A method of forming a plastic molded article includes expansion molding of a plastic raw material mixed with a blowing material. In a first step, a first-stage expansion molding is used to form a core. This is followed by a second step in which a second-stage expansion molding is employed to produce an outer layer around the previously-formed core, in such a manner that the outer layer is fusion bonded and integrated with a boundary region of the core, thereby forming a second-stage molded product. At least the outer layer contains randomly distributed resin fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of forming plastic molded articles by admixing a blowing material in a plastic raw material and conducting expansion molding, and plastic molded articles formed thereby, and more particularly to a method of forming plastic mold articles which are suitable for obtaining spherical forms, such as baseballs, softballs, golf balls.
2. Background of the Related Art
In molding spherical forms from a synthetic resin (hereinafter referred to as "plastic" or "resin") as a raw material, unevenness of internal temperature distribution inevitably occurs to the spherical forms when they are cooled, irrespective of whether molding is effected by injection or any other molding method, since a spherical form is small in its surface area and thick diametrically. Therefore, it has been very difficult to uniformly obtain a spherical product having an accurate shape. To eliminate this inconvenience, there is known a technique which uses a plastic raw material together with a blowing material, thereby blowing a gas into the resin, for preventing what is called "the phenomenon of sink marks" from occurring during molding. However, even by this expansion molding method, it has been difficult to mold homogeneously-blown spherical forms due to unevenness of temperature distribution in a molten plastic raw material supplied to the inside of a mold. More specifically, the blown state of the resin varies within the mold such that the resin becomes less dense from the outer part toward the central part within the mold. In an extreme case, there is formed a cavity or large hollow space therein, causing a difficulty in molding a spherical form in a uniformly-blown state. If such an unevenly blown or expanded spherical form, e.g. a ball for a ball game, is made in spite of such a difficulty, the ball undergoes unstable movement while flying, which makes it impossible to use the ball for the ball game.
Further, it is a common knowledge that any thread-wound spherical form such as baseballs, softballs, golf balls, and the like should be high in density in their central portions. However, if such articles are molded from a plastic raw material, there is inevitably formed a vacuum foam in the central portion thereof due to the relationship between the cooling of the resin and thermal insulation of the raw material, which makes the density of the central portion markedly lower than that of the outer portion thereof. To eliminate such a drawback, a composite molding technique called "insert molding" has been proposed, in which a core is inserted or placed within a mold before molding a spherical form. Even the insert molding, however, suffers from the following problems: For holding the core within the mold, hold pins are used. It is normally impossible for the hold pins to withstand pressure applied in molding, unless they are thick enough to have a diameter of approximately 6 mm. Accordingly, it is required to use such thick hold pins, which results in holes formed within the molded article by the holding pins for holding the core, and when the hold pins are extracted therefrom, there are vacant portions left in the molded article. If the molded article is spherical, the vacant portions delicately put the gravitational force exerted on the article out of balance, so that if the central portion thereof is formed in an unbalanced state, there is an inevitable inconvenience that the spherical form undergoes unstable movements when flying at a high speed.
Further, there are the following general problems with plastic articles formed by molding: plastic materials mixed with glass fibers for enhancing the strength of molded articles have conventionally been used as reinforcing materials for use in parts of automotive vehicles, motorboats, and the like, and expanded plastic obtained by mixing blowing materials with plastic raw materials are used in other fields related to housings and daily commodities, such as beddings, cushions, imitation leathers, and insulators. However, in the case of the former, i.e., the plastic materials mixed with glass fibers, the hardness of the molded articles is increased while causing roughness of the surface thereof. Moreover, if the fibers become short due to kneading of resin materials by screws, the intended object cannot be attained, making it impossible to obtain soft molded articles. On the other hand, however hard a material is in itself, if it is molded into an expanded material by blowing a gas therein, the resin per se tends to become filament-like to lose its strength. Therefore, the latter, i.e. the expanded articles have been generally considered to be low in tearing strength up to now.

Plastic molded articles having resin fibers dispersed therein


An improvement in portable scaffold assemblies which enables a scaffold to be securely hung upon a vertical portion of the building, without the need for permanent anchoring means, either on the building or on the scaffolding frame itself. The portable scaffold assembly is preferably constructed of square tubing, with a main pair of open-ended vertically extending tubular members comprising the main structural member for a permanent walkway, and also for hanging an auxillary walkway, therebelow. The scaffold may be positioned, in a vertical sense, very close to the top of the vertical building portion which supports the assembly, or telescoped downwardly therefrom to any desired extent. This is allowed by a pair of L-shaped upper arms which telescopically engage both the main scaffold holder assembly, and also the removable L-shaped anchors, which are movably fitted against the vertical supports of the building structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to portable scaffold assemblies, as generally and commonly used in both construction industries, and also in repair industries. The invention particularly relates to a new type of portable scaffold which does not require any protruding permanent mounting member on the building structure itself, due to a novel cooperation between a pair of L-shaped support arms, into removable anchors, which can engage either into a vertical aperture, or a vertical inside of a building structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various and sundry scaffolding constructions are known in the prior art, and to applicant's knowledge the following prior art patents, discovered as part of an investigation of Patent Office records, are considered representative:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Gall 957,324 Goodrich 1,814,688 Alloway 2,308,142 Danrey 2,988,181 Mallog 3,011,587 Shoemaker 3,134,567 Brown 3,158,223 McCaleb 3,510,097 Weible 3,515,244 Wakabayashi 4,029,173 Zaugg et al. 4,074,792 ______________________________________
Perhaps most pertinent to the teachings taught herein are the prior art approaches in the patents of Shoemaker, at FIG. 6, and the teachings illustrated most simply by the Weibel patent, at FIG. 1. In either case, a generalized scaffold hanger is used with both a vertically movable scaffold and/or an auxillary scaffold attached to the main scaffold. In distinction, the present design structurally departs from a permanent hanger structure, in that a separate L-shaped anchor unit is used, in a removable sense on a building structure, to receive a horizontally disposed square-tube extension of an L-shaped upper arm, which cooperates with the main scaffolding support structure, in a telescoping manner.
The enclosed patents further illustrate various types of inverted "U-shaped" hangers, for example as shown by FIG. 1 of the Weible patent, and also by FIG. 1 of the patent in the name of McCaleb, and FIG. 6 of the patent in the name of Shoemaker. Again, the present invention departs from such structures by having a separate telescopically engageable anchoring member, which completely avoids the need for any permanent protuberance, whatsoever, from outside of the vertical building line.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable scaffold assembly which is easily assembled on a job site, and can be used upon any vertically extending portion of the building wall, without need for any permanent anchor assembly, or exact cooperation to any accommodating structure on the building.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a portable scaffold assembly which is also adapted to be engaged into simple vertically drilled holes in a superposed roof structure of a building, to enable the vertical sandwiching support effect which is simply required by the present invention.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the accompanying detailed description of a preferred embodiment, wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

Portable scaffold assembly with movable anchor


A dual capacity hook-lift hoist mounted on a wheeled chassis for use in loading detached objects, such as containers, onto the chassis for transport to any location. The hook-lift hoist is also operable to tilt a loaded container to dump its contents. The hook-lift hoist includes at least one hydraulic cylinder that is sized to have a maximum loading capacity that is below the safe limit of the truck but which is capable of dumping a container that is at least equal to the carrying capacity of the chassis.

The invention relates generally to hook-lift hoists mounted on a wheeled chassis and, more specifically, to a hook-lift hoist that has a lifting capacity that is less than its dumping capacity.
Hook-lift hoists have been in common use, particularly in European countries, for a number of years. The hoist has a pivotable L-shaped arm with a hook on its distal end portion that is used to engage a detachable truck box. The arm is pivoted to lift the box onto the chassis for transport of the box and its contents to any location.
It has become known also to provide the truck chassis with a lift mechanism for tilting of the box atop the chassis to dump the contents of the box rearwardly of the truck. Hook-lift hoists allow for a single truck chassis to be used with a wide variety of truck boxes, each of which has a distinct and advantageous use. A single truck chassis with a hook-lift hoist can be used, for example, to load, transport and dump open-topped waste receptacles to a disposal site; to load, transport, and unload shipping containers; to mount, use, and dismount road maintenance equipment, such as a salt spreader; to load, transport, and unload wheeled equipment; and so on. This functional versatility makes hook-lift hoists an economical vehicle for transport industries, particularly the street and highway maintenance departments of municipalities, states, and other governmental entities where budgetary constraints and the variety of tasks that must be performed make these multi-purpose vehicles an attractive choice.
Known hook-lift hoists have the limitation that the lifting capacity is the same as the carrying and dumping capacity of the vehicle. The lifting capacity, or loading capacity, of a hook-life hoist is the weight of the heaviest object the hoist can move from a detached ground-supported position to a loaded position on the truck chassis. The lifting or loading capacity of a chassis is the heaviest object the chassis can load without the front wheels of the chassis becoming unloaded. The carrying capacity of the vehicle is the maximum weight that can loaded on the vehicle and still have the vehicle remain safe to transport the loaded weight. The dumping capacity of the vehicle is the weight of the heaviest object which the hoist lift can tilt to an off-loading position. Because the maximum amount a truck can lift may be less than the maximum amount it can carry and dump, particularly for short wheelbase, maneuverable trucks, the capabilities and usefulness of these hook-lift hoists is diminished. For a given size, weight, and horsepower of truck, its carrying and dumping capacities are not fully utilized. This excess capacity reduces the economy of these single capacity hook-lift hoists.


A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes: mounting a semiconductor chip on a substrate; forming an upper connection terminal on a side of the substrate on which the semiconductor chip is mounted; forming a resin seal portion that seals the semiconductor chip and the upper connection terminal so that an upper surface of the upper connection terminal is exposed; and shaping the upper connection terminal so that the upper surface of the upper connection terminal becomes lower than an upper surface of the resin seal portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device having multiple built-in semiconductor devices stacked and a method of fabricating the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there is a demand to downsize semiconductor devices used as non-volatile storage media for portable electronic devices such as portable phones and IC memory cards. It is particularly demanded to package semiconductor chips efficiently. One of the packaging techniques is to stack packages (built-in semiconductor devices) each having a semiconductor chip.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a description will now be given of a semiconductor device in accordance with a first related art, which is a built-in semiconductor device having a lower semiconductor device 29a and an upper semiconductor device 39, which devices are stacked. A semiconductor chip 20 is mounted on a wiring substrate 10 made of, for example, glass epoxy resin. Wires 22 electrically connect the semiconductor chip 20 and pads 15 provided on the wiring substrate 10. Solder balls 18a are provided on land electrodes 16 provided on a side of the wiring substrate 10 on which the semiconductor chip 20 is arranged. The semiconductor chip 20 is sealed with a resin seal portion 24a made of epoxy resin. The resin seal portion 24a is not provided to a region in which the solder balls 18a are arranged, but is provided in a central portion in which the semiconductor chip 20 is mounted. Solder balls 12 are provided on land electrodes 14 provided on another side of the wiring substrate 10 opposite to the side on which the semiconductor chip 20 is provided. Connection portions 17 electrically connect the land electrodes 16 and the solder balls 12. The solder balls 18a function as upper connection terminals for making connection with an upper semiconductor device. The semiconductor balls 12 function as lower connection terminals for making connections with a lower semiconductor device or a motherboard.
Referring to FIG. 2, the upper semiconductor device 39 has a wiring substrate 30 on which semiconductor chips 40 and 42 are stacked in this order. Wires 44 and 46 are used to electrically connect the semiconductor chips 40 and 42 and the wiring substrate 30. The semiconductor chips 40 and 42 are sealed with a resin seal portion 48. Since no built-in semiconductor device is provided on the top of the upper semiconductor device 39, no solder balls are provided on a side of the wiring substrate 30 on which the semiconductor chips 40 and 42 are provided. Thus, the resin seal portion 48 is provided on the whole upper surface of the wiring substrate 30. Land electrodes 34 are provided on another side of the wiring substrate 30 opposite to the side on which the semiconductor chips 40 and 42 are provided. The land electrodes 34 are connected to the solder balls 18a of the lower semiconductor device 29a. Thus, electrical connections are made between the upper semiconductor device 39 and the lower semiconductor device 29a. Connection portions for making connections between the wires 44 and 46 and the land electrodes 34 are not illustrated.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-327855 (Document 1) discloses a semiconductor device in which the whole surface of a wiring substrate is sealed with a resin seal portion and upper connection terminals protrude from the resin seal portion.
The semiconductor device of the first related art does not have a high non-defective ratio because the lower semiconductor device 29a and the upper semiconductor device 39 in the stacked state have different degrees of thermal warping. In addition, the conventional semiconductor device has large financial and time burdens because it needs a metal mold for the resin seal portion 24 that matches in size with the semiconductor chip 20 of the lower semiconductor device 29a. Furthermore, the solder balls 18a are exposed and may be short-circuited due to a foreign particle or the like. It should be noted that the lower semiconductor device 29a and the upper semiconductor device 39 must be mutually positioned in order to connect these devices with the solder balls 18a. This positioning needs a specific tool, which will increase the manufacturing cost.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same


An image generation system includes a processor including hardware, the processor being configured to implement: an object space setting process that performs a process that places a plurality of objects including a moving object in an object space; a moving object calculation process that performs a movement process that moves the moving object in the object space; and a parameter process that performs a process that sets at least one of an attack parameter, a defense parameter, and a movement control parameter of the moving object based on at least one of density information about an assemblage of particles within a line or a range that extends from the moving object in a given direction, and the density information about the assemblage of particles at a position of the moving object; and an image generation process that generates an image viewed from a given viewpoint in the object space.

The present invention relates to an image generation system, an image generation method, an information storage medium, and the like.
A known image generation system may be configured to generate an image viewed from a given viewpoint in an object space in which an object (e.g., moving object) is placed. Such an image generation system is very popular as a system that makes it possible to experience virtual reality. For example, when the image generation system is designed to implement a fighter aircraft game, the player enjoys the game by operating a player's fighter aircraft (that imitates a fighter aircraft) so as to fly in the object space and attack the attack target (e.g., enemy fighter aircraft or enemy's position).
It is desired for such an image generation system to render (display or implement) an image with higher quality. For example, it is desirable that such an image generation system be able to render (display or implement) a realistic image of clouds that are suspended in air. For example, JP-A-2009-53886 discloses a related-art image generation system that generates an image of clouds. According to the technology disclosed in JP-A-2009-53886, a plurality of billboard polygons (e.g., a billboard polygon for a distant view and a billboard polygon for a near view) are placed in the object space, and an image of clouds is drawn on each billboard polygon to generate a realistic image of clouds.
However, a known image generation system is configured so that clouds are merely displayed within the game screen in the form of an image. Specifically, a known image generation system is configured so that an assemblage of particles such as a cloud does not affect the attack capability, the defense capability, or the moving capability of a moving object (e.g., player's fighter aircraft or enemy fighter aircraft).

Image generation system, image generation method, and information storage medium


A cold pressure fix toner composition includes at least one C16 to C80 crystalline organic material having a melting point in a range from about 30° C. to about 130° C. and at least one C16 to C80 amorphous organic material having a Tg of from about −30° C. to about 70° C. A method of cold pressure fix toner application includes providing the cold pressure fix toner composition, disposing the cold pressure fix toner composition on a substrate and applying pressure to the disposed composition on the substrate under cold pressure fixing conditions. The cold pressure fix toner compositions can be formed into latexes.

The present disclosure relates to toner compositions for use in xerography. In particular, the present disclosure relates to cold pressure fix toner compositions.
Cold pressure fix toners normally operate in a system employing a pair of high-pressure rollers to fix toner to paper without heating. Among the advantages of such systems are the use of low power and little paper heating. One example of a cold pressure fix toner comprises predominantly wax an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer with softening point of 99° C., and a 120° C. softening point polyamide thermoplastic polymer. An example of this approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,324, which is incorporated herein by reference. Another example of a cold pressure fix toner is comprised of a copolymer of styrene with 1-tertiary-butyl-2-ethenyl benzene and a polyolefin wax exemplified for example as Xerox 4060 cold pressure fix toner. Other cold fix toners have been based on a long chain acrylate core produced by suspension polymerization, such as lauryl acrylate. Examples of such compositions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,013,630 and 5,023,159 which are incorporated herein by reference. Such systems are designed to have a core with a Tg less than room temperature. A hard shell, such as polyurethane prepared by an interfacial polymerization, is disposed about the core in order to keep the liquid content in the core in the toner particle.
Performance issues in designs with high wax content include that they work only at high pressure, such as about 2000 psi or even 4000 psi, which are respectively, 140 kgf/cm2 and 280 kgf/cm2 and even then image robustness can be poor. In the case of long chain acrylate core designs the shell needs to be very thin to break under pressure, but it can be very challenging to prevent the capsules from leaking because the core is typically a liquid at room temperature.

Cold pressure fix toner compositions based on small molecule crystalline and amorphous organic compound mixtures


In the pedal assembly of a sewing machine drive device, a potentiometer operating member is guided by a mounting stand secured to the pedal stand, to control the slide shaft of a direct acting type potentiometer, and a speed changing pedal including a depressing board to depress the potentiometer operating member with its one end portion is coupled to the pedal stand with the other end portion. When the speed changing pedal is stepped on, a signal is outputted to change the speed of rotation of the sewing machine according the movement of the pedal thus stepped on. The pedal stand may have an opening with which the pedal is swingably engaged. In addition, signal pedals may be arranged in alignment with the speed changing pedal with the same mounting means provided at the position of those pedals, so as to allow the pedals to swap in position with one another.

This invention relates to the pedal assembly of a sewing machine drive device which is used when a person operates a sewing machine while standing.
FIGS. 9 through 11 show one example of a conventional pedal assembly of this type, disclosed, for instance, by Japanese Utility Patent Application Publication No. 49270/1988. More specifically, FIGS. 9 and 10 are a front view and a left side view of the pedal unit, respectively, and FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line II--II in FIG. 9. In those figures, reference numeral 80 designates a lever unit. The lever unit 80 is made up of a photo-sensor for starting and stopping a sewing machine, a Hall device for providing a rotation speed instruction for the sewing machine, a magnet for operating the Hall device, a lever 88 for operating the shield plate of the photo-sensor, a spring urging the lever 88 upwardly at all times, and a frame supporting those components. The lever unit 80 is held in a casing 82 together with a printed circuit board on which a circuit for processing the output signal of the Hall device is formed. The casing 82 is fixedly mounted on a casing mounting board 100 which is a lateral member reinforcing the lower end portions of the legs of a sewing machine table. The casing mounting board 100 is secured to a pedal mounting stand 42 with bolts 84. The casing 82 has a lid 130. The lever 88 is provided with a coupling rod 86. More specifically, the coupling rod 86 is used to couple the lever 88 to a pedal 90 through a ball joint 122. The pedal 90 is secured to a pedal stand 92 with a hinge 94. The pedal assembly further comprises a pedal stand mounting board 96 which has its upper end portion secured to the casing mounting board 100, and its lower end portion secured to the pedal stand 92 with screws 102. A cord 104 is extended from the lever unit 80, and connected to a control board (not shown). A foot switch pedal 106 (for providing a thread cutting signal for instance) is secured to the pedal stand 92 through a hinge 94. Another foot switch pedal 110 (for providing a presser bar lifting signal when a material to be sewed is turned, set or removed, for instance) is fixedly mounted on a foot switch pedal stand 112. Pedal stand coupling boards 114 are provided on both sides of the foot switch pedal stand 112. More specifically, the pedal coupling boards are secured to the pedal stand 92 with screws 116 at several points. Several screw holes are additionally formed on both sides of the pedal stand 112, so that another foot switch pedal stand 112 can be provided as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 9 when necessary.
The conventional pedal assembly is constructed as described above. Upon stepping on the pedal 90, the lever 88 is pulled downwardly through the coupling rode 86 until it strikes against the stopper 120. In this operation, the lever unit 80 produces a rotation speed instruction for the sewing machine in correspondence to the amount of movement of the lever 88. The rotation speed instruction thus produced is applied to the control board (not shown) through the cord 104.
As was described above, in the conventional pedal assembly the lever unit 80 and the pedal section are provided separately. Therefore, in order to set the pedal assembly below the sewing machine table, it is necessary to fixedly secure the casing 82 accommodating the lever unit 80 on the pedal mounting stand 42. Thus, the installation of the pedal assembly is rather troublesome.
Furthermore, in the conventional pedal assembly, the Hall device is employed to output the rotation speed instruction for the sewing machine. Accordingly, the pedal assembly needs a printed circuit board on which a circuit for processing the output signal of the Hall device is formed, and the lever 88. Hence, the pedal assembly itself is unavoidably bulky, and relatively large in the number of components, and accordingly high in manufacturing cost.
In the conventional pedal assembly, the pedal 90 is secured to the pedal stand 92 with the hinge 94. Therefore, the pedal 90 cannot be readily removed from the pedal stand 92, for instance, for maintenance.
Sometimes it is necessary to shift the pedal depending on whether the operator is right-handed or whether he is left-handed. That is, sometimes the right-handed person may want to be on the left side of the pedal assembly to operate the pedals 90, 106 and 110 with his right foot, whereas the left-handed person may want to be on the right side of the pedal assembly to operate those pedals with his left foot. In order to operate the sewing machine with high efficiency, the pedal 90 for providing the rotation speed instruction should be set near the operator, because it is frequently operated during sewing. In FIG. 9, the pedal is so arranged as to be convenient for a right-handed person. However, in the case of the conventional pedal assembly, it is rather difficult to shift the pedal because of the above-described construction.

Pedal assembly in sewing machine with potentiometer control device


A fault protection circuit for a respiratory conduit heater element in a respirator humidification system is disclosed. The circuit includes a spark detector as well as overcurrent detector. Several variations are included for the spark detector including a two winding transformer, a center tapped two winding transformer), and a high pass filtered inductor. A semiconductor switching configuration is also disclosed. Once the protection circuit detects a change in current over a certain level, or the average level raises above a threshold, then the current in the heater element is interrupted for a preset period.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to respiratory humidifiers and heated breathing conduits used to couple a patient to the humidifier. A fault protection system for the conduit heater wire is disclosed.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In order to supply gases to a patient or a person needing such gases, it may sometimes be necessary to first humidify those gases, for example using a respiratory humidifier/ventilator system. In such a case where the gases have been humidified, and therefore laden with water, it is likely that during transport through a conduit to the patient, condensation of that water vapour will occur. In order to overcome this disadvantage it is known to associate a heater wire with respiratory humidifier breathing conduits to avoid condensation. Examples of such a heated breathing conduit are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,996 (McPhee) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,770 (Clawson et al.).
However there are safety concerns with using a heated wire system, especially when the gas in the breathing conduit contains a high concentration of oxygen, which may be a common condition in hospitals. It is possible for ignition of the heater wire and conduit materials to occur if certain fault conditions are present. Thus physicians may be hesitant to use a humidifier with an associated heater wire, due to the perceived risks to the patient. However if the a humidifier is not used various respiratory problems can occur due to the lack of controlled humidity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fault protection system for a respiratory conduit heater element which goes some way towards overcoming the abovementioned disadvantages.
Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention consists in a fault protection system for a respiratory conduit heater element comprising:
detecting means which include means to detect a rapid change of current in said heater element,
current interruptor means in series with said heater element, and
timer means adapted to control the action of said interruptor means and thereby in use determining the duration of current interruption, said timer means being triggered by said detecting means.
In a second aspect, the present invention consists in a semiconductor switching circuit for rapidly controlling the AC supply current through a load from a power supply comprising:
two same channel MOSFETs connected in series with their source and gate electrodes respectively tied together, said circuit adapted to receive a switching voltage between the commoned gate and source electrodes, their drain electrodes adapted to be connected to a load and a power supply respectively.
In a third aspect, the present invention consists in a semiconductor switching circuit for rapidly controlling the AC supply current through a load from a power supply comprising:
two same channel MOSFETs connected in series with their drain and gate electrodes respectively tied together, said circuit adapted to receive a switching voltage between the commoned gate and drain electrodes, their source electrodes adapted to be connected to a load and a power supply respectively.
In a fourth aspect, the present invention consists in a fault protection system for a respiratory conduit heater element comprising:
a detector means which includes a peak current detector for detecting current in the heater element
a current interruptor in series with said heater element, and
a timing circuit adapted to control the action of said current interruptor and thereby in use determining the duration of current interruption, said timing circuit being triggered by said detector, when a predetermined threshold current is exceeded.
In a fifth aspect, the present invention consists in a respiratory humidification system wherein a conduit connects a patient to a humidifier, said conduit being heated by a respiratory conduit heater element controlled by said humidifier, the improvement comprising that said humidifier includes a fault protection system for said heater element comprising:
detecting means which include means to detect a rapid change of current in said heater element,
current interruptor means in series with said heater element, and
timer means adapted to control the action of said interruptor means and thereby in use determining the duration of current interruption, said timer means being triggered by said detecting means.
In a sixth aspect, the present invention consists in a respiratory humidification system wherein a conduit connects a patient to a humidifier, said conduit being heated by a respiratory conduit heater element controlled by said humidifier, the improvement comprising that said humidifier includes a fault protection system for said heater element comprising:
detecting means which includes a peak current detector for detecting current in the heater element
current interruptol means in series with said heater element, and timer means adapted to control the action of said interruptor means and thereby in use determining the duration of current interruption, said timer means being triggered by said detecting means, when a predetermined threshold current is exceeded.

Fault protection system for a respiratory conduit heater element


Embodiments of the present invention provide a data transmission method, a sender device, and a receiver device. The method includes: sending, by a sender device, to-be-transmitted data to a receiver device according to a transmission policy; and receiving, by the sender device, feedback information sent by the receiver device. In this process, for to-be-transmitted data after a guard interval in a last radio frame of any scheduling window, the sender device sends the to-be-transmitted data according to the transmission policy, so that no timeout occurs when the sender device is waiting for the feedback information, thereby achieving an objective of improving data transmission efficiency.

Currently, a new time division duplex (Time Division Duplex, TDD) system is proposed, and the system is a half-contention and half-scheduling system. FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a radio frame timeslot in a TDD system in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, a contention window (Contention Window, CW) and a scheduling window (Scheduling Window, SW) appear alternately. Because of uncertainty of a random contention manner, a CW period length dynamically changes and is unpredictable. However, an SW period length is predictable; each SW includes N radio frames (Radio Frame, RF), and there is a guard interval 1 (GAP1) between radio frames. Each radio frame includes a frame header (Header) and a digital field part. The digital field part includes two structures: a downlink period precedes an uplink period; and an uplink period precedes a downlink period (this scenario is not shown in the figure). In each structure, there are several downlink subframes in the downlink period, there are several uplink subframes in the uplink period, and there is a guard interval 2 (GAP2) between the uplink period and the downlink period. When data is transmitted in the TDD system, a sender device determines, according to feedback information, whether a receiver device correctly receives the data, so as to determine a next action. The feedback information includes an acknowledgement (Acknowledgement, ACK) and a negative acknowledgement (Negative Acknowledgement, NACK).
A radio frame with a data field part in which a downlink period precedes an uplink period is used as an example. In the prior art, transmission is performed after uplink data and downlink data are distinguished. For details, reference may be made to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of downlink data transmission in the prior art; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of uplink data transmission in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, data 1 (DATA1) is sent in a downlink period of an nth radio frame, and the receiver device sends feedback information, for example, an ACK1, in an uplink period of the nth radio frame. In this process, the DATA1 and the ACK1 are completed within a same radio frame, and there is no problem with feedback information transmission. However, in FIG. 3, data DATA2 is sent in an uplink period of an nth radio frame, and the receiver device can send feedback information, for example, an ACK2, only in a downlink period of an (n+1)th radio frame. Likewise, data DATA3 is sent in the downlink period of the (n+1)th radio frame, and the receiver device needs to send feedback information, for example, an ACK3, only in a downlink period of an (n+2)th radio frame. Therefore, it can be learned that, for a radio frame in which a downlink period precedes an uplink period, when uplink data is transmitted, two radio frames need to be occupied to complete the uplink data and feedback information corresponding to the uplink data. In this way, for a last radio frame in a scheduling window, when sending any DATA in an uplink period, the sender device needs to wait for a CW with an unpredictable length before corresponding feedback information may be received. Consequently, a timeout occurs when the sender device is waiting for the feedback information, the sender device needs to resend the DATA in an uplink period or stops sending the data, and data transmission efficiency is low.
Likewise, when the data field part of the radio frame is of a structure in which an uplink period precedes a downlink period, for a last radio frame in a scheduling window, the sender device needs to wait for a CW with an unpredictable length before corresponding feedback information may be received. Consequently, a timeout occurs when the sender device is waiting for the feedback information, the sender device needs to resend the DATA in an uplink period or stops sending the data, and data transmission efficiency is low.

Data transmission method, sender device, and receiver device


A layer of a metal is electroplated onto an electrically conducting substrate having a generally smooth surface with a small recess therein, having a transverse dimension not greater than about 350 micrometers, typically from about 5 micrometers to about 350 micrometers, by immersing the substrate and a counterelectrode in an electroplating bath of the metal to be electroplated and passing a modulated reversing electric current between the electrodes. The current contains pulses that are cathodic with respect to said substrate and pulses that are anodic with respect to said substrate. The cathodic pulses have a duty cycle less than about 50% and said anodic pulses have a duty cycle greater than about 50%, the charge transfer ratio of the cathodic pulses to the anodic pulses is greater than one, and the frequency of said pulses ranges from about 10 Hertz to about 5000 Hertz.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrodeposition of metals and more particularly to electrodeposition of metals into small recesses on the surface of a substrate.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the manufacture of electronic equipment, development of technology and economics have driven the industry toward ever-smaller devices, containing ever-increasing numbers of components. At the level of semiconductor devices very large scale integration (VLSI) has produced chips containing up to a few million transistors on a single semiconductor chip no larger than several millimeters on a side. Such chips have conventionally been packaged or encapsulated in small modules having external lead wires for interconnecting the chips. The interconnections have conventionally been provided by circuit boards having electrical conductors prepared by so called "printed wiring" techniques that involve masking, etching, and plating of conductive metal, usually copper, to provide the interconnects between chip modules or sockets designed to hold such modules. These "printed wiring boards" (PWB) have typically been used to interconnect chips of conventional sizes. The chips or socket are mounted on the surface of the board with terminals fitted into holes through the board. The holes are typically lined with a thin layer of copper that is integral with the traces of copper on the surface of the board. The terminals of the chips or sockets are soldered to the copper layer lining the holes and thereby interconnected through the copper traces. The PWBs may have more than one layer of copper traces. Connections between traces in different layers are also provided by copper-lined holes passing through the board, commonly known as plated through-holes (PTHs)
The copper lining in such holes is typically applied electrolytically, by first laying down a thin layer of electroless copper to provide electrical continuity and then electroplating copper to a thickness of a few mils to provide the connecting layer. The holes in the PWBs typically are at least 12-13 mils in diameter. Because of the well-known problem of depositing metal electrolytically in recesses, special techniques have to be used to assure that a uniform layer of conductive metal is deposited in the holes. Consequently conventional techniques to enhance the "throwing power" of the electroplating system have been employed, such as agitation of the bath, addition of certain chemical compounds to the electroplating bath, and/or the use of pulsed current plating.
Although conventional techniques have generally been successful in the manufacture of PWBs having the dimensions that have been commonly used in electronic devices such as television receivers, personal computers, and the like, the trend to ever-smaller equipment such as cellular telephones, more advanced computers, and the like, has led to the necessity of mounting chips closer together in multichip modules (MCMs). Instead of terminals extending into holes in the circuit board, such MCMs frequently have only metallized locations on a major surface of the module to provide interconnections. The semiconductor devices or chips are placed relatively close together on a substrate having holes drilled therein at the locations of the interconnecting pads on the modules. In such boards the holes are typically of smaller diameter than those of conventional PWBs, and may range from about 25 micrometers (1 mil) to about 250 micrometers (10 mils). Such holes are also effectively blind holes, because the semiconductor devices are already mounted to the board, and the conductor deposition step provides the electrical contact to the terminal pads on the semiconductor devices as well as the interconnections between the devices. The use of small chips mounted close together and interconnected by means of conductors deposited in small holes has come to be known as high density interconnect (HDI) technology.
Deposition of conductive metal into the small, blind holes or vias used in HDI has presented a number of problems. Conventional metallization procedures, such as chemical vapor deposition or physical vapor deposition, are slow and expensive. Electroplating into small blind holes using conventional procedures has not been able to provide a reliable layer of conductive metal in the hole to assure a reliable interconnection of the chips. In particular, conventional electroplating techniques tend to deposit excess metal at the sharp corners at the top or entrance of the hole. Such deposits encroach on the opening of the hole and hinder deposition in the lower portion of the hole. They may even completely block the mouth of the hole leading to voids in the vias or interconnects. Furthermore, chemical additives in the plating bath may lead to inclusions of impurities derived from the plating bath within the metal deposit. Such problems can lead to connections that have a high electrical resistance and are mechanically brittle and unreliable in service. In addition, the use of nonconventional electroplating techniques such as pulse current plating, typically in conjunction with chemical additives, has relied on waveform parameters successfully developed for traditional PWB applications, such as 13 mil and greater PTHs. These waveforms generally operate with long cathodic duty cycles and short anodic duty cycles. This approach has led to similar problems encountered in conventional plating with excess metal deposit at the opening of the via leading to voids in the interconnect or to excessive deposit of metal on the surface of the substrate. In addition to the problems cited above, such nonuniform metallization within the via or between the via and the substrate results in excessive processing time and cost associated with the excess metal.
Accordingly, a need has continued to exist for a method of depositing metallic conductors, especially copper, into the blind holes used in high density interconnects for multichip modules and the like.

Electrodeposition of metals in small recesses for manufacture of high density interconnects using reverse pulse plating


A occupant protection system for protecting an occupant of a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane during a crash. The occupant protection system includes a chair positioned inside a vehicle such as an airplane, automobile, truck, or a boat. The chair has a seat portion and a backrest portion. The seat portion has a pair of leg clamp panels pivotally coupled to it to lock a pair of legs to the seat portion in anticipation of a crash. The backrest portion has a pair of arm clamp panels pivotally coupled to it to press the arms and torso of a user towards the backrest and hold them tightly therebetween. Also disclosed is a capsule in which the chair is disposed. The capsule has several protective layers. An emergency raft forms part of the backrest of the chair when not in use, and is removable for use in case of an accident on or above water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to emergency seats and capsules and more particularly pertains to a new occupant protection system for protecting an occupant of a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane during a crash.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of emergency seats and capsules is known in the prior art. More specifically, emergency seats and capsules heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,736,523; 5,297,761; 3,067,973; 5,058,830; 5,110,071; PCT Patent No. WO 94/22714; and PCT Patent No. WO 94/07105.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new occupant protection system. The inventive device includes a chair positioned inside a vehicle such as an airplane, automobile, truck, or a boat. The chair has a seat portion and a backrest portion. The seat portion has a pair of leg clamp panels pivotally coupled to it to lock a pair of legs to the seat portion in anticipation of a crash. The backrest portion has a pair of arm clamp panels pivotally coupled to it to press the arms and torso of a user towards the backrest and hold it tightly therebetween.
In these respects, the occupant protection system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of protecting an occupant of a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane during a crash.


According to one embodiment, a nonaqueous electrolyte battery including a negative electrode that includes a negative electrode current collector and a negative electrode mixed-materials layer is provided. The negative electrode mixed-materials layer includes a titanium-including metal oxide particle that includes a phase including a carbon material on a surface and a binder that includes an acrylic resin. The negative electrode satisfies Equation (I):α/β>6  (I)                α is a peel strength (kN/m) between the negative electrode current collector and the negative electrode mixed-materials layer, and β is a cutting strength (kN/m) in the negative electrode mixed-materials layer.

Presently, research and development of a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery in which charging and discharging are performed by moving Li ions between a negative electrode and a positive electrode, as a high energy density battery, have been actively conducted. Until now, a lithium ion secondary battery which includes a positive electrode including LiCoO2 or LiMn2O4 as an active material and a negative electrode including a carbonaceous material that inserts and extracts lithium has been widely commercialized for mobile devices.
The lithium ion secondary battery has been recently and widely used as power sources for environmental-friendly automobiles such as electric vehicles (EV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and vehicles equipped with an idling-stop system (ISS), which are developed in view of environmental issues. When the lithium ion secondary battery is mounted on a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid electric vehicle, the lithium ion secondary battery is required to have storage performance under high temperature environment, cycle performance, high power with long-term reliability and the like.
In addition, when the lithium ion secondary battery is installed in an engine compartment of an automobile to be used as a substitute for a lead storage battery, it is required for the lithium ion secondary battery to have high temperature durability (for example, at 60° C. or more, and preferably, 80° C. or more). Further, when high performance in cold regions is required, high power performance or long life performance at low temperature environment (for example, −30° C.) is needed.
Accordingly, constituent materials of batteries such as a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator, and a nonaqueous electrolyte are required to be composed of materials having excellent chemical and electrochemical stability, strength, and corrosion resistance at high temperature and low temperature.
However, a negative electrode used in a nonaqueous electrolyte battery such as a lithium ion secondary battery has generally a structure in which a negative electrode active material layer is formed on a current collector. In addition to a negative electrode active material, a binder for binding the negative electrode active materials to each other and for binding the negative electrode active material and the current collector is used in the negative electrode active material layer.
As the binder, a fluorine-based resin (for example, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF)) or a modified substance thereof is generally used. However, the fluorine-based resin or the modified substance thereof easily swells with respect to the nonaqueous electrolyte at a high temperature. Accordingly, there is concern that high temperature cycle performance may be deteriorated in a battery having a negative electrode including the fluorine-based resin or the modified substance thereof as the binder. Specifically, in the battery using such a fluorine-based resin as the binder for the negative electrode, network of an electron conduction of the negative electrode is disconnected as charge-and-discharge cycles proceed at a high temperature, and as a result, internal resistance of the negative electrode is increased.
Therefore, a synthetic rubbery polymer such as an acrylic resin, instead of the fluorine-based resin such as PVdF, is proposed as the binder for the negative electrode.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nonaqueous electrolyte battery, battery pack, and vehicle


A rubber composition comprising a sulfur-vulcanizable rubber, N,N'-dithiodiamine, a thermosetting resin and a curing agent has a high dynamic modulus in the vulcanizate. A tire using the vulcanizate as a bead filler rubber has improved impact absorbing property and vibration damping property and is excellent in the ride feeling.

The present invention relates to a super rigid rubber composition and a tire using the rubber composition, and more particularly relates to a super rigid rubber composition comprising a sulfur-vulcanizable rubber, N,N'-dithiodiamine or its derivative, a thermosetting resin and a curing agent, and a tire using the rubber composition as a tire part.
The inventors have made basic investigations for tire and found out that the use of a vulcanized rubber having a dynamic modulus of not less than 300 kg/cm.sup.2, preferably 500-1,500 kg/cm.sup.2, more preferably 700-1,500 kg/cm.sup.2, as a tire part, particularly as a bead filler rubber of a tire, improves remarkably the performance of the tire, and have further made various investigations in order to obtain a vulcanized rubber having such high modulus (hereinafter, such rubber is referred to as super rigid rubber).
In general, commonly used vulcanized rubbers have a dynamic modulus of about 20-100 kg/cm.sup.2, and the commercial production of vulcanized rubbers having a dynamic modulus of higher than about 100 kg/cm.sup.2 has various problems in the workability and processability. For example, a large amount of heat is generated due to the high rigidty of the rubber at the kneading in a Banbury mixer. Moreover, since a large amount of vulcanizer or vulcanization accelerator is used in order to increase the dynamic modulus of a rubber, the rubber scorches and an overload is subjected to the Banbury mixer. Further, when the rubber is extruded through a nozzle of an extruder, the nozzle is damaged due to the high rigidity and viscosity of the rubber or the rubber scorches, and the commerical production of the rubber is substantially impossible.

Super rigid rubber composition and a tire using the same


The present disclosure describes rapid convergence of an Access Network (AN). A VLAN forwarder is allocated to a first Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) and traffic for the first VLAN is forwarded to and from the AN via the VLAN forwarder. When detecting that the VLAN forwarder satisfies a VLAN reallocation condition, the VLAN forwarder blocks traffic of the first VLAN to and from the AN via the VLAN forwarder, and calculates a characteristic value of the VLAN forwarder. A packet carrying the characteristic value of the VLAN forwarder is transmitted to each neighbor VLAN forwarder such that VLAN reallocation is performed by a VLAN allocator if the characteristic value of the VLAN forwarder is the same as that of each neighbor VLAN forwarder. After receiving information that the VLAN forwarder is reallocated to a second VLAN, the VLAN forwarder allows the traffic of the second VLAN to and from the AN via the VLAN forwarder.

A transport network (also known as a provider network) may be used to connect multiple geographically dispersed access networks (also known as customer networks) via a wide area network. An access network (AN) is a network, which connects an access device of a host to a core switching device. One example technology for carrying user traffic through a transport network is Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL), which is a Layer 2 (L2) network standard recommended by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). TRILL is configured to solve deficiencies of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) in a large-scale data center. In a TRILL network, a device running a TRILL protocol may be referred to as a Routing Bridge (RB) device. The RB device may transmit a Hello packet periodically, so as to discover and maintain a neighbor relationship with a neighbor RB. Another example is Ethernet Virtual Interconnect (EVI) where a site network may access a public network via an edge device (ED).


A flat air filter element for an air filter has a filter medium of cellulose material and a sealing element extending circumferentially about the filter medium. Sealing element and filter medium have at least one recess at an outer contour of the flat air filter element. The sealing element has a circumferentially extending holding groove to be engaged by a housing part of a filter housing. The filter housing has a housing pot, a housing cover to cover the housing pot, and a closure element for closing the filter housing. The flat air filter element is secured in the closed state of the filter housing by circumferentially clamping the sealing element between housing pot and housing cover. The circumferentially extending holding groove of the sealing element is engaged by housing pot or housing cover. The closure element of the filter housing is arranged in the region of the recess.

The invention concerns a flat air filter element, in particular for an air filter in the air intake manifold of an internal combustion engine, as well as an air filter.
Air filters are employed in the air intake manifold in internal combustion engines, for example, in motor vehicles, in order to remove contaminants from the combustion air to be supplied to the internal combustion engine. When the combustion air passes through a filter medium of the air filter, a pressure loss occurs which may reduce the power of the internal combustion engine. In order to reduce the pressure loss, a filter surface of the filter element can be enlarged. However, an installation space which is available for the air filter is often greatly limited, for example, in the engine compartment of a motor vehicle, so that the air filter cannot be enlarged sufficiently.
DE 10 2010 053 200 A1 discloses a filter element for an interior filter of an air conditioning or ventilation system that comprises a pentagonal bellows wherein the bellows is comprised of a first rectangular partial bellows and a second quadrangular partial bellows. In this way, the quantity of waste of filter material when manufacturing the pentagonal bellows can be reduced.
DE 203 10 833 U1 discloses a filter insert for installation in a flow channel with a predetermined installation cross section. The filter insert comprises an outer contour which is adapted to the installation cross section of the flow channel, wherein a plastic part is placed onto a bellows in order to adapt the folded bellows to the installation cross section. The bellows can be cut to a trapezoidal shape in order to avoid waste.
EP 1 144 083 B1 shows an air filter for internal combustion engines that comprises a housing with a cover in which a filter insert is inserted. The housing comprises a stay which extends through a cutout in the filter insert between two wall parts of the housing to be reinforced. In this construction, complex sealing measures in the region of the cutouts of the filter insert are required so that the manufacture of the filter insert is made difficult and more expensive. Moreover, there is the risk of damaging the filter insert during installation of the filter insert.
The web page accessible at www.dnafilters.com/en/technology/the-anatomy-of-a-dna-high-performance-filter.html (retrieved on Mar. 21, 2016) describes an air filter insert for motorcycles which comprises a filter medium of oil-impregnated cotton. The filter medium is arranged between two metal mesh layers and within a rim structure of polyurethane wherein a circumferentially extending seal of ethylene vinyl acetate is inserted in the rim structure. The rim structure and the filter medium may have a complex outer circumferential geometry with recesses. A reliable sealing seat in a filter housing cannot be ensured easily with the known air filter element. Also, due to the material composition of the air filter element, a future disposal or recycling of the air filter is made difficult.


An integrated circuit for boundary scan is achieved to be simple structure. A testing apparatus 6 provides a testing data to a serial input port SI of a integrated circuit IC1 via a external terminal unit 2. The testing data is output to a parallel input port PI of the integrated circuit IC2 from a parallel output port SO of the integrated circuit IC1, then the testing data is output from the serial output port SO. The testing apparatus 6 compares with the testing data outputted to the integrated circuit IC1 and the testing data outputted from the integrated circuit IC2 so that a state of connection is detected between the parallel output port PO of the integrated circuit IC1 and the parallel input port PI of the integrated circuit IC2. The construction of the integrated circuits can be simplified by using both of inputting and outputting of the serial interface SIF.

In conventional integrated circuits, as shown in FIG. 1, there are provided a parallel data input port PI and a parallel output port PO, and further provided a serial interface SIF for performing serial communication with a microcomputer or other integrated circuits. In this serial interface SIF, there are provided a serial input terminal SI for data, a serial output terminal SO for data, a clock terminal SCK for communication, and a chip selection terminal CS for selecting a chip to communicate with.
In practice, an integrated circuit has some terminals used for both inputting and outputting data. Therefore, input terminals, output terminals, and terminals for both inputting and outputting data should be called an input/output port as a whole. However, in this specification, the terms of input port and output port are used for simplicity. Furthermore, a parallel input port PI and parallel output port PO are not always arranged in such a regular form, besides some integrated circuits do not have a parallel input port. However, arrangement in regular form is used in Figures for simplicity.
To connect a plurality of integrated circuits having such structure shown in FIG. 2, a parallel output port POA of a first integrated circuit ICA is connected to a parallel input port PIB of a second integrated circuit ICB, and furthermore, corresponding a serial input terminal SI, a serial output terminal SO and a clock terminal SCK of a microcomputer 9 are connected to integrated circuits ICA and ICB in common. Each chip selection terminals CS of integrated circuits ICA and ICB is individually connected to a microcomputer 9 for control, so that time sharing communication with a chip selected by the chip selection terminal CS is performed.
To perform data transmission or reception between these connected integrated circuits, it is required to test whether or not every parallel input port PI and parallel output port PO of all integrated circuits are surely connected. As integrated circuits are mounted at higher density on a limited area of circuit board, difficulty becomes more serious in surely testing a state of connection due to more complicated connection.
One of the methods proposed to solve the above problems is a testing method called boundary scan (hereafter referred to simply as B/S) method (IEEE Std, 1149.1-1990, issue May 21, 1990). In this method, as shown in FIG. 3, this type of integrated circuit IC11 has a testing interface TIF for B/S in addition to a parallel data input port PI, a parallel output port PO, and a serial interface SIF for serial communication. Provided that same as drawings in prior art shall not apply to designation symbols of application drawings in the present invention.
This testing interface TIF comprises a testing serial input terminal TSI for inputting testing data in serial form from the outside, a testing serial output terminal TSO for outputting the input testing data in serial form, a testing clock input terminal TCK for inputting a clock signal for use in processing of the testing data, and a testing mode selection terminal TMS for inputting a command which sets the integrated circuit IC11 to a testing mode.
As shown in FIG. 4, in this integrated circuit IC11, between the parallel input port PI and a function logic circuit FLG for performing predetermined data processing, there are provided boundary-scan cells (shortened form of B/S cell) BC1 to BC4 which correspond respectively to input terminals PI1 to PI4 of the parallel input port PI. This integrated circuit has an input/output port in a 4-bit form. The parallel input port PI consists of four input terminals PI1 to PI4. Each of these input terminals PI1 to PI4 is individually connected to each of B/S cells BC1 to BC4.
Furthermore, between the parallel output port PO and the function logic circuit FLG for performing predetermined data processing, there are provided B/S cells BC 5 to BC8 which correspond respectively to output terminals PO5 to PO8 of the parallel output port PO.
Each of B/S cells BC1 to BC8 has a switching circuit and a latch circuit so that it inputs and holds data, and transfers the data on the basis of a clock. Other features of structure of B/S cells are disclosed in the literature described above.
For simplicity, the testing clock input terminal TCK and the testing mode selection terminal TMS are not shown in FIG. 4.
The integrated circuit IC11 having the structure described above performs operation comprising steps of:
(1) transferring 4-bit serial data, being input into the testing signal input terminal TSI, to B/S cells BC5 to BC8 via B/S cells BC1 to BC4, then outputting the data from the testing serial output terminal TSO;
(2) storing temporarily 4-bit data, being input in parallel form from the input terminals PI1 to PI4, in B/S cells BC1 to BC4, then transferring the stored data to B/S cells BC5 to BC8, furthermore outputting the data in serial form via the testing serial output terminal TSO; and
(3) transferring 4-bit serial data, input into the testing serial input terminal TSI, to B/S cells BC5 to BC8 via B/S cells BC1 to BC4, then outputting the data in parallel form from the corresponding output terminals PO5 to PO8.
The integrated circuit IC11 having a testing interface TIF and B/S cells BC1 to BC8, and integrated circuits IC12, IC13 and IC14 having similar structure are connected in such a manner shown in FIG. 5. 4-bit serial testing data TD is input into the testing serial input terminal TSI of the first integrated circuit IC11. This input testing data TD is transferred to the B/S cells BC5 to BC8 via the B/S cells BC1 to BC4 shown in FIG. 4, and then is output to the parallel input port PI of the second integrated circuit IC12.
The testing data TD, input into the parallel input port PI of the second integrated circuit IC12, is stored in B/S cells (similar to the B/S cells BC1 to BC4 in FIG. 4) provided to correspond to the parallel input port PI of the second integrated circuit IC12, and then it is transferred to the B/S cells (similar to the B/S cells BC5 to BC8 in FIG. 4) corresponding to the parallel output PO of the second integrated circuit IC12, and finally it is output from the testing serial output terminal TSO. Similarly, after that, in integrated circuits IC13 and IC14, the testing data is input and output via testing serial input terminals TS1 and via testing serial output terminals TSO of these integrated circuits.
In this way, testing data TD is outputted via the parallel output port PI of the integrated circuit IC11 and via the parallel input port PO of the integrated circuit IC12. When "1111" is input, for example, as testing data TD, if there exists any disconnection or defective connection in any of parallel signal lines between the parallel output port PO of the integrated circuit IC11 and the parallel input port PI of the integrated circuit IC12, just portions of the data corresponding to the failure become "0" in the serial data output from the testing serial output terminal TSO of the second integrated circuit IC12. Thus, for example, "1011" or such a kind of data will be output.
Therefore, a state of connection between the first integrated circuit IC11 and the second integrated circuit IC12 can be tested based on the above output data.
For simplicity of explanation, a case in which connection is made in regular form is described here, while the integrated circuit IC11, in practice, might be also connected to the integrated circuit IC13, or the output of the integrated circuit IC12 might be input into the integrated circuit IC11.
However, the testing interface TIF, which is provided in the above integrated circuit for inputting or outputting testing data, leads to complexity in the structure.

Apparatus and method for testing the interconnection between integrated circuits


Provided is a technique for a stably operable complementary single ended push pull (SEPP) circuit. A buffer circuit includes the following: an NPN transistor and a PNP transistor that constitute a complementary SEPP circuit; a first resistor; a second resistor; a first load element having one end connected to a gate of a semiconductor switching element and another end connected to a base of the NPN transistor; and a second load element having one end connected to the gate of the semiconductor switching element and another end connected to a base of the PNP transistor.

While a semiconductor switching element is turning-on, a recovery current causes a radiated noise and a turn-on loss for instance. Conversely, while the semiconductor switching element is turning-off, a surge voltage causes an overvoltage and a turn-off loss for instance. As such, the semiconductor switching element behaves in a different manner during its turn-on and turn-off operations in driving its switching operations. Accordingly, the turn-on and the turn-off operations need to have switching speeds (hereinafter referred to as "SW speeds") different from each other.
In order to individually control the SW speeds of the turn-on and turn-off operations, a buffer circuit has been proposed that includes a complementary single ended push pull (hereinafter abbreviated as a "complementary SEPP") circuit (e.g., Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing a reverse voltage of an NPN transistor and a reverse voltage of a PNP transistor that constitute the complementary SEPP, thereby enabling the complementary SEPP circuit to stably operate.


A storage-reduction type NOx purifying catalyst includes a monolith substrate having formed thereon a coat layer containing a cerium-zirconium composite oxide and a cerium-free oxide, a noble metal and an NOx storing material being supported on the coat layer and the cerium content of the cerium-zirconium composite oxide being less than 30 mol % based on the total molar number of metal atoms contained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust gas purifying catalyst for purifying an exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine such as automobile engine, more specifically, the present invention relates to a storage-reduction type NOxpurifying catalyst in which the sulfur poisoning of the NOx storing material is remarkably reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
The exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine, such as automobile engine, can be purified by a three-way catalyst which promotes burning of carbon monoxide (CO), burning of hydrocarbon (HC) and reduction of nitrogen oxide (NOx).
This three-way catalyst is generally constituted by forming a coat layer of a catalyst support such as γ-alumina on a monolith substrate and loading a catalyst component such as platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd) and rhodium (Rh) on the coat layer.
The three-way catalyst can efficiently perform the above-described purification when the exhaust gas has a composition in a specific range. Therefore, the air-fuel ratio in the internal combustion engine is strictly limited so as to give an exhaust gas composition in a specific narrow range. However, in practice, the exhaust gas composition undergoes a certain degree of fluctuation, due to the time lag in the control system or the like, and sometimes deviates from the specific narrow range.
Here, a cerium-zirconium composite oxide can provide an oxygen storage capacity (OSC) to absorb oxygen in an oxidative atmosphere containing O2 in a relatively large amount and releasing oxygen in a reducing atmosphere containing CO and HC in a relatively large amount, because the Ce atom contained therein can cause a change in the valence number.
Accordingly, when a cerium-zirconium composite oxide is contained in the exhaust gas purifying catalyst, the exhaust gas composition in the vicinity of the catalyst component fluctuates less and the above-described exhaust gas purification can proceed more efficiently.
In addition, considerable heat is generated accompanying the oxygen absorption of the cerium-zirconium composite oxide and this heat can be utilized for warming of the catalyst at engine start-up and can expedite the starting of the catalytic activity. By virtue of these properties, the cerium-zirconium composite oxide is used as a co-catalyst for the exhaust gas purifying catalyst.
As for the related art describing such a cerium-zirconium composite oxide, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 10-194742 and 6-279027 and the like are known. In general, the cerium-zirconium composite oxide as the OSC material is considered to optimally have a cerium content as high as about 50 mol %.
On the other hand, for the purpose of advancing environmental protection, reduction in the generation amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) discharged from an internal combustion engine such as automobile engine and reduction in the generation amount of NOx are an important issue. In order to attain such reduction, a lean-burn engine has been developed for the purpose of improving the fuel consumption and a storage-reduction type NOx purifying catalyst obtained by adding a function of storing NOx in a lean atmosphere to a conventional three-way catalyst has been developed for the purpose of purifying the exhaust gas of the lean-burn engine. These have a certain success against the above-described problem.
In the lean-burn engine, the fuel is usually burned at an air-fuel ratio (A/F) in the lean (oxygen-excess) condition and temporarily and intermittently burned in the rich (fuel-excess) condition.
HC and CO in the exhaust gas are efficiently burned and removed in the lean condition by the action of catalyst in the oxidative atmosphere. On the other hand, NOx is absorbed by a storing material in the lean condition and this NOx is temporarily released in the rich condition and reduced and purified by the action of catalyst in the temporary reducing atmosphere.
For the NOx storing material of the storage-reduction type NOx purifying catalyst, an alkali metal and/or an alkaline earth metal are generally used. Such an NOx storing material is considered to change into a nitrate in the lean atmosphere and into a carbonate in the rich atmosphere and thereby perform the absorption and desorption of NOx.
The lean-burn internal combustion engine such as diesel engine is characterized in that the heat efficiency is high and, therefore, the generated amount of CO2 is small. On the other hand, this internal combustion engine is disadvantageous in that NOx is generated in a relatively large amount and moreover, particulates of harmful substances are generated. Therefore, it is an important problem to reduce both NOx and particulates.
To solve this problem, the present inventors have proposed, as described in Kokai No. 2001-271634, an exhaust gas purifying system (DPNR) where NOx and particulate both are simultaneously purified by combining the control of air-fuel ratio in the combustion system with a specific catalyst in the exhaust system.
In this system, a storage-reduction type NOxpurifying catalyst is similarly used as the exhaust gas purifying catalyst and the fuel is usually burned in the lean condition and temporarily and intermittently burned in the rich condition, whereby the particulates are burned and purified using the active oxygen generated from NOx storing material or the like accompanying the fluctuation in the exhaust gas composition and at the same time, NOx is reduced and purified.
In use of the storage-reduction type NOxpurifying catalyst, the lean atmosphere and the rich atmosphere must be swiftly changed over by the control of the air-fuel ratio and therefore, depending on the case, the cerium-zirconium composite oxide as the OSC material having an action of absorbing and releasing oxygen is used in a small amount only for the early warming of the catalyst at engine start-up.
However, the fuel for the internal combustion engine contains a trace of sulfur. This sulfur is oxidized in the internal combustion engine and is coverted into SOx which is an exhaust gas component. When this SOx comes into contact with the storage-reduction type NOx purifying catalyst, a part is oxidized even into SO3 by platinum or the like as a catalyst component and the NOx storing material such as alkali metal and/or alkaline earth metal forms a sulfate.
The sulfate is chemically rather stable, compared to a carbonate and a nitrate and the sulfuric acid radical is not easily desorbed from the NOx storing material even in the rich atmosphere at high temperature. As a result, the NOx absorbing and releasing action and/or the active oxygen producing action of the NOxstoring material are inhibited to incur aging reduction in the performance of the storage-reduction type NOxpurifying catalyst.
This reduction in the catalytic performance of the storage-reduction type NOx purifying catalyst by SOx, namely, sulfur poisoning is one of important problems to be solved in use of the storage-reduction type NOx purifying catalyst.

Storage-reduction type NOx purifying catalyst


A seal assembly for use in a compressor stage of a turbine engine having a rotor disk which is attached to a plurality of rotor blades. Each rotor blade has an axially oriented dovetail attachment which connects to the rotor disk. Each rotor blade has an aftward side which is in contact with a high pressure region and a forward side which is in contact with a low pressure region. A plurality of seal segments form an annular ring located radially inward from the plurality of rotor blades. Each seal segment has an offset center of gravity which causes each seal segment to be securely attached to the rotor disk as centrifugal forces act upon each seal segment during rotation.

The present invention relates to seals for gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to an air leakage seal for the blade root region of a compressor rotor blade.
Gas turbine engines have been utilized to power a wide variety of vehicles and have found particular application in aircraft. The operation of a gas turbine engine can be summarized in a three step process in which air is compressed in a rotating compressor, heated in a combustion chamber, and expanded through a turbine. The power output of the turbine is utilized to drive the compressor and any mechanical load connected to the drive. Modern lightweight aircraft engines, in particular, have adopted the construction of an axial-flow compressor comprising a plurality of lightweight annular disk members carrying airfoils at the peripheries thereof. Some of the disk members are attached to an inner rotor and are therefore rotating (rotor) blade assemblies while other disk members depend from an outer casing and are therefore stationary (stator) blade or vane assemblies. The airfoils or blades act upon the fluid (air) entering the inlet of the compressor and raise its temperature and pressure preparatory to directing the air to a continuous flow combustion system. The air travels through a flowpath which traverses several stages of rotor blades and stator vanes.
As air is directed downstream across a compressor rotor blade, a rise in pressure occurs. This pressure differential between the downstream side of the rotor blade and its upstream side creates an opportunity for air to leak back upstream through any root attachment gaps. These gaps can be blade-to-blade, i.e., those gaps existing between rotor blades in a given stage, and/or blade-to-disk, i.e., those gaps existing between a blade and the rotor disk to which it is attached.
The sealing of such blade-to-blade and blade-to-disk gaps has proved to be a difficult problem to address. Some of these gaps have been sealed by an elastomer or rubber-like compound which is squeezed into the gaps for the purpose of blocking a leakage path. However, in high temperature environments, such rubber-like seals have a propensity to fail as a result of being exposed to temperatures which exceed the thermal limits of the seal.
Thus, a need is seen for a seal which will effectively reduce blade-to-blade and blade-to-disk leakage in a compressor of a gas turbine engine.

Compressor rotor cross shank leak seal for axial dovetails


The method of the invention corrects for a color shift in a color scan mechanism. The method initially senses plural component color data that is derived from the color scan mechanism. A determination is made of whether at least one color component value exhibits a value that exceeds a first threshold. The method also determines if another color component exhibits a value that exceeds a second threshold. If it is determined that both of the color components exceed the respective thresholds, then the one color component value is altered to a predetermined desired color value, so as to correct for color shift.

This invention relates to image scanners and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for enabling automatic correction of blue drift which can occur in scanned image data acquired during a scan action.
Currently, many image scanners employ cold cathode fluorescent bulbs as a light source. During a scan action, relative movement between the fluorescent light source and a document being scanned enables capture of the image data from the document. Full color scanners enable acquisition of red, green and blue data during the scan action. A scanner that is capable of scanning a full color image can take up to 8 minutes to complete a scan of a single page due to the large amounts of color data which must be accumulated. For instance, during such a scan, each pixel is represented by (for example) 24 bits of data. By contrast, a black/white image only requires one bit per pixel.
Cold cathode fluorescent lamps inherently exhibit a blue shift in their light spectrum when they are powered for more than several minutes. Thus, during a scan of a full color image (which, as indicated above, can take up to 8 minutes), a significant blue shift can and does occur in the light output spectrum of the fluorescent lamp, which blue shift is detected by the light sensors within the scanner. Such blue shift causes an unwanted blue hue in white background areas of a scanned image, among other color anomalies.
The prior art, in attempting to correct the blue shift phenomenon found in scanners, has attempted to modify the scan head structure to compensate for the blue drift. Such a modification widens the scan region seen by the color sensors and includes a calibration strip. The scanned calibration strip data provides known color values which are used to adjust or compensate the scanned image data when blue drift occurs. Such a solution adds additional expense to the scanning mechanism and is subject to error if the calibration strip becomes occluded via deposited dust.
Accordingly, there is a need for method and apparatus which corrects for blue drift and which avoids the need for modifications to scanner structures.
Further, such method and apparatus should enable the blue drift correction in such a manner as to be independent of calibration strips and the like.
The method of the invention corrects for a color shift in a color scan mechanism. The method initially senses plural component color data that is derived from the color scan mechanism. A determination is made of whether at least one color component value exhibits a value that exceeds a first threshold. The method also determines if another color component exhibits a value that exceeds a second threshold. If it is determined that both of the color components exceed the respective thresholds, then the one color component value is altered to a predetermined desired color value, so as to correct for color shift.

Method and apparatus for correcting blue drift in an image scanner

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A device for planting of agricultural seeds extremely rapidly and particularly adaptable to airborne planting including a tank-like device for holding seeds and for containing compressed air. Various types of devices are provided to align the seeds and insert them into a movable nozzle from which the compressed air shoots the seed into the ground.

This application is a continuation in part of applicant's previous application, Ser. No. 666,741, filed Mar. 25, 1976 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,238, and is principally concerned with the use of a movable, controllable nozzle for a pneumatic planter.
The recent increase in productivity of the agricultural community has largely been made possible by the development of larger and more efficient and effective production machinery. Some of the increase has been accomplished simply by increases in size. For example, a row-crop harvester which once was useful to harvest two rows of grain is expanded to harvest four or six rows. But other--and often greater advances have been accomplished by a change of methods of operation. My invention falls into the latter class.
For many years, certain crops such as field corn and soybeans have been planted in rows by means of a planter rolling on the ground and injecting one or more seeds into the ground at periodic intervals timed by the rotation of one of the wheels. Multiple-row planters are simply the multiplication of the system.
The old system works reasonably well. The width of the row spacing can be varied--although somewhat clumsily in most equipment--by moving the individual planter devices closer together or farther apart. However, one big disadvantage is that often in the spring the soil is not dry enough to support the tractor and planter without a great deal of packing together and without the tractor wheels picking up great clumps of mud, and the other attendant problems of too moist earth. At such times, planting is often delayed until a date so late that maturity before frost in the northern latitudes becomes a problem.
My device, by its adaptation to being airborne by helicopter or airplane, will avoid the moisture problem. Further, my device can inject seeds into the soil at an extremely fast rate so that large fields can be planted very rapidly, again increasing the productivity. By the use of a controllable, movable nozzle for injecting the seed, it is possible to sow the seeds over a reasonably wide area and to provide for the use of the device in seeding row crops, or at least in planting the seeds fairly reasonably in rows.

Pneumatic planter having controlled movable nozzle


An object of the present invention is to provide an SBR composition for a torsional damper in which the SBR composition has a good physical property balance of high load-bearing properties, low CS properties, and the kneadability and roll processability of a rubber material, and to provide a torsional damper. The object is achieved in such a manner that the SBR composition for the torsional damper comprises at least: (a) an SBR polymer having a combined styrene content of 10 wt % to 50 wt %; (b) carbon black comprising FEF grade carbon black and HAF grade carbon black blended at a ratio of FEF:HAF=1:3 to 3:1; (c) a crosslinking system including sulfur, a sulfur-donating compound, and an organic peroxide compound; and (d) a co-crosslinking agent, wherein 60 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the carbon black as total parts by weight of the FEF grade carbon black and the HAF grade carbon black is blended based on 100 parts by weight of the SBR polymer, 0.4 part by weight to 2.5 parts by weight of the sulfur is blended based on 100 parts by weight of the SBR polymer, the sulfur-donating compound is blended at 0.625 time to 12.5 times the blending amount of the sulfur, the organic peroxide compound is blended at 1.25 times to 12.5 times the blending amount of the sulfur, and 4 parts by weight to 16 parts by weight of the co-crosslinking agent is blended based on 100 parts by weight of the SBR polymer.

Torsional dampers are a vibration-absorbing device used in a flywheel, a clutch disc, or a driving system to absorb torque variations of a combustion engine or an electric motor (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Such a torsional damper is freely fitted into a coil spring arranged in the direction of relative rotation as an elastic means disposed between a driving plate connected to a driving source and a driven plate coupled to a driven source.
The torsional damper is an approximately cylindrical cushion formed of a composite comprising a resin material and a rubber material.
When the relative rotation of a driving plate and a hub exceeds a predetermined value due to a sudden torque change between an engine and a input shaft caused by a shift change of a vehicle or a sudden increase in torque generated by a driving source, a torsional damper is compressively deformed together with a coil spring, reduces impact torque by the elasticity of the torsional damper, and at the same time, prevents buffer wear of the spring coil when the coil is compressed.
Patent Document 3 discloses a specific EPDM (ethylene propylene diene rubber) composition as a rubber material used for torsional dampers.

SBR composition for torsional damper, and torsional damper


A headrest which can be used on an operating table to maintain the head of a supine, unconscious patient in steady position for the surgeon to conduct an operation is described. The headrest has a low profile to provide maximum unobstructed access to the top, forehead, sides and face of the head. The headrest includes two, tapered, elongated lobes rigidly spaced apart in a V-shape configuration which allows one headrest to fit many different size heads. In use, the patient's head is wedged at points of tangency between the lobes. The V-shape configuration also permits the surgeon to easily adjust the head position to a new, steady position with only minor head movement, and therefore, reduced risk of dislodging the patient's breathing tube.

Prior to surgery, the anesthetist normally inserts a breathing tube in the trachea through the mouth of the anesthetized patient. In many cases, in order to most safely and expeditiously intubate the unconscious patient, the head should be in an intubating position, sometimes referred to as the "sniffing position". That is, the head is slightly elevated and the neck is extended. For surgery which can be done on the body in the supine position, the patient's head can remain in the intubating position after intubation if the surgery is to be performed on a part of the body distant from the head, such as a leg or the chest. However, if the surgery is to be done on or near the head, the patient's head will be placed in an operating position most convenient for conducting the surgery and which can be different from the intubating position.
Traditionally, various types of support devices, such as soft, gel-filled rings or padded structures, hereinafter collectively referred to as "head rings", and pillows are used to position the head of surgery patients. Intubation is usually completed quickly relative to the overall length of the operation. Therefore, traditional devices, especially pillows, are designed primarily to position the head for surgery and not necessarily with intubating in mind. Conventional head rings are typically so large that they interfere with intubation. If the head is moved off the ring, the anesthetist may need to dedicate one hand to support the patient's head while intubating. This is awkward for the anesthetist. Furthermore, once the patient is intubated, movement of the patient's head to place it on a head ring increases the risk of inadvertent extubation.
Generally, traditional head rings are adapted to fit heads of selected size ranges. That is, one size fits few. Hence it is necessary for a well-supplied operating room to store several different size head rings. Pediatric facilities may require many sizes and/or different types of head rings because head sizes vary considerably with age between infancy and adolescence. In addition to adding clutter in the operating room, the proliferation of head rings presents the problem of selecting the correct size for each patient. Frequently, this is done by trial and error which prolongs the overall procedure. Even the smallest commercially available head rings are too big to fit some neo-natal infants and very small children.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a surgery patient headrest which overcomes the disadvantages of articles known for this purpose. More particularly, it is an object to provide a headrest which is adapted to position the head for both intubating and surgery. The headrest can be used to support the head firmly in the intubating position so that the anesthetist can use two hands to intubate. It can also be used directly thereafter, without lifting the head from the headrest, to position the head for the operation, thereby reducing the risk of unintentional extubation. An advantage of the present invention is that the headrest permits the anesthetist or surgeon, hereinafter collectively referred to as "the surgeon," to rapidly and easily change the patient's head position to gain optimum access to the site of the surgical procedure.
Another object of the invention is to provide a single size headrest which fits many head sizes and shapes, and more specifically, to provide a single size headrest which can accommodate the extremely wide range of head sizes encountered in pediatric surgery.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a headrest which contacts the patient's head at very few points such that the head is, to a great extent, free from confinement. It is a feature of the present invention that the surgeon has greatly unrestricted access to the top and posterior portions of the patient's head. This feature is especially useful in surgery which involves the head and face. Conventional pillows and head rings do not afford as much access.
Accordingly, there is provided a surgical patient headrest comprising a first elongated lobe having a first longitudinal axis and a second elongated lobe having a second longitudinal axis,
each of said first elongated lobe and said second elongated lobe respectively tapering along said first longitudinal axis and said second longitudinal axis, from a broad end, having a large cross section area to a narrow end, having a small cross section area being smaller than said large cross section area;
said first elongated lobe being spatially fixed relative to said second elongated lobe in a V-shape orientation wherein said first longitudinal axis and said second longitudinal axis intersect at an acute angle, being an apex of said V-shape orientation; and wherein said narrow ends are proximal to said apex.