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Carrier particles for sorptive impregnants are known. Exemplary are conventional sorptive impregnants such as copper and silver salts, on activated carbon particles.
Fibrous structures containing functionally active particles are commercially available. Filter media or filters made from these structures include sorptive particles for selectively removing certain components of a liquid or gas passing through the filter. Acceptable performance with low pressure drop beneficially results from the active particles being distributed in a three dimensionally spaced apart arrangement. Advantageously, the supporting fibrous structure is stabilized by fiber-fiber bonding, and the active particles are bonded to, or entrapped in interstitial spaces of, the fibrous structure.
Fine active particles will beneficially provide more surface area for a desired end use than a comparable volume of larger particles, but there must be accessibility to the fine particles by a gas or liquid being passed through the fibrous structure. Difficulties exist when active particles are fine, in particular submicron in size. For example, control of the movement of fine particles when introducing fine particles into or onto a fibrous structure, is challenging because of the mobility or irregular motion of fine particles. Fine, mobile particles also tend to cover available fibrous surface area, and thus may interfere with subsequent fiber-fiber bonding.
Immobilization of fine, mobile particles to prevent loss during use is highly desirable. The immobilization requires adequate surface area for deposition of the fine particles. However, an equivalent volume of fine particles requires more surface area for deposition than would be required by an equivalent volume of conventionally-sized particles, for instance, having an average diameter in the range of approximately 300 to 500 microns. Enough fiber surface will typically not be available in a fibrous structure of macrofibers, for surface bonding of a useful loading of fine active particles. Additionally, the need for the fibrous structure to have an acceptably low pressure drop will typically conflict with enough fiber surface. Moreover, even if excess fiber surface were available, the immobilization must be efficient so that loss during use will be minimized.
Accordingly, an improved fibrous structure having a three dimensional arrangement of immobilized active material, is needed. Such a fibrous structure would benefit the use, and provide increased surface for the immobilization, of fine, mobile particles as the active material, but nevertheless have acceptably low pressure drop. Such a fibrous structure would advantageously provide accessibility of fine active particles to a gas or liquid being passed through the fibrous structure, yet minimize the loss of fine active particles during use. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal dispensing system, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal dispensing system capable of preventing an inferiority of a liquid crystal display device by dispensing a precise amount of liquid crystal onto a substrate and a method of dispensing liquid crystal using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various portable electric devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistant (PDA), and note book computers, have been developed because of their small size, light weight, and power-efficient operations. Accordingly, flat panel display devices, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays (FEDs), and vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), have been developed. Of these flat panel display devices, the LCDs are currently mass produced because of their simple driving scheme and superior image quality.
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of an LCD device according to the related art. In FIG. 1, an LCD device 1 comprises a lower substrate 5, an upper substrate 3, and a liquid crystal layer 7 formed therebetween. The lower substrate 5 is a driving device array substrate, and includes a plurality of pixels (not shown) and a driving device, such as a thin film transistor (TFT), formed on each pixel. The upper substrate 3 is a color filter substrate, and includes a color filter layer for reproducing real color. In addition, a pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed on the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3, respectively. An alignment layer is formed on both the lower and upper substrates 5 and 3 to align liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 7. The lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3 are attached along a perimeter by a sealant 9, and the liquid crystal 7 is confined within the perimeter. In operation, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 7 are reoriented by the driving device formed on the lower substrate 5 to control amounts of light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 7, thereby displaying an image.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a fabrication method for an LCD device according to the related art. In FIG. 2, a fabrication method includes three sub-processes for manufacturing an LCD device: a driving device array substrate process for forming the driving device on the lower substrate 5; a color filter substrate process for forming the color filter on the upper substrate 3; and a cell process.
In Step S101, a plurality of gate lines and data lines are formed on the lower substrate 5 to define a pixel area by the driving device array process, and the thin film transistor connected to both the gate line and the data line is formed on the each pixel area. In addition, a pixel electrode, which is to be connected to the thin film transistor to drive the liquid crystal layer according to a signal applied through the thin film transistor, is formed by the driving device array process. In Step S104, R, G, and B color filter layers for reproducing the color and a common electrode are formed on the upper substrate 3 by the color filter process.
In Steps S102 and S105, alignment layers are formed on the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3. Then, the alignment layers are individually rubbed to induce surface anchoring (i.e. a pretilt angle and alignment direction) for the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 7. In Step S103, a spacer is dispersed onto the lower substrate 5 for maintaining a uniform cell gap between the lower and upper substrates 5 and 3. In Step S106, a sealant is printed along outer portions of the upper substrate 3.
In Step S107, the lower and upper substrates 5 and 3 are assembled together by compression. The lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3 are both made of glass substrates, and include a plurality of unit panel areas on which the driving device and the color filter layer are formed. In Step S108, the assembled upper and lower glass substrates 5 and 3 are cut into unit panels. In Step S109, liquid crystal material is injected into the gap formed between the upper and lower substrates 5 and 3 of the unit panels through a liquid crystal injection hole. The filled unit panel is completed by encapsulating the liquid crystal injection hole. In Step S110, the filled and sealed unit panel is tested.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a liquid crystal injection system for fabricating an LCD device according to the related art. In FIG. 3, a container 12 in which liquid crystal material 14 is contained is placed in a vacuum chamber 10, and the liquid crystal display panel 1 is located at an upper side of the container 12. Then, the vacuum chamber 10 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) to maintain a predetermined vacuum/pressure state within the vacuum chamber 10. In addition, a liquid crystal display panel moving device (not shown) is installed in the vacuum chamber 10 to move the liquid crystal display panel 1 from the upper side of the container 12 to a surface of the liquid crystal material 14, thereby contacting an injection hole 16 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 to the liquid crystal material 14. Accordingly, this method is commonly called as a liquid crystal dipping injection method.
When the vacuum/pressure level within the chamber 10 is decreased by an inflow of nitrogen gas (N2) into the vacuum chamber 10 in the state that the injection hole 16 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 contacts the surface of the liquid crystal material 14, the liquid crystal material 14 is injected into the liquid crystal display panel 1 through the injection hole 16 by the pressure differential between the vacuum/pressure level within the liquid crystal display panel 1 and the pressure/level within the vacuum chamber 10. After the liquid crystal material 14 is completely filled into the liquid crystal display panel 1, the injection hole 16 is sealed by a sealant to seal the liquid crystal material 14 within the liquid crystal display panel 1. Accordingly, this method is called as a vacuum injection method.
However, there are several problems with both the liquid crystal dipping injection method and/or vacuum injection method. First, an overall time for injection of the liquid crystal material 14 into the panel 1 is relatively long for either method. In general, a gap thickness between the driving device array substrate and the color filter substrate in the liquid crystal display panel 1 is relatively narrow, i.e., a few micrometers. Accordingly, a relatively small amount of liquid crystal material 14 is injected into the liquid crystal display panel 1 per unit time. For example, it takes about 8 hours to completely inject the liquid crystal material 14 into a 15-inch liquid crystal display panel, and thus, fabricating efficiency is decreased. Second, consumption of the liquid crystal material 14 during the liquid crystal injection method is large. Only a small amount of the liquid crystal material 14 in the container 12 is actually injected into the liquid crystal display panel 1. Accordingly, during loading of the liquid crystal display panel 1 into the vacuum chamber 10, the unused liquid crystal material 14 is exposed to atmosphere or to certain gases, thereby contaminating the liquid crystal material 14. Thus, any remaining liquid crystal material 14 must be discarded after the injection of the liquid crystal material 14 into a plurality of liquid crystal display panels 1, thereby increasing fabricating costs. | {
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Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology is an important technical branch of Passive Optical Network (PON) family, and similar to other PON technologies, GPON is also a passive optical access technology which uses a point-to-multipoint topology.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of the topology of a GPON system according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, the GPON comprises an optical line terminal (OLT) at an office side, an optical network unit (ONU) at the subscriber side and an optical distribution network (ODN) and usually uses a point-to-multipoint network structure. An ODN comprises such passive optical devices as a single-mode optical fiber, an optical splitter, an optical connector, etc. and provides an optical transmission medium for a physical connection between OLT and ONU.
In a GPON system, the data transmission in the downlink direction (from OLT to ONU) uses the manner of broadcasting, and each ONU receives all frames respectively and then acquires its own frames according to an optical network unit identification (ONU-ID), a G-PON encapsulation method-port identification (GEM-Port ID) and an Allocation-ID.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a downlink frame of GPON according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 2, the downlink frame of GPON comprises a physical control block downstream (PCBd) and a payload. The payload part comprises a plurality of G-PON encapsulation method (GEM) frame headers and GEM payloads. The GEM frame header comprises four parts which are a payload length indicator (PLI), a Port ID, a payload type indicator (PTI) and a header error control (HEC).
In the downlink direction, after having received a GEM frame transmitted by an OLT, an ONU first performs a HEC check. If the HEC check result is incorrect, then the ONU discards the GEM frame, and if the HEC check result is correct, then the ONU judges whether the GEM frame is transmitted to itself according to a PORT ID in the GEM frame header. If it judges that the frame is not transmitted to itself, then the ONU discards the GEM frame, and if it judges that the frame is transmitted to itself, then the ONU receives contents of a corresponding GEM payload of this GEM frame header.
In the uplink direction, after having received a GEM frame transmitted by an ONU, the OLT first performs a HEC check. If the HEC check result is incorrect, then the OLT discards the GEM frame, and if the result is correct, then the OLT receives contents of a corresponding GEM payload of the GEM header.
When the transmitter does not want the receiver to receive data of a specific time, for example, when an OLT does not have sufficient data to be transmitted to an ONU or an ONU does not have sufficient data to be transmitted to an OLT, the existing relevant art uses the manner of the transmitter transmitting idle frames to the receiver, in which, the idle frame is a frame header of a GEM frame the value of which is 0xB6AB31E055, and since the length of the idle frame is comparatively shorter, the receiver needs to resolve the idle frames one by one and the efficiency is rather low.
The existing relevant art does not provide an effective method for handling idle bandwidth, for example, a method of how the transmitter transmits a GEM frame and how the receiver resolves the received GEM frame. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of control modes for controlling a temperature of a thermal fixing apparatus and automatically selecting a corresponding control mode in accordance with a frequency of an image forming operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional PPF (Plain Paper Facsimile), there has been known an apparatus for reducing the rate of operation of a heater for a thermal fixing apparatus so as to save power consumption and controlling a temperature of the thermal fixing apparatus to be lower than a printable temperature as the so-called sleep mode if time for which the facsimile does not receive a signal from an external unit continues for a predetermined period of time, that is, time when no printing operation for received data is performed continues for a predetermined period of time.
On the other hand, there has been known an apparatus in which the current supply to the heater for the thermal fixing apparatus is stopped, so that consumption power is largely saved and a current supply return operation is performed by inputting a receiving signal if the state that no signal is sent from the external unit continues for a predetermined period of time.
However, in the apparatus controlling the heater for the thermal fixing apparatus in the above-mentioned sleep mode and reducing the rate of operation of the heater for the thermal fixing apparatus, at night when the frequency of receiving is extremely low, current supply to the heater for the thermal fixing apparatus itself is that electrical power is wastefully consumed. Even if the heater is controlled in the sleep mode, this does not change the fact that current supply is always performed. Due to this, the lifetime of the thermal relating members such as a thermal fixing roll and a heater is shortened.
Moreover, in the control of stopping the current supply to the heater for the fixing device when no signal is supplied for a predetermined time, there are problems in that it takes a long time till the thermal fixing roll is stabilized and the fixing operation can be performed, that is, rise time (warm-up time), and a printing process cannot be performed at the same time with receiving the signal. In order to solve these problems, there can be used a process in which a memory may be provided in the facsimile and received data is once stored in the memory, and data is read out from the memory and a printing operation is performed when the temperature of the fixing device reaches to the temperature at which the fixing device can be fixed. However, in this case, the memory having extremely large capacities is needed in the facsimile apparatus, so that the manufacturing cost of the apparatus is increased.
In order to prevent the increase in the manufacturing cost of the apparatus, there is an apparatus in which a transmitting signal from an opponent is waited till receiving data becomes printable without providing the memory. However, the facsimile cannot be effectively used. | {
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One of the most common arrangements for supporting power transmission lines includes a plurality of electrical insulators mounted on wooden cross-arms attached to vertical wooden poles so as to provide isolation between the lines and the environment. Such wooden support structures have a number of shortcomings, such as lack of durability, difficulty of construction, and dangerous conditions for workers and animals. The wooden poles and cross-arms are subject to deterioration from exposure to the environment and from internal defects in the materials.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,682,747 and 6,027,082 each teach the use of a modular power transmission support structures formed of, in some embodiments, a polyester resin material that addressed at least some of the shortcomings of prior wooden support structures. However, the ground wires associated with utility poles still pose problems. Currently, ground wires are merely stapled to the wooden pole or held off with a V-shaped standoff brackets. In either case, they are exposed to the environment and may be easily contacted by humans or animals, which may cause severe injury or death resulting from electrocution. | {
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The present invention relates to a digital transmission system, comprising a transmitter for transmitting to a transmission medium a digital signal representing a wideband digital signal having a specific sampling frequency F.sub.s and a bandwidth, and a receiver for receiving from the transmission medium a digital signal substantially corresponding to the digital signal representing the wide-band digital signal. The present invention also relates directly to the receiver.
Such a transmitter comprises (a) a first encoder unit for receiving the wide-band digital signal, the first encoder unit including (i) a sub-band coder unit for splitting up the bandwidth of the wide-band digital signal into M successive sub-bands which augment with frequency (each sub-band having a band number m, where m is an integer such that 1.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.M), and generating M sub-band signals having reduced sampling frequencies in response to the wide-band digital signal, each sub-band signal being made up of consecutive signal blocks which each contain q samples of that sub-band signal; (ii) a quantization unit for quantizing the samples in the signal blocks of the sub-band signals to produce quantized samples in the signal blocks; and (iii) a bit allocation unit for generating bit allocation information denoting how may bits the q samples in a signal block are quantized by; (b) a scale factor information generating unit for generating scale factor information relating to a scale factor for a signal block; (c) a combining unit for combining the quantized samples in the signal blocks, and the bit allocation information and the scale factor information relating thereto in successive frames of a second digital signal; (d) a second encoder unit for converting the second digital signal into a third digital signal which is error correction encoded; and (e) an application unit for applying the third digital signal to the transmission medium.
Such a receiver comprises (a) a receiving unit for receiving a replicated third digital signal from the transmission medium which substantially corresponds to the third digital signal applied thereto; (b) an error correction unit for correcting errors in and converting the replicated third digital signal into a replicated second digital signal which substantially corresponds to the second digital signal; (c) a control signal generating unit for generating a control signal if an error exists in the replicated third digital signal which cannot be corrected when the fourth digital signal is converted into the replicated second digital signal in the error correction unit; (d) an error masking unit for processing the replicated second digital signal in response to the control signal; (e) a derivation unit for deriving the quantized samples in the signal blocks of sub-band signals and the bit allocation information and the scale factor information relating thereto from frames of the replicated second digital signal to produce replicated samples in the signal blocks which substantially correspond to the original samples in the signal blocks of the sub-band signals; and (f) a synthesis filter unit for constructing a replica of the wide-band digital signal in response to the samples in the signal blocks.
A transmission systems of the type mentioned above is know from European Patent Application No. 402.973, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,396. In such prior art receivers, if the received information contains one or more errors which cannot be corrected (i.e., one or more uncorrected errors), those errors are replaced by information obtained (i.e., error masking occurs) from interpolation of the received information. Separate interpolation circuits are necessary to enable application of such interpolation. | {
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A cellular network is a wireless communications system made up of a number of cells, each served by a fixed transmitter, known as a cell site or base station. Each cell site in the network typically overlaps other cell sites. The most common form of cellular network is a mobile phone (cell phone) system. The base stations are connected to cellular telephone exchanges or “switches”, which in turn connect to the public telephone network or another switch of the cellular company.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a worldwide consortium to create a specification for a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone system. 3GPP's plans are currently in development under the title Long Term Evolution (LTE). The 3GPP LTE project is to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access mobile phone standard to cope with future requirements. Goals of 3GPP LTE include improving efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum opportunities, and better integration with other open standards. The 3GPP LTE technical specification is described in a set of reference documents including 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical Channels and Modulation (Release 8), 3GPP TS 36.211 V0.4.0 (2007-02); and 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 8), 3GPP TS 36.300 V8.1.0 (2007-06). In 3GPP LTE (E-UTRA and E-UTRAN) terminology, a base station is called an “eNode-B” (eNB) and a mobile terminal or device is called a “user equipment” (UE).
Mobile devices (UEs) require battery power to operate. One of the goals of E-UTRA and E-UTRAN is to provide power-saving possibilities for the UEs. Discontinuous reception (DRX) is a method used in mobile communications to conserve the battery of the mobile device. The mobile device and the network negotiate phases in which data transfer happens. During other times the mobile device turns its receiver off and enters a low-power state.
In 3GPP LTE, the mobile devices must be able to transmit and receive voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) data packets. The VoIP traffic pattern has periodic small data packets at fixed intervals and periodic silence indication (SID) packets. Also, 3GPP LTE uses a hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ) method, a variation of the well-known automatic repeat-request ARQ method, to transmit the VoIP packets. HARQ requires an acknowledgment signal (ACK) or negative-acknowledgement signal (NACK) to be sent by the receiver back to the transmitter to indicate that the VoIP packet has been received or not received. If the transmitter receives a NACK, then the VoIP packet is retransmitted.
The unique VoIP traffic pattern and the requirement for ACK/NACK transmissions and VoIP packet retransmissions present special challenges to the use of DRX to minimize power consumption in a mobile device. The mobile device's receiver must be turned on to receive the periodic VoIP packets and SIDs as well as the ACK/NACK signals and retransmitted VoIP packets. What is needed is a system and method for controlling DRX in a mobile device that allows operation with these requirements, but that also minimizes power consumption. | {
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In recent years, there have been various image forming apparatuses or multifunction peripheral (MFP), which can perform a tab printing function to insert tab sheets into desired positions in a printed document having a plurality of pages and printing letters and such on a tab of the tab sheet. Use of this tab printing function saves user's trouble of inserting tab sheets into specific portions or positions in a printed document or writing, thereby improving user-friendliness in creating a printed document with tab paper.
However, tab sheets do not come in only one size. Rather, tab sheets can have a main sheet having one paper size with tabs having different sizes and shapes, or alternatively, the paper size of the tab sheets can be different. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a system and method for recognizing tab sheets and displaying one or more sets of tab sheets as a thumbnail image on a graphical user interface of an image forming device and/or a printer driver user interface of client device. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering-bracket supporting apparatus, i.e. a supporting apparatus for fixing a steering bracket to a vehicle body and also relates to a steering apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior Art 1 and 2 disclose techniques of a separation capsule in which when an excessive load is applied to a steering column attached to a vehicle and the steering column is pushed to the front of the vehicle, a part of the supporting structure is separated and the steering column thus moves to the front of the vehicle, thereby protecting a driver (operator) from a thrust (secondary collision) of a steering wheel. | {
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There is conventionally known a valve timing controller which includes a housing receiving a drive force of a crankshaft for an engine and a vane rotor which is accommodated in the housing to transmit the drive force of the crankshaft to a camshaft, where the vane rotor is relatively rotated in a retard side or an advance side to the housing by pressure of an operating fluid in a retard chamber or an advance chamber, controlling a phase of the camshaft relative to the crankshaft, i.e., valve timing (for example, refer to US-2005/0284433 A1).
In such a valve timing controller, a torque fluctuation the camshaft receives from an intake valve or an exhaust valve when the intake valve or the exhaust valve is driven for opening/closing is transmitted to the vane rotor. As a result, the vane rotor is subject to the torque fluctuation to the retard side or the advance side relative to the housing.
In a case of supplying an operating fluid to the advance chamber to change a phase of the camshaft relative to the crankshaft from the retard side to a target phase of the advance side, the operating fluid in the advance chamber receives force in such a manner as to be flown out from the advance chamber, caused by that the vane rotor is subject to the torque fluctuation to the retard side. As a result, the vane rotor moves back to the retard side by the torque fluctuation as shown in a broken line of FIG. 20, increasing a response time until the vane rotor reaches the target phase. This phenomenon is significant when the pressure of the operating fluid from a fluid supply source is low.
Therefore, it is considered that a one-way valve is disposed in a supply passage for supplying the operating fluid to the advance chamber, preventing the operating fluid from flowing out from the advance chamber even if the vane rotor is subject to the torque fluctuation. As a result, it is known that this, as shown in a solid line of FIG. 20, prevents the vane rotor from returning back to a direction opposite to the target phase with respect to the housing during phase controlling, enhancing responsiveness of the phase control.
However, at the time of holding the vane rotor at the target phase, the operating fluid in the retard chamber is discharged from the retard chamber, caused by that the vane rotor receives the torque fluctuation to the advance side, so that the vane rotor tends to relatively rotate in the advance side to the housing. As a result, particularly when the supply pressure is low, the valve timing is more likely to be shifted to the advance side.
In view of the above, there exists a need for a valve timing controller which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the conventional art. The present invention addresses this need in the conventional art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure. | {
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A guard ring region may be formed in a semiconductor device such as a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) to surround a region at which a semiconductor element is provided in order to suppress a semiconductor element from being broken by concentration of an electric field.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-4643 (Patent Document 1) describes a structure of a MOSFET made of silicon, the MOSFET including an element region and a termination region formed to surround the element region, a guard ring being formed at the termination region. According to the MOSFET described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-4643, a guard ring layer and an embedded guard ring layer are formed to have curvatures at a corner portion of the outermost base region such that they are concentric to each other. Moreover, in order to suppress the concentration of electric field at the corner portion of the outermost base region, the outermost base region is configured to have a radius of curvature about twice to four times as large as the thickness of the drift layer. | {
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Machines such as, for example, track-type tractors, dozers, motor graders, wheel loaders, and the like, are used to perform a variety of tasks. For example, these machines may be used to move material and/or alter work surfaces at a worksite. In general, the machines may function in accordance with a work plan for a given worksite to perform operations, including digging, loosening, carrying, and any other manipulation of material within a worksite. Furthermore, the work plan may often involve repetitive tasks that may be entirely or at least partially automated to minimize operator involvement. Accordingly, the machines may include not only manned machines, but also autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles that perform tasks in response to preprogrammed commands or commands delivered remotely and/or locally.
In such work environments, it is desirable to ensure that the machines perform work operations such that the material is moved in an efficient and productive manner. In substantially automated work environments, much of the overall efficiency or productivity relies on the predictability of each machine, or the ability of the machine to accurately execute the task according to the predetermined work plan. In dozing applications, the ability of the machine to accurately initiate a cut at the appropriate target cut location for a given pass can be adversely affected by inconsistencies in the materials involved, irregularities in the work surface, machine limitations, or a variety of other factors. Moreover, seemingly insignificant deviations in the initial cut position may be compounded and pronounced after several passes, which may require more time and effort to correct at the back end.
Realizing the significance of providing more accurate cuts, conventional autonomous dozing systems attempt to prevent such deviations at the forefront. More particularly, several conventional systems employ sensors or other feedback mechanisms installed on the machines to closely monitor the actual progress relative to the planned cut profile and adjust machine and implement controls to minimize deviations. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,731,784 (“Hayashi”), for example, a laser guided mechanism is used to provide feedback of a cutting blade edge position relative to the actual surface or terrain and to adjust the blade position accordingly. While such systems may help prevent the potential for initial errors, these systems do not provide adequate means for reacting to missed target cut points if and when they do occur.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide more intuitive and systematic means for reacting to missed cuts in a manner which aids in improving overall efficiency and productivity. The present disclosure is directed at addressing one or more of the deficiencies and disadvantages set forth above. However, it should be appreciated that the solution of any particular problem is not a limitation on the scope of this disclosure or of the attached claims except to the extent express noted. | {
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monitor system for monitoring the starting of a rotary wing aircraft. The invention also relates to a rotary wing aircraft fitted with such a system and to a method of starting a turboshaft engine that make use of the monitor system.
The invention thus lies in the field of devices for monitoring the power plant of rotary wing aircraft.
(2) Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a rotary wing aircraft has a power plant provided with a rotor that provides at least some of the lift of the aircraft. The rotor may also contribute to providing at least some of the propulsion of the aircraft. Thus, a helicopter has a main rotor that provides it both with lift and with propulsion.
The rotor is driven in rotation by a main gearbox that is driven by at least one engine.
For example, the power plant includes a turboshaft engine having a gas generator and a free turbine for delivering power. The free turbine is then linked to the main gearbox by a drive train for transmitting power.
The drive train for transmitting power is usually fitted with an overrunning clutch or “freewheel”. The freewheel has a driving portion that is driven in rotation by an engine, and a driven portion that is connected to the main gearbox.
Such a freewheel has the function of enabling the rotor to be driven by the engine while, in contrast, preventing the engine being driven by the drive train. The freewheel may be advantageous in particular during a stage of autorotation of the rotary wing, for example.
Such a freewheel can become degraded while it is in use. Under such circumstances, a degraded freewheel can slip, constituting a location where mechanical slip takes place between two components.
For example, the freewheel may have rollers interposed between the driving portion and the driven portion. The rollers then allow the driven portion to be driven by the driving portion. Nevertheless, the rollers may become eroded and they might no longer perform their function correctly.
When starting the engine, a worn freewheel can lead to mechanical rupture of the power drive train. If the driving portion of the freewheel no longer drives the driven portion, then the engine runs the risk of having its free turbine in an overspeed situation. If mechanical transmission between the driving portion and the driven portion is erratic, then the engine can be subjected to mechanical jolting in the event of the driving and driven portions suddenly re-engaging.
Slip in the freewheel can also lead to abnormal wear of mechanical elements present between the engine and the rotor of the rotary wing, e.g. as a result of repeated jolting.
Consequently, when starting the engine(s) of an aircraft, a pilot tends to perform visual verification that the rotor is being driven in rotation. If the rotor is set into rotation, then the pilot can deduce that the drive train is operating correctly.
The flight manual of an aircraft may require the pilot to verify visually that the rotor is rotating as from a threshold speed of rotation of the engine.
If the rotor is not set into rotation, the pilot then stops the engine.
The remote technological background in the field of the invention includes the following documents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,092 A, U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,748 A, and JP 2007 270 770 A.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,092 A proposes to replace an automatic transmission system having a clutch. A freewheel effect is simulated by a microprocessor. Slip is detected when the torque upstream from the clutch is negative.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,748 A describes means for detecting the current state of a freewheel system. That document does not describe the specific circumstance of the freewheel slipping and it is directly entirely to the remote automobile field.
Document JP 2007 270 770 A suggests measuring the speed of rotation of the rotor in order to detect slip of a freewheel.
Also known are the following documents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,923, GB 2 193 535, and US 2005/278084. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ventilation mask, which has a base, a hose connection, and at least one sealing element and is provided with a forehead support, which is arranged in such a way that it can be positioned relative to the base of the mask.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ventilation masks of this type can be designed both as nasal masks and full-face masks. Ventilation masks of this type typically have a movable forehead support that helps achieve optimum positioning of the mask on the differently shaped faces of different patients. The forehead support is usually moved relative to the base of the mask by rotation about a transverse axis or rotation about a vertical axis.
A disadvantage with respect to rotation of the forehead support relative to both a transverse axis and a vertical axis is that movements of this type only indirectly adjust the distance between the forehead support and the base of the mask.
It is also known from DE 101 55 152 that the forehead support can be adjusted relative to the base of the mask with the use of rods. However, the use of these rods or the use of screws leads to integration problems with respect to the introduction of these components in the mask geometry. | {
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The present invention draws upon two different areas of communication: data packet-based communication employing Internet addresses and circuit-based communication where telephone (or other identifier) number portability has evolved to enable a subscriber to “port” a subscriber telephone number or other communication identifier geographically and/or between service providers. Packet-based communications are addressed first.
When computers attached to a network communicate, Internet protocol (IP) addresses are used to identify those computers and typically correspond to 32 bit integers for IP version 4 or 128 bit integers IP version 6. Although such IP addresses provide a convenient, compact representation for specifying the source and destination for packets sent across an Internet, human users prefer to assign computers pronounceable, easily remembered names. As a result, the domain naming system (DNS) was developed to provide a scheme for assigning meaningful, high level names to a large set of computers, and to provide a mechanism that maps between high level computer names and IP addresses.
In general, the domain naming system can be viewed as a distributed, shared database of domain names and corresponding IP addresses. Domain servers, more commonly called DNS servers, maintain these databases. An example of a common DNS server is a UNIX-type machine running a version of Berkeley Internet Naming Software (BIND). A domain name may consist of a sequence of subnames separated by a delimiter character—the period. Individual sections of the name might represent sites or groups, but the domain naming system simply refers to each section of a name as a label. An example of such a domain name is an Internet address such as http://www.ericsson.se or an e-mail address such as [email protected]. The label after the period is the site name authorized by a central authority. The label(s) before the period is(are) the part of the name controlled by the specific site. Here, the top level Internet domain corresponding to the site is the country code “se” for Sweden, and for e-mail address, it is the top level domain “com”.
Domain servers are conceptually arranged in a tree structure that corresponds to a naming hierarchy. The root of the tree is a server that recognizes the top level domains (or tiers) and knows which server resolves each domain. Given a name to resolve, the root can choose the correct server for that name. At the next level or tier, a set of name servers each provide resolution answers for one top level domain, e.g., se. A server at this domain knows which servers can resolve each of the subdomains under its domain. At the third level of the tree, name servers provide answers for subdomains, e.g., ericsson under se. The conceptual tree continues with one server at each level for which a subdomain has been defined.
Links in the conceptual tree, however, do not indicate physical network connections. Instead, they point to other name servers. Conceptually, domain name resolution proceeds top down, starting with the “root” name server and proceeding to servers located at the branches or leaves of the tree. There are two ways to use the domain naming system: (1) by contacting name servers one at a time, or (2) asking a name server system to perform the complete translation. In either case, client software forms a domain name query that contains the name to be resolved, a declaration of the class of the name, the type of answer desired, and a code that specifies whether the name server should translate the name completely. It sends the query to a DNS server for resolution.
When a DNS server receives a query, it checks to see if the name lies in the subdomain for which it is an authority. If so, it translates the name to an address according to its database and appends an answer to the query before sending it back to the client. If the DNS server cannot resolve the name completely, it checks to see what type of interaction the client specified. If the client requested complete translation, (i.e., recursive resolution), the server contacts a DNS server that can resolve the name and returns the answer to the client. If the client requested non-recursive resolution, (i.e., iterative resolution), the name server cannot supply an answer. Instead, it generates a reply that specifies the name server the client should contact next to resolve the name. The dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) provides automated procedures by which a master node can assign an IP address to a server in the Internet, e.g., a DNS server. In general, IP addresses can be allocated to an entity either statically, i.e., a fixed IP address, or dynamically, i.e., only for as long as the entity is actively connected to the Internet. User devices, like a computer entity or a mobile device in a global packet radio system (GPRS) system, are normally assigned temporary Internet addresses. Although conceptually fairly simple, in practice, the resolution of IP addresses using DNS can be complex and time consuming.
The Internet and the domain naming system are designed to carry packet traffic for enabling computers to communicate. Other types of networks are designed to carry circuit-switched traffic. An example of a circuit-switched network is a legacy network, which employs the well-established Signaling System No. 7 (SS-7) as defined by various standards bodies. The routing of a telephone call through a legacy network employs a structured telephone numbering plan. Such structured rules are defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the E-series Recommendation E.164. The E.164 numbering is applicable in all domains of telecommunications systems including wireline and wireless systems. Each physical node, referred to as a local exchange, is allocated one or more unique exchange number groups. The telephone number of a subscriber typically includes both an exchange number group (typically allocated in ten thousand number blocks) for the exchange to which a subscriber is connected, and a number in that group which is specific to the subscriber.
For example, a subscriber having a telephone number 881–1657 is connected to a local exchange having an exchange number group 881, within that group, the subscriber has a subscriber number of 1657. Thus, the telephone number is geographical in the sense that there is a defined relationship between the telephone number and a geographical area served by the exchange to which the subscriber is connected. There are also non-geographical telephone numbers where no geographical relationship exists. For example, toll free numbers, virtual private network numbers, and universal access numbers are typically serviced by intelligent networks (IN). IN services are controlled and executed by a service control point (SCP) using data stored in a service data function (SDF).
When a subscriber physically re-locates or changes service providers, it is desirable for the subscriber not to have to change his telephone number. Accordingly, number portability services permit a subscriber to “port” or transfer his telephone number to wherever the subscriber physically relocates or to a different service provider. Similarly, a mobile subscriber E.164 identification number, such as the MSISDN, is used to identify the mobile subscriber, the subscriber's subscription, and the subscriber's current location. When a mobile subscriber changes service providers, a mobile subscriber number portability database is updated to reflect the change. Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,887 describes an example of mobile subscriber number portability in a telecommunications network that permits a mobile subscriber to retain its same MS ISDN when changing service providers.
Recently, there have been discussions in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other forums of the possibility of permitting a user to enter a telephony number, hereafter often referred to as an “E.164 number,” into a computing device with the goal of treating that E.164 number as a DNS query for which a corresponding Internet address is supplied by the DNS. This particular type of DNS query is referred to as an ENUM query. A recent IETF request for comments (RFC) 2916 entitled, “E.164 Number and DNS,” outlines the possible use of the domain naming system for the storage of E.164 telephony numbers. The DNS is used to identify available services connected to an E.164 number.
While this idea is quite desirable in theory, there are a number of problems before it becomes practical. In particular, deploying an E.164 number-to-IP address mapping within the DNS infrastructure is quite cumbersome. For example, in order to accommodate portability of the E.164 number within the domain naming system for both different geographical locations and different service providers, it would be necessary to update the E.164 and IP-address relationship in the DNS databases whenever a portability process is executed for a specific user. In addition, it would be necessary to upgrade the DNS infrastructure with many more DNS servers to handle the millions/billions of numbers that exist in the telecommunications world. There must be coordination of the user location or subscription information between the DNS and telecommunication systems. Service provider's management systems would need to be updated to attach the DNS/DHCP management routines to the same management routines used to handle the portability service of the E.164 numbering scheme. Furthermore, the very openness and flexibility of the Internet in allocating temporary IP-addresses to user devices potentially undermines the integrity of simple, one-to-one mapping tables between E.164 telephone numbers and IP-addresses. Sophisticated protection against hackers modifying the stored E.164 numbering resources would be needed. If tampering resulted in an inability to communicate with that E.164 number, the consequences could be very serious including lost income, decreased customer satisfaction, and increased user complaints.
The present invention provides a much simpler and secure way of permitting resolution of traditional telephone numbers and other entity/device identifiers into Internet addresses. It further accommodates portability of telephone numbers and other entity/device identifiers without having to substantially modify or rework the DNS infrastructure or various established number portability schemes. Self-contained, additional functionality is readily implemented on a DNS server to allow smooth IP address resolution of telephone numbers or other entity/device identifiers by taking advantage of existing portability databases without impacting the existing networks that create and maintain such portability databases.
In general, the present invention permits resolution of a telephone number or other identifier of an entity to be contacted into an Internet address, i.e., an IP address, using a domain name system and a portability database. The term “entity” encompasses devices as well as subscribers, users, etc. Portability database is often used in the context of a telephone number portability database. However, the invention is not limited thereto and encompasses any type of portability database. The telephone number or other identifier to be resolved is provided to a server which includes functionality for accessing a portability database. For the telephone number example, a telephone number portability database may be a mobile network number portability database, a fixed network number portability database, and/or an intelligent network number portability database.
From the access of the number portability database, the server determines, among other things, the identity of the network operator currently serving the entity/device to be contacted. In particular, the number portability database provides a network identifier corresponding to the network operator associated with the entity. The network identifier is used to make the process of resolving the telephone number into a corresponding Internet address faster and more efficient by sending the query directly to a DNS server in the identified network for resolution.
In a non-limiting, example embodiment, a DNS server that receives the request to resolve an E.164 telephone number into an IP address includes a DNS resolution processor for handling Internet address resolution requests as well as a resolution extension handler. The resolution extension handler consults a telephone number portability database using the telephone number and obtains therefrom the network identifier corresponding to the network operator currently associated with the entity. The DNS resolution processor uses that network identifier in the process of resolving the telephone number into the corresponding Internet address. The resolution extension handler is configured to use or emulate a protocol associated with the number portability database when it makes its consultation. As a result, the DNS server uses existing number portability databases rather than having to create DNS number portability databases for a myriad of telephone numbers or other entity addresses.
Further example implementation details in this non-limiting embodiment include the DNS resolution request for an input E.164 telephone number being constructed as an ENUM query. The DNS resolution processor includes the network identifier returned from the number portability database in the ENUM query and sends the query on to a second DNS server corresponding to the network identifier. The DNS resolution processor receives from the second DNS a naming authority pointer (NAPTR) record with one or more resource records containing uniform resource identifiers (URIs) corresponding either to the actual telephone number, (e.g., an e-mail address), or to the network boundary servers where the E.164 subscription resides, (e.g., the address of a proxy server, a gateway switching center, or a multimedia messaging service center used for the delivery of messages to users). In other words, the NAPTR record includes available ways of contacting a specific node identified by the domain name, including E.164 telephone numbers. Specifically, the NAPTR record includes an Internet address associated with the telephone number. | {
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Dental trays are receptacles that are used to carry a medicine or dental hygiene materials, such as bleaching agents or fluoride application, and apply them to the teeth. It confines the material next to the teeth during the application. The thin dental tray of this invention is also suitable for use in creating provisional crowns. Because of its thinness, hardness and the accuracy of the impression it takes, it is equal to more expensive custom trays made over gypsum molds and models.
There are two types of dental trays: stock and customized. Stock trays are pre-fabricated into a variety of standard sizes. They are used only for preliminary procedures and to produce impressions for castings as an interim step to creating more accurate dental trays and models of teeth. Custom trays are made by a dentist or technician by molding a material over a gypsum model of the patient's teeth. In order to get the gypsum model, a preliminary impression is made from the patient's teeth. The model requires at least one dental visit and requires a laboratory to construct the gypsum model.
Once the model is made, the customized dental tray is formed by the dentist or lab according to the limitations of the materials to be used for the tray. If the tray is made of shellac or thermoplastic sheets, the tray may be formed in a vacuum forming machine or other machine which exerts pressure. The sheets are placed in a soft state over the model and pressure is applied while the material sets.
This method requires additional work to finish the tray by removing excess material and doing a final fit of the patient, requiring at least one more visit to the dentist. The result is a customized tray, but at a large cost of time and professional service. U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,616 is an example of this method wherein the material is a thermoplastic such as Polyform. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,342 discloses another thermoplastic, methyl methacrylate, that is heated and formed over a gypsum cast. Both require trimming.
Another variation of this method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,225, where polycaprolactone polymer is used to make a dental tray, again using a gypsum model. The polycapralactone is then formed over the teeth by the dentist or technician.
In each of these prior methods, the customized dental tray depends upon a model first created from an impression, after an office visit and with the aid of a professional. The final tray then is made after another visit and additional time with a professional. The time and expense of such a tray can be very great. The majority of the preliminary work, such as the initial impression, the model, and the interim products, is not usable for any other patient. If the patient's teeth structure changes, even the patient cannot make use of these products.
The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,791, uses ethylene vinyl-acetate and creates a customized dental tray without the necessity of a gypsum model. The resultant tray is thicker than the thin tray of this invention, which may cause discomfort. Additionally, it is not hard at normal temperatures, as is the thin inner tray of this invention.
This invention addresses these problems and creates a hard, thin dental tray, suitable for many types of dental and at home procedures and uses. The thin inner tray is customizable to the same accuracy as more expensive custom trays created on a model, but at a fraction of the cost in time, professional expertise or equipment. The outer tray can be used separately for fluoride gel applications. The thin dental trays can be customized and molded in the home or outside of a dental office. These dental trays can be used in.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for making a hard, flexible custom dental tray without the necessity of intermediate models, trays or special equipment or expertise. | {
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The present invention relates to flip-flop circuits operating at high speed. More particularly, the present invention relates to a flip-flop circuit including a small number of transistors and exhibiting low power consumption.
In general, a flip-flop circuit has a great influence on the area, power consumption and critical path delay of a logic circuit in a semiconductor integrated circuit. Therefore, there has been a demand for reducing the area and power consumption of the flip-flop circuit and for increasing the speed of the flip-flop circuit.
Flip-flop circuits using latch circuits which capture data during a period of a pulse width shorter than a clock cycle have been proposed to date. Hereinafter, a known flip-flop circuit having such a configuration will be described.
FIG. 13 shows a configuration of a flip-flop circuit called a semi-dynamic flip-flop (SDFF).
In FIG. 13, reference sign D denotes an input terminal, reference sign CK denotes a clock terminal and reference sign Q denotes an output terminal. Reference signs MP1 and MP2 denote PMOS transistors, reference signs MN1, MN2, MN3, MN4 and MN5 denote NMOS transistors, reference signs INV1, INV2, INV3, INV4, INV5 and INV6 denote inverter circuits, and reference sign NAND1 denotes a NAND circuit. Reference signs CKD and n1 denote nodes, reference sign IQ denotes an inner output terminal and reference sign QB denotes an inverted output terminal.
The PMOS transistor MP1 and the three NMOS transistors MN1, MN2 and MN3 are connected in series. The PMOS transistor MP1 has a source connected to a power source and the NMOS transistor MN3 has a source connected to a ground. The inverter circuits INV1 and INV2 constitute a delay circuit which transmits a clock signal at the clock terminal CK (hereinafter, referred to as a clock signal CK) to an input terminal of the NAND circuit NAND1 with a delay, and the inverter circuits INV1 and INV2 are connected in series and inserted between the clock terminal CK and the input terminal of the NAND circuit NAND1. The NAND circuit NAND1 has two input terminals, one of which is a node CKD connected to an output terminal of the inverter circuit INV2, and the other is a node n1. The node n1 connects a connection point between the PMOS transistor MP1 and the NMOS transistor MN1, an output terminal of the inverter circuit INV3 and a connection point between the PMOS transistor MP2 and the NMOS transistor MN5, together. The NAND circuit NAND1 has an output terminal connected to a gate terminal of the NMOS transistor MN1. The inverter circuits INV3 and INV4 constitute a latch circuit in which an output terminal of the inverter circuit INV3 is connected to an input terminal of the inverter circuit INV4 and an output terminal of the inverter circuit INV4 is connected to an input terminal of the inverter circuit INV3. To hold the value at the node n1, the output terminal of the inverter circuit INV3 and the input terminal of the inverter circuit INV4 are connected to the node n1. The PMOS transistor MP2 and the NMOS transistors MN4 and MN5 are connected in series. The PMOS transistor MP2 has a source connected to a power source and the NMOS transistor MN5 has a source connected to a ground. The clock terminal CK is connected to the gate of the PMOS transistor MP1, to the respective gates of the NMOS transistors MN3 and MN4, and to an input terminal of the inverter circuit INV1. As the inverter circuits INV3 and INV4, the inverter circuits INV5 and INV6 constitute a latch circuit, thereby holding the value at the inverted output terminal QB.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,355 (columns 3 through 7 and FIG. 4), the inverter circuit INV7 is not used at an output stage, and the flip-flop circuit directly drives an outside component from the internal output terminal IQ. However, in order to prevent data held in the inverter circuits INV5 and INV6 from changing due to the influence of a crosstalk noise applied to the output line, or to prevent the operation speed from decreasing extremely when an output load is heavy, it is practical to drive the output load using the inverter circuit INV7. In view of this, the case where the inverter circuit INV7 is provided will be hereinafter described.
In FIG. 13, in an initial state in which the clock signal CK is at a low level, the node n1 is charged by the PMOS transistor MP1 so that a signal at the first node n1 changes to a high level. At this time, the NMOS transistor MN4 and the PMOS transistor MP2 are cut off so that the value at the output terminal Q is held at a previous value.
Subsequently, when the clock signal CK changes to the high level, a signal at the node CKD does not change to a high level immediately but is delayed by the inverter circuits INV1 and INV2 and changes to a high level. During a period in which the clock signal CK is at the high level and the signal at the node CKD is at a low level (hereinafter, referred to as an evaluation phase), the NMOS transistor MN1 is ON. Accordingly, if an input signal at the input terminal D (hereinafter, referred to as an input signal D) is at a high level during this phase, the signal at the node n1 changes to a low level due to a discharge, then a signal at the inner output terminal IQ is changed to a high level by turning ON the PMOS transistor MP2, and then an output signal at the output terminal Q also changes to a high level with a delay. On the other hand, if the input signal D is at a low level during the evaluation phase, the NMOS transistor MN2 is OFF. Accordingly, the signal at the node n1 remains at the high level and the NMOS transistors MN4 and MN5 turn ON so that the signal at the inner output terminal IQ changes to a low level, and then the output signal at the output terminal Q also changes to a low level with a delay.
Thereafter, the circuit enters a period in which the clock signal CK is at the high level and the signal at the node CKD is at the high level (hereinafter, referred to as hold phase). In this period, if the signal at the node n1 is at the high level, the NAND circuit NAND1 cuts off the NMOS transistor MN1 so that the inverter circuits INV3 and INV4 keep the signal at the node n1 at the high level without being affected by the value of the input signal D. On the other hand, in a case where the circuit enters the hold time with the signal at the node n1 at the low level, the PMOS transistor MP1 is OFF, so that the inverter circuits INV3 and INV4 keep the signal at the node n1 at the low level, independently of the value of the input signal D.
However, a study done by the present inventors shows that the known flip-flop circuit has the following drawbacks. That is to say, in the known circuit shown in FIG. 13, if the input signal D is at the high level when the clock signal CK changes from the low level to the high level to cause the circuit to enter the evaluation phase, it is necessary to hold the ON state of the NMOS transistor MN1 for a certain period in addition to turning ON the NMOS transistors MN2 and MN3, in order to ensure the high-to-low transition of the signal at the node n1. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a delay circuit constituted by the inverter circuits INV1 and INV2 on a pass along which the clock signal CK is transmitted to the node CKD. The addition of the inverter circuits INV1 and INV2 increases the number of MOS transistors constituting the circuit accordingly, so that the layout area also increases. In the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 13, the flip-flop circuit is implemented with 25 MOS transistors.
In addition, when the clock signal CK changes from the low level to the high level with the input signal D at the high level as described above, the signal at the node n1 changes from the high level to the low level. However, in a subsequent period in which the clock signal CK changes from the high level to the low level to return to the initial state, the PMOS transistor MP1 turns ON and the NMOS transistor MN3 turns OFF, so that the signal at the node n1 is fixed at the high level. Therefore, fixing the signal at the node n1 at the high level does not depend on the operation of the NMOS transistor MN1. On the other hand, the output of the NAND circuit NAND1 changes from a high level to a low level and then, after a lapse of delay time of the delay circuit constituted by the inverter circuits INV1 and INV2, the output of the NAND circuit NAND1 rises back to the high level to unnecessarily turn OFF the NMOS transistor MN1. In this manner, the known circuit shown in FIG. 13 includes the circuit operation of unnecessary power consumption. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to methods for reporting channel state information, CSI, from a mobile station to a base station in a mobile communication system, particularly on unlicensed carriers. The present disclosure is also providing mobile stations for performing the methods described herein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Long Term Evolution (LTE)
Third-generation mobile systems (3G) based on WCDMA radio-access technology are being deployed on a broad scale all around the world. A first step in enhancing or evolving this technology entails introducing High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and an enhanced uplink, also referred to as High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), giving a radio access technology that is highly competitive.
In order to be prepared for further increasing user demands and to be competitive against new radio access technologies, 3GPP introduced a new mobile communication system which is called Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is designed to meet the carrier needs for high speed data and media transport as well as high capacity voice support for the next decade. The ability to provide high bit rates is a key measure for LTE.
The work item (WI) specification on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) called Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) is finalized as Release 8 (LTE Rel. 8). The LTE system represents efficient packet-based radio access and radio access networks that provide full IP-based functionalities with low latency and low cost. In LTE, scalable multiple transmission bandwidths are specified such as 1.4, 3.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, and 20.0 MHz, in order to achieve flexible system deployment using a given spectrum. In the downlink, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) based radio access was adopted because of its inherent immunity to multipath interference (MPI) due to a low symbol rate, the use of a cyclic prefix (CP) and its affinity to different transmission bandwidth arrangements. Single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) based radio access was adopted in the uplink, since provisioning of wide area coverage was prioritized over improvement in the peak data rate considering the restricted transmit power of the user equipment (UE). Many key packet radio access techniques are employed including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel transmission techniques and a highly efficient control signaling structure is achieved in LTE Rel. 8/9.
LTE Architecture
The overall architecture is shown in FIG. 1 and a more detailed representation of the E-UTRAN architecture is given in FIG. 2. The E-UTRAN consists of an eNodeB, providing the E-UTRA user plane (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the user equipment (UE). The eNodeB (eNB) hosts the Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Control Protocol (PDCP) layers that include the functionality of user-plane header-compression and encryption. It also offers Radio Resource Control (RRC) functionality corresponding to the control plane. It performs many functions including radio resource management, admission control, scheduling, enforcement of negotiated uplink Quality of Service (QoS), cell information broadcast, ciphering/deciphering of user and control plane data, and compression/decompression of downlink/uplink user plane packet headers. The eNodeBs are interconnected with each other by means of the X2 interface.
The eNodeBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core), more specifically to the MME (Mobility Management Entity) by means of the S1-MME and to the Serving Gateway (SGVV) by means of the S1-U. The S1 interface supports a many-to-many relation between MMEs/Serving Gateways and eNodeBs. The SGW routes and forwards user data packets, while also acting as the mobility anchor for the user plane during inter-eNodeB handovers and as the anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies (terminating S4 interface and relaying the traffic between 2G/3G systems and PDN GW). For idle state user equipments, the SGW terminates the downlink data path and triggers paging when downlink data arrives for the user equipment. It manages and stores user equipment contexts, e.g., parameters of the IP bearer service, network internal routing information. It also performs replication of the user traffic in case of lawful interception.
The MME is the key control-node for the LTE access-network. It is responsible for idle mode user equipment tracking and paging procedure including retransmissions. It is involved in the bearer activation/deactivation process and is also responsible for choosing the SGW for a user equipment at the initial attach and at time of intra-LTE handover involving Core Network (CN) node relocation. It is responsible for authenticating the user (by interacting with the HSS). The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling terminates at the MME and it is also responsible for generation and allocation of temporary identities to user equipments. It checks the authorization of the user equipment to camp on the service provider's Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and enforces user equipment roaming restrictions. The MME is the termination point in the network for ciphering/integrity protection for NAS signaling and handles the security key management. Lawful interception of signaling is also supported by the MME. The MME also provides the control plane function for mobility between LTE and 2G/3G access networks with the S3 interface terminating at the MME from the SGSN. The MME also terminates the S6a interface towards the home HSS for roaming user equipments.
Component Carrier Structure in LTE
The downlink component carrier of a 3GPP LTE system is subdivided in the time-frequency domain in so-called subframes. In 3GPP LTE each subframe is divided into two downlink slots as shown in FIG. 3, wherein the first downlink slot comprises the control channel region (PDCCH region) within the first OFDM symbols. Each subframe consists of a given number of OFDM symbols in the time domain (12 or 14 OFDM symbols in 3GPP LTE (Release 8)), wherein each OFDM symbol spans over the entire bandwidth of the component carrier. The OFDM symbols thus each consist of a number of modulation symbols transmitted on respective NDLRB*NRBsc subcarriers as also shown in FIG. 4.
Assuming a multi-carrier communication system, e.g., employing OFDM, as, for example, used in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), the smallest unit of resources that can be assigned by the scheduler is one “resource block”. A physical resource block (PRB) is defined as NDLsymb consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain (e.g., 7 OFDM symbols) and NRBsc consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain as exemplified in FIG. 4 (e.g., 12 subcarriers for a component carrier). In 3GPP LTE (Release 8), a physical resource block thus consists of NDLsymb*NRBsc resource elements, corresponding to one slot in the time domain and 180 kHz in the frequency domain (for further details on the downlink resource grid, see, for example, 3GPP TS 36.211, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels and Modulation (Release 8)”, section 6.2, available at http://www.3gpp.org and incorporated herein by reference).
One subframe consists of two slots, so that there are 14 OFDM symbols in a subframe when a so-called “normal” CP (cyclic prefix) is used, and 12 OFDM symbols in a subframe when a so-called “extended” CP is used. For sake of terminology, in the following the time-frequency resources equivalent to the same NRBsc consecutive subcarriers spanning a full subframe are called a “resource block pair”, or equivalent “RB pair” or “PRB pair”.
The term “component carrier” refers to a combination of several resource blocks in the frequency domain. In future releases of LTE, the term “component carrier” is no longer used; instead, the terminology is changed to “cell”, which refers to a combination of downlink and optionally uplink resources. The linking between the carrier frequency of the downlink resources and the carrier frequency of the uplink resources is indicated in the system information transmitted on the downlink resources.
Similar assumptions for the component carrier structure apply to later releases too.
Carrier Aggregation in LTE-A for Support of Wider Bandwidth
The frequency spectrum for IMT-Advanced was decided at the World Radio communication Conference 2007 (WRC-07). Although the overall frequency spectrum for IMT-Advanced was decided, the actual available frequency bandwidth is different according to each region or country. Following the decision on the available frequency spectrum outline, however, standardization of a radio interface started in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). At the 3GPP TSG RAN #39 meeting, the Study Item description on “Further Advancements for E-UTRA (LTE-Advanced)” was approved. The study item covers technology components to be considered for the evolution of E-UTRA, e.g., to fulfill the requirements on IMT-Advanced.
The bandwidth that the LTE-Advanced system is able to support is 100 MHz, while an LTE system can only support 20 MHz. Nowadays, the lack of radio spectrum has become a bottleneck of the development of wireless networks, and as a result it is difficult to find a spectrum band which is wide enough for the LTE-Advanced system. Consequently, it is urgent to find a way to gain a wider radio spectrum band, wherein a possible answer is the carrier aggregation functionality.
In carrier aggregation, two or more component carriers are aggregated in order to support wider transmission bandwidths up to 100 MHz. Several cells in the LTE system are aggregated into one wider channel in the LTE-Advanced system which is wide enough for 100 MHz even though these cells in LTE may be in different frequency bands.
All component carriers can be configured to be LTE Rel. 8/9 compatible, at least when the bandwidth of a component carrier does not exceed the supported bandwidth of a LTE Rel. 8/9 cell. Not all component carriers aggregated by a user equipment may necessarily be Rel. 8/9 compatible. Existing mechanism (e.g., barring) may be used to avoid Rel-8/9 user equipments to camp on a component carrier.
A user equipment may simultaneously receive or transmit one or multiple component carriers (corresponding to multiple serving cells) depending on its capabilities. A LTE-A Rel. 10 user equipment with reception and/or transmission capabilities for carrier aggregation can simultaneously receive and/or transmit on multiple serving cells, whereas an LTE Rel. 8/9 user equipment can receive and transmit on a single serving cell only, provided that the structure of the component carrier follows the Rel. 8/9 specifications.
Carrier aggregation is supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous component carriers with each component carrier limited to a maximum of 110 Resource Blocks in the frequency domain using the 3GPP LTE (Release 8/9) numerology.
It is possible to configure a 3GPP LTE-A (Release 10) compatible user equipment to aggregate a different number of component carriers originating from the same eNodeB (base station) and of possibly different bandwidths in the uplink and the downlink. The number of downlink component carriers that can be configured depends on the downlink aggregation capability of the UE. Conversely, the number of uplink component carriers that can be configured depends on the uplink aggregation capability of the UE. It may currently not be possible to configure a mobile terminal with more uplink component carriers than downlink component carriers.
In a typical TDD deployment, the number of component carriers and the bandwidth of each component carrier in uplink and downlink is the same. Component carriers originating from the same eNodeB need not provide the same coverage.
The spacing between centre frequencies of contiguously aggregated component carriers shall be a multiple of 300 kHz. This is in order to be compatible with the 100 kHz frequency raster of 3GPP LTE (Release 8/9) and at the same time preserve orthogonality of the subcarriers with 15 kHz spacing. Depending on the aggregation scenario, the n*300 kHz spacing can be facilitated by insertion of a low number of unused subcarriers between contiguous component carriers.
The nature of the aggregation of multiple carriers is only exposed up to the MAC layer. For both uplink and downlink there is one HARQ entity required in MAC for each aggregated component carrier. There is (in the absence of SU-MIMO for uplink) at most one transport block per component carrier. A transport block and its potential HARQ retransmissions need to be mapped on the same component carrier.
The Layer 2 structure with activated carrier aggregation is shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 for the downlink and uplink respectively.
When carrier aggregation is configured, the mobile terminal only has one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connection establishment/re-establishment, one cell provides the security input (one ECGI, one PCI and one ARFCN) and the non-access stratum mobility information (e.g., TAI) similarly as in LTE Rel. 8/9. After RRC connection establishment/re-establishment, the component carrier corresponding to that cell is referred to as the downlink Primary Cell (PCell). There is always one and only one downlink PCell (DL PCell) and one uplink PCell (UL PCell) configured per user equipment in connected state. Within the configured set of component carriers, other cells are referred to as Secondary Cells (SCells); with carriers of the SCell being the Downlink Secondary Component Carrier (DL SCC) and Uplink Secondary Component Carrier (UL SCC).
The configuration and reconfiguration, as well as addition and removal, of component carriers can be performed by RRC. Activation and deactivation is done via MAC control elements. At intra-LTE handover, RRC can also add, remove, or reconfigure SCells for usage in the target cell. When adding a new SCell, dedicated RRC signaling is used for sending the system information of the SCell, the information being necessary for transmission/reception (similarly as in Rel-8/9 for handover).
When a user equipment is configured with carrier aggregation there is at least one pair of uplink and downlink component carriers that is always active. The downlink component carrier of that pair might be also referred to as ‘DL anchor carrier’. Same applies also for the uplink.
When carrier aggregation is configured, a user equipment may be scheduled on multiple component carriers simultaneously but at most one random access procedure shall be ongoing at any time. Cross-carrier scheduling allows the PDCCH of a component carrier to schedule resources on another component carrier. For this purpose a component carrier identification field is introduced in the respective DCI formats, called CIF.
A linking, established by RRC signaling, between uplink and downlink component carriers allows identifying the uplink component carrier for which the grant applies when there is no-cross-carrier scheduling. The linkage of downlink component carriers to uplink component carrier does not necessarily need to be one to one. In other words, more than one downlink component carrier can link to the same uplink component carrier. At the same time, a downlink component carrier can only link to one uplink component carrier.
Channel State Information Feedback Elements
Commonly, mobile communication systems define special control signalling that is used to convey the channel quality feedback. In 3GPP LTE, there exist three basic elements which may or may not be given as feedback for the channel quality. These channel quality elements are: MCSI: Modulation and Coding Scheme Indicator, sometimes referred to as Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) in the LTE specification PMI: Precoding Matrix Indicator RI: Rank Indicator
The MCSI suggests a modulation and coding scheme that should be used for transmission, while the PMI points to a pre-coding matrix/vector that is to be employed for spatial multiplexing and multi-antenna transmission (MIMO) using a transmission matrix rank that is given by the RI. Details about the involved reporting and transmission mechanisms are given in the following specifications to which it is referred for further reading (all documents available at http://www.3gpp.org and incorporated herein by reference): 3GPP TS 36.211, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical channels and modulation” (3GPP TS 36.211, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels and Modulation”), version 10.0.0, particularly sections 6.3.3 and 6.3.4; 3GPP TS 36.212, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Multiplexing and channel coding” (3GPP TS 36.212, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Multiplexing and channel coding”, version 10.0.0), version 10.0.0, particularly sections 5.2.2, 5.2.4, and 5.3.3; and 3GPP TS 36.213, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer procedures” (3GPP TS 36.213, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer procedures”, version 10.0.1), version 10.0.1, particularly sections 7.1.7 and 7.2.
In 3GPP LTE, not all of the above identified three channel quality elements are necessarily reported at the same time. The elements being actually reported depend mainly on the configured reporting mode. It should be noted that 3GPP LTE also supports the transmission of two codewords (i.e., two codewords of user data (transport blocks) may be multiplexed to and transmitted in a single sub-frame), so that feedback may be given either for one or two codewords. Some details are provided in the next sections and in Table 1 below for an exemplary scenario using a 20 MHz system bandwidth. It should be noted that this information is based on 3GPP TS 36.213, section 7.2.1 mentioned above.
The individual reporting modes for the aperiodic channel quality feedback are defined in 3GPP LTE as follows:
Reporting Mode 1-2
Contents of this report:
One set S (i.e., wideband) MCSI value per codeword One precoding matrix, represented by a PMI, for each subband In some cases (See 3GPP TS 36.213 clause 7.2.1), additionally one set S (i.e., wideband) PMI value In case of transmission modes 4, 8, 9, and 10: One RI valueReporting Mode 2-0Contents of this report: One set S (i.e., wideband) MCSI value Positions of M selected subbands One MCSI value for the M selected subbands (2 bits differential to the set S MCSI value, non-negative) In case of transmission mode 3: One RI valueReporting Mode 2-2Contents of this report: One set S (i.e., wideband) MCSI value per codeword One preferred PMI for set S (i.e., wideband) Positions of M selected subbands One MCSI value for the M selected subbands per codeword (2 bits differential to the corresponding set S MCSI value, non-negative) One preferred PMI for M selected subbands—In some cases (See 3GPP TS 36.213 clause 7.2.1), additionally one set S (i.e., wideband) PMI value In case of transmission modes 4, 8, 9, and 10: One RI valueReporting Mode 3-0Contents of this report: One set S (i.e., wideband) MCSI value One MCSI value per subband (2 bits differential to set S MCSI value) In case of transmission mode 3: One RI valueReporting Mode 3-1Contents of this report: One set S (i.e., wideband) MCSI value per codeword One preferred PMI for set S (i.e., wideband) In some cases (See 3GPP TS 36.213 clause 7.2.1), additionally one set S (i.e., wideband) PMI value One MCSI value per codeword per subband (2 bits differential to them corresponding set S MCSI value) In case of transmission modes 4, 8, 9, and 10: One RI valueReporting Mode 3-2Contents of this report: One set S (i.e., wideband) MCSI value per codeword One precoding matrix, represented by a PMI, for each subband—In some cases (See 3GPP TS 36.213 clause 7.2.1), additionally one set S (i.e., wideband) PMI value One MCSI value per codeword per subband (2 bits differential to the corresponding set S MCSI value) In case of transmission modes 4, 8, 9, and 10: One RI value
It should be noted that the term subband is here used so as to represent a number of resource blocks as outlined earlier, while the term set S represents generally a subset of the whole set of resource blocks in the system bandwidth. In the context of 3GPP LTE and LTE-A, the set S so far is defined to always represent the whole cell, i.e., component carrier bandwidth, a frequency range of up to 20 MHz, and is for simplicity hereafter referred to as “wideband”.
Aperiodic & Periodic CQI Reporting
The periodicity and frequency resolution to be used by a UE to report the CSI are both controlled by the eNodeB. The Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) is used for periodic CSI reporting only; the PUSCH is used for aperiodic reporting of the CSI, whereby the eNodeB specifically instructs the UE to send an individual CSI report embedded into a resource which is scheduled for uplink data transmission.
In order to acquire CSI information quickly, eNodeB can schedule aperiodic CSI by setting a CSI request bit in an uplink resource grant sent on the Physical Downlink Control Channel.
In 3GPP LTE, a simple mechanism is foreseen to trigger the so-called aperiodic channel quality feedback from the user equipment. An eNodeB in the radio access network sends an L1/L2 control signal to the user equipment to request the transmission of the so-called aperiodic CSI report (see 3GPP TS 36.212, section 5.3.3.1.1 and 3GPP TS 36.213, section 7.2.1 for details). Another possibility to trigger the provision of aperiodic channel quality feedback by the user equipments is linked to the random access procedure (see 3GPP TS 36.213, section 6.2).
Whenever a trigger for providing channel quality feedback is received by the user equipment, the user equipment subsequently transmits the channel quality feedback to the eNodeB. Commonly, the channel quality feedback (i.e., the CSI report) is multiplexed with uplink (user) data on the Physical Uplink Shared CHannel (PUSCH) resources that have been assigned to the user equipment by the L1/L2 signal (such as the PDCCH) which triggered the channel quality feedback.
Downlink Reference Signals
In the LTE downlink, five different types of RSs are provided: Cell-specific RSs (often referred to as ‘common’ RSs, as they are available to all UEs in a cell and no UE-specific processing is applied to them); UE-specific RSs (introduced in Release 8 and extended in release 9 and 10), which may be embedded in the data for specific UEs (also known as Demodulation Reference Signals—DM-RSs). MBSFN-specific RSs, which are used only for Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) operation. Positioning RSs, which from Release 9 onwards may be embedded in certain ‘positioning subframes’ for the purpose of UE location measurements. Channel State Information, CSI, RSs, which are introduced in release 10 specifically for the purpose of estimating the downlink channel state and not for data demodulation.
Each RS pattern is transmitted from an antenna port at the eNodeB. An antenna port may in practice be implemented either as a single physical transmit antenna, or as a combination of multiple physical antenna elements. In either case, the signal transmitted from each antenna port is not designed to be further deconstructed by the UE receiver:
The transmitted RS corresponding to a given antenna port defines the antenna port from the point of view of the UE, and enables the UE to derive a channel estimate for all data transmitted on that antenna port—regardless of whether it represents a single radio channel from one physical antenna or a composited channel from a plurality of physical antenna elements together comprising the antenna port.
Cell-Specific Reference Signals
The cell specific RSs enable the UE to determine the phase reference for demodulating the downlink control channels and the downlink data in most transmission modes of the Physical Downlink Share Channel, PDSCH. If UE-specific pre-coding is applied to the PDSCH data symbols before transmission downlink control signaling is provided to inform the UE of the corresponding phase adjustment is should apply relative to the phase reference provided by the cell-specific reference signals.
In an OFDM-based system an equidistant arrangement of reference symbols in the lattice structure achieves the Minimum Mean-Squared Error (MMSE) estimate of the channel. Moreover, in the case of a uniform reference symbol grid, a ‘diamonds shape’ in the time-frequency plane can be shown to be optimal.
In LTE, the arrangement of REs on which the cell-specific RSs are transmitted follows these principles. FIG. 7 illustrates the RS arrangement where the cell-specific reference signals are indicated with P, namely, as {P0, P1, P2, P3}.
Up to four cell-specific antenna ports, numbered 0-3, may be used in LTE eNodeB, thus requiring the UE to derive up to four separate channel estimates. For each antenna port, a different RS pattern has been designed, with particular attention having been given to the minimization of intra-cell interference between the multiple transmit antenna ports.
In FIG. 7, Px indicates that the RE is used for the transmission of an RS on antenna port X. Then an RE is used to transmit an RS on one antenna port, the corresponding RE on the other antenna ports is set to zero to limit the interference.
Downlink Reference Signals for Estimation of Channel State Information (CSI-RS)
The main goal of CSI-RS is to obtain channel state feedback for up to eight transmit antenna ports to assist the eNodeB in its precoding operation. LTE release 10 supports transmission of CSI-RS for 1, 2, 4, and 8 transmit antenna ports. CSI-RS also enables the UE to estimate the CSI for multiple cells rather than just one serving cell, to support future multi-cell cooperative transmission schemes.
The following general design principles can be identified for CSI-RS: In the frequency domain, uniform spacing of CSI-RS location is highly desirable: In the time domain, it is desirable to minimize the number of subframes containing CSI-RS, so that a UE can estimate the CSI for different antenna ports and even different cells with minimum wake-up duty calycle when the UE is in Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode, to preserve battery life. The overall CSI-RS overhead involves a trade-off between accuracy CSI estimation for efficient operation and minimizing the impact on legacy pre-Release 10 UEs which are unaware of the presence of CSI-RS and whose data are punctured by the CSI-RS transmission. CSI-RS of different antenna ports within a cell, and, as far as possible, form different cells, should be orthogonally multiplexed to enable accuracy CSI estimation.
Taking these considerations into account, the CSI-RS patterns selected for Release 10 are shown in FIG. 7. CDM codes of length 2 are used so the CSI-RS on two antenna ports share two REs on a given subcarrier.
The pattern shown in FIG. 7 can be used in both frame structure 1 (Frequency Division Duplex, FDD), and frame structure 2 (Time Division Duplex, TDD). The REs used for CSI-RSs are labeled RS and used together with the following table grouping the CSI-RS into CSI reference signal configuration.
In addition the following table includes for each CSI reference signal configuration an identification of the cell index as one of the set of {A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, V, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T} or a subset thereof and the antenna port and the maximum 8 antenna ports grouped into CDM groups {x, z, u}.
TABLE 1Number of CSI reference signals configured1 or 24BCSI CellCellCellreferenceindex,index,index,signalCDMCDMCDMconfiguration(k′, l′)n, mod 2group(k′, l′)n, mod 2group(k′, l′)n, mod 2groupFrame 0(9.5)0Ax(9.5)0Ax(9.5)0Axstructure1(11.2)1Bx(11.2)1Bx(11.2)1Bxtype 12(9.2)1Cx(9.2)1Cx(9.2)1Cxand 23(7.2)1Dx(7.2)1Dx(7.2)1Dx4(9.5)1Ex(9.5)1Ex(9.5)1Ex5(8.5)0Fx(8.5)0Fx(Az)6(10.2)1Gx(10.2)1Gx(Bz)7(8.2)1Hx(8.2)1Hx(Cz)8(6.2)1Ix(6.2)1Ix(Dz)9(8.5)1Jx(8.5)1Jx(Ez)10(3.5)0Kx(Ay)(Ay)11(2.5)0Lx(Fy)(Au)12(5.2)1Vx(By)(By)13(4.2)1Nx(Gy)(Bu)14(3.2)1Ox(Cy)(Cy)15(2.2)1Px(Hy)(Cu)16(1.2)1Qx(Dy)(Dy)17(0.2)1Rx(Iy)(Du)18(3.5)1Sx(Ey)(Ey)19(2.5)1Tx(Jy)(Eu)Frame20(11.1)1Ax(11.1)1Ax(11.1)1Axstructure21(9.1)1Bx(9.1)1Bx(9.1)1Bxtype 222(7.1)1Cx(7.1)1Cx(7.1)1Cxonly23(10.1)1Dx(10.1)1Dx(Az)24(8.1)1Ex(8.1)1Ex(Bz)25(6.1)1Fx(6.1)1Fx(Cz)26(5.1)1Gx(Ay)(Ay)27(4.1)1Hx(Dy)(Au)28(3.1)1Ix(By)(By)29(2.1)1Jx(Ey)(Bu)30(1.1)1Kx(Cy)(Cy)31(0.1)1Lx(Fy)(Cu)
The table corresponds to that included 3GPP TS 36.211 V12.3.0 under section 6.10.5.2 in Table 6.10.5.2-1: illustrating a mapping from CSI reference signal configuration to (k′, l′) for normal cyclic prefix, additionally including the identification of Cell index, CDM group.
In addition, Cell index and CDM group entries in brackets are meant to indicate which index/group combination corresponds to which RE location (k′, l′) within the time/frequency grids of a resource block; but it is not intended to indicate that a corresponding CSI reference signal configuration index is supported, rather the dependency follows implicitly from other parts of 3GPP TS 36.211 V12.3.0. Consequently, those entries in brackets should be understood just for illustrational purposes.
Layer 1/Layer 2 (L1/L2) Control Signaling
In order to inform the scheduled users about their allocation status, transport format and other transmission-related information (e.g., HARQ information, transmit power control (TPC) commands), L1/L2 control signaling is transmitted on the downlink along with the data. L1/L2 control signaling is multiplexed with the downlink data in a subframe, assuming that the user allocation can change from subframe to subframe.
It should be noted that user allocation might also be performed on a TTI (Transmission Time Interval) basis, where the TTI length can be a multiple of the subframes. The TTI length may be fixed in a service area for all users, may be different for different users, or may even be dynamic for each user. Generally, the L1/2 control signaling need only be transmitted once per TTI. Without loss of generality, the following assumes that a TTI is equivalent to one subframe.
The L1/L2 control signaling is transmitted on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). A PDCCH carries a message as Downlink Control Information (DCI), which in most cases includes resource assignments and other control information for a mobile terminal or groups of UEs. In general, several PDCCHs can be transmitted in one subframe.
It should be noted that in 3GPP LTE, assignments for uplink data transmissions, also referred to as uplink scheduling grants or uplink resource assignments, are also transmitted on the PDCCH. Furthermore, Release 11 introduced an EPDCCH that fulfills basically the same function as the PDCCH, i.e., conveys L1/L2 control signaling, even though the detailed transmission methods are different from the PDCCH.
Further details can be found particularly in the current versions of 3GPP TS 36.211 and 36.213, incorporated herein by reference. Consequently, most items outlined in the background and the embodiments apply to PDCCH as well as EPDCCH, or other means of conveying L1/L2 control signals, unless specifically noted.
Generally, the information sent on the L1/L2 control signaling for assigning uplink or downlink radio resources (particularly LTE(-A) Release 10) can be categorized to the following items: User identity, indicating the user that is allocated. This is typically included in the checksum by masking the CRC with the user identity; Resource allocation information, indicating the resources (Resource Blocks, RBs) on which a user is allocated. Alternatively this information is termed resource block assignment (RBA). Note that the number of RBs on which a user is allocated can be dynamic; Carrier indicator, which is used if a control channel transmitted on a first carrier assigns resources that concern a second carrier, i.e., resources on a second carrier or resources related to a second carrier; (cross carrier scheduling); Modulation and coding scheme that determines the employed modulation scheme and coding rate; HARQ information, such as a new data indicator (NDI) and/or a redundancy version (RV) that is particularly useful in retransmissions of data packets or parts thereof; Power control commands to adjust the transmit power of the assigned uplink data or control information transmission; Reference signal information such as the applied cyclic shift and/or orthogonal cover code index, which are to be employed for transmission or reception of reference signals related to the assignment; Uplink or downlink assignment index that is used to identify an order of assignments, which is particularly useful in TDD systems; Hopping information, e.g., an indication whether and how to apply resource hopping in order to increase the frequency diversity; CSI request, which is used to trigger the transmission of channel state information in an assigned resource; and Multi-cluster information, which is a flag used to indicate and control whether the transmission occurs in a single cluster (contiguous set of RBs) or in multiple clusters (at least two non-contiguous sets of contiguous RBs). Multi-cluster allocation has been introduced by 3GPP LTE-(A) Release 10.
It is to be noted that the above listing is non-exhaustive, and not all mentioned information items need to be present in each PDCCH transmission depending on the DCI format that is used.
Downlink control information occurs in several formats that differ in overall size and also in the information contained in their fields. The different DCI formats that are currently defined for LTE are as follows and described in detail in 3GPP TS 36.212, “Multiplexing and channel coding”, section 5.3.3.1 (current version v12.2.0 available at http://www.3gpp.org and incorporated herein by reference). In addition, for further information regarding the DCI formats and the particular information that is transmitted in the DCI, please refer to the mentioned technical standard or to LTE—The UMTS Long Term Evolution—From Theory to Practice, Edited by Stefanie Sesia, Issam Toufik, Matthew Baker, Chapter 9.3, incorporated herein by reference.
Format 0: DCI Format 0 is used for the transmission of resource grants for the PUSCH, using single-antenna port transmissions in uplink transmission mode 1 or 2.
Format 1: DCI Format 1 is used for the transmission of resource assignments for single codeword PDSCH transmissions (downlink transmission modes 1, 2, and 7). Format 1A: DCI Format 1A is used for compact signaling of resource assignments for single codeword PDSCH transmissions, and for allocating a dedicated preamble signature to a mobile terminal for contention-free random access (for all transmissions modes).Format 1B: DCI Format 1B is used for compact signaling of resource assignments for PDSCH transmissions using closed loop precoding with rank-1 transmission (downlink transmission mode 6). The information transmitted is the same as in Format 1A, but with the addition of an indicator of the precoding vector applied for the PDSCH transmission.Format 1C: DCI Format 1C is used for very compact transmission of PDSCH assignments. When format 1C is used, the PDSCH transmission is constrained to using QPSK modulation. This is used, for example, for signaling paging messages and broadcast system information messages.Format 1D: DCI Format 1D is used for compact signaling of resource assignments for PDSCH transmission using multi-user MIMO. The information transmitted is the same as in Format 1B, but instead of one of the bits of the precoding vector indicators, there is a single bit to indicate whether a power offset is applied to the data symbols. This feature is needed to show whether or not the transmission power is shared between two UEs. Future versions of LTE may extend this to the case of power sharing between larger numbers of UEs.Format 2: DCI Format 2 is used for the transmission of resource assignments for PDSCH for closed-loop MIMO operation (transmission mode 4).Format 2A: DCI Format 2A is used for the transmission of resource assignments for PDSCH for open-loop MIMO operation. The information transmitted is the same as for Format 2, except that if the eNodeB has two transmit antenna ports, there is no precoding information, and for four antenna ports two bits are used to indicate the transmission rank (transmission mode 3).Format 2B: Introduced in Release 9 and is used for the transmission of resource assignments for PDSCH for dual-layer beamforming (transmission mode 8).Format 2C: Introduced in Release 10 and is used for the transmission of resource assignments for PDSCH for closed-loop single-user or multi-user MIMO operation with up to 8 layers (transmission mode 9).Format 2D: introduced in Release 11 and used for up to 8 layer transmissions; mainly used for COMP (Cooperative Multipoint) (transmission mode 10)Formats 3 and 3A: DCI formats 3 and 3A are used for the transmission of power control commands for PUCCH and PUSCH with 2-bit or 1-bit power adjustments, respectively. These DCI formats contain individual power control commands for a group of UEs.Format 4: DCI format 4 is used for the scheduling of the PUSCH, using closed-loop spatial multiplexing transmissions in uplink transmission mode 2.Transmission Modes for the PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel)
The Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) is the main data bearing downlink channel in LTE. It is used for all user data, as well as for broadcast system information which is not carried on the PBCH, and for paging messages—there is no specific physical layer paging channel in LTE. Data is transmitted on the PDSCH in units known as Transport Blocks (TBs), each of which corresponds to a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer protocol data unit (PDU). Transport blocks may be passed down from the MAC layer to the physical layer once per Transmission Time Interval (TTI), where a TTI is one ms, corresponding to the subframe duration.
When employed for user data, one or, at most, two transport blocks can be transmitted per UE per subframe per component carrier, depending on the transmission mode selected for the PDSCH for each UE. In LTE, usually there are multiple antennas for downlink, i.e., the eNodeB may use multiple transmit antennas, and the UE may use multiple receiving antennas. The two antennas can be used in diverse configurations, which are distinguished and denoted as transmission modes in LTE. The UE is configured by the eNodeB with a particular transmission mode. For instance, the single transmission antenna in single receiver antenna mode is called transmission mode 1.
The various transmission modes are defined in the 3GPP technical standard TS 36.213 (current version 12.3.0), subclause 8.0 for the uplink (particularly Tables 8-3, 8-3A, 8-5, and 8-5A) and subclause 7.1 for the downlink (particularly Tables 7.1-1, 7.1-2, 7.1-3, 7.1-5, 7.1-5A, 7.1-6, 7.1-6A, and 7.1-7); these are incorporated herein by reference. These tables from 3GPP TS 36.213 show the relationship between RNTI Type (e.g., C-RNTI, SPS C-RNTI, SI-RNTI), the Transmission Mode and the DCI format.
These tables provide several predefined transmission modes identifying the particular transmission scheme to be used for the PDSCH corresponding to the (E)PDCCH.
LTE on Unlicensed Bands—Licensed-Assisted Access LAA
In September 2014, 3GPP initiated a new study item on LTE operation on unlicensed spectrum. The reason for extending LTE to unlicensed bands is the ever-growing demand for wireless broadband data in conjunction with the limited amount of licensed bands. Unlicensed spectrum therefore is more and more considered by cellular operators as a complementary tool to augment their service offering. The advantage of LTE in unlicensed bands compared to relying on other radio access technologies (RAT) such as Wi-Fi is that complementing the LTE platform with unlicensed spectrum access enables operators and vendors to leverage the existing or planned investments in LTE/EPC hardware in the radio and core network.
However, it has to be taken into account that unlicensed spectrum access can never match the qualities of licensed spectrum due to the inevitable coexistence with other radio access technologies (RATs) in the unlicensed spectrum. LTE operation on unlicensed bands will therefore at least in the beginning be considered rather a complement to LTE on licensed spectrum than stand-alone operation on unlicensed spectrum. Based on this assumption, 3GPP established the term Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) for the LTE operation on unlicensed bands in conjunction with at least one licensed band. Future stand-alone operation of LTE on unlicensed spectrum without relying on LAA however shall not be excluded.
The current intended general LAA approach at 3GPP is to make use of the already specified Rel-12 carrier aggregation (CA) framework as much as possible where the CA framework configuration comprises a so-called primary cell (PCell) carrier and one or more secondary cell (SCell) carriers. CA supports in general both self-scheduling of cells (scheduling information and user data are transmitted on the same component carrier) and cross-carrier scheduling between cells (scheduling information in terms of PDCCH/EPDCCH and user data in terms of PDSCH/PUSCH are transmitted on different component carriers).
A very basic scenario is illustrated in FIG. 8, with a licensed PCell, licensed SCell 1, and various unlicensed SCells 2, 3, and 4 (exemplarily depicted as small cells). The transmission/reception network nodes of unlicensed SCells 2, 3, and 4 could be remote radio heads managed by the eNB, or could be nodes that are attached to the network but not managed by the eNB. For simplicity, the connection of these nodes to the eNB or to the network is not explicitly shown in the figure.
At present, the basic approach envisioned at 3GPP is that the PCell will be operated on a licensed band while one or more SCells will be operated on unlicensed bands. The benefit of this strategy is that the PCell can be used for reliable transmission of control messages and user data with high quality of service (QoS) demands, such as, for example, voice and video, while a PCell on unlicensed spectrum might yield, depending on the scenario, to some extent significant QoS reduction due to inevitable coexistence with other RATs.
It has been agreed during RAN1#78bis, that the LAA investigation at 3GPP will focus on unlicensed bands at 5 GHz, although no final decision is taken. One of the most critical issues is therefore the coexistence with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) systems operating at these unlicensed bands. In order to support fair coexistence between LTE and other technologies such as Wi-Fi as well as fairness between different LTE operators in the same unlicensed band, the channel access of LTE for unlicensed bands has to abide by certain sets of regulatory rules which depend on region and considered frequency band.
A comprehensive description of the regulatory requirements for operation on unlicensed bands at 5 GHz is given in R1-144348, “Regulatory Requirements for Unlicensed Spectrum” (R1-144348, “Regulatory Requirements for Unlicensed Spectrum”), Alcatel-Lucent et al., RAN1#78bis, September 2014, incorporated herein by reference. Depending on region and band, regulatory requirements that have to be taken into account when designing LAA procedures comprise Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), Transmit Power Control (TPC), Listen Before Talk (LBT) and discontinuous transmission with limited maximum transmission duration. The intention of the 3GPP is to target a single global framework for LAA which basically means that all requirements for different regions and bands at 5 GHz have to be taken into account for the system design.
DFS is required for certain regions and bands in order to detect interference from radar systems and to avoid co-channel operation with these systems. The intention is furthermore to achieve a near-uniform loading of the spectrum. The DFS operation and corresponding requirements are associated with a master-slave principle. The master shall detect radar interference, can however rely on another device, that is associated with the master, to implement the radar detection.
The operation on unlicensed bands at 5 GHz is in most regions limited to rather low transmit power levels compared to the operation on licensed bands resulting in small coverage areas. Even if the licensed and unlicensed carriers were to be transmitted with identical power, usually the unlicensed carrier in the 5 GHz band would be expected to support a smaller coverage area than a licensed cell in the 2 GHz band due to increased path loss and shadowing effects for the signal. A further requirement for certain regions and bands is the use of TPC in order to reduce the average level of interference caused to other devices operating on the same unlicensed band.
Following the European regulation regarding LBT, devices have to perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) before occupying the radio channel. It is only allowed to initiate a transmission on the unlicensed channel after detecting the channel as free based on energy detection. The equipment has to observe the channel for a certain minimum during the CCA. The channel is considered occupied if the detected energy level exceeds a configured CCA threshold. If the channel is classified as free, the equipment is allowed to transmit immediately. The maximum transmit duration is thereby restricted in order to facilitate fair resource sharing with other devices operating on the same band.
Considering the different regulatory requirements, it is apparent that the LTE specification for operation on unlicensed bands will require several changes compared to the current Rel-12 specification that is limited to licensed band operation.
In connection with the new work item Licensed-Assisted Access it is also not finally decided how the mobile station is reporting channel state information, CSI to a base station, particularly in a scenario in which a plurality of, namely, unlicensed and licensed, component carriers are configured for communication between the mobile station and the base station for at least one of downlink and uplink transmissions. A reliable and efficient CSI reporting mechanism should be implemented taking into account the special circumstances of unlicensed carriers. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention is based on a process for manufacturing an erosion-resistant turbine blade made of an (.alpha./.beta.)-titanium base alloy made by remelt alloying a tip of a blade section using a B-, C- and/or N- containing gas atmosphere with the aid of a high power energy source. A blade manufactured in accordance with such a process is preferably employed in low-pressure stages of steam turbines, since owing to its low density it meets, even if overall lengths are large, the specifications with respect to mechanical loadability at temperatures up to approximately 150.degree. C. In this temperature range the steam entering the turbine contains droplets which impinge at a high velocity on those faces of the turbine blade which are exposed to the incoming steam, in particular the leading edge of the blade and the blade surface sections adjoining the leading edge of the blade on the suction side. In the process,, the droplets may cause erosion damage. Particularly subject to wear and tear is the blade section situated in the region of the blade tip, since there the circumferential speed of the blade is largest.
2. Discussion of Background
A process of the type mentioned at the outset is described in EP-A-0 491 075. This process serves to produce a protective layer having high erosion resistance on a turbine blade made of an (.alpha./.beta.)-titanium base alloy in the region of the blade tip. In this case, the protective layer is generated by remelt alloying of the (.alpha./.beta.)-titanium base alloy at the surface in a boron-, carbon- or nitrogen-containing gas atmosphere by means of a laser. Such a layer has great hardness, compared with the untreated regions of the blade, and effectively protects the titanium base alloy situated underneath it against droplet erosion. It has been found, however, that a blade material protected against erosion in such a way has lower fatigue strength than the unprotected blade material. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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End-user ability to perform self-recovery of a computing device from a system crash, virus, error, or other malfunction is typically limited by the end-user's experience, knowledge, as well as, the configuration of the computing device. For example, in computing devices designed for entry-level or emerging markets, built-in recovery resources/services may be limited or non-existent. Additionally, in some cases such as in emerging markets, support for the computing device may be limited to a support document, thereby forcing the end-user to attempt recovery from an error on his/her own. | {
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The present invention relates in general to memory arrays and in particular to storing two bits for each data bit in a memory array.
Memory devices are typically provided as internal storage areas in the computer. There are several different types of memory. One type of memory is random access memory (RAM) that is typically used as main memory in a computer environment. Most RAM is volatile, which means that it requires a steady flow of electricity to maintain its contents.
A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is a type of RAM. A DRAM memory is made up of memory cells. Each cell or bit includes a transistor and a capacitor. A cell is capable of storing information in the form of a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d bit as an electrical charge on the capacitor. Since a capacitor will lose its charge over time, a memory device incorporating a DRAM memory must include logic to refresh (recharge) the capacitors of the cells periodically or the information will be lost. Reading the stored data in a cell and then writing the data back into the cell at a predefined voltage level refreshes a cell. The required refreshing operation is what makes DRAM memory dynamic rather than static.
While a cell is being refreshed it cannot be read by a processor. This causes systems incorporating DRAMS to be slower than systems incorporating RAMS. However, DRAMS are more commonly used than RAMS because their circuitry is simpler and because they can hold up to four times as much data. Another disadvantage in using a typical DRAM is the amount of power needed to constantly refresh the cells. This disadvantage becomes more crucial as apparatuses incorporating memory devices are designed to use less and less power.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a DRAM memory device whose cells can go for an extended period of time without having to be refreshed
The above-mentioned problems with non-volatile memory devices and other problems are addressed by the present invention and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.
In one embodiment, a method of operating a DRAM memory array having a plurality of memory cells wherein, in a plan view, each memory cell has an area of less than 8F2 comprises storing a first bit in a first memory cell, and storing a second bit that is complementary to the first bit in a second memory cell. The method includes pre-charging and equilibrating first and second digit lines to an intermediate voltage level, sharing a charge on a capacitor of the first memory cell with the first digit line, and sharing a charge on a capacitor of the second memory cell with the second digit line. A voltage difference between the first digit line and the second digit line is compared with a sense amplifier. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thread form for threaded connections of the type used for securing tubular flow conduits to form a desired continuous flow path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of threaded connections are known in the prior art for joining tubular flow conduits in an end-to-end relationship to form a continuous flow path for transporting fluid. Typical examples of such flow conduits include casing, expandable casing, tubing, drill pipe and risers for oil, gas, water and waste disposal wells, and in horizontal and trenchless drilling applications. In the case of oil field casing and tubing, it is a common practice to use metal pipes of a definite length, with sections of pipe joined to form a string. The string of pipes effectively creates one lengthier pipe, intended to provide a means to reach the depth at which the reservoirs of gas or oil are found in order for extraction to the surface.
The pipe sections are secured together at their ends by an externally threaded connector, or “pin” that is threadedly received within an internally threaded connector or “box”. Each pipe section has a pin on one pipe end and a box at the opposite pipe end. Some pipe has an internally threaded coupling secured to one end of a double pin pipe section to produce the box. The individual pipe sections are frequently referred to as a “pipe joint”. Tubing and casing pipe joints are usually 30 ft. in length but can vary in length from 20 ft. to 40 ft. or longer.
The various pipe strings used in constructing a well are usually assembled on the floor of a drilling or workover rig. The pipe string is lengthened and lowered into the well as succeeding pipe joints are added to the string. During this assembly procedure, the pipe joint being added to the string is lowered, pin down or pin up, into an upwardly or downwardly facing box projecting from the drilling rig floor. This procedure is commonly referred to as “stabbing” the pin into the box. After being stabbed, the added pipe joint is rotated to engage the threads of the pin and box, securing the joint to the string. The process is basically reversed in or to disassemble the pipe string. Once free of the box, the removed joint is moved to a storage location.
There have been numerous advances in thread technology of the type under consideration in recent years. For example, Re. Pat. No. 30,647 issued to Blose in 1981 disclosed a tubular connection having a thread form which provided an unusually strong connection while controlling the stress and strain in the connected pin and box members of the connection. The thread form featured mating helical threads which were tapered in thread width in opposite directions to provide wedge-like engagement of the opposing flanks to limit rotational make-up of the connection. The wedge thread, if properly designed, provides high torsional resistance without inducing axial or radial stresses into the tubular connection upon make-up of the joint, making it easier to break out the joints if this becomes necessary. By reducing axial or radial stresses in the threaded connection, a sounder connection is theoretically provided which is able to withstand a greater level of operating stress and strain.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,224, issued Jul. 15, 1986 to Blose was a refinement and further improvement to the basic wedge thread concept. In the invention disclosed in the '224 patent, a connection was shown having a “chevron” load flank. Radial make-up of the threaded connection was controlled by the special thread structuring where the radial movement of a thread into a mating thread groove was restricted by a chevron type interfit between two load bearing thread surfaces of the threaded connection instead of relying upon thread width alone.
Re. Pat. No. 34,467 issued Dec. 7, 1992 to Reeves purported to be an improvement to the basic Blose wedge thread design. As explained by the patentee, when Blose's connection is rotatably made up to engage both the front and back thread load flanks, incompressible thread lubricant or other liquid may be trapped between the engaged load flanks. This trapped thread lubricant can resist the make-up torque and give a false torque indication that results in lower than desired stress and strain being induced in the Blose connection and reducing the design strength and load carrying capacity. The invention described in Re. Pat. No. 34,467 purports to preclude the possibility of false indication of torque by excluding thread lubricant from between the thread load flanks that are brought into engagement at make-up.
In Re. Pat. No. 30,647 and Re. Pat. No. 34,467, the preferred threads were “dovetailed-shaped” in cross section, being wider at the crests than at the roots. U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,224 was a departure from the Blose design in that a semi-dovetail or partial dovetail thread was disclosed. However, the thread crest width continued to be greater than the thread root width as in the traditional definition of the term “dovetail.”
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,254,146 and 6,722,706, to Kris L. Church, were directed to further improvements in thread forms of the type under consideration. The thread forms shown in these earlier Church patents include a special thread structuring where the radial movement of one thread into a mating thread groove is controlled by a complex profile interfit between the two mating thread surfaces of the threaded connection. The complex profile can be present on the stab flank, on the load flank, or on a combination of the two flanks. A controlled clearance is provided between the mating crests of the interengaged threads to prevent hydraulic pressure buildup caused by entrapped lubricant between the thread crests and roots. The stab flanks complex profile is preferably a multi-faceted flank having at least three facets and four radii per stab flank. The pin thread crests have a crest width and the pin roots have a root width. The width of the crest is less than the width of the roots, which is exactly opposite that of the general dovetail design.
Despite the improvements in thread form design discussed above, a need continues to exist for a thread form which is capable of coupling tubular pipe sections quickly and efficiently, which forms a secure connection, and which is economical to produce.
A need also exists for such a thread form which provides a more versatile design than existing designs and which achieves different purposes depending on the end application, such as providing improved tensile load capabilities.
A need also exists for such a thread form which is extremely easy to machine versus other known thread forms in the industry and whose geometry affords easy quality inspection by either mechanical or electronic methods.
A need also exists for such a thread form design which can be configured as a “wedge” in order to provide enhanced bending capabilities for the associated string of pipe.
A need exists for such a thread form which can be used for expanded tubular applications.
A need also exists for such a thread form which can be machined in either of two opposite directions depending upon the anticipated applied loads. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
In one aspect, this invention relates generally to systems and methods for controlling the behavior or motion of one or more cutting elements to optimize the cutting action of the cutting element(s) against an earthen formation.
2. Description of Related Art
To obtain hydrocarbons such as oil and gas, boreholes are drilled by rotating a drill bit attached at a drill string end. Conventionally, the drill bit is rotated by rotating the drill string using a rotary table at the surface and/or by using a drilling motor in a bottomhole assembly (BHA). Because wellbore drilling can be exceedingly costly, considerable inventive effort has been directed to improving the overall efficiency of the drilling activity. One conventional measure for evaluating the efficiency of drilling activity is Specific Input Energy (Se), which the drill bit industry defines as the energy required to drill a specific volume of rock in a given time period, i.e. the input energy required to achieve a target ROP.
Generally speaking, drilling efficiency has not changed substantially since industry was capable of estimating or measuring Se. The Se required to drill a volume of rock is strongly influenced by the chip or cutting size generated at the face of the bit. In general Se increases and drilling efficiency declines as cuttings become progressively smaller. This relationship is driven by the amount of energy required to remove a given volume of rock from the parent rock. One can better understand this relationship by thinking of table salt grains vs. kidney beans. For a given volume within a container, more salt grains will be present than beans. It is also evident that more of total volume is contained in fewer beans than salt grains. If one takes a drill cutting the size of the bean and continues to reduce its size until all of its volume is in particles the size of salt grains, it is clear that addition energy has been required. For further illustration, consider a borehole drilled to produce an extremely thin kerf. This could be thought of as a core that is practically the diameter of the final drilled hole. Of course this has practical limits, but does tend to define the largest possible cutting and the minimum amount of energy used to break the core into smaller pieces. In this case drilling efficiency would be maximized from a drill cutting surface to a contained volume standpoint. Said differently, one wants to maximize cutting size and keep the surface area of the cuttings to a minimum; i.e., the cuttings volume to cuttings surface area ratio should be as large as possible.
Herein is the classic method of improving drilling efficiency or reducing Se. The bigger the cutting, the less work done on the undisturbed volume within the cutting. Thus, attempts have been made to increase cutting size to a practical maximum by through design of drill bits and, to some degree, BHA's. Conventional drill bits are provided with a number of cutting elements or cutters on their face. Increased cutting size can be achieved by increasing cutter size, depth of cut, and by increasing bit torque as long as the increased torque produces larger cuttings. There are practical limits to these methods and only limited change to average cutting size has occurred in the past 10 or 15 years.
The present invention address these and other needs relating to the efficiency of drill bit. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system and method, and more particularly, to a printing system and method in which verification of a printed sample, which is prepared by desk top publishing (DTP) after an order for a printed matter is received from a printed matter customer, and delivery of the completed printed matter can be performed simply and in a short period of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printing by desktop publishing (DTP), whereby printed matters of various types are prepared by utilizing a computer, has been spreading in recent years. Even in the publishing world, the preparation and delivery of the printed matters ordered by customers are more and more often being performed by DTP.
Conventionally, a printed matter customer who orders a printed matter will go through the following process when a generally performed printing system is employed. The customer will go and meet with a printed matter preparer from the time of the order up through preparation of the printed matter, verification of samples, and delivery of a completed printed matter. Alternatively, the printed matter preparer will visit the customer, or the samples or completed printed matter will be delivered by post. Even for cases where a printed matter is prepared by DTP printing utilizing a computer, the printed matter will be delivered after passing through a process like that described above.
The verification of the printed matter samples by the printed matter customer, and the delivery of the completed printed matter, in accordance with a printing system like that described above, require time and effort because the printed matter customer meets directly with the printed matter preparer, or the printed matter preparer sends the samples or the completed printed matter by post or the like. Moreover, there is a problem in that an additional amount of time and effort results when corrections are necessary after viewing the samples.
In order to eliminate the time and effort required in verifying the printed matter samples and delivering the completed printed matter, a process has been proposed in which printing information prepared by DTP printing is sent to the printed matter customer by electronic mail and is output to a printer of the printed matter customer, and then the printed matter preparer has the samples verified by the printed matter customer or delivers the output printed matter as a finished product. In this case the same hardware, such as a personal computer, and software as that used by the printed matter preparer also has to be provided to the printed matter customer. There are problems relating to the burden of investing in this equipment, and to the necessity of mastering operation of the personal computer. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus in which a terminal transmits channel information for at least one serving cell to a base station in a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving periodic channel information in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, mobile communication systems have been developed to provide voice services, to allow for mobility of a user. Mobile communication systems have expanded data services as well as voice services, and now, they are capable of providing high-speed data services. However, in mobile communication systems which currently provide services, due to a shortage of resources and user's demands for higher-speed services, mobile communication systems are required which are further developed.
To meet such demands, standardization work on Long Term Evolution (LTE), one of the next-generation mobile communication systems, is in progress in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). LTE implements high-speed packet-based communication at a data rate of up to about 100 Mbps. To this end, various schemes have been discussed, such as a scheme for reducing the number of nodes located on a communication path by simplifying a structure of a network and a scheme for arranging wireless protocols close to wireless channels.
In 3GPP LTE release-10 (rel-10), to support higher data transmission quantity than LTE rel-8, a bandwidth extension technique has been adopted. Bandwidth extension, also called Carrier Aggregation (CA), may extend a band, thus increasing data transmission quantity by the extended band when compared to an LTE rel-8 terminal for transmitting data in a band. Each band is called a Component Carrier (CC), and the LTE rel-8 terminal is prescribed to have one CC for each of a Downlink (DL) and an Uplink (UL). UL CCs, which are SIB-2 connected with DL CCs, are called a cell. The SIB-2 connection relationship between the UL CCs and the DL CCs is transmitted as a terminal-dedicated signal. A terminal which supports CA may receive DL data and transmit UL data through multiple serving cells.
When a base station has difficulty in sending a Physical Downlink Control CHannel (PDCCH) to a particular terminal in a particular serving cell in LTE rel-10, it transmits the PDCCH to the terminal in another serving cell and sets a Carrier Indicator Field (CIF) as a field for indicating that the PDCCH indicates a Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared CHannel (PUSCH) of the another serving cell. The CIF may be set in the terminal which supports CA. The CIF is determined to indicate the another serving cell by adding 3 bits to the PDCCH information in the particular serving cell. The CIF is included only when cross carrier scheduling is performed. If the CIF is not included, cross carrier scheduling is not performed. When the CIF is included in a DL assignment, the CIF indicates a serving cell in which the PDSCH scheduled by the DL assignment is to be transmitted. If the CIF is included in a UL grant, the CIF is defined to indicate a serving cell in which the PUSCH scheduled by the UL grant is to be transmitted.
As such, in LTE rel-10, the bandwidth extension technique CA is defined, such that multiple serving cells may be set in a terminal. For data scheduling of the base station, the terminal periodically or aperiodically transmits channel information for the multiple serving cells to the base station.
In LTE rel-11, a maximum of five serving cell setting scenarios are assumed, and in this case, channel information transmission for multiple serving cells in one sub-frame may collide with each other. Thus, a need exists for a method for supporting an operation of the terminal such that channel information for as many serving cells as possible may be periodically transmitted in one sub-frame. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) suitable for use in a monolithic CMOS phase lock loop that generates an even number of equally spaced phases for use with other circuitry.
2. Background Art
Most modern VLSI components have a phase lock loop (PLL) to multiply-up an external clock reference to a frequency that is used to clock the inside of the part. A component of the PLL is a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that takes, as an input, an analog voltage that determines its output frequency. Thus, the VCO is a free running oscillator that is put in a feedback loop to control its operating frequency. Typically, the PLL is a multiplying PLL so that a low frequency external reference clock is multiplied up to some higher frequency. For example, a 200 MHz external reference clock is multiplied up to a range of 1.6 to 2.4 GHz.
A convention ring oscillator is typically employed as a VCO for CMOS technology. The conventional ring oscillator consists of a string of inverters having their supply controlled by a control voltage. The conventional ring oscillator requires an odd number of inverters that provides an odd number of phases.
If a VCO is used in a circuit to control the phase of an output signal digitally, an even number of phases is preferred that are equi-distance spaced along the period of oscillation. Since the conventional ring oscillator provides an odd number of phases, it is not suited to control the phase of an output signal digitally.
Differential ring oscillators have been built, suffer from small voltage swings and thus require level conversion and have frequency range limitations. | {
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The present invention relates to the irradiation of food products using ionizing radiation such as x-rays. The invention is also applicable to irradiation in industrial, medical, sterilization or other fields in which efficient irradiation of materials is desired.
Diseases caused by contaminated food are one of the most widespread health problems in both the developed and developing countries throughout the world. The majority of these diseases, caused by biological agents such as bacteria, parasites and viral agents, are manifest by symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. The Center for Disease Control estimates that foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths annually in the United States (Food-Related Illness and Death in the United States, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1999.) More alarming is the fact that many of the pathogens of real concern today were not even recognized as causes of foodborne illness just twenty years ago.
These and other issues have been addressed by irradiation. The amount or dose of radiation to which food is exposed is a function of the duration of exposure to radiation, the density of the food, and the energy emitted by the irradiator. Relatively low doses can control trichnia in pork, inhibit ripening and extend shelf life of fruits and vegetables, and control insects and other pests. Higher doses control bacteria in poultry and other foods. Still higher doses control microorganisms in herbs, spices, teas, and other dried vegetables.
The following is exemplary of pathogen sensitivity in meat:
D10 ValueLog Reduction6D10 ReductionPathogen(kGy)at 4.5 kGyDose (kGy)Camphylocbacter0.18 251.1Clostridium0.5867.73.5E. coli O157:H70.25-0.4510-181.5-2.7Listeria0.40-0.64 7-11.22.4-3.8Salmonella0.48-0.706.4-9.42.9-4.2Staphylococcus0.45 102.7Toxoplama gondii0.40-0.706.4-11 2.4-4.2Trichinella spiralis0.30-0.607.5-15 1.8-3.6
D10 values represent the x-ray dose that will result in a ten-fold reduction in pathogen concentration. Considering E. coli bacterium, the above chart shows that an irradiation dose of 4.5 kGy would ensure at least a ten billion-fold or 10 log reduction (log reduction column in the foregoing table) in concentration.
Over forty governments have established regulations permitting the irradiation of a wide variety of foods. Within the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of ionizing radiation for pathogen reduction, food preservation and disinfection for approximately 80% of the food supply. Applications now under consideration for ready-to-eat foods and shellfish will, if approved as expected, allow for irradiation of virtually all foods excepting fin fish. Regulations governing the irradiation of food are published at 9 CFR 179.26. Exemplary doses for certain foods are summarized below:
Food TypeMaximum Dose (kGy)Pork1Spices, vegetable seasonings and herbs30Fruit and fresh vegetables1Poultry (fresh, frozen or mechanically separated)3Red meat (fresh)4.5Red meat (frozen)7.0Shell eggs3
The FDA has granted clearance for food irradiation using ionizing radiation from three sources that have been shown to produce equivalent pathogen reductions. The approvals cover gamma rays from radioactive cobalt-60 or cesium-137, linear accelerators producing electrons at energies below 10 million electron volts, and x-rays generated from machine energies of less than 5 million electron volts.
While there are a number of large scale facilities in the United States that employ radiation technology for sterilizing of a range of products such as medical supplies, only a fraction are dedicated to food products. Common characteristics of these systems are their bulk size, scale and cost. Another common characteristic is a continuous conveyor system that supplies the food product into the irradiation chamber. Examples of such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,281 to Bosshard, entitled Irradiation Plant; U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,856 to Bidnyy, et al., entitled Conveyor-Type Unit for Radiation Sterilization; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,652 to Ransohoff, entitled Irradiation Device.
Capital costs for large, production scale systems are substantial. Furthermore, the radiation sources must be shielded, often by several feet of concrete, and still provide access for food products delivered on the continuous conveyor system. To minimize per pound irradiation costs for food products, the units are often operated continuously with the typical capability to process one hundred thousand pounds of food daily. To achieve these efficiencies, the units must be located in central food processing or distribution centers that are remote from the consumer.
Machines utilizing electrons to sterilize food such as manufactured by BioSterile Technology, Inc. of Fort Wayne, Ind. are the most compact of these large production scale systems as a result of the limited penetration capability of its charged electrons. In this instance the irradiation chamber with a volume of 3.3 cubic feet is but a small component of the overall system dimensions. Nonetheless, even with a relatively small irradiation chamber, the overall size and cost of such systems remains substantial.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,255 to Kirk, entitled System for X-Ray Irradiation of Blood describes a smaller scale, batch irradiator for x-ray beam irradiation of blood contained within a transfusion bag. The bag is placed within a 15.5×12×4 cm canister which limits the bag to a maximum thickness of 4 cm. A first x-ray tube is positioned to irradiate the bag from a first side, and a second tube is positioned to irradiate the bag from the opposite side. An alternate embodiment includes a single x-ray tube, which is used to irradiate the first side of the bag for a preselected time period. Thereafter, the bag is rotated, and the opposite side is irradiated for an equal period of time. In either embodiment, the distance from the output port of the x-ray tube(s) to the near side of the bag is 23 cm, and the beam geometry is selected so that the beam diameter is at least 15.5 cm at this distance. Accordingly, the extent of the x-ray beam is sufficient to irradiate the entire 15.5.times.12 cm extent of the bag. One disadvantage of such a system is its bulk, as the distance between the output ports of the two x-ray tubes is some 50 cm. Of this distance, the blood to be irradiated occupies at most only 4 cm, with the remainder being air. As the intensity of the x-radiation received by the blood is inversely related to the square of the separation, the intensity of the radiation received by the bag is also relatively small. Moreover, a substantial portion of the x-rays does not impinge on the blood and therefore does not contribute to its irradiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,951 B 1 to Joehnk, et al., entitled Process for Irradiating Producing Constant/Depth Dose Profile discloses an apparatus for irradiating a target material wrapped around an annular reel. The reel is rotated about an axis perpendicular to the sweep of a beam of ionizing radiation. The objective of the arrangement is to create either a constant or a linear relationship between the depth of the target material and the received dose. Joehnk teaches that the perpendicular relationship been the axis of rotation of the reel and the direction of beam sweep is critical to the function of the invention. The electron beam source is located at a distance from the target material such that beam extent is greater than the target material extent. In addition, the target material must be wrapped around the reel and occupies only a portion of the reel's diameter. In one exemplary embodiment, a material having a thickness of 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) is disposed on a 10 inch diameter (25.4 cm) core; in another a material having a thickness of 1 inch (2.54 cm) disposed on an 8 inch (20.3 cm) diameter core. These factors likewise decrease the efficiency and increase the relative size of the apparatus.
Aspects of the present invention address these matters, and others. | {
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Many types of detectors for materials of unknown chemical or biological composition have been developed. For example, arrays of biological and chemical probes having a variety of specific binding properties have been made, often referred to as biochips or labs-on-a-chip. Myriad other devices are available for identification of unknown molecules, such as organic pollutants.
There is a continuing need for devices that may be used to direct samples of an unknown material into a large number of different potential interactions with known materials so that detected interactions between the known and unknown materials may be employed to identify the unknown materials. | {
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} |
This invention relates broadly to saddles for horses. More specifically, it relates to sets of stirrups, for small children, that are attachable to horse saddles.
The present invention fills a need for adapting an adult-size saddle for use by children, without the necessity of exchanging the saddle, itself, for one of a smaller size. It also fills a need for a training device whereby a small child may safely become accustomed to riding horses while being accompanied and protected by an adult. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In many television broadcast signals, notably those adhering to the NTSC and PAL standards, there is a defined relationship between the horizontal line frequency (Fh) and the color subcarrier frequency (Fsc). For example, in NTSC signals, luminance and chrominance are transmitted in a single channel by using a chrominance subcarrier at 3.58 MHz, which is equal to the line frequency, 15,734.26 Hz, times 455/2. This relationship makes it possible to separate luminance and chrominance components in the television receiver, thus avoiding interference between them prior to the recovery of the primary color signals for display.
In digital television systems that follow NTSC standards, typical digital color separation algorithms call for a sampling rate that is some multiple of the 3.58 MHz subcarrier frequency. A commonly used sampling rate is approximately 14.318 MHz, referred to as the "4 fsc" rate. It results in approximately 763 samples of active video data per line.
A problem with the 4 fsc sampling rate is that it is not always consistent with the sampling rate required for a desired number of pixels per line (horizontal resolution). For example, today's enhanced definition television systems, such as "wide NTSC", call for an image that is wider than previous images, with an aspect ratio of 16:9. The desired aspect ratio and the available number of lines per frame determine the horizontal resolution.
The simplest sampling methods provide one sample per pixel. But, in general, the sampling rates for NTSC color separation and for a desired aspect ratio are not the same. For example, for a 480 line display with a 4:3 aspect ratio 640 pixels per line are required. However, as stated above, the 4 fsc sampling rate for NTSC color separation results in 763 samples per line. This requires some sort of means for providing samples for the desired horizontal resolution.
Some existing systems provide the required number of pixels per line by first sampling the incoming data at 4 fsc or some other color burst-related sampling rate, performing color separation, and then scaling the samples to the desired horizontal resolution. However, a problem with scaling is that visual artifacts are likely to occur. Also, the increased complexity of such systems makes them more costly. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, which is a copper (Cu) oxide, high temperature superconductor that permits doping with positive holes by selectively reducing constituent elements (atoms). This superconductor can be used in large scale superconducting power transmission, superconducting power storage or reserve, superconducting electronics such as a high performance Josephson device, a high frequency device or the like. The invention also relates to methods of making such a superconductor.
Conventional Cu-oxide family, high temperature superconductors have been prepared doping with positive holes, by oxidation, to raise the contents of the superconducting carriers. Such a high temperature superconductor, however, may cause the carriers to reduce in concentration due to diffusion or bleeding of oxygen atoms by increased temperature. This leads to a depletion in superconductivity of the superconductor.
Also, doping with positive holes to obtain a higher carrier concentration has been thought to require a higher oxygen partial pressure, and it has so far been unattainable to prepare a superconductor of the type described by doping with positive holes to raise the carrier concentration in a reduction process conditioned under low partial pressure or vacuum. Since it has been found impossible to increase the concentration of positive holes by reduction, i.e., by lowering the oxygen partial pressure, the conventional high temperature superconductors have the problem that they have a limited carrier concentration and are thus low and unsatisfactory in their superconducting properties that include the critical temperature Tc, critical current density Jc, irreversible magnetic filed Hirr. It has therefore been sought to, solve the problem of bringing into realization a high temperature superconductor of a reduced oxygen concentration.
With these problems taken into account, it is accordingly a first object of the present invention to provide a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor that permits doping with positive holes by selectively reducing constituent elements (atoms).
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor.
In order to achieve the first object mentioned above, there is provided in accordance with the present invention, a selective reduction, high temperature superconductor, wherein it has a portion of its constituent elements selectively reduced whereby it has a superconducting layer thereof doped with positive holes.
The present invention also provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor that has a portion of its constituent elements selectively reduced whereby there are formed in superconducting layers a first and a second region doped overly and doped optimally with superconducting carriers, respectively.
The present invention further provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor that has a portion of its constituent elements selectively reduced whereby the superconductor as a whole has a superconducting carrier concentration such that it is held doped overly or doped optimally with superconducting carriers.
The present invention also provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor that has on each of an upper and a lower surface of a unit lattice thereof a charge supply layer having each of a portion of Cu atoms substituted with a selectively reducible atom.
The present invention also provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor in which the said superconducting layers have an upper and a lower surface constituted by a CuO2 layer of 5-coordination and a layer other than the upper and lower constituted by a CuO2 layer of 4-coordination, the said CuO2 layer of 5-coordination and 4-coordination having been over- and optimum-doped, respectively, by selective reduction.
Further, the present invention provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor having a selectively over-doped and/or a selectively optimum-doped construction.
The present invention further provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, characterized in that it is made of a (Cu, M) group, high temperature superconducting material, which can be described by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xMx(Ba1xe2x88x92y,Sry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)nxe2x88x921CunO2n+4xe2x88x92w
where M represents ions of one or more polyvalent metallic elements selected from the class which consists of Tl, Bi, Pb, In, Ga, Sn, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zr, Nb, Mo, W, Re and Os; L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64; and 1xe2x89xa6nxe2x89xa616.
The present invention also provides selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, characterized in that it is made of a (Cu, Tl) group, high temperature superconducting material that can be described by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xTlx(Ba1xe2x88x92ySry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)nxe2x88x921CunO2n+4xe2x88x92w
where L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64; and 1xe2x89xa6nxe2x89xa616.
The present invention also provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, characterized in that it is made of a (Cu, Tl) group, high temperature superconducting material that can be described by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xTlx(Ba1xe2x88x92ySry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)2Cu3O10xe2x88x92w
where L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; and 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64.
The present invention also provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, characterized in that it is made of a high temperature superconducting material that can be described by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xTlx(Ba1xe2x88x92ySry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)3Cu4O12xe2x88x92w
where L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; and 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64.
The present invention further provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, characterized in that selective over- or optimum-doping is effected by decrease in the valence number of ions of a constituent element by decrease in the oxygen concentration, that is by selective reduction, or by varying (increasing or decreasing) oxygen concentration.
The present invention also provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, characterized in that it is a selectively over-doped type or a selectively optimum-doped type, high temperature superconductor in which n is any one of 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
The present invention further provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor having a construction that the reduction of selectively reducible ions causes the ions in the charge supply layers to receive electrons in their outer shell orbits, thereby providing holes in the CuO2 layer of 5-coordination of a said superconducting layer.
The present invention further provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor having a construction that it has a superconducting anisotropy of not greater than 10 and a coherence distance of not less than 3 angstroms.
The present invention further provides a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor having a construction that said selective reduction transforms its natural superconducting wave function that is of a d-wave high in spatial anisotropy to a wave function of a (d+is) wave that has also a property of an s-wave lacking of spatial anisotropy.
A selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor so constructed as mentioned above according to the present invention can be prepared in a reducing atmosphere or can in use have its oxygen content decreased, yet still maintain a high critical temperature Tc, while providing a reduced aniso-superconductivity xcex3, a high critical current density Jc and a high critical magnetic field Hirr.
Stated otherwise, a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor according to the present invention is provided with a crystalline and an electronic structure that permits achieving improved Jc and Hirr while maintaining Tc high. Moreover, provided with a superconducting wave function of a (d+is) wave, it is low in superconducting anisotropy. With these advantages, it can be used as a high performance, high temperature superconductor in a variety of industrial sub-fields concerned.
In order to achieve the second object mentioned above, the present invention provides a method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, which comprises the steps of: preparing a high temperature superconductor, and heat-treating the prepared high temperature superconductor in a reducing atmosphere.
The present invention also provides a method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, comprising the steps of: using an amorphous film as a precursor of high temperature superconductor; causing the amorphous film to grow epitaxially by amorphous phase epitaxy; and heat-treating in a low oxygen, reducing atmosphere the amorphous film that has grown epitaxially.
The present invention further provides a method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor, comprising the steps of: causing added constituent elements to develop their self-assembling (or self-forming) effect; and causing the high temperature superconductor to grow epitaxially by the self-assembling effect.
A method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor of the present invention as mentioned above is applicable to making a (Cu, M) group, selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor expressed by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xMx(Ba1xe2x88x92y,Sry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)nxe2x88x921CunO2n+4xe2x88x92w
where M represents ions of one or more polyvalent metallic elements selected from the class which consists of Tl, Bi, Pb, In, Ga, Sn, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zr, Nb, Mo, W, Re and Os; L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64; and 1xe2x89xa6nxe2x89xa616.
A method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor of the present invention as mentioned above is also applicable to making a (Cu, Tl) group, selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor expressed by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xTlx(Ba1xe2x88x92ySry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)nxe2x88x921CunO2n+4xe2x88x92w
where L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64; and 1xe2x89xa6nxe2x89xa616.
A method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor of the present invention as mentioned above is also applicable to making a (Cu, Tl) group, selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor expressed by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xTlx(Ba1xe2x88x92ySry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)2Cu3O10xe2x88x92w
where L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; and 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64.
A method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor of the present invention as mentioned above is also applicable to making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor expressed by composition formula:
Cu1xe2x88x92xTlx(Ba1xe2x88x92ySry)2(Ca1xe2x88x92zLz)3Cu4O12xe2x88x92w
where L represents one or more elements selected from the class which consists of Mg and alkaline metallic elements; 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0; 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61; 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61; and 0xe2x89xa6wxe2x89xa64.
A method of making a selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor of the present invention so constructed as mentioned above permits manufacturing a positive hole dopable or doped selective reduction type, high temperature superconductor. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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For many drugs, a key hurdle to effective oral delivery is the "first pass" effect. See GOODMAN AND GILMANS: THE PHARMACOLOGICAL BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS, pages 5 and 15 (Macmillan Publishing Co. 1985) ("Goodman and Gilman's"). Upon oral administration, a pharmaceutical agent is taken up by the lumen of the stomach and enters the portal vein. The portal vein delivers this agent to the liver before it is passed to the rest of the body. On this first pass, high levels of catabolic enzymes in the liver results in significant metabolism of the drug before it can reach its intended site of action, thereby increasing the amount of drug required for efficacious treatment.
Methylxanthines define a category of pharmaceutical agents substantially affected by the first pass effect. Illustrative of the methylxanthines are caffeine, theophylline, theobromine, aminofylline, pentoxifylline, and lisofylline, (R)-1-(5-hydroxyhexyl)-3,5-dimethylxanthine (LSF). Methylxanthines are important therapeutic compounds, useful in treating a wide variety of clinical indications. See Goodman and Gilman's at pages 589-603, for example, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,307, U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,433, U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,795, U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,947, U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,507, U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,146, U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,271, U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,666, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,906.
Although Methylxanthines are absorbed quickly and efficiently via oral, rectal and parenteral routes, they are significantly metabolized by liver enzymes. This metabolism results in decreased circulating drug levels and, hence, decreasing bioavailability. In practical terms, therefore, larger quantities of drug must be administered to the patient, raising cost concerns and the possibility of accumulating toxic metabolites.
The cytochrome P-450 superfamily of isozymes serves a predominant role in hepatic drug metabolism. They have been implicated in the metabolism of a significant number of divergent bioactive compounds, including methylxanthines. Yang et al., "The diversity of substrates for cytochrome P-450" in II MAMMALIAN CYTOCHROME P-450 2-17 (CRC Press 1987). Given the number and highly variable specificities of the P-450 isozymes, however, it is nearly impossible to predict which isoform is responsible for the metabolism of a particular compound. Even if the particular responsible isozyme were known, moreover, no methods currently exist for rationally designing effective inhibitors of enzymes with such substrate specificity.
Accordingly, an unmet need exists for compounds and methods that inhibit the metabolism of target pharmaceutical agents during treatment. In particular, there is a substantial need for compounds and methods that can be used to modulate cellular P-450 metabolism and, thereby influence, and specifically increase, circulating levels of such pharmaceuticals. The need is especially acute for compounds and methods that provide for higher circulating levels of methylxanthines. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Activated carbon, alumina, zeolites, and the like, are widely used in filtration appliances. These types of materials are sometimes referred to collectively as “active particulate”—see U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,199 to Senkus et al.—because of their configuration and innate ability to interact with fluids by sorbing (adsorbing and absorbing) components in the fluid. Their good filtration properties arise from a highly porous or convoluted surface structure, which provides an increased surface area.
Activated carbon, in particular, is widely used to protect persons from inhaling a variety of toxic or noxious vapors, including poisonous gases, industrial chemicals, solvents, and odorous compounds. Its surface porosity typically results from a controlled oxidation during manufacture. Activated carbon is derived, for example, from coal or coconut shells and can be produced in the form of powders, granules, and shaped products. It is commonly used in individual canisters or pads for gas masks. Important properties of commercial activated carbon products include those related to their particle size as well as their pore structure.
Although commonly used in many filters, activated carbon does not have a great capacity to remove gases and vapors that have low boiling points. Treatments therefore have been devised where chemicals are placed on the carbon surface and within the carbon pores to provide enhanced filtration capabilities for such gases and vapors. These treatment processes are generally known as “impregnation” methods, and the result of the treatment is an impregnated activated carbon.
Various impregnants have been developed for removing a wide range of chemicals. In industry—where the nature of the hazard is known in advance—the practice has been to select an appropriate filter for the known hazard. Consequently, filters that are effective at removing a specific chemical type or class are often used in industrial applications.
Over time, regulatory structures for the selection and use of respiratory protective equipment have evolved, along with approval systems, to ensure that the equipment designs are capable of meeting necessary performance requirements. The European Standard (EN) system has been adopted widely in Europe and elsewhere. Another example is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which has been adopted in the USA, Canada, and certain other countries.
For emergency responders, filtration-based protection systems are appropriate for personnel undertaking various tasks close to a point of a chemical release. Although a quick response is often desirable, delay may be inevitable if the responders need to first identify the toxic component in the surrounding air in order to select an appropriate filter. To avoid carrying an inventory of many different filters, it is beneficial to have one filter type, which can provide protection against various hazards.
The first U.S. patent that described a treated carbon, which removed a variety of gases arose from developments to protect personnel in World War I battles where chemical agents were used. The 1924 patent by Robert E. Wilson and Joshua C. Whetzel (U.S. Pat. No. 1,519,470) describes several methods of impregnating granular activated carbon with metals and their oxides. For most purposes, the preferred impregnants were metallic copper and copper oxides. The products made by the method described in this patent later became known as “whetlerites”. Workers at Edgewood Arsenal made subsequent progress in techniques for copper impregnation, and by the early 1940s, a copper impregnated carbon, designated “Type A” whetlerite, was the standard canister fill for US military masks. This sorbent was prepared by treating activated carbon with copper ammine carbonates in an ammonia solution. When the treated carbon was heated to 150° C. or higher, the ammine carbonates decomposed to form copper oxides in the carbon pores. Ammonia and carbon dioxide were liberated during drying. The oxide impregnant acted as an oxidizing and basic medium for the retention of acidic or oxidizable gases and vapors. The preparation of an impregnated carbon particulate of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,956,585 to Oglesby et al. It is now known, however, that active particulates treated with such copper compounds can react with hydrogen cyanide (HCN) to generate cyanogen (NCCN), an equally toxic gas. Other variations on the Wilson et al. technique have been developed—see, for example, the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 2,920,051, DE 1,087,579, FR 1,605,363, JP 7384,984, and CZ 149,995.
In a particular advance over the 1924 Wilson et al. activated carbon, chromium (VI) salts were used to aid in removal of the NCCN generated by reaction of HCN with copper based salts—see U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,956,585 and 2,920,050. In recent years, however, the use of such Cr-based materials has been limited by both environmental and health concerns. An in depth report on impregnant formulations can be found in “Military Problems with Aerosols and Nonpersistent Gases”, Chapter 4: “Impregnation of Charcoal”, by Grabenstetter, R. J., and Blacet, F. E., Division 10 Report of US National Defense Research Committee (1946) pp. 40-87. The favorable properties obtained by using chromium also can be realized by the use of metals such as molybdenum, vanadium, or tungsten. Whetlerites containing these metals are described in several patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,801,311 and 7,004,990.
Subsequent research also has explored shelf life improvements using impregnated organic compounds on carbon. One material found to improve shelf life towards a cyanogen chloride (CK) challenge is triethylenediamine (also known by other names such as TEDA, DABCO, or 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane). When impregnated on carbon, TEDA has been found to be capable of reacting directly with cyanogen chloride and to be capable of removing methyl bromide and methyl iodide.
In 1993 Doughty et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,882) described the use of copper carbonates and sulfates in the presence of zinc and molybdenum oxides. This formulation was an advancement over the Wilson et al. work and others because it incorporated molybdenum oxides, which increased capacity for the HCN reaction product NCCN and avoided the use of chromium found in earlier versions. In addition, Doughty et al. removed basic gases such as ammonia. As discussed below, the Doughty et al. method is generally limited by its utilization of ammoniacal solutions and salts during the impregnation process. These chemicals and solutions are generally expensive to handle on a manufacturing scale because specialized ventilation and scrubbing equipment is required to meet health and safety concerns and environmental release standards.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,309,513, Brey et al. presented an advance by replacing the relatively expensive molybdenum compounds with tungsten while retaining the ability to remove NCCN and other basic gases such as ammonia. Despite this advance, Brey et al. also relied on the use of ammonia-based salts and solutions to impregnate metal into activated carbon and other substrates. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Prior to the present invention, various methods were available for making symmetrical and asymmetrical triarylsulfonium salts. For example, P.A.Lowe, Chemistry of the Sulfonium Group, Volume 1, John Wiley, New York, 1981, page 13 and Trost et al, Emerging Synthetic Intermediates, Academic Press, London 1975, provide reviews of synthetic routes for synthesizing triarylsulfonium salts. Smith et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,476, shows a procedure for preparing a triarylsulfonium complex using a mixture of diphenylsulfoxide, diphenylsulfide, and phosphorus pentoxide. Although procedures such as Smith et al provide complex triarylsulfonium salts, the 44% yield of the salt is relatively low, and the range of substrates which can be used is extremely limited. In addition, Smith et al's reaction mixture is heterogeneous due to the insolubility of the phosphorus pentoxide. Further, workup is complicated by the slow hydrolysis of the sticky mass of excess phosphorus pentoxide, products and starting materials.
In an improved procedure for making triarylsulfonium complexes, a strong acid, such as sulfuric acid, is used in combination with an oxidizing agent, such as peracetic acid and a dehydrating agent, for example acetic anhydride to produce in-situ, a mixture of a diarylsulfide and diarylsulfoxide. This mixture can be converted to the corresponding trirarylsulfonium acid complex followed by metathesis to the corresponding hexafluorometal or metalloid salt. Although effective results can be obtained using a strong acid, such as sulfuric acid, lower yields can be expected due to the sulfonation of the substrate as a competing side reaction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to 2-(benzylsulfinyl)thiazole derivatives and 2-[(1H-pyrazol-4-ylmethyl)sulfinyl]thiazole derivatives. The present invention furthermore provides mixtures of the thiazole derivatives mentioned above with other herbicides and/or safeners. In addition, the present invention relates to processes for preparing the thiazole derivatives mentioned above and to the use of these compounds as plant growth regulators alone and in combination with safeners and/or in mixtures with other herbicides, in particular to their use for controlling plants in specific crop plants or as crop protection regulators.
2. Description of Related Art
It is already known from the prior art that certain 2-(benzylsulfinyl)thiazole derivatives and 2-[(1H-pyrazol-4-ylmethyl)sulfinyl]thiazole derivatives have herbicidal properties. Thus the Japanese patent application JP 2003/096059 describes herbicidally active thiazole derivatives which carry a benzylthio or benzylsulfonyl group as substituents at the 2-position of the thiazole ring.
WO 2006/123088 describes various 2-[(pyrazolylmethyl)thio]-, 2-[(pyrazolylmethyl)sulfinyl]- and 2-[(pyrazolylmethyl)sulfonyl]thiazole derivatives, their preparation and their use as herbicides.
However, on application, the active compounds already known from the publications mentioned above have disadvantages, be it (a) that they have no or else insufficient herbicidal activity against harmful plants, (b) that the spectrum of harmful plants that can be controlled with an active compound is not wide enough, or (c) that their selectivity in crops of useful plants is insufficient.
In particular, the herbicidally active thiazole compounds known from the prior art have unsatisfactory herbicidal activity against certain weed grasses and at the same time unsatisfactory crop plant compatibility in certain crops. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
This invention relates to liquid bath vacuum cleaner systems and, more particularly, to a liquid pan assembly including integrally formed filtering means for use with a liquid bath vacuum cleaner.
2. Discussion
Liquid bath vacuum cleaners are used in a wide variety of residential and industrial applications. These vacuum cleaners typically include a main vacuum canister with a removably attached liquid pan. An intake nozzle of the pan matingly engages with an opening in the canister when the pan is attached to the canister to allow dust and dirt entrained air to be ingested by a vacuum force through the intake nozzle into the area defined by the liquid pan. The pan is removed periodically from the main vacuum canister and flushed out with water or another cleaning solution as it is articulated into various positions.
Although liquid pan and canister combinations as described above operate well to receive and trap dust and dirt particles entrained in ingested air, the attached intake nozzle tends to impede cleaning by trapping dirt when flushing out the pan. In addition, the shape of many heretofore designed liquid pans usually requires that the pan be held and manipulated with both hands as the liquid cleaning agent is emptied therefrom. Accordingly, since two hands are often required to handle the liquid pan, it can at times be difficult for an individual to catch unwanted debris such as cloth, hair, carpet fibers, etc., from being drained from the liquid pan as the liquid filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
In a co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 713,059, a liquid pan assembly was disclosed which represented a significant step forward in alleviating the problems of prior art liquid pan assemblies. The above-mentioned liquid pan assembly includes a handle portion and a comb. The handle, which is pivotally secured to a portion of the pan, serves to make the liquid pan more easy to handle and manipulate as the contents of the pan are emptied. The comb enables the liquid contents of the pan to be filtered from debris intermixed therewith as the liquid contents are emptied from the pan.
While the above-mentioned invention has proved to be a significant advance in the art, it would be even further desirable to provide a one-piece liquid pan assembly with which the liquid contents of the liquid pan assembly can be filtered of solid debris such as pieces of cloth, hair, carpet strands and the like, as it is emptied from the assembly.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath vacuum cleaner which may be more easily cleaned than conventional pans for liquid bath vacuum cleaners.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a main vacuum canister having an attached intake nozzle operable to receive dust and dirt entrained air ingested by the vacuum cleaner and to direct the ingested air towards a removably attached liquid pan.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a removable liquid pan having an opening operable to communicate with an intake nozzle of a main vacuum canister to thereby allow airflow through the nozzle and the opening into an interior area of the liquid pan.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an intake means for a main vacuum canister of a vacuum cleaner, which intake means includes an integrally formed tubular intake port, and where the intake means may be removed from the lower surface of the main vacuum canister.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an intake means which may be coupled to a lower surface of a main vacuum canister, which intake means includes a tubular intake port protruding outwardly of the lower surface of the main vacuum canister, and which intake means further includes a downwardly depending shroud extending outwardly of the lower surface of the main vacuum canister a distance at least equal to a distance at which the tubular intake port extends outwardly of the lower surface, to thereby rest on a floor in a level manner and support a main vacuum canister secured thereto in a level, stabilized manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a removable liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner, where the liquid pan incorporates a handle portion which is pivotally secured to a portion of the liquid pan and foldably positionable to enable it to be stowed away when the liquid pan is coupled to a main vacuum canister of the vacuum cleaner system.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system, where the liquid pan incorporates a pivotally, removably disposed comb, and where the comb operates to filter unwanted debris such as pieces of cloth, hair, carpet strands and the like from a liquid filtering agent contained within the pan as the filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid filtering agent can be quickly emptied from the pan.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where solid debris and the liquid filtering agent can be separately disposed without having to physically handle any of the debris or employ any separate filtering implements.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid pan provides an integrally formed filtering means to filter unwanted debris from a liquid filtering agent contained within the pan as the filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid pan includes a plurality of molded-in ribs disposed vertically on a spout portion of the liquid pan to more completely filter unwanted debris from a liquid filtering agent contained within the pan as the filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a handle assembly for a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid pan includes a handle assembly which, when extended, is held rigid with respect to the pan, and is pivotally disposed such that it can be foldably stored below the uppermost portion of the liquid pan. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to antenna duplexers mounted on portable telephones, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in FIG. 5, an antenna duplexer 80 comprises an antenna terminal ANT to be connected to an antenna, a transmitting signal terminal Tx to be connected to a transmitting circuit, and a receiving signal terminal Rx to be connected to a receiving circuit. The antenna terminal ANT is connected to the transmitting signal terminal Tx and the receiving signal terminal Rx via a branchpoint 10. A transmitting filter 51 comprising a surface acoustic wave device is interposed on a signal line connected to the transmitting signal terminal Tx through the branchpoint 10 while a receiving filter 41 comprising a surface acoustic wave device is interposed on a signal line connected to the receiving signal terminal Rx through the branchpoint 10 (see JP-A-340781/1999).
Furthermore interposed between the branchpoint 10 and the receiving filter 41 is a phase-matching strip line 7 for phase rotation, to match the phases between the transmitting filter 51 and the receiving filter 41 (JP-A-307383/2000). Incidentally the phase-matching strip line 7 is interposed between the branchpoint 10 and the filter having a higher pass band of the transmitting filter 51 and the receiving filter 41.
FIG. 6 shows the construction of the antenna duplexer 80 which is enclosed in a package. A recess portion is formed on a surface of a multilayer ceramic package 82 having ceramic layers 81 superposed. The transmitting filter 51 and the receiving filter 41 are mounted on a bottom surface of the recess portion. A plurality of signal input/output pads 9 and grounding pads 91 are arranged around the filters 41, 51. Further, formed on surfaces of the four lower ceramic layers 81 constituting the package 82 are, in order from bottom layer, a grounding layer 71, the aforementioned phase-matching strip line 7, circuit element pattern 6 which requires a capacitor etc., and grounding layer 61. The phase-matching strip line 7, for example, has a pattern as shown in FIG. 7. Further, formed on side surfaces of the package 82 are, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of castellation 84 including an antenna terminal ANT, transmitting signal terminal Tx and receiving signal terminal Rx.
With the antenna duplexer, when a signal is to be transmitted, the signal received by the transmitting signal terminal Tx passes through the transmitting filter 51 and thereafter is fed from the antenna terminal ANT to an antenna. In this case there occurs a phenomenon that the signal received by the transmitting signal terminal Tx sneaks around to the receiving signal terminal Rx, so that there is a need to take sufficient isolation measures against the phenomenon.
Accordingly with the conventional antenna duplexer, various isolation measures are heretofore taken to a signal path from the transmitting signal terminal Tx to the receiving signal terminal Rx via the transmitting filter 51 and the receiving filter 41. However, the conventional antenna duplexer has not yet achieved the sufficient isolation effect, and therefore there is still room for more improvement. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Current Liquid Crystal (LC) televisions (LCTVs) use overdrive techniques to accelerate the slow response of LC pixels so as to improve the picture quality of dynamic contents. The cost of overdrive is high, especially when the picture resolution of an LCTV set is high. The overdrive technique requires memory to buffer at least one frame of video. The memory buffer is often too large to be integrated into the IC chip that performs the overdrive. To connect this external memory chip to the overdrive IC, a significant number of pins in the overdrive chip need to be allocated. Further, the data rate between the two chips is required to be sufficiently high. These are among the factors that make the cost of overdrive high and potentially reduce the reliability of the entire system.
Overdrive techniques may be classified into two types: (i) non-recursive, and (ii) recursive. For the non-recursive overdrive, the current solutions to this problem are to compress the frame to reduce its memory buffer size and simultaneously reduce the data transfer rate. Some methods reduce the size of memory sufficiently so that the memory buffer may be integrated into the overdrive IC. On the other hand, there is no existing solution for the other type of overdrive method, namely the recursive overdrive. Embodiments of the present invention provide a solution for memory-efficient recursive overdrive systems and methods. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to implantable biomedical devices, such as intraocular lenses (IOLs), and to methods for producing such devices. More particularly, in one aspect, the present invention relates to relatively straightforward and easy to practice methods for producing IOLs, and to such IOLs wherein the optics and haptics are integrally formed of the same material.
The use of IOLs to improve vision and/or to replace damaged or diseased natural lenses in human eyes, particularly natural lenses impaired by cataracts, has achieved wide acceptance. Accordingly, a variety of IOLs have been developed for surgical implantation in the posterior or interior chambers of the eye according to a patient's needs.
Known IOLs comprise an optical lens portion, or optic for short, which includes an optical zone, and one or more, preferably two, supporting structures called fixation members, or haptics for short, for contacting eye tissue to fix or hold the IOL in the proper position after implantation into the eye. The optic may comprise a soft, resilient material, such as a silicone polymeric material or a relatively hard or rigid material such as, for example, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The haptics typically comprise a filament constructed of a resilient metal or polymeric substance, such as PMMA, polyimide or polypropylene.
Each of the filament haptics is preferably flexible to reduce trauma to sensitive eye structures and to be yielding during insertion of the IOL. In addition filament haptics generally have a memory retaining capability, e.g., springiness, so that after implantation of an association IOL, the filament haptic automatically tend to return to their normal orientation.
As an alternative to filament haptics, some IOLs are provided with footplate-type haptics. These footplates generally extend radially outwardly from the optic in the plane of the optic, and terminate in rounded or blunted end configured for placement in an eye chamber. The material for such footplates have included soft materials, for example silicone or 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). However, footplate-type haptics are attended by disadvantages, such as the addition of extra material weight to the IOL and reduced flexibility, as compared to filament haptics, leading to poor fixation and consequent migration or dislocation of the IOL.
Although the filament haptics are generally preferred over the footplate-type haptics for several reasons, certain difficulties remain. For example, filament haptics and soft or deformable optics tend to be formed from dissimilar materials which do not ordinarily chemically bond together. As a result, filament haptics have been designed having a variety of attachment end configurations or structures. For example, anchor structures that provide a physical or mechanical interlock between the haptic and optic are used. Polypropylene haptics, for example, have heretofore been secured into silicone polymer-based optics by means of a mechanical lock and other means that require complicated manufacturing steps to produce. These means include pouring a pre-cursor material for the optic into a mold in which the haptic has already been placed, and then curing the optic around the proximal end of the haptic. Another means is to drill a hole into a pre-formed optic and then chemically or otherwise enhance the bond between the optic and the end of the filament haptic inserted into the drilled hole in the optic.
While procedures such as these can be effective for enhancing the haptic/optic bond strength, they may be relatively sophisticated and relatively expensive to practice. In addition, substantial care must be exercised in some of these manufacturing processes due to the extremely low tolerances of the materials to process and material variabilities. Moreover, even though these procedures can produce a bond between the haptic and optic sufficiently secure for purposes while the IOL is implanted within the eye, quite often the handling of the IOL prior to inserting it into the eye can subject the haptic to greater forces.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a relatively straightforward and easy to practice method of producing IOLs which have substantial pull strength between the haptics and the optic. One easy way to accomplish this is to integrally form the optic and haptics in a single molding step, in which case, the haptics would be the same material as the optic. Because the optic is required to be made from a biologically inert and optically transparent material, such as polymeric silicone, haptics made from this material would not promote the fibrosis necessary to anchor the haptics to the surrounding tissue. This may lead to poor fixation and consequent migration or dislocation of the IOL. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of D(-) and L(+) enantiomers of 3,3-diphenylalanine and D(-) and L(+) substituted 3,3-diphenylalanines and derivatives thereof which are used to prepare biologically active peptides useful as pharmaceutical agents.
The development of peptides as therapeutic agents has been hindered by the short duration of action and lack of oral activity of this class of compounds. Thus, unnatural amino acids have been used to replace natural amino acids in order to prepare analogs with enhanced potency and metabolic stability. In some cases these analogs were orally active.
Yabe, Y., et. al., Chemical Pharmaceutical Bulletin, Volume 24, pages 3149-3157 (1976) disclosed a series of Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone analogs containing various hydrophobic unnatural amino acid replacements at the 3-position with potent biological activity. Nestor, Jr., J. J., et. al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 25, pages 795-801 (1982) disclosed a series of Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone analogs containing various hydrophobic unnatural amino acid replacements at the 6-position with potent biological activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,109 disclosed a series of hydrophobic peptides having antihypertensive activity. In some cases the peptides contained racemic 3,3-diphenylalanine as the unnatural hydrophobic amino acid.
Hsieh, K-H, et. al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 32:898-903 (1989) disclosed a series of angiotensin II analogs in which the phenylalanine at the 8-position was replaced with various unnatural amino acids including racemic 3,3-diphenylalanine. The authors used racemic 3,3-diphenylalanine since they were unable to resolve this amino acid using hog kidney acylase and carboxypeptidase. The octapeptide diastereomeric mixture containing racemic 3,3-diphenylalanine was subsequently separated by countercurrent distribution into the L- and D-diastereomeric peptides. The authors reported that the peptide diastereomer containing L-3,3-diphenylalanine in place of L-phenylalanine at the 8-position produced a twofold increase in activity.
Recently, Josien, H., et. al., Tetrahedron Letters 32 6447-6550 (1991) disclosed an asymmetric synthesis of L-(+)-3,3-diphenylalanine from a sultam derived glycine imine. However, this asymmetric synthesis requires long reaction times and proceeds in only 46% overall yield and 95% diastereomeric excess.
Therefore, there is a need to resolve racemic 3,3-diphenylalanine and various substituted derivatives thereof into the L- and D-enantiomers for use in preparing various biologically active peptide analogs. We have surprisingly and unexpectedly found, contrary to previous literature disclosures that DL-3,3-diphenylalanine and various phenyl substituted derivatives can be resolved into the D(-) and L(+) enantiomers using (-)cinchonidine.
The object of the present invention is an efficient and economical process which is amenable to large-scale synthesis for the preparation of D(-) and L(+) 3,3-diphenylalanine and various phenyl substituted derivatives thereof which may be subsequently incorporated into biologically active peptides to prepare analogs with increased potency and/or metabolic stability. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In recent years, due to the remarkable increase in performance of computer systems and the speeding up of networks, a parallel computing system which performs parallel processing of a plurality of application programs simultaneously has come up and speeding up of the processing is realized in a multi-processor system in which a plurality of computer systems are connected with networks. In such circumstances, there is required a provision of a processing system which can operate with higher reliability and without stopping the processing, even if a failure occurs in a complicated parallel computing system in which a plurality of application programs are distributed to a plurality of computer systems and processed in parallel.
Hence, as the inventions disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No.H1-217642, No.H1-217643, and No.H3-132861, there have come up the invention in which a spare element processor is provided, and when a failure occurs, the processing is continued by switching the element processor to the spare element processor, and the invention which can deal with a failure of a managing node by multiplexing the managing nodes with multiple processors.
Furthermore, as an invention for aiming at the improvement in reliability resulting from the non-stop operation in a multi-processor system, there is the invention entitled “management processing system of a server program” disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No.H3-3351519, but this is the invention in which at least two bi-space management servers, including a currently used bi-space management server and a standby bi-space management server, for managing a currently used server and a standby server, are prepared, and existing information in the currently used bi-space management server is written in a memory, and if the currently used bi-space management server is shut down, the standby bi-space management server serves as the currently used bi-space management server.
In the conventional parallel computing system, however, as shown in FIG. 1, a managing node 100 including a job scheduler 110 for allocating jobs to computing node group and a computing node managing program 120 manages all the computing node groups 130 which perform calculation and processing. As described above, in the prior art in which the managing node and the computing node group are integrated with each other and the function to continue the processing is provided only by switching the processor or the managing node to a spare processor or a spare managing node, there is a case where if a failure occurs in a part of the network, or if a failure occurs in a bigger system unit of other components, such as a trouble of a power supply, a job already queued cannot be handed over to the computing node group capable of processing it, and a part of the processing cannot be continued, so that a whole system is influenced. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to carbon composite materials, and more particularly to carbon composite materials that include silicon carbide and have improved oxidation resistance and carbon friction performance in humid environment.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known that carbon-carbon composites possess excellent mechanical properties at high temperatures, as well as having a low coefficient of thermal expansion and a high thermal conductivity. See, e.g., Rubin, L., in Carbon-carbon materials and composites, Buckley et al., Eds., p.267, Noyes Publ., NJ (1993); Fitzer et al., in Petroleum derived carbons, Bacha et al., Eds., p.346, American Chemical Society (1986); Sheehan, J., in Carbon-carbon materials and composites, Buckley et al., Eds., p.223,Noyes Publ., NJ (1993); and Fitzer, E., Carbon, 25:163 (1987). Such properties make these materials attractive for such uses as airframe structures, aerospace engines and brake components. One drawback, however, is that carbon is oxidized in air at temperatures as low as 400xc2x0 C., and in some applications, even a small amount of carbon oxidation can compromise the utility of a carbon-carbon composite part. Since carbon composite materials hold such great promise as materials of construction for demanding applications, a great deal of research has been focused on the development of methods to improve their oxidation resistance. See, e.g., Sheehan, J., Carbon, 27(5):709 (1989).
Previous efforts to improve the oxidation resistance of carbon-carbon composite materials have been directed to two major areas. One area of research has centered around the application of oxidation-resistant coatings, such as silicon carbide, to block oxygen contact with the oxidation-prone carbon. This work has been discussed by Sheehan, in Carbon-carbon materials and composites, Buckley et al., Eds., p.223, Noyes Publ., NJ (1993); Strife et al., Ceramics Bulletin, 67(2):369 (1988); Wu et al., Carbon, 29(8):1257 (1991); and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,668,579, 4,671,997, 5,298,311, 5,380,556, 5,536,574, 5,736,232, and 5,752,773 among others. The major problem with the use of coatings is that the coatings usually induce stresses in the fabricated part due to the different coefficient of thermal expansion of the coating material and the carbon composite. This often leads to crack formation. See, Sheehan, J., Carbon, 27(5):709 (1989). It has been reported that such cracks can be minimized, or sealed, if the protective coating is used in conjunction with another layerxe2x80x94for example, a glass coatingxe2x80x94which can seal the cracks as they develop. See, e.g., Sheehan, in Carbon-carbon materials and composites, Buckley et al., Eds., p.223, Noyes Publ., NJ (1993); and Liu et al., J. Mater. Sci. Lett., 12(12):886 (1993). But, such additional coatings can be expensive to apply and require more complex fabrication techniques. Moreover, if even a small crack remains unsealed, oxidation that is initiated at that point can severely damage the overall integrity of the carbon composite part.
The other general method for protecting carbon composites is the use of matrix inhibitors, such as boron or boron carbide. These materials reduce carbon oxidation by spreading a sealantxe2x80x94borate glassxe2x80x94within the composite. See, e.g., Sheehan, id. at p.223, as above; and Liu, id., as above. It has been shown, however, that because of their relatively low melting point, such inhibitors introduce temperature limitations for composite applications and are effective only after an appreciable fraction of carbon has been gasified. See, e.g., Fitzer, E., Carbon, 25:163 (1987); McKee, D. W., Carbon 26(5):659 (1988); Sheehan, J., Carbon, 27(5):709 (1989); Strife et al., Ceramics Bulletin, 67(2):369 (1988); and Wu et al., Carbon, 29(8):1257 (1991). This is unacceptable in certain applications, since as little as a few percent of weight loss can drastically reduce the mechanical properties of the composite.
Other methods for the protection of carbon composites include the addition of oxidation resistant materials such as polycrystalline silicon carbide particles (Chin, A., et al., Proc. Mater. Res. Soc., Boston, Mass., p.106, Nov. 28 (1994)), and chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) is often used for this purpose. However, the structure that is produced is prone to crack formation due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion of the carbon and the relatively large polycrystalline silicon carbide particles.
Another study reported the formation of crystalline silicon carbide from silicon carbide precursors in association with carbon precursors. Kawamura et al., in Carbon, 30(3):429 (1992), reported that silicon carbide/carbon composite sheets that were produced from a silicon-containing polymer and heat-treated coal tar pitch gave promising results in terms of oxidation resistance and mechanical strength. However, the study was limited to the formation of silicon carbide/carbon composites from mixtures or emulsions of finely ground solid precursors which gave composites having weight ratios of silicon carbide-to-carbon matrix material of over 1.5/1.
Several studies have reported the properties of carbon/silicon carbide/carbon composites that were prepared by CVI techniques. However, it was found that the silicon carbide that formed in the matrix was polycrystalline, and, as mentioned above, such polycrystalline regions can induce mechanical stresses during thermal cycling. The composites that were prepared by CVI with co-deposition of silicon carbide with carbon exhibited a lower oxidation rate (Kim, et al., Carbon, 31 (7):1031 (1993)), and similar or improved mechanical properties as compared with pure carbon-carbon composites (Park, et al., Carbon, 30(6):939 (1992)).
These studies underscore the positive role of silicon carbide within the carbon matrix on improving the oxidation resistance of carbon/carbon composite materials. However, presently available carbon composites containing silicon carbide at levels that improve oxidation resistance often sacrifice strength and resistance to thermal stress. Accordingly, there is a need for carbon-carbon composite materials that demonstrate improved oxidation resistance at higher temperaturesxe2x80x94and in particular an oxidation resisting effect that is not limited to the surface, but is distributed throughout the bulk of the composite; and also for such a material that sacrifices a minimum amount of physical strength and resistance to thermal stress at such higher temperatures; and also for such a material that could be easily fabricated without the need for multiple-step fabrication processes, or the application of costly protective coatings and the like.
When carbon composite materials are used in braking systems, or other applications wherein friction is an important property in determining performance, another problem has been the effect that oxygen and moisture can have upon the coefficient of friction of the composite material. It has been found that the coefficient of friction of carbon-carbon materials can be significantly reduced by the presence of condensable vapors, and that when such vapors are present, some form of lubricating film can be formed on the surface of the carbon material. (See, e.g., Earp, F. K., The Industrial Chemist, p. 495 (Oct. 1961); Ramadanoff, D., and S. W. Glass, Trans. AIEE, 6xe2x80x94:825 (1944); Campbell, W. E., and R. KoZak, Trans. AIEE, 70:491 (1948); Zaidi, H. et al., Appl. Surf. Sci., 44:221 (1990); and Yen, B. K., J. Mater. Sci. Let., 14:1481 (1995)). Thus, the presence of moisture in contact with a carbon-carbon brake surface can reduce the effectiveness of the brakes very significantly, and as little as the amount of water vapor present in the air can be sufficient to cause this effect. Some braking systems even have to be heated to prevent the presence of moisture.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a carbon composite material that not only would have advantageous oxidation resistance without sacrificing strength, as described above, but would also be less susceptible to the lubricating effects of moisture.
Briefly, therefore, the present invention is directed to a novel oxidation resistant carbon composite material comprising nanocrystalline silicon carbide regions distributed throughout a carbon matrix.
The present invention is also directed to a method for preparing an oxidation resistant carbon composite material comprising forming a solids-free solution of a silicon carbide precursor and a carbon precursor in a solvent; removing the solvent; and pyrolyzing the material remaining after removing the solvent, thereby forming nanocrystalline silicon carbide in a carbon matrix.
The present invention is also directed to a novel method for preparing an oxidation resistant carbon composite material comprising intermixing in a solvent a silicon carbide precursor and a carbon precursor and forming a solution that is free of solids; removing the solvent; and pyrolyzing the material remaining after removal of the solvent, thereby forming nanocrystalline silicon carbide in a carbon matrix.
The present invention is also directed to a novel oxidation resistant carbon composite material that has been prepared by mixing a silicon carbide precursor with a carbon precursor in a solvent to form a solution that is free of solids; removing the solvent; and pyrolyzing the material remaining after removal of the solvent, thereby to form silicon carbide in a carbon matrix.
The present invention is also directed to a part that comprises a novel oxidation resistant carbon composite material comprising nanocrystalline silicon carbide regions distributed throughout a carbon matrix.
Among the several advantages found to be achieved by the present invention, therefore, may be noted the provision of a carbon-carbon composite material that demonstrates improved oxidation resistance at higher temperaturesxe2x80x94and in particular an oxidation resisting effect that is not limited to the surface, but is distributed throughout the bulk of the composite; the provision of such a material that sacrifices a minimum amount of physical strength and resistance to thermal stress at such higher temperatures; the provision of such a material that could be easily fabricated without the need for multiple-step fabrication processes, or the application of costly protective coatings and the like; and the provision of such a material that is less susceptible to the lubricating effects of moisture. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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One type of drill used in forming a borehole in the earth is a roller cone drill bit. A typical roller cone bit comprises a bit body with an upper end adapted for connection to a drill string. Depending from the lower portion of the bit body are a plurality of support arms, typically three, each with a spindle protruding radially inward and downward with respect to a projected rotational axis of the bit body. A cutter cone is generally mounted on each spindle and supported rotatably on bearings acting between the spindle and the inside of a spindle-receiving cavity in each cutter cone. One or more fluid nozzles are often formed on the underside of the bit body. The nozzles are typically positioned to direct drilling fluid passing downwardly from the drill string toward the bottom of the borehole being drilled. Drilling fluid washes away material removed from the bottom of the borehole and cleanses the cutter cones, carrying the cuttings and other debris radially outward and then upward within an annulus defined between the drill bit and the wall of the borehole.
Protection of bearings which allow rotation of the cutter cones can lengthen the useful service life of a drill bit. Once drilling debris is allowed to infiltrate between bearing surfaces of the cutter cone and spindle, failure of the drill bit will follow shortly. Various mechanisms have been employed to help keep debris from entering between the bearing surfaces. A typical approach is to place an elastomeric seal across a gap between the bearing surfaces of each cutter cone and its respective spindle support arm. However, once the seal fails, it is not long before drilling debris contaminates the bearing surfaces via the gap between the cutter cone and its respective spindle. Thus, it is important that each seal also be protected against wear caused by debris in the borehole.
Various approaches have previously been employed to protect seals in drill bits from debris in the well bore. One approach is to provide hardfacing and wear buttons on opposite sides of the gap between each spindle support arm and the respective cutter cone where the gap opens to the exterior of the drill bit and is exposed to debris-carrying well fluid. Hardfacing and wear buttons slow erosion of the metal adjacent to the gap, and thus prolonging the time before the respective seal is exposed to borehole debris. Another approach is to construct inner-fitting parts of the cutter cone and the spindle support arm to produce a tortuous path within each gap leading to the respective seal which is difficult for debris to follow. Examples of drill bits with seal protection features are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,613,004 entitled Earth Boring Bit with Labyrinth Seal Protector, and 4,037,673 entitled Roller Cutter Drill Bit.
An example of the first approach is used in a conventional tri-cone drill bit wherein the base of each cutter cone at the juncture with the respective spindle and support arm is defined at least in part by a substantially frustoconical surface, termed the cutter cone gage surface. This cutter cone gage surface is slanted in an opposite direction as compared to the conical surface of the shell or nose of the respective cutter cone and often includes hardfacing, a plurality of hard metal buttons or surface compacts. The latter are designed to reduce the wear of the frustoconical portion of the cutter cone gage surface at one side of the gap. On the other side of the gap, the lower portion of the respective support arm is protected by hardfacing material. For definitional purposes, the lower portion of the support arm located on the exterior of the associated drill bit below the nozzles is often referred to as a shirttail surface or simply shirttail. More specifically, in referring to prior art drill bits, radially outward of the juncture of each spindle with its respective support arm, and toward the exterior of the drill bit, the lower edge or extreme lower portion of the shirttail is referred to as the tip of the shirttail or shirttail tip.
During drilling with rotary cone drill bits of the foregoing character, debris often passes between the cutter cone gage surface and the wall of the borehole generally within the area where the gap opens to the borehole annulus. As a result, the edge of the shirttail tip of each support arm which leads in the direction of rotation of the drill bit during drilling, i.e., the leading edge, can become eroded. As this erosion progresses, the hardfacing covering the respective shirttail tip eventually erodes or chips off. This erosion exposes underlying softer metal to increased erosion and thereby shortens the path that debris may take through the gap to the respective seal and ultimately exposes the respective seal to borehole debris causing seal failure and ultimately bearing failure.
Generally, the shirttail tip of a conventional support arm is relatively thin and does not allow application of hardfacing in sufficient quantities to provide adequate protection from erosion. Also, tungsten carbide inserts must be located away from the thin shirttail tip to accommodate clearance and material strength requirements for press fit installation. Depending upon specific downhole drilling conditions and design geometry of the respective rotary cone drill bit, the thin shirttail tip of the respective support arms may be a weak point leading to failure of the associated drill bit. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Recently, attention focuses on a so-called white-color Light Emitting Device (LED) in which a yellow phosphor such as YAG:Ce is combined with a blue LED to emit white-color light by single chip. Conventionally, the LED emits red, green, or blue light in monochromatic form, and it is necessary that plural LEDs emitting monochrome wavelengths are driven in order to emit the white-color light or intermediate-color light. However, currently, the combination of the light emitting diode and the phosphor realizes the white-color light with a simple structure.
However, in the white-color light emitting diode in which the YAG:Ce phosphor is combined with the blue light emitting diode, pale light emission is generated because of a lack of a red component, and a color rendering property is biased. Therefore, there is discussed a white-color light emitting diode in which the red component lacking in YAG:Ce is compensated by another red phosphor having a peak wavelength of about 640 nm to about 660 nm. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Disposable, wearable articles having an inner, body-facing, liquid pervious component, an intermediate, absorbent, liquid-retaining component and an outer, garment-facing, liquid-impervious component are well known. Articles of that type are commonly available in the form of disposable diapers, disposable underwear, pull-on diapers and training pants, incontinence pads, incontinence briefs, sanitary napkins, pantiliners, and the like. Such articles generally include a flexible, liquid-impervious outercover (i.e., backsheet) that is adapted to be positioned between an absorbent component of the article and the clothing of the wearer, to prevent wetting or soiling of the wearer's clothing when the article is in use.
In order to provide improved comfort to the wearer of disposable absorbent articles, certain components of the articles, such as a backsheet, in addition to providing imperviousness to liquids, desirably permit the passage therethrough of moisture vapor and also preferably air, to help maintain dryness and to reduce the humidity adjacent the wearer's body. An impervious polymeric film to which breathability has been imparted to allow air and moisture vapor transmission through the film is disclosed U.S. Pat. No. 3,156,342, entitled “Flexible Absorbent Sheet,” which issued on Nov. 10, 1964, to G. A. Crowe, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,489, entitled “Breathable, Liquid Impervious Backsheet for Absorbent Devices,” which issued on May 6, 1975 to Edward Wallace Hartwell, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,867, entitled “Absorbent Devices Having Porous Backsheet,” which issued on Nov. 2, 1976, to James Bryant Sisson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,751, entitled “Process for Stretching an Impregnated Film of Material and The Microporous Product Produced Thereby,” which issued on May 8, 1979, to Eckhard C. A. Schwarz; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,256, entitled “Microporous Sheet Material, Method of Making and Articles Made Therewith,” which issued on Sep. 3, 1985, to Gene H. Shipman.
In addition to imperviousness to liquids, and pervious to moisture vapor and air, the backsheet also preferably includes a cloth-like outer surface, which provides a softer feel, and also a more appealing visual appearance, as compared with the outer surface of a smooth, flat plastic film. Two-ply backsheets that provide a desirable, more cloth-like appearance for such disposable, wearable articles are also known. In that regard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,092, entitled “Absorbent Article with Dynamic Elastic Waist Feature Having a Predisposed Resilient Flexural Hinge,” which issued on Sep. 29, 1992, to Kenneth B. Buell, et al., discloses a disposable diaper backsheet formed either from a woven or a nonwoven material, a polymeric film, or a composite material in the form of a film-coated, nonwoven material. That patent also discloses the step of embossing of a plastic film backsheet to provide a more cloth-like appearance to a plastic film.
Also known to those skilled in the art are methods for imparting extensibility to an otherwise substantially inelastic material, which may be employed as a backsheet. For example, the use of corrugating rolls to laterally or longitudinally stretch and to simultaneously provide a corrugated form to thin plastic films is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,892, entitled “Process for Stretching Incremental Portions of an Orientable Thermoplastic Substrate and Product Thereof,” which issued on Sep. 26, 1978, to Eckhard C. A. Schwarz; U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,741, entitled “Diaper With Waistband Elastic,” which issued on May 30, 1989, to Reinhardt N. Sabee; U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,793, entitled “Method for Incrementally Stretching Zero Strain Stretch Laminate Sheet In A Non-Uniform manner To Impart A Varying Degree Of Elasticity Thereto,” which issued on Oct. 20, 1992, to Kenneth B. Buell et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,897, entitled “Method for Incrementally Stretching A Zero Strain Stretch Laminate Sheet To Impart Elasticity Thereto,” which issued on Dec. 1, 1992 to Gerald M. Webber et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,172, entitled “Elastic Laminated Sheet of An Incrementally Stretched Nonwoven Fibrous Sheet and Elastomeric Film and Method,” which issued on Jun. 6, 1995, to Pai-Chuan Wu. The corrugating rolls disclosed in each of those patents are employed in carrying out a process sometimes referred to as “ring-rolling,” to locally stretch and form corrugations in the material, in order to impart a greater degree of stretchability to selected portions of a sheet or web that may serve as a backsheet for disposable absorbent articles. Such backsheets can include both a polymeric film and an overlying and contacting layer of nonwoven, fibrous material.
Although there have been significant product improvements in recent years that have resulted in improved functioning and increased consumer acceptance of disposable absorbent articles, it is still desirable to provide an improved material having optimal physical properties relating to permeability to water vapor and air, and impermeability to liquid. Additionally, the improved material should desirably have the optimal properties that are particularly useful in an absorbent article, such as good liquid impact value, and air flow rate. It is further desirable that the improved material has a soft, cloth-like outer surface and extensibility useful for comfort and fit provided by absorbent articles containing such a material.
It would also be advantageous to provide an economical method for modifying a pre-formed web or laminate to have desirable properties which can be used as a structural component or an extensible component of a disposable absorbent article. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a digital image storage system and digital camera system, and more particularly to a digital image storage system and digital camera system capable of data communication between a digital camera and a data storage.
2. Description of Related Art
In this field of art, various types of image storage system capable of data communication between a digital camera and a data storage have been proposed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,335 has proposed a docking adapter for transferring stored images from an electronic still camera to a host computer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,335 has proposed a parallel port that provides on the docking adapter and connected with the host computer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,335 has also proposed a serial port that provides on the electronic still camera body itself for direct connection with the host computer.
However, there have been problems and disadvantages still left in the related arts. For example, the related arts have not proposed the same data communication interface that provides on the adapter and on the digital camera. | {
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The present invention relates to a four wheel steer vehicle having a suspension control system capable of varying a suspension characteristic such as suspension spring constant, vehicle height, suspension damping force or suspension geometry.
Japanese patent un-examined publication No. 59-81263 discloses a conventional four wheel steer vehicle. The vehicle of this example has a front wheel steering system, a rear wheel steering system, and a controller for controlling the rear wheel steering system in accordance with one of three steering modes such as an automatic control mode in which a characteristic of a rear wheel steer angle with respect to a front wheel steer angle is changed in accordance with driving condition, a fixed mode in which such a characteristic is fixed regardless of the driving condition, and a two wheel steer mode in which the rear wheel steer angle is fixed at zero regardless of the driving condition. The controller controls the rear wheel steer angle in accordance with one of three steering modes, by using the front wheel steer angle, vehicle speed, and rear wheel steer angle sensed by sensors. In this system, however, the rear wheel steer angle is determined without regard to a suspension characteristic. Therefore, this system is unable to maintain the desired vehicle characteristic of straight ahead driving and cornering when a change is made in front and rear suspension characteristics which affect the vehicle cornering characteristic and straight ahead driving characteristic. | {
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In a typical air handling device suitable for use in heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment, a number of dampers are typically found to facilitate the control of the airflow through the air handler unit under varying temperature and humidity conditions. In the past, it was not atypical to find that the dampers, when in the closed position, were not sealed, and that a relatively large amount of undesired airflow would be tolerated within the HVAC equipment. However, in the more recent past, the damper blades have been provided with a seal or seals to facilitate the prevention of undesired airflow when in the closed position. This prevention of the undesired airflow has been found to improve the controllability of the air handler units so as to improve the temperature and humidity controlling abilities of the units while at the same time lowering the amount of energy required to provide the desired heating, ventilating or air conditioning effect.
Several factors must be taken into consideration when employing the damper blade seals, however. The successful damper blade seal and damper blade combination must provide ease of manufacture, low initial expense, acceptable longevity in operating life, and high efficiency in performance. Typically, it has been difficult to met these goals, with one or more of the goals being obtained at the expense of the others. In many cases the damper blade is met with a single seal of the wiper type against which the damper blade seats to obtain a seal due to compression between the seal and the blade. In other cases, damper blade seals or damper blades of relatively complex confirmation are provided so that line contact sealing may be made at more than one point. While these damper blade seals are higher performance, they are often more expensive and involve a relatively large number of steps in the manufacture, and consequently drive up the cost of the air handling unit undesirably.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a damper blade and damper blade seal combination which provides for high performance sealing efficiency to prevent undesired airflow when the damper blade is in the closed position.
It is another object of the invention to provide such damper blade seal as will provide multiple line sealing engagement between the damper blade and the damper blade seal when in the closed position to reduce susceptibility of the damper blade seal and damper blade combination to undesired airflow during windy or gusty conditions when employed in an air handler unit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a damper blade seal and damper blade combination as is inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a damper blade seal and damper blade combination as will provide suitable longevity of operation in the air handler unit in which it is employed. | {
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This invention relates to directional drilling, and in particular, though not exclusively, to such drilling in the oil and/or gas industries. The invention further relates to an improved downhole steerable motor assembly and related method.
In the drilling of deviated well bores in the oil and gas industry it is common practice to use downhole motors which incorporate a bend in the motor body to facilitate controlled deviation of the drilling assembly. Referring to FIG. 1 there is illustrated a prior art downhole motor, generally designated 5. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the motor 5 comprises a motor body comprising a bent housing 10, a motor power/drive section 15, and a thrust bearing package 20, the bent housing being fitted between the motor power/drive section 15 and the thrust bearing package 20. The bent housing motor 5 when used in conjunction with a suitable measurement and telemetry system allows a well bore to be deviated in a controlled manner using the so-called slide/rotate method. In the rotate mode a drill string (not shown) to which the bent housing 10 and motor section 15 are attached, is rotated during drilling and consequently the bend in the tool has no specific direction. The drilling process is effected by the motor 5 driving a drill bit (not shown), the direction of progress is nominally straight ahead although minor build or drop tendencies can be induced by appropriate selection of the sizes and placement of body stabilisers 25, 30. In the slide mode the motor body is not rotated, the bend in the body is aligned to face in a desired direction. Drilling is achieved using the motor 5 to drive the drill bit and the body is held in a nominal direction to cause the wellbore to deviate in a controlled manner.
Conventionally downhole motors are fitted with a thrust bearing package 20 to absorb hydraulic loading from the motor 5 and mechanical loads imposed during the drilling operation. Due to the limited diameter available in downhole equipment it is usually necessary to have a number of thrust stages to absorb these loads. Consequently, a finite axial length is required to house these thrust stages.
The most common type of motor used in the directional drilling industry is the Moineau type or a positive displacement motor (PDM) which has a universal coupling between the motor power section 15 and the thrust bearing package 20. This is necessary to allow the eccentric motion of a rotor to be converted into a co-axial rotation of a drill bit drive shaft. A universal joint is required to transmit power through the misalignment induced between the rotor and drill bit drive shaft, by the bend in the body. Therefore, it has become common practice to position the bend between the motor drive section 15 and the thrust bearing section 20.
The distance from the bent housing 10 bend axis to the face of the drill bit needs to be kept relatively short and this results in the length of bearing package and its thrust capacity (number of thrust stages) being restricted.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the aforementioned problems in the prior art.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a downhole motor assembly comprising a motor, at least one thrust bearing, and a bent portion, the assembly having a first end and a second end, the first end being closer to surface than the second end, in use, wherein the bent portion is closer to the second end than is the at least one thrust bearing.
The downhole motor assembly may also provide at least one further thrust bearing, wherein the at least one further thrust bearing is closer to the second end than is the bent portion.
In a preferred embodiment the at least one thrust bearing may be provided between the motor and the bent portion.
An at least one yet further thrust bearing may be provided, wherein the at least one further thrust bearing is closer to the first end than is the motor.
In an alternative embodiment the motor may be provided between the at least one thrust bearing and the bent portion.
In said alternative embodiment part of the motor may be provided closer to the second end than is the bent portion.
The motor may be provided within a motor drive section.
The at least one thrust bearing may be provided within a thrust bearing section.
The bent portion may comprise a bent housing.
Herein the term xe2x80x9cmotorxe2x80x9d is to be understood to mean at least one motor and may comprise a plurality of individual motors.
The motor may be of a hydraulic type.
The motor may be of a turbine type.
The motor may comprise a Moineau motor, PDM motor, or an electric motor.
The at least one thrust bearing may comprise at least one elastomer bearing.
The at least one thrust bearing may additionally or alternatively comprise at least one metal bearing.
A plurality of elastomer and/or metal bearings may be provided, the type and number being selected accorded to a required preselected thrust capacity.
The thrust bearing section may include a driveshaft.
The driveshaft may be flexible.
The driveshaft may thus be made from a resiliently flexible material. For example, the driveshaft may be made at least partially from titanium or copper beryllium steel.
Alternatively, the driveshaft may include one or more (and preferably at least two) swivel/universal joints.
The bent housing may include a driveshaft flexible coupling.
The second end may include an output shaft operably connected to the driveshaft.
The second end may further provide a bit connection means.
The motor assembly may provide at least one stabiliser on an outermost surface thereof.
The motor assembly may provide a first stabiliser at an end of the motor closer to the at least one thrust bearing than another end of the motor.
The motor assembly may provide a second stabiliser at or near the second end of the assembly.
The motor and the at least one thrust bearing may be coupled by a flexible coupling.
Where the motor comprises a plurality of individual motors one or more individual motors may be coupled one to the other by a further flexible coupling.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of directional drilling of a wellbore comprising:
providing a downhole motor assembly, the assembly comprising a motor, at least one thrust bearing and a bent portion, the assembly having a first end and a second end, the first end being closer to surface than the second end, in use, wherein the bent portion is closer to the second end than is the at least one thrust bearing;
directionally drilling the well bore by means of the assembly. | {
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This invention relates to accessories for electronic devices and more specifically to cases for portable electronic devices and electronic tablets.
With each new generation, portable electronic devices provide greater functionality and have more capabilities. These portable electronic devices allow people to play and record music, send and receive e-mail, send text messages, browse Web pages, make phone calls, play and record video, take and view pictures, edit documents, and much more. These devices continue to revolutionize the way people interact, learn, connect with other people, conduct business, and find things. They help people manage their daily lives and can be a source of entertainment. These devices can be used to store valuable information including personal information (e.g., phone numbers, financial information, private photos or videos, and favorite music tracks).
Typically these devices are intended to be carried or moved about. As such, these devices are more vulnerable to damage as compared to nonportable devices. These devices are more likely to be accidentally dropped, hit, or scratched. Some types of damage may be cosmetic (e.g., scratch). However, other types of damage may ruin or limit the functionality of the device. Often these devices contain sensitive and fragile components (e.g., screen, camera lens, flash, processors, accelerometers, and sensors). Accidentally dropping the device could render various features unusable.
Protective cases are used to protect these devices from possible damage. It is desirable that these cases allow users to use the functionality of their devices, while devices remain in their cases. Cases can also be used to enhance the functionality and capabilities of the device.
Therefore, there is a need for cases for portable electronic devices that will protect the devices, while at the same time enhance the functionality and usability of the devices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a mechanical rolamite sensor, such as for sensing change in acceleration or deceleration. The sensor may be used in a wide variety of applications, such as in a vehicle safety system. For example, the sensor may be used to cause inflation of an air bag in a vehicle when the vehicle is subjected to deceleration above a predetermined amount.
Other designs of deceleration sensors or related apparatus are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,812,726; 3,688,063; RE 28,251 and 3,889,232 to L. Bell; 3,452,175; 3,452,309; 3,471,688; and 3,572,141 to D. Wilkes; and 3,567,881 to F. Dulmstra; and in U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 751,880 of L. Bell and Ser. No. 751,858 of L. Bell et al., both filed on the same day as the present application. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field
The following description relates to a wireless power transmission apparatus and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In accordance with the development of wireless technology, non-contact type wireless charging techniques capable of charging electronic apparatuses even in a non-contact state are being developed.
In wireless charging techniques according to the related art, settings for wireless charging are fixed. For example, to implement efficient wireless charging, an object for wireless charging needs to be set, or a position or the like, of a wireless power reception apparatus should be fixed.
Therefore, in the related art technologies, when the object for wireless charging is changed, or variations in wireless charging environments such as changes in position occur, wireless charging is not available, or wireless charging efficiency may be significantly lowered. | {
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The invention relates to a coaxial connector module, comprising a housing of electrically insulating material provided with at least two electrical contact elements each having a contact side in the form of a coaxial inner and outer contact part for contacting a further connector and a right angle connection side for mounting on a printed circuit board in the form of an electrical conductor which is connected to the inner contact part and is provided with a connection end for mounting on the printed circuit board, said conductor is surrounded in an electrically insulating manner by a shielding of electrically conducting sheet material which is electrically connected to the outer contact part, said casing having an essentially circular cylindrical shape which towards the connection end of the conductor merges into two adjacent side-pieces provided with at least one connection end for mounting on the printed circuit board.
A coaxial connector module of this type having a row of single contact elements is disclosed by, inter alia, European Patent Application 0,354,678.
European Patent Application 91203142.4, which is not a prior publication discloses a coaxial connector module having a plurality of contact elements arranged in rows and columns. The contact elements of this module are provided with a rectangular shielding casing of sheet metal. These casings can be easily adjacently arranged.
However, it has been found that such a sheet metal rectangular shielding casing introduces an impedance mismatch to the coaxial inner and outer contact part at the contact side of a contact element. Impedance mismatch can lead to undesirable reflections and a lower signal power transfer between the contact side and the connection side of the contact element. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of organic chemistry and antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic compounds. More specifically, the present invention relates to chroman-based compounds and derivatives and analogs thereof, and their uses as cell anti-proliferative, proapoptotic, immunomodulating, and anti-viral agents.
2. Description of the Related Art
The biology of cell proliferation and cell death (apoptosis) is extremely complex, involving multiple intracellular signaling pathways and multiple interacting gene products. Cancer cells may exhibit multiple defects in normal regulatory controls of cell proliferation which allow them to increase in number. Furthermore, cancer cells exhibit defects in mechanisms that are involved in eliminating abnormal cells by multi-step processes referred to as programmed cell death or apoptosis. Thus, combinations of unregulated cell proliferation and suppression of death inducing signaling pathways give cancer cells both growth and survival advantages.
Whether a cell increases in numbers or not depends on a balance of expression of negatively-acting and positively-acting growth regulatory gene products, and the presence or absence of functional cell death signaling pathways. Negative-acting growth regulatory genes contribute to blockage of cells in the cell cycle. Positive-acting growth regulatory genes stimulate cells to progress through the cell cycle. Genes involved in apoptosis can be either proapoptotic or antiapoptotic, and the dynamic balance between them determines whether a cell lives or dies.
Cancer cells, in order to survive and increase their numbers, undergo a series of mutational events over time that remove regulatory controls that give them the ability to grow unchecked and survive even in the presence of proapoptotic signals, and develop attributes that permit them to escape detection and removal by the immune response defense system. Cancers may cause death of individuals unless removed by surgery or effectively treated with drugs.
A wide variety of pathological cell proliferative conditions exist for which novel therapeutic strategies and agents are needed to provide therapeutic benefits. These pathological conditions may occur in almost all cell types capable of abnormal cell proliferation or abnormal responsiveness to cell death signals. Among the cell types that exhibit pathological or abnormal growth and death characteristics are (1) fibroblasts, (2) vascular endothelial cells, and (3) epithelial cells. Thus, novel methods are needed to treat local or disseminated pathological conditions in all or almost all organ and tissue systems of individuals.
Most cancers, whether they be male specific such as prostate or testicular, or female specific such as breast, ovarian or cervical or whether they affect males and females equally such as liver, skin or lung, with time undergo increased genetic lesions and epigenetic events, and eventually become highly metastatic and difficult to treat. Surgical removal of localized cancers has proven effective only when the cancer has not spread beyond the primary lesion. Once the cancer has spread to other tissues and organs, the surgical procedures must be supplemented with other more specific procedures to eradicate the diseased or malignant cells. Most of the commonly utilized supplementary procedures for treating diseased or malignant cells such as chemotherapy or bioradiation are not localized to the tumor cells and, although they have a proportionally greater destructive effect on malignant cells, often affect normal cells to some extent.
Some derivatives of tocopherols, tocotrienols and vitamin E have been used as proapoptotic and DNA synthesis inhibiting agents. Structurally, vitamin E is composed of a chromanol head and an alkyl side chain. There are eight major naturally occurring forms of vitamin E: alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), and delta (δ) tocopherols and α, β, γ, and δ tocotrienols. Tocopherols differ from tocotrienols in that they have a saturated phytyl side chain rather than an unsaturated isoprenyl side chain. The four forms of tocopherols and tocotrienols differ in the number of methyl groups on the chromanol head (α has three, β and γ have two and δ has one).
RRR-α-tocopheryl succinate is a derivative of RRR-α-tocopherol that has been structurally modified via an ester linkage to contain a succinyl moiety instead of a hydroxyl moiety at the 6-position of the chroman head. This ester linked succinate moiety of RRR-α-tocopherol has been the most potent form of vitamin E affecting the biological actions of triggering apoptosis and inhibiting DNA synthesis. This form of vitamin E induces tumor cells to undergo apoptosis, while having no apoptotic inducing effects on normal cells. The major advantage of this form of vitamin E as an anticancer agent is that many cancer cells either express low levels of esterases or do not express esterases that can cleave the succinate moiety, thereby converting the succinate form of RRR-α-tocopherol to the free RRR-α-tocopherol. RRR-α-tocopherol exhibits neither potent antiproliferative nor apoptotic triggering biological activity. However, the ester-linked vitamin E succinate is ineffective in vivo since natural esterases in the host cleave off the succinate moiety, rendering an ineffective anticancer agent, RRR-α-tocopherol.
The prior art is deficient in the lack of effective means of inhibiting undesirable or uncontrollable cell proliferation in a wide variety of pathophysiological conditions while having no to little effect on normal cells. The present invention fulfills this long-standing need and desire in the art. | {
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Hydraulic fracturing is a common stimulation technique used to enhance the production of hydrocarbon fluids from subterranean formations. In a typical hydraulic fracturing treatment, fracturing treatment fluid containing a solid proppant material is injected into the formation at a pressure sufficiently high enough to cause the formation to fracture or cause enlargement of natural fractures already present in the reservoir. The fracturing fluid that contains the proppant or propping agent typically has its viscosity increased by a gelling agent such as a polymer, which may be uncrosslinked (linear) or crosslinked, and/or a viscoelastic surfactant. During a typical fracturing treatment, propping agents or proppant materials are deposited in a fracture, where they remain after the treatment is completed. After deposition, the proppant materials serve to hold the fracture open, thereby enhancing the ability of fluids to migrate from the formation to the well bore through the fracture. Because fractured well productivity depends on the ability of a fracture to conduct fluids from a formation to a wellbore, fracture conductivity is an important parameter in determining the degree of success of a hydraulic fracturing treatment and the choice of proppant may be critical to the success of stimulation.
Because the proppants must hold the fracture open, traditional proppants are made from very strong and/or crush-resistant materials. Suitable traditional proppants include, but are not necessarily limited to, white sand, brown sand, ceramic beads, glass beads, bauxite grains, sintered bauxite, sized calcium carbonate, walnut shell fragments, aluminum pellets, nylon pellets, nuts shells, gravel, resinous particles, alumina, minerals, polymeric particles, and combinations thereof. It will be appreciated that since relatively large amounts of proppants are often used in a proppant stage that it is important to consider ways of reducing the cost of proppants.
Proppant-like deformable particles have also been used in conjunction with proppants for various purposes, for instance, in order to minimize proppant flow back problems.
Proppant has also been used for gravel pack operations. Gravel packing is a sand-control method employed to prevent the production of formation sand. Gravel packing treatments are used to reduce the migration of unconsolidated formation particulates into the wellbore. Typically, gravel pack operations involve placing a gravel pack screen in the wellbore and packing the surrounding annulus between the screen and the wellbore with gravel designed to prevent the passage of formation sands through the pack. The gravel pack screen is generally a type of filter assembly used to support and retain the gravel placed during the gravel pack operation. Particulates known in the art as gravel are carried to a wellbore by a hydrocarbon- or aqueous-based carrier fluid, including viscosified or brine-based systems. The carrier fluid leaks off into the subterranean zone and/or is returned to the surface while the particulates are left in the zone. The resultant gravel pack acts as a filter to separate formation sands from produced fluids while permitting the produced fluids to flow into the wellbore.
In some situations the processes of hydraulic fracturing and gravel packing are combined into a single treatment to provide stimulated production and an annular gravel pack to reduce formation sand production. Such treatments are often referred to as “frac pack” operations. In some cases, the treatments are completed with a gravel pack screen assembly in place, and the hydraulic fracturing treatment being pumped through the annular space between the casing and screen. In such a situation, the hydraulic fracturing treatment usually ends in a screen out condition creating an annular gravel pack between the screen and casing. This allows both the hydraulic fracturing treatment and gravel pack to be placed in a single operation.
It would be desirable to provide a method and material for proppants that give choices of less expensive and/or alternate materials which may nevertheless be suitable for proppants. It would also be desirable to provide proppants of relatively low density and/or low specific gravity. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Disclosure
This application relates generally to a training firearm that is functional but incapable of firing live ammunition. The present disclosure also relates to methods for modifying a fully functional firearm into a readily identifiable firearm capable of functioning, but incapable of firing live ammunition.
Description of the Related Art
Law enforcement and military personnel routinely train with firearms. Examples of such firearms include, but are not limited to, rifles and carbines such as the M4 and its civilian variant, the AR15. Both the AR15 and M4 are generally similar to an M16. These firearms, also referred to as firearms, are popular and very well-regarded for their versatility, reliability, and accuracy. As a result, there is a large demand for firearms training for firearms such as the M4/M16/AR15.
Firearms training, whether civilian, law enforcement, or military is usually divided into two segments, range training and classroom training. Range training involves training students with live ammunition, e.g., ammunition with a bullet or projectile, and fully functional firearm. Classroom training precedes range training and is often interspersed with range time. Classroom training is used to prepare students for the range and better understand how firearms function, safety principles, and how to improve as a shooter. Classroom training covers a broad array of topics, but typically, focuses, on firearm safety, firearm design and operation, and reviewing the students range performance.
Often times classroom training involves showing or demonstrating how the firearm operates. “Hands on” classroom training is particularly effective as students are able to see how the firearm functions and manipulate it. At times a fully functional firearm, that is capable of firing a bullet, is used as part of classroom training to show features of the firearm. A fully functioning firearm is a firearm that is configured to fire a cartridge, e.g., propel a bullet out of the firearm. Use of a fully functional firearm in a non-range setting, such as in a classroom, is problematic. Although the vast majority of firearms instructors and students place a high degree of attention on safety, a fully functioning firearm does have the ability to fire a cartridge at times referred to as ammunition.
Cartridge ammunition can be broken into two main categories, rimfire and centrefire. As used herein the ammunition described will be centerfire cartridge ammunition. Centerfire cartridge ammunition has four main components which include the cartridge case or shellcase, primer, powder and bullet or projectile. The shellcase is typically made of brass and is used to contain or properly hold the other three components in their places. The primer located in the shellcase head is used to ignite a small explosive charge which in turn ignites the powder. The powder which is located in the shellcase is used to propel the bullet down the firearms barrel. The bullet or projectile is located at the opposite end of the shellcase head and is used to damage, maim or kill. In operation, the firearm activates or fires the ammunition by a firing pin striking the primer.
Use of ammunition without a bullet, e.g., a blank, while useful in some training scenarios can cause potential safety issues. For example, live ammunition may be confused with blanks. Also, while a blank does not include a bullet, it can be very loud in an enclosed space. Also, a blank can cause damage due to the concussive force created by the propellant/primer. This concussive force or muzzle blast can still cause damage. Another potential issue with blanks is that a blank can propel any object placed or lodged in the barrel.
Dummy rounds, a cartridge that (typically) does not include either a primer or propellant, are also used in training. These cartridges may include a bullet, but are non-functional as they do not include a primer or propellant which propels the bullet. One example is a snap cap, which is a type of dummy round that can be used when a user wants to “dry fire” a firearm without discharging a bullet. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The ability of the immune system to discriminate between “self” and “non-self” antigens is vital to the functioning of the immune system as a specific defense against invading microorganisms. “Non-self” antigens are those antigens on substances entering or in the body which are detectably different or foreign from the animal's own constituents, whereas “self” antigens are those which, in the healthy animal, are not delectably different or foreign from its own constituents. However, under certain conditions, including in certain disease states, an individual's immune system will identify its own constituents as “non-self,” and initiate an immune response against “self” material, at times causing more damage or discomfort as from an invading microbe or foreign material, and often producing serious illness in an individual. Autoimmune disease results when an individual's immune system attacks his own organs or tissues, producing a clinical condition associated with the destruction of that tissue, as exemplified by diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (“AIDS”), hemolytic anemias, rheumatic fever, Crohn's disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, psoriasis, thyroiditis, Graves' disease, myasthenia gravis, glomerulonephritis, autoimmune hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, etc. Blocking, neutralizing or inhibiting the immune response or removing its cause in these cases is, therefore, desirable.
Autoimmune disease may be the result of a genetic predisposition, alone or as the result of the influence of certain exogenous agents such as, viruses, bacteria, or chemical agents, or from the action of both. Some forms of autoimmunity arise as the result of trauma to an area usually not exposed to lymphocytes, such as neural tissue or the lens of the eye. When the tissues in these areas become exposed to lymphocytes, their surface proteins can act as antigens and trigger the production of antibodies and cellular immune responses which then begin to destroy those tissues. Other autoimmune diseases develop after exposure of the individual to antigens which are antigenically similar to, that is cross-reactive with, the individual's own tissue. For example, in rheumatic fever an antigen of the streptococcal bacterium, which causes rheumatic fever, is cross-reactive with parts of the human heart. The antibodies cannot differentiate between the bacterial antigens and the heart muscle antigens, consequently cells with either of those antigens can be destroyed.
Other autoimmune diseases, for example, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (involving the destruction of the insulin producing beta-cells of the islets of Langerhans), multiple sclerosis (involving the destruction of the conducting fibers of the nervous system) and rheumatoid arthritis (involving the destruction of the joint lining tissue), are characterized as being the result of a mostly cell-mediated autoimmune response and appear to be due primarily to the action of T-cells (See, Sinha et al., Science 248: 1380 (1990)). Yet others, such as myesthenia gravis and systemic lupus erythematosus, are characterized as being the result of primarily a humoral autoimmune response (Id.). Nevertheless, the autoimmune diseases share a common underlying pathogenesis, resulting in the need for safe and effective therapy. Yet none of the presently available drugs are completely effective for the treatment of autoimmune disease, and most are limited by severe toxicity.
In recent years, a new point of view on the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including AIDS, has developed, in which it has been suggested that autoimmune disease is connected with a disturbance in the synthesis of interferons and other cytokines induced by interferons (Skurkovich et al., Nature 217:551-2 (1974); Skurkovich et al., Annuals of Allergy 35:356 (1975); Skurkovich et al., J. IFN Res. 12, Suppl. 1:S110 (1992); Skurkovich et al. Med. Hypoth. 41:177-185 (1993); Skurkovich et al., Med. Hypoth. 42:27-35 (1994); Gringeri et al., Cell. Mol. Biol 41(3):381-387 (1995); Gringeri et al. J Acquir. Immun. Defic. Syndr. 13:55-67 (1996)). IFN has been found in the circulation of patients with autoimmune diseases, and it has been neutralized in vivo with antibody to leukocyte (alpha) IFN (“IFNα”). Healthy people do not have interferon in their blood (Skurkovich et al., 1975). In addition, it has been shown that hyperproduced IFNα is found not only in the circulation of patients with classic autoimmune diseases, but also in patients with HIV infection (DeStefano et al., J. Infec. Disease 146:451 (1982)), where its presence is a predictive marker of AIDS progression (Vadhan-Raj et al., Cancer Res. 46:417 (1986)). The IFN induced by HIV has low anti-(HIV) viral activity (Gendelman et al., J. Immunol. 148:422 (1992)). It was shown that the circulating IFNα possesses antigenic specificity like natural IFNα, which is pH stable, but this interferon is pH labile like IFNγ (Preble et al., Science 216:429 (1982)); thus, it is known as aberrant IFNα.
Investigators have also shown that tumor necrosis factors (TNFα and TNFβ) also play a significant role in the pathology of autoimmune diseases. For example, the presence of TNFα has been correlated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (Brennan et al., Brit. J. Rheum. 31(5):293-8 (1992)), and TNFα has been found to be related to an increase in the severity of collagen induced arthritis in animal models (Brahn et al., Lymphokine and Cytokine Res. 11(5):253 (1992)), while it has also been shown that anti-TNF alpha antibody administration ameliorates collagen induced arthritis (Williams et al. Clin. & Exp. Immunol 87(2):183 (1992)). TNFα is increased in the serum of PA patients (Holt et al. Brit. J. Rheum. 21(11):725 (1992); Altomonte et al., Clin. Rheum. 11(2):202 (1992), and both the cytokine (Chu et. al., Brit. J. Rheum. 31(10):653-661 (1992)) and its receptors have been identified in rheumatoid synovium, as well as at the cartilage-pannus junction (Deleuran et al., Arthritis Rheum. 35(10)1180 (1992)).
In addition, increased circulating levels of TNFα have been found to be associated with disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (Shariff et at., N. Engl. J. Med. 325(7):467-472 (1992)); while increased serum levels of soluble TNF receptor and interferon γ (“INFγ”) have been independently correlated with disease activity in individuals, e.g., those with systemic lupus erythematosus (Aderka et. al., Arthritis Rheum. 36(8): 1111-1120 (1993); Machold et al., J. Rheumat. 17(6):831-832 (1990)). The spontaneous release of interferon and TNF in HIV-positive subjects (Vilcek et al., In AIDS: The Epidemic of Karposi's Syndrome and Opportunistic Infections, A. E. Friedman-Kien & L. J. Laubenstein, eds. Masson Publishing, New York, N.Y., 1986; Hess et al., Infection 19, Suppl 2:S93-97 (1991); Biglino et al., Infection 19 (1):11/7-11/7 (1991)), and the decline seen in the serum levels of TNF-α in RA patients following long term administration of the disease modifying drug sulfasalazine (Danis et al., Ann. Rheum. Disease 51(8):946 (1992)), further suggest that the concentrations of cytokines and/or their receptors is reflected in the clinical course of autoimmune disease.
IFN is known to induce tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and its receptors (Lau et al. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses 7:545 (1991)), which enhances virus replication (Matsuyama et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:2365 (1989)). In addition to its presence in the circulation, IFNs have also been found in the cerebrospinal fluid in some patients with psychiatric mid neurologic diseases (Lebikoa et al., Acta. Biot Med Germ. 38:879 (1979); Preble et al, Am. J. Psychiatry, 142:10 (1985)), as well as in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, since healthy people do not have interferons in their spinal or synovial fluids, the inventors have suggested that one or more alpha IFNs may be involved in the development of the initial autoimmune disease response. Consequently, the removal and/or neutralization of IFNα has been proposed as a method of treatment of patients with autoimmune disease, including AIDS. The appearance of cytokines and autoimmunogens induced by IFNα and their prolonged circulation in the body is an inseparable part of the development of autoimmune disease, triggering immune dysregulation in autoimmune disease, including AIDS. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,824,432; 4,605,394; and 4,362,155, herein incorporated by reference. However, it now appears that gamma IFN (“IFNγ”) can also play a pathogenetic role since each participates in immune regulation.
In addition to classic autoimmune disease and AIDS, autoantibodies play a pathogenic role in many other pathological conditions. For example, after cell (or organ) transplantation or after heart attack or stroke, certain antigens from the transplanted cells (organs) or necrotic cells from the heart or the brain can stimulate the production of autoantibodies or immune lymphocytes (Johnson et al., Sem. Nuc. Med. 19:238 (1989); Leinonen el al., Microbiol. Path. 9:67 (1990); Montalban et al., Stroke 22:750 (1991)), which later participate in rejection (in the case of a transplant) or attack cardiac or brain target cells, aggravating the condition. Moreover, in human autoimmune disease certain cells express abnormally elevated levels of HLA class II antigens, which is stimulated by the disturbed production of cytokines, e.g., IFNγ alone, or IFNγ in combination with TNF (Feldman et al. “Interferons and Autoimmunity,” In IFN 9, Academic Press, p. 75 (1987).
Recognition of the important role of cytokines in autoimmune disease has fostered the development of a new generation of therapeutic agents to modulate cytokine activity. Preliminary results of trials in which anti-interferon polyclonal antibodies were administered to a small group of rheumatoid patients suggest improvement in both the clinical and the laboratory manifestations of the disease (Skurkovich et al., Annals of Allergy 39:344-350 (1977)). Moreover, proteins, such as polyclonal antibodies and soluble receptors targeted against interferons and TNF-α are currently being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of RA and other autoimmune diseases. The administration of monoclonal antibodies to TNF-α has provided encouraging early results in the treatment of patients with severe RA (Elliott et. al., J. Cell. Biochem., Suppl 17B: 145 (1993); Elliott et al., Lancet 344: 1105-1110 (1994)). Also positive preliminary results were achieved in AIDS patients given antibodies or other agents to reduce the level of circulating IFNα in the body (Skurkovich et al., 1994; Gringeri et al. 1996). However, because autoimmune diseases are complex, often characterized by multiple cytokine abnormalities, effective treatment appears to require the simultaneous administration or utilization of several agents, each targeting a specific cytokine pathway or its by-product. To meet this need, the methods of treatment of the present invention include not only the use of specific antibodies, but also, provide pleiotrophic autoimmune inhibitors, including antibodies to cytokines and HLA class II antigens, and antigens for the removal of autoantibodies to target cells or DNA. The use of these antibodies and antigens as disclosed in the present invention results in the removal, neutralization or inhibition of the pathogenic cytokine(s), HLA class II antigens, and/or autoantibody(ies) to target cells or DNA from the autoimmune patient, thereby significantly improving the quality of life of the individual. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an over-running clutch equipped for, for example, a starter of an internal combustion engine of an automobile, or the like. More particularly, the invention relates to an over-running clutch structure which is improved in torque transmission characteristics and durability.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrative of a conventional over-running clutch, for example, disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-195231. FIG. 5 is a sectional view along line V--V of FIG. 4.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a thrust spline generally denoted by 2 is constructed to be opened toward a pinion 7 and comprises a boss portion 3 which is helically spline-engaged with an output shaft 1, a cam bottom 4, and a clutch outer 5, which components are formed integrally with each other. The clutch outer 5 has five grooves 5a which are formed circumferentially around its innner peripheral surface at an equal pitch, each having a wedge-like shape so that each gradually decreases around the circumference in a single direction and having an uniform internal diameter along the axis.
A clutch inner 6 is formed into a cylindrical shape having a uniform external diameter along the axis and is formed integrally with a pinion 7 used for transmitting power to a ring gear of an engine(not shown). The clutch inner 6 is placed inside the clutch outer 5 to form wedge-like spaces between the outer peripheral surface of the clutch inner 6 and the grooves 5a, and is attached rotatably to the output shaft 1.
Rollers 8 are accommodated in each of the wedge-like spaces so as to be circumferentially movable. Urging springs 9 are further accommodated in each of the wedge-like spaces so as to urge the rollers 8 into narrower portions of the wedge-like spaces. A washer 10 is fixed to the opened end of the clutch outer 5 by a clutch cover 11 so that it can restrict the axial movement of the rollers 8 and can also shield the wedge-like spaces.
A description will now be given of the operation of the conventional over-running clutch with reference to FIG. 6.
The torque of the output shaft 1 is transmitted to the thrust spline 2 via the boss portion 3 which is helically spline-engaged with the output shaft 1, thereby rotating the thrust spline 2. Then, the rollers 8 are wedged between the clutch outer 5 and the clutch inner 6, and the torque of the thrust spline 2 is transmitted to the clutch inner 6 via the rollers 8 so as to allow the pinion 7 to rotate. This further permits the torque of the pinion 7 to be transmitted to the ring gear of the engine.
Simultaneously, each roller 8 revolves into a narrower portion of the wedge-like space within each of the grooves 5a, thereby causing relative distortion between the clutch outer 5 and the clutch inner 6. Accordingly, a load proportional to a transmitted torque is distributed axially on the abutting surfaces of each of the clutch outer 5 and the clutch inner 6 with the rollers 8.
In general, cementation quenching is performed on the thrust spline 2 in order to improve its mechanical strength. However, since the thrust spline 2 is constructed to be opened toward the pinion 7, a thermal treatment performed during cementation quenching causes the thrust spline 2 to be deformed. Due to such thermal deformation of the thrust spline 2 the internal diameter of the clutch outer 5 adjacent to the cam bottom 4 is inclined to be smaller than the internal diameter adjacent to the opened end. This makes the overall clutch outer 5 slightly diverged toward the opened end. In contrast to the clutch outer 5, the clutch inner 6 is constructed such that the external diameter of the clutch inner 6 is formed uniformly along the axis. The clutch outer 5 thus has a disparity between the internal diameter adjacent to the cam bottom 4 and that adjacent to the opened end. Such a clutch outer 5 is combined with the clutch inner 6 having a uniform external diameter. This causes the rollers 8 to be skewed along the axis and fails to ensure uniform distribution of the pressure of the rollers 8 during the transmission of the torque.
An analysis was made according to a finite-element method so as to find a pressure acting on the clutch inner 6 during the transmission of the torque. As indicated by arrows A in FIG. 6, pressure produced at the rear end (adjacent to the cam bottom 4) of the clutch inner 6 is much greater than that produced at the end of the clutch inner 6 adjacent to the pinion 7 (adjacent to the opened end of the clutch outer 5).
Since the conventional over-running clutch is constructed as described above, the rollers 8 are skewed along the axis, thereby failing to ensure uniform distribution of the axial pressure of the rollers 8 during the transmission of the torque. Hence, the conventional over-running clutch presents the following problems. Good torque transmission cannot be achieved. Besides, the clutch inner 6 which is partially subjected to a heavy load are likely to be indented, and the rollers 8 which are also partially subjected to a heavy load are likely to be worn nonuniformly, thus resulting in a decrease in the durability of the over-running clutch. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Currently, with respect to a prospective pilot study, what is most concerned about is whether a CMOS device still can be based on a silicon semiconductor substrate as it was after the technology generation of 11 nm to 16 nm. One research focus is to develop a new material system with higher carrier mobility and a new technical means to further extend the Moore Law and Beyond Si-CMOS and promote the development of the integrated circuit technology.
The graphene material receives an extensive attention because of its excellent physical properties, such as high carrier mobility, high electrical conductivity, and high thermal conductivity, etc., and is a kind of carbon-based material which people feel very optimistic about. Although the graphene material shows many excellent physical properties, its application in a CMOS device as a channel material with high carrier mobility is confronted with many challenges. Currently, some studies show that the on-off ratio of a graphene device may be increased to some extent by increasing the band gap of the graphene, but at the same time at the cost of the carrier mobility of the graphene or the speed of the device.
Therefore, it is desirable to propose a graphene device structure and a method for manufacturing the same which is capable of increasing the on-off ratio of a graphene device without increasing the band gap of the graphene material, thereby not affecting the speed of the device. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Electric vehicles (EVs) have been actively studied because they are the most promising solution to pollution and energy problems.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are mainly powered by an AC or DC motor using power of a battery. The electric vehicles are broadly classified into battery powered electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. In the battery powered electric vehicles, a motor is driven using power of a battery, and the battery is recharged after stored power is consumed. In hybrid electric vehicles, a battery is charged with electricity generated via engine driving, and an electric motor is driven using the electricity to realize vehicle movement.
The hybrid electric vehicles may further be classified into serial and parallel types. In the case of serial hybrid electric vehicles, mechanical energy output from an engine is changed into electric energy via a generator, and the electric energy is fed to a battery or motor. Thus, the serial hybrid electric vehicles are always driven by a motor similar to conventional electric vehicles, but an engine and generator are added for the purpose of increasing range. Parallel hybrid electric vehicles may be driven using two power sources, i.e. a battery and an engine (gasoline or diesel). Also, the parallel hybrid electric vehicles may be driven using both the engine and the motor according to traveling conditions.
With recent gradual development of motor/control technologies, small high-output and high-efficiency systems have been developed. Owing to replacing a DC motor by an AC motor, electric vehicles have accomplished considerably enhanced output and power performance (acceleration performance and maximum speed) comparable to those of gasoline vehicles. As a result of promoting a higher output and higher revolutions per minute, a motor has achieved reduction in weight and size, and consequently reduction in the weight and size of a vehicle provided with the motor.
Energy supplied from a high-voltage battery of the electric vehicle is PWM-switched by the converter such that a battery voltage of several hundreds of V is converted into a voltage of about 12V and thus the resultant voltage is supplied to an auxiliary battery and overall load.
An output voltage of the converter is slightly higher than a normal voltage of the auxiliary battery, such that the converter can charge the auxiliary battery and at the same time can provide energy to necessary loads. Therefore, provided that the load is increased in size, not only capacity of the converter but also the size of the converter must be increased.
As a result, although the size of load is increased, rated capacity of the converter needs to remain constant. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Increasingly, the affairs of individuals and enterprises are being conducted over the Internet and via the World-Wide Web (WWW). This has provided for a geographically dispersed world economy and created many opportunities, which previously did not exist.
One major issue associated with conducting affairs over the WWW is security. Just as the WWW has grown, so too has the sophistication of the criminals that lurk on the Internet attempting to acquire passwords and other sensitive data of users as that data becomes exposed on the Internet during network transactions.
To address these concerns a variety of security mechanisms are typically used, such as a Public and Private Key Infrastructure (PKI) transactions, Virtual Private Networks (VPN's), and other key distribution and encryption techniques. Still, even these mechanisms are not full proof and each mechanism has its own security issues that have to be addressed because of the increasing sophistication of today's Internet hackers.
One particular approach, which is used for enhancing security, is to split a key into multiple pieces. Key splitting is particularly useful for a user when the user forgets his/her key. The original key can be split into pieces and then escrowed with multiple parties, such that each of the pieces from each escrow agent is needed to reassemble the key. Should the user ever forget the key and want to reacquire it, escrow agents supply their pieces and the key is reassembled for the user. Key splitting is also useful in other scenarios as well, such as when multiple parties are needed to access a secure asset, where each party includes a piece of an overall key needed to access that asset. Sometimes key splitting should also be done in such a way that if the key is divided into ‘n’ pieces and escrowed with multiple parties, then the original key should be able to be reassembled by using any ‘k’ escrow agents pieces, where k=n and should not be able to be reassembled into the original key by any number of pieces less than k.
However, conventional key splitting techniques do not validate the individual key pieces; rather, the entire re-assembled key having all the pieces is validated. The problem with this approach is that it is not efficient and cannot detect a problem before all the key pieces are acquired and reassembled; so, any issue with a key is only noted once a final version of the key is reassembled from all the individual pieces.
For these and other reasons, it can be seen that improved and automated techniques are desirable for validating and sharing secrets, such as keys. | {
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The present invention relates to metal pressure shaping machinery and more particularly to profile plano-type knurling machines.
The present invention can be more successively used for shaping splines on shafts, teeth of gears, polygonal pieces and so on.
Known in the prior art are profile plano-type knurling machines (cfr USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 350,553, Cl.B21h 7/14) wherein mounted between fixed support members carrying movable and fixed centers for placing the work piece and rigidly connected to each other by ways is a movable support member with a possibility for reciprocations along said ways carrying a knurling head being coaxial to the centers and having knurl rollers and there is a device for moving the knurl rollers in the radial direction relative to the centers, comprising tapered elements mounted in the knurling head with a possibility for adjustment movements in the axial direction relative to the centers and kinematically associated with the knurl rollers and pressure members actuating the tapered elements in the extreme positions of the movable support member for a radial feed of the knurl rollers and their return to the starting position.
Said device for the radial feed of the knurl rollers and their return to the starting position in the known knurling machines has pressure members made in the form of bars rigidly secured onto the fixed support members. Each of these bars is installed in front of the apex or base of one of the tapered elements in such a way that their axes parallel to the centers.
The radial feed of the knurl rollers is performed prior to each working travel of the movable support member with the knurling head. The movable support member is moved towards the fixed traverse facing the bases of the tapered elements. In the course of movement of the movable support member near its extreme position the butt of the free end of each bar installed on said fixed support member actuates the base of a respective tapered element. The bar actuates this tapered element to move it in the axial direction relative to the centers.
The knurling head has a housing provided with radial slots. Each of these slots accommodates a slider with the knurl roller and the tapered element of said device associated kinematically therewith and installed between the bottom of the slot and the slider.
When the tapered element moves its inclined surface actuates the inclined surface of the slider, thus moving said slider with the knurl roller in the radial slot towards the work piece at a distance equal to a preset value of the radial feed of the knurl rollers.
After the knurl rollers are fed radially, one progressive motion of the movable support members with the knurling head is performed. In the course of this motion of the movable support member with the knurling head the knurl rollers start processing the workpiece thus shaping the profile elements to a depth relative to the value of the first radial feed of the knurl rollers. This motion is a working travel. In the course of the backward travel of the movable traverse with the knurling head the knurl rollers start processing the work piece only in the range of the resilient deformations and therefore this motion of the movable support member is an idle travel. These reciprocations of the movable support member repeat until the profile elements are fully shaped. At the end of each backward travel of the movable support member with the knurling head whose length increases constantly the bars actuate the tapered elements whereas said bars move the tapered elements to a distance relative to the value of the radial feed of the knurl rollers for shaping the profile at a working travel of the movable support member with the knurling head.
When the profile shaping cycle has been finished the movable support member with the knurling head is stopped in the starting position. The processed work piece is removed from the working area.
The knurl rollers return their home position. For the purpose the movable support member with the knurling head is moved towards the fixed support member facing the apeces of the tapered elements. At the end of this travel the pressure members secured onto this fixed support member actuate the apeces of the tapered element, thus moving these tapered elements in the axial direction relative to the centers towards their bases.
The sliders with the knurl rollers are pressed by compression springs to the tapered elements and therefore when the cotters move towards their bases the sliders with the knurl rollers are moved in the radial slots from the centers and thus return their home position.
Prior to knurling a work piece of a defined dimension the bars should be adjusted to a preset height. Since the known knurling machines are provided with a comparatively great amount of these bars which at the same time should be adjusted accurately with a minimum difference in height from each other to obtain the preset accuracy of the profile elements in the course of knurling, the adjustment cycle of these knurling machines is sufficiently laborous and requires much time.
This complicated adjustment of the knurling machine does not provide as a rule for the preset accuracy of the radial feed of knurl rollers, thus decreasing the accuracy of the profile elements being knurled.
As a result the knurled profiles should be worked additionally to correct their geometrical dimensions and achieve the preset accuracy. These additional operations increase substantially the labour in the manufacture of the profiles, require the application of additional equipment for performing same.
Idle travels of the movable support member with the knurling head and compartively laborous adjustment of the knurling machine reduce greatly the efficiency thereof.
In addition, the great amount of pressure members and possible optional motions of tapered elements and therefore the knurl rollers in the course of knurling reduce greatly the operational reliability of the known knurling machine and the accuracy of the work piece being processed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for wrapping of items. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present disclosure relates generally to equipment utilized and operations performed in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides for use of swellable material in an annular seal element to prevent leakage in a well.
Leak paths can sometimes arise in cemented intervals due to poor cement bonding to a surrounding earth formation surface, incomplete mud filter cake removal prior to placing cement in the interval, subsidence and compaction. In some circumstances, the cement will not bond properly to the interior surface of an outer casing or formation surface because of incomplete drilling fluid removal from the surface, presence of a filter cake on the surface or a film of drilling mud on the surface. In horizontal wells, a fluid channel may develop on a high side of the wellbore, due to (but not limited to) fluid migrating out of the cement slurry or density differences of the different liquid materials in the wellbore.
In addition, situations can arise in which the cement takes an initial bond to the surface of the casing or wellbore, but then de-bonds (separates) from the surface at some point in the future. These situations can be due to, for example, reservoir subsidence, tectonic plate movement, fluctuating temperatures, fluctuating pressures and changes in wellbore stresses.
When these situations arise, and there is no effective seal along the interval (e.g., in an annulus between two casing strings, or between a casing string and the inner surface of the wellbore), fluids can migrate from one reservoir or zone to another, or to the surface. Uncontrolled flow between reservoirs is often called an “underground blowout” and is highly undesirable. Reservoir fluids (liquids and/or gases) unintentionally flowing to the surface (e.g., between casing strings) is often called “casing pressure.” If the pressures exerted by the fluids persist for extended periods, then it is often called “sustained casing pressure.”
Currently, there is no completely satisfactory solution to these problems. It is known to use a swellable packer along a cemented interval so that, if the cement leaks, the packer can swell and close off the annulus, but the packer is enclosed in the cement and cannot reliably close off a fluid channel in the cement itself. The swellable element will not seal the channel unless there is direct contact with the channel and the fluid therein. It is also known to mix particles of swellable material in the cement slurry, but this method results in a relatively small effective volume change, which may not be sufficient for sealing off larger leak paths.
Therefore, it will be appreciated that improvements are needed in the art of preventing leakage in a subterranean well. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fabrication methods of semiconductor packages, and more particularly, to a fabrication method of a semiconductor package for improving the product reliability.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the rapid development of electronic industries, electronic products are developed towards multi-function and high electrical performance. Accordingly, fan out packaging technologies have been developed to meet the miniaturization requirement of semiconductor packages.
FIGS. 1A to 1D are schematic cross-sectional views showing a fabrication method of a fan out semiconductor package 1 according to the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a carrier 10 is provided and an adhesive layer 11 is formed on the carrier 10.
Then, a plurality of semiconductor elements 12 are disposed on the adhesive layer 11. Each of the semiconductor elements 12 has an active surface 12a with a plurality of electrode pads 120 and a non-active surface 12b opposite to the active surface 12a. The semiconductor elements 12 are attached to the adhesive layer 11 via the active surfaces 12a thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1B, an encapsulant 13 is laminated on the adhesive layer 11 for encapsulating the semiconductor elements 12.
Referring to FIG. 1C, a curing process is performed to cure the encapsulant 13, and then the adhesive layer 11 and the carrier 10 are removed to expose the active surfaces 12a of the semiconductor elements 12.
Referring to FIG. 1D, an RDL (Redistribution Layer) process is performed to form an RDL structure 14 on the encapsulant 13 and the active surfaces 12a of the semiconductor elements 12. The RDL structure 14 is electrically connected to the electrode pads 120 of the semiconductor elements 12.
Then, an insulating layer 15 is formed on the RDL structure 14, and portions of the RDL structure 14 are exposed from the insulating layer 15 so as for a plurality of conductive elements 16 such as solder bumps to be mounted thereon.
However, large stresses may be generated during the curing process of the encapsulant 13 and dispersed by the carrier 10. As such, referring to FIG. 1D′, warpage easily occurs on edges of the encapsulant 13 after the carrier 10 is removed. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the RDL structure 14 to be aligned with the electrode pads 120 of the semiconductor elements 12. The greater the size of the carrier 10 is, the more severe the position tolerance between the semiconductor elements 12 becomes, thereby adversely affecting the electrical connection between the RDL structure 14 and the semiconductor elements 12. As such, the product reliability and yield are reduced.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a fabrication method of a semiconductor package so as to overcome the above-described drawbacks. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an end-forming machine comprising a bed, which is provided with a workpiece-gripping means and with at least one headstock, which is guided for a displacement along the axis of the workpiece relative the workpiece-gripping means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
End-forming machine tools are used to center, drill, bore, cut to length, profile or chamfer workpieces, particularly shafts and tubes, and to subject the workpieces to other machining operations at their ends. The workpiece-gripping means grip the workpiece at a distance from the end to be formed so that that end is exposed for the desired forming operation. The forming operation proper has previously been performed only by tools carried by the headstocks, which are known in various forms and can be used as single-spindle or multi-spindle headstocks. Such headstocks may be provided with any of a large number of specific toolholders, which are designed to perform specific or combined machining operations. In spite of the large number of toolholders and tools which can be selected, such forming of ends is not satisfactory because a high expenditure is involved and any attempt to reduce the machining time will be at the expense of the precision and surface finish which can be achieved and of the edge life of the tool. For this reason the steadily increasing requirements regarding shorter machining times, a higher precision and surface finish, and a longer edge life, can be met only with a compromise. It must be borne in mind that the dimensions of the toolholders must be selected in adaptation to the workpieces involved and for surface-finishing operations the cutting circles of the cutting tools employed must lie within a rather small diameter, which will depend on the workpiece diameter. For this reason rather different cutting speeds will be obtained when a plurality of radially offset workpieces, such as required for combined machining operations, are employed. Such different cutting speeds will result in a lower precision and surface finish and in a shorter edge life. On the other hand if a toolholder is used which is provided with only one cutting tool, the precision and the surface finish as well as the edge life can be improved by the selection of proper cutting conditions but a plurality of forming operations will be required, which involve a change of the toolholder or spindle so that the required machining time cannot be reduced. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle, which provides an electric motor directly connected to an engine having both driving and power-generating functions, and which executes an automatic start-up/stop control of the engine.
Some motor vehicles are of a type commonly called a hybrid vehicle having an internal combustion engine driven by combustion of fuel and an electric motor (herein described as xe2x80x9cmotorxe2x80x9d) driven by electric energy, wherein the motor is directly connected to the engine and also has a power-generating function. The hybrid vehicle further includes an engine control means for controlling a running state of the engine and motor control means for controlling an operating state of the motor. The engine control means and the motor control means detect respective operating states of the engine and the motor when the vehicle is traveling, and then exchange such detected data regarding the running states. As a result, the respective operating states of the engine and the motor are controlled in association with one another. Such a control system attains a high level of required performance (such as fuel efficiency, lower values of detrimental components in exhaust gases, and power performance). The apparatus includes a main battery which supplies drive electricity to the motor and is charged by recharging power-generation by the motor. A required amount of battery charge must be maintained in order to perform suitable driving power-generation/driving prohibition for the motor. This apparatus administers the battery.
Moreover, there is a hybrid vehicle which has an automatic start-up/stop control means to improve mileage and/or reduce release of effluent gas, by stopping an engine forcibly at an idling state.
One such example of a control apparatus of a hybrid vehicle is disclosed in published Japanese Application Laid-Open No. 10-136508. In the hybrid vehicle of this disclosure an engine usually starts up by cranking a motor. But when a start-up by a motor is impossible, an engine start control means controls start up by cranking the engine with a starter motor. Therefore, when engine start up by cranking of a starter motor is required, the engine start control means functions to assist cranking of the engine.
Incidentally, during operation of automatic start-up/stop control, at a restart-up of an engine and a restart-up in an idle stop, a control apparatus of a traditional hybrid vehicle judges whether an engine is started by electric motor only or starter motor only. But this system must control collectively the engine and the motor. Accordingly, the system is complicated in hardware and software, and becomes expensive.
In order to obviate or minimize the above problem or expense, the present invention provides a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle having a motor directly connected with an engine mounted on the vehicle. The motor has both driving and power-generating functions. The control means executes automatic start-up/stop control of the engine. The control means starts up the engine using a starter motor by operation of a key and assists start up using the electric motor. During automatic start-up/stop control of the engine, at restarting of the engine when a start-up condition is satisfied, the control means controls to start up the engine using only the electric motor. At restart-up of the engine when a start-up condition is not satisfied, the control means drives the starter motor and the electric motor by outputting an engine activation signal so that the starter motor is assisted by the electric motor.
The engine control means and motor control means operate independently. In particular, in a start-up system, the engine control means operates as master, and the motor control means operates as slave. in this system, the engine and motor are not collectively controlled, and simplification of the system is achieved in both hardware and software. In addition, synchronism of the engine and the motor is achieved, and both certain start-up and restart-up of the engine are gained. Furthermore, quietness at restart-up of the engine is gained. Fundamentally, the electric motor is started by voltage from a main battery when the voltage value exceeds a predetermined voltage. In this system, the electric motor assumes the role of starter motor when an appropriate water temperature and battery voltage are sensed. The arrangement improves the durability of the starter motor. In addition, life of the sub-battery is improved. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Release coatings are substances which control or eliminate the adhesion between an adhesive and a substrate surface, many of which have been prepared using silicone based materials. Curing of such silicone based liquid release coatings has been accomplished by solvent removal and thermal crosslinking, as is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,344. However the removal of solvent is not only energy intensive but also raises environmental concerns over solvent removal and recovery. To obviate this disadvantage, solvent free "100% reactive" organo polysiloxane compositions such as those taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,596 have been developed. These coatings, based on platinum catalyzed hydrosilation reactions, address the issue of solvent omission but are nevertheless energy intensive. Additionally, curing temperatures are typically within the range of from 140.degree. to 160.degree. C., thus precluding their use on temperature sensitive substrates. When applied to paper at these temperatures, the release coated paper has a tendency to curl and drastically change dimensions during thermal cure as dehydration of the paper substrate takes place. UV-curable release coatings in the absence of solvent is therefore desirable, since these coatings can be cured at room temperature.
Free radical initiated systems based on thiol-ene reactions are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,282. These systems, however, have an offensive mercaptan odor; moreover, thiol-ene systems are known to cure slowly and are thus commercially not attractive. Although the cationically curable epoxy and vinyloxy organo polysiloxanes described (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,617,238 and 4,279,717) cure rapidly with UV exposure and provide excellent low or "easy" release, in practice these UV-curable release coatings have several limitations. First, while UV-curable silicone release coatings can readily provide a low energy surface for easy release, coating formulations with controllable level of release are difficult to achieve. Attempts to counter this with control release additives have been only partially successful in developing moderate release properties. Secondly, many potential consumers object to silicone based products because of potential contamination of conventional components in coating lines. Specifically, silicones can cause adhesion and wetting problems when present as a contaminant in protective coating resins. Also, the UV curing of silicone-based release agents exhibit a strong substrate dependence. Finally, silicones are fairly expensive and their compositions are less economically attractive than other organic resins.
An example of a UV-curable non-silicone release coating has been reported (U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,974) which employs mixtures of C.sub.(8-28) alpha olefin oxides. These are reported to be useful in paper release applications. However, the cationic polymerization of alpha olefin oxides is much slower than UV-curable silicones.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to obviate the above problems and to provide a rapidly curable release composition which is economically prepared and used as a release coating.
Another object of this invention is to provide a release coating composition which can be adapted to possess easy, moderate, or strong release properties.
Still another object is to provide a release coating which may be applied to a wide variety of substrates and can be rapidly cured at about room temperature.
Yet another object is to provide a silicone free release coating composition.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and disclosure. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to standing seam roofs, panels therefor, and methods of installing same.
The invention is especially concerned with roof panels for a so-called standing seam roof, which is basically a type of roof formed of elongate sheet metal panels generally of shallow channel shape in transverse cross section, comprising a web and upwardly extending side flanges at opposite sides of the web, the panels being laid one alongside another on supporting means therefor of the roof (e.g., roof purlins) with their flanges standing upward side-by-side and being seamed together, thus accounting for the designation of the structure as a "standing seam" roof. A variety of such panels have been on the market, but, so far as applicants are aware, all of them have been based on systems requiring rolling or other metal-forming operations on the flanges of the panels after they have been laid on the roof to form sealed seams as are necessary for weathertightness. Other problems have also been encountered with the prior standing seam roof systems such as disposal of moisture which may condense on interior surfaces of the panels in the seams. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to ocular iontophoretic apparatuses, and more particularly, to an ocular iontophoretic apparatus having an improved seal about the surface of the eye and configured for positioning about the sclera.
2. Background Art
The use of ocular iontophoretic devices has been known in the art. Such devices have been used in an attempt to administer a drug through an electromotive force which drives ionic chemicals into and through the eye tissue so that they can be absorbed at the site or, by adjacent tissues and by blood vessels.
Among other problems, difficulties can be incurred with the placement of these devices onto the surface of the eye of a patient. Certain prior art devices encompass a large portion of the eye and cover or interface with the cornea. Specifically, due to the cumbersome nature of these prior art devices and their limited ability to specifically define the placement, treatment site and sharply defined region of of medicament exposure, such devices greatly obstruct vision and the natural movements of the eye during treatment.
Other solutions provide inadequate sealing of the device on the surface of the eye of the patient. As such, current which is used to drive the medicament through the sclera can instead undesirably be conducted via the saline ionic tear fluid of the eye along the surface of the eye and other undesirable tissues. Further, such inadequate seals permit the ingress of tears into the medicament reservoir itself, and adversely contaminates the specific ionically charged drug solution with sodium and chloride ions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an ocular iontophoretic apparatus which provides improved comfort for the user.
It is likewise an object of the invention to provide an improved barrier to seal and preclude the passage of fluid thereacross.
It is another object of the invention to minimize the electrical current from inadvertent and excess shunting via surrounding tear film interference.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the specification and claims appended hereto.
The invention comprises an ocular iontophoretic apparatus. The ocular iontophoretic apparatus includes a reservoir having an outer rim. The outer rim includes a barrier which is positionable upon the surface of the eye. The barrier provides a seal between the reservoir and the surface of the eye, to, in turn, substantially preclude the passage of fluid into and out of the barrier.
In a preferred embodiment, the barrier includes means for forming a vacuum/suction seal with a surface of the eye. In one such embodiment, the barrier comprises a first lobe and a second lobe. The two lobes extend away from each other at a predetermined angle. In another such preferred embodiment, the barrier comprises a contact region having a concave configuration.
In a preferred embodiment, a portion of the barrier comprises a material having a Shore A hardness ranging between 5 and 60, and preferably between 5 and 25 to, in turn, provide a substantially fluid tight seal between the barrier and the surface of the eye.
In another preferred embodiment, the barrier includes a first region and a second region. The second region comprises a material having a greater hardness than that of the first region. In one such preferred embodiment, the second region comprises a hardness which may be up to 90 Shore A as well as extend beyond that of Shore A scale 15.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the cross-sectional configuration of the barrier comprises one of the group consisting of: circular, squared, oval, elliptical, asymmetrical and arcuate.
In a preferred embodiment, the outer rim is configured so as to follow the contours of a particular region of the sciera of an eye, to in turn, facilitate the uniform contact of the barrier against the surface thereof. In one such embodiment, the outer rim includes at least a double arcuate configuration, to, in turn, facilitate the uniform contact of the barrier against the surface of an eye. Preferably, the first arcuate configuration includes a radius of curvature which ranges between 10 and 14 mm, and the second arcuate configuration includes a radius of curvature which ranges between 10 and 14 mm.
In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a first means for vacuum sealing the reservoir against the surface of an eye of a patient. In one embodiment, the first vacuum sealing means comprises the cooperation of the barrier member and the seal member to facilitate the egress of a quantity of material from within the reservoir, while substantially precluding the ingress of material into the reservoir. In another embodiment, the first vacuum sealing means further includes a valve capable of selectively placing the reservoir in fluid communication with ambient surrounding conditions.
The invention likewise comprises an ocular iontophoretic apparatus which comprises a reservoir having an outer shell. The outer shell includes a transverse radius of curvature to facilitate placement of the apparatus on the sclera of an eye, while substantially precluding contact thereof with the cornea of an eye.
In one preferred embodiment, the transverse radius of curvature which is at least 6 mm.
In another preferred embodiment, the apparatus includes an outer rim. The outer rim includes at least a double arcuate configuration. Such a configuration facilitates the uniform contact of the barrier against the surface of an eye. In one such embodiment, the first arcuate configuration includes a radius of curvature which ranges between 10 and 14 mm, and the second arcuate configuration includes a radius of curvature which ranges between 10 and 14 mm.
The invention likewise comprises a method of sealing an ocular iontophoretic apparatus against the surface of an eye. The method comprises the step of providing an ocular iontophoretic apparatus having an outer rim which includes a barrier having a concave contact region. Once provided, the barrier is positioned so as to engage the concave contact region with the surface of the eye. Next, at least a portion of the air trapped between the concave contact region and the surface of the eye is evacuated which creates a vacuum seal between the surface of the eye and the concave contact region of the barrier.
In one embodiment, the step of positioning the barrier comprises the step of positioning the barrier below the cornea of the eye.
In another embodiment, the method further comprises the step of positioning the eyelid of the patient over at least a portion of the ocular iontophoretic apparatus below the eyelid of the patient.
The invention likewise comprises a method of sealing an ocular iontophoretic apparatus against the surface of an eye. The method comprises the steps of providing an ocular iontophoretic apparatus having a reservoir, an outer rim which includes a barrier, positioning the barrier upon the surface of the eye, evacuating at least a portion of a material from within the reservoir, and, creating a vacuum seal between the surface of the eye and the reservoir. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and particularly to an upright vacuum cleaner enabling a convenient grasp and handling by a user. Further, the invention relates to a carrying handle of an upright vacuum cleaner that can prevent unnecessary shaking of the vacuum cleaner and enable a user to transfer it more conveniently.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vacuum cleaner is generally classified into a canister vacuum cleaner and an upright vacuum cleaner. Particularly, the upright vacuum cleaner includes a main body, a nozzle unit and a handle that are integrally formed. In detail, a suction nozzle, a motor, a suction fan and the like are accommodated in the main body of the vacuum cleaner to generate a suction force of air and filter foreign particles from the sucked air. The nozzle unit is formed at a lower side of the main body to suck air on a floor together with foreign particles. The handle is formed at an upper side of the main body so that a user may hold the handle with ease and handle the vacuum cleaner.
In cleaning operation using the upright vacuum cleaner, as a user holding the handle pushes and pulls the nozzle unit, the vacuum cleaner moves to a desired position, dirt on a floor is sucked into the main body of the vacuum cleaner, and the sucked dirt is filtered by the main body.
Also, the general upright vacuum cleaner has a difficulty in cleaning a stair or a corner because the nozzle unit, the main body and the handle are formed integrally. To solve such a problem, a long and flexible extension tube wound on upper and lower circumference of the main body is installed. To fix the extension tube to the circumference of the main body of the vacuum cleaner, a pair of protrusions are protruded from the circumference of the main body. The extension tube is latched on the protrusions. In cleaning a place such as a stair or the like, the extension tube is separated from the protrusions and then a nozzle is connected to an end of the extension tube.
In the meanwhile, cleaning of a floor is performed by pushing or pulling the handle formed at the upper side of the vacuum cleaner. However, in case the vacuum cleaner is transferred to a place passing through a stair of a building or a distant place, the handle fails to support an overall weight of the vacuum cleaner, which is undesirable. Accordingly, it is more general that a carrying handle capable of supporting the overall weight of the vacuum cleaner should be additionally provided.
However, since the carrying handle of the related art vacuum cleaner is formed at a rear side of the vacuum cleaner, it does not accord with a center of gravity of the vacuum cleaner. So, when a user moves the vacuum cleaner, the vacuum cleaner leans to one direction, so that the user collides with the vacuum cleaner.
Also, since the vacuum cleaner further needs a protrusion structure for fixing the extension tube, a more complicated fabrication process is required. | {
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With the large-scale deployment of the 3rd-generation (3rd-generation, 3G) mobile network, data services are used more and more widely. For an operator, a desirable quality of service (Quality of Service, QoS) needs to be provided in order to enhance competitiveness.
A policy mechanism system for a data service is provided in the prior art, the architecture of which is as shown in FIG. 1. The system includes a policy and charging rule function apparatus (Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF) 11, an application function (Application Function) apparatus 12, a subscription profile repository (Subscription Profile Repository, SPR) 13, a gateway (Gateway) device 14, and a charging apparatus 15. The charging apparatus 15 may be an online charging system (Online Charging System, OCS) or an offline charging system (Offline Charging System, OFCS), and may perform real-time charging for a subscriber according to traffic or duration statistics in a gateway. The PCRF may perform a service data flow control policy decision according to subscriber information from the subscription profile repository 13, bearer level information of the gateway device 14, some local policies locally configured at the PCRF or service level information of the application function apparatus 12, so as to determine a service data flow control policy. The gateway device 14 controls a service data flow according to the service data flow control policy, thereby ensuring the quality of service.
Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a policy control method according to the prior art.
The policy control method in the prior art includes:
A1. A PCRF receives a total traffic use quota from an SPR.
A2. The PCRF generates a service data flow control policy, where the control policy includes a monitoring keyword, a use information report event trigger, and a traffic use threshold determined according to the total traffic use quota.
A3. The PCRF sends the control policy to a gateway device.
A4. The gateway device performs policy control on a data flow of a subscriber service according to the control policy, and accumulates traffic of the data flow that passes through the gateway and satisfies the policy.
A5. When an accumulated value of the gateway apparatus reaches the use threshold specified in the control policy, or the accumulated value does not reach the use threshold specified in the control policy but satisfies data flow interruption of the policy, or the accumulated value satisfies another data flow use information report condition, the gateway device reports the accumulated traffic information to the PCRF, where the use information includes the monitoring keyword and accumulated traffic information.
A6. The PCRF deducts the reported accumulated traffic information from the total traffic use quota. If the service needs to continue and a total traffic use quota after the deduction is greater than zero, it is considered that a new use quota needs to be delivered to the gateway device, steps A2 to A5 are repeated until eventually the subscriber data flow service stops, and step A7 is executed. If the total traffic use quota after the deduction is equal to or smaller than zero, indicating that the total use quota is used up, the control policy of the service flow is adjusted according to an operator policy or a subscriber policy, and a new data flow control policy is sent to the gateway device until eventually the subscriber data flow service stops, and step A7 is executed.
A7. After the service stops, the PCRF saves the rest of the total traffic use quota in the SPR.
During an implementation process of the present invention, the inventor finds that in the prior art the PCRF may implement policy control based on traffic accumulation but cannot implement policy control of the data flow based on charging relevant information of the subscriber, so flexibility is low and service experience of the subscriber is poor. | {
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Dry development processes now adopted in various electrostatic copying machines include a two-component development process using a toner and a carrier, e.g., iron powder, and a one-component development process using no carrier.
The developing machine to be used in the one-component development process is more compact than that for the two-component development process because the former requires no automatic concentration controller as is required in the latter. Additionally, the former involves no contamination of a carrier so that such maintenance operation as carrier exchange is not needed. On account of these advantages, the one-component development process has extending its application over not only low-speed small-sized copying machines or printers but medium- or high-speed copying machines or printers, and there has been a demand for further improved performance.
On the other hand, attempts have been made to utilize the one-component development process using a one-component magnetic toner in easily preparing papers which can be read with a magnetic ink character reader (MICR), such as personal checks. This system is generally called an MICR system.
The MICR system is a system comprising reading a magnetized image with a magnetic head. Because the magnetic image is usually printed with a liquid magnetic ink, image formation is not easy. While a printing system using the aforesaid two-component development process has also been put to practical use, this system requires a large-sized printing machine and is still uneasy.
Application of a one-component development process using a magnetic toner to the MICR system is therefore expected to achieve increased efficiency in image formation on account of the compactness of the machine to be used and the simplicity of maintenance.
However, application of the conventional one-component development process to the MICR system involves a problem that the magnetic toner image has too weak magnetization to be read correctly with an MICR. Besides, the reader for the MICR system is designed so as to read an image printed with a liquid ink. Unlike an image formed of a liquid ink, a magnetic toner image heat-fixed on paper or any other image support does not infiltrate into the support and is apt to fall off the support. The toner separated from the support tends to contaminate the magnetic head, which causes erroneous reading.
The magnetic toner which can be applied to an MICR system should meet both suitability to an MICR and suitability to a printer. More specifically, the magnetic toner should provide a toner image having sufficient magnetization enough to be read with a magnetic head; the toner should not cause untoward problems through repeated friction with a magnetic head; the toner should be adaptable to a conventional one-component magnetic toner electrophotographic system; and the printed toner image should have image quality at least equal to that obtained in a conventional electrophotographic printing system.
In order to obtain sufficient magnetization for reading with a magnetic head, a toner coverage (toner amount) per image may be increased to enhance magnetization of the toner image. In this case, however, the toner image will be collapsed due to too much toner, or the toner will be scattered around the image (blur), resulting in a failure of correct reading. In addition, as the toner pile height increases, the toner is easily scraped by a magnetic head.
As another approach to increased magnetic force of a toner image, the content of a magnetic substance in toner particles may be increased. However, this method leads to deterioration of tribological properties of the toner, causing reductions in image quality, such as sharpness, especially in a high temperature and high humidity environment, transfer properties, image stability, fixing properties, and strength of the toner itself. It would follow that the toner image is apt to be scraped with an MICR, failing to be read out.
Therefore, the above-mentioned approaches for obtaining increased magnetization, i.e., to increase the toner coverage per image or to increase the magnetic substance content, are not deemed to be effective solutions.
On the other hand, JP-A-4-166850 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") proposes a toner for an MICR system which has a magnetic substance content of not more than 50%, a coercive force of from 145 to 200 Oe, and a residual magnetization of from 3.0 to 5.5 emu/g. Although the magnetic toner proposed shows sufficient magnetization for an MICR, various disadvantages were revealed on repeated friction with a magnetic head in actual application to an MICR system, such as image staining (smears), magnetic head contamination (foil contamination), and an increase of errors in reading (reject rate). In addition, image durability (image wear), an important requirement for application to an MICR system, was insufficient for practical use. In particular, where a needle-shaped magnetic substance is used merely for assuring high magnetic force, such magnetic substance has poor dispersibility because of the small bulk density.
In order to solve the problems of toner fall-off and magnetic head contamination with the separated toner in the MICR system, a few proposals have been made to date. For example, it has been suggested to incorporate a polyolefin into toner particles to provide a toner which can be used in a medium- to high-speed double-side copying machine, which has recently be developed for resources saving. Incorporation of a polyolefin into toner particles aims at improvements of slip properties and anti-smudge properties of a toner image ("smudge" is a phenomenon that a fixed image is strongly scraped and thereby stained). This method proved effective to prevent smudging but still insufficient in improving scratch resistance when applied to an MICR system in which a fixed image is repeated scratched.
If a polyolefin is added in an amount higher than in a conventional toner, a further improvement of scratch resistance would be expected. However, substantially incompatible with a toner, a polyolefin added in an increased amount results in poor dispersibility, failing to obtain sufficient scratch resistance in an actual MICR system. Moreover, in printing, a toner having an increased polyolefin content contaminates a toner support, reduces the image density, causes background stains, and deteriorates maintenance.
JP-A-2-251968 teaches a technique for improving dispersibility of a substance incompatible with a toner, such as a polyolefin, and thereby improving fluidity and image forming performance of a toner, in which a polyolefin is dispersed to a maximum dispersed particle size of not greater than 5 .mu.m. This technique improves image forming performance in the initial stage. However, considering that a toner usually has a particle size of about 10 .mu.m, such a dispersed particle size of 5 .mu.m as above noted which corresponds to a half of the toner particle size is insufficient for assuring satisfactory dispersibility. When applied to a one-component development process in particular, a reduction in image formation maintenance will occur due to contamination of a toner support in a long-term running test. Taking into consideration the latest tendency toward size reduction of toner particles to 7 .mu.m and even to 5 .mu.m aiming at high definition, such a maximum dispersed particle size as reaches 5 .mu.m, which corresponds to almost the whole size of toner particles, must involve a reduction in image density, background staining, and deterioration of image formation maintenance. Additionally, the scratch resistance of this toner will be reduced due to the magnetic substance present therein to an impractical degree in the MICR system in which a fixed image repeatedly undergoes vigorous scratching.
Further, a toner containing finely dispersed polyolefin particles in a relatively large proportion as discussed above tends to have excessive chargeability (charging-up) particularly in a low temperature and low humidity environment (e.g., 10.degree. C., 15% R.H.). Such being the case, so-called ghost development, a phenomenon in which a former image appears in a succeeding image to give a density more than necessary in a solid part, sometimes occurs. Should ghost development take place in an MICR system even to such a degree that gives rise to no practical problem in a conventional printer, cases are sometimes met with in which the magnetic characters have too high or too low magnetic intensity to be read.
Thus, a magnetic toner exhibiting excellent performance in an MICR system has not yet been developed. | {
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Ivy Geranium plant, botanically known as Pelargonium peltatum, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Dueamica’.
The new Ivy Geranium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rheinberg, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new compact and freely-flowering Ivy Geraniums with attractive flower and foliage colors.
The new Ivy Geranium originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor on May 1, 2000, of a proprietary selection of Pelargonium peltatum identified as code number F-18-02, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Pelargonium peltatum identified as code number F-04-16, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Dueamica was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross in a controlled environment in Rheinberg, Germany in May, 2002.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal vegetative cuttings at Rheinberg, Germany since May, 2002 has shown that the unique features of this new Ivy Geranium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the bonding of two dissimilar polymeric resin composition surfaces. In a particular embodiment, the invention relates to a process for bonding an epoxy resin matrix reinforced with glass fibers to the surface of polyvinyl chloride pipe whereby the pipe is reinforced and withstands high pressures without rupture of the interface bond between the epoxy resin and the polyvinyl chloride surface.
For some time plastic pipe made of one or more layers each of polyvinyl chloride and epoxy-impregnated glass fibers has been widely used in the construction and plumbing industries. Light weight and resistance to corrosion have been among the desirable properties of this type of pipe. This pipe conventionally consists of an inner hollow cylinder of polyvinyl chloride overlaid with a wrapping of epoxy-impregnated glass fibers. In some cases only a single layer of each material is used; in other cases, however, the first layer of epoxy-impregnated glass fibers is overlaid with a second polyvinyl chloride layer, which is itself then overlaid with a second layer of epoxy-impregnated glass fiber. Any number of such multiple alternating layers may be thus built up.
Bonding between each pair of dissimilar surfaces of the alternating layers of epoxy-impregnated glass fiber and polyvinyl chloride has, however, been a serious problem, often reaching critical dimensions where the pipe consists solely of a relatively thin polyvinyl chloride inner cylinder overlaid with only one or two layers of an epoxy-impregnated glass fiber wrapping. Since polyvinyl chloride and epoxy do not substantially chemically bond with each other, mechanical forces were depended upon to maintain the integrity between the layers of the pipe. However, these mechanical forces were insufficient to withstand the countervailing forces produced by the fluid pressure within the pipe, and the layers of the pipe would become separated. This was particularly aggravated whenever it was necessary to cut into the pipe, as with a conventional pipe joint, thereby exposing the interface in the cut cross-section of the pipe to the full line pressure carried within the pipe. | {
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The invention relates to a device for filtering water with a filter insert which has an essentially cylindrically formed peripheral wall, bottom with outlet openings, a cover with inlet openings and a filling of filter material.
Filter inserts of the kind referred to above are commercially available. They are used in devices for filtering water, especially for the household, and comprise a pot and a water hopper to be put on the pot. The hopper has a lower opening to take up the filter insert so that the insert can be quickly replaced, if used up.
Replacing of the filter insert must simply be possible by unskilled persons also without preknowledges, and doing so, sufficient sealing must be assured between filter insert and hopper, so that the water to be filtered does not bypass the filter. Since the hopper together with the filter insert and, as the case is, a hopper cover stays onto the pot also when pouring the water, it must be ensured that the insert be fired in the hopper also when there is a greater inclination and no leaking will occur also when further water will be filled into the hopper. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Locating a desired portion of information on the World Wide Web (“web”) can be challenging because the amount of information available. Query processing systems permit a user to search information on the web, and attempt to return search results that are relevant to a search query provided by the user. The goal of a query processing system is to provide links to high quality, relevant search results (e.g., links to web pages) to the user used on the search query. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid crystal display device making use of the change of orientation of liquid crystal molecules which are aligned to a proper direction in advance by applying or changing the intensity of an electric field, a magnetic field, heat or the like, and more particularly to an alignment film of the display device.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The liquid crystal display device is basically comprised of two glass substrates disposed in parallel with each other at a given distance, transparent electroconductive film strips being selectively disposed on the opposing surfaces of these two substrates, an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules in a definite direction which completely covers each of said substrate surfaces and the electroconductive strips placed thereon, and a liquid crystal filling the space between the alignment films, the side faces of the device being tightly sealed lest any leakage of the liquid crystal should occur. At times it is further provided with a polarization plate on the outer surface of one of the substrates.
(A) Dynamic scattering type, (B) electric field induced birefrengence effect type, (C) guest-host effect type, (D) phase transition guest-host effect type, etc. are the well-known types of display system employing a device basically of the above-described structure, and (D) type system is the most practical one.
If the above-mentioned (D) type system is employed, (i) coloured display as well as black-and-white display can be made and (ii) the production cost can be reduced by the simplification of element structure. For this reason it is very likely that these systems will eventually replace the hitherto widely used twist-nematic electric field effect type display system employing horizontally aligned films. And in the use of system with vertical alignment of liquid crystal molecules, improved display characteristics can be achieved.
The following alignment films (a)-(e) have hitherto been used as films for aligning liquid crystal molecules vertically:
(a) Vapour-deposited films of rare earth metal oxides, etc.
(b) Films of silicon-containing metal oxides, etc.
(c) Film consisting of a surface active agent containing a long alkyl chain or fluoroalkyl chain group.
(d) Film of a complex compound of a carboxylic acid containing a long alkyl chain or fluoroalkyl chain group.
(e) Film of a silane compound containing a long alkyl chain or fluoroalkyl chain group.
The above alignment films, however, have the following disadvantages.
(i) Both alignment films (a) and (b) show different aligning ability, depending upon the kinds of liquid crystals, and no alignment is obtained at all, when some kinds of liquid crystal are used. Besides, their film surface is active so that they are likely to be contaminated with an organic compound gas, when a cell is assembled. In the case of the guesthost type display device, the film selectively adsorbs a dichroic dye added to the liquid crystal, resulting in poor alignment.
Moreover, a liquid display device will be expensive, because of use of an expensive vapor deposition apparatus and of many working steps involved.
(ii) Films (c) and (d) tend to lose their molecule aligning properties because of their poor heat-resisting property when they are heated during cell assembly. It is difficult to obtain a thick coat from these materials, and besides the coat is liable to include electroconductive substances therein and is easily released from the substrate. Thus, the life is poor.
(iii) Film (e) has a problem in coating, and a smooth film cannot be obtained. Thus, the alignment is poor. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain a thick film and the life is poor.
Moreover, the pattern of the transparent electroconductive strips formed on the substrates appear too clearly as if embossed, because the film (e) has a refractive index of less then 1.6. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Modern three-dimensional (“3D”) display technologies are increasingly popular and practical not only in computer graphics, but in other diverse environments and technologies as well. Growing examples include medical diagnostics, flight simulation, air traffic control, battlefield simulation, weather diagnostics, entertainment, advertising, education, animation, virtual reality, robotics, biomechanical studies, scientific visualization, and so forth.
The increasing interest and popularity are due to many factors. In our daily lives, we are surrounded by synthetic computer graphic images both in print and on television. People can nowadays even generate similar images on personal computers at home. We also regularly see holograms on credit cards and lenticular displays on cereal boxes.
The interest in 3D viewing is not new, of course. The public has embraced this experience since at least the days of stereoscopes, at the turn of the last century. New excitement, interest, and enthusiasm then came with the 3D movie craze in the middle of the last century, followed by the fascinations of holography, and most recently the advent of virtual reality.
Recent developments in computers and computer graphics have made spatial 3D images more practical and accessible. The computational power now exists, for example, for desktop workstations to generate stereoscopic image pairs quickly enough for interactive display. At the high end of the computational power spectrum, the same technological advances that permit intricate object databases to be interactively manipulated and animated now permit large amounts of image data to be rendered for high quality 3D displays.
There is also a growing appreciation that two-dimensional projections of 3D scenes, traditionally referred to as “3D computer graphics”, can be insufficient for inspection, navigation, and comprehension of some types of multivariate data. Without the benefit of 3D rendering, even high quality images that have excellent perspective depictions still appear unrealistic and flat. For such application environments, the human depth cues of stereopsis, motion parallax, and (perhaps to a lesser extent) ocular accommodation are increasingly recognized as significant and important for facilitating image understanding and realism.
In other aspects of 3D display technologies, such as the hardware needed for viewing, the broad field of virtual reality has driven the computer and optics industries to produce better stereoscopic helmet-mounted and boom-mounted displays, as well as the associated hardware and software to render scenes at rates and qualities needed to produce the illusion of reality. However, most voyages into virtual reality are currently solitary and encumbered ones: users often wear helmets, special glasses, or other devices that present the 3D world only to each of them individually.
A common form of such stereoscopic displays uses shuttered or passively polarized eyewear, in which the observer wears eyewear that blocks one of two displayed images, exclusively one each for each eye. Examples include passively polarized glasses, and rapidly alternating shuttered glasses.
While these approaches have been generally successful, they have not met with widespread acceptance because observers generally do not like to wear equipment over their eyes. In addition, such approaches are impractical, and essentially unworkable, for projecting a 3D image to one or more casual passersby, to a group of collaborators, or to an entire audience such as when individuated projections are desired. Even when identical projections are presented, such situations have required different and relatively underdeveloped technologies, such as conventional autostereoscopic displays.
The consideration of freedom from headgear has thus motivated developments in autostereoscopic displays that automatically render a stereoscopic viewing experience for the observer without requiring the observer to use or wear special accommodations or devices. Autostereoscopic displays attempt to present a spatial image to a viewer without the use of glasses, goggles, or other personally-worn physical viewing aids. Autostereoscopic displays are appealing because they hold the prospect of offering the best experiential approximation to the optical characteristics of a real object.
Numerous autostereoscopic schemes for displaying images that actually appear three-dimensional have been proposed. Current physically realizable autostereoscopic displays can be classified generally into three broad categories: re-imaging displays, volumetric displays, and parallax displays.
Re-imaging displays typically capture and re-radiate the light from a three-dimensional object to a new location in space. Volumetric displays span a volume of space and illuminate individual parts of that space. Parallax displays are surfaces that radiate light of directionally varying intensity. Displays of each type have been used in commercial display systems, and each has inherent strengths and weaknesses.
The more common display approaches tend to fall into the two main categories of volumetric and parallax.
Autostereoscopic displays of the volumetric type produce 3D imagery by generating a collection of points within a volume that operate as light sources that emit, or appear to emit, light. If these points emit light isotropically, which is often the case, the resulting images appear ghosted or transparent. As a result, a typical volumetric display does not create a true 3D light field because the volume elements that are aligned depth-wise are not perceived to block one another. That is, the images do not display occlusion.
Autostereoscopic displays of the parallax type perform stereo separation of images internally, so that an observer is not required to use additional eyewear. A number of display systems of this type have been developed that present a different image to each eye as long as the observer remains in a fixed position in space. Most of these are variations on the parallax barrier method, in which a fine vertical grating or lenticular lens array is placed in front of a display screen. When the observer's eyes remain fixed at a certain location in space, each eye can only view one set of display pixels (even or odd) through the grating or lens array, and not the other set. This geometry can then ensure that each eye sees only its own respective image, corresponding to the set of pixels that display that distinct view of the image. The two image views, seen individually by the respective right and left eyes of the viewer, are configured so that the human visual system interprets the separately viewed images concurrently as a single 3D image. This occurs without the observer having to wear or use any personal assistive devices. However, the parallax barrier method typically requires the observer to remain stationary in one location. Further, in many cases, such displays generate a two-dimensional light field that provides horizontal but not vertical parallax.
A more recent and potentially much more realistic form of autostereoscopic display is the hologram. Holographic and pseudo-holographic displays output a partial light field that presents many different views simultaneously by effectively re-creating or simulating for the viewer the original light wavefront. The resulting imagery can be quite photorealistic, exhibiting occlusion and other viewpoint-dependent effects (e.g., reflection), as well as being independent of the viewer's physical position. In fact, the viewer can move around to observe different aspects of the image. The holographic image also has the potential to allow many observers to see the same image simultaneously.
Although much more realistic, a dynamically presented holographic image also requires far greater computational ability and bandwidth than is generally required for a two-view stereo display. Effective means are also noticeably wanting for dynamically recreating the original wavefront, or an acceptable facsimile thereof, in real time and at commercially acceptable costs.
Thus, a need still remains for highly effective, practical, efficient, uncomplicated, and inexpensive autostereoscopic 3D displays that allow the observer complete and unencumbered freedom of movement. Additionally, a need continues to exist for practical autostereoscopic 3D displays that provide a true parallax experience in both the vertical as well as the horizontal movement directions.
A concurrent continuing need is for such practical autostereoscopic 3D displays that can also accommodate multiple viewers independently and simultaneously. A particular advantage would be afforded if the need could be fulfilled to provide such simultaneous viewing in which each viewer could be presented with a uniquely customized autostereoscopic 3D image that could be entirely different from that being viewed simultaneously by any of the other viewers present, all within the same viewing environment, and all with complete freedom of movement therein.
Still further, due to the special user appeal but the daunting unsolved technical challenges, a distinctive need particularly continues for practical autostereoscopic 3D displays that provide a realistic holographic experience. Even more extraordinary would be a solution to the need for a holographic or pseudo-holographic viewing system that enables multiple simultaneous and individuated viewing as described above.
Yet another urgent need is for an unobtrusive 3D viewing device that combines feedback for optimizing the viewing experience in combination with provisions for 3D user input, thus enabling viewing and manipulation of virtual 3D objects in 3D space without the need for special viewing goggles or headgear.
In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, increasing consumer expectations, and diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. Moreover, the ever-increasing need to save costs, improve efficiencies, improve performance, and meet such competitive pressures adds even greater urgency to the critical necessity that answers be found to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic system for locating and identifying vehicles in distress. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Wireless communication systems and networks are used in connection with many applications, including, for example, satellite communications systems, portable digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, and cellular telephones. One significant benefit that users of such applications obtain is the ability to connect to a network (e.g., the Internet) as long as the user is within range of such a wireless communication system.
Current wireless communication systems use either, or a combination of, circuit switching and packet switching in order to provide mobile data services to a mobile node. A mobile node can be a cell phone, a PDA, a Blackberry, a laptop computer with a wireless card, or any other wireless device. Generally speaking, with circuit-based approaches, wireless data is carried by a dedicated (and uninterrupted) connection between the sender and recipient of data using a physical switching path. Once the direct connection is setup, it is maintained for as long as the sender and receiver have data to exchange. The establishment of such a direct and dedicated switching path results in a fixed share of network resources being tied up until the connection is closed. When the physical connection between the sender and the receiver is no longer desired, it is torn-down and the network resources are allocated to other users as necessary.
Packet-based approaches, on the other hand, do not permanently assign transmission resources to a given call, and do not require the setup and teardown of physical connections between a sender and receiver of data. In general, a data flow in packet-based approaches is “packetized,” where the data is divided into separate segments of information, and each segment receives “header” information that may provide, for example, source information, destination information, information regarding the number of bits in the packet, priority information, and security information. The packets are then routed to a destination independently based on the header information. The packet flow may include a number of packets or a single packet. Services may be applied to a packet flow such as lawful interception (wire tapping), Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), and firewalls.
A part of the evolution of packet based communications has been the development of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). IMS is an architectural framework for delivering internet protocol (IP) multimedia to mobile nodes. A call session control function (CSCF) can manage much of the signaling that occurs in an IMS core. The CSCF functionality can be logically divided into three functionalities: a Proxy-CSCF (P-CSCF), an Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF), and a Serving CSCF (S-CSCF). Additionally, the CSCF functionality is envisioned by two different groups for inclusion in two different topologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and CDMA 2000. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is responsible for IMS which works with GSM systems and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) is responsible for Multimedia Domain (MMD) which is used with CDMA systems and is based on the 3GPP IMS concept.
Another aspect gaining prominence is Quality of Service (QoS) as networks are looking to guarantee levels of service to a user for running applications such as VoIP, streaming media, gaming, etc. to a mobile node. QoS typically works by providing a certain level of bandwidth to a data flow at a certain point in the delivery process. This works well on wireline networks where the transmission of information is fairly constant. However, where the transmission medium is not as certain, QoS can fail to provide the actual level of service to the user depending on conditions such as interference or fading. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Many systems for production of three-dimensional modeling by photohardening have been proposed. European Patent Application No. 250,121 filed by Scitex Corp. Ltd. on June 6, 1987, provides a good summary of documents pertinent to this art area, including various approaches attributed to Hull, Kodama, and Herbert. Additional background is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,498 issued to Fudim on June 21, 1988.
These approaches relate to the formation of solid sectors of three-dimensional objects in steps by sequential irradiation of areas or volumes sought to be solidified. Various masking techniques are described as well as the use of direct laser writing, i.e., exposing a photohardenable polymer with a laser beam according to a desired pattern and building a three-dimensional model layer by layer.
However, all these approaches fail to identify practical ways of utilizing the advantages of vector scanning combined with means to maintain constant exposure and attain substantially constant final thickness of all hardened portions on each layer throughout the body of the rigid three-dimensional object. Furthermore, they fail to recognize very important interrelations within specific ranges of operation, which govern the process and the apparatus parameters in order to render them practical and useful. Such ranges are those of constant exposure levels dependent on the photohardening response of the material, those of minimum distance traveled by the beam at maximum acceleration dependent on the resolution and depth of photohardening, as well as those of maximum beam intensity depend on the photospeed of the photohardenable composition.
The Scitex patent, for example, suggests the use of photomasks or raster scanning for achieving uniform exposure, but does not suggest a solution for keeping the exposure constant in the case of vector scanning. The use of photomasks renders such techniques excessively time consuming and expensive. Raster scanning is also undesirable compared to vector scanning for a number of reasons, including:
necessity to scan the whole field even if the object to be produced is only a very small part of the total volume, PA1 considerably increased amount of data to be stored in most cases, PA1 overall more difficult manipulation of the stored data, and PA1 the necessity to convert CAD-based vector data to raster data. PA1 (a) forming a layer of a photohardenable liquid; PA1 (b) photohardening at least a portion of the layer of photohardenable liquid by exposure to actinic radiation; PA1 (c) introducing a new layer of photohardenable liquid onto the layer previously exposed to actinic radiation; PA1 (d) photohardening at least a portion of the new liquid layer by exposure to actinic radiation, with the requirement that the photohardenable composition comprises an ethylenically unsaturated monomer, a photoinitiator, and radiation deflecting matter, the deflecting matter having a first index of refraction, and the rest of the composition having a second index of refraction, the absolute value of the difference between the first index of refraction and the second index of refraction being different than zero.
On the other hand, in the case of vector scanning only the areas corresponding to the shape of the rigid object have to be scanned, the amount of data to be stored is smaller the data can be manipulated more easily, and "more than 90% of the CAD based machines generate and utilize vector data" (Lasers & Optronics, January 1989, Vol. 8, No. 1, pg. 56). The main reason why laser vector scanning has not been utilized PG,4 extensively so far is the fact that, despite its advantages, it introduces problems related to the inertia of the optical members, such as mirrors, of the available deflection systems for the currently most convenient actinic radiation sources, such as lasers. Since these systems are electromechanical in nature, there is a finite acceleration involved in reaching any beam velocity. This unavoidable non-uniformity in velocity results in unacceptable thickness variations. Especially in the case of portions of layers having no immediate previous levels of exposure at the high intensity it becomes necessary to use high beam velocities, and therefore, longer acceleration times, which in turn result in thickness non-uniformity. The use of low intensity lasers does not provide a good solution since it makes production of a solid object excessively time consuming. In addition, the usefulness of vector scanning is further minimized unless at least the aforementioned depth and exposure level relationships are observed as evidenced under the Detailed Description of this invention.
No special attention has been paid so far to the composition itself by related art in the field of solid imaging, except in very general terms.
Thus, the compositions usually employed, present a number of different problems, a major one of which is excessive photohardening depthwise usually accompanied by inadequate photohardening widthwise. This problem becomes especially severe in cantilevered or other areas of the rigid object, which areas are not immediately over a substrate.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to resolve the problem cited above by incorporating radiation deflecting matter in the photohardenable composition in order to limit the depth of photohardening with simultaneous increase of the width of photohardening, so that the resolution is better balanced in all directions.
European Patent Application 250,121 (Scitex Corp., Ltd.) discloses a three-dimensional modelling apparatus using a solidifiable liquid which includes radiation transparent particles in order to reduce shrinkage. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to operating systems for controlling the operations of digital computers. More particularly, the present invention relates to microkernel operating systems that segregate kernel functions from operating systems personality and applications. Still more particularly, the present invention provides generic microkernel semaphores that allow concurrent semaphore management by emulating multiple operating system semaphore interfaces.
2. Background and Related Art
Existing computer operating systems provide synchronization primitives frequently called semaphores for controlling access to system resources and synchronizing the activities of multiple processes. Synchronization primitives of each operating system are unique to that operating system even though they implement similar functionality. A microkernel operating system, such as the IBM microkernel, provides basic system function to support multiple operating system personalities. This permits application programs written for different operating systems to concurrently operate with each invoking interfaces of its home operating system. The IBM microkernel, therefore, must provide synchronization primitives that support synchronization primitives of the other operating systems. Without such generality, resource synchronization will be limited to synchronization within one particular operating system which may fail to provide adequate support across multiple operating system personalities.
A second problem is that application developers have learned to use a programming style for synchronization from a particular operating system. Retention of operating systems specific synchronization interfaces enables those programmers to continue development without learning a new microkernel based synchronization mechanism.
Operating systems typically divide synchronization primitives into two areas: locking and waiting.
Locking is used to protect shared resources from parallel or concurrent access by more than one thread. The resources that are locked are usually data structures, but they can be anything including files, devices, etc. Typically, but not always, the resources are held for a short duration so threads that need access to the resource usually don""t have to wait to acquire the protecting lock. Locking primitives range from the simple mutex (which can only be acquired in the exclusive mode) to those that distinguish between different types of access such as access for read only, or access for read and write.
Waiting primitives are used to suspend execution until some event occurs. Typically the wait is of long or unbounded duration. Waiting is frequently used to synchronize operations performed by multiple threads within a single process. For example, one thread may need to wait until the operation performed by a related thread is complete.
Modern operating systems often implement a semaphore as a condition variable. Condition variables are used to wait for events to happen. Condition variables work in conjunction with locks to wait for the events while allowing other threads to enter the critical section protected by the lock. This combination is used to implement monitors and experience has shown that fewer programming mistakes are made with condition variables than with semaphores. Condition variables must be coded inside a while loop that tests for the event or condition. As a result, the waiting thread is the one ensuring that the condition is true before proceeding. When semaphores are used, it is the signaler that must ensure that the condition will be true when the waiter is rescheduled. This can lead to subtle programming errors.
The traditional semaphore was proposed by Dijkstra and constitutes a non-negative value (The Logical Design of Operating Systems, L. Bic and A. C. Shaw, 1988, which references xe2x80x9cCooperating Sequential Processesxe2x80x9d, E. W. Dijkstra, Mathematics Depts., Technological University, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.) Dijkstra semaphores have only two operations: P and V. The P operation causes a wait until the semaphore is positive then decrements its value by one. The V operation increments the value of the semaphore by one.
Other authors have changed the number and character of operations allowed on semaphores. Operating systems have also changed the character and types of operations allowed on semaphores. Today there are a surprising variety in the types of operations that can be performed on semaphores. Programming books often have entire sections or chapters explaining the subtleties of how a semaphore works on a specific operating system.
The use of synchronization mechanisms in microkernel based operating systems are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,867 entitled xe2x80x9cObject-Oriented Multitasking Systemxe2x80x9d, to Moeller et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,845 entitled xe2x80x9cWrapper System for Interfacing to an Object-Oriented Application to a Procedural Applicationxe2x80x9d, to Orton et al. These patents describe the Taligent Operating System that employs the Mach Microkernel from Carnegie Mellon University. They describe the requirement for synchronization and the need to provide synchronization primitives or semaphores in an operating system. These patents describe the use of standard semaphores for a single operating system but provide no teaching of an ability to support multiple operating system semaphore architectures by a single microkernel based semaphore system.
Low level synchronization primitives are described in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin entitled xe2x80x9cMicrokernel Synchronization Primitivesxe2x80x9d, Volume 38, No. 5, May 1995, pp. 283-291. These primitives support the implementation of semaphores such as those disclosed herein but provide no application level interfaces that map to existing operating system syntax.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin entitled xe2x80x9cMicrokernel Semaphoresxe2x80x9d, Volume 38, No. 7, July 1995 pages 111-117, describes basic semaphore support in the IBM microkernel. However, these semaphore operations provide a single operating system based implementation that do not allow the emulation of semaphore operations provided by other operating systems.
The technical problem therefore remains of providing a generic semaphore operation that supports semaphores from multiple operating system personalities and in an efficient manner that is transparent to those personalities.
The present invention is directed to providing a generic semaphore operation that is able to emulate and respond to semaphore API""s from multiple operating system personalities. Semaphore operations of the present invention allow concurrent resource control and process synchronization from multiple operating system personalities. This enables a single resource to be used by applications using different operating system personalities.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a single set of semaphore operations that emulate and support multiple concurrent operating systems.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide efficient semaphore operations that do not require significant overhead to process.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numbers represent like parts of the invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Known kneading machines for both domestic and industrial use comprise a container, which is typically made of stainless steel, wherein a rotor provided with a plurality of mixing paddles is arranged; the rotor is rotatably restrained to the shaft of an electric motor.
In order to make an alimentary dough, a certain amount of ingredients in the solid state, such as mixtures of flour and/or meals, is introduced in the container, wherein they are mixed in a continuous manner by rotating the rotor during the preparation of the dough. In the case of the preparation of alimentary doughs for bread or pastry products, the ingredients in the solid state also comprise yeast.
During the mixing step the container is generally closed by a lid and ingredients in the liquid, e.g. water, solid and/or powdered state necessary to the preparation of the desired dough are gradually added to the ingredients in the solid state. The mixing step continues until a smooth dough suitable to be subjected to further processing is obtained.
The European patent EP 2554051 in the applicant's name describes for example a kneading machine for alimentary doughs comprising a container provided with a tight lid and a rotor arranged proximate to or at the bottom of the container and rotatably restrained about a vertical rotation axis. The kneading machine also comprises a plurality of spray nozzles restrained to the lid, which are arranged and oriented so as to direct their jets towards the bottom and the peripheral walls of the container. The rotor comprises a flat base formed of a plurality of arms and a plurality of mixing paddles extending from the arms predominantly perpendicular thereto. The free ends of the paddles are bent towards the rotation axis of the rotor and inclined relative to its flat base, as well as relative to a plane perpendicular thereto and passing through the rotation axis. Thanks to these characteristics, it is possible to generate swirling mixing movements on planes that are perpendicular to each other, thus promoting mixing of the particles of the mixtures of flours and/or meals with the ingredients injected by the nozzles, and hence enhancing homogenization and hydration of the dough.
Once the preparation step is finished an alimentary dough must be discharged from the container of a kneading machine in order to proceed to further steps and/or processing of the production process. At an industrial level this operation is carried out in an automated way.
It is known that a finished alimentary dough has a remarkable compactness and a generally sticky consistency, thereby making it difficult to discharge it from the container of a kneading machine. While in kneading machines wherein the rotor is rotatably arranged about an horizontal axis the rotor can be removed before discharging the dough, in kneading machines having a vertical axis as the kneading machine of the
European patent EP 2554051 this is not possible because the rotor is under the dough relative to the discharging direction.
Consequently, dough residues often remain inside the container of a kneading machine with a vertical rotation axis, which require cleaning operations after discharging of the dough before proceeding to a new preparation step. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to Localized Metal Precipitate Formation (hereafter referred to as LMPF) and the corresponding metallization depletion, and more particularly, to methods for suppressing and monitoring LMPF, and suppressing interconnect depletion in semiconductor processing.
2. Related Art
During the process of fabricating chips on a semiconductor wafer, there may be at least two electrically isolated metal wires exposed to the manufacturing environment at the surface of the wafer. Due to photo and/or other forms of excitation, one of the two metal wires (hereafter referred to as the first wire) may be at a higher electrical potential than the other metal wire (hereafter referred to as the second wire). When the wafer undergoes a CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) step, during which the wafer is exposed to an ionic solution, some metal atoms (M) of the first wire dissolve in the solution and become ionized (M−>Mn+). As a result of the electrical potential difference between the first and second wires, some of these ionized atoms move in the solution from the first wire towards the second wire, and redeposit as localized metal precipitates (LMP) at the second wire (Mn+→M). These LMPs may cause a short-circuit in the devices on the wafer, which would degrade or destroy the ability of these devices to perform their intended function. Also, in some situations, the metal ions that dissolve into the ionic solution are drawn from a very small area of the first metal wire, resulting in localized removal of metal in that wire, often referred to as depletion or erosion of the metal. This localized loss of material from the first wire degrades the current carrying capability of the line and can lead to premature metallization failure.
Therefore, there is a need for a structure to prevent such localized metal precipitate formation and the corresponding metallization depletion. Also, there is a need for a method for forming the structure. There is also a need for a method for monitoring such LMPF. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ozone generators for pools and spas, and more particularly to a feedback arrangement responsive to the impedance changes of a resonant tank circuit for producing a coronal plasma field that generates ozone associated with the inadvertent presence of water within the gap between the coronal plates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of the chemically reactive nature of ozone as a sanitizing mechanism for controlling unwanted microbial growth has been known in the past, with particular recent focus in the application thereof for sterilizing the water in a pool or a spa. Simply, as the cost and the cumulative environmental impact of chlorination increases the search for viable alternatives has commensurately also increased, with the current focus now particularly directed to ozone as a sterilization mechanism replacing or augmenting the use of chlorine and the generation thereof has matured.
While the highly reactive nature of ozone is now widely appreciated also are its inherent risks and, as a consequence, various ozone generator configurations have been proposed in the past that in one manner or another control and/or limit its local production rate, as exemplified by the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,800 to Dunder and U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,898 to Davidson; that alter the oscillation rate of the driving circuit to a fixed ratio of its tank circuit resonance as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,168 to Carlsten et al.; and/or respond to the tank circuit impedance as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,750 to Racca et al. While suitable for the purposes intended each of the foregoing either shuts off all ozone generation (e.g., Racca et al.) or is limited in its control authority range to the normal fluctuations in the ambient background and therefore do not respond with any significant effect in those circumstances where the ozone generating electrodes are deployed above a water surface and on occasion are fully immersed. This immersed state is particularly probable in a highly used and agitated pool or spa when the sterilization benefits of ozone are desired, resulting in compromised sterilization right when the use is heavy and enhanced.
The efficacy of some ozone generation even once fully immersed has been known in the past, particularly where the electrode separation gaps are small, as exemplified in the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,895 to Mooa, and others. Thus by proper design of the electrode geometry (and/or the materials thereof) the continued operation of the sterilization process can be carried on even in the most vigorous water conditions. In light of this expanded operating range of water content that can be accommodated within the electrode gap a commensurate expansion in the authority of any regulating feedback is extensively desired and it is one such am arrangement that is disclosed herein. | {
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Management software and/or applications for a system that includes one or more interchangeable devices (hereinafter referred to as a “modular system”) often determine interoperability/compatibility of each device to be coupled to the modular system. Modular systems may include, but are not limited to, modular server systems, carrier cards, or interconnect boards. Interchangeable devices (hereinafter referred to as “devices”) may include, but are not limited to, blades, carrier cards, interconnects, modules, slots or connectors.
Management software may apply one or more fixed rules to one or more device parameters to determine compatibility between devices. If found compatible, the devices are enabled to operate within the modular system. This may include enabling communication and power links between the devices.
Since modular systems are designed to interchangeably couple many different devices, using fixed rules to determine compatibility is problematic. Fixed rules may become outdated as new devices become available. Accordingly, using fixed rules to determine compatibility may inhibit the interchangeable characteristics of a modular system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of user interface (UI) control properties and more particularly to identifying dependencies between the properties of UI controls in a UI for a computer application.
Description of the Related Art
The UI provides the interface between program logic and end user. Through the UI, the end user can provide input requisite to the operation of a computer application, and the end user can view resulting output provided by the computer application. The UI can vary from a textual interface to a graphical interface and the UI can be formed through complex program logic, or simple markup language interpretable within a browser. Common to every UI is the arrangement of controls. Controls provide the atomic elements of the UI that permit direct interaction between the end user and the computer application. Examples include text fields, buttons, drop down lists, and the like. A control generally includes one or more properties affecting the appearance and operation of the control. Typical properties that affect the display of the control include a foreground and background color, font type and size, and whether or not the control is enabled or disabled.
The form is a type of UI known to be extraordinarily effective in providing an interface for data collection. Form based input is the enabling technology which permits the widespread distribution of applications across generic client platforms such as the conventional content browser. In the prototypical distributed application, a markup language defined interface can form the principal conduit through which end users can interact with backend application logic. Often configured in the form of a Web page, the interface can be provided to the content browser by a content server and can take the form either of a pre-defined static page, or a dynamically generated page. Form input fields can be positioned within the UI through which user input can be accepted and posted to the backend application logic for further processing.
Simple forms require little planning during the development stage. In this regard, the developer can place a selection of controls within the form in an ad hoc fashion in order to provide an interface through which the end user can interact with backend logic. Complex forms, however, can require substantial planning—particularly as the form spans multiple different viewable pages. The development effort in selecting controls for incorporation into a large form, and also the arrangement of the controls across multiple pages can be a monumental organizational task. To compound matters, some controls are dependent upon others in a form.
Specifically, one or more controls placed deep within a large form often derive properties from other controls placed earlier in the large form. Thus, oftentimes, control properties for controls within a large form are said to depend upon the properties of other controls in the form. By way of example, a first control in a UI may be enabled only when sufficient input has been provided to a second control in the UI. A property within the first control, then, is said to depend upon the property of the second control and a “dependency” property within the first control can expressly define the dependency on the second control. As another example, the background color of one field in a form can be dependent on the background color property of the page in which the field resides. Tracking dependencies in a large form of a multiplicity of controls can be challenging and, in many cases, the developer remains unaware of a dependency as the developer modifies the properties of a control in a form that is dependent upon the properties of another control in the form. | {
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The present invention relates generally to outlet boxes for mounting electrical outlets and connectors on wall structures, and more particularly, to such an outlet box in which the electrical outlet and connector is recessed from the wall structure.
Electrical outlet boxes which support an electrical receptacle and a connector are known. Such outlet boxes may support the electrical receptacle in the plane of the outer surface of the wall structure. As a result, when a plug is inserted into the electrical receptacle which is so supported, the plug extends outward of the wall surface. The electrical plug is thereby exposed to being struck by a transverse force such as from a person, piece of furniture or other object which may move along the side of the wall structure in close proximity thereto. If such a transverse force is sufficient, it may dislodge the plug from the electrical receptacle, either partially or completely, or cause damage to the plug or receptacle, as well as a combination thereof. Additionally, extension of the electrical plug beyond the outer surface of the wall structure normally prevents the positioning of a piece of furniture, wall hanging or similar object in close proximity to the outer surface of the wall in the vicinity of the electrical receptacle. Such an object may, for example, be a television which would desirably be positioned close to the outer surface of the wall structure in front of and adjacent to the electrical receptacle. This would enable the power cable from the television to extend to the electrical receptacle for connection thereto and for the power cable and electrical receptacle to be obstructed from view by the television.
To reduce the extension of the electrical plug beyond the outer surface of the wall structure, electrical boxes may be configured to support the electrical receptacle in a recessed position relative to the outer surface of the wall structure. This recessed position of the electrical receptacle reduces or, if sufficient, eliminates entirely the exposure of the electrical plug to the aforementioned undesirable forcible contact.
Additionally, electronic devices frequently require connection to an electrical power source and a separate connection to a communication network, such as a telephone or television network, or a local area network (LAN) or the internet for computers. Examples of such electrical devices include telephones, televisions, answering machines and personal computers. Such requirements typically result in separate electrical cables extending from the electronic devices where the power cable is connected to an electrical receptacle and the communication cable is connected to a separate connector, such as a telephone jack, or a connector for digital data transmission or for a coaxial cable.
To provide the required connection for such cables, the electrical outlet box may have an additional connector for such a cable. Such a cable typically has a cable plug which is coupled to the additional connector. The additional connector may be recessed from the outer surface of the wall structure to reduce the extension of the cable plug which is coupled thereto. This reduction of the extension of the cable plug may limit or eliminate entirely the exposure thereof to undesirable forcible contact, and the unfavorable consequences, similar to those which may befall an electrical plug which extends beyond the outer surface of the wall structure, as described herein above.
The electrical receptacle may be supported within the outlet box by securing the front surface of the electrical receptacle to a vertical flange or similar structure within the outlet box. This may be the only support provided to the electrical receptacle within the outlet box. This limited support may result from clearances being provided between the outer surfaces of the electrical receptacle which do not contact the vertical flange or other support structure within the outlet box. This limited support may necessitate a high strength connection between the limited surface of the electrical receptacle which is directly attached to the outlet box. In the absence of such a high strength connection, the electrical receptacle may undesirably translate or pivot relative to the outlet box, such as when the electrical plug is inserted into the electrical receptacle or if the electrical plug, after insertion thereof into the electrical receptacle, is contacted by an external force. | {
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This invention relates to chemical mechanical polishing machines for planarizing semi-conductor wafers; and in particular to such machines having improved bearings.
Chemical mechanical polishing machines for semiconductor wafers are well known in the art, as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,335,453, 5,329,732, 5,287,663, 5,297,361 and 4,811,522. Typically, such polishing machines utilize mechanical bearings for the polishing pad and the wafer holder. Such mechanical bearings can provide disadvantages in operation. Mechanical bearings can become contaminated with the abrasive slurry used in the polishing process. If mechanical bearings provide point or line support for a polishing pad platen, the possibility of cantilever bending of the platen arises. Bearing vibrations can result in undesirable noise, and bearing adjustment typically requires a mechanical adjustment of the assembly. This adjustment is typically a high-precision, time-consuming adjustment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a chemical mechanical polishing machine having fluid bearings that to a large extent overcome the problems set out above, and that can easily be adjusted to control polishing forces. | {
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A relay is a switch which is operated electromechanically. One common example of a relay consists of an electromagnet, an armature that is held in place by a spring, and a set of electrical contacts. When the electromagnet is energized, it attracts the armature, pulling it into the contacts, completing an electrical circuit. When current is no longer supplied to the electromagnet, the spring pushes the armature away from the contacts, breaking the circuit. Relays are useful in that they provide isolation between a controlling circuit and the circuit being controlled. This allows, for instance, a low-power circuit to safely control a high-power circuit, or to control several circuits at once.
Typically, relays are relatively large discrete components that must be attached individually to printed circuit boards (PCBs), which can be expensive and cumbersome. | {
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The present invention relates to novel collagenic peptides chemically modified by grafting free or substituted thiol functions, borne by mercaptoamino residues. When the collagenic peptides comprise thiol functions, they have the property of being crosslinkable by oxidation and give a collagen derivative crosslinked with disulfide bridges.
The invention is also directed toward a process for preparing these novel collagen derivatives which are in crosslinkable form, in the form of a crosslinkable precursor of a derivative or in crosslinked form.
The invention also relates to the uses of these novel collagenic peptides as biomaterials that are useful as starting materials for the manufacture of medical, surgical or cosmetic products, such as artificial tissues or organs, artificial skin, bone, ligament, cardiovascular, intraocular, intraperitoneal, etc. prostheses or implants, or alternatively bioencapsulation systems (implants, microspheres or microcapsules) allowing the sustained and controlled release of active principles in vivo. Medical accessories such as suture threads and also biocompatibilizing coatings for implantable medical articles are other illustrations of the possible uses of the novel biomaterials according to the invention.
For the purposes of the present invention, the term “collagenic peptide” in particular denotes collagen with or without telopeptides, denatured collagen and also gelatin.
Various commercial grades of collagen, with or without telopeptides, are found on the market. These commercial collagens may be of human or animal origin. Collagen is a known protein, which is present at all the levels of organization of animal tissues: it is the main protein of the skin and of connective tissue. By nature, it has biochemical and physicochemical characteristics that are relatively well suited for uses as biomaterials. These characteristics are, in particular: good biocompatibility and biodegradability, hemostatic nature, etc.
However, it must be stated that collagen-based implantable medical, surgical or cosmetic articles suffer from certain shortcomings. They have poor mechanical characteristics, which makes them difficult to handle, or even makes them unusable for certain applications. Furthermore, their biodegradation may be too rapid when the implants need to exert palliative and/or curative functions for long periods. To improve the mechanical and biodegradation characteristics of collagen-based implants, it is found to be necessary to modify the collagen chemically, and in particular to crosslink it.
To modify, in particular to crosslink, collagenic peptides, the reactive functions present on the side chains of certain amino acids of collagen are used, namely: the amine functions of the lysine residues, representing in numerical terms 3% of the amino acids, the carboxylic acid functions of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids, representing in numerical terms 9% to 12% of the amino acids, the alcohol functions of the serine, threonine and hydroxyproline residues, representing in numerical terms 14% of the amino acids. Thus, four major technical types of artificial crosslinking of this collagenic peptide have appeared. 1. Creation of a network by covalent bonding between the collagen molecules, by irradiation or forced dehydration. This crosslinking is obtained without chemical functionalization of the collagen. 2. Activation of the natural groups of the collagen, to introduce the possibility of self-crosslinking, for example by oxidation (periodate) or by functional activation (activation of the acids with carbodiimides, in the form of azide . . . which react with the amines). 3. Crosslinking with difunctional or polyfunctional bridging chemical agents (aldehydes, dicarboxylic compounds, diamines, diisocyanates, disulfonyl chlorides or difunctionalized polyethylene glycol). 4. Copolymerization by covalent bonding of the collagen with another polymer (polyacrylic, copolyacrylo-nitrile-styrene, polyurethane, polyalcohol or silicone).
One crosslinking variant of type 3 by bridging may consist in using difunctional derivatives containing disulfide groups. This variant is the one which is of interest in the context of the invention. Said variant has given rise in the prior art to various technical propositions, which will be presented below.
The article by F. Schade & H. Zahn [Einbau von cystin-brücken in Kollagen, Angew. Chem., 74, 904, 1962], describes the functionalization of collagen using a cystine derivative, by formation of amide bonds between, on the one hand, the free NH2 moieties of the lysine residues of the collagenic chain and, on the other hand, the carboxyl moieties of the cystine derivative, which have been preactivated by esterification with nitrophenol. The reduction of the disulfide bridges of the grafted cystine derivatives gives a thiolized material which is crosslinkable by oxidation. Since only the lysine residues of the collagen are functionalized, the maximum degree of functionalization, which is directly proportional to the level of crosslinking, is not more than 3% in numerical terms.
European patent application EP 0 049 469 discloses the functionalization of soluble collagen extracted from tendons using N-acetyl homocysteine thiolactone. This is also a case of a reaction between the carboxyl moieties of the functionalizing agent and the amine moieties of the lysine residues of the collagen. The maximum content of grafted thiol functions is thus in this case also not more than 3%.
In order to obtain novel thiolated collagenic derivatives and/or to increase the degrees of grafting of thiol functions on collagen and thereafter the level of crosslinking, the Applicant has proposed, in turn, three novel routes for chemical functionalization of collagen with groups bearing thiol functions or precursors thereof.
The first route is described in French patent FR 2 692 582 which concerns a collagen grafted with thiolated derivatives (cysteine, homocysteine or cysteamine): via a succinic rotule, one of the carboxyl ends of which has reacted with amine moieties of the lysine residues and with certain alcohol moieties of the serine, threonine and hydroxyproline residues of the collagen and the other carboxyl end of which has reacted with the amine moiety of the thiolated derivative; and optionally directly without a rotule on the carboxyl functions of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids of the collagen.
Up to 29% functionalization of the amino acids of the collagen may thus be achieved.
The mercaptoamino functions—that is to say the thiolated derivatives—described in said French patent are attached directly or indirectly to the free NH2, OH and COOH functions of the collagen. Said patent does not disclose a collagenic peptide whose OH and NH2 moieties are functionalized with functions other than mercaptoamino functions.
The second route is given in patent FR 2 699 184 which relates to a collagen grafted with thiolated derivatives (cysteine or homocysteine) attached directly to the amine moieties of the lysine residues and certain alcohol moieties of the serine, threonine and hydroxyproline residues. In accordance with the invention described by said patent, the functionalizing agent (e.g. cystine) which is the precursor of the thiolated derivative grafted onto the collagen comprises an activated carboxyl function, which reacts with the NH2 functions of the lysines to form amides and with the OH functions of the serines, threonines and hydroxyprolines to form esters. This functionalizing agent also comprises a protected amine function, which cannot react with the carboxyls of the aspartic acids and glutamic acids of the collagenic chain. The maximum degree of grafting which may be achieved by this method is 17%.
A third route for the chemical modification of collagen which was developed by the Applicant to provide such a polymer with crosslinking functionality, is described in French patent FR 2 723 957. Said patent discloses a collagen grafted on the free amine moieties of its lysine residues with a thiolated derivative consisting of cysteine or homocysteine whose amine and thiol functions are protected with one and the same protecting group, the whole forming a thiazolidine moiety. The carboxylic acid of the thiazolidine derivative is activated to be able to react with the amine functions of the lysine residues. Consequently, the degree of grafting in this case is not more than 3%. The free carboxylic functions of the glutamic acids and aspartic acids of the collagenic chain are not substituted in the collagen according to said patent.
The collagens according to these three French patents allow the preparation of medical articles (gels, felts, films, etc.) with advantageous levels of crosslinking, that is to say advantageous mechanical and biodegradation characteristics. However, there is scope for their improvement.
Collagens substituted with groups which are not crosslinking functions and which are intended to give the collagen other properties, for example by modifying its solubility characteristics and/or its rheological characteristics and/or its biological characteristics, are moreover known. Thus, patent application PCT WO 90/05755 describes a collagen in which the amines of the lysine residues it comprises are substituted with a synthetic hydrophilic polymer chain and more particularly with monomethyl polyethylene glycol. This collagen-PEG is presented as having low immunogenicity and improved mechanical properties of elasticity and malleability.
Patent application PCT WO 94/01483 discloses a biologically inert, biocompatible conjugated polymer material, formed by a natural polymer such as collagen, linked via an ether bond to a synthetic hydrophilic polymer such as polyethylene glycol (PEG).
The modified collagens according to the prior art do not afford all the desired satisfaction, as regards their mechanical properties, their in vivo degradation kinetics and their biological characteristics. Moreover, the known collagens modified with free or substituted thiol functions still have scope for improvement, as regards controlling, by means of the degree of crosslinking, their mechanical and biological characteristics.
Finally, it would be advantageous for the crosslinkable forms of the known modified collagens to have solubility properties over a wide pH range, so as to make them easier to use, without this having a negative effect on their level of crosslinking.
In this prior art, one of the essential objectives of the invention is to provide novel collagens modified by grafting free or substituted thiol functions, these novel collagens needing to be capable of crosslinking in a sufficient and controlled manner, by forming intercatenary disulfide bridges.
Another essential objective of the invention is to provide novel collagens modified by grafting thiol functions and characterized by high degrees of grafting coexisting with good solubility over a wide pH range.
Another essential objective of the invention is to provide novel collagens modified by grafting thiol functions, that are easy to use and to handle industrially.
Another essential objective of the invention is to provide novel collagens modified by grafting thiol functions, in which the reactive functions are not all mobilized by crosslinking, so as to allow the grafting of noncrosslinking functionalities.
Another essential objective of the invention is to provide novel crosslinkable collagens or crosslinkable collagen precursors that are mercapto-functionalized and able to be converted into gels, films or felts (e.g.) whose crosslinking density (and thus mechanical strength and biodegradation) may be modified beforehand, so as to provide a varied range of starting materials which may be used in numerous applications as biomaterials.
Another essential objective of the invention is to provide a simple process for preparing a collagenic peptide modified by grafting free or substituted thiol functions borne by mercaptoamino residues. | {
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Ever since the demonstration of low operating voltages by Tang et al. 1987 (C. W. Tang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 51(12), 913 (1987)), organic light-emitting diodes have been promising candidates for the realization of large-area displays and other uses, such as, e.g., lighting elements. They consist of a sequence of thin (typically 1 nm to 1 μm) layers of organic materials, which are preferably vapor-deposited in vacuum in the form of small molecules, whereby so-called OLEDs are produced, or are spun on from a solution, pressed or deposited in another suitable form (polymers), whereby so-called PLEDs are produced. By injecting charge carriers (electrons from one side, holes from the other side) from the contacts into the organic layers situated therebetween as a result of an externally applied voltage, the subsequent formation of excitons (electron-hole pairs) in an active zone and radiant recombination of these excitons, light is produced and emitted by the light-emitting diode.
Usually, organic light-emitting diodes in the form of PLEDs are based on the following layer structure: 1. Substrate (transparent, e.g. glass) 2. Anode (transparent, usually indium tin oxide (ITO) 3. Hole-transporting layer or hole-injecting layer (usually PEDOT:PSS or PANI=polyaniline with admixtures such as PSS; PEDOT=polyethylenedioxythiophene, PSS=polystyrene sulfonate) 4. Active polymer (emits light) 5. Cathode (usually a metal having a low work function, such as barium, calcium)
The polymeric layers, i.e., the hole transporting or hole-injecting layer and the active polymer are prepared from a liquid solution (in water or solvents). The contacts (anode, cathode) are typically produced by vacuum processes.
The advantages of this structure for applications such as displays is the variety of processes available for the preparation of the polymeric layers, including processes permitting simple lateral structuring of the PLEDs, namely ink-jet pressing. In this process, the different polymers of three colors are pressed on at previously prepared sites, whereby adjacent regions of different emission color are obtained.
The drawback consists, among other things, in the fact that not more than two different polymeric layers can be rationally applied, since the solvents of the polymers must be selected in such a way that they do not mutually affect each other, and, in other words, they do not attack the substrate material. This means that the emitting polymer must also be simultaneously well suited for both electron transport and electron injection from the cathode, a requirement which represents a serious limitation in the selection of material and structure optimization.
On top of this, the sequence of the structure for a given material system can be changed only with difficulty; thus, as in the above case, one must start with the anode. This is disadvantageous particularly for the integration of the PLEDs on active-matrix display substrates with n-channel transistors as a switch component. The use of transparent cover contacts (also as cathode) is just as difficult, since they are usually prepared by a sputter process (e.g., ITO). However, this destroys organic materials. Since the topmost layer in a PLED is an emitting layer, the efficiency of light production of the organic light-emitting diode is thereby reduced. An improvement of the stability against sputter damages can be obtained by introducing a layer vapor-deposited in vacuum, consisting of small molecules. However, even in this case the electron injection from the cathode represents a problem. A further drawback of the above structure is that an efficient electron injection can be achieved only with very unstable contact materials such as barium or calcium. These materials, however, are attacked by oxygen and water.
Organic light-emitting diodes in the form of OLEDs are built up of small molecules that are vapor-deposited in vacuo. If the small molecules which are to form the layers of the OLEDs are small enough, they can usually be deposited by a thermal process without decomposition. To this end the molecules are vaporized in vacuo (because of the long free path).
To improve the injection from the contacts into the organic layer and increase the conductivity of the transporting layers, the transporting layers may be doped by mixed evaporation with organic or inorganic dopants which are acceptors (for hole doping) or donors (for electron doping). In this case, the dopants must not, at the beginning of the evaporation process, be present in their final form, as long as the alternatively used precursor material forms the dopant during the evaporation process (which can be modified as well, e.g., through the use of electron rays). The mixed layers are typically prepared by mixed (co)vaporization.
In addition to the doped transporting layers it is necessary to then introduce intrinsic (i.e., not doped) intermediate layers having specified energetic properties (Patent DE 100 58 578, M. Pfeiffer et al., “Light-emitting component comprising organic layers”, filed on Nov. 20, 2000; X. Zhou et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 410 (2001)).
In that case, the structure of the OLED is a p-i-n heterostructure: 1. Carrier, substrate, 2. Electrode, hole-injecting (anode=positive pole), preferably transparent, 3. p-doped hole-injecting and transporting layer, 4. Thinner hole-side blocking layer of a material whose band positions match the band positions of the layers surrounding it, 5. Light-emitting layer, 6. Electron-side blocking layer (typically thinner than the layer mentioned below) of a material whose band positions match the band positions of the layers surrounding it, 7. n-doped electron-injecting and transporting layer. 8. Electrode, usually a metal having a low energy function, electron-injecting (cathode=negative pole).
Advantages of this structure are the separate optimizability of the properties of the individual layers, the large adjustable distance between the emitter layer and the contacts, the very good injection of the charge carriers into the organic layers, and the low thickness of the layers whose conductivity is not very good (4; 5; 6). In this way, very low operating voltages (<2.6 V for a light density of 100cd/m2) at a simultaneously high light production efficiency can be achieved, as described in J. Huang, M. Pfeiffer, A. Werner, J. Blochwitz, Sh. Liu and K. Leo in Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 139-141 (2002): “Low-voltage organic electroluminescent devices using pin structures.” As shown in DE 101 35 513.0 and in X. Q. Zhou et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 922 (2002), this structure can, in addition, be easily inverted and top-emitting and fully transparent OLEDs can be realized, as described in DE 102 15 210.1.
The drawback of this structure is that lateral structuring of the OLED structure for the build-up of different-color pixels in one display can only be carried out through shadow masks. This process has limitations with regard to the smallest achievable pixel sizes (<50 μm subpixels). In a manufacture, the shadow mask process is a relatively expensive process. To be sure, the ink-jet process cannot be used in the case of small molecules, due to their insolubility.
U.S. 2003/020073 A1 describes the use of vapor-deposited blocking layers and electron-transporting layers on a polymeric hole-transporting layer. In this arrangement, the possibility exists of structuring the polymeric layer laterally, in order to produce a full color display. However, with this arrangement, the injection of charge carriers (in this case, electrons from the cathode into the molecular electron-transporting layer) is problematical, which increases the operating voltage of the hybrid polymer-small molecule OLED.
Hence, it is the object of the invention to increase the flexibility of construction of a light-emitting component and the injection of charge carriers into the organic layers, while maintaining a good structurability.
This object is achieved from the arrangement point of view by arranging at least one polymer layer and two molecular layers, and, when the cover contact is a cathode, the layer adjacent to the cover contact is formed as an electron-transporting molecular layer and is doped with an organic or inorganic dopant, the n-type dopant containing a principal organic substance and a donor-type doping substance, and the molecular weight of the dopant is greater than 200 g/mole; or, when the cover contact is an anode, the layer adjacent to the cover contact is formed as a p-doped hole-transporting molecular layer and is doped with an organic or inorganic acceptor, the dopant containing a principal organic substance and an acceptor-type doping substance, and the molecular weight of the dopant is greater then 200 g/mole. Through the incorporation of molecular layers it is possible to achieve a considerably greater flexibility in the layer composite, while the simultaneous presence of polymer layers assures easier structurability without the special use of shadow masks.
The dopant should consist of an organic, inorganic or organometallic molecule, which has a molecular weight of more than 200 g/mole, preferably more than 400 g/mole. What matters here is that the dopant active in the layer have this molecular weight. For example, Cs2CO3 (cesium carbonate, molecular weight about 324 g/mole) is unsuitable, within the meaning of the invention, as donor for n-doping of the electron-transporting layer. Cs2CO3 as such is a comparatively stable compound which is no longer in a position to transfer one or more electrons to another molecule (the matrix material). To be sure, molecular Cs can be liberated in a vaporization process above 615° C. (decomposition temperature), and this Cs would be able, as dopant, to transfer an electron to the matrix material. However, the molecular weight of Cs is about 132 g/mole. Cesium, as dopant, has the disadvantage that, as a relatively small molecule or atom, it cannot be incorporated in the matrix layer in a diffusion-stable manner, and has negative effects on the service life of the organic light-emitting component. The same applies in the case of p-doping of the hole-transporting layer with a strong acceptor (in the case of an inverted POLED construction).
The two molecular vapor-deposited layers are the non-doped intermediate layer (reference numeral 5 in the embodiment described below) and the doped transporting layer. Since the energy barrier of the charge-carrier injection from the doped transporting layer into the polymeric emitting layer is too large for common emitter polymers such as polyphenylenevinylene, PPV (in the case of the traditionally known layer structure with polymeric hole-transporting layer on a substrate, the barrier for the injection of electrons), a non-doped intermediate layer must be inserted which is considerably thinner than the doped transport layer and whose LUMO energy level (LUMO: lowest unoccupied molecular orbital), and, to be sure, in case of the hole-transporting layer, the HOMO energy level (HOMO; highest occupied molecular orbital) must be between the doped transporting layer and the emitter polymer layer. This has the consequence, on the one hand, that charge carriers can be more effectively injected into the emitter polymer layer, and on the other hand, that nonradiant recombination processes also occur at the interface between the emitter polymer layer and the doped transporting layer, these usually taking place almost inevitably at high energy barriers.
From the process point of view, the object of the invention is achieved by arranging at least one of the layers as a polymer layer and vapor-depositing at least one of the layers as a molecular layer, said molecular layer being doped.
Advantageously, the doping of the molecular layer is carried out in a vacuum as a mixed vapor deposition from two separately controlled sources.
The deposition of the polymer layers can be carried out in a very precise manner by using simple means. This structuring serves, at the same time, for structuring the later light-emitting component, without the necessity of expensive structuring steps or structuring means. By contrast, the deposition of molecular layers prevents a situation where, as a result of the presence of usually only two disjunct solvents, the modification of polymer layers will be very limited and increase the possibility of the build-up of the most varied layer combinations.
Below, the invention will be explained in greater detail on the basis of one embodiment. | {
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The present invention relates to apparatus for transporting rod-shaped articles which constitute or form part of smokers' products. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for manipulating so-called chargers or trays which contain arrays of parallel plain or filter tipped cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or cheroots, or arrays of parallel filter rod sections. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for delivering filled trays to and for removing empty trays from magazines of processing machines for rod-shaped articles which constitute or form part of smokers' products.
It is already known to insert filled trays into carriers which are thereupon inverted so as to allow the contents of filled trays to descend by gravity, e.g., into the magazine of a packing or other processing machine. In many instances, the carriers are disposed in pairs so that one thereof can store a filled tray and the other thereof can dispense the contents of a filled tray. The carriers are mounted on a common holder and are caused to move between a first station where the carriers are relieved of empty trays and receive filled trays and a second station where the contents of filled trays are dumped into the magazine of a consuming or processing machine, e.g., into the magazine of a packing machine.
Presently known chargers or trays are normally open at the front side and at the top so that they can be loaded by introducing rod-shaped articles through the front side and that, upon inversion, their contents can be evacuated through the open tops. The articles which leave an inverted tray by gravity descend onto the supply of articles which are already contained in the magazine of the processing machine (hereinafter called packer for short). The distance which the descending articles leaving the inverted tray should cover is relatively short; otherwise, the articles are likely to lose tobacco particles, to undergo deformation and/or to lie askew in the interior of the magazine. This can entail lengthy interruptions in the operation of a packer which is supposed to process many thousands of articles per minute, i.e., each and every (even very short) interruption of normal operation of the packer can entail enormous losses in output. For example, one or more filter plugs or filter cigarettes which lie askew are likely to interfere with proper descent of similar articles in the magazine, to interfere with proper evacuation of articles through the outlet of the magazine, to cause damage to and/or deformation of adjacent articles and/or other malfunctions and/or defects.
One of the solutions which are resorted to in presently known apparatus for transferring the contents of filled trays into the magazines of packers or the like is that the inverted tray is deposited immediately on top of the magazine, so that the distance between the lowermost layer or stratum of articles in the inverted tray and the uppermost layer or stratum of articles in the magazine is relatively short. Such solution is quite satisfactory if an empty tray can be lifted off the magazine within a short interval of time, so that the inlet of the magazine is immediately exposed for reception of articles through the inverted open top of a filled container. In the absence of such mode of operation, the level of articles in the magazine descends very rapidly during removal of an emptied tray and during subsequent placing of an inverted filled tray on top of the magazine. Therefore, when the filled tray comes to rest on the magazine and begins to discharge its contents by gravity, the articles which leave the tray must cover a considerable distance with the aforediscussed detrimental effect or effects. Therefore, the rate at which the packer processes the articles must be reduced in order to avoid misalignment of articles which descend from the interior of the inverted tray. In other words, the mechanism which transports filled trays to and removes empty trays from the magazine of a packer constitutes a bottleneck in the production line which normally includes one or more cigarette makers, one or more filter tipping machines, one or more filter rod making machines and one or more packers. As a rule, the carriers for trays are mounted on their holders for pivotal movement about horizontal or nearly horizontal axes. Therefore, any pivotal movement of a carrier which contains a freshly emptied tray must be preceded by at least some upward movement of such carrier in order to enable the freshly emptied tray to share the pivotal movement of its carrier without striking against the top of the magazine. The same holds true for the delivery of a filled tray; such tray must be pivoted with its carrier about a horizontal axis prior to slight or even pronounced downward movement to come to rest on top of the magazine in a packer or the like.
Certain types of presently known apparatus for the transport of filled and empty trays are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,080 to Gianese; in U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,206 to Bennett and in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,018,442. The patent to Gianese discloses an apparatus wherein a filled tray is lifted by an elevator to be introduced into a carrier which is thereupon inverted to place the tray therein on top of a magazine. The empty tray is extracted from the carrier and is delivered to a removing conveyor for transport to a discharge area. The patent to Bennett discloses two carriers which must be lifted prior to deposition of a full tray (in inverted condition) on top of a magazine. The German publication discloses an apparatus wherein the inverting device for filled trays occupies a relatively small space, as considered radially of the axis of rotation of the inverting device. This is achieved by appropriate selection of the positions of carriers for empty and filled trays with reference to the axis of rotation of the carriers. The German publication stresses the reduction in the mass of parts to be inverted; such reduction is attributed to greater compactness of the apparatus. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for interpreting medical data and particularly to the identification of particular waves in an atrial pressure waveform using an ECG (electrocardiogram).
The human heart receives blood from the veins and propels it into and through the arteries. The heart has two parallel and independent systems, each consisting of an atrium and a ventricle. From their anatomical positions, the right atrium and right ventricle are known as the right heart and the left atrium and left ventricle are known as the left heart. Blood from the body returns to the right atrium through two large veins, the superior and inferior venae cavae. Return of venous blood to the right atrium takes place during the entire heart cycle of contraction and relaxation. Return of venous blood to the right ventricle occurs only during the relaxation part of the heart-pumping cycle, called diastole. Near the end of diastole, the right atrium contracts and completes the filling of the right ventricle with blood. Contractions of the right ventricle expel the blood through the pulmonary arteries into the capillaries of the lung, where the blood receives oxygen. From the lung capillaries, the blood then empties into the pulmonary veins, and in turn into the left atrium. Return of blood from the pulmonary veins to the left atrium and left ventricle proceeds in a similar manner as the return of blood from the venae cavae to the right heart cavities. Contraction of the left ventricle propels the blood into the aorta. From there, blood is distributed to all arteries of the body, including the coronary arteries, which supply the heart muscle.
Contraction of the left and right ventricles occurs simultaneously, and is called systole. The blood forced from the ventricles during systole is prevented from returning to the ventricles during diastole by valves at the openings of the aortic and pulmonary arteries. These valves consist of three semilunar (half-moon-shaped) flaps of membrane. The flaps are curved in the direction of blood flow and open readily in response to pressure in that direction. When the original pressure subsides, back pressure forces the edges of the flaps together. The tricuspid valve, situated between the right atrium and right ventricle, is composed of three triangular flaps, and the bicuspid or mitral valve, between the left atrium and left ventricle, has two such flaps. The flaps of the mitral valve remain open until the left ventricle fills with blood. When the left ventricle begins to contract, the pressure of the pumped blood closes the mitral valve.
The rhythmic beating of the heart is maintained by an orderly series of electrical discharges originating in the sinus node of the right atrium. The discharges proceed through the atrioventricular node and a bundle of neuromuscular fibers (known as the bundle of His) to the ventricles. By attaching electrodes to various parts of the body, a record of the electrical discharges can be obtained. This record is called an electrocardiogram, or ECG.
Prominent parts of an ECG are the P wave, a deflection caused by the current originating in the atrium; the QRS complex, which is caused by the electrical activity of the ventricles as they contract; and the T wave, which is caused by relaxation of the ventricles. These changes in electrical activity may, in general, be sensed using probes or electrodes attached to the exterior of the body. The fluid pressure of blood in the atrium (the xe2x80x9catrial pressure waveformxe2x80x9d) may be sensed by attaching a pressure sensor or pressure transducer to a probe (such as a catheter), and positioning that probe in the atrium. Like a standard ECG, an atrial pressure waveform has several prominent parts and these parts can be associated with or related to the prominent parts of the ECG. The prominent parts of the atrial pressure waveform include an A wave. An A wave is caused by atrial systole and follows the P wave inscribed on the ECG. The A wave has a descent X that follows this initial positive deflection and is often interrupted by a small positive deflection called the C wave, which occurs when the tricuspid valve closes. At the lowest point of the descent X, complete atrial relaxation has occurred and pressure in the right atrium begins to rise again with atrial refilling. The rise in atrial pressure during ventricular systole is called the V wave. The V wave reaches its peak prior to the opening of the tricuspid valve. The descent Y of the V wave occurs as the tricuspid valve opens and the right atrium empties into the right ventricle. Pressure in the pulmonary artery (the xe2x80x9cpulmonary artery wedge pressurexe2x80x9d) normally has a waveform similar to the waveform for the pressure in the left atrium. Although, the waveform for the pulmonary artery is delayed in transmission through the capillary vessels. A normal wedge pressure waveform has clear A and V waves, which may be detected by persons trained in reading ECGs. Descents X and Y are also clear, provided the pressure tracing is not overdamped. However, C waves are often not visible in the waveform.
Detecting the occurrence of A, V, and C waves is important in determining the maximum pressure present in the atrial and pulmonary veins and to identify the presence of prolapsed or calcified heart valves. While manual techniques exist to find these waves, they are not completely satisfactory, and automated techniques for finding C waves are not generally available. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods of determining C waves in an atrial pressure waveform.
The present invention provides a method of determining A, C, and V waves. The method includes the acts of establishing a time reference based on R waves in an ECG. Using the R waves as a reference, a first interval in the atrial pressure waveform between a first point offset a predetermined amount ahead of a first R wave and a second point offset a predetermined amount behind the first R wave is determined. The highest peak within the first interval is then identified. This peak is the A wave.
Once the A wave is identified, a second R wave in the ECG, subsequent in time to the first R wave, is identified. Once the second R wave is determined, a second interval in the atrial pressure waveform that extends from the second point to a third point is established. The third point is positioned at a distance ahead (subsequent in time) of the second point equal to a percentage of the interval from the second point to a predetermined amount behind the second R wave. The highest peak in the second interval is the V wave.
After identifying the V wave, a third interval in the atrial pressure waveform is established. The third interval extends from the highest peak in the first interval to a fourth point. The fourth point is positioned at a distance ahead of the highest peak in the first interval (the A wave) equal to a second percentage of the distance between the highest peak in the first interval and the highest peak in the second interval (the V wave). The C wave is the highest peak in the third interval. This same process may be repeated across the different R waves in the ECG to determine the A, C, and V waves for different xe2x80x9cheart beatsxe2x80x9d or cardiac cycles.
As is apparent from the above, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a method of determining or identifying the A, C, and V waves in a waveform. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field
This disclosure generally relates to the field of gaming. More particularly, the disclosure relates to gaming devices utilized to operate games of chance.
2. General Background
Casinos typically provide a variety of games of chance that may be played by players. Some of those games of chance, e.g., Baccarat, typically derive a significant portion of associated revenue from players that are not active participants, but rather followers of other players that are deemed by such followers to be successful game participants. Such approach is referred to as back betting. The back betters or hoppers monitor active participants that are successfully playing a particular game of chance and then utilize the same game selections as those active participants. For example, the active participants may be seated at a game table in a casino. The back betters may then be standing or sitting behind such players to monitor the game selections of those players. Further, the back betters may regularly move from table to table in the casino to find the successful players.
Although such form of wagering is popular, the implementation is often chaotic and inefficient. For example, back betters typically have to find their way to various tables through crowds of other back betters. Further, the crowds of back betters often prevent other back betters from fully monitoring the game play of an active game participant.
As a result, some back betters, i.e., the back betters that get to a table before other back betters, often have an advantage. Such an advantage limits the potential participation of other casino customers as back betters, who may be discouraged from participating in back betting given that some back betters are able to obtain an advantage over other back betters merely by getting to one table from another faster than other back betters. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates generally to a client and server system for presenting multimedia information and, more particularly, to an integrated internet on-demand system for television.
The internet is a collection of networks, including those maintained by commercial backbone providers such as MCI, PSINet, UUNET, and Sprint. The term xe2x80x9cinternetxe2x80x9d applies to this entire set of interconnecting networks. Domain names, such as uspto.gov, are unique internet server addresses which function as the cyberspace addresses for organizations connected to the internet.
Interest in the internet has been increasing recently, especially in regard to e-mail and what has become known as the World Wide Web, which allows information on the internet to be presented through a graphical interface. The World Wide Web is a major client-server system, with millions of users, and is essentially a vast collection of interconnected documents.
Typically, on the internet, a larger computer is a server and a smaller computer is a client. A client can be a personal computer which is associated with the user. The client computer is connected to the internet via a modem connection, typically to a server at a point-of-presence (POP), the location of an access point to the internet. A client can use any of the servers, and often uses a series of them. The primary purpose of a server is to deliver a document on request to a client. The document may be text, an image file, or other type of file. The document is identified by a name called a Uniform Resource Locator (xe2x80x9cURLxe2x80x9d) which typically includes the domain name of an organization. If the server is storing that particular URL, then the server delivers the document at that URL to the client in response.
Browsing software (i.e., web browsers) allow client users to request and display text and graphics, typically from a Hyper Text Markup Language (xe2x80x9chtmlxe2x80x9d) document or web page identified by a URL on a web site server. When accessing web pages over the internet, a client user may reference an html document containing hypertext links to other documents, which may have URL addresses to different servers. When a link is selected, the browser is expected to fetch the new document and display it in place of the current one. In this manner, information from different internet servers can be linked together through documents containing such links. These links may be organized according to topics so that the links grouped under a particular topic relate to addresses for web pages which deal with related subject matter. For example, the U.S. House of Representatives"" web server hosts html documents at which contain links to a variety of other web pages generally relating to legal issues, including patent law. However, these links are presented to the user in a static manner, often with little guiding information.
Requesting web pages from servers using a client browser is commonly referred to colloquially as surfing the web. Although the use of animation, as well as audio and video, is becoming more common, the majority of web sites generally only present static graphical images. Even with data compression techniques, graphical files are notoriously large and slow to download given the limited bandwidth available over existing telephone modem connections. A web page having a large number of graphical images can take several minutes to retrieve. Audio and video files are typically very large, and can take even longer to completely download. This can result in long and frequent delays in retrieving and using such files.
However, the typical television viewer is accustomed to a near immediate response when selecting a channel or television station to watch. Although off-line browsing allows a client user to view pages already stored in cache memory from previously visited web sites, these documents are often not meaningfully organized, such as by topical subject matter for easy assimilation by the client user. Nor do these cached pages necessarily represent the most recent version of the pages available from the web site of interest.
Along with the increasing interest in the internet and the world wide web, appliances or set-top boxes similar to cable TV boxes have been developed in an attempt to allow access to the internet through the traditional television set. However, such attempts suffer from delays in accessing the graphics of the web, and the lack of experience in the mass-market with regard to the internet, especially in regard to finding and accessing relevant web pages of interest. Mass-market consumers are typically accustomed to having information broadcasted or delivered to them with minimal effort or delay.
The practice or technology of having information brought to a client user by an agent is sometimes referred to as push. Pushed information appears to have been initiated by the server rather than by the client or the user. However, in current systems, the information pushed from a server to a user often comes as the result of a programmed request from the client in the user""s computer. Information pushers often require that the client download a program which often determines the useful data desired by the user and then occasionally initiates requests for information from the server. However, users may find such questionnaires to be burdensome, and may not completely and accurately complete the questionnaire.
Hence, there has been a long existing need for a system which is capable of navigating the internet efficiently so as to provide text, images, sound, and video on-demand in a simple, intuitive manner akin to traditional television programming for mass-market consumers. The present invention fulfills these needs.
Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides an internet on-demand system for television presenting internet content and traditional television programming as part of a single coherent interface.
The system selectively displays internet content and television programming. The system comprises a client including a display. The system further comprises means for selecting between channels separately representing individual television content and individual internet content. When an individual television content channel or an individual internet content channel is selected, the client presents the content associated with the selected channel on the display. The means for selecting between channels includes a rotary wheel menu. Means for displaying an internet gateway interface selectively scrolls through links to selected web pages organized according to templates corresponding to web page content displayed on internet content channels. The server includes means for establishing a data connection with the client and downloading data along the data connection to the client.
One aspect of the present invention is that the system provides a user interface for efficiently navigating among different information sources in a simple, intuitive manner.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the system can display an internet gateway interface which actively scrolls through and highlights links to selected web pages.
A further aspect of the present invention is that the system can present an internet gateway, web pages, and traditional television programming as part of a single coherent interface.
Still another aspect of the present invention is that the system provides a dynamic interface organized into categories of information in a coordinated and coherent manner.
One aspect of the present invention is that the system can display a rotary menu on the screen to present both internet links and traditional television programming as channels for selection by the user.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is that the system can use an intelligent agent to passively filter selected web sites or content for a user to explore based on the past pattern of usage of the client by the user.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the system can categorize the selected web content into topics contained in a template based on attributes identifying the subject of the web pages, and present links to those web pages in a graphical interface based on the template to the user.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the server queries the client regarding its available data stream connections in order to determine the most efficient delivery of different types of data through all of the available connections.
An additional aspect of the invention is that the system can coordinate the data stream to the client across different data connections in order to maximize the available bandwidth capacities to provide a more coordinated and faster internet experience when presenting text, graphics, video and audio information from a web page.
Another aspect of the invention is that the system uses both background delivery of internet content, and coordinated data streaming across different data connections.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the features of the invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to loop filters, and more specifically to loop filter for current-controlled-oscillator-based phase locked loop (PLL).
2. Related Art
Current-controlled oscillators are often used in phase-locked loops (PLL). The output frequency of a current-controlled oscillator is determined by the magnitude of a current provided as input to the current-controlled oscillator. For example, when a current-controlled oscillator is implemented as a gated-ring oscillator (GRO), the magnitude of the power-supply current to the inverters in the GRO can be used to set a desired output frequency of the GRO.
A loop filter of a PLL is used to perform low-pass filtering operation of the output of a phase detector used in the PLL. The low-pass filtered output of the loop filter is provided as input to control the frequency generated by the current-controlled oscillator. The design of the loop filter generally needs to support requirements such as small implementation area, low noise contribution, etc. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for operating a spring applied, fluid pressure released brake mechanism for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to use such a brake mechanism as the parking brake for a vehicle, particularly for off-the-road vehicles. However, difficulties have arisen with some vehicles employing spring applied fluid pressure released parking brakes because, even though the operator takes action to release the brake, it sometimes does not fully release. The result in such circumstances may be significant damage to the brake and perhaps other parts of the vehicle.
The concept is known of preventing the release of a spring applied, fluid pressure released brake unless a certain minimum release pressure is achieved. U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,357 employs such concept in the pilot control system for the dual drive motors of a hydrostatic drive vehicle, which motors are equipped with spring applied, fluid pressure released brakes.
It is known to interconnect the parking brake of a vehicle with the control for a power shift transmission automatically to deactivate the transmission when the parking brake is applied, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,946 shows such an arrangement.
It is known also to cause an automatic application of the parking brake of a vehicle if the vehicle engine is stopped or if there is a loss of oil pressure or electrical power, and such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,210. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to power combiners and power dividers. More specifically, this invention relates to power combiners/dividers having multiple coaxial ports and a single waveguide port for use at RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave frequencies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Power combiners and dividers have long been key elements in RF, microwave and millimeter-wave systems. There are numerous examples of waveguide power combiners/dividers having single-conductor waveguide inputs and output. Perhaps the best known example is the binary waveguide power divider of the type used to feed planar array antennas. As such networks are constructed from numerous Y or T waveguide junctions, they tend to be bulky, especially at lower frequencies, and cannot accommodate arbitrary numbers of outputs.
Power combiners having dual-conductor coaxial inputs and output are also known in the art. Such combiners are unsuitable for high-power applications in which the outputs of a large number of low-to-medium power sources are to be combined to obtain a single high-power output. At sufficiently high power levels, a coaxial transmission line becomes an unsuitable medium over which to transport electromagnetic energy. In such situations, a waveguide output is required. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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