The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of an oregano extract containing carvacrol and capyrlic acid blend by screening for inhibition and by conducting a preservative efficacy test, USP 51, in skin creams. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were found for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonsas aeruginosa, Streptococcus sanguinis, Salmonella enterica, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus brasiliensis.

The present invention relates generally to antimicrobials for personal care products and, more specifically, to a blend of oregano extract containing carvacrol and caprylic acid.
Consumer demand has shifted to the purchasing of personal care products with "all natural" ingredients. Manufacturers have answered the demand by changing existing formulations or by creating new ones.
For personal care formulators, no functional ingredient has been the most difficult to change than the preservative. Preservatives are necessary to maintain the stability of a formulation 1 to 2 years. Widely used preservatives are in the paraben class: methyl-, butyl-, propyl-, heptyl-, ethyl-. These compounds are highly efficacious on bacteria and fungi, but they have received negative attention in regards to being a possible cause of breast cancer. Some natural preservatives are on the market but have varying degrees of efficacy.
Studies have shown that carvacrol disrupts the membrane potential of bacteria, and recently a cultivar of oregano containing ≧5% of the molecule by dry weight of material has been developed. Oregano oil containing 94.6% carvacrol has been shown to be an effective disinfectant ingredient against bacteria, yeast, and mold when used at a 1.0% inclusion of carvacrol.
The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a carvacrol and caprylic acid blend first by finding screening for inhibition and then by conducting a preservative efficacy test, USP 51, in skin creams. This method requires a 1-3 log reduction after 14 days with no increase in growth after 28 days for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas, aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus brasiliensis.

Antimicrobial efficacy of an oregano oil and caprylic acid blend


In order to enable formation of a smooth and dense oxide superconducting film with no clear appearance of grain boundaries in a fine structure even at a high film forming rate, a laser ablation method is employed to apply a laser beam 2 to a target 1 containing components of an oxide superconductive material and deposit particles, which are thus scattered from the target 1, on a substrate 3, while gaseous oxygen is supplied from a gaseous oxygen inlet 7 toward laser plume 6, which is generated by the application of the laser beam 2, and to a portion of the target irradiated with said laser.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for preparing an oxide superconducting film using laser ablation.
2. Description of the Background Art
Formation of an oxide superconducting film by excimer laser ablation, for example, is watched with interest in the point that it is possible to implement a high-quality film. In general, a pulse laser beam is employed for such laser ablation.
In an already reported method of preparing an oxide superconducting film using laser ablation, a high-quality oxide superconducting film is obtained when the laser beam is set at a repetition rate of not more than about 10 Hz so that the film forming rate is less than about 2000 .ANG./min.
When an oxide superconducting film is formed by ordinary laser ablation, the laser repetition rate is so increased as to increase the film forming rate. However, if the film forming rate is increased in excess of 2000 .ANG./min., for example, the as-formed oxide superconducting film is obtained as an aggregate of fine crystal grains of not more than 1 .mu.m in size, and its critical temperature and critical current density are reduced in response to clear appearance of grain boundaries.
In a method of preparing an oxide superconducting film using ordinary laser ablation, it is necessary to heat a substrate to a temperature of at least 600.degree. C., in order to facilitate crystallization of the oxide superconducting film, which is deposited on the substrate. Therefore, available materials for such a substrate are restricted to ceramic materials, single-crystalline materials of MgO, SrTiO.sub.3 and the like, which are still unreactive with film components at such a high temperature, and it is impossible to use a substrate of a metal, for example.

Method of preparing oxide superconducting films by laser ablation


A decorative cover for a vehicle trim component includes a resilient skin including an edge for insertion into a groove of the vehicle trim component. At least one tab extends from the skin edge. At least one line of stitching is located on the resilient skin. The at least one line of stitching has at least one stitching end section extending beyond the skin edge and onto the at least one tab.

The present disclose generally relates to an interior trim component assembly. Particularly, the present disclose relates to a tab provided on a stitched panel or cover that facilitates the hiding of an unsightly portion of decorative stitching on the cover when mounted to a trim component of the trim assembly.
In the automotive industry, it is known to provide interior trim components, such as interior door panels, dashboards, instrument panels, and the like, with a cover. One purpose of the cover may be simply to provide a more aesthetically pleasing viewing surface to the trim component receiving the cover. An often employed means for attaching the cover to the trim component is a process which typically involves the tucking of a fabric or leather edge of the cover into a groove or slot located on the trim component via a blade. Generally, this process creates a good finished appearance. However, many covers include stitching in order to give a "hand crafted" and more decorative appearance to the cover. Such a stitching is usually intended to appear as if it is required for the manufacture of the cover, but it is usually merely decorative.
When an aesthetic stitching is added to the cover, a concern in using the above process is the possible appearance of the stitching, or at least an unsightly portion of the stitching, in the trim component groove. When adding stitching to the cover, the stitching is typically doubled over itself adjacent the edge of the cover to prevent the stitching from unraveling. When the cover is tucked into the trim component groove, this edge stitching, particularly the doubled over portion, may be visible and is considered unsightly.
With varying degrees of success, many automotive manufacturers have attempted to address the above decorative problem. Heretofore, the techniques for addressing the issues surrounding the visible cover stitching have generally involved improvements in the method of tucking the panel into the trim component groove. Some of these techniques have not been very successful in achieving their objective and/or have unnecessarily increased production costs and complexity. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop an improved cover and associated method for hiding edge stitching when a cover edge is tucked into a trim component groove that provides a desired aesthetic appearance without unduly increasing production costs and complexity.

Cover for interior trim component and method of assembling same


Provided in some embodiments are compositions comprising a compound having a structure according to Formula A or Formula B:

A pharmacophore often is a molecule that can exert a therapeutic effect in a subject. For example, a pharmacophore sometimes can exert an anti-cell proliferation effect, which can be useful for treating cell proliferation conditions such as cancer. A pharmacophore sometimes can stimulate the immune system in a subject, and thereby can generate or enhance an immune response against a particular antigen.
A pharmacophore can be conjugated (e.g., linked) to a phospholipid, or phospholipid-like molecule, in a phospholipid drug analog. A phospholipid, or phospholipid-like component, can impart a function to the analog that differs from the action of the unconjugated pharmacophore.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Abstract: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, tautomer or hydrate thereof, where X2 is a bond or linker, X3 is bond or —PO4—, and X1, R1, R2, R3, and n are described herein. Also provided in some embodiments are methods for making and using such compounds and compositions.


A method of optimizing timing performance of an IC design is provided. The IC design is expressed as a graph that includes several nodes that represent IC components. The method identifies a path in the graph that starts from a timed source node and ends at a timed target node. The path has several clocked elements and several computational elements. The method optimizes the timing performance of the IC design by skewing clock signals to a set of clocked elements without changing the position of any clocked element relative to the position of the computational elements in the path. The clock signal of at least one clocked element is skewed by more than a period of the clock signal. The method implements the IC design by using the optimized IC design.

An IC is a device that includes numerous electronic components (e.g., transistors, resistors, diodes, etc.) that are embedded typically on the same substrate, such as a single piece of semiconductor wafer. These components are connected with one or more layers of wiring to form multiple circuits, such as Boolean gates, memory cells, arithmetic units, controllers, decoders, etc. An IC is often packaged as a single IC chip in one IC package, although some IC chip packages can include multiple pieces of substrate or wafer.
Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools are automated tools used in IC design. Placement and routing are steps in automatic design of ICs in which a layout of a larger block of the circuit or the whole circuit is created from layouts of smaller sub-blocks. During placement, the positions of the sub-blocks in the design area are determined. These sub-blocks are interconnected during routing. A placer assigns exact locations for circuit components within the IC chip's core area. A placer typically has several objectives such as minimizing total wire length, timing optimization, reducing congestion, and minimizing power. The placer takes a given synthesized circuit netlist with a technology library and produces a placement layout. The layout is optimized according to a set of placer objectives.
The maximum delay through the critical path of a chip determines the clock cycle and, therefore, the speed of the chip. The timing optimization is performed by different EDA tools to ensure that no path exists with delay exceeding a maximum specified delay.

Optimizing IC performance using sequential timing


A method of detecting an abnormal electric current in a vehicle to detect passage of an abnormal electric current through an electric wire for establishing the connection between a load to which electric power is supplied and a power source, the method of detecting an abnormal electric current in a vehicle comprising the steps of: (a) detecting values of electric currents which pass through the electric wire at predetermined sampling intervals; (b) counting the number of times in a unit detection period that a sampled electric current having a value larger than a predetermined value is detected and determining passage of an abnormal electric current through the electric wire when the number of counts is larger than a first number of times; and (c) counting the number of times that a sampled electric current having a value larger than the predetermined value is detected in a unit detection period after the unit detection period in terms of time in a case where the number of counts is smaller than the first number of times and except for zero and determining passage of an abnormal electric current through the electric wire when the number of counts is larger than a second number of times.

The present invention relates to a method of detecting an abnormal electric current in a vehicle, an apparatus for detecting an abnormal electric current in a vehicle, a power supply apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly to preventing damage of an insulating coating for an electric wire for establishing the connection between a power source portion and each load.
Hitherto, a general structure for preventing damage of an electric wire has been formed in such a manner that a fuse arranged to be burnt before the electric wire is damaged is provided for a current input stage of the electric wire so that the fuse is burnt if an excess current passes which will damage the electric wire.
However, the above-mentioned structure having the fuse has a problem in that damage of the electric wire cannot reliably be prevented. If a dead short circuit takes place which causes great electric currents to continuously pass through an electric wire, the fuse is burnt so that damage of the electric wire is prevented. If an intermittent short circuit (a rare short circuit) or an inter-line short circuit takes place, pulse-shape excess currents continuously pass through the electric wire. In the foregoing state, heat is accumulated in the insulating coating for the electric wire while the fuse is not burnt, causing the temperature to be raised. Thus, the insulating coating is damaged because of the raised temperature.
The reason for this is that the fusing characteristic of the fuse is slow to react to the excess current pulses as compared with the damage characteristic of the electric wire. Therefore, a phenomenon occurs in which heat accumulation which takes place due to the excess current pulses causes only the temperature of the electric wire to be raised. As a result, damage of the insulating coating occurs. If a fuse is selected which is able to protect the electric wire from being damaged even with the pulse-shape excess currents, the above-mentioned problem can be prevented. However, a fuse adaptable to the damage characteristic of the electric wire which varies in accordance with the type and length of the electric wire cannot easily be selected for each electric wire.
If an electric wire encounters an intermittent short circuit, a spark is made between the electric wire portion, which has encountered the intermittent short circuit, and the body of the vehicle. As a result, there is apprehension that the electric wire is damaged.

Method of detecting abnormal electric current in vehicle apparatus for detecting abnormal electric current in vehicle and power supply apparatus for vehicle


An adjustable seat includes a support bracket secured to a vehicle floor panel and a lower and upper portion pivotally connected thereto. The upper portion includes a plurality of lateral wing portions and each wing includes an elongated rod extending along a longitudinal length thereof. The lower and upper portions have an outer layer formed from resilient material. A mechanism is included for selectively pivoting the wing portions in sync about the respective rods such that the width of the upper portion can be adapted. Such a pivoting mechanism extends between the lower and upper portions and is adjacent to a rear side of the seat.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a vehicle seat and, more particularly, to an adjustable vehicle seat for providing lateral torso support.
2. Prior Art
Various types of complex vehicle seating systems or upright support systems having various adjustable mechanisms are well known in the prior art for supporting a person driving in a vehicle. However, such vehicle seats are complex in construction, expensive to fabricate, and often lacking in support in vital comfort areas.
Most vehicle seats allow for adjustment along horizontal and vertical planes in order for an individual driving a vehicle to reach and properly grip the steering wheel. However, these seats often lack proper lateral support due to the mass production of such seats in the automobile industry. This is particularly inconvenient for individuals who are too large to comfortably fit into the mass produced seats or too slender to fit in the same seat.
In either case, the result is an unpleasant driving experience where the driver's attention is distracted from the road and focused on trying to become comfortable. Slender individuals may find themselves sliding left and right in their seat depending on how the road bends, which lessens their control of the vehicle. Larger individuals may find that their backs begin to hurt during long road trips because their seat is too tight and requires them to sit in a position that places unnecessary strain on their backs.
Accordingly, a need remains for an adjustable vehicle seat for providing lateral torso support in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a vehicle seat that is comfortable, improves driver's safety, and is conveniently adjustable in design. Such a seat will advantageously keep a driver upright with its padded side supports instead of allowing the individual to slide laterally when taking a sharp turn. This will provide peace of mind for safety-conscious motorists and help prevent accidents. Everyday commuters, as well as truck drivers and owners of recreational vehicles who spend a lot of time on the road, will appreciate the beneficial characteristics of such an adjustable vehicle seat.

Adjustable vehicle seat for providing lateral torso support


A printing medium for use in a printing system such as a personal printing which includes a substrate having an outer periphery; and perforations or perforated lines spaced inwardly from part of the outer periphery in, for example, a U-shape so as to define separable marginal areas outside the perforations, and so as to define a primary printable area inside the perforations. The perforations extend to an edge the printing medium such that the defined primary printable area also extends to the same edge of the printing medium. A graphical image is printed on the printing medium in the primary printable area and extending into part of the separable marginal areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a printing medium having separable marginal areas and a primary printable area intended for use with a conventional printer, such as an inkjet or laser printer; and a method of printing an image on the printing medium using the conventional printer. The printing medium and method of printing in accordance with the present invention is particularly applicable for the creation of finished printed products such as personal greeting cards, invitations, announcements, photo-type prints, and the like using conventional printers to achieve a professional finish look.
2. Background of the Invention
The advancement made in image forming technology has been considerable in recent years. In particular, the improvement in the quality of images using today""s printers, including inkjet and laser printers, has created a demand for the ability to create affordable personal printed products such as greeting cards, invitations, announcements, photo-type prints, and the like that are comparable in quality to those made by professional printing companies.
To meet this growing demand, companies have developed paper products of high quality for use with inkjet and/or laser printers. Also, in connection with the development of these high quality paper products, companies have marketed software for selecting and printing various images onto these paper products. For example, many companies now offer a large selection of greeting card graphic images for every occasion which are stored on computer diskettes or CDROMs, or which are increasingly being made available for downloading from the Internet, and which are adapted to be used with a conventional desktop publishing program to create high quality personalized greeting cards.
However, one problem encountered when printing using conventional inkjet and/or laser printers is that, for any given size printing medium, these printers require marginal areas on sides of the printing medium to transport the printing medium through the printer. That is, these printers are not capable of printing from edge-to-edge on the printing medium. For example, widely used conventional inkjet printers require a non-print region at the leading edge, the side edges and the rear edge of the printing medium. These non-print regions are necessary to grip and transport the printing medium inside of the printer.
Furthermore, depending on the printer, the size of the non-print regions of the leading edge and the rear edge may be different, thereby offsetting the print region from the central part of the printing medium which reduces the overall quality of an image printed thereon. On the other hand, if the size of non-print region produced at the leading edge of the printing medium is set to be the same as the size of the non-print region produced at the trailing edge so that the print region can be centered from top to bottom on the printing medium, a very large non-print region is required at both the leading and trailing edges.
Therefore, since conventional printers are incapable of printing from edge-to-edge on the printing medium, personal greeting cards, invitations, announcements, photo-type prints, and the like using conventional desktop printing systems have margins at the edges of the finished printed output. Such margins, which may be unequal as explained above, result in a finished look which is inferior to that of similar professionally printed products.
FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate an example of the foregoing problem in the case of a greeting card. These figures show a conventional printing medium 1 having a graphical image 3 printed within side margins 4 on the front panel on one side of the printing medium, and a greeting 5 (e.g., xe2x80x9cHappy Birthdayxe2x80x9d) printed on the greeting panel on the other side of the printing medium. The printing medium further includes a score line 2 along which the printing medium can be folded to obtain a folded greeting card as shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the foregoing problem in the case of a photo-type print or postcard. In particular, FIG. 3 shows a conventional printing medium 6 used to print a high quality image 7 similar to a photograph. As evident from the illustration, although the quality of the printed image itself may be very good, the overall appearance of the image on the printing medium is inferior to that of an actual photograph or professionally printed postcard because it is not possible to set the size of the leading non-print margin 8 having a dimension d1 equal to that of the trailing non-print margin 9 having a dimension d2 due to the transport mechanisms in most conventional printers. Accordingly, the overall layout of the image 7 is not proportional (i.e., not centered from left to right) with respect to the printing medium. In order to alter the margins so that they are proportional, or in order to remove the margins altogether, the printing medium must be manually cut.
To overcome the foregoing shortcomings, U.S. application Ser. No. 08/946,222, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a printing medium 10 as shown in FIG. 4 having perforations 11 which define separable portions (or marginal areas) 12 outwardly therefrom along a peripheral part of the printing medium, and which define a primary printing area 13 enclosed inwardly therefrom. The printing medium can be manufactured with the perforations formed at different distances from the edges of the printing medium accounting, for example, for the difference between the leading and trailing edge margins required to properly transport the printing medium through a printer. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the primary printing area can be positioned off-center with respect to the printing medium 10. Accordingly, an image 14 can easily be printed on the printing medium such that the edges of the printed image is centered with respect to the primary printing area, and such that, upon removal of the separable portions after printing, the resulting finished printed output has a well balanced appearance.
Furthermore, in one particular embodiment, U.S. application 08/946,222 discloses the so-called xe2x80x9cbleed printingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfull bleed printingxe2x80x9d technique in combination with the perforated printing medium to achieve a finished printed product having a professional quality look similar to that, for example, of an actual photograph. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the image 15 is printed such that the actual print area extends some distance beyond the perforations 11 and into the separable portions 12. Upon removal of the separable portions after printing, the resulting finished printed output extends completely to the edge of the finished product.
One example of a commercially available printing medium which incorporates the invention disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/946,222 is PAPERSTUDIOS"" PAPEREDGE GRC170G1CC01-JP printing medium. This printing medium also has a perforated line defining outwardly therefrom a continuous outer portion or margin along the entire periphery of the printing medium, and defining inwardly therefrom a primary printable area. A user of the PAPERSTUDIOS"" printing medium may connect to the company""s Internet web site and download images which are formatted to print beyond the perforations and into the continuous margin along the entire periphery of the printing medium using conventional software application programs such as MICROSOFT WORD.
The present invention provides a novel and non-obvious improvement upon the printing medium and method of printing an image thereon disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/946,222. In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing medium for use in the creation of a finished printed product such as personal greeting cards, invitations, announcements, photo-type prints, and the like using conventional printers; and that have a professional finish look while maintaining at least part of one edge of the original printing medium in the finished printed product.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a printing medium for use in a printing system such as a personal printing which includes a substrate having an outer periphery; and perforations or perforated lines spaced inwardly from part of the outer periphery in, for example, a U-shape so as to define separable marginal areas outside the perforations, and so as to define a primary printable area inside the perforations. The perforations extend to an edge the printing medium such that the defined primary printable area also extends to the same edge of the printing medium.
The present invention also provides a method of making a finished printed output having graphical content printed to an edge of the finished printed output. The method includes the step of providing a print medium having separating portions or a perforated line spaced inwardly from part of the outer periphery of the print medium so as to define separable marginal areas outside the perforated line, and so as to define a primary printable area inside the perforated line, and extending to an edge of the printing medium. The method further includes the step of loading the print medium into a printer, printing a graphical image on the one side of the print medium so that an edge of the primary printable area, upon removing the separable marginal areas, has at least a portion of the graphical image printed thereat, and manually removing the separable marginal areas so that the remaining portion of the print medium becomes the finished printed output having at least the portion of the graphical image extending completely to an edge of the finished printed output.
Accordingly, an advantage of the present invention is that, by maintaining an edge of the printing medium in the final finished printed product, the number of separable marginal areas can be reduced, thereby making it simpler for the user to create the finished product. Additionally, since the perforated line extends to an edge of the printing medium, the user will find it easier to begin the separation of the marginal areas. Furthermore, by maintaining an edge of the printing medium in the final finished product, the finished product will have at least one smooth edge which is precut by the manufacturer.
Moreover, printing mediums having non-continuous perforations in accordance with the present invention are relatively less expensive to manufacture then printing mediums having continuous perforations, since the conventional printing mediums require additional perforations.

Printing medium having separable marginal areas and method of printing same


A focus control method controls a focus servo system which controls a focus of a light irradiated on an optical disk in an optical disk unit which has a plurality of operation modes. The focus control method includes the steps of (a) reading focus offset information from a memory which prestores focus offset information depending on the operation modes of the optical disk unit, and (b) controlling the focus with respect to the optical disk by supplying the focus offset information read in the step (a) to the focus servo system when the operation mode of the optical disk unit is switched from one mode to another.

The present invention generally relates to focus control methods and optical disk units, and more particularly to a focus control method which corrects an offset in a focus servo system and to an optical disk unit which employs such a focus control method.
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram showing an example of a conventional optical disk unit. In FIG. 1, a laser beam emitted from a laser diode (LD) 101 of an optical head 100 is irradiated on an optical disk 103 which is rotated by a spindle motor 103. The reflected laser beam from the optical disk 103 is converted into an electrical signal by a photodetector 104 within the optical head 100. A laser diode control circuit 105 controls the laser diode 101 based on a gate signal which is for a write/erase/read mode and is received from a host unit (not shown), so that the laser diode 101 emits the laser beam with an optimum light emitting power for each mode.
A reproducing circuit 106 separates the frequency band of the electrical signal which is received from the photodetector 104 of the optical head 100, and a high-frequency component signal from the reproducing circuit 106 is supplied to a radio frequency (RF) signal generating circuit (not shown) which reproduces data. On the other hand, a low-frequency component signal from the reproducing circuit 106 is supplied to a tracking servo system 107 and a focus servo system. The tracking servo system 107 generates a tracking error signal based on the low-frequency component signal and supplies this tracking error signal to the optical head 100 so as to carry out a tracking servo. On the other hand, the focus servo system 108 generates a focus error signal based on the low-frequency component signal and supplies this focus error signal to the optical head 100 so as to carry out a focus servo.
However, the conventional optical disk unit had problems (1) through (3) which are described hereunder.
(1) In the case of the optical disk unit in which the light emitting power of the laser diode 101 is switched depending on the write/erase/read mode, a so-called mode hop occurs whereby the oscillation wavelength of the laser diode 101 switches depending on the mode, and there was a problem in that the focal point moves. The amount or extent of mode hop differs among each individual laser diode 101, and also changes depending on the temperature.
FIGS. 2(A) through 2(C) are timing charts for explaining a distortion in the focus servo due to the switching of the light emitting power. In FIG. 2(A) shows a normal focus error signal FES, FIG. 2(B) shows the focus error signal FES when the focus servo is distorted depending on the mode, and FIG. 2(C) shows a write gate signal WG. It may be seen from FIGS. 2(A) through 2(C) that a focus error is generated when the light emitting power of the laser diode 101 is switched and that the focal point is returned to the in-focus position by the focus servo. Such a focus error is generated immediately after the start of the write and immediately after the end of the write when the light emitting power of the laser diode 101 is switched. Particularly the focus error which is generated immediately after the start of the write greatly affects the write performance, and easily becomes the cause of a reproduction error during the read. In addition, there was also a problem in that the focus servo is distorted at a constant period and noise is generated thereby.
In FIG. 2(C), a high-level period of the write gate signal WG indicates a write/erase mode, and a low-level period of the write gate signal WG indicates a read mode. In other words, in the particular case shown in FIGS. 2(A) through 2(C), the write/erasure of data is carried out with respect to the optical disk 103 during the high-level period of the write gate signal WG, and an identification (ID) signal is read during the low-level period of the write gate signal WG.
(2) In a fixed optical system of the optical disk unit, the positions of the photodetector and the like are adjusted so that the focus servo can be made to the optimum in-focus position by the fixed optical system alone. However, there was a problem in that the focus servo may be made to a position different from the adjusted in-focus position due to the mounting error that occurs when the fixed optical system is mounted on a base of the optical disk unit and due to an offset of a circuit which processes an output signal of the fixed optical system.
(3) Furthermore, when a temperature change occurs, the positions and angles of optical parts deviate from their original correct positions depending on the difference between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the optical parts and the fixed parts and depending on the temperature characteristic of an adhesive agent or the like that is used to fix the optical parts. For this reason, an offset is generated in the focusing direction due to the temperature change, and there was a problem in that the focus servo may be made to a position deviated from the optimum in-focus position.
If any one of the problems (1) through (3) described above becomes the cause and the focus servo is not made to the optimum in-focus position, a write error and/or a read error occurs.
With respect to the problems (2) and (3), that is, with respect to the problem of the focus servo being made to a position deviated from the optimum in-focus position, it is possible to reduce the undesirable effects to a certain extent by making an adjustment so that the amplitude of the tracking error signal becomes a maximum. For example, such a method is proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications No.62-128027, No.62-141644, No.62-222438 and No.2-230516. However, with respect to the problem (2), it is necessary to make one adjustment during the time from a time when the optical disk is loaded into the optical disk unit to a time when the optical disk unit assumes a ready state. In addition, with respect to the problem (3), it is necessary to make the adjustment every time a temperature change occurs. For these reasons, there still were problems in that it takes time to make the necessary adjustments and that the performance of the optical disk unit deteriorates.

Focus control method, and optical disk unit with focus offset correction


A time division duplex/code division multiple access user equipment receives a plurality of communication bursts transmitted in a time slot. A midamble code included in a received communication burst is determined. A channelization code of a determined midamble's communication burst is determined. A mapping between channelization codes and midamble codes exists such that each midamble being mapped to at least one channelization code and at least one midamble code being mapped to at least two channelization codes which may be received in communication bursts simultaneously.

The present invention relates generally to wireless time division duplex using code division multiple access (TDD/CDMA) communication systems. In particular, the invention relates to determining channelization codes for use in multiuser detection in the downlink for TDD/CDMA systems.
A TDD/CDMA communication system is illustrated in FIG. 1. The system 10 has multiple base stations 121 to 125. Each base station 121 has an associated operating area. User equipments (UEs) 141 to 143 in a base station's operating area communicate with that base station 121. Communications transmitted from a base station 121 to a UE 141 are referred to as downlink communications and communications transmitted from a UE 141 to a base station 121 are referred to as uplink communications.
In a wireless TDD/CDMA communication system, multiple communications are sent in a shared frequency spectrum. One such system is proposed in a third generation wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) standard. In CDMA systems, multiple communications are sent in the shared spectrum and are distinguished by channelization codes. In TDD/CDMA systems, the shared spectrum is also time divided using repeating frames having a fixed number of time slots, such as fifteen (15) time slots. Each time slot is used to transmit either only uplink or downlink communications. As a result, the communications are distinguished by both channelization codes and time slots. A single channelization code used in a single time slot is referred to as a resource unit. Based on a communications bandwidth, the communication may require one or multiple resource units. Typical data modulation schemes used in TDD/CDMA systems are quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), binary phase shift keying (BPSK) and N Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), such as N=8, 16 or 64.
Data is transmitted in such systems using communication bursts 16. A communication burst 16 carries data in a single time slot using a single channelization code (a single resource unit). A typical communication burst 16 has a midamble 20, a guard period 18 and two data bursts 22, 24, as shown in FIG. 2. The midamble 20 separates the two data bursts 22, 24. The guard period 18 separates the communication bursts 16 to allow for the difference in arrival times of bursts 16 transmitted from different transmitters. The two data bursts 22, 24 contain the communication burst's data. The midamble 20 contains a midamble code for use in estimating the channel response between the receiver and transmitter.
Since multiple communication bursts may be transmitted in a single time slot, a receiver must be able to distinguish data from the multiple bursts. One approach to recover the received data is multiuser detection (MUD).
In MUD, a receiver recovers all communication bursts' data in a time slot, including bursts transmitted to other UEs. To recover all the bursts' data, the MUD receiver needs to know all of the channelization codes used to transmit the bursts. In the proposed TDD mode of W-CDMA, each UE 141 to 143 only knows which channelization and midamble codes are used for carrying information intended for it. To determine all the channelization and midamble codes, a bank of matched filters is used to detect all possible channelization/midamble combinations. The output power from each matched filter is compared to a threshold to determine whether a particular channelization/midamble combination was used. Due to the number of required matched filters, this approach has a high complexity. Additionally, if there is a high correlation between channelization codes, this approach may have poor performance. Accordingly, it is desirable to have alternate approaches for UEs 141 to 143 to be able to determine the active channelization codes.

Channelization code determination by a user equipment


A brush device (100) for an electric machine (10), having a brush (20) which is arranged in a brush guide element (21; 21a) so as to be longitudinally displaceable in the direction of a contact element (16) and which bears against the contact element (16) by way of a contact surface (30), wherein the brush (20) has a longitudinal axis (25) arranged at a first oblique angle (α) with respect to an axis of rotation (11) of the contact element (16), wherein that face side (23) of the brush (20) which is situated opposite the contact surface (30) is subjected to the spring force (F) of a spring element (32) in an abutment region (31).

The invention relates to a brush device for an electric machine. The invention also relates to an electric machine using a brush device.
A brush device is known from JP 2002369458 A. In the case of the known brush device, in order to reduce vibrations, it is provided that the brush, which has a rectangular cross-sectional area, is arranged, together with a brush guide element, at a first oblique angle with respect to the longitudinal axis or axis of rotation of a commutator. That face side of the brush which faces toward a commutator lies with its entire cross section against the commutator, so as to form a contact surface. Furthermore, that face side of the brush which faces away from the contact surface has a groove in which a leg of an obliquely arranged spring bears. The spring generates not only a first force component in the direction of the commutator but also a second force component which pushes the brush in the direction of a wall of the brush guide element. If vibrations are generated at the contact surface on the side facing away from said wall of the brush guide element, it is the case even in the presence of relatively low frictional forces that a relatively high tilting moment is generated on the brush, which has an adverse effect in terms of noise generation and vibration reduction, because, owing to the normal manufacturing tolerances between the cross section of the brush and the brush guide element, the brush is guided in the brush guide element with play, and the tilting moment thus leads to an abutment of the brush in the brush guide element.
Furthermore, DE 10 2012 107 327 A1 has disclosed a further brush device in which the brush, which has a rectangular cross section, is arranged within a brush guide element with play in order that, in particular, the longitudinal displaceability of the brush in the brush guide element is ensured. Owing to the guidance with play, a brush device of said type tends to exhibit vibrations. Therefore, in the case of the known brush device, provision is made for the brush guide element and thus also the brush to be inclined at a first oblique angle of 75° to 82° with respect to the longitudinal axis or axis of rotation of a commutator which constitutes the contact element. That face side of the brush which faces away from the contact element (lamella of the commutator) is subjected to the spring force of a spring element, wherein the direction of the spring force runs perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the contact element and/or to the axis of rotation of the commutator. The spring force of the spring element generates not only the pressure force of the brush against the contact element but also, on that face side of the brush which faces away from the spring element, a force component which pushes the brush in the direction of a side surface of the brush guide element. A disadvantage of said brush device is that, owing to the selected angle of the brush guide element with respect to the axis of rotation of the contact element, with a certain desired pressure force of the brush against the commutator, the pressure force acting on the brush in the direction of the brush guide element is relatively low. Furthermore, owing to the direction of the spring force, which is oriented at least substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the contact element (commutator), there is a tendency for a pressure force to be generated on the brush which is not of uniform magnitude over the length of the brush in the brush guide element, and which in particular decreases in the direction of that side of the brush which faces away from the contact element. As a result, the vibration damping capability of the known brush device is restricted, because in particular, a pressure force which is uniform or which has a certain minimum magnitude over the entire length of the brush is not obtained.

Brush device for an electric machine, and electric machine


A process comprising the following steps: (a) maintaining the process in an essentially oxygen-free state; (b) introducing a first polymer directly from the polymerization reactor in which it was prepared, in molten form, into a mixer/compounder; (c) reducing any higher pressure accompanying the first polymer from the polymerization reactor to the mixer/compounder to a pressure in the range of about 0 to about 5 barg; (d) adding additives selected from the group consisting of antioxidants, second polymers, other polymer enhancing additives, and mixtures thereof to the mixer/compounder, and mixing same with the molten first polymer; (e) passing the molten mixture from step (d) through one or more screens, each having a maximum opening size of about 25 microns; (f) pelletizing the mixture from step (e); (g) introducing the pellets into a spraying chamber, the interior of said chamber being operated in a static condition; (h) spraying the pellets in the chamber with a crosslinking formulation including an organic peroxide and, optionally, a scorch retarder and/or a cure booster to coat the pellets; and (i) annealing the coated pellets to impregnate the pellets with the crosslinking formulation.

A typical power cable generally comprises one or more conductors in a cable core that is surrounded by several layers of polymeric material including a first semiconducting shield layer, an insulating layer, a second semiconducting shield layer, a metallic tape or wire shield, and a jacket. Thermosetting power cable compositions are currently produced via one of two types of off-line processes in which polymerization, mixing, and vulcanization are carried out independently. A thermoplastic polymer is supplied to the mixer in the form of pellets (granules), fluff, or powder. The purpose of the mixer is to incorporate functional and stabilizing additives into the polymer. Then, the polymer/additive mixture is subjected to vulcanization where crosslinking agents are added. A variant of the off-line production process is practiced when the thermoplastic polymer/additive mixture is mixed with a crosslinking agent in a mixer/extruder during fabrication of the power cable. This process is referred to as the direct injection process and combines the vulcanization step with the fabrication step. In both of these processes, filtration is effected, somewhat inefficiently because of low throughput rates. Due to decomposition and the reaction of the crosslinking agent in the fabricating extruder, periodic shutdowns of the extruder must be made to remove crosslinked product (scorch) from the wire. Thus, the aforementioned processes suffer from inefficiency and a lack of cleanliness.
A thermosetting polymer is a polymer capable of being changed into a substantially infusible or insoluble product by the addition of heat or radiation wherein the primary change to the polymer is chemical. The net effect of the chemical change is to link the polymer chains thereby increasing the polymer's weight average molecular weight. A thermoplastic polymer, on the other hand, is one which is capable of being softened by heating and hardened by cooling through a characteristic temperature range. For polyolefins, that temperature range is typically about 80 to about 170 degrees C. The change to the polymer on heating is substantially physical.
All power cable products including semiconductive power shields and dielectric insulation materials are valued for their purity or freedom from unintended additives, which are considered to be contaminants. Since the power cable will be exposed to high voltages, minute extraneous particles such as metal, inorganic oxides, salts, and polar organic substances, when permitted to be present in the power cable tend to cause deterioration, disrupt the insulation, and shorten the service life of the power cable. Contaminants to power cable compounds include any organic or inorganic substance not specifically detailed in the product formulation. This includes very highly crosslinked polymer and thermally or oxidatively degraded polymer particles in the final product. Power cable insulation is partially specified and sold by identifying the number and size of contaminants in a given size range contained in a given mass of product. The size ranges specified for these contaminants vary by product and geographic market, typically beginning at 0.004 inches or 100 microns. There is an industrial need for thermosetting power cable compositions, which have a low level of contaminants, both in number and size.

Process for the production of a thermosetting composition

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation


An information pushing device includes an information emitting device and a plurality of power generation members. The information pushing device is configured to push wireless information to mobile terminal equipments. Each power generation member includes a strip-shaped of electric generation film and two electrodes formed on two opposite surface of the electric generation film. The electric generation film is made from piezoelectric material, the power generation member comprises a first end and a second end opposite to the first end. The electrodes of the first end is electrically connected with the power supply unit, the second end swings under a cool or a heated airflow and produces charge. The charge is stored in the electrodes and provided to the information emitting device.

Large venues, such as shopping malls, hospitals, factories or office buildings usually require air conditioning to output a cool airflow or heated airflow to adjust the indoor temperature, energy of the cool airflow or heated airflow is usually not fully utilized; and sometimes information about merchandise discounts, holiday activities information or service information, and so on also need to be displayed for users, and such information always displayed using advertising board, which leading to some consumers can not see the information in time.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an information pushing device and a smart ventilation apparatus that can overcome the limitations described.

Information pushing device and smart ventilation apparatus


In a fuel dielectric constant detecting apparatus, a high frequency signal is applied to an element for subjecting the high frequency voltage signal to resonance corresponding to the dielectric constant of the fuel. A DC voltage is applied to the subjecting element so that the duty of the high frequency signal be 50%, and the high frequency signals are so controlled that the phase shift between the signals provided at both ends of the resistor be a predetermined value. Alternatively, in the apparatus, the high frequency signal applying member includes a high frequency signal applying section and a reference high frequency signal applying section. The frequencies to the subjecting element are so controlled that the phase shift between the high frequency signal at the connecting point of the resistor and the subjecting element and the reference high frequency signal be equal to a phase shift between the high frequency signal applied to the subjecting element through the resistor and the reference high frequency signal, and those frequencies thus controlled or amounts of control for determining the latter are utilized to detect the dielectric constant of the fuel.

This invention relates to an apparatus for detecting fuel dielectric constant which detects the dielectric constant of a fuel in a non-contact mode which is supplied to a burner or the like to determine the properties of the fuel, and more particularly relating to an apparatus to detect fuel dielectric constant for measuring the content of alcohol in a fuel used for the engine of a motor vehicle or the like.
Recently, in the United States of America and in many countries in Europe, in order to decrease the consumption of oil and to reduce the air pollution due to the exhaust gas of motor vehicles, a fuel prepared by mixing alcohol with gasoline is being introduced for motor vehicles. However, in case of using the alcohol-mixed fuel to the engine which is adjusted an air/fuel ratio to match with a gasoline fuel, since alcohol is smaller in theoretical air/fuel ratio than gasoline, the air/fuel ratio is leaned, which makes it difficult to smoothly operate the engine. In order to eliminate this difficulty, the following method has been employed: The content of alcohol in the alcohol-mixed fuel is detected, and the air/fuel ratio and the ignition timing are adjusted according to the content of alcohol thus detected.
In order to detect the content of alcohol, there have been proposed a method in which the dielectric constant of an alcohol-mixed fuel is detected, and a method in which the refractive index of the same is detected. With respect to the former method, the present Applicant has proposed a "dielectric constant detecting apparatus" under Japanese Patent Application No. 22488/1991.
The dielectric constant detecting apparatus thus proposed will be described with reference to FIG. 5.
In FIG. 5, a sensor section A is provided. And a bottomed cylindrical insulating tube 1 is made of an insulating material such as ceramic or oil-resisting plastics into which a fuel is led. An electrically conductive electrode 3 in the form of a cylinder is provided inside the insulating tube 1 in such a manner that it is coaxial with the insulating tube 1 with its outer cylindrical surface being substantially in parallel with the inner cylindrical surface of the insulating tube 1. A single layer coil 4 is wound on the insulating tube 1 in such a manner as to confront with the electrically conductive electrode 3. The lead wires 4a and 4b are provided to the single layer coil 4. A fuel passageway 2 is defined by the inner cylindrical surface of the single layer coil 4 which contacts with the insulating tube 1 and the outer cylindrical surface of the electrode 3. A flange 5 is provided with the electrode 3, and is coupled to the insulating tube 1 through a fuel seal 7 so as to form a fuel container (in this case, the flange 3 being integral with the electrode 3). Nipples 6 lead the fuel to the fuel passageway 2. A detecting circuit section B.
The detecting circuit section B comprises: a series resistor 10 (whose resistance being R.sub.s) connected in series to the lead wire 4a of the single layer coil 4; a 0.degree. phase comparator connected in parallel to the resistor 10; a low-pass filter connected to the output of the phase comparator 14; a comparison integrator 16 which is connected to the output of the low-pass filter 15 and to which a predetermined reference voltage V.sub.ref corresponding to a phase shift 0.degree. is applied; a voltage-controlled oscillator 17 connected to the output of the comparison integrator 16; an amplifier 18 for amplifying the output of the voltage-controlled oscillator 17; and a frequency divider 19 adapted to frequency-divide the output of the voltage-controlled oscillator 17.
The operation of the above conventional apparatus to detect dielectric constant will be described.
The sensor section A is arranged as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). In FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), the inductance L of the single layer coil 4 is contained. The capacitance C.sub.f between the single layer coil 4 and the electrically conductive electrode 3 changes according to a change of the dielectric constant .epsilon. of the fuel in the fuel passageway 2. And a capacitance C.sub.p is as a stray capacitance of the lead wire 4a, an input capacitance of the phase comparator 11 and the like, which is not effected by the dielectric constant .epsilon..
Hereupon, when the frequency applied to the lead 4a of the sensor section A is changed, a parallel LC resonance occurs as shown in FIG. 4(c). In this case, the parallel resonance frequency f.sub.r can be calculated according to the following Equation (1): ##EQU1##
where K, a and b are the constants which are determined according to the configuration of the sensor section A. As is seen from Equation (1), the resonance frequency f.sub.r depends on the dielectric constant .epsilon. of the fuel; that is, as the dielectric constant .epsilon. increases, the resonance frequency f.sub.r is decreased.
The resonance frequency f.sub.r of a concrete example of the sensor section having a predetermined configuration was measured as follows: In the case where the fuel was methanol having a dielectric constant .epsilon.=33, the resonance frequency f.sub.r was 7.5 MHz; and in the case where it was gasoline having a dielectric constant .epsilon.=2, the resonance frequency was about 9.5 MHz. In the case where a fuel was prepared by mixing methanol and gasoline in an optional mixing ratio, the resonance frequency f.sub.r changed according to the content of methanol as shown in FIG. 4(d). Hence, by detecting a signal corresponding to the resonance frequency f.sub.r, the dielectric constant .epsilon. of the fuel, and accordingly the content of methanol in the methanol-mixed fuel can be detected.
The detecting circuit section B, designed to detect the resonance frequency f.sub.r, operates as follows:
With a methanol-mixed fuel in the fuel passageway 2, the amplifier 18 applies a high frequency signal to a series circuit of the resistor 10 and the single layer coil 4. The voltage signal across the resistor 10; i.e., a high frequency voltage signal applied to the series circuit, and a high frequency voltage signal applied to the single layer coil 4 are applied to the phase comparator 14, where their phases are compared with each other.
It is assumed that the frequency of the high frequency voltage signal applied to the series circuit is equal to the resonance frequency f.sub.r. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the current voltage phase of the sensor section A is 0.degree., and therefore the phase shift between the high frequency voltage signals provided at both ends of the resistor 10 is also 0.degree.. When, on the other hand, a high frequency voltage signal whose frequency is lower than the resonance frequency f.sub.r as shown in FIG. 4(c) the current voltage phase of the sensor section A leads 0.degree., and therefore with the phase of the high frequency signal applied to the series circuit as a reference, the phase shift between the high frequency voltage signals provided at both ends of the resistor 10 is larger than 0.degree..
Thus, a phase synchronization loop is established in which the output of the phase comparator 14 is converted into a DC voltage corresponding to the phase shift with the aid of the low-pass filter 15; this DC voltage and the DC voltage V.sub.ref corresponding to a phase shift 0.degree. are applied to the comparison integrator 16, where a difference between the phase shifts is subjected to integration; and the output of the comparison integrator 16 is applied to the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 which applies the high frequency signal through the resistor 10 to the above-described series circuit.
With the phase synchronization loop thus established, the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 is so operated that the phase shift between the high frequency voltage signals at both ends of the resistor 10 be 0.degree., and the oscillator 17 oscillates at the resonance frequency f.sub.r at all times. The frequency divider 19 subjects the output frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator to frequency division to provide a frequency output f.sub.out. Since the oscillation frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 corresponds to the control input voltage in a ratio of 1:1, the output of the comparison integrator 16 can be used as a voltage output V.sub.out.
The conventional dielectric constant detecting apparatus will be described more concretely with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. As shown in FIG. 6, the phase comparator 14 includes an EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 14c, and the phase synchronization loop is so formed that the phase shift between the high frequency voltage signals at both ends of the resistor 10 be 0.degree.. FIG. 7 shows signals P1 through P6 at various circuit points in FIG. 6. The signal P1, or a high frequency square wave signal P1 outputted by the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 is applied to the CK port of a first D flip-flop circuit 18 in the amplifier 18, and it is further applied through an inverter 18c to the CK portion of a second D flip-flop circuit 18b with its phase inverted A signal at the inversion output port of the first D flip-flop circuit 18a is applied to the D port of the second D flip-flop circuit 18b, and a signal at the inversion output port of the second D flip-flop circuit 18b is applied to the D portion of the first flip-flop circuit 18a. The signal P2 is provided at the output port Q of the first D flip-flop circuit 18a, being the high frequency signal applied to the single layer coil 4 through the resistor 10. The signal P2 is changed in level at the rise of the high frequency square wave signal P1; that is, the signal P2 corresponds to a signal obtained by subjecting the signal P1 to 1/2 signal frequency division. The signal P2 is applied through an inverter 14a to the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 14c. On the other hand, the signal P3 is provided at the output port Q of the second D flip-flop circuit 18b, and it is changed in level at the fall of the signal P1; that is, the signal P3 is equal in frequency to the signal P2 and different by 90.degree. in phase from the latter P2.
The signal P4 is provided in the connecting line between the resistor 10 and the single layer coil 4 so that it is applied to the latter 4. The signal P4 is further applied to one input terminal of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 14c, while the signal P3 is applied through an inverter 14b to the other input terminal with its phase inverted, so that those signals are subjected to phase comparison. The high frequency signal P4 provided in the connecting line between the resistor 10 and the single layer coil 4 is sinusoidal as shown in FIG. 7. There-fore, the DC level of the signal P4 is adjusted to the threshold level of the inverter 14a by an operational amplifier 20 with the aid of a variable resistor 21; that is, the sinusoidal signal P4 is shaped into the signal P5 which is a square wave.
At the frequency at which the LC circuit of the sensor section A resonates, the output square wave P4 of the inverter 14a is opposite in phase to the square wave P2 applied to the resistor 10, and its phase is shifted by 90.degree. from that of the signal P3 at the output port Q of the second flip-flop circuit 18b. Therefore, when the phase shift between the signals P2 and P4 at both ends of the resistor 10 is 0.degree.; that is, when the frequency provided is the one at which the LC circuit of the sensor section A resonates, the output of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 14c, namely, the signal P6 is a square wave having a duty of 50%. When the frequency is other than the resonance frequency, the duty of the signal P is smaller than or larger than 50%. That is, the square wave provided by the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit has the duty corresponding to the phase shift between the signals P2 and P4 in a ratio of 1:1.
The output signal P6 of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 14c is applied to the low-pass filter 15, the DC output of which corresponds to the phase shift between the high frequency voltage signals P2 and P4 at both ends of the resistor 10 in a ratio of 1:1. The output of the low-pass filter 15 is applied to the comparison integrator 16, where the shift between it (the output) and the voltage V.sub.ref is subjected to integration. It should be noted that the voltage V.sub.ref has been so adjusted with a variable resistor 22 that it is equal to the DC level which the low-pass filter 15 outputs when the phase shift between the signals P2 and P4 at both ends of the resistor 10 is 0.degree.. The resultant integration value; i.e., the output of the comparison integrator is applied to the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 to control the oscillation frequency.
That is, the phase synchronization loop formed controls the output frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 so that the phase shift between the high frequency voltage signals at both ends of the resistor 10 be 0. Hence, the frequency output f.sub.out which is obtained by frequency-dividing the output frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 is a function which decreases monotonically with respect to the fuel dielectric constant .epsilon. shown in FIG. 4; i.e., the methanol content. The output of the comparison integrator applied to the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 is outputted as a voltage output V.sub.out.
The conventional dielectric constant detecting apparatus thus organized is disadvantageous in the following points:
When the fuel dielectric constant changes abruptly so that the phase synchronization loop becomes unsatisfactory in control, the signals P2 and P4 become different in phase, and the impedance of the LC resonance circuit is decreased as shown in FIG. 4, and the threshold level of the inverter 14a adapted to shape the waveform of the sinusoidal high frequency signal P4 differs somewhat from the DC level which is applied to the single layer coil 4 with the aid of the operational amplifier 20 and the variable resistor 21. Hence, as shown in FIG. 8, the signal P4 no longer crosses the threshold level, as a result of which no waveform shaping operation is carried out as indicated at P5 in FIG. 8.
In this case, the output P6 of the phase comparator 14 is a signal having a duty of 50% which is obtained merely by inverting the signal P3, and the output of the low-pass filter 15 is the same as that which is provided when control is made by the phase synchronization loop. As a result, the phase synchronization fails in control, so that a value different from the true fuel dielectric constant is outputted.
In the case where the conventional fuel dielectric constant detecting apparatus is manufactured on mass-production, the DC levels to be applied to the single layer coils 4 must be adjusted individually according to the threshold levels of the inverters 14a.
Furthermore, when the duty of the output of the voltage-controlled oscillator 17 is not 50%, or the supply voltage applied to the detecting circuit B changes, the high level voltage of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 14c is changed, and the output of the low-pass filter 15 is changed which is the DC signal corresponding to the phase shift between the voltage signals at both ends of the resistor 10, so that, when the phase shift is 0.degree., the DC level voltage is changed. This means that the aimed phase shift of the phase synchronization loop is shifted from 0.degree.. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, a frequency f.sub.0 should be outputted; however, a frequency f.sub.1 is outputted because the aimed phase shift is shifted as was described above. On the other hand, as the fuel dielectric constant changes, the resonance is changed in quality factor Q. For instance, as indicated by the two-dot chain lines in FIG. 9, the phase curve becomes gentle in inclination with the quality factor Q decreased, and a frequency f.sub.2 is outputted. In this case, the detection is low in accuracy, and affected by the fuel conductivity.
In a mass production of the conventional dielectric constant detecting apparatus, for each comparison integrator 16 the voltage V.sub.ref must be adjusted according to the duty of the output of the voltage-controlled oscillator 17. This will lower the manufacturing efficiency.

Apparatus for detecting fuel dielectric constant


A hardware-based circuitry for digital processing for color saturation control circuitry, brightness control circuitry, contrast control circuitry, and color hue control circuitry, some or all of which can be added to the luminance/chrominance (Y/C) signals to the red green blue (RGB) digital YCbCr-to-RGB conversion circuitry that is required by devices such as an LCoS display device. (these controls can also be used without the Y/C-to-RGB conversion surrounding. Important is the fact that the signals for control be in Y/C domain) A digital video signal from the source in the Y/C (luminance/chrominance) domain is fed into processing circuitry, where the C (chrominance) component is split into Cb and Cr subcomponents. Digital YCbCr-to-RGB conversion circuitry transforms the Y/C signals to RGB domain, required by, for example, the LCoS display device. Control circuitry according to the present invention to control color saturation, brightness, contrast and color hue is added to this YCbCr-to-RGB conversion circuitry.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the control of image quality by image displays. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for circuitry that provides control of image displays.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most image displays, being analog by design, employ color saturation, brightness, contrast and hue control circuitry, which works along with analog video signals. Similar circuits working with digitized video signals are used in post-processing film and video industry and are based on software driven microprocessor systems.
A new generation of digital image displays (for example, based on Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology, TFT-LCD, DLP and PDP), takes further advantage of its higher resolution by performing all video signal processing starting from the source in digital domain, thus eliminating the need for analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters in the signal path and avoiding digitizing artifacts in the displayed images.
There are several ways in which color projection can be performed using LCoS displays. One such example is referred to as "3-Chip Color" in which a series of prisms are arranged to form a color cube. Light, which typically originates from a lamp and then passes through a condenser lens to increase its uniformity (i.e. focus), subsequently passes through a dichroic filter to remove light outside the visible spectrum before striking a mirror, which directs the path of the light to the color cube.
After entering the cube, the light is subsequently split into three beams that project off three separate LCoS displays. Each of the respective LCoS displays has one of a red, green, or blue filter located in front. Each of the displays receives a different video signal with the correct image for its corresponding color. The cube then combines the reflected images that result in a final color image that is projected.
Another way that LCoS displays provide color is by a color wheel optical system, whereby light, which first passes through a condenser lens and a dichroic filter, subsequently passes through a color wheel that includes red, green and blue (and sometimes yellow and white) transmissive portions. The colored light may then pass through a quarter wave plate and subsequently reflect off the LCoS display and through a projector lens. The LCoS display changes color according to the particular color being projected (i.e. red, green, blue, and possibly even yellow) at multiples of the normal projection rate, so as to "fool" the eye into perceiving the projected images as an image in full color.
Yet another way that the color can be provided in, for example, TFT-LCD display is by the use of color dots, also fooling the perception of the eye to see the images in full color. By this method, a series of pixels have different color dots that are activated according to the color signal. The arrangement of the pixels and the particular ones turned on provides a perceived full color image to the human eye.
A single panel scrolling color method is yet another way that a full color image is perceived by the human eye. According to the scrolling method, the screen may, for example, be subdivided into different color images (such as red, green, blue, yellow, etc.). In the case of three color images, the sub-division can be into thirds that are vertically stacked, so that a vertical scroll of the different color images at speeds too fast to be detected by the human eye occurs, allowing for the perception of a full color image.
In all of the above methods (as well as others), the LCoS display devices require that the luminance/chrominance (Y/C) signals be converted to the red-green-blue (RGB) domain, as any display technology requires RGB signals. Most of the methods also require that the projected image be spatially rearranged (i.e. for a single panel scrolling color method the R, G and B components of the image must be presented to the display device according to the current position of the illumination color stripes). This kind of signal processing is preferably done in the digital domain due to higher accuracy and simplicity.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide the consumer picture controls, such as brightness, contrast, color saturation and color hue, to be implemented digitally with minimal resources required to take further advantage of all-digital processing.

Digital, hardware based, real-time color space conversion circuitry with color saturation, brightness, contrast and hue controls


The disclosure relates to a semiconductor device including a first planar field effect transistor cell and a second planar field effect transistor cell. The first planar field effect transistor cell and the second planar field effect transistor cell are electrically connected in parallel and each include a drain extension region between a channel region and a drain terminal at a first surface of a semiconductor body. A gate electrode of the first field effect transistor cell is electrically connected to a source terminal, and a gate electrode of the second field effect transistor cell is connected to a gate terminal that is electrically isolated from the source terminal.

In semiconductor components comprising field effect transistors, a multiplicity of field effect transistor cells is typically connected in parallel in order to realize a desired current-carrying capacity. In circuit applications such as DC-DC converters, for instance, the transistors are optimized for example so as to minimize losses that occur in each switching cycle. Different switching states are undergone during each cycle, wherein different loss portions arise in each switching phase, which loss portions can be increased or decreased by specific transistor parameters. During one of these phases, in the exemplary case of a DC-DC converter, the current flows in a reverse direction through the field effect transistor cells with the channel closed, wherein the body diode is operated in the forward direction.
It is desirable to reduce the power loss of field effect transistor cells in order thereby to improve the efficiency of a circuit arrangement realized with the field effect transistor cells.

Semiconductor device with planar field effect transistor cell


A concrete lintel form includes a pair of elongate side members for installation in opposing face-to-face relation spanning a structure opening, such as a window or door opening, for fabrication of concrete beams or composite concrete masonry beams. Each form member comprises a generally vertical sidewall having inwardly projecting top and bottom legs running the substantially the entire length of the member. The top legs function to support masonry block stacked on top of the form to allow for the construction of a composite cast in place beam. The bottom legs function to support a bottom form that may be inserted after masonry has been stacked and secured with mortar, thereby allowing the workers to leave an opening that allows mortar droppings to fall through and not collect in the form. Each form member includes at least one outwardly projecting stiffener running substantially the entire length of the member between the top and bottom. The stiffener functions to resist outward expansion of the form as concrete is placed therein thereby minimizing bracing requirements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to construction of beams over concrete masonry openings, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for forming and constructing beams over openings in concrete or block constructions.
2. Description of Related Art
A lintel or header is a horizontal beam used in the construction of buildings, and is a major architectural contribution of ancient Greece. The beam usually supports masonry above a window or door opening.
There are generally four commonly employed methods of constructing a "beam" over a concrete masonry opening. The first method involves constructing a masonry beam which consists of concrete masonry units stacked over the opening, reinforced with steel, and then poured solid with concrete grout to from a composite masonry beam. The second method involves constructing a wood form system to contain a cast-in-place concrete beam above the masonry opening. The third method involves installing a precast concrete lintel over the masonry opening. The fourth method involves installing a stay-in-place lintel (steel or other material over the opening. Each of these four methods is burdened with significant drawbacks and disadvantages.

Lintel form for concrete and block constructions


Methods and systems for facilitating generation of electronic advertising messages based on model web pages. A visual content request is received that identifies a model web page. Source code is retrieved that includes patterns that can be matched to identify visual features of the model web page. Visual content information is provided to an advertising message generation service to construct advertising messages that include at least a portion of the identified visual features. Constructed advertising messages are received, including at least one modified advertising message that incorporates a user-selected image extracted from the model web page. The identified visual features of the model web page can include text format, text color, background color, images, and video sequences.

The world wide web ("the web") permits companies and individuals to electronically publish content in the form of web pages that can be retrieved and displayed using a browser program running on a client computer system. Such "publishers" often sell to advertisers opportunities to present advertising messages together with their published content.
For example, an advertiser who is a music publisher may purchase opportunities to present an advertising message promoting a new music CD published by the publisher. The advertising message may be "rich" in a variety of ways. They may, for example, include text identifying the title of the CD and the responsible artist in a style that is visually compatible with an appealing background pattern and/or color, a series of multiple photos of the artist, a link to a web page on which the user can listen to the artist's music and purchase the CD, etc.

Generation of electronic advertising messages based on model web pages


A method for fabricating a semiconductor device including a vertical transistor includes etching a longitudinal end portion of a fin on a substrate to form a gap exposing the substrate, forming a top source/drain region, and forming, around a horizontal portion and a vertical portion of a bottom source/drain region disposed on the substrate, a contact wrapping in a region including a location where the longitudinal end portion of the fin was removed by the etching.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to vertical transistor devices and methods of fabricating the same.
A fin type field effect transistor (finFET) is a type of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). FinFET devices include an arrangement of fins formed from a semiconductor material disposed on a substrate. A gate stack is arranged over the fins to define a channel region of the fins, while regions of the fins extending outwardly from the channel region define active source and drain regions of the device. A vertical transistor, such as a vertical transport fin field-effect transistor (VTFET), is a finFET transistor in which the source and drain regions are positioned vertically with respect to the fin such that current runs vertically between the source and drain regions. Also, the gate of a vertical transistor can wrap around a fin.

Fin cut etch process for vertical transistor devices

International Business Machines Corporation


Systems, methods, and storage media for operating a wireless device are disclosed. Exemplary implementations may: select a consumer to provide feedback related to one or more transactions associated with the consumer; transmit, for display on a wireless device of the consumer, a survey comprising one or more questions related to the one or more transactions associated with the consumer; select an incentive offer from an incentive offer database; transmit, for display on the wireless device of the consumer, information related to the incentive offer; receive one or more responses to the survey; and fulfil the incentive offer.

Many online and brick-and-mortar merchants, retailers, and service providers rely on consumer feedback in order to help them make business decisions. For example, a merchant may seek information about which products are popular with the consumer and which are not, and why. A retailer or service provider may be able to improve customer service perceptions in a dramatic way by spotting recurring problems or complaints in customer surveys. Some retailers may be interested in understanding similarities and differences in expectations and experiences between a consumer's experiences in a physical store versus in an online transaction. Such feedback, when gathered accurately and quickly, can help a business run more efficiently and profitably.
Conventional methods of surveying customers and collecting customer feedback do not provide high-quality information for a variety of reasons. For example, retailers often request customer feedback at the register or via a paper store receipt. In-person requests for feedback tend to discourage criticism and candid suggestions for improvement, while surveys tied to paper store receipts are usually inconvenient to the consumer because they require the consumer to save the receipt and access it later, often to manually log into a web site and/or enter a code number. Many consumers simply do not notice such a request to provide feedback, even when an incentive such as free merchandise or a contest entry is offered.
In many cases, traditional feedback collection methods are overly burdensome to the consumer, resulting in poor, inaccurate or no feedback to the merchant because the process requires several different types of platforms and media—including paper receipts, websites maintained by third-party data aggregators or otherwise separate from the merchant's primary website, unique login or QR codes, etc. Traditional processes typically also require a significant time investment for which the typical consumer is not adequately incentivized to participate. Further, where incentives are offered in traditional processes, there is typically a lack of immediacy in delivery of the reward—a consumer often has to wait for a separate department or entity to contact them by mail, telephone, or email with still further instructions about how to collect a voucher, coupon, or other reward.
Consumers who do find and respond to traditional survey requests are often not representative of the public or the particular business's customer base, often skewing toward disgruntled customers or those who are much more likely, for one reason or another, to read a store receipt. When feedback is given, the business often receives the information long after the purchase, reducing the reliability and insightfulness of the feedback data.

System and method for receiving real-time consumer transactional feedback


Herein are disclosed a process for increasing in purity, or purifying, an N-protected-β-aminoalcohol which process comprises (i) adding water to a polar organic solvent in which an N-protected-β-aminoalcohol such as a (2R,3S)- or (2S,3R)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-halo-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane or the like, or (ii) crystallizing such an N-protected-β-aminoalcohol from a diol or a diol-based mixed solvent, and a process for producing the corresponding N-protected-β-aminoepoxide which process comprises treating, with a base, the thus purity-enhanced N-protected-β-aminoalcohol. Such N-protected-β-aminoalcohols and N-protected-β-aminoepoxides are both useful as synthetic intermediates for medicine compounds, such as, e.g., HIV protease inhibitor and the like.

An N-protected-β-aminoalcohol, e.g., such as (2R,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-halo-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane, (2S,3R)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-halo-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane, or the like and the corresponding N-protected-β-amino poxide are both useful as synthetic interm diates for medicine compounds, such as, e.g., HIV protease inhibitor, or the like.
Such an N-protected-β-aminoalcohol, e.g., (2R,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane can be produced, e.g., by reducing (3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-4-phenyl-2-butanone.
Likewise, (2S,3R)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane can be produced, e.g., by reducing (3R)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-4-phenyl-2-butanone.
Reduction of (3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-4-phenyl-2-butanone with the use of an appropriate reductant produces, as a by-product, a diastereomer of the target compound, (2S,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane.
More specifically, it is reported that when it is reduced with tri-tert-butoxy lithium aluminum hydride in ether, (2S,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane as the undesired diastereomer is formed in an amount of about 1 equivalent per 5 to 8 equivalents of the (2R,3S) diastereomer as the target compound. (Refer to, e.g., the following reports with respect to stereoselective reduction of halomethylketone derivatives: P. Raddats et al; J. Med. Chem., 1991, 34, 11, 3269; A. A. Malik: The 3rd International Conference on Organic Process Research & Development, Development of a Commercial Process for 2S,3S and 2R,3S-epoxides, 10–12th Jul. 2000, Montreal; T. Archibald: Scientific Update Conference Manual, Chiral USA '99, Full Scale Chiral Separations Using SMB, 4th May 1999, San Francisco, Scientific Update; etc.). As might be understood from the above reports, production of (2R,3S)- or (2S,3R)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane involves serious problems of the impurity diastereomer having to be removed.
In the above reports is disclosed a method of isolating (2R,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane by silica gel chromatography or high-speed liquid chromatography. These methods, however, may not be industrially preferable, because they need an expensive carrier and a large quantity of solvent, and are complicated ones and time-consuming.
The last report cited above discloses at page 3, that (2R,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane can only be purified by crystallization upto 94:6 in terms of a ratio of the target compound to its undesired diastereomer (as the impurity), because it has a lower melting point and higher solubility than the undesired diastereomer, and that its purification to a higher level cannot be realized by recrystallization.
Japanese Patent Applicaton Laid-open (Kokai) No. 8-225557 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,011) discloses purification and isolation of a halohydrin by crystallization from an appropriate solvent, e.g., ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, toluene, aceton, acetonitrile, water or a mixture thereof. However, the patent document only describes, in the example section, crystallization/isolation of (2S,3S)-N-carbamate-protected-β-aminoalcohol, but is silent as to the effects on the purification and yield, of crystallization of (2R,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane or the like, which is considered to be difficult to purify.
WO00/43357 discloses purification/isolation of (2R,3S)-3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-1-chloro-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutane in the presence of a hydrocarbon-based solvent. However, a highly polar impurity is difficult to remove according to this method.

Processes for preparation of N-protected-β-amino alcohols and N-protected-β-amino epoxides


An apparatus to prevent a vehicle from deviating from a lane of travel includes an acquisition device configured to measure a yaw angle between the vehicle and the lane of travel, a lane deviation controller configured to output a yaw moment to maintain the vehicle in the lane of travel, a restriction device configured to restrict the yaw moment output when the measured yaw angle exceeds a first angle limit, and a correction device configured to adjust the first angle limit in response to a measured condition.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to a lane deviation prevention device configured to prevent a vehicle from deviating from a lane of travel when there is a tendency for the vehicle to deviate therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a lane deviation prevention control in the prior art, when there is a tendency for a vehicle to deviate from the travel lane, a differential braking force may be applied to the left/right wheels to create a yaw moment to direct the vehicle that might otherwise deviate from the lane of travel.
Examples of former systems include Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. 2005-145243. However, in using such former systems, when the yaw moment is applied to the vehicle corresponding to the yaw angle (i.e., the deviation angle) of the vehicle formed with respect to the travel lane, the yaw moment applied to the vehicle may be increased as the yaw angle becomes larger. Thus, it may be possible that the yaw moment becomes too large and may cause the driver to be uncomfortable with the amount of yaw moment applied. Consequently, it may be advantageous to apply a restriction to the lane deviation prevention control (application of a yaw moment). However, a driver may be distracted or annoyed by the end, restriction, or the timing of such a yaw moment.


A digital radiography apparatus. The apparatus includes a support member having a first axis; a bucky; and a mounting member attached to the support member and supporting the bucky. The mounting members is adapted to move the bucky substantially along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis between a retracted position wherein the bucky is disposed proximate the support member to an extended position wherein the bucky is not disposed proximate the support member.

Digital radiography systems are well known. In such digital radiography system, an x-ray source projects an x-ray beam through an object (such as a body part of an individual) to produce an x-ray image captured by a detecting member. The detector member can rely on direct conversion of x-rays to charge carriers or alternatively indirect conversion in which x-rays are converted to light which is then converted to charge carriers and charge readout.
The detector is typically mounted in a structure/member known as a bucky. The bucky can also house other elements, for example, but not limited to, an anti-scatter grid which is commonly used to prevent scattered radiation from affecting the final x-ray image. Such anti-scatter grids are typically employed when the object to be imaged is relatively thick (for example, a human chest).
The bucky can be mounted in various configurations, for example, on an x-ray table or on a radiographic stand, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, respectively, wherein the bucky is element 5. However, the configurations shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B require a bucky for each mounting. That is, the bucky is mounted specifically for either a horizontal orientation (as shown in FIG. 1A) or for a vertical orientation (as shown in FIG. 1B).
There exists a need for a single bucky that could be disposed in a plurality of mounting configurations, including both horizontal and vertical orientations.


The present invention provides a manufacturing method of a display device which can efficiently separate individual thin-thickness display devices from a large-sized mother substrate. Scribe marks for separating a plurality of display devices are preliminarily formed on back surfaces of a TFT mother substrate and a sealing mother substrate. By etching front surfaces of these mother substrates, etching portions reach the scribe marks so that a plurality of display devices each of which is constituted of a TFT substrate and a sealing substrate can be separated from each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device which is separated from a large-sized mother substrate on which a plurality of display devices is formed and a manufacturing method which manufactures individual display devices by separating these display devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
With respect to various display devices, particularly, an organic EL display device is extremely advantageous due to self-luminous light thereof and can facilitate the reduction of thickness and the reduction of weight of the display device. However, the reduction of thickness is limited due to the restriction imposed on a production process.
Under a current manufacturing process of the display device, thin film transistor (TFT) circuits are formed on the large-sized mother substrate, organic EL elements which constitute display elements are formed on the large-sized mother substrate and, thereafter, a sealing mother substrate is made to overlap this TFT mother substrate. Then, the above-mentioned steps are followed by steps in which the TFT mother substrate and the sealing mother substrate which are made of glass are made thin by etching and, thereafter, the TFT mother substrate and the sealing mother substrate are cut into a size of the display device. In such a cutting step, the thicknesses of the TFT mother substrate and the sealing mother substrate which enable cutting of these mother substrates are limited and hence, in the etching step which is a preceding step of the cutting step, currently, it is difficult to reduce the thicknesses of the sealing mother substrate and the TFT mother substrate equal to or more than the cutting allowable thicknesses.
Following patent document 1 discloses a manufacturing method of a display panel which manufactures the display panel by adhering a TFT mother substrate and a counter mother substrate to each other, by forming division grooves in the TFT mother substrate and the counter mother substrate by etching, by reducing the thicknesses of the TFT mother substrate and the counter mother substrate with further etching, and by dividing these substrates into individual display panels along division grooves.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2005-164798

Display device and manufacturing method thereof


Fuel tank 10 is provided such that its front end 10′ is located to the rear of the rear end 20a′ of crankcase 20a; air intake duct 34 of transmission case 21a has an intake port 34b arranged above air intake opening 21b of transmission case 21a, with at least a portion of it being forward of the rear end part 8″ of handlebar member 8 at the time of maximum turning thereof; and exhaust duct 35 has an exhaust port 35b arranged above exhaust opening 21c of transmission case 21a, with at least a portion of it being forward of the rear end part 8″ of handlebar member 8 at the time of maximum turning thereof.

A compact all terrain vehicle is disclosed for instance in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2006-027425. In this compact vehicle, an engine unit equipped with a V-belt type automatic transmission is mounted below the seat, platform style footrests are arranged on the left and right sides of the seat, and a fuel tank is arranged below the seat. Furthermore, a portion of the fuel tank is located above the engine unit.
There is demand in the market for vehicles which have a compact body and are at the same time equipped with more sophisticated accessories of various types, such as an electronic fuel injection system and electrical power assisted steering. When an electronic fuel injection system is provided, a high pressure fuel pump would be arranged inside the fuel tank, but if a fuel tank with a built-in fuel pump is arranged below the seat, the width dimension of the vehicle's seat can easily become larger. Furthermore, with more electrically driven devices, the capacity of the battery that serves as a power source becomes larger, so its layout also needs to be considered. In the vehicle described in the aforementioned prior patent publication, the battery is arranged to the front of the steering handlebar. Furthermore, a portion of the fuel tank is located above the engine unit (crankcase) under the seat, so there is the problem that the seat width tends to become larger and space under the seat becomes more constricted and is hard to utilize efficiently.
Furthermore, an exhaust duct connected to the transmission case extends along the side of the fuel tank toward the rear of the vehicle, and this point also tends to make the width dimension of the seat larger.

Layout of compact all terrain vehicle for fuel tank, intake duct, and exhaust duct positioning

Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America