A semiconductor die is housed in a package body. Leads, which are electrically coupled to the semiconductor die, extend from the package body and are for connecting to a printed circuit board or other device. The leads are coated with a material that protects the leads from oxidation. The coating is compatible with solder techniques that are commonly used to attach packaged semiconductors to a printed circuit board. In some examples, the coating is removable, after drying, at temperatures below one hundred eighty degrees Celsius. This allows for solder processes, which are typically at least 180° C., to remove the coating thereby exposing the leads, which has been protected from oxidation, so that it can be soldered to the printed circuit board. In some examples, the coating material includes an organic material. In some examples, the coating material is an organic solderability preservative (OSP).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a packaged semiconductor and specifically to a coating for the leads of the packaged semiconductor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Leaded packaged semiconductors typically include leads made of metal materials such as copper alloys or metal alloys. One problem with these packaged semiconductors is that the lead material may oxidize prior to a packaged semiconductor's attachment to a circuit board.
Prior methods for preventing oxidation have included coating the leads with metals such as, e.g., tin-lead, nickel-palladium, nickel-palladium gold, tin, and other tin alloys. Besides adding extra weight and expense, these metals may have a propensity to form "whiskers" after their application. Whiskers are spontaneously formed single crystal filaments of the coating material. These whiskers may cause shorts in circuits implementing the packaged semiconductor.
What is needed is a technique for reducing the problems of oxidation of the leads yet which does not produce the above identified problems associated with the conventional coatings.

Packaged semiconductor with coated leads and method therefore


A telephone network comprises at least one switching unit having a plurality of subscriber access lines each having an associated calling number and, a storage device storing a plurality of listings of destination numbers. Each listing is associated with a respective one of the calling numbers and defines defining a personalized local calling area for that particular calling number. The switching unit detects a destination number dialed by a caller setting up a call, accesses the personalized local calling area listing for that calling number, and compares the detected destination number with the selected listing to determine whether the call is local or long distance. Each of the listings may comprise numbers having between three and ten digits. Provision may be made for the subscriber to create the personalized calling area by adding entries to, or deleting entries from, a standard local calling area common to a group of subscribers. The storage device may comprise central storage storing a plurality of listings for each of a plurality of switches in the network, and local storage associated with each of the switches for storing the plurality of listings for that particular switch.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for screening calls in telecommunications networks and, in particular, for determining whether or not a call to a particular destination is a local call.
2. Background Art
It is usual for subscribers in a particular area to be able to make "local" calls to destinations within a Local Calling Area without incurring toll charges or for lower rates than more distant destinations. When dialling a destination number which is outside the Local Calling Area, the subscriber usually must dial the digit "1", perhaps followed by a three-digit area code, before dialling the seven-digit destination number. The central office equipment screens the dialed digits to determine whether the call is a local call or a long-distance/toll call.
In modern, stored-program central office switches, such call screening usually is performed by software which accesses a table listing 3- to 6-digit numbers determining destination numbers to which, for all subscribers in that particular area, calls will constitute local calls. The extent of the Local Calling Area is determined by the telephone company. A particular subscriber may frequently make calls to locations which are outside the Local Calling Area yet closer geographically than some locations which are within the Local Calling Area. Because they are outside the Local Calling Area, however, they incur toll charges. This can be a source of annoyance to the subscriber.
Some telephone companies may extend the Local Calling Area to include one or more additional exchanges, providing a majority of subscribers approve of the extension and agree to pay the higher basic local rates to compensate for the toll charges which otherwise would have been charged. Unfortunately, if a majority do not approve, those subscribers who did approve do not receive the extended service.

Method and apparatus for screening calls in telephone networks


An embodiment is an imaging apparatus including a plurality of unit cells. The imaging apparatus includes a first conductive member electrically connected to gates of the plurality of first transfer transistors, a second conductive member electrically connected to gates of the plurality of second transfer transistors, a third conductive member disposed adjacently to the first conductive member in a same wiring layer as the first conductive member and electrically connected to a plurality of nodes each included in respective one of the plurality of unit cells, and a fourth conductive member disposed adjacently to the second conductive member in a same wiring layer as the second conductive member. An opposing length of the first conductive member and the third conductive member is longer than an opposing length of the second conductive member and the fourth conductive member.

1. Field of the Invention
One disclosed aspect of the embodiments relates to imaging apparatuses and imaging systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
An imaging apparatus has been proposed in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion units share an amplification transistor. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-206172 discloses an imaging apparatus in which a first photoelectric conversion unit and a second photoelectric conversion unit are connected to one amplification transistor SF through a first transfer transistor and a second transfer transistor, which are respectively corresponding. In other words, two photoelectric conversion units share one amplification transistor.
Referring to the layout illustrated in FIG. 4 in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-206172, a first control line Tx1 is provided between a first photoelectric conversion unit PD1 and a second photoelectric conversion unit PD2 and connected to a gate of the first transfer transistor. A second control line Tx2 is provided below, in the drawing, the second photoelectric conversion unit PD2 and connected to a gate of the second transfer transistor. A third control line RES is provided above, also in the drawing, the first photoelectric conversion unit PD1 and connected to a gate of a reset transistor. When the layouts are arranged in matrix, the second control line Tx2 and the third control line RES are disposed closely to each other while no other wirings are disposed in vicinity of the first control line Tx1.


A variable angle cam-drive engine in which the torque output generated at a given engine speed (as represented by, for example, piston reciprocation frequency) can be varied by changing the operating angle of cam mechanisms in a power conversion mechanism of the engine. A power conversion mechanism, having a plurality of cam mechanisms and a cam-angle mechanism, for use in a variable angle cam-drive engine that can vary the torque output generated at a given engine speed by changing the cam-angle of the plurality of cam mechanisms using the cam-angle mechanism.

Conventional reciprocating piston engines use a crankshaft to convert the reciprocating motion of the pistons to rotating motion of an output shaft. Torque generation in this type of engine is less than optimal as the point of peak pressure in a cylinder (usually shortly after top-dead-center) coincides with a geometry (i.e. an angular relationship) between a connecting rod (connecting the piston to the crankshaft) and the crankshaft that is inefficient for converting the force delivered along the connecting rod to an angular displacement of the crankshaft.
Many commonly used engines such as those typically installed in automobiles and trucks, for example, have the characteristic of generating more torque as engine speed increases, while the loads in these applications would benefit from more torque at low engine speeds. Vehicle manufactures typically employ a gear box (a.k.a. transmission) to enable the generation of more torque at lower engine speeds. The inclusion of the gear box adds to the cost, weight and complexity of the vehicle.
What is needed is a solution that provides significant torque at low engine speeds while mitigating cost, weigh and complexity.

Variable angle cam-drive engine and a power conversion mechanism for use therein


A method for processing a three-dimensional image file captured directly from a live subject, the file including the cranium of the subject, comprises: providing a vertex point cloud for the three-dimensional image file; determining a median point for the vertex point cloud; determining a point on the cranium; and utilizing the median point and the cranium point to define a z-axis for the three-dimensional image file.

Cranial remodeling is utilized to correct for deformities in the head shapes of infants. Prior to the development of the Dynamic Orthotic CranioplastySM method of cranial remodeling by Cranial Technologies, Inc, the assignee of the present invention, the only viable approach for correction of cranial deformities was surgical correction of the shape of the cranium. Dynamic Orthotic CranioplastySM utilizes a treatment protocol in which the DOC BAND® cranial remodeling device is custom produced for each subject to be treated.
In the past, custom cranial remodeling devices were produced by first obtaining a full size and accurate cast of the actual head shape of each subject. This cast was then modified to produce a second or desired head shape model. The second or desired head shape model is used to form the cranial remodeling band for the infant. In the past, the second or desired shaped head shape model was obtained by manually modifying the first cast to form the desired shape model.
Cranial Technologies has maintained a "library" of the casts of the head casts of infant's deformed heads and the corresponding models of the desired corrected head shapes.
Cranial Technologies, Inc. continued its pioneering developments with its proprietary DSI® digital image capturing system and its Digital Surface Imaging® methodology for the time efficient and safe image capture of three-dimensional full head images.
More specifically, the DSI® digital image capturing system was utilized to capture DSI® digital data representative of digital images of each cast of a deformed head and each corresponding model of the corrected head shape and store the DSI® digital data for each digital image in first and second databases, respectively. The first and second databases were utilized to train a neural network.
Cranial Technologies developed a system that utilized these first and second databases to automatically produces digital data representative of a modified head shape from DSI® digital data representative of a deformed head. A processor operable with a neural network program trains the neural network program with the first plurality of first sets of captured data stored in the first database and the second plurality of second sets of captured data stored in the second database such that the neural network is trained to operate on a new set of captured data for a first head shape to produce a corresponding modified head shape. In that system, a support vector machine program is operated to train the neural network program.
In the Cranial Technologies system, captured data for a deformed head is processed utilizing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to generate PCA data representative of the deformed head. The PCA data is provided as input to the neural network. The neural network processes the PCA data to provide data representative of a corresponding modified head shape.
The system developed by Cranial Technologies required the use of trained operators to manipulate the captured data for a variety of reasons. Clinical adaptations to accommodate individual subjects and circumstances result in inconsistent orientations of the subject DSI® captured data files.
The trained operators view each DSI® captured data file of each subject and manually reorient the viewed image to a predetermined orientation. After manual reorientation, the operator manually selects the portion of the DSI® image data files for further use, thereby eliminating regions that will not be utilized.
To achieve improved production efficiency and to maintain high quality results, an automated system and method that is operator independent or substantially operator independent is desired.
It is further desirable that a system and method are provided that will directly capture an image of a subject directly and process the directly captured image.

Method and apparatus for orienting image representative data


Methods and systems are presented which permit more accurate analysis of the performance of private equity assets relative to the performance of a public index and also permit the simulation of private equity asset behavior during time periods for which reliable data for actual private equity performance is not available. The methods systems permit more accurate evaluation of a private equity asset relative to a benchmark, performance comparison of multiple private equity assets, the generation of scaled private equity data for use during simulation or other analysis under market conditions for which reliable private equity performance data is not available, risk analysis, rating and risk monitoring of private equity assets or structured products that invest in private equity assets, and as part of a private equity asset management and portfolio allocation tool.

There is a need to benchmark the performance of private equities and other assets and liabilities that have irregular cash flows and also to determine how such an asset or liability would perform under various market scenarios for which actual performance data for the private equity is not available.
A private equity investment has an irregular cash flow. This cash flow comprises draw downs, in which funds are invested into the asset, and disbursements, in which funds are returned to the investor. Cash flow events can occur with long intervening intervals. For example, when there is a slow investment and divestment pace, events may be reported on a quarterly basis, in quarters where investment or divestment events occur. However, as will be appreciated, different private equities operate on different schedules.
There is a desire and need to benchmark the performance of private equity. However, a direct comparison between a private equity and other types of asset classes is difficult. This is because private equity performance is best measured in terms of internal rate of return ("IRR"), due at least in part because of the irregular cash flows, whereas traditional asset classes, such as exchange traded securities, are characterized by time-weighted returns ("TWR").
A time weighted return provides a measure of the compounded rate of growth of a portfolio's market value during the evaluation period. In contrast, an internal rate of return represents the interest rate at which the net present value the investment, including all cash flows during the evaluation period, equals zero. Because IRR makes use of a present-value evaluation, the value of the IRR is effected by the amount and timing of the irregular cash flow. (For public equity investments, having only one cash inflow and one outflow, the TWR and IRR are the same.)
TWR does not yield useful results for situations with multiple and varying cash in- and outflows. While IRR of private equity normally yields useful absolute performance results, the results cannot be directly compared to the performance of public equities for the same time period, since the level of investments varies for private equities, but not for public equities. For example, the period between 1999 and 2001 was characterized by large run-ups of most equity indexes, followed by a precipitous decline. As can be appreciated, this situation will result in widely different performance comparison depending on the timing of investments and the level of invested funds.
A partial solution to the problem of comparing public and private equity data is provided with a conventional technique known as PME, short for Public Market Equivalent. (PME is also sometimes referred to as ICM or Index Comparison Method.) PME is an index return measure which is adjusted to reflect the irregular timing of cash flows actually experienced with a private equity. A PME corresponds to the dollar-weighted return that would have been achieved by investing in a benchmark public market asset, such as a fund valued on the S&P 500 index, at the same time as when the private equity asset is receiving investment funds and by selling index-shares whenever the private equity asset has a disbursement back to investors.
To determine PME, the cash flows in and out of the private equity asset are applied to an index-based investment at the same time and in the same amounts. Cash inputs to the private equity asset equate to investments in the benchmark asset. Disbursements from the private equity asset equate to sales of the benchmark asset. The IRR for the public fund is then determined based on the total returns for the hypothetical public fund investments at the end of the time period of interest. This value is the public market equivalent IRR for the private equity.
The difference between the PME return of the investment in the benchmark and the IRR for the private equity can be used to compare the performance of the two during the time period for which there is data for the private equity to determine whether or not the private equity outperformed the benchmark. If the PME return is greater than the private equity IRR, the public market, as represented by the benchmark, shows a higher performance. If there is a negative balance, the public market shows a lower performance. PME is described in more detail in various documents, including "A Private Investment Benchmark," by A. Long, III and C. Nickels, AIMR Conference on Venture Capital Investing, Feb. 13, 1996, and Chapter IX of "2000 Investment Benchmark Report", published by Venture Economics, 2000.
PME has the advantage that it is simple to apply and provides a way to directly compare the performance of a private equity fund with the performance of a public index. However, while PME has received a good deal of academic publicity and has been used to a limited extent, PME has several drawbacks. As a result, it has not been widely embraced by the financial industry as a day-to-day measure, particularly in the context of rating and modeling prospective private equity offerings.
One drawback is that when the private equity fund is not liquidated and the net asset value ("NAV") is different from zero at the end of the time interval, PME still has some dependency on the NAV. In such circumstances, using PME as a benchmark actually reduces to simply comparing the end balance of the index-tracking fund to the NAV of the private equity fund, setting a lot of emphasis on the latter number and relying indirectly on the assumption that the private equity investor can immediately exit the fund at that value. This assumption is questionable given the basic lack of liquidity of private equity.
A more significant issue is that PME does not always accurately reflect real-world results. For example, when a private equity investment outperforms the public index on which the benchmark is based, the resulting hypothetical investment in the index tracking fund is likely to be negative. To achieve this result, the hypothetical investor in the benchmark would need to sell all of the investment shares and then short additional shares to make up the difference. At a minimum, this can skew a benchmarking process based on the PME and result in errors in a correlation analysis. In a worst case, depending on the cash flow pattern, the negative balance can make it impossible to determine a discount rate that would bring the net present value of the benchmark investment to zero such that the IRR for the public fund would be undefined.
For example, FIG. 1A shows pooled cash flows for vintage year 1990 (dark bars) and S&P500 total return index (solid line) for the period 1990-2002. FIG. 1B shows pooled cash flows for vintage year 1990 (black bars) and the corresponding PME cash flows (gray bars). The reported private equity NAV the end of 2002 is $937 million, whereas the corresponding index-tracking fund balance amounts to $−1,545 million. The final NAV of the index-tracking fund is deeply negative, pointing at the short exposure in the index. Despite the large negative final cash flow, IRR can be computed and yields 19.3%, which on compares well with the 21.5% achieved with the private equity portfolio.
FIG. 2 shows the development over time of the numbers of index shares the benchmark portfolio as determined by PME of vintage 1985. The number of shares is negative from 1993 onwards. Over that period, the exposure of an investor in the benchmark portfolio is equivalent to running a short position in the index. The evolution of the cumulative total value (sum of all distributions and current net asset value) indicates how the exceptional performance of the late 1990's is actually working against the benchmark portfolio. The market decline in 2000 and 2001 then results in huge gains. This shift from a long to a short position spoils the benchmarking process, resulting in non-sensible situations. A further direct consequence of the short position is that a correlation analysis based on PME can give misleading results.
Based on a benchmarking analysis of several hundred private equity funds, the applicants have found that more than 20% of the funds in the private equity database generated short index exposure through the life of the investments and about 5% yielded cash flow patterns with undefined IRR. As a result, PME calculations, while useful for certain limited cases, can be unreliable in many situations, giving either incorrect results or being impossible to calculate. This makes it difficult to use PME as a consistent and long term measurement for private equity and other assets or liabilities with irregular cash flows.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of comparing the performance of public and private equities and, more generally, for comparing any two asset classes where at least one has irregular cash flows or irregular performance, and which method avoids the problems associated with PME.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method for comparing the performance of different private equity assets.
In addition to benchmarking a current performance of a private equity asset for which data exists, there is also a need to determine the performance of a private equity asset, liability, or other asset having an irregular cash flow, relative to an index or other benchmark value under market conditions that differ from the conditions for which private equity data is available. Such an analysis can be used, for example, in trying to determine how well a given private equity asset would have performed at different periods in history. It can also be used to determine performance the private asset under various circumstances using a simulation process that varies a performance index so as to determine a probable range of behaviors for the asset. Unlike public equities, which have a long and detailed historic record, the record of private equity performance is more limited, spanning on the order of 20 years or so. As a result, there is little or no real private equity data under many different types of market conditions. Without real performance data, there is no direct measure under such market conditions that can be used to determine private equity performance during other time periods. Conventional practice has been to simply assume that private equity is correlated to public equity and so would have the same return as the benchmark. However, benchmarks typically represent the average performance of a large number of components while the particular private equity asset under consideration draws from a much smaller pool. Even if an overall average of private equity assets has a performance that closely tracks the index, half of the individual private equity assets would be expected to outperform the index and half to under perform the index. Thus, the usefulness of this conventional technique is limited to providing support for general statements about the asset class as a whole and does not provide insights on particular sub-sets.
What has been absent from conventional analysis is a technique to allow the use of a private equity data set that is valid for a first time period relative to a benchmark as the source for a derived data set for use in analyzing performance against the (historical or generated) benchmark over a second time period for which good private equity data is lacking. This would permit the accurate use of sophisticated data analysis techniques and tools, such as Monte-Carlo and historic simulation systems. These simulation systems have been developed for use in analyzing and predicting the behavior and comparative risk of investments in public equities or other more traditional assets for which there is a much longer set of market data for a much greater number of entities and for which performance data, such as pricing, is available on a comparatively continuous basis during that time span.
One known technique for risk analysis of private equity is disclosed in Published U.S. Patent Application 2003/0028463A1, entitled "Process and System for Determining Correlation of Public and Private Markets and Risk of Private Markets," dated Feb. 6, 2003. This application discloses determining a risk associated with private equity investments by performing a correlation analysis between the IRR of the private equity and a corresponding IRR calculated using conventional PME as applied to a public market index. The coefficient of correlation between the IRR of the private equity and that from PME is then used to determine a value for risk vs. return of investment in the private equity relative to that of investing in the public market.
There are several drawbacks to this approach. The disclosed method is inaccurate because it relies on PME, which gives flawed results under a number of circumstances. For example, the disclosed method does not properly address situations where the PME may produce a negative IRR under circumstances where analysis of the benchmark index would give the expectation of positive results. Also, even if only the difference between the IRR for the private equity and from PME is considered, there may still be situations where the IRR in a PME analysis is undefined so that the disclosed technique breaks down. In addition, the application does not address issues raised by the absence of private equity data in time periods before the 1980s. Instead, the disclosed technique uses the same correlation analysis based on the available private equity data regardless of the time period from which the public market data is drawn for the PME calculations. Although a mathematical value can be determined through this analysis, it does not account for the fact that the private equity behavior would likely be different under different market conditions. Thus, for example, while the disclosed correlation analysis can provide an indication of the risk of investing in a private equity today relative to the risk of investing in the S&P in 1940s, the usefulness of this value is questionable. The real issue is to determine a comparative risk of investments made at the same time under the same market conditions. This is not addressed in the application referenced herein and, indeed, the application indicates that other than the disclosed correlation analysis, there was no way known to the named inventors, who are also early developers of PME, to evaluate the comparative risk of a private investment portfolio.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0061169A1, dated Mar. 27, 2003, discloses a method and system for evaluating the performance attribution of a private investment portfolio. The disclosed technique relies on converting the portfolio, which may contain investments of different amounts in different private equities, into a neutral-weight portfolio. This is done by scaling the cash-flows of all investments in the portfolio, in their entirety, to a common constant so that the contributions of each investment to the portfolio are equally weighted. Because the relative weights of each component in the portfolio are equal, certain types of portfolio management calculations are simplified. However, this reference is entirely unconcerned with the problem of providing private equity data suitable for use in analysis relative to an index during a period in which actual private equity data is unavailable.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of scaling private equity cash flows and performance so that a performance attribute of the scaled cash flows has a specified relationship to an observed index or benchmark or a simulated index or benchmark and where the scaling allows application of existing private equity data to analysis and simulation of the private equities for periods where actual data is not available.
Another object of the invention to provide a method of scaling private equity cash flows and performance to match a given performance for use in historical, Monte-Carlo, and/or other types of simulation.
A further object of the invention to provide a method of determining various sets of cash flows, performance or scenarios achieving a determined return for use in generated future performance simulation (prescribed or randomly generated).
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of scaling private equity cash flows and performance for use as part of a rating analysis of a structured product.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a method of scaling private equity cash flows and performance for use as part of a rating analysis of a debt product based on assets/liabilities of alternative assets.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of scaling private equity cash flows and performance for risk modeling, control and management of such assets/liabilities.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a method of scaling private equity cash flows and performance for portfolio management of such assets/liabilities, whether by themselves or as part of a larger portfolio of assets/liabilities containing other assets.

Method and system for modeling and benchmarking private equity and applications of same


A diamond-containing material having the following element content ratio in per cent by weight: carbon 75-90, hydrogen 0.6-1.5, nitrogen 1.0-4.5, oxygen the balance, the following phase content ratio in per cent by weight: roentgen amorphous diamond-like phase 10-30, diamond of cubic modification the balance, and having a porous structure. 10-20% of the surface of the material consists of methyl, nitryl and hydroxyl groups of two types, as well as functional oxycarbonic groups of the general formula O.dbd.R where R represents .dbd.COH, .dbd.COOH, .dbd.CO, .dbd.C.sub.6 H.sub.4 O or any of their combinations, and 1-2% of the surface constits of carbon atoms with non-compensated links. A method for obtaining said material consists in detonation of a carbon-containing explosive substance with negative oxygen balance, or a mixture of explosive substances, in a closed volume in the atmosphere of gases inert to carbon, with an oxygen content of 0.1-6.0% by volume, at a temperature of 303-363 K and in the presence of ultradispersed carbon phase with concentration of 0.01-0.15 kg/m.

The properties of diamond-bearing materials, obtained with the use of explosion energy, and also the conditions of their synthesis and separation from impurities are known in the art.
A paper (G. A. Adadurov et al, "The physics of Pulse Pressures" pp 44 (74), 1979, No. 4, Papers of All-Union Science-Research Institute of Physical and Radio Engineering Measurements, p. 157) discloses the characteristics of the product obtained in detonation of a mixture of RDX with a carbon material (black or graphite) in a blasting chamber in inert atmosphere. The purified product is a powder with the average particle size 0.05 to 5.0 mom, the average particle size calculated for the unit surface values is 0.04 to 0.08 mcm. The unit surface area is 20 to 42 m.sup.2 /g. The pycnometric density is 3.20 to 3.40 g/cm.sup.3. By the phase composition, the product is a mixture of diamond of a cubic (the lattice parameter a=0.357 nm) and a hexagonal modification (lonsdalite). The size of the coherent scattering region (CSR) of crystallites (i.e. the linear distance between the adjacent defects) is 10 to 12 nm, and the value of microdistortions of the second kind, characterizing the presence of defects, is within the limits 1 to 2.multidot.10.sup.-3. After anealing at 1073 K, the size of CSR was 12 nm, and the value of microdistortions of the second kind was reduced to 0.35.multidot.10.sup.-3. The temperature of the beginning of graphitization is over 1073K. About one fourth of the surface is occupied by carboxyl groups. When heated in vacuum, specimens lose some. 8% of the mass owing to liberation of oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide molecules.
The properties of the diamond obtained from the carbon of explosives are described by K. V. Volkov with co-authors (The Physics of Compustion and Explosion, v. 26, No. 3, p, 123, 1990). Synthesis is effected when charges are set off in a blasting chamber in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and in a water jacket. The particle size of the obtained diamond is 0.3 to 0.06 nm, the CSR size is 4 to 6 nm, the particle shape is round. The pyonometric density is 3.2 g/cm.sup.3. The product contains about 90% diamond, the balance, adsorbed gases. The product start oxidizing at 623 K. After fivehour holding at. 1173K, the degree of graphitization of the diamond is 10%.
Other versions of the method (A. M. Staver et al, The Physics of Combusion and Explosion, V. 20, No. 5, p. 100, 1984 and G. I. Savvakin et al, Proceedings of the USSR Academy of Sciences, V. 282, No. 5, 1985) are based of other or the same explosives in various kinds of atmospheres. The products resulting in this case feature properties similar to those described by K. V. Vollcov with co-authors.
For isolating the end diamond-bearing product, use is made of a complex of chemical operations directed at either dissolving or gasifying the impurities present in the material. The impurities, as a rule, are of the two kinds: non-carbon (metal, oxides, salts, etc.) and nondiamond forms of carbon (graphite, black, amorphous carbon).
The diamond-bearing material most close by the technical properties to the material of the present invention is that disclosed in British Patent No. 1154633.
According to this reference, the material is obtained by impact reduction of graphite. The resulting primary product of the synthesis contains, as a rule, less than 15% diamond of the total amount of carbon and a considerable quantity or inorganic impurities.
The purified diamond-bearing material consists of individual diamond particles having the average diameter no more than 0.1 mkm, the unit surface area from 40 to 400 m.sup.2 /g, hydroxyl, carboxyl and carbonyl groups comprise from 10 to 30% of the surface area. The diamond particles feature no external crystalline cut. Individual diamond crystallites;
feature wide spread over the diameter: 7 10.sup.-4 to 1 10.sup.-2 mcm (7 to 100 A). The material contains 87 to 92% by mass carbon, in addition it contains 0.1 to 2.0% hydrogen, 0.1 to 2.5% nitrogen and up to 10% oxygen.
When heating from 1123 to 1273 K for four hours in an inert atmosphere, the material loses no more than 5% of the mass in the form of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water and hydrogen. From the results of radiographic analysis, the material contains only carbon, possible impurities of graphite do not exceed 0.2%, inorganic impurities neither exceed 0.2%.
The diamond-bearing material features abrasive and specific adsorption properties, which made it possible to surmise its application in polishing hard materials, strengthening metal coatings, and also in chromatography.
Thus, the references disclosing the know diamond-bearing materials synthesized with the use of the energy of explosion decomposition of explosives and also the specific processes for obtaining these materials fail to disclose the technical solutions to the problem which would make the basis for the effective, economically efficient and ecologically safe technology of industrial production of a diamond-bearing material with the present combination of properties.

Synthetic diamond-containing material and method of obtaining it


A mop is provided with a handle, mop strings and a plunger. The plunger is located between the handle and the mop strings. A sleeve having a top end and an open bottom end is provided, with the sleeve being perforated near the bottom end. The sleeve is tapered so that the bottom end is larger than the top end. The plunger and the mop strings are located inside of the sleeve with the plunger positioned near the top end of the sleeve and the mop strings depending from the plunger. The bottom end of the sleeve is located in a liquid so that the liquid enters a bottom portion of the sleeve through the perforations. The handle is moved down so as to compress the mop strings with the plunger, with the mop strings being immersed in the liquid, forcing dirt from the mop strings out of the sleeve perforations. The handle is moved up so as to raise the plunger inside of the sleeve and decompress the mop strings, thereby allowing the mop strings to absorb liquid from outside of the sleeve through the perforations. The steps of moving the handle up and down are repeated until the mop strings are clean.

Wet mops are commonly used to clean large surfaces such as floors. To use a mop, the mop head is immersed in a cleaning solution (such as water and detergent). The mop head is then raised from the solution and wrung out to remove the excess solution. The mop is then used to clean the floor. After some use, the mop head becomes relatively dry and dirty. Therefore, the mop head is reimmersed into the cleaning solution to clean the mop head and rewet it.
Wringing the mop head not only serves to reduce the wetness of the mop, but also to clean the mop head. As the mop is wrung, water carries dirt away from the mop head.
A good wet mop wringing system should require a minimum of effort to wring the mop, no need to make hand contact with the wet mop head itself or liquid running out of the mop head, and an easy way to rinse the mop.
Mop wringing systems are generally classified as being bucket mounted or mop mounted.
Prior art bucket mounted wringing systems are attached to wash buckets and use hand or foot pressure to wring the mops. Bucket mounted systems tend to be expensive and difficult to use. Placement of the mop into the wringing mechanism may be difficult. Also, bucket mounted systems require a combination of forces to wring the mop, the application of which forces may be ergonomically difficult. One type of bucket mounted wringing system is a compression plate system. This system requires the operator to hold the mop handle in one hand, while bending over and using the other hand to pull a wringing lever. Another type of bucket mounted wringing system is a pinch roller system. With this system, the operator holds the handle with one hand, while using the other hand or a foot to pinch the mop between two rollers. The mop handle is pulled upwardly to pull the mop head through the rollers. Still another type of bucket mounted wringing system requires the operator to simultaneously twist the mop in the bucket and push down on the mop. The operator must attempt to maintain the pressure centered over the mop head to most effectively wring it.
The mop mounted wringing systems can be classified according to whether the mop is a string mop or a sponge mop.
There are two commonly produced prior art string mop mounted wringing systems. Both systems are commonly known as twist mops and utilize mechanisms mounted on the handles. Both systems require the operator to simultaneously apply two separate forces to the mop. To wring, the mechanism is pushed down over the mop head and twisted. The operator must hold the mop stationary with one hand while twisting the mechanism. One of the mop mounted wringing system utilizes a large portion of the mop head strands for attaching the strands to the mechanism. For example, 1-2 inches of strand out of 14 inches is utilized for attachment. Consequently, a relatively large portion of the strand is useless for mopping. Also, the wringing action occurs over a long portion of the mop handle, wherein some of the excess water that is wrung out misses the bucket and falls onto the floor that is being mopped. If the operator holds the mop vertically while twisting, the wringing becomes difficult because of the awkward angle. The other mop mounted wringing system has grooves inside of the mechanism. This system, is shown in Yates et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,338. The grooves make twisting with the proper torque difficult. The length of the mop head is limited because with a long mop head, the upper end of the mop head cannot be satisfactorily wrung.
Prior art sponge mop mounted wringing systems suffer from several disadvantages. Because sponges lack the flexibility of string mops, the size of the sponge is limited. The larger the sponge, the larger the mechanical support that is required, thereby increasing the cost of the mop. The wringing mechanism requires at least one hinge, which increases the mop cost and the chance of mechanical failure. The sponge is coupled to a plastic or metal support. The support is made smaller than the sponge in order to avoid contact between the support and the floor or furniture (contact would cause scratching). Therefore, the edges of the sponge are not effectively wrung out (because the edges are not bound to the support). Sponge mops cover less surface area than do standard string mops. Furthermore, sponge mops become extremely rigid and brittle upon drying and require the user to wet the sponge before use.


A one-piece unitary compression cap for securing a pipe or tube on a fitting. The cap includes at least one inward deformation that provides an interference fit between the cap and the pipe or tube. Consequently, the cap cannot fall off the pipe or tube before being permanently crimped.

The present invention is related to compression caps, and more particularly to compression caps used in plumbing connections.
Compression caps are well known for connecting a section of pipe or tubing to a fitting. The current method is a metal band that is positioned and crimped onto the end of a pipe or tube to secure the tube to a fitting. The cap is crimped using a specially designed tool. These caps may be used in a wide variety of plumbing applications including recreational vehicles, modular homes, marine crafts and beverage dispensing machines.
The proper positioning of the compression caps on the pipe ends is important. Accordingly, the present caps are designed to enhance the likelihood that the cap will be properly positioned. One such cap is sold by Stadler-Viega of Bedford, Mass. under the Pureflow trademark. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, this cap 100 includes a shoulder 110 at one end 120 to provide a positive stop for the pipe 130 within the cap. The cap also defines a "witness window" 115 to permit visual observation and confirmation that the pipe is properly positioned within the cap end against the flange 110. The flange 110 assists in properly positioning the cap on the tube end.
Unfortunately, there are difficulties in the installation of conventional compression caps. After a cap is placed on the end of the pipe, it must be physically held in place until the fitting is inserted into the pipe and the cap is compressed, which requires two hands. If this is not done, the cap may fall off the tube. This problem is exacerbated when the installation of a cap is attempted in a tight space, because the user may only be able to reach the pipe and the cap with one hand.


A signal input selecting circuit comprises a plurality of signal input terminals, a first switch device for selecting one of signal electrodes of the signal input terminals to be connected with a signal processing block, a second switch device for selecting one of reference electrodes of the signal input terminals to be connected with a reference potential point, a third switch device for connecting the second switch device with a current supplying portion, and a voltage detector for detecting a voltage corresponding to an impedance of the second switch device. When the voltage detected by the voltage detector has a level thereof less than a predetermined level under a condition in which the second switch device is in operation to connect the reference electrode of a selected one of the signal input terminals with the reference potential point and the third switch device is in operation to connect the second switch device with the current supplying portion, the third switch device is turned to disconnect the switch device from the current supplying portion and the first switch device is caused to connect the signal electrode of the selected one of the signal input terminals with the signal processing block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to signal input selecting circuits, and more particularly, is directed to an improvement in a circuit having a plurality of signal input terminals and operative to select one of a plurality of input signals supplied respectively from a plurality of audio signal producing apparatus which are connected with the signal input terminals, respectively.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of audio apparatus for performing sound reproduction, there has been proposed a sound reproducing system in which a plurality of audio signals generated respectively by a plurality of audio signal producing apparatus including, for example, a tape recorder operating with a pair of independent supply and take-up tape reels, a tape recorder operating with a tape cassette, an audio disc player and so on, are applied respectively to a plurality of external input terminals of an audio amplifier and subjected selectively to amplification by the audio amplifier, and an amplified audio signal obtained from the audio amplifier is applied to a speaker for generating reproduced sound. The audio amplifier which is one of main structural components of the sound reproducing system is disposed so as to have the external input terminals thereof connected to output terminals of the audio signal producing apparatus, respectively, and in operation is operative to select one of the audio signals applied to external input terminals and to amplify the selected audio signals. Therefore, a signal input selecting circuit including the external input terminals is provided in the audio amplifier. A part of a sound reproducing system provided with a typical signal input selecting circuit proposed previously is constituted as shown in FIG. 1. In the part of the sound reproducing system shown in FIG. 1, an audio amplifier 11 having three signal input terminals 12, 13 and 14 is provided. The signal input terminal 12 comprises a signal electrode 12S and a reference electrode 12E, the signal input terminal 13 comprises a signal electrode 13S and a reference electrode 13E, and the signal input terminal 14 comprises a signal electrode 14S and a reference electrode 14E.
The reference electrodes 12E, 13E and 14E constituting the signal input terminal 12, 13, and 14, respectively, are coupled in common with a chassis 15 which is provided with a reference potential in the audio amplifier 11, and the signal electrodes 12S, 13S and 14S constituting the signal input terminals 12, 13 and 14, respectively, are coupled with fixed contacts 20a, 20b and 20c of a switch 20, respectively. A movable contact 20d of the switch 20 is selectively connected to the fixed contacts 20b and 20c and a signal obtained through the movable contact 20d of the switch 20 is supplied to a signal processing block 21 contained in the audio amplifier 11.
In the audio signal reproducing system having such a part as mentioned above, the signal input terminals 12 to 14 and the switch 20 constitute the signal input selecting circuit proposed previously. The chassis 15 is equivalently grounded through a stray capacitor C1.
The signal input terminals 12 to 14 are connected to an output terminal 26 of an audio signal producing apparatus 25, an output terminal 29 of an audio signal producing apparatus 28 and an output terminal 32 of an audio signal producing apparatus 31, respectively. The output terminal 26 of the audio signal producing apparatus 25 comprises a signal electrode 26S and a reference electrode 26E. The signal electrode 26S is coupled with a signal supplying block 27 contained in the audio signal producing apparatus 25 and the reference electrode 26E is coupled with a chassis 34 contained in the audio signal producing apparatus 25. Further, the signal electrode 26S and the reference electrode 26E are connected, through a connecting cable 35, to the signal electrode 12S and the reference electrode 12E of the signal input terminal 12 provided in the audio amplifier 11, respectively.
The output terminal 29 of the audio signal producing apparatus 28 comprises a signal electrode 29S and a reference electrode 29E. The signal electrode 29S and the reference electrode 29E are coupled with a signal supplying block 30 and a chassis 38 contained in the audio signal producing apparatus 28, respectively, and further connected through a connecting cable 36 to the signal electrode 13S and the reference electrode 13E of the signal input terminal 13 provided in the audio amplifier 11, respectively.
Similarly, the output terminal 32 of the audio signal producing apparatus 31 comprises a signal electrode 32S and a reference electrode 32E. The signal electrode 32S and the reference electrode 32E are coupled with a signal supplying block 33 and a chassis 39 contained in the audio signal producing apparatus 31, respectively, and further connected through a connecting cable 37, to the signal electrode 14S and the reference electrode 14E of the signal input terminal 14 provided in the audio amplifier 11, respectively.
With the configuration thus constituted, when the movable contact 20d is connected to the fixed contact 20a in the switch 20, a first operation mode wherein the signal input terminal 12 of the audio amplifier 11 is selected and thereby a signal from the signal supplying block 27 contained in the audio signal producing apparatus 25 is supplied through the output terminal 26 of the audio signal producing apparatus 25, the signal input terminal 12 and the switch 20 in the audio amplifier 11 to the signal processing block 21 contained in the audio amplifier 11 is provided; when the movable contact 20d is connected to the fixed contact 20b in switch 20, a second operation mode wherein the signal input terminal 13 of the audio amplifier 11 is selected and thereby a signal from the signal supplying block 30 contained in the audio signal producing apparatus 28 is supplied through the output terminal 29 of the audio signal producing apparatus 28, the signal input terminal 13 and the switch 20 in the audio amplifier 11 to the signal processing block 21 contained in the audio amplifier 11 is provided; and when the movable contact 20d is connected to the fixed contact 20c in switch 20, a third operation mode wherein the signal input terminal 14 of the audio amplifier 11 is selected and thereby a signal from the signal supplying block 33 contained in the audio signal producing apparatus 31 is supplied through the output terminal 32 of the audio signal producing apparatus 31, the signal input terminal 14 and the switch 20 in the audio amplifier 11 to the signal processing block 21 contained in the audio amplifier 11 is provided.
Under the signal input selecting circuit constituted as described above with the signal input terminals 12 to 14 and the switch 20 is employed in the audio amplifier 11, potential differences between the chassis 15 in the audio amplifier 11 and each of the chassis 34 in the audio signal producing apparatus 25, the chassis 38 in the audio signal producing apparatus 28 and the chassis 39 in the audio signal producing apparatus 31 provide noise sources between the audio amplifier 11 and each of the audio signal producing apparatus 25, 28 and 31. For example, with regard to a combination of the audio amplifier 11 and the audio signal producing apparatus 25, a noise source Sn is equivalently connected through a stray capacitor C2 to the chassis 34 in the audio signal producing apparatus 25 and a noise current from the noise source Sn flows through a reference conductor of the connecting cable 35 which connects the reference electrode 12E of the signal input terminal 12 in the audio amplifier 11 and the reference electrode 26E of the output terminal 26 of the audio signal producing apparatus 25 with each other, so that a noise voltage corresponding to the product of the noise current and impedance Z1 rendered by the reference conductor of the connecting cable 35 arises. Similarly, with regard to a combination of the audio amplifier 11 and the audio signal producing apparatus 28, a noise current flows through a reference conductor of the connecting cable 36 which connects the reference electrode 13E of the signal input terminal 13 in the audio amplifier 11 and the reference electrode 29E of the output terminal 29 of the audio signal producing apparatus 28 with each other, so that a noise voltage corresponding to the product of the noise current and impedance Z2 rendered by the reference conductor of the connecting cable 36 arises. Further, with regard to a combination of the audio amplifier 11 and the audio signal producing apparatus 31, a noise current flows through a reference conductor of the connecting cable 37 which connects the reference electrode 14E of the signal input terminal 14 in the audio amplifier 11 and the reference electrode 32E of the output terminal 32 of the audio signal producing apparatus 31 with each other, so that a noise voltage corresponding to the product of the noise current and impedance Z3 rendered by the reference conductor of the connecting cable 37 arises.
Since the reference electrodes 12E, 13E and 14E of the signal input terminals 12 to 14 are coupled in common with the chassis 15 in the audio amplifier 11, each of the noise voltages arising between the audio amplifier 11 and the audio signal producing apparatus 25, between the audio amplifier 11 and the audio signal producing apparatus 28 and between the audio amplifier 11 and the audio signal producing apparatus 31, respectively, is added, through one of the signal input terminals 12 to 14 selected by the switch 20, to the signal supplied from the switch 20 to the signal processing block 21 in the audio amplifier 11 and therefore the signal supplied to the signal processing block 21 is deteriorated in a signal to noise ratio (S/N ratio).


There is provided a display element which is constituted of simple members, can achieve low-voltage drive and exhibits high display contrast and superior response speed. The display element comprises opposed electrodes having therebetween an electrolyte layer containing silver or a silver-containing compound, wherein the opposed electrodes are driven so that silver is dissolved and deposited and the electrolyte layer further contains at least one compound selected from the group consisting of compounds represented by formula (1), (2) or (3).

Recently, along with enhancement of the operating speed of personal computers, the spread of network infrastructures, and increased and lower-priced mass storage, information of documents or image, which were conventionally printed on paper, can be received simply as electronic informations so that opportunities to read such electronic information have increased dramatically.
There were used, as a means for reading electronic information, conventional liquid crystal displays or CRT and recent emission type displays, such as organic electroluminescence displays. Specifically, when electronic information is document information, it is necessary to notice this reading means over a relatively long period of time. It is hard to say that such an action is a kindly means to humans. There are generally known disadvantages of emission type displays such that flickering exhausts human eyes, they are awkward to carry about, the reading posture is restricted, it is necessitated to gaze at a stationary picture plane, and electric power consumption increases when reading over a long time.
As a display means to redeem the foregoing disadvantages is known a (nonvolatile) reflection display which employs external light and does not consume power for image retention. However, based on the reasons below, it is hard to say that such a display provides sufficient performance.
For instance, a system using a polarizing plate such as a reflection type liquid crystal display exhibits a relatively low reflectance up to 40%, resulting in difficulty in displaying whiteness and methods of preparing constituent members are not necessarily simple. A polymer dispersion liquid crystal display requires a relatively high voltage and employment of the difference in refractive index between organic compounds does not result in images with sufficient contrast. A polymer network type liquid crystal display has problems such that it requires a relatively high voltage and a complex TFT circuit to enhance memory. An electrophoretic display element needs a high voltage of more than 10 V, and there is concern of durability of the electrophoretic particles, due to their tendency to coagulate. An electroluminescence display element, which can be driven at a relatively low voltage of not more than 3 V, has problems that it is insufficient in color quality of black or colors (such as yellow, magenta, cyan, blue, green and red) and its display cells require complex layer arrangement such as a deposit layer to maintain memory.
There is known, as a display system to overcome these disadvantages of the foregoing systems, an electro-deposition (hereinafter, also denoted simply as ED) system which employs solution deposition of metals or metal salts. The ED system, which can be driven at a relatively low voltage of not more than 3 V, exhibits advantages such as simple cell constitution and being superior in black and white contrast and in black color quality. There were disclosed various methods (as described in, for example, Patent Documents 1-3).
As a result of detailed studies of the techniques disclosed in the foregoing patent documents, it was found by the inventors of this application that problems to be solved in prior art arose with the response speed due to the retarded rate of black silver formation. In addition thereto, there was neither description nor suggestion with respect to problem to be solved in this application and the constitution defined in the application.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,716
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 3428603
Patent Document 3: JP-A No. 2003-241227 (hereinafter, the term JP-A refers to Japanese Patent Application Publication)


An embodiment of the present invention is a technique to manage tasks in a database system. Task information is sent to a host database program. The task information includes at least a command to perform a task requested by a user. The task information is parsed by the host database program. A library central to the host database program is invoked in response to the parsed task information. The library includes at least functions for task scheduling and task monitoring across sessions. The task is managed using the library. A task result is returned to the user.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of database, and more specifically, to job management.
2. Description of Related Art
Database systems have become increasingly popular. A typical database system has a database management system to manage the database. A database management system may perform a variety of tasks such as facilitating building database structures, monitoring and optimizing database performance, checking database integrity, preventing unauthorized database access, tracking database changes, etc.
A multi-user database system involves multiple users or applications to access the database. These multiple users or applications connect to the database in separate and independent sessions. In a collaborative environment, independent database sessions are not desirable. Existing techniques typically manage the user tasks by a graphics user interface (GUI) program that sends the user commands to execute a task to a host program. The host program executes the task directly and reports the results to the GUI. The state of a user connected to a database is known during the connection time. When there is a loss in communication, the tasks being performed may produce unknown results. Other collaborative users or applications may not know state or information on these tasks.

Global management of jobs in a heterogeneous system


A compact, stress-orientated valve control arrangement for an internal combustion engine which is favorable from the production point of view and uses as many identical parts as possible includes a plurality of lift valves for each cylinder and pivoted valve activating levers with hydraulic supporting elements allocated to the latter, in which the geometric arrangement of the pivoted levers for the cylinder is such that the longitudinal axes of the supporting elements extend on the same side relative to the longitudinal axes of the camshafts and extend past the corresponding camshaft axis.

This invention relates to valve control arrangements for multi-valve internal combustion engines equipped with lift valves for intake and exhaust and provided with pivoted levers for valve actuation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,586 discloses an in-line internal combustion engine having three inlet valves and two exhaust valves for each combustion chamber in which pivoted levers are provided between the lift valves and cams on two camshafts. The pivoted levers have one of their ends engaging the lift valves and the other ends engaging hydraulically positioned supporting elements. The supporting elements are mounted in receptacles in the cylinder head which are supplied with oil from a lubricating system for the internal combustion engine. In this case, the valve control arrangement includes camshafts having longitudinal axes extending transversely to and between the longitudinal axes of the supporting elements for the pivoted levers and of the corresponding lift valves. For each cylinder, the exhaust valves and the inlet valves are combined into two groups. All of the supporting elements for the exhaust valves are arranged so that their longitudinal axes, as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the exhaust valve camshaft, lie on the outside of the plane of the exhaust valves relative to the longitudinal center plane of the cylinder head. Similarly, on the other side of the longitudinal center plane of the cylinder head, the plane of the supporting elements for the two intake valves is on the outside of the plane of the valves relative to the center plane of the cylinder head. The third intake valve for each cylinder is centrally located and the hydraulic supporting elements for those valves are located adjacent to the longitudinal center plane of the cylinder head so that their longitudinal axes are inside the planes of longitudinal axes of the other valves. The three supporting elements of the intake valves for each cylinder are therefore arranged in a zigzag pattern in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder head.
Furthermore, German Offenlegungsschrifft No. 42 35 103 discloses a valve control arrangement in which hydraulic supporting elements are integrated coaxially in the pivoted levers for the lift valves and the levers are mounted on pivots. In this valve control, the geometric pattern is arranged so that, as viewed in the longitudinal direction of each camshaft, the longitudinal axis of the camshaft is located between the longitudinal axis of a lift valve and a longitudinal axis parallel thereto extending through the lever pivot, whereas the longitudinal axis of the camshaft for the cylinder lying adjacent thereto is located outside the region between these two parallel longitudinal axes.

Valve control arrangement for an internal combustion engine having lift valves


Provided is a method for receiving a frame, which is to be performed by a station (STA) in a wireless LAN system. The method includes receiving a multicast frame from an access point (AP). The multicast frame includes a medium access control (MAC) header. The MAC header includes a transmitter address (TA) field and a receiver address (RA) field. The RA field includes a multicast association identifier for identifying an STA group including said STA.

Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns wireless communications, and more specifically, to methods of transmitting and receiving frames in a Wireless Local Area Network system and apparatuses supporting the same.
Related Art
With the growth of information communication technology, various wireless communication technologies have been recently developed. Among others, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is a technology that allows for wireless access to the Internet at home or business or in a specific service area using a handheld terminal such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a portable multimedia player (PMP), etc.
In contrast to the existing WLAN systems supporting High Throughput (HT) and Very High Throughput (VHT) using bandwidths of 20/40/80/160/80+80 MHz in a 2 GH and/or 5 GHz band, a WLAN system is offered that may be operated in a sub 1 GHz. When operated in a sub 1 GHz, a WLAN system uses a considerably narrow bandwidth channel as compared with the existing WLAN systems. Accordingly, service coverage may be expanded further than the existing systems do.
Due to the nature of the physical layer in a next-generation WLAN system, the efficiency of data transmission and reception may be deteriorated. Thus, a need exists for a frame format that allows data transmission and reception to be done efficiently in a next-generation WLAN system and a frame transmission and reception method based on the frame.

Method for transmitting and receiving a frame in a wireless LAN system, and apparatus for supporting the method


A variable-speed dynamotor has a stator having a first set of windings that provide a number of poles for rotating a rotor and a second set of windings that provide a number of poles different from the number of poles provided by the first set of windings. Voltages or currents supplied to the second set of windings are controlled to generate radial forces acting on the rotor for thereby controlling a radial position of the rotor, suppressing vibrations of the rotor, adjusting rotational balancing of the rotor, and controlling radial damping of the rotor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable-speed dynamotor-for use as a motor-generator in an electrical power system, and more particularly to a variable-speed dynamotor including a stator which has a first set of windings that provide a number of poles for rotating a rotor and a second set of windings that provide a number of poles different from the number of poles provided by the first set of windings, for generating radial forces acting on the rotor to control the radial position of the rotor, suppress vibrations of the rotor, adjust rotational balancing of the rotor, or control the radial damping of the rotor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Variable-speed dynamotors or motor-generators for use in electric power systems have a rotor which can be rotated at a variable speed. The variable-speed dynamotor has already been put to use, and can increase the stability of the electrical power system in which it is incorporated, with the inertial energy of the rotor by varying the rotational speed of the rotor. The variable-speed dynamotor has been reported in various documents including (1) "395MVA variable-speed system for pumped power generation by Keiji Saito, IEEJ (Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan) Transaction D. Vol. 113, No. 2, p. 267, 1993, and (2) "Variable-speed pumped generation system"by Shaku Fujimoto, Power Electronics Research Society Journal Vol. 16, pp. 16-26.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional variable-speed dynamotor of general configuration. The variable-speed dynamotor shown in FIG. 1 has a stator 11 and a rotor 12 which are of the same structure as those of a wound-rotor induction machine. Specifically, the stator 11 has three-phase windings connected to power system terminals 10, and the rotor 12 has three-phase windings connected through slip rings to a semiconductor power converter 15. The semiconductor power converter 15 supplies variable-frequency currents to the rotor 12 depending on the rotational speed of the rotor 12, the frequency of the bus terminals of the power system, and so on. The semiconductor power converter 15 is connected to the power system terminals 10 for exchanging electrical energy with the power system terminals 10.
The rotational speed of the variable-speed dynamotor shown in FIG. 1 is variable in a very small range of about 10%. The variable-speed range cannot easily be expanded because of the limited mechanical strength of the rotor 12 and also the mechanical resonance of the rotor 12.
The mechanical resonance of the rotor 12 may be removed by improving the mechanical design of the rotor 12. However, it is a simpler approach to actively vary the damping capability and stiffness of the rotor 12 with magnetic bearings.
Magnetic bearings are disclosed in detail in a document (3) "Magnetic bearing and its related technology I. Controlled magnetic bearing and its applications" by Fumio Matsumura, IEEJ (Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan) Transaction D. Vol. 114, pp. 1200-1207, 1994, for example.
If magnetic bearings are incorporated in a variable-speed dynamotor, then the axial length of the rotor is increased, making the mechanical system of the variable-speed dynamotor complex, and lowering the critical speed of the variable-speed dynamotor. Therefore, the controllability of the variable-speed dynamotor is reduced by the use of the magnetic bearings. It is desirable to generate radial forces on the rotor supplementally or actively without modifying the mechanical system, e.g., the length of the rotor, of the variable-speed dynamotor.
FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings illustrates an ultra-high-speed rotary machine system which comprises an electromagnetic rotary machine with windings for controlling the radial position of rotors, which has been proposed by the inventors of the present application. The electromagnetic rotary machine shown in FIG. 2 is disclosed in various documents including (4) "Principles of radial force generation of bearingless motors with a cylindrical rotor operating under no loads" by Akira Chiba, Kouichi Ikeda, Fukuzo Nakamura, Tazumi Deido, Tadashi Fukao, and M. A. Rahman, Electric Society Journal D. Vol. 113, No. 4, pp. 539-547, 1993, and (5) Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2-193547. As shown in FIG. 2, the electromagnetic rotary machine has two units 16 each connected to a three-phase inverter 17 for controlling currents supplied to the windings for controlling the radial position of rotors, and also to a three-phase inverter 18 for generating a motor torque. Each of the units 16 has four-pole windings for generating a motor torque and two-pole windings for generating radial forces on the rotor. Since each of the units 16 is capable of generating a motor torque and radial forces, the electromagnetic rotary machine has a shorter shaft than general ultra-high-speed motors with magnetic bearings, and can produce a higher output power if its shaft length is the same as those of the general ultra-high-speed motors with magnetic bearings.
The electromagnetic rotary machine proposed by the inventors of the present application has the following features:
(1) The electromagnetic rotary machine, if it has three-phase windings, requires only six wire cables and two three-phase inverters for generating radial forces along two orthogonal axes and a motor torque. PA1 (2) Because the windings for generating the radial forces and the windings for generating the motor torque are separate from each other, the inverter or power amplifier for controlling the radial forces may be of a relatively small power requirement. PA1 (3) Inasmuch as the electromagnetic rotary machine employs the four-pole windings and the two-pole windings, if the rotors are positioned centrally within the stators, there is no mutual coupling, and no induced voltage is developed in the windings for controlling radial forces. PA1 (4) The electromagnetic rotary machine can be used in a wide variety of high-output-power rotary machines which assume a sine-wave distribution of electromotive forces and a sine-wave distribution of magnetic fluxes, including an induction machine, a permanent-magnet synchronous machine, a synchronous reluctance motor, etc.
FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings illustrates the principles of generation of forces acting radially on a rotor in the electromagnetic rotary machine. As shown in FIG. 3, a stator has four-pole windings N.sub.4 for producing four-pole magnetic fluxes .PSI..sub.4 and two-pole windings N.sub.2 for producing two-pole magnetic fluxes .PSI..sub.2. The four-pole windings N.sub.4 of the stator serve to generate a motor torque on the rotor. If the rotor is positioned centrally in the stator, then when a current flows through the four-pole windings N.sub.4 in a positive direction, the four-pole windings N.sub.4 generate four-pole symmetric magnetic fluxes .PSI..sub.4.
When a two-phase alternating current is supplied to the four-pole windings N.sub.4 and four-pole windings perpendicular thereto, a four-pole revolving magnetic field is generated. The stator may alternatively have three-phase windings. If the rotor has a squirrel-cage type winding, then it generates a torque due to the revolving magnetic field, with the assembly operating as an ordinary squirrel-cage type induction machine. If the rotor has four-pole permanent magnets, then it generates a torque due to the revolving magnetic field, with the assembly operating as an ordinary permanent-magnet motor.
The two-pole windings N.sub.2 of the stator serve to produce forces acting radially on the rotor. When a current flows through the two-pole windings N.sub.2 in a positive direction, they generate two-pole magnetic fluxes .PSI..sub.2 as shown in FIG. 3. Across a gap below the rotor as shown in FIG. 3, the four-pole magnetic fluxes .PSI..sub.4 and the two-pole magnetic fluxes .PSI..sub.2 flow in opposite directions. Therefore, the flux density is relatively high across the gap below the rotor. Across a gap above the rotor as shown in FIG. 3, the four-pole magnetic fluxes .PSI..sub.4 and the two-pole magnetic fluxes 2 flow in the same direction. Consequently, the flux density is relatively high across the gap above the rotor.
When the magnetic fluxes are brought out of equilibrium as shown, the rotor is subjected to radial forces F which are directly upwardly in FIG. 3. The magnitude of the radial forces F can be adjusted by controlling the magnitude of the current flowing through the two-pole windings N.sub.2. To reverse the direction of the radial forces F, the direction of the current flowing through the two-pole windings N.sub.2 may be reversed.
In order to generate radial forces horizontally across the rotor in FIG. 3, two-pole windings may be provided on the stator which are directed perpendicularly to the two-pole windings N.sub.2, and a current flowing through the two-pole windings may be adjusted in magnitude and direction. By thus adjusting the magnitude and direction of the currents flowing through these two-pole windings, it is possible to generate radial forces of desired magnitudes and directions.
In FIG. 3, the four-pole windings N.sub.4 are used to rotate the rotor and the two-pole windings N.sub.2 are used to control the radial position of the rotor. However, it is possible to use the four-pole windings N.sub.4 to control the radial position of the rotor and the two-pole windings N.sub.2 to rotate the rotor.
As far as the inventors know, there has been no report whatsoever on a system for applying such an electromagnetic rotary machine to a large-power-rating variable-speed dynamotor.


Embodiments of a method and apparatus for obtaining sounding measurements between an access point and a wireless station within a wireless local area network are described. Some embodiments relate to Wi-Fi networks and networks operating in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards. Some embodiments may allow an access point to request that multiple stations compute sounding measurements with minimal time delay between measurements. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

In a wireless local area network it is occasionally useful to perform sounding measurements of the communications environment between the access point and the wireless stations. These sounding measurements may provide data for use in beamforming and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna operations. It is often desirable for an access point to request sounding information from multiple stations in parallel in order to obtain this information while maintaining singular communication link conditions.
Currently, an access point may request a sounding from a station by sending an announce message followed by a null data packet (NDP) sounding message directed to that station. This procedure may be repeated for each station, which can be time consuming and inefficient and may result in an unacceptable delay between the sounding measurements performed at each of the stations.
Thus, there are general needs for apparatus and efficient methods for an access point to request that multiple stations compute sounding measurements with minimal time delay between measurements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and devices for multiple station sounding in a wireless local area network


A valve for pressurized fluid, including a body having a front face and a rear face and housing an internal fluid circuit having an upstream end configured to be placed in communication with a reserve of pressurized fluid and a downstream end configured to be placed in communication with a user of fluid, the circuit including a collection of valve shutter(s) including at least one shutoff valve shutter for closing or opening the circuit, the valve comprising a member for manually controlling the collection of valve shutter(s).

The invention relates to a valve and to a device for storing and dispensing pressurized fluid.
The invention relates more particularly to a valve for pressurized fluid, comprising a body having a front face and a rear face and housing an internal fluid circuit having an upstream end intended to be placed in communication with a reserve of pressurized fluid and a downstream end intended to be placed in communication with a user of fluid, the circuit comprising a collection of valve shutter(s) comprising at least one shutoff valve shutter for closing or opening the circuit, the valve comprising a member for manually controlling the collection of valve shutter(s), the control member being mounted on the body so as to be movable between a rest position, in which the collection of valve shutter(s) is in a position in which the circuit is closed, and an active position, in which the control member actuates the collection of valve shutter(s) into a position in which the circuit is open with a first bore section, the valve having a mechanism for locking the control member in its rest position, the locking mechanism comprising a locking lever provided with an end for grasping, the locking lever being able to move on the body between a locked first position, which locks the control member to prevent it from moving from its rest position toward its active position, and an unlocked second position, in which the control member is unlocked, allowing it to move from its rest position toward its active position, wherein, in the locked first position of the locking lever, the end for grasping of the locking lever is disposed along or in a manner facing the front face of the body of the valve at a first distance from the front face of the body of the valve.
For safety reasons, it is known practice to provide a mechanism for locking the member for manually controlling the opening of an isolation valve shutter of a valve for (a) pressurized gas cylinder(s) (see for example FR2793297A1).
A risk of such a mechanism may be untimely actuation. For example, when the cylinder provided with such a valve is transported, dropped or handled, a protruding object (rectilinear pin or the like) may actuate this mechanism, which unlocks the control member. This untimely moving of the locking/unlocking member is all the more hazardous when the actuation thereof allows the valve to be pre-opened so as to release gas even before the control member is moved.

Valve and device for storing and dispensing pressurized fluid

L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude


A device management apparatus that mediates between an owner of a device and a user who is not the owner of the device in order to permit the user to use the device, includes a device information storage section in which information on each of a plurality of devices is registered, an acquisition section which acquires a desired condition from a user, and a matching process section which performs matching between the desired condition acquired from the user and the information on each device registered in the device information storage section thereby selecting a device satisfying the desired condition as a target device, generating contract information related to the use of the target device between an owner of the target device and the user, and granting a control right of the target device to the user.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technology for mediating between an owner of a device and a user of a device.
Related Art
As a means for realizing a ubiquitous society, a sensor network is in the spotlight. The sensor network is a technology which disposes sensor devices each having a detection function and a communication function at various places and networks the sensor devices, thereby implementing the collection, management, and seamless use of sensing data (see Patent Literatures 1 to 3). When the sensor network is realized, it becomes easy to quickly grasp a situation at any place from anywhere, and hence it is considered that wide application of the sensor network is promising in not only industrial fields, more specifically, in the frontlines of production and distribution, but also in fields related to social systems such as transportation and various infrastructures and living such as medical treatment and education. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method which prevents unfair use of a sensor by performing access right control for each medical staff in a body sensor network (BSN) used in the medical field.

Device management apparatus and device management method


The present invention concerns an apparatus comprising a charger circuit and a control circuit. The charger circuit may be configured to generate a first power down control signal and a second power down control signal in response to (i) a first charge signal, (ii) a second charge signal, (iii) a supply voltage, and (iv) a host control signal. The control circuit may be configured to generate the first charge signal and the second charge signal in response to a first battery signal and a second battery signal. The control circuit may enter a power down state in response to the host control signal initiating the power down state.

Battery packs, such as Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery packs experience a self discharge process when stored, even when not in use. Monitoring circuitry (such as an analog front end—bq29330 and/or a bq20z70, available from Texas Instruments) accelerates the discharge rate when powered by the pack cells. Preventative maintenance charging is needed to prolong battery shelf life when a monitoring gauge uses battery power to monitor a state of health of the cells during storage. Such preventative charging is costly.
To address the discharge issue when storing a battery pack, conventional battery storage systems use a number approaches such as (i) implementing a sleep mode command on the battery charger, (ii) providing a preventative maintenance program that periodically charges the packs, or (iii) configuring the design with a mechanical connection so that the battery packs are not connected to the charger when the packs are not installed.
Such systems have one or more disadvantages. The sleep command of a typical charger is not effective when implemented on a two pack system. A two pack configuration from an I2C switch of a typical charger is a passive switch command. Additionally, many of the systems configured with a battery pack will be shipped with the battery packs installed. Preventative maintenance charging needs to be reserved for field replacement units. The physical chassis on many designs are often set by the standard bridge bay (SBB) specification. The space for a battery back-up chassis is a predefined form factor. Such a form factor needs a design that maintains the predefined volumetric limitations.
It would be desirable to implement a battery backup system that fits in a predefined form factor and with an embedded charger implements a low power mode that allows two or more battery packs to remain in a usable state during storage.


A device for separating moisture from a gas flow which is vented from an interior region of an aircraft to a region exterior to the aircraft. In a preferred embodiment, a vessel having an inlet port coupled to the interior region of the aircraft, an outlet port coupled to the region exterior to the aircraft, and at least one baffle member positioned between the inlet port and the outlet port. The baffle member extends away from a wall of the vessel, at least partially transverse to a flow of gas passing through the vessel from the inlet port to the outlet port. The flow passes adjacent to the at least one baffle member such that a surface of the baffle member collects moisture thereon. The moisture is returned, via a canted vessel surface, through the inlet port of the vessel and to the interior region of the aircraft.

Lavatories on commercial aircraft are typically vented to prevent undesirable odors from building up therein. Such odors may create an unpleasant environment aboard the aircraft, particularly on long flights. The lavatory vent may comprise a pipe or series of pipes which extend between the lavatory holding tank and the exterior of the aircraft. During flight at typical cruise altitudes, the pressure within the aircraft cabin and within the lavatory holding tank exceeds the pressure outside the aircraft, causing air to flow from the holding tank, through the vent pipes, and to the exterior of the aircraft. As the vented airstream exits the aircraft, it comes into contact with cold air surrounding the aircraft and rapidly cools. Moisture in the vented airstream condenses and forms ice which may adhere to the aircraft fuselage, flight control surfaces, or other external surfaces or components, potentially inhibiting operation of the aircraft. When the aircraft descends to warmer altitudes, the ice may break off and may damage the aircraft surfaces or components, and may also injure persons or property located on the ground below.
One method for reducing the moisture content of a vented airstream includes passing the airstream through a 90 degree bend in the vent pipe before the airstream exits the aircraft. One problem with this method is that a significant amount of moisture may remain in the airstream despite the 90 degree bend, causing ice to build up on the aircraft exterior and break off as discussed above. Another problem is that existing pipe networks may contain gaps which are deliberately formed therein to entrain air from outside the holding tank and thereby reduce the velocity of air vented from the holding tank. The gaps may allow moisture to leak from the pipes into the interior of the aircraft. Such moisture is undesirable because it may promote corrosion of the aircraft and may create slippery or otherwise hazardous working conditions within the aircraft.
Another method for reducing the moisture content of the vented airstream includes passing the air over a series of baffles. One problem with existing baffle devices is that they may not adequately drain the collected moisture into the holding tank. Another problem is that the existing devices may not provide for low velocity flow in the region of the baffles.

Device for separating moisture from gas vented from an aircraft


A grinding aid and an enhanced roll press method of grinding granulated blast-furnace slag by treating the slag feed of the roll press with from about 0.002 to 0.2 weight percent of polyacrylic acid or its alkali metal salt in combination with up to about 4 weight percent water.

The present invention is directed to a grinding aid composition and to an enhanced method of grinding slag by using said grinding aid in conjunction with a roll press. Specifically, the present invention is directed to the use of polyacrylic acid or its alkali metal salt as a means of enhancing the grinding efficiency of slag material by a roll press mill circuit.
Slag is a by-product commonly obtained from iron blast furnace operations. Conventionally, the blast furnace is charged with layers of iron ore, flux stone, fuel and other sources of iron oxide as part of a highly controlled metallurgical process. Heat and oxygen are forced into the furnace to achieve very high temperatures and molten iron is collected by tapping the bottom of the furnace. Molten slag which is formed just above the molten iron is also tapped out and withdrawn from the furnace where it is quenched with water to produce a wet granular slag material.
The granulated blast furnace slag is a non-metallic product consisting mainly of silicates and alumino silicates of calcium and other bases. ASTM C-989 provides specifications for granulated slag which can be used in concrete and mortar compositions and ASHTO-MR02 provides the specification for the ground product which can be formed from the granular slag and used as a component in blended cements (e.g. ASTM C-595 Standard Specifications for Blended Hydraulic Cements).
Blended cement compositions can be formed by replacing a portion (up to about 50 weight percent) of the hydraulic cement component of the composition with a ground powder slag product. The cement compositions of mortar (hydraulic cement, small aggregate such as sand, and water) and concrete (hydraulic cement, small aggregate, large aggregate such as stone, and water) generally exhibit enhanced later age strength when slag is present as part of the composition.
Granulated slag is normally treated by ball mill or roll press to provide the powdered product. In the ball mill operation, the granules are treated by continuous random striking with the ball elements of the mill to break up the granules into the desired powder. The ball mill operates at higher efficiency when there is an agent (commonly called "grinding aid") present in the mill which causes the formed particles to remain dispersed within the ball mill. Thus, compounds such as lignosulfonates, triethanolamine and the like have been used in ball mill operations.
The roll press performs in a distinctly different mechanism from that of the ball mill. The slag granules are fed to the nip of a pair of rollers. The granules are subjected to a single squeezing force which occurs while the granules pass between the rollers. The rollers squeeze the granules causing them to fracture into very small particles as well as to cause fracturing of the granules which will completely disassociate upon subsequent subjection to a deagglomerator.
One problem associated with the roll press is the rate at which the feed granules are capable of passing between the rollers. Small particles (from recycle stream) have little problem passing through but larger granules (from raw feed) tend to be retained above the nip of the rollers. It is generally known that the addition of small amounts of water, such as about 3 weight percent based on the total feed, provides a means to aid in causing the large granules to enter the nip area more readily. It is believed that the water causes the granules and particles to adhere and interact to draw them through the nip area.
The final product must be a dry powder and, therefore, the water must be removed at the finishing end of the process. The use of water has the defects of requiring large amounts of energy to drive off the water from the powder product; reduces the efficiency of the deagglomerator and causes clogging of dust collectors which are associated with the process. Thus, it is desired to provide a composition which provides a means of enhancing the efficiency of slag pulverization by a roll mill while reducing the water required.

Roll press grinding aid for granulated blast furnace slag