An optical microscope is provided with an aperture element 13 and an optical modulation element 14 that creates an image having the detecting sensitivity of the phase contrast imaging technique while simultaneously realizing an image having the three-dimensional sense provided by the modulation contrast imaging technique. There are four regions (two of which may have the same transmittance value and be contiguous in portions of the optical modulation element), are provided on a single optical modulation element 14, these regions including a first light absorbing region 14a having transmittance Ta, a second light absorbing region 14b having transmittance Tb and positioned adjacent to the first light absorbing region, a first light transmitting region 14c having a transmittance Tc and positioned adjacent to the first light absorbing region 14a, and a second light transmitting region 14d having a transmittance Td, wherein Ta is greater than Tb and less than Tc, Ta is less than Td, Tc is greater than 0.5, and Td is greater than 0.5.

In the case where a colorless transparent phase sample such as a biological cell is desired to be observed using an optical microscope, the structure cannot be seen by using a bright-field view imaging technique. However, various imaging techniques are known that make such a phase sample visible. Examples of these are the phase contrast imaging technique, the modulation contrast imaging technique, the differential interference contrast (DIC) imaging technique, and so on.
The phase contrast imaging technique positions a ring ("ring" herein means--annular shape--) slit at a pupil plane of an illuminating optical system of a microscope, and arranges a phase-shifter (i.e., a layer which provides phase contrast) at a conjugate pupil plane of an image-forming optical system of the microscope. The relative phase delay of the light diffracted by the phase structure of the sample is only .pi./2 radians as compared to the zero-order light. The phase-shifter is positioned at the region where the zero-order light passes in order to negate the phase difference between the zero-order light and the diffracting light. Thus, an image of the phase structure becomes visible.
In general, light attenuation of an appropriate amount is provided on the phase-shifter, and the contrast in the image is thus increased by having the zero-order light intensity and the light intensity of the diffracted light carefully controlled. This has the advantage that an image with distinctive contrast can be observed with high detection sensitivity even for minute structures such as the granular shapes inside of cells. On the other hand, a disadvantage is that the ends of the structures are seen as shining white, due to a phenomenon called halo, and thus the detection of the outline of the structures become difficult.
On the one hand, the modulation contrast imaging technique arranges an aperture slit at a pupil plane of an illuminating optical system of the microscope, as indicated in Japanese Patent Publication 51-128548, and arranges multiple regions with differing transmittances on an optical modulation element positioned at a conjugate pupil plane of an image-forming optical system of the microscope. Usually, a light absorbing layer is provided so that it has an appropriate transmittance at the conjugate region to the aperture slit. A region adjacent one side of this conjugate region is made to be a light transmitting region and the region on the other side is made to be a shaded (i.e., light blocking) region. In the pupil plane, the position where light from the slit passes varies depending on the structure in the sample so that the phase structure can be observed with shading. Advantages of the modulation contrast imaging technique are that an image having a three-dimensional sense is obtained and little expense is incurred in practicing this imaging technique. Also, this imaging technique is well-suited for manipulating cells and the like in that one can easily view the outline of the structures with no halo. On the other hand, a disadvantage of the modulation contrast imaging technique is that the discerning of minute structures is difficult, and that the detection sensitivity is inferior in contrast to the phase contrast imaging technique. In addition, whenever the objective lens is exchanged, a complicated operation must be done in order to align the aperture slit and the conjugate region thereto of the optical modulation element (i.e., the absorbing layer).
In the DIC imaging technique, a sample is illuminated by two polarized light beams having respective polarizations which are orthogonal to each other by using a birefringent crystal. This technique allows minute structures of the samples to be viewed as a result of the minute structures affecting the polarization of the light. The polarized light from the samples is made to interfere. The advantage of the DIC imaging technique is that a three-dimensional sense is rendered to the image having extremely high contrast. On the other hand, a disadvantage is that the equipment becomes expensive as a result of using the birefringent crystals. And, in the case where the sample itself or a substrate supporting the sample affects the polarization of light, an accurate image can not be obtained. For example, the DIC imaging technique is not generally suitable for observing samples through plastic surfaces because plastic can itself change the polarization of the light.
As explained above, in each prior art technique for imaging phase samples there are disadvantages that arise in addition to the advantages. Thus, an imaging technique is desired to avoid the disadvantages while attaining the advantages.
Especially in the case where examining and manipulating biological samples and the like are performed under a microscope, it is necessary to detect even transparent, minute structures with a high sensitivity. Moreover, in order to perform accurate manipulation of minute objects and the like, the outlines of the structures must be clearly visible. Also, it is important to be able to perform observations without the influence of the characteristic on polarization of samples or substrates. Further, there is a strong need to eliminate adjusting operations on complex optical systems arising from exchanging objectives of a microscope, as is frequently the case while observing microscopic structures. Thus, it is desirable to be able to detect and manipulate samples easily and efficiently.
There have been attempts in the prior art to achieve the above goals, in an inexpensive manner, by combining aspects of the prior art modulation contrast technique and the phase contrast technique. An example of such an attempt is given below.
In an embodiment of Japanese Patent Publication 57-178212, a slit aperture is arranged at a pupil plane in a position displaced outward from the optical axis and oriented normal to the direction of displacement from the optical axis. A light absorbing phase-shifter having an appropriate transmittance is provided on an optical modulation element that is located at a pupil plane which is conjugate to this aperture Also, as an another embodiment, among the regions adjoining the light absorbing phase-shifter, the transmittance drops in at least one of the adjoining regions in the direction outward from the optical axis. In both of the embodiments, one of the positive/negative first-order diffracted light components is blocked Thus, diffracted light that contributes to the image is allowed to pass on only one side of the light absorbing phase-shifter which passes the zero-order light. In general, the contrast of the image using this technique drops as a result of the diffracted light on one side region in relation to the zero-order light being entirely blocked. For example, there is consideration of a thin flat phase object where the phase distribution is a sine wave with the period 1/p. The equiphase wave surface .PHI.(x) of the light that passed through this object can be represented as follows EQU .PHI.(x)=A cos(2.pi. p x)
wherein,
x is the axis direction parallel to the object, and A is the amplitude of the phase distribution. Then, the complex amplitude distribution E(x) on the phase object can be considered: EQU E(x)=exp {i .PHI.(x)}
For a small phase change, i.e., when A<<1, ##EQU1##
The above first term is the zero-order light, the second term is the positive first-order light, and the third term is the negative first-order light. When the phase difference of .pi./2 radians between the zero-order versus the positive/negative first-order light is negated using a phase-shifter, the above equation becomes the below equivalent value E'(x). EQU E'(x)=1+(A/2) exp(2 .pi. i p x)+(A/2) exp(-2 .pi.i p x) Equation (1)
In equation (1), when the negative first order light is blocked: EQU E"(x)=1+(A/2) exp(2 .pi. i p x) Equation (2)
The respective intensities of equations (1) and (2) are given as I' (x) and I" (x), as indicated below. EQU I'(x)=.vertline.E'(x).vertline..sup.2 .congruent.1+2 A cos(2 .pi.p x)Equation (3) EQU I"(x)=.vertline.E"(x).vertline..sup.2 .congruent.1+A cos(2 .pi.p x)Equation (4)
Therefore, in comparing the blocking of one of the positive/negative first order light components from contributing to the image (as in equation (4)), to the case where there is no blocking of these light components (as in equation (3)), the contrast drops to approximately one-half. Thus, based on the structure indicated in Japanese Patent Publication 57-178212, even though modulation contrast imaging occurs, the advantage of a high detecting sensitivity as obtained in the phase contrast imaging technique is not obtained.
In general, in the modulation contrast imaging technique, relative to the direct light (i.e., the non-refracted light by a sample), the transmittance drops in all the light that is passed to one side, since a light absorbing layer is arranged to attenuate this light. This provides contrast so as to allow a phase object to be viewed, with the contrast having the difference of brightness in the direction of refraction by the sample. In Japanese Patent Publication 51-128548, an example of a transmittance distribution of the light absorbing region on an optical modulation element which is used by the modulation contrast imaging technique is shown. The region that the direct (i.e., zero order) light passes through on the optical modulation element is at the center. A region on one side adjoining this region has low transmittance In such cases, even though there is contrast in an image of the phase object, the resolving power drops as a result of about half of the light flux that passes through the pupil plane being obstructed and thus not contributing to the image. In order to avoid decreasing the resolving power, in general, apertures are arranged displaced outward from the optical axis and the regions having low transmittance are narrowed. By said patent, each region on the optical modulation elements can have a phase shift effect. However, also in this case, as a result of the diffracted light being obstructed as compared to the zero-order light, the efficacy of the phase contrast technique is low, just like that of previously mentioned Japanese Patent Publication 57-178212.
Furthermore, in the above cases, because of having an asymmetric region on an optical modulation element in relation to the optical axis, every time the objective lens is exchanged, an adjusting operation must be done in order to match the alignment of the aperture and the optical modulation element. Specifically, in the case where the optical modulation element is arranged at a pupil plane interior of the objective lens, because the alignment of the optical modulation element is not necessarily uniform in a fixed direction with respect to each objective lens when the objective lens is attached on a revolver, the aperture must be realigned to each objective lens when the objective lens is exchanged. Also, along with changing the objective lens, the aperture must also be changed since the required aperture differs based on the magnification of the lens. In using a microscope the magnification is frequently switched, and every time this occurs an exchange operation of the aperture is required.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,569, a phase shift region and a light absorbing region are independently prepared for selective insertion at a pupil plane of the image-forming optical system and, based on a suitable exchanging of the apertures that respectively correspond, one can selectively switch between the phase contrast image and the modulation contrast image. Therefore, both the phase contrast effect and the modulation contrast effect cannot be realized at the same time. In one embodiment of this patent, it is also disclosed that there are two respective apertures, one for phase contrast imaging and one for modulation contrast imaging, on the same element. However, based on this construction, there is a difficulty in simultaneously imaging using both techniques. The reason is that the zero-order light from the aperture for phase contrast imaging receives a phase shift, although the zero-order light from the aperture for modulation contrast imaging does not have such a phase shift. Therefore, the interference effect of the zero-order light and the diffracted light is diminished and the contrast in the image is reduced. Even if the light absorbing regions for modulation contrast imaging were given a phase shift as well, the interference effect between the zero-order light and the diffracted light would be less than desirable as a result of expanding the region in which the diffracted light is given a phase shift.
On the one hand, in order to control the characteristic halo in the phase contrast imaging technique, a phase contrast microscope that employs a light absorbing region apart from the phase shifter at a pupil plane is described in Japanese Patent Publication 8-94936. However, the obtaining of the effect of the modulation contrast by said phase contrast microscope is not shown. In fact, because the shape of the aperture is also restricted to a ring, a modulation contrast image is not obtained. Also, even where nothing is clearly shown specifically concerning the position and width, etc., of the light absorbing regions which are arranged on optical modulation elements, the effects of both the phase contrast image and the modulation contrast image cannot be simultaneously obtained based on Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-94936. In summary, both the three-dimensional sense of the modulation contrast imaging technique and the high detection sensitivity of the phase contrast imaging technique were not able to be simultaneously attained by techniques that were suggested in the prior art.
As an example that reduces the changing operation of the aperture accompanying the changing of the objective lens, a ring slit of Leica is given. As for the ring slit, the exchanging of the ring slit is not necessary when there are changes of the respective magnifications because the ring slit corresponds to magnifications of 10.times. to 40.times.. However, because the aperture shape is a ring, when there is use of a high magnification objective lens, the effective numerical aperture on the illuminating side of the microscope is small, and the resolving power drops. Also, the halo becomes stronger and it becomes difficult to detect the outline of the structure of the samples.
On the one hand, in order to increase the resolution upon enlarging the illuminating ring slit diameter when a low magnification objective lens is used, the region where the zero-order light passes through the pupil plane of the image-forming optical system becomes larger. Because of this, there is a problem of diminished contrast.

Optical microscope which has optical modulation elements


The present invention discloses a metallic linkage-type keying device, which is installed to a casing, such as the casing of a camera, a mobile phone or a video camera. The metallic linkage-type keying device of the present invention comprises: a metallic linkage, having at least two joining portions; and at least one key, having at least two assembling portions. The key is installed to the metallic linkage via fixing two assembling portions to two joining portions. The metallic linkage-type keying device provided by the present invention can prevent ESD from attacking the interior of the casing via key gaps and has the advantages of compactness and low cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linkage-type keying device, particularly to a metallic linkage-type keying device.
2. Description of the Related Art
ESD (Electro Static Discharge) is usually the source of the electrical overstress, which damages electronic elements or systems. ESD usually causes external damages in semiconductor elements and disables electronic products.
ESD is likely to hit the interior of electronic products via penetrating through the assemblage gaps of electronic products. In a camera, the keys thereof are usually the gap-forming locations. The conventional keying device is often a one-piece design having a plastic linkage and plastic keys. In order to prevent the attack of ESD that penetrates through the gaps around keys, metallic plates are disposed in the perimeter of keys to guide ESD to the ground lest ESD attack the interior of electronic products. Refer to FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1(b) sectional views schematically showing that metallic plates are disposed in the perimeter of a keying device of a camera. There are two methods to dispose metallic plates 4 in the perimeter of a key 10. One is to dispose the metallic plates 4 between a plastic linkage 6 and a camera casing 8, as shown in FIG. 1(a). The other is to dispose the metallic plate 4 at the bottom of the plastic linkage 6, as shown in FIG. 1(b). In addition to the plastic linkage 6, which is thicker originally, the installation of the metallic plates 4 makes the conventional keying device 2 occupy more space; thus, not only the camera needs a larger volume, but also the keys 10 become larger and have higher mold and material costs. Accordingly, the present invention proposes a compact and ESD-proof metallic linkage-type keying device.


In packet switched data transfer of the cellular radio system, the control of the transmission power comprises characteristics as well of the closed-loop control and the open-loop control. Before forming the connection and during long pauses between the packets, the terminal device measures the control signal transmitted by the base station and compares its signal power (R0) to the target level (t0), that is included by the base station in the control signal as a parameter. The base station informs in the control signal also the transmission power, whereby the terminal device sets the same power to be its transmission power, corrected by the difference between the target level and the measured quality of the link (t0-R0). In addition, also the measured quality of the link (RXQUAL) is transmitted in the acknowledgment messages of the packets, whereby the transmitting device changes its transmission power so that the quality will be controlled to the certain target level. The biggest step of the change is determined by the length of the packets. In the packet transfer downlink, the base station uses first the maximum power and corrects then its transmission power based on the measuring information included in the acknowledgment messages transmitted by the terminal device.

The present invention concerns in general control of transmission power in a cellular radio network and in particular it concerns a method for controlling the transmission power, taking the special features of the packet switched links into consideration.
Cellular networks based on radio communication have become the most general form of mobile bidirectional data transfer. Links between the terminal devices and base stations are most generally circuit switched, that is, a certain transfer capacity must be totally reserved for the use of a single active data transfer link, irrespective of whether the link in question requires continuous data transfer or not. In the GSM system (Global System for Mobile Communications) dealt with as an exemplified cellular system in this application, the data transfer capacity to be reserved for one link is one traffic channel formed by one TDMA time slot (Time Division Multiple Access) being cyclically repeated as well on the transmission fiequency as on the receiving frequency.
In the circuit switched data transfer one problem is formed by the sufficiency of the radio frequencies. If a certain circuit switched link requires actual data transfer only occasionally, the capacity reserved for it is for the rest of the time unnecessarily reserved. The problem is particularly clear in communications like the data calls. Data transfer in a packet form has been developed as a solution, whereby the data to be transferred is formed into separate packets that include the information on the receiver and can be transferred at unregular intervals. Between the packets the capacity used for transferring them can be addressed to be used by some other link.
For the control of the transmission power of the radio transmission, the data transfer in a packet form causes, however, problems that can't be solved by the methods known in connection with the circuit switched links. For clarifying the background of the present invention, the control of transmission power and the factors having influence on it in a known circuit switched cellular radio system are briefly described in the following.
The cellular system comprises central and controlling devices, base stations and terminal devices having radio interface with the base stations. It is preferable to set a certain power limit of the radio transmission for each base station and each terminal device. In a terminal device, the limiting of transmission power aims both at decreasing the interference to other radio links and to decreasing the power consumption of the device. Decisive factor for limiting the transmission power of the base station is the decreasing of inteiference. It is profitable to limit the transmission power of the transmitting radio device as small as possible, but in such a way, however, that the receiving device is able to receive the transmission without considerable errors and distortions caused by noise and interference. The limiting of power is closely connected to maintaining the quality of the radio link and different parameters indicating the quality of the received signal are generally used in it. Requirements set for the quality of the link can vary depending on what kind of information it has to be transferred in the link.
The control of the transmission power can be based on open-loop or closed-loop. In the open-loop control, where the data transfer is bidirectional, the transmitting device doesn't get any information on the quality of the arrived signal as feedback, but it makes the decision on changing the transmission power by measuring the level of the signal it has received. The workability of the method is based on the fact that the transmission and receiving frequencies are the same, whereby the path attenuation in both directions is the same or so close to one another that the path attenuations at least strongly correlate. In the closed-loop control the receiving device measures the quality of the signal that it has received and delivers a parameter describing it back to the transmitting device. The closed-loop control is a reliable method, but the receiving of the signal, the processing of the parameters that describe the quality, and the transmission of the information back to the transmitting device take time. Additionally, the closed-loop control increases the signaling effort required for the radio link.
Factors that are in connection with the power control and caused by the signal attenuation can be classified to slow and fast ones. The slow fading is caused by the changing distance between the terminal device and the base station or by roaming of the terminal device to dead spaces caused by some object or by some terrain form preventing the radio wave propagation. These factors also have influence on the uplink and downlink radio connection in the same way, and the respective time scale is of the range of several seconds. The fast fading is caused by the fact that a destructive interference of waves propagating on different paths occurs by the radio receiver, and it happens typically in less than a second. Also, the influence of the fast fading on the uplink and downlink radio connections does not correlate.
In the known closed-loop control method applied to e.g. in the GSM system, the received signal level must be measured at least during half a second, after which the delivery of the result, that is, the measuring report, uplink from the terminal device to the base station controller, takes about half a second. The base station controller typically averages the received measuring reports for about two seconds and it takes half a second again to deliver the received result to the terminal device. So, the cumulative delay will be several seconds.
In packet data transmission the radio channel is reserved for a certain transmission for about 50 ms through 5 s at a time. The closed-loop control method described above is not applicable to that kind of radio transmission, because the transmitting device has no time to receive any control message at all before the transmission is ended. Even in those cases where the control message arrives in time, the portion of the transmission with wrong power is as to the time unreasonably big.
For a man skilled in the art it is clear that it is possible to try to speed up the closed-loop control described above, by decreasing delays in a way known in the art. In addition, the averaging can be moved from the receiving device to the transmitting device, whereby, however, the need for signaling will be increased and the transmitting device made more complicated. Known from the patent publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,398 there is a method, wherein the receiver of a wireless local network measures the signal power from every packet received successfully, and compares it with the minimum power value it has in store, by which the receiving of the packet will be successful. The receiver sends to the transmitting device information about the difference between the received signal power and the minimum power. The transmitting device calculates a moving average from the received differences and adjusts its transmission power so that the mean value of the differences gets closer to a certain predetermined limit value.
The power control method proposed by the publication is, however, mainly applicable to continuous transmission or to circumstances where the fading of the radio signal does not change in the course of time, because the quantities calculated from the received packets are no more valid, if the time between the packets is that long that the fading effects have time to change significantly. So, the method proposed by the publication is intended for wireless local networks, where the application area is in general an office surrounding and the terminal devices are during the use almost stationary with respect to the base stations.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method by means of which a device with a wireless packet switched link is able to control its transmission power taking into consideration the special needs of the packet switched link.
The object of the present invention is achieved by merging the features of open-loop and closed-loop control, whereby the feedback information required by the closed-loop is attached to the acknowledgment packet expressing that a certain packet is successfully received, and the open-loop control is used, when this kind of acknowledgment packets are not available.

Control of transmission power in wireless packet data transfer


A method for controlling a hybrid drive of a vehicle is described, the hybrid drive including as propulsion motors an internal combustion engine and at least one electric motor/generator, and the output shafts of the propulsion motors being operatively linkable to a power train of the vehicle. The propulsion motors and an electrically activatable braking system of the vehicle are activated in a coordinated manner as a function of a negative torque request, taking this negative torque request into account.

Hybrid drives for vehicles are conventional. In the hybrid drives addressed here, an internal combustion engine is combined with at least one electric motor/generator, so that a plurality of drive sources for the vehicle are available. According to requirements specified by a vehicle driver, the drive sources may optionally feed their driving torque into a power train of the vehicle. This results, in a conventional manner in various drive configuration possibilities, depending on concrete driving situations, which are used in particular to improve driver comfort and to reduce energy use, as well as to reduce pollutant emission.
In hybrid drives for vehicles, serial arrangements, parallel arrangements and mixed arrangements of an internal combustion engine and electric motor/generators are conventional. Depending on the arrangement, the electric motor/generators may be connected to the power train of the engine directly or indirectly. For the operative linkage of the internal combustion engine and/or the electric motor/generators it is conventional to arrange them so that they are operatively linkable with each other using gearing, for example planetary gears and the like, and clutches.
Optimum implementation of a driver's request for propulsion power from the hybrid drive requires coordinated activation of the propulsion motors of the hybrid drive, which is accomplished, as is conventional, by a device known as a control unit. The propulsion motors may be activated on the basis of a setpoint operating state of the hybrid drive to be determined by the control unit. The objective in determining this setpoint operating state is in particular low fuel consumption, dynamic drivability of the vehicle and low pollutant emission.
Furthermore, it is generally conventional to equip vehicles with an electronically activatable braking system, for example an electrohydraulic or electromechanical brake.

Method for controlling a hybrid drive of a vehicle


Antenna devices, antenna systems and methods of their fabrication are disclosed. One such antenna device includes a semiconductor chip and a chip package. The semiconductor chip includes at least one antenna that is integrated into a dielectric layer of the semiconductor chip and is configured to transmit electromagnetic waves. In addition, the chip package includes at least one ground plane, where the semiconductor chip is mounted on the chip package such that the ground plane(s) is disposed at a predetermined distance from the antenna to implement a reflection of at least a portion of the electromagnetic waves.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to antenna devices, and, more particularly, to on-chip antenna structures and methods of manufacturing on-chip antenna structures.
Description of the Related Art
Antennas for devices that employ wireless communication have traditionally been formed off-chip and subsequently coupled to an integrated circuit. However, as the size of communication devices have been scaled down over the years, there has been an increasing demand for more compact antenna structures. While specialized board technologies may be used to fabricate antennas therein, they are often unsuitable for certain applications. For example, for devices that employ frequencies of 60 GHz or higher, the design of antenna into specialized board technologies are quit challenging, as the tolerances of the board technologies are several orders of magnitude higher than microelectronic technologies. Transmitting the millimeter wave signal outside of the chip up to the antenna presents another significant challenge. Thus, one popular means of fabricating antenna devices integrates the antenna on-chip into microelectronic silicon structures.
The current state of the art of integrating antenna into a microelectronic silicon technology, for both RF and mm wave frequencies, provides structures that have a relatively low efficiency due to the loss of transmissions into a lossy silicon substrate and due to the fact that the antenna ground cannot be placed at a sufficient distance away from the antenna. For example, microelectronic silicon structures provide a limited distance (less than 15 μm) between the last layer of metal in which the antenna is situated and the first layer of metal where the ground plane is integrated. As such, state of the art on-chip antennas exhibit lower efficiency and provide a narrower bandwidth than antennas designed into specialized technologies. Further, their product applications are very limited.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A mixed-mode method for operating a vehicle's propulsion plant to travel at a selected average speed using the minimum amount of fuel. The method involves travelling in one mode at high speed part of the time, and in a different mode at low speed part of the time, in such a way that the average speed is the selected value.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to minimization of fuel consumption in multi-mode vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern vehicles that move on land, on sea, or in the air frequently have power plants with multiple modes. A truck can be in various gears, each of which is a mode. A multi-engine aircraft will sometimes deliberately operate with some of its engines shut down. Each set of operating engines is a mode. Ships sometimes have multiple shafts, or multiple engines of different types, and a decision must be made regarding the best mode to use. Fuel consumption varies continuously with speed in each mode, and each mode has limits on the speeds that can be safely obtained.
The problem of mode selection is particularly acute for navy ships, because they must be capable of high speeds. The high-speed mode may be very different and less efficient than other modes, but must still sometimes be employed for tactical reasons.
Naval surface-combatant ships consume large quantities of fuel. For example, in Full Power mode four LM2500 gas-turbine engines power a DDG51 Arleigh Burke-class, guided-missile destroyer. Other modes where some of these engines are shut down, or where one of the DDG51's two shafts is not powered at all, are also possible. Depending on propulsion mode and speed, these four turbines can collectively consume from 600 to 7,000 gallons per hour (GPH) of distillate marine fuel. That means that the destroyer's fuel consumption while at sea is between one hundred thousand and one million gallons per week. For surface combatants alone, marine fuel costs the U.S. Navy about a billion dollars per year. Even a small percentage change in such quantities can have significant fiscal consequences.
The U.S. Navy is keenly aware of its fuel consumption, seeks innovations to conserve fuel, and prescribes how its ships should monitor, control, and minimize fuel use. For each ship class, sea trials are conducted to determine fuel-consumption as a function of speed for every propulsion-plant mode, and then published as standards in tabulations that can be used to plan transits and ship plant operating modes. Mixed-mode operations, however, are not included in those tabulations.

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


A road anti-dazzle device that is installed on a safety island to prevent car lights from stimulating drivers' eyes so as to avoid possible road accidents. The device includes a cylinder made of high-density polyethylene materials. The cylinder has a plurality of longitudinal adjacent curved faces that have turbulent functions to enhance the cylinder's resistance to wind pressure. The cylinder has an elongated slot on a bottom portion thereof. A bolt is passed through a securing disk and into the bottom end of the cylinder. The bolt passes out from the elongated slot so that a circumferential flange of the securing disk presses against the bottom portion of the cylinder. A long-handle spanner is used to extend into a through hole at an upper end of the cylinder to lock the bolt into a threaded hole in the ground. The cylinder is firmly positioned on the ground by the securing disk. When installed on a safety island, the cylinder is a circumferential circle that has the same sectional area when viewed from any angle thus providing the largest anti-dazzle area. Furthermore, as the cylinder is made of high-density polyethylene, it can return original shape after deformation when hit and will not easily break to cause secondary harm.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a road anti-dazzle device, and more particularly to an anti-dazzle device that includes a cylinder made of high-density polyethylene. The cylinder has a plurality of longitudinal adjacent curved faces that have turbulent functions to enhance the cylinder's resistance to wind pressure. The sectional area of the cylinder appears to be the same when viewed from any angle, thereby providing the largest anti-dazzle area to enhance anti-dazzle effects. A plurality of cylinders can be spaced apart on a safety island. A securing disk is used to press the bottom portion of the cylinder to the ground. A bolt is used to firmly position the cylinder on the ground. When the cylinder is hit, it can automatically restore its original shape and will not break to cause secondary harm.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Conventional anti-dazzle plates are made of glass fiber or hard plastics (PE). Once they are hit, they will break into pieces, which may cause another road accident. Anti-dazzle plates are installed on safety islands. As their side views reduce their sectional areas, the anti-dazzle effect is affected.

Shu Kun Tsun, Shu Kun Hsiang Taichung Hsien


A regenerative adsorption process and a multi-reactor regenerative adsorption chiller assembly including a condenser adapted to receive a coolant from a source; an evaporator connected to the condenser to provide a refrigerant circuit; a plurality of reactors, each being able to operate in adsorption and desorption modes and having a coolant inlet to directly or indirectly receive coolant when operating in adsorption mode before, after or simultaneous with the condenser, and a waste heat inlet for directly or indirectly receiving waste heat from a waste heat source when operating in desorption mode; and control means for controlling said plurality of reactors such that each reactor alternately operates in adsorption and desorption modes for substantially identical time intervals, and such that each reactor has an equal chance of being the first reactor to receive the coolant when operating in adsorption mode, and the waste heat from the waste heat source when operating in desorption mode.

This invention relates to a regenerative adsorption process and an adsorption chiller designed for utilising waste heat typically having a temperature of below about 150xc2x0 C. for useful cooling.
Two-reactor adsorption chillers have already been successfully commercialised in Japan [1,2]. By making use of a silica gel-water working pair, such chillers have managed to economically harness the potential of low-grade waste heat for useful cooling before it is discharged into the environment. Insofar as adsorption chillers are concerned, some methods have been devised to improve the conversion efficiency of the potential waste heat to useful cooling. For example, schemes have been proposed where such waste heat is used serially in a string of adsorption chillers before it is finally discharged. As another example, a scheme has previously been proposed where the desorption temperature is significantly reduced by means of multi-stage thermal compression of the refrigerant vapour [3]. This enables waste heat to be further utilized before it is finally purged to the environment. From the trend of development of the prior art, it would be desirable to further improve the conversion efficiency so that maximum cooling capacity can be derived from a given hardware investment, waste heat and coolant flow rate.
Of equal importance is the need for a stable chilled water outlet temperature. Based on experimental measurement on a commercially available 10 kW two-reactor adsorption chiller, under a typical dynamic steady state operation, the chilled water outlet temperature generally fluctuates by xc2x11.5xc2x0 C. [4]. While such fluctuation may be acceptable for sensible cooling and rough process cooling requirements, it begins to pose a problem in dehumidification, and other stringent cooling applications. In the latter field of usage, vapour compression or absorption cooling devices have been employed downstream to attenuate the temperature oscillation. It would therefore be desirable to provide a smoother chilled water outlet temperature so that downstream temperature smoothening devices could be downsized or even eliminated.
Sato et al. [5-6] have proposed a multi-reactor strategy involving cooling the adsorber with refrigerant emanating from one or more evaporators. It may be desirable and more practical to have the evaporator devoted to cooling the chilled water, with the evaporated refrigerant being superheated at the adsorbers. Master-and-slave configuration is commonly found in these references for the arrangement of the reactors. Such master-and-slave configurations for the string of reactors may represent an under-utilization of downstream reactors. It would therefore be attractive to eliminate such rigid configuration.
Many other designs [7-14] employ re-circulating fluid to boost the chiller""s coefficient of performance. These arrangements are designed for use with a high temperature heat source, which is usually economically valuable; they are done at the expense of a lower firing temperature for the desorber and a higher cooling temperature for the adsorber. In the case of low temperature (typically 150xc2x0 C. or below) waste heat application, such a strategy may not be feasible. In this case, the objective would then be to maximise the cooling throughput of the chiller.
The present invention advantageously improves the recovery efficiency of waste heat to useful cooling. Recognizing that cooling water for the adsorber and condenser is a scarce resource, the invention aspires to achieve maximum cooling capacity for a given flow rate of waste heat and cooling stream. This advantageously also ensures maximum conversion efficiency of waste heat to useful cooling and reduces piping material for a given cooling capacity.
Advantageously, the invention also makes it possible to downsize or even eliminate the need for downstream temperature smoothening devices by providing a more stable chilled water outlet temperature.
Further, the invention advantageously reduces the risk of ice formation by providing for a sequential start-up of the reactor or reactors when the chiller is activated.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a regenerative adsorption process for application in an adsorption assembly comprising a condenser, an evaporator and a plurality of reactors each alternately operating in adsorption and desorption modes, said process comprising:
passing a coolant through the condenser;
passing the coolant emanating from the condenser through reactors operating in adsorption mode; and
passing waste heat from a waste heat source through reactors operating in desorption mode; wherein said plurality of reactors are scheduled such that each reactor alternately operates in adsorption and desorption modes for substantially identical time intervals, and such that each reactor has an equal chance of being the first reactor to receive the coolant emanating from the condenser when operating in adsorption mode, and the waste heat from the waste heat source when operating in desorption mode.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a multi-reactor regenerative adsorption chiller assembly comprising:
a condenser adapted to receive a coolant from a source;
an evaporator connected to said condenser to provide a refrigerant circuit;
a plurality of reactors, each being able to operate in adsorption and desorption modes and having a coolant inlet to directly or indirectly receive coolant emitted from said condenser when operating in adsorption mode, and a waste heat inlet for directly or indirectly receiving waste heat from a waste heat source when operating in desorption mode; and control means for controlling said plurality of reactors such that each reactor alternately operates in adsorption and desorption modes for substantially identical time intervals, and such that each reactor has an equal chance of being the first reactor to receive the coolant emanating from the condenser when operating in adsorption mode, and the waste heat from the waste heat source when operating in desorption mode.
The reactors operating in adsorption mode may be arranged in series and/or in parallel depending upon the particular operation, and also depending on the total number of reactors being used. However, the reactors operating in desorption mode are arranged in series.
In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of reactors comprises an even number of reactors, wherein at substantially any instant during the process, half of the plurality of reactors operate in adsorption mode and the other half of the plurality of reactors operate in desorption mode. Most preferably, the plurality of reactors comprises at least four reactors.
The flow rate of coolant and waste heat through the plurality of reactors operating in adsorption and desorption modes respectively maybe any suitable flow rate depending on the particular size of chiller assembly and design of heat exchangers. Preferably, the coolant is flowed through the reactors operating in adsorption mode at a suitable flow rate. A suitable flow rate is preferably any flow rate that result in a transition or turbulent flow regime in the channel of a heat exchanger, be it the chilled water, coolant and/or heat source. When the plurality of reactors comprises four or more reactors, the flow rate of coolant through reactors operating in adsorption mode is preferably at the suitable flow rate, irrespective of whether the reactors operating in adsorption mode are arranged in series or in parallel. Sizing and flow rates can be determined by those who are skilled in the art.
The waste heat is preferably flowed through the reactors operating in desorption mode at a suitable flow rate. More preferably, where the plurality of reactors comprises four or more reactors, the flow rate of waste heat through reactors operating in desorption mode is also sized at the suitable flow rate.
Similarly, the flow rate of coolant through the condenser may be determined for a specific application of the invention. It will be recognised that the flow rate of coolant through the reactors operating in adsorption mode will be somewhat dependent on the flow rate of coolant through the condenser. In a preferred embodiment, the flow rate of coolant through the condenser is at a suitable flow rate as described above.
As discussed above, the adsorption assembly comprises a condenser, an evaporator and a plurality of reactors, each of which alternatively operates in adsorption and desorption modes. In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of reactors are arranged in series such that, in use, reactors operating in adsorption mode constitute a first sub-series of reactors connected in series and/or in parallel to receive coolant from the condenser and reactors operating in desorption mode constitute a second sub-series of reactors connected in series to receive waste heat from the waste heat source.
Each reactor is preferably composed of heat exchanging material and contains adsorbents. The adsorbent could be any material, such as silica gel, that is able to adsorb, either by physisorption and/or chemisorption refrigerant, for example water vapour, ammonia, or methanol at a typical cooling tower temperature and desorb refrigerant at moderately low temperature (typically 150xc2x0 C. or below). The coolant from a cooling tower is first passed through the condenser and subsequently to each of the reactors operating in adsorption mode either in series or in parallel. The waste heat source is passed serially from one reactor operating in desorption mode to another reactor in the same mode. After passing through the last reactor operating in desorption mode, the waste heat is purged from the system.
The reactors are scheduled such that each reactor alternately operates in adsorption and desorption mode for substantially the same time interval, and that each reactor has equal chance of being the first reactor to either receive the coolant emanating from the condenser or the waste heat. Such a schedule ensures that maximum smoothening of chilled water outlet temperature is achieved. This arrangement also facilitates maximum extraction of energy from the waste heat to maximise cooling capacity. Cooling the condenser first and then the reactors operating in adsorption mode ensures that minimum coolant flow rate is used.

Regenerative adsorption process and multi-reactor regenerative adsorption chiller


Integrated circuits and methods for fabricating integrated circuits are provided. In an embodiment, a method for fabricating an integrated circuit includes forming a sacrificial gate structure over a semiconductor substrate. A spacer is formed around the sacrificial gate structure and a dielectric material is deposited over the spacer and semiconductor substrate. The method includes selectively etching the spacer to form a trench between the sacrificial gate structure and the dielectric material. The trench is bounded by a trench surface upon which a replacement spacer material is deposited. The method merges an upper region of the replacement spacer material to enclose a void within the replacement spacer material.

Parasitic capacitance of a field effect transistor reduces the performance of the transistor by reducing the switching speed. Specifically, the capacitive coupling of a gate electrode to adjacent circuit components limits the rate at which the voltage of the gate electrode may be changed. The delay in the changes in the gate voltage due to the capacitive coupling with adjacent circuit components is then reflected in an increase in a turn-on time and a turn-off time of the field effect transistor.
All transistors with a gate electrode, including metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), are prone to this type of parasitic capacitive coupling to adjacent circuit components by design. Particularly, highly scaled MOSFETs, in which contact vias to the source and drain regions are located close to the gate electrode, suffer from high parasitic capacitance between the gate electrode and the contact vias due to their physical proximity.
A gate stack including a high-k gate dielectric (a gate dielectric having a dielectric constant of more than 4.0, and typically more than 7.0) and a metal gate is a promising structure for continuing scaling of complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS). A replacement gate process can be used to form such high-k metal gates. In a replacement gate process, a sacrificial gate electrode is formed first and is then replaced with a gate stack including a high-k gate dielectric and a metal gate. As a result of this process, the high-k gate dielectric is present along the sidewalls of the metal gate. The high value of the dielectric constant of the high-k gate dielectric affects parasitic capacitance adversely since the parasitic capacitance is proportional to the dielectric constant of the material between the gate electrode and the contact vias. Thus, it is desirable to incorporate a lower-k value spacer adjacent to the high-k gate dielectric spacer for highly scaled replacement gate CMOS. However, even conventional low-k materials (such SiCN, SiCBN) have k values of at least about 5. Further, such low-k materials suffer from the release of carbon during spacer etch processing or during subsequent source/drain activation annealing.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide integrated circuits and methods for fabricating integrated circuits with reduced parasitic capacitance. Further, it is desirable to provide integrated circuits and methods for fabricating integrated circuits with high-k metal gates formed by replacement gate processes that provide for self-aligned contacts and reduced parasitic capacitance. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Integrated circuits and methods for fabricating integrated circuits with reduced parasitic capacitance


A generator having electronic circuit breakers as circuit breakers, whereby circuits comprising thyristors, IGBT elements and/or GTO thyristors are used, and whereby the circuit breakers are integrated into the generator, preferably in that the circuit breakers are distributed on parallel winding branches of the stator. Such power electronics can also be used for switching generators having a power above 50 MV with very short switching times of a few milliseconds.

Circuit breakers are devices that serve to connect and disconnect current-carrying phase conductors in a three-phase network as needed. Whenever a sensor detects an error in the network, which typically manifests itself in the form of a voltage drop or a corresponding change in the current, such a circuit breaker opens one or more of the three phases, thus preventing the further flow of current. Such a circuit breaker can also be used as a reclosing switch in order to once again connect the current-carrying contacts.
Typically, such circuit breakers are configured as mechanical switches. The dimensioning is essentially determined by the maximum breaking capacity, which can amount to several thousand MVA. The switch uses the periodically occurring current zero crossings for switching off. Nevertheless, so-called electric arcs occur when the contacts are disconnected. In order to be able to dissipate these discharges in a controlled manner, the actual mechanical contacts are normally arranged in an arc quenching chamber, which is filled with an inert, electrically insulating gas such as, for example, SF6. Such a structure is described, for instance, in the ABB Review March 2002, pages 34 to 40.
Although mechanical circuit breakers for generators are capable of handling the power that is present in high-voltage networks, even with repeated closing and opening procedures of the circuit, they do have drawbacks, on the one hand, fundamentally because of their mechanical nature (wear) and, on the other hand, because of the fact that conventional circuit breakers require switching times (actuating signal until the voltage returns) of 60 to 120 ms. Accordingly, unavoidably high generator currents occur before the switch can effectuate the interruption.


A vehicle door latch device comprises a latch assembly fixed to a vehicle back door and a motorized closure assembly attached to the latch assembly. The latch assembly includes a housing, a latch accommodated in the housing by a latch shaft, and a ratchet accomodated in the housing by a ratchet shaft. The motorized closure assembly has an electric motor and a rotating lever for displacing the latch from a half-latched position to a full-latched position. The latch has a latch arm which substantially extends toward an outer panel of the door and overlaps with a rotating locus of the rotating lever.

The present invention relates to a latch device for a vehicle door with a motorized closure assembly, and particularly relates to a compact latch device suitably used in a vehicle back door.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,425 conventionally proposes a latch device for a vehicle door which comprises a latch assembly holding a vehicle door in a closed state by engaging with a striker fixed to a vehicle body, and a motorized closure assembly displacing the latch assembly into a full-latched state from a half-latched state so as to close the door completely.
The above prior art motorized closure assembly is designed so as to be arranged in a place separated from the latch assembly, so that it is unsuitable for use in a back door which has a narrow attaching space.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,579 describes a latch device of a vehicle door having an outer panel and an inner panel. This prior art latch device has a latch assembly (A) which is fixed to an end portion of the door and has a latch (7) engageable with a striker (81) fixed to a vehicle body and a ratchet (15) for holding the engagement between the latch (7) and the striker (81) by engaging with the latch (7); said latch (7) being rotated against a resilient force of a spring (9) from a door-opening position to a full-latched position through a half-latched position by engaging with the striker (81); said latch (7) being supported by a latch shaft (8); said ratchet (15) being supported by a ratchet shaft (16) parallel to the latch shaft (8); a motorized closure assembly (40) which is attached to the door in proximity to the latch assembly (A) and has an electric motor (43), an output member (57) rotated by the electric motor (43), a rotating lever (58) for rotating the latch (7) from the half-latched position to the full-latched position when rotated, and a connecting member (59) displaceable between a connecting position where rotation of the output member (57) can be transmitted to the rotating lever (58) and disconnecting position where the rotation of the output member (57) cannot be transmitted to the rotating lever (58); a switch (49) for detecting the half-latched position of the latch (7) so as to operate the motor (43); a spring (65) for biasing the connecting member (59) toward the connecting position; a fail-safe lever (60) displacing the connecting member (59) into the disconnecting position against the resilient force of the spring (65) when rotated; said latch (7) having a latch arm (20) which extends toward the inner panel and is overlapped with a rotating locus of the rotating lever (58) when the latch (7) is located in the half-latched position; and said ratchet (15) having a ratchet arm (24) which extends toward the inner panel.
The latter latch device has a disadvantage in that the latch arm (20) and the ratchet arm (24) extend toward the inner panel of the door. In the latch assembly, interior and exterior sides of the latch assembly are defined by the position of an opening portion into which the striker enters when the door is closed, which opening portion must be formed on the interior side of the latch assembly at any time. Further, the distances between the opening portion and the latch shaft or the ratchet shaft should be reduced as much as possible to compactly form the latch assembly. Therefore, it is impossible to increase lengths of the latch arm (20) and the ratchet arm (24) which extend toward the inner panel of the door, thereby large rotating torque is required to rotate the latch (7) toward the full-latched position from the half-latched position by a contact of the rotating lever (58) and the latch arm (20), and the motorized closure assembly (40) is large-sized. Similarly, large force is also required when the ratchet arm (24) is rotated.
Further, the latch device in the latter well-known example also has another disadvantage in that the motor (43) is greatly projected to the interior side of the latch assembly.


A data transmission method, apparatus, and system, a network side device, and a terminal device. The data transmission method is applied to the terminal device and includes: setting the terminal device to be in a first non-activated state or a second non-activated state, where in the first non-activated state, the terminal device does not listen to a paging message, and in the second non-activated state, the terminal device listens to a paging message within a first preset listening time or a first preset quantity of listening times, and does not listen to a paging message when the first listening time or the first quantity of listening times is exceeded, setting the terminal device to be in a connected state, and sending, by the terminal device, the uplink data after updating system information; and receiving downlink data that is buffered by the network side device.

In a communications technology network, such as the Internet of Things, a terminal device may be in two states, namely, a non-activated (Idle) state and a connected state in a process of communication between the terminal device and an application server. When the terminal device is in the non-activated state, a connection between the terminal device and a network side device is released, but a broadcast message and a paging message are listened to. In the connected state, the terminal device receives all downlink data and can send uplink data.
Generally, power is supplied for terminal devices by using batteries, and how to reduce power consumption of a terminal device that performs communication on a network is a key of whether the terminal device can be widely applied. In the prior art, a terminal device enters, according to a paging message listened to when the terminal device is in a non-activated state, a connected state to receive downlink data. In this way, the terminal device may be constantly switched between the non-activated state and the connected state, which causes relatively large power dissipation of the terminal device and high power consumption.

Data transmission method, apparatus, and system, network side device, and terminal device


A check mechanism is provided to regulate door speed of a roller supported sliding door as the door is manually opened or closed. The check mechanism includes an idler arm assembly attached to a door hanger with an idler roller attached to the idler arm assembly. The check mechanism further includes a pivotable spring biased lever arm having two inclined ramp sections. As the door slides, the idler roller contacts the lever arm. The inclination of the ramp causes an increasing retardation force to be applied to the idler roller, thereby retarding the speed of the door. After the idler roller passes a point of maximum retarding force, the door becomes free wheeling until a second idler roller contacts the lever arm of a second checking mechanism which in turn slows the speed of the door.

This invention relates generally to checking the movement of prison doors and more particularly to a means for controlling the speed of roller supported sliding prison doors.
In many prisons, heavy roller supported sliding doors are used to close prison cells. Sometimes, prisoners will slam the doors open or closed which can damage latches, locks, wheel bearings, limit switches and other door hardware.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present prison doors. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.

Checking device for roller supported doors


Provided is a method and apparatus for classifying geological materials using image processing techniques. The method and apparatus classify geological materials including stones, rock samples, and rock surfaces according to type and state by sequentially applying image processing techniques, such as a color space analysis, a granulometry analysis, texture parameter extraction and texture statistics extraction, to digital images of the geological materials. Since the method and apparatus extract quantitative figures that represent an entire image region by applying various image processing techniques, such as the color space analysis, the granulometry, the texture parameter extraction and the texture statistics extraction, to the digital images of the geological materials, the geological materials can be classified, which is not possible using a conventional image processing technique.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for classifying geological materials using image processing techniques, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for classifying geological materials including stones, rock samples, and rock surfaces according to type and state by sequentially applying image processing techniques, such as a color space analysis, a granulometry, a texture parameter extraction and a texture statistics extraction, to digital images of the geological materials photographed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional methods of classifying geological materials according to type and state mostly rely on experiential judgments of a few geologists. Since the conventional methods are based on a qualitative, not quantitative, analysis, they have revealed limitations in classifying geological materials. In various fields, image processing techniques are used to objectively and automatically classify target objects. However, techniques for classifying geological materials, such as stones and rocks, using image processing techniques are virtually non-existent.
Most of the conventional classification methods using image processing techniques classify some components within an image. For example, roads and buildings are extracted from a satellite image or defects are found in an image of a semiconductor.
The present invention is fundamentally different from such conventional classification methods in that the present invention aims to classify photographed objects themselves according to type and state, not some components in an image.
There are a number of conventional classification methods, such as a method of classifying cars according to type, which share similar objectives with the present invention. However, such conventional classification methods are also different from the present invention in that some components, such as a car's axes, in the case of the method of classifying cars according to type, are extracted from an image and objects are classified using the extracted components in the conventional classification methods.
As described above, the conventional methods of classifying geological materials according to type and state heavily rely on experiential judgments of a few geologists. Since the conventional classification methods are not based on a quantitative analysis, classification results obtained using the conventional classification methods are not regarded as reliable and objective results. In addition, it is difficult to secure experts in this area, and it is time consuming, and incurs high costs
When geological materials are classified using image processing techniques, it is difficult to extract the shapes of components of an image since geological materials, such as stones, rock samples, and rock surfaces, have non-uniform image characteristics.

Method and apparatus for classifying geological materials using image processing techniques

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A method is described for producing extruded French Fries-Style products from dough containing between 45% to 50% moisture, from 4% to 8% protein, and from 0.25% to 0.5% fibers. Said dough is composed of steam-peeled potatoes soaked beans, desired spices, flavors, colors, and fortified with vitamins and minerals.

This invention relates to French Fries-Style products, which is similar to traditional French Fries only in appearance, however the following are some points of difference between the two products.                1. Healthier than traditional French Fries since it contains less fat, more protein, vitamins, and minerals as per desired.        2. Flexibility of having various flavors, spices and shapes and dimensions.        3. Cost per production unit is cheaper than that of traditional French Fries due to flexibility in using various types of fresh potatoes and also due to the addition of beans besides minimizing waste in expensive fresh potatoes.

Method and composition for producing french fry potato products

Abstract: The dough is pumped under vacuum to specific forming heads containing openings of desired shapes and dimensions. The continuous extrudate coming from said forming heads is received over a solid conveying belt traveling inside a steam-heated path at an adjusted speed to expose the extrudate to steam for a certain length of time to bring the temperature of the center of the extrudate from 140 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. The extrudate is then received over a belt-conveyer traveling inside a freezing-tunnel where it is exposed to blasts of cooled air for a period of time to lower the temperature of the extrudate to 45 and degrees Fahrenheit or lower.

Abstract: The extrudate is cut to desired length, then packaged and stored under blast freezing conditions.


A device that includes an electrical output channel adapted to deliver a sub-threshold voltage, a lead that includes a proximal end adapted to be electrically connected to the electrical output channel and a distal end adapted to be placed in the blood conduit where the distal end of the lead is adapted to deliver a treatment agent that stimulates therapeutic angiogenesis, and at least one electrode on the distal end of the first lead.

1. Field
Resolving ischemia by inducing formation of blood vessels through therapeutic angiogenesis.
2. Relevant Art
A major component of morbidity and mortality attributable to cardiovascular disease occurs as a consequence of the partial or complete blockage of vessels carrying blood in the coronary and/or peripheral vasculature. When such vessels are partially occluded, lack of blood flow causes ischemia to the muscle tissues supplied by such vessel, consequently inhibiting muscle contraction and proper function. Total occlusion of blood flow causes necrosis of the musde tissue. Necrosis of muscle tissue causes scar formation, leading to cardiac remodeling and failure.
Blood vessel occlusions are commonly treated by mechanically enhancing blood flow in the affected vessels. Such mechanical enhancements are often provided by employing surgical techniques that attach natural or synthetic conduits proximal and distal to the areas of occlusion, thereby providing bypass grafts, or revascularization by various means to physically enlarge the vascular lumen at the site of occlusion. These revascularization procedures involve such devices as balloons, endovascular knives (atherectomy), and endovascular drills. The surgical approach is accompanied by significant morbidity and even mortality, while the angioplasty-type processes are complicated by recurrent stenoses in many cases.
In some individuals, blood vessel occlusion is partially compensated by natural processes, in which new vessels are formed (termed "angiogenesis") and small vessels are enlarged (termed "arteriogenesis") to replace the function of the impaired vessels. These new conduits may facilitate restoration of blood flow to the deprived tissue, thereby constituting "natural bypasses" around the occluded vessels. However, some individuals are unable to generate sufficient collateral vessels to adequately compensate for the diminished blood flow caused by cardiovascular disease. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a composition, kit and methods for delivering a composition to help stimulate the natural process of therapeutic angiogenesis to compensate for blood loss due to an occlusion in a coronary and peripheral arteries in order to treat ischemia.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,735 discloses regeneration of damaged tissue that begins with the growth and proliferation of cells which takes place along a migratory path and in a polar direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,710 discloses a method for sustained intravascular delivery via electroporation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,476 discloses a method and apparatus for affecting angiogenesis in biological subjects such as mammals.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,739 discloses a method for direct myocardial revascularization by providing a catheter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,084 discloses a method for improving blood flow in the heart that provides a catheter system.
U.S. Patent Application No. US 2001/0031986 A1, published on Oct. 18, 2001, discloses an apparatus and method for conferring a therapeutic current to the heart.
U.S. Patent Application No. US 2002/0010492 A1, published on Jan. 24, 2002, discloses a stimulatory device for the controlled production of angiogenic growth factors.
U.S. Patent Application No. US 2002/0022863 A1, published on Feb. 21, 2002, discloses an apparatus and method for conferring a therapeutic current on the heart.
U.S. Patent Application No. US 2002/0026228 A1, published on Feb. 28, 2002, discloses an electrode for intravascular stimulation, cardioversion and/or defibrillation.

Devices and methods to stimulate therapeutic angiogenesis for ischemia and heart failure


In the poured concrete wall industry, adjacent form panels are commonly coupled together by a slotted pin and wedge combination. Advantageously, the slotted pin and wedge combination includes a sloped wedge so that the narrow end of the wedge is spaced from the wall panels for easy access and disassembly of the pin and wedge when separating the adjacent wall panels after the poured concrete wall has cured. The sloped wedge is formed by a curved inner surface and a curved outer surface extending towards the narrow end of the wedge. With the curved inner and outer surfaces meeting at a rounded blunt end to allow a hammer to strike the wedge free of the slotted pin upon disassembly of the form panels.

This invention relates to wall forms for poured concrete walls, and more particularly, to connecting hardware for panels coupled together to construct the wall forms.
It is well known in the art to use prefabricated reusable panel units to construct a wall form for a poured concrete wall. The hardware associated with such panels connects the panels to one another to form the wall form.
Typically, each panel has a marginal frame projecting rearwardly from a back face of the panel to include a flange along the spaced side edges of the panel. The flanges are adapted to be positioned in an edge to edge relationship with the flange of an adjacent panel to construct a concrete wall form. Holes in the flanges of the adjacent panels can be aligned to receive therethrough the shank of a pin or a bolt. The bolt or pin may pass through the ends of tie-rods and are held in position commonly by wedges which are driven though a slot in the shank of the bolt or pin. As the wedges are driven in place, the abutting flanges of the adjacent panel units are drawn together. The pins and wedges constitute a simple mechanism for effectively coupling the panels together. Furthermore, the pins and wedges can be removed from the panels during the dismantling of the wall form by knocking out the wedges from the slots and sliding the pins from their holes to release the adjacent panel units.
In the construction of a concrete wall form, a large quantity of hardware is necessary to connect the adjacent panels together and it is customary for the workers performing the construction operation to carry with them a large bucket of the pins and wedges to join the adjacent panels together. During such operations, the disassembly of the wall forms and connected panels can be very time consuming. One procedure required during the disassembly of the wall forms is the removal of the wedges from the pins. Known wedges are quadrangular and tapered with generally straight side edges and a top end which is wider than a bottom end. When secured in place, the bottom, narrow end of the wedge is lodged in abutting relationship or very close to if not in contact with the flange of the panel. Therefore, the worker often finds it difficult to easily access the narrow end of the wedge to dislodge it from the slot in the pin. Further, since the shorter more narrow bottom end of the wedge must be struck for dislodgement, it is even more difficult for the worker to access and disassemble the large number of pin and wedge assemblies in a very tight, confined and inaccessible location.
Furthermore, the wall forms are commonly constructed in excavated areas such as ditches and trenches when preparing the wall form for a poured concrete wall in a residential basement or below ground floor of a commercial building. As such, the work space for constructing the wall form and for the workers to maneuver and manipulate the associated hardware is extremely tight and limited. Therefore, the installation and disassembly of the pins and wedges is even more difficult and the retrieval of any lost hardware is very problematic. The cost of labor and materials, therefore, has increased accordingly.
One prior art solution to some of these problems has been to permanently connect the attachment hardware to the panels. With such devices, each panel includes numerous such mechanisms. Problems frequently arise because the hardware permanently affixed to the panels breaks or requires repair thereby taking that particular panel out of service until it is repaired. Furthermore, due to the addition of the attachment hardware, each panel is significantly heavier placing a much greater burden on the workers for transporting, installing and manipulating the panels when constructing and disassembling the wall form. Moreover, a particular contractor may have an inventory of panels which are not compatible with the panels having permanently affixed hardware thereby requiring the contractor to entirely discard the current supply of the panels and associated hardware in favor of the panels having an attached hardware design. Additionally, the cost for each panel is significantly increased due to the addition of the often complicated and permanently attached hardware.
Therefore, there exists a need in the industry for an attachment mechanism for coupling adjacent panels and constructing a poured concrete wall and disassembly of the wall form which is easily and conveniently accomplished by the workers in the field to avoid the time consuming and difficult task of disassembling the forms without increasing the weight or cost of the required components.

Sloped wedge for use with concrete wall panel pins


When a peripheral LSI has a memory space which is other than the memory space of a CPU, access is made without one of the memory spaces being aware of the other memory spaces. A flexible bus controller BSC makes address translation according to information on the relation between addresses of both memory spaces. The invention assures wider latitude in CPU type selection and makes it easy to reuse an existing program or develop a new program.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a peripheral LSI in an embedded system of a cellular phone, digital still camera or the like. Here, a peripheral LSI refers to a semiconductor integrated circuit which helps processing by a CPU core.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a semiconductor device called a multi-chip module or system-in-package which combines a CPU core chip and a peripheral LSI chip has been increasingly used. Usually a peripheral LSI in this type of semiconductor device starts operation according to a start instruction which it receives from the CPU core.
The peripheral LSI should transfer data between the CPU core and a peripheral device. As stated on pp.580-609 of "LOGIC AND COMPUTER DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS," M. MORRIS MANO, 2000, PRENTICE HALL, there are three data transfer methods which are used in such circumstances.
The first data transfer method is used in a situation which involves processing of large volumes of data as in video encoding. In this method, the peripheral LSI serves as a bus master for data transfer. The second data transfer method uses the CPU core as a bus master. In the third method, a DMAC (direct memory access controller) connected with the CPU bus serves as a bus master for data transfer. In all these three methods, the whole semiconductor device including the peripheral LSI makes up one CPU core memory space.


A cavity backed iron-type clubhead has a striking plate which has a point of least rigidity which is generally aligned with the center of gravity of the clubhead. The striking plate is formed between the front face of the clubhead and the back wall of the cavity. The point of least rigidity of the striking plate is adjusted by a rigidifying member on the back wall of the cavity which increases the thickness of the striking plate. The back wall may also include a rearwardly extending projection which is generally aligned with the center of gravity of the clubhead.

This invention relates to golf clubheads, and, more particularly, to an iron-type golf clubhead with a back cavity.
There has been a trend in recent years in the golf club industry for irons to be made oversized with a large cavity-backed face for striking a golf ball. The thin striking plate which is formed between the front striking face and the back wall of the cavity has a point of least rigidity (POLR) where the least support occurs behind the face. This point will deflect the most when it impacts a golf ball, and we believe that impacting a golf ball at the point of least rigidity will impart the greatest velocity to the golf ball, resulting in maximum distance for the flight of the ball.
For oversized golf clubs, the point of least rigidity or POLR of the face tends to be offset from the center of the face, usually toward the high toe portion of the face. However, this high toe area of the face is generally not functional since it is not used to impact a golf ball. The high toe location of the POLR might be the reason, in part, why some golfers hit the ball farther off of a tee than off the fairway and why "flyers" are sometimes hit out of the rough. In both cases the ball is impacted higher on the face and closer to the POLR of the face.

Iron-type golf clubhead with optimized point of least rigidity


A method and device for determining a thickness of a layer in an object. For each of a plurality of frequencies, a continuous vibrational wave is generated at a surface of the layer and an energy of a steady state echo wave produced in the object in response to the generated vibrational wave is measured. The thickness of the layer is then calculated based upon the measured energies of the steady state echoes.

The present invention relates to methods for measuring the thickness of a layer in a multi-layered object.
There are several prior art devices for measuring the thickness of a layer in multi-layer materials.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,974,886 and 5,197,019 disclose a method in which a short pulse vibration generated by a transducer is directed to the material. Each interface between adjacent layers generates an echo that arrives at a detector transducer at different times. The thickness of a layer is calculated as the time difference between the two echoes formed at the two surfaces of the layer multiplied by the sound velocity in the layer. However, for thin layers the time between the echoes is very small, and any error in the time measurement leads to a corresponding error in the thickness. In addition, a crystal transducer usually has several lobes, (a main lobe and side lobes) and the pulse echo of the side lobes will be superimposed on the main pulse echoes and will thus add noise to the measurement.
Another method known in the art involves submerging the material in a coupler liquid and obtaining the frequency spectrum of the material, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5.351,544. This however cannot be used for in vivo measurement since it is impractical to introduce a coupler liquid into the body. U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,520 discloses a method for determining the thickness of bone, but this method is not accurate for hidden or hard to access tissues, or layers of small thickness.
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for measuring the thickness of hidden or hard to access layers in a multi-layer structure.
In accordance with the inventions an input vibrational wave is transmitted to the surface of the structure by means of a probe. The steady state echo of the input wave is the superimposition of a series of echoes formed at the front and back surfaces of the layer. The steady state echo is transmitted from the structure to a detector through the probe that determines the energy of the steady state echo and stores it in a memory. The frequency of the generated wave is varied, and the energy of the steady state echo at each frequency is determined and stored in the memory. As described in detail below, the thickness of the layer is then calculated from frequencies at which the intensity of the steady state echo is minimal. The invention may be used to determine the thickness of a layer in an organism. For example, the invention may be used to determine the thickness of a bone.
The invention allows non-invasive measurement of a layer thickness and may therefore be used in medical imaging procedures. The invention may be used to measure the thickness of hidden or difficult to access structures, such as bone or arteriosclerosis in an artery.
Thus, in its first aspect, the invention provides a method for determining a thickness x1 of a layer in an object, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) for each of a plurality of frequencies f1, . . . fk
(aa) generating a continuous vibrational wave at a surface of the layer;
(ab) measuring an energy of a steady state echo wave produced in the object in response to the generated vibrational wave;
(b) calculating the thickness of the layer based upon the measured energies of the steady state echo waves.
In its second aspect, the invention provides a method a method for detecting the thickness of a bone, in an organism the method comprising the steps of:
(a) for each of a plurality of frequencies f1, . . . fk
(aa) generating a continuous vibrational wave at a surface of the bone;
(ab) measuring an energy of a steady state echo wave produced in the organism in response to the generated vibrational wave;
(b) calculating the thickness of the bone based upon the measured energies of the steady state echo waves.
In its third aspect, the invention provides a device for determining a thickness of a layer in an object, the device comprising:
(a) a transducer configured to generate a plurality of input vibrational wave pulses;
(b) a receiver configured to receive a steady-state echo wave produced by an input vibrational wave pulse;
(c) a probe configured to transmit a vibrational wave from the transducer to a surface of the bone and to transmit steady-state echo wave from the surface to the receiver;
(d) a processor configured to
(da) determine a frequency of each of the plurality of input vibrational waves;
(db) store in a memory an. energy of each of a plurality of steady-state echo waves; and
(dc) calculate the thickness based upon the stored energies of the steady-state echo waves; and
(e) a display configured to display the thickness.
In its fourth aspect, the invention provides a device for determining a thickness of a bone in an organism, the device comprising:
(a) a transducer configured to generate a plurality of input vibrational wave pulses;
(b) a receiver configured to receive a steady-state echo wave produced by an input vibrational wave pulse;
(c) a probe configured to transmit a vibrational wave from the transducer to a surface of the bone and to transmit steady-state echo wave from the surface to the receiver;
(d) a processor configured to
(da) determine a frequency of each of the plurality of input vibrational waves;
(db) store in. a memory an energy of each of a plurality of steady-state echo waves; and
(dc) calculate the thickness based upon the stored energies of the steady-state echo waves; and
(e) a display configured to display the thickness.

Method and apparatus for measuring thickness of a layer in a multi-layered object

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