A method for seismic exploration using conversions between electromagnetic and seismic energy, with particular attention to the electromagnetic source waveform used. According to the invention, source waveforms are correlated with reference waveforms selected to minimize correlation side lobes. Line power at 60 Hz may be used to provide a waveform element which may be sequenced by a binary code to generate an extended source waveform segment with minimal correlation side lobes. Preferred binary codes include Golay complementary pairs and maximal length shift-register sequences.

The electroseismic method is a geophysical prospecting tool aimed at creating images of subsurface formations using conversions between electromagnetic and seismic energy. The electroseismic method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,995 (Thompson. et al.). The essence of the electroseismic method is that high levels of electrical energy are transmitted into the ground at or near the surface, and the electrical energy is converted to seismic energy by the interaction of underground fluids, including hydrocarbons, with the rock matrix. The seismic waves are detected at or near the surface by seismic receivers. To be effective, this method requires an input current source with the following characteristics:                The source should produce large current levels over extended time.        The source should have high electrical efficiency.        The source should contain little or no DC to avoid plating the electrode array.        The frequency content of the source should be adequate for the exploration needs.        The correlation of the source waveform with its reference should have sufficiently low side lobe levels.
Little has been published to date on electroseismic waveforms because of the newness of the technique. However, in conventional seismic exploration, a seismic vibrator is sometimes used as an energy source to generate a controlled wavetrain (known as a sweep) which is injected into the earth. When the resulting recorded seismic data are correlated with the sweep wavetrain or other reference, the correlated record resembles a conventional seismic record such as that which results from an impulsive source.
When a source waveform is correlated with its associated reference, there will typically be a large peak at the onset time of the waveform surrounded by lower peaks at earlier and later times. These lower peaks are the correlation side lobes. Correlation side lobes are undesirable because they can mask smaller desired seismic returns.
It should be noted that the source waveform is just one piece of the electroseismic system. Other factors of importance include the power waveform synthesizer (that creates the waveform) as well as the input electrode array, the seismic receiver arrays and various field implementation issues.
As stated above, there is little current technology on electroseismic waveforms because of the newness of the technique. Some obvious approaches might include pulsing or pseudo-random square-wave sequences. Repeated pulses are inefficient (in energy/second) compared to continuous waveforms. Square-wave waveforms would be expensive to implement at the required high current levels and would also dissipate energy in unwanted high-frequency components.
What is needed is a source waveform that satisfies the requirements stated above. The present invention satisfies this need.

Source waveforms for electroseismic exploration


The present invention is configured so that it has a first substrate, a second substrate, a liquid crystal layer pinched between the first substrate and second substrate, and a driving unit, wherein a characteristic of a reflectivity versus an applied voltage is a normally closed type and a characteristic of a transmissivity versus an applied voltage is the normally closed type: wherein the first substrate has a common electrode, and an upside polarization plate and upside phase plate on an upper surface; wherein the second substrate has a reflective electrode and transparent electrode connected with an active element, and a downside polarization plate and downside phase plate on a lower surface; wherein the liquid crystal layer has a twist angle not less than 40 degrees and not more than 65 degrees; wherein a retardation of the liquid crystal layer in a reflective display unit is within a range of not less than 230 nm and not more than 300 nm; and wherein a retardation of the liquid crystal layer in a transmissive display unit is larger than the retardation of the liquid crystal layer in the reflective display unit. Thus, is obtained a display that is more luminous and wider in a light reproduction range under a wide range of luminous environments ranging from a dark place to direct sunlight.

A reflective liquid crystal display device performs a display reflecting incident lights from surroundings using a light reflector. Since the display liquid crystal display device is constant in a contrast ratio regardless of luminosity of the surroundings, it shows a favorable display under comparatively light environments from direct sunlight to a room inside. Since a transmissive liquid crystal display device performs a display making a backlight light as a light source, it shows a favorable display under comparatively dark environments from direct sunlight to a room inside. Since a transflective liquid crystal display device equipped with both of a reflective electrode and transparent electrode within one pixel and equipped with a backlight light source, it shows a favorable display under a wide range of environments from direct sunlight to a room inside.
The transflective liquid crystal display device is configured to house a light reflector on an inner surface of a liquid crystal cell and stack one polarization plate and one or two phase plates at an upside and downside of the liquid crystal cell. Focusing attention on a reflective display unit since the unit uses only one polarization plate, the configuration is called a single polarization plate display system. Since the system performs a display utilizing a change of phase differences of a liquid crystal layer, it has characteristics that a contrast ratio is excellent and a driving voltage is low.
In addition, in order to improve luminosity and obtain a higher quality display like paper by disposing of a mirror surface reflection, light scattering means are used. In the light scattering means there exist a light scattering plate having a concavity and convexity on a reflection surface, a diffusive adhesion consisting of not less than two kinds of transparent media with a different refractivity, and the like. Since the light scattering means have an effect of broadening light propagating directions, they can obtain a luminous reflective display even when an observer and light source, macroscopically seen, are not in a relation of positions for a display plane which satisfies a positive reflection condition.
In the single polarization plate display system there exist a normally closed type that performs a dark display in no voltage application and a luminous display in a voltage application; and a normally open type that performs the luminous display in no voltage application and the dark display in the voltage application. Most of conventional transflective liquid crystal display devices are the normally open type.

Liquid crystal display device and partial transmission type liquid crystal display device


Database management is described. A source data structure is copied to create a new data structure. Changes to the source data structure that occur during and after creation of the new data structure are accumulated in a file before they are added to the new data structure. Changes included in the file are subsequently applied to the second data structure.

Contemporary databases, such as databases associated with enterprise applications, can include a tremendous number of entries (e.g., rows). These databases may be frequently updated, growing even larger in the process. Updating these databases and maintaining the ability to retrieve information from them can be challenging. In computer science, a data structure such as an "index" or a "heap" is used to store database entries. The index/heap may need to be recreated if it is altered frequently as a result of Data Definition Language operations, for example.
One conventional approach for altering an index/heap may be referred to as a catch-up approach. In such an approach, a copy of the database index/heap is made at a first point in time—a snapshot of the original, or source, index/heap is captured—and a new index/heap is recreated using the snapshot offline. In the meantime, changes continue to be made to the source version until, at a later point in time, those new changes are applied to the offline version. This process is repeated until, it is hoped, a point in time can be reached in which the number of changes since the last update of the offline version is small. At that point, the source version is "frozen" for a relatively short period of time. That is, during the period of time needed to apply the last (small) set of changes to the offline index/heap, the source cannot be changed. In this manner, the offline version is able to catch up with the source version.
The approach just described can be problematic if the number of changes does not get small enough for the source version to be frozen, preventing the offline version from catching up with the source version. To address this, a database administrator may choose to take the source version offline anyway, for a period of time that is long enough to apply the last (most recent) set of changes to the offline version. However, if the number of changes to be applied is large rather than small, then the source version may be frozen for a relatively long period of time. Thus, this approach carries a price of inconveniencing the customer served by the database because, while the source version is frozen, the enterprise applications that feed changes to the source may have to be halted. In a similar vein, a database administrator may choose to temporarily slow down those applications, to create a situation in which only a small number of changes are generated so that the source need be frozen for only a relatively short period of time. However, this too comes at a price of inconveniencing the customer served by the database.
In summary, conventional approaches for database management have problems because they may generate changes faster than the changes can be applied. Conventional solutions to these problems have their own problems. A new solution to these problems would therefore be of value.

Database management using a file to accumulate changes


The invention discloses a useful and novel factor (polypeptide) which plays an important role for morbid vascular smooth muscle in restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronany angioplasty (PTCA) and arterial sclerosis in the field of cardiovascular system.

Since isolation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the complicated network of extracellular signal transduction in angiopoiesis has been drastically elucidated. Research into mice which has a targeted mutation for the tyrosine kinase, for example, this ligand, Flk-1/VEGFR2, and Flt-1/VEGFR1, etc. was a first key point related the first step of angiopoiesis and vascularization.
VEGF receptor-2(VEGFR-2) is necessary in endothelial formation and a targeted mutation for this gene resulted in a shortage of blood cells or organized blood vessels and death in the embryo at 9.5 days post-coitum. However, according to analysis of early marker by RT-PCR revealing early hemopoiesis and the report that endothelial precursory cell was actually formed in absence of VEGFR-2, it is suggested that VEGFR-2 is required for the growth later, but not absolutely essential for hematoblast formation.
VEGF receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) knock-out mice were also dead in the embryo at 9.5 days post-coitum, but differentiation of their endothelial cells was not influenced directly. Instead, it is speculated that movement of the mesenchyme hematoblasts may be stagnant generally and that their overcrowded endothelial precursory cells may result in destroying vascular system severely.
VEGF knock-out mice were also dead in the embryo at 9.5 days post-coitum conspicuously, and differentiation of their endothelial cells were not defective. That is, substantially, it was the same to VEGF-1 knock-out mice, but the phenotype was slighter than that of VEGF-1 knock-out mice. The conspicuous characteristic related to a targeted mutation within this gene was that gene deletion of the heterozygote was lethal to the mouse embryo at 11.5 days post-coitum. This revealed that development in the embryo may depend strictly on the quantity of VEGF expression.
Other tyrosine kinase receptors, such as Tie-2 and its ligand, are specifically expressed in vascular endothelial cells, contributing to the step of vascularization in the late stage of angiopoiesis. Though destruction of these genes, which does not have any influence on angiopoiesis, affects vessel remodeling to cause death in the embryo at 10.5 days post-coitum. They play some roles in interaction between endothelial cells and their surrounding vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) or mesenchyme cells. In addition to the system specific to vascular, PDGF-BB, TGF-β and their receptors also play similar roles in interaction between endothelial cells and their surrounding cells. Investigations into the relationship between vascular system and neuropilin-1 (NP-1) which was cloned as an antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody recognizing the first developed neuron led this field to a new phase.
Then, identification as a receptor of semaphorin 3A (sema3A) has come to attract attention in relation to axon formation, and search for other VEGF receptors led to discovery of NP-1 which is also a co-receptor for VEGFR-2. NP-1 enhances not only the binding to one isoform of VEGF-2, but also chemotaxis and probable mitosis of endothelial cells. Before this identification, it was revealed that chimerical mice over-expressing NP-1 presented the phenotype of hypertrophic vascular formation. NP-1 knock-out mice presented the phenotype of low angiogenesis in the central nervous system and large vascular variations. On the other hand, it has not been reported whether sema3A knock-out mice presented the abnormal vessels, while it is interesting that these mice presented the phenotype of thin myocardium, which was also observed in mice over-expressing NP-1.
Another example is the Eph/Ephrin system, which was first studied extensively in the neurological field. Later, this system was re-identified as an only surface marker discriminating arteries and veins. They are expressed in mesenchyme cells which surround the vessels and contact with endothelial cells. Speculating that there are many extracellular signal transduction molecules in vessels besides the above molecules, the inventors have suggested that proving this speculation would contribute to more understanding of this complex system.

Polypeptide ESDN, polynucleotides encoding the polypeptide, and utility of the polypeptide


When a connected position detecting unit detects that a connected position of a tape reaches a predetermined position in the tape passage, head-feeding of an electronic component provided in a head of the connected new tape is provided. In the head-feeding, a tape feeder feeds the tape such that the electronic component in the head of the new tape is located in a component pickup port. When the connected position detecting unit detects that the connected position of the tape reaches the predetermined position in the tape passage, a mounting head picks up the electronic component from the new tape fed by the head feeding control unit and is mounted on a new board positioned by a board conveying path.

An electronic component mounting device includes a board conveying path which conveys and positions a board on which electronic component is to be mounted, a tape feeder which carries out a feeding operation of a tape storing electronic components to supply the electronic components; and a mounting head which picks up the electronic component supplied by the tape feeder and mounts the electronic component on the board positioned by the board conveying path. The tape feeder feeds the detachably attached tape pitch by pitch and supplies the electronic component stored in the tape to a component pickup port one by one. The mounting head picks up the electronic components supplied by the tape feeder and mounts the electronic component on the board positioned by the board conveying path. From the viewpoint that a quality control of the electronic component to be mounted on the board can be carried out for each tape, the electronic components having the same electrical characteristics are stored in the same tape.
When the feeding operation of the tape progresses and a rear end of the tape reaches the component pickup port, the tape attached to the tape feeder falls within a state of running out of the component and waiting for an exchange of the tape. A tape splicing technique is known for the purpose of eliminating a loss of time due to such a waiting for an exchange of a tape. In the tape splicing, a new tape is connected (spliced) to a rear end portion of a tape which is being attached to a tape feeder and supplying electronic component before the tape feeder runs out of the component, whereby the tape feeder can continuously supply the electronic component over a plurality of tapes (for example, Patent Document 1).

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


In an oil-lubricated helium compressor unit, the adsorber can retain all of the oil that might be transferred from the compressor to the adsorber before the system shuts down. No oil is ever transferred or transferable to, for example, the expander in a GM type refrigeration system connected to the unit. The compressor itself will shut down because of a protective switch or seize for lack of oil before any oil carries outside the compressor unit. The unit and the connected refrigeration system can run for more than a selected design life before the compressor shuts down because the limit of oil in the adsorber has been reached. The adsorber can retain as much oil as might leave the compressor over the life of the system plus a safety margin of at least 25%. The adsorber need not be serviced or replaced for the life of the system.

This invention relates generally to helium compressor units for use in cryogenic refrigeration systems and, more particularly, to an oil-lubricated helium compressor unit that is fail-safe in that pressurized oil-free helium gas is delivered over the extended life of the unit. Oil-lubricated air conditioning compressors have become standard for delivering pressurized helium to GM type cryogenic refrigerators. The ability to use these relatively inexpensive but reliable compressors results from the development of oil separators and adsorbers that reliably keep oil out of the cold expander of a GM type refrigeration system for periods of several years.
At present, GM refrigerator manufacturers recommend replacing the adsorber at 10,000 to 30,000 hour intervals. This time interval depends on the rate at which oil carries over from an oil separator that receives the high-pressure gas discharge from the oil-lubricated compressor. Oil carryover in the refrigerant gas from the separator goes to an adsorber. The capacity of the adsorber for holding oil, and the degree of risk a user is willing to accept before replacing the adsorber(s) determine the time interval without failure. Carryover of oil from the adsorber would allow oil entrained in the refrigerant gas to carry into the cold end of the system, where the oil adversely affects performance of the GM type expander. It is relatively expensive to clean up the oil once it is in the cold end of the GM refrigeration unit.
In order to avoid the risk of oil carryover, manufacturers and users tend to be conservative by allowing for a good margin of uncertainty in predicting adsorber life. Compressor manufacturers are also conservative in designing the sump of the compressor to hold enough oil so that a considerable amount of oil can be lost from the compressor before the bearings are starved of oil and in danger of seizing.
A data analysis of compressor units manufactured by the assignee of the present invention indicates that such compressor units for cryogenic systems using helium gas typically hold two to three times as much oil as the adsorber can physically retain. Thus, unless there is a program to shut down compressor operation before the adsorber is filled, an inherent danger exists for carryover of oil from the adsorber to the cold end of a connected system. Fluctuations in oil level in the compressor due to changes in ambient temperature, while small, may still require consideration when charging a compressor with oil.
Oil is typically added to a compressor when the adsorber is replaced for the third or fourth time. This oil addition is intended to make up for oil that is removed with the adsorber. However, there is considerable uncertainty in knowing how much oil, if any, to add to the compressor; and sometimes the compressor is overcharged with oil.
Recent improvements in the design of oil separators have resulted in oil carryover rates to the adsorber being less than 20 grams per year for a ten cubic feet per minute helium compressor that draws about 6 kilowatts of power. The sump in this compressor holds about 1500 grams of oil. Therefore, it would take approximately 75 years (1500÷20) to lose enough oil for the bearings to seize. A reasonably sized adsorber can hold about 500 grams of oil so that it is reasonable to recommend that the adsorber be left in place for the normal 10-year life of the system (500÷20=25). For operation beyond ten years, it is generally recommended that the adsorber be replaced; but there is no actual need to add oil when starting with 1500 grams of oil. Clearly everything is overdone, giving a sense that failures (oil carried beyond the adsorber) are avoided.
Having a ten-year service interval based on the adsorber size can reduce ongoing service cost, but does not remove the risk of oil carryover in the event that the oil separator or oil return circuit has a failure. If the adsorber can hold all of the oil that might leave the compressor before the system shuts down, and retain all of the oil when it enters the adsorber at the high rate that might exist when there has been a failure in the oil separator, then the risk of oil carryover from the adsorber is non-existent despite a separator failure. The oil entrainment rate for the conventional compressor, used in the numerical example described above, might be as high as 120 grams per hour. Therefore, the adsorber must be able to collect oil, in that example at this rate (120 grams per hour) without any carryover to the cold end.
What is needed is an oil-lubricated helium compressor unit that operates over an extended life on an oil charge that is sufficient for the desired life but is limited so that the normal carryover does not exceed the capacity of the adsorber and in the event of a failure of the oil separator does not allow oil to carryover to the expander.
Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a fail-safe oil-lubricated helium compressor unit is provided having extended life with oil-free delivery of compressed helium.
In the oil-lubricated helium compressor unit in accordance with the invention, the adsorber is sized so that all of the oil that might be transferred from the compressor to the adsorber before the system shuts down can be retained by the adsorber. No oil is ever transferred or transferable out of the unit to, for example, the expander in a GM type refrigeration system. Thus, the compressor itself will shut down because of a protective switch or even seize for lack of oil before any oil carries outside the compressor unit. Components are sized so thatm under normal circumstances, the unit and the connected refrigeration system can run for more than a selected design life, for example, ten years, before the compressor shuts down because the limit of oil that can be transferred to the adsorber has been reached.
Recognizing that safety factors must be given consideration when sizing and charging components, an ability to run for a predetermined life before the compressor system shuts down can be interpreted that:
(a) The adsorber is sized to retain as much oil as might leave the compressor over the life of the system plus a safety margin of at least approximately 25%.
(b) Should there be a failure of the oil separator or compressor oil return mechanism, then the adsorber retains the oil which enters at the maximum rate that can leave a failed oil separator which may be the same rate that the oil leaves the compressor. In other words, operation is without any carryover from the adsorber, terminating in compressor shut-down.
(c) For an x-year life, the oil separator is efficiently effective so that less than 100/x percent of the oil is transferred from the compressor to the adsorber under normal operation each year. Also, there must be sufficient oil initially that can be transferred from the compressor to the adsorber for x years of operations under those conditions. In other words, for a 10-year life, less than 10% of the oil is xe2x80x9clostxe2x80x9d from the compressor and retained by the adsorber per year.
(d) The adsorber needs no service over an x-year period. Therefore, the separator and adsorber may be combined in a single vessel.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved oil lubricated compressor unit with an adsorber capable of holding the entire anticipated net oil output of the compressor during the intended life of the unit.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved oil-lubricated helium compressor unit having an adsorber capable of absorbing oil at a rate equal or greater than the maximum rate that it might enter the adsorber.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved oil-lubricated helium compressor unit that can operate for at least ten years without risk of failure due to oil carryover into an associated refrigeration system.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved oil-lubricated helium compressor unit with an adsorber that can contain all of the lubricating oil that might be pump-out of the compressor and retained by the adsorber.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved oil-lubricated helium compressor unit that is more economical to produce than prior art units.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the specification.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Fail-safe oil lubricated helium compressor unit with oil-free gas delivery


A method and system for tracking and verifying estimates, invoices, and billing exceptions for charges billed to a customer by a vendor is disclosed. The vendor submits an estimate via a billing verification system. The system generates an estimate record and facilitates customer review of the estimate. The system also receives an invoice for the completed repair from the vendor and generates an invoice record. Based on the estimate record and the invoice record, the system can perform an audit to compare the invoice to the estimate. The system also enables the customer to review the invoice via the billing verification system to identify billing exceptions associated with any disputed charges. A billing exception record is generated in the billing verification system for each of the billing exceptions. The vendor is then notified of the billing exceptions. The vendor reviews and responds to the billing exception records via the billing verification system. A billing exception response record is generated for each vendor response. The customer is then notified of the reviewed billing exception response records.

The present invention relates to repair estimates, invoices, and billing exceptions. In particular, this invention relates to methods and systems for tracking and verifying repair estimates, invoices, and billing exceptions for repairs performed by a vendor for a customer. Although it is applicable to a wide variety of industries, the invention will be described with a particular emphasis on repairs to railcars and equipment in the railroad industry.
The railroad network in the United States includes a number of railroad systems that are owned by different companies. Together, these systems comprise a complete railroad network that connects locations across the nation. Although some railroad companies also own their own railcars, many railcars are owned by other companies that do not own any part of the railroad network itself. To move from one location to another, therefore, one company's railcars frequently need to travel over another company's railroad system.
Repair facilities are positioned at various locations throughout the railroad network. These facilities are available to perform any necessary repairs to railcars in the area. The repair facilities are owned and operated by various railroad companies and independent repair contractors. When a railcar repair becomes necessary, it typically is performed at the nearest repair facility. Under limited authority granted by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Interchange Rules, the owner of the repair facility acts as a repair agent for the owner of the railcar needing repair. In this way, the owner of a given repair facility may act as a repair agent for a number of different railcar owners. Likewise, a given owner's railcars may be repaired by a number of different repair agents as those railcars travel the railroad network. In these situations, the repair agent is a vendor of services provided to its customer, the railcar owner.
Like many other types of vendors, repair agents may bill railcar owners for repair services by repair event or on a monthly basis. The billing process varies, depending largely on whether the repair facility is owned by a railroad or an independent repair contractor. Independent repair facilities typically bill by repair event.
Billing for railcar repairs performed by railroad-owned repair facilities is generally governed by the AAR Interchange Rules. Under the AAR Interchange Rules, railroad-owned repair facilities typically bill on a monthly basis. A typical monthly bill may include charges for all repairs performed on the owner's railcars at all of the repair agent's facilities. According to these rules, it generally is not necessary for the repair agent to provide an estimate before performing a repair. Instead, the AAR Interchange Rules provide standardized rates for various types of repairs. After a repair facility performs repairs in accordance with the AAR Interchange Rules, a billing repair card is included for each repair. Each billing repair card indicates, among other things, the date of repair, the railcar number, the type of car, the repair location, and a description and cost of the repair, including parts and labor.
If not governed directly by the AAR Interchange Rules (e.g., if the repair is performed by an independent repair contractor), then the cost of repair may be governed by one or more repair agreements between the repair agent and the railcar owner. Typically, a repair agent is required to provide an estimate before performing a repair. According to existing practices, the repair agent prepares the estimate and then sends it to the railcar owner for review. The railcar owner then has an opportunity to approve/authorize, reject, or take exceptions to the repair estimate. The railcar owner also may negotiate with the repair agent regarding the terms of the repair, including the repair fee.
In some instances, a railcar owner may wish to dispute charges billed by a repair agent. For example, the repair agent may have charged the wrong railcar owner, charged more than is allowed by the AAR Interchange Rules or the applicable repair agreement, or failed to justify the charge for a given repair. These situations may be governed by the AAR Interchange Rules or the applicable repair agreement. In these cases, the railcar owner generates an exception to the repair bill, explaining the reasons for disputing the particular repair charges. According to existing practices, the railcar owner prepares an exception packet, which includes an exception letter, copies of the billing repair cards for which exceptions are taken, and any necessary supporting documentation. The railcar owner indicates the reasons for the exceptions on the billing repair cards. The owner sends the entire exception packet to the repair agent. The repair agent reviews the exception packet and approves or disapproves each exception.
For each exception approved or accepted by a repair agent subject to the AAR Interchange Rules, the appropriate repair charges are credited to the railcar owner's account or counter-billed to the repair agent by the railcar owner. For exceptions approved or accepted by independent repair agents, the agent typically generates a new invoice that reflects the adjusted repair fee. In some cases, the repair agent may approve only a portion of an exception, in which case only a portion of the repair charges are credited or adjusted.
The existing system for processing repair estimates, invoices, and exceptions is inefficient and paper-intensive. The railcar owner must wait to receive an estimate, review the estimate, and then communicate its approval or rejection of the estimate to the repair agent. If the estimate is rejected initially, there may be a negotiation between the railcar owner and the repair agent, potentially involving several rounds of communication, before the railcar owner approves a final repair estimate.
The railcar owner also must wait to receive an invoice from the repair agent after a repair is completed. The railcar owner may then review and audit the invoice to ensure that it matches the estimate agreed upon with the repair agent. If there are discrepancies between the estimate and the invoice, then the railcar owner must generate an exception to the invoice and send the exception to the repair agent.
The railcar owner then must wait to receive an exception approval from the repair agent before its account is credited or the invoice is adjusted. The repair agent, however, must investigate the repair to which an exception is taken to determine whether the charges are appropriate. In many cases, a manager of the repair agent separates the billing repair cards according to the facility that performed the repairs. The manager then distributes the billing repair cards to field representatives at the various repair facilities for their comments. Once the manager receives comments from all of the field representatives, the manager makes a final decision to approve, disapprove, or partially approve each exception. The manager then sends these responses to the railcar owner. This process typically requires months to complete. Moreover, the shipping and handling associated with all of this correspondence is expensive for both the repair agent and the railcar owner. Accordingly, there is a need for a more efficient and less expensive method and system for tracking and processing billing exceptions.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for efficiently tracking and verifying repair estimate, invoices, and billing exceptions for repairs performed for a customer by a vendor. It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for efficiently tracking and verifying repair estimates, invoices, and billing exceptions for charges billed by a repair agent to an equipment owner, preferably in a manner that complies with the AAR Interchange Rules. It is another object of the present invention to provide railcar owners and their agents with a single integrated system for tracking and verifying billing data for repairs performed by both railroad-owned repair facilities and independent repair facilities.

Method and system for tracking and verifying repair estimates, invoices, and billing exceptions


A coupling element (1) comprising a male sealing element (5) is disclosed herein. The male sealing element comprises a first end (7), second end (9), and a longitudinal axis extending between the first and second end. The coupling element is housed within a nut (3). In one aspect, the male sealing element has a generally cylindrical shape. Also, the male sealing element defines a fluid passageway therethrough for the transmission of fluid. The male sealing element is secured to a ferrule (13) which is located within a cavity of the nut. The first end of the male sealing element defines a conical sealing surface. In one aspect, the male conical sealing surface (17) mates with a female sealing element (23) which has a receptacle that is defined by a nearly complementary conical geometry. In this aspect, the male conical sealing surface has a mismatched angle when compared to the complementary conical female sealing element. The coupling element also has a biasing element (19) disposed between a retaining ring and the ferrule located within the nut cavity. This biasing element facilitates a fluid-tight, metal to metal (or metal to plastic, or plastic to plastic) seal between the male sealing element and female sealing element.

High pressure systems are routinely employed in analytical laboratories, for example, in the isolation and characterization of a particular compound. As the demand for high pressure systems continues, the demand for high pressure seals follows.
At present, compression ferrules are used fluid line connectors in high pressure systems such as high performance liquid chromatography. These compression ferrules are relatively small structures that cooperate with one or two-piece tube fittings. These devices require precise machining of detailed ports where two fluid lines connect together, or where the fluid lines interconnect to components such as fluid manifolds and valves. As the number of these fluid interconnections increase the consequential cost of machined parts and the cost of production tooling increases.
Depending on frequency of use, the high pressure systems can exert a tremendous amount of stress on the fluid connects. The seal that is formed at the connection site can begin to deteriorate due to this stress.
The present fittings comprise a conical ferrule and a compression nut which are proximate to the tube end. The mating part has a threaded and conical machined recess at the receiving port which cooperates with the tube end compression nut and ferrule to make a seal. As the compression nut is tightened into threads of the machined port it forces the ferrule forward. This forward motion presses the conical ferrule end against the conical recess which causes the front edge of the ferrule to reduce in size until it fits tightly around the tube. The seal is achieved by the compression deformation of the ferrule by the port cone and by the compression deformation of the ferrule against the tube outside surface. Modern chromatographic system pressures are becoming greater than the present fittings are designed to sustain. The greater deformations needed to achieve sealing results in reduced reliability of the seals.
When the present fittings are assembled they sometimes have a characteristic which is detrimental to the quality of the chromatographic separation. There can be a cavity left between the tip of the tube and the bottom of the port. This cavity will retain fluids and can cause an unwanted mixing of fluid species during chromatographic separation. Minimizing this cavity depends on the skill of the person who makes-up the fitting as the ferrule closes on the tube. If the tube is held tightly into the port as the compression nut is tightened against the ferrule, the tube will be pressed forward while the ferrule collapses against it in order to close the tip gap.
The present fittings, once set, often cannot be interchanged among various ports because of the dead volume issue. When the ferrule is compressed on the tube at the first assembly the distance from the ferrule to the tube tip is unique for that port. If the tube and fitting is removed and used in a different port there may be a space left at the tube tip. This can adversely impact the chromatography when the tube carries fluids which should not be mixed.
There are high pressure seal assemblies that attempt to mitigate the problems described above. For example, there is disclosed a high pressure tube seating assembly wherein the seal is formed at a contact interface between a spherical distal end portion of a tube and a receiving surface. It is believed that as greater axial force is applied, the spherical distal portion deforms to more closely approximate the geometry of the receiving surface. However, in actuality, as greater axial pressure is applied, the spherical distal portion deforms but does not deform in such as manner as to significantly compliment the receiving surface.
In modern chromatographic systems pressures are being increased and the internal fluid volumes are being reduced. Therefore the reliability and seal characteristics of present fittings are becoming problematic. The present fitting has two seal surfaces which are both relatively larger than the fluid path diameter they are sealing. Those seal surfaces are remote from the tube tip and port opening so there is opportunity for fluid "dead-volume". As the pressure is raised the compression nut force and resulting distortion of the ferrule and related parts becomes excessive. As the system internal fluid volume becomes smaller the fitting dead-volume and especially sensitivity to the assemblers skill become major impediments to chromatographic quality.
There exists a current to have a high pressure fitting assembly that upon axial pressure will deform in such a manner as to compliment the receiving element, thereby, forming a high pressure seal with optimum fluid integrity.


A method for evaluating the solubility capacity of free unbound estrogens in body fluids of animals is described.

Estrogens include a group steroid hormones essential for normal development and for the healthy functioning of the reproductive system. Three of these estrogens include 17.beta. estradiol, estriol, and estrone. Evaluation of "free" estrogen levels can have diagnostic importance in screening for abnormal patterns of changes in estrogen solubility levels such as is observed in the growths of certain estrogen dependent tumors, occurrence of cystic ovaries, and the development of possible endometriosis in the reproductive organs of females. In some female mammals changes in concentration of "free" estrogens are known to occur at the time of implantation and before the onset of parturition. It is also known that "free" estrogen levels vary at different times of the life span of a mammal. During fetal development the concentration of estrogens are known to increase in the third trimester of pregnancy due to increased levels of one estrogen form called estriol which is produced by the adrenal glands of the fetus. Prior to delivery, estrogen levels increase significantly in serum and saliva of different species of pregnant mammals. After delivery, estrogen levels fall rapidly in the mother and babies have low levels of "free" estrogens.
It is also known that estrogen levels increase significantly in girls before they reach puberty. As women age, their ability to produce estrogen decreases after the onset of menopause and "free" estrogen levels reach very low levels between 70 and 80 years. Estrogen levels also fall when ovaries are removed from all animal species.
Certain activities such as excessive sports can also diminish "free" estrogen levels. Some cases of anovulation have chronic higher levels of estrogen but fail to reach peak levels of estrogen concentration and can result in a condition known as cystic ovaries. Also some people do not have the ability to control levels of estrogen and have an abnormal situation like excessive bone growth.
Only a small percentage (1% in human females) of the total estrogens in the body are not chemically bound. These estrogens are called "free" estrogens and are considered to have hormone effects on certain body functions such as those described in the previous paragraphs.
The following chart demonstrates examples of how "free" estrogen levels vary for different species and conditions.
______________________________________ Amount of total The amount of free Species estrogen in serum estrogen in saliva ______________________________________ Woman who has 10-30 1-3 picograms/ml passed through picograms/ml menopause Boys age 7 .02 pg/ml Girl before puberty .6 pg/ml 1-2 picograms/ml usually between ages 5 and 8 A woman who is in 25-75 1-4 picograms/ml follicule phase picograms/ml of menstrual cycle and has ovaries A girl at puberty or 200-900 2-9 picograms/ml approaching puberty picograms/ml A woman that will 200-900 4.5 picograms/ml ovulate within picograms/ml to 9 picograms/ml four days A pregnant woman 1000 to 5000 40-100 picograms/ml in the first 3 picograms/ml months of pregnancy A pregnant woman 6000 to 16000 50-100 picograms/ml in 2nd trimester of picograms/ml/ml pregnancy A pregnant woman 10000 to 40000 50-150 picograms/ml in the last picograms/ml trimester of pregnancy Cow in early 3.5 +/- 0.7 pg/ml Not measured leutal phase Cow two days 5.1 -/- 0.3 pg/ml Not measured before estrus Cow at estrus 7.1 +/- 0.6 pg/ml Not measured ______________________________________
The body has a system to regulate the total amount of "free" estrogens at any given time. An ovulating woman can absorb at least 9 picograms of free estrogen in her saliva. A woman who is about to deliver a baby will be able to absorb at least 200 picograms of "free" estrogen in her saliva. An old woman who is menopausal will have only 1-2 picograms of "free" estrogen in her saliva. In each situation the body is able to recognize when the capacity to have "free" estrogens is reached. Excess estrogens become bound to other components in the body fluids thus preventing these excess estrogens from acting as hormones.
Accordingly, a system that can evaluate whether or not the body has reached its capacity to hold "free" estrogens can have many useful applications and can have considerable clinical value and importance as a tool for screening for various conditions affected by changes in "free" estrogen levels. This is especially true in females. It can be used to evaluate when a body fluid is increasing its capacity to hold "free" estrogens such as is observed in serum and saliva prior to parturition. It can also be used by menopausal women to monitor how the body is absorbing estrogen therapy. It can further evaluate imbalances in "free" estrogen levels such as observed in ovarian cysts. It can track estrogen level changes in the normal development of an individual such as in the last stages of fetal development, the onset of puberty, menopause, and other estrogen dependent events.
Current methods to evaluate estrogen levels often need to separate total estrogens into fractions of bound and unbound estrogens. This process involves a series of complicated analytical procedures that are time consuming and frequently require several hours. Furthermore the instrumentation to accomplish this process needs special facilities that are usually only available in research laboratories, clinics, or hospitals. Additionally, many estrogen assays have limited accuracy and frequently must be repeated many times.
The use of anthocyanins pigments as a fertility evaluation medium is known and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,288 to Goldman. This patent describes evaluating fertility in females by contacting a mucin-containing body fluid such as saliva with a fertility evaluation medium comprising an anthocyanin pigment and a substrate which facilitates generation of a color response in this pigment in the presence of a vaginal fluid or substance similar to those found in vaginal fluids. This patent does not, however, suggest that observed color changes in anthocyanin pigments under certain specific conditions can be correlated with the capacity of body fluids to hold free, unbound estrogens and can be used to screen for estrogen dependent physiological changes in the body that do not include fertility evaluation.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a method to easily and rapidly determine whether or not a given body fluid such as saliva, serum, or interstitial fluid has reached its maximum capacity to hold the "unbound" estrogen in order to assess for changes in certain physiological conditions that are estrogen dependent.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple, easy to use, quick marker system for "free" estrogen solubility and methodology which permits identification of changes in the body's capacity to hold "free" estrogens based upon optical properties such as color change.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a simple yet effective method to quantitatively determine what is the additional capacity for "free" estrogens in a body fluid such as saliva, serum, or interstitial fluids.


A flow passage member and a reformed gas supply pipe for supplying a reformed gas to a fuel cell stack are provided. Hot air to be supplied to the fuel cell stack flows through the flow passage member. A gold gasket is provided at a joint portion between the flow passage member and the reformed gas supply pipe. The gold gasket has malleability to achieve stable sealing performance and durability in the presence of the oxidizing atmosphere and the reducing atmosphere at high temperature.

Typically, a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) employs an electrolyte of ion-conductive solid oxide such as stabilized zirconia. The electrolyte is interposed between an anode and a cathode to form an electrolyte electrode assembly (unit cell). The electrolyte electrode assembly is interposed between separators (bipolar plates). In use, a predetermined number of the unit cells and the separators are stacked together to form a fuel cell stack.
In the fuel cell, an oxygen-containing gas or the air is supplied to the cathode. The oxygen in the oxygen-containing gas is ionized at the interface between the cathode and the electrolyte, and the oxygen ions (O2−) move toward the anode through the electrolyte. A fuel gas such as a hydrogen-containing gas or CO is supplied to the anode. Oxygen ions react with the hydrogen in the hydrogen-containing gas to produce water or react with CO to produce CO2. Electrons released in the reaction flow through an external circuit to the cathode, creating a DC electric energy.
In the solid oxide fuel cell, the operating temperature is significantly high, about 800° C., and an oxidizing gas and a reducing gas are used. Therefore, it is desirable that the gasket for the solid oxide fuel cell has heat resistance, and can be used suitably in the oxidizing atmosphere and the reducing atmosphere. Further, the gasket needs to have malleability and flexibility for maintaining the desired sealing performance.
In view of the above, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 7-57748 (hereinafter referred to as the "first conventional technique") discloses a gasket member for use in high temperature. The gasket member is formed by mixing ceramic fiber and glass having a high melting point into a sheet-like shape. According to the disclosure of the first conventional technique, sufficient gas sealing performance is maintained at high temperature in the range of 1000° C. or more, and improvement in durability is expected.
Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-12252 (hereinafter referred to as the "second conventional technique") discloses a seal member made of a sintered body of raw powder chiefly containing oxide powder having the average grain size of 0.5 μm or less and a melting point higher than the operating temperature of the fuel cell. The seal member is used at the seal portion for sealing the end of the interface between a power generation cell and a separator. According to the disclosure of the second conventional technique, the seal member can keep its solid state at the operating temperature of the fuel cell, and the seal member is chemically stable in the oxidizing atmosphere and the reducing atmosphere.
However, in the first conventional technique, if the gasket member is used for a long period of time, it is likely that the high melting point glass is degraded due to repetition of expansion and contraction. As a result, the high melting point glass may be shattered, and the fiber or the like may be shattered from the ceramic fiber due to degradation. Thus, the fuel cell is degraded undesirably.
In the second conventional technique, since the seal member does not have any flexibility, the desired sealing performance may not be achieved. Further, the material of the seal portion is the same as the material of the electrolyte. That is, the material of the seal member for the seal portion is limited to the material of the electrolyte. Thus, the seal member is not suitable for general use. Since the seal member is fragile, the seal member cannot be used at the position where a tightening force is applied.


A displacement detection device includes an image sensor, a light source and a processing unit. The image sensor is configured to successively capture images. The light source provides light with an emission frequency and an emission duration for the image sensor in capturing the images. The processing unit is configured to calculate a displacement according to the images and to adjust both the emission frequency and the emission duration according to the displacement.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure generally relates to a human machine interface device and, more particularly, to a displacement detection device and a power saving method thereof that may keep the average current consumption of the light source low and may maintain the image brightness as well.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, the optical mouse is served as one of the peripheral devices configured to interact with a computer system having a display screen. An optical mouse generally has a light source, an image sensor and a processing unit. The light source projects light to a work surface. The image sensor receives reflected light from the work surface and successively outputs image frames. The processing unit calculates a displacement of the optical mouse with respect to the work surface according to the image frames to accordingly control the computer system.
In order to improve the operational convenience of an optical mouse, the optical mouse can transfer the displacement information to the computer system via wireless transmission. Therefore, how to save the average consumption power of the optical mouse and to extend the service time of the battery becomes an important issue.
Referring to FIG. 1, it shows a schematic diagram of the image capturing and the emission of the light source in the conventional optical mouse. The image sensor successively captures image frames at a sampling frequency. When the optical mouse is moved at high speed, the light source is lighted at a high emission frequency whereas when the optical mouse is moved at low speed, the light source is lighted at a lower emission frequency so as to reduce the consumption current of the light source. However, in this power saving method the consumption current of the light source at high speed is still about twice of that at low speed.
Accordingly, the present disclosure further provides a displacement detection device and a power saving method thereof that may reduce the consumption current of the light source by changing both the emission frequency and the emission duration thereby reducing the total power consumption.

Displacement detection device and power saving method thereof


A device and method for the non-invasive measurement of blood glucose concentrations by millimeter waves. The device includes a millimeter wave generator; a TE10 mode rectangular waveguide transmitting a millimeter wave generated by the millimeter wave generator; and a plane parallel plate chosen to yield a minimal point of the power reflection coefficient of the millimeter wave incident to and reflected from the dielectric object under test via the TE10 mode rectangular waveguide and the plane parallel plate. The device also includes power detectors detecting the powers of the incident wave generated by the millimeter wave generator and the reflected wave from the dielectric object via the plane parallel plate; a temperature sensor measuring a temperature of the dielectric object; and a reader reading the minimum power reflection coefficient and a corresponding frequency from the incident and reflected wave detected by the power detectors.

1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to measuring dielectric characteristics of a dielectric having high dielectric loss, and more particularly, to non-invasive measurement of blood glucose concentrations by millimeter waves.
2. Description of the Related Art
Diabetics have suddenly increased in number due to lack of physical activity and changes in eating habits. The deaths caused by diabetes in 2001 in Korea are 23.8 people per hundred thousand people, and diabetes now stands fourth in causes for death in Korea. This rate has more than doubled since 1990. Individual diabetics must measure blood glucose by themselves due to the increase in number, i.e., self-monitoring of blood glucose is required. The self-monitoring of blood glucose is an important component of modern therapy for diabetes mellitus and offers detailed information about blood glucose levels at many times points to enable maintenance of more constant glucose levels in everyday life. As a general rule, most patients with type 1 diabetes are recommended to test their blood glucose level at least three or four times per day. However, it is reported that only 18% of diabetics periodically measure blood glucose, even in the U.S.A. which has a good social welfare. Such negligence of the self-monitoring of blood glucose is due to current invasive-type glucose meters which require blood samples directly taken from the body. Periodical tests by the invasive method not only gives pain or uncomfortable feelings during taking of the blood sample, but also imposes mental and economic burdens with considerable costs of consumable accessories necessary for taking the blood samples.
Devices for the non-invasive measurement of blood glucose have been developed to solve such pain and displeasure during taking blood and smoothly perform self-monitoring of blood glucose. As non-invasive measurement methods of blood glucose, methods of using an analysis of an absorption spectrum in an infrared zone and a method of using impedance spectroscopy in a band of tens to hundreds of MHz have been studied. Some prototypes or products have been researched and developed according to the above-mentioned method. To observe the validity of the non-invasive measurement of blood glucose in a millimeter wave band, dielectric characteristics of a glucose-0.9% NaCl solution depending on a glucose concentration in a band between 30 GHz and 40 GHz are investigated using an open-ended coaxial line method and a transmission coefficient measurement method.
To non-invasively measure the dielectric constant e′ and dielectric loss e″ of dielectric materials having a high dielectric loss in a millimeter wave band, the modulus and phase of the reflection coefficient of the reflected electromagnetic wave from the dielectric object are generally measured according to the open-ended coaxial line method using a vector network analyzer. However, it is known that a measurement accuracy of the dielectric constant e′ using the vector network analyzer is on a level of ±5%. The main problem with solids is the contact between the coaxial probe and the material under test, which causes inaccuracy and low reproducibility of the measurement. According to the experimental results performed in the frequency band between 30 GHz and 40 GHz, the variations of 0.3 to 0.6 in the dielectric constant Δε′ of the glucose-saline solutions having the dielectric constants between 20 and 30 have been reported. However, such a precise measurement is impossible in consideration of the measurement accuracy of the vector network analyzer.

Device for the non-invasive measurement of blood glucose concentration by millimeter waves and method thereof


A system and method for injecting faults are described. Faults may be injected into a process to determine if a given module handles the fault properly.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to computer systems. More particularly, aspects of the present invention relate to testing of computer systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer system developers desire to release bug-free systems and/or applications. Be it hardware, software, or firmware, all computer products undergo some level of testing. Conventional testing systems allow test operators to specify a fault to occur and allow a system to encounter a fault. Often, identical processes may slightly differ in their execution based on environmental conditions. These alterations of the processes complicate testing procedures in that testing systems lack repeatability once a system error caused by the fault has been encountered.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional testing process. In step 201, a user sets high-level testing conditions for a test to be run including a selection of a fault to occur. In step 202, a test is run. In step 203, the system reports a fault if, for example, a process attempted to access X, where X is a memory or an attempt to write or read from a drive, and the like. In step 204, the system monitors the results and reports and error if the system did not handle the fault properly. In general, conventional testing systems monitor application programming interface interactions and change return values according to a fault being created. Here, these systems allow a user to specify a percentage chance that a fault may occur (e.g., 90% of a memory fault to occur). The purpose of specifying the percentage fault is to allow some faults to occur later, thereby identifying processes that cannot handle the fault that would normally be shielded from receiving the fault because of the fault being handled previously. A difficulty with the system according to FIG. 2 is that the testing process does not consistently uncover fault handling problems that are buried deep in a call stack because the percentage fault specification may mean that a given process is repeatedly skipped. Similarly, one module may appropriately handle a fault, while masking another module's failure to handle the fault.
FIG. 3 shows an example of how a call stack may implement specified modules processes. Call stack 1 301 contain calls to various modules. Call stack 1 301 includes calls 304-310 that call modules 1 through 5 311-315 in the following order: 1, 3, 2, 1, 4, 1, and 5. A fault may be handled at call 304 while testing needed at calls 307 and 309 never occurs or occurs in an unpredictable pattern (because of the percentage fault chance described above).
A process for selectively initiating faults and for testing operating system functions is needed.


When an ignitor 29 is ignited by an abnormal signal sent from outside, a heating agent 27 charged into a thermite case 26 is heated, a retainer 45 is melted by the heat, a compression spring 39a is expanded to allow the thermite case 26 to move up. Therefore, electrical connection between the thermite case 26 and each of a first bus bar 11a and a second bus bar 19a is interrupted. Thus, it is possible to reliably interrupt a circuit within a short time. Further, a low-melting metal 28 mounted to an intermediate portion of the second bus bar 19a is blown out by heat caused by a current flowing through the second bus bar 19a to interrupt the circuit. Therefore, even if an abnormal signal is not sent to the ignitor 29 due to failure of a control circuit or the like, it is possible to reliably interrupt the circuit.

1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit breaker for interrupting an electric circuit for a short time.
2. Description of The Related Art
In an electrical component system provided in a vehicle, when something is wrong with a load of a power window or the like, or when something is wrong with a wire harness or the like constituted by a plurality of electric wires connecting a battery and various loads to each other, a high-current fuse inserted between the battery and the wire harness is blown out to interrupt a connection between the battery and the wire harness, thereby preventing the loads, the wire harness and the like from being burnt and damaged.
However, in the case of the electric component system using such a high-current fuse, even if something is wrong with the load of the power window or the like, or something is wrong with the wire harness or the like connecting the battery and various loads, the fuse is not blown out unless a current equal to or greater than a tolerated value which is previously set for the high-current fuse. Therefore, various protecting apparatuses have been developed for detecting the current and interrupt the connection between the battery and the wire harness when a high current close to the tolerated value is continuously flowing.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing one example of the protecting apparatus using a bimetal (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. S64-29756). The protecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is made of insulation resin, and comprises a housing 103 formed at its upper portion with a fuse accommodating portion 102, a lid 113 for closing the fuse accommodating portion 102 such that the latter can be opened and closed, a power source terminal 105 disposed in a lower portion in the housing 103 such that an upper end of the power source terminal 105 projects into the fuse accommodating portion 102 and a lower end thereof is exposed outside, and the exposed portion of the power source terminal 105 being connected to a positive terminal of a battery 104, a load terminal 109 disposed in a lower portion in the housing 103 such that an upper end of the load terminal 109 projects into the fuse accommodating portion 102 and a lower end thereof is exposed outside, and the exposed portion of the load terminal 109 being connected to a load 108 through an electric wire 107 constituting a wire harness 106, a fusible member 110 made of low-melting metal disposed in the fuse accommodating portion 102, and having one end connected to an upper end of the power, source terminal 105 and the other end connected to an upper end of the load terminal 109, an intermediate terminal 111 disposed in a lower portion in the housing 103 such that the intermediate terminal 111 is located at an intermediate position between the power source terminal 105 and the load terminal 109 and a lower end of the intermediate terminal 111 is exposed outside, and the exposed portion being connected to a negative terminal of the battery 104, and a bimetal 112 which is made of a long plate-like member comprising two kinds of metal bonded together and which is disposed such as to be opposed to the fusible member 110 such that a lower end of the bimetal 112 is connected to an upper end of the intermediate terminal 111 and an upper end thereof being bent into an L-shape.
When an ignitor switch and the like of the vehicle are operated, and a current is flowing through a path comprising the positive terminal of the battery 104, the power source terminal 105, the fusible member 110, the load terminal 109, the electric wire 107 of the wire harness 106, the load 108, and the negative terminal of the battery 104, and when an abnormal condition occurs in the load 108 or in the wire harness 106 connecting the load 108 and a protecting apparatus 101, and a current equal to or greater than the tolerated value flows through the fusible member 110, the fusible member 110 is heated and blown out for protecting the load 108, the wire harness 106 and the like.
Further, even if something is wrong with the load 108 or the wire harness 106 connecting the load 108 and the protecting apparatus 101, and a large current flows through the fusible member 110, if the current does not exceed the tolerated value, the fusible member 110 is heated by the current flowing through the latter, and the bimetal 112 starts deforming. When a predetermined time is elapsed from the instant when the large current starts flowing through the fusible member 110, a tip end of the bimetal 112 comes into contact with the fusible member 110, and a large short-circuit current flows through the fusible member 110 in a path comprising the positive terminal of the battery 104, the power source terminal 105, the fusible member 110, the intermediate terminal 111, and the negative terminal of the battery 104, and the latter is blown out.
With the above structure, even when a current equal to or lower than the tolerated value flows for a preset time or longer, the circuit is interrupted to protect the wire harness 106 and the load 108.
As another protecting apparatus rather than this protecting apparatus 101, a protecting apparatus 121 shown in FIG. 2 has also developed (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. S64-29756).
The protecting apparatus 121 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a housing 122 made of insulation resin, a power source terminal 124 embedded in one side surface of the housing 122 and having a lower end connected to a positive terminal of a battery 123, and a load terminal 128 embedded in the other side surface of the housing 122 and having a lower end connected to a load 127 through an electric wire 126 constituting a wire harness 125. The protecting apparatus 121 further comprises an electric wire 131 including a fusible lead 129 which is made of low-melting metal and formed into U-shape and a heat-proof coating 130 formed such as to cover the fusible lead 129. The protecting apparatus 121 further comprises a coil 132. The coil 132 is made of shape-memory alloy which is formed into a shape wound around the electric wire 131 as shown in FIG. 2 when it is in a martensite phase state, and which is returned to its original phase shape fastening the electric wire 131 when it is heated to 120xc2x0 C. to 170xc2x0 C. The protecting apparatus 121 further comprises an external terminal 133 whose upper end is connected to one end of the coil 132 and whose lower end is connected to a negative terminal of the battery 123.
When an ignitor switch and the like of the vehicle are operated, and a current is flowing through a path comprising the positive terminal of the battery 123, the power source terminal 124, the fusible lead 129 of the electric wire 131, the load terminal 128, the electric wire 126 of the wire harness 125, the load 127 and the negative terminal of the battery 123, and when an abnormal condition occurs in the load 127 or in the wire harness 125 connecting the load 127 and a protecting apparatus 121, and a current equal to or greater than the tolerated value flows through the fusible lead 129, the fusible lead 129 is heated and blown out for protecting the load 127, the wire harness 125 and the like.
Further, even if something is wrong with the load 127 or the wire harness 125 connecting the load 127 and the protecting apparatus 121, and a large current flows through the fusible lead 129, if the current does not exceed the tolerated value, the fusible lead 129 is heated by the current flowing through the latter, and a temperature of the coil 132 rises. When a predetermined time is elapsed from the instant when the large current starts flowing through the fusible lead 129, and the temperature of the coil 132 rises to 120xc2x0 C. to 170xc2x0 C., the coil 132 changes from its martensite phase state to its original phase and bites into the heat-proof coating 130 which is softened by heat and comes into contact with the fusible lead 129, and a large short-circuit current flows through the fusible lead 129 in a path comprising the positive terminal of the battery 123, the power source terminal 124, the fusible lead 129, the coil 132, the external terminal 133, and the negative terminal of the battery 123, and the latter is blown out.
With the above structure, even when a current equal to or lower than the tolerated value flows for a preset time or longer, the circuit is interrupted to protect the wire harness 125 and the load 127.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional fusible-link fusible conductor (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. S56-20254). This fusible-link fusible conductor 201 comprises a fusible conductor body 202 made of high-melting metal, and a fusible conductor piece 203 made of low-melting metal held on an intermediate portion of the fusible conductor body 202 through a pinching piece 202a, and a blowout characteristics are improved by dispersing low-melting metal and producing an alloy.
According to such a structure, if an excessive current flows through the fusible conductor body 202, the fusible conductor piece 203 is melted by heat caused by the excessive current, thereby blowing out the fusible conductor 201.
However, in the above-described conventional protecting apparatuses 101 and 121, there are problems as follows.
First, in the case of the protecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1, it is detected whether a large current flows through the fusible member 110 using the bimetal 112 made of two kinds of metals having different thermal expansion coefficients and bonded to each other. Therefore, if the magnitude of the current flowing through the fusible member 110, the bimetal 112 is deformed, and the time that elapsed before the circuit is interrupted is varied.
Thus, when a failure that a large current flows intermittently occurs, a temperature of the fusible member 110 does not rise more than a certain value, and there is an adverse possibility that the wire harness 106 or the load 108 may be burnt before the protecting apparatus 101 interrupts the circuit.
In the case of the protecting apparatus 121 shown in FIG. 2, it is detected whether a large current flows through the fusible lead 129 using the coil 132 made of shape-memory alloy. Therefore, if the magnitude of the current flowing through the fusible lead 129, the coil 132 is deformed, and the time that elapsed before the circuit is interrupted is varied.
Thus, when a failure that a large current flows intermittently occurs, a temperature of the fusible lead 129 does not raise more than a certain value, and there is an adverse possibility that the wire harness 125 or the load 127 may be heated excessively before the protecting apparatus 121 interrupts the circuit.
Further, in the protecting apparatuses shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the heat reaction time of the bimetal 112 or the coil 132 which is a thermal-deformable electrical conduction member is varied depending upon the current flowing therethrough. Further, the heat reaction of the thermal-deformable electrical conduction member is not operated timely in some cases when an abnormal condition occurs (when excessive current flows).
In the case of the fusible conductor 201 shown in FIG. 3, the dispersion time of the low-melting metal is varied low-melting metal, it takes a long time for dispersing the low-melting metal and thus, the low-melting metal is not operated timely in some cases when an abnormal condition occurs (when excessive current flows).
Thereupon, as a circuit breaker which operates timely when an abnormal condition occurs (when excessive current flows), Japanese Patent Application No. H11-64055 (filed on Mar. 10, 1999) (not prior art) shows a circuit breaker. According to this circuit breaker, a pair of connecting terminals comprise a connecting terminal (e.g., buss bar) for a battery and a connecting terminal for a load. A conductor member (e.g., thermite case) is in contact with the pair of connecting terminals. When an abnormal condition of a vehicle occurs, the conductive member is moved upward by a compression spring or the like in response to an abnormal signal input from a control circuit or the like, thereby cutting off the electrical connection between the one connecting terminal and the other connecting terminal to interrupt the circuit.
However, this circuit breaker has problems that if a wire of the control circuit or the like may be broken, or if a current sensor or the like is damaged and the abnormal signal is not sent to the circuit breaker, the circuit can not be interrupted.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a circuit breaker capable of reliably interrupting a circuit in a short time to protect an electrical part when an abnormal signal of a vehicle is input, and capable of reliably interrupting the circuit even if the control circuit is out of order and the abnormal signal is not sent.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circuit breaker comprising: a first breaker including a first connecting terminal connected to a power source, a second connecting terminal connected to a load, and a conductive member coming into electrical contact with both the first and second connecting terminals, the first breaker moves the conductor member when a vehicle is under an abnormal condition to cut the electrical connection between the first and second connecting terminals, thereby interrupting a current; and a second breaker including a notch which is a fusible conductor formed on an intermediate portion of at least one of the first and second connecting terminals, the notch is blown out by heat caused by a current flowing through the at least one of the first and second connecting terminals, thereby interrupting the current, wherein a current is supplied from the power source to the load, and a circuit from the power source to the load is interrupted when the vehicle is under the abnormal condition.
According to the first aspect, the first breaker supplies a current to the load through the pair of connecting terminals comprising the first and second connecting terminals and the conductive member under a normal condition, and moves the conductive member based on the interrupting signal input when the vehicle is under the abnormal condition, thereby cutting off the electrical connection between the one connecting terminal and the other connecting terminal to interrupt the current. Therefore, it is possible to reliably interrupt the circuit within a short time.
Further, the second breaker includes the notch which is the fusible conductor formed on the intermediate portion of at least one of the first and second connecting terminals, and the notch is blown out by heat caused by the current flowing through the at least one of the first and second connecting terminals, thereby interrupting the current. That is, since the two kinds of circuit protecting members are provided, even when the interrupting signal is not input to the first breaker due to failure of a control unit or the like and the circuit can not be interrupted by the first breaker, the circuit can be interrupted by the second breaker, and an electrical part can be protected.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the circuit breaker of the first aspect, the first breaker comprises a heating portion having the conductive member into which a heating agent is charged, an ignitor for igniting the heating agent by an interrupting signal, an outer case for accommodating the ignitor and the heating portion, an extensible resilient member, and a removable member for mounting the resilient member in its compressed state, the removable member being capable of being attached to and detached from the outer case, and being disposed in the vicinity or in contact with the heating portion when the removable member is mounted to the outer case, and the removable member is melted by heat caused by the heating agent.
According to the second aspect, the removable member for mounting the resilient member in its compressed state is disposed in the vicinity or in contact with the heating portion when the removable member is mounted to the outer case. When the ignitor ignited by the abnormal signal sent from outside, the heating agent charged into the heating portion is heated, and the removable member is melted by the heat. Since the resilient member which had been compressed is expanded to allow the heating portion to jump up, the electrical connection between the first and second connecting terminals is cut. Therefore, it is possible to reliably interrupt the circuit within a short time to protect the electrical part.
Further, since the removable member can be attached to and detached from the outer case, the attaching and detaching operation of the removable member is simple. Since the resilient member is held by the removable member, no external force is applied to the connected portion between the first and second connecting terminals and the heating portion.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the circuit breaker of the second aspect, the second breaker comprises a low-melting metal as the fusible conductor.
According to the third aspect, since the low-melting metal is added as the fusible conductor, the low-melting metal is dispersed by the heat caused by the current flowing through the connecting terminal, the resistance is increased, thereby blowing out the fusible conductor to interrupt the circuit.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the circuit breaker of the circuit breaker of the third aspect, the fusible conductor is mounted to the intermediate portion of at least one of the first and second connecting terminals by heat welding or caulking.
According to the fourth aspect, since the fusible conductor is mounted to the intermediate portion of at least one of the first and second connecting terminals by heat welding or caulking, the low-melting metal is dispersed by the heat caused by the current flowing through the connecting terminal, the resistance is increased, thereby blowing out the fusible conductor to interrupt the circuit.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the circuit breaker of the third aspect, the interrupting signal is input to the first breaker when a value of the current became equal to or greater than a threshold value, and the value of the current when the fusible conductor is blown out is set greater than the threshold value.
According to the fifth aspect, since the interrupting signal is input to the first breaker when a value of the current became equal to or greater than a threshold value, and the value of the current when the fusible conductor is blown out is set greater than the threshold value, when the circuit can not be interrupted by the first breaker, the circuit can be interrupted by the second breaker, and the second breaker is not operated before the first breaker is operated.
According to a sixth aspect, in the circuit breaker of the second aspect, the heating portion is formed at its end with a side wall, the side wall and tip ends of the first and second connecting terminals are connected to each other by low-melting members.
According to the sixth aspect, since the side wall and tip ends of the first and second connecting terminals are connected to each other by low-melting members, if the removable member and the low-melting metal are melted by the heat of the heating agent, the heating portion jumps up to interrupt the electrical connection between the first and second connecting terminals. Therefore, it is possible to reliably interrupt the circuit within a short time to protect the electrical part. Further, since no spring force is applied to the low-melting metal which is the connected portion between the first and second connecting terminals and the heating portion, it is possible to enhance the reliability of the connected portion.


A method of transmitting compressed data using a Ziv-Lempel compression/expansion algorithm, using an adaptive Ziv-Lempel (AZL) dictionary modified to a mature state. The mature state is signaled by a time to freeze signal sent as a switch-over signal from a transmitting location to each receiving location. These signals freeze and synchronize the AZL dictionaries at both locations, and starts a translation of the frozen AZL dictionary to a static SZL dictionary--at least at the transmitting location. The SZL dictionary is then used to compress records being transmitted. An index translation process is generates translation information to allow the receiving locations to decompress SZL indices into original characters. The AZL-to-SZL dictionary translation process re-organizes the frozen AZL to an SZL dictionary. The SZL process is used until either the end of the inputted sequence, or a time to unfreeze signal is generated. An SZL to AZL switch-over signal is generated in response to the time to unfreeze signal, which in turn signals a switch over back to the AZL process and invokes the saved frozen AZL dictionary to be used to until mature to on the current input data stream at which time the AZL is frozen and a switch-over signal is provided and a new SZL is generated.

The adaptive Ziv-Lempel (AZL) process is presently used by many commercial computer systems to reduce the storage space required by data files. The AZL process is disclosed in a number of prior filed patent applications, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,746 to Miller and Wegman assigned to the same assignee as the subject application. It describes and claims a ZL compression dictionary using an LRU (least recently used) replacement technique for continuously adapting (modifying) the dictionary to new input data strings being compressed when the dictionary runs out of unused entries to accommodate new input data character strings.
The ZL data compression process compares characters in the inputted sequence to trace through respective entries in the dictionary to locate the dictionary entries representing the longest matched input strings, and to output the dictionary indices of these entries as the compressed data stream. The indices may be buffered and then transmitted in bursts of indices to maximize the efficiency of transmitting the compressed records or messages.
The AZL process modifies a dictionary for each separately inputted sequence of data characters, which may be the inputted characters in a data file, or in a computer session being transmitted. The AZL process always continues the construction and modification of its AZL dictionary WHILE compressing data. An AZL dictionary is always changed by each new character string in the input stream of data being compressed. When the AZL dictionary becomes full, one of its valid string entries is deleted and replaced by a representation of each new character string being inputted.
The compressed output of the Ziv-Lempel process is represented by a sequence of dictionary indices representing the character strings detected in the input stream. Each index is expanded to the characters in the string it represents by accessing the string entry at that index and using pointers therefrom to access entries representing the characters in the string in a reverse order. Because of LRU entry replacement in an AZL dictionary, the index representation of a particular character string may change, such as if an entry is aged out of the dictionary and later is put back in the dictionary at a different index location when the string is again encountered in the input stream.
If data compressed by the AZL process is being transmitted, its AZL dictionary is not transmitted. Instead, an identical AZL dictionary (used for expansion) is constructed from the received compressed data (indices) at the receiving location in synchronism with the construction of the identical AZL compression dictionary at the sending location. Synchronized identity of the AZL dictionary structures is essential at both the sending and receiving locations, in order to expand the received compressed data into uncompressed data identical to the original uncompressed data.
Hence, the AZL process "dynamically adapts" its dictionary by continuously updating it to each newly inputted input string in the sequence. This is why the AZL dictionary is known as a "dynamic" or "adaptive" dictionary.
The AZL process may be used to perform compression/expansion at the same location, or at two different locations connected by data transmission. Only a single dictionary is used when performing compression/expansion at the same location, but separate identical dictionaries are needed when compression is done at one location and expansion is done at a different location.
Accordingly, the AZL process generates its dictionary(s) WHILE the data is being inputted for compression, whether the AZL process is performing compression and expansion at the same location, or at two different locations connected by data transmission.
An AZL dictionary can only handle records sequentially accessed from a data base, since its structure is totally dependent on the sequential nature of its inputted records. An AZL process does not expand records randomly accessed from a data base in a different order than the records used in the current construction of its AZL dictionary.
Thus, the AZL process is totally dependent on the sequential relationship of the characters currently being inputted for compression. For example, if the same set of records are inputted in two different sequences for compression by the same Ziv-Lempel process, each sequence will generate a different dictionary, and the same uncompressed record will likely generate a compressed record containing a different set of indices in the two sequences. Thus, the AZL process has an "input-record-order dependency", due to the AZL dictionary(s) being generated DURING the inputting of uncompressed data for compression.
A computer operates inefficiently with the AZL process when its input stream is comprised of "randomly-obtained" data, such as "randomly-accessed" small records or "randomly-determined" small messages represented in a data base. AZL processing must build a new AZL dictionary for every sequence of "randomly-obtained" records or input message. This is because the building an AZL dictionary DURING the inputting of a "random-obtained" sequence of records (or messages) ties the dictionary to that particular sequence, and it cannot be used efficiently with any other "randomly-obtained" sequence of records. This prevents an AZL dictionary generated for any randomly-obtained data from being used with any other randomly-obtained data.
The computer-efficiency problem with records randomly-obtained from a data base is solved by the static Ziv-Lempel (SZL) process described and claimed in patent application Ser. No. 07/968,631 entitled "Method and Means Providing Static Dictionary Structures for Compressing Character Data and Expanding Compressed Data", filed Oct. 19, 1992 and assigned by the same assignee as the subject application.
The SZL process generates its SZL dictionary(s) BEFORE (and not while) it is used to compress or expand any record in the data base. The SZL dictionary is generated from ALL uncompressed records in a data base. The resulting compressed records may be stored to provide a compressed form of that data base which occupies only a fraction of the storage of the uncompressed data base.
The SZL process allows any individual record in the data base (whether compressed or not) to be randomly accessed and expanded independent of other records, using the SZL dictionary without change (and no computer processing is used for any dictionary generation or updating). The compressed records may be expanded at the same location, or transmitted to another location where the expansion is done.
By generating an SZL dictionary from an entire uncompressed data base PRIOR TO using the data base, the same compressed record (same indices) is obtained regardless of the order in which that record is later obtained. Hence, it may later be randomly-obtained from the data base without any affect on its compressed form, unlike in the AZL process.
Accordingly, the SZL process generates an "SZL dictionary" that represents all of the strings within the records in a data base. (The term "records" is used in a generic sense to include any recorded sequence of characters, such as may be found in messages accessed from a data base.)
The invention in application Ser. No. 07/968,631 also discovered that an SZL dictionary used for compression need not be identical to an SZL dictionary used for expansion, as long as they use the same indices to represent the same character strings. That is, the content of SZL dictionary entries may be different for corresponding entries at the same index in the separate compression and expansion dictionaries. These paired SZL compression and expansion dictionaries are herein referred to as "corresponding" dictionaries, which may or may not be identical.
Increased computer efficiency is obtained by using separate corresponding SZL compression and expansion dictionaries, rather than identical dictionaries. Corresponding SZL compression and SZL expansion dictionaries may be used at the same location, or at different locations connected by data transmission.
If the expansion process is done at a location different from the compression process, all SZL corresponding dictionaries needed at the different locations may be constructed at any location having the uncompressed data base, and then the SZL dictionaries may be transmitted to any location wherever needed. Or if an identical copy of the uncompressed data base exists at plural locations, the corresponding dictionary(s) need at the location may be constructed there.
In a data transmission environment, the SZL dictionary may be transmitted to a receiving location after the dictionary is generated from the entire uncompressed data base at the sending location and before using the SZL dictionary. An SZL dictionary can be constructed at a receiving location only if the receiving location has the same uncompressed records and inputs them to the SZL process in the exact same input sequence as is used to generate the SZL dictionary at the sending location.
A "compressed-version of the data base" may be generated simultaneously with generation of the SZL dictionary(s). The compressed version of the data base may be used to randomly or sequentially obtained any record in the data base in compressed form.
No SZL dictionary is thereafter constructed during random-accessing operations of the data base, whether uncompressed or compressed records are being randomly-obtained at a location which is to transmit the record in compressed form. That is, the prior-constructed SZL dictionary(s) can then be used for the compression and/or expansion of records or messages randomly-obtained at any location.
Furthermore, the SZL process may also be used to compress and expand new or changed records or messages in the uncompressed data base AFTER the generation of the SZL dictionary. Any new character string in such new or changed record is compressed and expanded as containing one or more existing smaller character strings currently represented in the dictionary (due to being in the prior version of the data base).
The SZL process has been found to operate efficiently with randomly-obtained small compressed records, or messages, that need to be compressed and expanded at the same location, or need to be compressed at one location and transmitted to another location where the record is expanded.
Previously, it had been presumed that poor data compression would result from the Ziv-Lempel process if the AZL process was not used to continuously adapt its dictionary to its input data. This has not been found to be the case with SZL processes, as long as the data base does not change by a large amount. Thus, it has been found that the SZL process effectively compresses records randomly accessed from a data base as long as an excessive number of changes have not been made in the data base.
Thus, the SZL process allows an existing SZL dictionary(s) to be used with any sequence of records or messages randomly obtained in a large data base without constructing or modifying any new dictionary. That is, no processing is spent on modifying the SZL dictionary structure while using the SZL process for compressing and expanding any sequence of records. On the other hand, the AZL process requires a large amount of computer processing for modifying its AZL dictionary to adapt it to each sequence of randomly-obtained records. The result is that the AZL process is not as efficient as the SZL process, when used with new sequences of randomly-obtained small records and messages.
While the SZL process is being used, old uncompressed records may be updated and new uncompressed records may be added in the corresponding uncompressed data base at a central location containing the data base. Yet, the existing SZL dictionary(s) and any corresponding dictionary(s) at this and any other location need not be updated, in order to use these dictionaries to compress and expand the new and updated records in the data base, as long as the SZL dictionary(s) is not changed.
Computer operating efficiency is further enhanced by use of a novel structure for entries in the SZL dictionary disclosed and claimed in patent application Ser. No. 07/968,631, which obtains a further significant performance increase for a computer system (over prior art AZL processes). This novel SZL entry structure enables fewer accesses in the SZL dictionary than is required in conventional AZL dictionaries--for character-string-compare determinations within the dictionary entries. Reducing the comparative number of storage accesses for dictionary entries in memory (in addition to not having to spend processing on modifying the dictionary) enables this SZL process to be much faster than the AZL process (using computers having the same instruction execution rate).

Semi-static data compression/expansion method

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