The present invention relates to an apparatus for focusing particle beams using a radiation pressure capable of obtaining the same flow amount and a narrower particle beam width with respect to the particle size and a higher numeral density. It is possible to form the particle beams by applying the radiation pressure to the particles with respect to the flow condition that cannot form the particle beams with respect to the set particle sizes. There is provided an apparatus for focusing particle beams using a radiation pressure, comprising an orifice part that is provided at a predetermined portion of the flow tube, and a lens having a hole with a predetermined diameter for thereby focusing the particle flow into a particle beam and applying a radiation pressure to the flow particles; and a light source supply part (A) provided at a portion opposite to the discharge outlet of the mixing tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, an apparatus for focusing a particle beam, and in particular to an apparatus for focusing a particle beam using a radiation pressure capable of controlling the width of a particle beam
2. Description of the Background Art
A particle beam represents that the flow of a particle has a beam type. In the case that particles flow in a beam type narrow region, the number concentration of particles is increased, so that it is possible to monitor particles with high accuracy. In addition, since the particles continuously flow in a beam type, it is possible to measure the sizes of particles and a particle size distribution in real time. Therefore, a particle beam focusing apparatus has been used for a mass analyzer or a chemical composition analyzer. Recently, it has been used in a micro particle monitoring apparatus in which particles rarely exist like in a semiconductor process.
In the conventional art, a particle beam focusing apparatus has been generally used as an apparatus for generating particle beams wherein an aerodynamic lens is used therein. In the particle beam focusing apparatus using an aerodynamic lens, a particle flows but of an airflow way using an inertia effect of particles while air-particle flow passes through an orifice. The above particle beam focusing apparatus has an advantage in that it is possible to easily generate particle beans.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a conventional particle beam apparatus using an aerodynamic lens, and FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an air-particle flow in an orifice part of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, in a particle beam focusing apparatus using an aerodynamic lens, there are provided a particle generator 7, an air-particle mixing tube 1, a flow tube 2 that is provided at one side of the mixing tube 1 for thereby guiding air-particle to flow along a straight line, and an orifice part 3 that is provided at a predetermined portion of the flow tube 2 wherein the orifice part 3 has a hole 31 with a certain diameter and is formed in a flat plate shape.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the particles from the particle generator 7 are supplied to the mixing tube 1. The air-particle mixed with the air in the mixing tube 1 is discharged through the flow tube 2. The air-particle flow discharged from the mixing tube 1 passes through the orifice part 3, and the particles are collected at the center from the flow of the air by an inertia force, so that the air-particle flow is formed in a form of particle beam. A contraction factor η representing a particle beam formation performance has been generally used. Here, the contraction factor η may be expressed in such a manner that a ratio (η=γp(∞)/γo(∞)) of the radius (γp) direction position of an outer most particle trace with respect to the radius (γo) direction position of the air outer most streamline is expressed after the air-particle flow passes through the orifice part 3. In the case that the contraction factor is 0, it represents that particles are collected at the center axis, and in the case that the contraction factor is 1, it represents that the particles flow along the air flow way. In the case that the contraction factor is a negative number, it means that the particles cross the center axis. Therefore, in the case that the particle beam is formed, the contraction factor has a value of −1<η<1.
However, in the case that the particle beam apparatus using the aerodynamic lens is adapted, the width of the particle beam that can be obtained under the set flow condition and the size of available particles are limited. In addition, on the contrary, there are disadvantages that the width of the particle beam that can be obtained with respect to the set size of the particle and the available flow amount are limited. Namely, it is needed to change the design of the particle beam apparatus. As one example, a certain research has been conducted for decreasing the width of the particle beam using a multistage type aerodynamic lens having a plurality of orifices. In the case that the multistage type aerodynamic lens is used, the particle beam apparatus gets complicated, and the disadvantages in the operation particle size and the flow condition of the aerodynamic lens still remain.

Apparatus for focusing particle beam using radiation pressure

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


A compactible reusable shopping bag devised to incentivize reuse is presented herein. The compactible reusable shopping bag is compactible down to a discrete, folded stack enabling ready storage and portage when not in use. The compactible reusable shopping bag is securable in the folded stack by securement of a pair of handles around the folded stack and, in an alternative embodiment, by action of fasteners. The compactible reusable shopping bag further includes handle loops enabling carriage of fewer items in the bag and attachment of a shoulder strap to enable over-the-shoulder carry when at capacity. The compactible reusable shopping bag is lightweight, capacious, and durable.

Single-use plastic bags have become an environmental scourge. With many municipalities, counties, states, and even countries moving to ban single-use plastic bags, or at least tax them to disincentivize their use, reusable bags for shopping are ever more popular.
Reusable bags seek to combine capacity with durability for repeated use, while remaining cost effective to produce and distribute. However, an inconvenience results where shoppers have to bring their own bags with them on their shopping errands, or else buy a new reusable bag or succumb to using plastic again. Reusable shopping bags are typically left in vehicles, therefore, often in an untidy heap or pile in the trunk, in the footwells, or elsewhere in the vehicle. Such storage exposes bags to uneven wear and tear, diminishing their longevity, and creates a messy appearance in the user's vehicle. Neither do reusable bags presently seen in the art store conveniently or compactly when not in use; rather, they are typically hung up by their handles from an elevated surface or projection or stuffed one inside another. Such a situation can make retrieving a particular bag hasslesome.
The present compactible reusable shopping bag, therefore, seeks to incentivize reuse by combining durable, lightweight materials into a compactly foldable form that is convenient for storage in a user's vehicle; such as tidily stored in the glovebox or seatback pocket, in other bags, or ported upon the person; or tidily stacked elsewhere in the home or garage. The present compactible reusable shopping bag combines lightweight durable materials and a foldable form that is securable in a folded stack that is approximately less than an inch thick with a profile area of approximately one-third the area of one of the bag's longitudinal sides when the bag is deployed in an expanded position. The present compactible reusable shopping bag further presents three novel modes of carriage, enabling versatility when porting different quantities and different types of goods.


Disclosed are methods for providing electronic settlement of authorized financial transactions via a wireless transmission system. A conventional financial transaction processing point-of-sale terminal is connected to a wireless adapter. The wireless adapter is connected to a wireless transmission system, through which the adapter can communicate with a host computer. Transaction authorizations are processed via the wireless adapter, wireless transmission system and the host computer. A main transaction database is maintained by the host computer, and the adapter maintains a database of transactions which have been authorized but not yet settled. When the terminal initiates a settlement procedure, the adapter and the terminal communicate so that the adapter collects from the terminal all the transactions which are to be settled before initiating the settlement procedure with the host computer. The adapter compresses the data blocks which carry the settlement information by using its local database prior to sending these blocks to the host computer. If no change was made to the authorized transaction (e.g., no tip was added) then the adapter only needs to send the database index code and minimal other information in order to post the transaction. If a change was made to the transaction, then the adapter sends the database index code and a small block of data which updates the transaction.

Conventional financial transaction processing methods and systems use a terminal, such as the ubiquitous Tranz 330 terminal manufactured by Verifone Corp., and a dialup telephone line to process financial transactions. A merchant provides the terminal, by entry of data on the keypad of the terminal and/or by running a credit or debit card through a magnetic track reader incorporated in the terminal, with information which describes a requested financial transaction. The terminal then uses the public switched telephone network to establish a connection with a host computer, transmits the information describing the financial transaction, receives a reply from the host computer relating to the requested financial transaction, acknowledges receipt of the reply from the host computer, and terminates the connection with the host computer. The terminal then provides, on its display, an approval or denial code or other relevant information relating to the requested financial transaction.
Although the transaction may have been authorized, another step is undertaken in order to settle the transaction. For example, a customer may be prepared to make a purchase and the customer's credit card purchase is authorized, but then the customer changes his mind and then does not make the purchase, or changes the amount of the purchase by adding a tip to the charge. Thus another set of transactions is undertaken, usually at a specific time of the day, to settle the day's transactions, posting all authorized and executed transactions, with their final amounts, at the host computer. This settlement is often referred to as "batch" processing, since all of the day's transactions are sent as a single batch of transactions on one phone call, rather than having a single transaction for each phone call to the host computer.
When the dialup connection is established between the terminal and the host computer, a path is established which allows data to be bi-directionally transmitted between the terminal and the host computer. Charges for dialup telephone access are assessed based on the type of call and the duration of the call. The dialup telephone access is often a "local" call, with no long-distance charges assessed. Some business phone lines, which a merchant might have, provide unlimited local calling, while other business phone lines are on measured service, wherein the duration of local calls is accumulated and used to calculate the phone bill. Occasionally the dialup access is provided via a "1-800" Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) line, for the use of which the merchant is not directly charged by the phone company which provides the telephone service. Only rarely is the dialup access provided via a long-distance call. The dialup access is often a local call with unlimited service, or a measured-rate local call with a low per/minute billing rate. Thus, the duration of each telephone call to process a financial transaction and the amount of data that is transmitted in processing a financial transaction either do not affect the charges associated with the dialup telephone access or only produce minimal additional costs for the telephone service. The additional steps of the batch settlement do not add significantly to the phone call charges which a merchant may incur, since the phone call is usually a local call or a WATS call.
In contrast to local dialup telephone service, wireless telephone services, such as the analog or digital cellular telephone systems, and wireless data services, such as the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network, assess charges based on the connection time, or number of data packets that are transmitted.
Some attempts have been made to use conventional financial transaction processing systems and methods with analog cellular telephone services. One method involves coupling the audio signals between the financial transaction device and an analog cellular telephone via an acoustic coupler, with the merchant hand-dialing the phone number of the host computer on the cellular telephone keypad. Motorola has manufactured cellular telephones with a built-in telephone jack and circuitry which adapts the cellular telephone so that it may be operated as if it were a land-line telephone, and the financial transaction terminal could be connected to this cellular telephone and used without modification to the conventional system and methods.
However, cellular telephone connections incur significant charges due to the lengthy time of the cellular telephone connection establishment and the lengthy time which the connection must be maintained in order to process the financial transaction. The time during which the connection between the terminal and the host computer is being established may be charged for by the cellular carrier, which may result in charges for 10-20 seconds of cellular air-time for each transaction processing request even while no financial transaction processing is actively occurring. Additionally, many cellular carriers charge for connection time on a whole-minute basis, so that a cellular telephone call which had a duration of only 20 seconds may be billed at a rate as if the cellular telephone call lasted for an entire minute. If the cellular telephone call lasts for one minute and one second, the charge for the cellular telephone call may be billed at the rate for two whole minutes.
Simply changing from the analog cellular telephone system to a digital data system, such as the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network, does not eliminate the additional charges incurred with a wireless transmission system. Even if the terminal could be made to directly address a CDPD wireless modem to provide a connection to the host computer, transmit the requested financial transaction and receive the response from the host computer, the conventional systems and methods of financial transaction processing would incur significant charges due to the number of data packets which are transmitted by conventional methods. Conventional methods may require packets to establish the connection between the terminal and the host computer and start the transaction process, one or two data packets to transmit the requested financial transaction, one or two packets to provide the response for the requested transaction, one data packet to acknowledge receipt of the response from the host computer, and more data packets to close the connection. If there are transmission errors or synchronization errors which require re-transmission of data packets the total number of data packets per requested financial transaction rises further.
Conventional batch settlement processing systems and methods are not efficient when used with wireless transmission systems. What is needed is a method of optimizing financial transactions, including the batch settlement transactions, which are generated by conventional transaction processing equipment for efficient use with wireless transmission systems.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of settlement batch processing which may be used when a conventional financial transaction processing point-of-sale terminal is used with a wireless transmission system.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of settlement batch processing so as to minimize the number of data packets transmitted in the settlement batch processing.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a method of settlement batch processing in a manner such that no changes to the operation of the terminal need to be made in order to use the method of the invention.
A still further object of the invention is to provide methods which may be used to determine if a conventional financial transaction processing point-of-sale terminal is requesting a single transaction authorization or a settlement batch process.

Apparatus and method for batch processing of wireless financial transactions


The method of regulating a motor vehicle three-phase generator for operation in an overexcited range includes determining a temperature of the generator by a temperature-determining device provided in a voltage regulator circuit for the generator, supporting the housing of the voltage regulator on one of the generator component parts, reducing an excitation current of an excitation coil of the generator to keep the temperature of the generator below a predetermined maximum temperature when a generator speed is between a first generator speed threshold and a second generator speed threshold and increasing the excitation current of the excitation coil of the generator above the nominal value of the excitation current without consideration of the determined temperature, when the generator speed exceeds the second predetermined generator speed threshold and is below the first predetermined generator speed threshold.

The invention relates to an arrangement for and a method of controlling a three-phase generator in a vehicle.
At present, three-phase generators are preferably used for supplying energy in the motor vehicle. These generators generate an alternating voltage or alternating current which is rectified in a rectifier arrangement connected to the generator, and is used for supplying the consumers and for charging the battery. Since the output voltage of the three-phase generator depends considerably on the generator speed, a voltage regulator must be used for achieving the desired constant output voltage.
In independently or separately excited generators, the voltage regulator influences the generator exciting current in such a way that the generator output voltage maintains a constant value, e.g. 14 volts, in spite of considerably changing generator speed between idle and full load and in spite of considerable load fluctuations of the generator.
However, problems result in the power supply in the motor vehicle in winter or in city traffic, since the internal resistance of the battery increases considerably in cold weather, so that its cold start performance is considerably reduced. Moreover, power supply problems and battery charging problems occur at low speeds. Therefore, it is attempted to control the current delivery from the three-phase generators in such a way that the three-phase generators can be utilized to an increased degree. For this purpose, it is suggested, e.g. in Swedish Patent Application 77.02656 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,412 to determine the battery temperature with a temperature sensor and feed this to the voltage regulator. At low battery temperatures, the voltage regulator then increases the output voltage of the generator on the basis of the measurement signal of the temperature sensor and lowers the output voltage of the generator at high temperatures.
A voltage regulator for a generator which charges a battery in a motor vehicle is also disclosed in DE-OS 34 23 767. The temperature of this battery is measured with a temperature sensor, and in so doing, a voltage proportional to the battery temperature is fed to the regulator. In addition, means for determining the internal temperature are provided in the voltage regulator itself and are used for regulating the generator output voltage when the battery temperature sensor has a defect. Taking into account the battery temperature and regulator temperature itself when regulating the voltage enables improvement of the charging balance by increasing the generator output voltage, particularly at low temperatures.
In spite of the known measures, sufficient power supply in the motor vehicle is still a problem, chiefly due to a continuously increasing number of consuming devices as automobile development continues.

Arrangement for and method of controlling a three-phase-generator in a vehicle


A DC/AC converter 3 performs AC conversion and a boosting function upon the reception of a DC voltage. A control unit 6 controls the DC/AC converter 3 to perform the lighting control of a discharge lamp. The DC/AC converter includes an AC conversion transformer 7, switching devices 5H, 5L and a resonance capacitor 8, and drives the switching devices to produce series resonance in the capacitor 8 and an inductance component for the transformer 7 or the inductance device 9. Before the discharge lamp 9 is turned on, the drive frequency for the switching devices gradually nears a resonance frequency f1 to increase an unloaded output, and a start signal is supplied to the discharge lamp. After the lighting of the discharge lamp has been initiated, the drive frequency is defined that is higher, by a predetermined frequency displacement value ΔF, than the drive frequency immediately before the discharge lamp is turned on. And the drive frequency for the switching device is shifted to a frequency area fb that is higher than a resonance frequency f2 when the discharge lamp is turned on.

A configuration that comprises a DC power circuit including a DC/DC converter, a DC/AC converter and a starting circuit is known for use as a lighting circuit for discharge lamps, such as metal halide lamps, that may be used as a light source for a vehicle such as an automobile. For example, a DC voltage supplied by a battery maybe converted into a desired voltage by the DC power circuit. Then the desired voltage is converted into an AC signal and is provided by the DC/AC converter at the following stage Thereafter, the AC output may be supplied, with a superimposed start signal, to the discharge lamp (see, for example, Japanese patent document JP-A-7-142182).
In a lighting control of a discharge lamp, a voltage (hereinafter referred to as an "OCV") that is to be provided at an unloaded time, preceding the lighting of the discharge lamp (i.e., while the discharge lamp is turned off), is controlled. After the discharge lamp is turned on, following the reception of the start signal, the discharge lamp is shifted to a steady lighted state as transient input power is gradually reduced.
A switching regulator employing a transformer, for example, is used for the DC power circuit. A full-bridge circuit employing pairs of switching devices, for example, is used for the DC/AC converter.
With a conventional lighting circuit, circuit size and cost problems may be encountered. For example, a transformer used for the DC power circuit and a transformer that constitutes the starting circuit are both required, or the number of switching devices used for the DC/AC converter is increased.
When a discharge lamp is employed, for example, as an automobile light source, a discharge lamp lighting circuit must be arranged within a limited space (e.g., a lighting circuit unit must be accommodated inside a lamp).
The circuit size is increased for an arrangement in which voltage transformation is performed at two steps (DC voltage conversion and DC/AC conversion) and the circuit is not appropriate for downsizing. As a countermeasure for this, an arrangement is proposed in which an output raised at one step through voltage conversion by the DC/AC converter is supplied to a discharge lamp. As an example arrangement, a resonant voltage is raised by employing one transformer and a resonance circuit, and subsequently is supplied to a discharge lamp. Problems in this case are that discrepancies in the characteristics of parts, such as a transformer and a capacitor, are tolerated to a degree to maintain the lighting function, and that the discharge lamp, after being activated, is steadily and quickly shifted to a stable lighted state. When the discharge lamp is employed as an automobile light source, these conditions are required in order to ensure satisfactory safety for night-time running.


A method of inspecting the structure of a software system composed of service solution provider having service components analyzes the relationships between services and components applying a fitness algorithm to ascertain characteristics of the system and its components and creates a human readable representation of the software system or software service provider.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to software analysis tools for web based software systems, and more particularly to analysis tools for service based systems operating on a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Service oriented software systems consist of various components which express capabilities and dependencies. These systems may be composed dynamically based on certain constraints established by individual components, such as versions and properties, expressed in other components. Characteristics of certain components of the system, such as inconsistencies, bugs, performance bottlenecks, may be emergent properties in the system as a whole, which can be difficult to isolate without substantial effort. As software systems become increasingly complex, the difficulty of diagnosing these problems becomes much higher.
A service registry is one of the fundamental pieces of service oriented architecture (SOA). It refers to a place in which service providers can impart information about their offered services and potential clients can search for services. This information includes the offered functionality of the services available to potential consumers (clients). A service registry allows information about services to be organized and provide facilities to publish and discover services. Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) and the Web Services Description Language (WSDL)—together with Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)—are standards for describing services and their providers, as well as how services can be consumed in the implementation of web services in computer networks.
It would be beneficial to be able to analyze the service registry to determine the relationship between the different components and the services expressed in those components of a service based solution. Such an analysis helps to determine interdependencies between the components and their services as well as the composition of those services.

Methods of analyzing software systems having service components


A lens module includes a lens barrel and a number of lenses received in the lens barrel. The lens barrel defines a light incident opening in a side surface thereof for light passing therethrough. The lenses include a reflecting lens. The reflecting lens includes a light incident surface, a light output surface, and a total reflection surface. The light incident surface faces the light incident opening, and the light output surface faces an end of the lens barrel. The total reflection surface is configured for reflecting incident light from the light incident surface to the light output surface.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a lens module and an image apparatus using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, compact size imaging apparatuses, in devices such as portable electronic cameras, are very popular. To manufacture these imaging apparatus, the total length of the lens module must be reduced. Currently, the optical components, such as lenses and spacers, of the lens module are aligned along the central axis of a lens barrel, when imaging, incidence light from objects passes through the lens barrel from one end to the other, along a linear direction. In addition, there should be a space between the two optical components, for the purpose of focusing and ensuring the quality of the image. Therefore, the total length of the lens module is limited and cannot further miniaturization is difficult to achieve.
What is needed therefore, is a lens module and an imaging apparatus using the same overcoming the above-mentioned problems.

Lens module and imaging apparatus using same


A balloon-tipped, wire-guided double lumen, endobronchial blocker catheter (6) is provided for insertion into the tracheal bronchial tree using a fiberoptic bronchoscope (2). The catheter incorporates a removable wire guide (14), which runs the entire length of the catheter exiting the tip as a small unencased wire loop (12). The small unencased wire loop is positioned around the circumference of a fiberoptic bronchoscope and when advanced along the fiberoptic bronchoscope thereby allows the catheter to navigate the airway using the fiberoptic bronchoscope as a guide or stint allowing the catheter to reach portions of the lung where access is difficult due to sharp bends in the tracheal bronchial tree. A balloon (8) thereof is inflated to provide obstruction of a portion of the lung from ventilation. The long wire guide loop is removable allowing communication of the blocked segment with the proximal end of the catheter.

Patients who are critically ill or undergoing surgical procedures involving the lungs (thoracic surgery) frequently require a portion of the lung to be isolated from mechanical ventilation. The lungs are located in the chest cavity and bounded by the chest wall and the diaphragm, a thin muscular membrane. The lungs are held next to the chest wall by negative pressure and a thin fluid layer. The space of opposition is the pleural space. The lungs are made of the trachea, an air conduit, and the lung tissue which abuts against the chest wall. The trachea divides in the chest cavity into two separate air conduits, a right sided air conduit (the right mainstem bronchus) and a left sided air conduit (the left mainstem bronchus). The left mainstem bronchus makes a greater angle than the right mainstem bronchus, and the passage of catheters into the left mainstem bronchus is difficult.
Ventilation is a physiologic process which supplies oxygen to the body and removes carbon dioxide, a gaseous waste product. Ventilation is provided by the rhythmic back and forth motion of air in the trachea. Air enters and exits through the mouth connected to the trachea. In health, the rhythmic motion of air is provided by the rhythmic contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm. In surgical patients and the critically ill, ventilation is commonly provided mechanically using a mechanical ventilator and an endotracheal tube. An endotracheal tube is a balloon tipped catheter open at both ends, which is positioned in the mid trachea. It is connected to the mechanical ventilator to provide ventilation.
Isolation of ventilation is required commonly. In thoracic surgery, the chest wall is incised, the lung opened and the pleural space entered. As a result, the lung will collapse, and ventilation can escape. The ventilation to the nonoperative lung must be isolated before opening the operative lung segment. The risk of patient harm exists if ventilation is not isolated before beginning thoracic surgery. This results from the escape of ventilation through the surgical lung opening. Isolation of ventilation is commonly required in medical patients. A portion of the lung can be diseased and requires isolation from mechanical ventilation. Conditions which require isolation are infection of the lung (pneumonia); bleeding in the lungs (hemoptysis); and a non-surgical opening into the pleural space (pneumothorax).
A double lumen endotracheal tube is a commercially available device to achieve isolation of ventilation. A double lumen endotracheal tube is made of two endotracheal tubes fused together of unequal length. It incorporates two balloons, one balloon which envelopes the tracheal position of the two fused endotracheal tubes (the tracheal balloon) and a second which envelopes the longer portion and will extend into either the right or left mainstem bronchus (the bronchial balloon). A double lumen tube will isolate ventilation when positioned correctly with the longer portion in the right or left mainstem bronchus, and both balloons are inflated. There are disadvantages in using double lumen endotracheal tubes. Double lumen endotracheal tubes are larger in diameter and longer than conventional endotracheal tubes and can damage the vocal chords and the nerves for the vocal chords. The left mainstem bronchus is difficult to enter with the longer portion. In patients where the normal airway anatomy is altered, the use of double lumen endotracheal tubes has caused patient harm. Due to the complexity and size, hypoxic brain damage has occurred because of the time needed to correctly place the device in the airway. A double lumen endotracheal tube can not be left in place for long periods of time. Due to its size, it can cause damage of the tracheal bronchial tree including disruption.
An endobronchial blocker is another device to achieve isolation of ventilation. An endobronchial blocker is a balloon tipped catheter, which is placed using a fiberoptic bronchoscope. The balloon is positioned in either the right or left mainstem bronchus. The balloon is inflated to achieve isolation of ventilation. A commercially available vascular, balloon-tipped catheter is used routinely for an endobronchial blocker to achieve endobronchial blockade. The vascular, balloon-tipped catheter has disadvantages. The vascular, balloon-tipped catheter is not coupled to the motion of the fiberoptic bronchoscope. The fiberoptic bronchoscope is used only to view the vascular, balloon-tipped catheter when positioning the catheter. The operation of the fiberoptic bronchoscope and vascular, balloon-tipped catheter are entirely independent. The vascular, balloon-tipped catheter is very difficult to place in the left mainstem bronchus. It routinely requires several attempts to position correctly. The vascular, balloon-tipped catheter uses a removable stiff mandrel wire, placed in the catheter lumen, to allow manipulation during placement. This can cause tissue trauma due to the stiffness of the end portion. The vascular, balloon-tipped catheter incorporates only a single lumen in the design. This lumen accepts the removable mandrel wire and allows inflation of the balloon with the mandrel wire removed. The single lumen does not allow gas to be aspirated from the blocked section, gas to be added to the blocked section, irrigation fluid to be added to the blocked section, and irrigation fluid, secretions or blood to be removed from the blocked section. The balloon of the vascular, balloon-tipped catheter is not optimal. The inflated balloon is spherical in shape allowing easy dislodgement. The balloon is of a low volume, low compliance, high pressure, spherical type designed to be filled with fluid to remove blood clots from blood vessels. This type of balloon can transmit excessive pressure to the tracheal wall causing damage. The balloon has no mechanism to sense the inflation pressure.
A Univent tube is another commercially available device to achieve isolation of ventilation. A Univent tube is an endotracheal tube designed with a large lumen and a small lumen. The large lumen allows ventilation using conventional means. The smaller lumen accepts an endobronchial blocker. The endobronchial blocker is advanced into the right or left mainstem bronchus, and the balloon is inflated to achieve isolation of ventilation. The remaining portion of the Univent tube remains in the trachea in the same fashion as a conventional endotracheal tube.
The Univent tube has disadvantages. The endobronchial blocker can be difficult to place in the left mainstem bronchus. It should be placed using a fiberoptic bronchoscope. The motion of the fiberoptic bronchoscope and the blocker are entirely independent. In clinical practice, the Univent tube is larger in diameter than a conventional endotracheal tube. This can lead to difficulty in placement and damage to the vocal chord mechanism. The ventilation lumen of the Univent tube is smaller in cross-sectional than that of a similar sized conventional endotracheal tube. In patients with severe pulmonary disease, this smaller cross-sectional area can make removal of the Univent tube at the conclusion of surgery difficult. The work of breathing through this small lumen is higher and there is the risk of ventilatory failure.


A method of detecting and correcting a debilitating causative factor of a health issue in a human system includes the steps of determining a debilitating causative factor in the human system and treating the human system by subjecting the human system to a low level laser having a deactivating frequency corresponding to the debilitating causative factor.

Various forms of natural medicine exist today. Several forms of natural medicine which have received attention from the conventional modern scientific medical community as well as the natural medicine communities are acupuncture, kinesiology and reflexology. These forms of natural medicine address energy flow throughout a human system. This energy flow is often referred to as "subtle energy" which is drawn to systems of energy within and around the human system.
It is known in the fields of acupuncture, reflexology, and kinesiology that the body has so called biologically active points which can be treated, for example, with needles or with the application of pressure, to relieve tensions and normalize the functioning of internal organs and muscles. The locations of these treatment points, for example, on so called meridians, are well established and fixed.
The condition of a patient's internal organs and musculature can also be diagnosed to some extent by testing temperature and electrical skin resistance at the same biologically active points on the skin. Use of robes for sensing temperature and skin resistance are known. Subtle energy is similar or analogous to Qi (pronounced chi) of Chinese acupuncture and other natural healing techniques which focus on a universal life-force that is vital to the health of the mind and body of an organism.
Accordingly, natural medicine is being increasingly applied by doctors as well as natural therapists to a whole group of natural healing systems, which include these techniques. Subtle energy has always been seen and felt by healers and acupuncturists who are trained to read the flow of Qi through twelve specific pulses on the limb of a human body (a wrist). The pulse locations are connected with a series of energy pathways called meridians, each meridian relating to a specific organ, gland, or system of the organism.
In the field of kinesiology, a further connection has been made between meridians and specific muscles, with which the muscles are "energetically" connected Kinesiology uses manual muscle testing to assess the organism's energy and then applies a range of techniques to promote the healthy flow of energy throughout the human system. The philosophy of Chinese medicine is that health comes from being in balance and in harmony with all things, where balance is a perfect state in which no aspect is either deficient or in excess.
Energy circuits exist in organisms such as the human body and that energy fields extend to within two inches/five centimeters around the human system. The electromagnetic problems within an organism such as a human body are caused by electrical disturbances in these energy circuits which create poor or faulty communication with the human system, often giving rise to dis-ease (malfunction). It has been proposed that electromagnetic factors include: ionization which involves the balance of positive and negative ions that can be breathed in by an organism which create positive and negative currents within the organism; acupuncture meridians (energy pathways) which involve fourteen meridians for over-and under-energy, each relating to a specific part or parts of the human system; and right/left brain hemisphere integration.
Others explain that reflexology is a scientific technique of applying pressure to reflex areas or zones that have a definite affect on the normal functioning of all parts of an organism such as the human body. When properly performed, a reflex massage sends stimuli to various organs, glands, and nerves in the body. Tenderness at particular points, which are such as in the limbs of a body may indicate congestion of energy within the organism or body and that the reflexology promotes balance and normalization, to reduce tension, to revitalize, reactivate, regenerate, heal, and bring the whole system of an organism into harmony in a state of good health, naturally. It is thought that the human body is divided into ten areas of jurisdiction (meridians), where each area contains its corresponding organs with a reflex counterpart in the hand.
All structures have a natural resonant frequency, but can vibrate at dissonant frequencies. It is this nature of movement of energy which gives rise to harmonious or disharmonious, to the positive and negative aspects of health and environment.
The invention is aimed at providing a system which uses a file system comprised of a number of files and subfiles having predetermined digital response data which is indicative of a predetermined normal or predetermined abnormal condition in the human system. The file system is preferably computer based. The invention thus provides a diagnosis and treatment to promote energy flow in specific organs, glands, or systems within the human system through the synergistic combination of the tools resulting in digital response therapy.

Method for detecting and correcting the root cause of health issues


A disk apparatus includes a chassis fixed to an apparatus body, a drive unit being ascendable or descendable with respect to the chassis through a plurality of gears by driving a motor, a pickup unit provided with an optical pickup that is movable by driving the motor, a cam slider arranged on the chassis and being movable in a direction, and a plate trigger provided with an inclined cam groove and being movable in the direction through cam engagement with the pickup unit and causes the drive unit to ascend or descend through cam engagement with the cam slider. The plate trigger and the cam slider move integrally in mesh with the gears coupled with the motor respectively. The tip of the tooth of the gear to be in mesh with a triangular tooth formed in the plate trigger is made sharp.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disk apparatus for recording or reproducing a disk such as CD, CD-R, DVD, DVD-R, etc., and more particularly to a driving mechanism for the disk apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional disk apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2000-11511 (page 3 to page 5, FIG. 1). In this disk apparatus, an apparatus body is provided with a tray for carrying a disk and a drive unit capable of ascending/descending in a direction substantially perpendicularly to the carrying direction of the tray. The drive unit is provided with a pickup unit having an optical pickup for recoding on or reproducing from the disk and a motor for moving the pickup unit in a radial direction of the disk.
A transmission means including a plurality of flat gears is attached to the motor, and transmits a decelerated driving force of the motor. The transmission means meshes with a rack formed on the pickup unit so that the pickup unit can be moved by the motor.
The transmission means is adapted to be capable of gearing with the ascending/descending means. The ascending/descending means is cam-engaged with the drive unit so that it can move in a direction substantially orthogonal to the carrying direction of the tray and ascending/descending direction of the drive unit. Thus, the drive unit ascends or descends. Further, the transmission means is adapted to be capable of meshing with the rack formed on the tray so that the transmission means and tray are coupled with each other at a prescribed timing to transmit the driving force of the motor to the tray.
In the disk apparatus having the configuration described above, when the disk is placed on the tray, the tray is carried into the disk apparatus by driving the motor. When the tray is arranged at a prescribed position, the tray and transmission means are decoupled from each other so that the ascending/descending means and transmission means are coupled with each other. The ascending/descending means moves in a direction perpendicular to the carrying direction of the tray to raise the drive unit. Thus, the drive unit is engaged with the disk so that the disk is chucked.
When the disk is chucked, the transmission means and ascending/descending means are decoupled from each other, and the transmission means is coupled with the pickup unit. Thus, the pickup unit can be moved in a radial direction of the disk so that recording or reproducing can be carried out at a prescribed position of the disk. In dismounting the disk, the operation inverse to that described above will be carried out.
Further, in the case where recording or reproducing is not carried out, the pickup unit is locked so that it cannot move, thereby preventing an accident due to the swing of the pickup unit. According to the disk apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2000-11511 (page 3 to page 5, FIG. 1), the lever member (changing lever 42) which meshes with the pickup unit when the drive unit descends is urged by an elastic body (elastic locking body 44) so that the pickup unit is locked.
However, the above conventional disk apparatus presented a problem of increasing the number of components because the lever member and elastic body are required for locking the pickup unit.

Disk apparatus with plate trigger cam-engaged with cam slider and pickup unit and tooth-engaged with motor gear assembly


A clock test apparatus for a semiconductor integrated circuit includes a delay unit configured to delay an internal clock signal. A comparison unit compares the phase of an output signal of the delay unit with the phase of a reference clock signal. A phase discrimination unit receives a test mode signal, the reference clock signal, and an output signal of the comparison unit, thereby outputting a discrimination signal.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments described herein relate to semiconductor integrated circuits, and in particular, clock test apparatus and methods for determining an internal clock signal delay.
2. Related Art
Generally, a semiconductor integrated circuit, such as an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), uses an external clock signal to control the operation of the circuit. The external clock signal is often used to generate a data output clock signal within the circuit, and the data output clock signal often controls the operation of a data output buffer. It will also be understood that other internal clock signals can be generated based on such an external clock signal.
Such an internal clock signal is often delayed from relative to the external clock signal due to delay introduced by, e.g., a clock input buffer and individual transmission lines within the circuit. Thus, the interval clock signal is often out of phase with the external clock signal. When the internal clock and the external clock are out of phase, the circuits operational speed can be reduced, and at worst, a data output operation may not performed. In order to solve this problem, conventional circuits often use a DLL (Delay Locked Loop) circuit or a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit to correct the delay of the internal clock relative to the external clock.
At present, however, even if the delay is corrected, it may not be possible to test the data output operation while in a wafer state. Accordingly, the data output operation is often tested after the package process to determine a difference in phase between the internal clock and the external clock. At this stage, however, it is too late to fix the circuit and the circuit cannot be used if in fact their is a problem. This lowers yields and obviously increases costs.

Clock test apparatus and method for semiconductor integrated circuit


A system for communicating command parameters between a processor and a memory flow controller is provided. The system makes use of a channel interface as the primary mechanism for communicating between the processor and a memory flow controller. The channel interface provides channels for communicating with processor facilities, memory flow control facilities, machine state registers, and external processor interrupt facilities, for example. These channels may be designated as blocking or non-blocking. With blocking channels, when no data is available to be read from the corresponding registers, or there is no space available to write to the corresponding registers, the processor is placed in a low power “stall” state. The processor is automatically awakened, via communication across the blocking channel, when data becomes available or space is freed. Thus, the channels of the present invention permit the processor to stay in a low power state.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and method. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a system and method for communicating command parameters between a processor and a memory flow controller.
2. Description of Related Art
Normally, in the prior art, when a CPU or other processing unit (PU) is waiting upon some event external to the program, the operating system or an active program will run a poll loop where it will keep reading an event register, utilized by the PU in connection with the program, until the event that it is waiting upon occurs. While the program is operating, the PU is polling the event register and is not doing useful work.
Typical modern processors often use virtual memory and the memory mapping of external devices for this communication. On the other hand, some processors, especially in a multiprocessor environment, only have access to local memory and not to virtual memory. Local memory is finite and, in typical multiprocessor configurations, no memory outside of this local memory can be accessed by load and store operations. Thus, the use of local memory for other PU functions is limited while awaiting response from an external device. If a PU is simultaneously awaiting communication responses from several devices, the available memory for other functions is even further limited.
Memory may also be used to keep track of whether or not there is valid data in an incoming or outgoing register. Valid data is data that has been placed in the register for use by a receiving device but has not yet been accessed by the receiving device. Thus, from the above, it is clear that there are many drains on the memory resource in most modern computing devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System for communicating command parameters between a processor and a memory flow controller

International Business Machines Corporation


A combination of a non-ionic tri-block poly-propylene-oxide, poly-ethylene-oxide alcohol ether surfactant coupled with block polymer poly(Butadiene-b-Ethylene Oxide) is an excellent surfactant phase to micro-emulsify sebum on contact. A method of micro-emulsification of sebum on contact with inventive compositions according to the present invention will form micro-emulsions which can enhance (1) deep pore cleansing of skin and (2) delivery of skin benefit actives into the skin.

Micro-emulsions are thermodynamically stable isotropic dispersions of oil and water containing domains of nano-meter dimensions or bi-continuous phases, which are stabilized by the interfacial film of surface active agents. The properties of micro-emulsions make them attractive for cosmetic formulations from several different aspects. Micro-emulsions are transparent (or translucent), giving a perception of a "clean" system, and they form emulsions spontaneously. Micro-emulsions have an ultra-low interfacial tension between oil and water interface, which is key for their formation. This interfacial tension property also makes micro-emulsions potentially better (1) deep pore cleansers, e.g. in wash-off compositions and (2) follicle delivery vehicles, e.g. in leave-on compositions, due to enhanced capillary effects.
It is relatively easy to micro-emulsify short chain oils. On the other hand, bulky oils such as long chain fatty esters and triglycerides, such as those present in skin sebum, are notoriously difficult to be micro-emulsified. The interaction of such high molecular weight oils with surfactants is not well understood in the art and is radically different from that of conventional alkane oils. This is the challenge addressed by the present invention. Specifically, the problem addressed by the present invention is how to micro-emulsify bulky and high molecular weight oils, such as triglycerides in sebum. It is well known that co-surfactants can enhance micro-emulsification efficiency. But the selection of co-surfactant is mainly based on trial-and-error.
Regarding applications in cosmetics, sebum is one of the most important oils related to surfactant-oil interactions on skin. Sebum is a complex mixture of triglycerides(57%), wax esters(26%), squalene (12%), sterol esters (3%) and free sterols (2%) produced by sebocytes (cells of the sebaceous glands in the skin) and secreted to the skin surface. A frequent and undesirable skin condition is "oily skin," the condition which results from the excessive amount of sebum on the skin. Oily skin is associated with a shiny, undesirable appearance and a disagreeable tactile sensation and affects various age groups. Therefore, cosmetic products that obviate the undesirable appearance and disagreeably tactile sensation due to sebum are highly desirable. Additionally, the present invention is based on the discovery that micro-emulsification of sebum on contact with inventive compositions according to the present invention will form micro-emulsions which can enhance (1) deep pore cleansing of skin and (2) deep pore delivery of skin benefit actives through the follicles.
Cleansing into pores presents a considerable technical challenge over and above normal surface cleaning processes due to the difficulty to access the target soil. Also, the nature of the oil is of great importance in determining both the feasibility and rate of removal. Although conventional skin cleansers, such as soap and water, are very effective in removing surface dirt and grease, continuous production of sebum by the sebaceous gland ensures that the re-greasing process begins immediately so that after a relatively short time, the sebum level is reestablished.
Micro-emulsion is an ideal medium for delivery of skin benefit agents into the skin. Applying products that are themselves micro-emulsions has been widely used in a variety of skin care products and delivery vehicles and examples of such products are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,858,954 and 6,303,662, and in PCT Published Application WO 02/102327. Describing micro-emulsifying oils or soils on contact is Mondin, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,090, relating to a hard surface liquid cleaning composition based on EO—PO nonionic surfactant in combination with other components of the emulsification system described therein.
The art cited above does not suggest or disclose cosmetic compositions or methods for micro-emulsification of sebum on contact of a composition with skin, nor do they suggest or disclose an efficient emulsification system for doing so. Therefore, a need remains for novel cosmetic compositions and methods that make use of natural skin sebum to enhance skin cleansing or to deliver actives to skin from leave-on or wash-off compositions.

Skin care cosmetic compositions and methods for microemulsification of sebum on contact

Unilever Home & Personal Care USA, division of Conopco, Inc.


A vibration-damping device for an instrument including a shaft for gripping (1) and a striking head (3, 4), in which the shaft has a rigid tubular sleeve (11), coaxial with the shaft (1), wherein this sleeve (11) is connected to the shaft (1) by a viscoelastic material (12) of 0.2 to 3 mm in thickness which is stressed by the sleeve (11) on the shaft (1).

The invention relates to a vibration-damper device for an instrument comprising a shaft for gripping and a striking head; it also related to instruments thus equipped.
The expression "instrument including a shaft for gripping and a striking head" encompasses both tools; hammers and sports articles such as golf clubs, baseball bats, or indeed ski sticks or bows for archery.
It is known that, on striking, these instruments, and more accurately their shaft, vibrate and the vibrations produced are detrimental both for the user and for the accuracy of the strike.
Vibration-damping devices consisting of a plate having a high elastic modulus and assembled by adhesively bonding to the part to be damped by means of a viscoelastic material have been known for a long time. These damping devices are well known and used widely in fields as varied as the suspension for a machine tool or for engines of any type. In FR-A-2,575,393 of the Applicant, one application of this device has been proposed for the ski industry.

Vibration-damping device for an instrument having a shaft and a striking head


A method of operating battery power management unit (PMU) in over-discharge situation is disclosed. Furthermore, a power management unit (PMU) and a device comprising a power management unit (PMU) are disclosed. The power management unit (PMU) is part of a system, comprising a battery and a safety circuit connected to the battery. The state of the safety circuit of the battery is determined and the on/off control of the device is made inactive while the safety circuit remains active. Thereby avoiding an application run on the device to go into an active state, i.e. to be turned on, at a moment when the battery has not returned to its normal operation mode.

Batteries for handheld applications like mobile phones have a built-in safety circuit, which protects the battery from over-charge and over-discharge. When the safety circuit has been activated by over-discharge, the built-in series switch is opened. As a consequence, the battery can only be charged. Only when the battery is recharged again to a sufficiently high voltage the safety resets to normal state again. A difficulty occurs when the application goes to an active state, i.e. turned on, at a moment when the battery has not returned to its normal operation mode. The buffering capacity of the battery to supply switch-on inrush currents is then not available. As a consequence the jump to active state fails, and the application cannot be used.

Battery power management in over-discharge situation


Apparatuses and methods of high-distance directional proximity sensors are described. One apparatus includes at least three electrodes in a sensor layer, an electrode in a shield layer, and an insulator located between the layers. A processing device is configured to scan the at least three electrodes over a period of time to obtain a digital signal for each of the at least three electrodes while driving a shield signal on the electrode of the shield layer. The processing device detects a gesture by an object using the digital signals. The processing device measures an amplitude value of the digital signal for each of the at least three electrodes and outputs an indication of the gesture responsive to a ratio of a highest amplitude value and a lowest amplitude value satisfying a first threshold criterion that represents the object being within a proximity detection area above the sensor layer.

Proximity-sensing systems can be used to detect a presence and/or a gesture of an object in proximity. These proximity-sensing systems can use capacitive sensing, ultrasound sensing, infrared (IR) proximity sensing, radar sensing, and sound sensing (e.g., microphones). Capacitive proximity sensing can enhance a user interface for various consumer devices (e.g., smart speakers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, toys, appliances, and the like) by providing an intuitive way for a user to interact with the consumer device. Proximity sensors can be used in these applications to detect gestures without any physical contact between the user and the consumer device.
Capacitance sensing systems can sense electrical signals generated on electrodes that reflect changes in capacitance. Such changes in capacitance can indicate a touch event (i.e., the proximity of an object to particular electrodes). Capacitive sense elements may be used to replace mechanical buttons, knobs, and other similar mechanical user interface controls. The use of a capacitive sense element eliminates complicated mechanical switches and buttons, providing reliable operation under harsh conditions. In addition, capacitive sense elements are widely used in modern customer applications, providing new user interface options in existing products. Capacitive sense elements can range from a single button to a large number arranged in the form of a capacitive sense array for a touch-sensing surface.
Arrays of capacitive sense elements work by measuring the capacitance of a capacitive sense element's capacitance and looking for a delta (change) in capacitance indicating a touch or presence of a conductive object. When a conductive object (e.g., a finger, a hand, or other objects) comes into contact with or close proximity to a capacitive sense element, the capacitance changes, and the conductive object is detected. An electrical circuit can measure the capacitance changes of the capacitive touch sense elements, and the electrical circuit converts the measured capacitances of the capacitive sense elements into digital values.
There are two typical types of capacitance: 1) mutual capacitance where the capacitance-sensing circuit is coupled to both electrodes and a drive/receive configuration to measure the capacitance between the electrodes; 2) self-capacitance, where the capacitance-sensing circuit is coupled to a single electrode of the capacitor where the second electrode is tied to a direct current (DC) voltage level or is parasitically coupled to Earth Ground. A touch panel has a distributed load of the capacitance of both types 1) and 2), and some touch solutions sense both capacitances either uniquely or in hybrid form with its various sense modes.

High-distance directional proximity sensor


An apparatus and method for signal saving power consumption in an electronic device includes determining a current battery consumption amount, and if the current battery consumption amount is greater than or equal to a threshold, determining whether to enter a low power mode based on the level of a signal strength level.

1. Strength of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for saving power consumption in an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices have become necessities of modern life due to easiness of portability and facilitation of multimedia services such as audio and video telephony functions, information input and output functions, and data storage functions.
However, a battery capacity is limited in a portable device due to extended usage. In order to support various functions with a limited battery capacity, there is a need to consider not only ways to increase a battery capacity but also ways to save battery consumption.
In general, the electronic device enters a low power mode to save the battery consumption where low power is applied to a module, which consumes more power during operation.
For example, if an electronic device does not sense a user input during a specific time period, low power is applied to a backlight, a near strength communication module, or the like to conserve battery life. Also, if the electronic device is located in a weak signal strength region, it is determined that normal telephony is impossible and thus low power may be applied to the modem or the power supply may be stopped. In this case, the electronic device periodically checks a signal strength status to determine whether power should be applied to the modem. However, although the electronic device can save power consumption by entering a low power mode, but power may be consumed in the process of checking the signal strength status.
Accordingly, in order to solve the aforementioned problem, there is a need for an apparatus and method for recognizing a signal strength status while maintaining a power saving mode.

Method for saving power consumption and an electronic device thereof


A system and method for provisioning wireless devices such that they are only capable of accessing network services when in a specified location. A device surveys the current location of the device for existing base stations and stores a corresponding network environment profile. After the profile is stored, network services will only be provided to the device if the current network profile matches the stored profile.

Traditional wireless communication devices are typically in the form of mobile devices. Such mobile devices are configured to search for and communicate with a wireless communication network nearest the current location of the device. As the device moves from one location to another, it is handed off from one cell site within the network to another in order to provide continuous service to the device as it moves out of range of one site and into range of another site. Wireless operators desire to provide fixed wireless data and voice services to consumers. In order to do this cost effectively, the devices must only be allow to operate in a fixed location. The problem is how to cost effectively fix the service location of the devices.
Fixed wireless is an emerging wireless communication system in which subscribers are provided with wireless communication as their primary communication means in a residence, business, or other defined location. Fixed wireless can be particularly useful in areas where wire services are not available, inadequate or cost prohibitive. In a fixed wireless system, a subscriber's wireless device is typically assigned to a geographically defined fixed location or "home zone."
Although wireless operators desire to provide fixed wireless data and voice services to consumers, it must be possible for the devices to be permitted to operate only in the defined fixed location or home zone in order for such a system to be implemented in a cost effective manner.

System and method for provisioning a wireless device to only be able to access network services within a specific location


A plasma generator, reactor and associated systems and methods are provided in accordance with the present invention. A plasma reactor may include multiple sections or modules which are removably coupled together to form a chamber. Associated with each section is an electrode set including three electrodes with each electrode being coupled to a single phase of a three-phase alternating current (AC) power supply. The electrodes are disposed about a longitudinal centerline of the chamber and are arranged to provide and extended arc and generate an extended body of plasma. The electrodes are displaceable relative to the longitudinal centerline of the chamber. A control system may be utilized so as to automatically displace the electrodes and define an electrode gap responsive to measure voltage or current levels of the associated power supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to plasma arc reactors and systems and, more particularly, to a modular plasma arc reactor and system as well as related methods of creating a plasma arc.
2. State of the Art
Plasma is generally defined as a collection of charged particles containing about equal numbers of positive ions and electrons and exhibiting some properties of a gas but differing from a gas in being a good conductor of electricity and in being affected by a magnetic field. A plasma may be generated, for example, by passing a gas through an electric arc. The electric arc will rapidly heat the gas by resistive and radiative heating to very high temperatures within microseconds of the gas passing through the arc. Essentially any gas may be used to produce a plasma in such a manner. Thus, inert or neutral gasses (e.g., argon, helium, neon or nitrogen) may be used, reductive gasses (e.g., hydrogen, methane, ammonia or carbon monoxide) may be used, or oxidative gasses (e.g., oxygen or carbon dioxide) may be used depending on the process in which the plasma is to be utilized.
Plasma generators, including those used in conjunction with, for example, plasma torches, plasma jets and plasma arc reactors, generally create an electric discharge in a working gas to create the plasma. Plasma generators have been formed as direct current (DC) generators, alternating current (AC) plasma generators, as radio frequency (RF) plasma generators and as microwave (MW) plasma generators. Plasmas generated with RF or MW sources are called inductively coupled plasmas. For example, an RF-type plasma generator includes an RF source and an induction coil surrounding a working gas. The RF signal sent from the source to the induction coil results in the ionization of the working gas by induction coupling to produce a plasma. DC- and AC-type generators may include two or more electrodes (e.g., an anode and cathode) with a voltage differential defined therebetween. An arc may be formed between the electrodes to heat and ionize the surrounding gas such that the gas obtains a plasma state. The resulting plasma may then be used for a specified process application.
For example, plasma jets may be used for the precise cutting or shaping of a component; plasma torches may be used in applying a material coating to a substrate or other component; and plasma reactors may be used for the high-temperature heating of material compounds to accommodate the chemical or material processing thereof. Such chemical and material processing may include the reduction and decomposition of hazardous materials. In other applications plasma reactors have been utilized to assist in the extraction of a desired material, such as a metal or metal alloy, from a compound which contains the desired material.
Exemplary processes which utilize plasma-type reactors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,935,293 and RE37,853, both issued to Detering et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of each of these patents are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. The processes set forth in the Detering patents include the heating of one or more reactants by means of, for example, a plasma torch to form from the reactants a thermodynamically stable high temperature stream containing a desired end product. The gaseous stream is rapidly quenched, such as by expansion of the gas, in order to obtain the desired end products without experiencing back reactions within the gaseous stream.
In one embodiment, the desired end product may include acetylene and the reactants may include methane and hydrogen. In another embodiment, the desired end product may include a metal, metal oxide or metal alloy and the reactant may include a specified metallic compound. However, as recognized by the Detering patents, gases and liquids are the preferred forms of reactants since solids tend to vaporize too slowly for chemical reactions to occur in the rapidly flowing plasma gas before the gas cools. If solids are used in plasma chemical processes, such solids ideally have high vapor pressures at relatively low temperatures. However, these type of solids are severely limited.
As noted above, process applications utilizing plasma generators are often specialized and, therefore, the associated plasma jets, torches and/or reactors need to be designed and configured according to highly specific criteria. Such specialized designs often result in a device which is limited in its usefulness. In other words, a plasma generator which is configured to process a specific type of material using a specified working gas to form the plasma is not likely to be suitable for use in other processes wherein a different working gas may be required, wherein the plasma is required to exhibit a substantially different temperature or wherein a larger or smaller volume of plasma is desired to be produced.
In view of the shortcomings in the art, it would be advantageous to provide a plasma generator and associated system which provides improved flexibility regarding the types of applications in which the plasma generator may be utilized. For example, it would be advantageous to provide a plasma generator and system which enables the direct processing of solid materials without the need to vaporize the solid materials prior to their introduction into the plasma. It would further be advantageous to provide a plasma generator and associated system which produces an improved arc and associated plasma column or volume wherein the arc and plasma volume may be easily adjusted and defined so as to provide a plasma with optimized characteristics and parameters according to an intended process for which the plasma is being generated.

Plasma generators, reactor systems and related methods


A torque wrench stand having an arcuate or curved surface for supporting the stand is described. The stand includes a generally semi-circular main body having a hub opening through which a torque wrench socket extension passes allowing the stand to be carried by the wrench from one wheel to the next. The hub is positioned off-set from the center of the stand along the straight upper edge of the stand. The stand supports the wrench via the extension held within the hub as the wheel lug nuts are removed. The stand pivots about the hub, thus allowing the arcuate surface of the stand to continuously adjust position as necessary so that the height of the hub from the ground matches the height of the selected lug nut from the ground and the stand easily adapts to the height of any lug nut.

This invention relates generally to wheels for vehicles such as heavy duty trucks and trailers and, more particularly to a device for positioning and supporting a wrench and socket extension when engaged with a wheel lug nut.
Wrenches, such as torque wrenches, are known in the prior art. Torque wrenches allow a wheel lug nut, or wheel nut, to be tightened to a specified torque, which is required for safe operation and use of the wheel. Wheel nuts used to attached wheels to heavy duty vehicles typically require tightening to a much higher torque than conventional consumer vehicles, such as automobiles. To rotate wheel nuts to a high torque reading using manual equipment, such as a hand-operated torque wrench, it is often necessary to use a wrench with an extended or elongated handle, or to add a pipe or extension to the wrench, to achieve sufficient leverage. Because the wheel nuts are often set back considerably from the outer wall of the tire mounted on the wheel, a socket extension is often attached between the nut socket and the head of the wrench.
A wrench fitted with a socket extension and elongated handle or handle extension can be difficult to use without a stand to support the head of the wrench or the socket extension. It is usually necessary for the operator to be proximate the wheel to engage the socket with a wheel nut, yet the operator must then move distal from the wheel to grasp the distal end of the handle, which may be several feet away from the wheel. If the operator releases the head of the wrench and attached socket extension in order to move to the distal end of the handle, the wrench socket will often slip from the nut as the, typically, loose connection between the socket and nut is insufficient to support the weight of the socket, socket extension and wrench.
In the prior art, stands have been developed that can support the wrench, socket extension and socket, however, these stands either require moving the wheel to position each nut at a particular elevation relative to the stand before use, or inserting the socket extension in slot within the stand that most closely aligns with a given socket.
What is need is a device for supporting a wrench, socket extension and socket that is continuously adjustable in height relative to the ground so that the wrench may be readily positioned at an elevation that exactly matches that of a wheel nut and that also may be attached to the wrench so that the stand and wrench may be readily moved from nut to another as a unit.


Systems and methods are disclosed herein that relate to Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) reduction in a MIMO OFDM transmitter system. In some embodiments, a method of operation of a transmitter system includes, for each carrier of two or more carriers, performing precoding of frequency-domain input signals for the carrier to provide frequency-domain precoded signals for the carrier, the frequency-domain input signals for the carrier being for a plurality of transmit layers for the carrier, respectively. The method further includes processing the two or more pluralities of frequency-domain precoded signals for the two or more carriers, respectively, in accordance with a multi-carrier processing scheme to provide a plurality of multi-carrier time-domain transmit signals for a plurality of antenna branches, respectively, of the MIMO OFDM transmitter system. The multi-carrier processing scheme provides PAPR reduction for Cyclic Prefixes (CPs) of the plurality of multi-carrier time-domain transmit signals for the plurality of antenna branches.

Future large scale Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems promise significant capacity gains by using large adaptive antenna arrays with hundreds of elements. Reciprocity-based transmission provides the mechanism to achieve interference-free transmission between multiple users with these arrays using a Zero-Forcing (ZF) transmit precoding based on known Channel State Information (CSI). However, OFDM signaling exhibits a large Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) requiring expensive linear Radio Frequency (RF) components and costly digital predistortion to manage and mitigate out-of-band radiation and non-linear signal distortions. Consequently, there is considerable interest in adopting low-PAPR signaling schemes for these systems.
In particular, Fifth generation (5G) wireless systems will introduce massive MIMO technology to further improve the spectral efficiency of mobile communication networks. Base station architectures will be fundamentally impacted as the number of antennas will increase approximately by one order of magnitude together with the associated number of transmitter and receiver chains. This paradigm shift will introduce some serious complexity challenges to the design of network radio products, where the size and the power consumption will dramatically increase if conventional design approaches are followed. In turn, these attributes will become some key competitive and selling arguments for network equipment vendors.
Low PAPR precoding algorithms offer a very elegant solution to this complexity problem by reducing the dynamic range of the OFDM signals to levels that are unattainable using traditional Crest Factor Reduction (CFR) techniques. This is achieved by taking advantage of the large number of degrees of freedom that are available in massive MIMO systems. The very low PAPR that is obtained using these techniques enables several radio optimizations such as the elimination of traditional CFR, the elimination or the reduced complexity of the Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) algorithms, the efficient use of smaller and less power-hungry Power Amplifiers (PAs), the use of smaller cooling sub-systems, the potential utilization of lower resolution data converters, etc.
ZF Solution for Reciprocity-Based Systems
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for the transmitter of a reciprocity-based system based on ZF precoding. The ZF precoding system has the following attributes. A linear precoder PnZF performs digital beamforming individually on each tone, producing a vector xn∈M×1 from its layer-domain input information vector sn∈K×1. The precoder operates on total of || tones and the remaining |C| tones are unused and set to zero, where ||+|C|=N. The precoder matrix PnZF is set to the "right pseudo-inverse" Hn† of the MIMO channel matrix Hn as shown in Equation 1. The precoder enforces the spatial constraints given in Equation 2 such that tone xn=Pnsn is received at the receiver (e.g., a User Equipment (UE) in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 5G New Radio (NR) based system) as Hnxn=HnPnsn=HnHn†sn=sn, and so this ZF precoding scheme removes all multiple access interference between layers in the ideal case.PnZF=Hn†≡HnH(HnHnH)−1  Equation 1: ZF Precoding Solutionsn=Hnxn,n∈  Equation 2: ZF spatial constraints for a given tone index n.sn=0K×1n∈C.  Equation 2: ZF spatial constraints for a give tone index n.
Each of the N precoded vectors xn contains M samples to be distributed evenly across the M antenna branches of the transmitter. This "reordering" generates a new set of M vectors am each containing N frequency-domain samples. These vectors are converted to time-domain vectors ym using respective Inverse Fast Fourier Transforms (IFFTs), and are then serialized and prepended with a Cyclic Prefix (CP) according to conventional OFDM practice.
Time-domain clipping of each antenna branch signal reduces the PAPR from a large value (typically ˜10 Decibels (dB)) to a value in the range of 5.0 to 9.0 dB. This process introduces signal distortion both in-band and out-of-band, typically characterized by its Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) measured on each frequency-domain tone as a percentage between 3% and 20% depending on modulation format.

Systems and methods for multi-carrier or multiband low-PAPR precoding that handle cyclic prefix


An applicator including an applying part of a liquid absorber impregnated with an application liquid. An indicator portion having a jagged configuration that varies in reflectance of light depending on the quantity of the application liquid in the liquid absorber is formed adjacent to the liquid absorber, and the formed area of the indicator portion of an application liquid feeder can be visually observed from the outside so that the quantity of the application liquid can be displayed by the reflected light of indicator portion. The applicator allows a visual check on whether the application liquid is full or less when the applicator is unused or when the application liquid is decreased after use, from the change of the reflectance of light in indicator. The applicator permits easy confirmation of the liquid quantity and can easily avoid liquid blobbing.

Conventionally there have been known applicators for dyeing hair, which deliver an application liquid such as a hair dye or the like stored in a container, into the spaces between comb teeth of a comber attached to the container to dye hair by combing hair with the comber. The hair-care applicators involve various problems as the following (1) to (4).
(1) When the above-described conventional hair-care applicator is used, in order to avoid blobbing of the application liquid or avoid the applicator becoming unusable due to lack of the application liquid in the container, there have been proposals of various methods that enable the user to grasp the life time or to check the quantity of the application liquid.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2511817 (: Patent Document 1) discloses a liquid applicator which includes: an inner barrel having a liquid stored therein, accommodated in an outer barrel in a movable manner in the axial direction; an applying part such as a brush or the like attached to the front end of the outer barrel; and a valve member between the applying part and the inner barrel to supply the liquid from the inner barrel to the applying part via the valve being opened by advancing the inner barrel relative to the output barrel, wherein the inner barrel is formed to be transparent and arranged so that the rear end of the inner barrel is projected rearwards from the rear end of the outer barrel and is covered with a clicking part having a window hole, whereby the residual quantity of the applying part in the inner barrel can be checked through the window hole.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-6754 (: Patent Document 2) discloses an application container which has an impregnated member removably attached to comb teeth at the front end of a cylinder so as to apply a liquid agent to the hair of the head from the impregnated member, wherein a depressed portion is formed on the inner surface of the cylinder along a window provided on the side surface of the cylinder while a projected portion is formed on a transparent portion formed on the side wall of a storing container for showing the liquid agent therein so that the projected portion will mesh with the depressed portion when the storing container is inserted into the cylinder, whereby the liquid agent inside the storing container can be observed at the window through the depressed portion, projected portion and the transparent portion.
However, with the specifications of the conventional applicators, other than the free-liquid type, using a porous material such as a sliver or applying part impregnated with an application liquid, there has been the problem that the porous material dyed with the liquid color is always seen even when no liquid remains, hence it is difficult to know presence or absence of the liquid. The above-mentioned patent document 1 and 2 and other technologies have no measures to solve this problem.
(2) In the field of the conventional hair-care applicators, for example there has been a disclosure of a cartridge type liquid ejector including a container that holds and reduces or restores a liquid and ejects the liquid by releasing a valve connected to the container by pressing the rear part of the container to change the volume of the container (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2000-70828: Patent Document 3).
This cartridge type liquid ejector is a clicking type applicator which readily ejects the liquid to the applying part by opening the valve as the rear end of the cartridge is clicked.
However, this applicator disclosed in patent document 3 is configured so as to hold the applicator with its applying part down when the liquid is delivered to the applying part by clicking and hold the applicator with the applying part directed upward when the applying part is applied on the hair. As a result, with the rear-end clicking type mechanism like this, it is necessary to change the applicator from one position to another every time when changing ejection and application.
Further, the interior of the container forms a closed space during storage, if the internal pressure of the container becomes higher than the ambient pressure due to the expansion in volume of air inside the container or any other reason, there is a possibility that the application liquid will excessively eject out at a next usage due to different in air pressure.
(3) Further, in the field of the above conventional hair-care applicators, for example a comb-equipped container is disclosed, which includes: a squeezable container body; a screw cap part having a threaded sleeve screw-assembled with the container body and having a fitting sleeve formed upright on the top of the threaded sleeve; and a comb-equipped cap part that has an assembled sleeve that is externally assembled on the fitting sleeve and closely screw-assembled on an opening sleeve of the container body (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2004-65295: Patent Document 4). The comb-equipped cap part has a plurality of comb teeth planted in the horizontal direction on the upper surface of the top plate that encloses the upper end of the upright sleeve at the top end of assembled sleeve. Each comb tooth is formed with an ejection hole that opens in the horizontal direction and is penetrated to an ejection passage to the underside of the top plate. As the container body is pressed with the comb teeth down, the content liquid passes through the ejection passage and ejects out from the ejection holes to the outer peripheral surface of the comb teeth.
Also, a hair-care applicator has been disclosed, which, while combing hair by a comber made up of a comb member and a plurality of porous applying parts arrayed comb-like and arranged parallel to the comb member, can apply the application liquid to the hair by means of the applying parts (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2005-342312: Patent Document 5).
Another disclosure is an application container in which an applying functional part of a base cylinder with comb teeth arrayed on a hinge is assembled in a slidable manner with an attachment functional part having a supporting cylinder at the top of an upright sleeve formed with an ejection passage so as to release an ejection chamber formed between the two functional parts by mutual sliding movement (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2009-50354: Patent Document 6).
There is another disclosure of an agent applicator comprising: a joint member that is formed of a dual structured cylinder having a top-open annular depressed portion defined by inner and outer annular parts and a bottom joining these and is removably attached to a filled container having a spray valve; and a spout member, which is formed of a dual structured, bottom-open cylinder defined by inner and outer annular parts and a top plate having a feed passage to a comber assembly, and to which the joint member is removably and axially slidably attached (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open H09-66246: Patent Document 7).
Further, there is a disclosure of an application container having comb teeth and an impregnated material attached at the front end of a sleeve in a removable manner for applying a liquid agent on the hair of the head (the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-6754: Patent Document 2).
However, all of the applicators of the above patent documents 2 and 4 to 7 entail inconvenience in handling.
Specifically, in the above Patent Document 4, since the cap part needs to be rotated to attach or detach the comber, it is troublesome because the user needs to handle the applicator while taking care that the hair dye etc. will not adhere to the fingers and for other reasons.
Further, in Patent Document 5, the applying part is difficult to hold, and if the applying part is tried to be taken out by dropping or turning the applicator upside down, there is a fear of the liquid running over.
In Patent Document 6, since the mechanism is such that the attachment functional part is inclined to deliver, no clicking stroke can be used. Therefore, this configuration is suited for aerosol type containers in which a compressed gas is charged like the aforementioned Patent Document 3 but is not suited for push-type or valve type containers in which no compressed gas is filled.
Further, in Patent Document 7, since it is necessary to release a snap fixed part and pull out the comber from the base in order to take the comber off the base, the operator needs to handle the applicator with both hands (while taking care of the front end of the comber that is fully oozed with the liquid, which the operator does not want to touch with fingers), thus this configuration results in inconvenience.
Moreover, in the aforementioned Patent Document 2, similarly to Patent Document 7, it is necessary to handle the applicator with both hands to separate the comber from the main body, this configuration hence entails inconvenience and the fear of soling the hands with the application liquid.
(4) In the field of the above conventional hair-care applicators, for example, as a hair-care applicator for cosmetic container with a built-in applicator, a hair-care applicator has been disclosed, which, while combing hair by a comber made up of a comb member and a plate-like porous applying part arrayed comb-like and arranged with the comb member, can apply the application liquid to the hair by means of the applying part (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2005-342312: Patent Document 5).
Disclosed is an applicator for a hair-care cosmetic liquid having multiple capillary cores with their front ends projected in front of the barrel and a comb arranged along the side of the cores, in which each core is aligned approximately parallel to the comb while each tooth of the comb and each core are positioned so as to lean over to each other with respect to the approximate perpendicular direction to the comb and the rows of cores. (Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514906: Patent Document 8).
Also disclosed is an applicator for a hair-care cosmetic liquid, in which multiple rows of cores (applying parts) are aligned so that the cores of the adjacent rows lean over to each other with respect to the approximately perpendicular direction of the rows while combs are arranged on the outer sides of the cores and parallel to the rows of the cores so that the combs and cores are arranged alternately. (Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514905: Patent Document 9).
Another disclosure is a hair dye container having a comber formed of two comb-toothed arrays and an impregnated material held therebetween so that the impregnated material with comb teeth is removably attached to a barrel body in an inclined position relative to the barrel body (the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-6754: Patent Document 2).
The applicators disclosed in each of the above Patent Documents 2, 5, 8 and 9 is a hair-dye container in which the distal ends of the comb teeth (comber) are arranged at the position marginally projected forwards with respect to the applying part so that the applying part will not touch the scalp.
However, when these applicators are used with the comber inclined, only the distal ends of the comb teeth come into contact while the applying part is located away from the scalp, hence causing inconvenience in application performance. On the contrary, when the comb is arranged close to the applying part, the liquid drips from the applying part to the comb teeth, giving rise to a soiling problem of the comb teeth (comber).


A CMOS structure in which the gate-to-drain/source capacitance is reduced as well as various methods of fabricating such a structure are provided. In accordance with the present invention, it has been discovered that the gate-to-drain/source capacitance can be significantly reduced by forming a CMOS structure in which a low-k dielectric material is self-aligned with the gate conductor. A reduction in capacitance between the gate conductor and the contact via ranging from about 30% to greater than 40% has been seen with the inventive structures. Moreover, the total outer-fringe capacitance (gate to outer diffusion+gate to contact via) is reduced between 10–18%. The inventive CMOS structure includes at least one gate region including a gate conductor located atop a surface of a semiconductor substrate; and a low-k dielectric material that is self-aligned to the gate conductor.

With continuous transistor scaling, gate-to-drain (source) capacitance increases due to the increased proximity of the source/drain metallization contacts (vias) to the gate conductor. For instance, the distance between the contact via and the gate conductor can be as low as 40 nm in dense logic circuits such as fast static random access memory (SRAM) cells in 65 nm technology. With misalignment of the contact via with respect to the gate, the spacing between the gate and the via can be significantly less than 40 nm. To make matters worse, due to Miller effect the capacitance between the gate and drain via is multiplied by the gain of the CMOS stage.
As a result, the total gate-to-drain/source capacitance becomes a significant portion of the overall load capacitance for fast, lightly loaded CMOS circuits with transistors fabricated in 65 nm technology and below. By reducing the total gate-to-drain capacitance, significant leverage in increasing circuit speed can be realized.
Other advantages of inherently reduced gate Miller capacitance include a higher stability for memory cells (due to less charge coupling) and a higher packaging density.
In view of the above, there is still a need for providing a CMOS structure in which the gate-to-drain/source capacitance is reduced.


A semiconductor light emitting device and a light emitting apparatus having the semiconductor light emitting device are provided. The semiconductor light emitting device comprises a substrate, a light emitting structure on the substrate, comprising a first conductive type semiconductor layer, an active layer, a second conductive type semiconductor layer, and a first electrode unit on sidewalls of the substrate and the first conductive type semiconductor layer.

The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor light emitting device and light emitting apparatus having the same.
Group III-V nitride semiconductors have been variously applied to optical devices such as blue and green light emitting diodes (LEDs), high speed switching devices such as a MOSFET (Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) and an HEMT (Hetero junction Field Effect Transistor), and light sources of lighting devices or display devices.
The nitride semiconductor is mainly used for the LED or an LD (Laser Diode), and studies have been continuously conducted to improve the manufacturing process or a light efficiency of the nitride semiconductor.

Semiconductor light emitting device and light emitting apparatus having the same