A method and apparatus is provides for decontamination of soil from contaminates such as polychlorinated biphenyls. The method involves (a) admixing a short chain alcohol and a ethoxylated alcohol to provide a solvent composition, (b) admixing the solvent composition with the contaminated soil to extract the contaminant from the soil into the solvent to form contaminated solvent, (c) separating the soil from the contaminated solvent, (d) washing of the decontaminated soil with water to remove residual solvent from the soil, and (e) distillation of the contaminated solvent to separate the reusable short chain alcohol as a light fraction from a heavy fraction containing the ethoxylated alcohol and the contaminant. The apparatus includes (a) a mixer for mixing the soil and solvent, (b) a centrifuge for separating fines from decanted contaminated solvent, (c) a distillation unit for separating the solvent into a reusable light fraction and a waste heavy fraction, and (d) a water reclamation unit for removing residual solvent from the wash water. The method and apparatus are usable for reclaiming contaminated soils.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes and solutions for the removal of halogenated aromatics, and more particularly relates to methods and solutions for the removal of poly chlorinated biphenyl.
2. Description of the Related Art
The problem of poly chlorinated biphenyl (PCB) pollution of soils, water and surfaces has been a major concern for some time. Accidental spills and improper land use have left numerous sites across the United States with PCB contaminated soil sites.
Various approaches have been used in efforts to decontaminate polychlorinated biphenyl laden soils. Efforts have included in-situ bio-destruction, thermal desorption, chemical declorination/destruction, and solvent extraction and soil washing. Solvent extraction processes have usually suffered from one or more of the following problems: environment impact of the solvent, lack of efficiency in movement of the contaminant from the soil to the solvent, difficulty of removal of solvent from the soil, solvent expense, and/or difficulty of separation of solvent from the contaminate. Specific decontamination methods are disclosed in Sivavec, Decontamination of Soil and Other Particulate Matter, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,688 Jun. 27, 1995, and Szejtli et al. Method for the Extraction of Organic Pollutants from Contaminated Soils, U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,881 issued Jun. 20, 1995, which are both incorporated herein by reference. Cook et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,018 issued Jun. 7, 1983 discloses removal of polychlorinated biphenyls from oil by extracting the biphenyls into methanol and is incorporated herein by reference, but it has been discovered that methanol alone is not an effective and efficient means for decontaminating certain environmental mediums such as soil.
Consequently, there is a need for a method and solutions (system) that solve the above problems and provides for efficient removal of polychlorinated biphenyls from soil and other environmental contaminated mediums.

Method and solution for removal of poly chlorinated biphenyl


A method of assessing Fallopian tubal patency includes introducing a distension medium into a patient's uterus, introducing a contrasting medium into the uterus, and observing the contrasting medium, for example, via a hysteroscope, to determine whether the contrasting medium flows into one or both Fallopian tubes. A device for assessing Fallopian tubal patency includes a chamber for receiving contrast media, a flow path through the chamber for delivering distension media to a patient's uterus, and a flow controller for regulating the flow of distension media to the patient's uterus. The flow path is configured to permit flow of contrast media from the chamber into the flow path.

Several methods of tubal patency assessment have been previously used. These include hysterosalpingogram, chromopertubation, chlamydia antibody testing, and sonosalpingography. In a hysterosalpingogram, an X-ray dye study of the Fallopian tubes is performed. Chromopertubation is performed during laparotomy or laparoscopy, both of which are abdominal surgeries. Chlamydia antibody testing is a blood test reflecting risk for tubal disease from previous chlamydia infection. Sonosalpingography is an approach that uses ultrasound to observe infusion through a transcervical catheter of a combination of air bubbles in saline or other combinations of fluids with or without air to evaluate the Fallopian tubes. Hysteroscopy has also been used to advance a catheter into the Fallopian tube, with infusion of dye through the catheter. A hysteroscope can also been introduced into the uterus and then after removal of the hysteroscope be followed by ultrasound to see if fluid accumulated in the pelvis during the hysteroscopy without directly observing the process of air or fluid entering or traversing the Fallopian tubes. Falloposcopy has also been used where a camera enters the Fallopian tubes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and system for controlling the execution of an application program to effect the performing of a specialized task is provided. In preferred embodiments, an interface computer program gathers status information from the application computer program, collects user input relating to the specialized task, generates commands to send to the application program, and sends the commands to the application program to effect the execution of the specialized task. The interface computer program communicates with the application computer program preferably through the dynamic data exchange of Windows.

There currently exists a plethora of general-purpose application computer programs. These general-purpose application programs include word processors, desk top publishers, spreadsheets, and data base products. The field is very competitive for producing these products. When these general-purpose application programs were first developed for personal computers, they were unsophisticated by today's standards. Due in part to competitive pressures, these programs evolved into very sophisticated programs that provide many features and options. For example, the original spreadsheet products basically provide a grid of cells for numerical calculations. Spreadsheet products today provide many more capabilities such as graphing data, storing and retrieving data, and programming functions.
Unfortunately, as these general-purpose application programs get more sophisticated, the user also needs to be more sophisticated to take advantage of advanced features. These advanced features often make tasks that were previously simple more complicated to perform. Consequently, users must devote a considerable amount of time to learning the product to perform these previously simple tasks. This complexity also affects the efficiency of tasks that are performed for the first time on an infrequent basis. For example, a user may want to quickly produce a quarterly newsletter using a desktop publishing product, but the user may not have design skills or skills in using all the necessary parts of the application. Also, a user may produce a quarterly newsletter using a desktop publishing product. However, the user may forget how to use many of the features of the publisher in between issues of the newsletter. Thus, the user must spend a certain amount of re-learning time each quarter.
A feature that has recently been added to several general-purpose computer programs is interprocess communications. Interprocess communications allows computer programs to transmit data to each other through communications channels. Interprocess communications has typically been used to synchronize programs, to request data from a program, and send data to a program. Microsoft Corporation has developed a standard interprocess communications mechanism for application programs. The mechanism is called the Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). The DDE provides a means for interprocess communications for programs that are developed for the Windows windowing environment. The DDE feature of Windows is described in the "Microsoft Systems Journal," November, 1987 and the "Microsoft Windows Programmer's Reference." The DDE is implemented through message passing. The DDE is typically used to allow two application programs to share data. For example, a user may want to incorporate a quarterly chart that is developed in a graphics package into a newsletter. Using DDE, the publisher product could request a new chart to be generated by the graphics product. The publisher product could then automatically incorporate the new chart into the current newsletter. The DDE thus provides a mechanism for one program to share and update data with another program.
Typically, developers of application programs that use the DDE will publish their DDE interface. For example, the developer of a spreadsheet product will publish a list of messages that it will recognize and how it will respond to those messages. Some general-purpose application programs define these messages so that each function that can be accomplished through the user interface to the application program can be accomplished through the DDE.
It would be desirable to have an easy-to-use method and system for using theses sophisticated general-purpose programs.

Method and system for controlling the execution of an application program


In a driving force transmission apparatus, an oil inlet portion for introducing hydraulic fluid from one of spaces to the other one of the spaces is formed, and an apparatus case has an oil outlet portion for delivering the hydraulic fluid from the other one of the spaces to an outside of the other one of the spaces with an oil delivery capacity lower than an oil introducing capacity of the oil inlet portion. A pressure regulation valve for bringing the oil inlet portion into an open state upon reception of hydraulic pressure higher than or equal to a predetermined pressure from hydraulic fluid is arranged at the oil inlet portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a driving force transmission apparatus that transmits driving force from an input shaft to an output shaft in, for example, an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a conventional driving force transmission apparatus that is mounted in, for example, a four-wheel-drive vehicle and in which a pair of rotary members are coupled to each other by a clutch such that torque is transmittable therebetween (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-121796 (JP 2008-121796 A)).
The driving force transmission apparatus is formed of a first rotary member, a second rotary member, a friction clutch and a pressing force application mechanism. The first rotary member rotates together with an input shaft. The second rotary member is rotatable about the axis of the first rotary member. The clutch couples the second rotary member and the first rotary member to each other such that torque is transmittable therebetween. The pressing force application mechanism applies pressing force, which is used as clutch actuating force, to the clutch.
The first rotary member is formed of a closed-end cylindrical housing that is open toward one side. The first rotary member is coupled to the input shaft. The first rotary member rotates upon reception of the driving force from a driving source, such as a vehicle engine, via the input shaft.
The second rotary member is arranged so as to be rotatable relative to the first rotary member, and is coupled to an output shaft. The second rotary member is accommodated in an apparatus case together with the first rotary member.
The clutch includes inner clutch plates and outer clutch plates, and is arranged between the first rotary member and the second rotary member. The clutch couples the first rotary member and the second rotary member to each other such that torque is transmittable therebetween, by frictionally engaging the inner clutch plates and the outer clutch plates with each other.
The pressing force application mechanism includes a piston and a pressing force application member. The piston is movable back and forth inside the apparatus case (cylinder). The pressing force application member applies the moving force of the piston as pressing force, to the clutch. The pressing force application mechanism is arranged on the input side of the clutch.
With the above-described configuration, when driving force from the engine is input into the first rotary member via the input shaft, the first rotary member rotates about its axis. At this time, if hydraulic fluid is supplied into the cylinder, pressure due to the hydraulic fluid acts on the piston.
Therefore, the pressing force application mechanism is actuated, the piston moves toward the clutch accordingly, and the moving force is applied from the pressing force application member to the clutch as pressing force.
Then, the inner clutch plates and the outer clutch plates of the clutch approach each other and then frictionally engage with each other, and the first rotary member and the second rotary member are coupled to each other due to the frictional engagement such that torque is transmittable therebetween. Thus, the driving force from the engine is transmitted from the input shaft to the output shaft via the driving force transmission apparatus.
With the driving force transmission apparatus described in JP 2008-121796 A, it is desirable to reduce the amount of lubricating oil (to lower the oil level) in the housing in order to reduce adverse influence due to so-called drag torque that is generated on the basis of the viscosity of the lubricating oil while the four-wheel-drive vehicle travels in a two-wheel-drive mode.
On the other hand, if the amount of lubricating oil in the housing is excessively small while the four-wheel-drive vehicle travels in a four-wheel-drive mode, there is a possibility that the clutch plates may be damaged due to heat of the clutch plates, which is generated through frictional engagement between the inner clutch plates and the outer clutch plates of the clutch, and the durability of the clutch may decrease.


In the field of computer software (code) security, it is known to include verification data such as hash values in or associated with the code to allow subsequent detection of tampering by a attacker with the code. This verification technique is used here in a “White Box” cryptographic process by tying the verification data to the content of functional table lookups present in the object (compiled) code, where values in the table lookups are selectively masked (prior to the source code being compiled into the subject code) by being subject to permutation operations.

Cryptographic algorithms are widely used for encryption and decryption of messages, authentication, digital signatures and identification. The AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is a well known cipher. AES is an exemplary symmetric block cipher. Block ciphers operate on blocks of plaintext and ciphertext, usually of 64 or 128 bits but sometimes longer. Stream ciphers are the other main type of cipher and operate on streams of plain text and cipher text 1 bit or byte (sometimes one word) at a time. With a block cipher, a particular plain text block will always be encrypted to the same cipher text block using the same key. However, to the contrary with a stream cipher, the same plain text bit or byte will be encrypted to a different bit or byte each time it is encrypted. Hence in the ECB (electronic code book) mode for block ciphers, each plain text block is encrypted independently. In another mode, encryption is also a function of the previous blocks.
AES is approved as an encryption standard by the U.S. Government. Unlike its predecessor DES (Data Encryption Standard), it is a substitution permutation network (SPN). AES is fast to execute in both computer software and hardware implementation, relatively easy to implement, and requires little memory. AES has a fixed block size of 128 bits and a key size of 128, 192 or 256 bits. Due to the fixed block size of 128 bits, AES operates on a 4×4 array of bytes. It uses key expansion and like most block ciphers a set of encryption and decryption rounds (iterations). Each round involves the same processes. Use of multiple rounds enhances security. Block ciphers of this type use in each round a substitution box or s-box. This operation provides non-linearity in the cipher and significantly enhances security.
Note that these block ciphers are symmetric ciphers, meaning the same algorithm and key are used for encryption and decryption, except usually for minor differences in the key schedule. As is typical in most modern ciphers, security rests with the (secret) key rather than the algorithm. The s-boxes or substitution boxes accept an n bit input and provide an m bit output. The values of m and n vary with the cipher and the s-box itself. The input bits specify an entry in the s-box in a particular manner well known in the field.
Many encryption algorithms are primarily concerned with producing encrypted data that is resistant to decoding by an attacker who can interact with the encryption algorithm only as a "Black Box" (input-output) model, and cannot observe internal workings of the algorithm or memory contents, etc due to lack of system access. The Black Box model is appropriate for applications where trusted parties control the computing systems for both encoding and decoding ciphered materials.
However, many applications of encryption do not allow for the assumption that an attacker cannot access internal workings of the algorithm. For example, encrypted digital media often needs to be decrypted on computing systems that are completely controlled by an adversary (attacker). There are many degrees to which the Black Box model can be relaxed. An extreme relaxation is called the "White Box" model. In a White Box model, it is presumed that an attacker has total access to the system performing an encryption, including being able to observe directly a state of memory, program execution, modifying an execution, etc. In such a model, an encryption key can be observed in or extracted from memory, and so ways to conceal operations indicative of a secret key are important.
The publication "White-Box Cryptography in an AES implementation" Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol. 2595, Revised Papers from the 9th Annual International Workshop on Selected Areas in Cryptography pp. 250-270 (2002) by Chow et al. discloses implementations of AES that obscure the operations performed during AES by using table lookups (also referred to as TLUs) to obscure the secret key within the table lookups, and obscure intermediate state information that would otherwise be available in arithmetic implementations of AES. In the computer field, a table lookup table is an operation using a data structure (the table) to replace a computation with an array indexing operation.
Chow et al. (for his White Box implementation where the key is known at the computer code compilation time) uses 160 separate tables to implement the 11 AddRoundKey operations and 10 SubByte Operations (10 rounds, with 16 tables per round, where each table is for 1 byte of the 16 byte long—128 bit—AES block). These 160 tables embed a particular AES key, such that output from lookups involving these tables embeds data that would normally result from the AddRoundKey and SubByte operations of the AES algorithm, except that this data includes input/output permutations that make it more difficult to determine what parts of these tables represent round key information derived from the AES key.
An extension of Chow et al. was published by Olivier Billet et al. "Cryptanalysis of a White Box AES Implementation" in SAC 2004, LNCS 3357 pp. 227-240, 2005. The details of the processed basic operations are necessary to mount this attack. This means the attacker has to distinguish the set of operations to extract the operations per rounds, the MixColumn operation, etc.
Hence there are two basic principles in the implementation of secure computer applications (software). The first is called "Black Box" because it implicitly supposes that the user does not have access to the computer code nor any cryptographic keys themselves. The computer code security is based on the tampering resistance over which the application is running, as this is typically the case with SmartCards. For the "White Box", it is assumed the (hostile) user has partially or fully access to the implemented code algorithms; including the cryptographic keys themselves. It is assumed the user can also become an attacker and can try to modify or duplicate the code since he has full access to it in a binary (object code) form. The White Box implementations are widely used (in particular) in DRM (Digital Rights Management) applications to protect e.g. audio and video content.
Software implementation of cryptographic building blocks are insecure in the White Box threat model where the attacker controls the computer execution process. The attacker can easily extract the (secret) key from the memory by just observing the operations acting on the secret key. For instance, the attacker can learn the secret key of an AES cipher software implementation by passively monitoring the execution of the key schedule algorithm. Also, the attacker could be able to retrieve partial cryptographic result and use it in another context (using in a standalone code, or injecting it in another program, as an example).
The conventional implementation of a block cipher in the White Box model is carried out by creating a set of table lookups. Given a dedicated cipher key, the goal is to store in a table the results for all the possible input messages. This principle is applied for each basic operation of the block cipher. In the case of the AES cipher, these are the shiftRow, the add RoundKey, the subByte and the mixColumns operations.
Since all the possible inputs have to be considered, the inputs are split into sets of bytes. The result after each operation on each byte is stored. Moreover, for security reasons, the input and output of the tables are masked through various methods (including permutations). The size of the tables differs according to the choice of the input decomposition (byte, half byte, double-bytes . . . ) and to the choice of the masking process (a XOR, random permutation etc.) See Chow et al.
When a block cipher has been implemented using a White Box approach, the code of the execution process is not particularly long and mainly consists of the lookup table accesses and masks managements, plus some extras. The first goal for an attacker reverse engineering such code is to retrieve the code to obtain, after simplification, an equivalent understandable and executable source code. Various tools exist to harden the code against reverse engineering threats. But, this is often not enough security.

Code tampering protection for insecure environments


An open-end rotor spinning device comprising a spinning motor rotatable at high speed inside a rotor housing subjected to low pressure and closable by a covering element. A single motor-driven opening cylinder rotates in a opening cylinder housing. A fiber guiding channel (18) includes an output-side channel section extending in a channel plate adapter whose installation position in the covering element is specified by its position with regard to the spinning rotor, and an input-side channel section positioned inside the opening roller housing such that the center longitudinal axes of the channel sections are angled relative to one another. The operable spinning disposition of the input-side channel section (30) is selectively adjustable with regard to the output-side channel section (31) of the fiber guiding channel (18) to relatively displace their respective center longitudinal lines (32, 33) by angles (α, β) to obtain optimal yarn-dynamic values.

The invention relates to an open-end rotor spinning device and, more particularly, to such a device comprising a spinning rotor rotating at high speed in a rotor housing subjected to low pressure and closed by a covering element, a single motor-driven opening cylinder rotating in an opening cylinder housing, and an at least two-part fiber guiding channel.
As described in numerous patent documents, for example German Patent Publications DE 198 00 402 A1 or DE 198 59 164 A1, open-end rotor spinning devices have a spinning rotor, which rotates during the spinning process at a high speed in a rotor housing subjected to low pressure. The rotor housing, which is open per se toward the front, is thus sealed in an air-tight manner during the spinning process by a covering element, into which a replaceable channel plate adapter is let. The covering element generally also has bearing brackets for an opening cylinder and for a fiber band feed cylinder. The covering element is connected so as to be movable to a limited extent to an associated spinning box housing via a pivot pin, which is arranged orthogonally to the axes of rotation of the opening cylinder and fiber band feed cylinder, the spinning box housing, for example, having the bearing and the drive for the spinning rotor. The individual fibers combed out from a feed fiber band, e.g., a sliver, by the opening cylinder are conveyed in such open-end rotor spinning devices via a so-called fiber guiding channel to the rotating spinning rotor and spun by the latter to form a thread which can be continuously drawn off.
The open-end rotor spinning devices described in the above patent documents have two-part fiber guiding channels. In other words, an input-side channel section is arranged in a receiver of an opening cylinder housing, while an output-side channel section is arranged inside the replaceable channel plate adapter, which is positioned in a corresponding receiver in the covering element. During operation, the channel plate adapter, which can be replaced when necessary and is fixed in a precise position in the receiver of the covering element and which, apart from the output-side channel section of the fiber guiding channel, also has a hole to fix a thread draw-off nozzle, reaches with a tower-like attachment into the rotating spinning rotor.
In conjunction with open-end rotor spinning devices, it has furthermore been known for a long time that in order to be able to produce open end yarns of good quality, certain boundary conditions, in particular with respect to the mutual arrangement and dimensioning of the spinning elements have to be fulfilled. The design and arrangement of the orifice region of the fiber guiding channel, in particular the spacing of the orifice to the fiber slide face in the spinning rotor, for example, have a not insignificant influence on the yarn quality which can be achieved. In the interests of optimal spinning results, it is therefore advantageous to allocate a suitable channel plate adapter to each spinning rotor, in particular according to its diameter. This means that in general a change of the channel adapter plate also takes place when an exchange of the spinning rotors is carried out, for example in the course of a yarn batch change.
It is also known that the fiber feed onto the fiber slide face of the spinning rotor can be positively influenced by a corresponding design of the fiber guiding channel. For example, the output-side channel section of the fiber guiding channel can be configured in such a way that its centre longitudinal line differs from a straight line.
In other words, the output-side channel section of the fiber guiding channel arranged in the channel plate adapter is either, as described in German Patent Publication DE 195 44 617 A1 curved or has, as stated in German Patent Publication DE 102 10 895 A1, an angled center longitudinal line. According to German Patent Publication DE 102 10 895 A1, an insertion piece is to be inserted into the output-side channel section of the fiber guiding channel, for example, in such a way that the centre longitudinal line of this channel section is angled. It has been found that owing to the curvature or the angled configuration of the output-side channel section, the fiber transport on this channel section and the feeding of the fibers onto the fiber slide face of the spinning rotor can be improved.
From German Patent Publication DE 198 36 066 A1, it is also known to arrange an input-side channel section of a fiber guiding channel connected to an opening cylinder housing and an output-side channel section of the fiber guiding channel arranged in a channel plate adapter in such a way that the centre longitudinal lines of these channel sections are arranged inclined at an angle. Such an arrangement of the channel sections of a fiber guiding channel has also proven advantageous for the producible yarn quality, in particular when the angle between the centre longitudinal lines of the channel sections is matched precisely to the existing yarn and/or spinning parameters.


A wiring substrate includes an insulation substrate including a first surface, a second surface on an opposite side of the first surface, and first and second through-holes penetrating the insulation substrate from the first surface to the second surface; a wiring layer formed on the first surface of the insulation substrate; a first via formed in the first through-hole and connected to the wiring layer; a bus line positioned away from the wiring layer and the first via, and formed on the first surface of the insulation substrate; and a second via formed in the second through-hole and connected to the bus line.

Conventionally, there is an illumination apparatus having a flexible substrate including a front surface and a rear surface on the opposite side of the front surface. The substrate has multiple LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) mounted on a wiring pattern formed on the front surface and multiple heat radiation plates mounted on the rear surface.
The multiple heat radiation plates are adhered to the substrate to cover parts of the substrate corresponding to areas on which the LEDs are mounted. The heat radiation plates may be adhered to the substrate with an adhesive agent.
As described in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-092011, the conventional illumination apparatus has a LED mounted on a wiring substrate including a substrate, a wiring pattern (wiring), and a heat radiation plate.
In the wiring substrate of the conventional illumination apparatus, the wiring and the heat radiation plate are connected by way of a substrate that is formed of a resin material (e.g., fiberglass reinforced plastic) having a low thermal conductivity.
Therefore, the wiring substrate of the conventional illumination apparatus is unable to efficiently transfer heat generated by an electronic component having a heat generating property (e.g., LED) from the wiring on the front surface of the substrate to the heat radiation plate on the rear surface of the substrate.

Wiring substrate and method for manufacturing wiring substrate


Apparatus and a method for latching a column address in a DRAM, having increased speed and no race conditions. The method is comprised of the steps of receiving column select and column address input signals, enabling detection and indication, by generation of an indication signal, of the presence of each stable column address input signal upon the presence of a column select signal, summing the indication signals, and operating a latch by each of the column address input signals whereby a DRAM column can be addressed upon enabling by the summed indication signals, whereby the latching is not enabled without a first indication of the presence of a stable column address and whereby the first indication is prevented without the earlier presence of a column select signal.

DRAMs are comprised of word lines (rows) and bit lines (columns), and bit charge retaining cells adjacent the intersections of the rows and columns. By addressing a row and a column, a memory cell can be read or written to. The present invention concerns the circuitry used to address a column.
Typically a read cycle of the DRAM involves charging a bit line to one-half logic level, dumping the charge stored in a memory cell on the bit line, sensing the charge on the bit line raising it to full logic level and restoring the memory cell, and connecting the bit line carrying full logic level to a data bus. The internal column cycle is usually started by detecting the presence of a stable column address in an address transition detection ATD circuit.


An OLED panel, apparatus, fingerprint identification method and device are provided in the field of display technology. The OLED panel includes an OLED pixel array comprising a plurality of OLED sub-pixels, and a photoelectric detection circuitry comprising a plurality of photoelectric detectors. The plurality of photoelectric detectors are respectively disposed between the plurality of OLED sub-pixels. At least one of the plurality of photoelectric detectors is configured to detect light rays whose wavelength ranges are outside of wavelength ranges of light rays emitted from the OLED sub-pixels adjacent to the photoelectric detector. The present disclosure may perform the fingerprint identification only with the display area of the OLED panel, such that the occupancy area of the screen on the OLED panel is increased, thereby increasing the screen ratio and improving the display performance.

Fingerprints are lifelong unchanged and unique, and people have different fingerprints. With the development of electronic technology, in order to ensure the security of user identities, fingerprint identification technology has been more and more widely used. For example, fingerprint identifications are used in payment authentication, unlocking devices/applications, and other application scenarios.
Currently, most terminal devices may be equipped with a sensor for the fingerprint identification to identify the user's fingerprint.

OLED panel, OLED apparatus, fingerprint identification method and device thereof, and storage medium

Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a wheel, especially for motor vehicles, comprising a wheel rim and a wheel disc, the wheel rim having a rim base made of fiber composite material. The invention is characterized in that the wheel disc (3, 11, 20, 29, 40) can be indirectly connected to the wheel rim (1), in particular the rim base (2), by means of a connecting element (5, 14, 22, 31, 35, 42) which is designed and associated with the rim base (2) in such a way that the connected wheel disc (3, 11, 20, 29, 40) is not in contact with the rim base (2).

Multi-part wheels are used as lightweight (construction) wheels in particular for motor vehicles. The lightweight wheels essentially consist of a wheel rim with a hollow profile with a rim base made of fiber composite material and a wheel disc made of fiber composite material or of any other material. The latter are also known as lightweight-hybrid wheels. The wheel discs of the multi-part wheels mostly have a plate-shaped or star-shaped design, whereby the plate-shaped wheel discs may have closed or open spoke areas.
With the multi-part wheels with a hybrid construction, the connections between the wheel rim and the wheel disc are problematic owing to the differing properties of the materials. In the case of connections between the wheel rim and the wheel disc which penetrate the rim base made of fiber composite material, leaks and a loss of pressure also appear in the wheel.
From document DE 10 2011 083 834 A9, a hybrid wheel is known in which a wheel spider made of metal or metal alloys is attached means of a clamping ring to the rim made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CRP). The wheel spider, under the preload of the clamping ring, is supported on diagonal contours of the rim base. Under the thermal loads acting on the wheel spider when the wheel is in use, the clamping ring can slide on the contact surfaces in a radial direction. When the wheel is being used, this construction gives rise to an unfavourable relative movement between the wheel spider and the rim base, which leads to vibratory-rubbing wear on the fiber composite material of the rim base.
In addition, where the materials are in contact, particularly where the metallic wheel spider and the carbon fibers of the rim base are in contact, unwelcome corrosion appears.
Also, the geometry of the wheel spider must be based closely on the shaping of the contours of the rim base.
Thus a need exists for a wheel construction which eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art and, in particular, ensures improved attachment of the wheel disc to the wheel rim.

Wheel comprising a wheel rim and a wheel disc


A bearing apparatus for a driving wheel of a vehicle has an outer member (2), inner member (5, 6), rolling elements (4), outer joint member (61) and a cover (11, 67). The outer member (2) is formed with double row outer raceway surfaces (2a) on its inner peripheral surface The inner member (5, 6) include a wheel hub (2) with an integrally formed wheel mounting flange (7) at one end and an axially extending cylindrical portion (5b, 13b) of a smaller diameter. At least one inner ring (6) is press fit onto the cylindrical portion (5b, 13b). The inner member (5, 6) is formed with double row inner raceway surfaces (5a, 6a) arranged opposite to the double row outer raceway surfaces (2a). The double row rolling elements (4) are freely rollably contained between the outer and inner raceway surfaces (2a and 5a, 6a). The outer joint member (61) of a constant velocity universal joint (53) is integrally formed with a shaft portion (60) which is inserted into the inner member (5, 6) in a torque transmitting manner and is axially fastened by a nut (63) so that it abuts the inner member (5, 6). Lubricant is applied to the end face of the inner member (6) that abuts the outer joint member (61). The cover (11, 17) is mounted on the end of the inner member (6). The cover (11, 17) has a fitting portion (11a, 17a) adapted to be inserted into the cylindrical portion (5b, 13b) and an annular bottom portion (11c, 17b) to cover the end of the inner member (6).

The power transmitting apparatus, to transmit the engine power of vehicle to its wheels, transmits power from an engine to the wheels. The power transmitting apparatus enables radial and axial displacement of the wheels and moment variation. Accordingly, a drive shaft interposed between the engine and the driving wheel is connected at its one end to a differential gear, via a constant velocity universal joint of the slide type, and at the other end to the driving wheel, via a bearing apparatus for the driving wheel which includes an immovable constant velocity universal joint.
Several types of bearing apparatus for a wheel of a vehicle have been proposed, and for example one is shown in FIG. 5. The bearing apparatus for a wheel of a vehicle 50 includes a wheel hub 51, able to mount on its one end a driving wheel W and a brake rotor B, a double row rolling bearing 52, and an immovable constant velocity universal joint 53. The joint 53 is connected to the wheel hub 51 to transmit power of the drive shaft (not shown) to the wheel hub 51.
The wheel hub 51 has an integrally formed wheel mounting flange 54 at one end to mount the driving wheel W and brake rotor B. The wheel hub 51 also has an axially extending cylindrical portion 51a of a smaller diameter. The double row rolling bearing 52, formed as a double row angular ball bearing, has an outer ring 55, a pair of inner rings 56, and a double row of balls 58 held by cage 57. The outer ring 55, on its inner circumferential surface, is formed with double row outer raceway surfaces 55a. The rolling bearing 52 is arranged between a knuckle N, forming a part of a suspension apparatus, and the cylindrical portion 51a of the wheel hub 51. The pair of inner rings 56 are each formed with an inner raceway surface 56a arranged opposite to the double row outer raceway surfaces 55a. The double row balls 58 are freely rollably contained in the cage 57 between the outer and inner raceway surfaces 55a and 56a.
The constant velocity universal joint 53 has a cup-shaped mouth portion (not shown), a shoulder portion 59 and an outer joint member 61. The shoulder portion 59 forms a bottom portion of the mouth portion. The outer joint member 61 is integrally formed with a shaft portion 60 which axially extends from the shoulder portion 59. The outer joint member 61 is adapted to be inserted into the wheel hub 51, via serrations, in a torque transmitting manner. The shaft portion 60 is inserted into the wheel hub 51 until the shoulder portion 59 abuts the inner ring 56 of the double row rolling bearing 52. The constant velocity universal joint 53 is fastened at a predetermined fastening torque by a securing nut 63 secured onto a male thread 62 formed on the shaft portion 60. Thus, the wheel hub 51 and the outer joint member 61 can be axially separably connected to each other.
The driving wheel W is driven by an engine with a large torque, via a slide type constant velocity universal joint (not shown), at a low engine speed, for example at start-up of the vehicle. Thus, torsional deformation is caused in the drive shaft. This torsional deformation also causes torsional deformation in the inner ring 56 of the double row rolling bearing 52 supporting the drive shaft. When a large tortional deformation is caused in the drive shaft, if there is a circumferential gap between the serrations of the shaft portion 60 of the outer joint member 61 inserted into the wheel hub 51, a so-called "stick slip noise" is caused by abrupt slipping between the contacting surfaces of the outer joint member 61 and the inner ring 56.
One way to prevent the generation of the stick slip noise is to surface machine treat the end surface of the inner ring 56 which abuts the shoulder portion 59 of the outer joint member 61. That is, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and (b), grease grooves 64 are formed on the end faces 56b and 56c of the inner rings 56 to hold and promote lubricant, such as grease, in the grease grooves 64 in order to reduce frictional resistance between the abutting surfaces. Thus, this reduces or prevents the generation of the stick slip noise (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 110840/2000).
However the lubricant, such as grease, after being applied to the abutting surfaces (end surfaces of the inner ring 56) is often placed in contact with a surface of a work table during assembly. Thus, this contact soils the lubricant during the assembling processes especially when the bearing apparatus is laid on the working table with its end, inner ring side, down in order to stabilize the joint in an upstanding condition on the table. In addition, the quality of the assembled products would be spoiled by foreign matter which enters the grease from the working table

Bearing apparatus for a driving wheel of a vehicle


A method of predicting a net reserve for a vehicle leased by a lessee from a lessor in accordance with a lease, the method comprising the acts of: predicting a market value loss of the vehicle at a scheduled maturity date of the lease, the predicted market value loss being a function of: (i) a probability that the vehicle will be returned to the lessor after the lease; (ii) at least one predicted price at which the vehicle may sell after the lease; and (iii) a residual value of the vehicle, the residual value being an aggregate of at least a projected price of the vehicle at the scheduled maturity date made prior to the lease and an enhancement amount; and obtaining the net reserve of the vehicle as a function of the predicted market value loss.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and/or system for determining a net reserve amount for a leased vehicle and/or a reserve position concerning a portfolio of such leased vehicles.
2. Related Art
The leasing of vehicles is becoming more common among consumers and, therefore, those entities owning leased vehicle portfolios are interested in predicting profits/losses on the portfolio. Often, the owners of leased vehicle portfolios are automotive manufacturers and/or financial institutions (such as the Chase Manhattan Bank).
It is useful to review known car leasing procedures prior to discussing the particularities of the invention. A (potential) lessor will become the owner of a vehicle for lease by paying a so-called vehicle cost (which includes any negotiated reduction) to, for example, a manufacturer of the vehicle. The retail price of the vehicle is often equal to the vehicle cost; however, the retail price may vary from the vehicle cost as a function of the negotiated reductions and/or options included with the vehicle.
The lessor of the vehicle and a lessee (e.g., a consumer) will enter into a lease contract to lease the vehicle for a period of time, the lease term. Often the lease term begins in a so-called book month (month that the lease was entered into) and ending on a so-called scheduled maturity date. The lease contract will specify an amount of money that the lessee pays to lease the vehicle, usually on a monthly basis.
The contract typically will set a so-called residual value on the vehicle which represents a price that the lessee may pay at the scheduled maturity date to purchase the vehicle from the lessor should the lessee wish to do so. Otherwise, the lessee returns the vehicle to the lessor. The residual value is usually obtained by taking the a projected price of the vehicle at maturity from a publication, such as the Auto Lease Guide""s (ALG), and adding an enhancement. The ALG projected price is widely accepted as a good guess as to the auction price that will be paid to purchase the vehicle at maturity. Adding the enhancement to the ALG""s projected price assures that the lessee will pay less each month to lease the vehicle (assuming that the enhancement was positive) and, therefore, provides an incentive for the lessee to lease the vehicle from that particular owner. It is noted that the enhancement may also be zero, or the enhancement may be negative if the lessor wishes the lessee to pay more per month to lease the vehicle (for example, where the lessor believes that the ALG projected price of the vehicle at maturity is too optimistic).
It is noted that the lessor may wish to xe2x80x9cset asidexe2x80x9d a reserve amount for each vehicle to cover potential losses which may occur when and if the lessee chooses to return the vehicle at termination of the lease as opposed to purchasing the vehicle.
For example, it is assumed that a lessor has consulted the ALG and determined that a vehicle which he wishes to lease to a lessee will theoretically auction for $10,000 at a scheduled maturity date (e.g., 24 months in the future). Further, the lessor selects an enhancement amount of $1,000, resulting in a residual value of $11,000. The lease will set forth a monthly payment to be made by the lessee to the lessor over the 24-month period to cover the difference between the vehicle cost (i.e., the cost for the lessor to obtain ownership of the vehicle) and the residual value. The lessor sets aside a reserve amount to cover, for example, a loss should the lessee decide to return the vehicle at termination of the lease. The loss would occur because the lessor would obtain $10,000 for the vehicle (the ALG predicted value of the vehicle), thereby losing $1,000 (the enhancement amount).
Assuming that the probability that the lessee will return the vehicle at termination of the lease is 50%, the lessor may wish to establish a reserve amount to be $500 (50% of $1,000). It is noted that the lessor will theoretically not experience a gain or loss if the lessee chooses to purchase the vehicle at the residual value when the lease terminates.
Often, lessor""s wish to obtain actual auction prices for used vehicles. The so-called Black Book provides MSRP values and actual auction prices for used vehicles on a periodic basis, typically each month.
A leased vehicle will be worth less at the scheduled maturity date than at the book month due to, for example, depreciation, miles and damage, and/or other market conditions. The difference between the actual value of the vehicle at the scheduled maturity date and the residual value is often referred to as the market value loss. It is desirable for the reserve amount to substantially match the market value loss of the leased vehicle at the scheduled maturity date. This will ensure a proper balance between encouraging a lessee to lease the vehicle and obtaining profits for the lease and/or eventual sale of the leased vehicle.
A net reserve amount for a leased vehicle is equal to the reserve amount less the market value loss. An aggregate of the net reserve for each leased vehicle in a portfolio yields a reserve position for the portfolio, which is an indication of the lease residual risk associated with carrying all of the leased vehicles in the portfolio.
It is desirable to minimize the reserve position for the portfolio. Accordingly, owners of leased vehicle portfolios are interested in predicting the net reserve for each vehicle and the reserve position for a portfolio on a periodic basis so that corrective action may be taken if the magnitude of the reserve position moves substantially away from zero.
A method of predicting a net reserve for a vehicle leased by a lessee from a lessor in accordance with a lease in accordance with one aspect of the invention comprises the acts of: predicting a market value loss of the vehicle at a scheduled maturity date of the lease, the predicted market value loss being a function of: (i) a probability that the vehicle will be returned to the lessor after the lease; (ii) at least one predicted price at which the vehicle may sell after the lease; and (iii) a residual value of the vehicle, the residual value being an aggregate of at least a projected price of the vehicle at the scheduled maturity date made prior to the lease and an enhancement amount; and obtaining the net reserve of the vehicle as a function of the predicted market value loss.
Other objects, features, and/or advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the description herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Automatic lease residual management system


A method for treating a dielectric material using hydrocarbon plasma is described, which allows for thinner films of barrier material to be used to form a robust barrier.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the field of fabricating semiconductor devices. More specifically, it relates to the deposition of barrier films on porous dielectric material.
2. Prior Art
Modern integrated circuits generally contain several layers of interconnect structures fabricated above a substrate. The substrate may have active devices and/or conductors that are connected by the interconnect structure.
Current interconnect structures, typically comprising trenches and vias, are usually fabricated in, or on, an interlayer dielectric (ILD). It is generally accepted that, the dielectric material in each ILD should have a low dielectric constant (k) to obtain low capacitance between conductors. Decreasing this capacitance between conductors, by using a low dielectric constant (k), results in several advantages. For instance, it provides reduced RC delay, reduced power dissipation, and reduced cross-talk between the metal lines. For some cases, interconnect structures use dielectric materials such as silicon dioxide (SiO2) or silicon oxyfluoride (SiOF). Articles discussing low k dielectrics are: "From tribological coatings to low-k dielectrics for ULSI interconnects," by A. Grill, Thin Solid Films 398–399 (2001) pages 527–532; "Integration Feasibility of Porous SiLK Semiconductor Dielectric," by J. J. Waterloos, et al., IEEE Conference Proceedings, IITC, (June 2001) pages 253–354; and "Low-k Dielectrics Characterization for Damascene Integration," by Simon Lin, et al., IEEE Conference Proceedings, IITC, (June 2001) pages 146–148.
However, dielectric materials may be extremely porous. The porous nature of dielectric material allows copper formed in the trenches and vias, without a barrier, to diffuse into an underlying layer causing the shorting of two adjacent copper lines or line-to-line leakage. Moreover, the surfaces of dielectric materials often possess openings or gaps where pores are exposed. Therefore, interconnect structures employ a barrier layer over the surface of the dielectric to protect from copper diffusing into the dielectric material. Common materials used for this barrier layer are Tantalum, Tantalum-Nitride, and Titanium Nitride.
Yet, any discontinuity, like discontinuities 130 in FIG. 1a, in a thinly applied barrier film 120 will result in the diffusion of copper atoms or penetration of plating solution into a porous dielectric 110. This diffusion can also cause copper lines to short or leakage from line-to-line to occur. As shown in FIG. 1b, prior art for highly porous dielectrics require the deposition of a thicker barrier layer 140, typically greater than 30 nm, to physically cover the exposed pores to form a continuous barrier. Nevertheless, this thicker barrier layer takes up additional volume in a via or a trench increasing the resistance by reducing the volume available for copper.

Barrier film integrity on porous low k dielectrics by application of a hydrocarbon plasma treatment


An apparatus for retaining hair care devices includes a framework having a base member, a plurality of cradle members supported atop the base member, and defining an interior area situated rearwardly of the plurality of cradle members. Each cradle member includes a bottom support wall and an upstanding back support wall extending upwardly from the bottom support wall that are, together, configured to support a respective hair care device in a generally reclined configuration. A plurality of spring-loaded reels is rotatably mounted in the interior area, each reel being positioned in association with an associated cradle member and configured to rotatably receive a respective power cord of a respective hair care device. Each bottom support wall of respective cradle members define an aperture through which a respective power cord is received into the interior area for attachment to a respective reel.

This invention relates generally to racks for retaining barbershop devices and, more particularly, to an apparatus for retaining a plurality of hair care accessories having a plurality of retractable reel assemblies configured to maintain power cords in an untangled manner.
A barber or salon technician uses many electric hair care devices throughout the course of a day and, sometimes, in the course of cutting or grooming a single client's hair. For instance, a barber may have five or six electric clippers each being configured to cut hair to a predetermined depth or having a predetermined blade width. A common problem is that the electric cords of these numerous electric devices become tangled with one another. Further, tangled electric cords may result in the cords wearing down and leaving exposed wires. The cords must either be repaired or completely replaced at considerable expense.
Various devices have been proposed in the prior art for minimizing or eliminating the problem of tangled electric cords. Namely, cords may be organized using strap ties. Alternatively, a thick plastic sleeve may be coupled to the electric cords to prevent the wear and tear suggested above. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing products and methods for alleviating the negative results of tangled electric cords in a barbershop or salon environment, electric cords still get tangled when hair care devices are repeatedly extended and then returned to a storage position amongst multiple other devices.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an apparatus to retain a plurality of hair care devices in a manner that keeps respective power cords from tangling.

Apparatus for retaining a plurality of hair care devices


Described are swivel systems and swivel assemblies for connecting a vacuum appliance to a vacuum accessory. The assemblies can include first and second arcuate members that each includes a tab and a receiving section so the latter can receive the other member's tab. The assembly can be adapted to be coupled to the accessory to permit the appliance to pivot relative to the accessory about two independent axes. The swivel system can include a vacuum adapter and a connector adapted to permit the vacuum adapter to pivot about a vacuum accessory. A plenum chamber can be formed in the adapter that is in fluid communication with one or more vacuum hoses to balance the airflow within the adapter. With the swivel systems and assemblies described herein, the versatility and efficiency of vacuum appliances and other tools can be improved through their multi-axes rotational capabilities and balanced airflow configurations.

1, Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed and taught herein relate generally to hose couplings for use with vacuum accessories and attachments, and more specifically, are related to vacuum cleaner connections that allow the vacuum accessory to swivel while maintaining the position of the connected hose or wand.
2, Description of the Related Art
Couplings are used to releaseably attach hoses to various types of apparatuses. In a wet/dry vacuum cleaner, for example, a coupling is typically used to connect the hose to a vacuum tank or canister. A second coupling may be used to attach the remaining end of the hose to an accessory such as a vacuum attachment. The engagement of the coupling and the hose is preferably releaseable so that the hose may be quickly attached to and removed from the vacuum tank, and so that various vacuum attachments may be used as needed. In addition, it is advantageous for the couplings to allow the hose to swivel, to position the vacuum attachment as needed and to prevent the hose from kinking during use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,998 discloses a swivel hose coupling 1 for attachment to a flexible hose 2, The swivel hose coupling 1 includes a swivel insert 3 for attachment to the hose, and a swivel hose end piece 4 which is rotatably connected to the hose end by the swivel insert. The swivel insert 3 is molded in the form of a sleeve 6 with an internal thread 7, The hose 2 has an external spiral thread 5 which is complementary to the internal thread 7 of the swivel insert 3 so that the swivel insert 3 may be screwed onto the end of the hose 2, To assemble the swivel hose coupling 1, the swivel hose end piece 4 must be heated to make it pliable so that the swivel insert 3 can be pushed into the end piece 4, As a result, the swivel hose coupling is overly complex and difficult to assemble, and uses a threaded connection, which may become unscrewed, to engage the hose and the coupling.
Vacuum cleaners and, in particular, those of the canister type typically include a nozzle assembly for coupling with a wand that, in turn, connects to the canister.
Because it is advantageous to manipulate the wand relative to the nozzle assembly for various reasons, many in the art have proposed different types of specialized connectors for this purpose. An example of one such arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,429 to Martin, et al., which includes a swivel-type connector for enabling rotational movement of a handle associated with the wand. While the arrangement shown in the '429 Patent does indeed permit the desired rotational movement, it is not without limitations. For one, the swivel connector itself includes the electrical coupling for the wand and, thus, requires a tubular piece intermediate the wand and the swivel connector to provide the desired ability to rotate. This type of arrangement also includes many parts to achieve the coupling, and, thus, would be not only complicated to use, but also expensive to produce and maintain.
Accordingly, what is needed is a swivel-type assembly that overcomes the problems described above. The inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to swivel linkages for use with vacuum accessory tools, wherein the linkages serve as multi-axis swivel assemblies.

Swivel assembly for connecting a wand to a vacuum accessory and associated accessory tool for use on hard surfaces


A method for monitoring a condition of a piston rod of a reciprocating compressor is provided. The piston rod having a length defined between a piston end and a crosshead end. The method includes positioning a first probe with respect to the piston rod along a x-axis and positioning a second probe with respect to the piston rod along a y-axis coplanar with and substantially perpendicular to the x-axis. A current ringing vibration amplitude greater than ten times a maximum of a one-hour average and a noise floor at a ringing frequency is detected, and a bent rod condition is diagnosed.

This invention relates generally to monitoring the operation of machinery and, more particularly, to a method and system for monitoring a condition of a machine component.
In many high pressure machinery applications, such as reciprocating compressor applications, long piston rods experience bent rod anomaly. Relatively large alternating forces act on a piston rod during compressor operation. Further, when liquid is injected into the compressor cylinder, the piston head and/or the piston rod is subjected to acute impacts. With each liquid impact, the generally straight piston rod becomes unstable and, as a result of repeated impact, may be permanently bent. The bent shape of the piston rod will affect the compressor efficiency. Further, when compared to a straight piston rod, a bent piston rod is subjected to elevated stresses resulting from periodically varying forces. Thus, fatigue deterioration of the bent piston rod is more pertinent. The personnel who operate the reciprocating compressors need to be notified of bent piston rod problems before severe machine damage occurs.

Method and system for monitoring a piston rod


A generally circular plug and receptacle connector system for use with electronic systems and devices is provided. This system includes: a plug component and a receptacle component. The plug component further includes: a housing having an internal channel formed therein for receiving a length of stripped wire; a shielded conduit attached to the housing, wherein the shielded conduit further includes a chamber formed therein; a plug body disposed within the shielded chamber; and a plurality of conductive pins disposed within the plug body, wherein the conductive pins are adapted on one end to be coupled with the length of stripped wire. The receptacle component further includes: a housing having a shielded chamber formed therein; a flanged member disposed within the housing for connecting to the plug component; a receptacle body disposed with within the shielded chamber; and a plurality of conductive sockets disposed within the receptacle body, wherein the conductive sockets of the receptacle component are adapted to mate with the conductive pins of the plug component.

The described invention relates in general to a connector system for use with electronic devices, and more specifically to a miniature circular connector system for use in connecting one electronic system or device to another electronic system or device.
Miniature circular connectors are used in the field of electronic for devices such as handheld PCs, scanners, portable instruments, medical monitors, and numerous other applications. Most commercially available miniature circular connectors include plastic components and are unshielded, making their use somewhat limited. Shielded connectors are typically very costly because they include multiple plastic, plated, and/or metal die cast components. Thus, because certain applications require shielded connectors, there is an ongoing need for an inexpensive, shielded connector that is compatible with numerous electronic systems and devices, including those listed above.


An apparatus for degrading and removing a paved surface is disclosed in one aspect of the invention as including a vehicle to travel across a paved surface, a pavement degradation tool coupled to the vehicle and adapted to degrade the paved surface while rotating about an axis substantially normal to the paved surface, and a vacuum device coupled to the vehicle and adapted to remove pavement fragments produced by the pavement degradation tool. The vacuum device may include several intake channels to draw in the degraded pavement fragments. In selected embodiments, these intake channels may be connected to two or more independently moveable banks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to road reconstruction equipment, more particularly, to apparatus, systems, and methods for degrading and removing a paved surface.
2. Background
Since their debut in the late 1960s and early 1970s, asphalt milling machines have been considered one of the major innovations in road reconstruction. Asphalt milling machines were originally designed to remove a top layer of deteriorated asphalt so a new layer of asphalt could be overlaid on the exposed underlayer. The resulting pavement was superior to simply overlaying a new layer of asphalt directly onto the old and deteriorated asphalt.
One significant benefit of asphalt milling machines that has emerged modernly is the ability to break up asphalt into recyclable-sized fragments. As recycling of all types has become more popular, asphalt milling machines have similarly increased in popularity. In fact, combination milling and paving machines have been developed to mill or break up the old road surface, mix it with new binder, and lay it down to create a new or recycled road surface in one continuous process.
The core component of most modern asphalt milling machines is the cutting drum. Most cutting drums incorporate numerous cutting teeth, coupled to the rounded surface of the drum, to cut or tear into the road surface. The rotational axis of the drum is positioned parallel to the road surface and the drum is rotated while being driven along the road surface in a direction transverse to its axis of rotation. Conventional cutting drums mill the asphalt in an upward direction, or an "up-cut" direction. However, some cutting drums may permit "down-cutting" to control "slabbing," facilitate pulverizing and mixing, and effectively mill pavement over a wet base. Most cutting drums range in width from 12 to 150 inches and generally have a maximum cutting depth of 4 to 16 inches.
Due to the abrasive nature of pavement, the cutting teeth have traditionally been prone to wear out quickly and require frequent replacement. The replacement process may create significant downtime and hinder the overall efficiency of the milling process. For example, early cutting drums had cutting teeth that were welded to the drum. Tooth replacement required cutting the old teeth from the drum and welding new teeth in their place. Consequently, considerable effort has been expended to accelerate the replacement process and to increase the durability of the cutting teeth. Many newer cutting teeth, for example, are coupled to the cutting drum using various bolt-on housings to enable faster replacement.
One shortcoming of current asphalt milling machines is their failure to capitalize on cutting-edge technology used in other industries, such as the downhole drilling industry. For example, numerous technological improvements in polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits, which were introduced in the oil and gas industry in the mid 1970s, have enabled PCD bits to capture a growing share of the downhole drill bit market. Some estimates show that between 2000 and 2003, the total footage drilled with PDC bits increased from 26% in 2000 to 50% in 2003. The total revenue generated by PDC bit sales was approximately $600 million in 2003.
Various recent improvements in PDC bit hydraulics, PDC cutter toughness and abrasion-resistance, and PDC bit dynamic stability have resulted in continuous and significant increases in the average rate of penetration (ROP) and bit life of PDC bits, thereby extending the application of PDC bits into harder and more abrasive formations. In some cases, a single PDC bit may drill 20,000 feet or more without replacement. As a result, a PCD bit may save as much as $1 million per well in time-critical drilling applications. It would be a significant advance if drill bit improvements in the downhole drilling industry could be applied to the road reconstruction industry, where downtime and replacement costs incur significant expense.
Accordingly, what are needed are apparatus and methods for incorporating drill bit and other advances of the downhole drilling industry into road reconstruction equipment. More particularly, apparatus and methods are needed to incorporate PCD and other drill bit advances into asphalt milling, grinding, and cutting equipment. Further needed are novel supplemental and auxiliary systems, such as vacuum devices, to work in conjunction such apparatus and methods, to facilitate the removal, processing, and deposit of asphalt and other pavement materials.

Apparatus, system, and method for degrading and removing a paved surface


There is provided a communication system including a transmission interface, a master device and a slave device. The transmission interface includes a TR/ACK channel configured to transmit a trigger signal and an acknowledge signal and a DA channel configured to transmit a normal data or a simplified data. The master device sends the trigger signal via the TR/ACK channel before data transmission begins. The slave device sends the normal data or the simplified data to the master device via the DA channel after receiving the trigger signal.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure generally relates to a communication system and an optical navigation device and, more particularly, to a communication system and an optical navigation device capable of dynamically adjusting the data transmission format.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical mouse utilizes a light source and an image sensor to detect a movement with respect to a tracking surface under the optical mouse. FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a conventional optical mouse. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional optical mouse 1 includes a microprocessor 11 and an optical sensing module 12, wherein the microprocessor 11 and the optical sensing module 12 are connected together through a serial peripheral interface bus (SPI bus) 13. Generally, the SPI bus 13 may be a four-wire serial bus or a two-wire serial bus. The microprocessor 12 may acquire the displacement data obtained by the optical sensing module 12 via the SPI bus 13.
FIG. 2 shows a timing diagram of the read operation of a two-wire serial bus. When the SPI bus 13 is the two-wire serial bus, it may include a serial clock (SCLK) line and a serial data (SDA) line. The microprocessor 11 and the optical sensing module 12 may be designed to transmit data in 8-bit words. The microprocessor 11 issues a clock signal via the SCLK line. Each time the microprocessor 11 reads displacement data, totally 8 bytes of data including 2 bytes of synchronization data, 2 bytes of update data and 4 bytes of displacement data have to be transmitted on the SDA line, wherein the synchronization data and the update data have to include an address data 21 and 22 respectively, and the displacement data have to include the address data 23 related to an x-displacement and the address data 24 related to a y-displacement. If the transmission speed is 200 kHz, it needs to take 355 μs to transmit 8 bytes of data. Although it may use fewer I/O ports and spend lower cost to transmit data by using a two-wire serial bus, a longer transmission time is required to transmit the displacement data and it is not able to ensure the synchronization of the data transmission.
FIG. 3 shows a timing diagram of the read operation of a four-wire serial bus. When the SPI bus 13 is the four-wire serial bus, it may include a serial clock (SCLK) line, a master output slave input (MOSI) line, a master input slave output (MISO) line and a slave select (SS) line. Each time the microprocessor 11 reads displacement data, the microprocessor 11 sets the SS line to logic low and issues a clock signal via the SCLK line, and then sends the address data (31, 32 and 33) and data to the optical sensing module 12 via the MOSI line and receives the updated data, x-displacement and y-displacement from the optical sensing module 12 via the MISO line. As the synchronization data is no longer required, a shorter transmission time can be realized. That is, if the transmission speed is 200 kHz and a guide time is 5 μs, it still takes 265 μs to transmit data in 8-bit words. More I/O ports and a higher cost are necessary to transmit data by using a four-wire serial bus and a long transmission time is still required.

Communication system and optical navigation device


A method of controlling the maceration of wood chips in a plug screw feeder having an inlet and an outlet, a compression device between said inlet and outlet, a variable speed screw disposed in the compression device, a force feed device connected to the plug screw feeder inlet, a variable speed force feed screw disposed in the force feed device, comprising the steps of introducing wood chips into the force feed drive and the plug screw feeder controlling the speed of the variable speed screw in the plug screw feeder, controlling the speed of the force feed screw disposed in the force feed cylinder to obtain the desired degree of fiber dislocation in the wood chips.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving the performance of compression type feeders for bulk materials such as wood chips.
More particularly, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling the degree of maceration of wood chips in a plug screw feeder comprised of a cylindrical or conical shell having an inlet and outlet, and a variable speed screw located in said cylindrical or conical shell, a variable speed force feed screw and cylinder attached to the inlet of the plug screw feeder, the improvement comprising controlling the speed of the variable speed screw of the plug screw feeder and controlling the speed of the variable speed screw of the inlet feed cylinder to obtain the desired degree of fiber dislocation in the wood chips.
The pulp and paper industry utilizes compression devices (plug screw feeders) to improve the liquor pick up in chemical impregnation of bulk materials such as wood chips or other fibrous materials when material is exposed to a liquor or expansion at discharge from the compression device by means of a liquor bath or shower. The plug screw feeders are based on the principle of a screw rotating inside a cylindrical or conical cage, where the volume available at the inlet of the screw is greater than the volume available at the discharge. The cage can be equipped with holes, usually conically drilled, or slots or bars arranged in such a fashion as to provide drainage of liquor squeezed from material being compressed. The cage is usually equipped with anti-rotation devices such as bars, pins or slots to prevent the compressed material from turning with the screw.
In the process of chemical impregnation of chips, it is common knowledge that improper penetration of chips with chemical can result in a lower quality product and a lower yield. In view of the inefficiency of the plug screw feeders a number of persons have resorted to shredding the chips before attempting impregnation of the chips in an effort to achieve a more uniform chemical application to individual fibres.
When chemical treatments are applied to chips in high yield processes prior to defibration, the resulting fibres exhibit low wet web strengths and increased energy is required to reach a given freeness. When defibration occurs prior to chemical treatment, wet web properties are enhanced and energy required to achieve a given freeness is reduced.
The use of a high compression device on chips prior to chemical treatment of chips results in retained wet web properties and lower energy consumption to a given freeness. It is believed that the high compression of chips results in fibre dislocations along the S1/S2 fibre wall, giving increased specific surface which results in improved pulp properties. Additionally, fractures and fissures occur in the chips which allows full penetration of the chips with chemicals.
Although high yield processes such as chemical thermal mechanical pulp (CTMP) reduce the amount of effluent containing BOD, COD and toxic products, primarily due to higher yield, particularly when compared to the sulfite process, the effluent from CTMP processes is nevertheless highly toxic, and many mills have difficulty in meeting their effluent permits. One of the most toxic effluent streams is the pressate, from the plug screw feeders. By using high compression ratio plug screw feeders, it is possible to extract a very concentrated effluent stream which can then be treated independently of the general effluent system.
The various uses of plug screw feeders involve a number of mechanisms for creating pressure between the chamber and the shaft bearing flights. The inner diameter of the chamber may be cylindrical, conical, or may contain restricted areas. All of these features together with variations in the diameter of the shaft or diameters of the flutes on the shaft can produce changes in the pressure exerted on the wood chips or other material being treated in the plug screw feeder. The chamber of the plug screw feeder may be comprised of bars, screens or be solid depending upon whether the plug screw-feeder is being used to drive off excess water or being used to refine wood chips or both remove excess fluid and refine. in various applications the pressure and throughput is controlled by the voids if any in the chamber, the restrictions in the chamber, the shaping of the shaft or flutes and the torque applied to the screw feeder. The applicant has found that in many applications improved efficiency and throughput of a plug screw feeder can be achieved by feeding wood chips or other materials under pressure into the plug screw-feeder.
Several companies have attempted to build high compression plug screw feeders with high performance but many problems have occurred. First of all, the true compression ratio was much less than the theoretical ratio and plugging of units occurred due to plug spinning.
The theoretical compression ratio of a plug screw feeder is the volume of the first enclosed pocket or flight spacing in the inlet zone, divided by the volume of the last enclosed pocket or flight spacing in the discharge zone. Reasons for the actual compression ratio not being equal to the theoretical are thought to be as follows:
1) Inadequate filling of the inlet zone. PA0 2) Back flow of the chips from the compression cone to the inlet area. PA0 1) the power demand on the compression device increases; PA0 2) the quantity of liquor extracted increases; PA0 3) the dryness of material exiting the compression device increases; PA0 4) the degree of maceration of the material increases; PA0 5) the quantity of impregnation liquor subsequently picked up in subsequent application of liquor by spraying or immersion increases.
The above plus rotation of the chip plug results in an actual capacity being much lower than the theoretical.
Wood chips being a non-homogeneous substance have a bulk packing density approximately 1/2 that of solid wood. For spruce, for example, the bulk density of chips is approximately 12 lbs/ft.sup.3 (192 kg/m.sup.3). Production tests show that a typical plug screw feeder will have 60% of its theoretical capacity when a packing density of 12 lbs/ft.sup.3 (192 kg/m.sup.3) is used in the calculation.
A number of attempts have been made to improve the filling and feeding of plug screw feeders. Various types of inlet chute designs have been tried, including the use of vibrators and rotating paddles and agitators. All of these devices, however, rely principally on gravity to fill the inlet zone of the screw.
In attempting to reduce the problem of back flow and increase transportation efficiency, anti-rotation devices similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,452 have been tried. Although these did improve the performance, their effect was marginal in that actual vs theoretical was improved by less than 10%.
Moreover, since the packing density is an uncontrolled variable affected by chip size classification and uniformity thereof, it is virtually impossible to predict or control the effective compression ratio in a given situation.

Method and apparatus for increasing surface within wood chips


Systems and methods for verifying character(s) on a personalized document, and electronically verifying a magnetic stripe and a smartcard chip of the personalized document, are provided. A quality assurance station is located downstream of personalization stations of a document personalization system. The quality assurance station can provide automated, in-line verification and quality assurance for personalized documents. The quality assurance station integrates a vision verification sub-station, a magnetic stripe sub-station, and a smartcard sub-station.

In certain applications, embossed and/or indented characters, such as lines, numbers, letters, symbols, etc., on a personalized document, e.g., a credit card, need to be verified or recognized. Prior approaches included imaging a card using a digital camera and an illumination source such as a Cloudy Day Illuminator (CDI) so that the embossed characters thereof can be verified or recognized by digitizing the image of the embossed card.
In addition, the personalized document may include a magnetic stripe and/or an embedded integrated circuit or smartcard chip for storing magnetic and/or smartcard chip data which need to be verified.


A system and method for assigning hauling vehicles to freight loads within a freight transportation system is disclosed herein. The system includes a satellite navigation subsystem for providing vehicle and load position data useable to determine the locations of each hauling vehicle and freight load. The position data may also be utilized to determine a set of deadhead distances required to be traversed by ones of the hauling vehicles unencumbered with freight loads while en route to load pick-up locations. Each unencumbered tractor vehicle is then efficiently matched with an available freight load in accordance with the compiled sets of deadhead distances and a set of potential pick-up times. Objectives such as punctual load pick-up and delivery, full utilization of available tractor vehicles, and maintaining scheduled driver home-base times of arrival may be achieved through "relay" operations. The term "relay" refers to the process by which an in-transit load is disengaged from a first tractor vehicle and made available at a designated relay location. The disengaged load is then engaged by a second tractor vehicle which becomes available in the vicinity of the relay location within a predefined relay window. In a preferred implementation the loads matched to selected pairs of tractor vehicles may also be exchanged, or "swapped", at a set of swap locations so as to minimize a cost function.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communications systems employing message transmitting stations and Earth orbit relay stations to send messages to mobile vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for utilizing such communications systems to enable efficient assignment of freight hauling vehicles to freight loads within commercial freight transportation systems.
II. Description of the Related Art
A need is recognized by many in the mobile vehicle environment for vehicle location and dispatch messaging capability. One industry in particular in which such information is particularly desirable is the commercial trucking industry. In the commercial trucking industry an efficient and accurate method of vehicle position determination is in demand. With ready access to vehicle location information, the trucking company home base obtains several advantages. The trucking company can keep the customer apprised of location, route and estimated time arrival of payloads. The trucking company can also use vehicle location information together with empirical data on the effectiveness of routing, thereby determining the most economically efficient routing paths and procedures.
As used hereinafter the terms "freight hauling vehicle" and "tractor under load" both refer to a tractor truck, i.e., a "tractor vehicle", to which has been engaged a freight load, i.e., a "load". When the tractor truck and freight load forming a given freight hauling vehicle become disengaged at, for example, a destination or stopover location, the resulting vehicle components will be separately referred to as a "tractor vehicle" and as a "load".
The commercial trucking industry has implemented versatile mobile communication terminals for use in their freight hauling trucks. These terminals are capable of providing two-way communication between the trucking company home base and the truck. Typically the communications are via satellite between the truck and a network communications center or Hub. The trucking company is coupled by conventional means, such as telephone lines, to the Hub.
Using the satellite communication capability at each mobile terminal to provide vehicle position determination offers great advantages to the commercial trucking industry. For example, this capability obviates the need for truck drivers themselves, via telephones, to provide location reports regarding their vehicle position to the trucking company home base. These location reports are intermittent at best, because they occur only when the truck driver has reached a destination or stopover site, and require the expenditure of the driver's time to phone the trucking company home base. This method of location report also leaves room for substantial inaccuracies. For example, truck drivers may report incorrect location information either mistakenly or intentionally; or report inaccurate estimates of times of arrival and departure.
In contrast, the use of satellite communication capability at each truck enables the location trucking company home base to identify the longitude/latitude position of each truck at will, thus avoiding the disadvantages associated with intermittent location reports. For example, the "down time" (i.e., periods of zero revenue production) of idle trucks is minimized since the communications necessary for determining location could take place while trucks are en route. Also, inaccuracies in location reports are virtually eliminated because the trucking company home base is able to ascertain accurate truck location nearly instantaneously.
Although satellite communication systems are well-suited to accurately identify the locations of tractor vehicles and loads, it has heretofore been incumbent upon dispatch operators at the company base station to manually assign individual tractor vehicles to specific loads. In matching tractor vehicles with loads, company dispatch operators typically attempt to minimize the "deadhead" required to be traveled by each tractor vehicle en route to a load rendezvous, or "pick-up", location. The term "deadhead" refers to distance traveled by a tractor vehicle while unencumbered by a trailer load. Deadhead mileage is thus undesirable since it does not generate revenue, yet requires the expenditure of both vehicle and driver resources. Accordingly, at first blush the minimization of deadhead would appear to be a logical criteria to be used by dispatch operators confronted with the task of manually assigning tractor vehicles to loads within a commercial freight transportation system.
However, manual determination of the tractor vehicle assignments resulting in minimum total deadhead mileage is a difficult task even with access to the type of tractor vehicle and trailer position information provided by satellite navigation systems. The process of manual assignment has proven to be particularly complex and time-consuming for relatively large tractor fleets. Moreover, such manual assignment does not easily allow for the modification of existing tractor vehicle assignments based upon the real-time position information provided by satellite navigation systems.
Perhaps more importantly, however, using the minimization of deadhead as the primary criterion in making tractor vehicle assignments will generally not maximize the revenue produced by the tractor fleet. That is, tractor vehicle assignment based on deadhead minimization fails to account for the "down time" during which tractor vehicles remain idle while waiting until an assigned load becomes available. Such "down time" carries with it an opportunity cost equivalent to the revenue which could be produced were the tractor vehicle actually being utilized to deliver a payload. In an effort to minimize deadhead, dispatch operators often delay a tractor vehicle for extended periods of time until a load becomes available at a pick-up location relatively nearby. Unfortunately, dispatch operators are frequently unaware of the opportunity cost (i.e., loss of potential revenue) associated with tractor vehicle down time. Hence, it is clear that the current manual process of determining tractor vehicle assignments on the basis of deadhead information is difficult, and generally will not lead to the most economically efficient matching of tractor vehicles and loads as a consequence of the inadequate consideration given to the opportunity costs associated with idle tractor vehicles.

Method and apparatus for freight transportation using a satellite navigation system


An ice maker includes a carriage, an ice mold defining a plurality of cavities that is movably coupled to the carriage such that the ice mold is movable relative to the carriage between a home position and a harvest position, and a detection lever movably coupled to the carriage such that the detection lever is movable between a retracted position and an extended position, the detection member being biased toward the extended position. The ice maker further includes a retention mechanism configured to retain the detection lever in the retracted position when the ice mold is in the harvest position.

Conventional refrigeration appliances, such as domestic refrigerators, typically have both a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment or section. The fresh food compartment is where food items such as fruits, vegetables, and beverages are stored, and the freezer compartment is where food items that are to be kept in a frozen condition are stored. The refrigerators are provided with a refrigeration system that maintains the fresh food compartment at temperatures above 0° C. and the freezer compartments at temperatures below 0° C.
The arrangements of the fresh food and freezer compartments with respect to one another in such refrigerators vary. For example, in some cases, the freezer compartment is located above the fresh food compartment and in other cases the freezer compartment is located below the fresh food compartment. Additionally, many modern refrigerators have their freezer compartments and fresh food compartments arranged in a side-by-side relationship. Whatever arrangement of the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment is employed, typically, separate access doors are provided for the compartments so that either compartment may be accessed without exposing the other compartment to the ambient air.
Such conventional refrigerators are often provided with a unit for making ice pieces, commonly referred to as "ice cubes" despite the non-cubical shape of many such ice pieces. These ice making units normally are located in the freezer compartments of the refrigerators and prepare ice by convection, i.e., by circulating cold air over water in an ice tray to freeze the water into ice cubes. Storage bins for storing the frozen ice pieces are also often provided adjacent to the ice making units. The ice pieces can be dispensed from the storage bins through a dispensing port in the door that closes the freezer to the ambient air. The dispensing of the ice usually occurs by means of an ice delivery mechanism that extends between the storage bin and the dispensing port in the freezer compartment door.


Disclosed are aqueous polyurethane dispersions prepared from polyester polyols having 0.95 to 1.5 equivalents of carboxylic functionality thereon per equivalent of polyol, the dispersions also containing a nonionic surfactant component wherein the ratio by weight of said carboxylic functionality to said nonionic surfactant component is 1:2.5 to 1:0.5. The dispersions are particularly adapted to the formation of thin wall articles exhibiting greatly improved properties.

It is known that thin wall articles such as gloves, condoms, sleeves, catheters, balloons, teats, enema tips and other tubular articles can be made from latexes by, for instance, multiple dipping of forms or by use of a coagulant on a form. These methods are widely used for natural latex and for some of the synthetic latexes like nitrile, SBR and others. Increasing human allergy to articles made from natural latex is becoming the main concern of their applicability, but all currently available synthetic dispersions and films based on them cannot match the natural latex. The main deficiencies are the difficulty of obtaining films by ionic deposition (coagulation process), cracking of the films, substantial shrinkage upon formation of the films, poor physical properties of films, and high film toxicity to human skin due to the additives used in the processing step of the synthesis of the polymer.
It is also known that polyurethane elastomers designed for flexible gloves have some very good properties such as tensile strength, puncture resistance, non-toxicity, oil and fat resistance, and breathability. These properties are considerably better than the properties of films obtained from natural latex. The main deficiency of these elastomers is that they are solvent based, with all the accompanying consequences of hazardous manufacturing, environmental pollution and the requirement for high capital investment.
Attempts are continuously made to develop gloves from polyurethanes dispersed in water (PUD). Up to now, films made from these dispersions suffer from low tear resistance, poor elongation of the films and high modulus. In addition, it has heretofore been difficult to make articles by ionic deposition from these dispersions. When these polymers are tailored to be used by ionic deposition, then the formed articles exhibit cracking and severe shrinkage. Plasticization of films to overcome these negative properties results however in sharp lowering of physical properties.
Thus, there remains a need for aqueous dispersions of polyurethane from which gloves and other thin wall articles can be prepared, wherein the articles can be prepared reliably and easily and, once prepared, exhibit physical properties such as higher tear resistance, better elongation and better modulus, and better resistance to cracking and shrinking.

Polyurethane dispersions useful for preparing thin wall articles