An electrode array allows for rapid ablation of a strip of tissue in an organ providing a barrier to blood loss during resection operations.

The present invention relates to radio frequency (RF) ablation of tissue and in particular to an apparatus using ablation to control bleeding during the resection of a portion of an organ.
The liver is a common site for both primary and metastatic cancer. Surgical resection (hepatectomy) is currently the preferred treatment for liver cancer. During resection, the surgeon typically removes a lobe of the liver, a time consuming procedure where the surgeon must cut through tissue while avoiding or closing large blood vessels. Blood loss during this procedure can adversely affect patient survival, increase hospital stay, and increase complication rates.
Some studies have investigated the use of radio RF ablation or microwave (MW) ablation to coagulate tissue before resection. Henceforth, both RF and MW ablation will be referred to collectively as RF ablation.
In RF ablation, an electrode is inserted into the tissue and current passing from the electrode through the patient to a large area ground pad on the patient's skin coagulates the tissue near the electrode through resistive heating, sealing it against blood flow. In order to ablate the necessary area of tissue, the electrode is removed and reapplied at a series of locations along the tissue slice. The time required for this procedure is generally too long for clinic practice.


A friction stir welding tool includes an integral shank-pin unit and a shoulder attached to the shank-pin unit.

The Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process is a solid-state based joining process, which makes it possible to weld a wide variety of materials (Aluminum, Copper, Stainless Steels, etc.) to themselves and to weld various combinations (e.g. aluminum alloys 6xxx/5xxx, 2xxx/7xxx, etc.) to each other. The process is based on "plunging" a rotating FSW tool into the joining area. The rotating friction stir welding tool heats the workpiece(s) by friction, so the material becomes plasticized and flows around the axis of the tool due to shear caused by the tool.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art friction stir welding tool 10. The tool 10 includes a pin 12 which, preferably, is threaded. The shank 18 is for gripping in a chuck or collet of the friction stir welding machine. The tool 10 also includes shoulder 14, having workpiece engaging surface 16, which is for preventing material from flowing upwardly, out of the joint being formed. The tool is rotated in the direction such that the threads 13 on pin 12 push plasticized material downwardly into the joint. A setup for friction stir welding is shown in FIG. 2.
The setup includes a rotating chuck or collet 11 which grips shank 18 of tool 10. The setup also includes a moveable carriage (bed) 19 to which the workpiece(s) 111 is/are clamped. An anvil 115 underlies workpieces 111. The carriage 19 is translated relatively to the chuck or collet 11, so the pin 12 progresses along the joint 114 which is to be welded. Conversely, the relative motion of the FSW tool holding chuck or collet can also be achieved by keeping the carriage 19 and workpiece(s) 111 stationary and moving (or translating) the welding head relative to them.
FIGS. 3-7 illustrate the process of beginning a friction stir welding process. Rotary motion is imparted to tool 10 having pin 12 as shown in FIG. 3. Then, while tool 10 is rotating, it is brought down to the workpieces(s) 111 as shown in FIG. 4. The tool 10 is then pressed downwardly so the pin 12 contacts the workpieces, preferably at joint 114 and begins heating them locally by friction, and the heat plasticizes the workpiece material. The tool is then further pressed downwardly into the workpieces, as shown sequentially in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7.
The heat due to the friction causes plasticized material 112 of the workpiece(s) 111 to soften and flow around the axis of the pin 12. In FIG. 7, the pin 12 is plunged almost entirely into the workpiece(s) 111. Typically, an anvil 115 lies below the workpiece(s) 111 to counteract the downward "plunging" (or Fz) force imparted by the tool holding chuck onto the joint area and maintain a smooth surface on the underside of the workpiece(s) 111.
Once the pin 12 has been plunged into the workpiece(s) 111, the bed 19 is translated, so the pin 12 is moved relative to the workpiece(s) 111 along the joint to be welded. As the plasticized material cools behind the pin 12, it coalesces into sound metallurgical bonds.
FIG. 8 illustrates in greater detail the principal aspects of a prior art FSW tool 10. Tool 10 includes a shank 18, a pin 12 and a shoulder 14. Shank 18 may have a flat 21. Shoulder 14 has a workpiece engaging surface 16. Pin 12 has threads 13 and flats 15. When tool 10 is in use, it is rotated in the direction that will cause plasticized material engaged by threads 13 on pin 12 to move downwardly, into the workpiece(s) 111. The flats 15 serve to reduce the torque needed to rotate the pin 12. The workpiece engaging surface 16 of the shoulder 14 has a spiral thread (or scroll) 17 which tends to cause plasticized material to flow inward radially, toward the base of pin 12, when the tool is rotated in the direction which is appropriate for threads 13 on pin 12.
FIG. 9 illustrates an integral (or monolithic) FSW tool 20. The pin 22, shank 28 and shoulder 24 are integrally formed. Good concentricity is obtained between the shank 28 and the pin 22. The disadvantage of this design is that it may be desirable to make the pin 22 of a material having preferred properties, which may not be needed for the shoulder 24, but which is very expensive. For an integrally formed tool, much of that material would be wasted on the shoulder 24. Also, the material may be available only in small diameter form, insufficient to form the shoulder 24.
One prior art solution to this problem is to make the pin out of a material (e.g. MP159) that is different from the material out of which the shoulder and shank are made (e.g. H13). The traditional way of designing such a composite FSW tool is to "consolidate" the tool's shoulder with the shank into one piece, and then insert the pin into it.
FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate a prior art tool 30 having a shoulder 34 which is integral with the shank 38. The tool has a pin 32 which is held by one or two setscrews 39. There may be some clearance 33 between the pin 32 and the shoulder 34. It is very difficult to obtain good alignment between the pin 32 and the shoulder 34/shank 38 with this design. Hence, pin 32 tends to be eccentric and to wobble as it turns during friction stir welding of the workpiece(s). This introduces cyclic loads on pin 32 that may cause it to break. This is especially true when joining strong, hard materials (e.g. 7055, Stainless Steel, Titanium) and/or relatively thick parts (e.g. 45 mm).
These eccentricities, which lead to more pronounced vibrations and cyclic loading of the pin 32 during welding, often shorten the life of the pin 32. This is typically manifested by breakage of pin 32 near its base, near the shoulder 34 of the tool 30. These eccentricities are caused by:                (a) The intentional clearance 33 designed between the pin 32 and the hole in the shoulder 34 to accept it (FIG. 11).        (b) Uneven and unrepeatable tightening of the set-screws 39, which varies the clearance between the pin and the hole that accepts it in the shoulder.        (c) Normal compounding of machining tolerances of the pin and shoulder/shank.        (d) Variations in placement of the shank within the FSW machine's chuck or collet.
Accordingly, there is a need for FSW tools which reduce shank-pin misalignment and hence are more resistant to breakage.


Variable index optical single-layers, optical multilayer, and laser-resistant coatings were made from a perfluorinated amorphous polymer material by physical vapor deposition. This was accomplished by physically vapor depositing a polymer material, such as bulk Teflon AF2400, for example, to form thin layers that have a very low refractive index (.about.1.10-1.31) and are highly transparent from the ultra-violet through the near infrared regime, and maintain the low refractive index of the bulk material. The refractive index can be varied by simply varying one process parameter, either the deposition rate or the substrate temperature. The thus forming coatings may be utilized in anti-reflectors and graded anti-reflection coatings, as well as in optical layers for laser-resistant coatings at optical wavelengths of less than about 2000 nm.

The present invention is directed to transparent and variable refractive index coatings, particularly to the fabrication of such coatings from a copolymer of two or more of the following monomers: tetrafluoroethylene, 2,2-bistrifluoromethyl-4,5 difluoro-1,3 dioxole, perfluoroallyl vinyl ether, and perfluorobutenyl vinyl ether, hereafter referred to as a "perfluorinated amorphous polymer", and more particularly to variable index optical single layers and multilayers, and laser-damage-resistant coatings formed by physical-vapor-deposited perfluorinated amorphous polymers (PAP).
Various types of optical coatings have been developed for different applications, and numerous processes have been developed over the years. These prior efforts are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,545,646 issued Oct. 8, 1985 to M. Chern et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,259 issued May 15, 1990 to J. L. Emmett.
Polymer materials have been widely used for coatings. Perfluorinated amorphous polymer coatings have been used as thermal barriers, microelectronics insulators, and in doped optical fibers. However, there has been a need for alternate optical coating materials for use in the ultra-violet (UV), visible, and near-infrared (NIR) regime due to a shortage of dielectrics with a low refractive index. Also, with the continuing development of high energy laser systems, there is a need for high laser-damage-resistant optical coatings operating at optical wavelengths of less than 2000 nm.
This prior need has been satisfied by the present invention by the recognition that single layers of polymer materials, such as perfluorinated amorphous polymers (PAP), can be physical-vapor-deposited from bulk perfluorinated amorphous polymers, which are highly transparent in the UV-visible-NIR regime and also has a low refractive index. Also, by this invention, optical multilayers can be made by physical-vapor-deposited PAP with other physically-vapor-deposited dielectric materials. Also, by this invention the refractive index of the optical layers may be varied by simply varying the deposition rate. Thus, transparent optical coatings having a refractive index in the about 1.10-1.30 range have been produced by this invention. Thus, multilayered optical reflectors have been made by this invention.

Optical coatings of variable refractive index and high laser-resistance from physical-vapor-deposited perfluorinated amorphous polymer

The Regents of the University of California


A macromer based novel copolymer comprising an acrylate or methacrylate ester of low molecular weight oligomeric lactide copolymerized with basic monomer is provided. These copolymers show unusual dissolution behavior in that they are soluble over a wide range of pH from 1.8 to 7.4. This unexpected solubility behavior can be exploited to develop pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Biodegradable polyesters derived from aliphatic hydroxy carboxylic acids have been developed for medical applications such as surgical sutures, drug delivery devices, tissue supports, and implants for internal bone fixation (S. W. Shalaby and A. Johnson In: S. W. Shalaby, Editor, Biomedical polymers: Designed to degrade systems, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich (1994), pp. 1-34. R. L. Dunn In: J. O. Hollinger, Editor, Biomedical applications of synthetic biodegradable polymers, CRC Press, Boca Raton (1995), pp. 17-31. V. Maquet and R. Jerome Mater. Sci. Forum 250 (1997), pp. 15-42).
Most of these materials are made from high-molecular-weight linear polyesters like polylactides, polyglycolides and their copolymers (D. E. Perrin and J. P. English In: A. J. Domb, J. Kost and D. M. Wiseman, Editors, Handbook of biodegradable polymers, Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam (1997), pp. 3-27). Less attention has been paid to oligomeric esters, because these oligomers normally do not have the mechanical and thermal properties required for sutures or implants. Recent work on synthesis of liquid or low melt oligolactides offers interesting approach to a new class of biodegradable materials useful for injectable drug delivery systems, implant coatings or soft tissue augmentations. In addition, biodegradable polymer networks and composites can be prepared from these oligoesters terminated with unsaturated functional groups (D. K. Han and J. A. Hubbell Macromolecules 30 (1997), pp. 6077-6083, G. Coullerez, C. Lowe, P. Pechy, H. H. Kausch and J. Hilborn J. Mater. Sci: Mater. Med. 11 (2000), pp. 505-510).
Novel linear and star-shaped oligolactide macromers were prepared and used for the fabrication of highly porous polymer network scaffolds of controlled shape. In vitro studies on the cultivation of osteoblasts on these materials demonstrated that the polymer networks possess excellent biocompatibility and they are well suited as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. (Matthias Schnabelrauch, Sebastian Vogta, Yves Larcherb and Ingo Wilkeb, Biomolecular Engineering, 19 (2-6), (2002), pp. 295-298).
Controlled ring-opening polymerization of L-Lactide was initiated using cyclic tin alkoxides which resulted in series of lactide macromonomers. Double bond of the initiator was successfully incorporated into the synthesized macromonomers which is well-suited for postpolymerization into a brushlike polymer. (Ryner, M.; Finne, A.; Albertsson, A. C.; Kricheldorf, H. R. Macromolecules 34, (2001) pp. 7281-7287). This unsaturated macromonomer provided a variety of opportunities for further modifications. The incorporated C═C double bond was oxidized into epoxides. (Finne, Anna; Albertsson, Ann-Christine. Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry 42(3), (2004), pp. 444-452).
Poly (D, L) lactide diacrylate macromer was used to develop a new family of biodegradable hydrogels with photo-crosslinked dextran derivative of allyl isocyanate. The changes in thermal and mechanical properties of these hydrogels as function of dextran and lactide macromer composition were investigated. (Zhang, Yeli; Chu, Chih-Chang. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine 13(8), (2002), pp. 773-781).
A series of temperature and pH-sensitive hydrogels based on poly (2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and three-arm poly (D, L-lactide) macromer were synthesized via photo-copolymerization. Lactide macromer was synthesized by first reacting lactide with Glycerol and then reacting 3 arm poly-lactide with methacryloyl chloride and triethylamine. This study effectively proved that unique combination of water swellability and biodegradability properties provides hydrogels for a much wider range of applications in biomedical fields. (Wang, Chau-Hui; Hsiue, Ging-Ho. Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry 40(8), (2002), pp. 1112-1121).
Difunctional oligolactone macromers were synthesized by ring-opening oligomerization of various lactones (L-lactide, glycolide, p-dioxanone) in the presence of suitable diols (propane-1,2-diol, dianhydro-D-glucitol) and subsequent end capping of these oligolactones with methacrylate moieties. Highly porous scaffolds were fabricated from these macromers. The oligolactide based polymer networks possess excellent biocompatibility and are promising candidates as scaffolds in bone tissue engineering. (Haris, Parvez I.; Vogt, S.; Berger, S.; Wilke, I.; Larcher, Y.; Weisser, J.; Schnabelrauch, M. Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering 15(1, 2), (2005), pp. 73-85).
Weak polyacids or polybases, which undergo an ionization/deionization transition from pH 4˜8, are utilized as pH-responsive polymers. Poly(N,N′-dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) and poly(N,N′-diethyl amino ethyl methacrylate) (PDEAEMA) are examples of pH responsive polybases. (Eun Seok Gil, Samuel M. Hudson. Prog. Polym. Sci. 29 (2004) pp. 1173-1222). They have amine groups in their side chains. The amine groups gain protons under acidic condition and release them under basic condition. PDMAEMA was also reported to exhibit temperature sensitivity similar to PNIPAAm (M. Okubo, H. Ahmad and T. Suzuki, Colloid Polym Sci 276 (1998), pp. 470-475). The origin of the thermo-responsive behavior lies in the balance of hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of poly (DMAEMA), while the pH-sensitive behavior is due to the existence of tertiary amino-group, which gets protonated with decreasing pH of the aqueous medium. These properties of poly (DMAEMA) were used to develop hydrogels having good mechanical properties through copolymerization of DMAEMA with other methacrylate derivatives, among which the copolymers and hydrogels prepared from DMAEMA and Butyl methacrylate (BMA) were studied in detail. By using a unique method and photoredox system to initiate the copolymerization of DMAEMA with BMA, a stable asymmetric bilayer sheet which shows reversible thermal and pH-responsive behavior was developed as intelligent soft material. (Li, Fu-Mian; Chen, Shuang-Ji; Du, Fu-Sheng; Wu, Zhi-Qiang; Li, Zi-Chen. ACS Symposium Series 726 (1999), pp. 266-276).
A pH-sensitive interpolymer polyelectrolyte complex was synthesized by gamma radiation induced copolymerization of acrylic acid and N,N′-Dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). pH dependent swelling showed different phase transitions depending on the copolymer composition and also showed the interpolymer polyelectrolyte complex formation at pH values ranging from pH 3 to pH 4. The ability of the copolymer to be used as drug carrier for colon specific drug delivery system was demonstrated using Ketoprofen as a model drug. (El-Hag Ali Said, Amr. Biomaterials 26(15), (2005), pp. 2733-2739).
A new pH/temperature responsive polymer system with transitions resulting both from polymer-water and polymer-polymer interactions has been demonstrated using the copolymer composed of N,N′-dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and ethylacrylamide (EAAm) and the mixture of poly DMAEMA and poly EAAm. Based on the pH/temperature responsiveness of the copolymer and polymer mixture, glucose controlled insulin delivery system and microspheres for temperature sensitive solute release were designed and characterized. (Yuk, Soon Hong; Seo, Jung Ki; Lee, Jin Ho; Cho, Sun Hang. ACS Symposium Series 752 (2000), pp. 232-242).
The insulin release from the same copolymer matrix was demonstrated. (Yuk, Soon Hong; Cho, Sun Hang; Lee, Sang Hoon. Polymer Preprints 39(2), (1998), pp. 204-205). Poly(N,N-dimethyl amino ethyl) methacrylate (DMAEMA) and polyethyl acrylamide (EAAm) system was also used to design the microspheres for pH/temperature sensitive drug release. Hydrocortisone was used as a model drug. This gave the control of hydrocortisone release in an on-off manner without considerable lag time (Kim, E. J.; Cho, S. H.; Yuk, S. H. Biomaterials 22(18), (2001), pp. 2495-2499).
In the same way copolymers of DMAEMA and ethylacrylamide (EAAm) [or acrylamide (AAm)] were prepared and characterized as polymeric drug delivery systems modulated for pulsatile and time release. When the temperature of poly DMAEMA aqueous solution was increased above 50° C., the polymer precipitated from the solution. The incorporation of EAAm in the copolymer caused lower critical solution temperature (LCST) to shift to a lower temperature. This was because of the formation of hydrogen bonds, which protect (N,N-dimethyl amino) ethyl groups from exposure to water and led to a hydrophobic contribution to the LCST. Glucose controlled insulin release and thermosensitive permeation of hydrocortisone was accomplished by manipulating pH/temperature responsiveness of polymers. (Yuk, Soon Hong; Cho, Sun Hang; Lee, Sang Hoon; Seo, Jung Ki; Lee, Jin Ho. Editor(s): Ottenbrite, Raphael M.; Kim, Sung Wan. Polymeric Drugs & Drug Delivery Systems (2001), pp. 39-55).
The effect of pendent side-chain length and crosslinking agent concentration in methyl methacrylates/dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate as polybasic/hydrophobic pH-sensitive hydrogel was studied. Increasing both side-chain length and crosslinking agent concentration decreased the sharpness of response to pH and water-uptake capacity of the polymer. (Falamarzian, M.; Varshosaz, J. Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy 24(7), (1998), pp. 667-669).
Amphiphilic comb-copolymers made by copolymerization of N, N-dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and poly (Butyl acrylate) macromonomers are excellent dispersants for many organic pigments in different coating systems. (Muehlebach, Andreas. Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering 90, (2004), pp. 180). The glucose-responsive insulin controlled release system based on the hydrogel poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-N, N-dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate), with entrapped glucose oxidase, catalase and insulin was studied. When exposed to physiological fluids, glucose diffuses into the hydrogel; glucose oxidase catalyzes the glucose conversion to gluconic acid, causing swelling of the pH-sensitive hydrogel and subsequently increased insulin release. The effects of polymer morphology and oxygen availability on hydrogel swelling and on insulin release kinetics were tested. In vivo experiments on rats demonstrated that at least some of the entrapped insulin retained its active form and was effective in reducing blood glucose levels. Thus the pH-sensitive hydrogel poly (HEMA-co-DMAEMA) could be manipulated to produce glucose-responsive insulin release system that was effective in reducing blood glucose levels. (Traitel, Tamar; Cohen, Yachin; Kost, Joseph. Biomaterials 21(16), (2000), pp. 1679-1687).
Copolymerization of acrylate monomers with basic monomers like Dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) with the aim of designing controlled drug delivery of therapeutic or complex protein molecules like insulin or site specific drug delivery using hydrogels has been reported. Such polymers containing basic functional groups such as amino groups are known to dissolve at pH prevalent in the stomach. Hence these copolymers of acrylates with DMAEMA result in pH sensitive polymers and at times exhibit temperature sensitive behavior. The copolymers have high molecular weights and they are used in variety of applications like drug delivery systems and also as dispersants in pigment industry. DMAEMA along with other neutral methacrylates (Composition of Eudragit E) is also used as reverse enteric coating. This polymer shows swelling at pH 5. Percentage of DMAEMA in Eudragit E is high (35% w/w), which possibly results in negative drug interaction with some of the drugs. (M. J. Alonso, M. L. Lorenzo-Lamosa, M. Cuna, J. L. Vila-Jato and D. Torres, Journal of Microencapsulation, 1997, Volume 14, No. 5, 607-616). Low molecular weight DMAEMA polymers having low basic monomer content and their utility as excipient in pharmaceutical drug delivery has not been investigated in the past.
The preferred embodiments relate to a composition of a low molecular weight macromer based copolymer synthesized using oligomeric lactide macromer and basic monomer. It also demonstrates that at very low concentration of the basic monomer (about 12% w/w) this copolymer exhibits unusual dissolution behavior. Contrary to the solubility behavior of Eudragit E polymers, these polymers are soluble over a wide pH range. These polymers are copolymers of lactide macromer and DMAEMA. Because of their unusual dissolution behavior, they can be used as excipients in pharmaceutical drug delivery systems. The lactide macromer used in the preferred embodiments is a low molecular weight moiety and the copolymer shows unexpected dissolution properties which are very different than copolymers of DMAEMA reported in the literature.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Oligomeric lactide macromer based copolymer and a process for the preparation thereof

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research


Waste paper is deinked by a composition which comprises a surfactant and a hydrophobic-based deinking component.

Deinked pulp has become a principal source of raw material for making paper in applications such as newsprint and tissue production. The deinking process has evolved throughout the years to provide for the removal of ink from recycled paper. In conventional paper recycling processes, deinking is carried out by converting the waste paper, such as old newspaper, old magazines and mixed office waste, to a pulp and then contacting the pulp with an alkali for pH modification and swelling of the fiber and a surfactant to stabilize the ink particles and reduce reattachment of the ink particles to the fiber. The ink particles and other impurities from the pulp fiber are then released and separated.
The current deinking processes employed in separating the ink from the fiber in waste paper include wash deinking, flotation deinking or a combination of both methods. Flotation deinking involves the interaction between the ink particles, air bubbles and the fibers. The ink particles which are typically rendered hydrophobic by a deinking surfactant attach to the air bubble surfaces and float upwards towards the top of the flotation device. Under typical conditions, the fiber will remain hydrophilic and will neither attach to the air bubbles nor float during the flotation process. In the case of wash deinking, the ink particles are kept well dispersed in the aqueous phase by surfactants. The ink particles are separated from the fibers by a repeated flow of water passing by the fibers through a screen. This wash deinking technology involves multiple dilution and thickening stages.
In deinking, the surfactants used are either fatty acids, synthetic surfactants such as alkoxylates or blends of these two surfactant types. Fatty acids are well known flotation agents used in both mineral and non-mineral applications. The use of synthetic surfactants such as alkylamine polyethers as deinking aids is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,483,741 and 4,605,773. The use of a blend of fatty acid and alkylene oxide as a deinking agent is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,949.
Another synthetic surfactant blend used in flotation deinking is a polyester obtained through the reaction between polyalkylene glycol, carboxylic acid and/or anhydrides and saturated fatty acids, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,622.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,227,019; 5,225,046; 5,725,730 and 5,801,135 disclose the use of fatty acids with alkoxylated fatty alcohols. A flotation deinking method using alkylene oxide, oil, fat and alcohol is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,220.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,151,155 and 5,336,372 describe a deinking process wherein organically modified smectite clay is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,814 describes a method for removing ink and reducing stickies from waste paper by using cationic kaolin clay and a centrifugal cleaner.
Due to the limitations of these different deinking processes to separate the ink particles from the fiber obtained from waste paper, there is a need in the industry to develop a process that is more efficient and cost effective.


A method and apparatus is disclosed which spatially enhances stereo signals without sacrificing compatibility with monophonic receivers. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a stereo enhancement system is implemented using only two op-amps and two capacitors and may be switched between a spacial enhancement mode and a bypass mode. In other embodiments, simplified stereo enhancement systems are realized by constructing one of the output channels as the sum of the other output channel and the input channels. In other embodiments, a pseudo-stereo signal is synthesized and spatially enhanced according to stereo speaker crosstalk cancellation principles. In yet other embodiments, the respective spacial enhancements of monophonic signals and stereo signals are integrally combined into a single system capable of blending, in a continuous manner, the enhancement effects of both.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to acoustic signals and particularly to a method and system for enhancing monophonic and stereophonic acoustic signals.
2. Description of Related Art
It is impossible to achieve the same degree of channel separation in a typical two loud-speaker stereo system that is possible with a pair of headphones. In such a stereo system, acoustic signals arriving at a listener's ear from the left and right loud-speakers which are in phase tend to add, while those which are out of phase tend to cancel one another. This phenomena, known as speaker crosstalk, degrades the perceived spatial and directional qualities of the acoustic image. Further, since speaker crosstalk is a function of the geometry of the interfering wavefronts resulting from the intersection of the left and right acoustic signals, the effects of speakers crosstalk are dependent upon the location of the listener relative to the positions of the left and right speakers. That is, the effects of crosstalk as perceived at one location may be different from those perceived at another location. This positional dependence of crosstalk gives rise to the so-called "dead spots" and "sweet spots" a listener experiences when moving across a listening area.
It is theoretically possible to cancel crosstalk by enhancing the stereo signals as a function of the particular positions of the speakers and the dynamic position of the listener. In practice, however, such cancellation is impossible to achieve since the particular arrangement of a listener's speakers and the dynamic position of the listener cannot be predicted. Numerous stereo enhancement systems have been disclosed recently which attempt to compensate for this positional dependence of crosstalk by enhancing the (L-R), or difference, component and the (L+R), or sum, component of the stereo signals. Such systems, however, are relatively complex and expensive to implement.
Further, many of the conventional stereo enhancement systems fail to effectively address the monophonic aspects of stereo signals. For instance, it is desirable in a stereo enhancement system to retain compatibility with monophonic receivers, that is, receivers which receive only the modified sum (L+R) component of the stereo signal. Receiving only the modified sum component without the ability to extract the spatial effects encoded into the difference signal results in an undesirable degradation of the original monophonic acoustic image.
In addition, since many of the presently broadcast and recorded acoustic images include both stereo and monophonic sources, it is also desirable for a stereo enhancement system to not only spatially enhance monophonic acoustic images but also to have the ability to smoothly and automatically transition between stereo signal enhancement and monophonic signal enhancement.

Method and apparatus for spatially enhancing stereo and monophonic signals


A method and apparatus for spinning filaments of a polymeric material includes a first temperature control arrangement for heating a spin pack to a first predetermined reference temperature greater than the predetermined polymer inlet temperature such that the temperature across a polymer filter holder and the spinneret plate in the spin pack is substantially uniform, whereby the temperature of the filaments emanating from the spinneret plate is substantially uniform. A plate assembly having at least one polymer flow passage therein is disposed between the outlet of the pump and the inlet of the spin pack. A second temperature control arrangement for independently controlling the temperature of the plate assembly to a second predetermined reference temperature is provided. The second predetermined reference temperature is selectable to a temperature above, equal to, or below the predetermined polymer inlet temperature, whereby the temperature of polymer conveyed through the polymer flow passage in the plate assembly is selectably controllable to a predetermined polymer temperature lying within a predetermined range of the second predetermined reference temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for spinning filaments from a polymeric material, and more particularly, to a spinning apparatus that has a multiple-temperature control arrangement therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shown in FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the main functional elements of a spinning apparatus generally indicated by the reference character 10 for spinning fiber filaments from a molten mass of polymeric material, such as nylon polymer. The spinning apparatus 10 is housed in the internal central chamber 12 defined within a hollow-walled casing 14.
Structurally, the spinning apparatus 10 includes a pump 18 mounted on a pump block 20, also known as a "wear plate". The pump block 20 may be supported within the casing 14 by an abutment 22. Depending from the undersurface of the pump block 20 is one or more spin packs, each generally indicated by the reference character 24. Each spin pack 24 is connected to the pump block 20 by one or more mounting bolts 26. Each spin pack 24 is comprised of a pack lid 28, a polymer filter holder 30, and a spinneret plate 36. The filter holder 30 has a central recess 32 therein. The lid 28 and the recess 32 in the filter holder 30 cooperate to define an enclosed pocket in which a polymer filter medium 34, such as sand, is received. The spinneret plate 36 is a relatively massive member that has an array of small, precision bores 36B extending therethrough. The mouths of the bores 36B form an array of orifices that open across the lower surface of the spinneret plate 36.
The pump block 20 has arranged therein one or more internal channels 20C which cooperate to define separate, polymer flow passages that connect the outlet of the pump 18 to the inlet of each spin pack 24 associated with the block 20. The pack lid 28 in each spin pack has an internal passage 28P that leads from the surface of the lid 28 to the pocket in which the filter medium 34 is received. A plurality of smaller internal feeder ducts 30F are provided through filter holder 30 that connect the outlet of the filter 34 with each of the bores 36B extending through the spinneret plate 36. Rails 38 may be provided to protect the face of the spinneret plate 36, if desired
During the spinning operation molten polymer is supplied to the pump block 20 through a jacketed polymer feed line 40. Polymer is conveyed through a set of channels (not shown) in the block 20 to the inlet of the pump 18. Polymer is conveyed to the inlet of the pump 18 at a predetermined polymer inlet temperature. The pump 18 forces the polymer under increased pressure through each of the separate polymer passages formed by the channels 20C in the block 20 to a respective one of the spin packs 24 associated with the block 20. The internal channels 20C which form each separate polymer passage are arranged within the pump block 20 in a manner which insures that polymer traversing through each polymer flow passage travels a substantially equal linear distance from the outlet of the pump 18 to a spin pack 24.
The polymer conveyed to a given spin pack 24 is carried through the passage 28P in the pack lid 28 to the filter 34. From the filter 34 the polymer flows through the feeder channels 30F and to the bores 36B in the spinneret plate 36. The polymer as pressurized by the pump 18 is extruded through the bores 36B in the spinneret plate 36, and emanates from the orifices in the face of the spinneret plate 36 as fine filaments of polymeric material.
The hollow interiors 14I of the walls of the casing 14 are interconnected to form a common fluid flow volume that surrounds the internal central chamber 12. The temperature in the chamber 12 in which the elements of the spinning apparatus 10 are disposed is maintained at substantially the predetermined polymer inlet temperature by pumping a gaseous heat exchange fluid through a fluid flow loop that includes the interconnected flow volumes defined within the casing 14. Typically the heat exchange fluid sold by Dow Chemical Company as Dow Therm.RTM. is used in the effort to maintain the ambient temperature within the internal chamber 12 of the casing 14 at the desired temperature. In some instances thermal conduction into the pump 18 and the spin pack(s) 24 is enhanced by the use of interengaged wedges 42. The wedges 42 force these elements of the spinning apparatus 10 into intimate contact with the walls of the surrounding casing 14.
FIG. 2 illustrates the thermal experience of the polymeric material forming any given one of the filaments extruded from the face of the spinneret plate 36. The polymer enters the pump 18 at a predetermined polymer inlet temperature T .sub.pump inlet. The action of the pump 18 raises the polymer temperature to a higher level at the pump outlet, T.sub.pump outlet. The polymer is substantially maintained at this temperature as it moves through the separate polymer passages formed by the channels 20C in the pump block 20 to the spin pack 24. As the polymer is forced through the filter medium 34 within each spin pack 24 the shearing and filtering action imparted by the filter medium 34 increases polymer temperature toward a temperature maximum, indicated in FIG. 2 as temperature T .sub.filter outlet. Thereafter, the temperature of the polymer as it moves through each of the feeder channels 30F and through the bores 36B decreases toward the temperature value T .sub.spinneret at the face of the spinneret plate 36.
Although the shape of the thermal experience curve for each polymeric filament is the same, the temperature of a filament emanating from an orifice in one region of the face of the spinneret plate 36 may vary from the temperature of a filament emanating from an orifice in a different region of the face of the spinneret plate. For example, the temperature value T .sub.spinneret 1 of a filament emanating from an orifice adjacent a lateral edge of the spinneret plate may be substantially different from the temperature value T .sub.spinneret 2 of a filament emanating from an orifice lying along the central plane of the spinneret plate 36.
The reason for the temperature variation of filaments emanating from different regions across the face of the spinneret plate 36 can be understood from FIG. 3, which is a stylized pictorial representation of the thermal gradient formed within a spin pack 24 As seen in FIG. 3 the filter 34 serves as a heat source lying centrally within the spin pack 24. The local polymer temperature has risen above the surrounding spin pack temperature, and heat flows out from this. The bottom side of the spin pack is an exposed metallic surface, being the highest region of heat loss from the system. The hot polymer is also moving toward this surface, and heat is convected from the hotter filter to the filter holder and the spinneret by the polymer. Therefore, the center region of the spinneret is warmer than its edges., because there is no polymer carrying heat to the edges and they are further removed from the hotter filter region. Conduction of heat between the spin pack and the surrounding spin block casing also impacts the spinneret edge temperature.
These temperature differences in the metal of the spin pack translate to corresponding differences in the polymer temperature as it moves down through the spinneret plate and emerges as filaments from the spinneret face. As the filter medium 34 ages the temperature differences are exacerbated. These filament temperatures differences lead to non-uniform filament properties, which is seen as deleterious.
In view of the foregoing it is believed advantageous to provide a temperature control arrangement for a spinning apparatus that reduces or eliminates temperature variations within the spin pack, and especially across the filter holder and the spinneret plate.

Method and spinning apparatus having a multiple-temperature control arrangement therein


Methods and systems for presenting a virtual desktop. In some embodiments, the system includes a client computer comprising one or more client-side plugins; and a server computer comprising a web server that incorporates one or more server-side plugins. Each plugin may be associated with a plugin definition and the plugin definition associated with the server-side plugin is configured to be imported by the client computer.

Many mainframe and legacy computing systems have operating systems that were not designed to facilitate user interactions. Most UNIX®-based systems natively support user interaction through text-based terminals, and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are often available for these types of systems as add-on features. For example, the windowing system known as X is often installed on UNIX®-based systems to permit users of a client computer running an X-server GUI to operate a legacy server running an X-client.
These systems operate by transmitting windowing primitives from X-client to X-server for execution by the X-server, and transmitting keystrokes, mouse operations, or other types of inputs in return to the X-client. While other remote windowing systems exist (RDP, ICA, VNC, etc.) they rely on the server's operating system to include GUI functionality.
Although X permits the development of GUI applications for operating systems that lack native GUI functionality, X requires that each application be written against the various X APIs to implement this functionality. This can be difficult and impractical when, for example, converting a legacy application to a graphical environment.
Traditional GUI operating systems (MICROSOFT WINDOWS®, OS X®, etc.) depend on graphics primitives being evaluated on the server system, even in the case of remote desktops. This is acceptable for systems that are not traditionally considered multiuser (e.g., MICROSOFT WINDOWS® and OS X®), but does not scale well when a large number of users wish to have a "desktop experience" with the same system at the same time.
A need exists, therefore, for virtual desktop systems and methods that overcome the above disadvantages.


A transmittance-variable device is disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the transmittance-variable device includes a first guest host layer, a second guest host layer, and a phase difference element disposed between the first and second guest host layers, wherein each of the first and second guest host layers comprise a liquid crystal host and a dichroic dye guest, and the liquid crystal hosts are capable of being horizontally oriented such that their optical axes are horizontal to each other. The transmittance-variable device can switch between a clear state and a black state, can exhibit high transmittance in the clear state and a high shielding rate in the black state, and can exhibit a high contrast ratio even at the inclination angle. Such a transmittance-variable device can be used in architectural or automotive materials, or eyewear such as goggles for augmented reality experience or sports, sunglasses or helmets.

A transmittance-variable device using a so-called GH cell (guest host cell), to which a mixture of a host material, which is mainly a liquid crystal compound, and a dichroic dye guest is applied, is known (for example, Patent Document 1).
Such a transmittance-variable device is applied to various applications including eyewear such as sunglasses, building outer walls, vehicle sunroofs and the like. Recently, application of the transmittance-variable element to eyewear for the so-called augmented reality (AR) experience has been studied as well.
Such a transmittance-variable device adjusts the transmittance by adjusting the orientation of the dichroic dye guest in the GH cell, where there is a case that an observer observes the transmittance-variable device in an oblique direction, depending on the application. The case that an observer observes the transmittance-variable device in an oblique direction is typically a case where the device is mounted on a curved glass or eyewear such as sunglasses or an augmented reality experience device.
However, in the case of the known transmittance-variable devices to date, there is a problem that their contrast ratios (CR) are deteriorated when they are observed in an oblique direction as above.


A front-end body is provided for a front end of a motor vehicle, wherein the front-end body has a first lateral supporting element and a second lateral supporting element. The lateral supporting elements are to be attached to a reference strut, which is provided on a base body, in order to align the front-end body with the base body. A transverse strut arrangement connects the first lateral supporting element and the second lateral supporting element such that an accommodation space, which is open in the vertical direction of the front-end body for accommodating an assembly, in particular a radiator assembly is formed between the first lateral supporting element and the second lateral supporting element. A stability element is detachably attached to the transverse strut arrangement at one end and can be indirectly or directly attached to the base body at the other end.

The invention relates to a front-end body for the construction of a front end of a motor vehicle.
A front-end body for the construction of a front end for a motor vehicle is known, for example, from patent document WO 2009/071244. The front-end body described therein is shown schematically in FIG. 7 together with a base body.
The front-end body known from the prior art includes two lateral supporting elements S7, S8 which are connected to each other via a connecting plate S2, wherein the connecting plate S2 spans the space located between the supporting elements. The supporting elements S7, S8 are held by a crash system S4 located at the lower, front end of the front-end body.
A V-shaped strut which runs to the crash system S4 and is fastened thereto is fastened to an upper, front end of the connecting plate S2.
The front-end body formed in such a manner is suitable for the construction of a modular front end which comprises, for example, bumper, headlights, radiator grill, etc.
In order for the front-end body to be able to be connected to the base body shown schematically in FIG. 7, a transverse connection S3 is fastened to the base body at the lateral supporting members S5, S6 such that said transverse connection S3 connects those ends of the supporting members S5, S6 which are at the front in the direction of travel to each other.
As shown in FIG. 7, the front-end body is brought up to the base body and, by fastening of the connecting plate S2 to the transverse connection S3, is aligned in its entirety in relation to the base body.
After the front-end body is fastened, a radiator unit (not shown in FIG. 7) is intended to be accommodated in the receiving space located under the connecting plate S2.
Owing to the fact that the connecting plate S2 spans the receiving space, the latter is bounded in the vertical direction of the front-end body by the connecting plate S2.
Firstly, this necessarily determines the installation sequence of the radiator unit and of the front-end body because the receiving space is no longer accessible after the front end is fastened. For this reason, the radiator unit has to be mounted before the front-end body is fastened. As becomes plain therefrom, a repair-induced replacement of the radiator unit can subsequently be carried out only by complete release of the entire front end.
Secondly, the known front-end body can be used only conditionally as standard for various types of vehicle and/or series of vehicles since, in particular, the connecting plate S2 frequently requires a different vehicle-induced configuration, which, in turn, involves adaptations of other elements of the front-end body.
Finally, the connecting plate S2 also bounds the receiving space available for the radiator unit in the vertical direction of the front-end body in such a manner that the maximally useable size of the radiator unit is reduced.
It is the object of the invention to provide an improved front-end body for the construction of a modular front end, which, in particular, permits more flexible usability and installation.
This and other objects are achieved by a front-end body according to the invention for the construction of a front end of a motor vehicle, wherein the front-end body includes a first lateral supporting element and a second lateral supporting element which are fastenable to a reference strut, which is provided on a base body, in order to align the front-end body with respect to the base body. A transverse strut arrangement connects the first lateral supporting element and the second lateral supporting element in such a manner that a receiving space which is open in the vertical direction of the front-end body and is intended for receiving a unit, in particular a radiator, is formed between the first lateral supporting element and the second lateral supporting element. A stability element is fastened releasably at one end to the transverse strut arrangement and can be fastened indirectly or directly at the other end to the base body.
The front-end body according to the invention is, in particular, a body constructing the basic structure/basic construction of a modular front end. The fully mounted front end overall forms a module which closes off the front side of a motor vehicle and forms or constitutes the outer skin of the front region of the motor vehicle. For example, a front end based on the front-end body according to the invention includes the headlights, bumper, the radiator grill, the engine hood lock, etc.
The supporting elements in particular form the lateral boundary of the receiving space and are connected to the transverse strut arrangement in such a manner that the receiving space of the front-end body is open in the vertical direction, i.e. the transverse strut arrangement and the lateral supporting elements merely encircle the receiving space and do not bound the latter in the vertical direction of the front-end body. By this means, the front-end body can be brought up to the base body irrespective of the configuration of the installed radiator unit and can be used for several different types of vehicles.
Furthermore, the installation sequence becomes more flexible by means of the configuration of the front-end body. In principle, the front-end body can be fastened first of all to the base body, and then the radiator unit can be inserted into the receiving space. However, the installation can also be implemented vice versa.
The rigidity of the front end is furthermore determined by the stability element which is fastened releasably to the transverse strut arrangement and can be fastened either indirectly, for example via the reference strut, or directly to the base body. As mentioned, the transverse strut arrangement and the lateral supporting elements can be dimensioned for numerous types of vehicles. Only the stability element which is fastened releasably to the transverse strut arrangement has to be adapted to the respective type of vehicle or the configuration of the radiator unit. Consequently, the front-end body can be used more flexibly for different types of vehicle and model series.
Furthermore, the construction space is optimized with respect to the receiving space which is available for the radiator unit. The lateral supporting elements and the transverse strut arrangement do not block the receiving space in the vertical direction of the front-end body, and therefore the maximum dimensions of the radiator unit in the vertical direction are increased. The stability element is preferably adapted to the installed radiator unit and extends over the unit or the receiving space making high use of the construction space.
The front-end body according to the invention preferably has the reference strut which is intended to be leant against the base body before the front-end body is installed and to be fastened to the base body. The stability element is fastened releasably at one end to the transverse strut arrangement and at the other end to the reference strut.
Owing to the fact that the front-end body according to the invention preferably comprises the reference strut to be fastened to the base body, the front-end body can be readily oriented in relation to the base body and fastened thereto. Owing to the releasable connection between the stability element and the transverse strut arrangement or the reference strut, the receiving space in which, for example, the radiator unit is located after the front-end body is installed remains easily accessible. This is advantageous in particular in the case of a repair-induced interchanging of the radiator unit.
The stability element is preferably structured such that the stability element has certain force transmission and deformation properties.
For example, this can be achieved in the case of a plate-like stability element by means of embossing and/or by means of forming stronger and weaker regions in terms of material.
As already mentioned, the front-end body according to the invention can be adapted to different types of vehicle or model series merely by interchanging the stability element. Furthermore, requirements regarding the deformation behavior in the event of an accident or requirements regarding the protection of pedestrians can also readily be achieved.
The reference strut preferably has fastening portions to which struts running in an engine compartment of the base body can be fastened.
Forces can be introduced into the base body via the further struts to be fastened to the reference strut, which improves the stability properties of the front-end body and, with respect to a lightweight construction to be sought, not least ensures that various elements of the front-end body can be designed to be lighter in terms of weight.
The front-end body according to the invention preferably comprises a first fastening element and a second fastening element which are provided for holding the unit and which extend into the receiving space, wherein the first and second fastening elements are fastened to the stability element. The fastening elements are, for example, fastened releasably to the stability element.
This manner of fastening the unit, in particular the radiator unit, is advantageous because the fastening elements are attached to the stability element. In this respect, it follows therefrom that again only the stability element has to be adapted to different types of vehicle or radiator units. The other elements of the front-end body can remain unchanged.
However, it is also possible to attach the fastening elements to the lateral supporting elements.
Since the fastening elements for holding the unit, in particular the radiator unit, can also be fastened to the lateral supporting elements, it is possible to configure the stability element in a highly vehicle-specific manner. This is because, in this case, it is not absolutely necessary for the stability element to extend over the radiator unit at the fastening portions. This is advantageous, in particular, for the use of the front-end body in various types of vehicles, such as sedans or SUVs.
For example, the stability element can be a stability strut which, starting from the transverse strut arrangement, extends in a V-shaped manner, is fastened releasably at one end to the transverse strut arrangement and is dimensioned such that it is intended to be fastenable at the other end in a region of suspension strut domes of the base body.
The stability element is preferably a stability strut which has an M-shaped course and, starting from the transverse strut arrangement, extends in the direction of the suspension strut domes of the base body and from there in the direction of the front supporting members of the base body.
The stability strut is preferably fastened releasably at one end to the transverse strut arrangement and is intended to be fastened at the other end both in the region of the suspension strut domes of the base body and to the front supporting members of the base body.
In addition, M- and V-shaped stability struts can also be fastened to the reference strut.
Two preferred embodiments of the front-end body according to the invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A location-aware method that dynamically adjusts software parameters in Location-Based Service (LBS) applications in real-time based on environmental conditions and application requirements. The invention saves power expended during position calculations while increasing application performance, optimizes settings for the application based on real-time conditions, and reduces bandwidth used. In an embodiment, the present method comprises a state machine or a plurality of state machines.

Advances in telecommunications and cell phone technology allow for the creation of many new types of applications. One class of applications, referred to as Location-Based Services (LBS), use the knowledge of the historical or real-time position of a mobile device to provide a service. Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled cell phones are currently one of the more popular devices that provide LBS to end users.
These devices continuously become more advanced, featuring functionality that was state-of-the-art on desktop computers just a few years ago. Not only can these cell phones tell where a user is, but they can deliver on-demand text, sound, and video to the user. By combining the knowledge of the individual's physical location with these multimedia services, many different types of LBS can be realized. Some LBS include location-based messaging for emergency alerts such as traffic accidents or evacuation notices, location-based marketing of products or services to consumers, and real-time navigation instructions while driving or using public transportation.
The needs of LBS applications differ depending on the application domain and the purpose of the application. However, the minimization of costs, such as power consumption during the calculation and processing of location data, and network traffic to communicate location data to other locations, is always desired. Energy drains come from wireless communications, signal processing for wireless positioning methods, such as GPS, and the processor cycles needed to analyze and process location data at the application level. Existing LBS applications, assume fixed-position recalculation rates by the mobile device.
Positioning systems can utilize a number of different localizing technologies, including GPS, cellular network trilateration, or triangulation, RF-ID, Wi-Fi, Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), and hybrids of these and other technologies. In all of these systems, the position of the mobile device is calculated either on the device or on a centralized server. Hybrid systems can use assistance from the opposite party (i.e. a mobile device can calculate position information with assistance from the server, and the server can calculate position information with assistance from the mobile device). There is a cost associated with each position calculated on a server. Therefore, it is in the system's best interest to minimize the number of locations calculated either on the device or on a server.
A common problem found in LBS applications is the continuous querying of the positioning system when the system is temporarily unavailable, or when the user is immobile for extended periods of time. For example, if an application continues to request GPS fixes from a mobile phone when GPS signal levels are not sufficient to calculate the phone's location (e.g. the user is indoors), the phone will waste significant resources, such as battery energy and CPU cycles, before a timeout value is reached. Alternately, if a user is inside a building and a high-sensitivity GPS receiver is able to continuously calculate the user's location, significant battery energy is expended to repeatedly calculate the same general position.
Frequent locations recalculations will yield high accuracy, but at the cost of significant energy consumption. In contrast, infrequent position recalculations increase battery life, but are unable to accurately report real-time device location or the device's travel path while the user is traveling. Therefore, a method is needed that intelligently manages the rate of location calculation attempts to consume as little energy as possible based on real-time application-level needs.

Optimizing performance of location-aware applications using state machines


An optical sensor includes a semiconductor substrate having a first conductive type. The optical sensor further includes a photodiode disposed on the semiconductor substrate and a metal layer. The photodiode includes a first semiconductor layer having the first conductive type and a second semiconductor layer, formed on the first semiconductor layer, including a plurality of cathodes having a second conductive type. The first semiconductor layer is configured to collect photocurrent upon reception of incident light. The cathodes are configured to be electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer is configured to, based on the collected photocurrent, to track the incident light. The metal layer further includes a pinhole configured to collimate the incident light, and the plurality of cathodes form a rotational symmetry of order n with respect to an axis of the pinhole.

A pinhole is widely used as a component to direct or collimate incident light in an optical system. In the semiconductor industry, to fabricate a high-speed, high-efficiency optical sensor by complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible technologies has drawn much research effort. However, to integrate the pinhole in the optical sensor generally requires an additional fabrication step, frequently non-CMOS-compatible, or/and an additional component to reach an optimal performance of the optical sensor.


When a start-up failure occurs wherein an internal combustion engine equipped with a variable valve device does not transition to complete combustion before a first prescribed period α elapses from the start of cranking in conjunction with fuel injection, a control unit for the internal combustion engine executes a start-up failure process addressing a state wherein the valve timing is different from a specific timing.

As a device to be mounted on an internal combustion engine, a variable valve device for changing a valve timing of an intake valve and an exhaust valve that are driven to open and close by a camshaft, according to an engine operating state, is known (refer to Patent Document 1, for example).
The structure of a conventional and general variable valve device, including the one described in the Patent Document 1, is shown in FIG. 14. FIG. 14(a) shows the internal structure of a variable valve device 100 from which a cover is removed, and FIG. 14(b) shows the cross-sectional structure taken along line B-B in FIG. 14(a). Incidentally, the rotational direction of a camshaft 200 is shown by arrow RC in FIG. 14(a).
The variable valve device 100 shown in FIG. 14 has two rotating bodies rotating about the same axis of rotation. One of the rotating bodies include a sprocket 101 drivingly connected to a crankshaft via a chain (illustrations omitted), a housing 102 fixed thereto, and the other rotating body includes a vane rotor 103 drivingly connected to the camshaft 200. A plurality of vanes 103A provided on the vane rotor 103 are respectively received in a plurality of housing chambers 105 formed inside the housing 102, and each housing chamber 105 is divided by the corresponding vane 103A into an advancement chamber 106 and a retardation chamber 107. A hydraulic pressure supplied to the advancement chamber 106 and the retardation chamber 107 displaces the vane 103A in the housing chamber 105 and rotates the housing 102 and the vane rotor 103 relative to each other, so that the relative rotational phase of the camshaft 200 relative to the crankshaft, that is, the valve timing is changed.
Further, the variable valve device 100 is provided with a lock mechanism 110 capable of fixing the valve timing at a timing that is between the most retarded timing and the most advanced timing and at which the engine can be started and, more particularly, at a timing capable of starting the engine in a cold start condition (hereinafter referred to as a specific timing). As shown in FIG. 14(b), the lock mechanism 110 includes a recess 112 formed in the sprocket 101, and a lock pin 111 received in a vane 103A to be able to approach and separate from the recess 112. In a space for receiving the lock pin 111 in the vane 103A, a spring 113 for urging the lock pin 111 and a release chamber 114 into which hydraulic oil is supplied with a predetermined hydraulic pressure are formed. The lock pin 111 is urged by the spring 113 in a direction to be fitted into the recess 112, whereas the lock pin 111 is urged by force based on the pressure of the hydraulic oil supplied to the release chamber 114 in a direction to be pulled out from the recess 112.
When conditions for locking the valve timing at the specific timing are satisfied, such as when an engine stop request is made, the hydraulic oil is drained from the release chamber 114. When the hydraulic pressure of the release chamber 114 is reduced correspondingly to be lower than a release oil pressure, the lock pin 111 fits into the recess 112 by the urging force of the spring 113, and the relative rotation between the vane rotor 103 and the housing 102 is mechanically locked. As a result of this, the valve timing is locked at the specific timing. Consequently, favorable engine startability can be secured at the next engine start-up time as cranking is started while the valve timing is at the specific timing.
Meanwhile, when conditions for releasing the valve timing from the specific timing are satisfied, such as when a change request of the valve timing is made, the hydraulic oil is supplied to the release chamber 114. When the hydraulic pressure of the release chamber 114 is increased correspondingly to be higher than the release oil pressure, the lock pin 111 is pulled out from the recess 112 by the urging force based on the hydraulic pressure, and the locking of the relative rotation between the vane rotor 103 and the housing 102 is released. As the hydraulic oil is selectively supplied to and drained from the advancement chamber 106 and the retardation chamber 107, the valve timing that has been locked at the specific timing is changed to a timing suited for the engine operating state.

Control device for internal combustion engine


A wireless communications capability enables field personnel to communicate with a remote control console of a distributed system. A hand held communications unit generates console related messages that are coupled, via local devices, to the remote console.

Regional monitoring systems, such as fire alarm systems, have a variety of components which are scattered through the region being monitored. These include ambient condition detectors such as smoke detectors, flame detectors, thermal detectors or gas detectors which are often monitored at or near a ceiling of part of the region being monitored. Other types of devices such as pull-stations, sensors for doors or windows or the like or other building monitoring sensors may be dispersed throughout the region being monitored at various locations including on the walls, adjacent to doors or windows or the like. Such devices are usually coupled by either a wired or wireless medium to a common or central control unit or panel.
The common control unit or panel might not be located in that part of the region being monitored. Instead, it might be installed, for example, in a lower level of a multi-level building along with other building control functions. This location might be substantially displaced from some or all of the devices of the system. In some installations, the control unit might be in RF communication with an installed system, or in communication via a computer network.
It has been recognized that because of the physical displacement of the various devices, servicing, maintenance or installation activities often require interaction between the personnel out in the region carrying out the activity and the personnel at or near the control unit. This communication, in known systems, is often carried out using a separate wireless communication system, such as RF walkie talkies.
Other systems which are installed in the region, such as security systems, often require feedback from personnel traveling through the region. Representative of these are security personnel or guard check in stations which are distributed throughout the region for purposes of tracking progress of security personnel on their rounds. Historically, this has resulted in installation of a completely separate set of equipment to carry out this function.
It would be desirable to be able to improve communication efficiency between the field personnel in the region being monitored and the control room for the region. Further, it would be desirable if such functionality could be incorporated into systems which are to be installed in the region, either initially or as after the fact upgrades to take advantage of existing communication capabilities of regional monitoring systems. Preferably, also such functionality could be incorporated without substantially increasing system costs or installation complexity.

Infrared communication system and method


A method of manufacturing a composite wall with an open cell metal foam core layer bonded to an inner cladding layer and an outer cladding layer. The method involves: creating a core substrate of open cell gas permeable foam in a chosen shape; impregnating the open cell foam substrate with metal vapour and depositing a porous layer of metal on exposed internal and external surfaces of the substrate thereby forming the open cell metal foam core through metal vapour deposition; and forming the inner and outer cladding layers upon the metal foam core through spray application of metal or ceramic.

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a combustor for a gas turbine engine having an air permeable open cell metal foam core bounded by perforated thin metal or ceramic walls inwardly and outwardly.
The invention includes manufacturing a composite wall having an open cell metal foam core layer bonded to an inner and outer layer of metal or ceramic, that can be used for constructing the walls of a high temperature low cost combustor chamber for a gas turbine engine.
A common prior art annular combustor is constructed of large sections that have thin metal walls that are machined down in thickness from a single forging as for example shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,199 to McCaldon et al. issued Jun. 27, 2000. Large sections of the combustor are machined from a single forging or the entire combustor shell is constructed from several individually machined panels, each from a separate forging and thereafter precisely welded together.
However, this method for creating a combustor shell is less than optimum due to the inherent limitations of fitting, welding and machining large components to the required finished tolerances. In order to economically produce a combustor wall, sections may be left relatively thick in cross section to reduce the amount of machining time required and also to reduce the difficulty involved in machining very thin shells having a large diameter. As a result, therefore, prior art combustors can be very heavy with mechanical strength that far exceeds the requirements of the engine and the requirements of the combustor as a pressure vessel. Joints between panels are left relatively thick in order to permit the drilling of a large number of small cooling holes that are required to develop a cooling protective air film in a down stream combustor section.
The metal structures are expensive, difficult to machine from tough high strength expensive materials, and may still require a coating of a ceramic thermal barrier on the inner surface to protect the metal. The complexity of the surface features and a large number of cooling holes make application of the spray ceramic coating a time consuming and expensive proposition, due to the amount of preparation work in masking over openings to avoid covering the cooling openings or grooves to maintain their function. Although modern fabrication techniques employing computer control have somewhat mitigated manufacturing costs, the modern combustor is still an expensive structure to produce.
The role of the combustor is to serve as a heat shield protecting the walls of the pressure vessel, which surrounds the combustor and contains compressed air from the compressor. Combustion gases are produced from ignition of the fuel and air mixture, and the combustor also serves to physically duct the combustion gases and protect the adjacent portions of the engine from the extreme heat of the combustion gases. The combustor also meters the compressed air flowing into the combustor in a specific proportion creating a fuel/air mixture that allows the formation of a stable flame zone within the combustor. If airflow was not partitioned and metered within the combustor, the flame would be difficult to establish and maintain, thereby leading to engine performance that is extremely unreliable.
However, the combustor in practice is a little more than a gas flow baffle that separates gases of different temperatures. It meters the flow of compressed air into the combustion zone and structurally resists a modest pressure drop across it""s surface as air enters cooling holes and metering holes. The load imposed by this pressure differential acting on the combustor walls is relatively low and a very thin walled section could easily support the pressure difference. The greatest stress on the combustor walls results from large temperature gradients generated by the non-homogeneous gas temperatures within the combustor that result in differential thermal stresses, and are dependent on the efficiency of air/fuel mixing. The higher the temperature gradients within the combustor, the higher the thermal stresses that the combustor must resist. The wall thickness in a homogeneous material such as nickel alloy also aggravates the gradient and stresses.
It is an object of the present invention to produce an improved combustor for a gas turbine engine that can be manufactured more cheaply and offers better performance.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for manufacturing an improved combustor
Further objects of the invention will be apparent from review of the disclosure, drawings and description of the invention below.
The invention provides a method of manufacturing a composite wall for a gas turbine engine combustor having an open cell metal foam core layer bonded to an inner and outer cladding layer of metal or ceramic.
A core substrate of open cell gas permeable foam is created in a selected geometry, for example of molded polyurethane foam rubber. The substrate is easily molded and can be thermally converted to a relatively rigid but brittle carbon structure that may be easily machined. The open cell carbon foam substrate is then impregnated with metal vapour and a porous layer of metal is deposited on exposed internal and external surfaces of the substrate thereby forming the open cell metal foam core through metal vapour deposition. Formation of nickel-aluminum foam structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,791 to Bell et al, which is incorporated by reference herein.
Thin inner and outer cladding layers are formed upon the metal foam core through spray application of metal or ceramic cladding materials. Masking of the metal foam core before spraying results in formation of ports or slots for gas flow through the composite wall for cooling, air film formation, filtering or other purposes. The impregnating step may include exposing the substrate to nickel vapour and thereafter coating the nickel metal foam core with aluminium through metal vapour deposition that can further be reacted to form a nickel aluminide metal foam core.

Method of manufacturing a composite wall


Circuitry for facilitating the use of the memory elements in the look-up tables (“LUTs”) of a field programmable gate array (“FPGA”) as user-accessible, distributed RAM. For example, a register associated with a LUT and that is not needed in the read data path in user RAM mode can be used to register data for writing in user RAM mode. As another example, an otherwise unneeded register associated with a LUT can be used to provide a synchronous read address signal for user RAM mode. Several other features are shown for similarly facilitating user RAM mode with minimal (if any) additional circuitry being required in the FPGA.

This invention relates to programmable logic devices ("PLDs") such as those that are frequently referred to as field-programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs"). More particularly, the invention relates to the provision of memory circuitry in an FPGA that the user of the FPGA can use as random access memory ("RAM") during normal logic operation of the device. Still more particularly, the invention relates to selectively employing the circuitry of look-up tables ("LUTs") on the device that are not needed for normal LUT-based logic to provide the above-mentioned user-accessible RAM. Such RAM may be referred to as "distributed RAM" because, rather than being in a block of dedicated user RAM circuitry, it is distributed over the circuitry of several LUTs on the device.
Lewis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/897,743, filed Jul. 22, 2004, shows improved circuitry for providing distributed RAM in FPGAs. (The Lewis et al. reference is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.) For example, the Lewis et al. reference shows sharing a single write decoder by several logic elements ("LEs"), each of which includes a LUT, on an FPGA to reduce the amount of write address circuitry that must be added to give the FPGA distributed user RAM mode capability.
Various extensions or additions to circuitry of the general type shown in the Lewis et al. reference would be helpful in many situations. For example, users often want a synchronous write so that the user does not need to provide exact timing signals for the write strobe. This necessitates provision of a write address and a write data register, but it would be desirable to avoid having to provide dedicated hardware (circuitry) for this function.
Another example of a possibly helpful extension of or addition to what is shown in the Lewis et al. reference would be application of those principles to LEs that are "fracturable" to implement a range of logic function sizes such as one six-input LUT-based logic function or two five-input LUT-based logic functions.
Still another example of a respect in which it could be helpful to extend or add to what is shown in the Lewis et al. reference relates to supporting a synchronous read function. Again, users often prefer a synchronous read, but it would be desirable to avoid having to construct dedicated hardware to support the read address register.

Distributed memory in field-programmable gate array integrated circuit devices


A goal-oriented dialog system interacts with a user over one or more turns of dialog to determine a goal expressed by the user; the dialog system may then act to fulfill the goal by, for example, calling an application-programming interface. The user may supply dialog via text, speech, or other communication. The dialog system includes a first trained model, such as a translation model, to encode the dialog from the user into a context vector; a second trained model, such as another translation model, determines a plurality of candidate probabilities of items in a vocabulary. A language model determines responses to the user based on the input from the user, the context vector, and the plurality of candidate probabilities.

Dialog systems, also known as conversational agents or chatbots, may be used to interact with human users using speech, text, and/or other forms of communication.
Dialog processing systems and methods may be used by computers, hand-held devices, telephone computer systems, kiosks, and a wide variety of other devices to improve human-computer interactions.

Goal-oriented dialog systems and methods


This invention has as its object to provide a recording apparatus which prints a document described in a markup language to be easily viewable. To accomplish this, a color or monochrome mode is determined depending on the type of cartridge. Downloaded HTML data is analyzed to extract background data and character data. In the monochrome mode, an image is recorded after the background data is converted into white image data, and the character data is converted into black image data.

In recent years, recording apparatuses such as a facsimile, telephone set, and the like, which have both a markup language analysis function and a print function, have been developed.
Some of such recording apparatuses can establish connection to the Internet to easily browse data stored in Web servers.
However, when a recording apparatus such as a conventional printer-integrated Internet terminal or the like prints color contents, text information or the like cannot be selectively and clearly printed out.

Apparatus and method for recording document described in markup language


A method, apparatus, or computer executable instructions for converting Protocol Independent Mode (PIM) requests. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a first multicast routing protocol (MRP) message, wherein the first MRP message is a request to join a multicast group of receivers. The first MRP message is translated into a second MRP message, wherein the second MRP message is a request to join the multicast group of receivers to which data is being provided by a specific source. The method could be performed by a router contained in a sparse mode network, wherein the sparse mode network is coupled to a source specific mode network that contains the specific source.

Internet Protocols (IPs) are employed in networks to transmit data such as audio and video data from a source device (e.g., a server computer system) to one or more receiver devices (e.g., desktop computer systems). Unicast, broadcast, and multicast are three well known techniques for transmitting data between source and receiver devices. Unicast is a point-to-point communication technique in which data is transmitted between only two devices (i.e., one source and one receiver). Broadcast communication enables one source to transmit data to all receivers in a broadcast domain. Multicasting allows a source or several sources to transmit data simultaneously to select receivers, i.e., those receivers in a multicast group. Multicast data or packets are replicated in the network by multicast enabled routers at the point where communication paths diverge to separate receivers. In this fashion, the multicast protocol delivers data to multiple receivers without burdening the source or consuming excessive network bandwidth.
There are several versions of the multicast protocol, including Sparse Mode (SM) and Source Specific Mode (SSM) protocols. FIG. 1 illustrates relevant components of a network 10 that can employ either SM or SSM protocols. More particularly, FIG. 1 shows sources 12a and 12b coupled to receivers 14a-14d via a series of routers 16-16d and communication links 20.
In an SM network, the various multicast enabled routers establish a default multicast distribution tree, referred to as a "shared tree," for each multicast group. Each shared tree is rooted at a rendezvous point (RP) router that acts as the distribution point for multicast data transmitted to receivers of a multicast group. Before a source device can begin transmitting data to receivers of a multicast group, the device must first register with the RP router. Moreover, for a device to join a multicast group as a receiver, the device must join towards the RP router. Once a device joins a multicast group as a receiver, the RP router establishes a communication path between one or more sources and the newly joined receiver.
To further illustrate, presume that router 16a is configured in network 10 as the RP router for a multicast group G1 consisting of receiver devices 14a and 14d. Further, presume that device 14b seeks to join multicast group G1 as a receiver. Device 14b can join the multicast group by first generating a membership report in compliance with Internet Management Group Protocol version 1 (IGMPv1) or Internet Management Group Protocol version 2 (IGMPv2). The identity G1 of the multicast group is included in the membership report along with the identity (e.g., an Internet address) of device 14b. The IGMP membership report is transmitted by device 14b to uplink router 16b via uplink 22a. Uplink router 16b, in response to receiving the IGMP report from device 14b, generates a request to join multicast group G1. In an SM network, this request is designated PIM (*, G1) JOIN, and its sent hop by hop towards the RP router. In SM protocol, the * within the request indicates that the device (e.g., device 14b) seeking to join multicast group G1 should receive data from all sources providing data to the multicast group G1. Thus, if sources 12a and 12b are providing data to receivers within the multicast group G1, device 14b will receive data from both sources 12a and 12b once device 14b joins multicast group G1 as a receiver. For purposes of explanation, it will be presumed that device 12a is the only source providing data to multicast group G1.
The PIM (*, G1) JOIN is transmitted by uplink router 16b to RP router 16a. RP router 16a, in response to receiving PIM (*, G1) JOIN, may establish a communication path between source 12a and itself creating a full path between the source and the receiver through the RP that includes routers 16a, 16b, and 16c. Once this communication path is established, source device 12a transmits data to receivers. Devices 14a, 14c and 14d can similarly join group G1 using the multicast technique described above to also receive data traffic from source 12a. It is noted that the SM protocol may be defined in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request For Comments (RFC) 2362 entitled "Protocol Independent Multicast—Sparse Mode (PIM-SM): Protocol Specification," published in June 1998, and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
After the communication path is established between source device 12a and receiver device 14b via routers 16a, 16b, and 16c, uplink router 16b may trigger a routine to select a faster and/or more efficient communication path between source device 12a and receiver device 14b that does not include RP router 16a. For example, RP router may establish a new communication path between source device 12a and receiver device 14b that includes only routers 16d and 16b. However, selecting and establishing a more efficient communication path between source 12a and receiver 14b adds some protocol complexity. Once a new and more efficient communication path is established between source device 12a and receiver device 14b, the original communication path is pruned such that only two routers 16d and 16b must be utilized as opposed to three routers 16c, 16a and 16b of the former communication path. This source specific path between 12a and 14b for group G1 is called a source tree and is represented by the notation (S,G), which in this case would result in (12a, G1) and provides the shortest path between the source and the receivers.
As noted above, network 10 may also operate according to SSM protocol. Unlike an SM network, an SSM network does not employ an RP router. In an SSM protocol network, when a device seeks to join a multicast group as a receiver, the device will know in advance the identity of the source from which it seeks to receive data. This enables a new receiver to directly join a multicast group on the shortest path tree towards the source (i.e., without first going through an RP router). Compared to an SM protocol network, an SSM protocol network is more efficient. However, with an SSM network, a receiver device can receive data from only one source (or few sources) within a multicast group. For purposes of explanation, presume that network 10 operates according to SSM protocol, and that devices 14a and 14c are members of a multicast group G2 that receive data from source 12a. Further, presume that device 14b seeks to join multicast group G2 as a new receiver.
Typically, before device 14b can join multicast group G2, device 14b must generate a membership report using IGMP version 3 (IGMPv3) protocol. It is noted that device 14b can join multicast group G2 as a receiver even though device 14b executes only IGMPv1 or IGMPv2 if device 14b and/or router 16b implement the method described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/208,977 entitled "Source Specific Multicast Group to Source Mapping," filed on Jul. 31, 2002. The foregoing patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, for purposes of explanation, it will be presumed that device 14b operates according to IGMPv3 only. The IGMPv3 membership report identifies both the source device 12a and the multicast group that device 14b wishes to join. In contrast, the IGMPv1 or IGMPv2 membership report generated for an SM protocol network device does not identify the source from which data is sought. The IGMPv3 report generated by device 14b is transmitted to uplink router 16b via uplink 22a. Thereafter uplink router 16b establishes a communication path between source device 12a and device 14b via routers 16b and 16d. With this communication path (12a,G2) established, source device 12a transmits data to receiver device 14b via routers 16d and 16b while also transmitting data to the other receivers in multicast group G2.
FIG. 1 presumes that network 10 operates according to either SM protocol or SSM protocol, but not both. FIG. 2 illustrates a network in which both SM and SSM protocols are employed. More particularly, FIG. 2 shows a network 28 consisting of a subnetwork 30 that operates according to SSM protocol, and a subnetwork 32 that operates according to SM protocol. Subnetwork 30 consists of a pair of devices (e.g., computer systems such as servers) 36 that act as source devices. Further, subnetwork 30 includes a pair of multicast enabled routers 44 coupled to source devices 36 via uplink 42. Subnetwork 32 includes devices 40 (e.g., computer systems such as desktops) that can act as receivers. Subnetwork 32 also includes multicast enabled routers 44 coupled to each other via communication links 46 and to devices 40 via uplinks 42a and 42b. Lastly, subnetwork 30 is coupled to subnetwork 32 via communication links 50 and 52. Although FIG. 2 shows direct communication between subnetworks 30 and 32, subnetworks 30 and 32 may be indirectly coupled together. For example, communication link 50 and/or 52 may take form in the Internet operating according to TCP/IP.
As noted, subnetwork 30 operates according to SSM protocol while subnetwork 32 operates according to SM protocol. Because of differences between these multicast protocols, receiver devices 40 within subnetwork 32, executing IGMPv1 or IGMPv2, could not receive multicast data to which devices 36 are sources. It is noted that receiver devices 40 could join a multicast group to which source devices 36 provide data if receiver devices 40 and/or routers 44b and 44e implement the invention described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/208,977. Configuring such devices (e.g., routers 44b and 44e) according to the invention described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/208,977 may require a significant amount of time, cost, and effort, particularly if subnetwork 32 contains several thousand devices that provide connectivity to other receiver devices 40.

PIM sparse mode to source specific multicast conversion