A sensor, in particular a Hall sensor, comprising a sensor element (1; 10) which outputs a sensor signal (SS) containing an interference signal (STS). An evaluation device (6; 20) is connected to the sensor element and contains a subtractor (2; 21) which subtracts the interference signal from the sensor signal. The sensor contains a filter device (3), which filters out the interference signal from the sensor signal. The sensor and a related method enable compensation of the interference signal.

A sensor and its evaluation circuit used to evaluate the sensor signal quite generally have interference signals that are superposed on the useful signal that is actually to be generated, i.e. the measurement signal. These include, in particular, a superposed DC signal, the offset, and the temperature dependence thereof. These influence the components of the sensor and corrupt the measurement signal and also the linearity and operating point of the evaluation elements.
Known examples of applications for sensors relate to magnetic field sensors and in particular Hall sensors comprising Hall elements. A Hall element outputs a voltage signal in the magnetic field as a Hall signal if a current flows through it perpendicular to the magnetic field. The Hall signal, that is to say the Hall voltage is dependent on the product of the vertical component of the magnetic flux density, the Hall current and the Hall constant. The Hall constant, which specifies the sensitivity of the Hall element, is material-dependent. During operation in practice, the offset composed of the offsets of the Hall element and the downstream evaluation device is superposed on the useful signal of the Hall voltage formed from the Hall constant of the component, the vertical component of the magnetic flux density and the Hall current.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,614 discloses a method and a magnetic field sensor with self-compensation by means of a thermal and technological coupling of the Hall element and its supply devices. For this purpose, the corresponding elements are embodied jointly in an integrated circuit. An offset voltage is superposed on the Hall voltage by means of a hysteresis circuit.
A further magnetic field sensor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,433, wherein a magnetic field sensor is proposed which enables a greater accuracy by taking account of an offset of the Hall element.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,319 discloses a clocked Hall sensor comprising a sample-and-hold circuit and a summation element with dynamic offset suppression. It describes how the offset is eliminated by means of a summation with the aid of two signals generated from currents flowing perpendicular to one another through the Hall sensor. The method is also known as the "Spinning Current" technique. The subject matter of this document is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
US 2003/017 8989 A1 discloses a gearwheel detector with offset compensation of a magnetic field, which compensation involves recovering the sensor signal at the output of the evaluation circuit and feeding it back to the input of the evaluation circuit in order to compensate for the offset generated by the DC magnetic field. Although the detector largely eliminates said offset, the document describes that a considerable inaccuracy remains in the interference signal to useful signal ratio. The document furthermore explains that frequency discrimination does not suffice for removing the offset.
As a further example of an application, EP 0916074 B1 specifies a magnetic rotation sensor, in which a magnet mounted on an axis is arranged above a Hall element. The Hall element itself comprises a number of individual sensor elements which are in a specific geometrical arrangement with respect to one another. Each arrangement with a downstream preamplifier for the corresponding signal is referred to as a channel. The evaluation device connected downstream of the Hall element determines the rotation angle of the axis from the Hall signals of the channels. Each channel has an offset signal of the sensor arrangement and an offset of the preamplifier, to which the offset of the evaluation device is added. As a result, the actual useful signal is corrupted and an incorrect output value is determined.
A similar situation holds true if the Hall signal is digitized for the purpose of digital further processing.

Sensor, in particular a magnetic field sensor, with interference compensation and method for interference compensation of a sensor


A chemical pretreatment method for inserting lithium into cathode active material silver vanadium oxide to provide a reduced form of silver vanadium oxide which, when included into a cathode mixture and incorporated into an electrochemical cell, may result in a cell with a lowered initial open circuit voltage, thereby eliminating the need to lower unstably high initial cell voltages through external loads after cell construction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of an electrochemical cell or battery, and more particularly to a method of manufacture thereof to attain an acceptable and stable voltage upon cell assembly.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A solid cathode liquid organic electrolyte lithium anode cell or battery has been used as the power source for implantable medical devices. The cathode of such a cell, or other alkali metal anode battery or cell, may have as active material carbon fluoride, a metal oxide, a metal oxide bronze such as silver vanadium oxide, or other suitable material as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,940 by Keister et al, which patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which patent is incorporated herein by reference.
Typically, cells containing cathode active material such as metal oxide, mixed metal oxides, or metal oxide bronze, may when first assembled, display a high voltage which is not stable over time. For example, the voltage of a cell containing the metal oxide bronze silver vanadium oxide as the cathode active material, may degrade from an initial 3.6 or 3.7 volts before reaching a stable voltage of 3.25 volts. This degradation may lead to increased self-discharge in cells resulting in decreased service life, and/or decreased performance under some low rate discharge conditions. In order to avoid these problems, such cells have been placed on load shortly after assembly in order to discharge the high voltage portion of the cells' capacity. However, this practice of discharging the cells after assembly undesirably results in scheduling difficulties in cell production, since every newly constructed cell must be treated promptly, and also results in additional expense for discharging the high voltage portion of each cell's capacity.

Method of pretreating a cathode for attaining a stable voltage upon cell assembly


The present invention discloses a method for producing graphical indicators and interactive systems for utilizing the graphical indicators. On the surface of an object, visually negligible graphical indicators are provided. The graphical indicators and main information, i.e. text or pictures, co-exist on the surface of object. The graphical indicators do not interfere with the main information when the perception of human eyes are concerned. With the graphical indicators, further information other than the main information on the surface of object are carried. In addition to the main information on the surface of object, one is able to obtain additional information through an auxiliary electronic device or trigger an interactive operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing indicators and processing apparatus and system utilizing the indicators, and more particularly, to a method, an apparatus and a system for providing additional information from the indicators affixed onto the surface of an object.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dating back to ancient time, people start delivering information by recording information on surfaces of various objects. For example, since the birth of paper, people acquire the information through characters and drawings affixed on papers. Furthermore, in recent years, with distinctive colors, characters, or pictures attached to different locations on surface of an object, people try to disclose the information with regard to each different position of the object.
When people observe the surface of object, they generally capture the information visually. However, the amount or types of the information carried by the surface of object are generally limited under the restrictions of the area size, beautification of the surface.
Nowadays, due to the advance of electronic technology, the visual information has been retrieved from its original carrier and stored as the digital information in an electronic apparatus. And people read them directly from the electronic apparatus. However, it is difficult for the digital information to totally replace the information printed in books or information attached to the surface of object.
On the other hand, through hyper link approach of computer technology, the digital information can be displayed in multiple dimensions, while the information printed in book or attached to the object still are displayed in two dimensions. Thus, if multiple dimensions information can be recorded on the book or the object, people can acquire additional information through the electronic apparatus.

Method for producing indicators and processing apparatus and system utilizing the indicators


A system, a method, and a computer-program product for providing multi-language support in applications are disclosed. A first textual expression contained within an application is obtained. The first textual expression is expressed in a first language. A unique key from a hash of the first textual expression is generated. A language code representative of a second language is determined. Based on the generated unique key and the determined language code, a second textual expression in the second language representative of a translation from the first language into the second language indicated by the language code is determined. The second textual expression is provided to the application to replace the first textual expression in a view presented to a user.

Software systems and applications are typically designed using a single default language. In most cases, such single standard language is English. However, for today's software applications, internationalization and localization and, especially, the provisioning and support of different languages may be mandatory. Internationalization and localization can refer to ways of adapting software applications to different languages, regional differences, and/or technical requirements of a particular market. Internationalization refers to a process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization refers to a process of adapting internationalized software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text. Many different and sophisticated software engineering approaches have been designed to define, change, translate, and install language-dependent texts for software applications.
Many current software applications do not support reuse of same textual expressions in different user interface components (e.g., labels, captions, titles, push buttons, error messages, etc.) running in different language environments. The current practice, for developers using language-dependent texts, is to search for an already existing text in a particular language and, if the text in that particular language is available, reuse it. If the text in a particular language does not exist, then a developer has to create a new text. This can be accomplished by creating a new entry in a text table or in a text resource file and assign a key to it. This key will then be used to access the language-dependent text at runtime.
However, the current system are deficient in that their creation of new language-dependent text for a particular textual expression can consume development time, produce unnecessary keys, generate significant redundant work for the developer in generating these keys, as well as incur time delay and additional cost.

Common multi-language text management in a business-oriented software framework


A perceptual error processing method and an image coding device using the same, which includes a generator for generating a predictive error image from the difference between an original image of a present frame to be coded and a restored image of a previous frame, a coder for coding the predictive error image through discrete cosine transform and quantization, a former for forming the coded predictive error image into a bitstream after performing variable length coding, a decoder for decoding the coded predictive error image through inverse quantization and inverse discrete cosine transform, a predictor for predicting the restored image of the previous frame by estimating and compensating a movement from the decoded predictive error image, and a perceptual error processor which reconstructs the predictive error image into a perceptual error image composed of only the predictive error generating the perceptual color difference by using a perceptual color difference look-up table and applies the same to the coder. Therefore, the coding efficiency of the image can be improved by enhancing the temporal and spatial correlation between the image data without causing deterioration of picture quality of the restored image by applying the human color perception to a conventional image coding method.

The present invention relates to an image coding device, and more particularly, to a perceptual error processing method and an image coding device for improving image coding efficiency by enhancing an image data correlation by using human color perception in a temporal and spatial area.
A conventional image coding device improves coding efficiency by using the correlation with respect to the input image data and generally employs two coding methods as shown in FIG. 1. The first method is a transform coding method for defining the image data correlation in a spatial frequency area by transforming the image data to be coded from a temporal frequency area to the spatial frequency area using a discrete cosine transform (which is referred to as DCT, hereinafter). This coding method is used in an image compression and coding by extracting only the characteristic of the spatial frequency of the image data without loss of the image data, and more particularly, in the coding of a still image.
The second method is a predictive coding method by a differential pulse code modulation (which is referred to as DPCM, hereinafter). In this method, the amount of movements of the coding images are estimated using vector values by comparing an nth image (O) to be coded which is input from an image input portion 11 as shown in FIG. 1 with an (n-1)th image which was previously coded and estimates an amount of movement of the coded image unit using a vector value, to form a predictive image (P) of an original nth image to be coded using the estimated movement vector. The predictive image formed as above has an error due to the movement when compared with the actual original nth image. Such an error due to the movement is referred to as a predictive error (e) and expressed in the formula (1) EQU e=O-P (1)
The predictive error as defined above means the amount of the image data correlation in the temporal area. Using only the image data formed by this predictive error in the actual coding device causes loss of the image data but improves the efficiency of the image coding. Therefore, a hybrid coding method wherein the DCT method for extracting the spatial correlation between the image data and the DPCM method for extracting the temporal correlation between the image data are both applied is commonly used in the motion image coding method, as shown in FIG. 1.

Perceptual error processing method and image coding device using the same


A new variety of Gypsophila, ‘Fiorello’, is described and illustrated. The new variety exhibits a vigorous growth habit, small flowers, and condensed flowering characteristics combined with upright growth habit. The flowers contain a large number of petals arranged in compound cymes.

The invented plant is a hybrid between 2 parental lines. The hybridization was performed by crossing 5 maternal lines with 5 paternal lines as follows.                2) Paternal lines: 'Piccolo' clone 1-clone 5. These are denominated as B-PCC-2.        2) Maternal lines: A parental line denominated as B-M-2.
The plants that were used for the crosses were grown in an insect proof greenhouse in which bees were used for pollination. The enclosed greenhouse contained only 10 plants of Gypsophila. Each line was composed of 5 plants. The paternal line was castrated before full aperture of the flower. Pollination was performed over a period of 30 days and seeds were collected from the 5 maternal lines separately. The greenhouse was cooled by air forced vents that were set to operate at 24° C. during the daylight hours. The minimum night temperature was 14° C. Approximately 50 seeds were sown for selection. Seeds were sown in the autumn of the year 2007 and the seedlings were monitored for the following parameters:                Growth habit        Branching habit        Plant height        Plant width        Lateral Branch Length        Lateral Branch diameter        Internode length        Strength        Stem texture        Stem color        Flower appearance        Flowering response        Post harvest longevity        Fragrance        Inflorescence length        Inflorescence width        Inflorescence bud morphological character        Flower diameter        Flower depth (height)        Petals/petaloids        Sepals        Peduncles        Pedicles
Following observation of the flower characteristics clone number 28 exhibited the desired characteristics as described below in the section entitled Detailed Botanical Description. Ten cuttings were harvested from clone 28 and rooted under mist for further observation and trait stability analysis. In addition, axillary buds from clone 28 were put into tissue culture as routinely used by BI Nursery LTD's laboratory. Following propagation by tissue culture, the plantlets were hardened under mist and planted in 850 ml pots filled with pure Perilite no 2.12 as a soil substrate. Plants were grown to full flowering and monitored along the way for all of the above parameters. These plants were used as mother stock plants for harvesting cuttings as field plants.


The present invention provides a direct injection type multicylinder engine capable of reducing the dimensions and number of parts thereof by forming so as to be used in common the cam brackets for retaining cam shafts, clamp members for fixing adjacent injectors, and fixing stud bolts. The cam brackets comprise singly formed parts, and retain the cam shafts rotatably on a cylinder head. The clamp members are adapted to fix adjacent injectors to the cylinder head at once. The cam brackets and clamp members are fixed to the cylinder head by inserting first common stud bolts through the central portions of the cam brackets and those of the cam brackets. The engine can be miniaturized by reducing the distance between the cam shafts, and the number of the parts required to retain the injectors and cam shafts is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an injector mounting structure for engines, adapted to fix injectors in a cylinder head of an engine, especially, a direct injection type engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, a DOHC engine having two cam shafts per cylinder and two suction valves or exhaust valves on each cam shaft, and a multi-valve engine have been becoming leading engines for meeting the requirements for improving the suction and exhaust efficiencies of engines, increasing the rotational speed and an output level thereof and minimizing the fuel consumption thereof. In such an engine, injectors are provided in a cylinder head so that one injector is opposed to a substantially central portion of one cylinder, and also two parallel-arranged cam shafts so as to hold one injector therebetween, each injector being positioned in the center of a region surrounded by two suction valves or exhaust valves provided on each cam shaft. An example of an engine having injectors arranged in this manner is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 101018/1992.
In the engine disclosed in this publication, a mechanism for operating suction valves and exhaust valves comprises a cam rotated by a cam shaft, and a rocker arm contacting the cam and converting the action of the cam into reciprocating movements of the suction and exhaust valves. Therefore, a large space is required above a cylinder head to hold the valve operating mechanism therein, and this causes the dimensions of the engine to increase. A bracket is prepared for each cam shaft, and fixed to the cylinder head by two bolts so as to retain the cam shaft. The fixing of each injector to the cylinder head is also done by using other bolts. Consequently, the number of parts used in conjunction with the injectors and cams, such as brackets and bolts for fixing the same and injector fixing bolts increases to cause the cost of the engine to increase.
The applicant of the present invention proposed (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 254167/1996) a structure capable of rationally utilizing a space above a cylinder head in a DOHC multi-valve direct injection type engine having a center nozzle structure in which injectors are provided in the centers of regions surrounded by suction and exhaust valves. This structure is characterized in that a cam bracket fixing bolt and an injector clamp member fixing bolt are united with each other, and this can reduce a space required to fix the injectors. According to this structure, a cam shaft can be fixed in a position lower than that in the structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 101018/1992, and the opening and closing of the suction and exhaust valves are done by using cams which directly work on these valves, so that rocker arms may not be used. This enables the space saving to be effected above the cylinder head, and the number of parts to be reduced.
In this direct injection type DOHC 4-valve diesel engine, these various advantages are produced but the following problems remain in a structure for fixing injectors to the cylinder head by clamps.
(1) Since a cam bracket is disposed on an imaginary line passing the center of a cylinder and orthogonally crossing cam shafts, it is difficult to reduce the distance between the axes of the two cam shafts. A cam bracket fixing bolt and an injector clamp member fixing bolt are united with each other but, if the cam bracket is made as a single part to be used in common with the two cam shafts, it interferes with the relative injector. Therefore, the cam shaft is provided separately on each cam shaft. Under the circumstances, two fixing bolts are still necessary for setting each bracket, and also two fixing bolts for securing a cam bracket to the cylinder head are still required to be provided between two cam shafts. As a result, the reduction of an included angle between a suction and exhaust valve is restricted, and it is under apprehension that a required compression ratio is secured when this structure is applied to a diesel engine. If the suction/exhaust valve included angle is set close to zero forcibly, the diameters of the ports of the suction and exhaust valves necessarily become smaller to cause the volumeric efficiency of the engine to decrease, and a pumping loss to increase. Since the distance between the axes of the cam shafts cannot be reduced, a correspondingly wide space is required above the cylinder head, so that it is difficult to meet the demand for forming the structure more compactly.
(2) Each cam shaft is fixed by a separately provided independent cam bracket, and each injector to a cylinder head by a single clamp member. Four bolts are required for each cam bracket and each clamp member. Accordingly, the number of parts is still large, and reducing the cost is difficult.

Direct injection type multicylinder engine


An approximate straight-line mechanism that is connected to the connecting portion connecting the piston and the connecting rod regulates the movement of the connecting portion such that it moves in an approximately straight line along the axial center line of the cylinder. In one aspect, the engaging ends of multiple nearly-straight links, as well as the engaging end of the nearly-straight link that engages with the connecting portion connecting the piston and the connecting rod, constitute a single-side-support construction that enables the nearly-straight links to be rotatably connected while engaging from a prescribed direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piston-crank mechanism used in a piston engine such as an internal combustion engine or an external combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, friction between the piston and the cylinder comprises at least half of the total friction in a piston engine. Accordingly, there have been various designs in the conventional art that seek to reduce this friction between the piston and the cylinder. For example, in the piston-crank mechanism described in JP2001-50362A, a construction is disclosed wherein the piston and the crank are connected by a free link. This mechanism is constructed so as to ensure that the angle formed by the free link axis relative to the piston central axis at the center of the motion path of the piston is kept as small as possible.
However, because the mechanisms of the conventional art must be increased in size significantly if they are to sufficiently reduce friction, the problem arises that such friction between the piston and the cylinder cannot be reduced sufficiently. Furthermore, an additional problem with the conventional mechanisms is that attaching the mechanism to the piston is a rather complex task.

Piston engine having approximate straight-line mechanism


A method for treating pachyonychia congenita (PC) by identifying a genetic mutation contributing to PC, preparing a siRNA sequence that inhibits expression of the identified mutation, and administering the siRNA to a cell of a subject afflicted with PC. The siRNA treatment can include silencing of both the mutated and associated wildtype genes for a specific keratin. Specific mutations and inhibitory sequences are identified.

Pachyonychia congenita (PC) is a rare, autosomal dominant keratin disorder that typically affects the nails, skin, oral mucosa, larynx, hair, and teeth. Currently there are two distinct syndromes of PC that are recognized: PC-1 or Jadassohn-Lewandowsky type, and PC-2, or Jackson-Lawler type. The PC-1 clinical phenotype is associated with mutations in the genes encoding the K6a or K16 keratins whereas the PC-2 phenotype is associated with mutations in the genes encoding the K6b or K17 keratins. There are at least 20 known genetic mutations that cause PC and a high percentage of these are mononucleotide mutations, although other mutations can also cause the disorder. The most common symptoms associated with PC include thickened fingernails and toenails, plantar keratoderma (blisters and thick calluses on the soles of the feet), palmar keratoderma (blisters and thick calluses on the palms of the hands), oral leukokeratosis (thick white growth on tongue or cheeks), follicular keratosis (bumps formed around hair follicles), pilosebaceous cyst formation (including steatocystoma type), laryngeal involvement (hoarseness), hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating on feet or hands), and natal or prenatal teeth.
There are currently no known specific treatments for PC. Available treatments generally are directed at specific manifestations of the disorder but generally do not affect the underlying cause. As individual patients are generally troubled by different manifestations of the disease, no single treatment plan is effective for treating the disorder as a whole. Treatment options for PC fall into four broad categories, non-invasive (mechanical), invasive (surgical), chemical, and pharmacological. Currently no treatment options are available for PC which address the underlying cause of the disorder and therefore prevent the occurrence of symptoms.

Methods and compositions for treating pachyonychia congenita


The present invention is directed to a system for the electronic trading of financial instruments, and in particular, a system and method for the receipt, combination, and evaluation of equity portfolios for possible simultaneous execution by a sponsor at passively determined prices. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method for trading securities portfolios includes receiving a first intended portfolio trade having an associated specified commission, evaluating a combination of the first intended portfolio trade and a second intended portfolio trade for possible execution; and transmitting a decision on whether to execute the combination of the first intended portfolio trade and the second intended portfolio trade.

A portfolio trade (also known as a "basket trade") is the simultaneous execution of a large number of individual stock trades. Because there are often significant transaction-cost and other advantages to trading equities as baskets rather than as individual stocks, portfolio trading has in recent years become increasingly popular with sophisticated money managers (for example, pension funds and mutual funds) and other professional market participants who use it to fund, rebalance, or liquidate equity portfolios. As used herein, the terms "institutional investor" or "client" refer to any non-retail person or entity who wishes to make a portfolio trade.
In order to establish a context for discussing the transaction-cost advantages of portfolio trading, a brief overview of equity trading costs is appropriate. In general terms, the overall cost of trading can be divided into three components: commission, "slippage" (also called "market impact"), and opportunity cost. Although some traders mistakenly emphasize only the first of these costs, there are many trades for which slippage and opportunity cost substantially outweigh the more explicit cost of commissions. Since the overall cost of a trade can therefore vary widely even when the commission is fixed, it is impossible to minimize transaction costs without a detailed understanding of these three individual components.                Commission. The most obvious component of trading costs (along with other fixed costs, such as clearing), the commission is the charge per share that a broker-dealer receives in exchange for handling an order. The magnitude of a commission typically depends on a number of factors, including the size of the order involved, the amount of capital at risk (if any), and the provision of research and other services by the executing broker-dealer.        Slippage. Slippage, or market impact, is the price effect produced by trading. Stated simply, the price of a stock tends to move adversely when you trade it—buy orders normally push the price up and sell orders normally push the price down. This price slippage can be considerable, especially if an order is for a significant fraction of the total number of shares normally traded in a given stock over the course of a day.        Opportunity Cost. A portfolio manager normally generates buy or sell orders after coming to the conclusion that his portfolio will have a higher intrinsic return ("alpha"), or a more favorable risk profile, after executing the contemplated set of trades than before executing the trades. The longer the portfolio stands in its pre-trade execution state, the longer the fund manager sacrifices the higher expected alpha, or reduced risk, of the post-trade portfolio. The stronger the portfolio manager's views about the post-trade portfolio, the larger the expected opportunity cost if the required trading does not take place quickly.
Minimization of overall transaction costs therefore requires that an institutional investor have a detailed understanding of the slippage produced by its own trading. This is difficult for many institutional investors because slippage is a complex phenomenon for which many different measures are available. Similarly, in order to effectively minimize opportunity cost, the institutional investor must have the ability to quantify the relative importance of each individual trade—that is, determine when it is important to have some orders executed more quickly than others. Because institutional investors are generally more expert at evaluating companies and analyzing investments than at understanding market microstructure as it relates to slippage and other esoteric transaction cost dynamics, an increasingly popular solution for institutional investors is to offload the technical challenge of optimizing the implementation of their investment decisions by trading entire portfolios with broker-dealers who use their own specialized trading and transaction-cost expertise to handle these portfolios either as a principal or as an agent.
There are two basic kinds of portfolio trades: agency trades and principal trades. In an agency portfolio trade, an institutional investor asks an executing broker-dealer to use its trading expertise and market access to complete the portfolio trade (by executing all of the portfolio's component trades) on the most favorable terms possible. These trades are sometimes subject to instructions regarding position or dollar-value ratios that should be maintained as the portfolio is being traded. In an agency trade, the executing broker-dealer does not assume any principal risk—that is, the executing broker-dealer does not commit any of its own capital to buy or sell any portion of the portfolio for its own account. As a result, the commission the broker-dealer receives from the institutional investor for providing this service is typically quite low. The slippage and opportunity costs (which, in the case of agency portfolio trades, are borne wholly by the institutional investor), on the other hand, will vary from trade to trade, depending in part on the amount of time the institutional investor allows for the trade to occur. An institutional investor can establish a number of different "targets" for the average price at which the executing broker-dealer should attempt to trade the agency portfolio (and therefore its component trades). In some cases, this target may be as general as "get it done at the best price possible," but quite often, and especially in the case of index funds or funds driven by asset-allocation models, a more objective benchmark for the broker-dealer's performance is used. This benchmark might, for example, be linked to the day's volume-weighted average price, or the closing price, of the stocks being traded in the portfolio. Regardless of the target price the broker-dealer attempts to achieve, the institutional investor's portfolio in an agency trade is executed at the actual prices achieved by the executing broker-dealer. The executing broker-dealer is paid a previously agreed-upon per-share commission for acting as the agent handling the transaction.
In a principal portfolio trade, a broker-dealer commits its own capital to execute an institutional investor's entire portfolio as principal, effectively transferring the entire portfolio to the broker-dealer's own account. For example, an institutional investor re-balancing a portfolio might have a list of $50 million of equities to buy and a list of $50 million of equities to sell and desires to execute the trades with a broker-dealer as a principal portfolio trade. To do this, the broker-dealer would purchase from the client, for the broker-dealer's own account, all the stocks the institutional investor wished to sell and sell to the institutional investor all the stocks the institutional investor wished to buy, with all of the component trades occurring at passively determined prices. For example, individual trades for exchange-listed stocks in the portfolio might occur at their closing prices on the relevant primary exchange (the New York Stock Exchange—"NYSE", or the American Stock Exchange—"Amex"), and individual trades for over-the counter ("OTC") stocks might take place at the midpoint of their last National Best Bid and Offer ("NBBO") on Nasdaq.
Since all of the position risk (the risk associated with holding stock positions) in the case of a principal portfolio trade is transferred from the client to the broker-dealer, the commissions on these trades are usually higher than commissions for agency trades, where the broker-dealer assumes no risk. Because the institutional investor's slippage and opportunity costs are effectively reduced to zero, overall transaction costs are often lower for an institutional investor with a principal portfolio trade than they would be with other methods for trading the same portfolio of stocks. The amount of commission charged for this type of principal trade depends largely on the level and type of risk incurred by the broker-dealer. The portfolio risk factors the broker-dealer evaluates when determining its commission for a principal portfolio trade include: liquidity, stock diversity, industry-sector representation, ratio of Nasdaq to exchange-listed securities, average bid/ask spread, price volatility, and the portfolio's correlation with indexes such as the S&P 500.
Generally, an institutional investor wishing to conduct a principal portfolio trade will put the intended portfolio out "for bid" by broker-dealers who are in the business of committing their own capital to facilitate principal portfolio transactions. Because the amount of commission charged to execute a principal portfolio trade depends on the level and type of risk incurred by the broker-dealer, an institutional investor wishing to conduct a principal portfolio trade typically shares some information with potential broker-dealer counter-parties concerning the risk characteristics of the overall portfolio it intends to trade. However, the institutional investor shares this information without revealing to bidding broker-dealers the specific stocks or position sizes the institutional investor wishes to buy and sell, in order to prevent these broker-dealers from "front-running" the institutional investor's portfolio trade. Front-running is a proscribed practice in which a broker-dealer who is privy to confidential information regarding a client's current or future trading activity uses this information to make profitable trades for the broker-dealer's own account, ahead of the completion of the client's trades.
As described above, the portfolio risk factors normally evaluated by broker-dealers bidding for principal portfolio trades include, for example: size of the portfolio trade (both total number of shares and dollar value), liquidity, stock diversity, industry-sector representation, ratio of Nasdaq to exchange-listed securities, average bid/ask spread, price volatility, and the portfolio's correlation with indexes such as the S&P 500. To aid in this evaluation, quantitative analysis of characteristics of combinations of portfolios can be performed to analyze a total size in shares, a total dollar value, an average individual position size, a median individual position size, a size in shares of a largest individual position, a dollar value of said largest individual position, a total size as a percentage of average daily volume, an individual position sizes as a percentage of average daily volume, a correlation/tracking-error with major market indices, an average bid-ask spread, a breakdown by buy/sell orders, shares, and dollar value, a breakdown by industry group, a breakdown by listing exchange, a hard to borrow analysis of individual positions, risk calculations, a crossing with a sponsor's portfolio, a sponsor's proprietary price forecasts or other proprietary data or analyses for individual positions or for the combination as a whole, and volatility measures. In order to facilitate the evaluation of these risk factors, bidding broker-dealers often provide institutional clients with special software which allows the institutions to generate "portfolio risk reports." These portfolio risk reports summarize certain risk factors for the entire portfolio the institutional investor wishes to trade, without revealing any information about the individual trades (for example, stock symbols or individual trade sizes) the portfolio trade is composed of. These portfolio risk reports are then sent by institutional investors, either via fax or email, to bidding broker-dealers, who use the risk reports to calculate and/or otherwise prepare their principal bids. Because bidding broker-dealers have no specific information about the individual trades in the subject portfolio (and therefore cannot prepare their principal bids using such information), the portfolio risk report is intended to convey enough information about the portfolio as a whole to allow broker-dealers to prepare informed principal bids on a "blind" basis. By eliminating any concerns about front-running the client portfolio, this "blind bidding" protocol guarantees the integrity of the bidding process. After preparing their principal bids, broker-dealers independently submit their per-share commission (specified commission) bids to the institutional investor. Each bid represents the per-share commission for which the submitting broker-dealer is willing to execute the entire principal portfolio trade at market-closing prices. Because all bidding broker-dealers would provide exactly the same execution for the principal portfolio trade (that is, the portfolio's component trades would be executed in full at the same passively determined prices regardless of which broker-dealer actually wins the trade), the institutional investor normally awards the portfolio trade to the broker-dealer submitting the lowest bid. Although the winning broker-dealer is notified immediately (during normal trading hours) that it has won the portfolio trade, the actual positions in the portfolio (that is, the portfolio's component trades, including specific stock symbols and trade sizes) are not divulged to the broker-dealer until after the close of trading on that day. Brokers profit from these transactions when the subsequent cost of liquidating the purchased portfolio is lower than the commission received from the institutional investor.
Unfortunately, the current system for requesting and calculating bids on individual principal portfolio trades is inefficient because it does not allow any bidding broker-dealer to aggregate, analyze, and bid on multiple portfolio trades simultaneously in search of trading synergies which would reduce its risk, thereby making it possible to lower the commissions it charges institutional investors for such trades. Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for the enhanced electronic trading of principal portfolio trades that automatically aggregates multiple portfolio trades, analyzes the risk characteristics of all possible combinations of these portfolio trades, and, without increasing the disclosure of trade information by institutions, will make it possible for a bidding broker-dealer to bid more competitively on multiple portfolio trades simultaneously than it could bid on the same portfolio trades evaluated individually.

Method and apparatus for the receipt, combination, and evaluation of equity portfolios for execution by a sponsor at passively determined prices


A backlight unit. The backlight unit is employed in a display device having a main screen and a sub screen. The backlight unit comprises a first light-emitting unit and a second light-emitting unit. When the display device uses the sub screen, the first light-emitting unit provides a first light to the sub screen. When the display device uses the main screen, the first and the second light-emitting units respectively emit a second light and a third light, and a first aggregate light comprising the second light and the third light is provided to the main screen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight unit, and in particular to a backlight unit for a display device having a main screen and a sub screen. The backlight unit drives light-emitting diodes corresponding to the sub screen utilizing an independent circuit, thereby reducing current consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are employed applied in variety of electronic devices, such as mobile phones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, and other devices used in environments providing varying degrees of brightness. In order to provide adequate display brightness, backlight sources are provided located in an rear of the LCD panel.
Currently, many mobile phones have hinged displays with a main screen and a sub screen disposed on eacg side thereof. The main screen is disposed on the inner side of the hinged display and displays a main menu and related information. The sub-screen is disposed on the outer side of the hinged display and displays general information, such as data, time and so on. Generally, the main screen and the sub screen respectively have a light source and a light guide configured in a backlight unit within a liquid crystal module of the mobile phone. The described mobile phone suffer from the disadvantages of large volume and excessive power consumption.
To solve the described problems, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) coupled in series and one light guide are employed in a backlight unit for displaying images in the main screen and the sub screen. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the backlight unit with serial light-emitting diodes. A main screen MD1 and a sub screen SD1 are relatively disposed. LEDs 1A to 1D correspond to the main screen MD1 and LEDs 1B and 1C further correspond to the sub screen SD1. When the main screen MD1 or the sub screen SD1 is used, all LEDs 1A to 1D are driven to emit light. That is, the LEDs corresponding to the main screen MD1 and the LEDs corresponding to the sub screen SD1 are all lit.
Practically, when the mobile phone is in standby mode, the hinged cover is closed such that the sub screen SD1 on the outer side of the flip cover can be viewed. Meanwhile, the LEDs 1B and 1C corresponding to both screens MD1 and SD1, and LEDs 1A and 1D corresponding to the main screen MD1 are all driven to emit light. The lit LEDs 1A and 1D cause unnecessary power consumption and reduced battery life.
Additionally, LEDs 2A to 2D coupled in parallel are applied in a backlight unit, as shown in FIG. 2. Because the impedances of LEDs 2A to 2D are different, brightness thereof is unequal, resulting in uneven brightness of the backlight unit and poor display quality.


Disclosed is a monolithic ceramic capacitor composed of plural dielectric ceramic layers made of a ceramic material comprising strontium titanate and bismuth oxide or the like, plural inner electrodes made of a base metal material comprising nickel or a nickel alloy, which are laminated via the dielectric ceramic layer to produce the electrostatic capacity of the capacitor, and outer electrodes as electrically connected with the inner electrodes. Each dielectric ceramic layer in the capacitor contains a reduction inhibitor, for example aMO+bMnO.sub.2 +cB.sub.2 O.sub.3 +(100--a--b--c)SiO.sub.2 (where M is at least one of Mg, Sr, Ca and Ba; and a, b and c each are, in % by mol, 10.ltoreq.a.ltoreq.60, 5.ltoreq.b.ltoreq.20 and 20.ltoreq.c.ltoreq.35). In producing the capacitor, the laminate of dielectric ceramic layers may be fired in a neutral or reducing atmosphere without being reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monolithic ceramic capacitor and a method of producing it. More particularly, the present invention relates to a monolithic ceramic capacitor having dielectric ceramic layers each made of a ceramic material comprising strontium titanate as the main component and bismuth oxide or an oxide of a bismuth compound as an additional component and containing a reduction inhibitor, and also to a method of producing it.
2. Description of Related Art
A monolithic ceramic capacitor is generally composed of a plurality of dielectric ceramic layers with inner electrodes sandwiched between the adjacent ceramic layers and with outer electrodes disposed on the outer surface of the laminate and connected with each inner electrode.
Such a monolithic ceramic capacitor may be produced according to the following process. A dielectric powder is mixed with an organic binder; the resulting mixture is made into a slurry; the slurry is shaped into green sheets by a doctor-blading method; the sheets each are printed with a paste containing a metal powder by a screen-printing method or the like; a plurality of the green sheets each printed with the paste are laminated; the resulting laminate is subjected to pressure to establish tight connections between the green sheets; the laminate is then fired in air at from about 1300.degree. to 1400.degree. C.; an outer electrode material is applied onto the surfaces of the sintered body having exposed inner electrodes; and the material is baked.
Dielectric ceramic layers consisting essentially of strontium titanate and containing a bismuth compound give the monolithic ceramic capacitor a relatively large dielectric constant with small voltage dependence and a small dielectric loss and therefore high resistance to high voltage.
A material of the inner electrodes comprising a noble metal such as platinum, gold, palladium or their alloys is advantageous in that (1) the inner electrode material does not react with the dielectric ceramic during firing since the noble metal has a melting point higher than the temperature at which the dielectric ceramic is fired and that (2) the inner electrode material is not oxidized even when fired in air. However, an electrode material comprising such a noble metal is expensive. For example, the cost of the electrode material may often be from 30 to 70% of the total material cost of the ceramic capacitor.
Moreover, an inner electrode material comprising a silver-palladium alloy often worsens the characteristics of the capacitor. For example, the dielectric constant of the capacitor is often lowered and becomes unstable due to the migration of silver.
In order to solve these problems, base metals such as nickel, copper, iron, cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum, etc. could be used as the inner electrode material. However, the material comprising such a base metal must be fired in a neutral or reducing atmosphere in order to prevent the oxidation of the material during firing. If fired in such conditions, the bismuth compound in the dielectric ceramic layers is reduced and, as a result, the dielectric ceramic becomes semi-conductive. Accordingly, a ceramic capacitor would not be produced.
Copper can be fired at about 1000.degree. C. in a neutral atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of 10.sup.-7 MPa but it is easily oxidized at relatively low temperatures. An inner electrode material comprising copper also diffuses copper into the dielectric ceramic layers during firing at an oxygen partial pressure that is higher than the equilibrated oxygen partial pressure of Cu/CuO and often lowers the characteristics of the capacitor produced. Therefore, an inner electrode material comprising copper requires the strict control of the oxygen partial pressure in the firing atmosphere, which, however, results in the increase in the production cost.

Monolithic ceramic capacitor and method of producing the same


A sensor arrangement for detecting the influence of cross wind on the handling of a motor vehicle comprising pressure measuring points situated on opposite sides of the vehicle for the measuring of the air pressure existing in the area of the outer skin of the vehicle body. The pressure measuring points are constructed as bores in the outer skin of the vehicle body. A differential pressure sensor, which detects the differential pressure (Dp) between two vehicle sides, is arranged centrally between two pressure measuring points, and is connected with the two bores by way of hoses or lines which, if possible, should have the same length. For detecting the vehicle's entry into and emergence from a cross wind gust, the sensor filters the detected values of the wind cross force by means of a low pass filter and compares them with the filtered values that were detected immediately before. When the difference between the amounts of the filtered values rises, entry into a cross wind gust is recognized, and when the values fall, emergence form a cross wind gust is recognized.

This invention relates to a sensor for detecting the of cross wind on a vehicle.
When driving through a gust of cross wind, a vehicle without steering correction is laterally displaced and turned out of the wind to at least some extent. As a result, the vehicle experiences a steady-state course deviation upon emerging from the gust, into an area which is free of cross winds. In addition to the wind force and the direction of the wind relative to the driving direction of the vehicle, the driving speed of the vehicle and its geometry influence the extent of the lateral displacement and change of direction, which therefore differ from one vehicle to the next.
As a rule, the influence of the cross-wind on a vehicle is taken into account in its construction, and is kept as low as possible by appropriate design measures. However, for physical reasons, it is not possible to eliminate completely the influence of cross wind on the vehicle handling by passive design measures alone.
It has therefore been attempted to further reduce the influence of cross winds on vehicle handling by the use of sensors to detect cross winds, with either an axle of the vehicle or the steering angle of the wheels of the axle being adjusted in a manner calculated to compensate for the effect of cross winds.
German Patent Document DE-PS 11 08 091 discloses an arrangement which operates in this manner. By way of one pressure measuring point situated respectively on each side of the vehicle, pneumatic pipes lead to chambers on both sides of a diaphragm of a pneumatic control element. The pneumatic control element actuates a hydraulic valve which controls a final control element. In a first embodiment, the final control element with a spring loaded center position, displaces the suspension points of an axle of the vehicle relative to the vehicle body; in a second embodiment, it adjusts the steering angle of the wheels of this axle.
However, in this known arrangement, the effect of the pressure difference on the steering angle is fixed in advance (largely proportional to the pressure difference), and therefore does not optimize the handling dynamics of the vehicle. Likewise, any disturbance in the approaching air has a direct effect on the steering angle.
In German Patent Document DE 38 16 057 C1, an arrangement is disclosed for determining the influences of cross winds on a vehicle. A total of six manometric capsules are arranged on the vehicle, whose pressure values are linked to one another in an expensive manner. Such linking of the pressure values requires relatively high computing expenditures. Since absolute pressure values are required, all sensors must be connected on one side with a reference pressure chamber which is itself connected with the atmosphere by way of a throttle line, in order to be able to use less expensive differential pressure sensors.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sensor for detecting influences of cross winds on the handling of a vehicle, which by means of relatively low expenditures with respect to measurement techniques can determine the influence of the cross wind on the vehicle and is capable of generating a quantity which can easily be processed by means of control units connected to it.
This object is achieved by the detection arrangement according to the invention, which requires only a single differential pressure sensor for detecting the influence of the cross wind (that is, the transverse force of the wind) on the vehicle. The sensor is connected with two pressure measuring points on the vehicle body by way of hoses or lines which, if possible, should have the same length. The pressure measuring points are situated symmetrically with respect to the vertically extending longitudinal plane of the vehicle on its forward portion, for example, on the front fenders. They are placed in an area of the outer skin of the vehicle body which is free of turbulences and from which, even under unfavorable approach flow conditions, the flow does not separate. The sensor detects the vehicle's entry into or emergence from a gust of cross wind in that the detected values of the differential pressure are exponentially smoothed, and, from the respective difference of two successively detected values of the smoothed differential pressure, a rising or a falling of the differential pressure is determined.
The principal advantages of the invention are that a sensor for detecting the influences of cross wind on the vehicle is provided which requires only relatively low expenditures with respect to measurement techniques. In addition, the sensor generates easily processable output values which may, for example, by used in a control unit connected downstream for the control of a steering element of the vehicle as a function of the cross wind influence.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Sensor for detecting the influence of cross wind on a vehicle


A window covering includes a tilt mechanism positionable in a first rail. The tilt mechanism includes a tilt shaft gear, a control gear, and a wand connector. An upper end of the wand connector has a hole in communication with a channel defined in a body of the wand connector such that a central projection of the control gear is insertable into the wand connector via the hole and the channel. A plurality of protrusions extend from the body of the wand connector around a periphery of the body of the wand connector. Each of the protrusions can have an upper surface configured to contact a respective one multiple prongs that extend from the control gear to engage the prongs to facilitate a direct connection of the wand connector to the control gear.

Window coverings can be configured so that a material is moveable to partially or fully cover a window. Window coverings such as venetian blinds can utilize slats that are tiltable. Examples of such window coverings can be appreciated from U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,376,859, 8,910,696, 6,325,133, 6,308,764, 5,396,945, 5,186,229, 5,092,387, 5,002,113, 4,955,248, 4,522,245, 4,507,831, 3,921,695, and 2,580,253 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2013/0220561 and 2013/0048233. But, such tilt mechanisms can often be bulky and require relatively expensive methods for packaging or shipping blinds having such mechanisms.

Slat tilt mechanism for window coverings


In a connector for connecting a coaxial cable having a center conductor and an outer conductor, a relay contact is connected between the outer conductor and a ground contact held by a housing. A signal contact is held by the housing and adapted to be connected to the center conductor. The relay contact includes a soldering portion and a connected portion coupled to the soldering portion. The soldering portion has a generally L-shaped section to define a recessed part and is soldered to the outer conductor in the state where the coaxial cable is received in the recessed part. The connected portion is adapted to be connected to the ground contact.

This invention relates to a connector for use in connecting a coaxial cable.
Coaxial cables having various diameters are known. A typical coaxial cable comprises a center conductor, an insulating inner sheath surrounding the center conductor, an outer conductor disposed outside the insulating inner sheath, and an insulating outer sheath surrounding the outer conductor. Each of the center conductor and the outer conductor may comprise a bundle of a large number of thin conductor wires. Alternatively, the center conductor and the outer conductor may comprise a relatively thick single wire and a braided wire, respectively.
Since the conductor comprising the thin conductor wires is soft, various techniques have been used in order to connect the coaxial cable. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2000-58153, terminals are fixed to the center conductor and the outer conductor, respectively. The terminals are fixed by the use of a swaging technique. Specifically, the terminals are preliminarily provided with U-shaped parts having dimensions matching diameters of the center conductor and the outer conductor, respectively. After the conductors are inserted into the U-shaped parts, the U-shaped parts are swaged to be wound around the conductors. With the above-mentioned structure, the coaxial cable is connected via the terminals. Therefore, a connecting operation of the coaxial cable is easy.
However, since the conductors are inserted into the U-shaped parts of the terminals, various kinds (i.e., various sizes) of the terminals must be prepared in correspondence to various diameters of the coaxial cables. This brings about an increase in cost of the terminals.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2002-324632 discloses a connector which is for use in connecting a coaxial cable including a center conductor comprising a relatively thick single conductor wire and an outer conductor comprising a braided wire. The connector comprises a drain wire connecting member in addition to a signal contact and a ground contact held by the insulator. The signal contact is crimped and connected to the center conductor of the coaxial cable. The drain wire connecting member has a swaged part fixed and connected to the outer conductor of the coaxial cable by a swaging technique. After connected to the outer conductor, the drain wire connecting member is crimped and connected to the ground contact. With the above-mentioned structure, like connection of the center conductor to the signal contact, connection of the outer conductor comprising the braided wire to the ground contact can easily be performed by crimping.
However, since the drain wire connecting member is connected to the outer conductor by the swaging technique, various kinds of the terminals must be prepared in correspondence to various diameters of the coaxial cables. This brings about an increase in cost of the terminals.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2001-217019, an outer conductor is extracted from a coaxial cable and forced into a Y-shaped cut portion of a ground contact to be connected thereto.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H10-21977, a plate-like grounding member extends over a number of coaxial cables arranged in parallel. The grounding member has a number of grounding plates corresponding to the cables in one-to-one correspondence. Each of the coaxial cables has an outer conductor comprising a braided wire, which is unbraided and extracted to be soldered to the grounding member.
In either case, however, a troublesome operation is required in order to extract the outer conductor from the coaxial cable.

Connector suitable for connection of a coaxial cable

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited


An improved peristaltic pump using a pumptube comprising a single tube of a relatively rigid and hard fluoroplastic material, preferably relatively rigid and hard polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and a roller strap located between the pressure rollers of the peristaltic pump and the pumptube, is provided. The roller strap prevents direct contact between the pressure rollers of the peristaltic pump and the pumping section of the pumptube. The pumping section of the pumptube is formed or shaped into a flattened, oval-like shape which approximately conforms to the pumptube passageway in the peristaltic pump. The pressure rollers contact the roller strap and then compress the flattened side of the pumptube and, thereby, effecting transport or pumping of the fluid. The use of the strap prevents excessive tube expansion at the output back-pressure, thereby increasing the lifetime of the pumptube. Using the pumptubes and peristaltic pumps of this invention, corrosive, viscous, sensitive, biological, and/or high pressure fluids can be readily handled. The pumptube and peristaltic pumps of this invention are especially adapted to operate against high back- or counter-pressures.

This invention generally relates to peristaltic pumps for transporting or pumping fluids. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved peristaltic pump using a pumptube comprising a single tube of a relatively rigid and hard fluoroplastic material, preferably relatively rigid and hard polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and a roller strap located between the pressure rollers of the peristaltic pump and the pumptube. The pumping section of the pumptube, which is not directly contacted by the pressure rollers of the peristaltic pump, is pre-formed or shaped into a flaftened cross section with an overall U-shape which approximately conforms to the pumptube passageway in the peristaltic pump. The pressure rollers contact the roller strap and then compress the flattened side of the pumptube and, thereby, effect transport or pumping of the fluid. The use of the strap prevents excessive tube expansion at the output back-pressure, thereby increasing the lifetime of the pumptube. Using the pumptubes and peristaltic pumps of this invention, corrosive, viscous, sensitive, biological, and/or high pressure fluids can be readily handled. Moreover, fluids up to about 50xc2x0 C. can be pumped at a back-pressure up to about 4 bar; higher operating temperatures may be possible with lower back-pressures. The pumptube and peristaltic pumps of this invention are especially adapted to operate against high back- or counter-pressures.
Peristaltic pumps are preferred for certain applications where it is desirable to pump measured amounts of a fluid or to pump a fluid through tubing while avoiding contact between pump components and the fluid being pumped. In a typical peristaltic pump system, a length of tubing is contacted by a series of pressure rollers that rotate in a circular path. The pressure rollers contact and progressively compress a flexible pumptube at spaced intervals against a surface or raceway so as to flatten or locally reduce the cross-sectional area of the fluid passageway in the pumptube. Preferably, the cross-sectional area of the fluid passageway is effectively reduced to zero (i.e., complete occlusion) as each pressure roller moves over the pumping section of the pumptube. As the pressure rollers continue to roll over the pumptube, the successive flattened portions expand or return to the original cross-sectional area due to the resilience of the tube which generates a sub-atmospheric pressure in the fluid passageway to draw the fluid therein.
The efficiency and operating characteristics of a peristaltic pump generally depend on the physical and chemical characteristics of the pumptube. The pumptube generally must have a combination of properties including flexibility, resilience, durability, resistance to creasing, and resistance to adverse chemical or physical effects, since the pump may be used to pump diverse materials including acids, alkali, solvents, toxic, and sterile liquids.
Commercially available peristaltic pumptubes are generally uniformly cylindrical, flexible tubes with a uniform wall thickness which provide a fast recovery rate of the flattened portion to the normal cross-sectional area. Such pumptubes are normally formed from resilient elastomeric materials such as natural rubber, silicone, polychloroprene, and polyvinyl chloride. Such materials, however, have limited resistance to chemical degradation. Moreover, such materials may leach components (e.g., softening agents and the like) into the fluid being pumped and/or absorb components from the fluid being pumped. Thus, the use of pumps using such pumptubes is generally restricted to liquids having minimal degradation effects.
Fluoroplastic tubing, which has good corrosion resistance, generally has been found to lack resilience and tends to crease in use, thereby limiting the life of such tubing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,970 (Apr. 8, 1975) attempted to overcome this problem by providing a pumptube having a thin inner tubular portion of a corrosion resistant material (such as polytetrafluoroethylene) and a thicker outer tubular portion of a resilient elastomeric material (such as silicone, polychloroprene, flexible polyvinyl chloride, natural or synthetic rubber). The overall pumptube remained flexible. Although the design of this pumptube reportably extended the life of the tubing, it has not been as successful as desired and its use in commercially available peristaltic pumps appears to be very limited.
In addition, a variety of pumptubes incorporating various geometric configurations, including multiple layered tubes, have been used in peristaltic pumps. U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,447 (Oct. 1, 1963) used a double layered pumptube where both the inner and outer tubes consisted of rubber or an elastomer. The pumptube design allowed a lubricant to be pumped through the space formed between the inner and outer tubes. German Patent 3,322,843 A1 (published Jan. 3, 1985) also provided a double layered pumptube with a particularly soft and elastic inner layer and an impermeable outer layer. The inner layer could be formed of silicone, natural rubber, soft polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, or fluoroelastomer; the outer layer could be formed of polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, fluoroelastomer, and certain polyethylenes. The pumptube was flexible and maintained a circular cross-section in the uncompressed state. European Patent Publication 0,470,33 A1 (published Feb. 12, 1992) provided a flexible pumptube with an elastic reinforcing member or members disposed therein to reduce fatigue failure upon repeated compression and recovery of the tubing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,879 (Nov. 26, 1991) provided a flexible, single- or multi-layered pumptube having two longitudinally extending notches or groves in the outer surface. The groves were reported to improve the flexing characteristics of the tubing during compression and recovery. Although providing useful and significant advances in the art, each of these just described pumptubes has significant limitations for use in peristaltic pumps, especially for peristaltic pumps for corrosive and other difficult to handle liquids.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,447 provided a double layer pumptube having a inner tube and an outer tube, both of which were preferably polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Although this pumptube was a significant advance over the prior art, the pumptube, largely because of its tube within a tube design, was more costly and difficult to manufacture than desired. Additionally, the pumptube""s useful lifetime was not as high as desired when operated against a significant back-pressure.
The present invention provides an improved peristaltic pump and an improved pumptube. Using the peristaltic pump of this invention, a single shaped tube of rigid fluoroplastic material (preferably PTFE) can be used. Thus, many of the advantages obtained in the double layered PTFE pumptubes of U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,447 can be obtained using a significantly simplified pumptube (i.e., single tube construction) as provided herein. The pumptube and peristaltic pump of the present invention are especially adapted for use in systems which develop, or can develop, high back- or counter-pressures. Using the present system, peristaltic pumps can operate continuously to pump liquid against a counter-pressure of at least 4 bar at a flow rate of at least 4 liters per minute (LPM).
The present invention relates to an improved peristaltic pump using a pumptube comprising. a single tube of relatively rigid and hard fluoroplastic material, preferably relatively rigid and hard polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and a roller strap located between the pressure rollers of the peristaltic pump and the pumptube. The roller strap is an inelastic material such as, for example, a polyester, an aromatic polyamide, or the like. Preferably, the roller strap is an aromatic polyamide because of its reduced tendency to form a xe2x80x9chammockxe2x80x9d during operation. One especially preferred aromatic polyamide is KEVLAR(trademark) (DuPont). A KEVLAR(trademark) strap coated with polychloroprene on both flattened sides is even more preferred; one especially preferred strap is a 1 mm thick KEVELAR(trademark) strap coated with 0.2 mm of polychloroprene on both flattened sides. The combination of the pumptube and the roller strap allows for improved performance, especially with regard to pumptube lifetime, when operating at relatively high back- or counter-pressure. The present pumptube and peristaltic pump can also be used when such back-pressures are not generated or are not likely to occur.
The pumping section of the pumptube is preformed or shaped into a flattened, oval-like shape (e.g., a flattened U-shape as shown in FIG. 2) which approximately conforms to the occlusion bed or pumptube passageway in the peristaltic pump. The pressure rollers contact the strap, rather than the pumptube itself, and thereby compress the flattened side of the pumptube and effect the transport or pumping of the fluid. The pressure rollers do not directly contact the pumptube since they are separated from the pressure rollers by the roller strap. The inner surface of the flattened fluid passageway is required to move only a relatively short distance when compressed by the pressure rollers. Moreover, the flatten portion of the pumptube is contained on its outer side by the pumptube passageway and on its inner side by the strap. The movement of the pumptube during compression is thus limited. Moreover, the strap prevents excessive expansion of the pumptube, especially in the roll-off section, when operated against a high back- or counter-pressure. Thus, the placement of the strap between the rollers and the pumping section of the pumptube prevents excessive expansion of the pumping section between the rollers themselves and between the last roller and the outlet end, especially when exposed to a significant back or counter pressure. Preferably, the strap rests on guide cams on both the roll-on and roll-off portions of the pump to further limit expansion of the pumptube in the roll-on and/or roll-off portions. Thus, the materials forming the pumptube remain within their elastic fatigue limits, even when operated against high back-or counter-pressure, thereby significantly reducing fatigue failure and significantly increasing the lifetime of the pumptube. The pumptube systems and peristaltic pumps of this invention are especially adapted for situations where the back- or counter-pressure may vary over time. The pumptube systems and peristaltic pumps of this invention can be used for pumping and transporting corrosive, viscous, sensitive, biological, and/or high pressure fluids at high flowrates and against significant back- or counter-pressure.
The present invention provides a peristaltic pump for transporting fluids, said peristaltic pump comprising
(a) a pump housing containing a pumptube passageway;
(b) a pumptube to fit within the pumptube passageway, the pumptube having inlet and outlet ends extending outside the pump housing, a pumping section contained within the pumptube passageway, and a fluid passageway extending through the pumptube from the inlet end to the outlet end;
(c) a plurality of pressure rollers rotatably mounted within the housing, whereby each roller in turn compresses the pumping section of the pumptube contained within the pumptube passageway so as to transport fluid from the inlet end to the outlet end of the pumptube;
(d) a guide cam attached to the pump housing to support the pumping section of the pumptube adjacent to the outlet end; and
(e) a strap mounted between the plurality of pressure rollers and the pumping section of the pumptube and between the guide cams and the ends of the pumping section of the pumptube so that the pressure rollers are able to compress the pumping section without directly contacting the pumping section;
wherein at least the pumping section of the pumptube comprises a single rigid fluoroplastic tubing preformed to fit within the pumptube passageway such that the pumptube within the pumping section is flattened into an oval-like shape with an oval-shaped fluid passageway such that the pressure rollers compress the pumping section of the pumptube essentially along the flattened side of the oval-like shape without contacting the pumping section. Preferably, the pump housing also has a guide cam to support the pumping section of the pumptube adjacent to the inlet end.
The present invention also provides a peristaltic pump for transporting fluids, said peristaltic pump comprising
(a) a pump housing containing a pumptube passageway;
(b) a pumptube having inlet and outlet ends extending outside the pump housing, a pumping section contained within the pumptube passageway, and a fluid passageway extending through the pumptube from the inlet end to the outlet end;
(c) a plurality of pressure rollers rotatably mounted within the housing, whereby each roller in turn compresses the pumping section of the pumptube contained within the pumptube passageway so as to transport fluid from the inlet end to the outlet end of the pumptube; and
(d) a strap mounted between the plurality of pressure rollers and the pumping section of the pumptube so that the pressure rollers are able to compress the pumping section without contacting the pumping section;
wherein at least the pumping section of the pumptube comprises a single rigid fluoroplastic tubing preformed to fit within the pumptube passageway such that the pumptube within the pumping section is flattened into an oval-like shape with an oval-shaped fluid passageway such that the pressure rollers compress the pumping section of the pumptube essentially along the flattened side of the oval-like shape without contacting the pumping section. Preferably, guide cams are attached to the pump housing to provide support to the strap near and/or at end of the roll-on and roll-off sections of the peristaltic pump.
The present invention also provides a pumptube system comprising a pumptube and a roller strap, which system is suitable for use in a peristaltic pump having a pumptube passageway and a plurality of pressure rollers for compressing the pumptube whereby a fluid can be transferred, wherein the pumptube comprises
(a) inlet and outlet ends;
(b) a pumping section located between the inlet and outlet ends; and
(c) a fluid passageway extending through the pumptube from the inlet end to the outlet end;
wherein at least the pumping section of the pumptube comprises a single rigid fluoroplastic tubing, wherein the pumptube is preformed to fit within the pumptube passageway such that the pumptube within the pumping section is flattened into an oval-like shape with an oval-like fluid passageway such that the pressure rollers compress the pumping section of the pumptube essentially along the flattened side of the oval-like shape;
and wherein the roller strap comprises an inelastic material located between the pressure rollers and the pumping section of the pumptube so that the pressure rollers do not contact the pumping section of the pumptube when the pumping section is compressed.
The present invention also provides a method of preparing a pumptube suitable for use in a peristaltic pump having a pumptube passageway, wherein the pumptube has a flattened, oval-like shaped pumping section with an oval-like fluid passageway, a plurality of pressure rollers, an inelastic strap located between the pressure rollers and the pumptube, wherein the pressure rollers, through pressure transferred though the strap, compress the pumptube via the strap without directly contacting the pumptube, whereby a fluid can be transferred, said method comprising
(a) forming a length of a rigid fluoroplastic tubing having a fluid passageway extending throughout the length of the rigid fluoroplastic tubing;
(b) placing a central portion of the length of rigid fluoroplastic tubing in a clamping fixture capable of compressing the central portion;
(c) compressing the central portion of the rigid fluoroplastic tubing at or near room temperature using the clamping fixture to form a fully compressed and flattened section in the central portion;
(d) allowing the fully compressed and flattened section to expand to form the flattened, oval-like shaped pumping section with the oval-like fluid passageway therein;
(e) heating at least the pumping section of the rigid fluoroplastic tubing to a temperature sufficient to increase the malleability of the rigid fluoroplastic tubing;
(f) placing the heated rigid fluoroplastic tubing in a molding fixture capable of molding the pumptube into a shape to fit within the pumptube passageway;
(g) molding the pumptube into the shape to fit within the pumptube passageway without obstructing the oval-like fluid passageway; and
(h) allowing the pumptube to cool to or near ambient temperature within the molding fixture;
whereby the pumptube fitting within the pumptube passageway of the peristaltic pump is obtained. Preferably a core is placed within the fluid passageway during the molding step to help maintain the desired cross-section within the oval-like fluid passageway and to prevent obstructing the oval-like fluid passageway. Alternatively, gas under pressure can be pumped through the fluid passageway during the molding step to achieve the same effect. Of course, such a core would be placed within the fluid passageway before step (e) and then removed after step (h).
These and other embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a consideration of the present specification and drawing.


Computer implemented methods for protecting and promoting products of a given brand by using machine readable codes, including assigning, by a given brand, a particular value to a machine readable code localized in a packaging of a product; a user scanning the machine readable code by using a mobile computing device having installed therein a processor adapted to read the machine readable code; upon the scanning being performed, establishing communication between the processor and a remote server for storing the scanned code and performing a series of checkings of the scanned code; depending on the result of the checkings the remote server assigns a monetary compensation from the brand to the user that is delivered through the processor; and the processor informing the user about the checking, wherein the machine readable code contains information regarding a marketing campaign of the given brand, a product code and the particular value encrypted.

A known method for promoting products is patent application CN-A-102663619 which provides a system for realizing rebate and sales promotion by a consumer product manufacturer with utilization of a mobile terminal and a rebate and sales promotion realization method thereof. In this patent application it is described that by means of scanning a Quick Response (QR) code a user can obtain promotions and information regarding a product.
Another related method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,272,562, which provides methods and promotional hang tags, tags or labels with associated product samples combined with interactive quick response or scan-able codes linked to internet Uniform (or Universal) Resource Locator (URL) for providing contact information, promotional or cross promotional product samples or products and related marketing information regarding product promotional or cross-promotional features, where the hang tag, tag or label carries any scan-able quick response internet URL code or QR code and an integral product sample.
Nonetheless, in none of the known methods in the field, contrary to the present invention, the scanning of machine readable codes such as a QR code, a barcode, or any other, allows a consumer (a user) to receive a monetary compensation for said scanning allowing retaining such a consumer as a client.


A server for providing a traffic image to a user device includes a location information receiving unit which receives information relating to a respective location of each of a plurality of vehicles, a location management unit which receives information relating to a particular area from a user device, and which detects at least one vehicle located within the particular area based on the location information, an information sending unit which sends information relating to the at least one detected vehicle to the user device, an image requesting unit which receives information relating to a vehicle selected from among the at least one detected vehicle from the user device, and which requests, from a device installed in the selected vehicle, transmission of a traffic image of the selected vehicle, and an image providing unit which receives the image and which provides the traffic image to the user device.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a server for providing a traffic image to a user device, and more particularly, to a server for providing a traffic image to a user device by using location information and the user device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With respect to conventional art which relates to identifying a traffic state of a particular road from a remote point, there is a scheme for collecting data sensed by a traffic sensing apparatus of a freeway traffic management system (FTMS), such as a loop type vehicle detector, which is provided on a road to detect traffic states, a video type vehicle sensor, which is configured to identify traffic states on a road through the use of video photographing, a closed circuit television (CCTV), and an emergency call.
The FTMS is a freeway intelligent traffic system (ITS) constructed by the Korea Highway Corporation to provide users of a freeway with exact road information and to manage traffic conditions.
However, in order to implement a system for measuring a speed of a vehicle by using the loop type detection system, installation of a loop coil detector typically requires earthworks and/or other types of construction, thereby causing delay and/or inconvenience in transportation during the earthworks and/or construction.
Further, in order to collect information, it is typically necessary to install a separate private cable or to lease a dedicated line.
With respect to a more advanced scheme than the above-described conventional art, there is a scheme for identifying road traffic states by analyzing moving images obtained by using a CCTV camera.
In the aforementioned scheme for collecting traffic information by using a CCTV camera, the information is generally transferred through a self-network. Thus, high costs for line installation and line management are typically required.
In the above-described scheme for sensing a speed of a vehicle by using the traffic sensing system, it is not possible to identify an exact speed of a vehicle, i.e., traffic volume information, at a point where no speed sensor exists. In order to sense the traffic volume, a large number of speed sensors should be provided on each road. As a result, the number of communication lines increases, and the resultant burden of installation costs and lease fees for communication increases.
The aforementioned scheme for using a CCTV camera is limited, because traffic information can be identified only at a point where a CCTV camera is provided.
Korean Patent No. 957,605, entitled "System for Providing Road Traffic Images," describes detecting peripherally located vehicles based on location of a user and purchasing moving images captured in any one of the detected vehicles.
However, this technology relates to enabling a service server to send a traffic image purchase request to a multiple number of vehicles which are located in relatively close proximity to the user and an intermediate communication between the user and a vehicle which first responds to the request.
Accordingly, in the above-described system, it is not possible to obtain traffic images from a vehicle which is located at a point selected by the user. Further, because a certain amount of costs are paid for provided traffic images, the user may experience monetary damages resulting from receiving unnecessary traffic images.

Server for providing traffic image to user device, and the user device


The present invention is a new 3D graphical user interface (3D GUI) technology that seamlessly integrates personal computer (PC) desktop, web portal, and data visualization functions in an intuitive 3D environment. This new paradigm in human computer interfaces provides a seamless and intuitive ability to create a 3D website, “walk” or navigate from one 3D website to another, and allows multiple users to collaborate and interact with each other and the website. The invention dynamically creates a customized 3D environment that allows intuitive access to complicated websites as well as seamless multi-user collaboration and interaction. —In a preferred embodiment of the invention—The 3D GUI installs as the active desktop on a PC, replacing the user's “wallpaper” with the 3D GUI. —In another embodiment—The 3D GUI is accessed via a standard web browser window (i.e. using Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer). —In either of these embodiments—, The user can simply “walk” from one 3D website to another, see and communicate with other users that are also at that website, access website information and share information with other users currently visiting the website. The invention also provides a method for reducing the file size normally associated with transmitting all the content in a 3D website.

Over 80% of personal computers (PCs) are already capable of supporting 3D computer graphics and nearly all of the over 120 million new desktop computers shipped in 2000 were equipped with 3D graphics chipsets. In addition, there are over 100 million game consoles (such as the Nintendo, Gamecube and Xbox) capable of generating and displaying 3D scenes on a standard television set.
PC and video games represent the most common application of 3D technology. However, computer aided design (CAD), medical imaging, animation, and video production (using Icommercial software applications such as Discreet's 3ds and Alias/Wavefront's Maya) represent alternative common applications of 3D technology.
Perhaps the best illustrations of a 3D GUI for controlling a computer come from fictional examples in Hollywood movies such as Jurassic Park, Disclosure, Lawnmower Man, and Johnny Mnemonic. However, to date, there have been no successful commercial examples of using 3D for the graphical user interface (3D GUI) that the user uses to interact with their computer.
Since the introduction of the Macintosh 2D desktop in 1984, there have been few attempts or patents that improve upon this paradigm or take advantage of the pervasive 3D hardware technology now primarily used to play games. The major companies such as Microsoft, Sony, Xerox, IBM, and SGI have contributed to the patent literature with niche applications, but none of these solve the basic technical problems that limit the ability to use 3D for the GUI. There have also been a number of small startup firms claiming to have created a 3D desktop or website (including: Clockwise Technologies, EiDoxis, and Pentad Resources) but these are simplistic examples of a non-commercially-viable 3D GUI and suffer from the following technical problems that are overcome by the present invention:                1) 3D scenes are huge, thus 3D files cannot easily be transferred over the Internet. The only solution is to use low-resolution images that look poor.        2) 3D scenes are static, thus a 3D desktop or website created for one user cannot be used for another since each user will have different applications, files, folders, shortcuts, images and song lists or different preferences.        3) 3D scenes are complex and difficult to create, thus the average person cannot create or modify one without lots of training and an expensive software package. Since the average user will want their 3D desktop or website to be personalized to their tastes, this represents a large barrier to the pervasive use of 3D websites.
Even though 3D hardware is relatively pervasive, these technical limitations have prevented the pervasive use of a 3D GUI that runs on these hardware systems.
A 3D GUI can be used to interface to a variety of applications including a user's operating system and file directory (usually referred to as a 3D Desktop), information over the Internet (referred to as a 3D website), or a specific application such as a 3D photo-editing product, or a 3D e-mail application. The present invention specifically refers to using a 3D GUI to access content over the Internet and thus is called a 3D website.
There is prior art associated with viewing 3D content over the Internet, but the vast majority of this is associated with "object viewing". Various companies allow a 3D object to be viewed within a 2D webpage such as Cycore, Viewpoint, Kaon, and Shout3D. Applications include showing how to build Ikea furniture or how to repair a Canon printer, showing the 3D object and how to move or fix it. However, these are only 3D objects that can essentially spin in space, not a navigable 3D scene that the user can walk around in.
Other companies allow the viewing of 2D web pages from within a 3D scene that resides on the user's computer such as Browse3D and Buzz3D. However, none of these allow users to move from one 3D website to another 3D website, nor do they allow users to interact with one another, nor do they allow users to even see the virtual manifestation of another in the scene (referred to as an "avatar").
There was one aborted attempt to allow the standardized viewing of 3D web pages with the introduction of the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) in 1997. However, this standard had significant limitations such as all three of the problems listed above and there are no commercial applications currently in existence.
Finally, there is prior art associated with Massively Multi-user On-Line Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) such as Everquest and Anarchy Online. These on-line games can have over 100,000 subscribers and allow users to interact with each other through the use of avatars. However, these games require huge downloads, fast Internet connections, and do not allow users to interact with traditional website content or e-commerce type applications.
Examples of previous attempts to create a 3D graphical user interface and related technologies are described in the following U.S. patents, the specifications of which are hereby incorporated
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Method and system for creating and distributing collaborative multi-user three-dimensional websites for a computer system (3D Net Architecture)