Provided is a method and an apparatus for driving a display panel with a temperature compensated driving voltage, which comprises a temperature sensor, a temperature section register, a comparing unit, a voltage register, a voltage controller and a driver. The comparing unit compares temperature data output from the temperature sensor to temperature section data stored in the temperature section register and outputs comparison data having predetermined bits. The voltage controller selects voltage data corresponding to the comparison data from the voltage data stored in the voltage register and outputs a voltage control signal corresponding to the selected voltage data. The driver outputs a driving voltage corresponding to the voltage control signal to the display panel from among the different driving voltages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for driving a display panel with a temperature compensated driving voltage, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for driving a display panel by dividing a temperature range into predetermined temperature sections and outputting different driving voltages for the respective predetermined temperature sections.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) panel controls transmissivity of a liquid crystal of the LCD in response to video data that is to be displayed as an image corresponding to the video data. When a driving voltage corresponding to the video data is applied to the electrodes of the LCD panel, the molecules of the liquid crystal of the LCD placed between the electrodes are rearranged in response and, thus, the transmissivity of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel is controlled. The luminance of the image corresponding to the video data is determined by the degree to which back light transmits through the liquid crystal of the LCD panel and the color of the image is determined by color filters through which the back light that has transmitted through liquid crystal is input thereto, such that the image is displayed on the LCD panel.
A variation in the temperature of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel rearranges the characteristics of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel. That is, when the temperature of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel varies, the transmissivity and threshold voltage Vth, which is a minimum driving voltage required to rearrange the molecules of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel, change.
FIG. 1 is a graph that illustrates the relationship between the temperature T of the liquid crystal and a driving voltage Vop. The horizontal axis represents the temperature T of the liquid crystal and the vertical axis represents the driving voltage Vop applied to the electrodes of an LCD panel to rearrange the molecules of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel. When the driving voltage Vop varies in response to a temperature variation as illustrated in FIG. 1, the display quality of the LCD panel does not deteriorate due to the temperature variation. That is, the driving voltage Vop corresponds to an ideal driving voltage Vop_Ideal of the LCD panel.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the ideal driving voltage Vop_Ideal decreases as the temperature T of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel increases. That is, a relatively low driving voltage Vop can control the rearrangement of the molecules of the liquid crystal when the temperature T of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel is high. On the contrary, a relatively high driving voltage Vop can control the rearrangement of the molecules of the liquid crystal of the LCD panel when the temperature T of the liquid crystal is low.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for driving a display panel with a temperature compensated driving voltage. Referring to FIG. 2, the display panel driving apparatus includes a controller 208, a first driver 206, a second driver 204 and a display panel 202.
The controller 208 controls the driving voltages VopX and VopY in response to a temperature variation. The first driver 206 applies the driving voltage VopX controlled by the controller 208 to an X electrode, e.g., a common electrode of the display panel 202. The second driver 204 applies the driving voltage VopY to a Y electrode, e.g., a segment electrode of the display panel 202, which can be an LCD panel.
FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate driving voltages that are controlled in response to variations in temperature. A driving voltage Vop having the characteristic curve of FIG. 3a or 3b can drive the display panel of FIG. 2.
FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate ideal driving voltages Vop_Ideal and temperature-compensated driving voltages Vop_C. The temperature-compensated driving voltage Vop_C of FIG. 3a is linear with a negative slope. When the driving voltage Vop conforms to the temperature-compensated driving voltage Vop_C and is controlled in response to variations in temperature, the adaptivity of the driving voltage Vop to the temperature variation is low because the driving voltage has only one slope. Low adaptivity of the driving voltage to the temperature variation means a large difference between the ideal driving voltage Vop_Ideal and the temperature-compensated driving voltage Vop_C.
The temperature-compensated driving voltage curve Vop_C of FIG. 3b has a plurality of slopes S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5. Specifically, the temperature-compensated driving voltage curve Vop_C has the slope S1 at a temperature less than −10° C., the slope S2 at a temperature between −10° C. and 40° C.°, the slope S3 at a temperature between 40° C. and 60° C.°, the slope S4 at a temperature between 60° C. and 80° C. ° and the slope S5 at a temperature higher than 80° C.°. When the driving voltage Vop conforms to the temperature-compensated driving voltage curve Vop_C of FIG. 3b, the adaptivity of the driving voltage Vop to a temperature variation improves because the driving voltage Vop has different slopes for respective temperature sections. When comparing FIGS. 3a and 3b, the differences between the ideal driving voltage curve Vop_Ideal and the temperature-compensated driving voltage curve Vop_C in FIG. 3b is smaller than it is in FIG. 3a. However, the difference between the ideal driving voltage curve Vop_Ideal and the temperature-compensated driving voltage curve Vop_C is large in temperature sections where the slopes abruptly vary (portions indicated by dotted ovals in FIG. 3b).
Many attempts have been made to reduce the difference between the ideal driving voltage Vop_Ideal and the temperature-compensated driving voltage Vop_C such that the display quality of a display panel does not deteriorate due to variations in temperature.

Apparatus and method for driving display panel with temperature compensated driving voltage


A tennis net for installation on a tennis court which defines both singles and doubles fields of play comprises a pair of singles sticks used to adapted the tennis net for singles and doubles play. The singles sticks engage a pair of cap to prop the tennis net to a net post height as specified by the rules of tennis set forth by the United States Tennis Association. The tennis net additionally comprises a chevron shaped bottom edge which presents a straight bottom edge juxtaposing the court when the tennis net is installed according to the rules of tennis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game net and, in particular, to a tennis net.
2. Description of Related Art
The rules of tennis established by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and other worldwide governing bodies require that a tennis net have a height of 42 inches (1.07 meters) measured upwardly from the ground at the net posts of a tennis court, and have a height of 36 inches (0.91 meter) measured upwardly from the ground at the center of the tennis court. In order to meet these regulations, a conventional 42-inch (1.07-meter) high net is stretched between two net posts. A cable, which typically passes through a headband of the tennis net, suspends the net between the net posts. A center strap is then placed over the center of the net and is fastened to the ground to pull the center of the net down to a height of 36 inches (0.91 meter).
With the center strap pulling down the tennis net center, the center portion of the tennis net gathers and bunches up on the ground. The tennis net thus presents a "sloppy" appearance which detracts from the orderliness of the court. In addition, the clump of netting, which is in the direct sight of the tennis player, interferes with the player's ability to see the opponent's side of the court and tends to diminish the player's distance perception. Moreover, tennis balls commonly get caught in the folds of the net, slowing the game and causing the tennis player to fish the tennis balls out of the folds of the tennis net; a task many players consider a nuisance.
Most tennis courts define both a singles field of play and a larger doubles field of play. That is, most tennis courts define a singles court having a rectangular shape defined between a pair of parallel baselines and a pair of parallel singles sidelines. The court additionally includes a pair of doubles alleys positioned opposite from one another on opposite sides of the singles court. The alleys are 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) wide. The pair of net posts are positioned 3.0 feet (0.91 meter) outside of the sidelines of the alleys.
The tennis net commonly is installed for doubles play. The net has a height of 42 inches (1.07 meters) adjacent to the net posts and has a height of 36 inches at the center of the court. To adapt the net for singles play, a pair of singles sticks are positioned 3.0 feet (0.91 meter) outside of the sidelines of the singles court and are used to support the net headband at that location. Thus, the tennis net has a height of 42 inches (1.37 meters) at the singles sticks and has a height of 36 inches (0.91 meter) at the center of the court.
The prior singles sticks and conventional tennis net designs, however, suffer from a number of drawbacks. For instance, prior singles sticks bunch and twist the headband of the net when installed. This typically rips or frays the net headband, thereby reducing the "life" of the tennis net. Moreover, prior singles sticks commonly slip from under the net and frequently require repositioning during play. Tennis players also commonly misplace and lose the singles sticks. Because of these and other inconveniences, tennis players commonly play singles games with the tennis net set for doubles play, thus overlooking an official rule of tennis.
Thus, a need exists for a tennis net which is easily adapted for singles and doubles games and which does not interfere with the players' line of sight.


A combination messenger strand ground and cable lashing clamp comprising a jaw for gripping the messenger strand and a clamp assembly which is engageable with the jaw for clamping the jaw to the messenger strand. The jaw and clamp assembly are composed of electrically conductive material. The jaw is comprised of opposingly positioned jaw members. The clamp assembly is comprised of a stud-like member which is received by openings in each jaw member. A flanged portion of the stud engages the first jaw member. A first nut is threadably positionable on the stud to engage the second jaw member. Applying torque to the first nut clamps the second jaw member and the first jaw member together thereby clamping the messenger strand between jaw member claws and causing the jaw member teeth to pierce the messenger strand insulation and engage the messenger strand conductor. A ground connection portion of the stud engages the ground connector and completes the ground connection electrical path through the clamp assembly and jaw to the messenger conductor. The lashing wire is positioned between first and second washers and a second nut is torqued into engagement with the second washer to clamp the lashing wire between the washers.

This invention relates generally to devices for implementing a ground connection between a conductor of a cable messenger strand or innerduct on strand and a common ground point. The invention also relates generally to devices for terminating cable lashing wire.
The messenger strand insulation is stripped from the messenger strand to effect a ground connection in conventional installation techniques to which the invention relates. Once the insulation has been removed, a U-shaped bracket is positioned around the strand, a ground wire is positioned in contact with the messenger strand conductor, and the bracket is clamped to the strand.
Such conventional techniques are time consuming and require the use of multiple components. Stripping the insulation may be hazardous to personnel and adversely effect the integrity of the cable and strand.

Combination messenger strand ground and cable lashing wire clamp


A negative feedback system includes a first summation module for receiving a system input and outputting a first summation output. A first forward module is coupled to the first summation module for receiving the first summation output and outputting a first forward output. A feedback module is coupled to the first summation module for receiving the first forward output and outputting a feedback output to the first summation module, wherein the first summation output equals the system input minus the feedback output. An error compensation module, having a compensation gain, is coupled to the first summation module for receiving the first summation output and outputting an error compensation output. The compensation gain is adjusted to provide the error compensation output with a predetermined value, such that an output error of a system output is substantially eliminated by combining the error compensation output with the first forward output.

The present invention relates generally to a negative feedback system, and more particularly to an error compensation scheme for compensating errors occurred in the negative feedback system.
Negative feedback systems are commonly used in engineering systems to maintain a prescribed relationship between a system output and a system input by comparing them and using the difference as a means of control. This type of systems have a stabilizing equilibrium for the system. Even if there is a change of variable within a stable negative feedback system, it will attempt to establish the equilibrium. A conventional negative feedback system is composed of a forward module, feedback module, and summation module. The feedback module and summation module work together define the relationship between the system output and the system input. For example, the feedback module provides a feedback signal back to the summation module which will subtract the feedback signal from the input signal before providing the forward module with an input signal.
However, this conventional system inherently incurs a gain error. This error will be amplified by the forward module before being output from the system. The error can be further amplified if a system has multiple stages of the negative feedback systems, thereby causing an accumulation of errors. In addition, the conventional negative feedback system also provides a non-linear system output since the forward module has a non-linear gain. This also generates a settling time error, due to the finite bandwidth of the forward module.
Desirable in the art of negative feedback system designs are additional designs that provide a linear output with reduced settling errors, without incurring or accumulating errors.

Negative feedback system with an error compensation scheme

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


Embodiments relate to a concept for migrating an event detector of a first node (N1) of a distributed computing system (200) to a second node (N2) of the distributed computing system, wherein the event detector processes a plurality of input events (e; A, B, C) to generate at least one output event (D) based on the input events, wherein each of the input events has associated therewith an individual event delay corresponding to a propagation time of the input event to the first node (N1). It comprises transferring (112; 312), from the first node (N1) to the second node (N2), information on event delays corresponding to the plurality of input events (e; A, B, C) at the first node (N1); transferring (114; 314) a content of the event detector from the first node (N1) to the second node (N2) to obtain a migrated event detector at the second node; forwarding (116; 316) the plurality of input events (e; A, B, C) from the first node (N1) to the second node (N2); receiving (122), at the second node (N2), the plurality of input events (e; A, B, C) forwarded from the first node (N1) and, in parallel, from originating event detectors associated to the plurality of input events; and processing (124; 320), at the second node (N2), the plurality of received input events (e; A, B, C) based on the transferred information on the event delays and based on event delays of the plurality of input events (e; A, B, C) received from the associated originating event detectors.

Sensor networks, such as, for example, wireless sensor networks, have a wide range of applications. For example, wireless sensor networks of various technologies may be used for locating purposes, such as locating humans and/or other objects. Here, "locating" means the detection or determination of a geographical location or position. Some specialized locating or position tracking systems may be used for locating players and other objects (e.g. a ball) in sport events, such as, for example, soccer, American football, rug-by, tennis, etc.
With using gathered geographic location or positioning data of players and/or a ball it is possible to derive statistical information related to the whole sports event, for example a soccer match, or related to individual teams or players. Such derived statistical information may be interesting for various reasons. On the one hand, there are various commercial interests as certain statistics and their analysis may be of particular relevance for spectators in a stadium and/or in front of a television set at home. Hence, providing certain statistics may raise more interest in sport events. On the other hand, statistical data derived from the raw positioning data may as well be used for training purposes. Here, an opponent and/or the behavior of the own team may be analyzed as well as the performance and/or health condition of individual players.
The aforementioned locating or position tracking systems may be based on various technologies. For example, location information may be determined based on the evaluation of wireless radio signals and/or magnetic fields. For this purpose transmitters and/or receivers, generally also denoted as sensors, may be placed at the individual objects (e.g. players, ball, etc.) to be located by the system. Corresponding reception and/or transmission devices may also be mounted to predetermined locations around a geographical area of interest, as e.g. a soccer field. An evaluation of signal strengths, signal propagation times, and/or signal phases, just to name a few possible technical alternatives, may then lead to sensor data streams indicative of the geographic position of individual players or objects at different time instants. Typically, a geographic location data sample is associated with a timestamp indicating at which time an object was located at which geographic position. With this combined information kinematic data, like velocity (speed), acceleration, etc. may as well be provided in addition to the location data comprising, for example, x-, y-, and z-coordinates. In the sequel of this specification the location and kinematic data delivered by the localization sensor system will also be referred to as (raw) sensor data.
In a particular example of a wireless tracking system people or objects may be equipped with tiny transmitters, which may be embedded in footwear, uniforms and balls and whose signals are picked up by a number of antennas placed around the area under observation. Receiver units process the collected signals and determine their Time of Arrival (ToA) values. Based on a calculation of the differences in propagation delay, each transmitter's position is then continuously determined. In addition, a computer network integrated with the wireless tracking system may analyze the position or sensor data so as to detect specific events. Operating in the 2.4 or 5 GHz band, the tracking system is globally license-free.
Based on the raw sensor data streams outputted from the locating or position tracking system so-called "events" may be detected. Thereby an event or event type may be defined to be an instantaneous occurrence of interest at a point of time and may be defined by a unique event ID. In general, an event is associated with a change in the distribution of a related quantity that can be sensed. An event instance is an instantaneous occurrence of an event type at a distinct point in time. An event may be a primitive event, which is directly based on sensor data (kinematic data) of the tracking system, or a composite event, which is based on previously detected other events instead. That is to say, a composite event is not directly depending on raw sensor data but on other events. In ball game applications, an event may, for example, be "player X hits ball" or "player X is in possession of ball". More complicated events may, for example, be "offside" or "foul". Each event instance may have three timestamps: an occurrence, a detection, and an arrival timestamp. All timestamps are in the same discrete time domain. The occurrence timestamp is is the time when the event has actually happened, the detection timestamp dts is the time when the event has been detected by an event detector, and the arrival timestamp ats is the time when the event was received by a particular Event Processing System (EPS) node. The occurrence and the detection timestamp are fixed for an event instance at any receiving node whereas the arrival timestamp may vary at different nodes in the network.
The detection of events (Complex Event Processing, CEP) based on underlying sensor data streams has raised increased interest in the database and distributed systems communities in the past few years. A wide range and ever growing numbers of applications nowadays, including applications as network monitoring, e-business, health-care, financial analysis, and security or the aforementioned sport-event supervision, rely on the ability to process queries over data streams that ideally take the form of time ordered series of events. Event detection denotes the fully automated processing of raw sensor data and/or events without the need of human intervention, as in many applications the vast quantity of supplied sensor data and/or events cannot be captured or processed by a human person anymore. For example, if high speed variations of players or a sports object, e.g. a ball, are to be expected, the raw sensor (locating or position tracking) data has to be determined at a sufficiently high data rate by the underlying (wireless) sensor network. Additionally, if there is a high number of players and/or objects (e.g. in soccer there are 22 players and a ball) to be tracked the amount of overall geographic location and kinematic data samples per second can become prohibitively high, in particular with respect to real-time event processing requirements.
Hence, even if raw sensor and/or event data streams are analyzed and signaled fully automated, there may still be by far too many information, which is possibly not even of any interest in its entirety. In the future this problem will even get worse as more and more devices will be equipped with sensors and the possibility to provide their determined sensor data to public networks such as the Internet for (e.g., weather or temperature data determined by wireless devices like smart phones). For this reason the amount of sensor data to be processed further into certain events of interest will rapidly grow. Automated event detection may provide remedy for this by trying to aggregate the raw sensor data piece by piece and to determine more abstract and inter-dependent events, which may transfer by far more information than the raw sensor data itself. For example, beside the aforementioned soccer-related examples, such determined events could include "car X is located at crossing Y" or "traffic jam on route X".
The problem that arises in automated event detection is the required computing power for performing event detection on possibly massively parallel sensor and/or event data streams—and all this under at least near real-time processing requirements. This problem may be solved by parallelization of event detectors, which may, for example, run on different (i.e. distributed) network nodes of a computer network, which may, for example, communicate via Ethernet. Thereby an event detector automatically extracts a certain event of interest from an event or sensor data stream according to a user's event specifications. Individual event detectors may be distributed over different network nodes of a data network, wherein the different event detectors communicate using events and/or sensor data travelling through the network using different network routes and branches. Thereby, raw sensor data and/or event may be transported in data packets according to some transport protocol, like, e.g., UDP (User Datagram Protocol), TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)/IP (Internet Protocol), etc. This concept, however, causes new problems with respect to possibly unbalanced computational load among different network nodes and with respect to the synchronization of event data streams within the network. Without suitable countermeasures the computational loads among different network nodes are unbalanced and individual sensor and/or event data streams in the network are not time-synchronized to each other, which means that individual events may reach an event detector out of their original temporal order and thereby lead to false detected results.
Let us look at an exemplary soccer-scenario, wherein a plurality of parallel automatically operating event detectors is supposed to detect a pass from player A to player B. In order to detect the "pass"-event, the following preceding event sequence is required:                1. "player A is in possession of ball",        2. "player A kicks ball",        3. "ball leaves player A",        4. "ball comes near player B",        5. "player B hits ball"
The event detection for event "player X kicks ball" may be based on the event sequence "player X near ball" and a detected acceleration peak of the ball. There are the following alternatives for setting up an automated event detector for said event "player X kicks ball":
We may wait for individual required events—one after the other. If we have seen all the required events in the correct (temporal) order (here, any abortion criterions are disregarded for the sake of simplicity) we can say that we have seen or experienced a pass. However, for complex applications the detection of all the required events does not necessarily take place on a single network node or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) due to the parallelization of event detectors. For this reason it is not necessarily guaranteed that individual required events reach the event detector in the correct required order. This may, for example, be due to network jitter, varying and/or unbalanced CPU-load or increased network load. For example, consider an event stream consisting of event instances e1, e2, . . . , en, with ek.ats<ek+1.ats, (1≦k<n), i.e., the events in the event stream are sorted by their arrival time in ascending order. If any event ei and ej with 1≦i<j≦n exists, such that e1.ts>ej.ts, then event ej is denoted as an out-of-order event.
Hence, we could try to buffer events and then search the buffer for the correct event pattern. But which buffer size should be used? If we say a pass has to happen within maximum 5 seconds we would have to consider events within a time period of maximum 5 seconds after the first relevant event until we have either detected the pass or until we abort. However, it is also possible that the last relevant event is computationally quite complex, what requires a small additional buffer. But what is the size of this additional buffer? And what is the buffer-size related to composite event detectors that require the "pass"-event as an input event?
The K-slack algorithm of S. Babu, U. Srivastava, and J. Widom, "Exploiting k-constraints to reduce memory overhead in continuous queries over data streams," ACM Trans. Database Systems, vol. 29, pp. 545-580, 2004, is a well-known solution to deal with out-of-order events in event detection. K-slack uses a buffer of length K to make sure that an event ei can be delayed for at most K time units (K has to be known a-priori). However, in a distributed system the event signaling delays are dependent on an entire system/network configuration, i.e., the distribution of the event detectors, as well as the network- and CPU-load. Neither the final system configuration nor the load scenario may be foreseen at the time of compilation.
An approach by M. Li, M. Liu, L. Ding, E. A. Rundensteiner, and M. Mani, "Event stream processing with out-of-order data arrival," in Proc. 27th Intl. Conf. Distributed Computing Systems Workshops, (Washington, D.C.), pp. 67-74, 2007, buffers an event ei at least as long as ei.ts+K≦clk. As there is no global clock in a distributed system, each node synchronizes its local clock by setting it to the largest occurrence timestamp seen so far.
An ordering unit that implements the K-slack approach applies a sliding window with a given K to the input stream, delays the events according to their timestamps, and produces an ordered output stream of events. However, a single fixed a-priori K does not work for distributed, hierarchical event detectors. As K-slack takes K time units to generate a composite event, an event detector on a higher layer that also buffers for K units and waits for the composite event, misses said event. Waiting times add up along the event detector hierarchy.
M. Liu, M. Li, D. Golovnya, E. Rundensteiner, and K. Claypool, "Sequence pattern query processing over out-of-order event streams," in Proc. 25th Intl. Conf. Data Engineering, (Shanghai, China), pp. 784-795, 2009, avoid such problems by specifying an individual K for each event detector. Each Kn (n denoting the hierarchy level) must be set to a value larger than max(Kn−1), i.e., larger than the maximum delay of all subscribed events. Thereby a subscribed event is an event of interest for the respective event detector. The event detector of hierarchy level n subscribes to an event of a lower hierarchy level in order to use it as an input to detect a higher hierarchy event. Although this sounds good at first glance, choosing proper values for all Kj is difficult, application- and topologyspecific, and can only be done after careful measurements. Conservative and overly large Ki result in large buffers with high memory demands and in long delays for hierarchical CEP (as delays add up). Too large Kj must be avoided. In theory, for a general purpose system the smallest/best Kj can only be found by means of runtime measurements as the latencies depend on the distribution of event detectors and on the concrete underlying network topology. Moreover, best Kj-values change at runtime when detectors migrate.
With a given stream of incoming events ei, a key idea for overcoming aforementioned problems is to perform these runtime measurements by comparing an event's occurrence timestamp is with its arrival timestamp ats. That is to say, embodiments of the present invention are based on the assumption that a recovery of an original temporal order of events reaching an event detector via different network paths and, hence, experiencing different processing and/or propagation delays δ(.), may be achieved by delaying the events appropriately before forwarding or relaying them to a subsequent event detector. The time at which an event is relayed to the subsequent (downstream) event detector may be based on the original timestamp of the respective event and the processing and/or propagation delays of all input events required by the subsequent event detector in order to determine its output event.
In order to guarantee for a minimum required common delay value, i.e. to enable a possibly fast relaying of the (at least) two events, an output time for relaying a first and a second input event to their associated downstream event detector may be determined based on the first and the second event timing value (of the respective event) and based on a maximum delay of the first and the second event. Thereby a delay δ(.) of an event may be due to several reasons. For example, an event's delay within the distributed computing system may be due to different jitter conditions on different network paths, or due to different processing durations and/or different network latencies. In other words, a reception order of the first and the second event at the input of the delay compensator may be different from an original occurrence order of the first and the second event due to different jitter conditions, different processing durations and/or different network latencies.
The event delays of the first and the second event, respectively, may be measured or determined based on a reception/arrival time of the first and the second event at an ordering unit and based on their respective associated event timing values reflecting the event occurrences. When denoting a propagation or signaling delay of an event ei (i=1, 2, . . . ) from its occurrence or detection time tevent,ei (i=1, 2, . . . ) to the input of the delay compensator by δ(.), the ordering unit may be operable to determine output time instances tout,ei (i=1, 2, . . . ) for relaying the first and the second event to the subsequent event detector based ontout,e1,e2=tevent,e1,e2+max(δ(e1),δ(e2)).
wherein max(.) denotes the maximum operator. That is to say, the ordering unit may be operable to determine a maximum delay value taken from the set of event delays associated to the first and the second event. In case there are more than two events to be relayed by the ordering unit, then, of course, the ordering unit may determine the common delay value by taking the maximum delay value from the set of event delays associated to the more than two events.
Due to various effects within the distributed system the value for K=maxδ(e1), δ(e2)) may change. Also, when clk changes unexpectedly at an event detector, this may lead to wrong guesses for K and, hence, to wrong detector outputs.
The first aforementioned problem, i.e., a sudden increase of Kj, is rare as often event delays remain stable. If it occurs we cannot guarantee correct ordering in general. But a probabilistic safety margin for delays may be provided to alleviate this problem. In contrast, we can always avoid the second problem, i.e., unexpected changes of clk. An idea embodiments of the present invention may rely on is to no longer set the clock to the largest timestamp seen so far on any incoming events, but to only use a designated type of event for setting clk.
An unexpected change of clk can be avoided if we set a network node's clock only on certain types of incoming events. While the above definition of out-of-order events has identified events that are late, we now use the clk-values to postpone events that arrive too early. Between any two updates of clk, un-postponed events are ordered according to their timestamps. More formally, consider an event stream e1, e2, . . . , en as before. Assume that clk is only set by events of type ID. An event ej is an out-of-order event, if there exists no ei, ek, with ei.id=ek.id=ID so that ei.ts≦ej.ts≦ek.ts. The event delay of ei can be given by δ(ej)=ek. ts−ejts.
The remaining question is which event type to pick for setting clk. The higher the occurrence frequency of the picked event type is, the fewer events need to be postponed, the smaller are the resulting K-values, and the better are the measured delays. If there is a choice of event types, the one with the more stable and fixed delay is preferable, because it better reflects the real time. If otherwise the events of a certain type vary in their arrival times, clk does not behave smoothly. To increase the clock update frequency, instead of using just one event type, it is possible to use a set of event types to set the clock, provided those event types have the same absolute delays, for example if they are sensor events from the same source. High data rate sensor events with precise timestamps are excellent candidates.
Taking sensor events, i.e. raw sensor data, as stable clock update events let us determine a proper value for K. But the first problem of sudden increases of K is still open. If K is too small, we miss events or process them out-of-order, and then increase K to fit for future event delays. With an added safety margin, i.e., a slightly larger K, such detection errors can be avoided. Instead of fixing K after an error has occurred, it is possible to overfit K with the expected variation of the delays. Remember that K is defined as the maximal delay of all subscribed events of an event detector. Estimating the delays of the particular events more exactly results in a safer K-value. To make a better guess for the delay that we expect for an event ei, it is possible to use all recent delay measurements of ei and determine their standard deviation. The guessed delay is then the maximal delay of ei plus the product of the standard deviation and a scaling factor λ. λ may be defined by the system architect and has influence on the probability that K will be large enough. With such K-values we can order input event streams even with unstable event delays.
However, if a K-value grows for a certain event detector, this fact remains unknown to a subscribing event detector further up the detector hierarchy. The upper level detector will only notice a changed and potentially too large delay when the subscribed event is actually generated. Then the upper level K may be too small to avoid misdetection and retrofitting of K. But the upper level detector could have modified its K early enough if it only had been informed earlier. Hence, whenever K changes it is possible to notify subscribers so that they can modify their K-values if necessary. For that, it is possible to immediately send a pseudo-event with a suitable timestamp. The recipient may only use such a pseudo-event for configuration purposes.
Now, we have both a sufficiently good K and a stable clock clk. However, this does not yet produce a sorted or ordered event stream. We need an event ordering unit that works on an out-of-order stream to provide a sorted input to the subsequent detector. Such an ordering unit may be implemented as a black box and may just be mounted between the original event stream and the input of the event detector so that there is no need to modify the event detector itself. The output stream of the ordering unit is a sorted sequence of events with a minimal delay. Whenever an input event is received (pseudo-events are ignored), it is sorted into a buffer of the ordering unit according to its occurrence timestamp. If out-of-order events are rare, insertion sort of new events usually is just a simple and fast push to the head of the buffer. Whenever clk is updated and et.ts+K≦clk holds for some tail events ei in the buffer, those ei may be emitted to the output stream of the ordering unit and the next input event may be processed.
Note that there is usually more than one event detector per machine or network node, each of which may have a dedicated ordering unit with a suitable and detector-specific K that only picks its subscribed events from the main event stream.
In distributed event processing it may be necessary to move an event detector from one machine to another at runtime. This may be caused by many reasons, e.g., machines may need to be shut down for maintenance or due to system failures, or machines may get overloaded or even exhausted and cannot perform their event processing jobs fast enough. Those changes may be a result of the dynamics in the analyzed environment, for instance sudden stock trades.
Related work on runtime migration of processes or objects is mainly done in the area of virtual machines (VMs). For example, R. Bradford, E. Kotsovinos, A. Feldmann, and H. Schioberg, "Live wide-area migration of virtual machines including local persistent state," in Proc. 3rd Intl. Conf. Virtual Execution Environments, (San Diego, Calif.), pp. 169-179, 2007, deal with the transfer of local persistent VM state. After migration, network connections are being redirected to the new host and commands from old connections are forwarded. The old VM is closed as soon as all the old connections are gone. However, both machines not only have to run in parallel while commands are being forwarded, but the order in that commands are received over the network is ignored.
CR/TR-Motion of H. Liu, H. Jin, X. Liao, L. Hu, and C. Yu, "Live migration of virtual machine based on full system trace and replay," in Proc. 18th ACM Intl. Symp. High Performance Distributed Computing, (Garching, Germany), pp. 101-110, 2009, uses checkpoint/recovery and trace/replay technology to achieve a fast migration of VMs. Checkpoints from the source VM are recovered at the destination, and call traces from the source are replayed so that both machines are consistent. The down time is significantly lower than in previous approaches. However, the authors do not consider that the order of incoming commands may be different at the new host.
The approach of V. Medina and J. M. Garcia, "Live replication of virtual machines," in Proc. 10th WSEAS Intl. Conf. Software Engineering, Parallel and Distributed Systems, (Stevens Point, Wis.), pp. 15-23, 2011, is similar to CR/TR-Motion but assumes replicas right from the beginning. The user interacts with one VM, but commands are also sent to a replica so that both VMs are always synchronized. When the old machine stops working, the client-side protocol sends the commands to the replicated VM and presents the response of the replica. However, the commands are redirected from the clients' side, which means that ordering may be different after switching to the replica.
None of the approaches consider the order of incoming commands and/or data explicitly. That is because usually the source of the commands, i.e., the user's workstation, is static and commands are still received in correct order. However, if we deal with multi-user VMs, problems may occur if two users try to modify the same file. At the original VM, user A's command may be received first, whereas at the migrated VM, user B's command will be first. The VMs are then out-of-sync. Approaches like CR/TR-Motion would repeat the recovery and replay process in such unlikely situations. However, for event detection such situations are very likely, and migration would never finish.
Hence, it is desirable to improve the state-of-the-art for efficiently and safely migrating event detectors operating on incoming out-of-order events from one network node to another.

Apparatus, method and computer program for migrating an event detector process

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


The light emitting device includes a light emitting element, a wavelength converter, and a light guider. The light emitting element has an element upper surface, an element lower surface, and an element side surface. The wavelength converter has a converter lower surface. The wavelength is provided to be connected to the light emitting element. The converter lower surface has an exposed region that does not face the element upper surface. The light guider guides light from the light emitting element to the wavelength converter. The light guider covers the element side surface and the exposed region. The wavelength converter includes first and second wavelength converter parts. The first wavelength converter part faces the element upper surface and has a first thickness. The second wavelength converter part does not face the element upper surface and has a second thickness thinner than the first thickness.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a light emitting device and a method of manufacturing a light emitting device.
Discussion of the Background
Currently, a semiconductor light emitting device which subjects light of a light emitting element to wavelength conversion with a phosphor and emits white light by the light from the light emitting element and light from the phosphor is used as a light source of an illumination device such as general lighting, street light, or a head lamp. Of these described above, for example, for the street light and the head lamp, a light emitting device with high front luminance is required, and various light emitting devices have been conventionally suggested.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-218274 suggests a light emitting device including a wavelength conversion layer and a reflective member for the purpose of ensuring high front luminance. The wavelength conversion layer is disposed on the upper portion of the light emitting element, converts the wavelength of light from a light-emitting element, and is formed of a light transmissive member containing a phosphor. The reflective member is disposed adjacently to a side surface of this wavelength conversion layer and a side surface of the light emitting element.
Moreover, for the purpose of improving phosphor concentration, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-120722 suggests a light emitting device including a wavelength conversion member disposed on an upper surface of a light emitting element with a bonding layer in between, a light transmissive member disposed on an upper surface of the wavelength conversion member integrally therewith, and a light reflective member disposed along side surfaces of the light emitting element, the wavelength conversion member, and the light transmissive member.
For the purpose of reducing color unevenness on a light emitting surface, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-156180 suggests a light emitting device including a phosphor-containing resin layer disposed on a light emitting element, and a plate-like optical layer loaded on the phosphor-containing resin layer, wherein the phosphor concentration of the phosphor-containing resin layer is different between a surrounding region of the light emitting element and a region immediately thereabove.

Light emitting device having first and second wavelength converter parts


In a holding portion of a contact fitting, in a state before crimping of core wires, the thickness of a first distal end portion and the thickness of a second distal end portion are both 70% or less of the thickness of the bottom portion. The thicknesses are both smaller than the diameter of core wires of a lead wire to be crimped. The first distal end portion and the second distal end portion are formed by compression processing. Using the holding portion, a first side portion and a second side portion are curved such that they face the bottom portion, and the plurality of core wires are surrounded and crimped with the bottom portion, the first side portion, and the second side portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crimp terminal, a crimp body, and a method for manufacturing a crimp body.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto, there has been known a crimp terminal having a fixing portion that fixes core wires of a lead wire. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-5202 describes a crimp terminal including a fixing portion having a bottom wall and a pair of side walls erected from both ends of the bottom wall, wherein both distal end parts of the side walls that are located on the side opposite to the bottom wall are bent toward the bottom wall, and wherein an enclosing portion surrounding core wires of a lead wire is formed by the bottom wall and both the side walls. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-5202 describes that when the relationship between the maximum width of the fixing portion, the maximum width of the enclosing portion, and the minimum thickness of the bottom wall and the relationship between the maximum height from the bottom wall to the starting point of the side wall farthest from the bottom wall and the maximum height from the starting point to the end of each distal end part satisfy predetermined conditions, the core wires of the lead wire can be fixed firmly.

Crimp terminal, crimp body, and method for manufacturing crimp body


The present invention is for the improvement of inter-layer bonding strength in polypropylene films through the addition of ethylene as a mini-random copolymer in an amount of no more than about 1 weight percent, more preferably no more than about 0.7 weight percent, and most preferably between about 0.3 weight percent to about 0.5 weight percent or even amounts less than about 0.2 weight percent. The invention allows the improvement of inter-layer bond strength in multi-layer films resulting specifically in improved heat seal strength. The invention encompasses both the resulting films with enhanced heat seal strength and the process for producing such films. In the preferred embodiment, the proposed mini-random copolymer is formed into a film layer used in place of a propylene homopolymer layer, providing improved bonding properties over a film formed of polypropylene homopolymer, while maintaining at acceptable levels the physical and optical characteristics of a film layer made from a propylene homopolymer, such as stiffness.

The polymers normally employed in the preparation of biaxially-oriented polypropylene films are isotactic polymers such as isotactic polypropylene, although on some occasions the use of syndiotactic polymers has been proposed. Isotactic polypropylene is one of a number of crystalline polymers which can be characterized in terms of the stereoregularity of the polymer chain. Various stereo-specific structural relationships denominated primarily in terms of syndiotacticity and isotacticity may be involved in the formation of stereoregular polymers for various monomers.
Isotactic polypropylene is conventionally used in the production of relatively thin films in which the polypropylene is heated and then extruded through dies and subjected to biaxial orientation by stressing the film in both a longitudinal direction (referred to as the machine direction) and in a transverse or lateral direction sometimes referred to as the "tenter" direction. The structure of isotactic polypropylene is characterized in terms of the methyl group attached to the tertiary carbon atoms of the successive propylene monomer units lying on the same side of the main chain of the polymer. That is, the methyl groups are characterized as being all above or below the polymer chain. Isotactic polypropylene can be illustrated by the following chemical formula: ##STR1## Another way of describing the structure is through the use of NMR. Bovey's NMR nomenclature for an isotactic pentad is . . . mmmm . . . with each "m" representing a "meso" dyad, or successive methyl groups on the same side of the plane of the polymer chain. As is known in the art, any deviation or inversion in the structure of the chain lowers the degree of isotacticity and crystallinity of the polymer.
The isotactic polymers normally employed in the preparation of biaxially-oriented polypropylene films are usually those prepared through the use of conventional Ziegler-Natta catalysts of the type disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,298,718 and 4,544,717, both to Myer et al. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,723 to Peiffer et al discloses a process for producing biaxially-oriented polypropylene film based on an isotactic polypropylene homopolymer or propylene-ethylene copolymers. Other copolymers of propylene and alpha-olefins having from 4-8 carbon atoms also may be employed in the Peiffer process.
Catalysts employed in the polymerization of alpha-olefins may be characterized as supported catalysts or unsupported catalysts, sometimes referred to as homogeneous catalysts. Traditional supported catalysts are the so-called "conventional" Ziegler-Natta catalysts, such as titanium tetrachloride supported on an active magnesium dichloride as disclosed, for example, in the aforementioned patents to Myer et al. A supported catalyst component, as disclosed in the Myer '718 patent, includes titanium tetrachloride supported on an "active" anhydrous magnesium dihalide, such as magnesium dichloride or magnesium dibromide. The supported catalyst component in Myer '718 is employed in conjunction with a co-catalyst such as an alkylaluminum compound, for example, triethylaluminum (TEAL). The Myer '717 patent discloses a similar compound which may also incorporate an electron donor compound which may take the form of various amines, phosphenes, esters, aldehydes, and alcohols. Metallocene catalysts are often employed as unsupported or homogeneous catalysts, although, as described below, they also may be employed in supported catalyst components.
Alternative types of catalysts that produce isotactic polyolefins are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,794,096 and 4,975,403. These patents disclose chiral, stereorigid metallocene catalysts that polymerize olefins to form isotactic polymers and are especially useful in the polymerization of highly isotactic polypropylene.


The present invention provides inspection methods and structures for facilitating the visualization and/or detection of specific chip structures. Optical or fluorescent labeling techniques are used to “stain” a specific chip structure for easier detection of the structure. Also, a temporary/sacrificial illuminating (e.g., fluorescent) film is added to the semiconductor process to facilitate the detection of a specific chip structure. Further, a specific chip structure is doped with a fluorescent material during the semiconductor process. A method of the present invention comprises: providing a first and a second material; processing the first material to form a portion of a semiconductor structure; and detecting a condition of the second material to determine whether processing of the first material is complete.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention provides inspection methods and structures for visualizing and/or detecting specific chip structures.
2. Related Art
Many back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) semiconductor process layers and structures are optically transparent when planar. The optical transparency of such layers/structures makes undesired planar residual chip structures difficult to detect. For example, inadequate removal of a Cu BEOL TaN liner can result in low yields due to conductive shorts formed by the liner itself. An example of this problem is illustrated in FIG. 1. In this example, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) failed to completely remove the TaN liner 12 in the area 18 between Cu metal conductors 14 and 16. This can result in low yield due to shorts between the Cu metal conductors 14, 16 caused by the residual conductive TaN liner 12. It can be hard to detect such underpolishing of the TaN liner 12, since the TaN liner 12 is planar and therefore difficult to detect because of its optical transparency. A physical cross-section is often the only sure way to determine if such a structure is missing, not located where it should be, or present where it should not be. However, physical cross-sections are destructive, time and resource consuming, and must be provided off-line. Physical cross-sections also need to be directed to specific location(s) on the wafer or chip, unless the problem is very gross.
There is a need, therefore, for inspection methods and structures for visualizing and/or detecting specific chip structures.

Inspection methods and structures for visualizing and/or detecting specific chip structures

International Business Machines Corporation


‘Kakegawa S88’ is a new Petunia-Calibrachoa cultivar particularly distinguished by having a burgundy flower color and a mounding growth habit.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia-Calibrachoa and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Kakegawa S88.' It is characterized by having a burgundy flower color and mounding growth habit. The new cultivar originated from a hybridization in Kakegawa, Japan in May of 2003. The male parent was a proprietary hybrid Calibrachoa line named '04-44', having a burgundy flower color, medium flower size and a semi-creeping plant habit. The female parent was a proprietary hybrid Petunia line named '04H-54', having a pinkish-red flower color, medium flower size and mounding plant habit.
In May 2003, the new Petunia-Calibrachoa variety was developed using an intergeneric cross between a Petunia hybrid and a Calibrachoa hybrid species. After crossing the parent lines, 1,980 ovules were removed from flowers on the female parent and cultured by standard ovule culture techniques. In December 2003, 15 intergeneric hybrid plantlets were transplanted to soilless media for greenhouse culture and acclimatization.
In March 2004, 12 plants out of 15 hybrid lines were vegetatively propagated to produce rooted cuttings. In April 2004, the 12 plants were transplanted to an open field and evaluated for flower color and plant growth habit through July. In August 2004, 'Kakegawa S88' which has a bright burgundy flower color and a mounding plant growth habit was selected and vegetatively propagated. In September 2004, 10 cuttings were evaluated in an open field through November 2004. The selection subsequently was named 'Kakegawa S88' and found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.

Petunia-Calibrachoa plant named ‘Kakegawa S88’


An improved tape substrate design for a semiconductor package is disclosed. The tape substrate semiconductor package includes a plurality of die pads, a plurality of vias, and a pattern of metal traces interconnected between the die pads and the vias to form circuitry on the tape substrate. According to the method and apparatus of the present invention an extra metal layer is added at the circuitry to increase rigidity of the tape substrate, thereby reducing warpage without adding to the thickness of the tape substrate package.

The present invention relates to tape substrate-based semiconductor packages, and more particularly to an improved tape substrate design that reduces warpage.
Integrated circuits are typically packaged before they are used with other components as part of a larger electronic system. Most packages are constructed with die mounted on a substrate with bond pads on the die connected to conductive lines or traces on the surface. These substrates may be tape, ceramic, or printed circuit board laminate.
Tape substrates are very thin and are used for CSP (Chip Size Packages) and BGA (Ball Grid Arrays) semiconductor packages, which are ideal for cellular phones, and other such devices. Use of durable polyimide film makes extremely fine patterning possible, increasing circuit density.
Although tape substrates offer advantages over other types of packages, the materials comprising the package and the thinness of tape substrates create a problem when used for semiconductor packaging. The construction of a tape substrate-based package typically includes three different types of materials, namely, a substrate comprising kapton or polyimide film, copper circuits having a plating of nickel/gold, and a solder mask. Each of these different materials have different coefficients of thermal expansion, and in this case, the solder mask expansion coefficient is more dominant than the others. This difference in expansion coefficient rates induces warpage of the semiconductor package during and after assembly, resulting in die cracks. Also, when used in BGA packages, the warpage results in loss of ball coplanarity.
A current solution toward solving this problem is the use of rigid substrates, which comprise Bismaleimidie Trizine (BT) or FR5. Although rigid substrates do not suffer a problem of warpage, routing density is poor with rigid substrates and overall thickness of the package is higher. Therefore, for some packaging applications, the use of rigid substrate is not a viable option.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved tape substrate design that reduces warpage, but does not increase the overall thickness of the package. The present invention addresses such a need.
The present invention provides an improved tape substrate design for a semiconductor package. The tape substrate semiconductor package includes a plurality of die pads, a plurality of vias, and a pattern of metal traces interconnected between the die pads and the vias to form circuitry on the tape substrate. According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, an extra metal layer is added to the circuitry to increase rigidity of the tape substrate. In a preferred embodiment, the metal layer is added at the die pads, between the die pads and vias, and between the metal traces.
According to the system and method disclosed herein, the extra metal layer reduces warpage of the tape substrate package, which both minimizes die cracks and enhances coplanarity of balls in BGA packages. Furthermore, the extra metal layer does not increase the thickness of the tape substrate package.


The assembly includes a nozzle adapter rotatably mounted via a pair of axles onto a jet nozzle of a personal watercraft. A hinge rotatably connects a rudder and cap onto the nozzle adapter. A torsion spring on the hinge retracts and retains the rudder and cap in a position in which the rudder extends below the nozzle and nozzle adapter thereby positioning the rudder in the water below the watercraft to provide steering capability to the watercraft. The cap covers and blocks the nozzle outlet when the engine is not operative but when the engine is operative the jet stream forces thereof acting against the cap rotate the rudder upwardly so that it extends rearwardly from the watercraft and out of its steering position. The nozzle adapter includes an inner adapter attached to the nozzle and an outer adapter attached to the inner adapter. A steering structure on the inner member enables horizontal rotation thereof to laterally steer the watercraft, and a trim structure on the outer member enables vertical rotation thereof to trim the watercraft.

The present invention relates generally to jet-powered sport boats designed for use by a single person and, more particularly, to component accessories for such boats which improve their safety, stability and maneuverability.
Jet-powered watercraft have become increasingly popular over the years due in part to their maneuverability and the sensation of freedom they impart to their users. The typical jet-powered watercraft includes a water jet power assembly mounted in the hull of the watercraft. The power assembly includes an impeller or the like which propels a water stream from the nozzle of the engine to propel the craft. The nozzle is pivoted and laterally movable via linkage connected to handlebars on the watercraft enabling the operator to laterally direct the water jet stream and thereby the direction of thrust. This enables the operator to alter the direction of movement of the watercraft by rotation of the handlebars. Thus, the water jet stream serves to both propel the watercraft as well steer the watercraft.
The popularity of such watercraft has increased despite the hazards and dangers such watercraft present to the users as well as others nearby. The primary danger such watercraft present is because of the limitation that steering capability is provided solely by the jet stream from the engine. Alteration of the direction of the jet stream flow from the watercraft is provided by means of appropriate steering linkage connected to the engine nozzle. However, when the engine is off, there is no steering capability for the watercraft. Thus, when the user is coasting in to shore in order to dock the boat and thus in shallow water where swimmers are likely present, the user has no effective means of deftly steering the boat away from the swimmers. Collisions with swimmers under these circumstances are not uncommon resulting in such watercraft being banned from many beaches. In addition, engine failure or malfunction can result in complete loss of steering capability resulting in collisions with swimmers, other watercraft, docks, breakwaters, etc. with potentially disastrous results.
The handlebars of jet skis typically have a spring biased throttle control so that in the event the user falls off the vehicle the engine speed reduces to idle terminating propulsion provided to the vehicle allowing the vehicle to glide to a stop. The handlebars also typically include an electric on-off switch enabling the engine to be turned on and off quickly and easily.
When operating any type of conventional vehicle whether a personal watercraft, automobile, truck etc., a typical reaction to an impending collision is to brake the vehicle and/or ease off the throttle. But, although turning off the throttle is an effective way to deal with an impending collision situation with some other types of vehicles such as, for example, an automobile, such a natural and automatic reaction to an impending collision to a user of a jet-powered watercraft eliminates the steering capability of the watercraft. This consequently puts the user in a situation in which he has no control over the direction of movement of the watercraft. Thus, turning off the throttle to avert a collision with a dock, swimmer, shore line etc. makes a collision more likely.
Typical jet-powered watercraft hull designs provide relatively low hydrodynamic drag. Consequently, when the throttle is shut off, the inertia of the watercraft can allow the watercraft to continue to move through the water for a long time and for a long distance. Thus, the watercraft can move for a long time and long distance and sometimes at a high speed without the user being able to steer the watercraft. Collisions with other persons and obstacles in the water are not uncommon.
Some prior art designs have addressed these dangers presented by watercraft design by providing add-on rudders to the watercraft. Some of these designs have positioned the rudders behind the main body of the watercraft. Although such placement provides reasonably effective steering capability, it also adds a structure which is not readily visible and extending out from the main body and thus likely to present an obstacle. Thus, some such designs are deemed hazardous and have been banned. Similarly, some rudder designs which fix the rudders below the main body of the watercraft are also deemed hazardous and have been banned.
Some prior art auxiliary steering mechanisms have positioned a rudder below the nozzle of the engine. The rudder is spring biased which allows the rudder to move up when it strikes something in the water. Although such auxiliary steering mechanisms provide a desired degree of steering capability to the watercraft they also introduce a significant amount of drag which is always present whether or not the engine is on and producing thrust. The rudder also presents lateral drag preventing lateral movement or skimming of the watercraft over the water surface. By compromising the skimming feature, such rudder mechanisms tend to make the watercraft more likely to capsize.
Conventional personal watercraft in which the user sits upright have a high center of gravity which makes them prone to capsizing. They also have lower maneuverability in comparison to personal watercraft in which the user lies prone thereon. Consequently, such watercraft are relatively more hazardous when the engine is off particularly in rough waters.
Recognizing the dangers of such personal watercraft, some prior art accessories for such watercraft have been designed which provide steering capabilities thereto in the event the engine is off. One such type of design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,437 to Murray. The Murray invention is a rudder, cap and steering linkage assembly which mounts onto the nozzle end of a jet ski engine. A spring pulls the rudder down so that it is below and behind the jet ski main body. In this position, the rudder effectively steers the craft when actuated by steering linkage which laterally rotates the entire nozzle end assembly. Murray's invention utilizes a cap which covers the nozzle outlet. The jet stream force impinging on the cap when the engine is operative pushes the cap and rudder connected thereto up and out of the water environment and into the jet stream where it is relatively ineffective in steering the watercraft. The Murray invention effectively addresses the inherent dangers of jet-powered watercraft which rely on engine operation to steer the watercraft. However, the Murray design disadvantageously adds excessive bulk to the watercraft. In addition, this bulk is below and behind the watercraft and thus positioned where it is likely to hit or get hit by someone or something. Consequently, such designs present new hazards.
Other types of jet-powered watercraft accessories utilize the jet stream force to actuate a retractable rudder. Such an accessory is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,047 to Cannon. As with the Murray assembly, the Cannon assembly provides steering capability only when the throttle is in the off position or when the engine is off. The Cannon rudder is mounted on a rotatable shaft positioned in the exhaust nozzle. In one embodiment the rudder is positioned next to the nozzle while in another embodiment the rudder is positioned below the nozzle. However, as with the Murray design, the Cannon design positions the rudder away from the main body of the watercraft where it can likely hit or get hit by someone or something in the water. Consequently, although the Cannon design resolves some dangers in operation of jet-powered watercraft, it introduces new dangers as well.
Some designers of jet skis have sought to improve the safety of such watercraft by providing brakes thereon. An example of such a jet ski design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,260 to Mardikian. The Mardikian patent illustrates a rotatable braking structure which is positioned underneath the hull of the craft. The braking structure is basically a flap mounted on the undersurface of the hull which is manually operated. When manually rotated into position, the flap deflects water to produce the braking effect. However, this design introduces lateral drag to the craft that may detract from its desirable lateral skimming features thereby making it more likely to capsize under some circumstances. The Mardikian patent also shows another embodiment featuring braking pads on the rotating shaft of the engine. This uses reduction of engine propulsion to produce a braking effect. This invention thus effectively improves the safety of the jet ski design. Nevertheless, steering capability is still needed before the braking systems can bring the watercraft to a complete stop.
What is therefore needed is an add-on steering component accessory for a jet-powered watercraft which enables steering thereof in engine off or throttle off conditions for improved safe use thereof. What is also needed is an improved steering component accessory for a jet-powered watercraft which does not compromise the hydrodynamic attributes of the watercraft. Such an improved steering component accessory is needed which does not detract from the smooth structure and compact size and shape of the watercraft so as not to present an obstacle in use of the watercraft.

Retractable rudder assembly for a watercraft


A clamping mechanism (10) for connecting a printed circuit board (12) having a plurality of electrically conductive pads (14) to a flexible printed circuit having a plurality of electrically conductive raised dots (18). A housing (20) having a mouth (22) is located upon the printed circuit board at the plurality of pads. A pair of L-shaped leaf springs (28, 28') are connected with the housing. A cam body (40) having a rounded cam surface (42), an opposite grasping lever (44), and a pair of opposing first and second flat surfaces (46, 48) therebetween is rotatably connected to the leaf springs. A first stiffener (58) is attached to the flexible printed circuit opposite the raised dots thereof which is configured to alignably fit with the shape of the mouth of the housing to thereby align the raised dots with the pads. A second stiffener (54) is provided at the printed circuit board opposite the housing.

Printed circuit boards have become ubiquitous in electronic devices for providing a compact and reliable base for electronic components. Printed circuit boards are generally formed of a rigid dielectric layer having a plurality of holes for receiving leads of electronic components, and on one side of the dielectric layer, a predetermined pattern of an electrical conductor (typically copper) for being soldered to the leads and conduct current as desired. It is also known to provide printed circuits which have a flexible dielectric layer, known a flexible printed circuit.
In order to function as a part of an electrical circuit of a device, printed circuit boards and flexible printed circuits must often be electrically connected together. Typically, this is accomplished via electrical connectors.
It is known to provide electrical connection between printed circuit boards and flexible printed circuits using mutual abutment of electrically conductive raised dots and pads. In this regard, the mutual touching of raised dots and pads provides an excellent alternative to electrical connectors. However, it is important that the raised dots and the pads be mutually aligned and be in tight contact with each other, respectively.
Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is a structure which effects tight contact between the raised dots and pads, yet has a very low profile and is easily operated.

Low profile clamping mechanism for connecting a printed circuit board to a flexible printed circuit


A diversity receiver circuit system (10) including a primary channel (20) and a diversity channel (22), where analog input signals are converted to differential signals in both channels (20, 22). The receiver circuit system (10) includes a multiplexer (14) and a variable gain amplifier (12) formed on a single RF integrated circuit chip (16), where the multiplexer (14) is positioned before the amplifier (12). The differential signals in the primary channel (20) and the diversity channel (22) are applied to an amplified path (72, 78) and a non-amplified path (76, 82) in the multiplexer (14). A control signal selects one of the amplified primary channel signal, the non-amplified primary channel signal, the amplified diversity channel signal or the non-amplified diversity channel signal. The selected signal is then applied to a first amplifier stage (88) and a second amplifier stage (96) in the variable gain amplifier (12), where both amplifier stages (88, 96) include an amplified path (90, 98) and a non-amplified path (92, 100).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a circuit for multiplexing and amplifying multiple RF analog signals and, more particularly, to a multiplexer and variable gain amplifier provided on a single integrated circuit chip for multiplexing and amplifying primary and diversity analog signals in a cellular telephone base station receiver, where the multiplexer is positioned ahead of the amplifier on the chip.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Historically, communications systems sampled analog signals to provide signal processing in the system. Modern trends generally represent signals in communications systems as time sampled digital data signals. Because of the availability of very high frequency circuits, it has become possible to process digital signals at higher and higher frequencies into the 100's of MHz. Digital signal processing offers the advantages of flexibility for change, absolute accuracy without the need for calibration of analog components that are subjected to temperature and aging effects, and the ability to perform very complex signal processing at modest costs. Further, digital signal processing offers the possibility of sharing circuit components for multiple tasks, further reducing system hardware and related costs. However, digital circuit components become very expensive at high frequencies. Further, for those digital systems that process both radio frequency (RF) and intermediate frequency (IF) signals, extreme care must be taken to maintain the accuracy of the signal, especially for waveforms employing complex modulation.
Cellular telephone base stations employ many receiver circuits for receiving and processing cellular telephone signals. Each receiver circuit typically employs two channels, a primary channel and a diversity channel, each having a separate antenna, so that the receiver circuit can select which of the two received signals is the strongest for subsequent processing. Some receiver circuits combine the primary channel and diversity channel signals for increased performance. This allows the receiver to be more reliable by lessening the chance that cellular calls are dropped. However, receivers of this type have been limited in their effectiveness for reducing circuit components, reducing the size and cost of IF sampling circuits, and maintaining signal fidelity at high frequencies.
Receiver circuits for cellular base stations employ automatic gain control (AGC) using variable gain amplifiers (VGAs) and multiplexers for amplifying and selecting analog signals propagating through the primary and diversity channels. The analog signals are also applied to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to be converted to digital signals for digital processing. One or more ADCs are employed at various locations in the circuit relative to the VGA and multiplexer.
The known Analog Devices AD6600 Diversity Receiver chipset provides independent channel attenuation, multiplexing, signal gain and analog-to-digital conversion on a single chip. In this design, an analog multiplexer is preceded by individual variable gain attenuator stages for each channel and a peak detecting gain control circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,831 discloses a clock-to-clock auto-ranging ADC that operates directly on an analog signal in the IF band or higher to track it's gain range on a clock-to-clock basis to produce a digital signal that maintains high resolution of the analog signal without clipping or loss of signal sensitivity. The ADC samples the analog signal at sufficiently high frequency so that a peak detector can accurately determine the maximum signal level over at least one-half of a signal period, and then reset the signal gain going into the ADC prior to the beginning of the next sample period. The '831 patent offers improvements for analog-to-digital conversion, but does not address the multiplexing architecture for high frequency. Further, combining all of the functions as is done in the '831 patent onto a single chip slows the speed of the signal throughput and compromises the isolation between the primary and diversity channels.
National Semiconductor has a diversity receiver chipset of the type being discussed herein that operates at high frequency, but requires several separate chips in various architectures. Further, this chipset does not multiplex the analog signals, but has a separate parallel VGA and ADC path for each primary and diversity channel. This design provides good isolation, but drives up the cost of implementation.

Analog multiplexer and variable gain amplifier for intermediate frequency applications


Drop cloth systems include drop cloths having edge supports extending along two opposite edges of the drop cloths for preventing folding of the opposite edges along which the edge supports extend. Extending between the edge supports is at least one spring strip having the property of being substantially straight when unwound to maintain the drop cloths substantially spread out on the surface area to be protected. Also the spring strips have the property of being windable to permit the drop cloths to be rolled up from one of the opposite edges along which the edge supports extend for easy storage and transportation when not in use.

Drop cloths made, for example, of fabric, plastic or canvas (hereinafter collectively "drop cloths") are commonly used to protect surface areas such as floors against splatter during painting or otherwise coating another surface such as a wall or ceiling or the like. A problem with previous known drop cloths is the time it takes to spread them out where desired for use and refold them after use. Another problem is making the drop cloths stay flat on the floor and being able to easily move them from one location to another without any soiled areas on the top surface of the drop cloths folding over and coming into contact with the floor or other surface area to be protected.

Drop cloth systems and methods of using same


An articulated prosthesis, left in the patient's heart for repairing a tricuspid or mitral valve, is conceived so as to grip simultaneously all the three leaflets of the tricuspid valve, or the two of the mitral valve, so as to make them lay distended fully in the valve plane and assume a final configuration as in the common surgical procedure. It is also disclosed a related catching device and a device for repairing a tricuspid or mitral valve.

The most common type of tricuspid valve disease is functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR), which is mainly due to the dilatation of the tricuspid annulus secondary to right ventricular enlargement. Later in the course of the disease, tethering of the tricuspid leaflets may also occur because of the displacement of the papillary muscles inside the right ventricle. When functional TR is due to both severe annular dilatation and leaflet tethering, annuloplasty alone is unlikely to be successful. Similarly, TR caused by prolapse or flail of multiple leaflets, as typically seen in post-traumatic and severe degenerative TR, cannot be rectified by a simple annuloplasty procedure.
In order to achieve an effective and durable repair, the so-called 'clover technique' has been proposed. This technique consists in suturing together the central part of the free edges of the tricuspid leaflets, producing a 'clover'-shaped valve. A pictorial representation of a tricuspid valve treated according to this technique is depicted in FIG. 1. Clinical results obtained with this technique are reported in:                "The 'clover technique' as a novel approach for correction of post-traumatic tricuspid regurgitation", O. Alfieri, M. De Bonis et al., Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2003; Vol. 126, No. 1, pages 75-79;        "A novel technique for correction of severe tricuspid valve regurgitation due to complex lesions." De Bonis M, Lapenna E et al. Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg. 2004 May; 25(5):760-5.        "Four-leaflet clover repair of severe tricuspid valve regurgitation due to complex lesions", E. Lapenna, M. De Bonis et al., Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, 2008, Vo. 9 No. 8, pages 847-849;        "The clover technique for the treatment of complex tricuspid valve insufficiency: midterm clinical and echocardiographic results in 66 patients", E. Lapenna, M. De Bonis et al., European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery, 37 (2010), 1297-1303;        "Long-term results (up to 14 years) of the clover technique for the treatment of complex tricuspid valve regurgitation", De Bonis M, Lapenna E, et al. Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg. 2017 Feb. 23. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezx027.
A device for catching valve leaflets of a mitral valve as well as of a tricuspid valve, is marketed with the commercial name MITRA CLIP™. This prior device, that can be introduced into the heart through a catheter by a vascular approach or throughout a small incision in the chest, comprises a fastener applicator of the type shown in FIG. 2. The sequence of operations to be performed for implanting a MITRA CLIP™ fastener is shown in FIG. 3. In the depicted case the heart valve is the mitral valve, though the same observations hold mutatis mutandis also for the tricuspid valve. Using a catheter, the MITRA CLIP™ fastener is inserted in a folded configuration into the heart; when the catheter is close to the heart valve, the fastener is deployed like an umbrella to catch the leaflets of the valve, and it is subsequently closed to grip the leaflets together. Finally, the MITRA CLIP™ fastener is left closed in the heart for keeping the leaflets together, thus reducing valve regurgitation.

Articulated prosthesis for a tricuspid or mitral valve and related catching device


A vehicle having, in a power transmission path, a continuously variable transmission mechanism and a clutch mechanism, whose torque capacity is smaller than that of the continuously variable transmission mechanism. The vehicle also has a control system to prevent a large torque capacity difference with the continuously variable transmission mechanism and clutch mechanism and to prevent an unnecessary slip of the clutch mechanism by setting an engagement force of the clutch mechanism based on the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism. There is also avoided a decline of the learning accuracy of the clutch mechanism by prohibiting a learning control of the clutch mechanism when an engagement force of the clutch mechanism is set based on the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for a vehicle having a continuously variable transmission mechanism and a clutch mechanism in a power transmission path.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a continuously variable transmission (CVT) equipped in a power transmission path of a vehicle, there are a belt-type continuously variable transmission, a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission and so on. A continuously variable transmission mechanism incorporated in the belt-type continuously variable transmission has a primary pulley attached to an input shaft, a secondary pulley attached to an output shaft, and a drive belt wound around these pulleys. It controls a speed ratio continuously by changing a diameter of a loop of the drive belt. A continuously variable transmission mechanism incorporated in the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission has input discs attached to an input shaft, output discs attached to an output shaft and power rollers sandwiched between input discs and output discs. It controls a speed ratio continuously by changing a contact radius of the power rollers against each disc.
A torque capacity of the belt-type continuously variable transmission is determined based on a friction force between the pulleys and the drive belt, which is set depending on a magnitude of a hydraulic pressure supplied to hydraulic chambers of the pulleys. A torque capacity of the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is determined based on a shearing force of a traction oil between the discs and the power rollers, which is set depending on a magnitude of a thrust power for thrusting the discs in a axial direction. When a torque inputted to the continuously variable transmission mechanism is larger than the friction force or the shearing force, a slip of the drive belt or the power rollers occurs.
In order to prevent the slip of the drive belt, etc., and to avoid damage of the continuously variable transmission mechanism, it is needed to increase the friction force of the drive belt or the shearing force of the traction oil. However the increase of the friction force, etc., causes an increase in internal resistance of the continuously variable transmission mechanism, which becomes a factor of a decline of power transmission efficiency. Moreover, raising the operating hydraulic pressure to increase the friction force etc causes an increase of power loss occurring in an oil pump, which might lower fuel economy. In an effort to solve these problems, it is desirable to set the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism low within the range that a slip of the driving belt and the power rollers does not occur.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-227562 (Prior Art 1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-245290 (Prior Art 2) describe a continuously variable transmission having a clutch mechanism which a torque capacity is smaller than that of a continuously variable transmission mechanism and making the clutch mechanism slip earlier than the continuously variable transmission mechanism when an excess torque develops in the power transmission path. There is described reducing the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism until a slip occurs while protecting the continuously variable transmission mechanism by providing the clutch mechanism and detecting a slip of the clutch mechanism. There is further described a device to achieve a high-precision clutch control of the clutch mechanism by monitoring the relationship between a clutch pressure supplied to the clutch mechanism and a clutch capacity of the clutch mechanism obtained thereby.
The continuously variable transmissions described in the Prior Art 1 and the Prior Art 2 calculate and learn a clutch pressure of the clutch mechanism based on an input torque to the continuously variable transmission mechanism and based on the supposition that the continuously variable transmission is operating steady state or a state free from a large torque deviation. If a torque capacity of the clutch mechanism is set based on the input torque to the continuously variable transmission mechanism when the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism is controlled based on a predetermined lower limit hydraulic pressure such as a vehicle braking condition, it is difficult to operate the clutch mechanism as a fuse clutch effectively, i.e. the clutch to disconnect the transmission of the torque by slippage in the case where the excess input torque is applied. On vehicle braking, a difference of the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism and that of the clutch mechanism might become large, because the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism is increased in order to adapt the braking torque. In such a situation, there might be an unnecessary slip of the clutch mechanism, even if the torque capacity of the continuously variable transmission mechanism has a margin that attempts to accommodate the braking torque. Performing a learn control of the clutch mechanism which the vehicle is a braking state causes a decline in a learning accuracy and a decline of the control accuracy of the clutch mechanism, because it is difficult to estimate the braking torque inputted from the drive wheels.
An embodiment of the present invention is described of avoiding an unnecessary slip of the clutch mechanism for protecting a continuously variable transmission mechanism and avoiding a decline of the learning accuracy of the clutch mechanism.


A plurality of handles are arranged for selective mounting one of a plurality of blade members, wherein the blade members include blade members of triangular, square, and intersecting plate-like configurations to accommodate various scraping surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to scraping tools, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved paint scraper kit wherein the same is arranged to accommodate selective mounting of various blades to a handle structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Paint scrapers of various types have been utilized throughout the prior art and exemplified by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,200,948 and 4,984,324.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a plurality of blades arranged for selective mounting to a handle member and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.