An optoelectronic switching node is disclosed wherein two input optical beams can be switched in the sense that they can be regenerated in either one of two output spatial locations in response to input control signals. Each one of the input optical beams is coupled to a resonant cavity detector which generates a current when its corresponding optical beam impinges on its resonant cavity. Output optical beams are regenerated by two inversion channel lasers each one of which has emitter, source and sub-collector terminals and is bistable in the sense that it can be switched on and off by currents delivered into and taken out of its source terminal. Heterojunction field effect transistors are used to selectively couple the currents generated by the resonant cavity detectors to the source terminals of the lasers in order to turn them on. Two heterojunction field effect transistors are each connected as a two terminal impedance between the source terminal of each laser and a reference potential in order to turn the laser off when no current is being provided by a detector. Two additional heterojunction field effect transistors are also connected as two terminal load impedances for each of the lasers. All of the devices are fabricated on a single wafer using a single epitaxial growth.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optoelectronic circuits, and more particularly to optoelectronic circuits which are capable of regenerating an input optical beam at either one of two output spatial locations.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that a switching node that is capable of accepting optical input beams from a previous stage and routing those optical beams to a succeeding switching node is a very desireable element in the construction of a switching network. See for example, the article entitled "Photonic Switching Applications of 2-D and 3-D Crossover Networks Based on 2-input, 2-output Switching Nodes", by Thomas J. Cloonan and Frederick B. McCormick, Applied Optics, vol. 30, no. 17, pages 2309-2323, June, 1991. As pointed out in the Cloonan et al article, the most commonly used node type in network design is probably the two by two cross-bar switch wherein two optical input beams are coupled through to either one of two optical outputs. In FIG. 10 of the article, two input optical beams are coupled through to either one of two optical outputs by passing the beams through three substrates containing self-electrooptic devices (SEEDs). The switching occurs as a result of the input optical beams interacting with a multiplicity of orthogonal optical control beams. This prior art switching node suffers from the fact that complicated optical hardware arrangements are required to couple the many orthogonal beams while maintaining critical alignment between the substrates used to implement a single node stage.
A useful optical element which has been recently described in the prior art is the vertical cavity double heterostructure optoelectronic switch (VC-DOES) laser. See the article entitled "Optoelectronic resonant cavity technology based on inversion channel devices", by P. A. Evaldsson, S. Daryanani, P. Cooke, and G. W. Taylor, Optical Quantum Electronics, vol. 24, pages S133-S146, February 1992. In the Evaldsson et al article a surface emitting three terminal laser is described wherein the operation of the laser is very sensitive to the voltage applied to its source contact which essentially acts as a gating electrode. An edge-emitting form of this laser is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,997 of Feb. 21, 1989 to John G. Simmons and Geoffrey W. Taylor. As pointed out in the Simmons et al patent, operation of the laser can be triggered by a photodetector of the same structure without any intervening amplification. See in particular FIG. 8 of the patent and the accompanying discussion.
An excellent discussion of inversion channel devices and how they can be combined to make circuit elements can be found in the article entitled "Integrated Inversion Channel Optoelectronic Devices and Circuit Elements for Multifunctional Array Applications", by G. W. Taylor et al, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 29, No. 2, pages 785-800, February 1993. In this article, we, the applicants, disclose in FIG. 29 an optoelectronic switch which is proposed as a replacement for the three substrate SEED switch disclosed in the above-cited Cloonan et al article. As pointed out in the article in the material which discusses FIG. 29, the proposed switch would solve the alignment problems inherent with the Cloonan et al switch. Unfortunately, we inadvertently disclosed an inoperative embodiment in FIG. 29 inasmuch as once the laser in that figure is turned on, it will remain on and therefore not properly reproduce the intensity variations in the input optical beam.


Proposed is a drilling tool for drilling in solid material, having a base body (1) containing chip flutes (5, 5a) and at least two interchangeable inserts (3, 3a) at the face of the base body (1). The inserts are arranged on the base body at different radial distances such that their working ranges partially overlap. The blades (12) of the inserts (3, 3a) are formed by two cutting edges (8, 9) which together form an obtuse angle, that is the point angle (11). The face (13) of the blades (12) has parallel profile ribs (14, 14a) which act as runners and which in the region of the cutting edges (8, 9), aligned in the direction of chip removal, extend radially inwards over a curved course relative to their installed position, toward a flank region (17) of the insert (3, 3a) near the drilling tool axis (7).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drilling tool for drilling holes in solid metal, with a base body which contains at least one chip flute, with at least one replaceable cutting insert on the end surface of the base body located in a recess on the end of a chip flute, and with a blade which is preferably formed by two cutting edges which form an obtuse point angle with one another.
2. Background Information
In general usage, such drilling tools are also designated indexable insert drills.
During drilling work with such indexable insert drills, the chips are basically removed from the cutting edges after they have been bent into a curved shape. The curvature of the chip is caused by the different cutting speeds at individual points or areas of the cutting edges. Basically, the chips flow radially inward from the wall of the boring toward the axis of the drilling tool.
Such drilling tools of the prior art are equipped with replaceable cutting inserts, the faces of which carry chip shaping steps. The chip shaping steps on the faces are oriented approximately parallel to the major cutting edges (European Patent No. 0 181 844 B1), even if the chip shaping steps are hump-like structures in the manner of spot-like projections which project from the rake faces (U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,957 A). The chip shaping is conventionally also achieved by placing obstacles in the path of the chip as it is being removed. As a result of these obstacles, the chip is plastically deformed and immediately deflected in a new direction.

Drilling tool for drilling in solid metal

Kennametal Hertel AG Werkzeuge + Hartstoffe


Techniques for efficiently performing data transactions are disclosed herein. In an example, crowd-sourced data is used to generate a network map that includes network properties mapped to one or more geographical locations. The network map is used to determine if a network that has one or more target properties is within a threshold range of a computing device. The target properties are based on one or more parameters of an upcoming data transaction. If a respective network with one or more target properties is within range of the computing device, the upcoming data transaction can be scheduled for initiation when the computing device is connected to the respective network. If no networks have the one or more target properties, the upcoming transaction can be initiated using a current network connection.

Computing devices may execute several applications, each of which may execute many separate data transactions to communicate data to other computing devices, such as servers, personal computing devices, and the like. Various network types exist that allow these computing devices to perform these data transactions, including various wired and wireless networks.

Data transaction scheduling using crowd-sourced network data


There is provided a color image processing apparatus in which, by making use of an image reading apparatus of a digital full-color copying apparatus, the designated color to be obtained after conversion is input and stored as component ratio of color-separated image data, and monochromatic image data proportional to the gradation levels, e.g., density, lightness, luminance and so forth are obtained from the color separated image data produced from the original image, the monochromatic image data thus obtained being converted into the color separation data corresponding to the component ratio of the designated color to be obtained after conversion, thereby making it possible to preserve the hue of the designated color and to effect color conversion to the designated color having gradation proportional to the gradation of the original image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus which is capable of reading an original color image having a gradation and outputting images of desired designated colors.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of color image forming technic to which the present invention pertains, a method has been proposed in which a mono-color copying apparatus is provided with a plurality of developing units for different colors so that a monochromatic copy image is obtained in desired one of the different colors provided by the developing units. Also is proposed a method in which a copy image of a fixed color selected from yellow, magenta, cyan, black, red, green and blue colors is produced by a full-color copying apparatus which operates with a combination of developing agents of complementary three primary colors of yellow, magenta and cyan plus black.
Unfortunately, these known methods could provide only monochromatic copy images of colors which are available in the copying apparatus. Thus, these known methods could be used effectively only when a mere sorting of copy images according to color is required.

Image processing apparatus with color conversion means


A data I/O circuit of a flash memory device includes a page buffer connected to at least one pair of bit lines, a page buffer select circuit arranged to output complementary input data, which is received through a pair of I/O lines, to the page buffer, or outputs complementary sensing data stored in the page buffer to the pair of I/O lines, in response to a buffer select signal, and a column select circuit arranged to output the complementary sensing data, which is received through the pair of I/O lines, to a pair of data I/O nodes, respectively, or to output the complementary input data, which is received through the pair of data I/O nodes, to the pair of I/O lines, in response to a column select signal and a gate control signal.

This disclosure relates to flash memory devices and more specifically, to a data I/O circuit of flash memory devices.
In general, a data I/O circuit of a flash memory device includes a page buffer 11, a column select circuit 12, a data line discharge circuit 13 and an sense amplifier circuit 14, as shown in FIG. 1.
The page buffer 11 includes a bit line selector 20, a register circuit 30, switches 40, 60, a data input circuit 50 and a precharge circuit 70. The bit line selector 20 includes NMOS transistors 21 to 24. The register circuit 30 includes a sensing circuit 31 and a latch circuit 32. The data input circuit 50 includes NMOS transistors 51, 52. The switches 40, 60 are each implemented using an NMOS transistor and will be hereinafter referred to as an NMOS transistor. The sources of the NMOS transistors 51, 52 and 60 are all connected to a node D3.
Furthermore, the drain of the NMOS transistor 51 is connected to a node D1 of the latch circuit 32. The drain of the NMOS transistor 52 is connected to a node D2 of the latch circuit 32. The switch 40 is connected between the node D2 and a sensing node S and is turned on or off in response to a program control signal (PRGM). The column select circuit 12 includes NMOS transistors 81, 82. The sense amplifier circuit 14 includes PMOS transistors 91, 91 and NMOS transistors 93, 94. The data I/O operation of the data I/O circuit 10 constructed above will be described in short.
Upon data input, the data line discharge circuit 13 precharges a data I/O node DION with a ground voltage (VSS) level in response to a discharge control signal (DL_DIS). Thereafter, if column select signals (YA_DRV, YB_DRV) are enabled, the column select circuit 12 connects the data I/O node DION to the node D3 through an I/O line DIO. As a result, the node D3 becomes the ground voltage (VSS) level. At this time, if one of the data input signals (DI, nDI) is enabled, the latch circuit 32 latches data of logic "1" or "0". Meanwhile, upon data output, the switch 60 connects the node D2 to the node D3 in response to the data output signal (PBDO). Furthermore, the column select circuit 12 connects the data I/O node DION to the node D3 through the I/O line DIO in response to the column select signals (YA_DRV, YB_DRV). Consequently, data stored in the latch circuit 32 is input to the sense amplifier circuit 14 consecutively through the node D3, the I/O line DIO, the column select circuit 12 and the data I/O node DION.
As described above, in the data I/O circuit 10 of the flash memory device in the related art, during the data I/O operation, input or output data are transmitted to the page buffer 11 or the sense amplifier circuit 14 through a single data I/O node DION. In this structure, a problem arises because the data I/O speed is decreased although the number of the whole transistors can be reduced. Furthermore, the page buffer 11 must include both the path (i.e., the data input circuit 50) through which data is input to the register circuit 30 and the path (i.e., the switch 60) through which data stored in the register circuit 30 is output. Accordingly, a problem arises because the page buffer 11 becomes bulky.

Data I/O circuit of flash memory device with improved data I/O speed structure


A circuit and method comprising a memory, a first latch, a second latch and a control circuit. The memory may be configured to write information in response to (i) an input data signal and (ii) an address signal. The first latch may be configured to hold the address in response to a control signal. The second latch may be configured to hold the data input signal in response to the control signal. The control circuit may be configured to present the control signal in response to (i) a detect signal and (ii) a transition of the address signal.

A conventional approach to writing to a memory responds to each data change and each address change when writing to the memory array. Pulsed wordline approaches reduce current significantly when writing to and reading from memories. If the data is written to the memory array, and then either the address or the data changes states, new data is written. Each time the data or the address changes state, the new data is written to the memory array. For each data change, current is consumed to perform the write operation. Therefore, all data and address changes previous to the final data change consume unnecessary current. This causes the current consumption to be unpredictable during a write cycle.
Referring to FIG. 1, a circuit 10 is shown implementing a conventional pulsed wordline approach for writing to a memory. The circuit 10 generally comprises an address path block 12, a memory array block 14, a sense amplifier block 16, and output path block 18, a write driver block 20, a data transition detect block 22, an address transition detect block 24 and a control block 26. The address path block 12 and the address transition detect block 24 each receive a signal ADDRESS that is an externally generated address presented to the circuit 10. The address path block 12 presents a wordline signal WL to the memory array block 14. The memory array block 14 presents a signal TBUS to the sense amplifier block 16. The sense amplifier block 16 presents a signal SAOUT to the output path block 18. The output path block 18 presents a signal IO that may be presented to the external pins of the circuit 10. The signal IO is also presented to the write driver block 20 and the data transition detect block 22. The write driver block 20 presents data to the memory array block 14 and the sense amplifier block 16 receives data from the memory array block 14. The data transition detect block 22 presents a data transition detect signal DTD to the control block 26. The address transition detect block 24 presents an address transition detect signal ATD to the control block 26. The control block 26 also receives an external write enable signal WEB. The control block 26 also receives a signal WLDET from the memory array block 14. The control block 26 presents a signal WLEN to the address path block 12 and a signal SAEN to the sense amplifier block 16.
Referring to FIG. 2, a timing diagram illustrating the various signals of FIG. 1 is shown, where the signal WEB is equal to a "0". The signal ADDRESS has a transition 30. The signal ATD has a positive transition 32 that responds to the transition 30 of the signal ADDRESS. The signal WLEN has a positive transition 34 that responds to the negative transition 32 of the signal ATD. The signal WL has a positive transition 36 that responds to the positive transition 34 of the signal WLEN. The signal WLDET has a positive transition 38 that responds to the positive transition 36 of the signal WL. The signal TBUS has a transition 40 that responds to the positive transition 38 of the signal WLDET. The signal IO has a transition 42 and 44 that each indicate a change in the data has occurred.
The signal WLEN has a negative transition 48 that responds to the positive transition 38 of the signal WLDET. The signal WL has a negative transition 50 that responds to the negative transition 48 of the signal WLEN. The signal WLDET has a negative transition 52 that responds to the negative transition 50 of the signal WL. The signal TBUS has a transition 54 that responds to the negative transition 52 of the signal WLDET. The signal DTD has a positive transition 46 that responds to the transition 42 of the signal IO. The signal WLEN has a positive transition 56 that responds to the positive transition 46 of the signal DTD. The signal WL has a positive transition 58 that responds to the positive transition 56 of the signal WLEN. The signal WLDET has a positive transition 60 that responds to the positive transition 58 of the signal WL. The signal TBUS has a transition 62 that responds to the positive transition 60 of the signal WLDET. The signal WLEN has a negative transition 64 that responds to the positive transition 60 of the signal WLDET. The signal WL has a negative transition 66 that responds to the negative transition 64 of the signal WLEN. The signal WLDET has a negative transition 68 that responds to the negative transition 66 of the signal WL. The signal TBUS has a transition 70 that responds to the negative transition 68 of the signal WLDET.
The signal DTD has a positive transition 72 that responds to the transition 44 of the signal IO. The signal WLEN has a positive transition 74 that responds to the positive transition 72 of the signal DTD. The signal WL has a positive transition 76 that responds to the positive transition 74 of the signal WLEN. The signal WLDET has a positive transition 78 that responds to the positive transition 76 of the signal WL. The signal TBUS has a positive transition 80 that responds to the positive transition 78 of the signal WLDET. The signal WLEN has a negative transition 82 that responds to the positive transition 78 of the signal WLDET. The signal WL has a negative transition 84 that responds to the negative transition 82 of the signal WL. The signal WLDET has a negative transition 86 that responds to the negative transition 84 of the signal WL. The signal TBUS has a transition 88 that responds to the negative transition 86 of the signal WLDET.
The transition 44 indicates that stable data is ready to be written to the memory array block 14. Once a stable data transition 44 occurs, the transition 72-88 write the correct data to the memory array block 14. The signal ATD has a positive transition 32' that responds to a transition 30' of the signal ADDRESS. The transition 32' triggers the writing transitions 34'-54' that may or may not be valid transitions, depending on the state of the signal IO.

Method, architecture and circuit for writing to a memory


An apparatus for regulating salt concentration, a lab-on-a-chip including the same and a method of regulating salt concentration using the apparatus are provided. The apparatus includes: a reaction chamber that is defined by a cation exchange membrane and an anion exchange membrane and is selected from the group consisting of a biomolecule extraction chamber, an amplification chamber, a hybridization chamber, and a detection chamber; a first electrode chamber that is defined by the anion exchange membrane and a first electrode and includes an ion exchange medium; and a second electrode chamber that is defined by the cation exchange membrane and a second electrode and includes an ion exchange medium. Even without injecting solutions with different salt concentrations into the reaction chamber by operating pumps and valves for each operation stage, the salt concentration can be reversibly regulated in situ by adjusting the polarity, intensity and application time of a voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for regulating salt concentration using electrodialysis, a lab-on-a-chip including the same and a method of regulating salt concentration using the apparatus for regulating salt concentration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to recent developments in biotechnology, protein sequences and base pair sequences containing genetic information of individuals have been identified. Thus, many researchers have attempted to develop biochips, particularly, labs-on-chips, for analyzing base pair sequences, diagnosing diseases, etc.
A lab-on-a-chip is an automated and micronized chip that can process the following experimental procedures in situ: extracting a biomolecule such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA) or a protein from a sample containing cells; amplifying the extracted biomolecule; hybridizing the amplified biomolecule to a previously immobilized biomolecule; detecting the hybridized result; and providing quantitative analysis of the experimental results.
Generally, a lab-on-a-chip includes: an extraction chamber in which a biomolecule is extracted; an amplification chamber in which the extracted biomolecule is amplified; a hybridization chamber in which the amplified biomolecule is hybridized to biomolecules immobilized in the hybridization chamber; a detection chamber in which whether hybridisation has occurred or not is detected; and micro-channels connecting the above-described chambers. In the extraction chamber, cells in a sample are enriched and lysed to purify a biomolecule therefrom. In the amplification chamber, a biomolecule is amplified through, for example, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A biomolecule with known base pair sequences is immobilized on a side of the hybridization chamber, and hybridization between the immobilized biomolecule and the amplified biomolecule occurs in the hybridization chamber. The degree of the hybridization is measured in the detection chamber.
The lab-on-a-chip requires different salt concentrations at each operation stage, including an enrichment stage, a lysis stage, a purification stage, an amplification stage, a hybridization stage, a washing stage, a drying stage, and a detection stage. Therefore, solutions with different salt concentrations are previously prepared and then injected individually into each operation chamber. Alternatively, when the operation stages are carried out in one chamber, solutions with different salt concentrations are injected for each operation stage.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional apparatus for injecting solutions with different salt concentrations into a reaction chamber 101 of a lab-on-a-chip.
Referring to FIG. 1, the reaction chamber 101 where each reaction such as hybridization takes place is connected to first through fifth pumps 102, 103, 104, 105, and 106 through a channel 116. The first pump 102 pumps a washing buffer solution. The second through fourth pumps 103, 104 and 105 pump solutions with different salt concentrations. The fifth pump 106 pumps a sample solution with a biomolecule. The washing buffer solution, which does not include salt, and the solutions with the different salt concentrations are injected into the reaction chamber 101 by adjusting the flow from the first through fifth pumps 102, 103, 104, 105, and 106 with first through fifth valves 107, 108, 109, 110, and 111. The used solutions are discharged into storage units 114 and 115 by adjusting a sixth valve 112 and a seventh valve 113.
However, the above described conventional apparatus needs many parts including the pumps, the valves, the channel, and the storage units, and thus, the apparatus may be complicated. For each operation stage, the pumps and the valves are operated to inject and discharge each solution. Hence, an operation time may be long.

Apparatus for regulating salt concentration using electrodialysis, lab-on-a-chip including the same, and method of regulating salt concentration using the apparatus


A dielectric ceramic that can be sintered at a sufficiently low temperature and has a desired specific resistance at a high temperature, and a multilayer ceramic electronic component (a multilayer ceramic capacitor and the like) using the dielectric ceramic are provided. The multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a multilayer body having a plurality of laminated dielectric ceramic layers, and a plurality of internal electrodes at interfaces between the dielectric ceramic layers; and external electrodes 8 and 9 on outer surfaces of the multilayer body. The composition of the multilayer body includes a perovskite-type compound containing Ba and Ti (where a part of Ba may be substituted by Ca, and a part of Ti may be substituted by Zr) as a primary ingredient, and further includes M (where M is at least one of Cu, Zn, Li, K, and Na) and Bi. The total content of M and Bi is equal to or greater than 3 molar parts when the total content of Ti and Zr is 100 molar parts. The crystal particle size of the dielectric ceramic is 30 nm or more and 150 nm or less.

With reference to FIG. 1, a multilayer ceramic capacitor 1 that is a representative example of a multilayer ceramic electronic component according to the present invention will be described first.
Multilayer ceramic capacitor 1 includes a multilayer body 2 which is formed of a plurality of laminated ceramic layers 3 and a plurality of internal electrodes 4 and 5 each formed along an interface between ceramic layers 3.
A first external electrode 8 and a second external electrode 9 are formed at mutually different positions on an outer surface of multilayer body 2. In the multilayer ceramic capacitor 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, first external electrode 8 and second external electrode 9 are formed respectively on opposing end surfaces 6 and 7 of multilayer body 2. Internal electrode 4 includes a plurality of first internal electrodes 4 which are electrically connected to first external electrode 8, and internal electrode 5 includes a plurality of second internal electrodes 5 which are electrically connected to second external electrode 9. First internal electrodes 4 and second internal electrodes 5 are disposed alternately in the lamination direction. If necessary, a surface of external electrode 8 is coated with a first plating layer 10 and a second plating layer 12, while a surface of external electrode 9 is coated with a first plating layer 11 and a second plating layer 13.
Since size reduction is particularly required for the multilayer ceramic capacitor, the process of manufacturing the multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a method of laminating a green sheet made of a dielectric ceramic and an internal electrode layer and then sintering the laminated sheet and layer at the same time. For cost reduction, base metals such as Ni are used for an internal electrode of the multilayer ceramic capacitor.
In recent years, as thinning of the ceramic layer has further progressed, thinning of the internal electrode is also urgently required. However, thinning of the internal electrode causes a problem that the rate of coverage of the internal electrode tends to be decreased due to spherically-agglomerated metal particles. This requires sintering at a lower temperature.
Furthermore, since a multilayer ceramic electronic component is required to have various characteristics, it also becomes necessary to use various types of metals such as Ag and Cu as a metal for an internal electrode. This also requires sintering at a low temperature.
For the reasons as described above, a ceramic material that can be sintered at a low temperature and exhibits excellent dielectric properties is demanded.
For example, PTD 1 discloses a barium titanate-based dielectric ceramic composition suitable for a multilayer substrate or a multilayer ceramic capacitor, and also discloses that the dielectric ceramic composition can be sintered at 1000° C. or lower.

Multilayer ceramic capacitor, dielectric ceramic, multilayer ceramic electronic component, and method for manufacturing multilayer ceramic capacitor


A tilt mechanism for a steering column is pivotally attached to vehicle structure including a bracket member attached to vehicle structure, a collar disposed within the bracket member and adapted to receive the steering column, and structure disposed between the bracket member and the collar for selectively positioning the collar relative to the bracket member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to steering columns for vehicles, and more particularly to a tilt mechanism for a steering column of an automotive vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a steering column of an automotive vehicle, a steering shaft has a steering wheel at one end. The steering shaft is extended through a rigid sleeve and rotatable therein. The steering column may be of a tilt or non-tilt type. In a conventional non-tilt steering column, the steering column is held in a fixed position typically by a pair of brackets attached to vehicle structure. In a conventional tilt steering column, the steering column is still held in place by the pair of brackets with a pivot mechanism adjacent the steering wheel. The disadvantage of this tilt steering column is the cost of a joint for a two-piece steering shaft and sleeve construction. Thus, there is a need in the art to permit the entire steering shaft and sleeve to tilt, thus avoiding the need for a two-piece construction.
One attempt to fulfill the above-identified need was to provide a low pivot steering column. In a low pivot steering column, a one-piece steering shaft is extended through a rigid sleeve which is pivotally attached at its lower end by a bracket to vehicle structure. The upper end of the sleeve is attached to vehicle structure by a tilt mechanism. An example of such a low pivot steering column is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,779 to Tveidt. One disadvantage of this patented steering column is that the tilt mechanism is of a clamping type which requires manual adjustment and is undesired. Another example of a low pivot steering column is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,279 to Doescher et al. One disadvantage of this patented steering column is that the tilt mechanism uses a pivotal latch member to engage and disengage spaces in a rack which requires manual adjustment and is undesired. Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a tilt mechanism for a low pivot steering column which has automatic adjustment and a relatively low cost.

Low pivot steering column tilt mechanism


A display rack is provided in which a plurality of shelves are mounted in at desired locations along vertical corner posts by magnetized wedge lock elements. Each wedge lock element is of a one-piece construction having an outwardly extending projection adapted to seat within a dimple or detent vertically spaced along a surface or corner of the corner posts. The shelves are formed with a sleeve at each corner adapted to fit over the corner posts and into engagement with the wedge lock elements. The wedge lock elements become wedged between the corner posts and sleeves to prevent downward vertical movement of the shelves relative to the corner posts while permitting easy adjustment of the shelves by moving the magnetized wedge locks to a new position along the corner posts.

Display racks for merchandising and other display purposes having shelves that are vertically adjustable along the corner posts are well-known in the art. Vertically adjustable shelves provide flexibility in the display of different sized articles, allowing merchandisers to use the same display rack for a variety of articles.
Early designs of adjustable display racks employed set screws or bolts to connect the corner posts and shelves. Threaded bores or apertures were formed in either the shelf or corner posts, or both, and the bolts or screws were tightened within the threaded bores to secure the shelves in place at spaced locations along the corner posts. Although this design provides for adjustment of the shelves vertically along the corner posts, an inordinate amount of time is required to remove all of the bolts connecting each shelf to a corner post and then reposition them to other locations along the corner posts. In addition, the threaded connections are subject to being over or under tightened, and as a result, the threads formed in either the bolt or threaded bores in the shelf or corner post can become worn.
In an effort to lessen the time required to adjust the location of shelves along the corner posts of a display rack, and to provide a connection between the corner posts and shelves that is less susceptible to wear, corner post-shelf connections employing a wedge lock element have been developed, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,424,111 and 3,343,685. In designs of this type, a sleeve is formed in each corner of the shelf structure, which is adapted to receive a corner post. A wedge-shaped locking element or insert is adapted to mount at desired vertical locations along each of the corner posts before the shelves are moved into place. A shelf is releasably mounted to the corner posts by moving the sleeves of the shelf vertically downwardly along the corner posts and into contact with the wedge-shaped inserts. The insert becomes wedged between the sleeve and corner post preventing further downward movement of the shelf there along. Adjustment of the location of the shelf is accomplished by lifting vertically upwardly on the shelf so that the sleeves disengage the inserts, and then placing the inserts at another desired location along the corner posts.
The wedge-type connections between the shelves and corner posts of known display racks have proved to be both durable and quickly adjustable for disassembly of the display rack or repositioning of the shelves. Nevertheless, certain disadvantages are present in the construction of the wedge-shaped inserts and in their connection to the corner posts. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,111, the wedge-shaped inserts are formed in two separate pieces which are connected to one another by a spring clip. A second spring clip is required to locate and mount the assembled wedge-shaped inserts in the proper positions along the corner posts in preparation for receiving the shelves. This design increases the number of pieces required for assembly of the inserts, and for mounting them to the corner posts, which adds to manufacturing costs and increases the difficulty of initially mounting the shelves and then moving them from one position along the corner posts to another.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,274, a V-shaped wedge lock element is utilized having a tongue protrusion extending from the inner surface of one face of the wedge lock element, which hooks into a slot on the corner post, to prevent the wedge lock from falling off of the corner post and to locate the height of the shelving on the corner post. U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,826 describes a V-shaped wedge lock element of a two-piece construction interconnected by a tongue and groove arrangement. Each face of the two-piece construction includes an extending projection that engages with detents or dimples on the side faces of the square corner posts. Each of the two pieces have flanges at the ends of the perpendicular walls that extend around the corners of the corner posts, such that a portion of the wedge lock is in contact with all four sides of the square corner post, serving to keep the wedge lock from falling off of the corner post. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,754,712 and 4,852,501 describe V-shaped wedge lock elements having a protrusion in the corner of the wedge lock element that fits into one of a plurality of notches on the corner edge of the corner post. The '712 and '501 Patents also include retaining flanges to prevent the wedge lock element from falling off of the corner post.

Display rack with magnetized wedge lock elements


A thermally managed power source (201) is provided herein which comprises a first battery module (203), and a first synthetic jet ejector (215) disposed on a surface of said first battery module and being adapted to direct a plurality of synthetic jets along a surface (211) of said first battery module.

The thermal management of laptop computers and other portable or handheld electronic devices has become increasingly challenging as these devices have become more powerful, while at the same time decreasing in size and weight. In particular, acceptable thermal management solutions for these devices are subject to stringent size and weight constraints, and yet must dissipate a sufficient amount of thermal energy to maintain the components and external surfaces of the device within suitable operating and ergonomic temperature ranges, respectively.
Battery modules have emerged as a particularly challenging component of electronic devices from a thermal management perspective. As portable and hand-held devices have become more powerful, battery modules are required to provide increasing power loads, and have also become more compact. Consequently, battery modules have evolved into increasingly intense hot spots within such devices.
Unfortunately, the placement of battery modules in laptops and handheld devices frequently makes them inaccessible to conventional thermal management schemes that rely on global forced air flow through the device. In particular, the battery module is often sealed off from other components of the device to protect those components in the event of battery leakage. Moreover, since the operation of batteries is typically exothermic, it is necessary to shield the components of a device from the heat generated by the battery module. On the other hand, conventional thermal management systems that rely on convection currents generally provide an insufficient level of heat dissipation to be suitable for this application.
The use of fan-based systems is a common global thermal management solution for desk top computers and other large electronic devices. However, the use of fans is precluded in many portable or handheld electronic devices due to the size and weight constraints noted above, and is also unfavorable from an acoustical perspective. Moreover, even in larger portable electronic devices such as laptops where these constraints are less stringent and where small fan units can be utilized to provide global cooling, these units generally provide insufficient heat dissipation for battery modules and other intense hotspots within the device.

Thermal management of batteries using synthetic jets


In a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device, a plug and a channel structure are formed. The plug fills an opening and the channel structure extends upwardly from the plug. The channel structure has a substantially vertical sidewall. The opening is formed through an insulation structure located on a substrate. The plug and the channel structure comprise a material in a single crystalline state that is changed from an amorphous state by an irradiation of a laser beam. The channel structure is doped with impurities such as boron, phosphorus or arsenic.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device. More particularly, example embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor device including a fin-type channel structure having a substantially vertical sidewall and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor devices, the area occupied by a gate pattern continues to be reduced with increased integration of such devices. However, as the gate pattern area is reduced, the length of a channel region is likewise reduced, thereby deteriorating the electrical reliability of the devices due to the short channel effect.
Therefore, a continuous goal of research in this field is to provide semiconductor devices with sufficient channel region length. Particularly, a fabrication method by which a recess is formed in the substrate for increasing channel length has been actively explored. Recently, a fabrication method in which a fin-type channel structure extending upwardly from the substrate has been disclosed in effort to achieve sufficient channel region length. Here, the fin-type channel structure prevents the short channel effect more efficiently because the channel region is formed at three sides of the fin-type channel structure.
It is desired that the fin-type channel structure has a substantially vertical sidewall. However, a conventional fin-type channel structure formed by a conventional method has sidewalls that are tapered and become narrower in upper portions of the sidewalls. That is, the sidewalls of the conventional fin-type channel structure have a substantially trapezoid profile, which makes it difficult to dope impurities into the conventional fin-type channel structure.
Further, in accordance with the conventional method, a substrate is etched to form the conventional fin-type channel structure, which can cause damage to the substrate.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


A phase locked loop (PLL) with a loop bandwidth calibration circuit is provided. The mixed-mode PLL comprises an analog phase correction path, a digital frequency correction path, a calibration current source, and a loop bandwidth calibration circuit. The analog phase correction path comprises a linear phase correction unit (LPCU). The digital frequency correction path comprises a digital integral path circuit. The calibration current source is coupled to the LPCU. The loop bandwidth calibration circuit is coupled to a frequency divider and coupled between the input and output of the PLL. The loop bandwidth calibration circuit operates after the calibration current source injects a calibration current into the LPCU.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a phase locked loop (PLL) and, in particular, to a PLL with a calibration circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accurate loop bandwidth calibration of a fractional-N PLL is important for ΔΣ frequency modulators because wider loop bandwidth will increase phase noise and quantization error. A lower loop bandwidth, on the other hand, will suppress modulation messages and increase phase errors.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

PLL with loop bandwidth calibration circuit


A cryptographic communication method using a dynamically-generated private key is provided. A signal generation unit outputs a second signal obtained by giving an error in a predetermined range to a signal obtained based on a first signal. An error correction generation unit outputs a third signal obtained based on the second signal and auxiliary information for correcting an error included in the second signal. A private-key generation unit generates a first private key based on the third signal. An encryption calculation unit outputs an encrypted signal obtained by encrypting a fourth signal based on the first private key.

The present disclosure relates to a communication apparatus and a cryptographic processing system.
Currently, various cryptographic methods are used to secure security in data communication. Among them, as a method for high security, a method using a physically unclonable function is known.
A problem that arises when the physically unclonable function is used is that it is impossible to make a replica of an apparatus for the physically unclonable function. Therefore, to have two apparatuses have a common key, one of the apparatuses stores an output value of a physically unclonable function in advance and the other apparatus uses a value that is dynamically generated by the physically unclonable function. However, the physically unclonable function does not always output a fixed value, but does output a value including a variation. Therefore, an error correction needs to be performed. Accordingly, for example, there has been proposed a form of implementation in which a first apparatus temporarily observes an output of a physically unclonable function and a second apparatus performs decryption of an error correction after performing the physically unclonable function, so that the second apparatus holds the same value as the output value of the physically unclonable function held by the first apparatus (Pim Tuyls and Lejla Batina, "RFID-Tags for Anti-Counterfeiting", CT-RSA 2006).
Further, another cryptographic method using a physically unclonable function has been proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-31151). In this cryptographic method, to have two apparatuses have a common key, a first apparatus generates the common key through a physically unclonable function and a second apparatus performs an encryption algorithm according to a public-key cryptographic method using a public key and thereby outputs cipher text. The second apparatus can restore the common key by performing a decryption algorithm according to the public-key cryptographic method.
Further, another cryptographic method using a physically unclonable function has been proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-7033). This cryptographic method does not use the mechanism in which a common key is shared with another apparatus. Instead, a value that is obtained by encrypting an error correction is stored in a server. Then, when necessary, the value obtained by the encryption is received from the server and each user can restore a key having a fixed value by correcting an error in a value derived from a physically unclonable function.

Communication apparatus and cryptographic processing system


A product disconnect is provided for cutting off product flow between a product tank and an associated metering system. The product is instead directed to a product cleanout where an operator can empty the product tank without sending product through the metering system. The product disconnect may consist of one or more rotary cutoff valves which are selectively movable between an open position allowing product to flow into metering system and a closed position where product is instead directed to a product cleanout.

Air seeders and other seeding devices are commonly towed by tractors to apply seed or fertilizer, or both simultaneously, to a field. As an example, an air seeder may be towed in combination with a tilling implement, one behind the other, to place the seed and fertilizer under the surface of the soil. An air seeder has as its central component a wheeled seed cart which comprises one or more frame-mounted product tanks for holding product, generally seed or fertilizer or both. Air seeders also generally comprise a metering system for dispensing product from the tanks and a pneumatic distribution system for delivering the product from tank to soil.
It is known to provide an air seeder with volumetric meters which measure a fixed volume of seed per unit of linear distance. These volumetric meters typically comprise either augers or fluted cylinders (meter rollers) which rotate through a product reservoir to measure granular product, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,489,321 and 3,763,797. The meters rotate to feed product into a pneumatic distribution system. The pneumatic distribution system of an air seeder generally utilizes a centrifugal fan to provide at least one airstream which flows through the pneumatic distribution system to seed boots where product is deposited in the soil. Product is first introduced to the air stream by the metering system at a primary distribution manifold located below the metering system. Product is carried by the air stream through distribution lines to a series of secondary distribution manifolds ("headers"), which in turn distribute product through distribution lines to seed boots mounted behind ground openers on the tilling implement so that the product may be evenly delivered to the span of ground (the "tillage") acted upon by the tilling implement.
Operators of conventional seeding equipment are generally unable to remove metering system components (e.g., for inspection, repair or replacement) without first emptying the product tank which services the metering system. In air seeders in particular, emptying the large central product tanks is cumbersome and time consuming. On conventional seeding equipment which does allow an operator to shut off product to the metering system, the operator is unable to empty the product tank without sending product through the metering system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,004 discloses slides which may be used to shut off product to a metering system. The slides move horizontally and do not provide a means to remove product from the product tank other than allowing the product to flow through the metering system.
In addition, operators of conventional seeding equipment are unable to shut off product flow to a portion of the metering system such that, during operation, product is delivered to only a portion of the tillage.
Therefore, it is desirable to devise a product disconnect which can substantially shut off product flow from a product tank to a metering system in a piece of seeding equipment.
It is also desirable to devise a product disconnect having a plurality of cutoffs which are selectively engageable to shut off product flow to a portion of the metering system to achieve a desired product distribution across the tillage.


A droplet ejection device including: (a) a first ejecting portion capable of ejecting first droplets in a first direction; (b) a second ejecting portion capable of ejecting second droplets in a second direction intersecting the first direction, so that the droplets ejected from the first and second ejecting portions can be united to constitute a united droplet before landing on a receiver medium; and (c) a constituent-droplet-number controller which controls number of the droplets constituting the united droplet such that the united droplet is placed at a variable position on the receiver medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a droplet ejection device for ejecting droplets toward a receiver medium.
2. Discussion of Related Art
There is known an inkjet printer which is capable of printing desired patterns of image on a printing medium, by ejecting ink droplets subjected to a gradation control, toward the printing medium through nozzles arranged in a print head of the printer. As the print head of such an inkjet printer, there is known a print head which is equipped with piezoelectric elements adapted to pressurize an ink, for ejecting the pressurized ink in the form of ink droplets. Owing to its accurate controllability and excellent durability, such a print head is widely used. The print head, required to perform a printing operation on a receiver medium with high resolution, is provided by a serial head repeatedly reciprocated above the receiver medium, or provided by a line head having nozzles a number of which corresponds to a required degree of resolution. Where the print head is provided by the serial head, there is a problem that the printing operation can not be performed at a high speed since the print head has to be reciprocated many times. Where the print head is provided by the line head, there is a problem that the print head can not be manufactured at a low cost since a large number of nozzles are necessarily arranged on the print head.
In view of such problems, there is proposed an inkjet printer, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,679 (equivalent to JP-A-S57-185159), which includes a pair of nozzles each controlled to control timing and velocity of ejection of an ink droplet from the corresponding nozzle, such that the droplets ejected from one and the other of the pair of nozzles collide with each other before landing on a receiver medium. The colliding droplets form a united droplet which is placed at a desired position (see FIG. 2 of the U.S. publication).
In the inkjet printer disclosed in the above-identified U.S. publication, it is possible to place the droplet at a selected one of a large number of different positions with a small number of nozzles provided in the print head. Owing to this advantage, where the print head is provided by a serial head, the printing speed can be increased with a reduced number of times of reciprocating motions of the print head. Where the print head is provided by a line head, the manufacturing cost can be reduced with a reduced number of nozzles to be provided in the print head. In the inkjet printer, however, the timing and velocity of the ejection of each ink droplet have to be controlled with considerably high accuracy requiring a complicated control system. Further, even if the complicated control system is established in the printer, the ejection control can not be achieved with high degree of freedom.


A multi-plate clutch system includes an outer clutch member having a plurality of first clutch plates thereon, a central spool having a plurality of second clutch plates thereon interspaced with the first clutch plates. The clutch system also includes a cam mechanism including a protruding cam and a recessed cam. The protruding cam and the recessed cam respectively include first inclined faces and second inclined faces, which are inclined in the same direction with respect to the circumferential direction. The protruding cam is thus brought into a point contact with the recessed cam during clutch engagement. As such, the multi-plate clutch system can maintain constant variable characteristics of the clutch capacity even when there is a variation in processing accuracy at the time of the production.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-plate clutch system that transmits or discontinues the transmission of the drive power from an input member. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multi-plate clutch system equipped with a cam mechanism that suppresses reverse drive power coming from the output member from acting on the input-member side.
2. Background Art
A number of clutch systems including multiple plates are known. One example of a known multi-plate clutch system, described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2005-325993, has a protruding cam and a recessed cam formed respectively in a pressure plate and in an outer clutch member. Each of the cams has a contact face inclined towards the rotational direction. In the multi-plate clutch system, the clutch capacity is increased or decreased by the torque fluctuations caused by drive power from the crankshaft and reverse drive power from the wheel side.
In the multi-plate clutch system disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2005-325993, the cam faces of the protruding cam and the recessed cam, each of which is formed in a plane shape, are brought into face contact with each other. By use of the inclined angle, and variation in rotation between an output-shaft side and an input-shaft side, the clutch plates are pressure-contacted with each other or moved away from each other to make the clutch capacity variable. However, in a case where a plurality of cam faces are formed in the circumferential direction, variation in processing accuracy causes changes of the point and in the area of the contact between cams. For the purpose of maintaining the variable characteristics constant, a machining center with a high processing accuracy and a production management system with a rigidly set post-processing management standard are required. As a result, it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost and to improve the productivity. In addition, the configuration depends mainly on face contacts, so that the friction contributes heavily to the operation of the cams. Accordingly, when ideal operational characteristics are set, in addition to the setting of the cam angles, friction under various conditions has to be taken into consideration.
The present invention is made in light of the difficulties with the prior art. One object of the present invention is to provide a multi-plate clutch system that maintains constant variable characteristics of the clutch capacity, even when there is a variation in processing accuracy at the time of the production. In addition, the multi-plate clutch system hereof can be produced with a lower production cost and with higher productivity.


Methods and systems are provided for evaluating subsurface earth oil and gas formations. More particularly, methods and systems are provided for determining reservoir properties such as reservoir transmissibilities and average reservoir pressures of formation layer(s) using quantitative refracture-candidate diagnostic methods. The methods herein may use pressure falloff data from the introduction of an injection fluid at a pressure above the formation fracture pressure to analyze reservoir properties. The model recognizes that a new induced fracture creates additional storage volume in the formation and that a quantitative refracture-candidate diagnostic test in a layer may exhibit variable storage during the pressure falloff, and a change in storage may be observed at hydraulic fracture closure. From the estimated formation properties, the methods may be useful for, among other things, determining whether a pre-existing fracture is damaged and evaluating the effectiveness of a previous fracturing treatment to determine whether a formation requires restimulation.

The present invention relates to the field of oil and gas subsurface earth formation evaluation techniques and more particularly, to methods and an apparatus for determining reservoir properties of subterranean formations using quantitative refracture-candidate diagnostic test methods.
Oil and gas hydrocarbons may occupy pore spaces in subterranean formations such as, for example, in sandstone earth formations. The pore spaces are often interconnected and have a certain permeability, which is a measure of the ability of the rock to transmit fluid flow. Hydraulic fracturing operations can be performed to increase the production from a well bore if the near-wellbore permeability is low or when damage has occurred to the near-well bore area.
Hydraulic fracturing is a process by which a fluid under high pressure is injected into the formation to create and/or extend fractures that penetrate into the formation. These fractures can create flow channels to improve the near term productivity of the well. Propping agents of various kinds, chemical or physical, are often used to hold the fractures open and to prevent the healing of the fractures after the fracturing pressure is released.
Fracturing treatments may encounter a variety of problems during fracturing operations resulting in a less than optimal fracturing treatment. Accordingly, after a fracturing treatment, it may be desirable to evaluate the effectiveness of the fracturing treatment just performed or to provide a baseline of reservoir properties for later comparison and evaluation. One example of a problem occasionally encountered in fracturing treatments is bypassed layers. That is, during an original completion, oil or gas wells may contain layers bypassed either intentionally or inadvertently.
The success of a hydraulic fracture treatment often depends on the quality of the candidate well selected for the treatment. Choosing a good candidate for stimulation may result in success, while choosing a poor candidate may result in economic failure. To select the best candidate for stimulation or restimulation, there are many parameters to be considered. Some important parameters for hydraulic fracturing include formation permeability, in-situ stress distribution, reservoir fluid viscosity, skin factor, and reservoir pressure. Various methods have been developed to determine formation properties and thereby evaluate the effectiveness of a previous stimulation treatment or treatments.
Conventional methods designed to identify underperforming wells and to recomplete bypassed layers have been largely unsuccessful in part because the methods tend to oversimplify a complex multilayer problem and because they focus on commingled well performance and well restimulation potential without thoroughly investigating layer properties and layer recompletion potential. The complexity of a multilayer environment increases as the number of layers with different properties increases. Layers with different pore pressures, fracture pressures, and permeability can coexist in the same group of layers. A significant detriment to investigating layer properties is a lack of cost-effective diagnostics for determining layer permeability, pressure, and quantifying the effectiveness of a previous stimulation treatment or treatments.
These conventional methods often suffer from a variety of drawbacks including a lack of desired accuracy and/or an inefficiency of the computational method resulting in methods that are too time consuming. Furthermore, conventional methods often lack accurate means for quantitatively determining the transmissibility of a formation.
Post-frac production logs, near-wellbore hydraulic fracture imaging with radioactive tracers, and far-field microseismic fracture imaging all suggest that about 10% to about 40% of the layers targeted for completion during primary fracturing operations using limited-entry fracture treatment designs may be bypassed or ineffectively stimulated.
Quantifying bypassed layers has traditionally proved difficult because, in part, so few completed wells are imaged. Consequently, bypassed or ineffectively stimulated layers may not be easily identified, and must be inferred from analysis of a commingled well stream, production logs, or conventional pressure-transient tests of individual layers.
One example of a conventional method is described in U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0096324 issued to Poe, which describes methods for identifying underperforming or poorly performing producing layers for remediation or restimulation. This method, however, uses production data analysis of the produced well stream to infer layer properties rather than using a direct measurement technique. This limitation can result in poor accuracy and further, requires allocating the total well production to each layer based on production logs measured throughout the producing life of the well, which may or may not be available.
Other methods of evaluating effectiveness of prior fracturing treatments include conventional pressure-transient testing, which includes drawdown, buildup, injection/falloff testing. These methods may be used to identify an existing fracture retaining residual width from a previous fracture treatment or treatments, but conventional methods may require days of production and pressure monitoring for each single layer. Consequently, in a wellbore containing multiple productive layers, weeks to months of isolated-layer testing can be required to evaluate all layers. For many wells, the potential return does not justify this type of investment.
Diagnostic testing in low permeability multilayer wells has been attempted. One example of such a method is disclosed in Hopkins,. C. W., et al., The Use of Injection/Falloff Tests and Pressure Buildup Tests to Evaluate Fracture Geometry and Post-Stimulation Well Performance in the Devonian Shales, paper SPE 23433, 22-25 (1991). This method describes several diagnostic techniques used in a Devonian shale well to diagnose the existence of a pre-existing fracture(s) in multiple targeted layers over a 727 fit interval. The diagnostic tests include isolation flow tests, wellbore communication tests, nitrogen injection/falloff tests, and conventional drawdown/buildup tests.
While this diagnostic method does allow evaluation of certain reservoir properties, it is, however, expensive and time consuming—even for a relatively simple case having only four layers. Many refracture candidates in low permeability gas wells contain stacked lenticular sands with between 20 to 40 layers, which need to be evaluated in a timely and cost effective manner.
Another method uses a quasi-quantitative pressure transient test interpretation method as disclosed by Huang, H., et al., A Short Shut-In Time Testing Methodfor Determining Stimulation Effectiveness in Low Permeability Gas Reservoirs, GASTIPS, 6 No. 4, 28 (Fall 2000). This "short shut-in test interpretation method" is designed to provide only an indication of pre-existing fracture effectiveness. The method uses log-log type curve reference points—the end of wellbore storage, the beginning of pseudolinear flow, the end of pseudolinear flow, and the beginning of pseudoradial flow—and the known relationships between pressure and system properties at those points to provide upper and lower limits of permeability and effective fracture half length.
Another method uses nitrogen slug tests as a prefracture diagnostic test in low permeability reservoirs as disclosed by Jochen, J. E., et al., Quantifying Layered Reservoir Properties With a Novel Permeability Test, SPE 25864,12-14 (1993). This method describes a nitrogen injection test as a short small volume injection of nitrogen at a pressure less than the fracture initiation and propagation pressure followed by an extended pressure falloff period. Unlike the nitrogen injection/falloff test used by Hopkins et al., the nitrogen slug test is analyzed using slug-test type curves and by history matching the injection and falloff pressure with a finite-difference reservoir simulator.
Similarly, as disclosed in Craig, D. P., et al., Permeability, Pore Pressure, and Leakoff-Type Distributions in Rocky Mountain Basins, SPE PRODUCTION & FACILITIES, 48 (February, 2005), certain types of fracture-injection/falloff tests have been routinely implemented since 1998 as a prefracture diagnostic method to estimate formation permeability and average reservoir pressure. These fracture-injection/falloff tests, which are essentially a minifrac with reservoir properties interpreted from the pressure falloff, differ from nitrogen slug tests in that the pressure during the injection is greater than the fracture initiation and propagation pressure. A fracture-injection/falloff test typically requires a low rate and small volume injection of treated water followed by an extended shut-in period. The permeability to the mobile reservoir fluid and the average reservoir pressure may be interpreted from the pressure decline. A fracture-injection/falloff test, however, may fail to adequately evaluate refracture candidates, because this conventional theory does not account for pre-existing fractures.
Thus, conventional methods to evaluate formation properties suffer from a variety of disadvantages including a lack of the ability to quantitatively determine the reservoir transmissibility, a lack of cost-effectiveness, computational inefficiency, and/or a lack of accuracy. Even among methods developed to quantitatively determine a reservoir transmissibility, such methods may be impractical for evaluating formations having multiple layers such as, for example, low permeability stacked, lenticular reservoirs.

Methods and systems for determining reservoir properties of subterranean formations with pre-existing fractures


According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal display device includes a first liquid crystal device, a second liquid crystal device, and a liquid crystal display panel, the first liquid crystal device including a first substrate including a first electrode thereon, a second substrate including a second electrode thereon, and a first cholesteric liquid crystal layer, the second liquid crystal device including a third substrate including a third electrode thereon, a fourth substrate including a fourth electrode thereon, and a second cholesteric liquid crystal layer, wherein the first liquid crystal device and the second liquid crystal device are stacked successively.

Liquid crystal display devices have been widely used as display devices for smartphones, tablet computers, car navigation systems, and the like. In general, a liquid crystal display device comprises a liquid crystal display panel and an illumination device (backlight or front light) disposed to overlap a back surface or a front surface of the liquid crystal panel. The illumination device includes a light guide, a light source for emitting light to be made incident on the light guide, and the like. For example, white light emitting diodes (LED) are often used as the light source.
The light emitted from the white LED contains light having a wavelength range of 380 to 500 nm, which is referred to as blue light. The blue light has properties closest to the ultraviolet light, including a property of reaching retina without being absorbed into cornea or lens of an eye. For this reason, concerns on health such as adverse effects on eyes and sleep disorders upon viewing the blue light for a long time have been focused. Therefore, a display device provided by overlapping a resin layer (blue light blocking layer) to reduce such blue light on a display surface or back surface of the liquid crystal panel has been proposed.
In contrast, development of an optical element using cholesteric liquid crystal as an optical element switching display and non-display has proceeded.


A fire protection sleeve is disclosed. The fire protection sleeve has a carrier strip and an intumescent overlay, which runs on an inner surface along the carrier strip and is connected thereto. A plurality of recesses spaced apart from one another in a longitudinal direction are provided on the outer side of the carrier strip facing away from the intumescent overlay. The fire protection sleeve also has a closure clip, made in particular of a sheet, wherein the closure clip has at least two hooks that are able to engage in the recesses.

The invention relates to a fire protection sleeve having a carrier strip and an intumescent overlay, which runs on an inner surface along the carrier strip and is connected thereto.
Fire protection sleeves are used to seal as tightly as possible breakthroughs in a wall or ceiling though which pipe or cable are fed in order to prevent the spread of fire or smoke. To this end, such a fire protection sleeve is laid around the pipe or cable on or in the breakthrough. The fire protection sleeve has a dimensionally stable carrier strip used to position the fire protection sleeve, along with an intumescent overlay that expands under the influence of heat and seals the breakthrough. The intumescent overlay may be glued or foamed on the carrier strip.
In order to make it possible to individually adapt to the number or size of pipes, cable strands, etc., present in the wall or ceiling breakthrough, fire protection sleeves are known from the prior art which are supplied as continuous material and can be cut to the desired length on site. Such a fire protection sleeve is known from European Patent Document No. EP 1 181 481 B1, for example.
In order to facilitate the assembly of the fire protection sleeve on site, integrated closure elements are provided on the carrier strip, for example, which make it possible to close the fire protection sleeve. Alternatively or additionally, hooks are provided on the wall or ceiling into which the protection sleeve can be inserted and thereby be fixed firmly in position.
These types of closure or anchoring systems are supposed to ensure a secure fixation and anchoring of the fire protection sleeve so that it is not able to shift, something that could affect functioning. In addition, the expansion of the intumescent material in the event of a fire is supposed to be impeded as little as possible so that a complete and quick sealing of the breakthrough is possible. In addition, the fire protection sleeve is supposed to be simple to cut to size so that quick processing is possible at the construction site.
However, manufacturing the carrier strip and thus the fire protection sleeve becomes substantially more expensive due to the closure elements that are integrated into the carrier strip. In addition, the carrier strip cannot be shortened as desired. Additional anchoring elements can only be used if the fire protection sleeve is inserted into the breakthrough.
The object of the invention is providing a fire protection sleeve which makes a simple closing of the fire protection sleeve possible independent of the desired diameter or the desired length of the fire protection sleeve.
To attain this object, a fire protection sleeve is provided having a carrier strip, an intumescent overlay, which runs on an inner surface along the carrier strip and is connected thereto, wherein a plurality of recesses spaced apart from one another in a longitudinal direction are provided on the outer side of the carrier strip facing away from the intumescent overlay, and having in particular a closure clip made of a sheet, which has at least two hooks that are able to engage in the recesses. The shape of the recess is not restricted. The recesses may be configured, for example, in the form of slots or holes, wherein other shapes are also conceivable and possible, however.
Because only recesses are provided on the carrier strip, it is simple to manufacture and, because there are no projecting elements, it can be wound up to save space. The carrier strip with the intumescent overlay fastened to it can be cut to the desired dimension and rolled up. Then a closure clip is inserted from the outside into the openings and the fire protection sleeve is thereby closed.
The advantage of this as compared to other closure possibilities is that the carrier strip is loaded exclusively in the circumferential direction when the intumescent overlay expands, i.e., only tensile stress acts on the carrier strip. Shearing stress, which may occur particularly in the region of the closure, is absorbed completely by the clip. As a result, it is possible to manufacture the carrier strip from a thinner material. The advantage of this is that the carrier strip is considerably more flexible and trimming the carrier strip to the desired length is considerably simpler. The carrier strip can be manufactured so thin for example that previously used cutting zones with a material weakening are no longer required, thereby allowing manufacturing expenses for the carrier strip to be reduced as well. In addition, a more precise adaptation of the fire protection sleeve is possible because the carrier strip is able to be cut at any position independent of cutting zones.
The closure clip preferably has a substantially flat base body, and, in a pre-assembly position, the hooks protrude substantially at a right angle from the base body. As a result, the hooks are able to be inserted into the recesses in the radial direction and be fixed to the strip. After insertion of the closure clip, the base body lies flat on the carrier strip so that the base body does not project at all or only slightly over the fire protection sleeve or the carrier strip. This facilitates in particular the insertion of the fire protection sleeve into a breakthrough, because there are no projections on the outside which might cause the fire protection sleeve to get caught.
The hooks are bent, for example, in a final assembly position at an acute angle to the base body and in particular in the final assembly position are bent approximately parallel to the base body. After insertion into the recesses, the hooks are thus bent in such a way that they are not able to slip out of the recesses. This would only be possible if the edges of the carrier strip were slid on top of one another so that the distance between the recesses in which the hooks engage was shortened. However, this is prevented by the carrier strip and the intumescent overlay. If the intumescent overlay expands, the stress on the closure clip also increases, thereby additionally securing it.
In order to be able to bend the hooks as simply as possible, the hooks preferably have an especially elongated receptacle for a tool. This facilitates the bending of the hooks into the intermediate assembly position, in which the hooks are inserted into the recesses and thus are not accessible from the outside. The tool may be inserted radially into the round strip and in the longitudinal direction into the receptacle so that the tool is held at the respective hook in the longitudinal direction. By swiveling the tool, the hook is able to be bent in a simple manner. The tool may be a common tool, such as a screwdriver, a pair of scissors, or a tool with a flat and wide element that is able to engage in the receptacles.
The receptacle runs, for example, parallel to the plane of the hook. In particular, the receptacle forms a pocket with opposing edges of the hook that are bent toward each other. This pocket or receptacle is configured, for example, such that a tool, e.g., a screwdriver, is able to be inserted into the closure clip or the receptacle in the radial direction. Then the tool may be moved in such a way that the hook is bent into the final assembly position, wherein the tool is finally swiveled approximately tangentially to the carrier strip. Finally, the tool may be extracted from the pocket. The pocket may be embodied in such a way that damage by the tool to the intumescent material underneath is ruled out, because the pocket is tapered or closed, for example, towards the free end.
In an alternative embodiment of the closure clip, the tool may be connected permanently or detachably to the hooks and/or the receptacle for bending the hooks of the closure clip. It is preferred that the tool be configured as an elongated, rectangular sheet, which, in a pre-assembly form, projects over the plane of the closure and is connected permanently or detachably to the hooks and/or the receptacle.
In order to facilitate simple movement of the hooks into the final assembly position, it is necessary that the bending does not encounter any great resistance from the intumescent overlay in the region of the hooks. This may be accomplished, for example, by the intumescent overlay being made of a yielding foam material at least in the region of the recesses, which may be displaced or compressed simply. In this case, "yielding" means that the material is soft and elastic so that it is able to be bent and deformed without a great expenditure of force and is able to return to its original shape again if deformation forces are no longer acting on the material.
However, it is also conceivable for the intumescent overlay to have, in the region of the recesses, depressions pointing towards the carrier strip, or grooves running in particular in the longitudinal direction. In the region in which the hooks may engage, no intumescent overlay is thus provided or a groove or depression is formed so that the hook does not come into contact with the intumescent overlay and therefore the intumescent overlay does not constitute an impediment to bending.
These grooves may also extend through the entire thickness of the intumescent overlay and divide the same into a plurality of intumescent strips in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the hook or the closure clip is also accessible from the inside so that it may also be bent from the inside.
The intumescent overlay preferably has ribs running transverse to the longitudinal direction. The ribs extend over the entire width of the intumescent overlay. The ribs, for one, define cutting regions, which are used to make it simple to cut the carrier strip or the intumescent overlay to length. In addition, the ribs may also form fold regions, however, which facilitate simple rolling of the sleeve. If the ribs were not present, the intumescent overlay would get heavily compressed on the inner side when it is rolled around the pipe or line especially in the case of smaller pipe diameters. The ribs prevent this. The size of the ribs or the angle between the ribs may be selected depending upon the maximum or desired diameter of the fire protection sleeve.
As the case may be, gaps present between the ribs are closed in the event of a fire by the expansion of the intumescent overlay.
The recesses are preferably located between the ribs, which facilitates the insertion of the hooks.
The expansion of the intumescent overlay is impeded by the carrier strip. In order to make it possible to better seal the wall breakthrough, a second intumescent overlay may therefore be provided on the outer side of the carrier strip. This may furthermore form a vibration decoupling of the line or the pipe from the substrate. This second intumescent overlay is preferably formed of strips and laid in such a way that recesses in the carrier strip are kept clear so that the closure clip may be inserted.
Normally, a metal strip, especially a metal sheet, is used for the carrier strip. However, it is also conceivable for the carrier strip to be made of plastic, in particular a glass fiber reinforced plastic.
Additional advantages and features are disclosed in the following description in conjunction with the drawings.


A battery pack including: a bare cell; a holder disposed at an end of the bare cell, having a connection groove on a side surface thereof; a protection circuit board seated in the holder; and an outer case disposed upon a side of the bare cell, having a connection protrusion mated with the connection groove, to secure the holder. Another battery pack includes: a bare cell including an electrode assembly and an cell case to accommodate the electrode assembly, including an outer casing and a inner casing, the cell case having a connection protrusion disposed at an edge of at least one of the outer and inner casings; a holder disposed at an end of the bare cell, having a connection groove to mate with the connection protrusion and thereby secure the holder; and a protection circuit board seated in the holder.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a battery pack, and more particularly, to a battery pack which can prevent the displacement of a protection circuit board and visual defects, and thus, enhance stability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Secondary batteries are more economical than disposable batteries, because they can be repeatedly charged and discharged. Also, secondary batteries can realize a high capacity in a small volume, and thus, can be widely used in portable electronic/electrical devices, i.e., mobile phones, camcorders, or notebook computers, as a power source.
Such secondary batteries include, for example, nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydride batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, and lithium secondary batteries. Among theses batteries, the lithium secondary batteries are the most widely used, because of their small size, high capacity, high operating voltage, and high energy density per unit weight.
A lithium secondary battery may be classified as can-type or pouch-type, depending on the shape of a casing accommodating an electrode assembly. The electrode assembly includes a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, and a separator. The can-type batteries may be further classified as cylindrical or prismatic.
In the can-type lithium secondary battery, a casing is generally formed of a metal, such as aluminum, and has a cylindrical shape, a prismatic shape, or a pillar shape that has rounded corners. An opening is formed in a top surface of the can, the electrode assembly is inserted into the can through the opening, and then an electrolyte is injected therein. After that, the can is covered with a cap assembly having a size and shape corresponding to the opening formed in the top surface of the can, thereby forming a sealed bare cell.
In the pouch-type lithium secondary battery, an electrode assembly is accommodated in a bottom portion of a pouch-type casing, which has a space for accommodating the electrode assembly. After that, the bottom portion is covered with a top portion of the pouch casing, sealing parts formed at edges of the top and bottom portions of the pouch casing are adhered, thereby forming a sealed bare cell.
The bare cell is electrically connected with a protection circuit board, which includes a protection element to prevent an overcharge, an overdischarge, and/or an overcurrent. In general, the bare cell and the protection circuit board are electrically connected with each other, using a lead terminal, which forms a core pack. A battery pack is completed by packing the core pack in a separate outer case, or filling a gap with a hot-melt resin, and then tubing and labeling the resultant structure, with a thin casing.
In the pouch-type secondary battery, the electrical contact between the bare cell and the protection circuit board is formed, by connecting two electrode tabs projecting from the pouch casing, with corresponding electrical terminals of the protection circuit board. The electrode tab and the protection circuit board have to be precisely combined, to prevent the electrode tabs from being bent and short-circuited, or to be connected with different electrical terminals, through another conductor.
To this end, a holder may be included between the bare cell and the protection circuit board. The holder and the protection circuit board are shaped such that the protection circuit board can be safely placed, and the gap between the bare cell and the protection circuit board can be maintained.
After that, an outer case to protect the surface of the bare cell, which is formed of stainless steel, is disposed at a side surface of the bare cell. The outer case has a resin molding part, which is formed in the gap between the bare cell and the protection circuit board. The resin molding part can be formed from a hot-melt resin that is filled into the gap.
However, when an external pressure is applied toward the gap between the bare cell and the holder, in which the protection circuit board is placed, the protection circuit board may be displaced toward the gap, thereby generating visual defects in the battery pack. Further, the contacts between the electrode tabs and the electrical terminals may be disconnected, due to the displacement of the protection circuit board, and thus, a short circuit may occur.


A trigger extraction system for obtaining an event trigger for an event occurring in a region of interest includes a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and a trigger extraction program stored in the memory for execution by the processor. The trigger extraction program includes instructions for accessing ultrasound trigger data from a trigger region intersecting a region of interest, analyzing the trigger data for a trigger characteristic, and storing an event trigger based on the trigger characteristic.

This invention relates generally to ultrasound imaging systems. In particular, this invention relates to identifying event triggers in ultrasound Doppler signals.
Some ultrasound imaging systems include the capability to present a looping series of ultrasound images. The looping series of images appears to the viewer as a short repeating movie or video of the internal structures imaged during a series of ultrasound firings. In a cardiology examination, for example, the imaging system may capture ultrasound images of the heart along with ECG data. The characteristics of the ECG signal are well known, and the imaging system may use those characteristics to synchronize the display of a loop of images of the heart, where each loop is generally an integer number of cardiac cycles.
In some cases, however, the ECG signal is not readily available. For example, ultrasound imaging of the fetal heart typically cannot rely of the fetal ECG signal. In part, this is because the operator cannot set ECG pads directly on the fetus. Although it is possible to place ECG pads on the mother to obtain the fetal ECG signal (a process called "fetal ECG"), this approach is not widely used because the signal from the fetus is very weak and is also disturbed by electrical pulses from the mother's body. Hence, the fetal ECG is not a feasible way of measuring fetal heart signals. The absence of the ECG signal general means that cumbersome manual methods must be used to input image synchronization information.
Note also that while the ECG signal may provide insight into how to temporally present a series of heart images, it is not generally indicative of other processes occurring in the body. Thus, even if the ECG signal is available, it may bear no relation to the structures that the imaging system needs to visualize for the operator.
Therefore, there is a need for extracting trigger information in ultrasound imaging systems that overcomes, at least in part, the difficulties set forth above and others previously experienced.

Trigger extraction from ultrasound doppler signals


A snow ski board (1) such as a ski, monoski, or a snowboard, with a vertical plane of general symmetry (P) includes a body or base (2) that includes at least in a binding zone (3) two hollow lateral recesses (8a, 8b) extending longitudinally. A longitudinal rib (11) is defined between the recesses. Each of the longitudinal recesses (8a, 8b) opens at least towards the top (HA). The body (2) is affixed, at least in the binding zone (3) to a supplementary element (4) having two lateral longitudinal parts (4a, 4b) which extend longitudinally and parallel. The two lateral longitudinal parts (4a, 4b) are affixed into the longitudinal recesses (8a, 8b) and are linked by at least one transverse connector (4c).

The present application refers to a snow ski board such as a ski, monoski, a snowboard, or the like. It concerns, more particularly, a relative improvement to a ski board base, to which is affixed at least one supplementary element.
Many snow sports have attracted more and more followers and have evolved significantly in recent years with more and more exacting techniques due to the improved quality of the products. Such is the case, for example, with the sport of snow skiing.
Numerous models of skiing boards are known, and more notably skis that are made of a lengthened beam of which the front extremity is raised to define a tip, while the lower surface includes a sliding surface edged by metallic edges.
Despite the efforts of manufacturers to satisfy the clientele, to this day, a ski does not exist which perfectly brings together the comfort of the user and satisfactory control characteristics for whatever the terrain and whoever the user.