains reduced precipitate formation at the cost of insufficient process inhibition.
In particular, it has been witnessed that copper-based inhibitors have a tendency to be corrosive to the metallurgy of process equipment, such as azeotropic distillation columns and their associated equipment (e.g., condensers, piping, pumps, reboilers). This corrosive effect has been attributed to the formation of a galvanic corrosion cell wherein dissolved copper within the process liquid induces pitting of less noble metals, such as iron, aluminum, or zinc.
Various attempts to minimize the corrosive effects of copper based inhibitors have been proposed in the prior art. In particular, the prior art has been focused on identifying ways to mitigate the corrosive effects of copper dibutyl dithiocarbamate (CB) inhibitor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,280 teaches that manganese can be added to the process in combination with CB inhibitor to mitigate corrosion. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,568 teaches the use of various additives including organic acids, to mitigate the corrosive effects of CB. Also, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0011638 teaches the use of metal sequestering agents in combination with CB to mitigate corrosion. None of these solutions are completely satisfactory, however, because the corrosion was not totally eliminated and also because of the additional expense involved in purchasing such additives, as well as the need to remove these additional "impurities" from the product acrylic acid.
An alternative to the above mentioned use of additives, is to utilize metals that are highly resistant to corrosion as the materials of construction for azeotropic distillation columns and their associated equipment. One of ordinary skill in the art of corrosion engineering will easily recognize that metals which are more noble than copper in the Galvanic Series [see "Galvanic Series of Metals in Sea Water" from the Army Command Report RS-TR-67-11, (1967)] cannot undergo galvanic attack by dissolved copper within the process liquid. For example, noble metals such as zirconium, titanium, tantalum, or molybdenum would be good candidates for use as materials of construction for azeotropic distillation columns and their associated equipment. However, constructing process equipment with such noble metals is very expensive and industry would prefer to utilize lower-cost alloys, such as for example, nickel-chromium-iron alloys further comprising molybdenum, which are well known for their corrosion resistance, as the material of construction for azeotropic distillation columns and associated equipment. Two well-known examples of such alloys include 316L stainless steel (UNS S31603—comprising 2-to-3 mass % molybdenum) and 317L+ stainless steel (UNS S31725—comprising 4-to-5 mass % molybdenum).
In addition to lower cost, it is also taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,441,228 that the use of nickel-chromium-iron alloys, with a molybdenum content of greater than 3 mass % to about 20 mass %, may provide the additional benefit of preventing polymer formation in (meth)acrylic acid production equipment.
Unfortunately, despite the presence of noble elements, such as molybdenum, in these alloys, such economic materials of construction have not performed in a consistent way with respect to corrosion resistance in azeotropic distillation systems. Further, despite the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,441,228, applicants have found that significant polymer formation still occurs when nickel-chromium-iron alloys with a molybdenum content of greater than 3 to about 20 mass %, based on the total mass of the alloy, are used as the material of construction for azeotropic distillation columns and their associated equipment.
As an alternative to conventional absorption with water or organic absorbents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,161 describes a process for recovering (meth)acrylic acid from a hot gas containing (meth)acrylic acid and a high proportion of non-condensable constituents, by "fractional condensation" of the hot gas. The desired aqueous acrylic acid product (having greater than 95% by weight acrylic acid) exits from the side of the fractional condenser, while light ends (uncondensed components) exit from the top and the heavier impurities and by-products exit as a condensed liquid stream from the bottom. Thus, the process of U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,161 produces an aqueous acrylic acid product, and at least two by-product streams which must be handled separately. Optionally, a wastewater stream may be withdrawn from the side of the fractional condenser, further increasing the acrylic acid content of the aqueous acrylic acid side stream, but also creating a third by-product stream which must be processed. The fractional condenser used in this process is divided into "sections" to solve various engineering problems (i.e., separation of multiple components whose boiling points differ by greater than 25° C.) and accomplishes simultaneous cooling of the hot gas and condensation of the higher boiling fraction thereof. Thus, this process may be considered a combination of rectification and absorption which is often accomplished in to separate steps in conventional processes. The benefits of obtaining a purified acrylic acid stream from such a process are outweighed, however, by the substantial complexity of having multiple streams to process and the incremental capital cost of the additional process equipment required for such an operating approach.
Industry would welcome processes which produce aqueous acrylic acid with reduced corrosion of downstream process equipment, such as the corrosion of distillation equipment by compounds which are the products of copper-formaldehyde interactions. It is believed that the method of the present invention addresses these needs by providing an aqueous (meth)acrylic acid feed stream for the downstream purification processes which comprises less formaldehyde for interaction with copper present in the stream and derived from copper-based polymerization inhibitors.

Method for production of purified (meth)acrylic acid


A compact printer for liquid toning having a second transfer roller (19) located above a larger, first transfer roller (15). Paper is stored in an lower internal tray (23), moved vertically past the transfer roller (15), and then imaged and fixed at the nip of the second transfer roller and a fixing roller (21) as it is delivered to the top (39) of the printer.

Electrophotographic imaging employing liquid toner is an established technology. U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,165 to Landa is illustrative. In such systems the effects of gravity on the flow of toner must be taken into account.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,849 to Tarumi et al discloses embodiments of an electrophotographic imaging system having an intermediate image transfer member, transfer and fixing with heat and by contact between the transfer member and an opposing roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,079 to Miwa et al discloses a preheating member on the print-receiving side of the paper curved around a pressure roller. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,976 to Tarumi et al discloses a preheating member on the print-receiving side of the paper curved around the pressure roller as well at least one other embodiment (FIG. 10) in which the heating is to the opposite side.

Top delivery liquid toner imaging apparatus


An assembly for adjusting belt tension in a drain cleaning device is disclosed. The assembly includes an idler pulley assembly in which a pivotable idler pulley is urged against a belt by a tensioned spring. The tensile force exerted by the spring can be adjusted or otherwise changed by a rotatable spool engaged to the other end of the spring.

Drain cleaning devices typically utilize an electric motor that rotates a drum which houses a drain cleaning cable or "snake" as known in the art. A belt is typically used between the motor and drum. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, as the drum is rotated, the drain cleaning cable is either advanced or retracted, and rotated about its longitudinal axis. Frequently, it is necessary to adjust the tension of the belt that rotates the drum and administers the drain cleaning cable. A wide assortment of belt tensioning assemblies are known in the art and used in drain cleaning devices. One function of such belt tensioning assemblies is to maintain an effective level of tension on the belt so that the belt does not slip against the drum, and therefore so that the drum is efficiently rotated. However, it is also important that slippage be allowed to occur in the event that the drain cleaning cable abruptly stops or becomes bound, or if rotation of the drum is suddenly precluded.
During operation of a drain cleaning device, it is important that a particular amount of torque is transmitted to the drum and hence to the drain cleaning cable, by the motor and belt. If the level of torque is excessive, the cable will frequently bend and/or buckle in the drum which is undesirable. If the level of torque is too low, the drain cleaning cable will not effectively dislodge or disrupt blockages typically encountered in a drain cleaning operation. And so, another function of many belt tensioning assemblies used in drain cleaning devices is to achieve a particular amount of torque in the rotating drain cleaning cable.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a typical belt tensioning assembly 10 used in a prior art drain cleaning apparatus 2. The drain cleaning apparatus 2 comprises, in part, a motor 40 that rotates a drive pulley 42, which in turn drives a belt 50. The assembly 10 utilizes an idler pulley assembly 20 that includes a pulley 22 rotatably mounted on an arm 26 by an axle 24. The arm 26 is pivotable about a base 30. Referring to FIG. 1, the assembly 10 also utilizes a tensioning spring 60 affixed to a frame or other stationary member of the drain cleaning apparatus 2 by a spring base 62. As will be understood, the spring 60 urges the pulley 22 against the belt 50.
Operators typically adjust the tension of the belt 50 by trial and error in selecting different springs, such as spring 60. Typically, the tension exerted upon the idler pulley 22 and thus upon the belt 50, can be changed by selecting a spring having a different length and/or a different spring constant. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate two different springs 60 and 60′, respectively, used to urge the idler pulley 22 against the belt 50. Operators in the field typically keep a variety of replacement parts including an assortment of springs. And so, in deciding to adjust the belt tension in the apparatus of FIG. 1 for example, an operator must stop the drain cleaning device, remove the spring 60 by disengaging it from the idler pulley assembly 20, remove or loosen the spring base 62, select a new spring, attach the new spring to the idler pulley assembly and the spring base, and then restart the drain cleaning device. After this series of operations, the operator must then determine whether the newly selected spring is imparting the proper amount of tension so as to achieve the desired amount of torque at the drain cleaning cable.
If the operator determines that the newly selected spring is still not resulting in the proper level of torque for the drain cleaning cable, this process must be repeated, i.e. the drain cleaning apparatus stopped, previous spring removed and replaced with a different spring, and then the device restarted. Often several cycles of this process must be undertaken before an operator achieves a desired level of torque at the drain cleaning cable. Understandably, this process is tedious and time consuming.
Another technique used by operators to adjust belt tension is to change the position of the spring base 62. Referring further to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be understood that the tension of springs 60 and 60′ in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be reduced by moving the spring base 62 from position B to position A on a frame support member thereby reducing the length of the tensioned spring. And, referring to FIG. 2, it will be understood that the tension of spring 60′ can be increased by moving the spring base from position B to position C thereby increasing the length of the tensioned spring.
Although changing the linear position of the spring base from one location to another is less cumbersome and tedious than replacing the entire spring, the technique is limited. First, it is still undesirable to completely disengage an end of the spring from attachment to a stationary member. Such disengagement results in a near entire loss of force application to the belt by the idler pulley. Furthermore, the linear span or range within which the spring base can be moved is typically limited by the exposed area available on the frame support member. Moreover, additional holes must be drilled in the frame member in order to obtain different end positions for the spring, and thus achieve different torque levels. Furthermore, as the spring end is repositioned, the angle at which the spring applies force to the idler pulley changes, thereby further complicating the estimation by the operator of a suitable position for the spring end.
Accordingly, in view of these and other disadvantages, a need exists for an assembly and related technique by which belt tension in a drain cleaning device can be readily adjusted. In addition, it would be particularly desirable if such adjustment could be made concurrently while operating the drain cleaning device.

Variable belt tensioner for drain cleaning devices


An optical device includes a semiconductor substrate having an opening, a support member disposed on the substrate, and a movable portion disposed on the opening of the substrate. The movable portion is supported by the support member so that the movable portion is movable. The device has a large scanning angle. Further, the device can scan widely at any frequency.

An optical device, i.e., an optical scanner according to a prior art is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H11-52278. The scanner 100 has a construction shown in FIGS. 37A and 37B. The scanner 100 includes a silicon substrate 110 having a concavity 101. A movable portion 103 is formed on an opening of the concavity 101. The movable portion 103 is supported by a pair of torsion bars (i.e., torsion beams) 102a, 102b. A mirror 104 is formed on the movable portion 103. A pair of fixed electrodes 106a, 106b is formed on the silicon substrate 110 through an insulation film 105.
Each fixed electrode 106a, 106b faces a movable electrode 107a, 107b of the movable portion 103, respectively. Electric voltage is applied alternately between the fixed electrode 106a, 106b and the movable electrode 107a, 107b, so that the movable portion 103 is oscillated with an electro-static force generated between the fixed electrode 106a, 106b and the movable electrode 107a, 107b. At this time, the movable electrode 107a, 107b does not interfere with the fixed electrode 106a, 106b, for example, the movable electrode 107a, 107b does not touch with fixed electrode 106a, 106b.
To broad a scanning angle of the scanner 100, it is required to enlarge the maximum oscillation angel of the movable portion 103. In view of this requirement, for example, the applied voltage between the fixed electrode 106a, 106b and the movable electrode 107a, 107b is increased, or a diameter of the torsion bar 102a, 102b is decreased so that a torsional rigidity of the torsion bar 102a, 102b is reduced. However, in case of increasing the applied voltage, a power supply for supplying the applied voltage is required to increase its voltage. Therefore, electric power consumption is increased. In case of decreasing the torsional rigidity, the torsion bar 102a, 102b may be broken with fatigue failure, so that durability of the torsion bar 102a, 102b is reduced (i.e., a fatigue strength of the torsion bar 102a, 102b is reduced).

Optical device having movable portion and method for manufacturing the same


A polymeric material having enhanced oxygen permeability and ion and water transport rates comprises units of a first monomer and a second monomer, which comprises linear poly(ethylene oxide), cyclic poly(ethylene oxide), or combinations thereof. Medical devices, such as ophthalmic devices, are made from such polymeric materials.

The present invention relates to polymeric materials having enhanced ion and water transport property, medical devices comprising such materials, and methods of making such materials and devices. In particular, the present invention relates to ophthalmic devices having enhanced ion and water transport property.
Advances in chemistry of materials for medical devices have increased their compatibility with a body environment and the comfort for their extended use therein. The extended use of contact lenses requires that materials for these lenses allow sufficient rates of transport of oxygen to the cornea to preserve its health because the cornea does not have blood vessels for the supply of oxygen and must receive this gas by its diffusion through the epithelial layer on the outer surface of the cornea. On the other hand, the cornea continuously regulates its thickness by actively pumping ions in or out of the cornea to counterbalance a continuous leak of fluid into the corneal stroma. A net flux of sodium ions from the stroma to the anterior chamber has been measured in animal models (see, e.g., S. Hodson et al., Exp. Eye Res., Vol. 11, 249-253 (1977); J. A. Bonanno, Prog. in Retinal and Eye Res., Vol. 22, 69-94 (2003)). Thus, contact lenses for extended use also should allow sufficient rates of ion transport therethrough. Moreover, in view of the need rapidly to regulate the cornea thickness, the desirable materials should have an ion transport rate as high as possible. Although materials have been developed that show high oxygen permeability, those having remarkable ion permeability have not been noticed.
While there exist rigid gas permeable ("RGP") contact lenses, which have high oxygen permeability and which move on the eye, RGP lenses are typically quite uncomfortable for the wearer. Thus, soft contact lenses are preferred by many wearers because of comfort. (Soft materials are those exhibiting low modulus of elasticity, such as less than about 150 g/mm2.) Moreover, a contact lens which may be continuously worn for a period of a day or more (including wear during periods of sleeping) requires comfort levels that exclude RGP lenses as popular extended-wear candidates. Among the soft contact lens materials having high oxygen permeability have been polymers containing siloxane groups. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,228,741; 3,341,490; 3,996,187; and 3,996,189. However, polysiloxanes are typically highly hydrophobic and lipophilic. The properties (e.g., lipophilicity, glass transition temperature, mechanical properties) of known polysiloxanes have resulted in contact lenses which adhere to the eye, inhibiting the necessary lens movement. In addition, polysiloxane lipophilicity promotes adhesion to the lens of lipids and proteins in the tear fluid, causing a haze, which interferes with vision through the lens.
Therefore, there have been efforts to develop hydrophilic polymers, which have both high hydrophilicity and high oxygen permeability. Such polymers typically combine a hydrophilic monomer (such as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate ("HEMA"), N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone ("NVP"), N,N-dimethyl acrylamide ("DMA"), methacrylic acid "MAA"), or acrylic acid) and units of siloxane-containing monomers. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,808,178; 4,136,250; and 5,070,169. These polymers typically are random copolymers. Other works have been directed to develop block copolymers, such as those consisting of polysiloxane and polyoxyalkylene blocks. See, for example, EP 267158, EP 330615, EP 330616, and EP 330617.
Although there have been attempts to develop materials for contact lenses that have both high oxygen permeability and high ion transport rate, such materials have not been apparent. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,807,944 and 5,849,811 disclose polymers comprising blocks or segments of polymers having high oxygen permeability and blocks or segments of polymers that are said to have high ion permeability. The oxygen-permeable blocks comprise a siloxane-containing macromonomer, such as polydimethylsiloxane that may include hydrophilic groups. The ion-permeable blocks comprise units of a typical hydrophilic monomer that has been used to synthesize hydrophilic polymers, including the monomers disclosed above or cyclic ethers having only one oxygen atom in the ring. Although a range of ion diffusion rates through these materials was achieved, these rates may still be inadequate for the cornea health, and higher rates are still desirable.
Therefore, there is a continued need to provide other materials for medical devices in general, and contact lenses in particular, that have both improved oxygen permeability and ion transport rate. It is also very desirable to provide materials for such devices that have improved oxygen permeability and ion and water transport rates.

Polymeric materials having enhanced ion and water transport property and medical devices comprising same


Preservation and reuse of intermediate data generated in a render setup graph for computer animation is disclosed. A processing node in the graph can generate intermediate data and, rather than send it directly to a downstream node in the graph, preserve it for reuse during subsequent processing. As a result, a downstream processing node can reuse the preserved intermediate data, rather than wait while the intermediate data is generated by the processing node in realtime. An intermediate data file management module can manage this process by storing the generated intermediate data in a file for preservation, retrieving the stored intermediate data from the file for reuse, optimizing the file storage location for speed and efficiency, and facilitating sharing of the intermediate data during collaboration between users.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to computer-generated animation and, more specifically, to preserving and reusing intermediate data generated by processing nodes of a render setup graph for computer-generated animation.
2. Related Art
A computer-generated scene can be created by rendering one or more computer-generated objects to depict the scene. Light sources, materials, textures, and other visual effects can be associated with the objects to create a realistic visual appearance for the scene. A render setup graph can be used to define the objects and their associated visual effects to be rendered. The graph can typically include one or more interconnected nodes associating the objects and their visual effects, where a node can generate intermediate data that a downstream node needs to complete its processing.
The intermediate data can be very valuable to the downstream node. In some cases, however, the data can be difficult to generate and/or can require substantial time and resources to do so. As a result, rendering the scene can be substantially delayed while the downstream node awaits the intermediate data. This has often led animators or users to run batch processing on the render setup graph, sometimes overnight, while working on other projects.
Accordingly, there is a need to substantially reduce or eliminate the delay in the rendering process caused by intermediate data generation as well as to simplify the management of that intermediate data.

Preserving and reusing intermediate data


Techniques are described herein for generating adaptive recommendations in response to a content request. The system herein detects abrupt changes and leverages the seasonality of a reward function. A collection of contextual models are utilized, each one learning about one of the unique reward stationary states. A short-term memory model is used to detect reward shifts toward stationary periods that have not occurred in the past. In this case, a new base bandit instance is initialized. In order to perform the change point detection, at each step every model gets assigned a score indicating how likely the last observation is to come from a corresponding stationary period represented by a respective model. A model is selected based on the scores. The model provides a recommendation and the system can monitor clickstream data to identify the reward for providing the recommendation.

Contextual algorithms are widely used in recommendation systems to provide online personalized recommendations (e.g., of content). A recurrent assumption in contextual algorithms is that the reward function is stationary, or said another way, that the reward function has a mean, variance, and autocorrelation structure that does not change over time. However, most recommendation systems operate in a highly non-stationary environment due to changes in the users' interests over time. Conventional recommendation systems in seasonal environments are not able to provide recommendations that are adapted to abrupt changes in user preferences.

Techniques for content selection in seasonal environments


A method for detecting a cyberattack on a network device is described. The method features receiving script text and performing a normalization operation on the script text to produce a normalized script text. The normalized script text includes a plurality of analytic tokens each being an instance of a sequence of characters grouped together as a useful semantic unit for natural language processing (NLP). Thereafter, a NLP model is applied to the normalized script text to classify a script associated with the script text as malicious or benign. Responsive to the script being classified as malicious, generating an alert message provided to an administrator to identify the malicious script.

Network devices provide useful and necessary services that assist individuals in business and in their everyday lives. Over the last few years, a growing number of cyberattacks are being conducted on all types of network devices. Some of these cyberattacks are orchestrated in an attempt to gain access to content stored on one or more network devices. Such access is for illicit (i.e., unauthorized) purposes, such as spying or other malicious or nefarious activities. Increasingly, shell scripts are becoming a vector for cyberattacks.
In general terms, a "shell" is an interface to the operating system (OS) kernel (and thus to OS services such as file management, process management, etc.), and may be implemented to operate as a command line interpreter. A "shell script" is a script (computer program) executed by the shell, where the script may include at least one command of the shell interface. While shell scripts are frequently used in legitimate computer operations (e.g., system administration, etc.), there is a growing tendency for malware authors to use shell scripts to mask their malicious intent (e.g., making such scripts appear to execute legitimate tasks). One reason for this growing use of scripts for carrying out cyberattacks centers around scripting flexibility, namely scripts may be coded to support a diverse group of tasks. Thus, it is difficult to discern a script directed to an illegitimate task from a script directed to a legitimate task. Moreover, given the diversity of scripts, it has been difficult to develop signatures to detect malicious scripts. Due of this combination of scripting flexibility and diversity, using shell scripts, malware authors are often able to evade detection.
Prior malware detection systems have been configured to detect malicious shell scripts based on manual, human-engineered signatures, which have been difficult to develop and maintain their effectiveness. In a short amount of time, the script signature may become prone to "false positive" (FP) and/or "false negative" (FN) determinations based on slight changes in the shell script language by the malware author. Also, manual generation of signatures is a slow, inefficient process that fails to adequately support the protection of network devices from an ever-changing threat landscape.

System and method for detecting malicious scripts through natural language processing modeling


Method for producing a mold for use in casting reactive metals comprising preparing a slurry of a yttria-based refractory composition and a binder, and using said slurry as a mold facecoat by applying said slurry onto a surface of a mold pattern, wherein said yttria-based refractory composition is obtainable by (a) mixing particles of a yttria-based ceramic material and a fluorine containing dopant, and (b) heating the resulting mixture to effect fluorine-doping of said yttria-based ceramic material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a yttria-based refractory composition for use in producing slurries needed for producing ceramic molds for use in casting reactive metals.
2. Description of Prior Art
Aqueous suspensions of ceramic particles, such as yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide, Yttria-alumina-zirconia, alumina, and zircon are used industrially to form ceramic articles due to their suitability for use as structural materials at high temperatures. These refractory materials often are also used for casting super alloys and reactive metals.
An example of such a reactive metal is titanium. Titanium normally reacts with materials used to form the mould, such as oxides, thereby releasing oxygen and forming oxygen-enriched titanium. A suspension is a system in which typically solid particles are uniformly dispersed in a liquid such as water. Particles in the order of less than about 1 μm can be classified as colloidal particles and a suspension of such particles is referred to as a colloidal suspension. Such suspensions are used as ceramic slurries for different purposes, as mentioned above. Ceramics normally are at least partially soluble in water. Furthermore ceramics tend to hydrate, forming a bond with water. To what extent and how quickly ceramics dissolve or hydrate, varies. Moreover, colloidal particles of ceramics may agglomerate in water. The extent to which ceramics dissolve, hydrate or agglomerate in water based systems depends on many factors, including the nature of the ceramic powder, the oxidation state of the ceramic, the pH, the temperature of the system and the dispersants which are used.
A lot of methods are known in the art to stabilize colloidal suspensions i.e. preventing the suspensions from agglomerating, while simultaneously reducing the dissolution and hydration rates. For instance, three known mechanisms include electrostatic, steric and electrosteric mechanisms. These mechanisms are reviewed in detail by Cesarano and Aksay "Stability of Aqueous Alpha-Al2O3Suspensions with Poly-(methacrylic acid) Polyelectrolyte", J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 71 p 250-255 (1988).
In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,604 to Yasrebi et al. it is told that besides colloidal dispersion, reducing the attack of water (i.e. hydration and/or solvation) on the ceramic particle also is an important consideration for making commercially suitable ceramic slurries. Ceramic materials normally react with water and either partially dissolve (referred to as dissolution or solvation) or form hydrates. The extent of dissolution or hydration varies among different ceramic materials. As ceramic materials dissolve, the dissolved species may substantially change the ionic strength of the solution and consequently agglomerate the particles. In the case of particle hydration, some ceramics form a hydroxide surface layer. However, attack by water also may proceed farther than the surface layer and may advance into the body of the particle. As a result, size, morphology and the crystal phase of the particles may change.
In many commercially important ceramics, such as alumina (Al2O3), zirconia (ZrO2), and zircon (ZrSiO4) to name a few, the dissolution rate and the extent to which dissolution proceeds is low enough so that it does not seem to interfere with their aqueous commercial use, at least under mild acidic or basic conditions such as from about pH 3 to about pH 11. Furthermore, hydration does not seem to form more than a thin surface layer, at least when the particle size is equal to or larger than one micrometer. However, other commercially important ceramics, such as magnesia (MgO), yttria-alumina-zirconia, and Y2O3 (yttria), dissolve in an aqueous media to much larger extent and at faster rates than the ceramic materials discussed above. As a result, aqueous processing of these materials such as magnesia, calcia, yttria, yttria-alumina-zirconia is either difficult or even not practicable. Many attempts have been made by persons skilled in the art of ceramic processing to reduce the dissolution and hydration of ceramic particles, while simultaneously keeping the ceramic particles dispersed (unagglomerated) in suspensions. For example, Horton's U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,927 teaches that by adjusting the pH of a yttria slurry to high pH values in excess of pH 11 one can make yttria intrinsically less soluble in water, thereby decreasing its sensitivity to water attack.
Compared to electrostatic stabilization, electrosteric stabilization provides a better method for simultaneously dispersing colloidal particles in suspension and reducing water attack on the ceramic surface.
The limitations of this method were presented by Nakagawa, M. Yasrebi, J. Liu and I. A. Aksay ("Stability and Aging of Aqueous MgO Suspensions") at the annual meeting of the Am. Ceram. Soc. (1989). Also monomers have been used to prevent the agglomeration of alumina suspensions. Graule et al. "Stabilization of Alumina Dispersions with Carboxyclic Acids". Proceedings of the Second European Ceramic Society Conference (1991).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,604 Yasrebi et al. teaches a method for dispersing and reducing the rate of dissolution and/or hydration of colloidal ceramic suspensions by adding a non polymeric hydroxylated organic compound to a ceramic suspension. The ceramic suspension typically comprises a colloidal suspension of a metal oxide wherein the metal of the metal oxide is an alkali metal, alkaline-earth metal or rare-earth metal but preferably is magnesium, calcium or a rare-earth metal.
Other methods for increasing the lifetime of a casting slurry are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,179 by Yasrebi et al., thus one feature of the invention is processing refractory powders at a first hydration level to produce powders having a second, lower hydration level before the processed materials are used to form casting slurries. Processing according to the disclosed methods results in a substantial increase in the lifetime of a slurry made using such processed materials compared to slurries made using materials not processed as described herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,797 describes an aqueous ceramic slurry having from about 70-weight percent to about 85 weight percent of a fused yttria-zirconia material. The weight-percent of zirconia in the fused yttria-zirconia preferably varies from about 1.0 weight percent to about 10 weight percent. The slurries of the present invention are used to form ceramic mold facecoatings for casting reactive materials. These slurries are less sensitive to pH-fluctuations than slurries made from 100 percent yttria (yttria slurries).
Thus, it is understood that persons skilled in the art of ceramic processing have long searched for, and developed methods to increase the lifetime of casting slurries. Despite the prior inventions directed to this objective, there still is a need for convenient and practical methods for increasing the useful lifetimes of investment casting slurries in particular when using other (amongst others Ammonium Zirconium Carbonate, Zirconium Acetate), not colloidal silica based new binder systems to process such slurries.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,791 Pauliny et al focused yttria-based slurries for use in producing ceramic molds for use in the investment casting of reactive metals, particularly titanium and titanium alloys, where the specific preferred binders amongst colloidal silica are ammonium zirconium carbonate and zirconium acetate.
Remet Corporation, a leading company in providing binders for the Precision Investment Casting Industry, offers Ammonium Zirconium Carbonate (Ticoat®-N) and cites that it is an effective binder system specifically for titanium castings. Remet Corporation also offers Colloidal Zirconia, that is defined as an acetate stabilized binder for high temperature applications.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,246 Feagin focused relatively unreactive mold coatings with titanium and titanium alloys that are prepared from zirconia or yttria sols, or mixtures thereof as a binder for refractory such as zirconium oxide, yttrium oxide and mixtures thereof. Feagin cites an example, where a cast-sample was made of a slurry containing yttrium oxide and zirconium acetate as essential parts. This sample is very low in alpha case being less than 0.001 inch.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,433 a mold for casting molten reactive metals is known, which has a facing portion comprising finely divided particles of the oxyfluorides of the metals of Group IIIa and a back-up portion comprising finely divided particles of shell mold back-up material.
The Institution of Electrical Engineers, Stevenage, GB; September 1979 (1970-09), Udalova L. V. et AL describe the compaction kinetics of Y2O3 doped with 0.4-3.0 wt % LiF at 20-1250° C. and a specific pressure of 1000 kg/cm2.
Takashima M. published in the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry; Elsevier Sequoia, Lausanne, CH, vol. 105, no. 2, September 2000, pages 249-256 an article about the "Preparation and properties of binary rare-earth oxide fluorides" which are obtained by the solid-solid reaction between rare-earth oxide and fluoride at a temperature higher than 1000° C.
The Institution of Electrical Engineers, Stevenage, GB; November 1980 (1980-11), Udalova L. V. et al; describe in the published article "General features of compaction of powders of certain Lithiumfluoride doped powders" the reaction of pure yttrium oxide powder with lithium fluoride powder upon compaction at high pressure at room temperature.


Two V-shaped fishing rod support elements are telescopingly coupled together and each element has a tubular element fastened thereto. Each support element has a pointed end which is forced into the ground to support a fishing rod once the two elements have been separated from each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for fishing and more particularly to fishing rod holders.
2. Background of the Invention
Fishing dates back at least 10,000 years, as man has sought fish for sustenance and sport from at least that time. Often using a fishing rod, or in many instances attempting to maximize his harvest of fish, for food, or sport, or just to lie back and relax, until a fish or fish bite, man has attempted to devise means for holding his fishing rod or rods, while waiting for the excitement to begin.
Because fishing often entails prolonged holding of a fishing rod, often for many hours, a number of devices have been developed for supporting the fishing rod for the fisherman. One desirable feature of such devices is that they offer adjustability in the positioning of the rod. Also, because some fishermen prefer to fish with more than one rod at a given time, it is desirable that the fishing rod support device be capable of supporting a plurality of fishing rods simultaneously.
While the art contains many examples of devices intended to support a fishing rod, these devices are not as efficient as possible since they generally are not amenable to efficiently carrying one or more fishing rods. Therefore, a fisherman is required to carry several items, which may be inconvenient.
For example, some fishing rod holders have an open top cylinder with a spike coaxially aligned with the cylinder and removably or fixedly attached to the closed end of the cylinder. One uses the holder by inserting the sharp end of the spike into a substrate, such as the bank of a river, and then inserting the handle end of a fishing rod, or pole, into the cylinder for support of the fishing rod at an angle with respect to the substrate.
One disadvantage of the type of holder with a fixed spike is that sharp end of the spike is exposed when the holder is not in use and presents a safety hazard. The type of holder with a removable spike suffers from the same disadvantage but, in addition, has the further disadvantage that the spike may become separated from the cylinder and lost when the holder is not in use. Yet another disadvantage with these holders is their inability to assist a fisherman in carrying the fishing rod.
In order to satisfy the needs of most fishermen, there is a need for a simple, effective, lightweight, durable, fishing rod holder for quick and easy access, installation, and removal of at least one and a plurality of fishing rods thereon and therefrom, respectively, and requiring no assembly or minimal assembly. The fishing rod holder should be inexpensive, attractive, quick and easy to install and remove from a surface, and compactly storable. The fishing rod holder should be capable of being removably engaged into the ground.
Different fish rod holder and supports have heretofore been known. However, none of the fishing rod holder or supports adequately satisfies these aforementioned needs.


In a wireless input transmission device, data is entered by input means such as pointing device, the value of the data is checked when transmitting the data, and when the data value is small and does not require the specified number of bits, the number of bits is decrease to one half or one quarter, or the difference from the previous time is transmitted, or the data is omitted if the present data is same as the previous data, and such information is given to the data quantity information bit, and data to be transmitted, data quantity information bit, and necessary data for transmission are added, and the transmission data is composed by decreasing the data quantity in one-input information depending on the data value and transmitted to the wireless receiver, where the transmission data is decoded according to the data quantity information bit and the received result is sent by wire to the main apparatus such as personal computer, word processor, other information processing apparatus, or household game machine, thereby preventing increase of current consumption used in communication in the wireless input transmission device and extending the battery life.

Hitherto, this kind of wireless input device was composed as shown in FIG. 1. Concerning this constitution, an example of household game machine is described below.
As shown in FIG. 1 (A), a wireless input transmission device 11 comprises input means not shown, such as keyboard switches and pointing device, and is designed to communicate with a wireless receiver 12 one way or two ways. The wireless receiver 12 is connected to a main body 13 such as information processing apparatus or game machine through a cable 14.
Data generated by input means of the wireless input transmission device 11, that is, one-input information to be communicated between the wireless receiver 12 and the main body 13 through cable is supposed to be composed of three bytes as shown in FIG. 1 (B). That is, in first byte, bit 0 indicates left switch on/off, bit 1 right switch on/off, bit 4 and bit 5 respectively positive direction or negative direction of X- and Y-axis, and other bit 2, bit 3, bit 6, and bit 7 are not used. In second byte and third byte, data in X- and Y-direction (0 to 255) are indicated by eight bits each of bit 0 to bit 7.
In this one-input information, for wireless communication between the wireless input transmission device 11 and wireless receiver 12, by adding a new byte or the like for guaranteeing data aside from the data in FIG. 1 (B), wireless communication is effected by using a same number or equivalent or greater number of bytes (in this example, N bytes) as compared with the case of wired communication.
In such conventional constitution, however, in the case of wireless communication with the main body 13 which is, for example, a personal computer, as the quantity of input information increases, the current consumption spent in communication increases, and the battery life of the wireless input transmission device 11 is extremely shortened, which gives rise to a problem of frequent exchange of batteries.

Wireless input device and wireless input method which automatically reduces transmitted data according to data size

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An electric vehicle charging port control device yields a locked state in which disengagement between an active-engagement part of a charging connector and a passive-engagement part of a charging port is restricted by a restricting member and an unlocked state in which disengagement is permitted. The restricting member is moved to in front of a predetermined position for yielding the locked state or the unlocked state by being energizingly driven by a motor. Before the active-engagement part and the passive-engagement part are engaged, the restricting member is moved in a locking direction, and subsequently in an unlocking direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric vehicle charging port control device for charging a battery installed in a vehicle.
2. Background Information
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-264847 discloses a technology related to an electric vehicle charging port control device. This Patent Application Publication discloses a charging connector for connecting a charging port of an electric vehicle and a charging station constituting a power supply means, the connector comprising a link 41 provided so as to rotate freely in tandem with the operation of a button by an operator, and being configured so that the charging connector and a charging inlet 11 are not disconnected during charging thanks to an engaging projection 34 provided within the charging inlet 11. A configuration provided with a sliding lock bar (a "locking mechanism") that prevents the link 41 from rotating in order to prevent the charging cable from being disconnected and stolen during charging is also disclosed.

Electric vehicle charging port control device


A method is provided for sampling a data strobe signal of a memory cycle and determining a receiver enable phase based upon the data strobe signal. The method also includes performing a memory write cycle and a subsequent read cycle and training a read data strobe cycle at a one-quarter memory clock periodic offset. The method also includes determining a correct receiver enable delay in response to a successful read data strobe training cycle. Computer readable storage media are also provided. An apparatus is provided that includes a communication interface portion that is coupled to a memory portion and to a processing device. The apparatus also includes a first circuit portion, coupled to the communication interface portion. The first circuit portion monitors memory cycles on the communication interface portion, determines a receiver enable cycle phase and train a receiver enable cycle without using receiver enable seed.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments presented herein relate generally to computing systems, and, more particularly, to a method for receiver enable cycle training for double data rate (DDR) memory.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical circuits and devices that execute instructions and process data have evolved becoming faster and more complex. With the increased speed and complexity of electrical circuits and data processors, DDR memory training has become more problematic, particularly for receiver enable cycle training. As technologies for electrical circuits and processing devices have progressed, there has developed a greater need for efficiency, reliability and stability, particularly in the area of DDR memory receiver enable training. However, considerations for algorithm processing, overall system boot-up performance, as well as system complexity introduce substantial barriers to efficiently training receiver enable cycles in DDR memory systems. The areas of training to the correct cycle and training to the correct phase, variances in hardware such as processor die, processor packages, memory bus layout and memory itself are particularly problematic, for example, in systems that utilize and/or support different types of interchangeable microprocessors or DDR RAM such as dynamic RAM (DRAM).
Typically, modern implementations for receiver enable cycle in DDR systems, as noted above, have taken the approach of solving these training issues in one of two ways. One way is to allow a computer system's basic input/output system (BIOS) to train the receiver enable (RxEn) delay after comparing a series of memory write and read cycles. However, this approach has undesirable drawbacks. For example, this approach relies upon simple data patterns in order to infer the data strobe position and thus cannot adequately compensate for signaling effects such as data strobe jitter which leads to undesired RxEn settings. This approach is also very time consuming. A second approach uses a hardware phase recovery engine (PRE) in conjunction with a software algorithm to sample the signal phase over a number of data strobe pulses driven by the DRAM in response to a series of host controller read commands. This second approach, however, relies upon an input such as an estimate of the actual RxEn cycle and phase delay for the configuration (e.g., an RxEn seed). That is, the RxEn seed must be within a theoretical plus-or-minus ("±") one-half of the memory clock range of the actual value for the RxEn delay to be trained successfully. If the RxEn seed is outside of the required range, the training result aliases to an incorrect RxEn cycle because the incoming data strobe pulses are periodic. With an improper RxEn cycle, subsequent read data transfers would be framed incorrectly and be corrupted.
Embodiments presented herein eliminate or alleviate the problems inherent in the state of the art described above.


A method of manufacturing a terminal assembly of an alternator for vehicles and the terminal assembly manufactured by the method. The terminal assembly manufacturing method of the present invention includes a first step of notching and piercing a blank plate, a second step of deep-drawing notched portions of the plate to form a plurality of assembly protrusions, each of which has a pierced cylindrical shape protruding from the plate, a third step of trimming and piercing the plate to give it a predetermined shape, and a fourth step of coining and bending the plate, thus forming the terminal assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to terminal assemblies of alternators for vehicles and, more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a terminal assembly of an alternator for vehicles and a terminal assembly manufactured by the method, which includes a first step of notching and piercing a blank plate, a second step of deep-drawing the notched portions of the plate to form a plurality of assembly protrusions, each of which has a cylindrical shape that is open at opposite ends thereof and protrudes from the plate, a third step of trimming and piercing the plate to give it a predetermined shape, and a fourth step of coining and bending the plate, thus forming the terminal assembly, and in which the assembly protrusions are integrated together through a plastic molding process, so that, although the planar terminal assembly is relatively thin, its resistance to vertical or horizontal vibration is increased, compared to the conventional art.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, three-phase alternators, which are typically called alternators, have been widely used as generators for vehicles in order to increase the amount of voltage generated at low speed and to ensure stable performance at high speed. Such a three-phase alternator for a vehicle is coupled to a crank shaft of the engine of the vehicle by a belt and serves to charge a battery using power generated by the operation of the engine.
FIG. 1 illustrates a representative alternator for vehicles. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional alternator 100 includes a rotor assembly 110, which generates magnetomotive force, a brush assembly 120, which supplies electric current to the rotor assembly 110, a stator assembly 130, which generates induced electromotive force using the generated magnetomotive force, and housings 140 and 180, which support the above components at opposing positions. The alternator 100 further includes a regulator 150, which adjusts the intensity of a rotor system, a rectifier assembly 160, which rectifies AC to DC, and a pulley 170, which receives rotating force from the outside (the engine).
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rectifier assembly 160, which is provided in the housing 180, has a structure such that a terminal assembly 160a, to which a diode lead wire and a stator lead wire are connected, and a heat sink 160b for heat dispassion, are stacked to have a stacked plate shape.
However, because the terminal assembly having a planar plate shape must be bent to connect the diode lead wire or the stator lead wire to the terminal assembly, fatigue fracture occurs at the bent portions of the terminal assembly due to vibration. In addition, there is a problem in that the diode lead wire is bent during the assembly process so that the assembly of the diode lead wire with the terminal assembly becomes unstable.
Furthermore, because the terminal assembly has the bent shape, the process of manufacturing the terminal assembly and the shape thereof are complex. In addition, for the above reasons, the terminal assembly has poor resistance to vibration. To reinforce the terminal assembly, the thickness of the terminal assembly must be increased. This results in a problem of increasing the costs of manufacturing the terminal assembly.

Method of manufacturing terminal assembly of alternator for vehicles and terminal assembly manufactured by the method

Korea Delphi Automotive Systems Corporation


Disclosed is an efficacious, low-pH skin care composition that provides good sensory properties and has a low skin irritation potential. The low-pH composition includes an effective amount of a vitamin B3 compound and, optionally, one or more additional skin care actives to provide a skin health and/or appearance benefit. The low-pH composition also includes a pH buffer comprising lactic acid and sodium lactate, a polymer thickener comprising polyacrylate crosspolymer-6, and a silicone fluid having a kinematic viscosity of 100 cSt or less at 25° C. The pH of the low-pH composition can range from 2.0 to 5.0.

Skin is the first line of defense against environmental insults that would otherwise damage sensitive underlying tissue and organs. Additionally, skin plays a key role in a person's physical appearance. Not surprisingly, most people would like to have heathy, younger looking skin that provides good barrier protection. And for some people, the tell-tale signs of skin aging such as thinning skin, wrinkles, and age spots are an undesirable reminder of the disappearance of youth. As a result, numerous skin care products are marketed to treat a variety of actual or perceived skin conditions, especially those associated with aging and dryness. Conventional skin care products typically include one or more ingredients for treating a skin condition of interest. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,528 discloses the use of niacinamide for treating signs of skin aging.
Typically, cosmetic compositions are formulated to have a slightly acidic to neutral pH (i.e., 5.0-7.0), which is believed to improve the stability of certain ingredients in the composition (e.g., niacinamide, salicylates, and neutralized thickeners). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,666 discloses the challenges of formulating low pH skin care compositions. However, formulating a skin care composition at low pH (e.g., 2.0-5.0) may also provide certain benefits such as bolstering the acid mantle of the skin, exfoliating the skin, improving skin texture, and/or providing flexibility in product formulation.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a low pH skin care composition for improving the appearance of skin. It would also be desirable to provide a low pH skin care composition that is stable and has good feel properties.

Low pH skin care composition and methods of using the same


The present subject matter provides a method for enhancing the abiotic stress tolerance of a plant. Polynucleotides isolated from rice (Oryza sativa) and encoding polypeptides for abiotic stress tolerance are also described.

Improvement of the agronomic characteristics of crop plants has been ongoing since the beginning of agriculture. Most of the land suitable for crop production is currently being used. As human populations continue to increase, improved crop varieties will be required to adequately provide food and feed (Trewavas, 2001). To avoid catastrophic famines and malnutrition, future crop cultivars will need to have improved yields with equivalent farm inputs. These cultivars will need to more effectively withstand adverse conditions such as drought, soil salinity, and disease, which will be especially important as marginal lands are brought into cultivation. Finally, cultivars are needed with altered nutrient composition to enhance human and animal nutrition. To allow for more efficient food and feed processing, cultivars can be designed for specific end-uses. For all these uses, identification of the genes controlling phenotypic expression of traits of interest will play a role in accelerating development of superior crop germplasm by conventional or transgenic approaches.
A number of highly efficient approaches are available to assist identification of genes playing key roles in expression of agronomically important traits, including genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and functional genomics. Genetics is the scientific study of the mechanisms of inheritance. By identifying mutations that alter a pathway or response of interest, classical (or forward) genetics can help identify genes involved in these pathways or responses. Genetics is also the central component in improvement of germplasm by breeding. Through molecular and phenotypic analysis of genetic crosses, loci controlling traits of interest can be mapped and followed in subsequent generations. Knowledge of the genes underlying phenotypic variation between crop accessions can facilitate the development of markers that greatly increase the efficiency of the germplasm improvement process as well as open avenues for discovery of additional superior alleles.
Genomics is the system-level study of an organism's genome, including genes and the corresponding gene products: RNA and polypeptides. At a first level, genomic approaches have provided large datasets of sequence information from diverse plant species, including full-length and partial cDNA sequences and the complete genomic sequence of a model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana. Recently, the first draft sequence of a crop plant's genome, that of rice (Oryza sativa), has also become available (see Goff et al., 2002). The availability of a whole genome sequence makes possible the development of tools for system-level study of other molecular complements, such as by using arrays and chips to determine the complement of expressed genes in an organism under specific conditions. Such data can be used as a first indication of the potential for certain genes to play key roles in expression of different plant phenotypes. Bioinformatics approaches interface directly with first-level genomic datasets in allowing for the identification of sequences of interest by annotative or other means. Using, for example, similarity searches, alignments, and phylogenetic analyses, bioinformatics can often identify homologs of a gene product of interest. Very similar homologs (for example, greater than about 90% amino acid identity over the entire length of a polypeptide) are likely to be orthologs; that is, they are likely to share the same function in different organisms.
Functional genomics can be defined as the assignment of functions to genes and gene products. Functional genomics draws from genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics to derive a path toward identifying genes involved in a particular pathway or response of interest. Expression analysis, for example, uses high density DNA microarrays (often derived from genome-scale organismal sequencing) to monitor the mRNA expression of thousands of genes in a single experiment. Experimental treatments can include those eliciting a response of interest, such as the drought resistance response in plants subjected to low water conditions. To give additional examples of the use of microarrays, mRNA expression levels can be monitored in distinct tissues over a developmental time course, or in mutants affected in a response of interest.
Proteomics can also help to assign function by assaying the expression and post-translational modifications of hundreds of polypeptides in a single experiment. Proteomics approaches are in many cases analogous to the approaches taken for monitoring mRNA expression in microarray experiments. Polypeptide-polypeptide interactions can also help to assign polypeptides to a given pathway or response by identifying polypeptides which interact with known components of the pathway or response. For functional genomics, polypeptide-polypeptide interactions are often studied using large-scale yeast two-hybrid assays. Another approach to assigning gene function is to express the corresponding polypeptide in a heterologous host, for example the bacterium Escherichia coli, followed by purification and enzymatic assays of the purified polypeptide.
Ultimately, demonstration of the ability of a gene-of-interest to control a given trait is derived from experimental testing in a plant species of interest. The generation and analysis of plants that are transgenic for a gene of interest can be used for plant functional genomics, with several advantages. The gene can alternatively be either overexpressed (via transgenesis) or underexpressed ("knocked out"), thereby increasing the chances of observing a phenotype linking the gene to a pathway or response of interest.
Two aspects of transgenic functional genomics help lend a high level of confidence to functional assignments derived from this approach. First, phenotypic observations are carried out in the context of the living plant. Second, the range of phenotypes observed can be checked and correlated with the observed expression levels of the introduced transgene. Transgenic functional genomics is especially valuable in improved cultivar development. Only genes that function in a pathway or response of interest and that in addition are able to confer a desired trait-based phenotype are promoted as candidate genes for crop improvement efforts. In some cases, transgenic lines developed for functional genomics studies can be directly utilized in the initial stages of product development.
Another approach towards plant functional genomics involves first identifying plant lines with mutations in specific genes of interest, followed by phenotypic evaluation of the consequences of such gene knockouts on the trait under study. Such an approach reveals genes essential for the expression of specific traits.
Genes identified through functional genomics can be directly employed in efforts towards germplasm improvement by transgenic approaches as disclosed above, or used to develop markers for identification and tracking of alleles-of-interest in mapping and breeding populations. Knowledge of such genes can also enable the construction by any of a number of molecular methods of superior alleles that are non-existent in nature.
Therefore, the identification of genes that can be used for crop and germplasm improvement is needed. This and other needs in the art are addressed by the present disclosure.

Transgenic plants and progeny and seed thereof


The present specification discloses an organic electroluminescent device including: an anode; a cathode; and two or more light emitting units provided between the anode and the cathode and including a light emitting layer, in which a light emitting unit among the light emitting units, which is the most associated with the cathode, includes a first n-type organic material layer provided on the cathode side of the light emitting layer, and a first p-type organic material layer is provided between the light emitting unit among the light emitting units, which is the most associated with the cathode, and the cathode.

An organic electroluminescent device converts a current into visible light by injecting electrons and holes from two electrodes into an organic material layer. The organic electroluminescent device may have a multilayer structure including two or more organic material layers. For example, the organic electroluminescent device may further include an electron or hole injection layer, an electron or hole blocking layer, or an electron or hole transporting layer, if necessary, in addition to a light emitting layer.
Recently, as the use of the organic electroluminescent device has been diversified, studies on materials, which may improve the performance of the organic electroluminescent device, have been actively conducted.


A lampshade may comprise an upper rim, a cross-member having two ends connected to the upper rim, a clip having a spring portion and two arms, and a shade material connected to said upper rim. The cross-member may include a loop portion between the two ends, the spring portion may be connected to the loop portion of the cross-member, and the arms may be configured to engage a light source.

Lampshades are vital components in lighting fixtures. They serve a number of purposes, such as directing light to a desired surface, reducing glare, and providing an attractive alternative to an unsightly lighting source such as a light bulb.
Lampshades are often used on chandeliers, lamps, and sconces. These types of lighting fixtures may use lampshades that mount directly to the fixture or to a lighting source such as a light bulb. These types of lighting fixtures are often difficult and hazardous to reach in order to install lampshades properly or to replace burned out light bulbs.
Once lampshades are installed on a lighting fixture, they often have to be removed and reinstalled to replace burned out light bulbs. After reinstallation, the shades usually require adjustment to improve the performance and the aesthetic appearance of the fixture.
FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a conventional lampshade assembly 13 attached to a light bulb 3. The lampshade assembly 13 has a conventional clip 5, which is made by bending a loop of wire over another wire, cross-member 7, and securing it with a fastener 9. When the clip 5 is mounted to a light bulb 3, it is spread apart to fit over the light bulb 3. The arrangement of the clip 5, cross-member 7, and fastener 9 generates tension in the clip 5 that holds the lampshade assembly in place.
The aforementioned lampshade assembly is commonly used to mount lampshades to lamps, chandlers, sconces, and other lighting fixtures. In addition, there are other conventional lampshades that mount directly to the candlestick 11, below the light bulb 3.
Though both of these approaches to mounting lampshades hold the shade in place, they each have disadvantages.
The conventional lampshades that mount directly to the candlestick hold the lampshade correctly with respect to the candlestick. However, they have a framework that is lower with respect to the top of the shade, which makes it exposed from below and thus detracts from the lampshade's appearance. Furthermore, these conventional lampshades cannot be adjusted.
In addition, conventional lampshades that mount on light bulbs, such as that shown in FIG. 5, cannot be easily adjusted either. Though lampshades have been used on oil lamps and candles (See Wantanabe U.S. Pat. No. 1,178,764, for example) and installed on fixtures using electric light bulbs for a number of years, there has not been a lampshade invented that allows one to easily adjust the angle of the lampshade once it is placed on a lighting fixture or light source.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide an improved lampshade assembly for facilitating adjustment of a lampshade to a desired angle after it has been installed on a fixture.


A lumbar support of a car seat according to the present invention includes: a support plate to support user's back and made of elastic material; a support frame to which the support plate is rotatably engaged; a slider member mounted on the support frame in a movable manner in a vertical direction; a vertically driving means to move the slider member on the support frame; a biasing force control means including an upper member moving together with the slider member, a lower member disposed below the upper member, a biasing member connecting the upper and lower members to each other and having a controllable biasing force acting on the support plate depending on a distance between the upper and lower members, and an actuating means to control the distance between the upper member and the lower member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lumbar support of a car seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a car seat is to be provided so as to safely and comfortably support a passenger in the limited space of the vehicle room and in a limited range of weight. Therefore, the car seat includes a seat back having a seat back frame and a seat back pad so as to support the waist and back portions of a driver or a passenger, wherein the driver and a passenger who seat in the front seats can control the angles of the seat backs by pulling or pushing the same forwards or backwards according to the driving habit of the driver or the body conditions of the driver or the passenger.
However, there are difficulties to respond to the change of the seating posture of the driver or the passenger just by the seat back frame and the seat back pad in the case of long time driving. Therefore, a lumbar support is provided in the seat back so as to comfortably surround and support the back and the lumbar vertebra regions of the driver, wherein the lumbar support includes a support plate which comes in contact with the lumbar vertebra region of the driver and a controller for controlling the movement of the support plate.


The present disclosure provides a device and method for non-destructive testing of an object using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, wherein the device is provided with a reconfigurable nest for placement of objects of various shapes and sizes on the device. The reconfigurable nest includes a plurality of transducers that are held in place using a rheological fluid. As each transducer is arranged, for example, using a robotic tool, an electric or magnetic field is applied to the rheological fluid in contact with said transducer, thereby holding the transducer in place. This device and method thus provide a nest for a resonant inspection device that may be reconfigured in much less time and with much less effort when compared to existing solutions.

Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (RUS) describes the application of acoustic waves to mechanical structures in order to detect small defects. The frequencies of the acoustic waves are varied across the frequency range of interest by defining a response time interval, dependent upon the elastic properties of the material, and a frequency step interval, wherein the acoustic wave frequency is varied at intervals across a range of interest and measured over a predetermined response time interval. The structure vibrates when the drive matches the frequency of one of its characteristic modes. Higher order modes are targeted so that very small defects can be detected.
Referring to FIG. 1, performing RUS involves generating a signal with a signal generator 14, emitting the acoustic wave signal onto an object or part 12 with a drive transducer 16, detecting the vibration of the object with at least one receiving transducer 18, processing the output signal with amplifier 22, and analyzing the signal with computer 24.
The object is supported typically by three piezoelectric transducers, one for emitting the acoustic wave signal and at least one of the other two transducers for measuring the response. Obtaining reliable resonant data over a range of frequencies requires reliable part placement on the test station, as well as temperature compensation and sophisticated data analysis. In order to achieve reliability, the testing apparatus must be configured for each specific part. This includes a custom arrangement of the piezoelectric transducers as well as support pins or other structures for holding a particular part in place. The arrangement of positioning posts and piezoelectric transducers must be maintained at a predetermined spacing in order to provide accurate results. When the apparatus is reconfigured for a different part, the transducers and positioning posts must be relocated and fastened in place.
Reconfiguring the apparatus for different parts can be time-consuming and is particularly costly for industries where the number of each type of part is relatively low. For this reason, there is a need for a method and apparatus for conducting resonant inspection that reduces the costs associated with reconfiguration of the piezoelectric transducer and/or positioning post arrangement.

Resonant inspection using reconfigurable nest


Media-driven browsing methods, systems, and machine-readable instructions are described. In one aspect, a context search is performed based on information associated with at least one media object. A context-sensitive search is performed based on results of the context search. Information derived from results of the context-sensitive search is presented.

Individuals and organizations are rapidly accumulating large and diverse collections of media, including text, audio, graphics, animated graphics and full-motion video. This content may be presented individually or combined in a wide variety of different forms, including documents, presentations, music, still photographs, commercial videos, home movies, and metadata describing one or more associated media files. As these collections grow in number and diversity, individuals and organizations increasingly will require systems and methods for organizing and browsing the media in their collections. To meet this need, a variety of different systems and methods for browsing media have been proposed, including systems and methods for content-based media browsing and meta-data-based media browsing.
In addition to information in their own collections, individuals and organizations are able to access an ever-increasing amount of information that is stored in a wide variety of different network-based databases. For example, the internet provides access to a vast number of databases. Web pages are one of the most common forms of internet content is provided by the world-wide web (the "Web"), which is an internet service that is made up of server-hosting computers known as "Web servers". A Web server stores and distributes Web pages, which are hypertext documents that are accessible by Web browser client programs. Web pages are transmitted over the internet using the HTTP protocol.
Search engines enable users to search for web page content that is available over the internet. Search engines typically query searchable databases that contain indexed references (i.e., Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)) to Web pages and other documents that are accessible over the internet. In addition to URLs, these databases typically include other information relating to the indexed documents, such as keywords, terms occurring in the documents, and brief descriptions of the contents of the documents. The indexed databases relied upon by search engines typically are updated by a search program (e.g., "web crawler," "spider," "ant," "robot," or "intelligent agent") that searches for new Web pages and other content on the Web. New pages that are located by the search program are summarized and added to the indexed databases.
Search engines allow users to search for documents that are indexed in their respective databases by specifying keywords or logical combinations of keywords. The results of a search query typically are presented in the form of a list of items corresponding to the search query. Each item typically includes a URL for the associated document, a brief description of the content of the document, and the date of the document. The search results typically are ordered in accordance with relevance scores that measure how closely the listed documents correspond to the search query.
Hitherto, media browsers and search engines have operated in separate domains: media browsers enable users to browse and manage their media collections, whereas search engines enable users to perform keyword searches for indexed information that in many cases does not include the users' personal media collections. What is needed is a media-driven browsing approach that leverages the services of search engines to enable users to serendipitously discover information related to the media in their collections.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


This disclosure provides methods for assembling multiple anode stacked capacitor configurations with a temporary adhesive to aide in the alignment of separator materials and electrodes without sacrificing energy density, and electrolytic capacitors comprising such configurations. The temporary adhesive for use in the electrode assemblies will preferably comprise a polymer that is substantially soluble in a solvent-based electrolyte for use in an electrolytic capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
Electrolytic capacitors and, more particularly, a method for assembling multiple anode stacked capacitor configurations with a temporary adhesive, to aide in the alignment of separator materials and electrodes without sacrificing energy density, and electrolytic capacitors comprising such configurations.
2. Background of the Invention
Compact, high voltage capacitors are utilized as energy storage reservoirs in many applications, including implantable medical devices. These capacitors are required to have a high energy density since it is desirable to minimize the overall size of the implanted device. This is particularly true of an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), also referred to as an implantable defibrillator, since the high voltage capacitors used to deliver the defibrillation pulse can occupy as much as one third of the ICD volume.
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators typically use two electrolytic capacitors in series to achieve the desired high voltage for shock delivery. For example, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator may utilize two 350 to 400 volt electrolytic capacitors in series to achieve a voltage of 700 to 800 volts.
Electrolytic capacitors are used in ICDs because they have the most nearly ideal properties in terms of size, reliability and ability to withstand relatively high voltage. Conventionally, such electrolytic capacitors typically consist of a cathode electrode, an electrically conductive electrolyte and a porous anode with a dielectric oxide film formed thereon. While aluminum is generally used for the anode plates, other metals such as tantalum, magnesium, titanium, niobium, zirconium and zinc may be used. Flat constructions for aluminum electrolytic capacitors are known, comprising a planar, layered, stack structure of electrode materials with separators interposed therebetween and connections between the various anode and cathode layers made via tabs on each individual electrode layer.
The need for high voltage, high energy density capacitors is most pronounced when employed in implantable cardiac defibrillators. Since the capacitance of an electrolytic capacitor is provided by the anodes, a clear strategy for increasing the energy density in the capacitor is to minimize the volume taken up by paper and cathode and maximize the number and volume of the anodes. For example, a multiple anode flat, stacked capacitor configuration requires fewer cathodes and paper spacers than a single anode configuration and thus reduces the size of the device. A multiple anode stack consists of a number of units consisting of a cathode, a paper spacer, two or more anodes, a paper spacer and a cathode, with neighboring units sharing the cathode between them. In order to achieve higher energy densities, three, four and five anodes can be stacked per layer. Maximization of the anode volume may also be accomplished by etching to achieve more effective anode surface area, and making the relative size of the anode plates larger with respect to the cathode plates.
In optimizing flat stack capacitors, the tolerances of the individual components are necessarily tight. In order to achieve such tight tolerances but maintain physical separation between the anode and cathode electrodes during assembly, alignment features such as edge feet, notches, and holes are often placed on the active electrodes. These features perform their desired alignment functions adequately, but subtract material from the electrode that could be used to further optimize energy density. Alternate methods require tails on the electrodes that will subsequently be removed upon assembly into a capacitor case. These methods are sufficient for initial assembly, but do not guarantee that slippage will not occur once the smaller electrode is freed from the tail during the remaining assembly steps.
Once assembled, the tight compression of the case around the stack will prevent any further slippage. However, if an electrode is allowed to slip and become unaligned with respect to the separator and/or an alternate electrode during assembly, a short path can easily develop compromising the component's ability to store energy. Therefore, what is needed is an improved method of assuring alignment of separator materials and electrodes during the assembly of flat stack capacitors.

Electrode-separator combination for improved assembly of layered electrolytic capacitors