An oscillator circuit may include a local oscillator to generate a carrier signal having a tunable frequency, a first modulator and a power amplifier coupled in cascade to the local oscillator to generate an output signal. The first modulator may be activated from a first modulating signal having a first frequency alternatively defining ON and OFF states of the first modulator. An estimator unit may receive the carrier signal during a time window and detect an estimated frequency variation of the carrier signal during the ON and OFF states. A compensation unit may include a second modulator to generate a compensation signal proportional to the estimated frequency variation and modulated with a second modulating frequency. The second modulating frequency may be substantially the same as the first modulating frequency, and the compensation signal may be added to a bias signal of the local oscillator to tune the tunable frequency.

In silicon-chip implementations including a local oscillator and a power amplifier, the injection of a periodic signal may lead to a locking or pulling phenomena. The electronic circuits, such as RF transceivers or a device for frequency synthesis techniques, suffer from frequency pulling when a pulsed modulation signal is applied. During transmission of the pulses, for the RF transceiver having a transmitter and a receiver, having the power amplifiers and local oscillators in the same substrate affects the transmitted signal by generating an oscillation frequency change between the receiver local oscillator and the transmitted signal frequency.
The effect of the undesirable frequency deviation in the transmitted signal results in a loss of correlation that increases error in the demodulated signal from the receiver. A switching element in an electronic circuit having a local oscillator may generate similar effects by causing pulling effects.
In particular, the present disclosure relates to a silicon integrated circuit. Applicable fields may include integrated circuits on semiconductors, e.g., CMOS, Bipolar, BiCMOS technologies, radio frequency and microware applications, circuits including oscillators, power amplifiers and/or receivers, and integrated circuits for radar applications using pulse modulation techniques, for example.
A transceiver in accordance with the prior art is shown in FIG. 1, which includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. The transmitter Tx includes a local oscillator LO that generates a radio frequency carrier f1 which is modulated by a first switch S1 and amplified by a power amplifier PA. The transmitted signal is a train of pulses modulated using frequency, amplitude, pulse time duration, pulse position or other modulation techniques. The signal received from the receiver Rx is amplified by a low-noise amplifier LNA and down-converted to the intermediate frequency IF by an interposed adder, and by using a second switch S2.
The receiver Rx may also be switched to blind or turned off when the transmitter Tx generates the train of modulated pulses. The switches S1 and S2 are driven by a pilot signal PT and its complementary pilot signal PTn, respectively, as shown in FIG. 2.
Some prior art approaches provide a local oscillator LO by controlling the tuning voltage VTUNE through an open loop approach or PLL systems. These approaches, which are convenient in certain circumstances, also suffer from certain drawbacks. In particular, the compensation of the pulling frequency is reduced in high frequency oscillator circuits when the frequency is approximately of 24 GHz and/or 77-79 GHz, as in radar systems, i.e., having fast pulses. The local oscillator LO is subjected to the power coupling and/or impedance loading of the power amplifier PA that generates leakage current through the substrate or through circuit pathways of the chip.
This leakage current affects the oscillation frequency of the local oscillator LO wider than the ideal frequency during the open (ON) and closed (OFF) phases of the switch modulator S1. This pulling effect leads to a source of error for the transmitted signal which is found in a frequency deviation Δfer=f1−f2, from f1 frequency of carrier signal to f2 during the pulses transmission close phase of the switch modulator, as shown in FIG. 2. Moreover, it should be noted that even a control system such as a phase lock loop PLL cannot be used to compensate the frequency deviation for high-frequency applications wherein fast pulses are provided.
The document "A study of injection locking and pulling in oscillators" by Razavi B. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 39, 2004, pages 1415-1424, relates to an RF transceiver TX where the output signal of the power amplifier PA contains large spectral components in the vicinity of ωLO, leaking through the package and the substrate to the local oscillator LO and causing frequency deviation. The leakage of the power amplifier PA may be considered as a sinusoidal injection current that modifies the frequency where the local oscillation LO occurs.
It may be particularly desirable to improve the architecture of the local oscillator LO to reduce the pulling effect in an efficiency mode during high frequency modulation. It may be desirable to obtain a transceiver having frequency coherence between the transmitted/received signals and the carrier signal in a relatively simple implementation.
Moreover, a versatile approach that may be used in oscillator circuits integrated on semiconductors, e.g., CMOS, Bipolar, BiCMOS, radio frequency and microwave applications and integrated circuits for radar applications using pulse modulation techniques, may be desirable. Furthermore, it also may be desirable to provide an approach to increase the performance of current radar systems where high power pulses are transmitted that are used, for example, in automotive and industrial applications.

Oscillator circuits and methods to compensate frequency pulling


A plate and cup holder has a plurality of panels attached foldably relative to each other and convertible into an assembled state. A support panel has a first end with an opening for receiving a cup and a second end for supporting a plate. Side panels are attached to the support panel along opposite said side edges thereof and are swung transversely of the support panel when the holder is the assembled state. Each side panel has a tab which is swung inwardly of the respective side panel and beneath the first end of the support panel when the holder is in the assembled state. An end panel is attached to the support panel and is engaged with the tabs to maintain the holder in the assembled state.

1. Technical Field
This invention is directed to a tray for carrying a plate and a cup and for controlling the plate and cup with a single hand while food and beverages supported thereon are consumed.
2. Background of the Invention
People consume food and beverages while standing at a variety of occasions, such as picnics, food fairs, carnivals and the like. Even where seating is available at such an occasion, there may not be table facilities upon which a plate of food or a beverage cup can be placed. Carrying readily consumable food and drink from a point of purchase to an eating place is difficult. Further, it is difficult for an individual holding food and a drink to control both a plate and a cup and avoid spillage when eating.
Holders have been used to carry cups and bagged food from place-to-place. Holders also have been used to control a plate and a cup with a single hand, whereby a person carrying the holder can use her second hand to consume food or drink from the holder or, alternatively, to for carrying food and a beverage from place-to-place. This invention is directed to providing a new plate and cup holder of the character described.


An apparatus and a system, as well as a method and article, may operate to predict a branch within a first operating context, such as a user context, using a first strategy; and to predict a branch within a second operating context, such as an operating system context, using a second strategy. In some embodiments, apparatus and systems may comprise one or more first storage locations to store branch history information associated with a first operating context, and one ore more second storage locations to store branch history information associated with a second operating context.

Computer system performance may be highly dependent on associated memory system operational efficiency. For example, processing that stalls when data is unavailable can render results at an unacceptably slow rate. Some microprocessors provide aggressive support for Instruction level Parallelism (ILP) and have deep pipelines to keep cycle times low. However, the actual level of ILP and pipelining performance delivered may depend on the accuracy of branch prediction; mispredictions can stall/squash the pipeline.
Many applications include a significant Operating System (OS) component, which can also affect control flow transfer (i.e., branching) in the execution environment. For example, exception-driven, intermittent invocation of OS code may significantly increase branch misprediction in both user and OS (e.g., kernel) code operating contexts. Thus, there is a need to improve the accuracy of program branch prediction mechanisms, especially for systems having a significant OS system component, and/or systems using pipelined processors.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Branch prediction apparatus, systems, and methods

The Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


The electric toothbrush is constructed of a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is able to pivot with respect to the second portion via a hinge. The first portion houses componentry associated with the toothbrush. The second portion includes a floss dispenser on a distal end, and is used as a handle for the electric toothbrush. The first portion includes at least one rotating head that includes bristles adapted to brush teeth. The at least one rotating head is in mechanical connection with a bevel gear. The bevel gear is in mechanical connection with a motor via a drive shaft. The motor is in wired connection with a switch and at least one battery.

The present invention relates to the field of electric toothbrushes, more specifically, an electronic toothbrush that is able to fold up for storage when not in use.
Electronic toothbrushes have been around for quite some time, and aid in cleaning teeth. However, electronic toothbrushes are bulky in size, which can be problematic when traveling. What is needed and is accomplished in this patent application is an electric toothbrush that is able to collapse onto itself when not in use, and which includes a floss dispenser on a distal end.


Provided is a sheet supply apparatus with a sheet support for supporting sheets, a sheet supply roller for feeding out the sheet supported by the sheet support, and a separating unit against which the sheet fed by the sheet supply roller abuts to cause elastic angular displacement of the sheet and adapted to permit the separation of the sheet when the sheet rides over the separating unit. The separating unit is formed from a thin plated-shaped member which includes at least one aperture or one notch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet supply apparatus for supplying a sheet (recording sheet, transfer sheet, photo-sensitive sheet, electrostatic recording sheet, printing sheet, OHP sheet, envelope, post card, original sheet or the like) from a sheet stacking portion to a sheet treating portion (such as a recording portion, a reading portion, working portion, or the like) in a recording apparatus (printer) acting as an information outputting apparatus of a word processor, a personal computer and the like, or in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile and the like, or other equipment using the sheet, and a recording apparatus having such a sheet supply apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
In sheet supply apparatuses, a function for surely separating a single sheet from a sheet stack is requested In the past, there has been proposed a technique in which a pawl member is arranged at a front corner of the sheet stack so that, when the sheets are fed out by a sheet supply roller, by flexing only an uppermost sheet to ride over the pawl member, the uppermost sheet is separated from the other sheets. However, even when this technique is used, it is very difficult to separate a sheet which is difficult to flex (for example, an envelope or a post card having strong resiliency).
On the other hand, in order to separate the sheet which is hard to be flexed (such as an envelope or a post card), a technique is proposed as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Appln. Laid-open No. 3-284547. This technique will now be explained with reference to FIG. 28. In FIG. 28, a sheet stacking plate 201 on which sheets are stacked is biased upwardly by a spring member 203. A free roller 204 for regulating a position of an uppermost sheet on the sheet stack is abutted against an upper surface of the sheet stack rested on the sheet stacking plate 201 so that the upper surface of the sheet stack is maintained below a guide surface 205. Further, an inclined surface 207 for separating the sheets is arranged at a downstream side of the sheet stacking plate 201.
A sheet supply roller 206 is a semi-circular roller having a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion. During rotation of the sheet supply roller, when the large diameter portion thereof is contacted with the uppermost sheet on the sheet stack, the sheets are fed out. The sheets fed out by the sheet supply roller 206 are urged against the inclined surface 207, and the uppermost is flexed to ride over the inclined surface 207, thereby separating the uppermost sheet from the other sheets. Since tip ends of the second, third and other sheets are held down by an elastic force of the flexed uppermost sheet, the second, third and other sheets cannot ride over the inclined surface 207. In this way, only the uppermost sheet can surely be separated from the other sheets.
However, in such a sheet separating mechanism, since the tip ends of the second, third and other sheets are held down by the elastic force generated when the sheet is flexed between the inclined surface 207 and a point P (contact point between the sheet and the free roller 204), and, thus, since the elastic force affects a great influence upon the separating operation, it is necessary to select an inclination angle of the inclined surface 207 in accordance with the bending elastic modulus of the sheet. That is to say, when a sheet having the great bending elastic modulus is separated, the inclination angle of the inclined surface must be selected to be smaller so as not to fold the sheet to be fed out; whereas, when a sheet having the small bending elastic modulus is separated, the inclination angle of the inclined surface must be selected to be greater so as to surely hold down the other sheets by the elastic force of the flexed uppermost sheet.
Accordingly, if the inclination angle of the inclined surface 207 is selected to be smaller to permit the separation of the sheet having the great bending elastic modulus (such as an envelope, a post card or the like), for example, when it is desired to separate a sheet (for a copying machine) having a weight of 60 to 100 grams/m.sup.2, the second, third and other sheets cannot be sufficiently held down by the elastic force of the flexed uppermost sheet, with the result that the double-feed of sheets may occur. Thus, this arrangement cannot be used in separation of the sheet (such as plain sheet) having the small bending elastic modulus.
To avoid this, there has been proposed a technique in which plural kinds of sheets having each different bending elastic modulus can be separated by a single separation means, for example, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Appln. Laid-open No. 58-202228. Now, this technique will be briefly explained with reference to FIG. 29.
A sheet stacking plate 301 on which sheets are stacked is biased upwardly by a spring 302, and a position of an uppermost sheet on the sheet stack is regulated by holder pawls 302 disposed in the proximity of left and right front corners of the sheet stack. A sheet supply roller 303 is urged against the uppermost sheet so that, when the sheet supply roller is rotated, the sheet can be fed out. An abutment member 305 provided on a reference surface 304 for regulating tip ends of the stacked sheets is formed from a plastic film or a metal spring plate having a predetermined bending elastic modulus so that the abutment member can be bent or flexed when it is urged by the sheets fed out by the sheet supply roller 303.
In such a sheet supply apparatus, for example, sheets (for a copying machine) having small bending elastic module are separated one by one when a tip end portion of the uppermost sheet is flexed and rides over the holder pawls 302, as is in the conventional separation means of pawl separation type. On the other hand, regarding thick sheets (such as envelopes, post cards) having great bending elastic modulus, the abutment member 305 is greatly flexed by the tip ends of the sheets, with the result that the sheets are successively advanced while sliding on the flexed abutment member. Consequently, the thick sheets are separated one by one. In this way, various kinds of sheets each having different bending elastic modulus can be separated.
Further, as shown in FIG. 30, a thick sheet separating plate 306 may be provided in association with the reference surface. In this case, the thick sheets are separated one by one when the uppermost sheet rides over the separating plate 306 and flexes the abutment member 305.
Further, the Japanese Patent Appln. Laid-open No. 2-193834 discloses a technique for separating sheets one by one by using a member similar to the above-mentioned abutment member. In this technique, a sheet stacking plate on which sheets are stacked is urged against a sheet supply roller by springs so that, when the sheet supply roller is rotated, the sheets can be fed out. An abutment member is disposed perpendicular to a sheet supplying direction so that the sheets fed out by the sheet supply roller can be separated one by one when the abutment member is flexed by the sheets. According to this arrangement, various kinds of sheets each having different bending elastic modulus can be separated one by one.
However, the abutment member used in the above-mentioned conventional apparatuses is formed in an oblong shape. Thus, the flexed amount of the abutment member is determined merely by the material and configuration (size, thickness and the like) of the abutment member. Accordingly, it is difficult to select an optimum abutment member which can provide the optimum separating ability, thereby limiting the freedom of design. Therefore, there arose problems that the sheets cannot surely be separated because of poor separating ability and that the cost is increased to obtain the optimum abutment member capable of providing the optimum separating ability.
Further, in the conventional oblong separation member, it is feared that the sheet which abuts against the separation member and is then separated from the other sheets is flexed downwardly at a central portion of the separation member in a widthwise direction. If the sheet is flexed downwardly in this way, the flexed portion of the sheet will be caught by the abutment member to cause the prevention of separation or poor separation, thereby reducing the separating ability.


A method and system provide the ability to measure relative displacement and rotation. A first light is continuously shined from a first light source that is fixed on a first entity to a first two-dimensional (2D) plate fixed on a second entity. The first direction of propagation of the first light does not change relative to the first entity. A second light is shined from a second light source that is fixed on the first entity to a second 2D plate fixed on the second entity. A second direction of propagation of the second light does not change relative to the first entity and is different from the first direction of propagation. The displacement of the lights on plates is directly monitored to determine a 3D displacement vector that represents a relative displacement between the first entity and the second entity. Thus, a three dimensional gravity gradient tensor is constructed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to measuring the relative displacement between two entities (such as satellites, airplanes, etc.) or between any moving or static entities, wherein such displacement is measured in three (3) dimensions.
2. Description of the Related Art
(Note: This application references a number of different publications as indicated throughout the specification by reference numbers enclosed in brackets, e.g., [x]. A list of these different publications ordered according to these reference numbers can be found below in the section entitled "References." Each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein.)
The measurement and study of variations in the acceleration caused by gravity is called gravity gradiometry. This technique has been used to examine subsurface geology to aid hydrocarbon (oil), water, mineral exploration, tunnel and bunker detection. The most frequently used and intuitive component is the vertical gravity gradient, Gyy, which represents the rate of change of vertical gravity (gy) with height (y). As an example, a person walking past at a distance of two (2) meters would provide a gravity gradient signal approximately equivalent to 10−9 m/s2 [3].
Recently, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) (which was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center) and the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission (which is part of NASA's Discovery Program) have used a gravity gradiometry technique for mapping the gravitational field of the Earth and the Moon, respectively. Both missions are very similar to each other; they are composed of two twin satellites following each other in the same orbit, [1,2]. As the first satellite passes over a region of stronger gravity called a gravity anomaly, it is pulled ahead of the trailing satellite. This increases the separation distance between the two satellites. As the first satellite moves away from the anomaly, it decelerates; meanwhile the second satellite approaches the anomaly, therefore it accelerates. The combination of these two phenomena induces a decrease in the relative distance between the two satellites. By constantly monitoring the relative distance between the two satellites, scientists are able to construct a detailed map of Earth's and Moon's gravity.
One can notice that the major instruments of these techniques are the ranging system called the Lunar Gravity Ranging System (LGRS) in the case of GRAIL and High Accuracy Inter-satellite Ranging System (HAIRS) in the case of GRACE. The LGRS and HAIRS measure the relative displacement of the two satellites along the path way, which is almost the orbit of the two satellites referred to as z. The ranging system, which is the heart of the current satellite gravity gradiometer technique, is based on the Doppler Effect, which measures the phase change of a wave travelling from one satellite to the other to determine the change of the relative distance between the two satellites. However, such a ranging system only measures the distance along the axis of propagation of the E&M (electromagnetic) field, while not making any measurement on the two other perpendicular directions, thus being unable to construct a full tensor gradiometer. It is noteworthy to observe that the most frequently used and intuitive component of the gravity field is the vertical gravity gradient, which for a circular orbit is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the two satellites. Indeed, the orbit of the satellites is assumed to be a surface of constant gravity potential U and let r1 and r2 be positions on the surface (i.e., with U1 and U2=U), then the component of g along the axis of the orbit is zero.
The g=−grad·U has no components along the axis of the orbit. This illustrates how important is it to measure the relative displacement of the two satellites in the plane horizontal to the axis separating the two satellites, which the currently technology based on the Doppler technique doesn't address.
Accordingly, what is needed is the ability to accurately (e.g., without a significant impact due to noise) measure the relative displacement between two satellites in three (3) dimensions without relying on a signal's phase.

Ultra high resolution gravity gradiometery technique


A method for cryogenic specimen identification employs marking a stretchable pressure-sensitive vinyl label, and placing it on a storage vial or other container that can withstand a temperature of approximately −80 degrees C. or lower, preferably contact with the liquid and/or vapor phases of liquid nitrogen at a temperature of approximately −196 degrees C. The method includes providing a sized portion of the label that includes a waterproof soft flex vinyl facestock material containing a non-mobile plasticizer agent. The printing is also resistant to the moisture and ice that form on the container when it is removed from the liquid nitrogen. At room temperature, the label must be capable of being stretched without breaking at least 10% in both the MD and TD. Labels are sized, cut, the release liner is removed, and the label with its adhesive surface is applied to the container.

This invention relates to the selection and use of certain pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated thermoplastic label materials for identification and marking of cryogenic vials and other containers subjected to very low temperatures More specifically, the invention relates to, and derives from the discovery that very ductile vinyl (PVC) labels can resist adhesive delamination and label edge peeling at cryogenic temperatures particularly if the PVC is plasticized with a non-mobile plasticizer, and the labels are oriented so that their more stretchable direction is oriented around the circumference of a cryogenic container.
Storage of perishable or unstable biological, chemical and industrial materials including tissue culture cells, tissues, embryos, sperm cells, eggs, chemicals, biochemicals and the like, at low and ultra-low temperatures, is referred to as cryogenic storage. For the purposes of this invention, cryogenic storage temperatures are defined as temperatures ranging downward from approximately −80 degrees C. to at least −196 degrees C. (the boiling point of liquid nitrogen), and are provided by special mechanical freezers and by special insulated Dewar chambers carrying liquid nitrogen. Temperatures as low as −270 degrees C. are provided by Dewar chambers holding liquid helium.
Tightly sealing cylindrical vials having gasketed sealing lids, are typically fabricated from thermoplastic materials such as polypropylene and polyethylene, and are commercially available for holding samples under cryogenic storage conditions. These vials are often essential for sample storage in liquid nitrogen at −196 degrees C., or at the same temperature in the vapor phase above liquid nitrogen. Microcentrifuge tubes (typically holding between 0.5 ml–2.5 ml liquid) formed from similar plastics, and having rounded or conical bottoms and tightly sealing screw cap or frictionally sealing hinged snap cap closures, are also used for cryogenic storage of samples. While it is possible to manually write on such round-surfaced vials and tubes and other cryogenic storage containers with permanent marking ink for purposes of sample identification, it is considerably easier to place a pre-marked or pre-printed label on such a container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,618 by Perlman, describes non-vinyl pressure-sensitive container labels capable of withstanding cryogenic storage conditions. Perlman also describes prior art label materials for cryogenic containers, including woven and non-woven fiber and cloth tapes, and a hand-markable vinyl label that could not retain computer-directed printing (such as ink-jet or laser printing). That prior art vinyl label (corresponding to product number 7604FP manufactured by the 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn., and previously advertised and sold by Diversified Biotech, Boston, Mass.) had limited utility because it was not machine-printable and was also susceptible to partial peeling on low surface energy, curved surface plastic vials such as polypropylene microcentrifuge tubes that were exposed to liquid nitrogen. Peeling of 7604FP labels was more problematic with age, and may have resulted from the combination of vinyl plasticizer and adhesive used in this product. Examples of the other previously available cryo-label materials include cloth Cryoware™ labels from the Nalge Company (Rochester, N.Y.) and "high/low temperature" cloth tape #314 from TimeMed Labeling Systems, Inc. (Burr Ridge, Ill.). Also, "Clear Tape" that is produced by Bel-Art Products (Pequannock, N.J.) is not actually a label, but is a clear overcoating tape to protect labels, and can withstand liquid nitrogen exposure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,618 by Perlman is relevant background to the present invention, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Perlman describes a number of non-polyvinyl, i.e., non-PVC-based stretchable cryogenic labels in which the facestock materials could be stretched, i.e., elongated prior to breakage, at least 10% in both the machine direction (abbreviated MD) and the transverse direction (abbreviated TD) of the facestock without breaking. Standard methods for testing labels for such percentages of elongation prior to breakage, e.g., ASTM D-882A, are described in American Standard Testing Method (ASTM) manuals.
In contrast to the ASTM test, a simplified method was utilized for testing the extent of stretch during the period of initial research for U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,618, employing narrow strips of label material (approximately ⅛ inch in width and 6–8 inches in length cut in either the MD or the TD) that were ruled off in ¼ inch intervals. Applicant gradually pulled on these strips using both hands until the label broke. The maximum percentage increase in length among the ruled intervals was recorded.
As part of the research for U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,618, and thereafter, Applicant tested a number of facestock materials that were found suitable for use in fabricating laser-printable, ink jet and thermal transfer-printable cryogenic container labels according to the teaching of this invention. These facestock materials include polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester and various blended facestock materials that even include thermoplastics blended with mineral materials, e.g., Teslin® (a porous composite facestock material containing high density polyethylene combined with silica manufactured by PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, Pa.). Another blended facestock material formerly known as Kimdura® and now known as Yupo® synthetic paper (a combination of polypropylene and calcium carbonate manufactured by the Yupo Corporation of America, Chesapeake, Va.) is also available for such purposes.
More recently, improved PVC labels have been developed that are machine-printable and, in fact, laser-printable. In addition to adding a suitable topcoat to the vinyl so that it retains laser toner, other technical obstacles have been overcome to permit laser printing. For example, laser printer fuser rollers are heated to about 350–400° F. Since PVC begins to melt at only about 160° F., the label must travel quickly and smoothly over the fuser rollers to prevent the PVC from melting (the fuser rollers fuse the laser toner image to the topcoat of the label). Accordingly, the topcoat must be free of any stickiness when it is heated to the temperature of the fuser rollers so that the label stock will not hesitate and melt. Only certain topcoatings are compatible with such high temperatures, and these topcoatings will help dissipate the heat at the surface of the label, while also bonding the laser toner. In addition, a heavier (typically 60–85 pound) paper release liner is often used to support the adhesive-coated (and somewhat softened) label stock. This provides a frictional outer surface that helps feed the label smoothly through the transport rollers without slippage.
Until Applicant conducted research for the present invention using multiple industrial sources of PVC facestocks, vinyl labels were considered unsuitable for use as printable cryogenic container labels. First, a previously developed vinyl cryo-label (3M 7604 FP) could only be manually marked, and had limited utility as a cryo-label due to peeling (see above) particularly as the label aged. In addition, a laser-printable vinyl label material that was recently fabricated for Applicant showed substantial peeling on cryogenic containers when exposed to liquid nitrogen (see Example 1 below). In fact, the importance of using a soft (e.g., highly plasticized) and highly ductile vinyl facestock containing substantially immobilized plasticizer was not appreciated prior to the present invention. Furthermore, the asymmetric stretching properties of certain oriented, e.g., biaxially oriented, vinyl facestocks, and the importance of selecting the facestock orientation in the die-cutting, and placement of such facestocks on cryogenic containers in order to prevent the labels from peeling when exposed to cryogenic temperatures was not appreciated prior to the present invention.

Stretchable thermoplastic labels on cryogenic containers


A centrifugal pump including an outer case; an inner case; a first unit and a second unit placed in fluid communication with each other, each unit including a plurality of impellers; the inner case includes two half-parts joined along a connection plane containing the axis of rotation; a connecting element is placed between the first unit and the second unit, the connecting element is engaged with a last impeller of the first unit and with a last impeller of the second unit.

The subject matter of the present disclosure relates to a centrifugal pump. Specifically, this disclosure relates to a centrifugal diffuser pump of the barrel type in a back-to-back configuration. This kind of pump can be usefully employed in the oil and gas industry, as well as in any industrial process in which there is a need to increase the pressure of a large amount of fluid continuously or nearly continuously.
Moreover, it is to be noted that a centrifugal pump is different from other kind of turbomachines, such as compressors. A pump processes a fluid that is in liquid state, while a compressor operates on a fluid that is non-liquid (such as steam or gas) for at least a portion of the working cycle.
In the state of the art, a barrel pump comprises an outer case, named "barrel" in the technical jargon, and an inner case, called "cartridge". For high pressure applications the flow path arrangement of a barrel pump (such as API BB5 volute or diffuser) is back-to-back. This is done in order to reduce the residual axial thrust, to increase the efficiency (since the balancing drum sees half the total differential pressure) and to increase the rotordynamic stability of the pump.
In the back-to-back configuration, the pump comprises two counterpoised sets of impellers, each with its respective diffuser. Each set of impellers is called a "phase" in the technical jargon. A special diaphragm, known as inversion module, takes the outlet flow of the first phase and delivers it in the gap between the cartridge and the barrel to feed the suction of the second phase. The inversion module also takes the outlet flow rate of the second phase and delivers it to the outlet flange.
Back-to-back pumps of the type described above are radially split pumps. This means that the inner case is composed by radially stacking diffusers and diaphragms. Rotor and inner case are assembled during the same phase alternating the installation of each impeller with a statoric component.
The above described pump has several drawbacks. Indeed, the inversion module has a complex geometry, which requires that it is made by casting. Therefore, the inversion module is difficult to manufacture.
Moreover, the inversion module incurs very high hydrodynamic losses, as, due to its complex geometry, the fluid is forced into a path with several turns having a very small radius.
Also, it is not possible to balance the rotor, but each impeller has to be balanced separately.
Finally, if the impellers are attached by shrink fit, disassembling them is very complicated, mainly due to inaccessibility of the back of the last impeller which is enclosed by the stator.


An information processing apparatus and method for controlling the information processing apparatus where the information processing apparatus stores a plurality of start programs in a first or second storage area, and if a selected start program is not already stored in the first storage area, the start program is transferred from the second storage area to the first storage area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a control method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique for executing a start program for starting (initializing) a device from a non-operating state to an operating state is known. A device including a plurality of types of start programs and selecting and executing one of the plurality of start programs is also known (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-179937).
In the device disclosed in the above publication, a plurality of types of start programs are stored in a plurality of read only memories (ROMs), and a start program is read out from one of the ROMs and is executed. However, providing a plurality of ROMs for storing the plurality of types of start programs is expensive, and also, a complicated and troublesome operation is necessary for exchanging start programs.
Accordingly, instead of using ROMs, large-capacity storage units, for example, hard disks, may be used for storing a plurality of start programs. In large-capacity storage units, however, the data read/write speed may be different depending on the storage areas, which may hamper the fast readout of start programs. With respect to hard disks, for example, it is known that the data read/write speed is lower at the inner area than at the outer area. In order to read out start programs from large-capacity storage units at high speed, the start programs should be stored in areas where the readout speed is high (i.e., the outer areas of a hard disk). If, however, all types of start programs are stored in areas where the readout speed is high, data other than the start programs should be stored in areas where the readout speed is low.

Information processing apparatus and control method therefor


An antenna mounting system comprises a base, a mast extending from the base having a first bore formed through the body of the mast; and a antenna mounting assembly secured to the base having a second bore formed through the body of the antenna mounting assembly. The first and second bored are aligned such that the base and the mast are positionally secured via a pin.

The present disclosure relates to mounting systems, and more particularly, to antenna mounting assemblies. It finds particular application in conjunction with the mounting of antennas and various types of electronic equipment to various types of structures and/or surfaces, and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present disclosure is also amenable to other like applications.
In this regard, antenna mounting assemblies are well known and readily utilized, for example, by Amateur Radio operators for mounting antennas on various surfaces. Many of these antenna mounting assemblies consist of a base being secured to a surface. A mast is rigidly secured to the base for mounting an antenna. Typically, the mast is secured to the base by braces, mounting brackets, or the like. A problem exists when such antenna mounting assemblies encounter high wind conditions. Under such conditions movement of the mast as slight as a few degrees causes a significant degradation or loss of the signal being received by the antenna. One who has experimented with conventional antenna mounting assemblies will be aware of still further deficiencies and difficulties that one must confront when utilizing such assemblies in high wind conditions.
In light of the foregoing, it becomes evident that there is a need for an antenna mounting assembly that would provide a solution to one or more of the deficiencies from which the prior art and/or antenna mounting assemblies have suffered. It is still more clear that an antenna mounting assembly providing a solution to each of the needs left unresolved by the prior art while providing a number of heretofore unrealized advantages thereover would represent an advance in the art. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop an antenna mounting assembly which could support and limit the rotational movement of a load in a high wind condition.


A process is disclosed for detecting the availability of components of a redundant communication system in which hardware components are available at least in duplicate, the redundant system components taking over the function of the previously active operating system components when one or more hardware components break down. The system components operate together in resource groups and each resource group can run on at least two hardware components. In order to permit system component availability to be detected, one resource group operates actively on precisely one single hardware component and the at least one redundant resource group runs on at least one additional system component in a standby mode, the data in the active resource group being automatically replicated.

A redundant design of communication systems is used in order to ensure the continuation of the required system function by means of the corresponding redundant components in the event of failure of individual components. This increases the availability and reliability of the complete system. The proper takeover of the function by the redundant components naturally depends essentially on their correct functioning.

Process for detecting the availability of redundant communication system components


A steerable surgical device including an inner tubular member and an outer tubular member surrounding the inner tubular member. A distal end of the inner tubular member and/or the outer tubular member is prebent in a curved configuration. A distal end of the device can be oriented in a desired direction by rotating the inner and outer tubular members with respect to each other. A tool such as an arthroscopic grasper can be mounted on a distal end of the inner and/or outer tubular members and the tool can be oriented in any desired direction simply by rotating one of the tubular members with respect to the other tubular member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an articulating device and method of using. In addition, the invention relates to the use of the articulating device for steering medical devices such as the distal portion of medical devices typically used in minimally invasive surgery.
2. Description of Related Art
Rigid instruments, which may, for example, be catheters, graspers, or other tools, limit the ability of the surgeon to access the interior portions of the body. By having articulateable distal portions this adds an extra degree of freedom, thus reducing the need for changing tools during a procedure, and as a result reducing the time needed for the procedure to the mutual benefit of surgeon and patient alike.
As already stated the majority of tools used in these procedures are rigid. There are a variety of devices which have a degree of steerability added via a fixed curve being introduced in the distal end, and some devices which have steerable tips. Examples of steerable tips can be found in commonly owned and copending application Ser. No. 07/903,587 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,340 ("Wendel"), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,403 ("Clarke"). In many of these devices the distal tip, on being articulated, suffers from the problem of not being able to sustain any appreciable end loading, and hence buckles easily. It is also extremely desirable for the devices to be hollow, or in the form of a cannula, such that any debris generated during a procedure may be aspirated from the operation site without the need for extra equipment. Thus, there is a need in the art for small diameter devices which freely articulate, are capable of resisting substantial end-loading, and due to their tubular nature enable simultaneous removal of debris via fluid flow.
Various devices are known for steering medical devices such as catheters. For instance, steering mechanisms are discussed in WO92/14506 ("Middleman") and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,353,358 ("Emerson"); 3,470,876 ("Barchilon") and 4,245,624 ("Komiya").
Middleman discloses a device for insertion into a body, the device including an elongated tube or cannula, an elastic member for bending the cannula and a straightener preventing the elastic member from bending the cannula. The straightener and elastic member are capable of relative axial movement so that the straightener can be positioned to prevent or allow the elastic member to bend the cannula. The elastic member can be formed from a superelastic shape memory alloy. In another embodiment of the device, two elastic members are housed in parallel lumens of a cannula. The portions of the elastic members which are housed within the distal segment of the cannula are curved and can be positioned within the lumens such that they tend to curve in opposite directions. The elastic members can be identically curved and of the same elastic material such as a superelastic shape-memory alloy whereby each applies a force opposite to the other so that the net effect is that the distal segment is straight. The lumens permit rotation of the elastic members therein and the elastic members can be rotated together, or in unison, to bend the distal segment. In this case, a stiffener is not needed so that the cannula can remain flexible.
Emerson discloses a disposable sigmoidoscope having a tubular portion of plastic material wherein a free end is weakened by providing one or more cut-outs or notches or by making the side of the tubular portion thinner. An operator cord member of wire, plastic or string member is attached to the free end and extends along the outer surface of the segments between the cut-outs, on the inside of the segments or through the weakened side of the device. Pulling on the member allows the tubular member to be bent somewhat but not so much that the operator can no longer see through the passage through the tubular member. A protective outer layer or sheath covers the cut-outs in order to prevent discomfort to the patient during insertion and withdrawal of the device and prevent material from entering the device through the cut-outs.
Barchilon discloses a 1/8 to 2 inch diameter catheter including an outer tube, an inner tube and a rigid end piece connecting the distal ends of the inner and outer tubes. The end piece has a flange and four tensioning cords are attached thereto such that each cord is offset 90.degree. with respect to each other. The inner and outer tubes are of flexible material such as a silicone compound having a durometer of 48. The cords are of material such as wire or nylon and the catheter can be bent in any desired direction by pulling on one or more of the cords.
Komiya discloses an endoscope having an observation optical system, a flexible plastic guide tube and a wire, each of which is located in a respective one of three channels extending longitudinally through a distal end of the endoscope. The guide tube is movable longitudinally beyond the distal end of the endoscope and the wire is attached to a distal end of the guide tube for bending the guide tube. When the guide tube is empty, liquid can be sprayed from or sucked into the distal end thereof. On the other hand, a medical implement such as forceps can be inserted into the guide tube and the wire can be used to bend the guide tube and medical implement toward a prescribed location in a body cavity. The guide tube can be made more flexible by using a plastic material foamed at a progressively higher rate at the distal end thereof. Alternatively, the guide tube can be made thinner at the distal end thereof or the guide tube can be surrounded by a coil of plastic or metal which has a progressively larger pitch toward the distal end of the guide tube.
It would be desirable in the medical field to have a steering device which provides resistance to end-loading while permitting a wide range of movement of a distal end of a medical device.


A carrier for a plurality of objects arranged in four rows includes substantially parallel first and second side walls, substantially parallel first and second end walls interconnecting the side walls, a medial panel extending between the first and second end walls, the medial panel being disposed between and substantially parallel to the first and second side walls, first primary partition structure extending between the first and second end walls, the first primary partition structure being disposed between and substantially parallel to the first side wall and the medial panel, second primary partition structure extending between the first and second end walls, the second primary partition structure being disposed between and substantially parallel to said second side wall and the medial panel, a primary bottom wall connected between lower portions of the first and second side walls, and a secondary bottom wall connected between lower portions of the first and second primary partition structure.

The present invention relates generally to paperboard carriers for articles such as beverage bottles. More particularly, it relates to a basket-style carrier in which the articles are arranged in four parallel rows.
One traditional paperboard carrier for articles such as beverage bottles is the basket-style carrier. An example of such a carrier is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,009. The carrier includes side, end and bottom walls, and is typically used with articles grouped in two rows. Located between the two rows is a medial panel which connects the end walls and includes an opening to provide a handle by which the basket may be carried. In its usual form, this carrier also includes partition panels extending between the medial panel and the side walls, to define individual cells into which the articles may be placed.
Basket-style carriers are normally manufactured and shipped in a glued but collapsed condition. The end walls are folded at the medial panel, so that they are collapsed onto themselves to bring the side walls together. The medial panel is thus displaced longitudinally with respect to the side walls. For use, such as at a beverage bottling facility, the basket is erected by moving the medial panel back into alignment with the side walls. The end walls are brought into an unfolded position, and the set-up basket is available to be loaded with the articles to be carried.
Attempts have been made to develop basket-style carriers for larger multiples of articles arranged in more than two rows. For example, in a carrier for twelve beverage bottles, the articles may be arranged in four rows, two rows located on each side of the handle. However, the large size of such a carrier and the complex structure required for the partitions make it difficult to design such a carrier in which the normal folding from collapsed to erected condition can be carried out. In addition, the length of the required bottom wall makes it difficult to provide a bottom wall with sufficient rigidity to support the weight of four rows of articles.
One example of a basket carrier for articles arranged in four rows can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,129. The carrier disclosed therein satisfies the strength requirements of the bottom carrier panel, since the bottom wall is connected to both side walls and both end walls by either fold lines or secured glue flaps. However, this carton construction is disadvantageous in that it requires special equipment to set up and glue the article carrier at the appropriate time. It is not possible to completely preglue and then collapse the carrier as with a conventional basket carrier, since the bottom panel when the carrier is completed is attached on all four sides.
Accordingly, a need exists for a basket-style carrier which can be erected from a collapsed condition using conventional techniques that is capable of carrying articles arranged in four rows.


An automatic lubricant dispenser has a lower housing part formed with an outlet, a piston displaceable along an axis in the lower part and forming therein a compartment, a spindle extending along the axis, threaded into the piston, having an upper end above the piston provided with a lower coupling half, and a body of fluent lubricant filling the compartment and forming with the spindle, piston, and lower housing part a lower subassembly. An upper housing part securable to the lower part via a screwthread forms an upper subassembly. An insert mainly in the upper housing part forms a battery compartment and carries a motor unit having an output shaft projecting downward therefrom at the axis and provided with an upper coupling half axially engageable with the lower coupling half. The coupling halves are axially engageable to rotationally couple the motor output shaft to the spindle. A battery is provided in the battery compartment and a circuit board fixed to the insert is connected between the battery and the motor unit. An on-off switch mounted on the circuit board is actuatable to energize the motor unit from the battery. The insert, motor unit, battery, circuit board, and switch together forming a core subassembly normally held between the upper and lower subassemblies.

As described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,531 an automatic lubricant dispenser has a vessel adapted to hold a supply of a fluent lubricant and having one side formed with an outlet adapted to be connected to a machine to be lubricated and an opposite side, a piston in the vessel movable forward toward the one side to force the lubricant from the outlet, and an electric drive connected to the piston and electrically energizable to advance the piston forward. An electric power source is connected via an electrical circuit to the drive for periodically energizing the drive and thereby advancing the piston an increment and pumping a dose of the lubricant from the outlet.
German utility model 9,214,096 describes such a system where the motor has a rotary output shaft connected via gearing to a spindle threaded into the piston which is prevented from rotating. The motor is powered from batteries mounted in the dispenser housing. The housing is formed by a lower part that forms together with the piston a compartment filled with a fluent lubricant and an upper part containing the motor and batteries. The threaded spindle fixed to the transmission of the electric-motor drive unit is threaded into the piston which is impeded from rotating so that, when the spindle rotates, the piston is advanced.
When the supply of lubricant is exhausted, the motor is reversed to its starting position with the piston all the way up. Then the upper housing part and motor unit are separated from the lower housing part which is in turn disconnected from the feed line to the machine being lubricated. A new lower part filled with lubricant is installed, the upper housing part is fitted in place, and the system can be restarted.
The disadvantage of this system is that if the piston is not perfectly positioned when a new lower lubricant-filled housing part is installed there can be problems. If the piston is too low it will now allow the assembly to be put back together without extruding out some of the lubricant and making a mess. If it is too high, for the first couple of cycles the piston will move without actually contacting or pressurizing the lubricant mass so that no lubricant dosing will take place. In general it is difficult to provide such a system with a new lubricant supply.


A vehicle lamp includes a lamp unit, a bracket which supports the lamp unit such that the lamp unit is swivelable in right and left directions, a lamp body which supports the bracket such that the bracket is tiltable in the right and left directions and in up and down directions with respect to the lamp body, an actuator which is supported by the bracket and swivels the lamp unit, a rotating shaft member which is supported by the bracket, and a joint member which is coupled to the actuator. The lamp unit includes a light source, a reflector, a shade, a projection lens, a rotating shaft attaching portion to which the rotating shaft member is attached, and a joint attaching portion to which the joint member is attached.

Some vehicle lamps, such as vehicle headlamps, have a structure that allows an irradiating direction to be changed while the vehicle is operating.
For example, in some vehicle lamps, an irradiating direction can be adjusted in right-and-left directions while the vehicle is operating (see, e.g., JP 2004-227933 A). Thus, when turning right or left, or when traveling along a winding road, light can be forwardly irradiated in advance in the direction the vehicle is to be turned, thereby enhancing traveling safety.
A lamp unit of the vehicle lamp can be formed with a shaft, which swivelably supports the lamp unit on a support member, and a joint portion, which couples the lamp unit to a driving device operable to swivel the lamp unit. In other words, the lamp unit needs to be specially designed so that it can be swivelably supported on the support member and coupled to the driving device. Therefore, a lamp unit for a vehicle lamp which does not have a function of changing an irradiating direction while the vehicle is traveling cannot be used in a vehicle lamp which has the function of changing an irradiating direction while the vehicle is traveling. Likewise, a lamp unit for the vehicle lamp which has the function of changing an irradiating direction while the vehicle is traveling cannot be used in a vehicle lamp which does not have the function of changing an irradiating direction while the vehicle is traveling. Thus, dedicated lamp units have been required for the respective types of vehicle lamps.


The invention relates to a method for removing a motor vehicle friction clutch of modular design and to friction clutches suitable for this method. The arrangement of openings in the clutch plate and the use of specific tools for venting the friction clutch enable the clutch plate to be orientated such that the fastening screws may be opened by corresponding screwdrivers through the slots of the spring tongues of the diaphragm spring and through the openings in the clutch plate. This enables a clutch module to be exchanged completely after damage or normal wear.

The invention relates to a method for removing a motor vehicle friction clutch of modular design and to a friction clutch according to the process.
Known friction clutch modules comprise a pressure plate unit having a clutch casing, a diaphragm spring arranged therein, a pressing plate which is arranged non-rotatably but axially movably relative to the clutch casing and an axially prestressed diaphragm spring. The pressure plate unit is non-detachably fastened with interposition of a clutch plate to a centrifugal mass. The diaphragm spring loads the pressing plate with force in the direction of the centrifugal mass for fixing the friction linings arranged on the clutch plate. The clutch module is fastened by means of a plurality of concentrically arranged screws to the face end of a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine. The screws are inserted through substantially congruent openings in the region of the tongues of the diaphragm spring, in the clutch plate and in the centrifugal mass and are screwed in the crankshaft and rest with their caps on a face of the centrifugal mass.
A dual mass flywheel is known from European patent 0 270 980 in which the hub of the clutch plate is provided with openings to allow the screws for fastening the crankshaft-side mass to be serviced from the exterior. A modular clutch is also known from German Offenlegungsschrift 40 14 470, in which the clutch casing is rigidly connected to the flywheel and removal of the clutch for repair purposes is not possible via the screws connecting the entire clutch module to the crankshaft.

Method for removing a motor vehicle friction clutch


In an apparatus for conducting thermal energy, a thermoelectric unit in thermal communication with a thermal conductor is electrically operable so as to operate in a heat-absorbing mode, where the thermoelectric unit absorbs heat from the thermal conductor to reduce temperature of the thermal conductor, and a heat-radiating mode, where the thermoelectric unit radiates heat to the thermal conductor. A processor is operable so as to enable a power control circuit to control supply of electric power to the thermoelectric unit according to temperature of the thermal conductor and the thermoelectric unit sensed by a temperature sensor when the thermoelectric unit is operated in a selected one of the heat-absorbing mode and the heat-radiating mode.

This application claims priority of Taiwan patent Application No. 091103346, filed on Feb. 25, 2002.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the art of thermal energy conduction, more particularly to an apparatus for conducting thermal energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/951,174, entitled xe2x80x9cFLUID CONDUIT WITH ENHANCE THERMAL CONDUCTING ABILITYxe2x80x9d, filed by the applicant of this application, there is disclosed an apparatus for conducting thermal energy.
The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for conducting thermal energy that permits heat-absorbing and heat-radiating control in a highly efficient manner.
According to the present invention, an apparatus for conducting thermal energy comprises:
a thermal conductor including a hollow heat-conducting member that has inner and outer walls confining an enclosed chamber therebetween, and a superconductor that fills the chamber;
a thermoelectric unit disposed on and in thermal communication with the outer wall of the heat-conducting member, the thermoelectric unit being electrically operable so as to operate in a heat-absorbing mode, where the thermoelectric unit absorbs heat from the thermal conductor so as to reduce temperature in the heat-conducting member, and a heat-radiating mode, where the thermoelectric unit radiates heat to the thermal conductor;
a temperature sensor connected to the thermal conductor and the thermoelectric unit for sensing temperature thereof;
a power control circuit connected to the thermoelectric unit for controlling supply of electric power thereto; and
a processor connected to the temperature sensor and the power control circuit, the processor being operable so as to enable the power control circuit to control supply of the electric power to the thermoelectric unit according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor when the thermoelectric unit is operated in a selected one of the heat-absorbing mode and the heat-radiating mode.


A transmission method for uplink control channel is provided, and the method comprises the following steps: a base station configures a transmission mode for the uplink control channel of a user equipment (UE) via high signaling; according to the transmission mode, the base station receives the uplink control channel sent by the UE via a transmit diversity or a single antenna port. A device for implementing the transmission for uplink control channel is also provided. With the present solution, according to the operation state of the system the base station flexibly configures the UE having multiple transmitting antennas to transfer uplink control channel by using different modes, so as to improve the reliability and efficiency of the system and enhance the performance of the system effectively.

Mobility and broadband has become development orientations of modern communication, and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project is making an effort to develop a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system as an evolved 3G system for the purpose of evolving a 3GPP radio access oriented toward high data rate, low delay and optimized packet data applications. The multi-antenna technology at the physical layer has become one of crucial technologies for an existing mobile communication system and offers numerous advantages, e.g., a throughput of the system improved due to a multiplexing gain of multiple antennas, the performance of the system improved due to a diversity gain of multiple antennas, interference between users eliminated by distinguishing one user from another due to a directional gain of the antennas, etc.
At present, the design of the LTE system has been substantially completed in the standardization effort of the 3GPP, and frame structures for a general transmission scheme of the LTE system in an FDD system and a TDD system are as illustrated respectively in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Downlink signaling and downlink data, and uplink signaling and uplink data as well their mutual transmission relationships are defined for each operating carrier, where two ends of a frequency band are occupied for uplink control signaling transmitted through frequency-hopping, that is, different frequency ranges will be occupied for transmission of the uplink control signaling in two time slots of a sub-frame.
The uplink control signaling is subject to orthogonal sequence spreading and then mapped into an uplink control channel for transmission, thus a plurality of uplink control channels can be transmitted concurrently on the same Physical Resource Block (PRB). Each uplink control channel corresponds to a unique orthogonal sequence number, and a UE can determine from the orthogonal sequence number an orthogonal spreading sequence for its corresponding uplink control channel and the location of the PRB where the uplink control channel is located.
At present there are two different formats of an uplink control channel, i.e., the format 1/1a/1b and the format 2/2a/2b. ACK/NACK information corresponding to a downlink data packet and an uplink Scheduling Request (SR) is carried in the format 1/1a/1b. Channel quality related information, e.g., a Channel Quality Information (CQI), a Pre-coding Matrix Information (PMI), a Rank Information (RI), etc., is fed back in the format 2/2a/2b.
For a dynamically scheduled downlink data packet, the number of an uplink channel on which ACK/NACK information is fed back (i.e., a orthogonal sequence number) will be derived from the number of a Control Channel Element (CCE) occupied for a downlink control channel on which scheduling information of the data packet is carried, that is, a unique uplink channel resource number can be derived from a CCE number. In an LTE Rel-8 system, a UE will transmit only one uplink control channel at most in each sub-frame due to an uplink limitation arising from uni-carrier transmission, thus an uplink control channel in actual use is an uplink control channel corresponding to a first CCE occupied for a downlink control channel serving the UE.
ACK/NACK corresponding to a persistently scheduled downlink data packet, an SR and a CQI/PMI/RI transmitted in the format 2/2a/2b are fed back periodically, and a base station can know in advance specific temporal locations at which the respective information is transmitted, thus the numbers of channels on which the foregoing control signaling is transmitted are allocated in advance by RRC signaling from the base station to a UE.
In the ongoing study of an uplink control channel for a Long Term Evolution-Advanced system, a possibility has been proposed to use Orthogonal Resource Transmit Diversity (ORTD) for transmit diversity in transmission of an uplink control channel for a UE configured with a plurality of transmission antennas to thereby improve the reliability or capacity of transmitting uplink control signaling. As ORTD implies, each antenna port corresponds to one orthogonal sequence, and the same information is spread in different orthogonal sequences and then transmitted concurrently by different antenna ports. A receiver extracts signals from the different antenna ports and then combines them for detection to thereby achieve a diversity gain.
FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of transmit diversity through ORTD with two antennas, where Tx0 and Tx1 represents two transmission antenna, n_r0 and n_r1 represent two orthogonal sequence numbers different from each other, and s represents feedback information. A study shows an insignificant performance gain of ORTD with four antennas as compared with that with two antennas. In view of an overhead of an orthogonal sequence and alike, a hybrid scheme of ORTD and virtual antennas as illustrated in FIG. 4 is recommended for four antennas. As compared with the ORTD-only scheme, a process of virtualizing antennas is added here for transmission of information of two antenna ports on four physical antennas, and this virtualizing process is transparent to a base station, that is, the base station can receive without any knowledge of whether a transmitter transmits on two or four antennas.
Dependent upon a specific transmission condition and demand, a UE configured with a plurality of transmission antennas can alternatively go back to a single antenna port transmission mode which can be performed in the following two approaches:
A first approach is transmission on a single physical antenna as illustrated in FIG. 5, which is the same as that in the LTE Rel-8 system.
A second approach is concurrent transmission of the same information with the same orthogonal sequence to thereby improve actual transmit power and hence the reliability of transmission, a schematic diagram of which is as illustrated in FIG. 6.
Transmission in the first or second approach is transparent to a receiver, that is, the receiver can receive and demodulate without any knowledge of which transmission approach is particularly used.
However there is no method for configuring transmission of an uplink control channel in a plurality of transmission modes for a high-level UE configured with a plurality of transmission antennas, making it impossible to make full use of the advantages of the UE being provided with a plurality of transmission antennas, thus it is necessary to propose a corresponding technical solution in which a base station configures flexibly the UE configured with a plurality of transmission antennas dependent upon an operating status of a system to have the UE transmit an uplink control channel in a varying mode.

Transmission method and device for uplink control channel

CHINA ACADEMY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY


An apparatus and method for tile binning are provided. The tile binning apparatus may include a determination unit to determine whether a triangle obtained as a result of geometric processing includes an abnormal edge, an overlap test unit to perform an overlap test with respect to each edge of the triangle when the abnormal edge is absent from the triangle, and to sort three vertices of the triangle according to Y-axis values and perform the overlap test with respect to each edge of the triangle based on a sorting result when the triangle includes the abnormal edge, and a bin array update unit to update a bin array based on an overlap test result.

1. Field
Example embodiments of the following description relate to a tile binning apparatus and method. More specifically, example embodiments relate to a tile binning apparatus and method that consume a reduced amount of power.
2. Description of the Related Art
A three-dimensional (3D) rendering technology has been developed and applied to a mobile multi-media device. The mobile multi-media device may operate various applications with a limited amount of power and thus, a main issue for the technology is low power consumption.
3D rendering technology may display a 3D object on a two-dimensional (2D) plane and therefore may need to perform a large quantity of operations or calculations. Particularly, a triangle may be obtained as a result of geometric processing with respect to the 3D object, and information about an overlap between the triangle and a tile on the 2D plane may be important. For example, as a degree of the overlap between the triangle and the tile on the 2D plane increases, a number of reading operations with respect to a memory increases, which may result in a relatively large amount of power consumption.
The power consumption resulting from using the memory may be reduced by additionally performing an operation of reducing an overlap factor, which denotes the degree of the overlap between the triangle and the tile on the 2D plane. However, since the operation of reducing the overlap factor may also result in an additional operation, there is a desire for a criterion for determining whether to perform the operation of reducing the overlap factor.


A rotation angle detecting device includes a magnetic field forming member, magneto-sensing IC circuit including first and second sensing sections in a magnetic field to have a first preset angle between them, and a selecting circuit. One of the first and second sensing section includes plural magneto-sensing elements whose sensing surfaces face in directions different from one another by a second preset angle. When the magnetic field forming member rotates relative to the magneto-sensing means, the magneto-sensing elements respectively provide the output signals. The selecting circuit selects a pair of the output signals of the magneto-sensing elements that is closest to a preset phase difference angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotation angle detecting device for detecting a rotation angle of a rotating object and a rotation angle control system equipped with the rotation angle detecting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
JP-62-95402-A discloses a rotation angle detecting device in which a change in a magnetic field formed by a permanent magnet is detected by a pair of Hall elements, whose analog output signals are converted into trigonometric functions to calculate a rotation angle.
In this rotation angle detecting device, if two Hall elements are positioned in such that the phase difference between the output signals thereof becomes a preset angle a from each other, such as 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 8, each of the output signals 400, 402 of the Hall elements outlines a sinusoidal curve as shown in FIG. 9 when a rotating object rotates. In other words, the output signal 400 is a sine curve, and the output signal 402 is a cosine curve.
In case where: the rotation angle of a rotating object is θ; and the voltages of the output signals 400, 402 are respectively V1 and V2; the rotation angle θ can be obtained by the following expression.θ=arctan (sin θ/cos θ)=arctan (V1/V2)  (1)
However, the phase difference between the output signals of the Hall elements may change due to a variation in the angle α between two Hall elements 302, a variation in distance between the Hall elements, a variation in position of the permanent magnet and/or a variation in the distribution of the magnetic field formed by the permanent magnet. Such a change in the phase difference may hinder accurate measurement of the rotation angle.

Rotation angle detecting device with a selecting means for selecting a pair of output signals of the magneto-sensing elements


An air filter system, in particular for the intake air of internal combustion engines, is provided. It comprises a housing with a housing upper part and a round air filter element for filtering air, the housing comprising a clean air connection for discharging clean air from the housing and an annular sealing groove axially opened towards the interior area of the housing surrounding the clean air connection for the engagement of an annular sealing web axially extending away from the filter element, the sealing groove featuring a cylindrical contact area to which a sealing surface of the sealing web can be applied in particular radially sealingly, wherein the sealing groove features a cylindrical support area facing the contact area and the support area features at least one extension protruding from the support area in the direction of the sealing surface, wherein the sealing web features a second surface opposite to the sealing surface that features several annularly surrounding indentations in radial direction, wherein the at least one extension engages respectively one of the indentations.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,342 B2 discloses a filter assembly in which a filter holder features at least one through hole which serves to sealingly accommodate a filter element with an adapter collar.
For example foam made of polyurethanes (PU), also called PU foam, is used as seal between housing or housing cover and filter element. Such foam made of polyurethanes, however, relaxes after heat storage (artificial storage) or high temperature effect or temperature change.
In other words, the foam made of polyurethanes is force-free after heat storage. With filter elements relying upon frictional engagement in the housing, this relaxation of the PU foam is often the reason why greater critical movements between the individual parts occur with vibration excitation of the assembly from the parts housing with housing upper part, seal, and filter element. Such a vibration excitation can, for example, occur during the operation of a motor vehicle into which the filter is installed. In this case, in particular a rotating movement of the filter element may occur during operation so that the sealing compounds are heavily stressed and particles may penetrate.

Air filter system, air filter element and method for exchanging an air filter element


Odorant from a process stream is removed by passing the stream (18) to a counter-current contacting device (12) for stripping odorants. The odorants passes from the contacting device (12) as contaminated steam (26) while the remaining process stream passes directly to a “tube side” of a falling film evaporator (14) and is heated producing steam that passes into the counter-current contacting device (12) to strip that process stream and produce the contaminated steam (26). This contaminated steam from the contacting device (12) passes through a vapor compression step (16) from which it is introduced into a “shell side” of the falling film evaporator (14) and in which it heats the process stream passing from the contacting device (12) into the evaporator (14). The contaminated steam that is not condensed in the falling film evaporator passes as a low flow vent gas (50) in which the odorants have been concentrated.

Traditionally, odorants such as ammonia and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been steam stripped from liquid process streams. However, the volume of steam that is subsequently produced is large.
A particular problem is presented by high flow and low odorant concentration process streams in that they are difficult to treat economically with existing techniques and technology. Further, the particular application of such technology in Bayer process plants for the production of alumina from bauxite presents complexities relating to the possibility of slurry carry-over from flash tanks. As such, any technique employed in the Bayer process must be able to cope with this possibility.
Previous efforts to remove odorants from process streams include the methods and apparatus' described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,711 and Japanese Publication 11076761. U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,711 describes a method for the regenerative heat recovery in high temperature condensate stripping plants, specifically for application in cellulose pulp mills. Foul condensate is heated as it passes to a steam stripping stage. From the steam stripping stage a vapour containing contaminants is passed to a re-boiler, from which the contaminants are passed to a known destructive step. A clean condensate is also produced from the steam stripping stage. The clean condensate is passed to a number of flash stations in series. These flash stations produce a flashed vapour that is utilised to heat foul condensate during its passage to the steam stripping stage. As can be noted, the foul condensate is exposed to only a single stripping stage. Further, the method utilises an arrangement or combination of discrete processes steps that is not conducive to size minimisation. That is, it would be difficult to fit into existing process plants where space is often very limited.
Japanese Publication 11076761 describes a process directed to the efficient recovery of thermal energy and in which an ammonia containing waste water is heated and passed to a steam stripping stage, in turn producing treated wastewater that is either used to heat the waste water (much as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,711) or is passed to a re-boiler, the vapour from which is passed back to the steam stripping stage. Again, whilst the 're-boiling' of the 'clean' wastewater evaporates that cleaned wastewater, strictly only a single stripping stage is employed. A significant proportion of any contaminants remaining in the treated or 'clean' wastewater from the steam stripping stage are expected to condense and require further treatment. Further, the volume of the steam carrying the contaminants from the steam stripping stage is relatively large and leads to demands on the subsequent destructive processes employed and creating a 'heavy' recycling load on the plant.
These prior art processes are in many respects complicated due to the number of discrete process steps and mechanical items involved in the treatment process and which are required to provide a suitably low flow process stream for the eventual destruction of the removed odorants. Further, these processes are not considered robust enough to handle the carryover of slurries, such as Bayer process slurries, from the flashing steps that produce the process or condensate stream that is to be handled by the process.
One object of the method and apparatus of the present invention is to substantially overcome at least some of the problems associated with the prior art described hereinabove, or to at least provide a useful alternative thereto.
The preceding discussion of the background art is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to was part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other country as at the priority date of the application.
Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Method and apparatus for odorant removal


The present invention relates to 2-amino-4-arylpyrimidine and 2-amino-4-aryltriazine compounds as inhibitors of heat shock protein 90 family of chaperone proteins. The invention also features pharmaceutical compositions and kits that include the compounds and compositions of the invention. The invention further relates to the medical use of these compounds and compositions for the treatment of a disorder in a subject. For example, the disorder is a neurodegenerative disease.

Hsp90 proteins are implicated in stabilizing protein conformations, maintaining the function of many cell-signaling proteins, and ATPase activity. Hsp90 activity is also required for the proper folding, stabilization, activation, and localization of oncoproteins involved in tumor progression. The N-terminus ATP binding domain is responsible for the ATPase activity of this protein: this adenine nucleotide binding pocket is highly conserved among all Hsp90 proteins from bacteria to mammals but is not present in other chaperones.
Hsp90 protein has emerged as an important target in cancer treatment, as many Hsp90 client proteins themselves were identified as targets for cancer therapies. The exemplary Hsp90 client proteins that are associated with cancer include HER2 (breast cancer), Raf-1/mutant BRAF (melanoma), Mutant EGFR (non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma), c-Kit (GIST), c-Met (gastric, lung, glioblastoma), HIF-1α (renal cancer), Zap70 (chronic lymphocytic leukemia), Bcr-AbI (chronic myelogenous leukemia), mBcr-Ab (chronic myelogenous leukemia), Flt-3 (acute myeloid leukemia), IGF-1R/Akt (myeloma), NMP-ALK (lymphoma), and Akt (small cell lung cancer). Overexpression of mutated Hsp90 client or amplification of its clients, such as HER2, leads to the increased dependency of tumor cells on Hsp90 chaperone function. Accordingly, Hsp90 provides a compelling target for treating different classes of tumors.
Increased levels of Hsp90 have also been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease, and tauopathies. Tauopathies are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by tau protein abnormalities, which then result in the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated and aggregated tau protein. It has been proposed that hyperphosphorylated tau in Alzheimer's disease is a pathogenic process caused by aberrant activation of kinases, particularly cdk5 and GSK p3. Studies have shown that Hsp90 stabilizes p35, an activator of cdk5, leading to increased tau phosphorylation. It has also been shown that Hsp90 inhibition activates heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), which in turn increases the expression of Hsp70. Increased expression of Hsp70 promotes tau solubility and binding to microtubules, inhibits Aβ peptide aggregation, and enhances Aβ peptide degradation.
Hsp90 has also emerged as a target for treating viral, fungal, and bacterial infections. For example, an Hsp90 inhibitor (geldanamycin) has been shown to delay the growth of influenza virus in cell culture. Other viruses that rely on Hsp90 dependent processes include those belonging to the families: Herpesviridae (e.g., herpes simplex virus-1, herpes simplex virus-2, herpes herpesvirus-5, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, varicella zoster virus, or Epstein-Barr virus), Polyomaviridae (e.g., SV40), Poxviridae (e.g., vaccinia virus), Reoviridae (e.g., rotavirus), Birnaviridae (e.g., infectious bursal disease virus), picornaviridae (e.g., poliovirus, rhinovirus, or coxsackievirus), flaviviridae (e.g., hepatitis C virus or dengue virus), arenaviridae (e.g., lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus), Hepeviridae (e.g., Hepatitis E virus), Rhabdoviridae (e.g., vesicular stomatitis virus), Paramoxyviridae (e.g., human parainfluenza virus 2, human parainfluenza virus 3, SV5, SV41, measles virus, or Sendai virus), Bunyaviridae (e.g., La Crosse virus), Orthomoxyviridae (e.g., influenza A virus), Filoviridae (e.g., Ebola virus), Retroviridae (e.g., HTLV1 or HIV1), and Hepadnaviridae (e.g., hepatitis B virus). Hsp90 inhibitors have also been used in vivo for the treatment of fungal infectious diseases, e.g., treatment of Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigates, or Pneumocystis jiroveci. Moreover, Hsp90 inhibitors are also useful in the treatment of bacterial infections, e.g., mycobacteria, anthrax, or bacterial pneumonia.
In view of the above, inhibitors of Hsp90 represent beneficial therapeutics for the treatment of disorders, e.g., cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and infectious diseases.

Pyrimidine compounds and methods using the same


Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for modeling an integrated circuit in a computer aided design system (CAD) are described. In some examples, a device model of the integrated circuit is generated in at least one first computer file, the device model having a component hierarchy. A common delay identifier is defined for component instances in the component hierarchy of the device model. A value model is generated for the device model in at least one second computer file. Delay values are defined for the common delay identifier in the value model, at least a portion of the delay values being qualified based on location in the component hierarchy of at least one of the component instances.

Programmable logic devices (PLDs) exist as a well-known type of integrated circuit (IC) that may be programmed by a user to perform specified logic functions. There are different types of programmable logic devices, such as programmable logic arrays (PLAs) and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). One type of programmable logic device, known as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), is very popular because of a superior combination of capacity, flexibility, time-to-market, and cost.
An FPGA typically includes an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable input/output blocks (IOBs), and like type programmable elements. The CLBs and IOBs are interconnected by a programmable interconnect structure. An FPGA may also include various dedicated logic circuits, such as memories, digital clock managers (DCMs), and input/output (I/O) transceivers. Notably, an FPGA may include one or more embedded processors. The programmable logic of an FPGA (e.g., CLBs, IOBs, and interconnect structure) is typically programmed by loading a stream of configuration data (known as a bitstream) into internal configuration memory cells. The bitstream is typically stored in an external nonvolatile memory, such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM). The states of the configuration memory cells define how the CLBs, IOBs, interconnect structure, and other programmable logic are configured.
Manufacturers typically provide device models of their PLDs for use with computer aided design (CAD) software. For example, CAD software can use a device model during simulation or other analysis of designs (e.g., timing analysis), as well as for implementation of designs (e.g., placement and routing). One type of attribute included in a device model for various PLD components is delay. Various types of delays may be modeled, such as propagation delay, setup and hold delays, minimum pulse width requirements, and the like. For example, propagation delay can be associated with a path between terminals of a component ("delay path") and can be defined as the length of time it takes the input of the signal path to affect the output of the signal path. A setup and hold delay can be associated with a delay path between the data input pin to the clock pin. A device model for a PLD may include various delays associated with various components therein, such as flip-flops, lookup tables (LUTs), dedicated logic blocks, and the like.
In present device models, the definition of a delay ("delay definition") can be separated from the value of the delay ("delay value"). This allows the delay values to be included in a separate file (sometimes referred to as a "speed file") from the rest of the device model, which can be included in one or more "definition files". Delay values typically change more often than other delay attributes and thus it is desirable to store the delay values in a separate speed file. Thus, the delay values in the device model can be updated merely by updating the speed file. For example, a flip-flop may include a delay definition identified by a name "FF_DELAY". The speed file may include an entry "FF_DELAY 1.2", which indicates a delay value of 1.2 time units (the delay value units can be microseconds, nanoseconds, picoseconds, etc., depending on technology).
One problem with the above approach arises when two instances of a component require different delay values. Since a component is associated with a particular delay definition name, one instance of the component cannot have a different delay value than another instance. If it is discovered a particular instance of a component requires a different delay value than other instance(s), designers must: (1) create a new component that duplicates the definition of the old component except for a new delay definition name; (2) create a new delay definition name for the new component; (3) change the instance of the component to be an instance of this new component; (4) add a delay value for this new delay definition in the speed file; and (5) distribute new definition and speed file(s) to customers. Such a change can be an expensive and difficult process.

Method and apparatus for modeling an integrated circuit in a computer aided design system


Disclosed are a method of controlling moisture in an electrophotographic apparatus having a fuser assembly, and corresponding electrophotographic apparatus. The method includes measuring a cavity temperature of an inner portion of the electophotographic apparatus, measuring a cavity relative humidity of an inner portion of the electophotographic apparatus, calculating a cavity dewpoint temperature using the measured cavity temperature and the measured cavity relative humidity, determining a difference between the cavity temperature and the cavity dewpoint temperature, and if the difference between the cavity temperature and the cavity dewpoint temperature drops below a predetermined threshold, turning on a heater device in the fuser assembly to control moisture in the electrophotographic apparatus.

Disclosed are methods for controlling environmental conditions in an electrophotographic apparatus, and a corresponding apparatus.
In a typical electrophotographic or electrostatographic printing process, a photoconductive member is charged to a substantially uniform potential so as to sensitize the surface thereof. The charged portion of the photoconductive member is exposed to selectively dissipate the charges thereon in the irradiated areas. This records an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive member. After the electrostatic latent image is recorded on the photoconductive member, the latent image is developed by bringing a developer material into contact therewith. Generally, the developer material comprises toner particles adhering triboelectrically to carrier granules. The toner particles are attracted from the carrier granules either to a donor roller or to a latent image on the photoconductive member. The toner attracted to a donor roller is then deposited as latent electrostatic images on a charge retentive surface which is usually a photoreceptor. The toner powder image is then transferred from the photoconductive member to a copy substrate. The toner particles are heated to permanently affix the powder image to the copy substrate.
In order to fix or fuse the toner material onto a support member permanently by heat and pressure, it is necessary to elevate the temperature of the toner material to a point at which constituents of the toner material coalesce and become tacky. This action causes the toner to flow to some extent onto the fibers or pores of the support members or otherwise upon the surfaces thereof. Thereafter, as the toner material cools, solidification of the toner material occurs causing the toner material to be bonded firmly to the support member.
Moisture within the apparatus can cause harm to the developer material (toner), which if not controlled can induce problems such as permanently low conductivity causing light copies. It would be desirable to reduce the onset rate of these problems by controlling environmental conditions such as the moisture level within the electrophotographic apparatus.

Methods for controlling environmental conditions in an electrophotographic apparatus and a corresponding electrophotographic apparatus