An embodiment of the invention is a method of generating a final exposure setting, including, (a) selecting one of a number of predetermined exposure settings as a current exposure setting for a solid state camera having a camera imager, (b) generating a captured scene by the camera imager using the current exposure setting, (c) selecting according to an automated search methodology another one of the exposure settings to be the current setting in response to the captured scene being underexposed or overexposed, and, (d) repeating (b) and (c) until the captured scene is neither underexposed or overexposed.

This invention is generally related to solid state cameras, and more particularly to techniques for determining exposure parameters in such cameras.
Solid state cameras, just like the conventional film camera, are limited in their ability to take pictures which faithfully replicate the full range of colors and brightness in a scene. This is because natural scenes exhibit a wide dynamic range, i.e., some regions of a scene are very bright while others are very dark. As a result, conventional solid state cameras, and particularly consumer products such as digital cameras and video cameras, have a number of adjustable exposure parameters that control the sensitivity of a camera imager. The best pictures are usually taken after the camera""s exposure parameters have been adjusted according to the amount of light in the scene. For instance, if the scene is relatively bright, then the exposure, e.g., the period of time the camera imager is allowed to xe2x80x9csensexe2x80x9d the incident light, is accordingly reduced so as to better capture the brightness variations in the scene. In conventional solid state cameras, a separate light meter sensor and associated circuitry are used to quickly give an immediate luminance reading of the scene prior to adjusting the exposure parameters and then taking the picture. However, both the light metering circuitry and the camera imager must be calibrated, at the time of manufacturing the camera, to a reference light source. Otherwise, the technique may not yield the proper exposure parameters.
There is a limited conventional technique for determining the optimal exposure that does not use a separate light metering circuit. In that technique, the camera is equipped with a means for providing a histogram of the captured scene at a given exposure setting. The histogram shows a distribution of pixel values obtained by the imager at the selected exposure setting. A person can then manually change the exposure setting and then visually evaluate another histogram of the scene obtained using the new exposure setting. The exposure setting is repeatedly adjusted in this way until the optimal distribution of pixels has been obtained, and then the picture is taken using this optimal exposure setting. This technique suffers, however, when implemented in commercial solid state cameras, because it is too slow and is not automatic for the average consumer who likes the point and shoot convenience of automatic cameras.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a method is disclosed for automatically generating a final set of exposure parameters for a solid state camera having a camera imager, without using a light metering circuit separate from the camera imager. An iterative automated search methodology is used to arrive at the final set of exposure parameters from an initial exposure setting, and sample captures of the scene are evaluated at each trial exposure setting.
In a particular embodiment, the method of generating the final exposure setting includes selecting one of a number of predetermined exposure settings as a current exposure setting for the solid state camera. A captured scene is then generated by the camera imager using the current exposure setting. In response to the captured scene being underexposed or overexposed, another one of the exposure settings is selected to be the current setting according to the automated search methodology. The two latter steps are repeated until the captured scene is neither underexposed or overexposed. The search methodology performs a coarse granularity search so long as the captured scene is either grossly overexposed or grossly underexposed, and a fine granularity search otherwise.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows below.

Determining a final exposure setting automatically for a solid state camera without a separate light metering circuit


An active interface device including a transducer or sensor array having a plurality of transducers or sensors arranged to transform a cell activity into an electrical signal, at least one detection unit for detecting the electrical signal(s), at least one recording unit for recording the electrical signal(s), comprising a plurality of recording channels arranged for being routed to the transducers or sensors, and at least one control unit. The control unit is arranged for addressing the transducers or sensors to the detection unit(s), for activating transducers or sensors, and for routing the recording channels to activated transducers or sensors.

There are two main methods for recording cell activity using large cellular (neural) interfaces comprising at least 128×128 sensors.
A first approach is based on a scanning method of the entire array of sensors.
One example of this method is disclosed in Eversmann et al., "A 128×128 CMOS Biosensor Array for Extracellular Recording of Neural Activity," IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, Vol. 38, No. 12, December 2003. In this document, the authors describe a method and a device in which there are 128 rows and 128 columns. The entire array of sensors is individually scanned at a sufficient scanning frequency (2 kiloframes per second, (kfps)). The scanning is done with a row and column addressing technique. Each row has one amplifier leading to a total of 128 amplifiers. These are further multiplexed 8 to 1 and thus there are 16 outputs. This information is sent off the chip to a PC where 16 A/D converters are used and the information is processed.
The amount of information to be processed is quite large, 32 MS/s (MegaSamples/second). This raises important problems for post processing of the information. As arrays get larger the amount of data to be processed also increases. An array of 256×256 sensors would require 131 MS/s. Furthermore, noise is also a concern as a recording amplifier has to be present in every sensor, the size of which has to be limited to keep the pitch of the sensor within a reasonable value; comparable to the size of a neuron (between about 20 μm and about 100 μm).
The second method is based on the assumption that not all sensors are in contact with a cell (neuron) and are therefore not of interest.
An example of this method is disclosed in U. Frey et al., "An 11k-electrode 126-channel High Density Microelectrode Array To Interact With Electrogenic Cells," in ISSCC 2007, San Francisco, Calif., February 2007, pp. 158-159, wherein, the authors describe a very large array with 11,000 sensors having 126 channels that are permanently routed to sensors of interest. The amount of data is consequently reduced and noise performance is improved as the sensors only require a routing circuitry.
Because of the scarcity of neurons on the sensors, the system is capable of recording most of the cellular activity. Nevertheless, all of the neurons are not observable, and the device is always limited to the number of channels available for routing. In this case, only 1.14% of the array is observable at any one time. Increasing the number of sensors will require an increase in the number of channels. Assuming a linear increase, for a 256×256 array, 504 channels will be required for the same system monitoring capability.
An overview of the methods used according to the state of the art is represented in FIG. 1.

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, KU LEUVEN R&D


A disk drive controller which can be programmed for compatibility with a variety of disk drives having differing interface requirements. Information regarding specific characteristics of a disk drive to be installed is loaded into a register in the disk drive controller. Information such as the drives data rate, density, precompensation, physical designation, and mode of operation of a disk drive can be programmed into the register. The interface between the disk drive controller and the disk drive is then configured according to the stored information.

With the explosion of personal computer (PC) systems, there has been an attendant explosion in disk drives. Personal computer systems often have one or more disk drives for storing software program codes and data. These disk drives typically store information as a series of digital bits. A magnetic transducer or "head" writes each bit of information onto a circular, spinning magnetic media. The stored information can later be retrieved by using the same head to read back the bits of information from the magnetic media. One popular storage media, known as "floppy" disks, are comprised of flexible magnetic media which are enclosed in plastic jackets for protection. These floppy disks are removable from the disk drives and are interchangeable. Floppy disks for PCs commonly come in two sizes, 5.25 and 3.5 inches in diameter. Typically, a single semiconductor chip known as a disk drive controller, is installed within the personal computer to provide control over various functions and to interface with the disk drive(s). Some examples of floppy disk drive controllers include the National Semiconductor PC8477, NEC UPD72064, Motorola 3221, and Intel 82077.
Because of the popularity of disk drives, there are an ever increasing number of disk drive types being built by a number of different manufacturers. Each disk drive type can have its own protocol. A further complication is the fact that each of the manufacturers can specify their own interface and signal requirements. As a result, the particular disk drive controller in a PC might be incompatible with certain types of disk drives made by certain manufacturers. Under such circumstances, the installation of disk drives is limited to those disk drives which the designers of the disk drive controllers have chosen to support. Thus, one major disadvantage with typical prior art disk drive controllers is that the installers of disk drives, such as manufacturers of personal computer systems, might be limited by the disk drive controller to certain types or brands of disk drives. Those disk drives which are compatible are not guaranteed to be the ones that offer the best features or which are the most economical.
Another associated problem is that disk drive controller manufacturers are faced with a dilemma in determining which disk drives to support. If they choose to support only one type of disk drive, they forfeit that share of the disk drive controller market for those disk drives which are incompatible. On the other hand, if the manufacturer chooses to market more than one type of controller to support a greater variety of drives, the manufacturer is faced with increased costs due to designing, stocking, and marketing a plurality of different controllers. Hence, it would be highly advantageous for a disk drive controller to be compatible with many different types of disk drives.
One prior art approach for increasing drive compatibility was to implement external jumpers, DIP switches, external logic or other types of hardware. However, these mechanisms do not allow a system designer to affect any internal operations of the floppy disk controller. Furthermore, such changes need to be separately controlled, at each access of the different drives that may be connected to the controller. This a cumbersome, labor intensive, and time consuming task. Moreover, this approach requires that the application be aware of the exact types of disk drives attached to the computer system along with their peculiarities.
A different prior art approach for increasing drive compatibility was to add separate, dedicated output pins on the disk drive controller for supporting different drives. However, increasing the pin count correspondingly increases the overall cost of the disk drive controller. In addition, there is a physical limitation on the number of pins which can be added and yet have the disk drive controller fit onto the computer's motherboard.
Thus, what is needed is a configurable disk drive controller which allows a system designer more flexibility in selecting the type and brand of disk drive to be installed. It would also be highly preferable if the type of drive used is transparent to the application software.

Transmitting specific command during initial configuration step for configuring disk drive controller


A solid-state battery including: a cathode, an anode, a solid-state electrolyte layer disposed between the cathode and the anode, wherein the solid-state electrolyte layer and at least the cathode of the cathode and the anode includes a sulfide solid-state electrolyte, the sulfide solid-state electrolyte includes an amorphous material and a crystalline material, a first proportion of the amorphous material in at least the cathode of the cathode and the anode is greater than a first proportion of the crystalline material in at least the cathode of the cathode and the anode, and a second proportion of the amorphous material in the solid-state electrolyte layer is less than a second proportion of the crystalline material in the solid-state electrolyte layer.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a solid-state battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a lithium-ion secondary battery, solid-state batteries using a solid-state electrolyte are known. The solid-state battery is composed of an electrolyte layer including a solid-state electrolyte, electrodes (cathode and anode) formed on opposite surfaces of the solid-state electrolyte layer, and current collectors that are respectively bonded to the electrodes.
In the solid-state battery, in general, the solid-state electrolyte is also mixed in each electrode. A sulfide-based solid-state electrolyte having excellent lithium-ion conductivity is used as a solid-state electrolyte.
A solid-state battery using amorphous/crystalline sulfide solid-state electrolytes in a solid-state electrolyte layer between a cathode and an anode is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-103281, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Also, a solid-state battery using amorphous/crystalline sulfide-based solid-state electrolytes in solid-state electrolytes of a cathode and/or an anode is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-103282, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Nonetheless, there remains a need for an improved solid-state battery.


The present invention has apparatus converting a Ford Mustang five-speed transmission for installation in other, substantially different, automobiles by having a clutch housing, adapted to fit the front face of the Ford Mustang case, with gearing for four forward speeds and has an externally splined output shaft extending 5 inches beyond the rear face of the case; an output shaft housing, also housing a set of fifth-speed gears, the speedometer drive gearing and a gear shift lever gate within a dimension of approximately 3½ inches, to provide an overall length of approximately 20½″, as measured from the engine mounting surface of the clutch housing to the rear face of the drive shaft connecting flange.

Special interest automobiles are often sought after as distinctive transportation as well as for collection or show purposes. An owner who drives such an automobile, particularly a vintage or classic sports car, does so for pleasure, but will often find the experience to be compromised by mental comparisons to contemporary, more sophisticated vehicles. Some aspects of the experience may be cherished for their differences but, insofar as transmission performance and ease of gear-selection, the only satisfaction may be in the ability to cope with the limitations of obsolete equipment.
Modification of these autos is frowned upon by most enthusiasts, who place great value on originality. Engine "swapping", or converting to a different type engine, is particularly distasteful to the purist and will usually devalue the automobile severely. Transmission conversions are not viewed as negatively, perhaps because the transmission is buried beneath the automobile so that the change is not as obvious as an engine conversion. In fact, this change is not at all objectionable if it does not entail any alterations to the car itself. Thus, if it is readily possible to return an automobile to its original state, or give the original transmission, with an unaltered vehicle to a new owner, so as to convey the sanctity of "original parts", a transmission conversion is seen as a case of "no harm, no foul". Theoretically, the less drastic the required alterations, the more acceptable will be the conversion, but purists are indeed purists and tend to be quite arbitrary in matters of "originality". This is the downfall of most otherwise desirable transmission conversions. If the replacement transmission has the virtue of being more robust, it is probably more bulky, so that the transmission cover, floor and/or frame of the car require alteration to provide the needed clearance. If the replacement transmission provides additional speed ranges, such as a modern five-speed, for installation in place of one with three or four speeds, it is almost certain to be significantly longer. This will dictate that the drive shaft be shortened and/or a cross-member be altered. Other problems arise in the form of incompatible transmission mounting styles, necessitating frame alterations, or a different gear-shift lever location, requiring that the transmission cover be altered, either of which makes the change obvious. Other problems, such as an incompatible speedometer drive make such a conversion less desirable. As a typical example, XKE JAGUAR automobiles, made from 1961 through 1974, are highly prized by enthusiasts and collectors. Many of these cars are still in use, particularly on special occasions such as club events. The XKE transmissions are four-speed units originally designed in the 1930's and somewhat improved, but not capable of the smooth, nearly effortless gear changes of state-of-the-art designs. Moreover, the standard JAGUAR ratios require engine speeds of around 3,500 revolutions per minute or so at common road speeds of 70-75 mph. A five-speed transmission is almost certain to be significantly longer, from front flange to output coupling, than the original four-speed transmission to be replaced. The TREMEC five-speed transmission, originally designed for the FORD MUSTANG, has a case that is 9¼″ in length and a tailshaft housing that is 15″ long, so that the transmission length is 24½″. The TREMEC transmission houses the first through fourth-speed gears in the case, while the fifth-speed gears are contained in the tailshaft housing. The four-speed JAGUAR transmission case is 10¼″ long and the tailshaft housing adds another 3″, for a transmission length of 13¼″.
Such conversions are done as custom installations by garages or shops that cater to special interest automobiles. Thus, transmission conversions are often produced as an individual effort, or in very low volume, by technicians of ordinary skill in the mechanical arts. No more than ordinary skill is required to make a shorter tail shaft and tail shaft housing, so as to reduce the TREMEC transmission length to 16¼″ but, any greater reduction threatens transmission operability. To further compound the problem, the usual manner of adapting the bolt pattern of a "transplanted" transmission to an original clutch housing is by means of a ⅝″ or ¾″ thick adapter plate, having both the original and new bolt patterns. This further adds to the driveline length of the conversion. When this is considered, it is seen that a typical effective overall assembly length is actually closer to 17 inches. Thus, the available XKE five-speed conversions require many of the aforesaid alterations and do not replace the original transmission, except with vehicle alterations.
A first object of the present invention is therefore, to provide a competent, five-speed transmission conversion for XKE JAGUARS and other special interest automobiles. A second object is to provide this conversion in a form that does not compromise the originality of the subject vehicle. Yet a third object of the inventions is to provide this conversion in a form that will interchange with the original transmission, for purposes of ease of installation and economy.

Apparatus for five-speed transmission conversions


A digital signal processor optimized for synthetic aperture radar image formation provides two separate stages of arithmetic processing along independent in-phase and quadrature channels. The first stage accepts a first reference input and integrates a multiplier/accumulator for each channel, and the second stage accepts a second reference input and includes a multiplier and an adder for each channel. In addition to hardware to select and route data in accordance with a desired operation, a hold register is incorporated prior to input-selection logic to facilitate complex-by-complex multiplications of data derived from either input in the first stage. Hold registers are also included before the second-stage adders to permit a complex multiplication with magnitude weighting to occur during the zero-th stage of a fast Fourier transformation, effectively hiding the time to perform one FFT stage. A control section contains a microprogrammed control sequencer, an input/output controller, data address generators and two reference address generators, the data and address generators being implemented using digital differential analyzers, or DDAs, which may be combined to form second-order or groups of complex linear DDAs. Implemented as a single-chip C-MOS integrated circuit, the architecture comprises a complete SAR image-formation processing element, including all arithmetic, control and addressing functions. The circuit is entirely self-contained with the exception of an external memory required to store partial results and reference functions.

Radar signal processing can be very computationally intensive. With the transition to digital techniques in general and high-resolution image formation in particular, computational requirements can easily grow to many millions of arithmetic operations. Indeed, such computational demands are limited only by the resolution required and, as might be expected, the desire to extract finer details is ever increasing.
To enhance cross-range resolution, that is, the ability to distinguish between two points next to each other at nearly the same distance from the radar receiver, a larger antenna can be used, but such an approach quickly becomes unwieldy for certain applications. For example, to observe meaningful details on the earth's surface from a relatively high altitude at non-exotic radar frequencies, an antenna kilometers in length might be required.
It was discovered that cross-range resolution could be enhanced by integrating multiple signals from a single target using a moving antenna (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,436), a technique now commonly referred to as synthetic aperture radar, or SAR. With SAR, a small antenna aboard an aircraft or spacecraft can be used to collect geographic data, often by side-looking, and a high resolution can be achieved independent of sensor altitude by synthesizing an extremely long antenna aperture using a signal processor.
The advantages of SAR are many, but it is not a technique that simplifies, as the reduction in physical antenna size results in a corresponding increase in computational intensity. To resolve and correct SAR data requires signal processing and analysis above and beyond the inherently complex operations associated with real-aperture digital radar. Like other high-resolution radar systems, SAR is coherent, in that it must retain both magnitude and phase of the backscattered echo signal. In addition, various processing techniques must be employed to sharpen the received beam, improve signal-to-noise ratio and, especially with SAR, to correct for radiometric and geometric distortions. In the digital domain, the filtering and other processes required to improve SAR image quality involve numerical operations such as Fourier transformation, correlation and convolution which, in turn, require numerous high-speed multiplications and/or additions of long data words.
Depending upon the requirements of the application, the computations required to implement various SAR algorithms may be performed on a variety of computer systems ranging from general-purpose machines, including supercomputers, to specialized array processors. However, resort to such physically large systems requires that the SAR problem be broken up, with pulse transmission and data collection being performed during flight but with the bulk of the signal processing being carried out in a separate ground station receiving the data via down-link. The need for a down-link increases equipment complexity and introduces communication problems of its own.
As such, for applications demanding processing throughputs in excess of those possible with general-purpose computer-based solutions, specialized hardware implementations have been developed to perform SAR-specific operations. Presently, however, even with such dedicated hardware, various modules are necessary to process each portion of the SAR algorithm, that is, to compute the requisite Fourier transformations, complex multiplications, and to form the modulus of the processed image. Additional hardware is typically required to implement resampling filters in each image dimension to correct for the geometric distortion.
Recently, several DSP devices have been introduced which provide more integrated solutions to the SAR processing problem. For example, an arithmetic element called the IQMAC, developed by United Technologies, implements a complex multiply-accumulate circuit which can be used as a building block in a SAR system, but the device requires substantial support circuitry in use. Similarly, a device manufactured by TRW Corp. and a two-chip set called the DaSP/PaC, originally developed by Honeywell Corporation, can perform fast Fourier transformations as well as complex and real multiplications, but these components also require additional hardware for less generic functions.
There remains, therefore, an unsatisfied need for a much more highly integrated solution, one that is dedicated to SAR signal processing and image formation. Such a device would forgo the need for unique module designs to implement each SAR processing operation and, as a consequence, dramatically increase the flexibility and performance of the overall system, decrease cost and streamline the logistical requirements of the resulting product. This will bring closer the ultimate goal of real-time image formation within a self-contained system aboard the same vehicle carrying the transmitter/receiver.

Synthetic aperture radar digital signal processor

Environmental Research Institute of Michigan


The invention relates to the continuous production of polyurethane and polyurethane urea prepolymers by reaction of polyisocyanates with isocyanate-reactive compounds in a mixing nozzle.

The present invention relates to a process for the continuous production of polyurethane and polyurethane urea prepolymers by reaction of polyisocyanates with polyhydroxy compounds or polyamine compounds having molecular weights of 400 to 10,000. It is known that such prepolymers can be produced from polyisocyanates and polyhydroxyl and/or polyamino compounds. Various production processes for such prepolymers are known in the art.
Prepolymer production processes carried out in a reaction vessel of the type described in Ullmann's Encyklopadie der technischen Chemie, Vol. 19, Chap. 9.3, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim (1982) are attended by the disadvantage that the chemical and physical properties of the prepolymers (such as reactivity, degree of crosslinking and viscosity) change unfavorably during their reaction to polyurethane elastomers, so that uniform production is not possible.
Continuous production processes using mixing heads are also described in the same reference. However these processes have the disadvantage that mixing can only be carried out to a limited degree and only with starting materials of chemically the same type. Another problem is that it is difficult to seal the places where the shafts of the mixing elements pass through the housing of the mixing head against the internal pressure and the non-lubricating and sealing medium of the polyisocyanates. Accordingly, relatively high pressures cannot be used. A continuous process in which the prepolymers are produced in a twin-screw extrude with co-rotating screws and self-cleaning screw geometry at temperatures of 70 to 260.degree. C. is described in German Offenlegungsschrift 2,842,806. The disadvantages of this process are that the components are very thinly liquid at the temperatures mentioned, the mixing effect obtained by two co-rotating shafts is not great and the residence time is too short for a complete reaction.
German Offenlegungsschrift 2,302,564 mentions small-volume, stirred mixing chambers and mixing nozzles for mixing for the production of prepolymers. Mixing nozzles are known elements for mixing liquids. Detailed particulars of the geometry of the mixing nozzle and the arrangement of the volume flows or pressure conditions are not provided. In the Examples, a mix head rather than mixing nozzles is used for the production of prepolymers from polyisocyanates and polyol mixtures. A process using a mixing nozzle is not described.
German Offenlegungsschrift 2,823,762 describes a continuous process in which the starting components are passed through a static premixer, in which they are intermixed, the product temperature being so low that a reaction is largely avoided, thus preventing the products from caking. Although thorough mixing is achieved by this process, separation in the reaction zone is not prevented by suppression of the reaction at low temperatures. The prepolymer does not have sufficient reaction time in the following step to react out completely and uniformly.
European Patent 87,817 describes a process for the production of prepolymers in which the components are introduced into a static mixer comprising internally arranged heat exchangers. Optimal mixing is achieved by internally mounted mixing elements which also provide for a residue-free plug flow in the system. This process is only suitable for low-viscosity prepolymers and only for production runs with no change of raw materials. This is because residues (in some cases even over-crosslinked and brown in color) gradually accumulate in the mixing elements and, after the reaction to thermoplastic elastomers, give rise during their use to contamination of the end product in the event of product changes or to infusible particles in extrudates, such as films.
Accordingly, the problem addressed by the present invention was to provide a new process for the continuous production of polyurethane and polyurethane urea prepolymers by reaction of polyisocyanates with polyhydroxyl compounds and/or polyamine compounds having molecular weights of 400 to 10,000, in which
a) the components would be mixed and, at the same time, be very finely dispersed, PA1 b) rotating parts would not cause any sealing problems relative to the outside environment, PA1 c) sufficient reaction time would be available for a complete reaction, i.e. until the prepolymer has reacted with chain extenders, such as short-chain diols or diamines, to the thermoplastic polyurethane, PA1 d) the equipment used would be easy to clean and would not lead to any caking of product or blockages in the system.

Process for the continuous production of polyurethane and polyurethane urea prepolymers


A backing of a wiper blade (53) is virtually divided into a plurality of regions in a longitudinal direction of the backing. A wiping area (B) of the wiper blade (53) in a glass surface (50a) is discretized in a wiping direction (x direction) of the wiper blade (53) and in a longitudinal direction (z direction) of the wiper blade (53). A curvature of each of the plurality of virtually divided regions of the backing is set in such a manner that a sum of variation differences of contact pressures (Fyij) at respective discretized points (Pij) is minimized. With such a wiper blade partial pressure setting method, a wiping performance of the wiper blade (53) can be easily and reliably improved over the entire wiping area of the wiping surface.

A wiper blade, which wipes raindrops and the like adhered to a front glass surface of a vehicle, is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. S57-55244.
The wiper blade disclosed in this document uses a tournament type lever assembly, which includes one primary lever, two secondary levers and two yokes. The primary lever is connected to a wiper arm. The secondary levers are rotatably connected to ends, respectively, of the primary lever. The yokes are rotatably connected to corresponding ends of the secondary levers, respectively. Six holding claws are provided to six points of the assembly, i.e., ends of the yokes and the remaining ends of the secondary levers (ends other than the ends connected to the yokes) to hold the blade rubber. Backings, each of which has a length that is generally the same as that of the blade rubber, are installed to the blade rubber, and the blade rubber is held by the holding claws at the points where the backings are installed.
Each backing is made from a metal plate material and is formed into a straight shape (a linear shape) or a curved shape that has a predetermined curvature in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the backing has a resiliency in a plate thickness direction thereof. The urging force of the wiper arm is spread in the longitudinal direction of the blade rubber through the lever assembly and the backings, so that contact pressures of the blade rubber against the glass surface are unified in the longitudinal direction of the blade rubber.
A curvature of the front glass of the vehicle changes from one wiping angular position to a next wiping angular position of the wiper blade. The wiper blade, which wipes such a glass surface, is required to always follow the complicatedly curved glass surface and to achieve a good wiping performance.
However, in the case of the wiper blade recited in the above document, the load applied to each holding claw is set only by the space between the holding claws to adjust the contact pressure against the glass surface in the longitudinal direction of the blade rubber.
The adjustment of the contact pressure largely depends on the experience and sense of a skilled technician, and a result of the adjustment is checked through, for example, experiments. Thus, when the wiping performance over the entire wiping area of the glass surface, which continuously changes its curvature depending on the wiping angular position, needs to be improved, a large amount of time is required. Furthermore, such adjustment and setting merely achieve a satisfactory wiping performance, which is determined to be satisfactory in view of a product test standard, and do not necessarily achieves the best wiping performance.
The present invention is made to addresses the above disadvantages. Thus, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a wiper blade partial pressure setting method and a wiper blade, which can easily and reliably improve a wiping performance over an entire wiping area of a wiping surface.

Wiper blade partial pressure setting method


An electrical assembly comprising a circuit board an electrical device, and a heat dissipation device. The electrical device is capable of emitting thermal energy and electromagnetic interference (EMI). The electrical device is secured to the circuit board. The heat dissipation device is secured to the circuit board and is in thermal communication with the electrical device. The heat dissipation device also includes a continuous EMI fence and a plurality of fins disposed in a matrix orientation. The fins are spaced from one another to allow for efficient heat dissipation and have a substantially square cross-sectional shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical assembly having heat dissipation and electromagnetic interference reduction features.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical devices, and central processing units in particular, draw high power and produce more heat than can be convected away from the dies of the device. If the die temperature exceeds acceptable levels, the device will either cease functioning, not operate at acceptable levels, and/or function in an unreliable manner. In addition, many electrical devices emit electromagnetic interference (EMI) that can adversely affect nearby electronics or electronic communication. The Federal Communication Commission of the U.S. government and industry agencies, such as Telcordia and United Laboratories, have established and verified EMI limits for such electrical devices.
To address this problem, heat dissipation devices are used to convect heat away from electrical devices. Many heat dissipation devices also incorporate EMI reduction features to ensure that government EMI limitations are complied with.
Heat dissipation devices of the prior art have several deficiencies. For example, prior art heat dissipation devices that use a matrix of fins incorporate fins that have inefficient dimensions and that are inefficiently spaced for heat conduction and heat convection purposes. Moreover, many heat dissipation devices incorporate an inefficient cross sectional fin shape, such as an undesirable rectangular shape, that only permits satisfactory heat dissipation when positioned in a first orthogonal orientation. Thus, these heat dissipation devices cannot adequately dissipate heat when positioned in a second orthogonal orientation. This prevents such heat dissipation devices from being used in systems that require the heat dissipation devices to be positioned in a second orthogonal orientation. Moreover, heat dissipation devices of the prior art incorporate heat interface material to allow for thermal communication between the heat dissipation device and the electrical device. The thermal interface material used, however, is expensive.
Heat dissipation devices of the prior art that incorporate EMI reduction features incorporate a compliant member between the EMI reduction feature and the object to which the EMI reduction feature is grounded, such as a circuit board. The compliant member provides better contact between the EMI reduction feature and the circuit board, and thus provides adequate grounding, which is required for acceptable EMI reduction. The complaint member, however, adds extra costs.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an electrical assembly that includes heat dissipation and EMI reduction features that is not susceptible to one or more of the shortcomings of prior art devices.

Heat sink and electromagnetic interference reduction device


A crosslinked popcorn polymer of vinyl pyrrolidone and a crosslinker containing a pendant divinyl moiety and a chelating group capable of complexing a heavy metal ion in aqueous solution.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to crosslinked polymers of vinyl pyrrolidone, and, more particularly, to such polymers which contain a crosslinker having both a pendant divinyl moiety and a chelation group capable of complexing with and removing heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions, particularly wine and beer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The term "popcorn" or "proliferous" polymerization was introduced to define a well-known phenomenon, when, in an originally homogeneous liquid monomer, heterogeneous polymer nuclei appear, and there further growth rate becomes predominant. When a certain amount of popcorn polymer is isolated from the reaction mixture and added to the fresh portion of monomer, this polymer is able to continue its propagation and give rise to further development of the popcorn polymer. See C. H. Bamford, et al., "The Kinetics of Vinyl Polymerization by Radical Mechanisms", Butterworths Scientific Publications, London, 1968.
A water-insoluble polymer product of popcorn polymerization is crosslinked polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP), which has been made by proliferous polymerization of vinyl pyrrolidone (VP). The process may be carried out in the absence of added crosslinker, or in the presence of an added crosslinking agent, or with an in situ generated crosslinker. Such crosslinking polymerization processes are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,277,066; 3,306,886; 3,759,880; 3,933,766; 3,992,562; and 5,094,867; and in an article by F. Haaf et al. in Polymer J. 17(1), p. 143-152 (1985), entitled, "Polymers of N-Vinylpyrrolidone:Synthesis, Characterization and Uses".
PVPP polymers are widely employed as clarifying agents in the industrial purification of aqueous wine and beer solutions, particularly for the removal by adsorption of organic impurities such as polyphenols, tannins and anthracyanins which may be present in the aqueous solution. As a result of such treatment, a clear, haze-free wine or beer product may be obtained. However, this polymer is incapable of adsorbing heavy metal ions, in particular, copper and iron ions, which also contribute to the cloudiness of such solutions.
Preferably, methylene bis-acrylamide is used as the crosslinking agent for preparation of PVPP. In this case, the synthesized polymer is characterized by well-pronounced adsorption properties with respect to polyphenols, and this offers substantial advantages for its practical application.
Controlled modification of the properties of PVPP may be accomplished by the introduction of comonomers with vinyl pyrrolidone which contain functional or ligand groups capable of preferential binding of copper or iron ions. For example, U.S. Pat. 5,094,867 described the use of 50-99.5% of a ligand-containing comonomer, particularly, N-vinylimidazole, an amine-containing comonomer, in combination with vinyl pyrrolidone, was described. However, no crosslinking agents have been developed which are able to complex strongly with copper ions.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide new and improved polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) polymers for use in the industrial clarification of wine and beer which will also remove traces of heavy metal cations therein.
Another object herein is to provide crosslinked PVPP polymers including a crosslinker which contains a chelation group in the molecule capable of complexing effectively with a heavy metal ion such as copper or iron in aqueous solution.
Yet another object herein is to provide a crosslinker compound containing a pendant divinyl moiety and a group capable of chelating with heavy metal ions, for use in polymerization of vinyl pyrrolidone to form a new and improved crosslinked PVP.
Still another object herein is to provide a proliferous polymerization process for making such crosslinked polymers of vinyl pyrrolidone.
Among the other objects herein is to provide a process of clarifying an aqueous solution of wine or beer by treatment with a crosslinked polymer of vinyl pyrrolidone monomer and a crosslinker compound containing both a pendant divinyl moiety and a group capable of chelating with a heavy metal ion in aqueous solution.
These and other objects and features of the invention will be made apparent from the following more particular description of the invention.

Polyvinyl prolidone and crosslinker with divinyl and chelation group


A method for controlling ON/OFF of LED in a scanner which replaces CCFL with LED as a light source is provided so as to solve the problem of excessively long warm-up time of CCFL in the prior art. Meanwhile, to achieve intermittent heat dissipation, LED is switched ON/OFF according to the frequency of the scanner receiving optical signals.

A scanner, aside from the keyboard and mouse, is a widely used computer input device. It can be used to input photos to generate personal electronic picture files, or input pictures to set up a personal Web site. Or hand-written letters may be sent by scanning and E-mail to replace FAX machines. The scanner can also be coupled with OCR software to enter contents of newspapers or books without the tedious labor of manual data entry. All this shows the powerful functions of the scanner. It greatly improves the efficiency in offices, learning and recreation.
The scanner achieves its functions mainly by digitizing the picture. Light is emitted from a lamp and reflected to a document held on a glass plate of the scanner. The bright and dark differences of the document form reflection light of different intensity. The reflection light passes through a series of reflection mirrors and focuses on a CCD at another end of the lens. The CCD transforms optical signals to correspond electric signals, namely analog signals. These signals are transformed by an A/D converter to become digital signals recognizable by computers. Through various interfaces such as an EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port), USB (Universal Serial Bus), or SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), the digital signals are sent to a computer.
The A/D converter is a semiconductor element for transforming the analog signals to digital signals. The electric signals obtained by the CCD are simulated signals corresponding to the brightness and darkness of the image. Namely, variations from the darkness to brightness of the image can be indicated by different electric potentials. They are changed continuously, and are called simulated amount.
In the scanner, the light source is important. The light sensed by the CCD is emitted from the lamp of the scanner. Impure or polarized light directly affects the scanning result. The professional scanners or some high-end home or office scanners automatically test the light intensity emitted from the lamp before scanning, especially when the scanner has just been powered on. As the lamp is not yet stable, and the scanner has a specific warm up period, only when the light intensity reaches the required standard will the light testing sensor in the scanner issue an approval instruction. Then the scanner can reach the optimal condition to process scan operation. Otherwise the light intensity cannot effectively present the details of the dark portions of the document.
Conventional scanners generally use a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) as the light source. Such a lamp has a big drawback, it requires a warm up time when the scanner is powered on each time to enable the brightness of the lamp to increase to a stable condition. The warm up time could last about 1-3 minutes. This is according to many users not acceptable. Some users even mistakenly deem it as machine malfunction and request product return. This is especially significant and serious in a low temperature environment.
In view of the foregoing problems, some vendors have tried to use a light emitting diode (LED) as the light source of the scanner. While the LED can reduce waiting time when the scanner is cold started, it has some drawbacks such as a not adequate brightness and serious heat dissipation problem.

Method for controlling the on/off function of an LED in a scanner


A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material having bottle plate support tables therein. The bottle plate support tables each have removable and replaceable top plate portions to permit replacement of worn friction linings, or to permit the bottle plate support table to handle bottles or containers of different dimensions or shapes.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material having bottle or container plate support tables or bottle or container carriers therein.
2. Background Information
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material can possibly comprise a beverage filling machine with a plurality of beverage filling positions, each beverage filling position having a beverage filling device for filling bottles with liquid beverage filling material. The filling devices may have an apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined volume of liquid beverage filling material into the interior of bottles to a substantially predetermined level of liquid beverage filling material. The apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined flow of liquid beverage filling material further comprises an apparatus that is designed to terminate the filling of the beverage bottles upon the liquid beverage filling material reaching the predetermined level in bottles. There may also be provided a conveyer arrangement that is designed to move bottles, for example, from an inspecting machine to the filling machine. Upon filling, a closing station closes the filled bottles. There may further be provided a conveyer arrangement configured to transfer filled bottles from the filling machine to the closing station. Bottles may be labeled in a labeling station, the labeling station having a conveyer arrangement to receive bottles and to output bottles. The closing station and the labeling station may be connected by a corresponding conveyer arrangement.
Bottle plates with a friction lining as the support surface for bottles or similar containers and optionally with a centering surface for the centering of the bottle or of the container on the bottle plate are used in bottle or container handling machines, and also in particular in labeling machines. Especially in labeling machines, the bottle plates are each fastened to a respective rotation device, which for its part is provided on a turntable or rotor that can be driven so that it rotates around a vertical machine axis and so that the bottles that are standing upright with their base on the respective bottle plate, when the turntable is rotated by means of the rotation device, the individual bottles are subjected to a controlled rotation around their vertical axis by means of the rotation device and the respective bottle plate, and specifically, among other things, for the transfer, the application and brushing-on of the respective label. To achieve a reliable rotation of the bottles and thus a correct labeling, especially at high throughputs of the labeling machine, it is necessary to replace worn friction linings that can no longer guarantee a correct co-rotation of the respective bottle.
If the bottle plates are provided on their top side with a centering surface that centers the bottles in the vicinity of their base, and if the centering surface is adapted to the shape and/or the diameter of the bottles in the vicinity of the base of the bottle, when the labeling machine is converted from one type of bottle to another type of bottle it is also necessary to replace the bottle carriers with said centering surfaces, which is just as time-consuming and expensive a process as the exchange or replacement of the friction linings.

Beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material having bottle plate support tables therein


A system and method for dynamic egress routing through a default gateway in a network is disclosed. One aspect of the present invention includes providing a default gateway that manages routes to Internet egress points for a client. The default gateway includes a list of Internet egress points that correspond to the default gateway. A metric is applied to the list to determine the optimal path to an Internet egress point. The default gateway uses the optimal path to manage Internet access routing for the client. Another embodiment includes a system for managing routing to Internet egress points on a network having a default gateway configured to route data packets between the Internet egress points and a client. The default gateway determines the optimal path to the Internet egress points.

Wireless communication between devices is becoming a more prevalent and accepted method of providing network communication. Wireless communication may take place on a mesh network comprised of mesh boxes or mesh-configured computing devices referred to as mesh nodes. A mesh network is a network topology in which mesh nodes are connected by self-forming connections as mesh nodes enter the network. In a large-scale well-connected mesh network, users expect to access any part of the mesh network from any other part of the mesh. Stated another way, users want to access the same resources from their desktop at home, from their laptop, from a coffee shop, from a kiosk at the library, or from a tablet at school. Assuming all the locations are connected to the same mesh network, this expectation of connectivity is reasonable.
Wireless communication, however, may have several limitations that effect communication on a mesh network. These limitations may arise from the routing protocol of the mesh network. In order to communicate information between two distant mesh nodes, mesh nodes route through intermediate mesh nodes. A data packet routed through a mesh node is generally referred to as a hop. For example, if a data packet must traverse three mesh nodes before reaching a destination mesh node, the data packet will make two hops. Also, a data packet may have several paths through the mesh available for routing. Each of the several paths may have different connectivity. For example, one path may require a data packet to make eight hops while another path may only require two hops. In general, as hops on the mesh increase, latency increases; hence, the communication path between two mesh nodes cannot practically scale beyond a limited number of hops before connectivity falls below user expectations. Accordingly, there exists a need to identify the path through a mesh network with the fewest number of hops in order to minimize latency for devices communicating on a mesh network.

System and method for dynamic egress routing through a single default gateway in a mesh network


A computer-implemented method and system for virtual visualization of overall regions are disclosed. Images of a overall region may be obtained by a server and used to generate a virtual model of the overall region. The server may generate a virtual environment that includes the virtual model of the overall region. A user may indicate a specific area of the virtual environment. The server may then dispatch an imaging vehicle to the location of the indicated area to capture additional image data representative of the indicated area. This additional set of image data may be used by the server to generate higher resolution virtual models of the indicated area that are integrated into the virtual environment.

Virtual visualization enables one to view a physical region without having to actually visit the physical region. Virtual visualization is particularly useful in situations in which physically visiting the physical region is difficult, expensive, dangerous, or impossible. For example when a disaster (e.g., a hurricane, a flood, a wildfire, a tornado, etc.) strikes, it is often unsafe to visit the impacted area. Accordingly, it is useful to virtually view the physical region by generating one or more virtual models of the physical region and the various features therein. Thus, users can evaluate the impacted area without being exposed to the dangers caused by the disaster.
However, virtual models of large-scale areas are typically generated at low resolutions. Accordingly, while these large-scale virtual models are able to provide some capacity to evaluate the overall region, they generally do not provide sufficient detail to perform some tasks. For example, low resolution models generally cannot convey damage to structures or property with sufficient detail to determine an extent of damage. As another example, low resolution models may be insufficient to determine if a roadway is blocked or if an alternative, off-road route is available. Thus, there is a need to generate higher resolution models of certain areas within the larger region impacted by a disaster and to integrate these higher resolution models into the visualization of the larger region.

Method and system for virtual area visualization

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company


Radiation therapy or brachytherapy devices, systems and methods are in general catheter form and include at least one balloon that assists in placement of radio therapeutic members at desired treatment locations within an existing body cavity or at a site that was formed under a patient's skin for treatment purposes. One or more detectors, such as microdiodes, are present on the device, and a hyperthermia tube or the like is also included that delivers hyperthermia treatment for the target treatment site or sites. Data collected by the detector allows the medical professional to monitor radiation treatment and, when desired, interaction between hyperthermia treatment and radiation delivery by the radiation treatment member.

Numerous systems, devices and methods are known for brachytherapy use. Some of these incorporate balloons to achieve and maintain proper placement and/or as a component of radiation material delivery. Some incorporate multiple delivery paths for the radiation material.
Radiation oncology brachytherapy practitioners and researchers have developed various devices, systems and methods, each typically being designed for a specific diseased body organ or part and/or for one or more treatment regimens. Whether the treatment regimen is a one-step or multi-step protocol, it is important to maintain a good balance among radiation dosage, placement and timing. Timing can involve treatment and non-treatment intervals that vary depending upon the oncology protocol to be followed.
Carcinoma treatment procedures can follow a protocol calling for a series of multiple implants, such as when following high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. At times, the oncologist may choose to use a low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy regimen, typically based on cesium delivery as 137Cs. For HDR brachytherapy regimens 192Ir is frequently used because of its high specific activity. Other isotopes are available and used as warranted. The degree of treatment is measured in terms of units of radiation exposure (in roentgens or Gray or Gy), and often these are prescribed at specific points. Details in this regard are known to radiation oncologists, medical physicists and other medical professionals experienced in brachytherapy. An objective often is to provide reasonably constant and predictable dose rates at each location at which the isotopes are applied.
Accordingly, it is clear that intracavitary radiation treatment and other brachytherapy that is not intracavitary, such as those gaining access through a surgical opening or access location, need to be exacting and specific in each of dose rates, durations and radiation target locations, for example. In addition, the closeness of tissues not intended to be irradiated should be taken into consideration. For example, in intrauterine treatment it is important to minimize, if not eliminate, radiation exposure to the bladder and rectum. Generally, brachytherapy devices are visible under X-ray images in order to ensure intended placement and to allow the medical physicist or professional to generate a radiation treatment plan specific for this placement and for the particular anatomy and disease location and severity for the particular patient and for this treatment event.
It will be appreciated that brachytherapy delivery systems can be used in treatments that are applied manually or remotely using remote afterloading systems. In remote afterloading systems, the radioactive materials are delivered from a safely contained source by way of hollow tubes to hollow treatment portions or locations. Radioactive material can be in the form of wires, seeds or other forms. In such systems, the radioactive material is typically delivered via remote control, such as by operation of a motor, after the medical professionals all are removed from the treatment room. Such remote delivery equipment can move the radioactive dose into the applicator already positioned within the body cavity.

Brachytherapy devices and methods for therapeutic radiation procedures


The present invention relates generally to paints and paint bases, and, more specifically to a process and composition for providing a stable gel-free dispersion of zinc pyrithione plus cuprous oxide biocide in paint. In accordance with the process of the present invention, the paint or paint base contains an amine treated wood rosin in order to impart desired gelation-inhibition to the paint.

Combinations of zinc pyrithione and cuprous oxide are known to be excellent antifouling agents when formulated into paints and paint bases (i.e., the paint before pigment addition) also containing rosin, as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,153. Unfortunately, however, such paints have now been found to thicken or gel unacceptably within a few days, at best, or a few hours, at worst, when formulated with typical commercial grades of zinc pyrithione in combination with cuprous oxide.
Heretofore, the only solutions to the problem of gellation of paints containing rosin and zinc pyrithione in combination with cuprous oxide, known to the present inventors, have been to use rigorously purified zinc pyrithione, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,473, or to add amines or esterified rosin, as disclosed in co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,397. Others solutions include the use of metal salts of wood rosin as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,569, and the addition of a desiccant as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,493.
Since these solutions may have drawbacks such as increased cost or lack of compatibility with some paints, a new, economical solution to the problem would be highly desired by the paint manufacturing community in order to maximize flexibility in using this combination of biocides in view of its excellent biocidal activity.

Gel-free paint containing zinc pyrithione, cuprous oxide, and amine treated rosin


The present invention provides compositions and methods for the treatment or prevention of a lysosomal disease or disorder involving increasing the level, expression, or activity of a metallothionein polypeptide or polynucleotide in the subject.

Most lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) with central nervous system (CNS) involvement lack an effective and curative treatment and patients eventually succumb to their devastating disease. Frequently, disease onset occurs in very early infancy and is characterized by subtle manifestations, leading to diagnosis in clearly symptomatic if not advanced stage. LSDs are also characterized by a rapid early disease progression, particularly in early onset variants. For these reasons therapeutic approaches that have been applied with some degree of success in pre-symptomatic LSD children, including for example, hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in Krabbe disease, or hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy (HSC GT) in Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD), are not beneficial for the majority of LSD patients, with benefit being associated almost exclusively to procedures applied in pre- or early-symptomatic cases. One of the key reasons for the failure of these HSC-based approaches in ameliorating rapidly progressing LSD brain diseases is the slow pace of replacement of resident CNS tissue macrophages/histiocytes and microglia by the transplanted hematopoietic cell progeny, compared to the rapid progression of the primary neurological disease. Indeed, while a rapid reconstitution of visceral organ macrophages by donor-derived cells has been clearly demonstrated following HCT, more limited and slower infiltration of the brain parenchyme by donor cells is supposed to occur. Moreover, efficiency of uptake by different cell types and intrinsic pathologic mechanisms related to enzyme deficiency are not entirely overcome by enzyme replacement and cross correction may account for the residual and long-term progressing disease observed in the transplanted patients. Importantly, in the majority of LSDs lysosomal enzyme deficiency triggers a cascade of events ultimately leading to neuroinflammation, activation of oxidative stress pathways and consequent neurodegeneration. These mechanisms are critically affecting response to treatment and are as well key therapeutic targets for comprehensive approaches. Accordingly, new compositions and methods of treatment are needed for patients afflicted with a lysosomal storage disorder.

Compositions and methods for treating lysosomal storage diseases and disorders


A spiral planar antenna includes more than two spiral arms. Each arm includes at least a portion that is coiled. The antenna may operate from approximately 50 MHz to upwards of several GHz within a payload space of only about 5.75 inches in diameter and less than one inch in height, with approximately 5 dBi or less of measured axial ratio. The broad frequency response in conjunction with a small space-profile improves space limitations and payload for deployable and non-deployable platforms while reducing opportunities for electromagnetic interference.

Antennas operate to control energy wave propagation. They are critical components for various wireless transmission and reception systems, for example, telecommunication, aerospace, and/or data transmission systems in general.
Edwin Turner is credited with first generally investigating the spiral antenna in 1954 when he wound a long wire dipole into a spiral form and connected its terminals to a two-wire feed line. Results from his experiments have spurred investigation that continues even today.
Spiral antennas have been designed in various planar or conical shapes, the most common being the equiangular and Archimedean. Spirals operate in three simultaneous fashions: as fast-wave, as leaky-wave, and as traveling-wave antennas. Excited currents in the antenna conductors form a traveling wave that allows for broadband performance. The wave has a phase velocity in excess of the speed of light because of the mutual coupling between neighboring arms. The antenna leaks energy while propagating on the line to produce radiation.


An exhaust valve assembly for a two stroke internal combustion engine having a cylinder with at least one main exhaust port and one auxiliary exhaust port is disclosed. The assembly comprises a main exhaust valve for at least partially closing the main exhaust port, an auxiliary exhaust valve for at least partially closing the auxiliary exhaust port, an actuator for actuating the main exhaust valve and the auxiliary exhaust valve, the actuator including a rotary shaft having a first gear and a second gear, the rotary shaft being operatively connected to the main exhaust valve via the first gear, the rotary shaft being operatively connected to the auxiliary exhaust valve via the second gear, an electric motor operatively connected to the rotary shaft for rotating the rotary shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a exhaust control valve assembly of a two stroke internal combustion engine. More particularly, the invention relates to a technically efficient exhaust control assembly wherein both the main exhaust control valve and the at least one auxiliary exhaust control valve can be controlled by only one actuator.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As is generally known two-stroke (often referred also as two-cycle) engines generally have exhaust and intake ports in the side walls of a cylindrical chamber. The cylindrical chamber and its side walls are usually referred to simply as a cylinder. While the intake ports feed air into the cylinder, the exhaust ports guide burned gas out of the cylinder into the exhaust of the engine. Since the intake and exhaust ports are at a fixed positions on the cylinder wall, the intake and exhaust ports are opened and closed by the piston which reciprocally moves up and down in the cylinder. Ideally however, for optimal operation of the engine, the position of the intake and the exhaust ports would be alterable according to the status of operation of the engine, preferably depending on engine speed and load. It follows from this consideration that the position of the exhaust ports is a compromise which allows for a proper performance of the engine both in low and high engine speed ranges.
It is known that by altering the vertical position of the upper edge of the exhaust port on the cylinder wall so that at high engine speeds the exhaust can be kept open longer, will considerably improve engine performance.
In this respect, it is known for example from AT 380 537 B that a main exhaust slide valve can be fitted in the exhaust passage proximate to the cylinder head. This main exhaust slide valve will be supported in a guide opening that is generally radial relative to the cylinder. At its free face end the slide valve forms a control edge that conforms to the cylinder bore, so that when the control valve is in its advanced position, the exhaust outlet cross-section is partially covered in its vertical dimension. This results in a corresponding reduction of the exhaust period because of the delayed opening and earlier closing of the exhaust passage. Thus, the charging of the cylinder in the middle and lower speed ranges is improved.
In some cases, in order to improve the exhaust conditions at the beginning and at the end of the exhaust gas discharge, auxiliary lateral exhaust outlets, connected through lateral channels to the main exhaust passage, are provided in the cylinder. These auxiliary exhaust outlets may be closed in order to reduce the exhaust period. Typically this is accomplished by cylindrical shutoff valves. These shutoff valves can through the lateral channels and can rotate or slide between a closed position and an open position. They are mechanically connected to the main exhaust valve such that they are actuated thereby.
One disadvantage of this known exhaust period control system is its technically complex design. Locating rotatable cylindrical shutoff valves in the lateral channels (which must be supported so as to be rotatable), and actuating them via the main exhaust valve (whose pivot axis is offset by 90° relative to the axes of rotation of the shutoff valves) is considerable. Another is the simple fact that the auxiliary (cylindrical shutoff) valves must be driven by the main exhaust valve. It would be desirable to have them be separately driven to allow them to be opened at different speeds.
EP 0 141 650 A2 describes a lateral auxiliary exhaust outlet which is controlled by means of a shutoff slide valve. The valve is actuated as a function of engine speed, with it only opening at higher speeds. However, this design incorporates no main exhaust valve at all.
JP 7279675 A describes an engine having both a main exhaust port with a main exhaust valve and an auxiliary exhaust port with an auxiliary exhaust valve. Both valves are actuated by a single motor; the main exhaust via a lever system, the auxiliary exhaust valves via a complicated gear system. This system is expensive and takes up a great deal of space.
Thus there is a need in the art for an improved exhaust system for a two-stroke internal combustion engine.

Exhaust control valve for internal combustion engine


A power amplifier for a transmitter includes a plurality of CMOS amplifiers of different types which are serially and alternately connected, and matching circuits for matching impedance discrepancies between the CMOS amplifiers of different types.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal of a mobile communication system, and more particularly to a power amplifier for a transmitter of a mobile communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A transmitter of a mobile communication terminal usually includes a power amplifier. CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) technology has enabled on-chip integration of the power amplifier, which has made a contribution to minimize BOM (Build on Materials) and areas for mounting devices (i.e., footprints). Also, the on-chip integration technology of the power amplifier has allowed not only for the elimination of the requirement that the substrates and the common mode noises thereon by fully differential (pseudo) structure thereof, but also to reduce the PAPR (Peak-to-Average Power Ratio), for example, voltage of 3 dB and power of 6 dB. Besides, through the on-chip integration technology, it is still possible to minimize non-linearity caused by the influence of the PAPR when the voltage levels are equal (i.e. equal consumption power).
In addition to the on-chip integration technology, an on-chip balun transformer for use as an antenna interface may be applied to the power amplifiers. This allows to further reduce losses as compared with the discrete devices usually mounted in the outside.
It has been difficult to realize the conventional power amplifiers by the COMS technology because the power amplifiers based on the CMOS technology require relatively larger currents for obtaining a desired gain. In recent years, however, as the ωC in the impedance has greatly increased in light of the reduced channel lengths in the CMOS, the use of the power amplifiers of the CMOS type is increasing in fields of wireless LAN and mobile communication (for high frequency).
Other types of power amplifiers in the prior art consist of power amplifiers of GaAs (MESFET) and InPGaAs types which require relatively little current as compared with those of CMOS type but are expensive due to the lower yields thereof. It is also difficult to realize the amplifiers of the GaAs type and the InPGaAs type in the form of Si system-on-chip because they are manufactured by using none-silicon materials. It is still another problem that differential structures used in the GaAs and the InPGaAs employ discrete baluns outside of the structure, which increase the footprints and loss.
As described above, the conventional power amplifiers of the GaAs type and the InPGaAs type are expensive and have a low yield. In the conventional power amplifiers of the CMOS type, it is difficult to obtain the necessary gain for a relevant current due to the low trans-conductance thereof. Furthermore, the conventional power amplifiers generate considerable spurs (e.g., harmonics and IM—Intermodulation) although they are square-low devices. Also, the conventional power amplifiers have a single-ended (antenna interface) structure, so that the conventional power amplifiers do not have sufficient voltage swings based on a fixed power supply voltage and thus fail to provide effective electrical power to the final output loads.
According to reduction in the channel interval in CMOS technology, an available frequency range in CMOS has gradually increased so that it has become possible to supply sufficient electrical power (not more than 0.35 um thereof), and to design and realize the power amplifiers in the form of on-chip through the CMOS process.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the conventional power amplifier using the CMOS technology according to the prior art. The conventional power amplifier of the CMOS type includes at least one differential amplifier 20 to 23 of the same type. The differential amplifiers 20 to 23 are similar to the well-known existing differential amplifiers. The conventional power amplifier includes transformers 10 to 13 which are connected to the outputs of the amplifier and correspond to the differential amplifiers 20 to 23. The conventional power amplifier of the CMOS type, which generates a desired output level by stacking the voltages charged in capacitors 30 to 33 through the transformers 10 to 13, requires at least four differential amplifiers 20 to 23. The conventional power amplifier converts each output (current) of the differential amplifiers into a voltage through the transformers 10 to 13 (differential to single ended) instead of the typical cascading stages, and then adds it to a voltage stacked in an inductor which is a part of each transformer.
However, the output of the conventional power amplifier of the CMOS type is insufficient to satisfy the design specifications required in the mobile communication devices. Further, in a state where the power amplifier of the single-in/out type prevails in the art, the power amplifier of the differential type which can be directly adapted to the outputs of an input stage transceiver (in the form of IC) is also problematic in that the voltage swing may half-reduce and consequently the saturation voltage may half-reduce.


A refrigerated merchandise display system for storing and dispensing merchandise. The merchandise display system includes an outer housing, an inner support, a transparent front door, a refrigeration unit, a front door assembly, and a plurality of windows. The merchandise display system further includes a plurality of shelves for supporting merchandise within the display system. The refrigeration unit may be positioned at the top of the merchandise display system and may be removable. The outer housing of the refrigeration unit may be manufactured in a variety of colors. Each of the colors may be indicative a type of merchandise stored within the merchandise display system.

The design and construction of commercial refrigerators has remained the same for many years. Generally, commercial refrigerators are large heavy boxes, which have failed to keep up with design trends and consumer expectations. The walls of the commercial refrigerators are typically formed from two thin steel plates with insulating polyurethane foam injected between them. This construction makes the commercial refrigerators heavy, time-consuming to build, and difficult to recycle.
Typically, in convenience stores and grocery stores, customers can only view the product or merchandise within a commercial refrigerator when the customer is standing in front of the refrigerator. Typical refrigerators also position the refrigeration unit at the bottom of the refrigerator. This configuration exposes the refrigeration unit to dirt, debris and other hazards that clog fans and other mechanical parts in the refrigeration unit, which may increase maintenance and replacement costs.


A mode selecting and displaying control apparatus for a camera according to the invention sets a plurality of marks representing set modes in a display state on an LCD panel and sets marks representing other modes in a non-display state while a first switch for setting modes of the camera, e.g., operation modes and flash modes, in a changeable state, is in a non-operated state. By operating a second switch for changing the modes one by one while the first switch is in an operated state, the plurality of marks in a display state are sequentially caused to flicker in accordance with a mode to be set, while marks representing other modes are set in a display state, thereby performing a mode changing operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mode selecting and displaying control apparatus and, more particularly, to a mode selecting and displaying control apparatus used for a camera and designed to facilitate mode selection, in a camera capable of selecting photographic modes, by effectively performing mode selecting and displaying operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional camera capable of selecting photographic modes, modes set in the camera, such as an operation mode and a flash mode, are displayed on a display portion of the camera. Such a camera has a flash switch (FLASHSW), a subject switch (SUBJECTSW), a drive switch (DRIVESW), and the like in correspondence with the respective modes. Every time such a switch (SW) is depressed, the displayed mode changes. For example, when the flash switch FLASHSW for the flash mode is consecutively depressed, the displayed mode changes as follows: AUTO (automatic photographic mode) OFF.fwdarw.(automatic photographic mode OFF).fwdarw.FILL-IN (flash mode).fwdarw.AUTO.
The camera having such a display portion, however, can display only the current mode. Therefore, if another mode is to be selected, a user must recall which mode can be set next. Otherwise, the user cannot know which mode is displayed next, unless he/she depresses a switch. In addition, the user cannot tell what kinds of modes the camera has.
Especially, as the number of times of mode selection is increased, the above-mentioned inconveniences become conspicuous. Furthermore, in a cyclic display scheme, when a target mode is displayed, and the next mode is subsequently displayed, it requires a cumbersome operation to select the same target mode.

Mode selecting and displaying control apparatus for camera


A keyboard switch has a deformable membrane which, when deformed, enables electrical contact between a pair of contacts. A key stem is urged away from the deformable membrane by an elastic body. When the key stem is displaced sufficiently, the elastic body imparts a click feel. The key stem, when displaced a sufficient amount, deforms the deformable membrane to make the electrical contact.

This invention relates to a keyboard switch and, more particularly, to a keyboard switch having membrane contacts.
A wide variety of switches have been proposed to make keyboards thinner. Japanese Utility Patent Publication No. 12332 of 1980 discloses examples of such switches. As shown in FIG. 4(a) and (b) of this reference, two fixed contacts of printed wiring sit on an insulating baseplate separated by an insulating spacer from a conductive, elastic sheet whose pipe-shaped portion is within a housing and directly beneath a key top. When the key top is depressed, the pipe-shaped portion is flexed to short out the two fixed contacts, thus closing an electrical circuit.
Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. 101915 of 1986 also discloses a keyboard switch, which, as shown in FIG. 5., used two fixed contacts on an insulating baseplate beneath a box-shaped housing. An elastic contact member with two moving contacts is mounted at the base of a key stem beneath a key top. Pressing down the key top connects the two fixed contacts and the moving contacts, thereby closing a circuit.
In the key shown in FIG. 5, depressing the key deforms the elastic contact member, collapsing a thin-wall portion thereof to produce a click feel. If the key top is further depressed, the moving contacts touch the fixed contacts 13 to energize a circuit.
This prior art has drawbacks. Regarding the keyboard switch shown in FIG. 4, the continued operation of a keyboard without a click feel causes fatigue. Also, a keyboard with this type of key is bulky, because the insulating spacer must be thick enough to keep the two fixed contacts from contacting the pipe-shaped portion under normal conditions when the key top is not pressed down. Further, since the pipe-shaped portion is formed integrally with the elastic conductive sheet, the mechanism is not flexible enough to be used in some keyboards. Regarding the keyboard switch shown in FIG. 5, although a switch having such a click feel may operate satisfactorily without causing fatigue, the height of elastic contact member is too great to be suitable for a thin keyboard.


The port security barrier includes multiple barrier float assemblies connected to one another to form a barrier to stop, delay and discourage attacks by high speed boats of sixty five feet or less in length on high valued waterfront assets such as ports and docking facilities. The port security barrier includes multiple barrier floats coupled to one another by flange connectors. Each barrier float assembly also has a capture nylon net which is used to capture the high speeds and prevent an intrusion into restricted waters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a security barrier for use at a port or the entrance to an inland waterway which receives ships laden with cargo or military watercraft. More specifically, the present invention relates to a port security barrier which is economical, easy to transport and assemble and provides sufficient strength to stop, delay and discourage attacks by boats of 65 feet or less in length on high valued waterfront assets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is currently a need within the Department of the Navy to provide protection for military watercraft which are moored at ports or inland waterways. In particular, there is a need to provide protection for military watercraft against explosive laden boats while the watercraft are moored at a port or an inland waterway.
There is also need to keep initial cost as low as possible and also meet military security requirements by (1) making the barrier as light as practical; (2) using low-cost standard materials where ever practical; (3) making the system as simple as possible; and (4) making the barrier easy to assemble and deploy.
Maintenance cost of the port security barrier are also a consideration. Low maintenance cost are generally achieved by using composite materials and keeping the port security barrier simple and minimizing the number parts required to keep the barrier operational.
Further operational cost need to be kept at low levels. Low operational cost can be achieved by the port security barrier light weight and keeping wind, current and wave loading on the barrier as low as practical so that operators can easily open and close barrier gates.

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Apparatuses for and methods of installing ear tags are provided. One embodiment of the invention is defined as an ear tag installation tool and which makes use of a pair of handle members which control the insertion of an inserting member through an opening formed in the ear of an animal. The inserting member has attached to it a portion of the ear tag during the insertion process. The inserting member may be disposable and separates from the handle members after the insertion process is complete. In a second embodiment, the ear tag installation tool is an elongate tool having a handle and a distal tip for receiving the inserting member. In a third embodiment of the invention, an ear tag installer is provided which has some elements directly attached to the ear tag. The ear tag installer also includes a driving tool which forces the inserting member through the ear. In this third embodiment, the ear tag installation tools of the first and second embodiments can be used as preferred forms of the driving tool. In another embodiment of the invention, the elements of the third embodiment attached to the ear tag can be separately defined as a modified ear tag with inherent installation capability. In yet another embodiment, the distal ends of the handle members may be modified so that biasing forces are used to enhance the method of installing the ear tags.

A number of prior art devices exist which are used to install ear tags to livestock. One major consideration addressed by many of such devices is to provide an easy and efficient means by which a tag can be installed with minimal damage to the animal's ear. Another primary consideration previously addressed is to provide an ear tag that will remain securely fastened to the animal's ear and be placed in such a position that the indicia on the ear tag can be easily viewed. Yet another major consideration addressed is to provide structurally simple installation tools.
One group of prior art references disclosing ear tag applicators that address one or more of the preceding considerations are a number of U.S. patents to Gardner. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,639 discloses an ear tag applicator comprising two pivotally connected handle members which are moved between an open and closed position to install an ear tag. One of the members includes a pivotal bar which has an ear tag mounted thereto. The other handle member stabilizes the ear and enables the ear tag to be placed through the ear by closing the handle members. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,552,147 and 5,462,554 also disclose tag applicators having pivotally connected handle members and a pivotal bar for mounting the ear tag. U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,224 to Gardner further discloses one example of an ear tag which may be installed by one or more of the previous Gardner patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,735 to Filmer is another example of a prior art reference disclosing two pivotal handle members and an ear piercing pin or bar member.
The foregoing inventions are suitable for their intended purposes. However, one disadvantage to many prior art references is that cross contamination between livestock can occur when the ear tool applicator touches any portion of the animal's ear which has been pierced or cut by the applicator. Such cross contamination can result in unnecessarily diseased livestock which, in turn, can result in expensive and extensive treatment. Accordingly, one objective of the invention disclosed herein is to provide a means by which an ear tag can be installed minimizing cross contamination between animals.
It is another objective to provide an ear tag tool or installer which quickly and efficiently installs ear tags.
It is yet another objective to provide the ear tag installation elements on either a separate installation tool or on structure attached to the ear tag.
It is yet another objective of this invention to provide a method of installation whereby the ear tag is efficiently secured to the animal's ear by taking advantage of a resilient or spring-like feature of a neck portion of the tag or installer and activated by a slotted inserting member.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an ear tag installation tool which incorporates the use of handle members with resiliently biased distal ends which greatly aid in the installation of the ear tag.
If sterility is not a concern in tag installation, it also contemplated by this invention that the installation tool installer may incorporate an inserting member which remains permanently attached to the handle members.

Apparatus for and method of installation of ear tags


A mechanical finger for a mechanical hand, has: a proximal phalanx pivotably mountable to a support of the mechanical hand to pivot relative to the support about a finger pivot axis; a distal phalanx pivotably connected to the proximal phalanx via a first living hinge to pivot relative to the proximal phalanx about a first pivot axis; and a skeleton member pivotably connected at one end to the distal phalanx via a second living hinge to pivot relative to the distal phalanx about a second pivot axis offset from the first pivot axis and at another end operatively connected to an actuator of the mechanical hand to be selectively movable by the actuator to pivot the distal phalanx relative to the proximal phalanx and to pivot the distal phalanx relative to the support when the finger is in use.

Assistive robotic arms for handicapped people are commonly used. They bring autonomy for the user, enabling them to perform tasks such as, for example, grasping a bottle of water, opening a door, handling the TV remote, etc. without the help of another person.
Because they are used on a daily basis, indoors and outdoors, for multiple tasks, the gripper and the fingers located at the end of the assistive robotic arm are frequently exposed to humidity, water, dust, etc. and can therefore be damaged. Prior art grippers that adapt to the geometry of the object being grasped contain numerous parts. While suitable for their intended purposes, at least some such prior art grippers may be complex and costly when they need to be cleaned, repaired or replaced in at least some applications. In order to have them "weather proofed", prior art devices are typically covered with a rubber or similar material glove that may wear with time and may impact the weather proofing and/or grasping performance.