A golf ball cover is produced from a composition comprising an isocyanate-functional prepolymer and a curing agent of a polyamine or glycol, and an organic compound having at least one epoxy group such as the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to polyurethane golf ball covers which use an epoxy curing agent, in particular, (2,2-bis4-(2'3' epoxy propoxy) phenyl! propane). Golf ball covers employing the curing agents of the present invention have an improved shear resistance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polyurethane has been recognized as a useful material for golf ball covers since as early as about 1960. U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,324, filed Oct. 20, 1960, is directed to a method of making a golf ball having a polyurethane cover. This patent disclosed an improved method of covering a golf ball with a liquid urethane polymer which could be applied, set and cured at room temperature or at a temperature that would not damage the tensioned windings of the golf ball center. The curing agents disclosed were diamines, polyols or air moisture. However, the '324 patent does not teach the use of epoxy or diol curing agents and did not recognize the existence of shear resistance problems engendered in polyurethane golf balls which have been cured with diol curing agents.
Even though no commercial golf ball was introduced to the market until recently, various companies continued to investigate polyurethane as a golf ball cover material in limited ways. U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,061 issued Oct. 31, 1978 teaches that a golf ball can be made from a polyurethane prepolymer of polyether and a curing agent, such as a trifunctional polyol, a tetrafunctional polyol or a diamine. However, this patent does not recognize the fact that golf ball covers comprising polyurethane and a polyol curing agent exhibit reduced shear resistance. There is also no teaching in the '061 patent that the addition of an organic curing agent having at least one epoxy group to the polyurethane golf ball cover material will improve the product's properties in any respect.
Shear resistance is a golf ball's ability to withstand the shear force applied to a ball when hit with a golf club and/or iron. When the biting grooves on the striking surface of a golf club and/or iron impact a golf ball in a downward oblique swing causing it to be slidingly uplifted across, and immediately forcibly propelled in an outbound trajectory from, the particular club face, the shear force applied to the golf ball cover often produces cuts or abrasion marks on the surface of the cover material of the golf ball. Acushnet Company, which has been the industry leader in the research and development of polyurethane covered golf balls for twenty years, has only now unexpectedly found that polyurethane golf ball covers which incorporate an epoxy curing agent have significantly improved shear resistance.
Polyurethanes having an epoxy resin bound in their structure were known in the art, but not in the art of manufacturing golf ball covers. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,142 to Czerwinski discloses polyurethane compositions which are produced from a polyisocyanate, a polyhydroxyl compound, a chain extender and an epoxy resin. The Czerwinski patent not only does not teach the use of polyurethane compositions in golf ball covers, but also does not disclose the problems of inadequate shear resistance that the present invention has now solved.
Despite the fact that it had been known for over thirty years that polyurethane compositions were useful in formulating golf ball covers, no commercially successful polyurethane covered golf ball appeared on the market until the introduction of Titleist's PROFESSIONAL brand golf ball in 1993. Although the cost of the raw materials needed to produce polyurethane composition golf ball covers was an inhibiting factor in bringing such golf balls on the market, the principal obstacle lay in the extraordinary difficulty in efficaciously applying a coating of polyurethane composition to a golf ball core to form a golf ball cover having a uniform thickness, i.e., a golf ball having a uniform difference between the inner and outer diameter of its cover.
In particular, the difficulty resided in centering a golf ball core in an amount of polyurethane that was sufficiently cured to keep the core centered while at the same time being insufficiently cured so that the cover material could be molded around the core. This problem was essentially solved and a commercially successful polyurethane covered golf ball appeared on the market with the introduction of the aforesaid PROFESSIONAL brand polyurethane covered golf ball in 1993. Ongoing research and development into different polyurethane compositions for golf ball covers has led to the present invention in which a golf ball core clad with a polyurethane composition cover which has been set with an epoxy curing agent is virtually free of abrading marks and damage to the cover when struck with a golf club.

Urethane golf ball covers using epoxy compounds with a polyamine or glycol as curing agents


There is provided a thermosetting powder coating composition comprising (A1) a fluorine-containing copolymer and (B) a curing agent, in which the copolymer contains, as essential structural units, a fluoroolefin unit, an alkene unit and cyclohexyl vinyl ether unit and/or p-tertiary butyl vinyl benzoate unit, has a sum of cyclohexyl vinyl ether unit and p-tertiary butyl vinyl benzoate unit of from 5 to 45% by mole, has a thermal transition temperature of from 45° to 120° C. and has a crosslinkable reaction group. The thermosetting powder coating composition is excellent in storage stability and provides a coating film possessing a smooth surface and enhanced impact resistance.

There are known compositions described, for example, in JP6-104792B as a thermosetting fluorine-containing powder coating composition. Also the present inventors have filed a patent application (Application No.: PCT/JP00/08802, Publication No. WO01/44390) with respect to a thermosetting fluorine-containing powder coating composition prepared from a fluorine-containing copolymer comprising tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), hexafluoropropylene (HFP), ethylene, hydroxybutyl vinyl ether (HBVE) and p-tertiary butyl vinyl benzoate (tBVBz). However there are no teachings with respect to amounts of ethylene and tBVBz in the copolymer and further thermal transition temperature and impact resistance of the obtained copolymer.
Also WO01/25346A1 and WO01/25354A1 disclose use of a TFE/HFP/ethylene/HBVE copolymer for a powder coating, and JP2000-26767A discloses use of a TFE/HFP/ethylene/perfluorobutenoic acid (PFBA) copolymer for a powder coating. Those patent publications disclose that impact resistance of a coating film at a coating thickness of 40 μm which is measured with an impact tester is 2.5 J.
With respect to a polymer for thermosetting powder coating, from the viewpoint of a mechanism of forming a coating film by heating and melting the polymer, it is necessary to increase a melt flowability of the polymer to increase smoothness of a coating film surface by decreasing a molecular weight of the polymer or decreasing a thermal transition temperature thereof. However if the molecular weight is decreased, there is a problem that impact resistance which is an essential characteristic of the coating film in its practical use is lowered. Also if the thermal transition temperature of the polymer is decreased, there is a problem that storage stability of an obtained powder coating composition is lowered or the powder is agglomerated in piping at coating.
The present inventors have made studies on those problems in a powder coating, and as a result, it was found that there is a close co-relation between an impact resistance of a coating film and a thermal transition temperature of a polymer. The relation is concretely such that when the thermal transition temperature of a polymer is increased, the impact resistance of a coating film is lowered. Accordingly a resin having a sufficiently high thermal transition temperature while having a practically satisfactory impact resistance (in evaluation at a coating thickness of 65 μm) has not been known.

Thermosetting powder coating composition


A method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving in black space is described. The asymmetric interference channel is an appropriate model for many realistic scenarios, especially those arising more frequently as dynamic spectrum access (DSA) becomes more prevalent. As DSA nodes evolve to become more cognitive (e.g. self aware, environment aware, and adaptive), the prevailing white space seeking and gray space adapting policies leave a significant portion of the spectrum, namely, the black space, untapped. Described herein is a throughput versus SINR result and a corresponding technique for jointly choosing a transmission rate and multiuser detection algorithm that allows computationally constrained cognitive DSA nodes high rate operation in spectrum black space. Also described is an information theoretic motivated policy for seemingly insignificant waveform design choices that greatly enhance the throughput of a secondary sender-receiver pair while fulfilling a given complexity requirement within the secondary node's receiver.

As is known in the art, advancements have been made over the past 20 years or so to understand, manipulate, and develop reasonable complexity receiver-algorithms for use with a multiple access channel (MAC). Much has been learned in the context of the MAC regarding the benefit of encouraging other-user-interference in a many-to-one scenario. The many-to-one scenario that is truly represented by the MAC formulation, by default, corresponds to having some level of coordination among users. Researchers have found that for this scenario, signature signal design, prudent assignments of users' rates and low overhead collision management lead to significantly higher throughput for the "interfere on purpose" mode of operation as compared to the main stream approach to avoid interference at all costs.
In parallel, the field of multiuser detection (MUD) has evolved to produce a plethora of receiver algorithms capable of decoding interfering signals with varying levels of implementation complexity for varying degrees of interference. A small sampling of such algorithms can be found in S. Verdu, Multiuser Detection. Cambridge University Press, 1998; R. E. Learned, A. S. Willsky and D. M. Boroson, Low complexity optimal joint detection for over-saturated multiple access communications, IEEE Trans. On Signal Processing, Vol. 45, no. 1, January 1997; and R. E. Learned, B. Hombs, M. Lande, J. Tranquilli, L. Russo, J. Farkas, J. Niedzwiecki, Y. Eisenberg, K. Connor, M. Sherman, L. R. Brothers, B. Pierce, J. DeBardelaben, Interference Multiple Access Wireless Network Demonstration Enabled by Real-Time Multiuser Detection, proceedings for the IEEE Radio Wireless Symposium, January, 2008.
Equally important, and perhaps more common, is the problem in which other-user-interference is not within one's control. This scenario has also been well studied over the past 10 years or so and is best modeled by what is referred to as an "interference channel." The interference channel has multiple sender-receiver pairs, where the pairs are not related or coordinated with each other. One important difference between the interference channel and the MAC is that in an the interference channel scenario, each receiver is only interested in what its corresponding transmitter has sent.

Method and apparatus for making optimal use of an asymmetric interference channel in wireless communication systems


A gate valve [10] is disclosed having a secondary seal, wherein the gate [15] forms a metal to metal seal with the seat [29, 134] and wherein a resilient seal [36a] is moved toward the gate [15] in a closed position to form a secondary fluid-tight seal with the gate [15]. A device [31, 34] for deenergizing the secondary seal is provided in order to prevent wear of the secondary seal upon opening of the gate and also to reduce the gate [15] drag caused by the energized secondary seal. Also disclosed is a pressure relief mechanism [40, 141] for the secondary seal adapted to prevent damage to the seal and a mechanism for evenly applying opposing secondary seals.

Gate valves have been commonly used for many years and have been employed in a variety of services such as in the oil and/or gas services of the petroleum industry. However, such valves have been designed for service involving pressures of only several thousand pounds per square inch. Today due to the depleted energy supply it has become necessary to explore and produce oil and gas under very high pressures of the range 30,000 psi (pounds per square inch) or more. Such high pressures have required greater sealing capacity and better safety features in such valves.
Prior art gate valves generally consist of a valve body having inlet and outlet conduits with a chamber there-between. A gate having an opening therethrough is disposed in a valve seat mounted within the chamber and the gate is mounted on a stem. The chamber is closed by a bonnet affixed to the valve housing. The stem reciprocates within the bonnet and is attached to a reciprocating apparatus for moving the gate between a closed position in which flow is blocked through the conduits and an open position in which flow is allowed through the conduits and the gate opening. Such a valve is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,538,938 and 3,696,831.
It is also well known to seal between the valve seat and the valve housing by using an o-ring as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,957,492 and 3,348,567 and non extrusion seals as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,054. Further in automatic pressure sealed gate valves shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,095,604; 3,538,938; and 3,696,831, fluent sealant rings are disposed around the valve seats to provide sealing between the valve housing and valve seats in response to line pressure on fluent sealant reservoirs in communication with the fluent sealant rings, and o-rings are installed on each side of the fluent sealant rings to isolate the fluent sealant in the fluent sealant rings from contamination by line fluids. This same principle is used for seals in wellheads as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,952,479. It is also known to locate an o-ring seal on the end of the gate seat as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,831. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,057,630 and 3,758,072 teach combining an elastomeric O-ring and a polyflouroethylene polymer such as the brand "Teflon" or "nylon" or other low-friction plastic ring to make a seal ring. Further U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,366 teaches a deformable metal ring, as for example of aluminum, with an inner deformable plastic ring of polytetrafluororoethylene whereby the metal ring can adapt itself to slightly varying recess clearances and prevent the plastic ring from extruding through the clearances under pressure.
Two piece seats are also known in the art for floating seats as shown by brochures of Model 20 gate valves of FMC, and for replaceable seals through non metallic inserts to seats of Seaboard as shown by its brochure and U.S. Pat Nos. 4,376,526 and 4,124,194. Another replaceable seal in seats is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,544. A floating seat with a replaceable seal support element is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,855.
Secondary seals where the gate forms a metal-to-metal seal with the seat and where a resilient seal is moved toward the gate when the gate is in the closed position to form a secondary fluid-tight seal with the gate is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,273. Manual operations for removal of flow blocking plates and primary seal actuation after such removal are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,203,989. Sliding seals are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,471,941. Other valve seals are shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,472,270, 2,134,277, 2,776,813, 1,692,496 and 3,557,822.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,273, one problem frequently encountered in the case of gate valves is the lack of formation of adequate seals between the gate or gates and the seat or seats. In turn, if a seal is inadequate, the gate valves are often prone to leak through the seal. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,273, an invention is disclosed which seeks to provide an adequate seal for gate valves in the form of a positive bidirectional cam actuated and deactuated resilient secondary fluid seal.
While the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,273 is believed to be advantageous for many applications, it has been found that there are applications in which other secondary seals may be provided. In particular, in high pressure situations wherein the formation of the secondary seal causes a significant pressure differential on the two sides of the gate and wherein the secondary seal is located on the downstream side, it has been found that for some applications, the drag on the secondary seal caused by movement of the gate to open when the secondary seal is fully effected may exaggerate the wear of the secondary seal. The additional drag on the gate also increases the effort required to open the valve. It is desirable in those instances to be able to deenergize or release the secondary seal prior to substantial linear movement of the gate across the seal.
In this regard, it is not necessary to totally withdraw the seal from the gate, but rather it is desirable to relieve the full pressure of the seal against the gate, or "deenergize" the seal, such that the pressure of the fluid moving through the valve will flow between the seal and the gate to preclude wear.
Additionally, in some high pressure situations wherein the secondary seal is fully effected or energized with no pressure in the valve body, and pressure is thereafter applied from the upstream side, there is no way for the fluid to enter into the body without leaking past the energized upstream secondary seal. Since the upstream secondary seal is mechanically energized, it is maintained until the pressure load of the fluid overcomes the mechanical load. In some instances, the pressure of the fluid is great enough to blow past the seal once it overcomes the mechanical energy of the seal, thereby damaging the resilient sealing ring contained in the seal.
It is therefore desirable to provide a pressure relief means from a secondary seal subjected to such pressurized fluid under the above conditions, in which the fluid will force the seal away from the gate and allow movement of the fluid past the seal without damaging the resilient seal element when the pressure of the fluid reaches a selected value.
Also, seats that are press fitted into the valve body are difficult to replace, particularly in the field. Special tools are required to overcome the press fit and the valve body counterbore is subject to damage by gaulling between the seat OD and valve body counterbore during installation and removal of the seat. It is desirable to provide a seat that can be replaced easily without disturbing the press fit between the seat and the body.


A vehicle interior panel includes a color-changing element with an active layer configured to change from a first color to a different second color when a voltage is applied across top and bottom electrode layers. The top electrode includes fullerenes in a configuration that is visibly transparent and permits the color-changing element to bend along sharp radii and/or stretch without losing electrical continuity. Fullerenes including ellipsoidal elements can provide these characteristics.

Vehicle interior aesthetics can be a matter of personal taste. For example, one member of a vehicle-sharing family may have a design preference different from that of another family member. While vehicles have been made adaptive to different-sized occupants via adjustable seats, mirrors, and steering wheels, and adaptive to different environmental preferences via adjustable temperature air and seats, vehicle owners are generally unable to adjust the aesthetic appearance of the vehicle interior after their initial choice when purchasing the vehicle. This shortcoming may become even more noteworthy in an age of ride sharing and/or vehicle sharing among otherwise unassociated people.
WO 2015/069985 by Kring discloses a multi-layer film laminate for use in a vehicle interior. Kring purports to provide color-changeable materials beneath printed graphics to simulate different colors of wood grain, animal print, or other patterns. Unfortunately for vehicle interior designers, the Kring laminate is only useful on flat portions of the vehicle interior, such as the face of a glove box door. Kring fails to address application to vehicle interior panels having three-dimensional contours, particularly where the show surface of the panel includes sharp bends or deep-draw features. Under these conditions, the transparent electrode materials disclosed by Kring, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) crack, thereby interrupting its electrical conductivity and the ability of the laminate to change color.


A radiation, explosives, and special materials, detection and identification system includes a housing supporting one or more gamma sensors and one or more solid-state neutron sensors proximate to container contents under examination. The system collects radiation data from the sensors and compares the collected data to one or more stored spectral images representing one or more isotopes to identify one or more isotopes present. The identified one or more isotopes present are corresponded to possible materials or goods that they represent. The possible materials or goods are compared with the manifest relating to the container to confirm the identity of materials or goods contained in the container or to detect and/or identify unauthorized materials or goods in the container. A battery powered sensor arrangement is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to shipping container contents detection systems, and more particularly to a noninvasive system and method to detect and identify hazardous materials within containers, such as radiation and/or neutron emitting materials, explosives, and special materials such as highly enriched uranium, and further to identify the normally occurring radiological materials within containers. Such a noninvasive container contents detection and verification system operates without having to enter the cavity of a container under examination. The system can include a radiation sensor system that uses integrated sensors for Gamma and neutron detection, and with a spectral analysis capability to identify the specific isotope(s) of materials in containers. Such a system can also include detection and identification of explosives and special materials in containers. These special materials may include highly enriched uranium.
2. Description of Related Art
Current attempts at providing radiation, neutron, explosives, and special materials, detection systems to verify shipping containers, such as those that have been mounted on the gantry crane arms, have resulted in detection systems that have limited sensitivity and efficiency and can not withstand the harsh environment. Radiation detection systems for detecting radiation from shipping containers have not had the ability to identify the specific isotopes. The inability to identify the specific isotopes present in the containers has not allowed these systems to further identify the goods or materials within the containers and therefore has restricted their ability to reliably evaluate the validity of the contents. Moreover, it has not allowed for a use of the manifest for verification of the container contents which has resulted in substantial false alarm rates and has impacted the flow of commerce. Further, these conventional implementations can be difficult to overcome analog noise caused by analog cabling systems. Furthermore, large shock factors of up to 200 G-forces per minute during normal operations handling large containers can cause failure and unreliable operation to key components of conventional radiation detection systems. These characteristics of current shipping container detection systems, such as for use with gantry cranes, detrimentally affect the commercial viability of radiation, neutron, explosives, and special materials, detection systems, cause substantial negative impacts to the flow of commerce, and particularly reduce their effectiveness and reliability in rugged-use environments.
In addition, technologies used to detect explosives can not penetrate metal or include methods that are dangerous to humans such as active x-ray or gamma imaging leaving no effective means to detect or identify explosives hidden in shipping containers.
Therefore a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.

Container verification system for non-invasive detection of contents


Microstructures formed from fluorinated amphiphiles and mixed fluorinated and non-fluorinated amphiphiles and having the geometry of tubules, helixes and fibers and methods for preparing them. Tubular forms are capable of encapsulating or incorporating bioactive agents or other useful substances for controlled release in vivo.

Certain amphiphilic molecules have the ability to self-assemble into microstructures, typically having an elongated, generally cylindrical geometry. Tubules have been reported to form from phosphatidylcholines bearing a diacetylenic unit in their hydrophobic chains (Schnur J M et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,501) or from diacetylenic phospholipids in which the choline group is replaced by hydroxyethanol (Markowitz M A, Schnur J M and Singh A, Chem. Phys. Lipids 62, 193, 1992). In most cases chirality was believed to be a necessary feature to promote the formation of tubules (Schnur J M, Science, 262, 1669, 1993), although tubules formed from non-chiral amphiphilic ammonium salts with rigid-rod segments in the hydrophobic tails were also reported in a few cases (Kunitake T, Agnew. Chem. Intl. Ed. Engl. 31, 709, 1992; and Kunitake T., et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 103, 5401, 1981). Other hydrogenated species are disclosed in Singh A, Schoen P E, and Schnur, J M (1988) J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 18:1222; Fuhrhop, J H et al. (1991) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 113:7437; (1993) Chem. Rev. 93:1565; and (1993) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115:11036; Okahata Y and Kunitake, T. (1979) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 101:5231; Nakashima N. et al, (1985) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 107:509-510; Kuwahara H. et al., (1993) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115:3002; Ishikawa Y. et al, (1990) Chem. Lett. 25-29; and Yanagawa, T. et al, (1989) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 111:4567.
Tubules assembled from hydrogenated amphiphiles have been reported to encapsulate diverse materials (Burke T G, Singh A., Yager P. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 507, 330, 1987) and to have potential, when coated with a metal, as controlled release systems or in microelectronics (Schnur J M, Science, 262, 1669-1676, 1993).
Helixes have been reported to form from chiral zwitterionic hydrogenated amphiphiles containing amino acid units (Kunitake T. Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. Engl. 31, 709, 1992) or from chiral aldonamides (Fuhrhop J H et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 109, 3387, (1987)).
Tubules are defined as hollow, cylindrical structures composed of one or several bilayers of amphiphiles. Typical diameters are in the range of from about 0.05 to 3 microns and the internal space depends on the number of bilayers. Tubule length and aspect are controllable parameters which depend on fabrication procedure (U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,501). Helixes are defined as spiral-shaped elongated structures. They are believed to be involved into tubule formation (J H Fuhrop et al, Chem. Rev. 93, 1565, 1993).
Self-assembled microstructures other than tubules and helixes include fibers, that can consist, for example, of strings of elongated aqueous compartments limited by bilayers or of bicontinuous cubic phase aggregates made of the appropriate amphiphiles.
Tubules formed from diacetylenic lipid monomers lack chemical, thermal and mechanical stability. Rapid polymerization by gamma rays can overcome this disadvantage; however, polymerization has been reported to result in a loss in chain packing and in the presence of defects (Schoen P E, Yager, P., J. Polymer Sci., Polymer Physics Ed. 23, 2203, 1985). Poor chain packing is known to increase the permeability of the membrane (Ringsdorf R. et al, Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. Engl. 27 113, 1988) which is an inconvenience when tubules are used for encapsulation. Moreover polymerization can destroy or denature radiation sensitive materials such as proteins (Yager P., Biosensors 2, 363, 1986).

Elongated microstructures from perfluoroalkylated amphiphiles


A daytime running lights adapter kit (10) which is designed to be installed in a vehicle to allow the vehicle to be equipped with daytime running lights. The kit (10) is enclosed within a single enclosure (12) that encloses an electronic unit (14). From the unit (14) extends a set of cable assemblies (40-46) that have attached a set of connectors (30-36). Each connector is keyed to fit into an existing vehicle receptacle (56, 58, 62, 64) that are each connected to the particular vehicle light that is to function as a daytime running light. The daytime running lights adapter kit (120) is enabled and turns on the particular lights only when the vehicle engine (50) is operating and the manual frontlight switch (54) is off. When the vehicle engine (50) is turned off or the frontlight switch (54) is placed in the on position, the kit (10) is disabled.

As automobiles have become an overwhelming presence in many person's everyday lives, so to has the need to improve upon the safety characteristics of automobiles. One of the most common safety deficiencies is caused by one motorists inability to sufficiently see another vehicle. This scenario is caused by many different contributing factors, for example: a vehicle is located in what is commonly referred to as a "blind spot" or in other words, neither the interior rear-view mirror nor the side rear-view mirror is able to provide a reflection of another vehicle or vehicles which may be in the way. IF a motorist desires to change or alter his/her vehicle's position relative to the roadway, and does not view any other vehicles, he/she will usually proceed. Only, after it is too late, will the presence of another vehicle become known to the motorist. It is important to remember that "blind spots" are not the sole cause of these types of accidents. At any given moment while driving a vehicle, a motorist is constantly deluged with hundreds, or possibly thousand of distractions. These distractions vary from pedestrians moving about to stationary items such as trees and buildings and even to public displays for advertisement purposes. This last example is designed to attract the attention of motorists. When considered together, it is easy to comprehend how distractions while driving are a significant contribution to many automobile accidents.
As anyone who drives is well aware of, the two indicators of an emergency or law enforcement vehicle responding to a crisis are the combination of sirens/horns and/or flashing lights. Even more particular is the protocol which requires that when law enforcement officials are enroute to an immediate situation, and the use of sirens or horns might alert would-be criminals, the sirens are not utilized; and the only indication of the law enforcement vehicles purpose are the flashing lights. When other motorists see the lights they know to pull to the right and allow the vehicle to pass unimpeded. Also, when one considers that many of today's automobile audio components are capable of completely encapsulating in sound any occupants of a vehicle and thus making it impossible to hear any outside noises. The importance of the lights as a visual announcement are all the more exemplified.
The reason lights are utilized results from the findings of scientific studies that have proven the human eye will be attracted to and subsequently directed at a light. What is now viewed as an obvious solution to the problem of the increased need of motorists to be able to see other motorists, especially in the midst of many distractions, is that of vehicles equipped with a constant light source while moving. Although some people were of the opinion that lights were useless during daylight, it has been proven that even in bright daylight, human eyes are still attracted to an artificial light source.
The benefits of lights utilized on a constant basis during the operation of an automobile is now known to be a substantially beneficial addition and will according to predictions, significantly contribute to the lowering of many automobile accidents and conversely save some people's lives.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention however, the following U.S. patents were considered related:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 5,438,237 Mullins, et al Aug. 1, 1995 5,416,384 Bavaro May 16, 1995 5,374,852 Parkes Dec. 20, 1994 ______________________________________
The 5,438,237 patent discloses an automatic daytime running light system for a vehicle having an engine, an electric power source, a starter motor circuit for the engine, external running lights and input switches that control an ignition circuit as well as the external running lights. The system is responsive to the input switches, and the starter motor includes a digital-logic timer circuit that automatically controls the operation of the running lights. The circuit also includes MOSFET switching devices, which provide high reliability and safety, redundant circuitry to provide a higher level of reliability, fail-safe operation and a fault detection circuit.
The 5,416,384 patent discloses an emergency lighting system that provides an emergency driving voltage to drive at least one lamp when the AC power input to the lamp is not present. A rechargeable battery pack and recharging circuit are contained in a first modular housing, and driving circuitry is contained in a second modular housing. The system also includes a test switch to emulate power failure, a transmitter and receiver mechanism which allows a user to remotely disable the battery power to the driving circuitry and a photo-sensing mechanism which disables the battery power if there is sufficient ambient light.
The 5,374,852 patent discloses a lighting control apparatus for a motor vehicle that includes an electrical power supply, an ignition switch, lights, a lighting control switch for illuminating the lights, a wiper device, and a wiper control switch for actuating the wiper device. The apparatus, which automatically illuminates the lights whenever the wiper device is actuated, includes a photosensitive element electrically connected in series between the electrical power supply and the lights. The photosensitive element, which is illuminated by ambient light, has a first conductive state whenever the intensity of the ambient light is below a first threshold value. The photosensitive element additionally has a second nonconductive state whenever the intensity of the ambient light exceeds a second threshold value, and a mechanism for moving a shutter to a first position which shields the photosensitive element from the ambient light whenever the wiper control switch actuates the wiper device.

Kit for installing daytime running lights on a vehicle


A device for hanging a pair of spectacles on a garment is disclosed. The device has a specifically designed hanging means, which is formed on a garment and is used for allowing a user to easily, conveniently and safely hang spectacles on the garment when taking off the spectacles. The spectacle hanging means is formed at one or more of the neck, breast, pocket, and button-down openings of a garment and selectively holds an arm of the spectacles so as to hang the spectacles on the garment. The hanging device thus allows a user to easily and safely keep spectacles on the garment when taking off the spectacles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to spectacle hanging devices and, more particularly, to a device for hanging a pair of spectacles on a garment, the device having a specifically designed means for allowing a person to easily, conveniently and safely hang spectacles on a garment when not wearing the spectacles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typically, a variety of spectacles or eyeglasses have been widely and conveniently used. For example, the spectacles may be worn to aid vision or protect the eyes from external stimulation. Particularly, sunglasses are used for protecting the eyes from the sun. In such spectacles, the lenses are made of glass or synthetic resin, so the lenses are fragile and force users to carefully handle the spectacles. Spectacles typically designed for being stably worn on the nose and being stably hung over the ears. Therefore, the spectacles are generally not subject to careless breakage when they are worn. However, when the spectacles are removed, a user has to safely keep the spectacles in a case in order to protect the spectacles from external impacts or foreign substances, such as rain or dirt. However, it is inconvenient for a user to repeatedly put the spectacles into and take out of such a case. The spectacles also force a user to always carry a case when he is out and about.
In the prior art, some users preferably hang their spectacles 20 on the pockets 5 or the button-down openings 4 of their shirts 1 as shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b when they take off the spectacles 20. In such a case, an arm 21 of the spectacles 20 is hung on a pocket 5 or the stitched lower junction of buttoned and buttonholed parts of the opening 4 of a shirt, so the spectacles 20 are carried by the user while being hung on the shirt 1. The spectacles 20, hung on the pocket 5 or the button-down opening 4 of the shirt 1 as described above, also allow the user to maintain an appealing appearance and show one's fashion personality.
As well known to those skilled in the art, typical garments, such as shirts and blouses, are designed for giving users a good fit and allowing the users to carry one's necessities, such as handkerchiefs and purses. However, such garments are free from any specified means for safely hanging spectacles, so the spectacles, hung on the pocket or the button-down opening of a garment as described above, may be unexpectedly or carelessly impacted or easily removed from the garment, thus sometimes breaking or being lost. This forces user to purchase new spectacles.

Device for hanging spectacles on garment


A system and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment to facilitate efficient use of bandwidth are disclosed. The method for securely sharing resources over a peer-to-peer network generally comprises broadcasting a request by a requesting peer for a resource over the peer-to-peer network where the resource is identified with a resource version identifier, receiving a response from a responding peer on the peer-to-peer network indicating that the responding peer has the requested resource, retrieving the requested resource from the responding peer, and verifying the retrieved resource by ensuring the retrieved resource contains the version identifier embedded therein. Preferably, the verifying also includes verifying a digital signature, such as a 1024-bit VeriSign digital certificate, of the retrieved resource to ensure integrity of the retrieved resource.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for efficient use of bandwidth and resources in a peer-to-peer network environment. More specifically, a system and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment to facilitate efficient use of bandwidth are disclosed.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, to obtain anti-virus product updates and/or signature files, computers rely on a pull approach in which each client or server computer must retrieve the updated anti-virus file directly from a source via the Internet. For a computer network, a network administrator may allow anti-virus signature files to become out of date because there are simply too many clients on the network for effective management. Alternatively, the network administrator may schedule the clients to automatically pull the updated anti-virus file from the Internet when each client logs onto the computer. However, such an approach can result in a bandwidth crunch such as in the early morning work hours when most users log onto their computers.
Connections to the Internet from within an organization, particularly from a small to medium sized organization, may be relatively slow. For example, a small to medium sized business may share a single cable or DSL modem, a 56K modem, or an ISDN line. In contrast, in a typical work group interconnected via a LAN, connections on the LAN are generally much faster, the typical LAN being 100/TX (100 Mbps). Peer-to-peer networks thus partially address the need for efficient use of bandwidth and resources in a computer network.
However, conventionally, peer-to-peer distribution is not secure and is particularly susceptible to attacks since a desired resource or a file on the network may be compromised as a file distributor does not have control of the peer servers that are passing around copies of the file on the network. This is of particular concern for files that are actual executable binaries and/or for files containing potentially critical data such as anti-virus product updates and signature files. Furthermore, for product updates such as anti-virus product updates, a requesting peer may not be able to determine whether the product files on other peer computers are up-to-date or outdated.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a system and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment to facilitate efficient use of bandwidth to ensure that the shared file has not been compromised and/or is up-to-date. Such secure and verified sharing of resources over a peer-to-peer network ideally expands network resource sharing into broader applications such as enterprise software management and services.

System and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment


The invention relates to a collar for measuring the lateral deformation of a test piece during uniaxial or triaxial compression tests. According to the invention, the collar includes a metal hoop or a hoop that is made from composite materials, which can clasp the test piece and which is open. The free ends thereof are separated by a distance Δ. The inventive collar also includes a mechanism for directly or indirectly measuring the distance Δ. Between the free ends of the hoop, the mechanism includes at least one strain gauge.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a collar for measuring the lateral deformation of a test piece during compression tests, in particular uniaxial or triaxial.
It will find a particular application in a polyvalent triaxial test cell for sample geomaterials of rock, of soil, of cimentitious materials or of fabricated materials, on the sampling sites, in laboratory test conditions. Such samples, also called test pieces, cylindrical in shape, may be subjected to different pressure, load, temperature, and drainage conditions, wherein said parameters may be controlled using pressure, temperature, internal or external displacement sensors. The pressure stresses may be directed axially and/or to the lateral face of the sample.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Document FR-2.566.531 divulges a lateral displacement sensor, in the form of a collar, formed of a plurality of parallel rolls, hinged together, and capable of clamping the sample held by a spring-loaded system. Such collar enables to measure the lateral deformation of the sample while measuring the spacing of both last rolls.
Document FR-2.663.121 divulges a polyvalent triaxial test cell for geomaterials. Such cell includes a pressure chamber inside which is placed the cylindrical test piece. It includes at least one compression jack capable of exerting uniaxial thrust longitudinally to the test piece. A lateral pressure, and more particularly radial, is exerted on the test piece while subjecting the lateral face of said cylindrical test piece to the pressure of a fluid. A hydraulic compensation system enables moreover to balance the longitudinal and radial loads.
Also, the sample is immersed in a fluid, such as oil, and is protected from said fluid by means of a sheath in the form of a sleeve formed of an elastic diaphragm. In order to measure the lateral deformation of the sample, a collar of known type, formed of rolls, is placed around the sheath while hugging it.
Nevertheless, such a collar proves little satisfactory, since these rolls have a tendency to impress in the elastic wall of the diaphragm, thereby disturbing their displacement by rolling around the periphery of the sleeve.
Moreover, it has been noticed that the elasticity of the wall of the diaphragm twists the measurement, wherein the collar measures the lateral deformation of the sample, but also the lateral deformation of said diaphragm.
Moreover, the collar known aforementioned, formed of rolls, proves relatively cumbersome and requires a test cell whereof the pressure chamber is sufficiently large, in particular in width, to be installable.

Collar for measuring the lateral deformation of a test piece during compression tests, such as uniaxial or triaxial compression tests

Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille


A patch panel device has communication ports respectively associated with a unique binary number having a number of binary digits, and a plurality of computing devices are each respectively coupled to at least one of the ports. A connectivity test includes configuring the patch panel device to send a message to a first sending device in response to receiving data at a port associated with a binary number having a first value as the respective binary digit, and not to send a message to a second sending device in response to receiving data at a port associated with a binary number having a second value as the respective binary digit. Each of the computing devices is caused to transmit data for arrival at a corresponding port, an indication is received for each device regarding whether the device received a message. A connectivity map is generated.

Public use of the internet continues to grow, with over a billion people now accessing the global network. The bandwidth demanded by each of those users also continues to grow substantially—moving from simple e-mails, to graphical web pages, to full streaming video at very high resolutions. In addition, more data is needed to support traditional computing applications over the internet. As a result, many information providers are building large computing facilities, known as data centers, that can provide various services to internet users.
The internet backbone also needs to grow to support the additional demand from all these new users and new services. Such growth is expensive, however, because backbone routers are huge, complex machines, and running of cross-country fibers is costly. In addition, cross-country communication can introduce latency to communications—both because of increased distances, and because of the increased chance of losing and retransmitting packets that are sent through many routers and through long distances.
Thus, it can be beneficial to distribute computing power closer to users. As such, data centers may be moved closer to users, with relevant content sent from a central facility out to regional data centers only once, and further transmissions occurring over shorter regional links. As a result, every request from a user need not result in a transmission cross-country and through the internet backbone—network activity may be more evenly balanced and confined to local areas. Also, transient needs for computing power may arise in a particular area. For example, a military presence may be needed in an area, a natural disaster may bring a need for computing or telecommunication presence in an area until the natural infrastructure can be repaired or rebuilt, and certain events may draw thousands of people who may put a load on the local computing infrastructure.
Deploying a data center or a network or cluster within the data center can be an extensive undertaking. For example, some data centers can include thousands of computing devices, such as servers or switches, which typically are physically connected by optical fiber or copper wire interconnects. In some cases, a data center can include several hundred thousand such individual fiber or copper links, which may be manually connected between devices by a technician or team of technicians. Wiring errors or faulty cables can cause deployment delays that span days or weeks as the misconnected or faulty cables are identified and repositioned or replaced.

Determining physical connectivity of data center devices


A chuck assembly configured to provide a shorter longitudinal profile. The chuck assembly includes a chuck body with a support bearing mounted to a rear portion of the chuck body and mounted to a portion of a housing such that a cavity is defined axially rearward of the support bearing and is configured to receive the jaws when the rear portion of the jaws extend axially rearward.

Typically, a drill has a chuck assembly that includes jaws that are displaced in passages between axially front and radially closely spaced positions and axially back and radially widely spaced positions. To accommodate the axial travel of the jaws, it has been known to make the chuck fairly long, which may make the drill harder to handle, while not contributing to the overall functionality of the drill.
The present invention provides a chuck assembly that allows the drill and the chuck assembly to be shorter than conventional drills and chuck assemblies.

Techtronic Power Tools Technology Limited


A wireless tag (1) includes: an antenna (14) that receives an access signal transmitted from a reader/writer; a decoding unit (15) that decodes the access signal received by the antenna; a detecting unit (12) that detects input of a signal corresponding to a user operation; and a control unit (13) that performs processing corresponding to a combination of a result of detection of the detecting unit and a result of decoding of the decoding unit, the results being obtained in parallel.

Wireless tags using RFID technologies are prevalent in various fields, such as a payment service of making a payment for goods by holding a wireless tag over a reader, and an information provision service of providing information pertaining to the location of a reader by holding a wireless tag over the reader.
For example, PTL 1 describes a technology using a wireless tag. The wireless tag described in PTL 1 includes a switch for turning on/off wireless communications with a detection apparatus. The wireless tag is installed in a door of a building. The detection apparatus drives a call bell in the interior of a room when the apparatus detects a radio wave signal that is transmitted from the wireless tag upon depression of the switch by a visitor.

Wireless tag, and communication device, system and method


A molecular sieve has a silica/alumina molar ratio of 100-300, and has a mesopore structure. One closed hysteresis loop appears in the range of P/P0=0.4-0.99 in the low temperature nitrogen gas adsorption-desorption curve, and the starting location of the closed hysteresis loop is in the range of P/P0=0.4-0.7. The catalyst formed from the molecular sieve as a solid acid not only has a good capacity of isomerization to reduce the freezing point, but also can produce a high yield of the product with a lower pour point. The process for preparing the catalyst involves steps including crystallization, filtration, calcination, and hydrothermal treatment.

Molecular sieve material typically has a high acidity and a high specific surface area, at the same time, the molecular sieve material has a strong chemical stability and a hydrothermal stability, and it is difficult to be damaged by the reactants due to corrosion and dissolution, and therefore is an excellent solid acid catalyst. Different from commonly used homogeneous catalysts, molecular sieve material catalysts can be directly reused without the need of separation, and do not cause the pollution to the environment and contamination in the product. In addition, the parameters of the molecular sieve material such as the specific surface area and the pore-channel structure have a significant impact on the molecular sieve characteristics such as catalytic performance, and thus the preparation of molecular sieves with a special specific surface area or a special pore-channel is an important research direction in the chemical industry field.
For example, in U.S. Patent Applications U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,518,485, 5,990,371, 5,135,638, 4,419,420, 5,110,445 and the like have been reported methods of isomerization and dewaxing technology to produce the base oil of the lubricating oil, in which the molecular sieves used as the acidic component mainly comprise MOR, ZSM-22, ZSM-23, ZSM-48, SAPO-11, SAPO-31, SAPO-41, Nu-10, KZ-2 and the like, and paraffin hydrocarbons can undergo the isomerization reaction to some extent with these molecular sieve materials. However, for these molecular sieves, due to their own properties, usually only a part of the reactants can undergo the isomerization reaction, and the rest of the reactants undergo the cracking reaction, and accordingly the greater the isomerization degree is, the higher the proportion of the cracking reaction is, eventually resulting in a decrease in the yield of the product.
U.S. Patent application U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,958 discloses a catalyst for isomerization and dewaxing. The catalyst contains a mesopore molecular sieve, such as ZSM-5, ZSM-22, ZSM-23, ZSM-11 and the like. U.S. Patent applications U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,482,300 and 5,075,269 disclose an isomerization catalyst containing ZSM-48. U.S. Patent application U.S. Pat. No. 8,513,150 discloses a Y-type molecular sieve having mesopores, in this patent application, the Y-type molecular sieve is firstly calcined at a lower temperature and then calcined in a water-vapor containing gas at a higher temperature (1250° F.−1450° F.), and the mesopore structures are formed in the calcined molecular sieve, and the proportion of the larger mesopore to the smaller mesopore is 5 or more. U.S. Patent application U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,454 discloses a hydrogenation conversion method with a calcined H-type molecular sieve having a small crystal grain size and a constraint index of 13 or more (e.g. SSZ-32), wherein the catalyst has a molar ratio of silica to alumina of greater than 20 and less than 40. U.S. patent application U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,210 also relates to a hydrocarbon conversion method with SSZ-32. U.S. Patent application U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,210 discloses SSZ-32 which is not limited to small crystal grain size. U.S. Patent application U.S. Pat. No. 7,141,529 discloses a method for the metal modification of the molecular sieve with different metals (selected from Ca, Cr, Mg, La, Ba, Pr, Sr, K and Nd metals and Group VIII metal) to provide a catalyst having an improved isomerization selectivity in case that the nC-16 feedstock is used, according to the method used in this patent application, the support is shaped and then impregnated with a liquid containing metal ions so that the modification metals are supported on the molecular sieve.
In addition, the Beta molecular sieve is the only zeolite having a three-dimensional system of twelve-membered ring and straight channels. This unique pore-channel structure and acidity allow the Beta molecular sieve to have a high catalytic activity for hydrocracking and hydroisomerization, an adsorption capacity for linear paraffins, and a good resistance to sulfur and nitrogen poisoning. Generally, in the petrochemical industry, it can be used in the preparation of a catalyst useful in various conversion reactions such as the preparation of cumene by the alkylation reaction of benzene with propylene. In addition, the Beta molecular sieve used in combination with USY can improve the octane number of gasoline. And, in the field of fine chemicals, the Beta molecular sieve also has good activity and selectivity in the aspect of the dehydration and the amine removal.
CN1350981A discloses a process for preparing a high-silica Beta zeolite, which mainly includes the following steps: firstly the crystallized Beta zeolite slurry is exchanged with ammonium, filtered, dried and calcined to remove the template agent, treated with an organic acid or an inorganic acid, and finally hydrothermally treated under pressure to ultimately produce a Beta zeolite having a silica-alumina ratio of 60-80. CN1769169A discloses a process for synthesizing a Beta zeolite having a gradient pore-channel, wherein the resulting Beta zeolite has a silica-alumina ratio of 80-120 and three pore diameter distributions of 0.1-1.7 nm, 1.7-6 nm and 10-90 nm, thus resulting in that the surface utilization rate of the Beta zeolite is greatly increased, however the micropore volume of the resulting zeolite is not large enough, the contribution to the pore volume is mainly from mesopores and macropores (the ratio of the total volume of mesopores and macropores to the total pore volume is 67% or more).
CN104353484A discloses a process for preparing a cheap strong acidic Beta zeolite having multilevel pores, and is going to solve the problem that the molecular sieve of the Beta zeolite having multilevel pores shows a reduced acidity after the desiliconizing treatment. CN103964458A discloses a Beta zeolite having a high silica-alumina ratio and a multilevel pore-channel and a preparation process thereof, the preparation process of said patent application is simply operated and efficient. The resulting Beta zeolite having a high silica-alumina ratio and a multilevel pore-channel has a very strong acid stability, a thermal stability, a hydrothermal stability and a good diffusion performance.
In addition, in the patent documents of CN102602958A, CN103073020A, CN104891526A, CN1683245C, CN102050459A and CN1565969A are disclosed the processes for preparing the zeolite molecular sieve having a certain pore-channel.
However, the current zeolite molecular sieves still have insufficient satisfactory properties such as the lower proportion of mesopore surface area and the lower silica-alumina ratio, and therefore when such a molecular sieve is used as the catalyst or used as the support of the catalyst, there is much room for imporvement of the catalytic property of the catalyst.

Molecular sieve having mesopores, preparation method therefor, and application thereof

RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM PROCESSING, SINOPEC


A method and apparatus are provided for binding emulsified resin and tar substances in circulating water of a wet-cleaning and wet precipitation system for waste gas produced in the wood industry. Wood dust is metered into the circulating water and receives the emulsified substances adsorptively. The wood dust is removed from the water circulation path and sedimented.

The invention relates to a method of binding emulsified resin and tar substances in circulating water of a wet-cleaning and wet precipitation system for waste gas produced in the wood industry.
Austrian Patent AT-PS E 87227 describes a wet precipitation method for exhaust air cleaning of a timber desiccation system in which the exhaust air is wetted with circulating water, then cooled to the dew point of 50-70.degree. C., whereupon the condensing aerosols are ionized by means of high voltage and finally precipitated in a wet precipitator. In this case, circulating water is used for all cleaning steps, and the method is performed without waste water, because the water balance is negative due to the evaporation cooling.
If the raw, unprocessed wood (e.g. pine) contains a large amount of resin and is desiccated at high temperatures (600-800.degree. C.), a quantity of steam-volatile resin, tar and fatty acids is stripped out in addition to the cellular water (wood moisture). These substances are still present as gases in the desiccation waste air at 120.degree. C. In the following cooling to the dew point of 50-70.degree., these substances condense as aerosols ("blue haze") and can therefore first be precipitated as a tar-like coating on the precipitation surfaces of the wet precipitator and subsequently washed from there with circulating water.
A property of the tar-like, resinous substances, however, is that they form stable emulsions with the water and therefore cannot be precipitated, or only poorly precipitated, with the installed centrifuges for removal of solids. Hence, these substance build up in the circulating water and, consequently, severe contamination and clogging occur.

Method for binding resin and tar substances in wet-cleaning and wet precipitation systems


Disclosed herein is a phosphate-based dielectric ceramic composition which has a low dielectric constant and a low dielectric loss in the high-frequency bands such as microwave and millimeter wave. The composition is represented by the following formula: (1-x)(A′1-yA″y)O-xP2O5 wherein x and y are numbers satisfying the following conditions: 0 <×<1 and 0≦y≦1, and A′ and A″ are each independently selected from the group consisting of Ca, Ba, Sr, Zn, Mb, Ni, Mn and Cu. The composition may further include a sintering assistant and an additive. Since the composition can be sintered at a temperature as low as 1,000° C., it can be simultaneously calcined together with a metal electrode such as silver, copper or silver/palladium electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a phosphate-based dielectric ceramic composition which has dielectric characteristics suitable to use as a substrate material for electronic components having internal conductors such as resonators, multilayer ceramic capacitors, dielectric filters, antennas, dielectric waveguides for microwave integrating circuit (MIC) in the microwave region, and a method for manufacturing a dielectric substrate using the ceramic composition. Since the dielectric ceramic composition has excellent dielectric characteristics, e.g., a low dielectric loss, a low dielectric constant and excellent temperature stability, and can be sintered at low temperature in combination with an additive, it can be simultaneously calcined together with a metal electrode such as silver, copper or silver/palladium electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
With high-speed information transmission and recent development of mobile communication techniques, demand for light, compact and high-integrated circuits has been increasing. In addition, as the number of signals transmitted increases, studies on the use of high frequencies ranging from a few GHz and higher are being actively undertaken. There is thus a strong demand for dielectric compositions used as materials for electronic components and substrates in the high-frequency bands.
Generally, as the dielectric constant of a dielectric is low, the transmission speed of signals inside the dielectric is high. Accordingly, it is preferred that electronic components used in the high-frequency bands have a low dielectric constant. In order to improve the selectiveness of the signal transmission, dielectrics having a low dielectric loss, i.e. high Q-factor, and excellent temperature stability are required.
As electrically conductive materials used as internal conductors and electrodes of packaging substrates, inexpensive metals such as Ag and Cu are advantageously used because they have a low specific resistance, resulting in less loss and heat. However, since these metal electrodes have a melting point of lower than 1,000° C., dielectric compositions used in combination with substrates must be calcined at a temperature of not lower than 1,000° C. for simultaneous calcination.
A representative example of ceramic compositions which can be calcined at low temperature among conventional substrate materials is glass ceramics. Since the glass ceramics is manufactured by incorporating a large amount of a glass component into a ceramic such as alumina, it can be calcined even at low temperature by glass softening. In addition, various combinations of glass with a ceramic can improve the physical properties of glass ceramics.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-297960 discloses a ceramic composition having a low dielectric constant and a low dielectric loss which comprises Zn2SiO4 and SiO2 as a ceramic and SiO2—Li2O—ZnO glass. According to the ceramic composition, calcination at 800˜1,000° C. is possible.
Although the glass ceramics is advantageous in terms of its low dielectric constant resulting from the presence of a large amount of glass, it has disadvantages of a considerably reduced Q-factor and a high dielectric loss in the high-frequency bands. Additionally, the glass ceramics has poor temperature stability because the resonance frequency temperature coefficient cannot be stably controlled.

Phosphate-based ceramic compositions with low dielectric constant and method for manufacturing dielectric substrate using the same

Seoul National University Industry Foundation


The wiper device for a sewing machine having a wiper member swingable from the operating position to a non-operating position on an embroidery presser foot, in which a needle thread-end is retained by being clamped between a frictional-resistance applying member fixed to an underside of a thread engagement portion located on a distal end of the wiper member and an upper surface of a cloth presser pressing a workpiece cloth by a returning movement of the wiper member from an operating position in which the wiper member performs a thread wiping operation to a stand-by position.

Conventional sewing machines capable of embroidery sewing have been used that is provided with a cloth pressing mechanism that drives a cloth pressing member for pressing a workpiece cloth upon embroidery sewing, a thread cutting device that cuts a needle thread-end connected with a sewing needle, and a wiper mechanism that wipes up the cut needle thread-end with a wiper member.
For example, a wiper device for a sewing machine disclosed in JP-Y-6-52782 (hereinafter referred to as patent document 1) has a wiper body rotatably supported by a sewing machine frame, a presser foot for pressing a workpiece cloth, a reciprocating unit operating conjunctively with the vertical movement of the presser foot, and a connection link that connects the upper end of the wiper body to the upper end of the reciprocating unit. The reciprocating unit includes a support bar loosely fitted to a penetration hole defined on the presser foot and having a locking body in the lower portion thereof larger than the penetration hole; and a spring body supported by the support bar so as to receive the support bar therethrough.
According to the above construction, upon completion of a sewing operation, when the reciprocating unit is elevated in conjunction with the elevation of the presser foot, the wiper body is moved toward the sewing needle via the connection link and wipes up the needle thread-end cut by the thread cutting unit of the sewing machine.
Furthermore, in a thread wiping device disclosed in JP-A-2003-103080 (hereinafter referred to as patent document 2), a thread cutting device that automatically cuts the needle thread and a bobbin thread is provided near the underside of a needle plate of a sewing machine bed. Also a thread wiping device that pulls up the needle thread connected to the sewing needle above the needle plate and pulling out the needle thread-end from the workpiece cloth after cutting the needle thread with a thread cutting device is provided in a sewing machine head above the sewing machine bed.
The thread wiping device includes a wiper having a hook on the distal end thereof so that the needle thread can be pulled out from the workpiece cloth, a wiper drive mechanism that drives the wiper, and a needle thread retaining equipment provided on the wiper and retaining needle thread-end.
According to the above construction, upon completion of a sewing operation, when the needle bar and the cloth presser are elevated, the wiper is activated by the wiper drive mechanism and pulls the needle thread-end cut by the thread cutting device by hooking the needle thread with the hook. Thereafter, the needle thread-end is retained by the needle thread retaining equipment.
The wiper device disclosed in the patent document 1, merely pulls out the needle thread-end cut by the thread cutting unit above the workpiece cloth by the wiper member and does not retain the wiped needle thread. Thus, the needle thread-end is prone to twist, consequently leading to failure or deformation of initial stitches of the subsequent sewing sequence, and other similar problems.
Also, the thread wiping device disclosed in patent document 2 wipes up the needle thread with the wiper and retains the needle thread-end with the needle thread retaining equipment. However, the wiper is driven by the wiper drive mechanism in synchronization with the thread cutting movement of a moving blade of the thread cutting device, leading to increased complexity, size and cost of the thread wiping device.


Disclosed is a readily degradable resin composition having excellent biodegradability. Specifically disclosed is a readily degradable resin composition comprising: an aliphatic polyester (A) which has biodegradability; and an aliphatic polyester (B) which has a solution viscosity (η inh) of 0.25 dl/g or less as measured in a mixed solvent composed of m-chlorophenol and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene at a weight-based ratio of 4:1 at a concentration of 0.4 g/dl and at a temperature of 30° C. and a melt viscosity of 50 Pa S or less as measured at 190° C. at a shear rate of 1 rad/s and is capable of biodegraded at a more rapid degradation rate than the aliphatic polyester (A). Also disclosed is a readily degradable resin composition comprising: an aliphatic polyester (A) which has biodegradability; and an aliphatic polyester (B′) which, when hydrolyzed, can release an acid showing a pH value of 2.0 or less when dissolved in water at a concentration of 0.005 g/ml and is capable of biodegraded at a more rapid degradation rate than the aliphatic polyester (A). Further disclosed is a biodegradable container comprising the readily degradable resin composition.

Biodegradable polylactic acid resin compositions and the like are proposed as packaging materials (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, a packaging container using such a biodegradable resin composition is sequentially degraded from the surface of the container. Thus, complete degradation of the whole container takes a considerable time. In addition, there is a problem that such a biodegradable container has readily degradable portions and hardly degradable portions, since the degradation rate is influenced by the internal structure of the resin such as the crystallinity of the resin and the molecular orientation thereof.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-116788
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 9-316181

Readily degradable resin composition and biodegradable container using the same


The differential MOS current-mode logic structure of the present invention is comprised of a differential MOS transistor pair and a complementary MOS (CMOS) transistor for each of the transistors comprising the differential MOS pair. The gates of the CMOS transistors are coupled to the gates of the differential MOS pair. Since the gates of the differential MOS pair receive a differential signal from the inputs, the voltage between the gate and the source, Vgs, for each of the transistors comprising the MOS differential pair is not fixed. As a result, the gain of the CMOS current-mode logic structure of the present invention is high. In addition, since the gates of the CMOS transistors are coupled to the gates of the differential MOS pair, the current for the CMOS transistors is increased when charging the node capacitance and is decreased when discharging the node capacitance. Hence, the present invention allows faster charging and discharging of transistors, which results in faster switching transistors and higher speed circuit.

Metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) circuits are widely used in digital large scale integration (LSI) design for digital circuits such as microprocessor and memory circuits. In comparison to bipolar circuits, the MOS circuits allow a more efficient fabrication of transistors on integrated circuit chips. This is because an MOS transistor generally takes up less chip area than a bipolar junction transistor, which means that more transistors can be included in a chip. Consequently, more circuit functions can be performed on the chip with MOS circuits.
One of the most basic digital logic circuits utilizing MOS technology is the conventional inverter. Inverter circuits are so fundamental that, in fact, most MOS logic gates and circuits are derived from the MOS inverter. For instance, logic gates such as AND, NAND, OR, and NOR gates are typically built using the MOS inverters as the basic structure.
These traditional MOS digital logic circuits however, typically suffer from adverse switching noise from individual transistors fabricated onto the integrated circuit chips. In an effort to alleviate the noise problem in MOS integrated circuit chips, prior art MOS logic circuits have been implemented in current-mode structures. The current-mode circuits have the advantage of low digital noise characteristics. For example, in MOS current-mode, the digital switching noise generated by current-mode logic is typically two orders of magnitude smaller than in conventional MOS logic circuits. More background details on current-mode circuits are available from the following publications which are incorporated herein by this reference: Sailesh R. Maskai, et al., Synthesis Techniques for CMOS Folded Source-Coupled Logic Circuits, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 27, No. 8, August 1992; Sayfe Kiaei, et al., CMOS Source-Coupled Logic for Mixed-Mode VLSI, IEEE 1990; and Masayuki Mizuno, et al., A GHz MOS Adaptive Pipeline Technique Using MOS Current-Mode Logic, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 31, No. 6, June 1996.
Due to the low noise characteristics of current-mode structures, integrated circuit chips are increasingly implementing the MOS current-mode logic circuits. Prior Art FIG. 1A illustrates a conventional differential MOS current-mode logic inverter 100. In this inverter circuit 100, a differential pair includes a pair of n-type MOS transistors 102 and 104 coupled to each other on their source terminals. A pair of p-type (e.g., complementary) MOS transistors 118 and 120 are coupled to the drains 110 and 112, respectively, of each transistors 102 and 104, respectively. In this configuration, the transistors 102 and 118 form a branch and the transistors 104 and 120 form another branch. A current source 130 is coupled to the common source terminal of the differential pair (102/104) and provides constant bias current through one of the branches in the circuit 100.
With reference still to Prior Art FIG. 1A, when complementary input voltage signals 106 and 108 are received at the gates of the differential pair (102/104), only one branch conducts current to the current source 130. For example, when the transistor 102 receives high input voltage at its gate, it becomes active and draws current through a diode 126. The current causes a drop in voltage at the drain 110 of the active transistor 102. This corresponds to the low voltage (e.g., inverted voltage), which is buffered by an output transistor 132 biased with a current source 140. The output 136 at the source terminal of the output transistor 132 is a low voltage signal. In contrast, transistors 104 and 120 in the other branch are inactive because the low input voltage 108 at the gate of transistor 104 turns off the transistor 104. Accordingly, only a small leakage current flows through the diode 128 and the transistor 104. As a result, the voltage at the drain 112 of transistor 104 is high (e.g., inverted). An output buffer transistor 134 biased with a current source 142 buffers the voltage at the drain 112 of transistor 104. The output 138 at the source terminal of the output transistor 134 is thus a high voltage signal.
It should be appreciated that the same analysis applies similarly when the differential input signals are reversed. For instance, when the transistor 104 receives high input voltage at its gate, the transistor 102 receives low input voltage. This differential voltage generates a high voltage signal at the output 136 at the source terminal of the output transistor 132 and a low voltage signal at the output 138 at the source terminal of the output transistor 134.
One of the drawbacks of the conventional differential MOS current-mode logic inverter 100 is the switching speed. Specifically, the conventional differential MOS current-mode logic inverter 100 cannot accommodate speeds utilized in some of the latest communication devices, which can require MOS logic circuits to operate up to speeds over 1 gigahertz (GHz). Prior Art FIG. 1B illustrates the relationship between capacitance 160 at the drain node 110 and currents I.sub.1 and I.sub.2 through transistors 102 and 118, respectively. The capacitance 160 is a node capacitance typically associated with a node and may also include parasitic capacitance. The current 12 through the transistor 118 remains constant due to the fixed reference voltage 116 applied at the gate of the transistor 118. In this configuration, when the input voltage 106 at the gate of transistor 102 increases, the voltage at the node 110 decreases and the current I.sub.1 through the transistor 102 increases. Conversely, when the input voltage 106 at the gate of the transistor 102 decreases, the voltage at the node 110 increases and the current I.sub.1 through the transistor 102 decreases. Since the current 12 is constant in either instances, this current is not discharged efficiently to increase the switching speed of the capacitance 160 at the node 110. This same analysis applies in similar manner to the other branch of the circuit comprising transistors 104 and 120.
Prior Art FIG. 1C illustrates a small signal equivalent circuit 150 for one branch comprised of transistors 102 and 118 excluding the diode 126 in the current-mode logic inverter circuit 100 shown in Prior Art FIG. 1A. The gain for this branch is based on the transistor 102 alone and is proportional to g.sub.m1 V.sub.gs1, where g.sub.m1 (e.g., transconductance of transistor 102) is the ratio of output current to the input voltage for transistor 102 and V.sub.gs1 is the voltage between the gate and source of the transistor 102. The resistors, r.sub.O1 and r.sub.O2, represent output resistance of the transistors 102 and 118, respectively. The complementary MOS transistor 118 does not contribute to the gain because V.sub.gs1 of the transistor 118 is fixed to a fixed voltage, Vref 116. Hence, the overall small signal gain for the branch is relatively low. It should be appreciated that the same analysis applies similarly to the other branch of the circuit comprising transistors 104 and 120.
The low gain affects the switching speed of the transistors in the current-mode logic circuit. Since g.sub.m is defined as the ratio of output current to the input voltage, it is directly proportional to the output current. If the output current is increased, the gain increases. Typically, inverter circuits have capacitance that allows charging and discharging of currents. When current is increased, the capacitance charges and discharges at a faster rate. Hence, the switching speed increases when gain increases. It would be advantageous to increase the switching speed of circuit 100.
Thus, what is needed is a differential CMOS current-mode logic circuit with higher gain and speed. Accordingly, the present invention satisfies these needs by providing a high speed and gain differential CMOS current-mode logic circuit.

Differential MOS current-mode logic circuit having high gain and fast speed


A freeze resistant sanitary hydrant is provided that employs a reservoir for storage of fluid under the frost line or in an area not prone to freezing. To evacuate this reservoir, a means for altering pressure is provided that is able to function in hydrant systems that employ a vacuum breaker.

Hydrants typically comprise a head interconnected to a water source by way of a vertically oriented standpipe that is buried in the ground or interconnected to a fixed structure, such as a roof. To be considered "freeze proof" hydrant water previously flowing through the standpipe must be directed away from the hydrant after shut off. Thus many ground hydrants 2 currently in use allow water to escape from the standpipe 6 from a drain port 10 located below the "frost line" 14 as shown in FIG. 1.
Hydrants are commonly used to supply water to livestock that will urinate and defecate in areas adjacent to the hydrant. It follows that the animal waste will leach into the ground. Thus a concern with freeze proof hydrants is that they may allow contaminated ground water to penetrate the hydrant through the drain port when the hydrant is shut off. More specifically, if a vacuum, i.e., negative pressure, is present in the water supply, contaminated ground water could be drawn into the standpipe and the associated water supply line. Contaminants could also enter the system if pressure of the ground water increases. To address the potential contamination issue, "sanitary" yard hydrants have been developed that employ a reservoir that receives water from the standpipe after hydrant shut off.
There is a balance between providing a freeze proof hydrant and a sanitary hydrant that is often difficult to address. More specifically, the water stored in the reservoir of a sanitary hydrant could freeze which can result in hydrant damage or malfunction. To address this issue, attempts have been made to ensure that the reservoir is positioned below the frost line or located in an area that is not susceptible to freezing. These measures do not address the freezing issue when water is not completely evacuated from the standpipe. That is, if the reservoir is not adequately evacuated when the hydrant is turned on, the water remaining in the reservoir will effectively prevent standpipe water evacuation when the hydrant is shut off, which will leave water above the frost line.
To help ensure that all water is evacuated from the reservoir, some hydrants employ a venturi system. A venturi comprises a nozzle and a decreased diameter throat. When fluid flows through the venturi a pressure drop occurs at the throat that is used to suction water from the reservoir. That is, the venturi is used to create an area of low pressure in the fluid inlet line of the hydrant that pulls the fluid from the reservoir when fluid flow is initiated. Sanitary hydrants that employ venturis must comply with ASSE-1057, ASSE-0100, and ASSE-0152 that require that a vacuum breaker or a backflow preventer be associated with the hydrant outlet to counteract negative pressure in the hydrant that may occur when the water supply pressure drops from time-to-time which could draw potentially contaminated fluid into the hydrant after shut off. Internal flow obstructions associated with the vacuum breakers and backflow preventers will create a back pressure that will affect fluid flow through the hydrant. More specifically, common vacuum breakers and backflow preventers employ at least one spring-biased check valve. When the hydrant is turned on spring forces are counteracted and the valve is opened by the pressure of the fluid supply, which negatively influences fluid flow through the hydrant. In addition an elongated standpipe will affect fluid flow. These sources of back pressure influence flow through the venturi to such a degree that a pressure drop sufficient to remove the stored water from the reservoir will not be created. Thus to provide fluid flow at a velocity required for proper functioning of the venturi, fluid diverters or selectively detachable backflow preventers, i.e., those having a quick disconnect capability, have been used to avoid the back pressure associated with the vacuum breakers of backflow preventers. In operation, as shown in FIG. 2, the diverter is used initially for about 45 seconds to ensure reservoir evacuation. Then, the diverter is disengaged so that the water will flow through the backflow preventer or vacuum breaker. The obvious drawback of this solution is that the diverter must be manually actuated and the user must allow water to flow for a given amount of time, which is wasteful.
Further, as the standpipe gets longer it will create more backpressure, i.e., head pressure, that reduces the flow of water through the venturi, and at some point a venturi of any design will be unable to evacuate the water in the reservoir. That is, the amount of time it takes for a hydrant to evacuate the water into the reservoir depends on the height/length of the standpipe as well as the water pressure. The evacuation time of roof hydrants of embodiments of the present invention, which has a 42″ standpipe, is 5 seconds at 60 psi. The evacuation time will increase with a lower supply pressure or increased standpipe length or diameter. Currently existing hydrants have evacuation times in the 30 second range.
Another way to address the fluid flow problem caused by vacuum breakers is to provide a reservoir with a "pressure system" that is capable of holding a pressure vacuum that is used to suction water from the standpipe after hydrant shut off. During normal use the venturi will evacuate at least a portion of the fluid from the reservoir. Supply water is also allowed to enter the reservoir which will pressurize any air in the reservoir that entered the reservoir when the reservoir was at least partially evacuated. When flow through the hydrant is stopped, the supply pressure is cut off and the air in the reservoir expands to created a pressure drop that suctions water from the standpipe into the reservoir. If the vacuum produced is insufficient, which would be attributed to incomplete evacuation of the reservoir, water from the standpipe will not drain into the reservoir and water will be left above the frost line.
Other hydrants employ a series of check valves to prevent water from entering the reservoir during normal operations. Hydrants that employ a "check system" uses a check valve to allow water into or out of the reservoir. When the hydrant is turned on, the check valve opens to allow the water to be suctioned from the reservoir. The check also prevents supply water from flowing into the reservoir during normal operations, which occurs during the operation of the pressure vacuum system. When the hydrant is shut off, the check valve opens to allow the standpipe water to drain into the reservoir. One disadvantage of a check system is that it requires a large diameter reservoir to accommodate the check valve. Thus a roof hydrant would require a larger roof penetration and a larger hydrant mounting system, which may not be desirable.
Another issue associated with both the pressure vacuum and check systems is that there must be a passageway or vent that allows air into the reservoir so that when a hydrant is turned on, the water stored in the reservoir can be evacuated. If the reservoir was not exposed to atmosphere, the venturi would not create sufficient suction to overcome the vacuum that is created in the reservoir.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and system for identifying outlier hyper-cells in an N-dimensional hierarchical datset having dimensions {x1,…xN} are provided. In some embodiments, the method is applied recursively where (i) in accordance with outlier ‘scores,’ hypercells of a hypcell set PGIVEN are categorized S201 as ‘likely-outlier’ or ‘winners’ while other hypercells are (at least initially) rejected as a set of ‘losers’; (ii) scores of hypercells of a subset of the initially rejected ‘losers’ are analyzed, and in accordance with these scores a subset of ‘winners of losers’ are selected S209; (iii) one-level extensions S213 of at least some hypercells of these ‘winners of losers’ are formed; (iv) a recession set S226 is formed where at least one ‘extension’ hypercell hc is included in the recusion set only if the hypercell is not a previously considered hypercell and/or a subcell of a previously categorized (and/or reported) as ‘outlier’ hypercell; (v) the aforementioned steps are repeated after setting PGIVEN to the recursion set. In some embodiments, the hypercells are indicative of discrepancies between measurements provided by two different metering systems.

Outliers (aka anomalies) are rare or atypical data objects that do not comply with the general behavior or model of the data. The statistics community has studied outlier detection extensively. A typical method for finding outliers includes building a clustering model of the data, and tagging all the data elements which do not belong to any cluster as outliers. Another typical technique is to fit a distribution function to the data, and tagging all those data points whose distance of the mean of the distribution function is more than a predefined number multiplied by the standard deviation as outliers. A Multidimensional Hierarchical Dataset can be represented as an OLAP Cube (aka cube, aka hypercube). Typical outlier search techniques will seek low level cells of the cube (i.e which correspond to the original elements of the dataset) as outliers.

Methods, systems and computer code for finding outlier hyper cells in multidimensional hierachical data sets


A high speed digital tester module for functionally testing integrated circuits while operating at very fast speeds or under real time conditions. The high speed digital tester captures data streams from the integrated circuit at a first frequency and inputs the data into a memory device at a second frequency, which is slower than the first frequency. The digital tester module comprises a phase locked-loop, a serial-to-parallel converter and an output memory device. The phase locked-loop captures the data stream from the integrated circuit and generates two clock signals, a bit-rate clock signal and a divide-by-N-clock signal. The parallel-to-serial converter clocks in the data stream in response to the bit-rate clock signal and converts the data stream into parallel data. The output memory device clocks in the parallel data in response to the divide-by-N clock signal. The parallel data is stored in the output memory device until it is accessed by a processor which determines whether the integrated circuit is functional.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of digital testers. More specifically, the present invention relates to digital testers that perform high speed functional testing of an integrated circuit or a system.
2. Background Information
Conventional digital testers functionally test high speed integrated circuits by inputting a sequence of test vectors into the integrated circuit, performing a series of test operations on the integrated circuit, and then evaluating a sequence of output test vectors to determine if the integrated circuit is generating the correct data for each test operation. Conventional digital testers include testers such as integrated circuit testers, system testers, logic analyzers and circuit emulators. However, as integrated circuits are designed to operate at faster speeds, the conventional digital testers do not have the capability to capture high frequency data streams, also known as output test vectors, from the integrated circuits operating under real time test conditions. As such, the functionality of an integrated circuit is tested at frequencies slower than the actual operating frequency of the device when operating under normal conditions and the real time performance of an integrated circuit is not tested. Conventional digital testers such as the Cadence LT-1001, the Synopsis LM-1400, the Synopsis MS-3400 and the Phillips PM-3580 are not able to functionally test an integrated circuit operating at a speed faster than 100 Megahertz (MHz). However, the present invention has the capability to capture output test vectors having a frequency beyond 100 MHz and thus the ability to perform real time functional testing on integrated circuits operating over an increased range of frequencies. The present invention has the capability to capture data streams up to 1 Gigahertz (GHz).
Furthermore, the conventional digital testers have a complicated control and clock distribution system that is associated with the interleaving of memory devices used for storing the input and output test vectors. FIG. 1 illustrates a device under test 160 that is coupled to a conventional digital tester 100. The conventional digital tester 100 stores the output test vectors in a memory device 120 such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or a static random access memory (SRAM). In order to improve the access time to and from the memory device 120, several banks of memory are interleaved requiring a complicated control logic and clock distribution scheme.
The following example illustrates some of the complexities involved in designing a clock distribution scheme for an interleaved memory device. The clock distribution scheme can be designed to provide a single high frequency (F) clock or as N different clocks of frequency F/N, where N represents the number of banks of the interleaved memory devices. If a single high frequency clock is used, the transmission line effect on clock line 140 will be severe. If multiple clocks of lower frequencies are used, additional circuits for stabilizing the relative skew of the various clock lines must be provided. In both of the cases mentioned above, the distribution of the clock throughout all of the interleaved memory devices is more complex than in the present invention. The simplicity of the control and clock distribution scheme of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description below.
Another drawback with many of the conventional digital testers is that they require an external clock signal that is centered at the middle of the data period. Thus, in addition to receiving the output test vectors over data line 130, the tester 110 requires an external clock signal over clock line 140. This drawback precludes the conventional digital tester from testing serial data communication chips that do not generate an external clock signal. The present invention eliminates the need for an external clock signal from the device under test, and therefore has the ability to test asynchronous outputs of a device and is extremely useful in testing data communication chips and systems.

High speed asynchronous digital testing module