A piezoelectric blade anchoring structure includes piezoelectric blades mounting onto a circuit board. The piezoelectric blade has electric contacts to connect electrically with conductive members located on the circuit board. A protection plate is provided to keep the conductive member in contact with the electric contact in normal conditions to avoid gaps from occurring between the piezoelectric blades and the conductive members and resulting in breaking off, and prevent oxidation and damage so that the piezoelectric blades and the circuit board can maintain a desired electric connection.

The conventional technique for establishing electric connection between the electric contacts of input/output ends of piezoelectric blades and a circuit board generally is accomplished by soldering connection legs. Due to the piezoelectric blades generate vibrations during the conductive condition, the soldered connection legs that anchor the piezoelectric blades on the circuit board restrict the vibration range. Excessive vibration of the piezoelectric blades could tear off the connection legs at the soldering spots. Hence the conventional soldering connection for the connection legs and the piezoelectric blades inhibits the vibration range and reduces the performance. Moreover, connecting the circuit board and the piezoelectric blades by soldering the connection legs makes fabrication process much more troublesome.
In order to remedy the foregoing problems, The U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,285 entitled "Improved piezoelectric blade connection element" provides an electric input leg with an elastic section to connect the electric contact of the input end of the piezoelectric blade. The elastic section has one end extended to form an anchor section to connect to a circuit board and another end extended towards the upper side of the piezoelectric blade to form a retaining section to prohibit the piezoelectric blade from breaking off and also provide a desired electric connection for the piezoelectric blade.
In the cited reference, the elastic section provides a required vibration room for the piezoelectric blade and resolves the problem of limited vibration room and fracturing connection leg occurred to the conventional soldering technique. However, during vibration of the piezoelectric blade, the elastic section and the piezoelectric blade input end tend to create a gap therebetween that would generate a poor electric connection between the conductive element and the piezoelectric blade. If the vibration amplitude is very big, breaking off could happen. Moreover, anchoring of the retaining section of the conductive element needs an extra machining process such as bending or soldering. This increases the fabrication process and cost.
Furthermore, the conventional technique and the cited reference mentioned above have the electric contacts and connection legs exposed. Due to the electric contacts are made of silver, and the connection legs are made of a copper blade, they tend to attract moisture in the air and generate oxidation. This further affects the electric connection.


A hydrophilic coating can be optionally corrosion resistant and/or microbial resistant for a substrate such as a heat exchanger. The coating is provided by a zeolite layer that can be formed from a synthesis solution comprising a structure directing agent, a base, a silicon source, an aluminum source, and a solvent. In one preferred embodiment, the synthesis solution comprises tetrapropylammonium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, aluminum oxide, tetraethylorthosilicate, and water. The layer is characterized by a zeolite MFI structure and by a composition having the formula of Mn/m[AlnSi(96xe2x88x92n)O192], or [AlnSi(96xe2x88x92n)O192]xc2x74[(CH3CH2CH2)4Nxe2x80x94OH] wherein M is a metal ion of valence m+ (e.g., Na+) and 27 greater than n greater than =0. After formation of the coating, the organic structure directing agent can be left intact inside the zeolite coating to make the coating corrosion resistant. Alternatively, and after removal of the organic structure directing agent, a biocidal metal ion can be incorporated into the coating by an ion exchange process to render the coating microbial resistant. A hydrophilic coating that is also corrosion resistant and microbial resistant can be made by a zeolite coating with two sub-layersxe2x80x94the bottom sub-layer being corrosion resistant and the top sub-layer being microbial resistant.

The present invention generally relates to hydrophilic coatings. More specifically, the present invention relates to hydrophilic coatings for heat exchanger surfaces and which coatings can also be anti-microbial and corrosion resistant in nature.
An environmental control system for a manned spacecraft typically includes a condensing heat exchanger for controlling cabin temperature and humidity. Cabin air is drawn into the condensing heat exchanger and circulated through air passageways. Heat drawn from the drawn-in air is transferred to a coolant that is circulated through coolant passageways within the condensing heat exchanger. As the drawn-in air is being cooled, condensate forms on the heat transfer surfaces of the air passageways. Water droplets, if allowed to form, can cause problems in the micro-gravity environment of space. If strongly attached to the heat transfer surfaces, the water droplets may cause an increase in air pressure drop across the condensing heat exchanger and, consequently, a reduction in performance of the condensing heat exchanger. If not strongly attached, the water drops may become entrapped in the air stream and carried into the cabin. In such instance, rain could quite literally fall inside the cabin.
To address the above water condensation concerns, heat exchanger surfaces have usually been coated with a hydrophilic coating to facilitate wetting and wicking, rather than droplet formation. However, since the hydrophilic coating becomes wet during the operation of the condensing heat exchanger, the moisture provides a potential breeding ground for microbes such as bacteria and fungi. Moisture levels between about 15% and 35% will predominantly support the growth of fungi, while moisture levels above about 35% will also predominantly support the growth of bacteria. The microbial growths could block air passages inside the condensing heat exchanger and, consequently, reduce performance of the condensing heat exchanger. The bacteria and fungi, if allowed to proliferate, could also affect the health of crew members inside the cabin.
In addition to hydrophilic and anti-microbial characteristics, coatings on heat exchangers are often required to be corrosion resistant. This is especially important for aluminum heat exchangers that have a high tendency to corrode. Nevertheless, aluminum is still commonly used because it has high heat conductance and is light in weight.
The hydrophilic coatings in the past have typically been formed from a slurry and then sprayed, dipped or painted onto the heat exchanger surface. As an example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,264,250 and 5,305,827, a slurry is made from an inorganic compound (i.e., hydrophilic material), binder and insolubilizer. Optionally, an anti-microbial agent, such as silver oxide, can be added to the slurry during its formation in order to minimize microbe formation. The inorganic compound can include silica and calcium silicate. Prior to the components in the slurry aggregating, the slurry is dipped, sprayed, painted or flowed onto the heat exchanger surface. Thereafter, the slurry coating is dried and subjected to high temperature sintering at about 500xc2x0 C. WO No. 95/25143 is related to the above. These coatings, however, do not appear to also be corrosion resistant.
Other hydrophilic coatings have been formed by successive solutions that are dipped, sprayed, or painted onto the heat exchanger surface. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,714, an aluminum heat exchanger is successively immersed in a cleaning solution, chromate solution, and then silicate solution. The chromium solution includes an activator with chromium trioxide, hydrofluoric acid, and nitric acid. The silicate solution includes silicate of soda and potassium hydroxide. After the solution baths, the heat exchanger is baked at about 415xc2x0 F. By maintaining precise concentration levels in the solutions, a corrosive resistant, hydrophilic coating is claimed to be produced. While corrosion resistant, no mechanism is described to make the coating anti-microbial.
Another example of successive solution applications is U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,550. An aluminum surface is first etched and then treated with a first solution of active fluoride, chromate ions, and phosphate ions. A second solution includes an alkali metal silicate composed of silicon dioxide and an alkali metal oxide. The latter is preferably sodium or potassium oxide. After the two solution applications, the coated surface is baked preferably at about 350xc2x0 F. This coating appears to be corrosive resistant but not anti-microbial.
Due to the belief that coatings containing silicates cause excessive wear on tooling due to ion exchange resin particles or boehmite, EP No. 88303545.3 teaches an aluminum surface having a hydrophilic coating comprised of slurry of activated alumina and an organic binder resin. The resin can be an acrylic, polyester or epoxy. Optionally, the slurry coating can be blended with dispersion stabilizers, catalysts, plasticizers, and cross-linking agents. As with the above techniques, the slurry coating in EP No. 88303545.3 can be applied by dipping, spraying, or brushing individual components prior to assembly. However, such pre-coating methodology tends to have a negative impact on process efficiency since components are first coated and then assembled, as opposed to coating an assembled apparatus.
Additional examples of hydrophilic coatings on heat exchanger surfaces are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,438; EP Nos. 676,250 and 623,653; WO Nos. 96/21752 and 95/10642; and UK Nos. 2,295,828; 2,288,178; and 2,259,514.
Notwithstanding the advantages provided in the above prior art, disadvantages still remain. In terms of making and applying the hydrophilic coating, it can be seen that multiple steps and multiple components (i.e., hydrophilic material, binder, plasticizer, etc.) are required. Yet, there is little synergetic effect. Consequently, compromises have to be made, resulting in non-optimal properties with respect to adhesion, heat conductivity, and service life. Also, the formation of a slurry and/or the use of a pre-assembly dip-coating type technique (i.e., dipping, spraying, painting, brushing) restricts the scope of application. In other words, the ability to coat heat exchanger substrates with small fin sizes and/or complex configurations becomes restricted. For example, the smaller the fin size, the more difficult it is for a slurry to provide a thin coating. Likewise, the more complex the configuration, the more difficult it is to spray or paint the substrate.
Another significant disadvantage in the prior art relates to how the anti-microbial characteristic is employed. For example, even though silver oxide is typically employed, it is intrinsically hydrophobic. When the concentration of the silver oxide exceeds about 1.5% of the total weight of the hydrophilic coating, it is believed that the hydrophilicity is reduced. Thus, increasing the amount of silver oxide increases the likelihood of droplets forming inside the air passageways of the heat exchanger. On the other hand, decreasing the amount of anti-microbial agent is thought to allow the agent to dissolve out of the coating too quickly, thereby causing pitting in the coating. In turn, hydrophilicity, structural integrity, and heat transfer efficiency are reduced. Furthermore, after the anti-microbial agent has completely dissolved, the anti-microbial characteristic cannot be regenerated in the absence of re-coating. Yet another limitation is that only a limited amount of an anti-microbial agent can be used without compromising the processibility of the slurry, the hydrophilicity, and heat transfer properties. An example of an anti-microbial and hydrophilic coating is found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/041,129, which is also assigned to the assignee herein.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved hydrophilic coating and method of making the same. In particular, an improved hydrophilic coating is needed that is also corrosion and/or microbial resistant. A hydrophilic coating is needed that can be used on heat exchanger substrates that are small in fin size and/or of a complex shape. An ability to regenerate the anti-microbial effects in a hydrophilic coating is also needed. A method of making an improved hydrophilic coating is needed to eliminate the need for multiple types of components in the coating which provide little synergetic effect. Also needed is an improved method that can eliminate the need for multiple steps to produce the coating.
According to the present invention, a hydrophilic coating that is optionally corrosion and/or microbial resistant for a substrate comprises a zeolite layer adhered to the substrate, with the layer being produced from a synthesis solution. Also provided by the present invention is a method of making a hydrophilic coating that is optionally corrosion and/or microbial resistant for a substrate, and comprises the steps of preparing a synthesis solution; placing the synthesis solution in contact with the substrate; and forming a zeolite layer on the substrate. The zeolite layer can additionally undergo calcination and ion exchange to create an anti-microbial character.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.


A redundant front suspension system for a turboshaft engine mounted on a pylon of an aircraft comprises a primary suspension device forming the normal front suspension of the engine, and an emergency suspension device. The primary suspension device comprises a base member secured to the pylon and having a suspension shaft which co-operates with the intermediate casing of the engine, and thrust take-up rods connect the intermediate casing to the base member. The emergency suspension device comprises an additional member which is interposed between the pylon and the base member of the primary device and which has a second shaft at its forward end extending parallel to the longitudinal axis X of the engine, the second shaft being received with clearance in a bore provided in the intermediate casing and being equipped with means for enabling take-up of forces along the X, Y and Z axes in the event of failure of an element of the primary suspension device.

1. Field of the invention
The invention relates to a redundant front suspension system for a turboshaft engine mounted on a pylon carried by an aircraft, the word "front" being defined with respect to the direction of flow through the engine to denote that part of the engine which is remote from the flow exhaust zone.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
As is known, an aircraft turboshaft engine is attached to a pylon by means of a front suspension device and a rear suspension device so that the pylon can effect mechanical transmission of the forces between the engine and the aircraft structure. These suspension devices have to withstand the mechanical forces acting along the vertical axis Z due to the weight of the engine, and the dynamic forces acting along the transverse axis Y caused by the movements of the aircraft. The loads produced by the engine thrust and acting along the longitudinal axis X are transmitted to one of the suspension devices by inclined thrust take-up rods disposed on either side of the engine.
Also, for obvious safety reasons the suspension of the turboshaft engine must possess redundancy. For this purpose there are two possible solutions. One is to duplicate all the components of the suspension so that each is adapted to withstand the fixed forces by itself, and the other is to add stand-by components which are arranged to withstand the forces only in the event of a failure of the main suspension.
FR-A-2 680 353 discloses a rear connection structure for attaching a turbojet engine to a pylon wherein a mounting is secured to the pylon and is connected to the engine exhaust casing by three suspension rods, the mounting comprising two parts which are fitted one in the other and which are dimensioned such that each is able to take up all the forces transmitted between the casing and the pylon.
FR-A-2 599 708 also discloses a rear connection device for a turbojet engine, wherein there is a provided, in addition to the three known rods, a fourth safety rod which does not take up any load under normal conditions.
Both of these documents relate only to the rear suspension, and make no reference to means for taking up the considerable X-axis thrust loads in the event of failure of a thrust take-up rod or of the suspension means which normally deals with the load of such rods.

Redundant front suspension system for a turboshaft engine

Societe Nationale D'Etude et de Construction de Moteurs D'Aviation "Snecma"


A carton and a blank for forming a carton including a tray portion with an open top and a cover connected to the tray portion to close the top of the tray portion. The tray portion has a pair of opposed end walls each having a hand aperture, and the cover has a pair of end flaps disposed internally of the end walls of the tray portion. Another aspect of the invention also covers a package including a carton referred to above and a collapsible carrier retained within the carton.

The invention relates to a two-part packaging case formed from paperboard or similar foldable sheet material for accommodating a group of articles for example bottles. It also covers a package with a collapsible carrier placed within the carton.
It is known to produce two-part cartons in packaging, see for example EP0428397; the benefit being that it is possible to use two blanks formed from different material. It is common to form a first blank to receive the articles and then apply the second blank in order to form fully enclosed packages. The second blank is commonly applied to the outer surface of the carton and is secured thereto, by glue or other suitable known securing means. One disadvantage of this process is that the cartons need to be secured laterally as well as longitudinally which increases the complexity of the packaging process.
The present invention and its preferred embodiments seek to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of the prior art.


A gas burner is described having a cylindrical combustion chamber having at least two spaced apart counter-rotation stationary tangential air injectors and at least three sets of radial injection holes in between for admitting air under pressure in the combustion chamber to cause adjacent counter-rotation air turbulence regions in said combustion chamber. The combustion chamber has a closed end and an open end with a gas injector tube extending in the chamber from the closed end and disposed centrally therein. The injector tube has combustion gas injection ports at least upstream and downstream of the at least two air injectors to create a combustion mixture which is initially fuel-lean to generate a flame having a lower temperature and producing less nitrogen oxide than with conventional gas burners of this type. An air chamber is provided about at least a portion of the combustion chamber and communicates with the tangential air injectors.

It is known to provide a burner with two tangential counter-rotation air injectors disposed in a portion of a cylindrical burner chamber to produce air turbulence therein to obtain a rapid mixture of air and gas, more particularly natural gas. In such burners the gas is injected upstream of the tangential air ports by a ring of gas ports formed about the cylindrical burner housing. Such burners operate at low pressure and provide the advantage in that it produces a flame which is very intense due to the fact that the mixture of gas and air is very homogeneous because of the turbulence caused by the counter-rotation air injectors. With such burners it is possible to obtain volumeric heat release of the order of 100 MW/m.sup.3 for the combustion chamber and to provide a burner which is very compact and inexpensive per unit of power produced.
Burners having counter-rotation air injectors have been used in various industrial applications, such as for the heating liquids, be it for submerged heating tubes or for incineration. However, such burners have disadvantages and an important one is that it produces too much nitrogen oxides in the range of 200 to 400 ppm corrected at 3% 0.sub.2. It therefore limits the application of the burner, particularly in North America where pollution emission standards are very stringent.

Gas burner having tangential counter-rotation air injectors and axial gas injector tube


A rigid packet (1) with a hinged lid (5) for cigarettes (2) has a front wall (6) and a rear wall (7), each curving outwards and having a respective flat central portion (12) and two curved, preweakened lateral bands (17) connecting the relative flat central portion (12) to two flat lateral walls (8) of the packet (1) at respective sharp edges (9).

The present invention relates to a rigid hinged-lid packet.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a rigid hinged-lid packet made from a flat preweakened blank of cardboard or similar.
A particularly advantageous application of the present invention is in the manufacture of packets of cigarettes, to which specific reference is made in the following description purely by way of example.
Rigid hinged-lid packets of cigarettes are normally in the form of a rectangular-section parallelepipedon, and comprise a front and a rear wall connected to two lateral walls at respective sharp longitudinal edges.
Rigid packets of the above type, i.e. in the form of a rectangular-section parallelepipedon, have several drawbacks on account of their non-anatomical shape and their tendency to cause rapid wear of clothing fabrics or similar with which they may come into contact.
A further drawback of rectangular-section parallelepiped packets lies in their relatively high rigidity in the regions of the relatively small side walls and adjacent right-angle corners as opposed to the relatively poor rigidity of the front and rear walls, which are easily deformed inwards when the external transparent wrapping is applied and made to shrink about the packet.
Owing to the above, the cigarettes inside the packet, instead of assuming a low-energy distribution inside the packet (the distribution having the lowest possible energy would be a distribution over a circle), are maintained in an extremely high energy distribution with the result that, when the packet is first opened, the extraction of the first cigarette from the front row of the packet is always rather difficult.
All the above drawbacks were at least in part overcome by bevelled edge and rounded edge packets of the types disclosed in EP-A-0204933 and EP-A-0205766 respectively. However, in general, these two types of packet need, for being manufactured with a relatively high precision, the use of special machines, such as those disclosed in EP-A-0205894 and EP-A-0200087, which are relatively slow in operation and are absolutely dedicated machines, i.e. cannot be used for manufacturing packets other than the above two types of packet.
All the above renders the above two types of packet very expensive to manufacture.
Moreover, apart from being expensive, the rounded edge packets have the further drawbacks that, in general, their cover does not close in a precise manner on their box portion owing to the difficulty to make two rounded profiles to coincide with one another, and the external transparent wrapping does not suit the external shape of the packet at the rounded corners of its bottom and top surfaces with the result that, at these rounded corners, rigid outwardly protruding tips are formed which are not only anaesthetic, but also cause rapid wear of clothing fabrics or similar with which they may come into contact.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rigid hinged-lid packet designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rigid hinged-lid packet, which:
allows the relevant cigarette group to deform to a relatively low-energy distribution, thus making the extraction of the first cigarette from the packet easier;
avoids causing rapid wear of clothing fabrics or similar with which it may come into contact; and
may be manufactured in an economic, easy and fast manner by using packing machines which, apart for very minor modifications, are those which are used for manufacturing rectangular-section parallelepiped packets.
According to the present invention, there is provided a rigid hinged-lid packet substantially in the form of a rectangular parallelepipedon and comprising a front wall and a rear wall substantially parallel to each other, and two lateral walls parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to said front wall and said rear wall; said front wall and said rear wall each being connected to each of said two lateral walls at a respective sharp edge; characterized in that said front wall and said rear wall each comprise a respective flat central portion, and two lateral bands preweakened by longitudinal weakening lines; each lateral band being curved with the concavity facing inwards to connect the relative central portion to the lateral wall at the relative said sharp edge.


A portable apparatus for picking up and storing waste and, particularly animal waste, includes a container having each of a predetermined shape and a predetermined size, a bottom wall, and a side wall extending upwardly from the bottom wall and forming an open top end. An elongated member with a pointed lower edge is provided for securing the apparatus to a ground surface in a semi-permanent fashion. There is a pair of hooks for securing the handles of a grocery type bag positioned within an interior portion of the container. An optional liner storage member is attached to the exterior surface of the container. The invention also provides a device for picking up the animal waste which includes a cup-shaped member mounted at one end of an elongated member and a handle which is mounted at a distal end of the elongated member.

One difficulty continuously experienced by pet owners is that generally only a thin layer of plastic material separates their hand from animal waste when such waste is to be picked up. Therefore, any breach in the plastic material may expose the owner's hand to undesirable bacteria contained in the animal waste.
Another difficulty continuously experienced by pet owners is that picked up waste is stored in the same trash container that is used for general household waste and therefore the owner may experience unpleasant odor when depositing household waste into the container.
As it generally known, prior art waste storage containers when left standing in an open area provide little resistance to a strong wind and therefore the waste contents may spill out from the container necessitating an undesirable clean-up effort.
Furthermore, as is generally well known, presently available waste storage containers either for indoor or outdoor use are constructed to accept specially made plastic bags. Accordingly, those who desire to recycle plastic bags used for packing groceries or other goods are disadvantaged when attempting to fit such plastic bags into the available waste storage containers.

Portable animal waste pick up and storage apparatus


Aspects of noise reduction in digital video may comprise monitoring at least one of memory usage and memory bandwidth usage of memory utilized to process video data. The aspect may further comprise adaptively adjusting filtering of the video data according to the monitoring. At least one of impulse filtering, temporal filtering, and spatial filtering may be utilized for the filtering of the video data. At least one of the impulse filtering, the temporal filtering, and the spatial filtering may be adaptively adjusted based on the monitoring. Furthermore, at least one of motion information and edge information may be estimated from the video data for utilizing in at least one of the impulse filtering, the temporal filtering, and the spatial filtering. At least one of the estimated motion information and the estimated edge information may be adaptively adjusted based on the monitoring.

When video signals are handled by electronic devices, degradation of the video signals is inevitable. When video signals are processed in analog form, any operation on the video signal may add noise to the video signal. This may happen during mixing, filtering, and/or amplifying of the video signal. This may also happen during transmission of the signals through various media, for example, wireless transmission or cable transmission. Additionally, when analog video data is copied, successive generations of the video data may deteriorate more and more until, finally, the video may have too much noise to be viewable. When in a digital form, the video signals are much less susceptible to noise due to operations on the video signals. However, some deterioration of the digital video signals may still occur. For example, some video pixel bits may get corrupted, sometimes due to noise in the electronic circuitry and at other times by soft or hard memory failures. However, generally, there is no degradation from one generation to another when making copies of digital files. This is mainly due to the use of various methods to detect the errors. Upon detection of an error, the error can either be fixed if it is simple enough, or the file can be retransmitted or re-copied. Three examples of error detection schemes are parity bit, checksum and cyclical redundancy check (CRC). Some detected bit errors can be corrected by methods such as Hamming code.
In order to make transmission of a digital video file more efficient, the file is often compressed before transmitting and then decompressed when viewing the video. Reducing noise before compression can make compression of the video more efficient. This is because some video data compression algorithms, for example, MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) algorithms, encode differences between corresponding areas of multiple successive video frames. Therefore, spurious noise may introduce differences between video frames that may require additional data for encoding. Similarly, the decompression of video data may also introduce noise to the output if the video data has noise in it. Generally, a noise reduction scheme may reduce the artifacts of the lossy compression to make the video more visually pleasing. Sometimes, however, an overly aggressive compression scheme may result in a lossy compression where the decompressed data cannot maintain the original quality of the video data. Still, it may be desirable to have a means of reducing noise in digital video both before it is compressed and after it is decompressed.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Method and system for noise reduction in digital video


An electric stringed instrument amplifier includes a housing including an inner surface that defines a cavity configured for disposal of at least a portion of a headstock of an electric stringed instrument that emits sound. A tension member extends from the housing and is engageable with the headstock. Systems and methods are provided.

Amplification systems for electric musical instruments, such as, for example, electric guitars are known and may include electronic amplifiers and external speakers connected thereto. In some cases, an electric guitar includes a magnetic pickup that electrically detects a vibration of strings and amplifies the same with sound through external speakers. Acoustic-electric guitars are also known that can be electrically wired with a pickup for similar use with an electronic amplifier and external speakers.
The components of such amplification systems can be bulky devices driven by an AC power source and require connecting cables extending to both the guitar and the external speakers. Due to space and power requirements, these types of amplification systems can have a limited utility. In some cases, musicians employ portable battery-operated amplification systems to practice playing electric instruments. For example, a portable system may include a portable amplifier connected to an electric guitar by a loose connection cable. Such portable amplifier systems, however, can be clumsy and awkward to use due to the loose hanging cables and difficulty in setting adjustment. This disclosure describes an improvement over these prior technologies.


In a parallel processor system, each processor is connected to a secondary memory. A main memory of a sender processor has first small buffers and a main memory of a receiver processor has second small buffers. The sender processor divides data correspondingly to destinations and transmits the data to receiver processors through the first small buffers. Each receiver processor further divides the received data, stores the divided data in a bucket storage region in the secondary memory, and performs a designated process. Since data is divided in two stages, with a very reduced number of small buffers, bucket tuning process can be performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parallel processor system having a plurality of processors connected to respective secondary memory devices such as magnetic disk devices connected through a network so as to perform one process as a system, in particular, to an inter-processor data division system for equalizing data processed in each processor that composes a parallel processor system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The parallel processor systems are categorized as a data sharing system and a data distributing system. In the data sharing system, each process in the system can freely access data stored in, for example, a plurality of magnetic disk devices through a switch. On the other hand, in the data distributing system, dedicated secondary memory devices are connected to respective processors and the processors exchange data through the network.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a data distributing type parallel processor system. In FIG. 1, dedicated secondary memory devices (for example, magnetic disk devices 11) are connected to processors 10 that compose the system. The processors 10 exchange data therebetween through a network 12.
Next, hash-join in a database process of the data distributing type parallel processor system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The hash-join is an algorithm that is referred to as equivalent-join.
In FIG. 1, the contents of a first table R and a second table S of a database are distributively stored in the magnetic disk devices 11. In the table R, identification numbers of employees and the names of the employees corresponding to the identification numbers are stored. In the table S, the identification numbers of the employees and the annual incomes of the employees are stored. In this case, the equivalent-join process is a process for retrieving the contents of the tables R and S and generating a third table that stores pairs of the names of the employees and the annual incomes of the employees with keys of the identification numbers of the employees. The hash-join is an equivalent-join that is performed in a data distributing type parallel processor system. In this process, the identification numbers are categorized as a plurality of groups. Each processor transmits data of the same group, namely the contents of the table R and the table S, to a processor that performs the equivalent join-process for the data of the group. After all data of the group has been transmitted, the processor performs the equivalent-join process.
Next, the hash-join process will be described with steps 1 to 4.
Step 1: Each processor (processor number 0 to N.sub.pe -1) reads data that is logically treated as one block (this data is referred to as a record or table), applies a predetermined grouping function for the data, and determines a processor that processes the data.
Step 2: Each processor transmits the data to the determined processor.
Step 3: After the above steps have been performed for all data, each processor receives data to be internally processed.
Step 4: Each processor independently performs the join process.
In each processor, the same grouping function should be used. In addition, corresponding to the same data value, the same value should be returned. When data is transmitted between processors, a data group with the same output value of the grouping function should be transmitted to the same processor.
Thus, since data with the same data value is transmitted to the same processor, a data process with the same data value can be executed in the designated processor as a closed process.
However, in the above-described process, if the distribution of the output values of the grouping function largely deviates (namely, if only a particular processor transmits a large amount of data, the operation performance of this processor becomes a bottle neck), the performance of the entire system deteriorates.
For example, if the names of employees are stored in the two tables R and S and the names are grouped with a key of family names, since data amount of groups for typical family names such as SUZUKI and TANAKA, which are typical Japanese family names, is larger than that of other groups. Thus, the load of the processor that processes the data of such groups becomes large, thereby deteriorating the performance of the entire system. To prevent the performance from being deteriorated, a bucket tuning process is performed.
A bucket is a block of data grouped corresponding to, for example, identification numbers. In the bucket tuning process, a grouping function is properly selected so as to remarkably decrease the size of the buckets. In addition, one processor processes data of a plurality of buckets so as to equalize the total data of buckets processed by each processor in the parallel processor system. This process is performed with steps 11 to 14.
Step 11: The types of the output values of the grouping function should be remarkably larger than the number of processors. More practically, a block of data groups with the same output values of the grouping function is referred to as a sub-bucket. A grouping function is selected so that the size of the largest sub-bucket is satisfactorily smaller than the value of the total data amount divided by the square of the number of processors. All sub-buckets with the same output values of the same grouping function collected from all the processors in the system compose a bucket.
Step 12: The grouping function is applied for all data so as to determine the size of each sub-bucket.
Step 13: A combination of sub-buckets is considered so that the process data amount of each processor is equalized. To do that, a combination of sub-buckets is stored. (When a particular processor combines a sub-bucket B and a sub-bucket C and transmits the combination of these sub-buckets to a processor D, all processors should combine the sub-bucket B and the sub-bucket C and transmit the combination of these sub-buckets to the processor D. Thus, the above-described evaluation is performed corresponding to the information of the size of each sub-bucket by each processor.
Step 14: When a real data process is performed, each processor combines sub-buckets corresponding to the above-described information and transmits the combination of these sub-buckets to another processor. When data with the same values of a grouping function is transmitted to a processor, this data is referred to as a bucket.
In step 14, each processor provides a plurality of data buffers corresponding to buckets in the main memory. While generating data (for example, data is being read from a secondary memory), each processor applies a grouping function for the data, evaluates the data (namely, divides the data into sub-buckets), and stores the sub-buckets in corresponding data buffers. When the data storage amount stored in each data buffer exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the processor transmits the content of the data buffer (namely, part of the bucket) to a corresponding processor.
The reason why the data buffering process is performed is in that an inter-processor transmission means has a large overhead that is irrespective of the data amount. To prevent the transmission performance from being deteriorated, a definite amount of data should be transmitted at a time.
Generally, the storage capacity of the main memory of one processor in the parallel processor system is remarkably smaller than the value of the total amount of data processed in the system divided by the number of processors (namely, the total amount of data transmitted to one processor as a combination of buckets). To speed up the above-described hash-join process, data being grouped should be stored in the main memory. In other words, a bucket should be stored in the main memory. Due to decrease of memory cost, a set of data blocks can be stored in the main memory and the data can be processed at high speed. Next, as a related art reference, a practical processor system in which buckets are generated so that one group of data is stored in the main memory and processed in each processor will be described in detail.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a construction of a parallel processor system. In FIG. 2, (n+1) processors 15 (A0 to An) are connected to each other through an external bus 16. Each processor 15 comprises a CPU 20, a main memory device 21, a secondary memory 22, and an input/output port 23. The input/output port 23 inputs and outputs data between the main memory device 21 and the external bus 16. Next, data transmission performed between two processors will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a related art reference of data transmission performed between two processors. Referring to FIG. 3, data transmission performed from a processor Ai to a processor Aj will be described. Reference numeral 24 is data that is read from a secondary memory 22i of the processor Ai. The data is for example one record. Reference numeral 25 is a buffer group 25 that temporarily stores the data 24 before transmitting the data 24 to another processor (in this example, Aj). Reference numerals 26i and 26j are processors that perform respective data transmission processes. Reference numeral 27 is data that is transmitted from the processor Ai. Reference numeral 28 is a conversion table that is an intermediate bucket storage region for determining to which buffer of the buffer group 25 the data 24 read from the secondary memory 22i is stored. Reference numeral 29 is a region of the secondary memory 22j that stores transmitted data in the processor Aj.
In FIG. 3, on the processor Ai side, the process 26i applies a grouping function for the data 24 read from the secondary memory 22i so as to group the data. A bucket that includes the data depends on the value of the grouping function. In addition, a processor to which the data is transmitted is determined. Information about in which bucket data is included and to which processor the data is transmitted has been determined by a parent processor (not shown) or one of the processors 15 shown in FIG. 2 as a combination of buckets so that the load of each processor is equalized by preliminary reading the data from all the processors. The result is stored in the conversion table 28.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a conversion table in a sender processor corresponding to a related art reference. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 28 is a conversion table. The conversion table 28 is composed of a conversion table 28a and a conversion table 28b. The conversion table 28a is used to obtain an intermediate bucket identifier that represents the relation between the output values of the grouping function and the intermediate buckets. On the other hand, the conversion table 28b is used to obtain the receiver processor number of a receiver processor to which the data is transmitted corresponding to the intermediate bucket identifier. The intermediate bucket is data that is transmitted to receiver processors before they are grouped as a final bucket. The intermediate bucket is equivalent to a sub-bucket of a sender processor.
There are many grouping functions applicable for the data 24. When data is an integer and the number of (intermediate) buckets that is the number of groups as the result of the grouping process for all data in the system is M, a remainder operation with a prime number that exceeds 5 M can be used as a grouping function.
When the number of (intermediate) buckets that are present in the system is M, the buffer group 25 is composed of at least larger than M (namely L+1) small buffers. Generally, to allow data to be stored in the buffer group 25 while the buffer group 25 is transmitting data to another processor, double buffering process is performed. Thus, the number of small buffers, (L+1), is larger than twice the number of buckets, 2 M.
The data 24 that is read from the secondary memory 22i on the processor Ai side is stored in a small buffer in the buffer group 25 corresponding to a bucket in which the data should be included. When the data storage amount of the small buffer exceeds a predetermined threshold value A, the data stored in the small buffer is transmitted to a processor where the intermediate bucket is transmitted. In this case, the processor is Aj. The transmitted data 27 is stored in the region 29 of the secondary memory 22j by the process 26j. With all intermediate buckets transmitted from all other processors, a final bucket is composed.
As described above (in FIGS. 2 to 4), in the conventional system, data to be transmitted to another processor is stored in a small buffer of the buffer group 25 and transmitted to the processor that processes the bucket. Since the number of small buffers becomes very large, they occupy most part of the main memory.
As described above, the storage capacity of the main memory of the processor is generally very small in comparison with the value of the total data amount handled in the system divided by the number of processors. In addition, the number of buckets that are present in the system is very large. Since the order of data that is read from the secondary memory cannot be predicted, the number of small buffers should be larger than the number of buckets that will be generated. In addition, the storage capacity of each buffer should be larger than a threshold value A that depends on the overhead of the data transmission performed between processors.
Although buckets that will be generated may be determined by a preliminary reading process, it is substantially impossible to store the determined result and reflect the result to the buffer management.
The number of buckets that are present in the system is equal to the value of the total data amount divided by the storage capacity of the main memory of each processor. Thus, in FIG. 3, the storage capacity of the buffer group 25, which temporarily stores the transmitted data to another processor, should be larger than the value given by the following expression. EQU A.times.total data amount/storage capacity of main memory of processor. . . (1)
where A is a threshold value for transmitting at a time data stored in one small buffer of the buffer group 25.
When the threshold value A is 64 KB, the total data amount is 64 GB, and the storage capacity of the main memory is 64 MB, the value obtained by the expression (1) becomes 64 MB. Thus, the buffer group 25 uses all the storage capacity of the main memory. In reality, it is impossible to accomplish such a system. The storage capacity of the buffer given by the expression (1) is required for each processor in the system. Thus, it is impossible to accomplish a parallel processor system that satisfies such a requirement.

Parallel processor system for transmitting data in small buffers


A novel glucose sensor utilizing hydrogen-specific gas sensing capability of single walled carbon nanotubes assembled on microelectrodes. Highly specific glucose sensing was demonstrated using buffered sample solutions with clinically significant concentrations. The approach enables a simple but powerful bio-sensor reliably operating with a completely new principle, and opens up novel device applications where functional nano-components can be integrated into a bioMEMS device.

Glucose sensing is a critical step towards the timely diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, which is one of the major diseases with great clinical attentions. There have been intensive research and well-developed commercialized products to easily and accurately monitor a blood glucose level. Non-invasive or minimally invasive glucose monitoring has been considered as one of the vital concerns for clinical applications, due to the need of frequent monitoring and the inconveniences of blood sampling. Therefore, a simpler and more reliable approach is desired, especially in terms of the sensitivity to a very small-volume body fluid.
Carbon nanotube devices have been employed in a range of chemical and biological sensor applications. See, U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,020, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. However, such devices are described in the '020 patent only in the most general terms. Glucose sensing, for example, is mentioned prospectively, without regard to device configuration or mode of operation. The search for a reliable, accurate glucose sensor continues to be a concern in the art. More recently and in more detail, carbon nanotubes, have been proposed for potentially high-sensitivity monitoring of glucose, but overall performance and sufficient specificity for practical applications remain to be proven. [K. Besteman, J. Lee, F. G. M. Wiertz, H. a. Heering, and C. Dekker, "Enzyme-Coated Carbon Nanotubes as Single-Molecule Biosensors," Nano lett., vol. 3, pp. 727–730, 2003.]

Micro/nano-fabricated glucose sensors using single-walled carbon nanotubes


An approach is provided for implementing IPsec in PEP environments. The approach generally involves preserving TCP header data contained in packets prior to IPsec encryption and making the TCP header data available to PEP applications. For example, TCP header data is identified in a packet that conforms to the TCP and a copy of the TCP header data is generated. Encrypted packet data is generated by encrypting at least a portion of the packet using IPsec. For example, the TCP header data and payload may be encrypted to generate the encrypted packet data. A modified copy of the TCP header data is generated by modifying length data contained in the copy of the TCP header data to reflect a length of at least the encrypted packet data. A new packet is generated that includes the modified copy of the TCP header data and the encrypted packet data.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the most widely used communications protocols on the Internet. A wide variety of applications use TCP and numerous TCP-based protocols have been developed around TCP, such as the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
There are well-known and studied performance issues with TCP in communications systems that include high latency links. For example, RFC 2760 "Ongoing TCP Research Relating to Satellites" describes that TCP suffers from significant throughput degradation in Long Flat Networks (LFNs) and Long Thin Networks (LTNs) that are typically associated with satellite, Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs) and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). TCP performance issues are generally attributable to the characteristic that TCP is a connection-oriented communications protocol. TCP includes an initial three-way handshake, a sliding window mechanism, variable response times, an acknowledgement for every packet and an excessive number of concurrent sessions, that all contribute to performance degradation in high latency links. Also, in TCP, lost data has to be re-sent and errors are often mis-characterized as network congestion, which triggers TCP's slow starting congestion avoidance mechanism.
Numerous approaches have been employed to address the limitations of TCP in networks with high latency links. For example, many satellite and WWAN-based Internet Service Providers (ISPs) implement different Performance Enhancing Proxies (PEPs) that alter or proxy the TCP to achieve increases in performance.
One of the problems with using conventional PEP techniques to address the aforementioned problems is that the conventional PEP techniques require the ability to examine the IP and TCP header information contained in TCP packets. In both the transport and tunnel encryption modes of IPsec, the TCP header information is encrypted and therefore cannot be examined. The original IP header data is also encrypted and cannot be examined in the tunnel encryption mode of IPsec. Hence, IPsec cannot be used in PEP environments. Based on the foregoing, there is a need for an approach for implementing IPsec in PEP environments and in particular, in PEP environments that include high latency communications links.

Approach for implementing IPsec in performance enhancing proxy (PEP) environments


A method of disaggregating an energy usage signal of a usage area includes steps of providing a gateway device for an aggregate energy usage signal of a usage area, installing a user application on a user computing device to display information from the gateway device, receiving a plurality of inputs, and determining the energy usage of the individual electrically powered devices in the usage area based on the aggregate energy usage signal and based on the plurality of inputs.

Many systems exist to provide a user with the ability to monitor power consumption of an entire building or home. These systems include "smart" electrical meters that are installed by utility companies, or systems that attach to a building's power distribution panel to provide detailed, minute-by-minute analytics. While this can be a useful tool to analyze electrical consumption, these systems are also very costly and require specially trained technicians to install. Additionally, such systems are not capable of identifying specific devices that may be contributing to a building or household's power use. Instead, this may require individual measurement of each device within the building or house.
Individual device measurement has historically required either an intermediate measuring device that is placed (electrically) between the appliance and the wall outlet, or a current clamp that encircles a single conductor. The drawback to an intermediate device is that the appliance must be separately plugged into an analyzer for testing. This creates an inconvenience for testing multiple devices, or a significant investment in hardware. Current clamps are impractical for residential use, as most residential electrical wiring includes multiple conductors that are bound together in a single cord. Additionally, meters that may utilize the current clamp readings are often expensive.
It is known that an energy meter may provide an aggregate energy usage signal for an entire building or home. However, owners frequently desire to know how much energy a particular electrically powered device, such as an appliance or injection-molding machine, uses in the home or building/business. While energy usage for a particular electrically powered device may be estimated, it is desirable to provide better accuracy in determining the energy usage. Therefore, it is desirable to disaggregate an energy usage signal of a building or home to drive coaching and actionable, appliance-specific behavior.

Method of disaggregating an energy usage signal of a usage area


A method for forwarding messages containing cryptographic keys from a conditional access system that controls a population of set-top boxes to an encryption renewal system. The method includes storing a fictitious address of a virtual set-top box; generating a message based on the fictitious address, the message containing a cryptographic key; and forwarding the message to the fictitious address of the virtual set-top box. The encryption renewal system has information regarding the virtual set-top box, and is the recipient of the message. In addition, the encryption renewal system is for controlling access to pre-encrypted content generated by an encryption device. The system includes software instructions for receiving a request to retrofit an entitlement control message that allows a home device to access pre-encrypted content; and software instructions for retrofitting the entitlement control message only after verifying that the pre-encrypted content was generated prior to or contemporaneous with an authorized timestamp.

The present invention relates generally to the field of content communication and more specifically to a system for communicating video content on demand through a communication network.
Conventional systems for delivering video content on demand to subscribers are becoming well known. VOD (video on demand) is an interactive service in which content (e.g., video) is delivered to a subscriber over a point-to-point network (e.g., a cable system) on an on demand basis. A subscriber may order and receive programming content at any time, without adhering to a predefined showing schedule. The subscriber is often provided VCR-like motion control functions, such as pause (freeze frame), slow motion, scan forward, and slow backward. The subscriber is typically allowed multiple viewings of a purchased program within a time window, e.g., 24 hours. VOD mimics (or exceeds) the level of control and convenience of rental video tapes. For a VOD service to prevent unauthorized access, the system implementing it provides some form of conditional access.

System for denying access to content generated by a compromised off line encryption device and for conveying cryptographic keys from multiple conditional access systems


A polymer pipe for hot fluids, usually hot water is described. The pipe is characterised in that it comprises a multimodal polyethylene with a high molecular weight (HMW) fraction and a low molecular weight (LMW) fraction where said HMW fraction has a density of at least 0.920 g/cm3, and that the multimodal polyethylene has a density of 0.921-0.950 g/cm3 and has a time to failure at 95° C. and 3.6 MPa of at least 165 h determined according to DIN 16 833 and a modulus of elasticity of at most 900 MPa determined according to ISO 527-2/1B. Preferably, the multimodal polyethylene is a bimodal polyethylene, the LMW fraction having a density of 0.955-0.975 g/cm3, the HMW fraction having a density of 0.920-0.940 g/cm3, and the weight ratio of the LMW fraction to the HMW fraction being from 30:70 to 55:45.

Nowadays, polymer materials are frequently used for pipes for various purposes, such as fluid transport, i.e. transport of liquid or gas, e.g. water or natural gas, during which the fluid can be pressurised. Moreover, the transported fluid may have varying temperatures, usually within the temperature range from about 0° C. to about 50° C. Such pipes are preferably made of polyolefin plastic, usually unimodal polyethylene such as medium density polyethylene (MDPE; density: 0.930-0.942 g/cm3) and high density polyethylene (HDPE; density: 0.945-0.965 g/cm3).
According to WO 00/01765 a polymer composition for pipes is known comprising a multimodal polyethylene with a density of 0.930-0.965 g/cm3, an MFR5 of 0.2-1.2 g/10 min, an Mn of 8000-15000, an Mw of 180-330×103, and an Mw/Mn of 20-35, said multimodal polyethylene comprising a low molecular weight (LMW) ethylene homopolymer fraction and a high molecular weight (HMW) ethylene copolymer fraction, said HMW fraction having a lower molecular weight limit of 3500, and a weight ratio of the LMW fraction to the HMW fraction of (35-55):(65:45). The polymer composition according to WO 00/01765 is intended for pressurised pipes for the transport of gases and liquids such as cold water. This composition is not suitable for pipes for hot fluids such as hot water, according to present hot water polyethylene pipe standards, such as DIN 16 833.
By the expression "hot fluid" used herein is meant a gas or a liquid, usually water, having a temperature of at least 60° C., usually 60-100° C., such as 70-90° C.
Because of the high temperatures (at least 60° C.) involved, polymer pipes for hot fluids such as hot water, represent a particularly problematic type of polymer pipe. Not only must a polymer pipe for hot fluids such as hot water, fulfil the requirements necessary for other ordinary polymer pipes, such as cold water pipes, but in addition it must withstand the strain associated with hot fluid, usually hot water. The temperature of the hot water in a hot water pipe is normally at least 60-70° C. which means that the pipe must be able to withstand a higher temperature than that for a secure long term use. According to the standard DIN 16 833 a hot water pipe must meet the requirement of at least 165 h before failure at 95° C. and 3.6 MPa pressure. In this connection it should be understood that an increase of 10° C. of the water temperature means a decrease of the working life of the pipe by roughly 50%.
A specific type of hot water polymer pipe that involves even greater problems is floor heating pipes such as for the heating of bath room floors, because of the added requirement for high flexibility.
A polymer composition for pipes e.g. like that according to WO 00/01765 above, which is suitable for a cold water pipe is therefore not necessarily useful as a composition for pipes for hot fluids where the temperature of the fluid (usually water) could be 30-40° C. higher or more.
Up to now polyolefine pipes for hot fluids such as hot water have usually not been made of polyethylene polymers due to the fact that these materials are relatively prone to stress cracking at elevated temperatures when subjected to stress. Further, to sustain pressures usually used in hot water systems high density polyethylenes have to be used and these are not suitable for pipes with high flexibility such as hot water pipes for floor heating.
It would be desirable to achieve a pipe of polyethylene that fulfils the temperature and pressure as well as the flexibility requirements for a hot water pipe.


An optical scanning module includes a housing, a light source and a first heat-dissipating sheet. The light source is disposed inside the housing for emitting a source light to be projected onto the object. The light source includes an electrode wrapped by an electric-insulating and heat-conducting rubber. The first heat-dissipating sheet is arranged on a surface of the housing and in contact with the electric-insulating and heat-conducting rubber.

Flatbed image scanners are widely used in offices or homes for scanning for example documents, photographs or films. The scanned images can be converted into electronic file, which can be directly stored in a computer or further processed by the computer. Referring to FIG. 1(a), a schematic view of a flatbed image scanner is shown. As shown in FIG. 1(a), the flatbed image scanner 1 comprises a transparent platform 11 and an optical scanning module 13. The transparent platform 11 is used for placing thereon the object 12 to be scanned. The optical scanning module 13 is the main component of the flatbed image scanner 1. After the object 12 is placed on the transparent platform 11, the optical scanning module 13 is moved along the scanning direction so as to scan the object. The scanned images of the object 12 are then inputted into a computer and processed by the computer.
Please refer to FIG. 1(b), which is a cross-sectional side view illustrating the internal components of the optical scanning module 13. In the housing 130 of the optical scanning module 13, a light source 131, a reflective mirror set 132, an optical lens 133 and an optical sensor 134 are provided. A light-transmissible window 135 is arranged in the top surface of the housing 130. The process for performing a scanning operation will be illustrated as follows. Firstly, the light emitted by the light source 131 is projected onto the object 12 to be scanned. The light reflected from the opaque object 14 is then transmitted into the optical scanning module 13 through the light-transmissible window 135, which is arranged in the top surface of the housing 130. After passing through the light-transmissible window 135, the light is successively reflected by the plural reflective mirrors of the reflective mirror set 132, and then focused by the optical lens 133. The focused light is then imaged onto the optical sensor 134 to convert the optical signals reflected from the scanned object 12 into corresponding image signals.
As known, heat is generated during the optical scanning module performs the scanning operation. On the other hand, in a case an image scanner having relatively large volume and ordinary resolution, the electronic components included in the optical scanning module, for example the optical sensor, are not evidently and adversely influenced by the heat generation.
Since the image scanner is developed toward increased resolution and slim volume, the heat generated from the optical scanning module may impair the scanning quality of the image scanner. Therefore, it is desired to remove the heat generated from the optical scanning module.
An optical scanning module having a heat-dissipating device is described in Taiwanese Patent Gazette No. 520822, entitled "Heat-dissipating device of optical sensor and optical scanning module" and the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. A cross-sectional side view of the optical scanning module as disclosed in Taiwanese Patent Gazette No. 520822 is illustrated in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, a heat-dissipating device 236 is disposed on the back side of the optical sensor 234 of the optical scanning module 23. The heat-dissipating device 236 includes a heat conducting pipe 2361 filled with a cooling solution therein and a plurality of heat-dissipating sheets 2362. During scanning operation, the heat generated from the optical sensor 234 of the optical scanning module 23 is adsorbed by the cooling solution contained in the heat conducting pipe 2361 and then conducted to the heat-dissipating sheets 2362. The heat is radiated from the heat-dissipating sheets 2362 to the ambient air so as to achieve the object of heat dissipation. Unfortunately, since the heat conducting pipe and the heat-dissipating sheets 2362 occupy much space of the optical scanning module, the image scanner fails to be made in a slim type.
In views of the above-described disadvantages of the prior art, the applicant keeps on carving unflaggingly to develop an improved optical scanning module according to the present invention through wholehearted experience and research.


Unauthorized entry into controlled access areas using tailgating or reverse entry methods is detected using machine vision methods. Camera images of the controlled area are processed to identify and track objects in the controlled area. In a preferred embodiment, this processing includes 3D surface analysis to distinguish and classify objects in the field of view. Feature extraction, color analysis, and pattern recognition may also be used for identification and tracking of objects. Integration with security monitoring and control systems provides notification when a tailgating or reverse entry event has occurred. More reliable operation in practical circumstances is thus obtained, such as when multiple people are using an entrance or exit under variable light and shadow conditions. Electronic access control systems may further be combined with the machine vision methods of the invention to more effectively prevent tailgating or reverse entry.

Tailgating (also known as piggybacking) is a significant problem in a wide variety of security and access control applications. Tailgating or piggybacking is the entry into or out of a controlled area or through a controlled access portal of more persons, objects or vehicles than are allowed by access control rules. For example, a tailgating event occurs when persons, generally on foot or in a vehicle, attempt to gain access to an area for which they do not have the required credentials. Another example of tailgating occurs when an unauthorized person on foot or in a vehicle attempts to follow a person (again on foot or in a vehicle) with proper access credentials into a controlled access area. A variation on this approach is for the unauthorized person on foot or in a vehicle to attempt to enter the controlled access area when an authorized person (in a vehicle or on foot) leaves the area.
Another example of tailgating (or piggybacking) is where a person sits on the shoulders of another person or is carried in some other way by the other person into the controlled access area. In all of the foregoing, the participation of the authorized individual may be inadvertent, voluntary, or coerced. In the remainder of this document, these cases and other similar cases are referred to as tailgating.
A related problem arises where someone attempts to enter on foot or in a vehicle through an "exit only" access point. This unauthorized use of an exit portal can be referred to as reverse entry. This access control violation arises, for example, when a person attempts to gain access to a controlled area using the exit of a one-way elevator (an elevator intended to be accessible only from inside the controlled area), escalators (by running the wrong direction), one-way revolving doors, or an exit passage. Alternatively, persons on foot may attempt to enter a controlled area by going over or under a gate at a vehicle-only entry or exit point. These methods and related events are collectively referred to herein as reverse entry.
The consequences of tailgating and reverse entry can vary widely. For example, the consequences may be purely economic as in the case of a successful perpetrator gaining access to an event venue, transportation or other such area without paying the admission or fare. Operators of entertainment venues, sporting facilities, parking facilities and transportation systems typically wish to prevent revenue loss from unauthorized entrants. In other cases, a successful perpetrator may steal something of value from the controlled area. Operators of industrial and manufacturing facilities, warehouse and other storage facilities, and housing areas, such as apartments or hotels, wish to prevent loss from theft. In yet other cases, a successful perpetrator may cause serious damage to property or harm to individuals in the controlled area. Airports, facilities handling hazardous materials, power plants and other utility facilities and large public places need to prevent the entry of persons wishing to cause property damage or harm to other people. To achieve these goals, it is necessary that doors, gates, passageways and other entry or exit areas be protected against unauthorized entry by perpetuators using tailgating and reverse entry methods.
Prior art access control systems have a long history starting with human guards and various types of mechanical locks. Modern access control systems use a wide variety of technologies and methods, including mechanical keypad or cipher locks, electronic keypad or cipher locks, contact-based or contactless smart cards or smart tokens (generally employing radio frequency or infrared communications), magnetic strip cards, and biometric control methods, such as retinal scans, fingerprint or handprint identification, facial feature identification, and voice print identification. Known access control methods do not prevent tailgating or reverse entry on their own. Moreover, human guards and persons authorized to access a controlled area may assist the perpetrators willingly or unwillingly, further complicating the situation.
Prior art approaches to the problems of detecting tailgating or reverse entry have not been successful. Most prior art approaches have applied either visible light or infrared break-beam technology. U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,034 to Pope, for example, discloses a system employing a pair of break-beams to determine the direction a person is traveling and count the number of people traveling through a passageway. U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,400 to Elder discloses a system applying a similar approach that also uses a pair of break-beams. These approaches suffer from a number of well-documented problems. If multiple people or vehicles pass the break-beam pair at the same time traveling in the same or opposite directions, the system cannot detect or resolve the ambiguity. People can crawl under or jump over a pair of break-beams. A person with another person on their shoulders or being carried in some other way is not detected. Since the break-beam requires a light source directly opposite the detector, the break-beam cannot be affected by the swing of a door. Architectural modifications may thus be required for installation. The above systems also disclose no provision for interfacing with external access control or other security systems. Further, the optical break-beams may not work in high ambient light conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,784 to Vermeulen discloses a system that attempts to overcome some of the deficiencies of break-beam systems by employing an array of four or more sensors at floor level. However, this approach cannot detect cases where a person carrying another person on their shoulders or in some other way passes through the array. A four-legged animal passing through the array will likely trigger a false alarm. Architectural modifications may be required to force each person to pass through each beam. In addition, the system disclosed has no provision for interfacing with external access control or other security systems. Finally, as noted before, optical break-beams may not work in high ambient light conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,851 to Mottier discloses a system using a pair of video cameras focused on two adjacent tracks through a flat mirror and connected to counter circuits. The tracks are perpendicular to a person's direction of travel. Persons passing through this array are detected and counted. While this approach removes some of the ambiguities associated with break-beam methods, problems still remain. A person with another person on their shoulders or being carried in some other way is not detected. The system disclosed has no provision for interfacing with external access control or other security systems. Further, architectural modifications may be required to keep all persons within the field of view of the cameras and to prevent the swing of a door from interfering with the field of view of the cameras.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,485 to Koelsch and U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,243 to Zepke disclose systems applying arrays of pyroelectric infrared sensors to directionally count people entering or leaving through a passage. The system in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,243 employs a single linear array of sensors that may not detect a person with another person on their shoulders or being carried in some other way. Further, it is unclear whether several people entering or leaving in close physical proximity would be correctly detected. U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,485 attempts to overcome these deficiencies through the use of multiple sensor arrays. This approach has the drawback that it requires architectural modifications since each person must be forced to walk through all the arrays. The systems disclosed have no provision for interfacing with external access control or other security systems. Further, architectural modifications may be required since the swing of a door cannot affect the area monitored by the sensors. Both systems are also subject to environmental restrictions since they use pyroelectric sensors and are unsuitable for vehicle entrances.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,887 to Hashimoto et al. discloses a system that applies a similar approach but uses a moving sensor and pattern recognition to reduce both the cost and the ambiguity inherent in detecting multiple people at the same time. This system does not overcome all the aforementioned deficiencies, since the approach still relies on sensing biomass though detection of body heat of people.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,906 to Schwarz et al. discloses a system that applies a set of ultrasonic sensors in a revolving door structure. The sensors are interfaced to a local access control system to prevent or detect piggybacking. The ultrasonic sensors determine if more than one person is in one compartment or more than one compartment is occupied. This approach requires architectural modifications to most facilities, since a revolving door is required. The rate at which people can pass through the revolving door is likely less than a conventional door with security access. Further, this approach is unsuited for vehicle entrances.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,619 to Hashimoto et al. discloses a system that employs either linear or angular infrared distance or range-finding arrays. This approach has drawbacks in that some embodiments require architectural modifications since each person must be forced to walk through the array, and the observation area of the sensors cannot be affected by the swing of a door. The system disclosed has no provision for interfacing with external access control or other security systems. Finally, this system is subject to environmental restrictions since it uses infrared technology and is unsuitable for vehicle entrances.
The use of simple motion detection video is known in the security technology industry. Motion detection video uses frame-differencing and related methods applied to the output of a video camera. These methods suffer from problems such as changes in lighting and shadowing. Overlapping objects are often difficult to separate since there is no depth (three-dimensional) analysis and no attempt is made to analyze and track individual objects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,625 to Connell discloses a system that uses a pair of stereoscopic video cameras and associated machine vision analysis to separate individual objects (e.g., people) in a line that partially overlap from the perspective of the stereo camera pair. This system makes no attempt to determine the motion of the people observed. Furthermore, there is no provision for interfacing the system with external access control or other security systems.

Tailgating and reverse entry detection, alarm, recording and prevention using machine vision


Disclosed is a connector assembly having a first connector part and a second connector part. The first connector part includes a lever mounted on a base body of the first connector part for pivotable movement about a pivot axis (C) between first and second positions relative to the base body. The connector assembly can be brought from a ready-to-mate state into a mated state by relative movement of the first and second connector parts towards each other along a connection axis and vice versa. At least one engaging portion of the lever interacts with at least one counter-engaging portion of the second connector part in such a way, that the connector assembly is forcibly brought from the mated to the ready-to-mate state by pivoting the lever from the first position into the second position when the connector assembly is in the mated state.

Connector assemblies for e.g. establishing electrical connections used in various applications often employ a large number of connecting terminals and therefore require a large mating and in particular release, i.e. unmating, force to secure the connection between the connector parts of the assembly. Significant friction and clamping forces of the terminals must be overcome to properly connect and disconnect the connector parts. Furthermore, the connector parts must be secured against an unwanted pulling out in order to ensure proper functioning of the connection under various conditions.
Previous connector assemblies have employed locking devices comprising screw connections, springs, detents and bayonet mechanisms to assist the establishing of the connection. However, in such solutions, problems often occur when the connectors are not properly aligned prior to application of the mating force or when the connector parts become misaligned during establishing the connection. As such, an operator is often required to exactly align and mate the connector parts while applying sufficient force to establish the connection. Moreover, once the connection is established and needs to be released, it is often difficult to pull out the connector parts from each other during disconnecting the assembly with sufficient force without applying too much force to e.g. a mounting of the connector or the connector housing, thus bearing the risk of damaging the connector assembly. In addition, after pull-out, the connector assembly is often in an undefined state which is undesirable for a controlled handling of the connector assembly during mating and unmating.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, it is the object of the invention to provide a connector assembly that allows for easy and controlled handling, preferably during disconnecting the connector assembly. At the same time, an application of a sufficiently large unmating force shall be permitted without the risk of damage of the assembly. Further, the invention shall provide for a versatile and secure connector assembly that can be employed in various applications.


A lab-on-a-cartridge (LOAC) handheld assay device including an integrated test cartridge, a carbon nanotube electrode sensor, and a reagent dispenser for dispensing a liquid reagent into the test cartridge. The test cartridge includes a syringe plunger for drawing a test fluid into a test cavity, a bottom wall with a reagent inlet port, and a vibration adaptor for mixing. The reagent input port is attached with a slit valve for engaging with a slit spout of the reagent dispenser as a needleless dispensing system. Carbon nanotube sensors of different three-electrode configurations are provided for testing a volume of test fluid to increase the electrochemical reaction sensitivity. The assay device can be used with a CNT three-electrode sensor for saliva testing for determining glucose concentration.

There is a growing need for home monitoring and diagnosis of body fluids for the early detection of health problems and for reducing health care costs. A handheld diagnostic device is desirable for collecting body fluids into a test cavity for point-of-care testing with a self-contained sensor and a microprocessor for diagnosis. It is desirable for such a handheld diagnostic device to dispense a liquid reagent into the test cavity to broaden the range of tests and the dispensing system is needleless for the safety of the users in non-clinical settings and in home use.
Lab-on-a-chip technology has been under intensive development for its advantage of self-contained test package, faster reaction time, and less disposal of materials. In Lab-on-a-chip, biosensors are integrated in a microfluidic system. The microfluidic system is composed of a cartridge integrating fluidic channels and reservoirs of reagents. The chemical reactions are carried out on a miniature scale. Evaporation of pre-loaded liquid reagents on the chip, however, present reliability problem as it alters the concentration of the reagents in test sample and affects the chemical reactions. Tests in a Lab-on-a-chip device depend mainly on the contact layer of a fluid sample on a biosenser surface, not on the reaction of the whole volume of the fluid sample with the biosensor. There is no vibration for mixing of the fluid sample with a reagent involved as in a laboratory assay. Therefore, the Lab-on-a-chip technology is a very limited pathway for bringing a mature laboratory assay for commercialization.
An alternative to the lab-on-a-chip technology is a lab-on-a-cartridge system that dispenses a liquid reagent on demand into a test cartridge and uses the whole volume of a test fluid for testing to increase the signal intensity. Conventionally, in a clinical laboratory setting, it often requires an apparatus to dispense a measured volume of a liquid reagent from a reservoir to a receiving container. Typically a syringe needle is used to penetrate through a rubber septum of the receiving container to inject the liquid reagent from the reservoir to the receiving container. Before and after the injection both the rubber septum and the needle are sterilized by swabbing with alcohol. However, in home setting a medical monitoring device should not be designed to employ a syringe needle as a syringe needle is a controlled device to prevent drug abuse. Use of a syringe needle is often associated with injecting into the bloodstream and causes serious and sometimes lethal infections. Reuse of needles and syringes are prohibited as it can cause spread of diseases among intravenous drug users even though the syringe and needle are only used by a single person. Besides, a syringe needle is not safe for handling by non-clinical users. For all these reasons, a lab-on-a-cartridge (LOAC) assay device for home use should employ a needleless dispensing system for dispensing a liquid reagent for testing.
Furthermore, most of current lab-on-a-chip devices deal with blood sample, not saliva samples. Saliva is a test fluid of future due to its non-invasive sample collection and its increases signal sensitivity in sensor development for diagnosis. Saliva detection of HIV has been commercialized with home test kit OraQuick brand name marketed by OraSure Technologies. The test uses swab swiping upper and lower gums for saliva sample. However, partly due to small swab sample clinical studies by untrained consumers showed that the OraQuick test will produce about one false negative result out of every 12 tests performed in HIV infected individuals. Also, such test needs to be re-tested on a regular basis. To improve the HIV home test, a convenient device takes a larger saliva sample and provides low cost per test in more frequent basis is desirable.
There are recent advancements in detecting glucose and Alzheimers disease using saliva samples. As described in the Prior Art section that a highly sensitive glucose sensor consisting three electrodes of depositing layers of polymers, metallic nanoparticles, and glucose oxidase enzyme can detect glucose levels at least down to 5 ppm. Also using a saliva sample, a method has been developed in US 20140057364 by Kim et al. to diagnose Alzheimer's disease by using magnetic particles coated with antibodies specifically bonded with beta-amyloid to bond the beta-amyloid contained in the saliva and using a fluorescent detection method to quantify a concentration of the beta-amyloid contained in the saliva. All the above examples of saliva testing in addressing top health concerns indicate the importance of using saliva samples to replace blood samples for non-invasive diagnosis and an urgent need to develop point-of-care devices for saliva assays. To increase the signal sensitivity it is desirable to use a volume of saliva sample to increase the contact of the analyte contained in the sample with a biosensor. Currently, a conventional lab-on-a-chip test device does not address the need of active mixing a volume of test fluid with a reagent, particular a liquid reagent.
In view of many technological barriers in lab-on-a-chip development, in which reagents are pre-loaded in microfluid channels, there is a need to dispense liquid reagents into a test cartridge externally on demand from a compact dispenser which can be used repeatedly for a number of disposable biosensor or test cartridges for the same kind of diagnosis for point-of-care settings such as in hospital, clinic, doctor office and drug stores. The present invention describes a lab-in-a-cartridge (LOAC) assay device that dispenses liquid reagent into an integrated test cartridge having a biosensor for diagnostic testing and the assay device is applicable to testing saliva samples.

Handheld LOAC assay device with a needleless liquid reagent dispenser


Diapers and wet wipes for cleansing of infants are made anti-bacterial by the inclusion therein of hop acid derivatives, specifically tetrahydroiso-alpha acid and hexahydro-beta acid. These compounds are effective to inhibit the growth of gram-positive bacteria, and specifically chosen to combat Staphylococcus aureus, a primary factor in toxic shock syndrome in infants.

This invention relates to the application of specific antimicrobial agents to diapers and wet wipes for the protection of infants from strains of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, which is known to be a causative agent of toxic shock syndrome (TSS). Toxic shock syndrome is a severe, toxin-induced disease caused by infection with toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) (Iandolo, Ann. Rev. of Micro. 43:275–402, 1989) which is produced by Staphylococcus aureus, and is characterized by sudden onset of symptoms including high fever, chills, rash, vomiting and/or diarrhea, and a rapid drop in blood pressure, which often leads to shock. While most commonly seen in menstruating women, in whom the primary site of infection is vaginal, the syndrome has also been reported in infants, children, men, and nonmenstruating women at a lower frequency rate. In such cases, skin wounds or Staphylococcus aureus infection in other sites in the body are believed to be the cause of TSS. The rate of incidence of the syndrome in the United States is about two cases per 10,000 persons annually.
While the disease may be treated with antibiotics and by administration of intravenous fluids to maintain blood pressure, many persons suffering from toxic shock syndrome may not receive appropriate medical intervention before serious complications result, due to the sudden onset of the syndrome. This is particularly true in the case of infants and children. Typically, such complications may include kidney failure, heart failure, liver failure, and profound shock.
Because TSS has such a rapid onset, and may be life-threatening, there is a very strong emphasis on disease prevention, with most of the concentration being upon menstruating women, who are at increased risk of developing TSS through the use of highly absorbent tampons or barrier contraceptives. Various approaches to preventing the development of toxic shock syndrome from tampon use have been advanced, including incorporating bactericidal or bacteriostatic agents such as antibiotics or phenol into tampons to inhibit grown of Staphylococcus aureus; incorporating agents which prevent the production of TSST-1, or inactivate TSST-1; and mechanical improvements to tampons which prevent harmful bacteria from being introduced into or colonizing within the vagina.
A number of U.S. patents have issued relative to this matter, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,323, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein, which discloses a tampon having an antibacterial agent such as povione-iodine, mercury, zinc, penicillin, erythromycin, or nitrofurazone, incorporated therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,427, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein, discloses a tampon incorporating a water-soluble acid, such as citric, glycolic, malic, tartaric, or lactic acid, in an amount sufficient to maintain a pH of less than 4.5 in the fluids absorbed in a tampon, so as to inhibit growth of pathogenic bacteria.
It is also known that some hop acids produced in the brewing of beer can inhibit the growth of microorganisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,975, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein, discloses that the hop acid hexahydrolupulone can inhibit the growth of Lactobacillus without inhibiting yeast. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,038, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein, teaches that Listeria in a medium or in food may be inhibited by contact with an effective amount of hexahydrocolupulone, tetrahydroisohumulone, or a salt of hexahydrocolupulone or tetrahydroisohumulone. Hop acids are relatively inexpensive, making their use to inhibit growth of organisms attractive. Also, resistance of Staphylococcus aureus has not been described as has the resistance to various antibiotics. The term "tetrahydroisohumulone" as used herein includes a mixture of tetrahydroisohumulone, tetrahydroisoadhumulone and tetrahydroisocohumulone. The mixture is commercially available, or can be prepared for example by use of the method of the Cowles et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,084, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein. The hexahydrocolupulone is a known compound which can be made by the chemical hydrogenation of colupulone with platinum (IV) oxide as the catalyst as described by W. Reidl, J. Nickl, Ber; 89 (1956) p. 1863, or J. F. Carson, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 73 (1951) p. 1850.
Further, Nutter et al. disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,895, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein, that hexahydrolupulones and hexahydrocolupulones may be used to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. Nutter et al. also reported that the antimicrobial activity of hexahydrolupulones is highly specific for gram positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus.
In addition, Todd et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,449, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein, note the antibacterial activity of beta acids (lupulone), as a constituent of hops, and methods for their conversion to tetrahydroiso-alpha and hexahydro-beta acids. The patent also teaches the use of such compounds for inhibition of the bacterium Lactobacillus.
However, no methods have to date been found to effectively eliminate or inhibit growth of Staphylococcus aureus, or toxins produced thereby, in skin wounds or other sites of the body, particularly in infants. Since infants are sensitive to TSS, and infants of diaper wearing age particularly so, a means to prevent TSS associated with infection from skin contact has been sought.


A leakage magnetic field shielding device includes: a leakage magnetic field determining unit for determining phase and magnitude of a leakage magnetic field based on information obtained from a power supply device and a current collector device; a shielding current controller for determining a shielding current based on the phase and magnitude of the leakage magnetic field and supplying the determined shielding current to the leakage magnetic field shielding device; and a shielding unit for shielding the leakage magnetic field by generating a shielding magnetic field in accordance with the supply of the shielding current. The shielding unit has a multiple resonance characteristic depending on an arrangement of capacitors and coils and is disposed to surround the power supply device or the current collector device. The shielding magnetic field has resonance frequencies canceling magnetic fields corresponding to fundamental frequency and multiple frequency of the leakage magnetic field.

Recently, with the development of electronic technology, research on wireless charging technology has been actively conducted as a method for supplying electrical energy to electronic devices without a physical line for supplying power. Wireless charging technology is based on the principle of generating a magnetic field to transfer electrical energy wirelessly.
Meanwhile, a leakage magnetic field may occur in the process of generating a magnetic field and transmitting the electrical energy for wireless charging. The leakage magnetic field may have a negative effect on the human body and may cause a malfunction of other electronic devices in the vicinity of a device that is subject to wireless charging. Therefore, research on a method for reducing a leakage magnetic field is actively progressing.
Generally, in wireless charging, a leakage magnetic field occurs in frequency components, e.g., multiple frequency components, other than the fundamental frequency used for wireless charging. However, at present, most leakage magnetic field reduction methods consider the reduction of the leakage magnetic field occurring in the fundamental frequency without considering the multiple frequency. Accordingly, there is a need for a method for effectively reducing the leakage magnetic field by considering other frequency components in addition to the fundamental frequency component used for wireless charging.

Leakage magnetic field shielding device and wireless power transmission system including the same

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

University-Industry Cooperation Group of Kyung Hee University