A foamed rubber blend comprising an EPDM is polymer blend comprising at least one high molecular weight component and at least one low molecular weight component is provided. The high molecular weight component has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in a range of from about 400,000 to about 800,000 and a molecular weight distribution index (Mw/Mn) in a range of from about 5.5 to about 9.5. The low molecular weight component has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in a range of from about 150,000 to about 500,000 and a molecular weight distribution index (Mw/Mn) in a range of from about 1.5 to about 5.5. The EPDM rubber has an overall weight average molecular weight (Mw) in a range of from about 200,000 to about 700,000. The ratio of the polymer blend in the foamed rubber blend is in a range of from about 33 wt % to about 60 wt %. The present invention is also directed to an article formed from a sulfur-vulcanized EPDM rubber blend having a compression set according to JIS K 6301 of not more than about 24%.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foamed rubber blend comprising an ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) polymer blend including at least one high molecular weight component and at least one low molecular weight component, and in particular to a foamed rubber blend that can be vulcanized as an extrudate via a microwave vulcanization step, or a hot air vulcanization step. The present invention also relates to articles formed by sulfur vulcanization of the foamed rubber blend of the present invention.
2. Description of Related Art
Weather stripping comprising a spongy portion with a high degree of foam content is desirable due to its light weight and low density, since a reduced amount of raw materials can be used per given volume. These advantageous properties can be further enhanced by increasing the degree of foaming of the foamed rubber blend from which the weather stripping is made by increasing the amount of foaming agent in the composition. However, increasing the degree of foaming compromises both the resistance of the weather stripping to fatigue and the rigidity of the weather stripping.

Foamed rubber blend containing and ethylene-propylene-diene polymer blend and an article formed from a sulfur-vulcanized foamed rubber blend


A gas turbine engine includes a case, a stator vane, and a retainer. The case has a first surface, a second surface, a third surface extending between the first surface and the second surface, and a hook extending from the second surface and disposed opposite the third surface. The stator vane includes a shroud body and a first flange. The retainer is arranged to seat the first flange within a first slot defined between the hook and the second surface and secure the shroud body to the case.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to the art of gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines include one or more rows of stationary or movable airfoils that are commonly referred to as stators or vanes. The stators or vanes are arranged to turn or straighten airflow that is directed towards a downstream stage of airfoils. The stators or vanes are installed into the gas turbine engine by hooking the stator or vane into openings of a support structure. Some stators or vanes are difficult to install into the gas turbine engine by hooking due to the size of the arrangement of the stators or vanes.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a simplified structure to facilitate the installation of stators or vanes into the gas turbine engine.


A scribing device is provided that includes an alignment track, a scribe arm and a coupling unit for coupling the scribe arm to the alignment track at a predetermined angle. The coupling unit is configured to travel along the alignment track in an X direction while allowing the scribe arm to move in the Y direction.

Tile systems are in common use in architecture and building construction. These tile systems include ceramic, stone, porcelain, granite, marble, as well as other types of material for use as tile. These tiles may be used, for example, as floor covering, wall surfaces and/or counter top surfaces. Additionally, there are ceiling tile systems, such as acoustical ceiling tile systems, for use as ceiling or wall surfaces inside buildings or other structures. These ceiling tile systems are commonly referred to as acoustical tile systems.
During installation of tile systems, it is often necessary for certain tiles to be cut or shaped to fit a particular area. Tiles that often must be cut/shaped are those tiles that border or abut a wall or partition that is aligned perpendicularly to the plane in which the tile system is placed. Where the abutting wall or partition is non-linear (or curved), tile must be shaped to conform to the curve of the abutting wall or partition. Shaping is typically carried out on site during the installation process.
The process of shaping a tile to conform to a particular curve typically entails a degree of "guess work" in determining the dimensions and lines of the area in which the tile is to be placed. Based on the determined dimensions and lines, a standard tile will be cut to a shape that conforms to the measured dimensions and lines. While the craftsman with experience can often determine the appropriate dimensions and lines with substantial ease, more complex curves/shapes can tax even the most skilled craftsman. The result is often wasted tile material and time.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Apparatus for shaping a tile to conform to a contour


A stabilization system for the spine that includes an elongated member, preferably an elastic cord, and a plurality of attachment mechanisms, preferably lamina hooks. The stabilization system is configured to extend across a plurality of spinal motion segments to dynamically couple the motion segments in a manner that places the system in tension to apply a compression force to the posterior of the spine. The system and method may have particular application after a laminectomy or laminoplasty procedure.

The spinal canal can be narrowed by the formation of bone spurs arising from the back of the vertebral body or the ligament behind the vertebral bodies. This narrowing of the spinal canal referred to as spinal stenosis can compress and damage the spinal cord and nerve roots. It is desirable to relieve this pressure in and to the spinal cord. Laminectomy, laminotomy or laminoplasty procedures are procedures to relieve pain from spinal stenosis by creating more space for the spinal cord and nerve roots.
A laminoplasty is a posterior procedure where the lamina (two small portions of the vertebra that extends posteriorly) is cut to relieve pressure on the spinal cord. Typically, in a laminoplasty procedure, a groove is made on one side of the lamina creating a hinge and the other side of the lamina is cut all the way through. The lamina is then bent open like a door to enlarge the space for the spinal cord and to take pressure off the spinal cord and nerve roots. The tips of the spinous process may be removed to create room for the lamina bones to pull open. Small pieces of bone or plates are then used to reattach the lamina to the vertebrae while holding open (enlarging) the space for the spinal cord.
A laminectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the lamina or bone spurs in the spine while a laminotomy is a surgical procedure to remove part of the lamina. Part or all of the lamina may be removed on both sides of the vertebra, along with the spinous process. Performance of a cervical laminectomy or laminoplasty often results in a resection or disruption of the ligamentum nuchae, which may lead to post-surgery kyphosis. It is desirable to prevent post-surgery kyphosis as a result of a cervical laminectomy or laminoplasty.


A representation of a physical object can be displayed even where the amount of geometric data is too large to be stored in resident memory. A primary viewing window displays point data for the object using a substantially even sampling of data at an appropriate point density for the system. At least one auxiliary viewing window displays a two-dimensional representation of the point data. A user can select a portion of the data in the auxiliary window(s), such as by selecting cells of an overlaid grid, to be displayed in the primary window using a rendering such as a “visible” rendering. The remainder of the displayed data can be displayed using a rendering such as a “hidden” or “transparent” rendering. The resolution of the selected region can be increased while maintaining a substantially even spacing among points for the region. The resolution of the unselected region can be decreased accordingly.

Efficient and effective 3D visualization is a common problem in the fields of computer aided design (CAD), geographic information systems (GIS), medical imaging, surveying/scanning (theodolites, total stations, GPS, airborne laser radar/scanning, terrestrial laser radar/scanning, photogrametry), simulation, and animation. In all of these fields, the collection of large amounts of geometric information is becoming more commonplace.
Recent advances in technology such as LIDAR scanning technologies have resulted in the ability to collect billions of point samples on physical surfaces, over large areas, in a matter of hours. In a LIDAR process, a laser beam scans across a view that encompasses the structure of interest. The scanning device measures a large number of points that lie on surfaces visible in the scene. Each scan point has a measured location in 3D space, to within some measurement error, that typically is recorded relative to a point (x,y,z) in the local coordinate system of the scanner. The resulting collection of points is often referred to as one or more point clouds, where each point cloud can include points that lie on many different surfaces in the scanned view.
LIDAR systems are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,862, filed Apr. 24, 1996, entitled "INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY IMAGING AND MODELING THREE DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS," which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Other devices and methods of using these devices to capture and/or model data are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,420,698; 6,604,068; and 6,633,290; each is which is incorporated herein by reference. An exemplary LIDAR system 100 shown in FIG. 1 utilizes a Field Digital Vision (FDV) module 102 that includes a scanning sensor for scanning an object 104, such as a building of a piece of machinery. The scanning sensor also can sense the position in three-dimensional space of selected points on the surface of the object 104. The FDV module 102 generates a point cloud 106 that represents the sensed positions of the selected points. The point cloud 106 also can represent other attributes of the sensed positions, such as reflectivity, surface color, and texture, where desired.
A control and processing station 108 interacts with the FDV 102 to provide control and targeting functions for the scanning sensor. In addition, the processing and control station 108 can utilize software to analyze groups of points in the point cloud 106 to generate a model of the object of interest 104. A user interface 118 allows a user to interact with the system, such as to view a two-dimensional (2D) representation of the three-dimensional (3D) point cloud, or to select a portion of that object to be viewed in higher detail as discussed elsewhere herein. The processing station can include any appropriate components, such as standard computer and/or processing components. The processing station also can have computer code in resident memory, on a local hard drive, or in a removable drive or other memory device, which can be programmed to the processing station or obtained from a computer program product such as a CD-ROM or download signal. The computer code can include instructions for interacting with the FDV and/or a user, and can include instructions for undertaking and completing any modeling and/or scanning process discussed, described, or suggested herein.
The FDV 102 can include a scanning laser system (LIDAR) 110 capable of scanning points of the object 104, and that generates a LIDAR data signal that precisely represents the position in 3D space of each scanned point. The LIDAR data signal for the groups of scanned points can collectively constitute the point cloud 106. In addition, a video system 112 can be provided, which in one embodiment includes both wide angle and narrow angle CCD cameras. The wide angle CCD camera can acquire a video image of the object 104 and provides to the control and processing station 108, through a control/interface module 114, a signal that represents the acquired video image.
The acquired video image can be displayed to a user through a display device 122 of a user interface 118 of the control and processing station 108. The display device can be any appropriate display device, such as a standard computer monitor. Through the user interface 118, the user can use an input device 124 to select a portion of the image containing an object to be scanned. The input device can be any appropriate input device, such as a keyboard, mouse, or stylus/touchpad. In response to user input, a processing device 116 of the control and processing station can provide a scanning control signal to the LIDAR 110 for controlling the portion of the surface of the object that should be scanned by the LIDAR. More particularly, the scanning control signal can be used to control an accurate and repeatable beam steering mechanism that steers a laser beam of the LIDAR 110. The narrow angle CCD camera of the video system 112 can capture the intensity of the laser returned from each laser impingement point, along with any desired texture and color information, and can provide this captured information to the control and processing station 108. The control and processing station can include a data processing system (e.g., a notebook computer or a graphics workstation) having special purpose software that, when executed, instructs the data processing system to perform the FDV 102 control and targeting functions, and also to perform the model generation functions discussed elsewhere herein. Once the object has been scanned and the data transferred to the control and processing station, the data and/or instructions relating to the data can be displayed to the user through the display device 122. Alternatively, the user can select instructions before or during the LIDAR scan. The data can be written to resident memory 120 during capture, and can be written to an external database 126 either during or after each scan (depending upon the size of the data set). Resident memory can include any available memory device local to the control and processing station, including but not limited to RAM memory. If multiple scans are taken, these data sets can be registered in the database 126 to form a single data set, for a total number of points less than about 40 million for current technology, or can be registered but left as separate data sets for point sets larger than 40 million points, in order to allow the data to be loaded into a computer for processing and/or analysis. Current computer systems can only handle about 10 million points efficiently, up to a maximum of about 40 million points through compression and other techniques, which also comes with decreasing performance and an increasing risk of crash problems as the size gets larger. Volumetric methods can handle more than 40 million points, but volumetric representations only store an approximation of the scan points; the actual scan points are not available for processing. This simplification of the data can result in a loss of information and/or accuracy.
Current scanning technologies can achieve sampling rates of up to 1 million points per second, with an accuracy of a few millimeters. While these advances can greatly increase the accuracy and complexity of the generated models, the advances also come with problems such as how to store, visualize, manipulate, and/or extract models and measurements from very large amounts of data, particularly where the vast amount of data cannot simply be loaded into computer memory, measured, partitioned, and modeled. For instance, data sets used to contain less than a million points but now can contain over 200 million points. The inability to easily process the data is further complicated by the fact that data acquired by such scanners must undergo a series of processing steps to be used meaningfully, including the capture, registration, and fitting of the data.
Visual access and navigation of these large datasets is tedious and time consuming, as the amount of data involved can overwhelm most desktop computers. Further, the information is often spatially cluttered. This clutter can cause difficulty in seeing an object of interest that might be buried beneath or obstructed by several other objects. A system user can lose a sense of what is being looked at, as well as the location of the virtual camera on the three-dimensional (3D) data, as a computer monitor provides only a two-dimensional (2D) window on a 3D world.
A significant amount of manual preprocessing is involved to make portions of the datasets readily accessible. Typical preprocessing includes the defining of layers and the specification of named viewpoints. Automatic preprocessing can be used to make data access more efficient, by including spatial indexing on the data and using pre-computed occlusion culling.
Existing systems provide some tools to reduce complexity in viewing these data sets, such as adjustable near and far clip planes that hide geometry in front of, or behind, the planes. These clip planes are used to reduce the depth of visible geometry to a manageable size. Limit boxes can be used to provide a 3D box of visibility that a user can adjust to focus on a particular local region of space. Geometry outside the box is hidden, while geometry within the box is visible. Layer tools can be used to allow users to place portions of geometry on different layers, such that the portions can be hidden or shown on a per layer basis. Fencing tools allow users to specify a region of the projected geometry that can then be hidden (or revealed) by the user. Maps and site plans can be used as a visual aid to navigation to reduce the difficulty in determining location/orientation.
These tools fail to solve many of the above-listed problems, as the data is separated into blocks or sets that are stored separately. This can not only increase difficulty in querying the data, but can cause problems where a view spans a number of blocks and the number of blocks is too large to be stored in memory. Further, the need for pre-processing using the above-described tools takes up valuable time and resources. These approaches do not allow a user to quickly identify sections of a data set to hide, or make transparent, such that the user can efficiently focus on a specific section of the data.

Browsers for large geometric data visualization


The present invention comprises apparatus, methods and articles of manufacture for computer virus testing in a networked environment. A host is provided that permits uploading of suspected files by a user. The are transferred to a server, where they are scanned for the presence of known virii. The files are then run, in an appropriate operating environment, separate from the operating system of the server, and the results compared to and noted against a reference. Any modified files are logged, as is any output. The user is notified as to the results, and in some embodiments, the lists of modified files are made available to various users.

There is little ability for a user to test for the presence of a suspected, yet unknown, virus in a file until the virus has been identified by a virus laboratory, its code noted, and a database of the code disseminated to computer users via an antivirus program database.
One method of attempting to identify suspected, yet unknown virii is to provide a scanning service, to a user, through an Application Service Provider ("ASP.")
An ASP, whether through the Internet or other networks, may assist in resolving some testing issues. For example, the ASP may minimize the need for testing by the user by providing a constantly updated database. An ASP might also provide a testing method for suspected, yet unknown virii by having the user send his or her email to a server for virus scanning, through an open relay. In other words, email is sent to a server and the server scans the email and then forwards the email according to its address. The problem with this method is that open relay mail servers may be attacked, such as might be the case for example when an open relay email server is hacked to provide unsolicited bulk email (UBE) or hacked in order to be used as a denial of service (DOS) platform. Thus an open relay method may be unacceptable.
Another method is to allow users to send email to the server which is then processed and returned to the sender. However, this method may also be unacceptable because of interception possibilities. For example, a malicious user could surreptitiously install a program on the server that allows the interception of email, forging of email, etc.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved apparatus, methods and articles of manufacture for computer virus testing.

Apparatus, methods and articles of manufacture for computer virus testing


An L-shaped torsional wrench is provided. The wrench includes a shell body, an elastic member, an L-shaped rod and a handle. A pushing member is assembled in the shell body and is movable between a first position and a second position along the shell body. The elastic member is compressed by the pushing member when the pushing member is located in the first position for compressing the elastic member. The pushing member is noncompressed by the elastic member when the pushing member is located in the second position so that the elastic member recovers from said compression for slowing the fatigue of the elastic member, extending the durability of the elastic member and keeping the torsional accuracy of the wrench.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a torsional wrench.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A torsional wrench includes a tube, a rod and a spring. The rod is received in the tube and is compressed by the spring. The rod will skew and hit an inner wall of the tube when a torsional force of the rod is larger than a compressing force of the spring. Under above arrangement, a user can exactly hear a hit sound and feel a hit vibration between the rod and the tube, and the user knows the torsional force that is too large. However, the spring is always compressed, so that an elasticity of the spring would be decayed soon.
The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages.


An apparatus for controlling a gear shift device comprises a gear shift controller that operates the gear shift device from a first gear position to a second gear position during a gear shift operation, a movement sensor that detects movement of the gear shift device, a timer, and a gear shift stopping unit that provides a signal to the gear shift controller to stop the gear shift operation when the timer measures a first time interval during which the movement sensor does not sense movement of the gear shift device.

The present invention is directed to bicycles and, more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling a bicycle shift device based on movement of the bicycle shift device.
Bicycle transmissions that comprise front and rear derailleurs or internal hub transmissions are well known. In derailleur transmissions, the front derailleur shifts a chain among a plurality of front sprockets that are coaxially mounted to the pedal crank shaft, and the rear derailleur shifts the chain among a plurality of rear sprockets that are coaxially mounted to the rear wheel. Internal hub transmissions include a planetary gear mechanism disposed inside of a wheel hub and a clutch mechanism that switches the planetary gear mechanism to provide a plurality of power transmission paths. It is also known to use electric motors to operate the front and rear derailleurs or the internal hub transmission. Such a system is shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-87371.
Electrically operated bicycle transmissions may operate manually or automatically. In manually operated electrical bicycle transmissions, a button or lever on a shift control device mounted to the bicycle handlebar is manipulated so that a gear shift command is output to operate the motor and upshift or downshift the bicycle transmission accordingly. In automatically operated electrical bicycle transmissions, gear shift commands are generated automatically based on bicycle speed.
In conventional electrically operated bicycle transmissions, when a gear shift command is received, the motor is operated continuously until gear shifting is completed. However, in derailleur-based transmissions, when a large amount of power is required to move the derailleur from one sprocket to another, such as when there is a problem with the chain, or when the gear shift operation is carried out when the bicycle is stationary, the motor may become overloaded and stop moving during the gear shift operation. Similarly, with internal hub transmissions, it may be difficult to operate the clutch mechanism during strong pedaling forces, and again the motor may become overloaded and stop moving during the gear shift operation. Because the derailleur or internal hub transmission has not arrived at the next gear position when the motor stops moving in such situations, electric power continues to be supplied to the motor. As a result, electric power may be wastefully supplied from the battery or other power supply, thereby shortening the life of the power supply.

Apparatus for controlling a bicycle gear shift device based on movement of the device


This invention relates to a method of preparing an iron carbide/carbon nanocomposite catalyst containing potassium for high temperature Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis reaction and the iron carbide/carbon nanocomposite catalyst prepared thereby, and a method of manufacturing a liquid hydrocarbon using the same and a liquid hydrocarbon manufactured thereby, wherein a porous carbon support is uniformly impregnated with an iron hydrate using melt infiltration, and potassium is also supported together via various addition processes, including a pre-addition process of a potassium salt which is ground upon impregnation with the iron hydrate, or a mid- or post-addition process of a potassium solution using incipient wetness impregnation after impregnation with the iron hydrate. Accordingly, the highly active iron carbide/potassium/carbon composite catalyst for high temperature FT reaction in which 5˜30 wt % of active iron carbide particles are supported on the porous carbon support can be obtained and is structurally stable to heat even in high temperature FT reaction of 300° C. or more, and liquid hydrocarbons can be selectively obtained at high yields.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of preparing an iron carbide/carbon nanocomposite catalyst containing potassium for high temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction and the iron carbide/carbon nanocomposite catalyst prepared thereby, and a method of manufacturing a liquid hydrocarbon using the iron carbide/carbon nanocomposite catalyst and a liquid hydrocarbon manufactured thereby. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique of preparing a catalyst composed of a carbon support and both iron and potassium supported thereon wherein the carbon support is maximally uniformly impregnated with an iron hydrate via melt infiltration using a large pore volume thereof, and potassium is also uniformly supported together by means of various addition processes, including a pre-addition process for incorporating a potassium salt which is ground upon impregnation with the iron hydrate, or a mid- or post-addition process for incorporating a potassium solution using incipient wetness impregnation after impregnation with the iron hydrate, and to a technique for manufacturing a liquid hydrocarbon using the catalyst thus prepared.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, which is a technique developed in the 1920s by German chemists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, enables synthetic fuel (hydrocarbon) to be synthesized from synthesis gas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) as represented by the following chemical scheme.(2n+1)H2+nCO→CnH(2n+2)+nH2O
In such Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, catalysts containing cobalt and iron are mainly used, and reaction conditions including reaction temperature and pressure, gas composition, etc. considerably vary depending on the kind of applied catalyst.
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis may be largely divided into, depending on the reaction temperature, low temperature Fischer-Tropsch (LIFT) in the temperature range of 200˜250° C. and high temperature Fischer-Tropsch (HTFT) in the temperature range of 300˜350° C. (Andrei Y. Khodakov et al, Chem. Rev., 2007, 107, 1672).
Typically, in the case of low temperature FT reaction, cobalt-based catalysts having a comparatively long lifetime are mainly adopted, and are advantageous because they have high activity and a long lifetime, but are problematic because they are susceptible to poisoning by sulfur compounds or the like or are very expensive compared to iron-based catalysts. Furthermore, the cobalt-based catalysts have little activity in water gas shift (WGS) and thus the ratio of synthesis gas composition (hydrogen:carbon monoxide=2:1) upon FT synthesis reaction has a great influence on the reaction.
On the other hand, iron-based catalysts are active in water gas shift, and may thus be used at various composition ratios of hydrogen to carbon monoxide in the range of 1˜2, and may also be utilized even in the presence of carbon dioxide which is an impurity gas. Hence, upon high temperature FT reaction which is carried out commercially on large scale, iron-based catalysts which are comparatively inexpensive and are resistant to poisoning by sulfur compounds have been mainly used. A typical example of high temperature FT reaction using a commercially available iron-based catalyst to date may include a Synthol process using an iron-based catalyst composed of fused iron (Fe) available from Sasol (Steynberg A. P. et al Appl. Catal. A: Gen., 1999, 186, 41).
However, fused Fe is disadvantageous because a variety of impurities may be contained upon preparation thereof and catalytic activity is low.
In the case of iron catalysts currently used in commercial processes, various promoters including potassium, copper, silica, etc., are used together to drastically improve catalytic performance. In particular, potassium is well known to increase reactivity of the catalyst in FT reaction, decrease production of methane and improve chain growth selectivity of hydrocarbon. Potassium is also well known to exhibit electronic effects as a typical base (D. C. Sorescu et al., Surf. Sci., 2011, 605, 401.; Z. P. Liu et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2001, 123, 12596; S. J. Jenkins et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2000, 122, 10610.). Recently, potassium is reported to partially participate in forming the active surface of iron particles (C.-F. Huo et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2011, 50, 7403).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,503 discloses preparation of an iron-supported catalyst composed of a silicate support and iron and potassium supported thereon, and synthesis of C2˜C4 olefins from synthesis gas using a fluidized-bed reactor.
Preparation of iron-based catalysts using co-precipitation is performed by precipitating any iron-based precursor in the form of nitrate in the presence of an alkali which is exemplified by ammonium hydroxide. Upon using potassium oxide (K2O), it may accelerate the reaction to thus improve reaction performance. As such, potassium is appropriately used at a weight ratio of 0.1˜0.5 relative to Fe 100. Particularly, when potassium is added to the iron-based catalyst, the yield of high-boiling-point hydrocarbon having high molecular weight may be increased and the ratio of olefin and paraffin may be raised in the hydrocarbon product.
Thus, the optimal potassium concentration may favorably increase activity of FT synthesis reaction and also decrease selectivity of methane.
Below is a more detailed description of the related techniques.
Although thorough research into FT reaction has been carried out for almost 100 years since the 1920s, whether the active species of the catalyst actually participating in FT reaction is the metallic iron surface, surface or bulk iron carbide, or iron oxide is still controversial. Because activation energy is lower when carbon is diffused and thus converted into iron carbide than when FT reaction occurs on the metallic iron surface, preparation in the form of iron carbide is regarded as very important. Thereby, an induction period may be minimized, and more preferably, among various iron carbide phases, Hägg carbide (c-Fe5C2) having high activity needs to be efficiently formed (Weckhuysen, B. M. et al. Chem. Soc. Rev., 2008, 37, 2758).
As for catalysts for FT synthesis reaction, when iron-based catalysts are applied to low temperature FT reaction, catalysts resulting from a co-precipitation method have been mostly employed (Korean Patent No. 10-1087165, which discloses a method for preparing of Fe based catalyst used in Fischer-Tropsch systhesis reaction and that of liquid hydrocarbon using Fe based catalyst). This catalyst is advantageous because the amount of iron is high based on the total weight of the catalyst, thus enabling supporting of iron in a large amount.
However, this catalyst is problematic because of complicated preparation procedures, low catalyst reliability, catalyst coking due to carbon monoxide, and instability at high temperature.
Whereas, in the case of high temperature FT synthesis reaction for producing hard naphtha or gasoline, fused Fe particles have been mainly used in commercial processes, and supported catalysts using supports have been mostly applied in the research step of small laboratory scale (Qinghong Zhang et. al., ChemCatChem 2010, 2, 1030).
In the case of fused Fe used in commercial processes, it is made by being fused at a very high temperature of 1000° C. or more and is thus high in mechanical strength but undesirably has a large catalyst crystalline size and low activity (Hiroshige Matsujioto et. al., J. Catal. 1978, 53, 331).
In order to increase catalytic reduction capacity of iron catalysts, copper is used, or potassium is additionally used to increase catalytic activity.
However, methods of uniformly impregnating an iron catalyst composed of a carbon support with potassium have not yet been introduced, and there are no reports for comparing activities of such a catalyst in high temperature FT reaction depending on the amount of added potassium. In the case of the carbon support, it is stable to steam generated during high temperature FT reaction, and is favorable for heat transfer, and the inside of the carbon support may provide the atmosphere which is desirable in terms of reduction and activation of the particles, and this support may be also effective at adsorbing a carbon monoxide (CO) reactant.
Therefore, a need exists to develop techniques for preparing an iron catalyst composed of a carbon support and potassium uniformly supported thereon and for producing a liquid hydrocarbon using the same.

Method of preparing iron carbide/carbon nanocomposite catalyst containing potassium for high temperature fischer-tropsch synthesis reaction and the iron carbide/carbon nanocomposite catalyst prepared thereby, and method of manufacturing liquid hydrocarbon using the same and liquid hydrocarbon manufactured thereby


At least one fuse pattern extending in a first direction is formed on a fuse region of a substrate. A preliminary first insulating pattern is formed on the fuse region to cover the fuse pattern. A conductive layer is formed on the preliminary first insulating pattern. The conductive layer and the preliminary first insulating pattern are etched to form at least one fence extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. Related fuse structures are also disclosed.

Integrated circuits are widely used in consumer, commercial and other applications. As is well known to those having skill in the art, many integrated circuits include fuse structures that may be used to selectively enable or disable portions of the integrated circuit and/or to personalize the integrated circuit. For example, in integrated circuit memory devices, fuse structures may be used to substitute redundant memory cells for defective memory cells. A conventional fuse structure includes an elongated fuse pattern having substantially a bar shape. Generally, an upper face of the fuse pattern is exposed. When a laser is irradiated onto the fuse pattern, the fuse pattern may boil. Thereafter, the fuse pattern may be exploded so that the fuse pattern may be cut. Thus, a current flowing through the conventional fuse pattern may be cut off.
FIG. 1 is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) picture showing a conventional fuse structure having a fuse pattern that is cut.
As shown in FIG. 1, a laser is irradiated onto a target region of the fuse pattern so that the fuse pattern may be cut. In this case, fractures of the target region may spatter widely so that the fracture may be attached to the remaining portion of the fuse pattern. In addition, the fracture may be attached to a wire pattern adjacent to the fuse pattern. As a result, the fracture may generate an electric short between the wire patterns.

Integrated circuit fuse structures including spatter shields within opening of an insulating layer and spaced apart from a sidewall of the opening


Disclosed is a system for displaying and managing information on a webpage using an indicator in which, a memo and so forth can be recorded in the desired contents of the webpage through the indicator and the URL of the webpage can be stored with the indicator to call out them at anytime, whereby providing a convenience in terms of search and manage of information. The system having a client server and a system server comprises an indicator displayed on a surface of specific contents of each webpage with reference to coordinate values corresponding to the specific contents of each webpage and for classifying and elaborating on the specific contents and may use an indicator generation module, an input portion for inputting information, a storage portion storing coordinate values, and an output portion for outputting an indicator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for displaying and managing information on a webpage using an indicator. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for displaying and managing information on a webpage using an indicator in which, where various information are outputted in one webpage through a monitor, desired specific information is provided with a block space as an indicator so that it can be differentiated from other information, a plurality of indicators generated by various users can be piled in the form of a multilevel, the indicators generated by users and the web pages having the indicators can be collected as a database, and the specific information of each webpage can be selectively arranged and easily classified/managed according to a setting manner of a priority order thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the modern societies, according to great developments of an internet, it can easily search and obtain various information, which were obtained through a newspaper or a library reading in the past, by means of the internet.
That is, the internet user inputs the specific keyword through a keyboard of computer by using a webpage having various search engines capable of searching various information and specific contents, so that the user can easily obtain the pertinent webpage containing the specific information.
Presently, according to the developments of various search engines in the information search field using the internet, for example, easy functions such as an automatic word completion and a relation word search and so forth occur in succession, so that it can play a part in searching the information in variously famous internet portal sites.
However, in a general internet search engine, since the target search is mainly restricted to the specific word, the search engine servers to play a role in finding only superficially and fragmentary information including the pertinent word inevitably. Accordingly, it cannot provide the systematical and concrete classification and explanation on the pertinent conception in case that the user intends to find the information on any specific conception like special books. That is, for example, in case that a word "patent" is searched, the conventional search engine can serve to fully find the pertinent webpage standing for words such as "patent office" or "procedure of patent application and so on including the word "patent". However, it has difficulty in finding in-depth and extension information, for example, "relation between intellectual property with patent and general property" and "logic of patent disputes and cases thereof". Also, the group of the information divides into various parts according to the category such as "history of patent", "patent system of each nation", "kind of patent" and so forth. However, in order to find the information of specific field, there is a considerable inconvenience that the user searches each webpage including "patent" searched innumerably one by one.
The reason is because the conventional search engine conducts a specific word-centered search, not general contents-centered one as described above. That is, in order to search the information around the whole contents thereof, it is necessary for the search engine itself to analyze the contents of the information. However, even though a developed intelligent search engine is used, it has difficulty in providing the search function capable of analyzing the contents of the webpage.
In other words, since the information includes comparative values related to subjective values or experiences (for example, an article and editorial in newspaper, contents expressing a personal opinion or experience and so forth), there is a limit in that the objective information cannot be accurately provided in case of mechanically searching the information. Accordingly, it is necessary to record the opinions of many peoples on the information therein more or less and establish the verification and priority order of the recorded information.
Especially, there is a reply culture capable of recording the opinions of many people on the specific information in order to accomplish the above purpose more or less. However, in case of the reply culture, since ill-intentioned or superficial contents or are mainly written anonymously, there is a considerable limit in that it does not play a role in providing an objective value on the information.
Also, since various web pages are existed in the websites, there is an inconvenience in that it is necessary to search all of the web pages one by one in order to find the specific information. Moreover, as though the desired information is checked out through a favorites function, where the contents of a large quantity are recorded in one webpage, for example, where the target information is existed in a second paragraph, 4 page of a webpage having total 10 pages (A4 paper), it has difficulty in finding quickly the desired contents. Furthermore, in case that the webpage of a large quantity are recorded in the favorites, it is difficult to smoothly manage each webpage on account of the confusion of the priority order on each webpage.
In the twenty-first century, since we live in the flood of information, it is not important as to whether a specific information is existed in the well-known search engine or not or how many information there are existed. That is, on the assumption that many web pages on the specific information are already existed, there is a key point in that the specific information can be more rapidly and accurately searched to be recognized as actual information and the webpage for recording the actual information can be managed in groups. Accordingly, it has been demanded that an important indication is displayed on only the desiring information in various web pages and it is systematically sorted to share with other user, so that it can establish the verification and priority order of the information, thereby creating a new paradigm capable of differentiating more and more and being useful in internet information search/manage fields.

System for displaying and managing information on webpage using indicator


The present invention is directed to Bidirectional Multimode Power Converter which employs a high frequency dynamically varying amplitude modulation and voltage steering-method to convert the source AC or DC voltages to output AC or DC voltages with programmable output voltage levels, output voltage frequency and duration. The Bidirectional Multimode Power Converters of the present invention support: inrush current control, turning off the idle converter, line voltage brown out protection, soft start, high pre-charge voltage generation, soft shut down of converter, dimming operation, programmable time of the day operation and operation for specified duration of time. The Bidirectional Multimode Power Converters of the present invention support coupling of multiple power sources for bidirectional power conversion.

Traditional source of electric power are fossil fuels plants, hydro electric and nuclear power plants. These plants serve many remote consumers using power transmission network or Power Grid. For efficient transmission of the power generated at the generating stations to the consumers, the power grid uses Alternate Current (AC) technology. Private residences, industrial complexes, streets, public buildings and other facilities use the AC power. The AC power generated in different countries has different line voltages and line frequencies.
Alternate energy sources such as Solar Power, Fuel Cells and Wind Energy are being produced. The energy generated using alternate energy is typically Direct Current (DC). Large amounts of electrical energy cannot be stored economically. Small quantity of generated energy is stored in batteries. Either all of the generated electrical power is used or the power is generated when there is a demand for energy.
Electrical power can be produced on demand with fossil fuels and fuel cells. The power generated from the nature's sources such as solar energy and wind energy can only be generated when those sources are available. Excess electrical energy, that cannot be consumed at a particular location or stored in local batteries, is fed back to the traditional power grid. To be compatible with the traditional AC power grid and electric appliances, the DC electrical power generated from these alternate sources are converted to AC power.
A power converter or a power supply converts the Alternating Current (AC) electrical power at line voltage and frequency to Direct Current (DC) or AC to AC at different voltage levels and frequencies or DC to DC at different voltage levels used by electronic appliances and equipment. A power inverter converts DC at to AC voltages and frequencies.
The use of power supplies and inverters has increased, due to ubiquity of consumer and enterprise electronic products and increased reliance on alternate energy sources. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in their presentation "A Strategy to Improve the Efficiency of Power Supplies" estimate that there are more than 10 billion AC/DC power supplies used in computing, telecommunications and consumer electronics worldwide. The portable power supplies and battery chargers used for hand held electronic equipment are experiencing growth due to ubiquitous lap top personal computers, cellular telephones and other hand held electronic equipment. These electronic equipments use different voltage types such as AC or DC and at different voltage levels, frequencies and power conversion capacity. Different type of converters and or inverters may be in use at the same facility for different electronic appliances.
Inefficient incandescent bulbs are being used for lighting ail over the world. International Energy Agency (IEA) claims that a switch over to efficient lighting systems could reduce global electrical demand by nearly 10 percent. To replace incandescent lamps, low voltage compact fluorescent lamps, florescent lamps, Light emitting diodes (LED), and other low voltage lighting products are being used in increasing numbers. The low voltage power for these lighting products is facilitated by power converters. Some of these converters are plugged into the wall sockets even when they are not is use. The converters consume power when they are idle, wasting energy. The energy wasted due to power converter inefficiencies increases as the number of the converters increase. High conversion efficiency, shutting off converters on Idle mode and Multimode operation to reduce the number of converters in a location contribute significantly for energy saving.
Electric Vehicles (EV) use electric power stored m DC batteries. The DC battery energy is converted to various DC and AC voltage levels to operate the Electric vehicle motors. AC Energy stored in the motor windings has to be converted back to DC voltages when the breaks are applied. Therefore, bidirectional inverters and converters are needed. The batteries operated by chemical reactions to store or charge and deliver power. So, batteries are limited by the slow chemical conversion time. Method of delivering power on demand while the Electric Vehicle is operating is needed. Fast charging method of batteries at home and public power fueling stations are also needed.
Linear Power Supplies (LPS) and or Switched Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) are used for power conversion and inversion. LPS convert the utility line voltage AC, at line frequencies, to required AC voltage levels at utility line frequencies using step up or step down transformers. The converted AC voltage is used for AC applications or it is rectified, transformed and regulated to the desired DC voltage level.
The utility AC line of different countries, has different line voltages and line frequencies. A common LPS can be designed to address different voltages by the use of multiple windings on the transformer and selecting the winding for the specific voltages. U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,948 illustrates a mechanical switching method using two transformer windings for two different line voltage levels.
Transformers and magnetic inductors are two major components of the power conversion technology. Transformers are used to provide galvanic isolation and voltage conversion. Utility AC line frequencies are normally between fifty and sixty cycles per second or Hertz (Hz). Four hundred (400) Hz is power used in the aircrafts. The physical size of magnetic components varies inversely with the frequency. As a result, the magnetic transformer in art LPS is large because it uses low line frequency directly. Most LPS use linear regulators, which are inefficient and need large heat sinks.
Switched Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) overcome the size and efficiency limitation of the linear supplies. In an SMPS, the utility line voltage AC is rectified to DC using a diode bridge. The rectified voltage is boosted to a high voltage level to provide Power Factor correction and universal operation for varying utility voltages. The boosted common DC voltage is converted to the desired DC voltage levels using DC-to-DC converters, or desired AC voltages using DC-to-AC inverters. The DC-to-DC and DC-to-AC converters or inverter use high frequency switches and transformers. The switching frequencies range from thousands of hertz to hundreds of thousand hertz. So, SMPS uses smaller sized magnetics compared to LPS. However, even these magnetic components are over thirty percent of the overall volume of an SMPS.
The power converter or inverter of the state of the art can be viewed as a composite of many conversion stages. In a LPS Transformer Stage, Rectifier Stage and Output Voltage Regulation stage are generally used. In an SMPS Rectifier Stage, power Factor Correction stage (PFC), DC Boost Stage and DC-to-DC Conversion Stage, and Output Voltage Regulation stage. Additional functions such current Inrush control, soft start, dimming, pre-charge stages are implemented for different applications. The efficiency of a SMPS depends on the conduction and switching losses in its electronic components. Each stage of an advanced SMPS operates near ninety percent efficiency compared to less than eighty percent of the Linear Power Supplies. However, multiple stages employed in SMPS reduce the cumulative efficiency of the overall system. A three stage SMPS with 90% efficiency yields an effective 73.1% efficiency.
Each stage of SMPS power conversion is going through changes for improvements in cost, size and efficiency. To achieve higher efficiencies, methods to reduce the number of conversion stages, methods to replace loss prone elements such as diodes in the conduction path with the semiconductor switches, methods to increase switching frequencies and reduce noise by using monolithic packages have been illustrated. In addition, methods to replace magnetic transformers with piezoelectric transformers and method to eliminate the magnetics for conversion have been illustrated as described herein
The diode used for rectification stage can be replaced with semiconductor switches. U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,726 illustrates a synchronous bridge rectifier for rectifying AC input to DC with low conduction loss. U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,972 illustrates a bridge rectifier with an active switch and control circuits. U.S. Pat. No. 7,408,796 illustrates an integrated synchronous rectifier package.
Combining PFC and DC-to-DC conversion to one stage is being tried. A paper titled. Single Stage Isolated PFC Topologies, by Steven M. Sandler, Charles Hymowitz, Harold Etcher illustrates topologies for single stage PFC and isolation. Single Stage ZVS-FWM inverter outlined in the paper titled "Commercial Frequency AC to High Frequency AC Converter with Boost-Active Clamp Bridge Single Stage ZVS-PWM Inverter" published in IEEE Transaction on Power Electronics, Volume. 23, No. 1, January 2008, exemplify the attempts to increase efficiency of a high frequency Induction heating element with these techniques.
A paper titled "Power Factor Correction and Efficiency Investigation of AC-DC Converters Using Forced Commutation Techniques" by K. Georgakas, A. Safacas, in IEEE ISIE 2005, Jun. 20-23, 2005, Dubrovmk, Croatia, investigates power factor correction and efficiency using MOSFET bridges and forced commutation techniques.
It is well known in the art of the inrush currents due to link capacitors used to smooth ripple currents and holdup capacitors provide continued service for a short time. To mitigate the inrush current, soft start circuits or inrush control circuits are used. The circuits to control inrush currents are provided at the AC Line inputs or the rectified output sections.
"Investigation of High-density Integrated Solution for AC/DC Conversion of a Distributed Power System" Dissertation submitted by Bing Lu to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering illustrates methods to reduce the hold up capacitor size.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,186 illustrates a Triac relay based control circuit for utility AC line before rectification. U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,451 illustrates a variable frequency start up circuit for the rectified line AC voltage. The charging current of the link capacitors is controlled using a switch and a control circuit. U.S. Pat. No. 7,379,311 B2 illustrates inrush current limiting circuits and its control for use in the rectified stage. The current limiting resistors used in these circuits turn on when the inrush conditions due to Power supply start up or changes voltage levels are detected.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,267 illustrates an AC-DC power converter with no input rectifiers and no PFC stage and uses switching means connecting the primary winding of the transformer to AC source. Back to back, MOSFET Switches are used in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,267 so that the output of the push-pull transformer is of the same polarity regardless of the polarity of the instantaneous input. The use of MOSFET also facilitates soft start stage.
The size of the magnetics decreases as the switching frequency increases. Planar transformers are being used, to reduce the size and reduce conversion losses. U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,314 illustrates a low profile planar transformer with printed circuit hoard and magnetic housing for switching frequencies of one mega Hz (1 MHz). U.S. Pat. No. 7,414,510 illustrates methods to reduce the size of planar transformer as compared to the transformer size of U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,314.
Piezoelectric transformers are used to overcome the noises generated by magnetic transformers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,954 demonstrates an AC-DC converter with piezoelectric transformer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,738,267 B1 illustrates the design of a Switched Power Converter with a piezoelectric transformer.
The magnetic core can be eliminated with frequencies above 1 MHz. US patent application publication US 2005/0156699 A1 illustrates a coreless PCB transformer signal and energy transfer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,421 illustrates a switched mode Single Ended Primary Inductor Converter (SEPIC) to achieve Line isolation with out the use of transformers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,139 illustrates generating negative voltages with out using transformers.
A paper titled "A novel AC-DC Converter un-requiring inductors for power conversion" published by Man-Seop Lee; Young-Chang Cho; Hyeong-Woo Cha, Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2008, APEC 2008. Twenty-Third Annual IEEE Volume, Issue, 24-28 Feb. 2008 Page(s): 1358-1360, demonstrates an SMPS, which does not use inductors and high voltage capacitors for rectification. This design features very low no load power but does not provide galvanic isolation.
The technological advances hereto illustrated are specialized for each individual converter and inverter applications such as AC-to-DC; AC-to-AC, DC-to-AC and DC-to-DC. These prior art supplies used multiple conversion stages. Even with reduced number of power conversion stages in specific applications, prior art converters do not yield high efficiency.
The department of energy states that disruptive power conversion architectures are necessary to meet the cost and efficiency goals to make alternate energy such as solar power commercially feasible. Disruptive power conversion architecture is needed eliminate many different power supplies, by combining many output levels, each consuming power even when they are idle.
The need exists for novel architectures to meet the multi faceted electric conversion needs with improved efficiency, smaller size and lower costs for use in appliances, lighting, electronic equipment, alternate energy generators and electric vehicles. The need exists for bidirectional power converters. Need exists to provide multiple feature such as, programmable output type (AC or DC), output levels, output frequency and duration, in a single converter to reduce the number of converters used. The need exists to provide additional functions, with the same-modules used for power conversion, such as but not limited to high voltage pre-charge, diming, soft start and current inrush control. The need exists for quick charging and discharging of electric power for Electric Vehicle operation and power holdover functions in the event of power outage. The need exists for compact power converters for portable operations. The need exists to implement power conversion with common semiconductor chips and common modules. The need exists to utilize multiple high efficiency converters in parallel to provide, higher capacity conversion with out affecting overall conversion efficiency.

System and method for a multi purpose bidirectional power converter


A product rendering controller (PRC) manages the overall process of creating video-on-demand (VOD) assets or products from source assets that are obtained from a wide variety of different content sources (e.g., web-based sources) and which are in a wide variety of different native media formats. The source assets are converted to video transport streams such as an MPEG transport stream and transcoded as necessary to create the VOD products. The PRC determines the VOD products that need to be generated, pre-caches data that is to be incorporated into VOD products, and selects the pool of video product generators that is to be used to convert the source assets to VOD products.

Subscription based video content service providers employ networks such as direct broadcast satellite (DBS), over-the-air, cable and/or telecommunication distribution systems to distribute video content as linear video or video-on-demand (VOD) streams. Such systems typically transmit content to subscribers in an encoded form as a digital MPEG video stream and each subscriber has a client device such as a set-top box or the like that is capable of decoding the MPEG video stream. Beyond providing linear and video-on-demand (VOD) content, service providers are now interested in providing Internet-based or over-the-top (OTT) content, such as web pages, video games, voice-over-IP (VOIP) telephony services that may include video, still images, data, graphics, interactive media and streaming delivery of audiovisual content including movies, and the like.
As a result of the ever-growing number of content sources that are available, service providers often provide hundreds of different channels for viewers to choose from. Additionally, a vast array of Internet-based sources of content are also available to consumers, including video, still images and graphics. To assist consumers in selecting and receiving the video content that they are most interested in, subscription-based video content service providers would like to offer personalized channels targeted or personalized for individual consumers or groups of consumers that have one or more attributes or characteristics in common. For instance, personalized channels may be targeted to groups of consumers who are physically located in common regional markets.
As the Internet has become more dynamic, including video content on web pages and requiring applications or scripts for decoding the video content, service providers have adapted to allow subscribers the ability to view these dynamic web pages. In order to transmit a dynamic web page to a requesting subscriber in encoded form, the service provider's head end retrieves the requested web page and renders the web page. Thus, the headend must first decode any encoded content that appears within the dynamic webpage. For example, if a video is to be played on the webpage, the headend must retrieve the encoded video and decode each frame of the video. The cable headend then renders each frame to form a sequence of bitmap images of the Internet web page. Thus, the web page can only be composited together if all of the content that forms the web page is first decoded. Once the composite frames are complete, the composited video is sent to an encoder transcoder, such as an MPEG transcoder to be re-encoded. The compressed MPEG video frames are then sent to an ABR packager to create an ABR manifest for the content.


Frequency modulated radar transmitters with a repetitive linear increase in frequency with time, referred to as "frequency chirps", are required for many radar applications. The present invention provides a simple way of obtaining such a chirped frequency modulation for a laser radar transmitter or the like. The principle is to translate an optical wedge in the direction of its wedge gradient at constant velocity across the optical path of a laser resonator. The resulting increase or decrease in the effective optical length of the resonator causes frequency chips. In a first embodiment of the present invention, a rotating phase plate on the face of a rotating wheel with the added phase varying linearly with angular position around the wheel is placed within a laser's resonator cavity to tune the optical pathlength of the cavity and thereby the longitudinal mode of the resonator to produce the chirp. This embodiment can be used in either a reflective or a transmissive mode. In a second embodiment of the present invention, the outer peripheral rim of a spiral wheel having a spirally increasing or decreasing radius is used, whereby the rim functions as a mirror, is disposed within the laser resonator. Rotating the wheel changes the optical pathlength of the resonator and causes the longitudinal modes of the resonator to tune so as to generate the required chirp sequence. Lastly, various systems are proposed for eliminating various types of errors in the system as well as for generating both up-chirps and down-chirps sequentially and/or simultaneously.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to linear frequency chirped lasers, and more particularly to a linear frequency chirped laser that is either helical phase plate driven or spiral phase wheel driven.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The most common system used in the prior art to cause a laser to rapidly "chirp" uses an electro-optic crystal within the laser resonator. An increasing voltage applied to the crystal causes its index of refraction to change, changing the optical length of the resonator cavity and causing the resonator's longitudinal modes to tune. The specifics of such a prior art system will be discussed for waveguide CO.sub.2 lasers.
The disadvantages and problems of the prior art include, but are not limited to, the following. The electro-optic crystals are typically cadmium telluride (CdTe) of 2 mm.times.2 mm in cross-section and 5 cm long. The crystals must be polished on all surfaces, with the 2 mm.times.2 mm ends being of optical quality and including anti-reflection coatings. The electro-optic crystals of cadmium telluride are very expensive and very fragile.
The electro-optic effect requires a ramp of 0 to 1600 volts across the 2 mm crystal width. The ramp must be very accurately linear, and it must be swept in, typically, 3 to 30 .mu.sec. This is a very difficult requirement combining both high voltages and radio frequencies (RF). Furthermore, the crystal has an index of refraction of 2.7, so its optical length is 13.5 cm. This length, plus the length for the laser gain, requires that the free spectral range is limited to 500 MHz, and the laser cannot reach the chirp amplitude of 1 GHz desired for some applications without adding longitudinal mode suppression to an already very complex device. The present invention adds less than 2 cm to the optical length of the laser, so the laser can easily reach the 1 GHz chirp amplitude.
The electrode connections must be made between two of the 2 mm.times.5 cm faces of the crystal, and the high voltage RF power must not arc to other parts of the crystal holder or flash-over from one electrode to the other.
Residual strain in the crystal or strain induced by the crystal holder causes transverse variation in the index of refraction, which will distort the optical beam and lead to optical loss within the resonator and a degraded beam quality of the laser output. The strain will also cause birefringence, which will convert one polarization of the light into the other. This will cause further optical distortions because the electro-optic effect is different for the different polarizations. It will also increase the optical losses because some of the optical components will be polarization selective (the spectral line-selecting diffraction grating, for example, and, possibly, the waveguide bore).
Electro-optic crystals are also piezo-electric, so the applied voltage ramp also causes a dimensional change. Because the voltage ramp occurs rapidly, a spectrum of acoustic waves are generated within the crystal. The acoustic energy will fracture the crystal if it is not removed. Even if attenuated enough so that fracture of the crystal will not occur, the acoustic energy will still induce dynamic strain-optic effects. Therefore, this energy must be removed to a very high degree of completeness.
The crystal also absorbs some optical power, which shows up as heat that must also be removed. The heat input is not uniform across the crystal, but is proportional to the optical intensity, which is most intense on the optical axis, farthest from the cooling walls. The absorbed power sets up a temperature gradient within the crystal, which causes index of refraction gradients and mechanical strains, which in turn cause strain-optic effects. These effects limit the circulating optical power and the achievable laser power and beam quality.
The electro-optic crystal must be aligned with the waveguide bore to within very exacting tolerances in both offset and angle, or the insertion losses of the modulator become very large and the optical quality of the laser output drops. This requires a precision adjustable crystal holder and a difficult alignment procedure. The crystal holder must also absorb the acoustic energy, route the high voltage RF, and provide the cooling, all without straining the crystal. The very best electro-optic modulators should have insertion losses of about 6% round-trip, and more typically they are about 10%. The present invention has an insertion loss of less than 1% round-trip.
The chirp linearity and repeatability limit the resolution of a radar system using a chirped laser transmitter. The linearity of the electro-optic driven chirp depends mainly on the linearity of the voltage ramp with time and the piezo-electric/strain optic dynamic disturbances in the index of refraction. Other effects such as the thermal and strain-induced index of refraction gradients and birefringence will also contribute to non-linearities in the resulting optical frequency chirp. Similarly, the repeatability of the chirp slope depends not only on the repeatability of the voltage drive, but also on the dynamic strain-optic effects and the temperature dependence of the electro-optic coefficient. The prior art systems can keep deviations from linearity of the chirp ramp to 1% of the chirp amplitude, and the value of the chirp slope can be maintained constant to approximately 1% from chirp-to-chirp. The present invention very significantly improves these numbers by at least a factor of 100! The system of the present invention solves substantially all of the problems of the prior art while avoiding its shortcomings.

Phase plate or spiral phase wheel driven linear frequency chirped laser


An apparatus for increasing a digital camera image capture rate comprises an imaging device for capturing raw image data, a frame buffer for receiving the image data, a first RAM spooler for transferring the raw image data to a RAM disk, a first flash spooler for transferring the raw image data from the RAM disk to a flash memory, an image processor for processing and compressing the raw data, a second RAM spooler for storing the compressed image data into the RAM disk, and a second flash spooler for transferring the compressed image data from the RAM disk to the flash memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for managing digital image data. More particularly, the present invention is an apparatus and method for increasing the image capture rate of a digital camera by delaying image processing and compression.
2. Description of the Background Art
Still-cameras are often required to capture images at rates which vary depending on their selected photographic targets. For example, during a fast-moving sporting event, still-cameras may be required to capture a series of images during a relatively short time period. Thus, an important still-camera performance feature is the capture rate for successive sets of image data.
Another important still-camera performance feature is the number of captured images that can be stored in the camera's finite memory. To maximize the image-carrying capacity of digital still-cameras, it is desirable to compress the images prior to storage. Conventional digital cameras typically perform image processing on the raw image data and then use a high-quality image compression routine (such as JPEG) to compress the image data.
Photographers, however, may want to capture another image before the camera has completed the time-consuming image processing and compression of raw image data. Therefore, the above processing and compression technique can effectively lower the successive image capture rate.
One common approach for minimizing the image processing and compression time is through the use of custom-designed Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). Typically, up to three relatively expensive ASICs may be required to perform the image processing and compression operations. While such ASIC-based cameras perform the required image processing and compression operations very quickly, their increased cost may render such cameras less attractive to the mainstream consumer market.
To make the digital cameras more affordable, manufacturers have replaced many of the costly ASICs with functionally equivalent software-based routines. The software-based routines may be stored within standard ROM chips and they can also be readily updated by rewriting a portion of the software. Software-based cameras, however, typically require an inordinately long time to perform the image processing and compression operations. This results in slower successive image capture rates and limits the marketability of the software-based digital still-cameras.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and method that enables a relatively low-cost, software-based digital camera to attain higher successive image capture rates.

Apparatus and method for increasing a digital camera image capture rate by delaying image processing


A snare for an endoscope includes a flexible sheath, a control wire movable within the flexible sheath, and a snare loop connected to an end of the control wire, wherein when the control wire is axially advanced, the snare loop projects from the flexible sheath and expands into a loop shape, whereas when the control wire is axially retracted, the snare loop retracts into the flexible sheath and is folded into a closed shape. A resilient wire which forms the snare loop includes a hook portion protruding in a lateral direction of the snare loop. The resilient wire includes a biasing portion which biases the distal end of the resilient wire from a tip end to a base end of the hook portion to press the distal end of the resilient wire against an inner surface of the flexible sheath when the resilient wire is retracted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscopic high-frequency snare for mucosal resection, and the like, via a passage of electric current through the snare, which is used by being introduced into a body through a treatment tool insertion channel of an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical endoscopic high-frequency snare is provided with an insulating flexible sheath, a conductive control wire which is inserted into the flexible sheath to be freely movable therein along the axis of the flexible sheath, and a snare loop made of a resilient wire which is fixed to the distal end of the control wire. The snare loop moves in and out of the distal end of the flexible sheath when the control wire is operated to retract and advance in the flexible sheath, respectively. The snare loop expands by its resiliency when positioned outside the flexible sheath, and becomes narrow when retracted into the flexible sheath. This type of endoscopic high-frequency snare is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.2000-83963.
In a typical endoscopic surgical operation for removing mucosa with an endoscopic high-frequency snare, firstly a mark or marks for indicating the area of a target affected part which is to be removed are made on a surface of the mucosa on the outline of the target affected part, subsequently the surface of the mucosa is dissected annularly along the mark or marks, and thereafter the target affected part of the mucosa surrounded by the annular cut is excised.
Among these three procedures, any conventional endoscopic high-frequency snare alone can perform only the procedure of excising mucosa such as the aforementioned target affected part of the mucosa surrounded by the annular cut. Namely, in addition to an endoscopic high-frequency snare, it is necessary to prepare a special marking tool, and another tool for dissecting mucosa. Therefore, each treatment tools, i.e., the endoscopic high-frequency snare, the marking tool and the dissecting tool, must be interchanged with another treatment tool thereof in order to be used, which makes the endoscopic surgical operation troublesome and complicated, and raises the possibility of contaminated water being scattered each time such treatment tools are interchanged; moreover, the disinfecting operation for the treatment tools becomes troublesome.
To prevent this problem from occurring, if the resilient wire that forms the snare loop is provided at a distal end of the resilient wire with a hook portion, which is formed by bending a portion of the resilient wire in the vicinity of the distal end thereof so that the hook portion projects in a lateral direction of the snare loop, both the aforementioned marking and mucosa dissection procedures can be carried out with the hook portion before the aforementioned mucosa excision procedure with the snare loop.
However, if such a hook portion is formed simply by bending a portion of the resilient wire of the snare loop laterally in the vicinity of the distal end thereof, there is a possibility of the hook portion largely protruding in a lateral direction (radial direction) of the flexible sheath from the distal end of the flexible sheath to such an extend as to get caught by an inner peripheral surface of a channel (e.g., treatment tool insertion channel) of an endoscope, thus making it difficult for the endoscopic high-frequency snare to travel in the channel or damaging the snare loop, when the endoscopic high-frequency snare is inserted and withdrawn into and from the channel.


A biopsy trocar (1) is provided for performing bone marrow biopsies. The trocar comprises a biopsy needle (2) having a cannula (4), and a mandrel (3) having a shaft (6), the shaft (6) being suitable for sliding in the biopsy needle (2). The cannula (4) has, at its distal end, at least one internal rib (12, 21) forming a helix portion on the internal wall of the cannula (4), and the shaft (6) has a helical groove (16, 26) that is able to cooperate with the internal rib (12, 21), the internal rib (12, 21) being suitable for retaining a sample of marrow in the needle (2).

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trocar for bone marrow biopsy, and to a device for bone marrow biopsy that connects a trocar to a motorized rotational drive means.
Description of Related Art
The techniques for performing bone marrow biopsies are the fine-needle biopsies by puncture and aspiration of the marrow (myelogram) and the osteo-medullary biopsies for collecting samples of the marrow and the medullary stroma, the choice being dependent on the result sought by the practitioner (cytology or histology).
Biopsy by aspiration can be performed using a fine needle with a 15-16 gauge, for example. By contrast, if the desired result is of a histological nature, use will preferably be made of the osteo-medullary trocars with a greater diameter (13 gauge for example), thereby allowing a larger sample to be collected.
Traditionally, bone marrow biopsies of the osteo-medullary type are performed especially in the crest of the iliac bone where there is fine cortical bone substance. To perform these biopsies, the procedures presently carried out are either manual or motorized. The manual procedures have certain disadvantages, the main ones being associated with the penetration into the cortical bone and with the recovery of the sample. Most of the needles used manually have simple mandrels with a trocar tip that is not especially sharp, thus forcing the practitioner to exert considerable pressure during the penetration into the bone. The procedure may therefore prove particularly awkward and may cause pain and discomfort for the patient. Once the cortical bone substance has been penetrated and the mandrel withdrawn, the needle is driven into the bone by several millimeters (10 to 30 mm) in order to recover a sample of marrow and medullary stroma. Before the withdrawal of the needle, and in order to ensure that the tissue sample is maintained in the needle, it is recommended to tilt the needle to and fro slightly and rotate it. This manoeuvre makes it possible to cut the specimen and contributes to the successful recovery of the sample. However, it is particularly painful for the patient.
The motorized procedures significantly attenuate the difficulties of penetration and sampling and are less painful for the patient; they also make it possible to reduce the length of time it takes the practitioner to perform the procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,776 discloses an access trocar used in particular in vertebroplasty for injection of materials, comprising a cannula and a stylet, the stylet being guided in the cannula. The cannula and the stylet have threads which allow the cannula to be positioned on the stylet and to advance to a predetermined position. The stylet also has a bone-drilling thread at its distal end. The thread of the cannula is not suitable for retaining a marrow sample since it is too far from the distal end of the cannula.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,543 describes a biopsy trocar for soft tissues. The cannula of the trocar has, at its distal end, a thread for retaining the tissues during the withdrawal of the cannula.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,988,643 describes a biopsy trocar for manual use which, on the distal end of the needle, has an internal thread and external thread, and also a conical part. This needle is connected to a handle. This device has the major disadvantage of having an external thread which, on account of the bone density, will be very difficult to remove without having to unscrew it, which will not allow the marrow sample to be withdrawn correctly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,128 describes a biopsy trocar for manual use, characterized in that the needle has internal ribs inclined towards the rear. This device will not permit bone marrow biopsies of good quality, since the ribs will oppose the penetration of the marrow into the needle. The reason is that, since the trocar is used manually, the speed of rotation is not fast enough to drive the marrow into the needle. In addition, the formation of ribs as described in the patent is technically complicated and very costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,850,620 describes a trocar for motorized use, having a needle with a helical thread portion that is welded inside the distal end, making it easier for the marrow to enter the needle during the biopsy, and a mandrel whose distal end is ground to a pyramidal point. This trocar has several disadvantages. Since the external diameter of the mandrel is less than the internal diameter of the thread crest, there is quite significant play between the external diameter of the mandrel and the internal diameter of the needle. This play may cause accidental attachment and therefore tearing of the soft tissue parts during the introduction of the trocar, but also clogging with bone debris during the perforation of the cortical bone. This clogging may cause difficulties when removing the mandrel from the needle, since the mandrel remains affixed to the internal wall of the needle. It may also cause accidental entry of debris between the mandrel and the internal wall of the needle, thus creating a coating of the internal wall, of which the thickness may be equal to the height of the crest of the welded thread. The efficacy of the system for recovering the specimen, and therefore of the welded thread, is then compromised since the welded thread is in fact embedded within the thickness of the coating and becomes ineffective for the following step of performing the biopsy proper. Finally, the formation of such a thread by welding is technically difficult and particularly costly. Of course, the difficulty increases significantly as the size of the needles decreases.
These trocars make it possible to perform bone marrow biopsies, but, in the case of the manual devices, with longer and more painful operating techniques and, in the case of the motorized device, with risks of failure due to clogging.


An overvoltage protection circuit passes all the normal operating voltages and limits the peak voltage increase during a lightning impulse to a level comparable to the battery voltage. Normal operating voltages of 200 V peak are passed and under lightning impulse conditions the voltage increase is limited to about 90 V. The circuit has first and second protectors connected in series, the first protector being a standard thyristor protector and the second being a gated bidirectional thyristor connected to a diode and a capacitor.

In the telephone system the principal method of connection between the exchange and the subscriber equipment is by a two wire telephone line. In the USA the two wires are called R(ing) and T(ip), while in other areas they are called A and B.
In normal operation wires R and T will be at different potentials wth respect to ground. For a given system practice there will be maximum values that these voltages can assume in normal operation. The maximum positive and negative voltages that wires R and T can reach are not necessarily the same. Also the voltage differential between the wires may not be as large as the sum of maximum positive and negative excursions of the two line wires with respect to ground.
Telephone equipment with components connected from any of the wires to ground and between the wires must have adequate voltage ratings to withstand the voltage potentials which occur in normal operation. Typically, a battery voltage of about 50 V will be applied to the line, and during ringing an additional AC voltage of 100 V.sub.rms (141 V peak) will be applied. Under these conditions a peak voltage of 50+142=192 V will occur. After allowing for tolerancing, the equipment might be designed for a maximum voltage of 200 V in normal operation.
Under disturbing (abnormal) voltage conditions, caused by lightning, power line contact and induction from electrical machines, the above components must be protected against failure from these dangerous overvoltages which can occur on the line wires.
FIG. 1 shows an overvoltage protection arrangement which uses two voltage limiting devices, P1 and P2, connected from each line wire to ground. From the above example, these protectors must not limit the voltage from reaching 200 V, otherwise the normal operation of the telephone system would be impaired. The voltage limiting level of the protectors depends on the protection technology and the type of disturbing voltage that occurs. Typically, the limiting voltage of the protector passing 200 V might be 300 V under AC conditions and 350 V for fast rising/high current lightning impulse conditions.
To minimize the time for which the high voltage exists, voltage switching (crowbar) protectors are used. The characteristic and voltage limiting performance of a voltage switching protector is shown in FIG. 2. When the impulse finishes, the protector in its low voltage state will still have the wire current from the exchange battery flowing in it. It is most important that the protector switches off at this current, otherwise the line would remain shorted to ground preventing normal operation. In thyristor voltage switching protectors, this switch off current is controlled by shorting dots (see S. W. Byatt & R. A. Rodrigues: British Patent Application GB 2113 907 A, "Reverse-Breakdown PN Junction devices", published August 1983). Unfortunately, the presence of these dots slows the protector switching and this contributes to the limiting voltage increase from AC to impulse conditions (300 V to 350 V ). Typically the line DC is about 50 mA, so protectors are made with minimum switch off currents of about 150 mA.
In summary, for the example quoted, equipment designed to operate up to 200 V peak requires components rated for at least 350 V. But, as the disturbing voltage conditions are not controlled, for long service life the components may need even higher voltage ratings.


An apparatus for presenting a substantially linear capacitive output at at least one output locus in response to a voltage input at an input locus, the voltage input varying over a voltage range, includes a plurality of switching units coupled with the input locus. Each respective switching unit of the plurality of switching units is coupled with one output locus of the at least one output locus. Each respective switching unit presents a contributing capacitive output at the one output locus. The contributing capacitive output exhibits a generally linear response to the voltage input over a segment of the voltage range. All the respective switching units cooperate to establish the substantially linear capacitive output over substantially all of the voltage range.

The present invention is directed to voltage dependent capacitance circuits, commonly known as varactors, and especially to voltage dependent capacitance circuits that exhibit substantially linear capacitance variance over a voltage range. In its preferred embodiment, the voltage dependent capacitance circuit of the present invention is implemented using metal oxide silicon (MOS) technology.
Nearly all radio frequency (RF) or other analog systems require a phase locked loop (PLL). A PLL is a somewhat complicated device that requires a control element almost always embodied in a type of voltage dependent capacitance device, or varactor, to control the frequency of a VCO (voltage controlled oscillator). Various fabrication technologies may be employed to produce the necessary VCO, including by way of example and not by way of limitation, Schottky diodes and CMOS (complementary metal oxide silicon) processes that include using MOS technology.
Schottky diodes have non-linear capacitance characterisitics. They are commonly used in designing VCO devices, but are not available in CMOS processes. For that reason when one employs CMOS processes an MOS varactor must be employed. An MOS varactor exhibits an even more non-linear voltage-to-capacitance characteristic than a Schottky diode. As a result, a VCO produced using CMOS processes exhibits a very non-linear voltage-to-frequency change. As a consequence, a control system (e.g., a PLL) using a VCO implemented using CMOS processes requires a significant phase margin to allow for variation from linearity in response by the VCO to variations in voltage.
A varactor implemented using CMOS processes (hereinafter referred to as an MOS varactor) may have to be restricted to a small or narrow range of capacitance output to approximate an acceptably linear response to voltage variations.
Another important consideration is that MOS varactors are sensitive to process variations in their manufacture, such as temperature variations, material variations and other processing variations.
There is a need for a varactor apparatus and method that permit substantially linear capacitive response over a relatively wide range of voltage input variation.
In particular there is a need for a varactor apparatus that is manufactured using CMOS processes and permits substantially linear capacitive response over a relatively wide range of voltage input variation.

Apparatus and method for presenting a linear capacitive output in response to a voltage input


A teaching aid to aid in evaluating data may include a frame member and an eye guide movably connected to the frame member to guide the user of the teaching aid in evaluating the data. The frame member may include a top frame wall, a pair of opposing a side frame walls to connect to the top frame wall and a bottom frame wall to connect to the pair of opposing side frame walls, and the frame member may include a divider wall to define a cavity for the data to be evaluated.

It is well-known that teachers spend a great deal amount of time grading papers including home work and tests. This can be a very tedious task. Furthermore, it is difficult to determine when all the homework and tests have been submitted for review. It would be desirable to have a device which would aid the teacher to accomplish the tasks.


A system device and a method for imaging and/or for obtaining a sample from, for example, endo-luminal areas. The system may include two or more devices which may be magnetically connected in a body lumen, for example the system may include a first device which may include an imager and a transmitter for transmitting in vivo data, and a second device which may include a sampling mechanism.

Known devices may be helpful in providing in-vivo sensing, such as imaging or pH sensing. Autonomous in-vivo sensing devices, such as swallowable or ingestible capsules or other devices may move through a body lumen, sensing as they move along. An autonomous in-vivo sensing device such as an imaging device may include, for example, an imager for obtaining images from inside a body cavity or lumen, such as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The imager may, for example, be associated with an optical system, and optionally a transmitter and an antenna. Some of these devices use a wireless connection to transmit image data.

Device, system and method for in-vivo sensing of a body lumen


A pneumatic rotary drive includes a housing which is connectable to a pressure medium source and is closed in a pressure medium-tight manner by plane covers. A rotatable shaft extends out of the housing through at least one of the covers. A belt which is in engagement with the shaft is arranged within the housing so as to form moveable pressure chambers. At least one guide body arranged within the housing is surrounded by the belt. At least one of the guide bodies is provided with a spring element for resiliently adjusting the effective circumference of the at least one guide body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic rotary drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,148 discloses a pneumatic rotary drive in which a ring-shaped belt surrounds a stationary cylinder-shaped body, so that the belt assumes a kidney shape and forms pressure chambers. Depending on where pressure is applied, this kidney-shaped circular belt travels to one side or to the other side. At the respective end stop of the belt, the pressure chamber volume to which pressure medium is admitted is at a maximum and the pressure chamber volume to be vented is at a minimum, i.e. zero. In other words, the belt makes contact on one side with the cylinder-shaped body over half the circumference of the body and, thus, further yielding of the belt under the application of pressure can no longer occur. The movement of the belt under the application of pressure is transmitted to a shaft by means of toothings arranged on the outside of the belt. This known pneumatic rotary drive has the disadvantage that during operation at high angular velocities, a jerky and sudden deceleration of the rotary movement occurs at each stop. This has a disadvantageous effect on the support of the moveable elements and on the toothing itself. Moreover, because of the extremely high sudden tensile load acting on the belt, a shorter service life of the belt itself must be expected. This rotary drive utilizes a single stationary cylinder-shaped body or guide body.
U.S. application Ser. No. 07/861,228, U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,412 proposes a rotary drive with two guide bodies which are surrounded by a belt and are in operative connection with a shaft which extends to the outside. Depending on the respective end position assumed by the belt, the belt makes almost complete contact with the periphery of one of the guide bodies or with the periphery of the other of the guide bodies. In this rotary drive, a sudden deceleration also takes place when approaching the end stops.