A power supply with a battery disconnect has battery power terminals (105, 109), and a charging terminal (121). The battery power terminals are for receiving battery power from a to be provided battery (111, 119). External power terminals (103, 107) are also provided for receiving external power from a to be provided external power source (115). A charging circuit (137) provides a charge path between the external power terminal (103) to the charging terminal (121). A gate (113), has an input (123) coupled to the external power terminal (103), an output (125) coupled to the battery power terminal (109), and a control input (127) coupled to the external power terminal (107). The output (125) of the gate (113) is decoupled from the input (123), responsive to the connection of the external power source (115). The battery power terminal (105), the external power terminals (103, 107) and the input (123) of the gate (113) are combined and provide operative power to a load (101) from either the external power source (115) through the external power terminals (103, 107), or the battery (111, 119) through the battery power terminal (105) and the input (123) of the gate (113). Simultaneously, the gate (113) and the charging terminal (137) permit the charging of a secondary battery (119) coupled to the charging terminal (121) and the battery power terminals (105, 109), responsive to the connection of the external power source (115), and the gate (113) prevents the charging of a primary battery (111) connected to the battery power terminals (105, 109), responsive to the connection of the external power source (115).

Portable equipment is often provided operative power from power packs constructed of primary batteries or secondary batteries. If the equipment is in a location with fixed power available, the equipment may be provided operative power by an external power source. Simultaneously with providing operative power from the external power source it is also desirable to charge the secondary batteries, if they are disposed in the power pack. If primary batteries are disposed in the power pack the external power source must not attempt to charge these batteries. This is because primary batteries can be irreversibly damaged and in some cases may explode, if there is an attempt to charge these primary batteries.
Prior solutions to this problem have either warned the user not to install primary batteries when external power is connected, or used mechanically interlocked power receptacles. These mechanically interlocked power receptacles connect the external power to the load while disconnecting the battery power from the load. The problem with this approach is that the disconnect mechanism is subject to physical wear and further is very difficult to seal. Without an adequate seal the electrical circuitry internal to the portable equipment can be damaged. Further, with this approach, if secondary batteries are installed they will not be charged simultaneously with the external power source providing operative power.
What is needed is an improved portable equipment power supply with provision for externally provided power to provide operative power while charging a secondary battery power pack but preventing the charging of a primary battery power pack.


A fully sealed pouch containing a drink is provided with a straw within the pouch accessible to allow a user to draw drink from the pouch. The pouch defines a top portion, a bottom portion, and respective side edges interconnecting the top portion and the bottom portion. A corner portion is defined between the top portion and one side edge, the corner portion being openable by a user to access the straw. The pouch forms a closed cavity containing the drink, the cavity being defined by the top portion, the bottom portion, and side edges and by at least one wall defining a front face and a rear face for the cavity. The front and rear faces are connected together in the top portion. The front and rear faces are continuous with each other at, or are connected along, the other of the side edges. The front and rear faces are connected, optionally via a gusset, to provide the bottom portion. The one side edge is formed by a first heat seal connecting the front and rear faces; and a second heat seal connects the front and rear faces and extends in an incomplete fashion from the top portion to the bottom portion, being spaced inboard of the first heat seal. The second heat seal divides the interior of the cavity into major and minor portions interconnected so that drink may flow between them, the minor portion lying between the first and second heat seals, and the straw being located within this minor portion. A number of different ways are described in which the corner portion may be opened along a line of weakness formed in the pouch and extending generally parallel to the bottom portion from the first heat seal to and ending at the second heat seal.

This disclosure relates to drinks pouches.
Drinks pouches with a weakened corner portion that may be wholly or partially detached to allow access to the contents are well known, but difficult, especially for young children, to drink from. Drinks suppliers have often resorted to providing a straw held by adhesive on one face of the pouch, but removable therefrom and intended to be inserted into the opening created at the corner portion. The straws may be accidentally detached, and thus lost.
A more recent development (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,758 of Sigouin et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,912,825 of Kothari, EP 1175351 of Beveraggi and WO 2016/124881 of Discovery Flexibles Ltd) has been to package the straw within the pouch. However, the pouch must necessarily be opened in order to access the straw.
A problem, whenever a pouch containing drink is opened is, as far as possible, to avoid spillage. However carefully a pouch is opened, there is an evident danger of subsequent spillage when removing a straw stuck to a face of the pouch if this is done after the pouch has been opened. With pouches that need a portion to be torn off to reach a straw within, there is a danger of spillage when making the tear to reach the straw. The present inventor's experience working with pouches of the kind described in WO 2016/124881 is that, even when a line of weakness is provided between a side edge of the pouch and a top edge of the pouch, the tear from the side to the top may sometimes continue right across the top of the pouch, so that the contents spill. Even worse would be the case of tearing from the top edge towards the side edge if the tear continues down the side.
The present disclosure has arisen from work seeking to overcome or reduce the occurrence of these problems.


A garment shield for preventing an underarm portion of a garment from being damaged or becoming unsightly as a result of perspiration. The shield has an absorbent layer of material, the absorbent layer of material being of a predetermined length and a predetermined width and being foldable substantially midway along the length thereof. The absorbent layer of material having oppositely opposed indentations at peripheral edges of the width at substantially where the shield is folded, and the indentations preferably being void of any sharp edges. A plurality of spreadable incisions are located in the absorbent layer of material, with each of the incisions extending radially inward from the peripheral edge of the shield and spaced apart from one another along the peripheral edge, and the indentations being void of any of the incisions. An adhesive is affixed to an undersurface of the absorbent layer of material for removably adhering the absorbent layer of material to the underarm portion of the garment and acting as a barrier to substantially prevent moisture from passing therethrough and onto the garment.

This invention relates generally to clothing protectors and, more particularly to a lightweight absorbent garment shield for use in conjunction with the underarm area of a woman's or man's garment in order to prevent the garment from being damaged by perspiration and for avoiding the unsightliness of perspiration stain.
There are various types of clothing shields available to protect the underarm area of clothing from perspiration. Generally these shields are made up of an absorbent material backed by a liner with an adhesive attached to the liner for adhering the shield to the underarm portion of a garment.
These past shields, although generally effective in preventing perspiration damage to the garment, have numerous drawbacks associated therewith. For example, many of the current shields are bulky in design. This bulkiness can cause discomfort to the wearer. In addition, past shields have failed to fit snugly under the garment causing unsightly bulges beneath the garment and therefore, in many instances may be visible therethrough. It is therefore evident that there still exists a need for a more effective garment shield.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an extremely lightweight garment shield.
It is another object of this invention to provide a streamlined and thin garment shield.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a flexible garment shield which is easily contoured to the underarm area of a garment.
It is another object of this invention to provide a disposable garment shield.
It is another object of this invention to provide a garment shield which contains alignment means thereon.


The Access guide catheter provides passage for therapeutic and diagnostic devices through vessels or conduits that return substantially in a direction from which they originated. One application is for delivery of therapeutic catheters to the carotid or cerebral arteries via access from the radial or brachial artery. The guide catheter enters the aorta from one of the great vessels, forms a closed loop in the aorta, and is directed back into a great vessel in an opposed direction. The distal portion of the guide catheter is advanced into the great vessel for support. Further support is attained by providing tension to the proximal shaft of the guide catheter. Flexibility of the guide catheter allows diagnostic angiograms to be performed prior to delivery of a therapeutic catheter or device.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an interventional catheter that is placed within vessels of the body to provide access and support for another interventional catheter having passage within it and delivered to the site of a lesion.
2. Description of Prior Art
Access to coronary arteries, carotid arteries, and some peripheral vessels of the body for percutaneous therapeutic and diagnostic catheters is often made via guide catheters that are placed through introducer sheaths which are positioned into vessels that are most easily accessed from outside of the body. Such access sites include the common femoral artery, the brachial artery, and the radial artery.
Positioning of the guiding catheter into the ostium of the vessel to be treated can often be difficult, especially in diseased vasculature or in vessels that require the catheter to undergo a significant turn in the direction of travel. An additional problem that often occurs when trying to advance the percutaneous catheters through the guide catheter is that the guide catheter does not provide enough support for delivery of the percutaneous catheter and can result in the guide catheter backing out from the ostium of the vessel leading to the lesion to be treated. This problem can be exacerbated if the interventional catheter is stiff or carries a stiff element such as a stent thereby requiring a larger radius of curvature in the guide catheter to allow delivery of the interventional catheter or device.
Carotid artery interventional therapy has typically been performed via a percutaneous femoral access with delivery of a guide catheter or sheath through the aorta to the ostium of the brachiocephalic artery or the left common carotid artery. In diseased aortas the access to these ostii can be difficult and the support provided by this access can be inadequate to allow advancement of the therapeutic catheter.
The access catheter of the present invention can be used to provide access for carotid artery intervention via a radial or brachial artery approach. It can also be used to provide access to vertebral arteries or cerebral arteries or for other vessels that require good support from the guide catheter that cannot be obtained via standard guide catheters. The access catheter can also be used in the femoral artery or iliac artery in order to provide for support in going over the aortic arch. Additionally the access catheter can be used in venous vessels of the body and in other tubular members of the body that are being treated via interventional or minimally invasive techniques and undergo a significant turn in the tubular member.
On the right side of the body the radial artery or other arteries of the right arm lead proximally to the right subclavian artery which combines with the right common carotid artery to form the brachiocephalic artery that joins to the aorta. Access via the right radial artery with an access guide catheter would allow easy and direct access to the common carotid artery to perform an angiogram or to deliver interventional devices that are able to negotiate a small radius of curvature. Interventional catheters that are stiff and cannot undergo a tight turn such as a stent delivery catheter system cannot be easily delivered directly via the subclavian artery to the right common carotid artery.
If one continues to follow the vasculature proximally down the common carotid artery and through the brachiocephalic artery and into the aorta there currently is not a good option available to turn back and reenter the brachiocephalic artery with a guide catheter, and one would not obtain the necessary support in order to allow passage of a stiffer interventional catheter such as a stent delivery system within such a curved reentering guide without backing out the guide catheter. An access guide catheter intended for radial access also must be of a small profile in order to properly traverse the relatively small radial arteries of the arm.
On the left side of the body the radial artery or other arteries of the left arm lead proximally to the left subclavian artery which joins to the aorta. Currently there is not a good device option available to negotiate the small radius of curvature turn with a guide catheter and direct an interventional catheter distally down the left common carotid artery which is adjacent to the left subclavian artery along the aorta. The current curved guide catheters would not provide the support necessary to allow a relatively stiff interventional catheter such as a stent system to extend distally down the left common carotid artery without backing out of the ostium and yet have the low profile necessary to traverse the radial artery.
Carotid artery and other interventional therapy have typically been performed via a percutaneous femoral access with delivery of a guide catheter or sheath. The femoral artery is reasonably large in diameter and placing an introducer and guide catheter here for standard coronary angioplasty and stent procedures is very common. However for delivering larger interventional devices from this site can require guide catheters and sheaths that are relatively large and can cause blood flow blockage. Similarly, delivery of an introducer and guide catheter via the radial artery can cause radial artery blockage if the therapeutic catheter is similar in size to the blood vessel that it enters.
Interventional catheters having a larger distal aspect are often delivered within a relatively small artery causing blockage of blood flow in the small artery. This is often the case for carotid stent delivery systems where the distal aspect of the therapeutic catheter is significantly larger than the proximal shaft. The radial artery is large enough to accommodate the smaller proximal shaft diameter however the distal aspect can be too large to safely fit within the radial artery.
What is needed is a guide catheter that does not block blood flow proximally in the smaller radial artery, but provides guidance of the larger distal aspect of the therapeutic catheter in the larger carotid artery that can accommodate the larger diameter guide catheter and distal therapeutic catheter.


A circuit system and a method of analyzing audio or video input data that is capable of detecting, classifying, and post-processing patterns in an input data stream. The circuit system may consist of one or more digital processors, one or more configurable spiking neural network circuits, and digital logic for the selection of two-dimensional input data. The system may use the neural network circuits for detecting and classifying patterns and one or more the digital processors to perform further detailed analyses on the input data and for signaling the result of an analysis to outputs of the system.

As is known in the art, audio, radio frequency intercept systems and video surveillance systems have to efficiently process large amounts of data during periods of high input activity; the same systems need to operate using very low amounts of power during periods when the input data does not change or only rarely changes. An energy-efficient implementation of such a system should be capable of detecting the level of activity at its inputs and properly adjust its compute capabilities to the level of activity to operate while consuming low amounts of energy.
There is an interest in performing energy-efficient pattern matching processing of two-dimensional data. Examples include pattern matching of static imagery and one-dimensional data over many time intervals. Examples of one-dimensional data include radio frequency spectrum analyzer waterfall plots where each line represents the output magnitude of a set of bandpass filters contiguously spaced over a larger spectrum as a function of time. In the audio spectrum, the data can be the output magnitude of contiguously spaced bandpass filters over time.
For image detection and image classification tasks, e.g., distinguishing between soldiers, civilians, animals, etc., on images, the images are loaded into a computer system either as individual images or as video streams, which consist of multiple images that are read in sequence. The images are often encoded as a rectangular block of pixels. As an example, in RGB images, each pixel consists of 8 bits of "red" data, 8 bits of "green" data, and 8 bits of "blue" data. The combination of the three color values results in the final color and brightness of a pixel.
Radio Spectrum data over time may provide a spectral fingerprint that may identify the type of emitters in an environment. Audio fingerprints may identify acoustic phenomena of interest, and, speakers or spoken phenomes to perform speech to text type applications.
In software-based pattern matching classification systems, algorithms are executed on either general-purpose processor (CPU) cores or specialized programmable hardware that supports typical pattern matching operations, such as convolutions.
All of these systems suffer from one major drawback: The power consumption of the systems is high, due to the fact that the processors need to be constantly operating, no matter whether the input stream of images or spectral content over time has any content of interest, such as soldiers or people in general, in it. For example, when pointing a camera at a rear entrance of a building during the night: There might be a small number of people seen on the video stream over the course of the night, totaling a minute or two of image streams worth analyzing, while the system needs to be operating throughout the entire night, e.g., eight hours. Being able to turn the system on only when needed, compared to continuous operation, could save (1−(2 min)/(8 hours))*100%=99.58% of energy.

System-on-a-chip incorporating artificial neural network and general-purpose processor circuitry


In a method to operate an ink printing apparatus, and in an ink printing apparatus, a recording medium is directed through a printer. The recording medium is subsequently supplied to a dryer having at least one heating saddle and a drying channel arranged at the heating saddle. In the dryer the recording medium is directed past the heating saddle. A negative pressure is generated in the drying channel via an air exhaust arranged at one end of the drying channel. In the printing operation, in a region of the heating saddle a negative pressure is exerted on the recording medium in a direction of the heating saddle so that the heating saddle is then in contact with the recording medium in order to dry the ink on the recording medium. Upon interruption of the printing operation with braking of the recording medium, the negative pressure in the direction of the heating saddle is deactivated at a beginning of the braking.

Ink printing apparatuses can be used for single-color or multicolor printing to a web-shaped printing medium, for example a paper web. The design of such ink printing apparatuses is known; see for example EP 0 788 882 B1. Ink printing apparatuses that, for example, operate according to the Drop-on Demand (DoD) principle have as a printer a print head or multiple print heads with nozzle units comprising ink channels and activators, wherein the activators—controlled by a printer controller—can excite ink droplets in the direction of the printing substrate, which ink droplets are directed onto the printing substrate in order to apply print dots for a print image there. The activators can generate ink droplets thermally (bubble jet) or piezoelectrically.
For example, the ink printing apparatuses may have print bars with respective multiple ink print heads. As viewed in the direction of movement of the recording medium, at least one dryer follows the print bars in order to dry the recording medium that has been printed to with the liquid ink. The heating capacity of the dryer is set such that, during the printing operation during which the recording medium is moved with continuous velocity, the recording medium is dried to such an extent that the moisture introduced with the ink is removed. If the operation of the ink printing apparatus is interrupted during a printing pause for example, then so much heat is stored in the region of the dryer and at transport rollers following the dryer, that a segment of the recording medium that is located in this region dries out more significantly than during printing operation.
In the unprinted state, the recording medium (paper, for example) has a defined basic moisture. Given an interruption of the printing operation, the danger exists that a large portion of this basic moisture is removed from the paper. Since, during a longer pause of the printing operation, the recording medium is significantly dried in the region of the dryer and in the region following the dryer (as viewed in the direction of movement of the recording medium), and in contrast to this retains its moisture in the remaining regions, transition regions arise in which segments of normal moisture and significantly dried segments abut one another. The significantly dried segments of the recording medium are somewhat contracted relative to the segments of normal moisture, whereby there is warping in these transition regions. This warping may form waves.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,635 B1, given a formation of waves in the recording medium in an inkjet printer it is known to keep the waves outside of the printing area so that the print heads may not be damaged.
According to JP 02122967 A, folds or waves in the recording medium are measured by means of an ultrasonic sensor. The height of the print heads is adjusted depending on the determined height of the recording medium. Here as well it is avoided that the print heads come into contact with the recording medium.

Ink printing apparatus, and method to operate an ink printing apparatus


A method, system, and data structure for overriding a signal during model simulation. An override signal port is instantiated within a model for delivering an override signal from an instrumentation entity to a signal selection means, wherein the signal selection means selects between the signal and the override signal. A signal override is declared during model simulation, and in response to the declared signal override, the override signal is selected utilizing the signal selection means.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to designing and simulating digital devices, modules and systems. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and system that improve the model build and simulation processes in order to allow a designer to easily instrument and monitor a simulation model. More particularly, the present invention relates to overriding signals within hardware description language models during simulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Verifying the logical correctness of a digital design and debugging the design, if necessary, are very important steps in most digital design processes. Logic networks are tested either by actually building networks or by simulating networks on a computer. As logic networks become highly complex, it becomes necessary to simulate a design before the design is actually built. This is especially true when the design is implemented as an integrated circuit, since the fabrication of integrated circuits requires considerable time and correction of mistakes is quite costly. The goal of digital design simulation is the verification of the logical correctness of the design.
In a typical automated design process that is supported by a conventional electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) system, a designer enters a high-level description utilizing a hardware description language (HDL), such as VHDL, producing a representation of the various circuit blocks and their interconnections. The ECAD system compiles the design description into a format that is best suited for simulation. A simulator is then utilized to verify the logical correctness of the design prior to developing a circuit layout.
A simulator is typically a software tool that operates on a digital representation, or simulation model of a circuit, and a list of input stimuli representing inputs of the digital system. A simulator generates a numerical representation of the response of the circuit which may then either be viewed on the display screen as a list of values or further interpreted, often by a separate software program, and presented on the display screen in graphical form. The simulator may be run either on a general purpose computer or on another piece of electronic apparatus specially designed for simulation. Simulators that run entirely in software on a general purpose computer will hereinafter be referred to as "software simulators". Simulators that are run with the assistance of specially designed electronic apparatus will hereinafter be referred to as "hardware simulators".
Usually, software simulators perform a very large number of calculations and operate slowly from the user's point of view. In order to optimize performance, the format of the simulation model is designed for very efficient use by the simulator. Hardware simulators, by nature, require that the simulation model comprising the circuit description be communicated in a specially designed format. In either case, a translation from an HDL description to a simulation format, hereinafter referred to as a simulation executable model, is required.
Simulation has become a very costly and time-consuming segment of the overall design process as designs become increasingly complex. Therefore, great expense is invested to ensure the highest possible accuracy and efficiency in the processes utilized to verify digital designs. A useful method of addressing design complexity is to simulate digital designs at several levels of abstraction. At the functional level, system operation is described in terms of a sequence of transactions between registers, adders, memories and other functional units. Simulation at the functional level is utilized to verify the high-level design of high-level systems.
At the logical level, a digital system is described in terms of logic elements such as logic gates and flip-flops. Simulation at the logic level is utilized to verify the correctness of the logic design. At the circuit level, each logic gate is described in terms of its circuit components such as transistors, impedences, capacitances, and other such devices. Simulation at the circuit level provides detailed information about voltage levels and switching speeds.
VHDL is a higher level language for describing the hardware design of complex devices. The overall circuit design is frequently divided into smaller parts, hereinafter referred to as design entities, which are often individually designed by different design engineers, and then combined in a hierarchical manner to create an overall model. This hierarchical design technique is very useful in managing the enormous complexity of the overall design. Another advantage of this approach is that errors in a design entity are easier to detect when that entity is simulated in isolation.
Comprehensive model verification often requires modeled signal values to be dynamically overridden during a simulation run. For example, a bus within an integrated circuit may carry signals that provide error correction values. Such error correction signals, in conjunction with bus data transmission signals, can be utilized to determine when inadvertent bus signal alterations occur due to external physical causes. An example of such an external physical cause is electrical noise near a bus signal that alters the bus signal value. Error correction signals generated at the source of the bus are examined by error correction logic at the bus destination that then corrects the error.
The simulation process includes no direct analogue to the external physical circumstances that can alter the bus signals. During simulation, error correction and bus signals are faithfully represented without inadvertent alteration.
Simulations of a given model on a simulator are typically controlled by a program, hereinafter referred to as the RTX (Run Time executive), written in a high level language such as C or C++. A simulator provides interface routines that an RTX calls to control simulation. These routines implement functions for reading signal values out of a model, cycling a model, altering signals values within a model, etc.
In order to effectively simulate and verify error correction logic, a simulation run must be altered to include instructions for overriding bus signals. Typically, an RTX calls a simulator interface routine, herein after referred to as PUTFAC, to directly alter a signal value during simulation thus injecting an error and precipitating activation of the error correction logic.
Using the RTX and PUTFAC to dynamically alter signals during simulation has two inherent shortcomings. First, the PUTFAC routine performs poorly on hardware simulators. Second, RTX is typically written in a high level programming language that may be unfamiliar to design engineers conversant in HDLs such as VHDL or Verilog.
It would therefore be useful to provide a means for altering signal values within a simulation model that is more accessible to design engineers, and furthermore, performs efficiently when utilized in conjunction with a hardware simulator.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of creating three-dimensional products customized with user-selected images is described. The method includes storing definitions of products comprising components, receiving indication of selection by a user of a product, receiving indication of selection by a user of at least one image for printing on the product, receiving information regarding placement of the selected image on components of the product, preparing a two-dimensional representation of the components of the product with the image arranged thereon, and causing the printing of the two-dimensional representation on a material.

In recent years, on-demand printing of user designs and images onto garments and other items has gained popularity. Typically, such on-demand printing allows a user to add artwork or designs to an already manufactured item such as a t-shirt, sweatshirt, shoe, bag, and the like. Printing these user-generated designs and graphics on finished garments and other objects is typically limited to small, pre-defined areas of the product, in part because the artwork cannot traverse seams. Alternatively, even if the artwork can traverse seams of the finished item, the inks cannot penetrate the seams and wrinkles of the pre-manufactured products. Therefore, the printing on these pre-manufactured blanks is either limited to a small area, or is interrupted by highly visible seam lines and wrinkles breaking up the artwork.
In practice, providers of such printing services purchase desired items from manufacturers and utilize printing machinery and techniques (e.g., inkjet printing) to print user submitted art onto the items. The pre-manufactured nature of such items limits the ability to print art to seamless, or otherwise generally planar, surface areas because seams and other non-planar areas and edges can cause damage to the printing machinery. Accordingly, users have previously been limited in their ability to customize and design desired items. For example, due to these constraints, a user may not be able to create a t-shirt having a design that wraps around the body, or over the shoulders and sleeves, of the shirt.
In addition, because current web-based visualization techniques for visualizing placement of user-generated art on products (e.g., "configurators") are photographs or illustrations of pre-manufactured products and are without awareness of the manufacturing files for the given product, including the products seams or joined edges, product visualization methods have similarly been limited to displaying user-selected images on individual surfaces of the item. For example, a user wishing to place an image extending from a body of a shirt to its sleeve may not be able to visualize the appearance and distortion of such a placement on the product's three-dimensional surface. That is, it was previously not possible to visualize the appearance of the placement of a design on multiple surfaces of an item due to the inability of design tools to properly render the item as a 3D model, from 2D manufacturing files, while displaying the proper distortion characteristics. Likewise, current visualization software does not account for the non-visible seams, such that the artwork traversing seams is programmatically bled into the joining seams, whereby the artwork will appear seamlessly on both the 3d model and the finished, manufactured product.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system to generate three-dimensional (3D) models of desired objects to allow a user to visualize the appearance of such artwork and designs on the desired objects prior to manufacturing thereof.

System and method for creating on-demand products


Certain example embodiments include a press sensor element that includes a piezoelectric layer having a first surface in communication with a first layer, the first layer including a first conductive region, where the first conductive region covers at least a central portion the first surface. The sensor element includes a second surface in communication with a second layer, the second layer including a second conductive region, a third conductive region, and a first non-conductive void region separating the second conductive region and the third conductive region. An area of the first conductive region is configured in size relative to an area of the third conductive region to substantially reduce a thermally-induced voltage change between two or more of the first, second, and third conductive regions responsive to a corresponding temperature change of at least a portion of the piezoelectric layer.

Human-machine interfaces often utilize press detectors that can receive touch input for interaction with digital content, machine controls, etc. Press detectors can be configured for use with many types of applications and surfaces including, for example, car dashboard controls, touch/gesture input for portable computing devices, outdoor or harsh environment control buttons, etc. Such press detectors enable tactile human-machine interaction in a natural and preferred way.
Piezoelectric impact detectors formed from polymeric materials such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) offer cost effective and high performance detection of momentary forces, such as the push of a button or a surface, the closure of a door or latch, or the passing of a person or vehicle. These thermoplastic fluropolymer materials can be made very thin and are typically resistant to solvents, acids, and bases. PVDF is a material that works very well in the construction of surfaces or thin sensor modules for touch and press detection. However, many piezoelectric materials such as PVDF have the disadvantage that they also respond to temperature changes, often with pyroelectric coefficients that rival their piezo coefficients. Thus, touch sensors made with materials having a large pyroelectric coefficient can produce a false signal due to a temperature change, such as for example, in a vehicle when it moves from an air-conditioned environment into extreme weather, or between shadows and hot sun. A need exists for press detectors having a reduced thermal response.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for press force detectors


A display control apparatus that controls first and second modulation sections optically connected in series includes a storage unit and a control unit. The storage unit stores information to specify a defective pixel of the first modulation section. The control unit controls the second modulation section in response to a defect of the defective pixel being stored in the storage unit.

The exemplary embodiments relate to a display control apparatus and method that is suitable for use in performing a correction process to a defective pixel of a display panel in a display device using two modulation systems, such as, for example, an HDR (High Dynamic Range) display.
Defective pixels resulting from variations in manufacturing conditions, etc. sometimes occur in a liquid crystal light valve, etc. that use a high-temperature polysilicon TFT (Thin Film Transistor). Such products are determined to be defective even when the luminance difference of the defective pixels with respect to normal pixels is on the order of several percent, which provides one of the causes of a reduction in yield.
To remedy those defective pixels, a proposal to be described below has been made in this field. In a related art patent entitled "Picture Signal Processing Apparatus, Picture Signal Processing Method, and Display Device" (JP-A-2003-316330), a defective pixel is corrected such that a γ (gamma) curve thereof is selected to be uniform in a display result with that of a normal pixel. However, in this method, it is difficult to match the defective pixel with the normal pixel in the display result throughout all gradation values.
Furthermore, in a black display, for example, the defect is corrected by applying to the defective pixel a higher voltage than a normal applied voltage. To perform this process, however, a mechanism for applying a higher voltage than normal is required in terms of hardware, thus resulting in an increase in cost of the display control apparatus.


Techniques are described for aggregating multiple media packets to improve end-to-end bandwidth efficiency. The techniques include using an RTP aggregation protocol that is not sensitive to packet loss to aggregate multiple media packets under a single header. According to the RTP aggregation protocol, the single header for an aggregated media packet comprises a version field, a zero field, a sequence number field and a trunk ID field. The single header encapsulates the aggregated payload, which is an aggregation of Real-Time Protocol (RTP) segments. An RTP segment either has a compressed format or an uncompressed format. The uncompressed RTP segment includes the complete uncompressed RTP packet copied from the original User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packet. The compressed RTP segment includes the payload of the original RTP rather than the complete original RTP packet.

Packetized Voice
In one known approach, packetized voice information is transmitted over Internet Protocol ("IP") networks using the Real Time Protocol (RTP). Each packet comprises one or more headers and a payload of voice information. In one approach, the headers consist of an IP header, User Datagram Protocol ("UDP") header and RTP header, which occupy 40 bytes of the packet. The payload is typically 10 to 20 bytes, depending on the type of coders/decoders ("codecs") that are used by the call endpoints. Thus, the headers represent significant overhead compared to the payload size. The large comparative size of the headers introduces inefficiency, and might result in effective utilization that is as low as 20% of the total bandwidth of the network links that carry voice traffic.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of an RTP packet. In FIG. 1, RTP packet 100 comprises IP header 102, UDP header 104, RTP header 106 and media payload 108. IP header 102 is 20 bytes long, UDP header 104 is 8 bytes long, RTP header 106 is 12 bytes long and media payload 108 is 10 to 20 bytes long. Thus, a network link that is carrying a significant amount of voice traffic ends up with an effective bandwidth utilization that is roughly 20-30% of the actual capacity of the network link. For example, a Voice Point Of Presence (POP) hosting a farm of Media Gateways, which mostly generates voice traffic, has an effective bandwidth utilization that is roughly 20-30% of the actual capacity of the network link.
When Time Division Multiplexing is used for voice transmission, as in a conventional circuit-switched network such as the public switched telephone network, the network transports voice in uncompressed samples. For example, following recommendation G.711 of the International Telecommunications Union, each sample represents 125 msec of voice. In this approach, end-to-end latency is close to wire-speed.
In contrast, in IP networks, voice is transmitted by sending the media payloads encapsulated in RTP packets of the type shown in FIG. 1. Transporting RTP packets with payloads consisting of small samples of a single Pulse Code Modulation ("PCM") voice channel, such as uncompressed G.711 samples, can be very inefficient and expensive due to the overhead caused by the packet headers. In order to improve efficiency, voice-over-IP (VoIP) hardware and software can incorporate larger samples of a PCM channel in the payload by applying complex compression algorithms, or codecs.
Examples of relevant codecs that can increase the amount of voice information carried in the payload include G.723.1, G.729, G.729a and AudioCodes' Netcoder. Table A lists some of the codecs along with their typical frame size, packets generated per second (pps), required bandwidth without headers, and payload size.
TABLE AFrameBit ratePayloadCodecsize (ms)pps(Kbps)size (bytes)Netcoder20504.8-9.612-24G.723.130335.3-6.320-24G.72910100810
However, larger samples and complex compression algorithms increase latency. Thus, there is a need for a packetized voice transmission approach in which a large amount of voice information is carried, without adversely affecting latency.
Header Compression—Using Compressed RTP
One method of resolving the overhead problem associated with media traffic over a network link, without increasing latency, is to compress the headers of an RTP packet. Certain parts of the headers are either constant throughout a session or at least through sufficiently long portions of the session. Even if parts of the header are changed, they are changed in some deterministic way.
One approach to header compression is the Compressed RTP protocol ("CRTP") as defined in RFC 2508. CRTP is a link-by-link compression mechanism for RTP packets running directly over PPP. CRTP was designed explicitly for slow-speed links.
Under the CRTP protocol, compressor and de-compressor devices must maintain a collection of shared information in a consistent state between the compressor and de-compressor. A separate session context is stored for each IP/UDP/RTP packet stream, as defined by a particular combination of the IP source and destination addresses, UDP source and destination ports, and the RTP SSRC field. The number of session contexts to be maintained may be negotiated between the compressor and de-compressor.
Each session context is identified by an 8-bit or 16-bit Context Identifier (CID), depending upon the number of session contexts negotiated. Thus, the maximum number is 65536. Both uncompressed and compressed packets must carry the CID and a 4-bit sequence number used to detect packet loss between the compressor and de-compressor. Each context has its own separate sequence number space so that a single packet loss need only invalidate a single context. Creating software and hardware products compatible with CRTP is difficult and complicated due to the number of specialized formats that are defined.
Further, because CRTP is a link-layer protocol, the header has to be compressed and then decompressed at each and every intermediate router to achieve an end-to-end effect. Accordingly, CRTP is not a scalable solution because the compression and decompression operation is CPU intensive, and has to be done for each and every RTP packet. Also, each and every router along the path is required to support the CRTP protocol.
The compression method used by CRTP is very efficient. However, it assumes no loss at the link layer. The assumption of no loss at the link layer is not acceptable when compressing RTP packets end-to-end because the RTP packets can often be dropped or delayed. A different mechanism that is less sensitive to loss is therefore required.
UDP/RTP Header Compression
An alternative solution for supporting an end-to-end operation is to compress only the UDP and RTP headers while leaving the IP header in place (possibly after some modifications). However, the savings garnered by compressing only the UDP and RTP headers are not as substantial as the savings garnered by using the compression method of CRTP.
Based on the foregoing, there is clear need for an improved method for transmitting media packets in order to effectively use the available bandwidth in an IP and VoIP network.
There is a specific need for such an improved method that does not increase packet latency, and which is an end-to-end solution rather than a link-by-link solution.
There is also a specific need for an improved method that is simpler to implement than the CRTP approach.

Method and apparatus providing media aggregation in a packet-switched network


Initialization and configuration modules are added to a POST-(power-on setup test) routine. If the initialization module detects new PCI devices in a system, this module determines whether this new device includes an Optional ROM (OP ROM) adhering to the PCI 3.0 specification, and whether the OP ROM provides a configuration utility. If so, this module identifies the device and its configuration utility, and locates the OP ROM. The initialization module then initializes the new device, but does not configure it. The initialization module similarly initializes any additional new devices, and builds a combination configuration utility menu listing these new devices. In turn, the configuration module enables a user to select from the menu whether to configure new devices using their provided configuration utilities, or using BIOS setup routines. The menu may also include an EXIT entry that exits the menu.

When personal computing systems power-on they use a power-on setup test (POST) routine. Each computing device in the computing system is powered-on, setup for operation based on previous configuration information, and tested. If all devices come up and test properly the computing programs in the firmware of the computing system hand off control of the system to the operating system.
During the POST operations a new peripheral device not previously initialized and configured will be detected, and the POST routine will be interrupted while configuration routines for the peripheral device take place. Because the configuration of new peripheral devices interrupts the POST routine, the POST routine may be significantly delayed if there are a number of peripheral devices newly attached to the computing system.
To deal with this interruption and delay of the POST routine, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Firmware Specification standard was agreed to by industry representatives. In version 3.0 of this standard the PCI device will carry with it an OP ROM containing a configuration utility.
There is still a need for the POST routine to manage the initialization and configuration PCI devices adhering to this PCI firmware specification 3.0.

Facilitating the configuration of new PCI devices during post


Methods and machines which increase image processing performance by efficiently copying image data from input memory to main memory before performing CPU intensive operations, such as image enhancement, compression, or encryption, and by efficiently copying image data from main memory to output memory after performing CPU intensive operations, such as decryption, decompression, image enhancement, or reformatting.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to image processing.
2. Related Technology
ANSI Standard C "memcpy" Function
A given computer hardware architecture will have an optimal means of copying a block of data from one location in a memory to another location. Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) architectures implement instructions that over a number of CPU cycles move a block of data. Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architectures optimize the instruction set to process each instruction in one or two CPU cycles but also included instructions that can be used to implement a short routine that will accomplish the block move in an optimal manner. An efficient routine for copying a block of data can be implemented for each specific computer architecture.
Some computer architectures include Direct Memory Access (DMA) circuitry that transfers data between memory and input/output (I/O) devices without continual central processing unit (CPU) intervention.
The ANSI standard for the C Programming Language defines a "memcpy" library function as an interface to an efficient routine for copying a block of bytes to another location.
Graphical Images
A television screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio. In the United States, television signals contain 525 scan lines of which 480 lines are visible on most televisions. When an analog video signal is digitized, each of the 480 lines are sampled 640 times, and each sample is represented by a number. Each sample point is called a picture element, or pixel. A two dimensional array is created that is 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels high. This 640×480 pixel array is a still graphical image that is considered to be full frame. The human eye can optimally perceive approximately 16.7 thousand colors. A pixel value comprised of 24 bits can represent each perceivable color. A graphical image made up of 24-bit pixels is considered to be full color. A standard Super VGA (SVGA) computer display has a screen resolution of 640 by 480 pixel. Twenty-four bits is three bytes. It is common to use a fourth byte for each pixel to specify a mask value or alpha channel. A typical image being processed may contain over 1.2 million bytes of data.
When digitizing a video signal, or when manipulating the graphics to be output as a video signal or to be displayed on a computer display it may be necessary to copy the image data to another area of memory (a buffer) for some type of image processing. However, the copied buffer takes up significant memory resources. Also the time it takes to copy the image can be significant especially when the image processing must be done in real time. Those skilled in the art realize that to improve processing performance the number of memory buffers containing a copy of the same data should be reduced to the minimum set possible.
Display Video RAM
The memory of a computer system may be physically implemented in different areas or on different boards. The main memory is used for storage of program instructions and data. A special memory area called "video RAM" may be dedicated to storing the image that is to be displayed on the computer display. The video RAM has special hardware that allows it to be accessed to update the display over 60 times a second.
Capture Video RAM
A video digitizer or video capture card may also contain a special memory area similar to display video RAM for capturing the digital samples from the video signal. This RAM may also have special hardware that allows it to be updated 60 times a second.
Cache Memory
Many computer architectures implement one or more levels of memory caching whereby blocks of memory data are stored in a cache memory that may be accessed more rapidly by the CPU. Typically input and output (I/O) memories such as video RAM, capture RAM, or hard disk buffers are not cached.


A rotatable receptacle includes a rotary member, a power cord and a fixing stand. The rotary member is fixed by the fixing stand. The fixing stand is electrically connected to the rotary member and the power cord. The rotary member includes multiple conductor terminals, which are arranged at different rotating tracks. The fixing stand includes multiple conductor slices. The conductor slices have respective ring-shape contact regions of different size. When the rotary member is rotated with respect to the fixing stand, the conductor terminals of the rotary member are continuously electrically with corresponding ring-shape contact regions of the fixing stand.

The general power receptacles are fixed receptacles because they are usually mounted on walls or partitions or arranged within furniture. In addition, the common extension cord receptacles are also fixed receptacles. As known, the positions of the insertion holes of the fixed receptacles are fixed and fail to be changed. Since the positions of the insertion holes are fixed, the plug can only be inserted to receptacle in specified directions. In some situations, the power cord that is connected to the plug needs to be bent. If the power receptacle has been used for a long term, the power cord is readily detached or fractured. Moreover, when a plug of a large-size connector (e.g. a linear adapter) is inserted into the fixed receptacle, the neighboring fixed receptacle is usually hindered by the large-size connector because the width of such connector is larger than the distance between two adjacent fixed receptacles.


Disclosed and described herein are systems, methods and computer program products that enable converting a metafile to a spreadsheet file, editing the spreadsheet file, and then transforming the spreadsheet file back to an output metafile.

Metafile is a generic term for a file format that can store multiple types of data. This commonly includes graphics file formats. These graphics files can contain raster, vector, and type data. A common use for these files is to provide support for an operating system's computer graphics; e.g., Microsoft Windows uses Windows Metafile, and Mac OS X uses PDF. A file format like .IEF (Image Exchange Format) is a standard way that graphical/image information is encoded for storage in a computer file.
Imaging continues to grow as a way to capture, store and manipulate information. For example, digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) was raised with the development of medical imaging informatics. It creates a public and license-free standard method for the transmission of digital medical images and their associated information. Currently, DICOM has been widely adopted by hospitals since it enables the integration of scanners, servers, workstations, printers, and network hardware from multiple manufacturers into a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). In the DICOM Standard, there are many separate parts, and each part of the standard concentrates on a different point of view of the DICOM protocol.
The DICOM Standard facilitates interoperability of medical imaging equipment by specifying: (1) For network communications, a set of protocols to be followed by devices claiming conformance to the Standard. (2) The syntax and semantics of Commands and associated information that can be exchanged using these protocols. (3) For media communication, a set of media storage services to be followed by devices claiming conformance to the Standard, as well as a File Format and a medical directory structure to facilitate access to the images and related information stored on interchange media. (4) Information that must be supplied with an implementation for which conformance to the Standard is claimed. The DICOM Standard does not specify: (1) The implementation details of any features of the Standard on a device claiming conformance. (2) The overall set of features and functions to be expected from a system implemented by integrating a group of devices each claiming DICOM conformance. (3) A testing/validation procedure to assess an implementation's conformance to the Standard.
As noted herein, the DICOM Standard pertains to the field of Medical Informatics. Within that field, it addresses the exchange of digital information between medical imaging equipment and other systems. Because such equipment may interoperate with other medical devices and information systems, the scope of this Standard needs to overlap with other areas of medical informatics. However, the DICOM Standard does not address the breadth of this field.
This Standard has been developed with an emphasis on diagnostic medical imaging as practiced in radiology, cardiology, pathology, dentistry, ophthalmology and related disciplines, and image-based therapies such as interventional radiology, radiotherapy and surgery. However, it is also applicable to a wide range of image and non-image related information exchanged in clinical, research, veterinary, and other medical environments. This Standard facilitates interoperability of systems claiming conformance in a multi-vendor environment, but does not, by itself, guarantee interoperability. For example, there are various DICOM standards including DICOM JSON Format, DICOM Native Model (XML), DICOMweb™, and other standards.
While the use of image information continues to proliferate, it is not easily edited or managed in its native image format. For example, while an XML file may be imported into a spreadsheet program, formatting and relationships of the XML file may not be preserved in the spreadsheet format. Likewise, while most spreadsheet programs allow exporting a file in an XML format, a spreadsheet having multiple sheets may not be exported into a single XML file while preserving the relationships between the sheets. Furthermore, it may be desired to verify data that has been converted from an image format, imported into a spreadsheet program, edited, and exported back into an image format file.
Therefore, methods, systems and computer program products are desired that overcome challenges in the art, some of which are described herein

Maintenance of a metafile using spreadsheet software


A chirping parameter .alpha. in a transmitter is set to a positive value with respect to an SMF that has a positive dispersion value with respect to signal light. A dispersion compensator is provided not only at the receiving end but also at the transmitting end. This achieves a reduction in the number of types of dispersion compensators that should be prepared in advance to optimize transmission characteristics despite the variety in the lengths of transmission fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical transmission system using optical fiber.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of optical transmission systems, the development of larger-capacity, longer-distance systems is under way. To increase the transmission capacity, methods of increasing the bit rate are being studied along with wavelength multiplexing techniques. On the other hand, longer transmission distances can be accomplished by introducing optical amplifiers. Optical amplifiers are being developed as post-amplifiers for increasing transmitter power, as preamplifiers for boosting receiver sensitivity by raising input power, or as in-line amplifiers for repeaters. With the introduction of optical amplifiers, the allowable level difference between fiber input and output has been increased, expanding the range of allowable fiber loss.
On the other hand, the use of optical amplifiers has introduced a new problem of nonlinear effects because of increased optical input levels to the fiber. One is self-phase modulation (SPM), due to the optical Kerr effect (refractive index varies depending on light intensity), which causes frequency (wavelength) shifts in the rising and falling portions of a signal light pulse. In that case, even if the wavelength range of signal light before transmission is narrow, the signal light spreads out in wavelength range during transmission, and at the same time, the received waveform changes greatly because of the effect of chromatic dispersion. In other words, the upper limit of transmission optical power is determined by considering such effects.
Further, the velocity of the light propagating through a fiber depends on the wavelength of the light (this is called the chromatic dispersion of the fiber). Accordingly, light pulses containing a range of wavelengths tend to spread out or contract in pulse width as they travel along a fiber. Therefore, in an optical transmission system, the received waveform after transmission through a fiber is distorted because of the chromatic dispersion and, depending on the degree of the distortion, transmission errors occur. Chromatic dispersion can thus limit the transmission distance.
Previously, transmission degradation by fiber chromatic dispersion has been avoided by selecting a light source having a narrow wavelength range. However, as the bit rate increases up to 10 Gb/s, the problem of the fiber nonlinear effects arises, causing a situation where the transmission degradation cannot be avoided by simply selecting a light source having a narrow wavelength range.
In view of this situation, it has been proposed to compensate for transmission characteristics by using transmitter prechirping as well as selecting a light source having a narrow wavelength range. Transmitter prechirping is a technique for causing chirping in light pulses in the transmitter. There are two types of chirping: blue chirping that causes the wavelength to shift to the longer wavelength side at the rising of an output pulse and to the shorter wavelength side at the falling thereof, and red chirping that causes the wavelength to shift to the shorter wavelength side at the rising of an output pulse and to the longer wavelength side at the falling thereof, and the type of chirping is selected depending on the fiber mainly used in the transmission channel. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-140712 describes how transmission characteristics can be improved by applying blue chirping (chirping parameter .alpha. is negative) when the fiber has positive chromatic dispersion with respect to the signal light, and red chirping (chirping parameter .alpha. is positive) when the fiber has negative chromatic dispersion. That is, when the blue chirping is combined with positive chromatic dispersion or the red chirping combined with negative chromatic dispersion, the falling portion of a light pulse travels through the fiber faster than the rising portion thereof, which has the effect of contracting the light pulse. In this case, since the fiber's dispersion value is proportional to its length, a dispersion compensator is inserted in series with the fiber to make the overall dispersion value of the transmission channel match the amount of prechirping in the transmitter.
The type of fiber currently most popular and widely installed is the single-mode fiber (SMF) which has zero dispersion wavelength in the 1.3 .mu.m band. This is because, in the case of a fiber with a relatively simple structure consisting of a uniform clad and core, the longest wavelength where zero dispersion can be achieved is 1.3 .mu.m, and at longer wavelengths, zero dispersion can be achieved only by using a dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) which is expensive and complex in structure, and also because of this, the 1.3 .mu.m band, where fiber attenuation is considered low, has traditionally been used as the band for signal light wavelength. However, to extend transmission distance with the introduction of optical amplifiers, it becomes necessary to use signal light in the 1.5 .mu.m band where erbium-doped fibers as optical amplifiers have gain regions and where fiber attenuation is considerably lower. If signal light at 1.5 .mu.m is transmitted through an SMF whose zero dispersion is in the 1.3 .mu.m band, dispersion is positive. In the prior art, therefore, it has been attempted to apply blue chirping (chirping parameter .alpha. is negative) to signal light in the transmitter, to try to improve the transmission characteristics by the combination with the positive dispersion of the fiber.
However, as will be described in detail later, in a computer simulation carried out considering the SPM, it has been found that if the chirping parameter .alpha. is negative, there arises the problem that many types of dispersion compensators that are expensive have to be prepared in advance for a variety of the fiber lengths since the range of the dispersion compensation amount that satisfies the desired transmission characteristic is narrow.


In one embodiment, a fluid flow channel includes a first part and a second part connected to and positioned downstream from the first part such that fluid can flow from the first part to the second part. The first part has opposing sidewalls, a floor extending between the sidewalls, and a ceiling extending between the sidewalls. The ceiling of the first part slopes upward in an upstream direction or the sidewalls taper in toward one another in a downstream direction, or both. The second part has opposing sidewalls and a ceiling extending between the sidewalls. The ceiling of the second part slopes upward in an upstream direction.

Thermal inkjet printers utilize one or more printheads to deposit ink on paper and other print media. A printhead is a micro-electromechanical part that contains an array of miniature thermal resistors that are energized to eject small droplets of ink out of an associated array of orifices. Air and other gases may form in the ink moving through the printhead as the ink is heated and cooled. Gas bubbles allowed to accumulate near the printhead can eventually displace all of the ink at the printhead, causing the printhead to lose its prime and rendering the printhead useless. It is desirable, therefore, to move air and other gas bubbles away from the printhead.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention relates to a multi-layered, UV-cured polymer electrolyte and lithium secondary battery comprising the same, wherein the polymer electrolyte comprises: A) a separator layer formed of polymer electrolyte, PP, PE, PVdF or non-woven fabric, wherein the separator layer having two surfaces; B) at least one gelled polymer electrolyte layer located on at least one surface of the separator layer comprising: a) polymer obtained by curing ethyleneglycoldi(meth)acrylate oligomer of the formula (I) by UV irradiation: CH2═CR1COO(CH2CH2O)nCOCR2═CH2 wherein, R1 and R2 are independently hydrogen or methyl group, and n is a integer of 3–20; and b) at least one polymer selected from the group consisting of PVdF-based polymer, PAN-based polymer, PMMA-based polymer and PVC-based polymer; and C) organic electrolyte solution in which lithium salt is dissolved in a solvent.

Recently, concomitant with miniaturization and lightweight trends in electronic appliances, research into energy sources having high density and high energy has been performed intensively. A lithium secondary battery has been proposed as one energy source in the aspect that the higher integration of energy is possible because the molecular weight of lithium used in a lithium secondary battery is very low, but its density is relatively high.
In the earlier developed lithium secondary battery, an anode was fabricated with metallic lithium or lithium alloy. However, a cycle characteristic of such secondary battery using metallic lithium or lithium alloy is reduced significantly due to dendrites generated on an anode in the course of repeated charging and discharging of the battery.
A lithium ion battery was presented in order to solve the problem of dendrite generation. The lithium ion battery developed by SONY Company in Japan and widely used all over the world comprises an anode active material, a cathode active material, an organic electrolyte and a separator film.
The separator film functions to prevent an internal short-circuiting of the lithium ion battery caused by contacting of a cathode and an anode, and to permeate ions. Separator films generally used at the present time are polyethylene (hereinafter referred to as "PE") or polypropylene (hereinafter referred to as "PP") separator films. However, the lithium ion battery using the PE or PP separator film has problems such as instability of a battery, intricacy of its fabrication process, restriction on battery shape and limitation of high capacity. There have been attempts to solve the above-mentioned problems, but there is no clear result until now.
On the contrary, a lithium polymer battery uses a polymer electrolyte having two functions, as a separator film and as an electrolyte at the same time, and it is now being viewed with keen interest as a battery being able to solve all of the problems. The lithium polymer battery has an advantage in view of productivity because the electrodes and a polymer electrolyte can be laminated in a flat-plate shape and its fabrication process is similar to a fabrication process of a polymer film.
A conventional polymer electrolyte is mainly prepared with polyethylene oxide (hereinafter referred to as "PEO"), but its ionic conductivity is merely 10−8 S/cm at room temperature, and accordingly it can not be used commonly.
Recently, a gel or hybrid type polymer electrolyte having an ionic conductivity above 10−3 S/cm at room temperature has been developed.
K. M. Abraham et al. and D. L. Chua et al. disclose a polymer electrolyte of a gel type polyacrylonitrile (hereinafter referred to as "PAN") group in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,679 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,790 respectively. The gel type PAN group polymer electrolyte is prepared by injecting a solvent compound (hereinafter referred to as an "organic electrolyte") prepared with a lithium salt and organic solvents, such as ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate, etc. into a polymer matrix. It has the advantages that the contact resistance is small in charging/discharging of a battery and desorption of the active materials rarely takes place because the adhesive force of the polymer electrolyte is good, and accordingly adhesion between a composite electrode and a metal substrate is well developed. However, such a polymer electrolyte has a problem in that its mechanical stability, namely its strength, is low because the electrolyte is a little bit soft. Especially, such deficiency in strength may cause many problems in the fabrication of an electrode and battery.
A. S. Gozdz et al. discloses a polymer electrolyte of hybrid type polyvinylidenedifluoride (hereinafter referred to as "PVdF") group in U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,904, The polymer electrolyte of the hybrid type PVdF group is prepared by fabricating a polymer matrix having a porosity not greater than submicron, and then injecting an organic electrolyte into the small pores in the polymer matrix. It has the advantages that its compatibility with the organic electrolyte is good, the organic electrolyte injected into the small pores is not leaked so as to be safe in use and the polymer matrix can be prepared in the atmosphere because the organic electrolyte is injected afterwards. However, it has the disadvantages that the fabrication process is intricate because when the polymer electrolyte is prepared, an extraction process of a plasticizer and an impregnation process of the organic electrolyte are required. In addition, it has a critical disadvantage in that a process forming a thin layer by heating and an extraction process are required in fabrication of electrodes and batteries because the mechanical strength of the PVdF group electrolyte is good but its adhesive force is poor.
Recently, a polymer electrolyte of a polymethylmethacrylate (hereinafter referred to as "PMMA") group was presented in Solid State Ionics, 66, 97, 105 (1993) by O. Bohnke and G. Frand, et al. The PMMA polymer electrolyte has the advantages that it has an ionic conductivity of 10−3 S/cm at room temperature and its adhesive force and compatibility with an organic electrolyte are good. However, its mechanical strength is very poor, and accordingly it is unfeasible for the lithium polymer battery.
In addition, a polymer electrolyte of a polyvinylchloride (hereinafter referred to as "PVC") group, which has good mechanical strength and has an ionic conductivity of 10−3 S/cm at room temperature, was presented in J. Electrochem. Soc., 140, L96 (1993) by M. Alamgir and K. M. Abraham. However, it has problems in that a low-temperature characteristic is poor and a contact resistance is high.
Recently, in order to complement disadvantages of lithium ion batteries and lithium polymer batteries, new methods have been attempted. Among them, U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,357, U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,293 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,135 to M. Oliver et al. disclose a fabrication method of a secondary battery. Such method comprises steps of casting a solution in which a polymer such as PVdF, etc. is dissolved in an organic solvent or an organic electrolyte onto a PP or PE separator film used for lithium ion batteries to obtain a separator film system, locating the obtained separator film system between an anode and a cathode, making the resultant into one body by a heat lamination process and then injecting an organic electrolyte solution. However, in the method, because a polymer solution is cast onto a PP or PE separator film, deformation of the PP or PE separator film is caused and pores of the separator film is closed. In addition, contact is insufficient because the separator film and electrodes are made into one body by a heat lamination process, and therefore, a contact resistance may be increased. Due to those disadvantages, charge and discharge characteristics of lithium secondary batteries are poor and life characteristics of batteries may be lowered.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,005 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,659 to Kenichi Morigaki et al. disclose a method for improving a cycle life of a batteries by restraining the generation of dendrite of lithium when metallic lithium or a lithium alloy is used as an anode. Such effect is achieved by injecting a UV (hereinafter referred to as "UV") curable oligomer or monomer into a PE separator film and then irradiating UV rays onto the resultant, to generate a gel-polymer electrolyte at pores in the PE separator film. However, in such method, although it is possible to improve cycle life, a resistance is increased compared with the one in which an organic electrolyte solution is impregnated into the PE separator film because a polymer electrolyte is injected into the pores of the PE separator film. Accordingly, charge and discharge characteristics of the lithium secondary batteries are lowered. In addition, its adhesive force with an electrode is inferior, and therefore, a fabrication of a battery becomes intricate.

Multi-layered, UV-cured polymer electrolyte and lithium secondary battery comprising the same

Korea Institute of Science and Technologies


A fuel injection system which can effectively control a residual pressure in an injection pump so as to reduce soot and hydrocarbons in an exhaust gas when an engine is operating at a low speed. The fuel injection system features a structure in which a passage is formed in a plunger barrel, extends between a delivery valve chamber and a pressurization source, and is in communication with these chambers via a plunger when it is in contact with a base circle of a cam.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a fuel injection system, and more particularly to a structure for controlling the residual pressure in a fuel injection pump.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well-known in the art, an in-line fuel injection pump for use in a diesel engine has a structure for feeding fuel under pressure. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 of the accompanying drawings, the inline fuel injection pump A includes a plunger D which is made to slide in a plunger barrel by a cam B. The plunger D feeds fuel to an injection pipe when the pressure of fuel becomes large enough to open a delivery valve E. Then, when the pressure of fuel in the oil pipe is large enough to open an injection nozzle connected to the injection pipe, fuel is injected into an engine cylinder.
On the other hand, when the plunger D moves upwardly and an opening F of the plunger D communicates with a port G of a sleeve C1, the pressure in a pressurization chamber H is reduced.
Referring to FIG. 11, the delivery valve E is closed by the pressure of its own return spring E1, thereby preventing reverse flow of fuel to the fuel injection pump A from the injection nozzle, increasing the capacity of the delivery valve chamber while the delivery valve is in its return stroke so as to lower the pressure in the delivery valve chamber, and lowering the pressure in the injection pipe connected to the valve chamber.
Fuel is instantaneously injected into the engine cylinder so as to prevent fuel from dripping into the cylinder after injection.
Fuel is confined in the injection pipe after it is injected into the cylinder. Therefore, a part of pressure applied to fuel is retained in the injection pipe as residual pressure.
The residual pressure represents a static pressure that exists when the pressurizing process is stabilized after one fuel injection process, and varies with engine operating conditions to determine factors such as an engine speed and the quantity of fuel injection.
The residual pressure is reduced when the quantity of injected fuel is larger than the quantity of fuel under pressure fed by the plunger to the delivery chamber. Otherwise, the residual pressued is increased.
When the residual pressure varies, transmission of the pressure for next fuel injection also varies in the injection pipe, so that the injection pressure will be changed accordingly.
When the return spring of the delivery valve has a preset constant pressure, variation of the residual pressure would cause differences in the pressure lowered during the return of the delivery valve. Fuel becomes foamy due to the reduction of the pressure in the injection pipe. Unfortunately, sometimes fuel is so extensively foamy that cavitation erosion will be remarkably caused when fuel foams are destroyed under pressure.
When the engine speed is low, the plunger moves so slowly to adversely affect the injection pressure. The lower the injection pressure, the less effectively fuel is changed to mist of fine fuel particles. Such fuel tends to produce a lot of particulates in an exhaust gas and soot.
This phenomenon is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 shows the relationship between a particulate diameter and injection pressure. FIG. 13 shows the quantity of particulates depending upon the injection pressure.
There has been proposed a structure to increase the pressure for opening the delivery valve regardless of the residual pressure varying depending upon the injection characteristics which are set according to the engine operating status. Then, the pressure applied to fuel is kept in the injection pipe so that fuel is injected under that pressure when the injection nozzle is opened.
Such a structure however requires an additional member such as an oil path for keeping the pressure, and a pump in the fuel chamber to keep the pressure, which makes the fuel injection system more complicated.
Further, there is a proposal in which a nonreturn valve is disposed to feed fuel to the delivery valve chamber so as to preliminarily pressurize the chamber when the residual pressure is lowered. In such a structure, fuel has to flow only in one direction in the delivery valve chamber.
Therefore, it is impossible not only to adjust the pressure as desired in the delivery valve chamber but also to increase the injection pressure depending upon the engine speed. This implies that a high pressure cannot be realized for the fuel injection in an engine speed range where fuel has to be extensively pressurized to decrease particulates in the exhaust gas.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


Digital to analog converter circuits and methods are provided for producing an analog output voltage indicative of a digital input signal with at least partial insensitivity to error gradients. Described are split-core resistive elements, which include a plurality of one-dimensional or multi-dimensional resistive strings, that may be used to reduce or substantially eliminate the effects that error gradients have on the linearity of the analog output voltages of a resistive string or interpolating amplifier DACs. The resistor strings that make up the split-core resistive elements are configured in such a manner that combining respective output voltages from each of the resistor strings results in an analog output voltage that is at least partially insensitive to the effects of error gradients.

The present invention relates to digital to analog converters (DACs). More particularly, this invention relates to circuits and methods for providing a split-core DAC that is at least partially insensitive to the effects of error gradients.
The general purpose of a DAC is to transform digital input signals into analog output voltages. In other words, a DAC takes the binary bits of a digital input signal, which originate from a computer or other type of discrete circuitry, and converts the digital input signal into an analog output voltage that can be used to drive analog devices (e.g., motor controllers or audio circuitry).
There are several types of DACs that are well known and are capable of converting digital input signals into analog output voltages. An example of a commonly used DAC is the binary-weighted resistor DAC, which uses N binary-weighted resistors (where N is the number of bits of a digital signal to be converted). This type of DAC is logically simple to implement, however, it is typically not the most practical type of converter to use because the range of resistor values often becomes very large. In particular, accurate resistors across the range of resistor values become difficult to fabricate as the resolution of the binary-weighted resistor DAC increases (i.e., as N increases).
Another commonly used DAC is the R-2R resistor ladder DAC. The R-2R resistor ladder DAC uses an R-2R ladder to produce the currents that are inputted into a summing amplifier. Unlike the binary-weighted resistor DAC, however, the range of resistor values used in an R-2R ladder DAC is not a function of the DAC's resolution. Therefore, unlike with the binary-weighted resistor DAC, the problem of often requiring a large range of resistor values is not present. The R-2R ladder DAC, however, does not guarantee monotonicity, which may be particularly important in applications such as control systems. In other words, as the digital input signal to be converted increases in value, the analog output voltage is not guaranteed to also increase. Similarly, a decrease in the digital input signal does not guarantee a decrease in the analog output voltage of the R-2R ladder DAC.
A third type of commonly used DAC, which relates more specifically to the present invention and is explained in greater detail below, is the resistor string DAC. The resistor string DAC uses a resistor string (voltage divider) network to generate a set of analog output voltages through sequential voltage taps. Moreover, resistor string DACs use one of the simplest architectures, utilizing a string of ideally identical resistors connected in series between two reference voltages (e.g., a DAC reference voltage, Vref, and ground).
The resistor string of a resistor string DAC includes 2N series connected resistors, where again, N represents the resolution of the DAC, or the number of bits in the digital input signal to be converted. Assuming identical resistors, the resistor string divides the reference voltage, Vref, into 2N equally spaced voltages. The junctions (or nodes) in between each pair of connected resistors provide voltage taps through, for example, controlled switches corresponding to particular digital input signals. The respective voltage levels of these voltage taps vary according to their location relative to the reference voltages (e.g., Vref and ground).
The analog output voltage in a resistor string DAC is obtained by using one or more switches to connect the selected voltage tap to the DAC output. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of switches necessary to provide the analog output voltage depends on the type of decoder being utilized. The switches of a resistor string DAC can be controlled, for example, using an N:2N decoder that uses the binary bits of the digital signal to select one of 2N available switches to be closed, allowing the desired voltage level to be passed, or transmitted, as the analog output voltage of the resistor string DAC. Other types of decoders, however, may also be used that require, for example, greater than 2N switches. For example, a tree decoder may be used, in which case arranging the switches into a binary tree structure would provide inherent decoding using only the digital input signal.
Aside from simplicity in design, another major benefit associated with using resistor string DACs as opposed to other types of DACs is that resistor string DACs are intrinsically monotonic (as long as the switching elements are functioning properly). Accordingly, an increase in the digital input signal results in an increased analog output voltage, while a decrease in the digital signal results in a decreased analog output voltage.
A significant drawback associated with using resistor string DACs, however, is that the linearity of the analog output voltages corresponding to different digital input signals is limited by the precision with which the voltage division is accomplished. As the resolution of the resistor string DAC increases, the number of resistors increases exponentially, increasing the likelihood that the resistors being used will have reduced precision. Moreover, as the number of binary bits in the digital signal increases, the quantization step size decreases for any given reference voltage being used. Accordingly, the voltage taps provided by the resistor string of the resistor string DAC become much closer as the resolution of the DAC increases, thus increasing the requirements for accurately matched resistors.
Accurate resistor matching can also be a problem in another type of DAC, the interpolating amplifier DAC, which operates using the principle of a segmented DAC and is explained in greater detail below. Because interpolating amplifier DACs may also utilize resistor strings in order to provide voltage taps (for providing analog output voltages), the accuracy associated with the resistor matching in the resistor string or strings being used affects the quality (e.g., linearity) of the analog output voltages.
Due to various technological limitations, the matching of the resistor string resistors for larger resolution DACs becomes extremely difficult. One factor that limits the resistor matching, and therefore the accuracy of voltage division by the resistor string, is the introduction of error gradients (e.g., linear error gradients). Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the phrase "error gradients" used herein may refer to a single error gradient, or a plurality of error gradients that produce deviations in resistor values as described below.
Fabrication time linear error gradients may be introduced, for example, during the resistive network fabrication process. These linear error gradients, which in some instances are the result of imperfect processing during the fabrication of resistors, may be due to a number of different factors. For example, the imperfect processing of resistors may be due in part to variations in either the doping density or fabricated resistor widths, or both. Additional factors which may lead to the introduction of linear error gradients include, for example, variations in the resistor lengths as determined by contact openings and the thickness of the resistive material layer. Accordingly, variations in the sheet resistance and geometry of the resistive materials cause imperfections during the fabrication of resistors. Moreover, variations in contact resistance may also contribute to the introduction of linear error gradients.
Linear error gradients may also be introduced at some point other than the resistive network fabrication process. For example, resistors used in resistor string DACs or interpolating amplifier DACs may be subject to thermal linear error gradients. In this case, variations in the temperature conditions surrounding the various resistors of a resistor string may result in the resistors being subject to undesirable deviations in resistor values.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide various resistor string and interpolating amplifier DACs that are at least partially insensitive to the effects of error gradients.

Gradient insensitive split-core digital to analog converter


By using a reflection mask for reflective reduction projection exposure which uses vacuum ultraviolet rays or soft X-rays of wavelength .lambda., there is enhancement of the resolution of the projection exposure by making the height of adjacent or neighboring reflective surfaces to be deviated by about (2n-1) x.lambda./(4 cos .THETA.) (where n=1, 2, 3, - - - ) with respect to the angle .THETA. subtended by the normal to the above reflective surfaces and the direction of incidence of the ultraviolet rays or the soft X-rays, thus inverting the phases of the vacuum ultraviolet rays or the soft X-rays reflected by the neighboring reflection regions. Therefore, the applicable range of the reduction projection exposure can be extended to 0.1 um or smaller.

The invention relates to a projection exposure for forming fine patterns on a variety of solid state devices.
Circuit patterns have been formed in ever finer sizes in order to increase the degree of integration of solid state devices such as LSIs and to increase the speed of circuit operation. A reduction projection exposure method that features mass-producibility and excellent resolution has been used widely for forming such patterns. According to this method, the resolution varies in proportion to the exposure wavelength and varies in inverse proportion to the numerical aperture (NA) of the projection optical system. So far, it has been attempted to increase the resolution limit by increasing the numerical aperture (high NA). This method, however, is approaching its limit due to a decrease in the depth of focus and difficulty in the design of lenses and lens fabrication technology. In recent years, therefore, attention has been given to the approach for shortening the wavelength of the exposure light.
When use is made of vacuum ultraviolet rays such as from laser beams or soft X-rays such as SR light (synchrotron radiation light) as a source of light of short wavelengths, there is available no material that is adapted to the refractive optics (lenses) used thus far, and it becomes necessary to employ a reflection optical system. From the standpoint of precision and mechanical durability, a reflection mask is preferred to a transmission mask. The reflective reduction projection exposure method using vacuum ultraviolet rays or soft X-rays has been discussed in, for example, materials of the Academy of the Japanese Association of Electric Engineering, EDD-90-40, 1990, pp. 47-54 and "Soft x-ray Projection Lithography", Ceglio N. M. et al, J. Vac. Science Technology, B8 (6), Nov/Dec 1990. p. 1325-1328.
There has been proposed a phase shifting method in order to further enhance the resolution limit of the conventional reduction projection exposure method using refractive optics. According to this method, phases of light beams passing through neighboring opening patterns are inverted relative to each other in order to nearly double the spatial frequency response of the optical system for the repetitive patterns. In this method, a phase inverting plate (phase shifter) having a suitable index of refraction and is suitable thickness is selectively provided at a predetermined opening portion of the transmission mask to impart an effective optical path difference to the light beam passing through the neighboring opening patterns in order to invert the phases of light beams. The phase shifting method has been discussed in, for example, IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-29, No. 12, pp. 1828-1835, 1982.

Reflection mask, method of producing mask and method of forming pattern using the mask


A firearm bolt locking mechanism includes a locking pin in the bolt carrier of a firearm like an AK-47 assault rifle or variant thereof. The locking pin is normally urged from the bolt carrier by a compressed spring. The mechanism also includes a pivot arm mounted on the receiver cover of the firearm. The pivot arm has a spring-biased finger that normally fills a hole in the receiver cover. The mechanism further includes a magazine that stops the bolt of the firearm when the last cartridge from the magazine is fired and permits the spring to drive the locking pin into the hole. After replacing the empty magazine with a full one, the pivot arm is pressed to replace the locking pin in the hole with the finger and to release the bolt carrier to chamber a cartridge.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle, better known as the AK-47, and its variants comprise one of the largest groups of firearms on earth. It has been estimated that over 90 million of these firearms have been produced in dozens of countries since their introduction in the Soviet Union in 1946. Developed primarily as a military weapon, the AK-47 became famous for its simplicity of operation and reliability in extreme conditions of use. Because of its mild recoil, the AK-47 has the capability of delivering effective full-automatic fire at a range of 300 meters.
The AK-47 has problems that make it less than optimal for use as a weapon of war. Perhaps the most significant problem is that the AK-47 lacks means to hold the bolt open after the last round is fired from its magazine. Thus, when an empty magazine is detached from the AK-47, the bolt carrier and bolt loudly slides to breech. Chambering another round requires that a loaded magazine be inserted into the receiver and the bolt carrier be pulled back. To pull the bolt carrier rearwardly, the AK-47 must be lowered from a firing position at the shoulder to develop sufficient leverage—a time-consuming and dangerous step in a war zone.
It is known to construct detachable firearm magazines such that they will retain a firearm bolt in an open position when all of the cartridges in the magazine have been discharged therefrom with magazines recently adopted by the Yugoslavian Army and recently introduced into the United States being an example. The Yugoslavian magazines serve to permit inspection of the firing chamber and alert the user to the fact that they are empty. Nonetheless, such do not prevent the forward movement of the bolt carrier and bolt when detached from the AK-47. Thus, reloading an AK-47 outfitted with Yugoslavian magazines still requires that the shooter drop the firearm from a firing position to pull the bolt carrier rearwardly so as to chamber the first round.