There is provided an electronic device that can execute a function using characters inputted during a telephone call, and a control method and a control program thereof. An application control unit inputs a character as an input character using an input control unit in a state where a call with a predetermined communication counterpart is continuing using a communication unit. When a predetermined function is selected after the input character is inputted with the input control unit, the application control unit executes a predetermined function in a state where the input character is inputted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device that inputs characters, and a control method and a storage medium storing therein a control program.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, when a so-called numeric key is operated in a state where a standby screen is displayed on a display unit, an electronic device such as a mobile phone inputs a character assigned to the numeric key thus operated and displays the character on the display unit. When the user selects a desired function in a state where the character is inputted, such an electronic device executes the selected function in a state where the character is inputted (for example, refer to JP2007-200243A).

Electronic device, and control method and storage medium storing control program


An oligomer composed of a carbohydrate head group and an oligomer chain is disclosed. Methods for increasing the oligomerization rates of lactones and cyclic carbonates are also disclosed.

The invention relates to water soluble and dispersible oligomers, and efficient methods to prepare these new oligomers.
Water soluble and dispersible polymers are in great demand for use as surfactants. Low molecular weight amphiphilic compounds can also be used as surfactants. For example, fatty acid esters of carbohydrates are useful as surfactants. The incorporation of carbohydrates into water soluble and dispersible polymers is thus a promising strategy for the design of new amphiphilic compounds.
There are some potential difficulties in the conversion of carbohydrate building blocks into oligomers and polymers. Carbohydrates contain multiple hydroxyl groups; some of these groups have similar reactivities, making regioselective reactions difficult to achieve. Chemical methods involving multiple protection/deprotection steps for the regioselective esterification of carbohydrates and their derivatives have been studied. The protection/deprotection steps can be eliminated with the use of biological catalysts, such as enzymes. Specific enzymes which include lipases and proteases have been successfully used for the regioselective esterification of the primary hydroxyl groups of various carbohydrates in polar aprotic solvents.
For example, Therisod et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 108:5638 (1986), reported the regioselective esterification of various carbohydrates, using porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) as the enzyme and pyridine as the solvent. Riva et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 110:584 (1988), disclosed the PPL-catalyzed regioselective esterification of carbohydrates in dimethyl formamide (DMF). In addition, Adelhorst et al., Synthesis 112 (1990), described regioselective esterifications in the absence of solvent; they reported the solvent-free esterification of ethylglucoside with fatty acids using Candida antarctica lipase as the catalyst.

Cyclic ester ring-opened oligomers and methods of preparation


A method and system (130) for controlling sensed CPU dynamic operating characteristics, such as CPU temperature, temperature change and power consumption, including the steps of and circuitry for sensing at least one dynamic CPU operating characteristic (140) while the CPU operates at a first clock rate (134). The system (130) determines that a setpoint interrupt condition exists (140), such as a temperature threshold, by virtue of the at least one sensed CPU dynamic operating characteristic establishing a predetermined relationship relative to a predetermined setpoint (140) that associates with the at least one dynamic operating characteristic. In the event that the setpoint interrupt condition exists, the circuitry and instructions control (144) the clock rate relative to the first clock rate. In the event that the setpoint interrupt condition does not exist, the circuitry and instructions repeat the above steps of determining the interrupt condition and controlling the clock rate. The method and system (130) also determine whether the CPU is in a compute-bound state (142). This operation in conjunction with a real-time power conservation apparatus and method (20) is a particularly attractive feature of the present invention.

In the early developmental stages of the personal computer industry, the transportable or portable computer became very popular. The earlier portable computers use a large power supply and, in actuality, represent a small desktop personal computer. Portable computers available today, on the other hand, are smaller and lighter than a desktop personal computer and allow a user to employ the same software that a desktop computer uses.
The first generation "portable" computers only operate from alternating current wall power. More recent, or next generation, personal computers may use battery power and are truly portable. This enhanced degree of portability arises from recent developments in display technology, disk storage capabilities, and component weight and space technology.
While these advancements help to reduce the size of portable computers, operational limitations yet exist. For example, software that today's portable computers run is generally the same as that which desktop personal computers run. Hence, a portable computer must provide all of the features of a desktop computer, without regard to functional limitations and considerations that are unique to battery-powered portable computers. Portable computers, on the one hand, have the same data flow rates as the desktop computers and, on the other hand, have only limited amounts of power available for short periods of time and may have more limited heat dissipation capability than desktop computers. Today's portable computers make no special accommodations for the differing platforms in the software that they operate. Operating systems (e.g., MS-DOS), Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) software and third party application software is essentially the same for both the portable and desktop computers. This is particularly true with respect to the ways that the software systems handle the different dynamic operating characteristics of the CPU.
As software engineers and programmers develop more highly functional software systems, desktop computers continue to provide increased performance in essentially all areas of system performance. From the introduction of higher computationally capable CPUs, to increased memory, and faster high performance disk drives, demands for operating capabilities of desktop systems are rapidly rising. Portable computer manufacturers really have little choice other than to try to stay apace with these demands.
To date, however, portable computers continue to run either only on A/C power or with large and heavy batteries. In trying to keep up with the performance requirements of the desktop computers, and the new software, some portable computers use expensive components to cut the power requirements. Even so, the heavy batteries that the computers use still fail to provide power for long durations. This means users of conventional portable computers must settle for alternating current wall-powered operation or very short duration battery operation in order to have the performance that third party software systems expect.
In an attempt to design a portable computer that conserves power and that, thereby, yields longer battery operation, some portable computer power systems reduce power consumption of a portable computer while a user is not using the computer. Other portable computer designers conserve power by turning the computer display off when the keyboard is not being used. While these systems help conserve power, they are either impractical because they hinder computer operations or they fail to conserve power when the greatest amount of power drain occurs in the computer. To date, no power conservation system for a portable computer conserves power while the operator uses the computer for meaningful work.
But this is not the only problem with the power supply systems for portable computers. In today's portable computer systems, there is no intelligent system that responds to CPU dynamic operating characteristics. The dynamic operating characteristics of the CPU may include a wide variety of characteristics, including CPU temperature, temperature changes, power consumption, and others. No method or system exists to manage the conservation or optimal use of battery power. No method or system exists to properly monitor and manage the temperature of the rapidly operating and dense electronic circuitry of the CPU in response to compute intensive instructions. Moreover, no method or system exists to assure that when the CPU is effectively isolated from its input/output circuitry that no undesirable effects from dynamic operating characteristics of the CPU will occur. The type of undesirable situations or effects that may occur include the CPU excessively consuming power or reaching excessive temperatures when the CPU executes a large set of instructions that do not include any input/output functions.

Method and apparatus for real-time CPU thermal management and power conservation by adjusting CPU clock frequency in accordance with CPU activity


A new lettuce variety designated Legend is described. Legend is an iceberg lettuce variety exhibiting stability and uniformity. Legend lettuce seeds are deposited with the American Type Culture Collection and have ATCC deposit number PTA-4009.

This invention relates to the field of plant breeding. In particular, this invention relates to a new lettuce, Lactuca sativa, variety, Legend.
Lettuce is an increasingly popular crop. Worldwide lettuce consumption continues to increase. As a result of this demand, there is a continued need for new lettuce varieties. In particular, there is a need for improved iceberg lettuce varieties that exhibit vigorous growth, increased weight and yield.
In order to meet these needs, the present invention is directed to an improved iceberg lettuce variety that exhibitsvigorous growth, increased weight and yield. In particulate, the the present invention is directed to lettuce, Lactuca sativa, seed designated as Legend having ATCC Accession Number PTA-4009. The present invention is further directed to a lettuce, Lactuca sativa plant produced by growing Legend lettuce seed having ATCC Accession Number PTA-4009. The present invention is further directed to a Lactuca sativa plant having all the physiological and morphological characteristics of a Lactuca sativa plant produced by growing Legend lettuce seed having ATCC Accession Number PTA-4009. The present invention is further directed to an F1 hybrid lettuce, Lactuca sativa plant having Legend as a parent wherein Legend is grown from Legend lettuce seed having ATCC Accession Number PTA-4009.
The present invention is further directed to pollen and ovules isolated from Legend lettuce plants. The present invention is further directed to tissue culture of Legend lettuce plants.
The present invention is further directed to a method of selecting lettuce plants comprising a) growing Legend lettuce plants wherein the Legend plants are grown from lettuce seed having ATCC Accession Number PTA-4009 and b) selecting a progeny plant from step a) wherein the progeny plant is phenotypically distinguishable from the parent plant. The present invention is further directed to lettuce plants and seeds produced by the lettuce plants wherein the lettuce plants are isolated by the selection method of the invention.
The present invention is further directed to a method of breeding lettuce plants comprising crossing a lettuce plant with a plant grown from Legend lettuce seed having ATCC Accession Number PTA-4009. The present invention is further directed to lettuce plants and seeds produced thereform where the lettuce plant is isolated by the breeding method of the invention.
The invention will be better understood by reference to FIG. 1 which shows a drawing of a cross-section of an iceberg lettuce head showing head length 1, head diameter 2, core diameter 3, core length 4, and a wrapper leaf 5. In the description that follows, head length, head diameter, core diameter, core length, and wrapper leaf are described without associated reference numbers, but are intended to correspond to the respective reference numbers listed above.


A camera comprises a cover of a stowage chamber, such as a film cartridge chamber, and a friction member for giving substantially constant opening-operation resistance to the cover substantially throughout the entirety of a movement range in which the cover shifts from a closed state to a half-opened state, so that the cover is gradually opened by the friction force of the friction member. Thus, an object stored in the stowage chamber is prevented from abruptly popping out of the stowage chamber, and a user's feeling at the time of using the camera is improved. Moreover, the friction member is constituted by a rubber member made of silicone rubber or the like. Thus, the considerable miniaturization of the camera is achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a camera and, more particularly, to a camera that has a stowage (or storage) chamber, into which a film cartridge can be loaded, and a cover (or lid) of the stowage chamber.
2. Description of Related Art
Some cameras are of the type in which a film cartridge is loaded into a cartridge chamber in the axial direction of the film cartridge. Further, most of the cameras of such a type have mechanisms for facilitating the taking-out of the film cartridge from the cartridge chamber by pushing the film cartridge out of the cartridge chamber by the force of a spring or the like when a cover of the cartridge chamber (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the cartridge chamber cover) is opened.
However, in a case where such a mechanism for pushing the film cartridge out of the cartridge chamber is provided in a camera, there is a fear that the film cartridge is popped (or sprung) out of the cartridge chamber just when the cover of the cartridge chamber is opened. Further, even in the case of a camera which is not provided with the pushing-out mechanism, if an opening (or aperture) of the cartridge chamber opens downwardly, there is a fear that the film cartridge falls therefrom just when the cover is opened, and as a result, the film cartridge is damaged. Thus, there has been proposed a pop-out preventing mechanism for preventing a film cartridge from popping out of or falling from a cartridge chamber by engaging and stopping the cover, which is partly (or half) opened, with a clicking means and subsequently, bringing the film cartridge into an abutting engagement with the cover, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 7-199339.
However, the pop-out preventing mechanism proposed in the aforementioned patent application employs a plate (or leaf) spring as the clicking means. Thus, there is the necessity of using a plate spring which is actually large to some extent, so as to cause a spring pressure (or force) required to prevent the film cartridge from popping out of or falling from the cartridge chamber.
Therefore, a space which is specifically provided for mounting the plate spring and parts needed to fix the plate spring to the camera are required. However, there is caused a problem that such a space and parts are obstacles to the miniaturization (or the reduction in size (and weight)) of a camera. Moreover, most of plate springs have insufficient durability.
In addition, in the case of the aforementioned pop-out preventing mechanism, the cover is brought into a partly opened state at a stroke. Thus, there is a fear that a user who is unfamiliar with such a camera may worry that the film cartridge might pop out of or fall from the camera.

Camera with cartridge chamber cover having press-fitted friction piece


An inside handle device for vehicle includes a handle unit and a cable unit. In the handle unit, an operation handle including a connecting recess is rotatably connected to a handle base. The cable unit is connected to the handle unit while holding one end of an operating force transmission cable in which an inner cable is movably inserted into an outer cable. The connecting recess is locked to a connecting body formed at a tip end of the inner cable in a state where the handle unit is connected to the cable unit.

Patent Literature 1: (JP-A-2010-534589) discloses an inside handle device for vehicle formed by connecting a handle unit incorporating an operation handle and a cable unit holding a cable device.
In an inside handle device for vehicle of Patent Literature 1, a handle unit is formed by rotatably connecting a lock opener (operation handle) to a door opener shell (handle base), and a cable unit is formed by holding one end of a Bowden cable (cable device) in a Bowden cable connection housing (cable cover).
Each of opposing wall surfaces provided on the cable cover is provided with an arc-shaped guide link, and a Bowden cable hook (connecting body) fixed to a tip end of the cable device is movably mounted such that both ends thereof are supported by the guide links.
In a state in which the cable unit is connected to the handle unit, a recess (connecting recess) formed in a leg of the operation handle is engaged with the straight rod-like connecting body, and thereafter, the cable device is driven by operating the operation handle.


A method of manufacturing an electronic part in which on the upper surface of an insulating member covering lower layer wiring, a conductor portion connected from the lower layer wiring is exposed. In this method, electric power supplying film is formed on the upper surface of the insulating member, whereafter an opening portion having the lower layer wiring as a bottom is formed from the electric power supplying film side. Then metal plating is grown from the edge portion of the electric power supplying film from the opening portion with the electric power supplying film as an electrode, and the opening portion is filled with the metal plating closely contacting with the lower layer wiring to thereby form a conductor portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electronic part in which wiring layers are successively laminated on a core material, and an electronic part, and particularly to a method of manufacturing an electronic part which is suitable for forming an electrical conductor forming inter-layer connection in the wiring layers, and an electronic part.
2. Related Background Art
There is known an electronic part in which wiring layers are successively laminated on the surface of a core material, and connection is effected among these laminated wiring layers to thereby form stereoscopic wiring structure.
In the wiring layers, there have been proposed and disclosed various manufacturing methods for forming a conductor portion forming inter-layer connection. FIGS. 8A to 8D of the accompanying drawings are process illustrations showing the conventional manufacturing process of the wiring layer of an electronic part.
The wiring layer constituting the electronic part, as shown in FIG. 8A, has a base member 1 formed of an insulating material having a predetermined thickness, and lower layer wiring 2 formed on the back side of this base member 1 and in the interior of the base member 1.
To form a conductor portion 3 and upper layer wiring 4 (see FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings for both) on the surface side of such a form of wiring layer, dry film 6 providing protective film is first attached to the surface side of the wiring layer on which copper foil 5 is generally formed. After the dry film 6 has been attached to the base member 1, as shown in FIG. 8B, exposure and a developing process are effected on the dry film 6 to thereby form an opening portion 7 in the formed area of the conductor portion 3. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8C, the copper foil exposed on the bottom surface of the opening portion 7 is removed by different etching to thereby expose the base member 1, and blast processing is effected on the surface of this exposed base member 1 to thereby expose the lower layer wiring 2 underlying the base member 1. FIG. 8D shows a state in which by the blast processing, the lower layer wiring 2 is exposed on the bottom surface of the opening portion 7.
Now, while in the above-described conventional example, aperture forming in the base member 1 is effected by blast processing, this method is not restrictive, but other method may also be used.
FIGS. 9A and 9B of the accompanying drawings are process illustrations showing the procedure of forming an opening portion by the use of laser working. FIG. 9A shows the state of a wiring layer before the laser working, and a laser working machine (not shown) for affecting the working of this wiring layer is disposed above this wiring layer.
By the use of a positioning mechanism provided in the laser working machine, a laser irradiating portion is moved to the predetermined forming position of the opening portion 7 to thereby individually effect the aperture forming work for the copper foil 5 and the base member 1. FIG. 9B shows the state after the opening portion 7 has been formed by laser working.
Usually, a YAG laser (yttrium aluminum garnet laser) is used for the above-described working of the copper foil 5, and a carbonic acid gas laser is used for the working of the base member 1 formed of insulating resin. These different lasers can be carried on one and the same positioning mechanism from the standpoint of an improvement in working efficiency so that continuous working (of the copper foil 5 and the base member 1) may be effected. Also, instead of the use of the YAG laser, only the copper foil may be subjected to patterning by etching.
After the opening portion 7 in which the lower layer wiring 2 is exposed on the surface of the wiring layer has been thus formed, this opening portion 7 is filled by a metal material to thereby form a conductor portion 3.
FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C of the accompanying drawings are process illustrations showing the procedure of forming the conductor portion in the opening portion.
To form the conductor portion in the opening portion, as shown in FIG. 10A, electroless plating is first effected on the front side of the wiring layer in which the opening portion 7 is formed, with a view to improve the adhesiveness with the base member 1, to thereby form an electroless plating layer 8. After this electroless plating layer 8 has been formed, electroplating is effected with this electroless plating layer 8 as an electrode, and an electroplating layer 9 is precipitated on the upper layer of the electroless plating layer 8 so as to fill the opening portion 7. FIG. 10B shows the state after the electroplating layer 9 has been formed.
After the electroplating layer 9 has been thus formed, as shown in FIG. 10C, a conductor portion 3 and upper wiring 4 are formed on the copper foil 5, the electroless plating layer 8 and the electroplating layer 9 by the use of a subtractive method.
Now, while in the above-described conventional example, the electroless plating layer is used to improve the adhesiveness between the base member 1 and the conductor portion 3 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-343593), there is also known a method of applying other processing in place of the electroless plating layer (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-217553).
However, the use of the above-described electroless plating (and other method replacing the electroless plating) has posed such problems will be shown below.
When as shown in FIG. 10B, electroplating is effected to try to fill the opening portion 7 with a metal material after the electroless plating layer has been formed, the electroplating layer 9 is thickly formed on the whole of one side of the wiring layer and as the result, there has arisen the problem that when as shown in FIG. 10C, a wiring pattern is to be formed by etching, the cross section of this wiring pattern becomes trapezoid, and dimensional accuracy is reduced and a wiring pattern of a narrow width cannot be formed.
Also, when the electroless plating layer 8 is formed and electroplating is effected with this layer as an electrode, fresh plating liquid is more applied to the surface of this electroless plating layer 8 than to the inside of the aperture. Therefore, the growth of the electroplating layer 9 on this surface is promoted, and this has resulted in the possibility that before the opening portion 7 is filled with a metal material, the opening portion 7 is closed (by the electroplating layer 9) and a so-called void forms in the interior of the conductor portion 3.
Also, in a case where electroless plating is not used, but other ante-processing is effected, there has been the possibility that a similar problem may arise.
Now, when electroless plating is used, a metal catalyst is used to cause the plating to adhere also to other portion (insulator portion) than a conductor. However, if this metal catalyst is residual on the surface of a wiring layer, there has been the possibility that an insulation resistance value may be reduced or such trouble as the short-circuiting of a wiring pattern may be caused. In the electronic parts in recent years, a narrower pitch has been advanced and the possibility of the occurrence of the above-noted trouble has more increased.

Production method for electronic component and electronic component


A filter cartridge for purifying fluids such as water and chemicals is provided with sealing rings integrally formed with and extending circumferentially from a tube connected to the housing of the filter cartridge and intended to be inserted into a receptacle for providing or receiving fluids. The rings are elastic and compress when the filter cartridge is inserted into the receptacle, thereby providing a seal between the filter cartridge and the receptacle.

This invention relates to fluid seals, and more particularly to a fluid seal for a fluid sterilizing filter cartridge.
Fluids such as water and other chemicals can be purified by passing the fluids through a filter material. The filter material may be adapted to remove particulate matter from the fluids. In addition, the filter material may also be designed to bind impurities such as ions or minerals dissolved in the fluids. Typically, such filter materials are contained in filter cartridges. The fluid that is to be filtered and/or purified may pass from one end of the cartridge to the other, thereby passing through the filter material contained in the cartridge. Alternatively, the filter cartridge may have a permeable cylindrical housing and the fluid that is to be filtered and/or purified passes through the housing and then the filter material into a inner core, upon which the filtered fluid exits the filter cartridge through an opening in one of the ends of its housing.
Certain industries, such as the photo resist industry, require filters for ultra purification of fluids. Such filters must remove not only particulate matter but also ions (especially metal ions) and minerals as described above. Filters used in ultra purification should not contribute impurities to the fluid that is to be purified. The components of such filters should not be made of materials that contain "extractables," which are chemicals that leach into the fluid that is to be purified. Accordingly, the housing and other components of a filter cartridge for ultra purification are typically constructed of inert thermoplastics such as polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE), commercially known as Teflon.RTM., or polypropylene, both of which are materials that are very low in extractables yet have an appropriate toughness, strength, and temperature resistance to be useful in forming the components of filter cartridges.
Filter cartridges usually are designed to mate or attach at one end to a drain for filtered fluid or a source of unfiltered fluid. "Unfiltered" refers to fluid that has yet to pass through the filter material in the filter cartridge, at least on the current pass. In the case of flow-through filter cartridges, the end of the filter cartridge through which unfiltered fluid enters may be mated to a receptacle for providing the unfiltered fluid to the cartridge or may be open within a housing that supplies the unfiltered fluid to the cartridge. The other end of the flow-through filter cartridge may be mated to a receptacle for receiving filtered fluid from the filter cartridge. Filter cartridges with housings that are permeable to unfiltered fluid are usually mated to receptacles that receive filtered fluid from the cartridges.
Means for sealing the juncture between that portion of a filter cartridge that is attached to a receptacle and the receptacle itself must be provided in order to avoid contamination of filtered fluid with unfiltered fluid or to prevent leaks of fluid from the filtration system.
It is known to use a knife edge, typically in the form of a ring extending inwardly from a metallic housing around an inlet or an outlet against which an end of a filter cartridge is compressed. That end of the filter cartridge is typically formed of an elastomeric substance and the knife edge indents the compressible material of the end of the filter cartridge in order to provide a fluid tight seal. The disadvantage of this method of sealing the juncture between the receptacle and the filter cartridge is that the filter cartridge must be kept axially compressed tightly against the housing. This method of sealing the filter cartridge does not provide much tolerance for movement or changes in positioning of the filter cartridge.
It is also known to use an axially compressible seal for a filter cartridge, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,264 to Pulek et al. The successful employment of this seal also requires that the filter cartridge be tightly compressed against a housing.
O-rings are the most common means of sealing a filter cartridge used for sterilizing fluids. Typically, an end of the filter cartridge is tubular and is intended to fit within a cup-like receptacle that receives or provides a flow of fluid from or to the filter cartridge. Circumferential grooves in the walls of the tubular end receive O-rings (two is the standard) that compress radially inwardly when the tubular end is inserted into the cup-like receptacle. The use of O-rings provides a very good seal that accommodates the normal tolerances of construction of the receptacle and the tubular end as well as variations in the positioning of the filter cartridge within the receptacle.
Because O-rings must be compressible to perform a sealing function, they are typically constructed of elastomeric materials that have extractables and may be degraded by the chemicals that are to be purified. Examples of such elastomeric materials are EPR, silicone, Viton and Fiuna. In order to reduce the contribution of extractables to the filtered fluid, manufacturers have encased O-rings in PTFE, thus sealing in the extractables contained in the material of the O-ring while retaining the resilience of the underlying elastomeric material. O-rings constructed in this manner, however, are expensive. The O-rings can contribute extractables to the filtered fluid if their PTFE coating cracks or breaks.
Accordingly, industries that must use ultrapure water and chemicals need a filter cartridge with means for a good seal that will accommodate construction tolerances as well as variations in position of the filter cartridge with respect to a receptacle, yet contribute no more extractables than would be provided by the inert materials normally used to construct the filter cartridge.


The present invention provides a high voltage, step-up, high current DC pulse type transformer with increased coupling coefficient between the primary and secondary windings through close proximity of the primary winding turns and secondary winding turns by means of transformer construction that provides a plurality of winding bays for a high voltage secondary winding physically located in close proximity to the primary winding. The plurality of winding bays for the secondary winding are provided by means of a frame and separate thin insulation layer where the thin insulation layer provides the barrel for all or part of the secondary winding. The invention significantly increases the transformer's coupling coefficient in high voltage step-up transformer applications where the transformer's core is pushed beyond saturation due to the high peak current typically found in capacitive discharge type circuits such as those used in electric fence controllers, strobe circuits, and high performance ignition systems for automobile, marine, or motorcycle engines.

Transformers are electrical devices commonly used to transform power from an AC source to an AC load. They may also be used to electrically isolate the supply from the load by providing adequate insulation and creepage distance between the primary and secondary windings to electrically isolate one winding from the other. Transformers may also be used to generate high voltage and are called step-up type transformers when used to increase voltage on the secondary winding as related to the primary winding. Transformers consist of an input or primary winding, an output or secondary winding, and a means of magnetically coupling the primary winding to the secondary winding through a magnetic material called a core and/or through the air. The primary and secondary windings are typically wound using wire called magnet wire which consists of a conductive wire with a thin insulated coating to keep adjacent winding turns from shorting together. The relationship between the input power to the primary winding and output power from the secondary winding is referred to as the coupling coefficient. The coupling coefficient can be varied through several parameters including change in the transformer's core material or core size, change in winding material, change in the number of winding turns or size of the wire used for the winding. While the effect on the coupling coefficient is minimal in almost all types of transformers, the coupling coefficient can also be changed through proximity of the primary windings to the core, proximity of the core to the secondary windings, and through proximity of the primary windings to the secondary windings. Transformers are typically referred to as AC devices but can be used in a DC pulse application where an electric pulse into a transformer's primary winding causes a change in the magnetic field allowing the transformer to function.
In DC pulse applications, the transformer is typically constructed with a magnetic core and the transformer behaves similar to the AC application provided the pulse current does not become so high the magnetic core is pushed beyond saturation. Pushing the transformer's core beyond saturation in DC pulse type applications such as DC to DC converters is not common because it causes the transformer to become inefficient and results in over-heating. However, in high current DC pulse type applications such as capacitive discharge circuits, saturation of the core is common provided the duration of input pulse current is small relative to the time between the pulses. The relation between the duration of input pulse current to time between input current pulses is called the duty cycle. AC transformers that operate continuously have a duty cycle of 100%. A DC pulse type transformer used in a high current application where there is a long time between the pulse currents (typically while a capacitor is charging) relative to the duration of the pulse current (or during the capacitor's discharge), the duty cycle would be significantly lower than 100%. Due to the lower duty cycle, a transformer used in a high current DC pulse type application has time to cool between pulses and can be significantly smaller than a transformer designed to deliver the same peak output power continuously at a 100% duty cycle. The smaller size and the high currents associated with capacitive discharge type circuits cause the high current DC pulse type transformer's magnetic core to become saturated such that very little increase in output power from the secondary winding is delivered for an increase in input power to the primary winding due to the transformer's magnetic coupling through the transformers magnetic core.
While the magnetic coupling becomes a limiting factor the farther and farther the core is pushed beyond saturation, other changes can be made in the transformer's construction such as the physical proximity of the primary windings in relation to the secondary windings to increase the coupling coefficient and improve efficiency. The farther the transformer's core is pushed beyond saturation, the more dependent the coupling coefficient becomes on the primary and secondary winding's proximity to each other.
Transformers are typically constructed using one of two construction methods, stick wound construction or bobbin construction. The stick wound construction typically consists of an insulated rectangular core tube (typically cardboard) with multiple layers of windings wound around the core tube with a layer of insulation between each layer of windings. Both the primary and secondary windings are typically wound in several layers and separated from each other by a layer of insulation where all the primary winding layers are either inside or outside all of the secondary winding layers. Depending on the dielectric requirements between the primary and secondary windings and between each layer of windings within the primary and secondary, insulation between any two winding layers using materials that are commonly available may be a couple or few thousandths of an inch thick and can be a thin as 0.001 inches. In addition to providing insulation, the layers of insulation function as a mechanical form to keep the windings in layers and in position such that the transformer windings keep their shape and do not fall apart.
After the windings are wound, the coil must be lead-set which consists of finding the ends of the wires between the layers of insulation, pulling the ends of the wires out of the coil, placing insulated tubes over the wires, striping the insulated coating off the ends of the magnet wire, and terminating the ends of the wires. This lead-setting is a labor intensive and expensive process for one primary winding and one secondary winding where both ends of both windings are lead-set. To increase the coupling coefficient, the primary and secondary windings can be wound in alternating layers where multiple layers of primary windings are used to separate multiple layers of secondary windings resulting in a closer proximity between the primary winding turns and secondary winding turns. However, the number of wire ends that need to be lead-set goes up with the number of windings along with the cost.
In step-up transformers used to generate high voltage, the number of layers of secondary windings increases due to the increase in the number of turns in the secondary winding along with the number of layers of insulation necessary between the secondary winding layers. Without the use of multiple layers of primary windings separating multiple layers of secondary windings, the typical construction with all the primary winding layers inside or outside all of the secondary winding layers results in the insulation between all the layers of the secondary winding layers separating each secondary layer farther and farther as each layer moves away from the primary winding. While the secondary winding layer closest to the primary winding is separated from the primary winding by one layer of insulation, the second closest secondary winding layer is separated by two layers of insulation, the third closest secondary winding layer by three layers, and so on. This cumulative number of insulation layers between the secondary winding layers that are farthest away from the primary winding results in an average distance between the primary winding turns and secondary winding turns that significantly limits the coupling coefficient of the transformer when the transformer is used in a high current pulse type application where the transformer's core is pushed beyond saturation and where the coupling coefficient becomes more and more dependent on the primary and secondary winding's proximity to each other.
The bobbin construction transformer consists of a bobbin used as a form for the windings to be wound around rather than the core tube. The bobbin is typically injection molded and includes a round or rectangular tube (called a barrel) with a wall at each end (called a flange). The winding turns are wound around the outside perimeter of the bobbin's barrel between the flanges in an area called a winding bay. The bobbin's barrel and flanges create the structure for the windings to keep a particular shape and allow for multiple layers of windings without insulation between the layers as in the stick wound construction. The bobbin may be provided with pins or connectors for winding machines to wrap both ends of the wires around and terminate the wires, eliminating the lead-setting operation and associated labor costs. In high voltage step-up transformers requiring a high number of secondary turns where the transformer's secondary output voltage potential is higher than the dielectric strength of the coating on the magnet wire used for the secondary winding, the bobbin is typically provided with multiple winding bays to divide secondary output voltage between several winding bays, each winding bay able to withstand part of the secondary winding's total output voltage potential. The multi-winding bay bobbin provides a cost-effective manufacturing construction without the labor intensive costs associated with the stick wound construction.
The bobbin construction transformer can be constructed for a high voltage application using a single bobbin, where the primary and secondary windings are provided side-by-side on the same bobbin, where the bobbin is provided with a flange between the primary and secondary windings, and where the secondary is provided in multiple winding bays. However, this single bobbin side-by-side coil construction causes a significant separation between several of the primary winding turns and most of the secondary winding turns resulting in an extremely inefficient transformer the transformer is a high voltage, high current DC pulse type transformer where the core is pushed beyond saturation.
To place more secondary winding turns in close proximity to the primary winding turns, two bobbins are typically used where the primary winding is wound on one bobbin, the secondary winding is wound on a second bobbin that provides multiple winding bays, and one bobbin and winding are placed inside the other bobbin and winding. While the multiple winding bays for the secondary winding allow the secondary winding turns to be in close proximity to each other, the barrel of the bobbin used for the winding on the outside results in the primary and secondary windings being physically separated by the thickness of the barrel. The most common material used to injection mold bobbins is nylon which requires a wall section of approximately 1/32 inches thick to mold. Materials other than nylon are available to injection mold bobbins, however, these materials cost much more and still require thicknesses close to nylon or must be molded using a wall section thicker than nylon. In addition to the thick insulation associated with the dual bobbin construction that physically separate the primary and secondary winding turns from each other, additional distance is required between the primary and secondary windings due to assembly purposes. To allow assembly of one bobbin over the other bobbin after the winding on the inside bobbin is wound, typically 0.005 to 0.010 inches is required between the inside of the outer bobbin and the outside of the coil on the inner bobbin adding to the distance physically separating the primary and secondary windings.
In the high voltage, high current DC pulse type transformer where the core is pushed beyond saturation and where the primary winding's turns physical proximity to the secondary winding turns becomes more critical for a high coupling coefficient, both the stick wound and bobbin constructions have distinct advantages and disadvantages. While the stick wound construction may use insulation films as thin as 1/1000 inches between each of the winding layers and allow some of the primary winding layers to be in close proximity to some of the secondary winding layers, the high number of secondary winding layers and the insulation required between each layer necessary for the construction results in a significant separation between several of the primary winding turns and the secondary winding turns unless multiple primary winding layers are used to separate the layers of the secondary winding. While the bobbin construction eliminates the need for the multiple layers of insulation between each winding layer, the number of winding bays necessary for a high voltage secondary winding on the same bobbin as the primary winding results in a significant separation between the primary winding turns and secondary winding turns. Even in the dual bobbin construction with one bobbin over the other bobbin, while more secondary winding turns are in close proximity to the primary winding turns, the primary and secondary windings are separated by the thickness of the barrel of the outside bobbin plus additional distance necessary for assembly purposes. Thus it would be beneficial to provide a high voltage, high current, DC pulse type transformer where the core is pushed beyond saturation with a secondary winding provided in a plurality of winding bays as in the bobbin construction and with the primary and secondary windings in close proximity to each other separated by only a thin layer of insulation as in the stick wound construction.

High voltage pulse type transformer with increased coupling coefficient through primary and secondary winding proximity


A gellable system is suitable for use in lithium-air batteries, organic supercapacitors or capacitor batteries. The organic supercapacitors or capacitor batteries comprise a gel electrolytes and/or a solid electrolytes, which are prepared from a gellable system comprising the following components: (a) lithium salts and (b) ether compounds; the gellable system for lithium-air batteries also comprises (c) electrolytes or their solvents used in lithium-air batteries; in the system, the mass fraction of the gellable polymers and/or the gellable prepolymers is less than or equal to 1 wt %; by adjusting the composition and type of each component in the system, the gel and/or solid electrolytes, having adjustable strength, formation time, transition temperature, and also reversibility, can be prepared; the preparation method has simple procedure, mild reaction conditions, short reaction period, high yield, low manufacture cost, which makes it easy to realize industrialized production.

In recent years, the overconsumption of fossil energy has caused energy crises and environmental problems, and a large number of vehicle exhaust emission has led to the global warming and the increasing seriousness of smog weather, which have seriously affected human's production and life. Electrical energy is a clean energy source and can be reused through rechargeable batteries. Due to lithium batteries having advantages of high voltage platform, high energy density, long cycle life, low self-discharge and so on, they can be not only used in portable electronic devices, such as digital cameras and portable computers, but also widely used in some aspects such as power tools and electric vehicles.
Currently, the most commonly used lithium batteries are lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries and lithium-air batteries and so on. Because lithium-air batteries are novel lithium batteries with higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries, they have attracted more and more attention. Since the cathode materials of the lithium-air batteries are mainly porous carbon, and oxygen can be continuously supplied from the environment without being stored in the batteries, they has the characteristics of light weight and so on. The negative electrodes of the conventional lithium-air batteries are infiltrated in organic electrolytes, and the air electrodes are infiltrated in aqueous electrolytes. The organic electrolytes and aqueous electrolytes are separated by separators to prevent the mixing of the two electrolytes, promote the reaction of the batteries, and also possibly prevent the precipitation of a solid reaction product at the positive electrodes—lithium oxide (Li2O). However, the positive electrode active material oxygen of the lithium-air batteries is not stored in the batteries. It is directly supplied from the air, so other components in the air, such as H2O and CO2, have a significant impact on the performance of lithium-air batteries. H2O reacts with the negative lithium metal to produce H2, which causes serious safety problems. CO2 reacts with the discharge product Li2O2 from the positive electrodes to form Li2CO3 which is difficult to decompose, leading to block the oxygen transmission channel and severely affecting the performance of the batteries. In order to avoid the interference caused by gases such as H2O, CO2 and so on, the study on battery performance is presently often carried out in a pure dry oxygen environment. Strictly speaking, the system can be temporarily called "lithium-oxygen batteries". However, in the practical application of lithium-air batteries in the future, it is impossible to specifically equip oxygen tanks for the batteries, because it will seriously reduce the energy density of the lithium-air batteries. The ultimate goal of the system is to be able to perform in air environment. Thereby, it is very necessary to use gel electrolyte systems and solid electrolyte systems in the lithium-air batteries. In addition, the safety problems of the lithium-air batteries also limit their further development, which mainly involve dissolution of negative electrode materials, separator puncture, volatilization and leakage of liquid organic or aqueous electrolytes, etc. Hence, the problems, such as leakage of volatile electrolytes, flammability of batteries, decomposition due to high overpotential, etc., severely constrain the safety of the lithium-air batteries. Moreover, the fast charge/discharge performance, and service life of the lithium batteries are far inferior to those of supercapacitors. The supercapacitors (ultracapacitors), also known as Electrochemical Capacitors (ECs), are a kind of electrochemical components that store energy by means of polarizing electrolytes, and no chemical reaction occurs during the energy storage process, which is always a physical process, so they have stable performance; this energy storage process is reversible, and because the supercapacitors can be repeatedly charged and discharged hundreds of thousands of times, it greatly extends their service life; moreover, when an applied voltage is applied on the two electrode plates of the supercapacitors, the positive electrode plates store positive charges and the negative electrode plates store negative charges. Under the electric field generated by the charges on the two electrode plates of the supercapacitors, the opposite charges are formed at the interface between electrolytes and electrodes to balance the internal electric field of the electrolytes. The positive charges and negative charges are located at the interface between the two different phases, and arranged at opposite positions with very short gaps between positive and negative charges, so the storage capacity is very large. Although pure supercapacitors have high power density, the energy density still should be further improved. It has been found that parallelly connecting high-capacity capacitors at both ends of the batteries could buffer high current impact on the batteries, thus prolonging the cycle life of the batteries, so the capacitor lithium-ion batteries came into being. Later, the internal connection method was used, and consequently each particle of battery materials was all protected by the capacitors, therefore the electronic device of capacitor batteries was produced, which had characteristics of both the high energy density of batteries and the high power density of supercapacitors.
According to the classification of electrolyte types, supercapacitors can be classified into aqueous supercapacitors and organic supercapacitors. The aqueous supercapacitors typically use strong acidic or strong alkaline electrolytes, but the decomposition voltage is low, generally 1.2V, which extremely affects the energy density of the devices. The organic supercapacitors mostly use volatile organic solvents as the electrolytes; meanwhile, the electrolytes of the capacitor batteries are mainly organic. However, the safety concerns related to organic electrolytes such as combustion, explosion, etc., limit their further development. The safety issues of organic supercapacitors and capacitor batteries mainly involve the problems such as volatilization, leakage and fire explosion of liquid organic electrolytes, electrolyte decomposition, etc. Therefore, the problems, such as leakage of volatile electrolytes, flammability of batteries, decomposition due to high overpotential, etc., seriously constrain safety of supercapacitors.
In order to overcome the problems such as liquid electrolyte leakage, flammability, etc., inorganic solid electrolytes, polymer solid electrolytes, polymer gel electrolytes and so on have been extensively studied, wherein the inorganic solid electrolytes are a type of lithium salts having inorganic superionic conductivity; the polymer solid electrolytes are conductive solids consisting of polymers and lithium salts; however, the conductivity of the currently reported solid electrolytes is poor, which seriously affects the cycling performance of the prepared batteries.
Although the polymer gel electrolytes have good conductivity and their porous structure can effectively prevent volatilization and leakage of electrolytes, it has been currently reported that the polymer gel electrolytes were prepared by introducing polymers into raw materials or small-molecule organic gelators with relatively complex synthetic step into conventional electrolytes, and the obtained polymer gel electrolytes were in a flowable state at comparatively high temperatures and in a gel state at low temperatures. This makes it necessary to inject liquid by using high temperature injection, thus increasing the complexity of the experimental operation. In addition, the transition temperatures of the prepared polymer gel electrolytes were comparatively low, and the gel state was relatively easily destroyed. Once the gel was destroyed, it could not be reused, which significantly increased the cost.

Gelable system and uses thereof in lithium-air batteries, organic supercapacitors or capacitor batteries


This bill validator (10) includes a bill transport system (20) for conveying bills (B) to a location adjacent a bill collection compartment (12). The transport system (20) comprises a first pair of spaced belt assemblies (70) including a lower pulley (80) an upper pulley (82) and a belt (86) movable between said pulleys; a second pair of spaced belt assemblies (72) including a lower pulley (90) an upper pulley (92) and a belt (94) movable between said pulleys, associated belts (86, 94) being adjacent to direct bills (B) in a generally vertical path, the belts (86, 94) being moved into engagement by providing the lower pulleys (90) of the second belt assemblies (72) with a floating journal (104) and by providing the associated belts (94) with a length to induce tension into said belts (94) and apply a force to said pulleys (80) to provide sufficient pressure between said belts (86, 94) to grip and convey said bills (B).

This invention relates generally to bill validators for vending machines or the like and particularly to a bill validator having an improved transport system for conveying the bills to a bill collection compartment.
In general, bill validator transport systems of the type under consideration, which convey bills from a receiving slot to a location adjacent a collection compartment by gripping the edges of the bill, so that it can then be pushed into a collection compartment, are of two types. In the first type of transport system, represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,808, the bill edges are sandwiched between spaced pairs of engageable belts, one pair of spaced belts being idler belts. This system suffers from the disadvantage that the gripping ability of the paired belts which engage the edges of the bill must be carefully controlled since insufficient pressure results in bill slippage while too much pressure results in the problem of pushing the bill into the collection compartment. In the second type of transport system, represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,072, the bill edges are sandwiched between spaced pairs of belts and spaced sets of spring-biased rollers. While this system offers some tension control between the gripped edges of the bill it lacks the continuity of gripping which is available along the full length of the bill where double belts are used and, in addition, the spring-biased rollers require careful mounting and adjusting to ensure correct bias and add additional mechanical parts.
The present bill transport system is an improvement of the first type of transport system and overcomes the problems discussed above in a manner not disclosed in the known prior art.

Bill validator with bill transport system


An oven lock mechanism is disclosed having a latch mechanism driven by a motor between a latched position wherein the oven door is held in a closed position and an unlatched position wherein the oven door freely opens and closes. The motor is controlled by a switch that enables rotation of the motor when in a first state and prevents rotation of the motor when in a second state. A switch actuator mechanism places the switch in the first state when the door is closed and in the second state when the door is open. The switch is mounted at the rear of the oven away from the front opening of the oven compartment.

This invention relates generally to self-cleaning oven door locks and more particularly to door locks wherein the act of closing the oven door actuates a switch the actuator of which is centrally located relative to the front of the oven frame.
The walls of the cooking chamber of conventional gas or electric ovens collect deposits from items cooked in the oven. Modern self-cleaning ovens reduce these deposits to dust with high heat when a self-cleaning cycle is initiated by a user. This cleaning method is commonly known as pyrolytic cleaning. The high temperature used for pyrolytic cleaning poses a hazard if the oven door is opened during the cleaning cycle. To prevent this, an oven door lock is employed.
Many types of oven door locks have been provided that lock the oven door for a period sufficient to complete a pyrolytic cleaning cycle. Typically, such ovens include a switch actuated by closure of the oven door that energizes or enables a driver circuit for locking the oven door. Many of these door locks use electrical motors, electromechanical machines or manual manipulation of mechanisms to move a latch to a position in which the latch prevents the oven door from being opened during a self-cleaning cycle. Examples of such locks are disclosed in Eff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,569,670; Gilliom, U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,979; Drouin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,637; Barnett, U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,320; Genbauffe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,996 and Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,098.
Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,098 discloses an oven door latch assembly with a motor and a switch located in a rearward position and a latch mounted for pivotal and longitudinal movement between an unlatched position, a latched position and a latched and sealed or pulled-in position. Smith uses a bias spring to bias the latch toward the unlatched position. The unnumbered switch in Smith does not appear to be a switch that actuates the motor drive circuitry but rather appears to be a switch that is actuated by a cam driven by the motor. Such switches tend to provide a change of state signal to a pyrolytic oven controller indicating that the oven is currently locked.
Ovens using latching mechanisms similar to that disclosed in Smith typically include a switch that actuates the drive circuitry for the motor so that it can move the latch into the latched position only when door is closed. Thus, upon receipt of a request to initiate a cleaning cycle, the motor can rotate the latch to seal and lock the oven. Some such ovens use a switch mounted near the front of the oven with a plunger extending forwardly beyond the frame so that it can be depressed by the door during closure to actuate the drive circuitry. Such switches must be heat tolerant. Other such ovens use a switch mounted at the rear of the oven that is actuated by engagement of the door with a switch actuator extending between the switch and the front of the oven to enable the motor of the oven latch mechanism. The switch actuator in these ovens is typically mounted near the side of the oven frame to be engaged by the side of the oven door upon door closure.
Through use doors may become warped or bent so that sides of the oven doors do not engage the sides of the frames unless the oven door is pulled-in. A switch actuated by the side of the oven door during closure might not be actuated by a warped or bent oven door. The failure of the oven door to actuate a switch enabling the motor of the lock mechanism can result in a service call on the self-cleaning oven as the self-cleaning function may not implement on demand.
The disclosed oven lock mechanisms position an actuator for a switch enabling the motor driving circuit in the center of the front frame of the oven so that the actuator is engaged by the center of the oven door upon closure. Thus door warpage is not as likely to disable the self-cleaning feature of the oven. In the illustrated embodiments, the switches enabling the motor drive circuit of the oven cleaning mechanism are located at the rear of the oven away from the high temperatures present adjacent the oven compartment opening.
According to one aspect of the disclosure, an oven locking mechanism for a self-cleaning oven is provided. The oven includes an oven compartment having an opening defined by a top frame wall, a bottom frame wall and side frame walls. The oven includes an oven door having a top wall, a bottom wall and side walls configured to close the oven compartment. The top walls of the oven frame and the oven door have a central region displaced from the side walls. The oven locking mechanism comprises a latch, an electromechanical actuator, a switch, a plunger and a switch actuator. The latch is mounted to extend forwardly beyond the central region of the top wall of the oven frame to engage a portion of the door located in the central region when moved into a latched position. The electromechanical actuator is coupled to the latch for moving the latch to the latched position when actuated. The switch is electrically coupled to the electromechanical actuator and configured to enable the electromechanical actuator when in a first state and disable the electromechanical actuator when in a second state. The switch is mounted to the oven away from the opening. The plunger is mounted in the central region of the top wall of the frame for movement relative to the frame. The plunger has a door engaging end which when the plunger is in a first position extends forward beyond the frame of the oven in a position to be engaged by a portion of the door in the central region of the top wall during closure of the oven door. The switch actuator is configured to change the state of the switch between the first and second states based on the position of the plunger.
In another aspect of the disclosed device, an oven lock mechanism is provided for a self-cleaning oven having a front, a rear and a front opening oven compartment and an oven door configured to close the oven compartment. The lock mechanism comprises a latch mechanism, a switch and a switch actuator mechanism. The latch mechanism latches the door by engaging a portion of the door. The latch mechanism includes a latch, an electromechanical actuator, and drive circuitry. The latch is mounted for movement relative to the oven frame between a first position in which the oven door opens and closes freely without being inhibited by the latch and a second position in which the latch inhibits opening a closed oven door. The electromechanical actuator is coupled to the latch for moving the latch between the first and the second positions. The drive circuitry is configured to selectively drive the electromechanical actuator. The switch is electrically coupled to the drive circuitry and configured to enable the drive circuitry when in a first state and disable the drive circuitry when in a second state. The switch is mounted to the oven at the rear of the oven. The switch actuator mechanism includes a plunger and a switch actuator. The plunger is mounted to the front of the oven for movement relative to the oven. The plunger has a door engaging end which when the plunger is in a first position extends forward beyond the frame of the oven in a position to be engaged by a portion of the oven door during closure of the oven door. The switch actuator mechanism is configured to change the state of the switch between the first and second states based on the position of the switch plunger. The plunger and latch are mounted to engage a portion of the door not seriously affected by door warpage or bending.
According to yet another aspect of the disclosed device, an oven lock mechanism is provided for an oven having a front opening oven compartment having a back wall and side walls, a top frame wall disposed above the oven compartment and having a central portion displaced from the side walls and a door configured to close the oven compartment by pivoting from an open to a closed position. The lock mechanism comprises front and rear mounting plate portions, a latch, a motor, a switch and a switch actuating mechanism. The front mounting plate portion is mounted to the center portion of the top frame wall. The rear mounting plate portion is mounted to the back wall of the oven compartment. The latch is pivotally mounted to the front mounting plate portion. The latch comprises a latch hook extending forwardly beyond the top frame wall. The latch is configured to pivot between a latched position wherein the latch hook engages and inhibits pivotal movement of the door and an unlatched position wherein the latch does not inhibit pivotal movement of the door. The motor is coupled to the latch to move the same between the latched and unlatched positions when driven. The switch is configured to enable the motor to be driven when in a first state and disable the motor from being driven when in a second state. The switch is mounted to the rear mounting plate portion. The switch actuating mechanism includes an engagement portion and an actuator portion. The engagement portion is mounted for movement relative to the front mounting plate portion and configured to engage and be moved by the door during pivotal movement of the door. The actuator portion is coupled to the engagement portion and configured to change the state of the switch from the second state to the first state in response to movement of the engagement portion.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

Oven lock with mechanical actuation of remotely located door switch


A C-arm x-ray device includes a C-arm and an x-ray source and an x-ray detector arranged on the C-arm. At least one damping element with an oscillation-damping effect is arranged between the x-ray source and the C-arm. Transmission of oscillations of the x-ray source onto the C-arm may be reduced with the at least one damping element. The C-arm x-ray device also includes at least one holding element arranged on the C-arm. The oscillation-damping effect of the at least one damping element may be influenced.

The present embodiments relate to a C-arm x-ray device having a C-arm and an x-ray source and an x-ray detector arranged on the C-arm.
The problem with x-ray imaging technology is that when x-ray images are produced using a C-arm x-ray device including an x-ray source arranged at one end of the C-arm, vibrations are generated. The vibrations are transmitted via the C-arm to an x-ray detector arranged at the other end of the C-arm. The vibrations develop on account of a high rotational speed of a rotary anode arranged in the x-ray source. The vibrations transmitted to the x-ray detector via the C-arm cause the x-ray detector to continuously move to and fro and thus to deflect from a basic position. X-ray images produced during such vibration phases are characterized by a poor image quality.
When x-ray image sequences are imaged (e.g., a number of x-ray images in temporal sequence) such as is implemented, for example, in angiography typically with a sequence length of 10 seconds and a frequency of 15 to 30 images per second, the vibrations also result in the entire sequence of the x-ray image sequence being negatively affected. The x-ray image sequence appears to be blurred when reproduced.
A further disadvantage is that the vibrations cause the bearing and other components of a drive module of the x-ray anode to be exposed to high loads. These mechanical loads are intensified further by the high operating temperatures of the x-ray tube, so that an increased and premature wear of individual components finally results.
The mechanical instability caused by the vibrations in the anode drive housing may result in a higher noise level, which in the case of a patient to be examined, may result in increased unrest, and in the case of an operator of the x-ray facility, may result in increased distraction.
JP 2005-027914 A discloses an x-ray device having a C-arm, in which a vibration sensor and a vibration compensator are arranged on the x-ray detector. The vibration sensor measures the vibration transmitted to the x-ray detector. The measuring results are used to actuate the vibration compensator such that the vibration compensator neutralizes the vibrations.
DE 60131278T2 describes an anode drive module having a rotating anode plate for use in an x-ray tube. The anode drive module includes a rotor that is connected to the rotatable anode plate via a shaft section. The shaft section includes a material with a first thermal expansion coefficient. The anode drive module includes a bearing shaft that is held rotatably by a bearing surface. The bearing shaft includes a material with a second thermal expansion coefficient. A boss that connects the bearing shaft to the rotor is made of a material with a thermal expansion coefficient that lies between the first and the second thermal expansion coefficients. As a result, the appearance of unequal thermal expansion rates between the components is reduced. As a result, mechanical instabilities are reduced in the drive module, thereby providing a high image quality of the x-ray image produced.

C-arm X-ray device with a C-arm and associated method


A jitter determination method for determining at least one random jitter component of an input signal is described, wherein the input signal is generated by a signal source, comprising: receiving the input signal; determining a time interval error associated with the random jitter component; determining at least one statistical moment of the time interval error based on the determined time interval error, wherein the order of the statistical moment is two or larger; at least one of determining an impulse response based on the input signal and receiving the impulse response, the impulse response being associated with at least the signal source; and determining the standard deviation of the random jitter component based on at least one of the determined statistical moment and the determined impulse response. Moreover, a measurement instrument is described.

For jitter analysis, the components of jitter such as Data Dependent Jitter (DDJ), Periodic Jitter (PJ), Other Bounded Uncorrelated Jitter (OBUJ) and Random Jitter (RJ) must be separated and the bit error rate (BER) must be calculated.
So far, techniques are known that exclusively relate on determining the Time Interval Error (TIE) of the Total Jitter (TJ). In fact, the causes of the different jitter types lead to a distortion of the received signal and they, therefore, have an influence on the TIE via the received signal. Accordingly, the respective components of jitter are calculated once the Time Interval Error (TIE) of the Total Jitter (TJ) is determined.
However, it turned out that the measurement time is long if a high accuracy is to be achieved. Put another way, the signal length of the signal to be analyzed is long resulting in a long measuring duration if high precision is aimed for.
Moreover, the respective components of jitter are obtained by averaging operations. For instance, the Data Dependent Jitter (DDJ) is estimated by averaging the Time Interval Error (TIE) of the Total Jitter (TJ), namely a DDJ eye diagram or the DDJ worst case eye diagram. Moreover, certain components of jitter cannot be determined in a reliable manner.
Accordingly, there is a need for a fast and reliable possibility to determine a jitter component of an input signal, particularly the Random Jitter (RJ).

Jitter determination method and measurement instrument


A small critical dimension element, such as a heater for an ovonic unified memory, may be formed within a pore by using successive sidewall spacers. The use of at least two successive spacers enables the limitations imposed by lithography and the limitations imposed by bread loafing be overcome to provide reduced critical dimension elements.

This invention relates generally to semiconductor technologies and to semiconductor manufacturing processes.
In a number of applications, it is desirable to manufacture relatively small contacts. These contacts may be formed within vias or within pores.
For example, in connection with phase change memories, it may be desirable to form a pore into which a contact is formed. Over the contact may be defined a heater which resides within the pore. The heater is then covered by a phase change material so that the heater is capable, when passing electrical current, to heat the chalcogenide and to cause it to change phase. These different phases may be associated with different measurable resistivities. As a result, a phase change memory may be formed. Since it is desirable to reduce the programming current, it may also be desirable to reduce the size of the heater.
In a number of instances, making relatively small critical dimension parts is limited by the dimensions achievable with lithographic techniques. Today, lithographic techniques limit feature size to about 180 nanometers.
Thus, it would be desirable to form features that are smaller than 180 nanometers.


This invention relates to a valve assembly comprising (a) a valve body defining a valve chamber, an inlet port and a discharge port, wherein the inlet port and discharge port communicate with the valve chamber; and (b) a valve member in the valve chamber, the valve member comprising a passage having (1) a first opening and (2) a second opening housing a filter having an inlet surface proximate to the inlet port and a discharge surface proximate to the discharge port, wherein the passage communicates with the inlet port and discharge port, and wherein the valve member is moveable to alternately juxtapose the inlet port and either the filter inlet surface or the filter discharge surface. The invention further relates to a particulate material metering and/or feed system comprising the valve assembly.

A number of feed systems for gas and liquid phase and fluidized reactors are known to those skilled in the art. Well known systems include systems comprising a catalyst storage vessel connected to a feed chamber with filling and emptying valves in turn connected to a reactor. Typically the catalyst is conveyed from the storage vessel through the catalyst feed system to the reactor by maintaining the reactor at a pressure lower than that in the system. Valves incorporated in such systems allow a given quantity of catalyst to move from the storage vessel to a feed chamber or metering device and then to the reactor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,574 discloses an apparatus comprising an enclosed mixing tank with rotating mixing blades and a rotatable shot valve spaced below the mixing tank. The shot valve can be rotated from a first position in communication with an opening in the lower portion of the mixing tank to a second position in communication with a hydrocarbon feed conduit that provides hydrocarbon liquid to the polymerization reactor vessel. A bypass conduit is provided for introducing hydrocarbon liquid from the hydrocarbon feed conduit into the mixing tank wherein the interior of the mixing tank is maintained at the same pressure as the hydrocarbon feed conduit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,028 discloses a rotating metering valve having a transverse passage which carries a slidable piston reciprocating once for each revolution of the valve for metering particulate material from an inlet port to an outlet port and a purge fluid port in the transverse passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,683 discloses a devise comprising a storage vessel for a catalyst and a metering valve having a cavity in which the metering valve receives the catalyst powder and is rotated to deliver the catalyst powder to an intermediate chamber having a gas flow to suspend the catalyst prior to discharging the suspended catalyst powder into a pipe with a transverse gas flow to direct the catalyst powder into a reactor vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,493 discloses an injection system, for feeding a particulate material into a process vessel, including a valve with at least one cavity for receiving a predetermined volume of particulate material and a sweep stream source for providing a sweep stream having a flow direction generally toward the cavity to remove substantially all of the particulate material from the cavity of the valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,995 discloses a method of delivering a dry catalyst to a liquid-filled polymerization reactor by transferring dry catalyst from a reservoir to a catalyst chamber and introducing an inert fluid into the chamber to flush the catalyst charge toward the reactor.
Additional references of interest include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,012,024; 3,167,398; 3,846,394; 4,123,601; 4,687,381; 4,774,299; 4,773,565; and 5,433,924.
There exists a need for a valve assembly having a filter in the valve passage for use in a particulate material feed system that provides consistent uniform particulate material feed and consistent volume fill efficiency in a chemical process, particularly for use in providing a catalyst in a polymerization process. There exists a need for a valve assembly having a filter in the valve passage for use in a particulate material metering system and/or feed system in which the process of using the filter flushes the particulate material from the filter.


A full-wave rectifier circuit (70) includes a first transistor (N1) and a second transistor (N2) in combination to form a first transistor pair (N1 and N2) for minimizing the voltage drop between ground (88) and the transponder substrates. A third transistor (P1) and a fourth transistor (P2) operate in combination to form a second transistor pair (P1 and P2) for minimizing the voltage drop between the alternating current peak voltage (118 and 120) and the output voltage (V.sub.DD) of the full-wave rectifier (70). The first transistor pair (N1 and N2) and second transistor pair (P1 and P2) are controlled by alternating current voltage input signals (118 and 120). A series regulator circuit (70) decouples the first transistor pair (N1 and N2) and the second transistor pair (P1 and P2) from capacitive loads (C1 and C2) of the full-duplex transponder circuitry (14).

Various types of recognition systems are taught by the following commonly assigned U.S. Patents and Applications: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,287,112; 5,270,717; 5,196,735; 5,170,493; 5,168,282; 5,126,745; 5,073,781; 5,053,774; 5,025,492; U.S. Ser. No. 08/021,123, filed Feb. 23, 1993 TI-17529!; Ser. No. 08/065,286, filed May 21, 1993 TI-16981!; and Ser. No. 08/086,786, filed Jul. 2, 1993 TI-17507!. Systems conforming to the teachings of the foregoing documents are marketed under the name TIRIS ("Texas Instruments Register and Identification System"). A recognition system similar in result to, but structurally and functionally specifically different from, TIRIS is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,955. Other types of recognition systems include systems known as AVI (for "Automatic Vehicular Identification"), as taught, for example, by commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,112 and commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 08/021,123, filed Feb. 23, 1993.
In one type of TIRIS recognition system of interest, a transmitter/receiver (also referred to herein, in the claims hereof and elsewhere as an "interrogator" or a "reader") selectively radiates energy via an associated first antenna. The energy is radiated from the vicinity of a key-operated lock, such as a vehicle ignition switch. The radiated energy is often referred to as an "interrogation signal." The radiated energy is received by a second antenna present on or in a key. The key also includes facilities, such as circuitry (sometimes called a "transponder" or "tag"), connected to the second antenna. An electrical signal produced or induced in the key's circuitry by the received energy either is affected (e.g., increased or decreased) by the circuitry or effects the generation of a stored, uniquely coded signal by the circuitry. The affected or coded signal is often referred to as a "recognition signal."
Depending on the constituents of the key's circuitry, either the recognition signal is transmitted or reflected back to the transmitter/receiver via the second and first inductors or antennas. A key "matching" the particular ignition switch transmits or causes a predetermined recognition signal. Other keys which operate other ignition switches associated with similar recognition systems may similarly respond to the interrogation signal but transmit recognition signals different from the predetermined recognition signal.
The transmitter/receiver includes facilities which analyze the recognition signals received thereat to determine if the analyzed signal is the predetermined recognition signal produced by the matching key. If the analyzed signal is the predetermined recognition signal, the concurrence of such predetermined recognition signal and the operation of the ignition switch by the matching key starts the engine of the vehicle. If the analyzed signal is not the predetermined recognition signal, either the ignition switch cannot be operated by the key, or, if it can be operated, such operation is ineffective to start the engine.
Portability and/or space limitations usually result in the transmitter/receiver of a TIRIS-type of recognition system being not very powerful. Also, the recognition signals, that is the signals transmitted or reflected back to the transmitter/receiver from the key-included circuitry, may be derived from the limited energy radiated from the transmitter/receiver, not from energy derived from a key-contained power source, such as a battery, as is typical in systems of the AVI type. While the use of a battery with key-included circuitry of a TIRIS system is technically possible, the large size and resulting unwieldiness of the resulting key would probably lead to rejection by users. As a consequence of the foregoing, it is critical that circuit efficiencies be as high as possible.
One type of recognition circuitry of the subject type includes active and passive components, which in response to the receipt of energy from the transmitter/receiver produce a coded signal. See the above-noted commonly assigned U.S. Patents and Applications. The coded signal, which may be produced by data stored in memory, is transmitted back to the transmitter/receiver, where comparison with the stored "matching" signal is carried out. The coded signal may be produced by modulating a carrier with the stored code, and the carrier may be, or may be derived from, the energy received by the key-included facilities from the transmitter/receiver. In this latter event, the system may be of the TIRIS variety, and the key and its circuitry require no on-board power source and may be said to be "batteryless." This third type of system may also be of the AVI variety, in which case the transponder is typically powered by a self-contained power source.
Recognition systems of the above type may be the full-duplex variety. Specifically, the transmitter/receiver may simultaneously operate as both a transmitter and a receiver, that is, it may simultaneously radiate energy to the key-included circuitry and receive for analysis the corresponding signal produced by such circuitry. Typically, in full-duplex operation, the frequency of the modulated carrier radiated by the transmitter/receiver to the key-included circuitry is different from the frequency of the modulated carrier produced by the key-included circuitry and thereafter received and analyzed by the receiver/transmitter. See above-noted commonly assigned application Ser. No. 08/012,123 TI-17529!.
Available full-duplex transponders contain full-wave rectifiers that provide the circuits on a single silicon chip with a DC voltage. This voltage, which is usually in the order of 2 volts, is on the order of 0.7 to 1.5 volts lower than the maximum alternating current peak voltage at the input of the rectifier. This voltage drop has its problems in long-range operations, because the available alternating current voltage, by the time it reaches its destination, is much lower than desirable.
Conventional rectifiers circuits for full-duplex transponders include circuitry that transmits radiofrequency energy from a reader unit to the transponder via the electromagnetic coupling of the two antennas. In such a circuit, the sinewave alternating current voltage between the two coils is reflected in order to generate, using a full-wave rectifier circuit, a direct current voltage V.sub.DD. The conventional rectifier circuits include four diodes that are associated to rectify the alternating current voltage. When the diodes are conducting, the coils connecting to the electromagnetic coupling are negative, typically having a value of approximately -0.6 volts. Also, the maximum value of V.sub.DD is smaller than the maximize voltage at the coils. As a result, it is expensive to realize diodes in an implementation of a rectifier circuit wherein the diodes are independent from the substrate, such as with a Schottky diode or n-poly/p-poly diode. In essence, there is the need for a more efficient full-duplex transponder circuit that includes a full-wave rectifier.
One attempt to include the rectifier circuit includes a network of simple diodes associated with N-channel transistors. In such a circuit, the negative halfwave of the alternating current is fed through a circuit. In order to avoid current flow in reverse direction, a P-channel transistors works as a diode. The problem with working with the P-channel transistor as a diode is that it is not possible to use this circuit with the circuit that employs EEPROM capacitive trimming. For transponder operation, this limitation is not acceptable.
In addressing the particular needs of a transponder circuit operation, four N-channel transistors have been used to form a rectifier circuit. In this circuit, and due to the active switches N1 and N2, there are nearly no negative voltage drops. There are no other diodes necessary. In addition, capacitive trimming is possible for large N-channel transistors. A disadvantage with this circuit, however, is that the voltage drop across the N-channel transistors that supply VDD can be excessive, for example, on the order of 1.6 volts. Such a circuit is described in K. Klosa, Kontaktlose RF-indentifikationssyteme-Funktionsweise, SCHALTUNGSTECHNIK UND REALISIERUNG DES RF-INTERFACES, GME Mikroelectronik, Dresden, Germany, 1993.

Full-wave rectifier and method of operation for a recognition system


The invention relates to an apparatus and method for positioning articles, comprising multiple unloading operations per cycle. The inventive apparatus comprises means for placing articles in housings that move along the length of a closed circuit provided with at least first and second drop sites through which the correctly oriented articles fall from each housing into a corresponding alignment conduit placed under and moving together with each housing. In addition compartments are positioned between the alignment conduits. According to the invention, transfer means transfer each article from a conduit to a compartment after said article has fallen through the first drop site, but before it has reached the second drop site. Subsequently, extraction means extract the correctly oriented and aligned articles from said conduits and compartments and transfer same to an outfeed conveyor.

In several industrial sectors, machines are used for positioning initially randomly arranged articles into a predetermined position and/or into an aligned arrangement. More specifically, in the packaging field, machines are used to put empty bottles or containers upright and align them. A type of positioning machine is known that is suitable for putting in the upright position containers of the type defining a longitudinal body with a base at one of its ends and an opening for filling the container on the other end, such that they rest on their base and with said opening for filling the container in an upper part thereof. The opening for filling the container generally forms a neck constituting a geometric shape that is different at the end opposite to the base.
Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,659 describes a machine based on an operating principle which has become the most widely used in many types of article positioning machines. Such principle is based on the handling of the mentioned different geometric shape to put the articles upright and comprises first individually arranging the articles in a housing in a horizontal position and with the longitudinal axis of the article pre-oriented according to the direction of said housing, such that the different geometric shape is facing either end of the housing, and then allowing the article to fall due to gravity through an open bottom of the housing into an alignment conduit. There are abutment and support configurations in the house intended for supporting said different geometric shape whatever its relative position is with respect to the housing so that the article always drops on its base into the alignment conduit. The machine adopts a rotary configuration in which a plurality of said cavities intended for receiving an article are radially arranged on the periphery of a circular structure.
Other more recent rotary positioning machines are known which are intended for empty lightweight bottles or containers, comprising a series of housings attached to a rotating structure, arranged tangentially on the periphery thereof, around a container receiving the articles in a random arrangement and means for leading in each housing a container or bottle in a horizontal position, with its longitudinal axis pre-oriented according to the tangential direction of the housing and with the neck either in the front part or in the rear part with respect to the rotation direction. Each of the mentioned housings has an open bottom over an alignment conduit which moves together with it and means are provided for allowing a container to drop upright from each housing into its corresponding alignment conduit through a drop site in the course of each turn. Deflector means for finally transferring the vertically oriented containers from the alignment conduits to an outfeed conveyor.
Given that a container in the horizontal position occupies a portion of the perimeter of the container that is greater than an upright container, it is possible to arrange along the length of the lower part of the perimeter of the container more compartments for upright containers than housings for horizontal containers in the upper part. This means that each housing can discharge upright containers in more than one compartment in the course of each turn.
Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 3,662,872 discloses a positioning machine with two drop sites per turn, in which each alignment conduit is vertically divided into two equal compartments by a wall and a divider plate is arranged in a hinged manner at an upper end of said wall and actuated by actuation means to alternately change position for the purpose of directing the articles which drop from the housing into either of said compartments in the course of each turn. The machine is therefore able to discharge from each peripheral housing, and through the two drop sites, two articles in each alignment conduit in the course of a turn.
Patent document EP-A-0945374 describes a rotating machine for orienting containers, particularly empty plastic bottles, provided with multiple drop sites per turn. This machine comprises a central hopper and a rotary structure on the periphery of which there are a plurality of housings. Each peripheral housing is associated with a corresponding alignment conduit located below it and which moves together with the conduit. Located under the alignment conduits there are a series of compartments provided with rollers for rolling over a peripheral track and linked to a drive chain which moves them in the same direction in which the structure rotates. Each drop conduit has as many corresponding lower compartments as drop sites in the circumference of the machine and the mentioned peripheral track on which the compartments move define a sinusoidal shape in relation to each drop site elongating the trajectory enough to misalign the position of a compartment with respect to the corresponding alignment conduit before passing through each drop site. A support plane is arranged between the drop conduits and the compartments having cutouts so as to allow the passage of the containers when a drop conduit is aligned with an empty compartment.
This system, however, is excessively complex given that each compartment must be constituted by way of a small carriage to be driven and led over a peripheral sinusoidal track provided with support rollers for rolling over a horizontal portion of the track for the purpose of counteracting the forces due to gravity, and other support rollers for rolling over a vertical portion of the track to counteract the forces due to traction of the drive chain, this vertical portion of the track being what defines the sinusoidal shapes. It must be taken into consideration that for example in a normal sized machine with 28 housings along its circumference and three drop sites, 84 rolling compartments linked to the drive chain would be necessary, which means a high manufacturing cost, excessive assembly complexity and low operating reliability.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for positioning articles, based on the known principle of articles falling from housings into alignment conduits, comprising multiple unloading operations per cycle, which is able to position multiple articles by means of each housing in the course of each cycle using a relatively simple, economical and reliable mechanism.

Apparatus and method for positioning articles, comprising multiple unloading operations per cycle