A dishwasher rack attachment for use in washing plastic bags, such as freezer bags and the like. The attachment includes a hose and a clip. The hose is engageable with any two of the prongs of the dishwasher rack so as to accommodate various sized freezer bags. The clip is slidably engageable with the hose and is configured to secure a plastic bag to the hose. The position of the clip is slidably adjustable relative to the hose so as to accommodate freezer bags of varying dimensions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to supports and racks and, more particularly, to a dishwasher attachment for supporting a freezer bag and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Plastic bags, such as freezer bags and sandwich bags, are becoming more and more popular with ongoing improvements of the same. Typically, the bags are very durable because of the weight and the composition of the contents to be stored therein. Because of their durable design, the bags could withstand repeated use. A problem, however, arises in that once the contents of the bags are removed, residue remains in the bag, making the bag impractical for repeated usage. These durable bags pose yet another problem. The disposal of such bags has become a chief concern of landfills. These bags are disposed of in large quantities and they take relatively long periods of time to decompose. An effortless, efficient, and practical manner of cleansing these bags after use could overcome the present problems associated with the use of plastic bags. A device for retaining plastic bags which could be easily installed in a dishwasher could provide an effortless, efficient, and practical manner of cleaning the plastic bags. Such a device should retain the bag secured in an open posture. The present invention to be disclosed hereinafter provides structure for supporting the bag and a clip for securing the bag to the support structure.
Article retaining devices for use in dishwashers are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,854, issued Dec. 6, 1966 to Melvin R. Kauffman, discloses a retaining device which is adapted for use with dish supporting racks. Other retaining devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,635,799, issued Jan. 13, 1987 to Maureen Penner; 4,748,993, issued Jun. 7, 1988 to Scott Llewellyn; 4,832,206, issued May 23, 1989 to George D. Cunningham; and 4,974,806, issued Dec. 4, 1990 to Stephen Matern. Supporting devices are also known in the prior art. One such supporting article, for example, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,557, issued Jun. 24, 1969 to Edgar S. Stoddard who discloses removable article supporting devices for use with automatic dishwasher racks. A rack showing detachable components is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,822, issued to Gerald L. Yeaney et al.
Various holders and racks are known for supporting plastic bags to aid in the washing and drying of the same. Examples of such holders and racks are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,080,237, issued Jan. 14, 1992 to James P. Hefner; 5,102,076, issued Apr. 7, 1992 to Alan S. North et al.; and 5,188,244, issued Feb. 23, 1993 to Jerome E. Hollstegge. However, none of these holders or racks are for use in dishwashers. Moreover, none of the above patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.

Dishwasher attachment for supporting a freezer bag


A device in combination with a driving station of a vehicle for displaying and storing a flexible web containing information wound in two cylinder members that provide sufficient slag in the web to form a loop that holds a weighting member. The weighting member is pulled away from the first two cylinders either by gravity or spring action and the web is exposed by turning at least one of the two cylinder members. The two cylinder members an be manually or electrically actuated. A user thereby views a specific area of the map or information contained in the web. An electric bulb is provided to illuminate the web from inside the loop.

When the user unfolds a map, he or she generally struggles to locate the area of interest after displaying a considerably large unmanageable portion of map. Not infrequently this is done while sitting inside a vehicle with limited light and space, frequently while moving. This causes considerable obstruction of the sight and also increases the probability of damaging the map being examined. All this also causes the user to waste time.


A catalyst composition suitable for catalytic cracking of a heavy hydrocarbon oil containing large amounts of metal contaminants is prepared by the steps of spray-drying an aqueous slurry containing a flash calcined alumina obtained by contacting an aluminum hydroxide prepared Bayer's process with a hot air of 350.degree.-700.degree. C. for 5 seconds or less, clay being predominantly composed of silica and alumina, a precursor of a siliceous inorganic oxide and a crystalline aluminosilicate; washing this particle until the alkali metal content therein is reduced to 1.0 wt % or less as oxide; and thereafter incorporating a rare earth component in the particle.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing hydrocarbon cracking catalyst compositions, in particular relates to a method for preparing catalyst compositions which exhibit high catalytic activity, gasoline selectivity and depressed degree of formation of coke and further more display superior stability to heat and steam when used in catalytic cracking of heavy hydrocarbon containing large amounts of metals such as vanadium, nickel, iron, copper and the like.
Catalytic cracking of hydrocarbon originally aims at the production of gasoline. Therefore, catalysts used herein are demanded to exhibit high catalytic activity and gasoline selectivity. In addition, high thermal and hydrothermal stability is also one of the requisites for cracking catalysts because it is customary in the hydrocarbon catalytic cracking process to repeat many times the operation which comprises regenerating the deactivated catalysts which have been used in the reaction and thereafter employing the thus regenerated catalysts again in the reaction. Under these circumstances, the catalysts used in catalytic cracking of hydrocarbon have usually been improved by taking various means. For instance, the performance of the typical cracking catalyst composition which comprises dispersing a crystalline aluminosilicate in an inorganic oxide matrix has been improved by introducing a rare earth component in said composition by means of ion exchange, impregnation or the like or by dispersing a rare earth exchanged crystalline aluminosilicate in the matrix. And, these improvements have achieved considerable results, and the thus improved cracking catalyst has displayed its performance to a satisfactory degree so far as the heavy hydrocarbon feed oil used is not low grade too much, in other words does not contain large amounts of metallic contaminants.
In recent years, however, it is becoming necessary with deterioration of the oil situation to employ low grade heavy hydrocarbon oils such as residual oils containing large amounts of metals such as vanadium, nickel and the like as a feed stock for catalytic cracking processes without any pre-treatment. However, in case the low grade oil of this type is subjected to catalytic cracking processes using a conventional catalyst, the catalyst has been poisoned severely by metallic contaminants contained in the feed oil, and consequently the primary purpose of catalytic cracking can not be accomplished because the catalytic activity and gasoline selectivity of said poisoned catalyst are destroyed and the amounts of coke and gases generated increase markedly. Accordingly, when subjecting the low grade heavy hydrocarbon containing a large amount of metallic contaminants to catalytic cracking, there have usually been employed the way of suppressing the deposit amount of metal of the catalysts by increasing the amount of catalyst used, the way of passivating the metal by adding an antimony compound in the feed oil, the way of prehydrotreating a feed oil for removing the metallic contaminants and the like contained in the feed oil to some extent and then subjecting same to catalytic cracking, and the like. However, these conventional ways can never be recommended because the running cost increases.
Some of the inventors of this invention, M. Ogata and T. Ida, Have previously proposed, together with Y. Nishimura, a method for preparing hydrocarbon cracking catalyst compositions which can obtain not only the gasoline fraction but also the intermediate fraction such as kerosene or the like in a high yield (see Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. 163439/1983 Specification). This method comprises spray drying an aqueous slurry containing a flash calcined alumina obtained by contacting the aluminum hydroxide prepared by Bayer's process with a hot air for a short time, kaolin, a precursor of a siliceous matrix and a crystalline aluminosilicate.
We have found that the catalyst obtained by introducing a rare earth component to the catalyst composition prepared by the above mentioned method exhibits a superior performance as the cracking catalyst in treating the low grade heavy hydrocarbon oil containing large amounts of metallic contaminants, in marked contrast to the catalyst of the same kind but free from said flash calcined alumina.

Method for preparing hydrocarbon catalytic cracking catalyst compositions

Catalysts & Chemicals Industries Co., Ltd.


A wireless power transfer system includes a power transmitter (201) arranged to provide a power transfer to a power receiver (205) via a power transfer signal. The power receiver (205) comprises a first mode controller (709) for transmitting a standby mode exit request to the power transmitter (201) by changing a loading of a communication inductor (209) of the power transmitter (201). The power transmitter (201) comprises a mode controller (405) which controls the power transmitter (201) to operate in a standby mode wherein a presence of the power receiver (205) is detected but no power transfer signal is generated. It furthermore comprises a detector (403) for detecting an impedance change of the communication inductor (209). The mode controller (405) is arranged to initiate a transition from the standby mode to a power transfer mode in response to the detector (403) detecting the impedance change.

The number and variety of portable and mobile devices in use have exploded in the last decade. For example, the use of mobile phones, tablets, media players etc. has become ubiquitous. Such devices are generally powered by internal batteries and the typical use scenario often requires recharging of batteries or direct wired powering of the device from an external power supply.
Most present day systems require a wiring and/or explicit electrical contacts to be powered from an external power supply. However, this tends to be impractical and requires the user to physically insert connectors or otherwise establish a physical electrical contact. It also tends to be inconvenient to the user by introducing lengths of wire. Typically, power requirements also differ significantly, and currently most devices are provided with their own dedicated power supply resulting in a typical user having a large number of different power supplies with each being dedicated to a specific device. Although, the use of internal batteries may avoid the need for a wired connection to a power supply during use, this only provides a partial solution as the batteries will need recharging (or replacing which is expensive). The use of batteries may also add substantially to the weight and potentially cost and size of the devices.
In order to provide a significantly improved user experience, it has been proposed to use a wireless power supply wherein power is inductively transferred from a transmitter coil in a power transmitter device to a receiver coil in the individual devices.
Power transmission via magnetic induction is a well-known concept, mostly applied in transformers, having a tight coupling between primary transmitter coil and a secondary receiver coil. By separating the primary transmitter coil and the secondary receiver coil between two devices, wireless power transfer between these becomes possible based on the principle of a loosely coupled transformer.
Such an arrangement allows a wireless power transfer to the device without requiring any wires or physical electrical connections to be made. Indeed, it may simply allow a device to be placed adjacent to or on top of the transmitter coil in order to be recharged or powered externally. For example, power transmitter devices may be arranged with a horizontal surface on which a device can simply be placed in order to be powered.
Furthermore, such wireless power transfer arrangements may advantageously be designed such that the power transmitter device can be used with a range of power receiver devices. In particular, a wireless power transfer standard known as the Qi standard has been defined and is currently being developed further. This standard allows power transmitter devices that meet the Qi standard to be used with power receiver devices that also meet the Qi standard without these having to be from the same manufacturer or having to be dedicated to each other. The Qi standard further includes some functionality for allowing the operation to be adapted to the specific power receiver device (e.g. dependent on the specific power drain).
The Qi standard is developed by the Wireless Power Consortium and more information can e.g. be found on their website: http://www.wirelesspowerconsortium.com/index.html, where in particular the defined Standards documents can be found.
The Qi wireless power standard describes that a power transmitter must be able to provide a guaranteed power to the power receiver. The specific power level needed depends on the design of the power receiver. In order to specify the guaranteed power, a set of test power receivers and load conditions are defined which describe the guaranteed power level for each of the conditions.
The Qi standard defines a variety of technical requirements, parameters and operating procedures that a compatible device must meet.
Communication
The Qi standard supports communication from the power receiver to the power transmitter thereby enabling the power receiver to provide information that may allow the power transmitter to adapt to the specific power receiver. In the current standard, a unidirectional communication link from the power receiver to the power transmitter has been defined and the approach is based on a philosophy of the power receiver being the controlling element. To prepare and control the power transfer between the power transmitter and the power receiver, the power receiver specifically communicates information to the power transmitter.
The unidirectional communication is achieved by the power receiver performing load modulation wherein a loading applied to the secondary receiver coil by the power receiver is varied to provide a modulation of the power signal. The resulting changes in the electrical characteristics (e.g. variations in the current draw) can be detected and decoded (demodulated) by the power transmitter.
Thus, at the physical layer, the communication channel from power receiver to the power transmitter uses the power signal as a data carrier. The power receiver modulates a load which is detected by a change in the amplitude and/or phase of the transmitter coil current or voltage. The data is formatted in bytes and packets.
More information can be found in chapter 6 of part 1 the Qi wireless power specification (version 1.0).
Although Qi uses a unidirectional communication link, it has been proposed to introduce communication from the power transmitter to the power receiver.
System Control
In order to control the wireless power transfer system, the Qi standard specifies a number of phases or modes that the system may be in at different times of the operation. More details can be found in chapter 5 of part 1 the Qi wireless power specification (version 1.0).
The system may be in the following phases:
Selection Phase
This phase is the typical phase when the system is not used, i.e. when there is no coupling between a power transmitter and a power receiver (i.e. no power receiver is positioned close to the power transmitter).
In the selection phase, the power transmitter may be in an off-mode but will monitor its interface surface in order to detect a possible presence of an object. Similarly, the receiver will wait for the presence of a power signal.
Ping Phase:
If the transmitter detects the possible presence of an object, e.g. due to presence of an object that influences the magnetic field on its interface surface, the system proceeds to the ping phase in which the power transmitter (at least intermittently) provides a power signal. This power signal is detected by the power receiver which proceeds to send an initial package to the power transmitter. Specifically, if a power receiver is present on the interface of the power transmitter, the power receiver communicates an initial signal strength packet to the power transmitter. The signal strength packet provides an indication of the degree of coupling between the power transmitter coil and the power receiver coil. The signal strength packet is detected by the power transmitter.
Identification & Configuration Phase:
The power transmitter and power receiver then proceeds to the identification and configuration phase wherein the power receiver communicates at least an identifier and a required power. The information is communicated in multiple data packets by load modulation. The power transmitter maintains a constant power signal during the identification and configuration phase in order to allow the load modulation to be detected. Specifically, the power transmitter provides a power signal with constant amplitude, frequency and phase for this purpose (except from the change caused by load-modulation).
In preparation of the actual power transfer, the power receiver can apply the received signal to power up its electronics but it keeps its output load disconnected. The power receiver communicates packets to the power transmitter. These packets include mandatory messages, such as the identification and configuration packet, or may include some defined optional messages, such as an extended identification packet or power hold-off packet.
The power transmitter proceeds to configure the power signal in accordance with the information received from the power receiver.
Power Transfer Phase:
The system then proceeds to the power transfer phase in which the power transmitter provides the required power signal and the power receiver connects the output load to supply it with the received power.
During this phase, the power receiver monitors the output load conditions, and specifically it measures the control error between the actual value and the desired value of a certain operating point. It communicates these control errors in control error messages to the power transmitter with a minimum rate of e.g. every 250 msec. This provides an indication of the continued presence of the power receiver to the power transmitter. In addition, the control error messages are used to implement a closed loop power control where the power transmitter adapts the power signal to minimize the reported error. Specifically, if the actual value of the operating point equals the desired value, the power receiver communicates a control error with a value of zero resulting in no change in the power signal. In case the power receiver communicates a control error different from zero, the power transmitter will adjust the power signal accordingly.
The interactions between the different phases are illustrated in FIG. 1.
Qi originally defined a wireless power transfer for low power devices considered to be devices that have a power drain of less than 5 W. Systems that fall within the scope of this standard use inductive coupling between two planar coils to transfer power from the power transmitter to the power receiver. The distance between the two coils is typically 5 mm. It is possible to extend that range to at least 40 mm.
However, work is ongoing to increase the available power, and in particular the standard is being extended to mid-power devices being devices having a power drain of more than 5 W.
Specifically, the Wireless Power Consortium has recently established a Work Group to develop specifications for cordless kitchen appliances. The new specifications will define the interface between kitchen appliances and inductive power sources. Power requirements may vary from the 100 W range (e.g. simple juicers) to 1.5-2.4 kW (typically for heating appliances such as kettles).
The development of the Qi standard to cover an increasing variety of devices and applications also results in a number of new usage scenarios that may not be optimally supported by the existing Qi approach.
For example, in the current Qi standard, when a wireless powered device is placed on top of a power transmitter, the power receiver is (almost) instantaneously (following a quick transition via the identification and configuration phase) powered by the power transmitter. This is suitable for e.g. a charging function where the battery to be charged normally requires immediate charging. However, in many potential new applications, such as e.g. for kitchen appliances, different situations may occur.
For example, when a device, such as a kitchen appliance, is placed on top of a power transmitter, it does not necessarily need to be powered instantaneously. The appliance may not be intended for immediate use and it may be desired that it remains in a switched-off state for a long period of time before being used. For example, a blender arranged for wireless power transfer may be placed on a power transmitter area of a kitchen table top. However, this may simply be for convenience and the blender may not be required to operate until some time later.
It is desired that when the appliance is in the switched-off state, no wireless power signal is provided by the power transmitter. The presence of a potentially strong wireless power signal could potentially result in waste of power and a potential heating of unintended objects in the vicinity (eddy currents may be induced in conductive parts of other proximal objects (such as metal keys) or indeed in e.g. metal parts of the appliance itself. This could e.g. result in significant heating of these objects and elements.
At the same time, it is desired that when power is required due to the appliance being switched on, the power is provided very quickly and preferably is perceived to be provided substantially instantaneously by the user. Such functionality is not supported by the current Qi approach.
Also, the increased variety in applications and devices supported tends to make functions and approaches for the power transmitter detecting and adapting to the specific current scenario more difficult and more critical. Accordingly, improved detection of the current operating environment and scenario would be beneficial.
An improved power transfer system would accordingly be advantageous. In particular, an approach that allows improved operation, improved power transfer, increased flexibility, facilitated implementation, facilitated operation, facilitated detection of and/or adaptation to current conditions, improved support for an increased variety of use scenarios, and/or improved performance would be advantageous.


A wind direction adjuster enabling an operation of a louver with a stable operation load and providing an excellent operation feeling is provided. An axial support body is axially supported to a cylindrical case body turnably so as to have an axis along a direction crossing an axial direction of the case body. A louver is axially supported to the axial support body turnably so as to have an axis along a direction crossing the axis of the axial support body. A ball unit is set in any one of the case body and the louver as a load setting unit that sets a turning load of the louver. A receiving unit that slidably receives the ball unit is set in the other one of the case body and the louver. A coil spring urges one of the ball unit and the receiving unit to be pressed against the other.

Wind direction adjusters each disposed at a wind outlet for blowing air in an air conditioner used in a vehicle such as an automobile is called an air conditioning blower, an air outlet, a ventilator or a register, for example. Such a wind direction adjuster is installed at each part of a vehicle such as an instrument panel or a center console and makes a contribution to improving the cooling and heating comfort performance.
There is a known configuration for such a wind direction adjuster, in which the wind direction adjuster includes a cylindrical louver inside a case body formed in a cylindrical shape, for example, and the wind direction is adjusted by tilting the louver in any given direction inside the case body. This configuration includes a ball unit as a turning unit at a distal end of a shaft body provided on the central axis of the case body, and a receiving unit that receives the ball unit is provided on the central axis of the louver while a load adding member composed of a rubber elastic body is interposed between the ball unit and the receiving unit, whereby an operation load (torque) and operation feeling are controlled (see, e.g. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-91377 (pages 5 and 6, and FIG. 4)).


A device for marking a page of a book and for indicating the number of such page comprising a first sheet of thin rigid opaque plastic material formed in a generally rectangular configuration with long parallel side edges and short parallel upper and lower edges. A second sheet of thin rigid opaque plastic material is formed in a generally rectangular configuration with long parallel side edges and short parallel upper and lower edges, the first of the sheets being formed with a plurality of equally spaced rectangular windows formed between the longitudinal center line of the sheet and a second long edge. A plurality of transparent rigid opaque plastic circular disks are provided, each of the disks being formed with the numbers 0 through 9 adjacent to its periphery for sequentially being positioned adjacent to the windows. A rivet extends through the center of each circular member and through the first and second sheets to allow for rotation of each circular member independent of the other circular members to bring a number into view through the window for indicating the page number of a book being marked, a minor portion of each circle extending beyond the space between the sheets to allow a user to rotate each circular member to thereby change an exposed number.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for marking a page of a book and for indicating the number of such page and more particularly pertains to marking the page of a book and indicating the number of such page through a device with number indicating disks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of devices for use as bookmarks is known in the prior art. More specifically, devices for use as bookmarks heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of marking a pre-determined page of a book are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
The prior art discloses a large number of devices for use as bookmarks. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,806 to Ferrick discloses a page holder and book marker device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,295 to Cammack discloses a combination book mark and reading guide.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,332 to Brooks discloses the design of a book mark and page holding device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,686 to Falco discloses a book mark and pen holder.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 307,442 to Cooper discloses a design for a combined book mark and template.
In this respect, devices for marking a page of a book and for indicating the number of such page according to the present invention substantially depart from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provide an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of marking the page of a book and indicating the number of such page through a device with number indicating disks.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved devices for marking a page of a book and for indicating the number of such page which can be used for marking the page of a book and indicating the number of such page through a device with number indicating disks. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

Devices for marking a page of a book and for indicating the number of such page


A structure including a base member having two fencing figures mounted thereon for movement relative to the base and each other so that the conductive sword carried by each figure may be engaged one with the other and the figures manipulated so that the conductive sword of one figure may touch the conductive target area of the other figure, and vice versa. When the conductive swords of the robot figures touch a unique audible signal is produced which is in the motif of the popular concept of outer space sounds and simulates the swishing or swooshing character of a sword blade moving through the air. When the swords are separated this audible signal dies out slowly so as to give an echo or ethereal effect thereto. if the conductive sword tip of one figure is maneuvered to engage the conductive target area of the other figure a unique sound signal is generated and a corresponding portion of the figure is illuminated by a flashing light. These signals are continued until the fencing figures are removed to remote locations at which point the signals are terminated. After a hit has been made by one figure, facilities are provided for preventing the development of sword touch sounds after the hit and prior to the separation of the figures to their remote locations. Also, after a hit has been made by one figure, facilities are provided for preventing the other figure from thereafter producing a hit upon his opponent.

This invention relates to an electronic fencing toy or game, and more particularly, to a toy or game of the type wherein two fencing figures are controlled by opposing players and moved to engage in a fencing duel.
Over the years there have been a number of toys or games wherein two figures are controlled by the respective players in a manner simulating a fight or boxing match. Typical of such prior art arrangements is Breslow U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,870 wherein two figures are mounted for movement relative to each other, each having an actuator which can be manipulated by the player to cause their figure to fight with the opposing figure. If a target area on the opposing figure is struck by the actuator of the other figure a latch is tripped so that the figure which has been struck moves from an upright to a prone position thereby signalling the end of the fight. In the boxing toy or game disclosed in Glass et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,259 two boxing figures may be manipulated by the opposing players and when one figure is struck in a particular manner the losing fighter's head pops up, and a noisemaker produces an appropriate sound. Other boxing or fighting toys or games are shown, for example, in Goldfarb et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,956, Fletcher U.S. Pat. No. 3,106,800, Crowell U.S. Pat. No. 1,799,735, Carlson U.S. Pat. No. 2,393,289, Gilchrist U.S. Pat. No. 1,447,976, McIntosh U.S. Pat. No. 1,745,434, Davis U.S. Pat. No. 2,269,095, Armstrong U.S. Pat. No. 2,716,840 and Austrian Pat. No. 96,176.


The invention relates to an access unit for communicating with a further access unit to control access to a vehicle. The access unit comprises at least a first transmitter for transmitting a polling signal; and at least a first receiver for receiving an authentication signal from the further access unit in response to the polling signal. At least the first transmitter is a first ultra-wideband transmitter and at least the first receiver is a first ultra-wideband receiver. The invention also relates to a vehicle access system which is a combination of the access and further access units. The invention also relates to methods of operating a vehicle access system and a vehicle access unit.

It is known to provide passive entry and passive starting (PEPS) systems for motor vehicles. The vehicle user typically carries a key fob which can communicate with a base station in the vehicle. The key fob remains in a very low power state to conserve its internal battery. Upon receipt of an initiating trigger (for example when a vehicle door handle is operated), the base station emits a powerful Low Frequency (LF) electromagnetic field, the energy from which wakes up the key fob using a charge pump technique. Once awake, the key fob can then respond to a challenge using Radio Frequencies (RF). The key fob sends a response signal which is validated by the base station to authenticate the key fob. If the key fob is authenticated, the base station actuates a door lock to unlock the door.
The energy required from the vehicle to generate the LF field is considerable, which is why a trigger is universally employed to begin the process. Moreover, the consequence of using an initiating trigger is that the whole sequence of validating the key fob's identity and unlocking the vehicle has to be extremely short to avoid a customer experiencing a delay in the vehicle's response. To help avoid any such delay, a fast-release motor can be provided to unlock the door to provide seamless operation as if the vehicle was already unlocked.
The present invention attempts to address or ameliorate at least some of the above problems associated with known vehicle access systems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In one embodiment, a current-fed modular multilevel dual active-bridge DC-DC converter suitable for medium voltage direct current (MVDC) grid or high voltage direct current (HVDC) grid integration is described. The DAB modular converter and the current-fed DAB converter are soft-switched modular multilevel dual-active-bridge (DAB) converters having DC fault ride-through capability. In an additional embodiment a voltage-fed isolated modular dual active-bridge DC-DC converter for medium voltage direct current (MVDC) or high voltage direct current (HVDC) grids or systems is described. In specific embodiments, the converters may be coupled to a battery energy storage system (BESS), wherein the BESS comprises split-battery units and the interface of the isolated DC-DC converter connects the split-battery units to the MVDC or HVDC system. The converters can be implemented in single-phase or poly-phase configurations and can be controlled to maintain a desired DC output current under both normal and DC grid fault condition.

Due to simplicity and high efficiency, multilevel DC-DC converter systems are finding increasing applications in modern power systems, such as DC collector grids in large-scale offshore wind farms, photovoltaic (PV) plants and shipboard power systems (SPS).
As the interface, the high-voltage, high-power DC-DC converter is a key enabling technology in MIN/DC (medium voltage direct current) systems. Galvanic isolation is generally required in the DC-DC converters, not only for safety reasons, but also to establish a high voltage conversion ratio. In the DC-DC converters, high efficiency and high power density are desired, especially for SPS.
Furthermore, since the medium-voltage DC circuit breakers are not yet readily available for high power levels, the DC fault clearing has become a critical challenge in MVDC systems. As an alternative approach, a fast DC fault clearance process based on coordinated control of power converters and a mechanical contactor have been presented in the prior art. In the prior art process, the DC fault is detected by power converters, and then the fault segment is located through a differential protection scheme with assistance from the power converters. After the fault segment has been located, the system is fully dc-energized to isolate the fault segment, and then the system is re-energized for recovery. The key to such a coordinated fault management system is the power converter, which not only limits, but also provides for a controlled DC fault current, and as such, exhibits DC fault ride-though capability.
Dual-active-bridge (DAB) DC-DC converters are known in the art, including input-series output-parallel (ISOP) DAB DC-DC converters, which have the advantage of high efficiency due to zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) operation, and which exhibit high power density, high frequency isolation, and low device number. However, the DAB DC-DC converters currently known in the art lack DC fault ride-through capability and inject extra fault current as a result of the discharging of output capacitors when a DC fault occurs. The DAB concept has also been extended for modular structure, however, while the known converter can isolate a DC fault, it cannot provide controllable DC fault current.
Isolated modular multilevel DC-DC converters (IMMDC), consisting of two modular multilevel converters (MMC) in front-to-front configuration through a transformer are also known in the art. Based on MMC, the IMMDC exhibits good performance under DC fault, and the size and volume of the passive components may be reduced with medium-frequency operation. However, the limitation of this known IMMDC converter is the relatively low efficiency and low power density, resulting from high switching loss and conduction loss.
For wind and PV generation, large power fluctuations and energy variations are unavoidable, which deteriorates the grids stability and has become a major barrier for their high penetration of the technology. Similarly, in MVDC distribution systems, there are a wide variety of loads, including high power propulsion loads and pulsed loads. These loads introduce a large amount of pulsed and ripple current in a wide frequency range, which may cause voltage oscillations on the MVDC system. In these applications, energy storage is essential to smooth the power fluctuations and to stabilize the grid.
Batteries offer unique and scalable energy storage solutions for high-power and long-term energy demands in the power range of up to several hundred megawatts. At the interface between the battery energy storage and the MVDC bus, the BESS (battery energy storage system) converter is a key enabling technology and is required to operate in both high voltage and high power ratings. Galvanic isolation is additionally required, not only for safety reasons, but also to provide a high voltage conversion ratio. In addition, due to the relatively high cost and limited cyclic life of battery units, the BESS converter must be highly efficient in order to maximize the utilization of the battery. Moreover, as DC circuit breakers are not yet readily available for high power conditions, it is desirable that the BESS converters provide good DC fault responses to lead to a more secure and robust power transport providing inherent fault protection and DC fault ride-through capabilities.
Conventional BESSs are mainly focused on AC systems, where a line frequency transformer is usually used as an interface to medium voltage or high voltage AC grids, thus the conventional BESSs known in the art are not suitable for medium voltage or high voltage DC grid applications. Several attempts at modular BESS converters for a DC grid have been made, however they do not meet all the requirements mentioned above.
Cascaded dual-active-bridge (DAB) BESS converters are known in the art and have the advantage of a small number of devices and soft-switching operation. However, the cascaded dual-active-bridge (DAB) BESS converters known in the art lack fault ride-through capability and will inject extra fault current, as a result of the output capacitors, when a DC fault occurs. An isolated modular multilevel DC-DC converter (iMMDC) is also known in the art for BESS in MVDC applications in which DC fault ride-though is achieved by the MMC stage on the MVDC side. Although the reactive components can be reduced with medium frequency operation, the converter does not provide soft-switching operation and also utilizes a large number of switches, resulting in a potential and efficiency penalty.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a modular multilevel DC-DC converter that is galvanically isolated and which incorporates control methods for operating the converter to employ soft-switching and DC fault ride-though capability.

Modular multilevel DC-DC converter and associated method of use

The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.


The invention is a data structure published to an access viewer network such as the Internet or a wide area network. The deployment and publication of the data structure results in topic pages containing content items displayed for the access user. Means accomplish subscription and changes to the published data structure with minimal re-publication or re-deployment changes, thereby minimizing uploading time.

The present invention relates to a method of managing large volumes of information, intended for access on the Internet, where the information needs to be customized for unique users, displayed in multiple formats, and readily linked to other managed information or information on the Internet.
The advent of the Internet and the Internet browser has made it possible for people to view information from an access nodes, typically a personal computer or network computer, but more recently from such devices as PDA""s, cellular phones and Internet-enabled televisions, to name only a few of the many devices that are capable of Internet access. Furthermore, the World Wide Web permits finding and viewing, sequentially for better understanding in some cases, needed information by way of web pages, URLs, and hyperlinks. Although there exist many methods of locating, viewing and using information, the prior art does not contain a relatively simple process for managing information, customizing it for specific audiences, and/or automating many of the tasks associated with creating and maintaining a web site. Managing, adapting and making quickly available for use needed information to be displayed on one or more linked web sites is generally defined as the actions of a web publishing system.
In particular, the current invention relates to
One application for such a system is in the publishing and distribution of benefits information for corporate employees. As companies provide benefits to employees, it becomes necessary to publish the entire literature recording what is covered, and how benefits are to be used. The basic facts of the information presentation are determined in part by requirements such as federal and state statutes and case law, company policies, union contracts and insurance policies. Such requirements often change, as the laws and economic advantage to a company or union change with renewed lawmaker interest in tinkering with the statutes or a desire to improve quarterly profits.
Internet publishing of benefits information is complicated because a single company often offers multiple benefit plans for the same type of benefit (such as medical or dental insurance), however; each plan will have different coverage costs and limitations. In addition, a single insurance company may have made substantial changes in a generally offered plan to meet the marketing needs to a particular customer, so that the details of each plan may need to be specifically customized to the needs of individual companies, making it necessary for an insurance company to publish custom versions of plan information, even though they may be substantially similar to insurance plans for other companies.
With the growth of the World Wide Web, company HR departments saw a natural means of distributing benefits information through the Internet. With a little effort plan information could be converted to an appropriate format for posting on the web at a company owned web site or at a web site maintained on its behalf. Without a consistent navigation and organization structure the web site was not particularly useful for locating plan information.
The present invention comprises a subscription method for Internet viewer use of large and varied amounts of changing information. A first step requires forming a standard information structure particularized to an application, i.e., grouping facts or pieces of data into human factor-useful fact bodies or originating information bodies that are easily reviewable such as specific health benefits for a company benefits plan. Differentiated, segmented or sequentially entered originating bodies of information are selected from a larger group of originating bodies of information, where the selected originating bodies of information are then authored into a common library and the authoring action transmits with the authored bodies of information a record of the source of each piece of data as a portion of the body of information. Data in each authored body of information within the common library may be amended or deleted (i.e., selectively customized) to conform with desired viewing by Internet access users. All or part of the data within an originating and/or authored body of information (which may have been changed) is optionally linked for automatic updating from other source bodies of information, where those source bodies of information contain data which a particular subscriber company is permitted access by the invention system.
In a specific example below, the bodies of information contain data for employee benefit plans. Some of the data in at least one of the bodies of information is customized to the unique requirements of a hypothetical company. This method makes it possible to maintain a common library of benefit plan information that can be quickly customized and published to the Internet. It is intended that the subscriber company have customization access only to the common library of benefit plan information.
Published information in a standardized web site organization can be easily navigated to find needed information. The subscriber company can thus eliminate concerns about software and web site organization requirements for making its benefit plan information available to its employees and others. The invention method makes it cost effective for even the smallest companies to input, publish and update online access to benefit plan information. References herein to the Internet and xe2x80x9cweb pagesxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cweb sitexe2x80x9d extend to the many forms of computer networks in which a portion of the invention system operates on data whereafter that data is xe2x80x9cpublishedxe2x80x9d to a common access location as in the present example using the Internet. Clearly intended extensions of the invention system are to wireless and wired LANs, WANs, intranets, extranets, and the many permutations thereof now and hereafter developed with the invention data operation and publication functions.
It is an object of the invention to create a system that automates the process of linking web pages in a web site via changes to a common library and subsequent publication to the Internet.
It is another object of the invention to manage content and information separately from the specific files in a format required for publication to a web site.
It is yet another object of the invention to add links to data that is included in a web site.
It is still another object of the invention to remove links to information that is not included in a web site.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method to create a standard data structure for related subject matter.
It is another object of the invention to create a common navigation structure for information in a web site.
It is another object of the invention to allow customization of information for individual viewing audiences.
It is another object of the invention to allow a unit of content to be shared in multiple locations within a body of information.
It is another object of the invention to allow content to be contextually interlinked to related content.
It is another object of the invention to separate the process of authoring content from the process of designing and creating web sites.
It is another object of the invention to allow common topics in different information plans to be easily compared.

Creating, translating and publishing large information plans to a network


A new method and apparatus is provided for the cleaning and drying of a wafer. An IPA vapor is created using an ultrasonic nebulizer that can be operated at a relatively low temperature. The water and the IPA that is used by the cleaning and drying process will be heated and evaporated using energy supplied by a microwave source of energy.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the fabrication of integrated circuit devices, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for the drying of wafers.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In the creation of semiconductor devices, these devices are typically created in or on the surface of a semiconductor wafer. After the process of creating the devices in or on the surface of the wafer and also during intervening processing steps, the need arises for drying the surface of the wafer. One of the conventional methods that is used for this purpose is the application of a cascade rinse whereby the wafer is placed into a water supply that is provided in an inner chamber while the rinsing water is transferred from an outer chamber to the inner chamber. This causes problems of water purity since there is an interconnect between the various chambers of the rinsing apparatus. Further, even after the process of cleaning the wafer has been completed, the wafer must as yet be dried, which may again be a source of introducing foreign matter (contaminants) onto the surface of the wafer.
Other methods employ the quick insertion of the wafer into a tank containing water in order to remove contaminants and other impurities in one, quick operation. Since particles that need to be removed from a surface must at times be agitated before the particle is loosened from the surface and can then be removed, this method of wafer cleaning has also proven to be not satisfactory.
Yet another method relies on spinning the wafer at high speed while water is applied to the surface of the wafer. Dislodged particles are in this manner removed from the surface of the wafer by centrifugal force, a step of drying the wafer can be applied as part of this sequence. This method requires rather complex supporting tools and equipment and, due to the violent nature of the process, the degree of particle removal is difficult to control.
Yet another method uses an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) vapor dryer or a full displacement IPA dryer. These methods typically require large amounts of IPA in order to achieve drying the wafer satisfactorily. In addition, to completely dry a wafer using this method requires a large drying time, adding to product costs. Also, the method of IPA vapor dry requires a high temperature of in excess of 200 degrees C. adding to the thermal budget of the process.
There is therefore a need in the industry to provide a method of cleaning and drying wafers that is cost-effective (low thermal requirements and limiting the need for a cleaning agent such as IPA) and that is simple to operate (low equipment cost). The invention provides such a method by reducing the temperature that is required to dry a wafer while heating and the drying of the wafer will be achieved using energy from a microwave source.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,387 (Ni) shows a nebulizer and megasonic system using IPA.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,936 (Kedo et al.) shows a drying process using IPA and an ultrasonic nebulizer, see cols. 4, 6-8.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,367 (Kamikawa et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,829 (Wolke et al.), U.S. Pat No. 6,004,239 (Wong et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,329 (Hampden-Smith et al.) are related patents involving misters, IPA, sonics and drying wafers.
A principle objective of the invention is to provide a cost-effective method and apparatus for the cleaning and drying of a wafer.
Another objective of the invention is to limit the thermal budget that is required for the cleaning and drying of a wafer.
Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for cleaning and drying a wafer that requires a limited amount of cleaning agent.
A still further objective of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for cleaning and drying a wafer that can be completed in a relatively short period of time.
In accordance with the objectives of the invention a new method and apparatus is provided for the cleaning and drying of a wafer. An IPA vapor is created using an ultrasonic nebulizer that can be operated at a relatively low temperature. The water and the IPA that is used by the cleaning and drying process will be heated and evaporated using energy supplied by a microwave source of energy.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


A railway vehicle operation-control system includes at least one central processing unit being connected to a plurality of devices, which are connected in parallel, via information communication means, the plurality of the devices having at least one operational state-monitoring function which transmits information on operational states of each device to the central processing unit; wherein a total controlled-variable necessary for the system is attained by allocating the total control variable to each device based on operational states determined from results of monitoring performed by the operational state-monitoring function, and a performance margin which is defined as a difference between a permissible power-output value and a current power-output value for each device while monitoring and reflecting the performance margin of each device.

The present invention relates to a railway vehicle operation-control system and a railway vehicle using the operation-control system so as to achieve a target operation by using a plurality of drive devices.
A railway vehicle and an airplane runs or aviates by operating a plurality of power-driven apparatuses which are connected in parallel. For example, a railway vehicle is composes of several or over ten rolling stocks. Each rolling stone usually includes 3 or 4 inverter drive-apparatuses. Further, about 2-4 motors are connected to each inverter drive apparatus in parallel. Also, each inverter drive-apparatus receives a torque-output instruction sent from an operation unit provided at the top rolling stock, and is controlled so that an actual torque-output is equal to the instructed torque-output, by controlling each motor current.
Conventionally, the running of a railway vehicle is performed as follows. A torque-output instruction is allocated to each inverter drive-apparatus from the operation unit, and several kinds of artifices are applied to the allocating of the required torque-output to each inverter drive-apparatus. A railway vehicle runs on a railway made of iron, using wheels made of iron, while being accelerated or decelerated. Since the friction coefficient is small, an iron wheel tends to cause idle running. Also, since the friction coefficient of iron changes depending on surface states of a railway and wheels, the friction coefficient is affected by wet or rusty sates of the railway and the wheel.
The top rolling stock particularly tend to receive effects of the surface states of the railway, which in turn easily causes idle running. Accordingly, the torque generated by the top rolling stock is set to 80-90% of the torque of the consecutive rolling stocks. Further, the friction force is proportional to the load applied to a contact face between a wheel and a railway.
Therefore, for a rolling stock in which there are a small number of people, a way for preventing idle running by reducing the torque of this rolling stock is performed. Even if a trouble of idle running occurs, each drive device is controlled so that the idle running of each drive device is prevented by reducing its torque, and the torque of each drive device is gradually returned to its predetermined torque.
Further, an inverter is heated by a current conduction loss when current flows in the inverter, and a switching loss when current switching is operated. If the temperature of an inverter element increases to more than a design value, the element breaks down by heat. Therefore, the increasing values of switching elements are estimated based on a running pattern of a rout on which the railway vehicle is to run, and the temperature characteristics of the switching elements. By using the results of the estimation, the electric characteristics of the switching elements and the cooling performance of cooling devices to be used are designed so that the switching elements does not break down even at the worst case. The worst case is that wind does not absolutely pass around the cooling devices, or that the number of riding people is more than a limit value.
A car is a system driven by a method similar to that of a railway vehicle. In a car, a torque-output fed from one power source is optimally distributed to each wheel by a mechanical power distribution apparatus while being adaptive to surface states of the road, in order to improve the operational performance.
The present invention aims at a system in which a plurality of power sources are connected in parallel. Accordingly, the present invention does not aim at a system, such as a car, in which there is one power source, and which is well driven by adjusting transmission coefficients of a transmission device for transmitting drive force from the one power source to wheels.
A conventional railway vehicle system is designed so that a break down trouble does not occur even at the worst case, assuming the worst case determined based on actually measured or experienced data. Further, even if any trouble occur, each problem device is separately treated. However, if each problem device in a system is independently treated, there are several problems in a such conventional system.
For example, in an idle running, the following problem will occur. At first, The torque to the idle-running wheel is reduced, in order to stop the idle running, and the torque to the wheel is returned to the predetermined torque after the idle running has stopped.
However, since each device is separately treated, if an idle running occur, the acceleration ability of the whole railway vehicle is deteriorated.
Further, in a heating problem of an inverter, the following problem may occur. In a recent inverter, a switching element is made of semiconductor. Since a heating loss of a semiconductor switching element increases as its temperature become higher, it is desirable to use a semiconductor switching element at a low temperature. In A large system such as a railway vehicle whose length is about 300 m, the temperature of each inverter is different due to its environmental conditions such as natural window, raining, etc. If each device is operated at the same allocated torque instruction (not controlled), the inverters, whose temperature are high, cause a large quantity of loss, and their temperature more increase, which in turn degrades the energy conversion efficiency of the inverters.
An objective of the present invention is to prevent the degradation of a large system such as a railway vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to maximize the energy conversion efficiency by minimizing the loss of the inverters.
To achieve the above objectives, a railway vehicle of the present invention includes; at lest one monitoring unit, provided at devices, which performs a monitoring function for monitoring an operational state of each device; a communication network; a central processing unit for optimally distributing control information to each device.
The monitoring units acquire information on operational states of the respective devices, and sends the information to the central processing unit via the communication network. The central processing unit calculates a difference between a permissible level of a state variable such as torque, temperature, etc., and a current level of the corresponding state variable, for each device, and allocates a controlled-variable to each device so that each difference is larger than a predetermined permissible value. Further, if the current controlled-variable level (power-output) of some device exceeds its predetermined permissible level, the controlled-variable of this device is reduced, the amount of reduced controlled-variable is distributed to the rest devices. The controlled-variables of the rest devices are adjusted, and are allocated to respective devices via the communication network. That is, the rest devices are controlled based on the controlled-variables redistributed by the central process unit. Here, a permissible value (level) of each device is determined by using data measured in advance, or can be changed based on the monitoring results of the monitoring device for each device.
If an idle running trouble occurs, the control processing of this trouble is explained as follows. The state of torque of each inverter, and the state of each idle-running place, are periodically transmitted to the central processing unit via the communication network. When the central processing unit receives the information on occurrence of the idle running trouble from some monitoring device, the central processing unit immediately reduces the torque of the problem inverter related with the idle running trouble, and sends the instructions of reallocation of the reduced torque to the rest inverters. In this allocation, the reduced torque is allocated so that each allocated torque is less than the maximal torque value at which an idle running occurs at each device. Each maximal torque value causing an idle running is a predetermined value which was predetermined by actual measurement data in advance, but this maximal torque value is adjusted by taking the railway conditions of xe2x80x9cnew or oldxe2x80x9d, the surrounding environment such as climate, the total weight of each rolling stock, etc., into account, and it is possible to flexibly adjust each maximal torque, and to more appropriately determine the reallocation to the rest inverters. In some situation of occurrence of an idle running, it is also possible to change the maximal torque of each wheel in turn.
The control processing for the inverter temperature is explained as follows. The temperature of a semiconductor switching element of each inverter is sequentially measured, and the measured temperature value is transmitted to the central processing unit via the communication network. The central processing unit reduces the current flowing in the inverter of the high temperature so as to reduce the torque generated by this inverter, and reallocates the reduced torque of the devices connected to the rest inverters so that the temperature of the inverters is almost equal. If the above reallocation of the reduced torque in the rest inverter is not impossible for a predicted necessary acceleration performance, the drive conditions of the semiconductor switching elements are changed so that the loss of the switching is reduced. If such drive conditions cannot be found, the acceleration level of the railway vehicle is decreased.
Thus, in the present invention, a permissible value is always compared with a current controlled-variable (power-output) of each device, and the difference between the permissible value and the current power-output, which is defined as a performance margin, in this specification.

Railway vehicle operation-control system and a railway vehicle using the operation control system


High molecular weight (HMW) gases are separated from an exhaust gas of a combustion source using a blower and an interior vent within the exhaust stack. The interior vent includes a vent wall having a top portion attached to the interior surface of the exhaust stack along the entire inner perimeter of the exhaust stack and a lower portion that extends downward into the exhaust stack to form an annular space or gap between the vent wall and the interior surface of the exhaust stack, and at least one opening in the interior surface of the exhaust stack between the top and bottom portions of the vent wall. The blower creates a tangential flow of the exhaust gas with sufficient centrifugal force to concentrate substantially all of the HMW gases along the inner surface of the exhaust stack. A transfer pipe removes the HMW gases from the interior vent.

Combustion systems have come under increased scrutiny for toxic emissions which are a by-product of the combustion process. Depending upon the extent of the combustion, carbon monoxide and NOX may be emitted at unacceptable levels. Carbon monoxide levels are normally controlled through complete combustion resulting in carbon dioxide. In fact, in years past, carbon dioxide was measured to determine the efficiency of the process. Traditionally, NOX and other VOC emissions have been either controlled by cleaner fuels or techniques that reduce formation. Recently, because of the push for alternative and renewable fuels, carbon dioxide being the only component here-to-fore not regulated has come under increased scrutiny (green house gases, carbon footprints and global warming).
The problem is, burning fossil fuels makes carbon dioxide, and burning fossil fuels more efficiently makes even more carbon dioxide. NOX and SOX along with other pollutants, which comprise only parts per million in the resulting emissions, are controlled by many effective methods; but there few effective methods of controlling CO2 emissions.
Since CO2 comprises from 10 to 15% of the exhaust or flue gas by volume, it is impractical to treat it without separating it from the remaining gases. Several systems have been developed to reduce the CO2, and in some cases to concentrate the gas. Increasing the amount of hydrogen in the fuel will reduce the fraction of CO2 in the flue gas, since hydrogen combustion does not produce CO2. If the exhaust or flue gas is recirculated and the incoming fuel is mixed with pure O2 the nitrogen in the air is eliminated. And, with enough recycling of the exhaust or flue gas, the CO2 is concentrated to higher levels. After concentration, there are accepted methods of either using or treating the CO2. The burning of the hydrogen simply reduces the CO2. These known methods are quite inflexible and require reconfiguring the combustion equipment. In many cases, very flexible control algorithms will need to be employed to adjust the various fuel-air curves needed for the ever changing fuel compositions. The production or purchase of the hydrogen or oxygen needed in these processes also tend to make them impractical.

System and method for separating high molecular weight gases from a combustion source


A DC source 10 connected to an electrode 5 is disposed in a coating chamber which can be evacuated. The electrode is electrically connected to a target 3 which is sputtered and the sputtered particles are deposited on the substrate, while a process gas is introduced in the coating chamber 15, 15a. The target is made of an aluminum-silicon alloy which may contain 0.5 to 2.0 percent silicon and 99.5 to 98.0 percent aluminum in order to improve the adhesive strength and the service life of the layer 2. The substrate may be made of polycarbonate.

The invention relates to a process for coating a substrate preferably made of a plastic material, with aluminum, including a direct current source which is connected to an electrode disposed in a coating chamber which can be evacuated. The electrode is electrically connected to the target to be sputtered and the sputtered particles are deposited on the substrate while a process gas is present in the coating chamber.
In known processes an aluminum layer is directly sputtered onto the plastic substrate, e.g. polycarbonate, without an intermediate or adhesive layer.
This process has the disadvantage of limiting the adhesive strength of the aluminum to a great extent. It turned out that when the coated substrates are stored over a longer period of time the layer, for example, can corrode.

Process for coating a polycarbonate substrate with an aluminum-silicon alloy


Noise frequency generated from a circuit is determined. The distance between two arbitrary lines of a plurality of power feed lines or a plurality of power return lines extending parallel to each other is determined on the basis of the determined noise frequency in question. The distance between jumper lines for bridging the two arbitrary lines is determined on the basis of the noise frequency, thereby suppressing emitted noise which can be generated on a printed circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of designing a printed circuit board which can suppress emitted noise that may be generated thereby, and a printed circuit board which suppresses the generation of such emitted noise.
2. Related Background Art
When power-supply patterns and ground potential (to be referred to as ground hereinafter) patterns are to be formed on a printed circuit board, a multilayer printed circuit board is often used. In general, in the multilayer printed circuit board, power-supply and ground patterns are formed as inner layers, while electronic parts and the like are mounted as surface layers to form signal patterns.
Power-supply and ground patterns are generally formed in empty spaces on a double- or single-sided printed circuit board in which no signal patterns are formed.
When patterns are to be wired across other patterns, through holes are formed in the respective patterns, and jumper lines are inserted into the through holes and soldered thereto, thereby electrically connecting the respective patterns.
Power-supply and ground patterns to be formed on a conventional printed circuit board are designed without any special consideration as to the relationship between the frequency of the signal as an emitted noise source and the length of each pattern.
Since the power-supply and ground patterns vary in length and area, the inductances of the patterns vary. In some case, therefore, the inductance of a given portion is considerably larger than that of another portion. When a current flows in this large-inductance portion, the potential varies. As a result, high-level emitted noise may be generated.
In addition, when signals are exchanged between active elements such as an IC and an oscillator mounted on a printed circuit board, and a current flows in a pattern connecting these elements, a magnetic field is generated around the pattern. If the pattern in which the current is flowing has inductance, a potential difference is produced between the pattern and another pattern to generate an electric field. The generated magnetic and electric fields are spread/radiated outword, and the emitted noise caused by these magnetic and electric fields adversely affects other signal patterns, resulting in phenomena such as reflection, crosstalk, and delays.
According to conventional printed circuit boards, in order to prevent adverse effects of such emitted noise, resistors are inserted in patterns, and inductors and capacitors are inserted in patterns to cut high-frequency components.
This method of preventing noise by attaching the above parts afterward will prolong the development period and cause an increase in cost because of changes in design.
Under the circumstances, a method of effectively mounting capacitors for noise prevention by making improvements in the layout of patterns formed on a printed circuit board is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-47032.
FIG. 17 shows the layout of patterns formed on a conventional printed circuit board. FIG. 18 is an enlarged view showing the main part of the pattern layout in FIG. 17.
As shown in FIG. 17, a plurality of parallel ground lines 121 are formed on the lower surface of the printed circuit board, and a plurality of power-supply lines 122 are formed parallel to the ground lines 121. A plurality of parallel ground lines 131 are formed on the upper surface of the printed circuit board to extend in a direction perpendicular to the ground lines 121 and the power-supply lines 122 formed on the lower surface of the printed circuit board. In addition, a plurality of parallel power-supply lines 132 are formed parallel to the ground lines 131.
This printed circuit board has a plurality of through holes 150 to allow ICs to be mounted on the board.
Referring to FIG. 18, conduction through holes 134 are formed in the intersections of the ground lines 121 on the lower surface and the ground lines 131 on the upper surface. The ground lines 121 on the lower surface are connected to the ground lines 131 on the upper surface through these conduction through holes 134.
Similarly, conduction through holes 136 are formed in the intersections of the power-supply lines 122 on the lower surface and the power-supply lines 132 on the upper surface. The power-supply lines 122 on the lower surface are connected to the power-supply lines 132 on the upper surface through these conduction through holes 136.
Capacitors (not shown) are inserted in the power-supply and ground lines at predetermined positions. These lines are connected to each other in an AC manner through the capacitors, thereby preventing high-frequency noise.
When, for example, a 16-pin DIP (Dual In-line Package) type IC is to be mounted on such a printed circuit board, the power-supply pin (16th pin) of the IC is inserted in a power-supply through hole 110 in FIG. 18, and the ground pin (8th pin) of the IC is inserted in a ground through hole 111 in FIG. 18, thereby supplying power to the IC.
When, however, the performance of a conventional printed circuit board like the one described above was tested, the emitted noise was not reduced in spite of the use of noise prevention capacitors.
This is because, a noise prevention capacitor is not inserted between the power-supply pin and ground pin of the same IC but is inserted between the power-supply pin and ground pin of different ICs.
That is, in the conventional printed circuit board, power-supply and ground lines are formed at optimal intervals for connection with the power-supply pin and ground pin of an IC (in a DIP type general logic IC, these pins are located on two ends in the longitudinal direction), and capacitors are arranged.
In recent years, however, the operating frequencies of ICs is becoming higher. For this reason, if power-supply and ground lines are arranged at intervals near the length of an IC in the longitudinal direction, high-level electromagnetic waves are radiated from the signal lines or the power-supply lines. The high-level electromagnetic waves may adversely affect the self-circuit or other circuits to make them malfunction.

Printed circuit board with noise suppression


A cable-laying apparatus (1, 1') is provided which includes a frame (9) defined by trusses (10, 11, 12, 46, 46') which are relatively foldable between operative and inoperative positions. The frame carries conveyor rollers (13, 14, 15) arranged to define a generally isosceles-shaped area therebetween through which a cable passes. A lowermost of the conveyor rollers (13) is connected by a quick connect/disconnect mechanism (33) to the frame and normally occupies a slightly inclined position transverse to an associated cable ditch. When the quick connect-disconnect mechanism (33) is operated, the transverse conveyor roller (13) drops or pivots to a vertical position under the influence of gravity which in turn drops the cable to the bottom of an associated ditch.

This invention is related to apparatus for laying cables into upwardly opening ditches, and specifically relates to so-called cable-layers which include a frame and at least one rotatably supported roller. Such cable-layers are positioned appropriately in a ditch and a cable which is to be buried in the ditch is supported upon and can be relatively moved (pulled) along the frames due to the rotatable rollers thereof which assists in the cable burying operation.
Conventional cable-layers include a frame which is supported upon a bottom of an associated ditch which is to receive a cable or cables. The frame carries a stationary axle which rotatably journals a conveyor roller disposed generally transverse to the ditch. A large number of such conventional cable-layers are set-up in the ditch with a spacing between the cable layers essentially depending upon the path of the ditch, the length of the ditch and the thickness and/or rigidity of the cable being laid. The cable is lowered from above upon the transversely supported conveyor rollers and is initially pulled along the length of the ditch to thereby place the cable upon all of the transversely supported conveyor rollers. Thereafter, each cable-layer is tipped over bodily toward one side of the ditch so that the cable can then slip off each conveyor roller and in this fashion the cable is deposited upon the bottom of the cable ditch. Keeping in mind the fact that cable ditches and the cables laid therein extend from several meters up to two kilometers in length, the tipping of the many cable-layers entails substantial labor, particularly because several cables must be laid sequentially into a cable ditch. Therefore, not only must each cable-layer be bodily tipped over but it must be subsequently set-up once again to accommodate the next cable which is to be laid. Additionally, there is the danger of the cable slipping off the transverse conveyor roller when the cable is being pulled thereon incident to the performance of a burying operation. If the cable drops from one or more of the cable-layers and a portion of the cable falls into the ditch, the latter creates "drag" and precludes the cable from being laid efficiently, quickly and properly.


A method and system for presenting merchandise on a paved surface which employs permanently installed anchors each having a vertical sleeve. Poles of common height are inserted within the sleeves of the anchors in a manner defining a three dimensional merchandising region. The tops of the poles are interconnected by tensioned cable assemblies from which informational signage is suspended and retained by lower disposed retainer tensioned cables. Merchandising bays are established between mutually adjacent poles and entrance and exit regions are established in conjunction with a shopper aisle. A canopy is supported by poles and anchors over a cash/wrap station at the exit region.

The marketing and merchandising of lawn and garden products is, for the most part, a seasonal endeavor. However, notwithstanding the seasonal aspect, the National Gardening Association has reported that the total value of the do-it-yourself gardening and landscaping business in the United States (1999-2000) amounted to about $33.5 billion. 67 million U.S. households have at least one member involved in these endeavors. With respect to lawn care alone, there are about 25 million acres of green lawn in the United States.
The approach traditionally taken by retailers in selling rain proof varieties of these lawn and garden products has been to disburse piled or palletized merchandise in parking lots adjacent the store facility. Product arrangement generally is haphazard and signage so marginal that the resultant point-of-sale and its retail function are generally unrecognized by potential new shoppers. Very often the only signage utilized has only identified price. For example, so called portable "shovel signs" often are simply placed upon the top bag of a palletized assemblage of bagged product such as fertilizer. Occasionally, merchants will rent large tents to draw shoppers. However, such tents carry no signage effective to draw the attention of the shopper and, importantly, are considered by many retailers to exhibit a prohibitive cost/benefit ratio. Typical outdoor merchandising can create, in effect, an intimidating environment. Pallet borne products can be mistaken by shoppers as a product staging area rather than an actual retail-ready space.
This typical parking lot merchandising format, in effect, represents a retailing anomaly. In this regard, successful retailers have long studied and continue to study all aspects of store functional design, signage and decor to maximize merchandise sales and company profits.                That means that while branding and traditional advertising build brand awareness and purchase predisposition, those factors do not always translate into sales. The standard tools of marketing work, they just don't work anywhere near as well as they used to. Many purchasing decisions are made, or can be heavily influenced, on the floor of the store itself. Shoppers are susceptible to impressions and information they acquire in stores, rather than just relying on brand-name loyalty or advertising to tell them what to buy.        As a result, an important medium for transmitting messages and closing sales is now the store and the aisle. That building, that place, has become a great big three-dimensional advertisement for itself. Signage, shelf position, display space and special fixtures all make it either likelier or less likely that a shopper will buy a particular item (or any item at all). The science of shopping is meant to tell us how to make use of all those tools. How to design signs that shoppers will actually read and how to make sure each message is in the appropriate place. How to fashion displays that shoppers can examine comfortably and easily. How to ensure that shoppers can reach, and want to reach, every part of a store. It's a very long list—enough to fill a book in my opinion.        Underhill, "Why We Buy, The Science Of Shopping", Simon & Schuster, 1999, pp 32-33
Sales of lawn and garden products in the ubiquitous parking lot of store facilities should be within a retail environment tailored to the science of shopping. Thus, the point-of-sale, albeit in a parking lot, must be amenable to characteristics of the shopper. The signage should be discernible at a distance and convey information which in the present retailing era will not be available from the diminishing number of sales clerks.                The first principle behind the science of shopping is the simplest one: There are certain physical and anatomical abilities, tendencies, limitations and needs common to all people, and the retail environment must be tailored to these characteristics.        Underhill (Supra) p43        I'm talking about the absolute basics here, such as the fact that we have only two hands, and that at rest they are situated approximately three feet off the floor. Or that our eyes focus on what is directly before us but also take in a periphery whose size is determined in part by environmental factors, and that we'd rather look at people than objects. Or that it is possible to anticipate and even determine how and where people will walk—that we go in predictable paths and speed up, slow down and stop in response to our surroundings.        The implications of all this are clear: Where shoppers go, what they see, and how they respond determine the very nature of their shopping experience. They will either see merchandise and signs clearly or they won't. They will reach objects easily or with difficulty. They will move through areas at a leisurely pace or swiftly—or not at all. And all of these physiological and anatomical factors come into play simultaneously, forming a complex matrix of behaviors which must be understood if the retail environment is to adapt itself successfully to the animal that shops.        Underhill (Supra) pp 43-44
The parking lot itself traditionally has been considered a detriment to the fostering of sales. Such parking lots typically involve exhaust fumes, automobiles being poorly driven, debris strewed about and they typically exude the environment of a vast stretch of asphalt. Thus, shoppers tend to walk quickly to the adjacent store in order to rid themselves of an unpleasant environment with all dispatch. Accordingly, savvy retailers adjust store entrance features to accommodate this faster paced customer entry into a retail store.                Bear in mind, too, that the faster people walk, the narrower their field of peripheral vision becomes. But by the time we get close enough to see the goods or read the signs, we're in no mood to stop and look. We've got that good cardiovascular parking-lot stride going, and it's bringing us right into the entrance. So forget whatever it is those windows are meant to accomplish—when they face a parking lot, if the message in them isn't big and bold and short and simple, it's wasted.        Underhill (Supra) p 46        These people are not truly in the store yet. You can see them, but it'll be a few seconds more before they're actually here. If you watch long enough you'll be able to predict exactly where most shoppers slow down and make the transition from being outside to being inside. It's at just about the same place for everybody, depending on the layout of the front of the store.        All of which means that whatever's in the zone they cross before making that transition is pretty much lost on them. If there's a display of merchandise, they're not going to take it in. If there's a sign, they'll probably be moving too fast to absorb what it says. If the sales staff hits them with a hearty "Can I help you?" the answer's going to be, "No, thanks," I guarantee it. Put a pile of fliers or a stack of shopping baskets just inside the door. Shoppers will barely see them, and will almost never pick them up. Move them ten feet in and the fliers and baskets will disappear. It's a law of nature—shoppers need a landing strip.        Underhill (Supra) pp 46-47
To gain new customers from what generally is considered a fixed customer base, the merchandise presented at the retail facility and identified with its associated signage should be recognizable to potentially new shoppers from substantial distances away. Typical parking lot based lawn and garden sales regions have no characteristics lending to their identification from a distance nor establishing their mercantile function.                We'll start by standing at the proper vantage point for evaluating any retail environment: half a block away. That's where the first issue arises—we can't see the place. We can see the building just fine, but there's no big sign or giant book or anything else to tell us we're so close to a bookstore. Now, its regular customers know where it is. But who knows how many others find themselves standing on this very spot, heads swiveling, trying to figure out where exactly the store is located. What's more, every day there are people walking down this street who might impulsively decide to drop in, but not if they don't know it's there.        Underhill (Supra) p 225
The haphazard nature of the parking lot sales endeavor is additionally manifested by an essential random location of its cash/wrap area. This defect perhaps is a given consequence of the unstructured, loosely planned nature of these retail endeavors.                We spent a lot of time that weekend watching people in line to pay at what the retail industry calls cash/wraps. Regardless of what store designers and merchandise managers think, in many ways the cash/wrap area is the most important part of any store. If the transactions aren't crisp, if the organization isn't clear at a glance, shoppers get frustrated or turned off. Many times they won't even enter a store if the line to pay looks long or chaotic.        Underhill (Supra) p 26

Method and system for presenting merchandise at an outdoor paved surface


Apparatus for automatically acquiring and verifying, relative to pre-established rules, information affixed to relatively flat articles transported along a transport path comprises weighing component device for measuring weight of articles being processed, image acquisition device for acquiring a representation of indicia appearing on an article, processing device for recognition of the indicia appearing on an article, and processing device for verifying acquired data against the pre-established rules.

This invention relates generally to equipment for reviewing information printed on relatively flat articles, and for gathering information, such as weight, concerning these articles, and is more particularly directed toward automatic verification of postage and address information for articles to be mailed.
Many corporations and organizations disseminate information and advertising material through the mail. In order to minimize the costs associated with this type of mailing, the United States Postal Service (USPS) offers bulk mailing rates that result in decreased cost of mailing for each piece of mail. Certain types of preprocessing by bulk mailing organizations, such as presorting of bulk mail into lots by ZIP code, helps the USPS in mail sorting and leads to further discounts in the cost of mailing for bulk mailing organizations.
Of course, because of the large volume of bulk mail, the USPS would lose considerable revenue if bulk mailing organizations failed to comply strictly with their presorting obligations but still tried to take advantage of lower postal rates. It is also possible, through error, that a bulk mailer may apply insufficient metered postage to articles of mail. In addition, the USPS must have some form of quality control and verification to ensure that bulk mailers"" presort efforts are accurate, so that improperly sorted bulk mail does not slow down the operation of USPS sorting activities.
Traditionally, this verification process is performed manually (with the exception of barcode verification). This manual verification process is very labor intensive and prone to error. Accordingly, a need arises for an automated verification system that is capable of processing large volumes of mail with speed and accuracy, and that maintains proper records relating to each bulk mailer for which verification operations are conducted.
These needs and others are satisfied by the verification apparatus of the present invention. In accordance with the invention, apparatus for automatically acquiring and verifying, relative to pre-established rules, information affixed to relatively flat articles transported along a transport path comprises weighing means for measuring weight of articles being processed, image acquisition means for acquiring a representation of indicia appearing on an article, processing means for recognition of the indicia appearing on an article, and processing means for verifying acquired data against the pre-established rules.
The apparatus may further comprise infeed means for transporting the articles from an input stage to subsequent processing stages. The infeed means may comprise an infeed conveyor mechanism that singulates articles for subsequent processing.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the weighing means comprises an in-line scale that weighs articles individually. The apparatus may further comprise identification printing means for applying numeric identification to at least some of the articles. The printing means may comprise an ink jet print head disposed along the transport path.
In one form of the invention, the image acquisition means comprises a CCD camera and illumination means. The illumination means comprises a plurality of support structures housing light-directing fibers.
In another aspect of the invention, the processing means for recognition of the indicia appearing on an article returns postage information relating to postage type, wherein postage type is selected from the group of postage types consisting essentially of meter, permit, and stamp. The processing means for recognition of the indicia appearing on an article may return postage value, postage class, address information, and various kinds of barcode information such as barcode decode value and barcode print quality information. Both the processing means for recognition of indicia appearing on an article and the processing means for verifying acquired data may comprise a microcomputer.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the apparatus may further comprise stacking means for re-collecting articles. In general, the articles disposed along the transport path are arranged in an original order and orientation, and the stacking means re-collects the articles in the original order and orientation.
In still another form of the invention, the pre-established rules may include a number of parameters such as bar code print quality, compatibility of bar code decode value and address information, weight restrictions, postage type restrictions, postage value restrictions, postage class restrictions, and destination sort requirements. Sort requirements may be valid for a current sort data base, or for one or more prior databases.
In still another aspect of the present invention, verification results are printed as reports in a predetermined format. The apparatus may further comprise scanning means for automatic reading of bar codes associated with groups of articles.
In yet another form of the invention, apparatus for automatically acquiring, storing, and verifying indicia affixed to relatively flat articles comprises infeed means for transporting articles from an input stage to subsequent processing stages, weighing means for measuring weight of articles being processed, printing means for affixing identifying indicia to each article, image acquisition means for acquiring a representation of selected indicia appearing on each article, control processor means for controlling acquisition, storage, and verification, and image processing means, in communication with the control processing means, for synchronization of acquisition, storage, and verification.
The infeed means preferably comprises an infeed conveyor mechanism that singulates articles for subsequent processing. The weighing means may comprise an in-line scale that weighs each article individually, and the printing means comprises an ink jet print head disposed proximate to the image acquisition means. The image acquisition means preferably comprises a CCD camera and illumination means.
In one form of the invention, the illumination means comprises a plurality of support structures housing light directing fibers. The control processor means comprises a microcomputer controller in communication with the image processing means, while the control processor means communicates with the image processing means via a serial communications protocol. The image processing means is preferably a microprocessor controller in serial communication with the control processor means.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, apparatus for processing and verifying indicia disposed upon articles to be mailed comprises an infeed magazine in communication with a transport mechanism defining a transport path for the articles, a weighing station receiving articles from the transport mechanism and weighing each article individually, an ink jet printer disposed along the transport path, the ink jet printer applying a numeric identification to each article, a camera unit positioned along a scanning locus that scans the indicia disposed on each article and stores image information in an associated memory, an illumination mechanism associated with the camera unit, providing illumination directed toward the scanning locus, and a control processor and an image processor interconnected by a serial communication link, the control and image processors synchronizing data acquisition, storage, and comparison for verification of indicia disposed upon the articles.
In one form of the invention, the serial communication link comprises a bi-directional serial link over which commands, status messages, and data packets are exchanged. The bi-directional serial link comprises an RS-232 serial link at approximately 19,200 baud. Serial messages are exchanged over the serial communication link, and each serial message begins with a predetermined start character and ends with a predetermined stop character. Preferably, the start character and stop character are 1 byte ASCII characters.
In yet another aspect of the invention, each serial message includes cyclic redundancy check information and a sequence number. Each message is acknowledged by the recipient through transmission of an acknowledgment message when the message is received correctly, and each incorrectly received message causes a negative acknowledgment message to be transmitted. Preferably, the sender resends a message at least once if an acknowledgment message is not received within a predetermined time. Each acknowledgment message includes the sequence number.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings.


An image signal correction apparatus includes: a frame memory configured to hold input image signals corresponding to a predetermined number of frames; a difference calculation unit configured to calculate a difference signal between an input image signal and each of the image signals held in the frame memory; a filter unit configured to pass a difference signal having a value equal to or smaller than a threshold value; and a control unit configured to change the threshold value of the filter unit in accordance with the value of the difference signal calculated in the difference calculation unit.

To reduce a physical burden on patients, a surgery using an imaging apparatus, e.g., an endoscopic apparatus, has conventionally been performed. In the endoscopic apparatus, a scope is inserted into a body of a patient, and an image is captured while an affected part is being illuminated. However, depending on a light source that illuminates the affected part or a condition of the affected part, an image having a very low contrast is obtained. Therefore, in a conventional endoscopic apparatus, image processing in which an outline is emphasized to provide a contrast is performed. Further, other than a contrast, noise caused in an image also hinders the condition of the affected part from being recognized. In this regard, various methods of reducing noise have conventionally been proposed.

Image signal correction apparatus, imaging apparatus, endoscopic apparatus