A seat belt restraint system is provided including a retractor and an optical inertia sensor therefor. The optical inertia has a sensor body with a light emitter and detector recessed in bores therein. A frame support having inclined walls with a base opening at the bottom of the walls support an inertia ball so that it is positioned at the opening to reflect light from the emitter to the detector when vehicle accelerations are within a predetermined range. The inertia sensor is incorporated into circuitry which controls a locking mechanism, e.g. solenoid, at the retractor so that when the detector is sensing light, the retractor stays unlocked. During excessive vehicle acceleration, such as brought on during accident conditions, the ball will roll along the wall so it no longer reflects light from the emitter breaking optical communication between the emitter and detector and locking the retractor. The optical inertia sensor is advantageous in that it uses very few moving parts in contrast to mechanical remote sensors and avoids the reliability problems faced by switch contacts in prior inertia sensors. In addition, the sensor body including the emitter and detector is a commercially available portion of the sensor which utilizes well proven optical components for good reliability in sensor operation and lower costs in fabricating the present sensor.

In many seat belt restraint systems employed in automotive vehicles, the retractors for the seat belts have acceleration sensors for locking the retractor upon sensing high vehicle accelerations or decelerations such as caused by vehicle impacts during accidents. With respect to vehicle acceleration sensors, there is typically an inertia member that is responsive to excessive vehicle accelerations to cause a locking mechanism to block the retractor reel against rotation preventing seat belt payout therefrom. Normally, these sensors are incorporated into the retractor. When the retractor is mounted to a vehicle seat, and particularly to an adjustable backrest thereof, the inertia sensing portion of the acceleration sensor may have to be adjusted in its position to avoid a premature actuation locking the retractor when the seat back is adjusted due to the sensitivity of the inertia member to changing attitudes.
Rather than adjusting the inertia sensor on a tiltable seat backrest, remote acceleration sensors have been mounted in the vehicle at a remote location from the adjustable backrest to which the retractor may be attached. The acceleration sensing mechanism for these remote sensing units can be of the standard mechanical type where inertia members topple or roll in response to high accelerations or decelerations causing a lock bar or pawl to engage teeth on a gear or ratchet wheel to stop reel rotation.
Where the retractor is electrically controlled for locking, such as by a solenoid device, it is known to use electrically conductive inertia members which move to close switch contacts during periods of high acceleration or deceleration. Examples of such electrically controlled remote sensors are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,915,401 and 4,708,366. While electrical inertia sensors or switches that employ switch contacts for electrically controlling operation of a retractor solenoid typically use less moving parts over mechanical sensors, they can experience problems with respect to their reliability and service life when the switch contacts are subjected to adverse environmental conditions, such as dust, temperature extremes and excessive humidity. Dust or corrosion may cause moving parts in a switch to bind to prevent opening or closing thereof, or may interrupt current flow between the contacts. In addition, over time switch contacts can wear or corrode which can adversely affect their performance. This is undesirable because, to meet automotive manufacturers' specifications, the switch must be cycled thousands of times under these adverse conditions without failure. Accordingly, the use of electrical switch contacts in inertia sensors can create problems in terms of the reliability of operation and the service life of the sensor, both of which take on critical importance due to their safety implications when employed in safety belt restraint systems.
Other important considerations that arise when selecting an inertia sensor for use in automobiles are the assembly and production costs of the sensor. In addition, the remote sensor should have a compact design so as to take up a minimum amount of space. As previously mentioned, this is particularly important with remote sensors so that they occupy as little space as possible wherever they are mounted in the vehicle interior. Accordingly, a retractor having an inertia sensor, and specifically a remote inertia sensor that avoids the use of moving switch contacts and which meets the severe operational requirements imposed by the automobile industry is desirable. The acceleration sensor must meet rigid life testing specifications and hence it should employ very reliable components. In addition, a low cost, readily assembled, compact inertia sensor that also satisfies the long life and reliability criteria would be desirable.


Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a mechanism disclosed herein groups transmissions to machine-to-machine (M2M) devices in the downlink which can significantly reduce the overhead of transmission. One or more bursts to be transmitted in the downlink to one or more respective devices are aggregated and concatenated into a concatenated burst comprising one or more sub-bursts corresponding to the one or more bursts. The concatenated burst is encoded as a single payload to be transmitted, and the payload is transmitted to the one or more devices such that the devices are capable of decoding their respective sub-bursts in the concatenated burst.

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications describes a vision for connecting and managing billions of everyday objects to offer a diverse and rich set of services. Some examples include smart-grid applications, tracking and tracing applications, such as video surveillance, fleet tracking, connected consumer electronics, telemedicine, and so on. A vast array of M2M applications may be served by wireless wide area networks (WWANs) and/or wide area cellular networks, posing new and challenging requirements. Two aspects of these challenges are supporting the massive device connectivity and supporting the often conflicting and diverse set of requirements imposed by each M2M application. For a large number of M2M applications, communication with devices is often infrequent and at low data rates. Examples of these types of M2M applications are control, sensing, and monitoring of environmental sensors. Given the massive number of M2M devices that must be supported, it may be helpful for the "small-burst" transmissions to and from these M2M devices in the downlink to be transmitted efficiently and with minimal overhead.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements.

Grouping small burst transmissions for downlink machine-to-machine communications


The invention relates to the formulation of pharmaceutical compounds. More particularly, the invention provides stable, pharmaceutically acceptable compositions prepared from boronic acid compounds and methods for preparing the compositions. The invention also provides novel boronate ester compounds. The invention further provides boronic acid anhydride compounds useful in the methods of the invention.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the formulation of pharmaceutical compounds. More particularly, the invention relates to stable, pharmaceutically acceptable compositions prepared from boronic acid compounds. The invention also relates to methods for preparing such compositions.
2. Summary of the Related Art
Boronic acid and ester compounds display a variety of pharmaceutically useful biological activities. Shenvi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,082 (1985), discloses that peptide boronic acids are inhibitors of certain proteolytic enzymes. Kettner and Shenvi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,157 (1993); U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,904 (1993); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,720 (1993), describe a class of peptide boronic acids that inhibit trypsin-like proteases. Kleeman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,841 (1992), discloses N-terminally modified peptide boronic acids that inhibit the action of renin. Kinder et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,948 (1992), discloses that certain tripeptide boronic acid compounds inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
More recently, boronic acid and ester compounds have displayed particular promise as inhibitors of the proteasome, a multicatalytic protease responsible for the majority of intracellular protein turnover. Ciechanover, Cell, 79: 13-21 (1994), teaches that the proteasome is the proteolytic component of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, in which proteins are targeted for degradation by conjugation to multiple molecules of ubiquitin. Ciechanover also teaches that the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway plays a key role in a variety of important physiological processes.
Adams et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,454 (1998), U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,730 (2000), U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,903 (2000), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,217 (2001), hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, describe peptide boronic ester and acid compounds useful as proteasome inhibitors. The references also describe the use of boronic ester and acid compounds to reduce the rate of muscle protein degradation, to reduce the activity of NF-κB in a cell, to reduce the rate of degradation of p53 protein in a cell, to inhibit cyclin degradation in a cell, to inhibit the growth of a cancer cell, to inhibit antigen presentation in a cell, to inhibit NF-κB dependent cell adhesion, and to inhibit HIV replication. Brand et al., WO 98/35691, teaches that proteasome inhibitors, including boronic acid compounds, are useful for treating infarcts such as occur during stroke or myocardial infarction. Elliott et al., WO 99/15183, teaches that proteasome inhibitors are useful for treating inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Unfortunately, alkylboronic acids are relatively difficult to obtain in analytically pure form. For example, Snyder et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 80: 3611 (1958), teaches that arylboronic acid compounds readily form cyclic trimeric anhydrides under dehydrating conditions. Also, alkylboronic acids and their boroxines are often air-sensitive. Korcek et al., J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2 242 (1972), teaches that butylboronic acid is readily oxidized by air to generate 1-butanol and boric acid. These difficulties limit the pharmaceutical utility of boronic acid compounds, complicating the characterization of pharmaceutical agents comprising boronic acid compounds and limiting their shelf-life.
There is thus a need in the art for improved formulations of boronic acid compounds. Ideally, such formulations would be conveniently prepared, would exhibit enhanced stability and longer shelf life as compared to the free boronic acid compound, and would readily liberate the bioactive boronic acid compound when administered to a subject in need of boronic acid therapy.

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A method for translating the string literals in a database script from a source language (i.e. English) into a target language (i.e. Chinese). The invention comprises a Conversion Program (CP) and a Field Expansion Program (FEP). The CP copies a database script in a source language and runs the FEP, which analyzes the database script and determines the maximum width of the fields. The user may then adjust the field length as necessary. The CP then substitutes labels for the string literals in the new database script, which creates a message file. The CP uses a pre-existing data file to translate the source language string literals into the target language string literals. The translated message file is called a label file. The CP then uses the label file to substitute the target language string literals for the labels in the database script.

Databases play an important role in the modern business world. Significant amounts of time and resources are expended in creating and managing databases. Additionally, companies are continuously looking for methods to decrease the time and resources spent managing and modifying the databases. One area of database management where companies spend considerable time and resources is the area of database translation from an original or source language (i.e. English) to a new or target language (i.e. Spanish, Chinese, or any language other than the original or source language).
The prior art has presented two basic solutions to the problem of database translation which can be described as script translation and extract translation. The script translation method requires translators to access the actual database source code and translate the string literals in the database source code into the target language. Script translation is inconvenient, inefficient, and expensive. Script translation must be repeated every time the database needs to be translated into a new target language. Moreover, script translation is prone to the introduction of errors to the source code because the any typographical errors introduced by the translators (such as replacing an apostrophe (') with a quotation mark (")) effects a change in the source code and the output of the program. Such unintended and inadvertent errors are to be expected when translators, who are not code writers, are given access to source code. The cost of rectifying such errors can be significant because such errors are difficult to identify and remove.
The extract translation method involves extracting the string literals out of the database script, translating the string literals separately, and then inserting the string literals back into the database script. However, the extraction process makes it difficult to keep track of the changes made to source code during the numerous extractions and replacements. Moreover, the extraction process must be repeated every time the database needs to be translated into a new target language. Therefore, what is needed beyond the prior art is a method for translating a database script from a source language into a target language which makes it easier to track the changes to the source code and allows the database script to be translated into a plurality of different languages.
Furthermore, the cost of translating any type of documentation is expensive and time consuming. The applications associated with the database must be translated and so a data file will exist containing translated terms that will correspond to most, if not all, of the string literals in the database source code. Use of the data files to translate the string literals in the database script would eliminate the need to have a translator translate the database script. Therefore, a need exists for a method of utilizing a data file to translate the string literals in a database script.
The prior art has previously addressed the problem of translating portions of a computer program. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,365 (the '365 patent) entitled "System for National Language Support and Automated Translation Table" discloses a method for translating the documentation of a computer program using a translation table. The invention in the '365 patent utilizes the translation table to translate the display items into the user's language. However, method of the '365 patent translates only the message files in the computer program. The '365 patent also makes several modifications to the source code of the underlying computer program. What is needed beyond the prior art is a method for translating data in a database with minimal modification to the source code.

International Business Machines Corporation


A radio communication system for communication between a first mobile system and a second mobile system. Each mobile system has a transceiver for receiving and emitting radio signal. The second mobile system comprises a received signal strength detecting device, a power controller and an indicating device. The received signal strength detecting device detects a received signal strength of the transceiver in the second mobile system. The power controller outputs a transmitted power strength status and controls transmitted power of the transceiver according to the received signal strength. The indicating device receives the transmitted power strength status and indicates a transmitted RF power strength status of the transceiver in the second mobile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a radio communication system, and more particularly, to a PCD (Personal Communication Device) and a method capable of indicating the transmitted RF power strength level of a radio communication terminal by outputting the power strength level of a transmitter of the radio communication terminal to an indicating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
AMPS, PHS, NADC, GSM, DCS, PCS, IS-95, CDMA, WCDMA, DECT, WLAN (802.11), DECT, CT0, CT1, . . . etc. are well known standards for wireless network and PCDs(personal communication devices). Personal communication devices include cellular phones, cordless phones, PDAs, walkie-talkies, smart phones and others. All personal communication devices mentioned above are wireless communication devices(or radio communication devices). Communication links among PCDs are established through receiving and transmitted radio-frequency signal. The frequency range of these radio frequency covers from VHF to microwave frequency. In order to extend the communication range, PCDs can transmit RF signal up to two Watts.
A personal communication device such as a cellular phone can
A personal communication device such as a cellular phone can be seen generally as depicted in FIG. 1, it consists of a RF(Radio Frequency) receiver Section 14, a RF Transmitter 18, a Frequency Synthesizer 146 186, a Digital/Controller Section 15, a Battery (not shown) and a I/O Section(not shown) etc,.
One example of the PCD as shown in FIG. 1 is a cellular phone handset which complied with the standards above. The handset 1 includes an antenna 11, a LPF(lowpass filter) 12 a receiver(RX) 14, a LPF 16, a transmitter (TX) 18 and a digital/controller 15, wherein the receiver(RX) 14 includes a LNA(low noise amplifier) 142 a mixer 144 and a frequency synthesizer 146. similarly, the transmitter(TX) 18 includes an power amplifier 182, a mixer 124 and a synthesizer 186 an modulator 188.
When a cellular phone handset is used, it is a very common practice for its user to have the handset very close to user's head in order to talk and to listen. The handset radiates RF (Radio Frequency) signal into air to establish communication link to a base station. But, the transmitted RF signal is not only radiated to air but also penetrates into the user's head. Some scientific studies have shown that long-term exposure under the RF signal radiation could damage human tissue. One IEEE paper proposed by M. D. Taurisano etc., having a title of "Measurements of Thermal Effects on a Human Head exposed to 900 MHz" and presented on IEEE MTT Symposium 2000, Boston., presents results of experiments concerning thermal effects due to electromagnetic exposure from handheld mobile communication equipments.
Today, personal communication devices such as cellular phone handsets, cordless phone etc. provide users some information such as RSSI (received signal strength indication) (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,745 disclose the RSSI), battery low signal and battery charge status etc., but none of them provides TSSI(transmitted signal strength indication) (or called transmitted power indication) to the users for warning the high transmitted power state about their handset.
Also the cellular phone's TSS (transmitted signal strength) is not a constant, how much RF power the cellular phone handset could transmit is subject to the specific regulations and base station instruction. It means the base station will tell the handset how much RF power handset could transmit.
Base station's instruction depends on the communication environmental conditions such as distance, surrounding building and terrain etc. between the cellular phone and the base station. By now, the cellular phone user has no idea how the TSS (transmitted signal strength) of his cellular phone is.
Because scientific studies show that long-term exposure to RF signal can damage human tissues. Therefore there is a need in the prior art to have PCDs that can inform users how much the TSS(transmitted signal strength) is. Thus the PCD users can make some action to reduce the damage to their tissues from such TSS information.

Personal communication device with transmitted RF power strength indicator


A bandwidth management system for a remote repeater network for modifying a first signal to create a second signal within the bandwidth of a communications link, transferring the second signal across the communications link, and reconstructing the first signal at the remote end of the communications link. The bandwidth management system featuring several mixing modes for performing the signal conversion and reconstruction. The system offering a calibration feature to correct for phase distortions introduced in reconstruction of the original signal. The calibration feature incorporating signals from a global positioning satellite system for reconstruction.

Remote repeater networks are used in a variety of applications, including police, fire, and emergency mobile radio communications environments. In one example, a number of mobile transceivers are in communication with a repeater which is in proximity to the mobiles. The area of coverage of the repeater system is increased by linking the repeaters. One way to link the repeaters uses a microwave link.
Difficulties arise when the bandwidth of the information communicated between the mobiles and their respective repeaters includes bandwidths not supported by inter-repeater links. In one example, subaudible signalling is employed in mobile trunked radio communication systems. The subaudible signalling increases the audio bandwidth of the signals which must be communicated between the mobile transceivers and their respective repeaters. Furthermore, the subaudible signalling increases the audio bandwidth of the signals transmitted between repeaters. In the example where a microwave link is used to interconnect repeaters, the bandwidth of each microwave multiplexed channel must be increased to handle the subaudible signalling. Existing microwave multiplexing systems are not adapted to transceive subaudible signals.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system for bandwidth management. The bandwidth management system should introduce little distortion while performing frequency translations. Furthermore, the bandwidth management system should function with existing multiplexer systems to eliminate the need to modify or replace inter-repeater links.

Bandwidth management system for a remote repeater network


A remote frequency communication device and method of embedding the device into a physical product build from carbon fiber materials whereby the communication device can interact with an interrogation device such as a mobile phone or tablet. The method provides steps to layer the communication device in a way that prevents the conductive carbon fiber material from short-circuiting the electro-magnetic field of the interrogating device by integrating insulating and protective layers around the communication device.

With the ability of cheaper technologies to connect computing devices to the internet, many attempts have appeared recently to connect more and more devices online. Beyond traditional client computers and servers, the Internet connects today many other forms of computing devices, such as cell phones, tablet computers, and printers. Beyond these wired or wireless connections, many manufacturers are trying to provide added value to their products by connecting them online. Examples include thermostats, temperature and weather stations, door locks, cameras, and even refrigerators. These types of connections are commonly referred to as the "Internet of Things" (IoT) and typically use WiFi and/or Ethernet networks in homes and businesses. Alternative connectivity technologies include Bluetooth, fixed wiring, Remote Frequency (RF) connections with dedicated hubs, or cellular networks.
Most recently, the broad availability of RFID technologies, in particular Near Field Communication, or NFC, in most commercial cellular phones, combined with a low cost factor, made NFC one of the most prominent alternatives to connect physical objects to communication devices, such as cellular phones.
While commercial NFC circuits and antennas, or NFC tags, can be easily applied to most materials products are made of, they face technical difficulties if the materials adjacent to the antenna competes with the antenna to conduct the electro-magnetic field of the external interrogating communication device, such as a cell phone. These materials include conductive metals and conductive carbon fiber structures.
This invention teaches how to embed the communication device, such as an RFID tag, with a carbon fiber-based material without the existing draw backs that lead to inability to use or severe performance loss of the communication device. Further the invention is a communication device containing a near field communication chipset or radio frequency identification chipset that may be read by an interrogation device, an antenna connected to the near field communication chipset or radio frequency identification chip set, a carrier film, on which the near field communication chip set or radio frequency identification chip set and antenna are provided and an insulation layer on which this carrier film is mounted.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and methods for embedding a communication device into carbon fiber structures


An apparatus used for processing substrates in a corrosive process gas is rendered substantially resistant to corrosion, by coating processing components exposed to the corrosive process gas with a coating comprising rhodium. The rhodium coating can be deposited by electroplating, and preferably has a thickness of at least about 10 microinches. A coating of nickel can be also applied between the rhodium coating and the processing component.

This invention relates to a corrosion resistant apparatus for processing substrates, and in particular, for processing semiconductor wafers.
In many types of manufacturing processes, substrates are processed in process chambers containing corrosive process environments. For example, in semiconductor fabrication processes, corrosive process gases are used to deposit material upon, etch, or clean semiconductor wafers. Semiconductor processes are typically carried out in an enclosed process chamber containing metallic, ceramic, glass and polymer components. Metal components are fabricated from metal alloys such as stainless steel, aluminum, "INCONEL," "HAYNES," and "HASTALLOY," and are typically used for loading and positioning substrates into the chamber, for chamber walls, and for controlling process gas flow into and out of the chamber. Ceramic components such as quartz guards and high temperature components are generally used to contain the corrosive process gases or plasma in the chamber. The components in the process chamber often corrode in corrosive process gas, particularly in reactive halogen gases and plasmas thereof. For example, a plasma of nitrogen trifluoride (which is used to clean process chambers), contains reactive fluorine species that readily corrode metal components.
Corrosion of the components within the process chamber by the corrosive process environment limits the life of the processing apparatus, thereby increasing the down time of the apparatus and substrate processing cost. Also, corroded components can flake off and form contaminant particles which can deposit on the substrate. It is difficult to non-destructively detect such contamination during the initial stages of processing the wafer. Thus, it is only in the final stages of the manufacturing process, when the fully processed semiconductor wafers are worth between $50,000 to $100,000 each, that the contaminant deposits are discovered, and the entire wafer is rejected.
Thus, there is a need for a corrosion resistant apparatus and processing components that resist corrosion when exposed to corrosive process environments, and which form reduced amounts of contaminant particles resulting from corrosion.


An object of this invention is to provide an image reading apparatus which can reselect a film type after prescanning, and after confirming the result on the monitor, perform actual scanning. To achieve this object, a film scanner selects from a color table storage a color table corresponding to the type of film, sets the color table in an image data converter, and performs prescanning. If the user reselects a film type after prescanning, the color table set before prescanning and a color table selected after prescanning are transferred to a confirmation image changing unit where the difference between the two tables is calculated. Pres-canned image data is transferred from a memory to the confirmation image changing unit, added to the difference, and returned to the memory. The color table selected after prescanning is set in the image data converter, and scanning for obtaining a high-resolution image is executed.

A film scanner is an apparatus for obtaining an image printed on a film as digital data.
The arrangement of the film scanner will be explained with reference to FIG. 9.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a scanner. Reference numeral 101 denotes a light source which irradiates a film 102. The film 102 is a positive color film or negative color film. Reference numeral 103 denotes an imaging lens; and 104, a CCD on which an image on the film 102 is formed via the lens 103. The CCD includes line sensor CDs for three colors, to which R, G, and B color separation filters are respectively adhered. An image on a film is color separated and output as analog signals. Reference numeral 105 denotes an A/D converter which converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The digital signal is output as 10-bit data for each of R, G, and B. Reference numeral 106 denotes a color table storage which stores color conversion tables for respective negative film types. The color conversion table is a one-dimensional LUT (Look-Up Table) for each of R, G, and B. That is, three LUTs are prepared for each film. FIG. 10 shows an example of the LUT. With this conversion table, 10-bit negative data is converted into 8-bit positive data. For example, as for color negative films, the color balance and tone characteristic change between films of respective types. Thus, an LUT must be prepared for each film. Reference numeral 107 denotes an image data converter which converts image data by using a one-dimensional LUT stored in the color table storage 106. A negative image is converted into a positive image with an adjusted color balance, resulting in 8-bit data for each of R, G, and B. Reference numeral 108 denotes a memory in which image data processed by the image data converter 107 is written. After an image of one frame is written, the image is transferred to a host PC (not shown).
A conventional scanning sequence executed under the control of the host PC will be explained.
<Step S1>
The user loads a film into a scanner.
<Step S2>
The scanner automatically determines a film type from a bar code printed on the film.
<Step S3>
A color table (LUT: Look-Up Table) corresponding to the film type is automatically set in the scanner. Alternatively, the user sets an LUT by designating an arbitrary film type.
<Step S4>
Prescanning for obtaining a low-resolution confirmation image is performed.
<Step S5>
The user selects an image to be actually used from prescanned images, and executes scanning for obtaining a high-resolution image.
In scanning a transparent original such as a photographic film, the original is irradiated by the light source. Transmitted light is converted into an electrical signal by the photoelectric converter, and the electrical signal is A/D-converted, obtaining desired digital data. The obtained digital signal is converted into a digital signal as a scanner output signal via a digital signal conversion table (look-up table).
In general, image scanning of this type is performed in two, prescanning and actual scanning.
Prescanning is first done at a low resolution. Prescanning conditions are unique settings determined depending on the film type such as a negative or positive film. A prescanned image is displayed as a preview image on the monitor. The user observes this preview image, manually sets the brightness, color balance, and the like for actual scanning, and then performs actual scanning.
According to this method, however, the user must determine actual scanning settings for each original, a long time is taken for processing many images, and a heavy burden is put on the user. To solve this problem, there is considered a method of analyzing a prescanned image by a computer, automatically setting scanning conditions for actual scanning on the basis of the analysis result, and performing actual scanning.
For example, the average brightness of an original is calculated from a prescanned image, the light quantity of the light source is changed in accordance with the brightness, and the CCD arrival light quantity is adjusted. Alternatively, the scanning speed (feed speed) is adjusted, and scanning suitable for each original is performed, effectively acquiring information printed on the original. In addition to this method, there is proposed another scanning method of executing pre-prescanning before prescanning.
That is, the prescanning precision is further increased in advance by adding one scanning step before prescanning so as to execute prescanning and actual scanning under conditions optimal for each film type with respect to various negative-base color film densities. As a result, the precision of subsequent actual scanning is increased. In this case, pre-prescanning is performed at unique settings determined in advance, acquiring a negative-base digital count in the negative-base region. Prescanning is executed at analog settings which change the negative-base digital count to a predetermined value. This increases the prescanning and actual scanning precisions.
An original is irradiated by the light source, transmitted light is converted into a linear electrical signal by the photoelectric converter at the original transmission ratio, and the electrical signal is A/D-converted into a digital signal. The obtained digital signal is further converted into a digital signal as a scanner output via a look-up table. By changing the look-up table, the scanner can cope with the film type such as a negative or positive film. For example, actually available scanners adopt a method of manually or automatically selecting a plurality of look-up tables for respective films that are accumulated in a host computer, and removing the color balance characteristic which changes between films of respective types.
In the above-described prior art, the film type is decided in film loading. In other words, an LUT for use is decided in film loading. The film type automatically selected in film loading or the film type arbitrarily selected by the user cannot be changed after prescanning, which poses a problem. The scanner may mistake automatic determination of the film type and misidentify the film type. In this case, if the user is not aware of the misidentification and performs prescanning, an LUT not suitable for the film is used, and a prescanned image is poor in color balance. At this time, the user becomes aware of misidentification of the film type, but cannot change the film type (LUT) and continue work because the film type and a corresponding LUT have already been decided. The user must interrupt work and restart it from film loading.
In the method of calculating the average brightness of an original from a prescanned image and deciding analog settings (light quantity, scanning speed, electrical gain, offset, and the like) for actual scanning, if prescanning is done using a look-up table which changes depending on the film type, the average brightness range changes for each exposure condition (underexposure, correct exposure, or overexposure) because the shapes of respective look-up tables are different. The exposure condition of the negative film of an original cannot be accurately grasped, and actual scanning cannot be performed at optimal analog settings.
In the method of determining an exposure condition from the average brightness of a prescanned image, if acquisition of the digital count of the negative-base region in pre-prescanning fails due to any reason, analog settings which set the negative-base digital count to a predetermined value cannot be obtained. The exposure condition cannot be determined from the average brightness calculated from the prescanned image.
A prescanned image is displayed as a preview image on the monitor. The preview image must be an image which simulates an image in actual scanning. When analog settings are the same between prescanning and actual scanning, the same A/D-converted digital data are input to the look-up table. A look-up table for a prescanned image is so changed as to obtain the optimal brightness and color balance, the prescanned image is corrected, and an actual scanning look-up table corresponding to the corrected prescanned image is set.
However, when analog settings are different between prescanning and actual scanning, different A/D-converted digital data are input to the look-up table. The colors of a preview image and actually scanned image cannot coincide with each other unless A/D-converted digital data in actual scanning is predicted from a prescanned image.
If a prescanned image is scanned using a look-up table for each film type in predicting A/D-converted digital data in actual scanning from a prescanned image, A/D-converted digital data in actual scanning cannot be predicted directly from the prescanned image because the look-up table for each film type is a conversion table which has a nonlinear relationship with A/D-converted digital data. In this case, the look-up table used in prescanning must be searched for on the basis of the digital count of the prescanned image, and A/D-converted digital data in prescanning must be calculated to predict digital data in actual scanning. This greatly complicates processing of making the colors of a preview image and actually scanned image coincide with each other.

Image reading system and image reading program


The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for an integrated loyalty program and game mechanic. When a customer makes a purchase of physical products from a merchant, membership in the merchant's loyalty program can be rewarded with a digital (virtual) asset for use in a computer game. The merchant can also advertise digital assets as loyalty program rewards in the game to persuade customers to purchase physical products from the merchant. In one aspect, the game is maintained by the merchant. In another aspect, the merchant enters into a partnership with an owner of a third party game.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of retail loyalty programs, and, more particularly, to integrating a loyalty program with a game mechanic.
2. Related Art
Loyalty programs or award based programs encourage consumer behavior toward making purchases and further patronizing particular businesses. For example, a card that is similar to a plastic credit card typically has a barcode or magnetic stripe that is scanned to identify the cardholder as a member of a loyalty program. Other identifying information may also be used for identification, such as the cardholder's phone number. By presenting the card or other identifying information, a purchaser can be entitled to a reward. Rewards can include, for example, a discount, a credit, a recommendation, a loyalty based point, a referral, a promotion, a product, a service, etc.
However, under the rules of a merchant's loyalty program, some purchases may not qualify for a reward. When customers do not receive a reward as the result of a purchase, they may become less interested in the loyalty program and ultimately purchase fewer products from the merchant.

Integrated loyalty program and game mechanic


A flow control system is provided. The flow control system includes at least one control valve coupled to at least one nozzle of a turbine engine, wherein the control valve is configured to regulate fluid flow in a first direction or a second direction. The first direction is when the fluid is channeled from a compressor to the nozzle and the second direction is when the fluid is channeled from the nozzle to an exhaust section of the turbine engine. A controller is coupled to the control valve and is configured to control the fluid flow in the first direction during operation of the turbine engine and to change the direction of the fluid flow from the first direction to the second direction to facilitate reconditioning of the turbine engine.

The field of the invention relates generally to power generation systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for reconditioning turbine engines in power generation systems by coolant flow direction reversals.
At least some known turbine engines are used in power generation systems, such as cogeneration facilities and power plants. Such engines may have high specific work and power per unit mass flow requirements. To increase their operating efficiency, at least some known turbine engines, such as gas turbine engines, operate with increased combustion temperatures. In at least some known gas turbine engines, engine efficiency may increase as combustion gas temperatures increase.
Due to the increase in the combustion gas temperatures, at least some known gas turbine engines use relatively small cooling holes or passages to deliver cooling air to critical areas within the turbine engine. However, dust particles that may be ingested through an inlet of the turbine engine as well as other deposits and debris may become trapped within the cooling holes or passages and substantially limit the flow of cooling fluid there through. Similarly, small metal fragments detach from the engine may also become trapped within the cooling holes or passages. When the cooling holes or passages become blocked, the operating temperature of those components may increase and this temperature increase may cause damage to the components and/or may lead to a premature failure of the components and/or the turbine engine.
To prevent such blockage from occurring, at least some known gas turbine engines use relatively larger holes or passages. However, over time, dust particles and small metal fragments may still accumulate and cause blockages within the larger holes or passages. As a result, at least some known gas turbine engines use a cleaner air supply therein such that the internal cooling holes or passages may be free of deposits. More specifically, at least some known gas turbine engines may be cleaned or reconditioned with a mixture that includes water, steam, and/or air. The mixture is injected at the inlet of the gas turbine engine in an attempt to remove deposits that are formed on, for example, the gas-path surface of the airfoils. However, it may be difficult to channel the mixture to inside the cooling passages that are formed in the airfoil. As a result, blockages within the cooling holes or passages may still form.

Systems and methods for reconditioning turbine engines in power generation systems


A dough-processing system for dividing a dough sheet into multiple separate portions and transporting each portion in a predetermined direction. A rotary cutter, having a multiplicity of cutting dies affixed thereon, divides the dough sheet. The cutting dies have an exterior peripheral cutting edge for cutting the linear dough sheet into two or more linear portions for further processing on standard conveyor systems and an interior peripheral cutting edge for cutting an interior portion from the snack-piece dough. The rotary cutter includes an internal helical auger rigidly affixed to an external cylindrical mandrill having first and second ends and having a multiplicity of cutting dies affixed thereon. The rotary cutter has an ever-increasing diameter funnel path for transporting the interior cut portion of the snack-piece dough into the interior of the rotary cutter and thereupon the helical auger transports it out to the side of the rotary cutter. Each cutting die has rotatable, compressible biasing springs affixed between the exterior peripheral cutting edge and the interior peripheral cutting edge for selectively ejecting first one portion and then another portion of the snack-piece dough out of the cutting die while not interfering with cutting or deforming the snack-piece dough.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dough-processing system and, in particular, to a dough-processing system having a rotary cutter for dividing a dough sheet into multiple separate portions and transporting each portion in a predetermined separate direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For some time now, dough-processing systems have been used for taking mixed dough ingredients and sheeting them to form a dough sheet which is then transported along a conveyor system for multiple processing steps, one of which is to utilize a rotary cutter to cut the dough sheet into predetermined shapes for cookies or snacks (See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,687 assigned to the same assignee as the present invention for a complete description of such a system). These systems normally cut the unitary dough sheet into a multiplicity of snack/cookie shapes and one or more web remnants, which then are separated for further processing of the snack-dough pieces. Heretofore it has been difficult to make the snack portions with an opening in the interior because of the difficulty of removing the hole dough from the interior and what to do with it when removed. For manual operation, of course, the operator can physically remove the hole-punching and scrap or recycle it. But for an automated operation with a rotary cutter, if the hole punching is picked up (a multiple pin arrangement has been tried), where can you place the hole punching by the time the rotary cutter completes a 360.degree. rotation and must cut a second snack shape with a second hole? Dough sheet processing systems of the prior art then have an inherent limitation in that the dough exits the cutter in the linear direction of the transport conveyor, it not being known how to separate the dough and transport a quantity of it in another predetermined direction, such as would be necessary if a hole punching or other dough portion were desired to be removed from the snack piece. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a dough-processing system for dividing a dough sheet into at least two separate quantities and removing and transporting one such quantity in a predetermined separate direction other than that of the main transport conveyor.
Another problem that must be overcome to produce a snack with an interior opening is a way to remove the snack piece dough from the cutter die. Cutting and removing the center hole at the same time as cutting the periphery of the snack produces a snack piece dough that is wedged or pinched between the inner and periphery cutting means. The more angles, points, and shape irregularities of the dough piece causes increased friction that prevents the release of the snack from the cutter die. For instance, the cutter die shown in FIG. 1, which is one of the shapes contemplated for production restricts release of the snack piece dough. To eject the snack-piece dough itself, a means must be found to remove the snack-piece dough from the cutter die without damaging it. Biasing means have been used in the prior art on dough sheet cutters (See, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,799,929 issued to Kurianski; 170,460 issued to Ashbourne; and 1,088,070 issued to Haines). Skruggs U.S. Pat. No. 1,457,555 teaches a dough sheet rotary cutter with an ejector means for ejecting the web scrap between the cutter dies. Damage is inconsequential when ejecting web scrap. A normal, straight-forward biasing means on a rotary cutter, upon rotation and contact with the dough sheet, would dig into the snack-piece dough and damage, or worse, hang-up the dough piece requiring shutdown and manual cleaning of the cutting die. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a programmable, flexible, biasing means for selectively biasing predetermined portions of snack-piece dough from a rotary cutter die at consecutive time frames in the cutting process so as not to interfere with cutting or deforming the snack-piece dough.


A steering gear rack (14) for a steering system (12) of a vehicle (10) is positioned in a housing (52) with its end portions (24, 26) protruding from the housing (52) to be connected by ball joints (32) and tie rods (16) to the front wheels of the vehicle (10). The hollow steering gear rack shaft (20) defines an air passageway (22) that extends between the end portions (24, 26). Each of the end portions (24, 26) has an end face (30) and internal threads (28) on the end portion (24) extending inward from the end face (30), and a longitudinal groove (34) extending inward from the end face (30) through and past the internal threads (28) and radially outward past the internal threads (28) extending the air passageway (22) to the end face (30). The end portions of the housing (52) are fitted with rubber boots (54, 56) to protect the ball joints (32) from the environment that are connected by the air passageway (22) and longitudinal grooves (34). The extended air passageway (22) allows the boots (54, 56) to communicate with one another to maintain pressure equilibrium so that neither boot collapses or is subjected to excessive expansion.

A vehicle steering system contains a steering gear assembly that moves a steering rack linearly. The rack is connected by ball joints and tie rods to the front wheels of the vehicle. Each ball joint is protected from the environment by a rubber boot. As the driver turns the steering wheel, the steering gear assembly moves the rack in one direction or the other to effect a turn. This movement causes one boot to compress and the other boot to expand. This expansion and compression causes air pressure changes inside the rubber boots, potentially causing excessive expansion or collapse of a boot. Excessive expansion or compression causes premature wear of the boots exposing the ball joints to the environment. To protect against excessive expansion and compression, the boots have heretofore been connected by a breather tube extending between the boots. Naturally, the transfer of air between the boots allows pressure to remain equalized thereby preventing collapse or excessive expansion. While the breather tube works, it requires assembly, provides potential leakage points, and complicates packaging.
With a hollow rack, conventional approaches use either separate holes cross-drilled through the rack outer diameter or a system of cross-drilled holes in the ball joint housing to serve as connector passageways to the hollow rack to manage the air flow between the boots. These cross-drilled holes increase design and manufacturing complexity, and can also weaken the ball joint socket housing. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to connect the boots without cross-drilling the rack or ball joints, increasing leakage points, and without complicating design, manufacturing or packaging.

Hollow steering gear rack with integral air grooves


A circuit forming method where a metal ink is ejected to a planned formation position of a first wiring at an upper face of a base material. Then, the metal ink is baked, and first wiring is formed. Further, a planned connection section of the first wiring and a second wiring is unbaked. The metal-ink is ejected over an upper face of the unbaked metal ink and a planned formation position of the second wiring at the upper face of the base material. Since the wettability of the upper face of the unbaked metal ink and the wettability of the upper face of the base material are equal to each other, the ejected metal ink ejected and the unbaked metal ink are not separated from each other, so that it is possible to properly connect the first wiring and the second wiring to each other.

In recent years, as described in the patent literature below, a technology has been developed that forms a circuit by using an ejecting device that ejects a metal-containing liquid containing metal particles. Specifically, for example, a metal-containing liquid is ejected in the form of a line in accordance with a circuit pattern by the ejecting device. Then, by baking the metal-containing liquid with, for example, a laser, the metal-containing liquid becomes a wiring, and a circuit is formed.
PTL 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-198923


Highly efficient and rapid filtration-based concentration devices, systems and methods are disclosed with sample fluidic lines and a filter packaged in a disposable tip which concentrate biological particles that are suspended in liquid from a dilute feed suspension. A sample concentrate or retentate suspension is retained while eliminating the separated fluid in a separate flow stream. The concentrate is then dispensed from the disposable tip in a set volume of elution fluid. Suspended biological particles include such materials as proteins/toxins, viruses, DNA, and/or bacteria in the size range of approximately 0.001 micron to 20 microns diameter. Concentration of these particles is advantageous for detection of target particles in a dilute suspension, because concentrating them into a small volume makes them easier to detect. A single-use pipette tip includes fluid ports for aspirating the sample and connecting to a concentrating unit.

Field of the Subject Disclosure
The subject disclosure relates generally to the field of sample preparation. More particularly, the subject disclosure relates to a method and device for automated concentration of particles for enhancing the sensitivity of subsequent analysis methods.
Background of the Subject Disclosure
The difficulties of detecting and quantifying dilute materials in liquids are well known. Existing systems all begin to fail as analyte concentrations decrease, eventually leading to a non-detect of the analyte at very low concentrations. This poses a significant problem to national security, for example, the postal anthrax attacks of 2001 and the subsequent war on terrorism have revealed shortcomings in the sampling and detection of biothreats. The medical arts are similarly affected by the existing limits of detection, as are the environmental sciences.
The detection limits of existing analytical systems that quantitate particles in solution do not disqualify their use in studying analytes or particles that fall below these limits. Rather, methods are needed for concentration of the particles prior to analysis.
Particle concentration in liquid is traditionally performed using centrifugation. Centrifugal force is used for the separation of mixtures according to differences in the density of the individual components present in the mixture. This force separates a mixture forming a pellet of relatively dense material at the bottom of the tube. The remaining solution, referred to as the supernate or supernatant liquid, may then be carefully decanted from the tube without disturbing the pellet, or withdrawn using a Pasteur pipette. The rate of centrifugation is specified by the acceleration applied to the sample, and is typically measured in revolutions per minute (RPM) or g-forces. The particle settling velocity in centrifugation is a function of the particle's size and shape, centrifugal acceleration, the volume fraction of solids present, the density difference between the particle and the liquid, and viscosity of the liquid.
Problems with the centrifugation technique limit its applicability. The settling velocity of particles in the micron size range is quite low and, consequently, centrifugal concentration of these particles takes several minutes to many hours. The actual time varies depending on the volume of the sample, the equipment used, and the skill of the operator. The nature of centrifugation techniques and of the devices used to perform centrifugation requires a skilled operator, thus making automation and integration into other systems difficult.
Centrifugation techniques are tedious in that they are normally made up of multiple steps each requiring a high level of concentration from the operator. It is common in most microbiology laboratories to process large numbers of samples by centrifugation on a daily basis. The potential for human error is high due to the tedious nature; and as stated earlier automation of these techniques is difficult and costly.
Other concentration techniques have been explored and primarily fall into three technology groups—microfluidic/electrophoretic based, filtration based, and capture based. Each of these techniques has advantages and disadvantages.
Traditional flat filtration methodology is used to capture particles from a liquid onto a flat filter, usually supported by a screen or fritted substrate. Many different methods of filtration exist, but all aim to attain the separation of two or more substances. This is achieved by some form of interaction between the substance or objects to be removed and the filter. The substance that is to pass through the filter must be a fluid, i.e. a liquid or gas. The simplest method of filtration is to pass a solution of a solid and fluid through a porous interface so that the solid is trapped, while the fluid passes through. This principle relies upon the size difference between the particles contained in the fluid, and the particles making up the solid. In the laboratory, this if often done using a Büchner funnel with a filter paper that serves as the porous barrier.
One disadvantage of the physical barrier method of filtration is that the substance being filtered from the fluid will clog the channels through the filter over time. The resistance to flow through the filter becomes greater and greater over time as, for example, a vacuum cleaner bag. Accordingly, methods have been developed to prevent this from happening. Most such methods involve replacing the filter; however, if the filter is needed for a continuous process this need for replacement is highly problematic. Scraping and in-situ cleaning mechanisms may be used, but these can be unnecessarily complex and expensive.
In one example, bacteria may be removed from water by passing them through a filter supported in a Buchner funnel to trap the bacteria on the flat filter. Aerosol particles containing biological materials can also be trapped in the same way. For analysis, the trapped materials are often re-suspended in a known volume of liquid. This allows back-calculation of the original aerosol concentration. One method validated by the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center uses 47 mm glass-fiber filters to capture reference samples for biological analysis. The bacteria are extracted by soaking the filters overnight in 20 mL of buffered saline solution, then vortexed for 3 minutes to disrupt the filter material completely. Subsamples or aliquots of these suspensions are then provided for analysis by viable culture, PCR, or other methods.
Other technologies for concentration of biological particulate matter exist. Sandia National Laboratories, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other organizations have developed microfluidic devices that separate and concentrate particles by dielectrophoresis or electrophoresis. These units use microchannels and electric fields to move or collect particles. Sandia has also developed a system that concentrates particles at the interface between two immiscible liquids. Immunomagnetic particles are commercially available for use in the separation and concentration of bacteria.
Various methods exist for concentrating organisms in liquids prior to detection. Historically, the most common method is to enrich the sample in nutrient broth and then cultivate an aliquot of the broth on an agar plate. The biggest disadvantage of this method is the time requirement. It normally takes five to seven days before organisms can be enumerated on the plates. Other concentration methods include various filtration based methods, adsorption-elution, immunocapture, flocculation, and centrifugation. It is problematic that to date no automated methods have been developed that can rapidly concentrate a large volume of water into a very small sample volume and do this task efficiently. In fact most of these methods fail in each of these areas, most notably efficiency of concentration, and ease of use.
A considerable amount of research has been performed using hollow fiber ultrafiltration to concentrate bacteria, viruses, and protozoa from large volumes of water. Most of the methods described are not automated. Generally these systems are capable of concentrating 10 to 100 L water into 100 to 500 mL of concentrated sample; however, it is further problematic that none of the demonstrated technologies provides concentration into volumes of less than 100 mL. Even this volume is much larger than desired for the best possible detection when the concentrator systems are coupled with downstream detection apparatus. This means that a costly and time-consuming second manual concentration step is required to bring the final sample to the desired volume.
The alternative concentration systems described above, although automated, do not provide significant advantages over traditional centrifugation for many laboratories, including microbiology, biotechnology, and clinical biology laboratories. These laboratories require a high level of certainty that sample to sample contamination does not take place. The alternative, automated concentration systems, have significant fluidics that samples are exposed to and in many cases it is, at best, costly and, at worst, impossible to replace these fluidics lines between samples.
The potential for carryover of particles of interest or signatures from one sample to another and the potential for growth of bacteria within the system fluidics significantly limit their applicability to clinical laboratories. In general, microbiology and biotechnology laboratories have adopted the use of disposable components in nearly all work.
A concentration system with a disposable fluid path that is capable of concentrating biological materials from relatively large volumes of liquids would have significant applicability to clinical diagnostics and microbiology and biotechnology laboratories. Spin columns that contain an ultrafilter or microfilter type membrane filters and can be placed into a centrifuge or in some instances use positive pressure to drive the liquid through are a relatively new device that is now seeing wide spread use in these laboratories.
These centrifugal spin columns overcome the contamination issues associated with other concentration systems and also overcome many of the issues associated with using centrifugation to concentration biological materials; however, the spin columns are costly, due to their complexity, and still require significant manual manipulation and pipetting during operation. A fairly high skill level is also required for their use.

Liquid to liquid biological particle concentrator with disposable fluid path


A monopulse precision landing or other land-based radar system uses an array antenna and a beamformer to produce sum, azimuth difference and elevation difference beams relative to the array. The rows and columns of the array are skewed relative to the horizontal for tending to reduce the effects of multipath propagation on altitude estimates. A coordinate converter converts target information from the skewed antenna coordinates to ordinary vertical and horizontal coordinates.

A major problem with ground-based radar systems has always been ground clutter. "Ground clutter" refers to radar reflections from structures located close to the radar transmitter-receiver, which are strong relative to ordinary or desired targets (generally aircraft or other vehicles) because of the short path lengths between the transmitter-receiver and the clutter. In many cases, the clutter arises from immobile objects, and simple discrimination against nonmoving targets suffices to ameliorate the clutter problem. Such discrimination is provided by "moving target indication," which discriminates in favor of target signals which change as a function of time. It has been found, however, that even immobile objects can have some motion, as for example the movement of the leaves of trees has been known to occasion clutter, even when a moving target discriminator is used.
When a radar system is operated adjacent to a reflective surface such as the Earth or a sea, target signals arrive at the receiving antenna directly from the target, and also arrive in the form of reflections from the reflective surface. Since the arriving signals originated from or were reflected by the target, both the direct (non-ground-reflected) and ground-reflected signals have the changing electrical parameters characteristic of moving targets, and so moving target discrimination (MTI) is totally ineffective in separating the direct target signal from the ground-reflected target signal. Since the ground-reflected signal arrives at the receiving antenna from an elevation angle which is different from the angle at which the direct target signal arrives, and cannot be discriminated against by moving target indication, the apparent elevation angle of arrival of the composite signal (the sum of the direct target signal and the ground-reflected signal) is different from the elevation angle of arrival of the desired direct target signal alone. Since a major aspect of radar operation is the determination of target direction from the angle at which the target-reflected signal arrives at the receiver, an error in the apparent direction of arrival may be translated into an error in the apparent direction of the target.
In the context of a ground-controlled approach radar or its modern equivalents, the radar returns indicate both the angle of the target relative to the receiving antenna and its range. The range and angle are then processed using simple trigonometric identities to determine the altitude of the target. More generally, the trigonometric identities can be applied to determine the three Cartesian coordinates (e.g., x—downrange, y—cross-range, and z—height) of the target in an arbitrary earth-fixed coordinate system, typically but not necessarily centered on the radar. If the indicated elevation direction is incorrect, the calculated altitude will also be in error. The directional and range information can be important in navigation of the vehicle, and significant errors are undesirable. A method to reduce the effects of ground reflections on terrestrial radar systems is to place a physical wall (i.e., multipath fence) before the radar antenna, of a height insufficient to interfere with a direct path extending between the target and the radar antenna, but sufficiently high to at least partially block some of the target signals which might be reflected from the ground into the radar antenna. Such walls are expensive and inconvenient.
Many radar systems use "monopulse" techniques to aid in determination of the exact angular location of the target relative to two orthogonal axes lying in the plane of the array face. Typically, one axis is parallel to the array's element rows, the other is parallel to the array's element columns, and they intersect at the center of the array. Furthermore, the element rows are horizontal in conventional ground-based radars. In monopulse operation, a conventional single-main-lobe "sum" beam is directed toward the target. The beamwidth of the sum beam is sufficiently large that the target is unlikely to leave the peak region of the beam during ordinary maneuvers over the period of time required by the radar to collect sufficient signal for a monopulse angle estimate. The peak of such a sum beam, however, is relatively broad, and the signal reflected from the target is not particularly sensitive to slight variations of the target within the beam peak. Monopulse systems also make use of simultaneous and collinear "difference" beams in at least one of horizontal and vertical directions to refine the directional information. Generally, this information is in the form of angular magnitudes and senses relative to either one axis or two orthogonal axes lying in the plane of the array face. A difference beam is characterized by a sharp gain null, generally coincident with the beam peak of the sum beam. Furthermore, the phase of the difference beam changes by 180 degrees as the target angle traverses the null, thus allowing the radar to determine the sense of the target's deviation from the monopulse axis or axes as well as the deviation's magnitude. In the case of an array antenna, a difference beam can be generated by subtracting one beam portion from another. One simple way to accomplish this is to subtract the signals produced by two different and non-collinear beams of the array. More particularly, a very simple way to produce a difference beam is to take the difference between the target signals produced by two halves of the array operated independently of each other. An antenna including an array of antenna elements organized into rows and columns can be divided horizontally into two halves, and vertically into two halves, to thereby define four quarter-array sections. All four of the quarter-array sections are operated in a sum mode to generate the sum monopulse beam, the two upper quarter-array sections are summed and this sum operated in difference with the sum of the two lower quarter-array sections to produce the elevation difference beam, and the two right quarter-sections are summed and operated in difference with the sum of the two left quarter-sections to produce the azimuth difference beam. The two difference beam signals, when divided by the sum beam signal to eliminate the influence of absolute target signal magnitude, then give an accurate indication of the actual angular position of the target relative to the two previously discussed orthogonal axes.
One of the characteristics of antennas is that, in general, for antenna apertures (which may be viewed as the size relative to the wavelength) larger than a few wavelengths, the beamwidth (the angular width of the central high gain lobe) is inversely related to the aperture width. The sidelobe level, however, is related not to the aperture width but rather to the amplitude weighting applied across the aperture. For example, regardless of the size of the aperture, the peak sidelobe gain will always be 13 dB below the peak mainlobe gain if the aperture is linearly weighted. In order to reduce the peak sidelobe level, an amplitude taper such as Taylor weighting is applied across the aperture. This bell-curve-shaped taper emphasizes the contribution of signals incident near the center of the aperture and smoothly decreases the emphasis toward the edges of the aperture. As noted above, this sidelobe level control can be applied and any reasonable sidelobe level achieved independent of aperture width, as long as this width is greater than a few wavelengths. This latter condition almost always applies in radar applications. Typically, Taylor weights are applied to the array antenna aperture to produce a sum beam while Bayliss weights are simultaneously applied to produce difference beams. Bayliss weights are similar to Taylor weights because they allow a sidelobe level to be specified, but they produce a difference beam that has the requisite gain null in the center. The resulting difference beam also has the requisite 180-degree phase change as the target angle traverses the null. When an array antenna is operated in a monopulse mode, the operation may be accomplished, in part, by division of the array into quarters. In the cases of the both the sum and difference beams, the beams are formed by coherently combining the four array quarters, but in different ways, essentially with different weight tapers. As a result, the sum beam and two difference beams are based on exactly the same size antenna apertures. When the sum of the upper two aperture quarters is subtracted from the sum of the lower two aperture quarters, an elevation angle difference beam is produced, but one that has extremely high sidelobes in a vertical plane through the center of the beam. These sidelobes are so high that it may not be clear where the difference beam mainlobes end and the sidelobe region begins. The sidelobes of this difference beam are high not because of the effective aperture size relative to the sum beam, but because the subtraction process produces an effective weighting across the vertical aperture that differs greatly from optimal Bayliss weighting. The subtraction process results in a large weight discontinuity between the two elements that straddle the center of the aperture and it is this weight discontinuity that produces the high sidelobes. Bayliss weights eliminate this discontinuity by tapering the signal emphasis not only toward the edges of the aperture as in the case of Taylor weights, but also toward the center of the aperture. Unfortunately, the simultaneous implementation of Taylor weights for the sum beam and Bayliss weights for the difference beams is expensive and results in a very complicated antenna feed structure. Low-cost radars avoid the use of Bayliss weights by simply subtracting one half of a Taylor-weighted aperture from the other. But they must then accept the high difference beam sidelobes that result. Sometimes these high difference beam sidelobes are not a problem, as in the case of an airborne radar, but when the radar is operated close to a reflecting surface they may result in severe multipath interference. Due to these high sidelobes, the elevation difference beam has relatively high gain in the direction of the undesired multipath signal. The net direct-path plus multipath target signal received by the difference beam may then differ significantly from the signal that would be received through an ideal low-sidelobe difference beam. As a result, the target elevation angle estimate derived from the perturbed difference beam signal may be severely errored.
Improved radar multipath rejection is desired.

Approach radar with array antenna having rows and columns skewed relative to the horizontal


The addition of vinyl ethers to photosensitive resins is suggested to improve the resistance of the cured resin to polar solvents. Long chain vinyl ethers such as octadecyl vinyl ether or dodecyl vinyl ether are preferred. The resulting photosensitive resin compositions are particularly useful in the fabrication of printing plates.

This invention relates to liquid polymer compositions which are useful in the manufacture of imaged printing plates and coatings through photopolymerization. Photocurable compositions useful in forming printing plates and coatings, in general, are well known in the art. In particular U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,863 (Plambeck) describes the use of certain photopolymers in the fabrication of printing plates. However, the processes of Plambeck require the use of relatively toxic solvents to develop away the unpolymerized photopolymer thereby revealing the relief image of the printing plate.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,960,572; 4,137,081; 4,442,302; and 4,857,434, the teaching each of which are included herein by reference in their entirety, reveal certain improvements to the processes of Plambeck. One of the most notable improvements of the foregoing disclosures is that the photopolymers utilized can be developed, after selective polymerization with light, in aqueous based solutions. Aqueous developable photopolymers of the foregoing type are currently marketed under the Merigraph trade name by MacDermid Imaging Technology, Inc. of Wilmington, Del. These aqueous developable photopolymers are useful in printing a variety of substrates including paper, cardboard and plastic, due to the fact that they are capable of forming printing plates having the necessary hardness, flexibility, resilience, and abrasion resistance required for such printing.
The liquid photopolymers currently known and utilized are generally useful in printing with aqueous based inks only. They are not useful in printing with polar organic solvent based inks, such as alcohol based inks, because the cured polymers do not possess the necessary resistance to polar solvents. When exposed to polar solvent based inks cured liquid photopolymers generally degrade or swell to an unacceptable degree, making their usefulness in printing these inks much less than desirable.
In a variety of applications, such as film printing, it is necessary or desirable to print with polar solvent based inks. The solvents used in such inks may be one or a mixture of commonly used organic solvents, such as isopropyl alcohol and n-propyl acetate. In any case, liquid photopolymers, such as those described above, have not possessed the necessary resistance to these polar solvents and thus are not useful in fabricating printing plates for these applications.
It is therefore an object of this invention to reveal liquid photopolymer compositions which produce printing plates which are resistant to a variety of inks, including water based, alcohol based and hydrocarbon based inks. The printing plates produced using the compositions of this invention are therefore useful in a wide variety of printing applications.
It is a further object of this invention to reveal liquid photopolymer compositions which produce printing plates having the hardness, flexibility and abrasion resistance which is necessary for printing in a variety of applications. Thus the photopolymer compositions of this invention are capable of producing high quality artwork using a wide variety of inks and on various types of surfaces.

Photopolymer useful in fabricating printing plates which are resistant to polar solvent based ink


A process for metallizing semiconductor devices is provided, wherein a plurality of aluminum contacts is formed. The plurality of aluminum contacts is at least partially nitrided in a nitrogen-containing plasma at a temperature of less than about 350.degree. C. The aluminum nitride layer or cap is capable of eliminating aluminum corrosion without affecting the electrical properties of the aluminum contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to metallization employed in silicon semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, is directed to a nitridation process used to form aluminum nitride on a previously-deposited aluminum layer.
2. Description of Related Art
Aluminum is often used as a conductive metal layer in semiconductor devices. However, it is desirable to protect the aluminum against chemical attack by water vapor, which can form corrosion products that adversely affect the electrical properties of aluminum metal.
Accordingly, there is a need for a means of providing protection of aluminum against chemical attack by water vapor.


Meter electronics for a Coriolis flowmeter capable of being intrinsically safe. A signal conditioner receives power from a power supply in a host system remote from the signal conditioner. Drive circuitry in the signal conditioner generates a drive signal and applies the drive signal to a driver affixed to at least one conduit of the Coriolis flowmeter. Pick-off signal conditioning circuitry in the signal conditioner receives input signals from a first pick-off sensor and a second pick-off sensor affixed to the at least one conduit of the Coriolis flowmeter, generates information indicating properties of a material flowing through the conduit from the input signals, and transmits output signals containing the information to the host system. Host-side protection circuitry in the signal conditioner prevents power in excess of an intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to wires connecting the signal conditioner to the host system and flowmeter assembly protection circuitry in said signal conditioner prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to wires connecting the signal conditioner to the driver, the first pick-off sensor, and the second pick-off sensor.

This invention relates to meter electronics for a Coriolis flowmeter. More particularly, this invention relates to meter electronics that has a signal conditioner that is remote from a host system and is capable of being intrinsically safe. Still more particularly, this invention relates to meter electronics that have a signal conditioner that allows conventional 2 or 4 wire cable to be used to supply power to a Coriolis flowmeter.
It is known to use Coriolis effect mass flowmeters to measure mass flow and other information with respect to materials flowing through a pipeline as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,025 issued to J. E. Smith, et al. of Jan. 1, 1985 and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,450 to J. E. Smith of Feb. 11, 1982. These flowmeters have one or more flow tubes of a curved or a straight configuration. Each flow tube configuration in a Coriolis mass flowmeter has a set of natural vibration modes, which may be of a simple bending, torsional, radial, or coupled type. Each flow tube is driven to oscillate at resonance in one of these natural modes. The natural vibration modes of the vibrating, material filled systems are defined in part by the combined mass of the flow tubes and the material within the flow tubes. Material flows into the flowmeter from a connected pipeline on the inlet side of the flowmeter. The material is then directed through the flow tube or flow tubes and exits the flowmeter to a pipeline connected on the outlet side.
A driver applies a vibrational force to the flow tube. The force causes the flow tube to oscillate. When there is no material flowing through the flowmeter, all points along a flow tube oscillate with a substantially identical phase. As a material begins to flow through the flow tube, Coriolis accelerations cause each point along the flow tube to have a different phase with respect to other points along the flow tube. The phase on the inlet side of the flow tube lags the driver, while the phase on the outlet side leads the driver. Sensors at two different points on the flow tube produce sinusoidal signals representative of the motion of the flow tube at the two points. A phase difference of the two signals received from the sensors is calculated in units of time. The phase difference between the two sensor signals is proportional to the mass flow rate of the material flowing through the flow tube or flow tubes.
It is a problem that a 9-wire cable must be used to connect meter electronics to a flowmeter assembly. For purposes of the present discussion, meter electronics include all of the circuitry needed to produce drive signals and to process signals from the sensors and a flowmeter assembly includes at least one flow tube, an affixed driver, and sensors needed to measure the oscillation of the flow tube. The 9-wire cable for connecting the meter electronics to the flowmeter assembly includes two wires that connect the meter electronics to the driver, two wires that connect the meter electronics to a first pick-off, two wires that connect the meter electronics to a second pick-off, and three wires for connecting the meter electronics to a temperature sensor.
The 9-wire cable is a custom cable and is expensive to produce and is therefore expensive for a user of a Coriolis flowmeter to purchase. The expense of 9-wire cable is a particular problem when the user of a Coriolis flowmeter wishes to move the meter electronics to a control area remote from the flowmeter assembly. The 9-wire cable must be installed the entire length between the meter electronics and the flowmeter assembly. The cost of such 9-wire cable increases greatly as the distance between the meter electronics and the flowmeter assembly increases. It would be a particular advantage if conventional 2-wire or 4-wire cable that is relatively inexpensive and readily available to users could be used to connect the flowmeter assembly to the meter electronics.
A further problem in designing meter electronics is that the meter electronics may be used in an explosive environment containing a volatile material. For purposes of the present discussion, an explosive environment is a system that includes a volatile material which can be ignited if a spark, excessive heat, or excessive energy is introduced into the environment. One manner in which a meter electronics may operate in an explosion environment is to be enclosed in an explosion proof housing. An explosion proof housing is a housing that is designed to ensure that a spark or excessive heat from inside the housing does not ignite the volatile material in the environment outside the housing.
In order to make a device explosion proof, methods including encapsulation, pressurization, and flameproof containment may be used. Each of the above methods encloses a device to prevent the volatile material from contacting the device where heated surfaces of the device or sparks from circuitry in the device may cause an ignition of the material. If a material ignites inside an enclosure, any gaps or openings in the enclosure must provide a flame path of a sufficient length to cool the material as the material escapes from the enclosure. The cooling of the hot material prevents the hot material from igniting the volatile material outside the enclosure.
A second solution is to make the meter electronics intrinsically safe. An intrinsically safe device is a device in which all the circuitry in the device operates under a certain low energy level. By operating under a certain energy level, the device is ensured not to generate a spark or sufficient heat to cause an explosion even if the device fails in some manner. The power level needed to make a device intrinsically safe are determined by regulatory agencies such as UL in the United States, CENELEC in Europe, CSA in Canada, and TIIS in Japan.
The above and other problems are solved and an advance in the art is made by a signal conditioner in accordance with this invention. A first advantage of this invention is the 9-wire cable to a Coriolis flowmeter assembly may be eliminated even in flowmeters where a power supply may be remote from a Coriolis flowmeter assembly. A second advantage of this signal conditioner is that the entire meter electronics do not have to be enclosed in an explosion proof housing. Instead, a signal conditioner may be used that operates at a power level below the required energy and/or power threshold needed to be intrinsically safe. Therefore, the signal conditioner does not have to be enclosed in an explosion proof housing if the leads to and from the signal conditioner do not carry energy and/or power at a level above the threshold for being intrinsically safe.
The meter electronics of this invention eliminate the need for conventional 9-wire cable to connect a flowmeter assembly to the meter electronics in a Coriolis flowmeter. Instead, a conventional 2-wire or 4-wire cable can be used to supply energy and/or power to a signal conditioner from a host system. The signal conditioner can generate the drive signal, can receive sensors signals from motion and temperature sensors affixed to a flow tube, and can process the signals from the sensors to generate information about the properties of the material flowing through the flow tube.
The signal conditioner is connected to the driver and sensors by 9 separate leads that are distinct from the conventional 9-wire cable typically used to connect the meter electronics to the 9 separate leads. After processing the signals, the signal conditioner may transmit information relating to properties of the material over 2 separate wires in a conventional 4-wire cable or over the 2-wires supplying power in a conventional 2-wire cable.
In order to make the signal conditioner capable of being intrinsically safe, the signal conditioner includes host-side protection circuitry and flowmeter assembly protection circuitry. The host side protection circuitry prevents energy and/or power in excess of an intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by the signal conditioner to the leads connecting the signal conditioner to the host system. The intrinsically safe threshold is the level of energy and/or power dictated by various agencies to ensure that a spark or heat from the circuitry does not ignite volatile material in the environment. For purposes of brevity throughout the rest of this discussion, power is understood to mean energy and/or power.
The host-side protection circuitry may include power supply protection circuitry and/or signaling protection circuitry. The power barrier circuitry prevents power from flowing from the signal conditioner over the first wire and the second wire supplying power to the signal conditioner. The signaling protection circuitry prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by the pick-off signal conditioning circuitry in the signal conditioner to the leads connecting the pick-off signal condition circuitry to the host system.
The flowmeter assembly barrier circuitry prevents power in excess of a intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to leads connected to the flowmeter assembly. The flowmeter assembly protection circuitry may include a drive signal protection circuitry and sensor signals protection circuitry. The drive protection circuitry prevents power in excess of the intrinsically threshold power from being applied to leads connected to the driver by the drive circuitry in the signal conditioner. The sensor signal protection circuitry prevents power from being applied to a lead connected the first pick-off and a lead connected to the second pick-off by the pick-off signal conditioning circuitry in the signal conditioner.
The host system includes the power supply and a secondary signal processing system. The power supply supplies power to the entire system and the secondary processing system receives output signals from the signal conditioner and determines properties of the material flowing through the flow tube. In order to be intrinsically safe, the host system may include a barrier that prevents power greater than the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to leads connected to the signal conditioner by the host system.
The barrier may include power supply protection circuitry and secondary processing protection circuitry. The power supply protection circuitry prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to the first wire and the second wire supplying power to the signal conditioner. The secondary signal protection circuitry prevents power from being applied by the secondary processing system to the leads connecting the secondary processing system to the pick-off signal condition circuitry in the signal conditioner.
An aspect of this invention is meter electronics for a Coriolis flowmeter capable of being intrinsically safe. The meter electronics may include the following components. A signal conditioner remote from a host system that receives power from a power supply in the host system via a first wire and a second wire. Drive circuitry in the signal conditioner generates a drive signal from the power received from the power supply and applies the drive signal to a driver affixed to at least one conduit. Pick-off signal conditioning circuitry in the signal conditioner receives input signals from a first pick-off sensor and a second pick-off sensor affixed to said at least one conduit, generates information indicating properties of a material flowing through the conduit from the input signals, and transmits output signals containing the information to the host system. Host-side protection circuitry in the signal conditioner prevents power in excess of an intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by circuitry in the signal conditioner to leads connecting the signal conditioner to the host system and flowmeter assembly protection circuitry in the signal conditioner prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by circuitry in the signal conditioner to leads connecting the signal conditioner to the driver, the first pick-off sensor, and the second pick-off sensor.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the host-side protection circuitry includes power supply protection circuitry in the signal conditioner that prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to the first wire and the second wire by circuitry in the signal conditioner.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein said host-side protection circuitry includes signaling protection circuitry in the signal conditioner that prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to leads connecting the pick-off signal conditioning circuitry to the host system.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the flowmeter assembly protection circuitry includes drive protection circuitry in the signal conditioner that prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by the drive circuitry to leads connected to the driver.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the flowmeter assembly protection circuitry includes sensor protection circuitry that prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by the pick-off signal conditioning circuitry to leads connecting the first pick-off sensor and the second pick-off sensor to the pick-off signal conditioning circuitry.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the signal conditioner is operating intrinsically safe.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the host system includes the power supply and a secondary signal processing system. The meter electronics further comprises a barrier in the host system that prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by the host system to leads between the signal conditioner and the host processor.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the barrier includes power protection circuitry that prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied to the first wire and the second wire by the power supply.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics further comprising secondary processing protection circuitry that prevents power in excess of the intrinsically safe threshold from being applied by the secondary processing system to leads connecting the pick-off signal conditioning circuitry to the secondary processing system.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the output signals are applied to the first wire and the second wire by the pick-off signal conditioning circuitry.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the output signals are applied to a third wire and a fourth wire that are connected to the host system.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein the drive circuitry controls the amount of current of the drive signal that is applied to the driver.
Another aspect of this invention is meter electronics wherein said drive circuitry controls the amount of voltage of said drive signal that is applied to said driver.

Remote signal conditioner for a Coriolis flowmeter


A terminal portion for sealing an end of a conduit includes a body including a first end having a first diameter and a second end having a second diameter, the first diameter having a smaller size than the second diameter. The terminal portion further includes an internal ring disposed over and around the first end of the body, and a sleeve disposed over the body and the internal ring. The sleeve is structured to contain an outer portion of the end of the conduit and is dimensioned to accommodate the first end of the body and the conduit. At least one inner sleeve contained in the sleeve houses the body.

During rough plumbing, terminal components are installed on open ends of a pipe in a plumbing system in order to be able to check the plumbing system for leaks. A wide variety of end fittings are available, which are configured to grip or hold the end of the pipe when the fitting is installed on the end of the pipe to secure the assembly. Some end fittings grip the pipe once they are crimped, while other end fitting grip the pipe by means of a grab ring or by glue, threads, or soldering, for example. However, such components often require complicated assembly processes, expensive tools and significant labor expenditures.

Terminal component for plumbing configuration