1. Release agent spray device for a casting machine.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a release agent spray device for a casting machine, as per the preamble of Claim 1.
2. Description of the Related Art
Release agent spray devices of said type are used for example as release agent spray systems for the automatic spraying of casting moulds in pressure-die-casting machines. With increasing demands on casting quality, service life, servicing, material consumption and environmental protection, the demands on release agent spray systems increase correspondingly.
It is known for the release agent to be discharged via one or more spray nozzles in intermittent spray bursts by virtue of a blockable release agent supply line which leads to the respective spray nozzle being opened only for a certain period of time during the spray burst, and compressed air simultaneously being supplied to the spray nozzle, such that release agent is sucked into the spray nozzle and is discharged from the latter, with compressed air assistance, as a spray jet. The laid-open specification DE 32 38 201 A1 and patent publication EP 1 468 745 B1 describe release agent spray devices of said type in which a control piston which can be actuated by means of control air is provided for opening and blocking the release agent supply line to the spray nozzle. In this way, the quantity of release agent discharged per spray burst is dependent inter alia on the adjustable stroke of the control piston and on the opening time of the latter, during which said control piston opens the release agent supply line. On account of the additional dependency on further parameters, such as release agent pressure, geometry and in particular cross section of the spray nozzle, and pressure and time duration of the spray air burst which is supplied to the spray nozzle and which sucks in the release agent, the release agent quantity which is sprayed per spray burst and spray nozzle is not precisely known and is also not precisely predefined in said conventional spray systems.
To obtain short cycle times in the casting process, for modern pressure-die-casting machines, there is a demand for correspondingly fast release agent spray systems, and accordingly very short spray times with a consistently good, reproducible spray characteristic. In particular, the spray characteristic and in particular the sprayed release agent quantity should also not be influenced by any switching delays of system components which are involved, such as check valves and the like. Furthermore, the sprayed release agent quantity should be kept to a minimum.
It is an object of the invention to provide a release agent spray device of the type specified in the introduction which permits a reliable discharge of a predefinable release agent quantity in a respective spray burst via one or more spray nozzles.

Abstract: 2.1. The invention relates to a release agent spray device for a casting machine, having one or more spray nozzles (1) and discharge means for the controlled discharge of release agent from the respective spray nozzle.

Abstract: 2.2. According to the invention, the discharge means comprise at least one dosing unit (3) which is assigned to at least one spray nozzle (1) and which defines, in advance, a release agent quantity to be discharged by the at least one associated spray nozzle in an impending spray burst and which provides said release agent quantity, separated from a release agent supply, for discharge in the impending spray burst.

Abstract: 2.3. Use for example for metal pressure-die-casting machines.


A cleaning sheet for cleaning foreign matters away from the interior of the substrate processing equipment is provided. The cleaning sheet includes a cleaning layer having substantially no tackiness and having a tensile modulus of not lower than 0.98 N/mm2 as determined according to JIS K7127. Alternatively, the cleaning sheet includes a cleaning layer having a Vickers hardness of not lower than 10.

Various substrate processing equipments are adapted to convey various conveying systems and substrates while allowing them to come in physical contact with each other. During this operation, when foreign matters are adhered to these substrates and conveying systems, the subsequent substrates can be successively contaminated. This, it is necessary that the equipment be regularly suspended for cleaning purpose. This causes the drop of operating efficiency or requires much labor to disadvantage. In order to solve these problems, a method has been proposed which comprises conveying a substrate having an adhesive material attached thereto to clean foreign matters away from the interior of the substrate processing equipment (as in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 10-154686).
The method which comprises conveying a substrate having an adhesive material attached thereto to clean foreign matters away from the interior of the substrate processing equipment is an effective method for overcoming the foregoing difficulties. However, this method is disadvantageous in that the adhesive material and the contact area of the equipment adhere to each other too strongly to peeled off each other, making it impossible to assure the complete conveyance of the substrate.

Cleaning sheet, conveying member using the same, and substrate processing equipment cleaning method using them


The present disclosure describes various methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for supporting customer service automation. The support for automation of customer service may be based on analysis of conversations between customers and customer service agents of a customer service center. The support for automation of customer service may be based on analysis of conversations between customers and customer service agents to identify conversation-level topics and utterance-level topics from the customer service conversations. The support for automation of customer service may be based on use of conversation-level topics and utterance-level topics identified from the customer service conversations to control initiation of customer service automation actions for supporting automation of customer service of the customer service center. The support for automation of customer service may be based on use of conversation-level and utterance-level topics identified from the customer service conversations to control selection, and design, of chatbots for the customer service center.

Customer service may be provided to customers in various contexts, such as before, during, and after purchases of goods and services. Customer service provided to customers may be provided in a manual way (e.g., by humans) or in an automated way (e.g., using kiosks, applications, artificial intelligence, and the like).
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.

Supporting automation of customer service


A system and method of routing calls made to a called party Universal Access Phone Number (UAPN) in a telecommunications network is provided. The method includes determining the time the call is made, determining the day the call is made, selecting a time/day-phone number for a destination phone number based on the time the call is made and the day the call is made, and routing the call to the called party terminal using the destination phone number. The system selects a time/day-phone number for a destination phone number based on the time the call is made and the day the call is made, and routes the call to the called party terminal using the destination phone number.

This invention relates to the art of telecommunications and more particularly to a system and method for routing a call in a telecommunications network made to a Universal Access Phone Number.
Many people today have several different telecommunications devices, referred to herein as terminals, such as a home phone, an office phone, a cellular phone, a pager, etc. Typically each of these terminals has a different phone number. As people acquire more phone numbers, and at times discard others, the task of ensuring that they can be reached by others can become complicated. They usually must provide several phone numbers by which they can be contacted when using different terminals at different times. It can then be up to the calling party to determine which number should be called to reach them. Furthermore, when people change services and get a new phone number they may not remember to keep other parties updated.
At times it can be very important for a calling party to have a phone number for immediately contacting the person. For example, daycare providers request a phone number or phone numbers for contacting parents in cases of emergency. However, keeping these numbers current and ensuring that the daycare provider has the phone number most likely to reach a parent at any particular time can be difficult.
It is therefore desirable for a person with several terminals to have a single number capable of contacting their different terminals at different times. It is also desirable for a person using different terminals at different times to have a single number for reaching them at any given time.

System and method for routing calls using a universal access phone number


A unit dolly having a detachable rectangular box frame with left and right side members and front and back members, each member having top and bottom members interconnected by vertical support posts, including four winches and lifting means for hoisting heavy or cumbersome objects, and a method for using the unit dolly.

Various types of lifting or hoisting devices are well known in the prior art and include hoists and jacks, which may be used in combination with various scaffolds and/or platform mechanisms. Hoisting devices are used when an object to be moved is either too heavy or bulky to be relocated by human power alone. Many hoisting devices exist which are capable of lifting and moving heavy or bulky objects throughout easily accessible areas, such as warehouses, garages or construction sites. Typically, an object in a warehouse, garage or construction site is at or close to grade; objects close to grade are easy for current hoisting devices to reach, hoist and move. However, there is considerable room for improvement in the field of suitable apparatus or methods capable of reaching, hoisting and moving objects that reside high above grade or in a generally inaccessible area.
The prior art includes various types of lifting or hoisting devices, each of which provides certain advantages in use or construction.
The prior art includes devices for lifting and transporting heavy and awkward objects such as raw materials in metal fabrication shops. The raw materials being too heavy for conventional fork lifts, or having dimensions that make it impossible for transportation on a fork lift through narrow warehouse passageways. One such device is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,329. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,329 comprises a primary unit and a secondary unit, each having a lifting means connected to a frame wherein the frame members are all rigidly fabricated to one another. The secondary unit is to be attached to the primary unit when necessary to transport materials exceeding the length of the primary unit. Both the primary and the secondary units are to be used in conjunction with a fork lift. The fork lift is a needed addition to the device and is used for loading materials onto the units, and to tow the units after loading.
The prior art also includes a device for lifting and transporting heavy and awkward objects which comprises a disc carrier attached to a trailer to be towed by a tractor. One such device is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,657,938. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 2,657,938 comprises a frame constructed of tubular members rigidly attached to one another. A lifting means is provided on the frame for lifting discs and wheels. The wheels provide support for the trailer and facilitate transportation of the device. This device taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,657,938 is designed to relocate discs from one field to another. Therefore the structural members need not necessarily be designed for easy or quick disassembly, but instead can be rigidly attached to one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,672 discloses a portable lifting device used to elevate mechanical equipment and for transporting large and bulky equipment. The portable lifting device taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,672 is comprised of a unibody frame structurally enhanced for bearing large loads. Connected to the frame is a winch for hoisting and maintaining at elevation large loads for relocation. Additionally connected to the frame are wheels for support and ease of movement of the device. As evident from its structural design this device was designed to be towed, in whole, to the object to be moved.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,284 discloses a self-propelled marine hoist for removing boats from water and placing the boats on shore for repair and storage. The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,284 is described as being capable of disassembly for easy shipping and reassembly at the lifting site. Certain difficulties are described in the disassembly, reassembly process such as the need for multiple personnel on hand to disassemble and reassemble the apparatus--at least one of which being required to have experience in the disassembly/reassembly process of the apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,284 also discloses an internal combustion engine for propelling the apparatus and power for the lifting means, and suggests that this device could transport heavy machinery or other bulky loads over land from one point to another.
One current apparatus and method for relocating heavy cumbersome objects on roof tops involves a large crane. Currently crane rental is expensive and time consuming, as is the requisite manpower associated with operating a crane.
There still exists in the art a need for a lifting or hoisting device which is easily disassembled, easily transported once disassembled, easily reassembled, and exhibits flexibility of positioning, and provides four independent lift means.


A new machine for and method of manufacturing fluted pin fasteners and the pins produced thereby are disclosed which utilize a circular grinding arrangement of a plurality of grinders which grind flutes into a threaded pin. An internally threaded collar threads onto the pin. When the collar engages a surface of a work piece, resistance to further threading increases. When sufficient resistance to threading occurs, the driver deforms the lobes of the collar radially inward toward the axis of the collar. Material of the collar positioned internally from the lobes responds to deformation of the lobes and flows radially inward into the flutes of the pin to lock the collar, pin, and work piece together. The driver then rotates freely, and a joint has been made with a predetermined axial load thereby locking the component parts together. The apparatus grinding the flutes into the pins comprises a vibratory feed bowl loading threaded pins into a four station rotary drum assembly rotationally driven by a drive mechanism through a plurality of stations. There is a feed station to receive pins into drum assembly, a grind station to grind the pins, and an eject station to eject the ground pins. The circular arrangement of grinders is mounted on a table which is translated up and down by an air spring against a cam wheel to grind the pins located at the grinding station. These operations are performed substantially simultaneously on separate pins to provide a high rate of production.

This invention relates to fasteners, methods of manufacturing fasteners, and apparatuses used to manufacture fasteners.
The venerable threaded fasteners consist of a nut and a bolt. The nut has internal threads that thread onto external threads of the bolt. Surfaces of the nut and bolt are formed to receive wrenches which are operated to tightly join the fastener members and one or more pieces together. Broadly, another name for a bolt is a threaded pin, and another name for a nut is a collar.
Many environments in which fasteners are used require the fasteners to have extremely high integrity and strength. Fasteners must bear loads both along a longitudinal axis and radially on the axis. More particularly, when fasteners join together two or more sheets and the sheets are loaded in their planes with different loads, one sheet tends to slide relative to the other. Fasteners passing through both sheets become loaded in shear to prevent the sheets from sliding relative to each other. Axial loads arise from clamping sheets between a head of the pin on one side of the sheets and the collar on the other side of the sheets.
Frequently, fasteners are required to function well in environments where they are cyclically stressed under conditions that could give rise to fatigue failure. A fastener holding two sheets together with an acceptable axial load resists fatigue failure.
An obviously desirable feature of a fasteners is that it does not loosen, fail, or otherwise come apart in service. Many different devices have been used to keep collars and pins together. One way of locking the collar and pin is to deform the threads of the collar so that they bear in radial compression against the threads of the pin. In this method, the resistance to unthreading is purely frictional. The threads are commonly deformed at a manufacturing facility in preference to the field, but field deformation has also been practiced.
It is also highly desirable to know and control the axial load that the fastener is subject to when holding the sheet together. The axial load correlates to the resistance of a collar to further threading onto a pin. As the resistance to further threading increases, the axial load increases, and the torque required to turn the collar increases. These relationships have been used in developed fasteners to provide predetermined axial loads.
In one prior art fastener, a section of a collar adapted to receive a wrench is attached to the main part of the collar by a frangible break neck that breaks upon the application of a predetermined torque corresponding to the desired axial load. The features of a deformed thread lock and a collar with a frangible break neck for axial load control have been combined in one collar. Regrettably, the combination has shortcomings. A thread lock obtained by deformation of the collar threads to form a thread lock, is performed at the factory or in the field before the collar is threaded onto the pin. Thus, the collar does not freely thread onto the pin. This makes threading the collar onto the pin somewhat difficult. Protective and lubricative coatings applied to the threads of the collar to aid threading can be worn off of a collar having this type of thread lock by considerable frictional drag between the threads of the collar and pin. Where corrosion control is important, a circular band of bare metal on the collar is created by failure of the break neck. This band is not protected by corrosion inhibitors applied to the fastener when it was manufactured.
Further, the separation of the collar into two pieces presents several problems. The fact that the section adapted to receive the wrench separates from the threaded section of the collar creates a spare piece that must be removed from the environment where the fastener is attached. This type of fastener is also comparatively expensive because it is difficult to manufacture and requires considerable machining in its formation. The frangible break neck section needs to have very close dimensional tolerances if small variations in break off torques are required. This problem is compounded by machine tool wear in the tools that make the part and also because the break neck section becomes elliptically shaped after the collar threads are deformed to incorporate the thread locking feature into the fastener. Also, the frictional drag between the shear pin and the collar in a fastener system employing a pre-existing deformed thread lock results in a broad range of axial pin loads. The broad range of loads occurs because the drag created by the deformed threads varies greatly among fasteners and is a significant component in the resistance that effects the failure of the frangible break neck. Therefore, the axial load created by the set amount of torque at which the frangible break neck fails varies greatly because of the difficulty in controlling the exact amount of the resistance between the deformed collar and the pin.
A second approach to a locking system employs a pin having an outer groove adapted to receive a deformed collar material. The collar is threaded onto the pin to develop desired axial load, and is then deformed radially inward into the groove so that the deformed collar material is restrained by the walls of the groove and establishes interference. The groove can be made longitudinally or annularly. In one type of such fastener a collar is threaded onto a pin with one setting tool. A second setting tool radially deforms the collar into threads of the pin to effect the interference lock.
To solve these problems, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,260,005, 4,383,353, and 4,544,312 all to Stencel, the disclosures of which are fully incorporated herein by reference, disclose an improved collar and pin. The collar has external lobes capable of deformation. The deformation of the lobes displaces collar material into an axial bore of the collar, so that the displaced material is brought into interference with a surface of the pin to produce a rotational lock.
The pin has a longitudinally extending shank attached to a head and a plurality of short rounded grooves or flutes extending longitudinally along the shank. Each flute is concave outward in cross section. At the end of the shank opposite the head, roll formed threads cross over the flutes to receive the internal threads of the collar. While being threaded onto the pin, the longitudinally extending lobes on the outer surface of the collar act as a wrenching surface to which a tightening tangential load is applied. Once a determined tangential load or torque is applied, the lobes fail plastically in radial compression. When the lobes plastically deform, material located inwardly from the lobes plastically displaces into the flutes establishing a locking relationship between the collar and the pin created by the interfering material.
To form the pin, the shank of the pin is given a preformed configuration such as that of a generally regular polygon, specifically hexagonal or pentagonal. The corners between the flat sides are rounded. The shank of the pin is then roll formed to introduce threads onto the shank which intersect the flat sides of the shank. The roll forming process deforms material to form the flutes from the flats. The crests of the flutes are formed by radially outwardly displaced shank material formed during the roll forming.
On the collar, each lobe has a convex curvature in radial planes, and the curvatures of the lobes are equal to each other. To make it easy to install a driver onto the collar for tightening, it is preferred that the lobes be located at equally angular distances from each other for example, 120.degree. apart. A driver bears against the lobes with a tangential component force and a component of force in the direction of the axis of the collar.
The collar threads freely onto the work piece of the pin until the collar engages the work piece. Thereupon resistance builds up until the lobes fail inwardly under radial compression. Failure occurs in just a few degrees of arc, and therefore, the amount of axial load on the structure being fastened is determined accurately with small variations. With the failure of the lobes, the setting driver turns freely on the collar indicating that the fastener system is set. Thus, the axial load is controlled without throw-away pieces. Corrosion inhibitors and lubricants are not affected by this deformation.
Though the fasteners of the above patents are made relatively inexpensively, the production of the pins for these fasteners has encountered some inefficiencies. The preforming of the pin shank is a relatively expensive process requiring the fabrication of a cylindrical pin shape and the milling of the desired number of flats onto an end of the pin shank. The precision milling process, which is necessary to produce the preformed pins, is both labor and time intensive. This increases the cost of the pins. After the flats are formed onto the pin, the pin is thread rolled to introduce the threads onto the pin. The flats tend to cause the pins to wobble and otherwise rotate irregularly between the thread rolling dies used in the roll forming process. The irregular rotation of the pins in the dies results in a relatively high scrap rate and increased cost for the pins.
Thus, reduction in the required labor and time for fabricating the pins is desirable to increase the production rate and reduce the production cost of the pins. It is also desirable to reduce the amount of scrap produced during the roll forming process thereby decreasing the cost of producing the pins.


A stencil printing apparatus which suppresses master consumption by switching between simplex printing using a simplex master and single-step duplex printing using a duplex master automatically in accordance with master information and sheet information comprises a printing drum and pressing means, and can be made to switch between duplex printing, in which a rear surface printing step is performed after a front surface printing step, and simplex printing by wrapping a duplex master formed with a first engraved image and a second engraved image around the printing drum during duplex printing, and wrapping a simplex master formed with a third engraved image for simplex printing around the printing drum during simplex printing. Master identification information, indicating whether the master was engraved with duplex printing images or a simplex printing image during engraving, is stored in a storage unit in association with plate cylinder identification information, and either a duplex printing mode or a simplex printing mode is selected on the basis of plate cylinder identification information obtained anew when an operation command or a plate cylinder attachment/detachment command is input into the apparatus, and the master identification information stored in the storage unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stencil printing apparatus, and more particularly to a stencil printing apparatus that is capable of switching between simplex printing using a simplex master and single-step duplex printing using a duplex master.
2. Description of the Background Art
Digital thermal stencil printing is known as a simple conventional printing method. In a stencil printing apparatus used for this stencil printing, a thermal head on which fine heat-generating elements are arranged in series is brought into contact with a master, and the master is conveyed while electrifying the heat-generating elements in a pulsating fashion such that the master is thermally melt-perforated in accordance with image information. The master is then wrapped around the outer peripheral surface of a perforated cylindrical plate cylinder, whereupon the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder is pressed via a sheet of paper using pressing means such as a press roller. As a result, ink is transmitted through the perforated portions of the master and transferred onto the sheet, whereby a printed image is obtained.
In stencil printing, duplex printing, in which printing is performed on both sides of a sheet, is often performed recently with the aims of reducing paper consumption, reducing the amount of space required to store documents, and so on. When duplex printing is performed using a conventional method, a sheet printed on both sides is obtained by conveying a sheet stacked on a sheet feeding unit to a printing unit, where printing is performed on one side of the sheet, turning the sheet over, and then returning the sheet to the printing unit, where printing is performed on the other side. However, this method is problematic in that it is troublesome to reset the sheet in the sheet feeding unit after it has been discharged and align the sheet after printing has been performed on one side. Furthermore, since the sheet passes through the printing unit twice, another problem arises in that duplex printing requires twice the time of simplex printing even in terms of the net printing time, which is excessive.
To solve these problems, a duplex printing apparatus that is capable of obtaining a sheet printed on both sides in a single step has been proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2005-246730, for example. In this apparatus, a duplex master on which a first engraved image and a second engraved image are arranged in the rotation direction of a plate cylinder is used. A first sheet is then fed from a sheet feeding unit and one of the engraved images is printed onto the front surface thereof. The sheet is then guided to an auxiliary tray, whereupon a second sheet is fed from the sheet feeding unit and one of the engraved images is printed onto the front surface thereof. The second sheet is then guided to the auxiliary tray, and at the same time, the first sheet is re-fed from the auxiliary tray and the other engraved image is printed onto the rear surface thereof. This sheet is then discharged onto a discharge tray. By performing this operation continuously, a sheet printed on both sides is obtained in a single step.
However, if a plurality of plate cylinders are used alternately when employing the technique disclosed in this publication, and the master wrapped around the plate cylinder has been engraved with duplex printing images, only engraving and simplex printing can be performed, and to print the same image on both sides, engraving must be performed again, leading to an increase in master consumption.

Stencil printing apparatus for duplex or simplex printing


A blood pump system for left ventricle assist has an implantable pump unit having a multiphase stator having a plurality of windings connected between respective junctions for forming first, second, and third phases. An external control unit comprises an H-bridge inverter having first, second, and third phase legs. A percutaneous cable is provided having first, second, and third parallel pairs of redundant conductors. Each conductor pair is connected between a respective phase leg and a respective junction. The conductors are arranged concentrically around a cable core so that individual conductors of each pair are separated by at least one conductor of a different conductor pair.

The present invention relates in general to circulatory assist devices, and, more specifically, to enhanced reliability of a cable connection between an external control unit and an implanted pump unit.
Many types of circulatory assist devices are available for either short term or long term support for patients having cardiovascular disease. For example, a heart pump system known as a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) can provide long term patient support with an implantable pump associated with an externally-worn pump control unit and batteries. The LVAD improves circulation throughout the body by assisting the left side of the heart in pumping blood. One such system is the DuraHeart® LVAS system made by Terumo Heart, Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich. The DuraHeart® system employs a centrifugal pump with a magnetically levitated impeller to pump blood from the left ventricle to the aorta. An electric motor magnetically coupled to the impeller is driven at a speed appropriate to obtain the desired blood flow through the pump.
A typical cardiac assist system includes a pumping unit, electrical motor (e.g., a brushless DC motor integrated into the pump), drive electronics, microprocessor control unit, and an energy source such as rechargeable batteries and/or an AC power conditioning circuit. The system may be implantable, either fully or partially. The goal of the control unit is to autonomously control the pump performance to satisfy the physiologic needs of the patient while maintaining safe and reliable system operation. A control system for varying pump speed to achieve a target blood flow based on physiologic conditions is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,243, issued Jan. 9, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A typical pump motor employed for a blood pump is a three-phase permanent magnet electric motor that can be driven as a brushless DC or a synchronous AC motor without any position sensor. The need for a position sensor is avoided by controlling motor operation with one of a variety of methods that use the measured stator phase currents to infer the position. Vector control is one typical method used in variable frequency drives to control the torque and speed of a three-phase electric motor by controlling the current fed to the motor phases. This control can be implemented using a fixed or variable voltage drive delivered via an inverter comprised of pulse width modulated H-bridge power switches arranged in phase legs. Reliability, fault detection, and fault tolerance are important characteristics of an electrically-powered blood pump, drive system, and cable, and it would be desirable to improve each of them.
Application Ser. No. 13/418,447, filed Mar. 13, 2012, entitled "Fault Monitor For Fault Tolerant Implantable Pump," now U.S. Pat. No. 8,837,096, which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a fault-tolerant inverter/cable system wherein redundant inverter legs are coupled to the motor phases by redundant, parallel conductors between the external unit and the implanted pump. For a three-phase motor, the redundant interconnect system includes six conductors in the cable. By monitoring the equality of the current and/or voltage of the two conductors on the same phase, a fault or impending fault can be detected for each individual conductor.
The redundant conductors of a cable pair would typically have their ends attached to the same terminals (e.g., at respective terminal connectors at the implanted pump and the external control unit). Since the end connections are made in common or are closely spaced, the redundant conductors of each pair have been taken adjacent to each other within the cable.

Percutaneous cable with redundant conductors for implantable blood pump


An optical unit has a first lens holder holding a first lens and a second lens holder holding a second lens, the first lens holder and the second lens holder being mounted on a common lens base. The first lens holder is movable in the direction of one side of the exit end face of a light tunnel, and the second lens holder is movable in the direction of another side, adjacent to the one side, of the exit end face of a light tunnel. The first lens holder and the second lens holder are independently moved to bring an illuminating light area on a DMD, as an image forming device, into alignment with an image forming area on the DMD. The illuminating light area can thus be accurately positioned in the image forming area on the DMD. The optical unit has a high light utilization efficiency and can easily be operated for positional adjustment of the illuminating light area. The optical unit is incorporated in a projection display apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection display apparatus, and more particularly to an optical unit for accurately determining an area in which to project illuminating light onto an image forming device, and a projection display apparatus which incorporates such an optical unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Projection display apparatus employing image forming devices including liquid crystal light valves, digital micromirror devices (hereinafter referred to as "DMD"), etc. have heretofore been widely used for the purposes of presentations and other image display occasions. In the projection display apparatus, the image forming device produces a light beam modulated according to an input image signal, and the modulated light beam is projected in a magnified scale onto a screen. If a light beam applied to the image forming device fails to accurately illuminate an image forming area on the image forming device, then the projection display apparatus suffers problems in that the projected image has its brightness lowered or is shaded. To solve the problems, it is the general practice to apply illuminating light which is surrounded by a certain illuminating margin to the image forming area. If the illuminating margin is large, however, much light is not applied to the image forming area, resulting in a reduction in light utilization efficiency.
JP-A No. 10-115799 discloses a projection display apparatus employing a liquid crystal light valve. The disclosed projection display apparatus has a field lens whose installed position is adjustable for accurately positioning an illuminating light area in the image forming area of the liquid crystal light valve.
Projection display apparatuses employing a DMD incorporate various technologies including a process of displacing the position of the exit end of a light tunnel to position an illuminating light area accurately in the image forming area of the DMD, a process of displacing a planar mirror inserted in an illuminating light path to position an illuminating light area accurately in the image forming area of the DMD, and a process of displacing a lens in an illuminating light path to position an illuminating light area accurately in the image forming area of the DMD.
However, conventional technologies incorporated in the projection display apparatus with the DMD suffer the following problems:
According to the process of displacing the position of the exit end of the light tunnel to position the illuminating light area accurately in the image forming area of the DMD, when the position of the exit end of the light tunnel is displaced, the position of the entrance end of the light tunnel is also displaced simultaneously, tending to bring the light applied to the light tunnel out of alignment with the optical axis of the light tunnel. When the applied light is brought out of alignment with the optical axis of the light tunnel, the projected image has luminance irregularities. Therefore, it is necessary to move the output end of the light tunnel about the point of intersection between the optical axis of the light tunnel and the applied light. Actually, however, it is not easy to provide a structure for moving the output end of the light tunnel about the point of intersection. Even if it is possible to provide such a structure, the projection display apparatus incorporating the structure still has low productivity.
According to the process of displacing the planar mirror inserted in the illuminating light path to position the illuminating light area accurately in the image forming area of the DMD, it is necessary to move the planar mirror from the starting point at the center of the light beam applied to the planar mirror. If another point is used as the starting point, then the starting point varies from direction to direction in which to move the planar mirror, resulting in a change in the length of the optical path up to the DMD. If the length of the optical path up to the DMD changes, then the illuminating light area tends to be blurred, darkening the peripheral edge of the projected image.
According to the process of displacing the lens in the illuminating light path to position the illuminating light area accurately in the image forming area of the DMD, the lens is moved in two directions, i.e., a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, i.e., a direction normal to the vertical direction. Both the image forming area of the DMD and the exit end of the light tunnel are quadrangular in shape and similar in shape to each other. However, the sides of the shapes of the image forming area of the DMD and the exit end of the light tunnel are oriented differently because the illuminating light passes through a three-dimensional light path. If the DMD has an aspect ratio of 4:3, then the shorter sides thereof are oriented vertically and the longer sides thereof are oriented horizontally, whereas both the shorter and longer sides of the shape of the exit end of the light tunnel are inclined to the vertical and horizontal directions. When the lens is moved in the two directions, i.e., the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, i.e., the direction normal to the vertical direction, the illuminating light area on the DMD is moved obliquely, and hence the directions in which the illuminating light area is moved deviate considerably from the directions of the shorter and longer sides of the DMD. Even if efforts are made to position the illuminating light area accurately in the image forming area of the DMD, it is not easy to bring the illuminating light area into alignment with the image forming area of the DMD. Consequently, the efficiency with which to achieve such area adjustment is low, and it is difficult to reduce the period of time required to perform the positional correction for the illuminating light area.

Optical unit for projection display apparatus and projection display apparatus


A liquid crystal display and method for controlling brightness of an image on a liquid crystal display are provided, in which, a liquid crystal display panel displays an image, a light generating unit provides a laser beam to illuminate the liquid crystal display panel, a scanning unit scans the liquid crystal display panel with the laser beam, and a controller controls a speed of the scanning unit depending on a brightness of the image. Thus, the liquid crystal display is capable of improving a contrast of an image displayed on a liquid crystal panel using a laser as a backlight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display using a laser as a light source and a method for controlling brightness of an image on the liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a liquid crystal display (LCD) displays a desired image on a screen by adjusting transmittance of light supplied from a backlight unit to a liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystal display panel has a plurality of liquid crystal cells arranged in a form of a matrix and a plurality of control switches that switch a video signal to be supplied to the liquid crystal cells.
FIG. 1 shows a backlight unit for a conventional LCD 10. As shown in FIG. 1, a backlight unit comprises a light source 1 that emits light, a lamp housing 2 that surrounds the light source 1, a light guiding plate 3 that transforms light incident from the light source 1 into planar light, a reflection plate 4 located below the light guiding plate 3 that reflects light traveling in lateral and bottom sides of the light guiding plate 3 toward a top side of the light guiding plate 3, a diffusion plate 5 that diffuses light passing through the light guiding plate 3, a brightness enhancement film (BEF) 6 that disperses light emitted from the diffusion plate 5 and shields a reflection pattern, and a dual brightness enhancement film (DBEF) 7 that converges an angle of light emission.
Such a backlight unit employing the above-mentioned light guiding plate has an uncompetitive price due to its outsourcing of parts and complexity of manufacture, and also has a problem in that light may be leaked if the lamp housing does not cover lamps properly, and brightness is lowered as light passes through the light guiding plate. A direct-below typed backlight unit has a defect in that many lamps and various sheets must be used for prevention of light loss and uniform diffusion of light.
In addition, since a light source such as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) must be always lighted, a contrast of an image may be lowered by some leaked light even in a complete black signal.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved liquid crystal display and method for controlling brightness of an image on the liquid crystal display.

Liquid crystal display and method for controlling brightness of an image


A lumbar support on a chair comprises a lumbar support body in which a vertical width gradually becomes smaller from right and left ends to the middle; four mounting portions spaced apart from each other vertically on the lumbar support body and moving vertically along a guide on each of the pair of side frame rods and an operating member connected to each of the mounting portions on the lower edge.

In a chair in which a lumbar support is mounted on the backrest, the lumbar support comprises a body; a pair of connecting portion suspending from the lower ends of the sides; and a handle extending sideward of the lower end of the side edge of the connecting portion, the handle running through the side of the back frame or backrest body to enable a vertical position of the lumbar support to be adjusted by the handle in Patent Literature 1.
A lumbar support comprises a body; and a pair of operating portions suspending from the lower ends of the sides and having a knob extending sideward at the lower end in Patent Literature 2. The right and left sides of the body are supported by the bracket in side members to move vertically.
The lumbar support holding portion stands in the middle of the lower end of the back frame in Patent Literature 3. The lumbar support body is mounted in the middle on the lumbar support holding portion and adjusted in a vertical position.
Patent Literature 4 discloses that the vertical guide member along the backrest is mounted and the lumbar support is moved along the guide member.
Patent Literature 5 discloses that the lower end of the lumbar support is under a bent point of the backrest and the lumbar support is moved vertically.


New face masks protect a wearer's eyes against impact by a projectile or the like. In one aspect, the face mask comprising a plurality of frames, each of which is adapted to fit onto the wearer's face around one of the wearer's respective eyes, with each frame having mounted thereon a bar arrangement comprising a plurality of generally vertically directed protective bars. The bars are variably spaced in a horizontal direction and mounted into the respective frames so as to avoid obscuring the wearer's vision in any direction of the wearer's field of vision when both frames mounted onto the wearer's face. A "frame mounting arrangement," which in one embodiment includes a nose guard that is mounted between the frames to be situated over the wearer's nose, and a strap attached to both frames to extend behind the wearer's head, holds both the frames onto the wearer's face such that one of the frames is fitted around one of the wearer's eyes. In various embodiments, the nose guard enables the positions of the frames to be adjusted relative to the nose guard so that they may conform to varying facial contours. In another aspect, in addition to or instead of a bar arrangement a lens arrangement is provided, in which a lens is mounted in one or both frames. To accommodate a lens each frame defines a rim receiving area including an peripheral surface, a ridge extending inwardly from the peripheral surface, and a rear surface depending perpendicularly from the peripheral surface. Each lens' rim, in turn, has an exterior surface having a groove formed therein and a perpendicular rear surface, each rim being adapted so that, when it is mounted onto a respective the frame, the rim's perpendicular rear surface abuts the rear surface of the rim receiving area and the ridge extends into the groove. The rim receiving area's rear surface cooperating with the rim's perpendicular rear surface to inhibit rearward movement by the rim, and the ridge cooperating with the groove to inhibit forward movement by the rim, thereby to facilitate holding of the rim in the respective frame.

In many activities, it is important to protect the eye against impact from a number of, for example, high-velocity projectiles which may be found in a person's environment. For example, many sporting activities, such as handball, racketball, squash and the like, are played in a confined area, and the handballs, racketballs, etc., may bounce off a myriad of surfaces, including walls, floor and ceiling, which define the area, and approach a participant from any of a number of directions.
Many arrangements have been developed to provide protection to the eye against such impact. In some protective arrangements, the eye protection is integral with elements, such as helmets, which serve to protect other parts of the head against impact. In such arrangements, typically bars may be unidirectionally arrayed or arrayed in a grid fashion over the wearer's eyes to protect them against impact. One problem with such devices is that the bars typically tend to obscure the wearer's vision at least in some viewing directions of the wearer's field of view, which can be detrimental particularly in activities in which the projectiles can move quite rapidly.
In addition, typically helmet-type devices are often uncomfortable, expensive and generally unnecessary in a number of sporting activities. In those activities, other protective arrangements, such as goggles or safety glasses, may find greater utility. Generally, goggles or safety glasses make use of lenses made of plastic or other clear material, with the lenses being mounted in frames which direct the impact force to areas of the wearer's face such as the cheeks and forehead. The lenses may the used to assure that the wearer's field of view will not be obscured by protective bars which are used in the helmet arrangements described above, and they may also be used to provide vision correction for the wearer. However, generally the lenses may not be able to withstand impact forces as high as those which can be withstood by the protective bars, since they may shatter or be forced out of their frames at lower impact forces. This is particularly true of corrective lenses, since the manufacturing process for spectacles including corrective lenses typically requires that the lenses be inserted into a frame rather than being integrally molded with the frame. In addition, goggles and safety glasses often direct the impact force to generally limited areas of the wearer's face, which can lead to discomfort or injury in those areas.

Device for protecting face and eyes against projectile impact


A zoom lens formed of a plurality of lens groups and performing zooming by changing separations between predetermined lens groups. A lens group closest to an object side is fixed in both optical axis directions during zooming, and has a reflecting member for folding an optical axis approximately 90 degrees. A final lens group positioned closest to an image side and fixed in both optical axis directions during zooming has a lens part group SG having positive refractive power and a lens part group RG arranged adjacent to the image side of the lens part group SG and having negative refractive power. A blur is corrected by shifting the lens part group SG in either direction perpendicular to the optical axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens and an image capture apparatus having a shake correcting function, i.e., a function of correcting blurry images resulting from camera vibration. Particularly, the invention relates to a zoom lens and an image capture apparatus which are suitable for an imaging optical system of digital input/output equipment such as digital still cameras and digital video cameras, which also have a high zooming ratio and the shake correcting function, and which are particularly superior in size and thickness reductions, as well as to a method for controlling the zoom lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image capture apparatuses using a solid-state imager device, such as digital still cameras, have become increasingly popular, demanding still higher image quality. In, e.g., digital still cameras using an imager device having a large number of pixels, in particular, an imaging lens, particularly a zoom lens, superior in image forming performance ready for the solid-state imager device having a large number of pixels is called for.
Particularly of late, there is a strong demand for the shake correcting function for preventing blurry images caused by camera shake during imaging. In addition, miniaturization is strongly called for, with a special demand for a zoom lens small in a depth direction, i.e., in an entrance optical axis direction.
For example, a zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 01-189621 has a plurality of lens groups, and corrects a blur caused when the zoom lens vibrates, by shifting a first lens group positioned closest to an object side, in any direction perpendicular to an optical axis.
Furthermore, a zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-282038 has a plurality of lens groups, and corrects a blur caused when the zoom lens vibrates, by shifting a movable lens group moving in an optical axis direction during zooming or focusing, in either direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
Furthermore, a zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-124992 or 2001-356270 has a first lens group having positive refractive power, a second lens group having negative refractive power, a third lens group having positive refractive power, a fourth lens group having negative refractive power, and a fifth lens group having positive refractive power arranged in order of mention from the object side, performs zooming by moving at least the second lens group and the fourth lens group on the optical axis, and corrects a blur caused when the zoom lens vibrates by moving the whole third lens group positioned near an aperture stop, in either direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
Furthermore, a zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 01-191113 has a plurality of lens groups, and corrects a blur caused when the zoom lens vibrates, by shifting a final lens group positioned closest to an image side, in either direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
Furthermore, a zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-71993 has a plurality of lens groups, in which a final lens group positioned closest to the image side and having negative refractive power is fixed in both optical axis directions during zooming and has a front group having negative power and a rear group having positive power. By configuring the rear group having positive power or a part thereof ("blur correcting lens group") to be movable in either direction orthogonal to the optical axis, the zoom lens corrects a blur caused when it vibrates, by moving the blur correcting lens group in either direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
Meanwhile, in some other zoom lenses, an optical system is folded by inserting a prism between lenses, thereby realizing a size reduction in the entrance optical axis direction, and lenses are cut with respect to a short-side direction of the imager device, thereby realizing a thickness reduction in the structure of a lens barrel.

Zoom lens, image capture apparatus, and method for controlling zoom lens


To provide a noise suppressing device which accurately suppresses weak electric field strength pulse noise.

In FM radio receivers, countermeasures are generally taken against various types of noise so as to improve sound quality. Particularly, in an in-vehicle radio receiver, there are instances where emergent pulse noise caused by engine revolution, wipers, or door mirrors, for example, become a problem, and noise cancellation techniques for removing such noise have been proposed and put into use.
Meanwhile, in the case of radio receivers, the level of background noise increases with the deterioration of the reception electric field. Although this noise is a white noise called weak-electric field noise, there is a problem that, during such time of electric field deterioration, a pulse noise canceller misoperates due to background noise. Consequently, a noise cancellation technique which includes an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit and a noise detection circuit is proposed (see Patent Reference 1). FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 show an outline of a conventional noise cancellation technique. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional noise canceller. FIG. 2(a) is a diagram showing the relationship of High-pass Filter (HPF) output and AGC output at the time when pulse noise is generated. FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing the relationship of HPF output and AGC output at a time of electric field deterioration. FIG. 2(c) is a diagram showing the relationship of HPF output and AGC output at a time of electric field deterioration and when pulse noise is generated.
In FIG. 1, the conventional pulse noise canceller includes a delay device 100, a pulse detecting unit 200, and a pulse suppressing unit 300. An FM composite signal is inputted to the pulse detecting unit 200, and pulse noise is detected. At the same time, after the FM composite signal passes the delay device 100 for a detection delay amount, the pulse noise in the detection interval is removed by the pulse suppressing unit 300. The pulse detecting unit 200 is configured of a High-pass Filter (HPF) 201, an AGC circuit 202, and a comparator 203. The high-pass filter 201 passes only the high-frequency component of the FM composite signal. The AGC circuit 202 applies gain control depending on the output signal level of the high-pass filter 201. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(a), when the high-pass filter output is only pulse noise, the rectified signal level is low and thus AGC output gain remains high. In contrast, as shown in FIG. 2(b), when the background noise of the high-pass filter output increases, the rectified signal level becomes high and thus AGC output gain becomes low, and gain control is applied so as to suppress misdetection due to background noise. The pulse detection unit 200: compares the output level of the AGC circuit 202 and a predetermined threshold (the "second threshold" in the Claims); detects, as pulse noise, the case where the AGC output level exceeds the threshold; and controls the pulse suppressing unit 300. Here, as shown in FIG. 2(b), since even the pulse noise level is limited when gain control is performed by the AGC circuit 202 at a time of electric field deterioration, even pulse noise cannot be detected by using the initial threshold as-is. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 2(c), by controlling the threshold depending on the output gain of the AGC circuit 202, pulse noise can be detected without misdetection, even at the time of electric field deterioration. The pulse suppressing unit 300 can be implemented through an interpolation circuit that outputs an inputted signal as-is during a period in which a pulse is not detected and, during an interval in which a pulse is detected, holds the value immediately preceding the detection interval, for example.
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 3213495

Abstract: A band-limiting unit (5) band-limits a composite signal obtained by demodulating an FM baseband signal, to a frequency band equal to or lower than a predetermined frequency so as to output a monaural audio signal. A pulse detecting unit (62) which detects pulse noise in the audio signal outputted by the band-limiting unit (5). A pulse judging unit (63) judges that a detection result of the pulse detecting unit (62) is valid in the case where pulse noise is detected in the composite signal, at a position corresponding to the detected pulse noise. A pulse suppressing unit (64) suppresses the pulse noise detected in the audio signal, in the case where the pulse judging unit (63) judges that the detection result is valid. Specifically, the amplitude of the composite signal which is synchronized with the audio signal is compared with a threshold, and it is judged that the detection result is pulse noise in the case where the amplitude of the composite signal exceeds the threshold.


A method for remotely communicating with a computer system in a headless environment is provided. The system includes a service processor in communication with a computer through a UART communication channel and in communication with a remote console through a communication connection. The service processor manages communication commands between the computer and the remote console. The service processor transmits data communication received from the remote console to the computer through the UART channel, and the service processor transmits data communication received from the computer to the remote console through the UART channel. In addition, a multiplexer may be employed to direct communication between one of a plurality of computers and the service processor in combination with a multiplexer control to select one of the computers for communication with the service processor. The multiplexer directs the communication through the UART channel.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to remote communication with a computer system. More specifically, the invention utilizes conventional hardware components to enable support and maintenance of a computer from a remote location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Current computer operating systems provide support for operating a computer with a local display or input devices. All input commands are input to the computer from a keyboard, mouse, or other input device directly connected to the computer. FIG. 1 is a prior art block diagram 10 illustrating local control of a computer 20. The computer 20 has input devices 22, 24 and 26 connected directly to the computer 20. The input devices may be in the form of a keyboard, a mouse, a display device, or alternative input tools conventionally associated with communicating with a computer. Accordingly, all administrative functions for management and configuration of the computer are conducted locally and are not available remotely.
Recently, the Microsoft Windows 2000 NT® operating system has developed a driver that enables remote input of administrative functions to a computer for both in-band and out-of-band modes. This type of operating system is often referred to as "headless". A headless operating system requires that local console input/output dependencies be removed from the operating system, i.e. in a headless environment the operating system supports operating without a keyboard, mouse or monitor directly attached to the system. FIG. 2 is a prior art block diagram 40 illustrating connections between a computer 50 and a remote console 60 in an operating system supporting headless communication. The computer 50 uses a serial port 55 to enable remote communication. The serial port 55 is a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART). A remote console 60 is connected to the computer 50 through the UART 55 of the computer and the UART 65 of the console through a direct connection. Management and configuration commands to the computer may be input from the console in direct communication with the computer. Accordingly, the headless driver developed to support remote communication requires a connection from the computer UART 55 to the remote console UART 55 through a direct connection.
Another form of remote communication and management of a computer is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,423 to Graf. The '423 patent discloses remote access through a modem communication connection. The system shown in Graf includes a micro-controller with a UART and a motherboard with a UART. A multiplexer selects one of these UARTs to be connected to a serial port connector, which receives communication through a modem. The channel used with the interface to the motherboard is the same channel as the modem channel. Accordingly, the hardware and control logic of Graf does not provide the availability of remotely receiving and transmitting pre-boot and out-of-band data.
There is therefore a need for a method of providing headless communication with a computer for remote management of in-band, out-of-band, and pre-boot modes of operation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for computer nodes configured with a plurality of UART channels for serial redirection through with a service processor

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed herein are novel genes and methods for the screening of therapeutics useful for treating impaired glucose tolerance conditions, as well as diagnostics and therapeutic compositions for identifying or treating such conditions.

This invention relates to compositions and methods useful for delaying or ameliorating human diseases associated with glucose intolerance.
Diabetes is a major disease affecting over 16 million individuals in the United States alone at an annual cost of over 92 billion dollars.
Type I diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDD) is an autoimmune disease. In the IDDM patient, the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The central role of insulin in human metabolism is to aid in the transport of glucose into muscle cells and fat cells. The body's inability to produce insulin results in hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, thirst, and weight loss. In addition, diabetics often suffer from chronic atherosclerosis and kidney and eyesight failure. A patient with IDDM requires daily injections of insulin to survive.
The most common form of diabetes is non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM) or Type II diabetes. Type II diabetes is a heterogenous group of disorders in which hyperglycemia results from both impaired insulin secretory response to glucose and decreased insulin effectiveness (i.e., insulin resistance). Older people who are overweight are at particular risk for Type II diabetes. Genetic studies have suggested that, Type II diabetes is found in families and that the disease may be due to multiple genetic defects. In addition, the link between obesity and Type II diabetes is strong. Approximately 80 percent of Type II diabetics are obese. Weight loss and exercise can be effective to keep blood glucose levels normal, reducing the long-term complications of the disease.
At present there are few reliable methods for presymptomatic diagnosis of a genetic predisposition for diabetes or obesity. The search for genetic markers linked to diabetes and obesity has proven difficult, and this is especially true for Type II diabetes.
Treatments for diabetes emphasize control of blood glucose through blood glucose monitoring. The majority of patients take oral medications and/or insulin injections for appropriate control. Treatment of diabetes is generally chronic and lifelong, and treatments are generally not satisfactory over the long run. In addition, insulin treatment may become increasingly ineffective as the disease progresses. While insulin has been known for decades, and within the past decade, the receptors for insulin and aspects of its signaling pathway have been identified, the transcriptional output from these signaling pathways have not been characterized. In addition, the molecular basis of the obesity-induced insulin resistance is unknown.

Therapeutic and diagnostic tools for impaired glucose tolerance conditions


A power production unit onboard a motor vehicle, including a fuel cell including at least one orifice for evacuating off-gases, in particular of air and water vapor, which are discharged into a discharge pipe. A condenser liquefies the water vapor, and a compressor is interposed upstream of the condenser, liquid water being diverted from the discharge pipe to a liquid water circuit. The compressor compresses the off-gases so that the dew point of the water vapor is higher than the temperature of the condenser.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electricity-generating installation on board a motor vehicle, of the type equipped with a fuel-cell stack.
The invention relates more particularly to an electricity-generating installation on board a motor vehicle, of the type equipped with a fuel-cell stack provided with at least one orifice for evacuation of residual gases, which are composed mainly of air and water vapor and which are discharged into an evacuation conduit in which there is disposed a condenser that liquefies the water vapor, and in which a compressor is interposed upstream from the condenser, the liquid water being diverted from the evacuation conduit to a liquid water circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Fuel-cell stacks are used in particular to supply the electrical energy necessary for propulsion of motor vehicles. The fuel-cell stack is then mounted on board the vehicle.
A fuel-cell stack is composed mainly of two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, which are separated by an electrolyte. This type of stack permits direct conversion, to electrical energy, of the energy produced by the following oxidation-reduction reactions:
a reaction of oxidation of a fuel, which continuously feeds the anode; and
a reaction of reduction of an oxygen carrier, which continuously feeds the cathode.
The fuel-cell stacks used to supply electrical energy on board motor vehicles are generally of the solid-electrolyte type, especially with an electrolyte formed by a polymer membrane. Such a stack uses especially hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) as the fuel and oxygen carrier respectively.
In contrast to combustion engines, which discharge a non-negligible quantity of polluting substances with the exhaust gases, the fuel-cell stack offers in particular the advantage of discharging mainly water, which is produced by the reduction reaction at the cathode.
The stack also discharges part of the oxygen carrier that has not reacted in the form of cathode evacuation gas, and it may also discharge part of the fuel that has not reacted in the form of anode evacuation gas. In the latter case, the fuel is generally burned before being discharged to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor.
In addition, the oxygen carrier of a stack of the type described in the foregoing can be ambient air, the oxygen (O2) of which undergoes reduction.
The oxygen carrier is generally humidified before being injected at the cathode, so that the membrane of polymer material is not damaged, for example by drying. This humidification operation is also applied to the fuel when the latter leaves the anode via an anode evacuation orifice.
The water necessary for humidification of the membrane is generally recovered at the stack outlet, and more particularly in the cathode evacuation gases, which contain water in liquid or vapor form, produced by the reaction of reduction of the oxygen carrier at the cathode.
Water recovery at the cathode outlet effectively has the advantage that there is no need for frequent replenishment of the water reserves of the vehicle. In addition, if sufficient water can be recovered to humidify the membrane, it is not necessary that the vehicle be equipped with a large-volume water reservoir.
To recover the water produced at the cathode, it is known that a condenser can be disposed in the stream of cathode evacuation gas. For optimal operation of the fuel-cell stack being fed with oxygen carrier and fuel under atmospheric pressure, this type of condenser generally requires a cooling source, whose temperature must be maintained between 20 and 30° C.
This solution is not usable, because motor vehicles are generally designed to operate in an environment whose temperature may vary between −20° C. and approximately 45° C. The use of a condenser therefore necessitates the use of a costly air-conditioning device, which is not available in all vehicle models.
It is known, therefore, to raise the oxygen-carrier pressure in the cathode circuit while retaining the condenser. By raising the pressure of the evacuation gases containing the water vapor, the dew point temperature of the water vapor is also effectively raised. The dew point temperature is the temperature at which the water vapor condenses. A condensation fog is then deposited on the surfaces whose temperature is lower than the dew point.
Thus, when the evacuation gases are injected into the condenser, at a pressure of 4 bar, for example, the cooling source of the condenser must then be maintained at a temperature of approximately 60° C. in order to function in optimum manner. It is much easier to maintain the cooling source of the condenser at a higher temperature than the ambient temperature.
However, such a solution requires that all feed circuits of the fuel-cell stack be kept under pressure, with the risk of degradation of the said stack. It is therefore necessary to use a non-negligible portion of the energy supplied by the stack to compress the oxygen-carrier and fuel circuits, to the detriment of the efficiency of the fuel-cell stack.

Device for recuperating water in a power production unit comprising a fuel cell


A method includes performing an analysis or synthesis operation on a graphical model representation, producing a report from the analysis or synthesis operation and generating associations representing elements of the graphical model representation with corresponding elements in the report and using these associations as a way to reposition viewer based on actions to the graphical model representation.

Data representation and modeling are an integral part of working with dynamic real-world systems such as electrical circuits, shock absorbers, braking systems, and many other electrical, mechanical and thermodynamic systems. These systems can be modeled, simulated, analyzed and synthesized on a computer system using graphical environments such as graphical model representations, state diagrams, truth tables and unified modeling language (UML) diagrams. For example, a graphical model representation visually depicts mathematical relationships among a system's inputs, states, parameters, and outputs, typically through the use of a graphical user interface (GUI). Graphical model representation also visually depicts time-dependent mathematical relationships among a system's inputs, states, and outputs, typically for display on the GUI.
Graphical model representation can involve automatic code generation, a process whereby software source code and/or hardware design language (HDL) source code is automatically produced from a graphical model representation of a dynamic system. For example, the software source code produced by the automatic code generation process can be compiled and executed on a target processor, implementing the functionality specified by the graphical model representation. A code generation report can also be produced. A code generation report is a mark up language document that contains information of the source graphical model representation, settings of the code generator and the generated software (code) in syntax highlighted form. Each part of the generated software is translated by a compiler and saved into its own mark up language file. These markup language reports can be extremely long, complex and detailed.

Reversed links from graphical diagram representation


A laser inertial-confinement fusion-fission energy power plant is described. The fusion-fission hybrid system uses inertial confinement fusion to produce neutrons from a fusion reaction of deuterium and tritium. The fusion neutrons drive a sub-critical blanket of fissile or fertile fuel. A coolant circulated through the fuel extracts heat from the fuel that is used to generate electricity. The inertial confinement fusion reaction can be implemented using central hot spot or fast ignition fusion, and direct or indirect drive. The fusion neutrons result in ultra-deep burn-up of the fuel in the fission blanket, thus enabling the burning of nuclear waste. Fuels include depleted uranium, natural uranium, enriched uranium, spent nuclear fuel, thorium, and weapons grade plutonium. LIFE engines can meet worldwide electricity needs in a safe and sustainable manner, while drastically shrinking the highly undesirable stockpiles of depleted uranium, spent nuclear fuel and excess weapons materials.

Projections by the Energy Information Agency and current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expect worldwide electric power demand to double from its current level of about 2 terawatts electrical power (TWe) to 4 TWe by 2030, possibly reaching 8-10 TWe by 2100. They also expect that for the next 30 to 50 years, the bulk of the demand of electricity production will be provided by fossil fuels, typically coal and natural gas. Coal supplies 41% of the world's electric energy today, and is expected to supply 45% by 2030. In addition, the most recent report from the IPCC has placed the likelihood that man-made sources of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are having a significant effect on the climate of planet earth at 90%. "Business as usual" baseline scenarios show that CO2 emissions could be almost two and a half times the current level by 2050. More than ever before, new technologies and alternative sources of energy are essential to meet the increasing energy demand in both the developed and the developing worlds, while attempting to stabilize and reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and mitigate the concomitant climate change.
Nuclear energy, a non-carbon emitting energy source, has been a key component of the world's energy production since the 1950's, and accounts for about 16% of the world's electricity production, a fraction that could—in principle—be increased. Several factors, however, make its long-term sustainability difficult. These concerns include the risk of proliferation of nuclear materials and technologies resulting from the nuclear fuel cycle; the generation of long-lived radioactive nuclear waste requiring burial in deep geological repositories; the current reliance on the once through open nuclear fuel cycle; and the availability of low cost, low carbon footprint uranium ore. In the United States alone, nuclear reactors have already generated more than 55,000 metric tons (MT) of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). In the near future, the US will have enough spent nuclear fuel to fill the Yucca Mountain geological waste repository to its legislated limit of 70,000 MT.
Fusion is an attractive energy option for future power generation, with two main approaches to fusion power plants now being developed. In a first approach, Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) uses lasers, heavy ion beams, shock ignition, impulse ignition, pulsed power or other techniques to rapidly compress capsules containing a mixture of isotopes of hydrogen, typically, deuterium (D) and tritium (T). As the capsule radius decreases and the DT gas density and temperature increase, DT fusion reactions are initiated in a small spot in the center of the compressed capsule. These DT fusion reactions generate both alpha particles and 14.1 MeV neutrons. A fusion burn front propagates from the spot, generating significant energy gain. A second approach, Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE) uses powerful magnetic fields to confine a DT plasma and to generate the conditions required to sustain a burning plasma and generate energy gain.
Important technology for inertial confinement fusion is being developed primarily at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, Calif. At LLNL a laser-based inertial confinement fusion project designed to achieve thermonuclear fusion ignition and burn utilizes laser energies of 1 to 1.3 MJ. Fusion yields of the order of 10 to 20 MJ are expected. Fusion yields in excess of 200 MJ could be expected to be required in central hot spot fusion geometry if fusion technology, by itself, were to be used for cost effective power generation. Thus, significant technical challenges remain to achieve an economy powered by pure inertial confinement fusion energy.
In the 1950's, Andrei Sakharov discussed the idea of fusion-fission engines in which a fusion reaction generates neutrons for a fission engine. Hans Bethe and Nikolai Basov expanded on his ideas in the 1970's and 1980's, as did many other groups around the world. The focus of some of these studies was on the use of fusion neutrons to generate fuel for fast nuclear reactors, although Basov and others discussed the possibility of using laser-driven fusion targets to drive a fission blanket for generating commercial power. Many proposals have also been made to use accelerators to generate neutrons that can then be used to transmute nuclear waste and generate electricity. Fusion-fission engines, however, did not advance beyond a conceptual stage. For example, LLNL investigated conceptual concepts for ICF-based fusion-fission hybrids in the 1970's. See, for example, "US-USSR Symposium on Fusion-Fission Reactors," Jul. 13-16, 1976, Hosted by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. The current generation of enabling technology, including computational design tools, optical materials, diode-pumped solid state lasers, and high burn-up tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuels, however, are required to move the conceptual ideas toward realization. Similarly, accelerator based schemes have not advanced significantly, in part because a complete nuclear fuel cycle—including uranium enrichment and nuclear waste reprocessing—is still required to generate economical electricity. As a result the efficiency and cost of those systems is prohibitive relative to the benefit of transmuting nuclear waste.
Typical of additional early publications speculating upon a fusion-fission hybrid are articles: The Fusion Hybrid, by Hans A. Bethe in Physics Today 32(5), 44 (1979), Concept of a Coupled Blanket System for the Hybrid Fission-Fusion Reactor by A. P. Barzilov, A. V. Gulevich, A. V. Zrodnikov, O. F. Kukharchuk, V. B. Polevoy, Institute for Physics & Power Engineering, 1, Bondarenko Sq., Obninsk, Russia 249020 in Proc. Intern. Conf. SOFE'95, 1995, and the article, Hybrid Fission-Fusion Reactor Initiated by a Laser, by A. P. Barzilov, A. V. Gulevich, O. F. Kukharchuk and A. V. Zrodnikov, Institute of Physics & Power Engineering, Obninsk 249020 RUSSIA, Technical Physics Laboratory, Copyright©1997-2000, (http://www.ippe.obninsksuipodr/tpl/pub/html/1/ref1a.html).

Control of a laser inertial confinement fusion-fission power plant

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC


A method for controlling the gears of a vehicle that has an automatic transmission that is arranged to change gear according to a plurality of gear modes that differ in that changing to a higher gear is carried out at different minimum engine speeds or, if the changing is carried out steplessly, with different degrees of gearing, with the transmission having a forward gear position for driving the vehicle forwards and a reverse gear position for driving the vehicle backwards, comprising detection of an operating parameter and, in response to this production of a parameter signal for a control unit, selection, that is carried out by the control unit, of one of the gear modes on the basis of the parameter signal's value. The parameter signal represents the total distance that the vehicle has been driven during an individual sequence with at least one of the forward gear position and the reverse gear position.

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a work function of a vehicle that has a forward gear position for driving the vehicle forwards and a reverse gear position for driving the vehicle backwards, comprising detection of an operating parameter and, in response to this, production of a parameter signal for a control unit, and control of the work function that is carried out by the control unit on the basis of the value of the parameter signals.
The invention also relates to a device for carrying out the method according to the invention and a work vehicle comprising the control device.
The work function can, for example, be the control response, that is to say the turning of the wheels in the case of turning of the steering wheel, or the hydraulic working pressure of a machine that works by hydraulics. The invention is, however, particularly suitable for controlling the selection of the gear mode of a work vehicle, such as a wheel loader, with automatic transmission with several gear modes. For the purpose of exemplification, it will be described with reference to such an application. The invention can, of course, also be applied to other types of work vehicle, such as a backhoe or a so-called skid steer vehicle.
Modern wheel loaders with automatic gearboxes currently use various so-called gear modes or gear functions according to a particular gear-change strategy. The gear modes differ in that changing to a higher gear, changing up, is carried out at different minimum engine speeds for the different gear modes, for changing between corresponding gears, and changing to a lower gear is carried out at different minimum vehicle speeds. In conventional wheel loaders, these modes are selected manually by an operator using a control, a so-called APS-control. Through EP 0 715102, a method is already known for controlling gear modes in an automatic vehicle transmission on the basis of parameter signals that represent operating conditions for the vehicle, the driver's driving intention, and the road conditions. In particular, the operating parameters represent the gradient of a road on which the vehicle is being driven. It is, however, normal for a vehicle of the wheel loader type, on which automatic transmissions of the type mentioned are usually found, to work on an essentially level surface. Even in such cases, there is a desire, depending upon the operation of the vehicle, to be able to select a gear mode that is the most expedient with regard to efficiency, fuel consumption, environmental factors, etc.
It is desirable to provide a method of the type mentioned in the introduction that provides important information for controlling a work function, preferably selection of gear mode, and that carries out controlling of the work function, or selection of gear mode, on the basis of the information.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling a work function of a vehicle that has a forward gear position for driving the vehicle forwards and a reverse gear position for driving the vehicle backwards, comprises detection of an operating parameter and, in response to this, production of a parameter signal for a control unit, and control of the work function that is carried out by the control unit on the basis of the value of the parameter signals. The parameter signal represents the total distance that the vehicle is driven in an individual sequence with at least one of the forward gear position and the reverse gear position. In other words, the distance driven between two changes of direction of the vehicle is recorded, and the automatic control of the work function is based on the outcome of the recording. An individual recording of a distance driven is commenced at the moment there is a change of gear from forward gear position to reverse gear position or vice versa. The recording of the distance is terminated when the next change of gear back to the forward gear position or the reverse gear position is carried out. These changes between forward gear position and reverse gear position are assumed to be carried out manually by the driver of the vehicle. It is quite possible only to record the distance driven forwards or only to record the distance driven backwards, but it is preferable for the distance to be recorded in both directions. By measuring distances driven in this way and basing the control of any work function, for example the selection of gear mode, on these, it is possible to adapt the control of the work function in question to the load cycle according to which the vehicle is currently assumed to be working.
According to an aspect of the invention, the vehicle has an automatic transmission that is arranged to change gear according to a plurality of gear modes, with the gear mode being selected on the basis of the parameter signal. The gear modes differ in that changing to a higher gear is carried out at different minimum engine speeds.
According to an aspect of the invention, the method comprises generation of a parameter signal from each of a plurality of consecutive sequences and comparison of the parameter signals and control of the work function or selection of gear mode on the basis of the parameter signal that represents the longest distance driven. For each gear mode, there is a thus a range of distances for which precisely that gear mode is selected. Which gear mode is selected or how a particular work function is controlled thus depends upon the range in which the longest measured distance is to be found.
Suitably, only a certain maximal number of parameter signals or recordings of previous distances driven are recorded for comparison in the control unit.
At the commencement of the vehicle being driven, the control unit preferably selects automatically a highest gear mode, that changes to a higher gear at a lower minimum engine speed than other gear modes. As soon as a first parameter signal has been obtained, a review of the selection of gear mode is carried out. This principle is, moreover, generally applicable for controlling other work functions than the selection of gear mode.
In a device according to an aspect of the invention, the operating parameter represents the distance the vehicle has been driven in an individual sequence with at least one of the forward gear position and the reverse gear position.
A vehicle according to an aspect of the invention has an automatic transmission that is arranged to change gear according to a plurality of gear modes, with the control unit being arranged to select the gear mode on the basis of the parameter signal.
The gear modes differ in that corresponding changes to a higher gear take place at different minimum engine speeds.
In order to make possible an automatic implementation of a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the control unit is advantageously arranged to collect from the sensor a parameter signal from each of a plurality of consecutive sequences and the control unit is arranged to compare the parameter signals and to control the work function or select the gear mode on the basis of the parameter signal that represents the longest distance driven.
In addition, the control unit is preferably arranged, when driving of the vehicle commences, to select the highest gear mode that changes to a higher gear at the lowest minimum engine speed of all the gear modes.
In addition, the sensor should be arranged, during an ongoing sequence with the transmission in the forward gear position or reverse gear position, to send a signal continually to the control unit concerning the distance traveled, and the control unit should be arranged, when the parameter signal represents a distance that exceeds the greatest distance that is represented by the parameter signals for the immediately preceding sequences, to change to the next higher gear mode. This means that change of gear mode can take place even before a finally-complete distance in a gear position has been measured. It can suffice, during an ongoing measurement, for the distance to exceed the longest distance measured so far or a predetermined value, in order for an immediate change to a higher gear mode to be required by the control unit.
Additional characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

Method and device for controlling a work function of a vehicle and a work vehicle comprising the control device

Volvo Construction Equipment Holding Sweden AB


Methods, non-transitory computer readable media, access policy management apparatuses, and network traffic management systems that send a request received from a client to an application server along with an access token. A determination is made when a received response to the request comprises an unauthorized HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) response status code. The access token is refreshed using a stored refresh token, when the determining indicates that the response is an unauthorized HTTP response status code. The request is resent to the application server along with the refreshed access token. With this technology, an intermediary access policy management apparatus can refresh access tokens automatically and without sending any unauthorized HTTP response status codes received from application servers to client devices, or requiring user re-authorization at the client devices thereby improving the user experience in single sign-on (SSO) federated identity environments.

Federated identity environments facilitate the secure exchange of identity information across Internet domains. In such an environment, users of client devices are authenticated by an identity provider device, also referred to as an authorization server, which has access to user identity information. Following successful authentication, a client device may receive access and refresh tokens that can be used to access protected resources, such as applications hosted on application servers.
In order to access the applications, the client devices may be provided a web desktop or other portal, which allows access to on-premises and software-as-a-service ("SaaS") applications via different types of authentication schemes such as Security Assertion Markup Language ("SAML"), Open Authorization ("OAuth"), and NT LAN Manager ("NTLM"), for example. While the authentication schemes vary, the access tokens received from the identity provider device can be used to gain access to each of the applications, thereby facilitating what is commonly referred to as Single Sign-On ("SSO") access control.
However, access tokens have limited lifetimes and can be rendered invalid outside of the context of a particular session or for any number of other reasons. If an access token supplied by a client device is determined by an application to be invalid, an application server hosting the application will send an unauthorized HTTP response status code (e.g., "401"), requiring the client device to re-authenticate and resulting in a sub-optimal experience for the user.

Methods for token refreshment based on single sign-on (SSO) for federated identity environments and devices thereof


A method for managing electrical Key Off Load (KOL) and other potentially damaging operational conditions in a vehicle while in a neutral mode setting, comprising: determining a vehicle drivetrain is in the neutral mode setting; determining an operational characteristic that changes with time while the vehicle is in the neutral mode setting; performing, via a vehicle control module and based on the neutral mode setting and the operational characteristic, vehicle actions comprising engaging an automated start powertrain activation while the vehicle is in the neutral mode setting.

While the need for vehicle operation in neutral gear has remained unchanged from decades past, technological advancements have made it increasingly complicated to initiate and difficult or impossible to sustain neutral operation of vehicles for prolonged periods of time, such as for recreational towing and unattended parking in neutral gear. The result has been a steady decline in the number of alternatives for vehicles capable of sustained neutral operation and an increasing number of warranty claims for vehicle damage resulting from vehicles being towed improperly.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,193,232 (hereafter "the '232 patent"), assigned to GM Global Technology Operations, LLC, discloses a telematics system for a vehicle to be towed. The telematics module disclosed in the '232 patent may not be activated until the transmission gear selector indicates that the vehicle has been placed in neutral mode. The telematics module receives information from the vehicle and sends the information to a remote access system indicating that the vehicle is being towed. While conventional systems may protect transmission gear selection during towing, they may not protect the vehicle components from electrical unanticipated Key-Off Load (KOL) when in a neutral state during other vehicle operations. Conventional systems may protect transmission components from insufficient lubrication and cooling of spinning powertrain components when the vehicle is being towed. However, conventional electric drive train vehicles with permanent magnet traction motors connected directly to drive wheels may be susceptible to component damage when the traction motor generates high voltage to its controller circuit boards when the vehicle is towed at higher speeds.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Automatic powertrain operation for maintenance of neutral operation