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The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to interface contacts for electrical connectors.
To meet digital multi-media demands, higher data throughput is often desired for current digital communications equipment. Electrical connectors that interconnect circuit boards must therefore handle ever increasing signal speeds at ever increasing signal densities. One application environment that uses such electrical connectors is in high speed, differential electrical connectors, such as those common in the telecommunications or computing environments. In a traditional approach, two circuit boards are interconnected with one another in a backplane and a daughter board configuration using electrical connectors mounted to each circuit board.
However, signal degradation occurs along the signal transmission lines of the systems. Problem areas include the interfaces between the electrical connectors and the circuit boards, as well as the mating interface between the electrical connectors. At the mating interface between the electrical connectors, difficulties arise in matching a characteristic impedance of the signal transmission line.
A need remains for electrical connectors that create reliable electrical connections between signal contacts at the mating interface thereof. A need remains for electrical connectors that better match the characteristic impedance of the signal transmission lines at the mating interface between the electrical connectors. | {
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The shorelines of most bodies of water suffer from a nearly inevitable tendency to erode. This phenomenon commonly is most pronounced in larger bodies of water such as oceans, and it is nearly always accelerated under severe weather conditions. Although such erosion could be of little consequence in certain locations, where seacoast communities have developed and where beaches are used for recreation and leisure, an eroding shoreline can lead to unfortunate, costly, and even catastrophic results. Many communities have seen coastal erosion march irresistibly shoreward to cause buildings to founder and topple into the sea and to decimate valuable beaches.
This erosion is the unfortunate result of the natural movement of currents and waves. It has been found that an ocean's current and wave movement actually gives rise to three main processes of shoreline particulate movement. A first process has been termed bed load transportation. Bed load transportation is the movement of large sand deposits by rolling or slipping along the ocean's floor. A second process of particulate movement, saltation, occurs when particulate matter briefly jumps from the sea floor only to fall into substantially its original location. The third process of particulate movement is termed transportation by suspension. Under transportation by suspension, particulate matter is drawn from the ocean floor to become suspended in turbulent water. The ocean's moving water often carries the suspended particulate matter a significant distance, commonly away from the shore, before redepositing it on the sea floor. Transportation by suspension is the main cause of erosion.
Recognizing this, numerous inventors have developed and disclosed devices intended to stem the eroding tendency of transportation by suspension while effectively attempting to exploit the nature of the particulate movement process to accomplish the generally contrary result of enhancing the accretion of particulate matter immediately adjacent to a shoreline. Although many solutions to shoreline erosion of this type have been proposed with each purporting to solve the problems left by its predecessors, their essential concept is consistent: to provide an artificial seaweed device with at least one strip of artificial seaweed that projects upwardly from the sea floor to reduce localized turbulence and to restrict the off-shore movement of waterborne particulate matter thereby reducing shoreline erosion and enhancing particulate accretion.
Such prior art devices undeniably are laudable for their goals, and they have been effective to varying degrees. However, prior art seaweed devices have been shown to exhibit a multiplicity of disadvantages that together render the seaweed devices significantly less effective than they might be otherwise. One recognized and longstanding problem detracting from the long-term effectiveness of prior art devices has been their tendency to exhibit extensive displacement migration or movement under adverse aquatic conditions. Research has shown that prior art artificial seaweed devices originally placed in long, shore-parallel rows often were spun to an ineffective orientation or dislocated and scattered or jumbled into ineffective groups. Furthermore, many prior art devices also have exhibited a tendency to roll along the sea floor under severe weather conditions thereby effectively reeling in the artificial seaweed strips upon which the effectiveness of the inventions relies. Ironically, this dislocation and possible anchor rolling of the seaweed devices has been found to be most prevalent where sand collection potential is greatest (i.e., on sand bars, groin tips, and heavily scoured beaches.
A number of solutions to the problem of displacement migration have been proposed (i.e., synthetic seaweed matrices in U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,997 and roped-together seaweed devices in U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,675). However, the very solution provided by these inventions has been seen to create another significant problem in the form of increased difficulty and complexity of installation. Since artificial seaweed devices are installed where aquatic conditions are turbulent, difficult installation procedures, particularly those requiring scuba personnel, are less than optimal.
More simply noted but of similar significance is the recognized tendency of adjacent artificial seaweed strips in many prior art devices to become entangled with one another. Once entangled, the strips present a diminished profile which leads to a resultantly lessened reduction of localized turbulence and a less effective barrier to particulate movement. Consequently, the entangled strips often fail to accomplish their intended purposes of reducing erosion and enhancing accretion of waterborne particulate matter.
With the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art in mind and in light of the ever-increasing damage caused by coastal erosion, it becomes clear that there is a real and significant need for an artificial seaweed device that effectively prevents erosion while enhancing accretion of waterborne particulate matter, resisting undesirable dislocation and rolling, and preventing entanglement between adjacent artificial seaweed strips. | {
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Technical Field
This invention relates to processing electronic mail messages based upon the relationship between the sender and the recipient. More specifically, the invention relates to establishing rules based upon the relationship and processing the messages responsive to the rules.
Description of the Prior Art
Electronic mail (hereinafter referred to as “email”) is a form of digital message exchange, and more specifically is the transmission of messages over a communications network. Each message includes content, an author address, and at least one recipient address. With the proliferation of email, there have been issues with electronic junk mail and other forms of unsolicited emails. It is known in the art, that processing of unsolicited emails and junk mail messages can become burdensome and occupy network bandwidth.
A variety of tools and techniques have been developed to mitigate receipt and processing of unsolicited email and junk mail. These tools are limited to processing email messages based upon the sender's name, the subject line, and/or message content. Based upon the limited processing available, the tools may recognize a message as unsolicited and will either remove the message from the recipient's inbox or employ protocols to divert the message to a location different from the recipient's inbox. FIG. 1 is a prior art flow chart (100) demonstrating a process for classifying email. Upon receipt of the email by the server (102), the following fields of the message are identified: sender address (104), sender name (106), and subject line (108). Based upon the information in these three fields, it is determined if the email should be classified as junk mail (110). A positive response to the determination at step (110) assigns the junk mail classification to the email and places the email in a junk mail folder, which is a folder separate from the inbox and accommodates all junk mail messages (112). Conversely, following a negative response to the determination at step (110), it is determined if the email is an unsolicited message (114). Similar to the determination at step (110), a positive response to the determination at step (114) assigns the unsolicited message classification to the email and places the email in an unsolicited message folder, which is a folder separate from both the inbox and junk mail folder. The inbox is referred to herein as a folder or directory in a recipient's application that receives and holds an email. In one embodiment, all unsolicited messages are never received in the recipient's electronic mail system. Following a negative response to the determination at step (114), the email is sent to the recipient and is received in the inbox of the recipient (118). Similarly, in one embodiment, all messages are received in the recipient inbox and followed by processing for junk or unsolicited message status, after which they are removed from the inbox. Accordingly, the prior art tools separate email into at least two categories and limit placement of email determined to be neither unsolicited message nor junk in the recipient's inbox.
The prior art tools do not address categorizing email that is not unsolicited email or junk. While it is beneficial to remove unsolicited message and junk mail from a recipient's inbox, issues remain with classifying solicited messages that are actually received by the recipient. Different received email messages may have different levels of importance. More specifically, some messages may be determined to require an immediate read, and others may require different levels of response times. Levels of importance may be appropriate in both business and non-business environments. Current email programs allow automated processing based on sender's email address or keywords in the subject line, but do not permit processing email based on the relationship between the sender and recipient. For example, with today's email programs, you could write a rule that states if a message arrives from my manager's email address, forward it to my pager. However, this rule is not based upon the semantic relationship between the two parties and it will not work if you get a new manager or if you transfer to a new department. Accordingly, there is a need for applying a relationship of the sender to the user to classify the received message and to convey the message to the recipient based upon the importance of the message and/or the semantic relationship of the sender and recipient. | {
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During the past few decades, there has been an increasing interest in power metal oxide semiconductor field effective transistor (MOSFET) technologies for use in high-voltage (HV) applications that require power devices.
In conventional HV applications, a power MOSFET which functions as a switch is typically manufactured externally to an integrated circuit of a controller (e.g., an inverter controller) which controls ON/OFF of the power MOSFET, because several obstacles exist in the integration technology of the power MOSFET and the controller circuitry. For example, integrating the power MOSFET and the controller on a same chip will cause large die size and thus increasing the cost. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method for improving data processing in general and, in particular, to a method of implementing a pseudo Least Recently Used (LRU) mechanism in a cache memory within a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method for implementing a pseudo LRU mechanism in a four-way cache memory within a data processing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A data processing system typically includes both a system memory and a cache memory. A cache memory is a small and relatively high-speed memory interposed between a processor and the system memory. Information such as data or instructions may be copied from a portion of the system memory into the cache memory so that the information will be available to the processor in a relatively short amount of time when the requested information resides in the cache memory.
However, if the information requested by the processor cannot be found in the cache memory (i.e., a cache miss), the requested information must be obtained from the system memory. After the information has been obtained from the system memory, a copy of the information may also be placed in the cache memory for future usage, in addition to the immediate usage by the processor. Thus, when all possible storage locations for the information within the cache memory are completely filled, some of the information already stored in the cache memory has to be replaced by the new information via an operation known as linefill. Needless to say, it is important to have a strategy to decide what specific information already stored in the cache memory needs to be discarded in order to make room for the new information. Generally speaking, usually either a Least Recently Used (LRU) or a pseudo LRU strategy is employed to select a cache line of information to be replaced when a cache miss occurs. This is because statistical data has shown that for low associativity caches (caches that are configured as four-way set associative or less), an LRU type of replacement scheme can best minimize the cache miss ratio when compared to other cache replacement schemes such as random replacement or round-robin. The present disclosure provides a method for implementing a pseudo LRU cache replacement mechanism with fewer bits than prior art implementations. | {
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Conventional disposable enema units consist of a flexible bottle made out of plastic or other material containing an appropriate liquid. The bottle is closed with a screw cap which has an elongated rectal tip that is generally lubricated to ease insertion. Preventing the lubricant on the rectal tip and and the enema fluid from becoming contaminated is of primary importance in the safety and ease of use in such an enema unit.
One prior art approach to maintaining sterility of the enema fluid is to utilize a rubber diaphragm mounted in the screw-on cap. The diaphragm contains a slit which allows the enema fluid to exit from the bottle yet maintains a satisfactory seal to inhibit contaminants from entering the bottle and contaminating the fluid.
Conventionally, the lubricant on the rectal tip is protected by means of a removable sleeve which covers the tip before the unit is used. The sleeve is an elongated tube which is closed at one end. At the closed end, there is mounted a finger which extends inside the sleeve. The end of the rectal tip is constricted and engages the finger to hold the sleeve in place by friction. Before use, the sleeve is pulled off the rectal tip exposing the lubricant.
One problem with the conventional approach for protecting the enema fluid and lubricant is that the unit is not positively sealed so that any pressure on the bottle causes leakage of the enema fluid past the diaphragm slit, in turn, causing contamination and inconvenience. In addition, contraction of the fluid in the bottle due to temperature variations can draw contaminants into the bottle. Further, the tip-protecting sleeve is easily detached and can come loose during shipping or in storage allowing contaminants to reach the tip lubricant.
In addition the prior art unit is not tamper proof because it is possible to remove the sleeve, insert contaminants and then replace the sleeve without leaving any readily visible signs of improper entry. To guard against this problem prior art units are normally sold in a sealed container, an expedient which increases the cost of the units.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an enema unit which is completely sealed to prevent contaminants from reaching the enema fluid.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an enema unit which cannot be opened without physically and visibly breaking the unit so that contaminants cannot be introduced undetectably.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a covering for the lubricant on the rectal tip which covering cannot come off in storage or in shipping, yet is easily removed for use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an enema unit which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an enema unit which can be easily opened. | {
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This disclosure relates to remote debugging systems and techniques.
Applications and other software running on a device may stop functioning properly and may even cause the device to crash. Typically, debugging software is used to find the root cause of the problem, e.g., a defect in the application, a defect in the device's operating system (OS) kernel, or a combination of defects. Electronics within the device, such as integrated circuits, are often designed with built-in testing and debugging hardware to provide access to an external testing and debugging platform via a dedicated debug port.
To assist in hardware and software debugging, a consortium of companies formed the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) to create an industry standard which would define an architecture and software protocol for built-in testing and debugging hardware. The resulting standard, sometimes referred to as JTAG, was adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as IEEE Standard 1149.1. The JTAG standard uses a boundary-scan architecture, so called because the JTAG circuitry is connected to a dedicated path around the integrated circuit's boundary (where the I/O pins are located). JTAG uses this boundary path to directly input to, and download data and instructions from, the I/O pins of the integrated circuit. The JTAG capability of an integrated circuit is accessed through a multi-pin JTAG test access port (TAP), through which instructions and data from external testing software are input and instructions and data from the integrated circuit are output.
The JTAG interface and circuitry can be used to implement debugging and emulation functions. In debugging embodiments, the JTAG interface is used to download code, execute it, and examine register and memory values. Further, the JTAG interface can enable debugging techniques such as code tracing, benchmarking, trapping, evaluating breakpoints, profiling, etc. Typically, a dedicated debug port such as a JTAG port is separate from a device's other wireline ports such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet, etc., and is separate from a device's wireless ports such as Bluetooth, cellular, or Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11). | {
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Computer and communication technologies continue to advance at a rapid pace. Indeed, computer and communication technologies are involved in many aspects of a person's day. Computers commonly used include everything from hand-held computing devices to large multi-processor computer systems.
Computers are used in almost all aspects of business, industry and academic endeavors. More and more homes are using computers as well. The pervasiveness of computers has been accelerated by the increased use of computer networks, including the Internet. These computers are often interconnected to form a computer network. In a computer network, a single server or core server may manage other computers, i.e., nodes.
Maintaining and supporting computer systems is important to anyone who relies on computers. Whether a computer or computing device is in a home or at a business, at least some maintenance and/or support is often needed. For example, sometimes there are problems with computer hardware. In addition, computer hardware is often upgraded and replaced with new components. Similarly, computer software is also frequently upgraded or replaced. New computer hardware and software is continually being integrated into systems across the world.
As corporate performance and end-user productivity have become increasingly dependent on computers, computer support personnel are continuously under pressure to accomplish more with existing or reduced staff head counts. They are also under pressure to perform tasks as efficiently as possible, which may include minimizing effects to existing computer systems and networks.
Computers on a managed network may implement one or more passwords to control access to computers and networks generally. Sometimes employees and other users may forget passwords. Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods that will automatically reset a password. | {
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In the field of water rescue, there can be significant danger to the rescuer. For example, the rescuer can be injured by the person or object being rescued. For the purpose of the present disclosure, a “person or object” being rescued can be a human, an animal, or an inanimate item the needs to be recovered from a dangerous situation that may harm the person, animal, or item. Injury can, for example, be caused by the rescuer coming into contact with the person or object and that contact causing the injury, the person or object tangling up with the rescuer and thereby putting the rescuer in the same dangerous situation as the person or object, or a different danger (e.g., the person or object pushing the rescuer under the water in an attempt to stay above the water themselves). Further, in some instances, the dangerous situation surrounds the person or object to be rescued and therefore, getting near the person or object puts the rescuer in harm's way (e.g., a rescue on thin ice). | {
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In subjects affected by cardiovascular pathologies such as aortic stenosis, chronic arterial hypertension, valvular dysfunction, myocardial infarct, myocarditis, idiopathic cardiomyopathy, is subjected to increased workload. The presence of a pathological insult induces the heart to undergo hypertrophy, a tissue remodelling program aimed at maintaining cardiac function. Although cardiac hypertrophy is, thus, initially compensatory and beneficial, under condition of chronic pathological stimuli, additional events might occur that either reduce the efficacy of the hypertrophy response or activate additional pathways causing cardiac dilation and progressively leading to heart dysfunction and failure.
Melusin functional properties can provide a highly innovative and robust approach to counteract the evolution toward heart dysfunction and failure.
Melusin, in fact, is selectively expressed in skeletal muscle fibers and cardiomyocytes (Brancaccio et al., 1999), and it is required to activate a compensatory cardiac hypertrophy program in response to stress conditions such as chronic pressure overload of the left ventricle (Brancaccio et al., 2003). Such a function requires the activation of AKT/GSK3beta and of ERK (Brancaccio et al., 2003) (De Acetis et al., 2005), two well known signaling pathways in cardiac hypertrophy.
Forced expression of melusin in heart of transgenic mice efficiently protects from left ventricle dilation and failure when heart is subjected to prolonged pressure overload (De Acetis et al., 2005).
In human patients affected by dilated cardiomyopathy in response to aortic stenosis reduction melusin expression parallels the functional cardiac impairment as measured by ejection fraction values (Brokat et al 2007).
Current leading medications for the treatment of Heart Failure (CHF) include drugs targeted to hemodynamic overload (diuretic and nitrates), to inhibit the activity of both renin-angiotensin (ACE-inhibitors and sartans) and sympathetic nervous system (beta-blockers). Although development of these drugs has led to better treatment, 50% of the patients with the most advanced stage of heart failure die within a year, the heart transplant still being the only cure. Indeed, most, if not all, available drugs are mainly aimed to reduce cardiac hemodynamic overload by reducing blood pressure and undesirable consequences of heart failure on different peripheral organs.
Thus, therapeutical approaches aimed to correct the major defects in cardiac muscle at the basis of heart failure represent a major current medical need as they should provide a much more effective outcome compared to inotropic therapy or mechanical devices assisting heart function. | {
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The Ethernet is a widely-installed local area network (LAN) technology. An Ethernet LAN typically uses coaxial cable or special grades of twisted pair wires. Commonly installed Ethernet systems are called 10BASE-T and provide transmission speeds up to 10 megabytes per second (mbps). Alternatively, fast Ethernet, or 100BASE-T, provides transmission speeds up to 100 megabytes per second. The nomenclature can be explained as follows. The “10” indicates 10 mbps. The “BASE” means a base band network. The “T” indicates a twisted pair of wires. The “100” indicates a speed of 100 mbps.
A function called Auto-Negotiation is a part of the Ethernet standard. Auto-negotiation (AN) makes it possible for devices to exchange information about their abilities over a link segment. This, in turn, allows the devices to perform automatic configuration to achieve the best possible mode of operation over a link. At the least, AN can provide automatic speed matching for multi-speed devices at each end of a link. Multi-speed Ethernet interfaces can then take advantage of the highest speed offered by a multi-speed hub port.
The AN function takes control of the physical communications channel, e.g., twisted pair of wires, when a connection is established to a network device, i.e., when a local link partner attempts to connect to a remote link partner. The AN function detects the various modes that are supported by the remote link partner while advertising which modes it supports, i.e., the modes supported by the local link partner. The AN function will automatically switch to the correct technology, such as 10BASE-T, 100BASE-T, etc., or a corresponding full duplex mode. Once the highest performance common mode is determined, AN passes control of the physical connection to the appropriate technology and becomes transparent until the connection is broken.
The AN function takes place using fast link pulse (FLP) signals. These signals are a modified version of the normal link pulse (NLP) signals used for verifying link integrity, as defined in the original 10BASE-T specifications. The FLP signals are mainly a burst of NLPs (also known as link test pulses (LTPs) in 10BASE-T terminology).
Each FLP includes, among other things, 16 positions corresponding to data pulses. The 16 data positions in an FLP burst form a 16-bit word known as a link code word (LCW). The breakdown of the bit positions in the LCW is shown in the following table.
D0D1D2D3D4D5D6D7D8D9D10D11D12D13D14D15S0S1S2S3S4A0A1A2A3A4A5A6A7RFAckNPSelector FieldTechnology Ability Fieldwhere
BitTechnologyRelative PriorityA010Base-T Half DuplexLowestA110Base-T Full DuplexA2100Base-TX Half DuplexA3100Base-TX Full DuplexHighest
The selector field indicates the appropriate version of the IEEE Standard. The technology ability Field includes 8 bits. These bits are what advertise a device's link capabilities to a remote link partner. The AN protocol contains rules for device configuration based upon bits A0-A3. This is how, e.g., a hub and the device attached to that hub can automatically negotiate and configure themselves to use the highest performance mode of operation.
The AN protocol is designed to work with 100BASE-TX interfaces that do not support FLPs and AN as well as older 10BASE-T interfaces that were built before AN existed. The AN function includes an optional management interface that allows the AN function to be disabled.
The AN function can operate with older, or legacy, LANs due to an aspect of its operation known as the parallel detection function. The parallel detection function accounts for the case where only one end of a physical connection has the AN capability, e.g., the remote link partner does not have AN capability. For example, consider FIG. 1, which depicts a network 100 (according to the Background Art) having a hub 102, a node A 104 and a node B 106. The hub 102 supports both 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX modes and has AN capability. The node 104 supports both 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX modes and has AN capability. Accordingly, the node 104 and the hub 102 will use AN to connect at 100BASE-TX mode. In contrast, the node 106 only supports 10BASE-T mode and does not have AN capability. The hub 102 will fall back to the parallel detection function in order to connect successfully with node 106 in the 10BASE-T mode.
In more detail, the hub 102 recognizes that the node 106 (namely, its remote link partner) does not have AN capability. Instead of exchanging configuration information, the hub 102 (via the parallel detection function) examines the signals that it receives from the node 106. If the hub 102 determines that it supports a mode in common with the node 106, then it will connect at the highest speed mode supported commonly by both itself and the node 106.
The AN protocol provides for the entire range of twisted pair Ethernet segments as well as full duplex Ethernet links. Full duplex Ethernet is a variant of Ethernet technology. In contrast to normal Ethernet, devices at each end of a full duplex link can send and receive data simultaneously over the link. This theoretically can double the bandwidth of a normal, i.e., half duplex, Ethernet link.
A basic hardware configuration for the AN function according to the Background Art is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. A physical layer (PHY) is provided that includes a manage interface (I/F) block 22, an AN block 20, and a physical media attachment (PMA) unit 204. The manage I/F block 22 is provided for interfacing with a medium access control (MAC) layer that is positioned just above the physical layer and includes a management data input/output interface (I/F) 205 and a register block 206. The AN block 20 substantially carries out the auto-negotiation in the physical layer. The AN function exchanges signals with remote link partners via TX and RX signals going to and coming from the PMA 204.
The AN block 20 includes a transmitter 201, an arbiter 202, and a receiver 203. The MAC layer includes a MAC register block 208 and a MAC management data input/output (MDIO) interface (I/F) unit 207. If the power is on, a MAC management block 209, which is typically part of a driver software (S/W) layer, undertakes a predetermined operation to place the PHY layer into a desired mode. That is, after the power-on, the MAC management block 209 of the driver S/W layer sets a value in the PHY register 208 A (within the MAC register block 206). Responding to the signal from the MAC management block 209, the MAC MDIO I/F 207 transfers a signal to a PHY MDIO I/F 205. The PHY MDIO I/F 205 sets values in corresponding registers of a PHY register block 206 into the desired mode.
The PHY register block 206 according to the Background Art is depicted in more detail in FIG. 3A. It includes an ANAR 301, an ANLPAR 302 and an ANER 303. The ANAR (Auto-Negotiation Advertisement Register) 301 indicates information about the capabilities of the local station/link-partner, and is set initially by hardware control or by driver software. The bit pattern of FIG. 3B is as follows. Bit 8: TXFD—100 BASE—Informing whether TX Full Duplex is supported Bit 7: TXHD—100 BASE—Informing whether TX Half Duplex is supported Bit 6: 10FD—10 BASE—Informing whether T Full duplex is supported Bit 5: 10HD—10 BASE—Informing whether T Half duplex is supported Bit 4: 0: Selector 00001: Informing that CSMA/CD 802.3 protocol is supported
The ANLPAR (Auto-Negotiation Link Partner Advertisement Register) 302 indicates information about the capabilities of the remote station/link-partner and represents the values obtained from the FLP signals received from the AN block 20. Each bit pattern of FIG. 3C is as follows. Bit 8: TXFD—100 BASE—Indicates whether TX Full duplex is supported Bit 7: TXHD—100 BASE—Indicates whether TX Half duplex is supported Bit 6: 10FD—10 BASE—Indicates whether T Full duplex is supported Bit 5: 10HD—10 BASE—Indicates whether T Half duplex is supported Bit 4: 0: Selector 00001: Indicates that CSMA/CD 802.3 is supported
The ANER (Auto-Negotiation Expansion Register) 303 stores the status information arising from executing the AN function. Each bit pattern of FIG. 3D is as follows. Bit 4: PDF—Informing of Occurrence of Parallel Detection Fault Bit 3: LP_NP_ABLE—Informing that the Link Partner is able to conduct the Next Page function Bit 2: NP_ABLE—Informing that the local station is able to conduct the Next Page function Bit 1: PAGE_RX—Informing of having received an FLP different from the prior one Bit 0: LP_AN_ABLE—Informing of that the Link Partner is operable in the AN
The modes of operation supported, e.g., 10M/100M, Full/Half, Auto-Negotiation Enable, etc., are indicated by the bit patterns of the ANAR 301 in the PHY register block 206. The Arbiter 202, when enabled to conduct AN, transmits the information of the ANAR 301 in the PHY register block 206 to the transmitter 201 via the signal tx_LCW. And the FLP is transmitted by transmitter 201 to the remote link partner via the PMA 204. In other words, each field of the FLP has the values of the ANAR 301. The receiver 203 accepts information in the form of FLP signals from the link partner via the PMA 204. The arbiter 202 receives information, which is obtained from the received FLP signals, via the signal rx_LCW from the receiver 203, and then stores it into the ANLPAR 302 of the register block 206.
If both partners can conduct the AN, this is indicated to the arbiter 202 via the signal link_status from the PMA 204.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting the typical steps involved in the auto-negotiation function according to the Background Art. Flow begins at step 401, where the arbiter 202 checks whether the AN function is currently enabled, i.e., whether the AN function continues or stops. If yes, flow proceeds to step 402 where the local link partner transmits FLP signals to the remote link partner. From step 402 flow proceeds to decision step 403 where the receiver 203 determines whether the remote link partner has sent FLP signals. If so, then the receiver 203 sets the flag abi_match to the state indicating YES and provides the abi_match flag to the arbiter 202. If not, then the AN function begins the parallel detection function (to be discussed below).
The “YES” branch from step 403 leads to step 404, where the arbiter 202 transmits additional FLP signals, i.e., additional LCWs, to the remote link partner via the transmitter 201 and the PMA unit 204. The remote link partner also transmits additional FLP signals, i.e., additional LCWs to the arbiter 202 via the PMA unit 204 and the receiver 203. After a predetermined number of FLP signals have been exchanged, the arbiter receives a signal rx_LCW from the receiver 203 that represents the link code word of the remote link partner. The arbiter 202 writes this information into the ANLPAR register 302 of the PHY register block 206. Flow proceeds to decision step 405, where the arbiter 202 compares bits B5-B8 of its own ANAR 301 against bits B5-B8 of the ANLPAR 302 (which represent the capabilities of the remote link partner). If one or more of the respective bits B5-B8 have a logic-one value, then the arbiter 202 will select the highest performance common mode that had a match and will establish a link connection (step 406) to the remote link partner. If none of bits B 5 -B 8 have a logic-one match, then the AN function ends in failure.
FIG. 5 expands upon FIG. 4 to include the steps of parallel detection according to the Background Art. Differences in FIG. 5 with respect to FIG. 4 will be discussed. Flow begins in FIG. 5 at step 401, where the arbiter 202 determines whether the AN function is enabled. If so, then flow proceeds to step 402 and onto step 403 as in FIG. 4. If the outcome of decision step 403 is YES, then flow proceeds as in FIG. 4. But if the answer at decision step 403 is NO, flow proceeds to step 502. In other words, if it is determined at step 403 that no FLP signals have been received from the remote link partner, the abi_match parameter is set to indicate a logic NO state and is sent to the arbiter 202 from the receiver 203. Then the arbiter 202 checks the value of the link_status parameter sent from the PMA unit 204 to the arbiter 202, i.e., the arbiter 202 checks whether only simple NLPs have been received. If so, then the arbiter 202 assumes that the remote link partner can only support half duplex mode at step 503.
Flow proceeds to step 504, where the arbiter 202 sets the link_control parameter to indicate 10BASE-T half duplex operation and sends the parameter to the remote link partner via the PMA unit 204. Flow proceeds to decision step 505, where the arbiter 202 receives the reply from the remote link partner via the PMA unit 204 as conveyed by the link_status parameter. The arbiter 202 updates the ANLPAR 302 with the remote link partner's reply information. Then the arbiter 202 again compares bits B5-B8 of its ANAR 301 against bits B5-B8 of the ANLPAR 302. If a match exists, then a link connection is established at step 506. But if no match is found, then the parallel detection function ends in failure (step 507).
Alternatively, in step 401, if the AN function is not enabled, flow proceeds to step 501, where the arbiter 202 causes the transmitter 201 and PMA unit 204 to send normal link pulses (NLPs) to the remote link partner. Flow proceeds from step 501 to step 502, as discussed above.
To restate, the parallel detection function uses normal link pulses (NLPs). But NLPs do not include duplex information. | {
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} |
Variable-rate compression springs for use in vehicle suspensions and comprising a rubbery body member surrounded by a fabric sleeve are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,398, issued July 1, 1975, to G. L. Marsh and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Conventionally, such springs have been produced by, for example, spirally winding an elastomer layer onto a mandrel to form the body, and then covering the exterior with a sheath of fabric-reinforced elastomer. Alternatively, after a rubber core is extruded, it may be mounted on a mandrel to receive a wound-on bias-cut fabric and outer cover, or it may later be assembled within a pre-prepared bias-fabric sleeve, before vulcanization in a mold. In order to improve quality, uniformity and productivity, the present process and apparatus have been designed. | {
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An electronic device may be provided with a connector device for supplying a power to the electronic device, or for connecting the electronic device to an external device. Such a connector device may be provided with connector pins to be connected to an external device, and the connector pins may be fixed in an electrically coupled manner by being coupled to a circuit board through a method, such as soldering.
When the connector pins are coupled to the circuit board through a method, such as soldering, a coupling state, a contact failure, and the like of the connector pins are inspected. Such an inspection is carried out by X-ray or via a visual inspection using a microscope. | {
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Storage units with shelves or racks commonly incorporate connector components to secure each individual shelf or rack to the frame portion of the storage unit. The connector components need to be strong enough and stable enough to support the shelf or rack when items are placed and stored thereon. It is also desirable for the connector components to adequately secure the ends of each shelf or rack to the storage unit's frame, yet still allow for the shelf or rack to be selectively removable and adjustable along the height of the storage unit. Accordingly, a need exists for a connector component for use with a storage unit that allows for adequate selective attachment of shelves or racks to the frame portion of the storage unit. | {
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Many surgical procedures typically require large incisions be made to provide access to regions within the body. For instance, operating on or near the posterior regions of the heart is ordinarily performed using open-chest techniques. Such a procedure generally requires a gross thoracotomy or sternotomy, which are both highly invasive and attendant with a great deal of risks, such as ischemic damage to the heart, formation of emboli, etc. A thoracotomy typically involves creating an incision in the intercostal space between adjacent ribs while a sternotomy involves the “chest spreader” approach, which is generally the most invasive. Moreover, such an invasive procedure produces significant morbidity, increased mortality rates, and significantly increases recovery time for the patient.
Minimally invasive surgery is an alternative surgical procedure in which small incisions are made in the patient's body to provide access for various surgical devices for viewing and operating inside the patient. Laparoscopes are typically used for accessing and performing operations within the body through these small incisions using specially designed surgical instruments. These instruments generally have handles which are manipulatable from outside of the patient's body by the surgeon to control the operation of the instrument typically through an elongated tubular section which fits through a tube, introducer, or trocar device entering the patient's body.
However, even conventional laparoscopic procedures are limited in applicability in part because of a “straight-line” requirement in utilizing laparoscopic tools. This requirement makes accessing certain areas within the body extremely difficult, if not impracticable. Moreover, the lack of flexibility of these tools have made access to certain regions of the body difficult, forcing many surgeons to resort to open surgery rather than utilizing conventional minimally invasive procedures.
Flexible endoscopic devices are also available for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures in providing access to regions within the body. Flexible endoscopes are typically used for a variety of different diagnostic and interventional procedures, including colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, thoracoscopy, laparoscopy and video endoscopy. A flexible endoscope may typically include a fiberoptic imaging bundle or a miniature camera located at the instrument's tip, illumination fibers, one or two instrument channels that may also be used for insufflation or irrigation, air and water channels, and vacuum channels. However, considerable manipulation of the endoscope is often necessary to advance the device through the body, making use of conventional devices more difficult and time consuming and adding to the potential for complications.
Steerable flexible endoscopes have been devised to facilitate selection of the correct path through regions of the body. However, as the device is typically inserted farther into the body, it generally becomes more difficult to advance. Moreover, friction and slack in the endoscope typically builds up at each turn, making it more difficult to advance and withdraw the device. Another problem which may arise, for example, in colonoscopic procedures, is the formation of loops in the long and narrow tube of the colonoscope. Such loops may arise when the scope encounters an obstacle, gets stuck in a narrow passage, or takes on a shape that incorporates compound curves. Rather progressing, the scope forms loops within the patient. In an attempt to proceed in insertion of the colonoscope, for example, excess force may be exerted, damaging delicate tissue in the patient's body. The physician may proceed with the attempted insertion of the endoscope without realizing there is a problem.
Through a visual imaging device the user can observe images transmitted from the distal end of the endoscope. From these images and from knowledge of the path the endoscope has followed, the user can ordinarily determine the position of the endoscope. However, it is difficult to determine the endoscope position within a patient's body with any great degree of accuracy.
None of the instruments described above is flexible enough to address the wide range of requirements for surgical procedures performed internally to the patient's body. Furthermore, the instruments described lack the ability to rotate the distal tip about the longitudinal axis of the instrument while fully articulating the tip to any setting relative to the tubular section of the instrument. This lack of flexibility requires surgeons to manually rotate and move the instrument relative to the patient body to perform the procedure. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a field-effect transistor of the "normally off" type (as defined below), which can be employed as a saturable resistor when provision is not made for a control gate, as well as the manufacture of logic circuits which make use of at least one resistor and/or a transistor having said structure.
2. Descrition of the Prior Art
At the present time, all integrated circuits on GaAs (gallium arsenide) are fabricated from transistors either of the junction field-effect type (JFET) or of the Schottky gate type (MESFET).
Transistors are of two types: normally conducting transistors, in which the drain-source current is cut-off by pinching the normally existing channel (depletion transistors) by applying a suitable voltage; and the normally closed transistors, in which the channel is opened by applying a suitable gate voltage (enhancement transistors).
The depletion mode-type transistor suffers from the disadvantage of high power consumption. Moreover, the input voltage V.sub.GS (gate-source potential difference) and the output voltage V.sub.DS (drain-source potential difference) are of opposite polarity. In the case of an n-type channel, the cut-off voltage is negative whereas the supply voltage is positive. Consequently, provision has to be made for two supply sources.
In enhancement mode-type transistors, it is necessary to control the value of the threshold voltage or minimum turn-on voltage, and therefore of doping and of thickness of the active zone (in which the channel is formed). Fabrication is a very delicate process and results in a high proportion of production rejects.
The invention makes it possible to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages by means of a structure wherein the channel comprises a notch or groove. | {
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The present invention relates generally to dehydrogenation catalysts and to catalytic dehydrogenation reactions employing the same. In preferred forms, the present invention relates to catalysts employed in dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol to produce cyclohexanone.
It is well known that cyclohexanol can be catalytically dehydrogenated to produce cyclohexanone, as evidenced, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 2,640,084.1 In this regard, various catalysts have been proposed for such catalytic dehydrogenation processes. For example, in the above-cited U.S. ""084 patent, a nickel dehydrogenation catalyst is proposed having copper (mostly in the form of copper metal) and chromium (mostly in the form of its oxide) which has been stabilized by the presence of an alkali metal sulfate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,703 discloses that a copper-chromium catalyst derived from a mixture of copper oxide and chromium oxide can be employed in the catalytic dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol to form cyclohexanone. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,076 notes that a mixture of nickel with a promoter (e.g., germanium and/or lead) is usefully employed in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexanes into their corresponding cyclic ketones. Catalytic mixtures of copper oxide and zinc oxide for dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol to form cyclohexanone are suggested by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,918,239 and 4,670,605.
1The entire contents of this, and all other, publications hereinafter cited are expressly incorporated hereinto by reference.
While various catalysts for dehydrogenation processes to convert cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone are known generally, there still exists a need to provide catalysts with superior conversion and selectivity properties. It is towards fulfilling such a need that the present invention is directed.
Broadly, the present invention is embodied in dehydrogenation catalysts and catalytic dehydrogenation processes using the same. The catalysts of the present invention more specifically is embodied in catalyst mixtures comprised of zinc oxide (ZnO), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or calcium oxide (CaO), and an amount of chromium (III) oxide (Cr2O3) in an amount sufficient to improve conversion and/or selectivity of cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone under cyclohexanol dehydrogenation conditions.
These and other aspects and advantages will become more apparent after careful consideration is given to the following detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof.
The catalysts of the present invention will necessarily include zinc oxide, calcium carbonate or calcium oxide and chromium (III) oxide. The zinc oxide is most preferably present in the catalysts of the present invention in amounts ranging between about 45 wt. % to about 60 wt. %, and more preferably in an amount of about 55 wt. % (+/xe2x88x92 about 5 wt. %).
The calcium carbonate or calcium oxide may be included in the catalysts of the present invention in amounts ranging between about 25 wt. % to about 45 wt. %, and more preferably between about 30 wt. % to about 35 wt. % (+/xe2x88x92 about 5 wt. %). The catalysts of the present invention may be formulated initially to include calcium carbonate, with the catalyst being controllably heated to convert the calcium carbonate to calcium oxide prior to being placed in service.
Chromium (III) oxide (Cr2O3) is present in the catalysts of the present invention in amounts sufficient to improve conversion and/or selectivity of cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone under cyclohexanol dehydrogenation conditions. The chromium (III) oxide is present in amounts ranging from about 0.2 wt. % to about 30 wt. %, more preferably 1.5 wt. % to about 20 wt. %, and most preferably between about 2.5 wt. % and 15 wt. %.
The catalysts of the present invention may include other optional constituents that are typically employed in dehydrogenation purposes. For example, the catalysts of the present invention most preferably include sodium oxide (NaO) in an amount between about 0.1 to about 3.0 wt. %, and more typically in an amount of about 0.5 wt. % to about 1.5 wt. %.
The catalysts of the present invention will typically exhibit bulk densities of between about 700 g/l to about 1250 g/l, porosities of between about 0.10 to about 0.35 cm3/g, and a hardness (kgf) of between about 8.0 to about 15.0.
In use, the catalysts of the present invention will be placed in a suitable dehydrogenation reaction vessel which is supplied with a cyclohexanol-containing feed stream under conventional dehydrogenation conditions. The cyclohexanol in the feed stream will thereby be dehydrogenated to form cyclohexanone according to known reaction mechanisms. | {
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High speed impact line printers comprise an endless type carrier band with a single row of characters moving parallel with a row of print hammers. The band is trained on spaced drive and idler or tension pulleys which are motor driven to revolve the band at constant speed. The band drive, as it is commonly called, is generally mounted on a support or frame member that holds the band in proximity to the row of print hammers mounted on another frame member. The hammers and the band are separated by a gap or throat which defines a passageway for a print medium such as paper forms and an ink ribbon.
The printing ribbon is sometimes a narrow strip wound on two widely separated spools with a section extending across the paper and lengthwise through the gap. Commonly the ribbon path is slanted relative to the line of the hammers and type band so that the entire width of the ribbon is presented for printing. Ribbon drive motors rotate the spools to feed the ribbon through the gap. Guide means between the spools is provided for maintaining the ribbon in proper alignment as it travels through the gap. The guide means necessarily are also widely separated to avoid interference with the hammer and paper feed operations and hence maintaining the ribbon on track presents a problem. The structures and arrangement of the guide means and the spool mountings have made it necessary to manually touch the ribbon when the ribbon is replaced and/or installed. The publication in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 31, No. 10, March 1989 pp. 32-33, shows a printer unit in which the type band drive is mounted on a frame above the horizontal paper path. A stretch of the ribbon between ribbon spools passes horizontally between the type band and paper. No guidance structure is shown. The ribbon spools are inserted into enclosures on either side of the paper path frame. Such an arrangement is not convenient because of space limitations if the print unit is located within a cabinet and the direction of paper feeding is from side to side instead of front to back. | {
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There are many forms of medical implant devices, deployed transvascularly by means of a catheter, which are used where there is a requirement to occlude a vessel, fill a void or plug a defect in the treatment of medical conditions, whether they be acute or chronic situations or cosmetic situations.
These medical implant devices are delivered either transarterially or transvenously. The medical implant device is loaded in a folded or collapsed position within a tip of a catheter. The tip of the catheter is directed to the defect which is to be repaired and then the medical implant device is delivered from the catheter. Once out of the catheter the medical implant device is expanded to its full size to occlude the defect. Many of the known medical implant devices used are unsuitable for some applications because of their size and rigidity and we have proposed in certain co-pending patent applications the provision of a replacement technology for conventionally used coils, wire frame occlusion devices and the like. These improved implant devices have included the provision of highly compressible implant devices such as those having a compressible porous polymeric structure. One of the problems, however, with compressible devices and indeed many other devices is that they often do not react favourably to the conventional way of loading them in the catheter, which comprises pushing or pulling the implant into an end of the catheter. Very often by their very nature which allows them expand and assume the correct shape within the void this is the very construction that makes them difficult to push and manipulate. This also applies to other types of devices as well as implants having a compressible porous polymeric structure. Indeed what is required with most of these implants which can be loosely described as being expandable is that they be correctly compressed within the catheter. It is also desirable that if the implant device is initially deployed incorrectly or in the wrong location that the implant device can be easily loaded again in a collapsed position within the catheter for redeployment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,451 discloses apparatus and a method for endoluminal placement of intraluminal tubular prostheses such as grafts and stents. The devices are collapsed within a distal end of a delivery catheter by a set of spaced-apart hard elongate runners mounted at a distal end of an inner catheter slidable within the delivery catheter.
WO 98/14224 discloses apparatus and a method for retrieving partially deployed balloon expandable stents from within a vein or artery. The apparatus has a grasping device comprising either an expandable tube or a plurality of spaced-apart nitinol fingers with elastomeric web stretched therebetween. The tube or fingers can be manipulated to open to grasp a stent and then closed to grip the stent for withdrawal into a catheter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,377 discloses a device for the deployment or retraction of a self-expanding stent in a body canal. The device has a tubular outer sleeve and an inner core slidable within the sleeve, the stent being collapsed against the core and being held in the collapsed state between the core and the outer sleeve for deployment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a catheter that has the ability to deliver devices that don't have axial stiffness. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure herein relates to an apparatus and method for cleaning semiconductor wafers or other such items requiring extremely high levels of cleanliness.
2. Description of the Related Art
Megasonic cleaning systems are widely used within the semiconductor industry for cleaning substrates such as semiconductor wafers, photomasks, flat-panel displays, magnetic heads or any other similar item that requires a high level of cleanliness. In a megasonic cleaner, the substrates are immersed in or otherwise exposed to a cleaning solution, typically water containing a dilute amount of cleaning chemicals. A source of megasonic energy is activated to agitate the solution and create a cleaning action at the exposed surfaces of the substrates.
In preparing cleaning solutions for megasonic cleaners, gasified water has to date been used only when performing batch cleaning of substrates, such as in an open bath-type megasonic cleaner. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,626 teaches the use of gasified cleaning solutions in connection with bath-type megasonic cleaning systems. However, gasified cleaning solutions have not been shown to be effective in use with a probe-type megasonic cleaner.
In contrast, with the recent introduction of probe-type megasonic cleaners it has been widely believed unnecessary to gasify the water supplied to the cleaning device, and has even been believed necessary to de-gas the water. Various reasons underlied these beliefs. First, in a probe-type cleaner the megasonic energy source is much closer to the substrate being cleaned; this was thought to obviate the need for any additional cleaning action contributed by the presence or addition of gases dissolved in the solution. In addition, many in the industry believed that the spraying, under pressure, of solution onto the substrate which typically occurs in a probe-type system would aerate the water somewhat and provide the (then presumably modest, if at all) amount of dissolved gas needed for satisfactory cleaning performance with a probe-type cleaner. In other words, it was presumed that the probe-type system would behave in a similar manner as open-tank batch megasonic baths, in which the solution includes gases dissolved from the ambient air. Finally, there has been a fear that excessive oxygen dissolved in the water may react with the hydrogen terminated silicon surface of a substrate and cause, under the high levels of agitation created by a probe-type cleaning system, an unacceptable amount of roughening. As a result, the accepted guideline for probe-type megasonic cleaning processes has been that the water supply contain less than 5 ppb of oxygen in solution.
In light of these widely held beliefs, the inventors were surprised to discover that the gasification of the water used in a probe-type megasonic cleaning system led to substantially improved cleaning performance. | {
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With the larger and heavier combines and swathers of the present generation, the problem of holding the machine's header at a proper operating height above the ground has become more difficult. Current systems utilize electro-hydraulic controls which can be set for manual or automatic operation. The operating requirements for manual or automatic control must be responsive enough to raise the header from ground level to its maximum working height in approximately four seconds, as well as lowering the header in a similar time interval. This fast time response is necessary to maximize the crop intake while minimizing the chances of digging the header into the soil. Most present day combines include mechanical sensors under the cutter bar which sense the ground clearance and are connected through a mechanical linkage to contact switches which generate a raise or lower signal at each side of a dead band range. In the dead band range a neutral signal is given to the valve. A combine of the type just mentioned operating in an automatic mode becomes very unstable because when the header is raised the resulting acceleration stores energy in the combine's large pneumatic tires and overall mass. When the header is high enough to lose the raise signal, the combination of the moving header's inertia and the feedback of stored energy causes the header to overshoot the dead band and the sensor then generates a down signal. As the header drops, the down signal is lost as it enters the dead band but the inertia causes the tires to deflect, dropping the header close enough to the ground to trigger a raise signal and the up-and-down cycle repeats itself with the sensors searching for the dead band (neutral), while the machine rocks up and down. One of the most obvious solutions to this problem would be to expand the dead band area enough to prevent the header from overshooting its signal; however, this type of remedy is very limited if the cutting height on the crop is to be maintained at a maximum no larger than one inch. Some prior art remedies to this problem have been to limit the maximum flow rate to the system sufficiently that the automatic system becomes stable. However, as machine capacities and ground speeds increase, there is required an increased response capability of the control system to avoid the variances in ground terrain. | {
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1. Field of Technology
The present invention relates to a medium transportation assembly and a printer capable of printing to both continuous paper and slips, and reading image data recorded to a card or other recording medium.
2. Description of Related Art
Continuous form (roll paper) printers that print to roll paper for issuing sales receipts, entrance tickets, and the like, and slip printers for printing to personal and business checks and other types of slips, are widely used. These printers include hybrid printers having both a roll paper printing function and a slip printing function so that a single printer can print to both roll paper and slips.
An example of such a hybrid printer is shown in FIG. 23, for example. The hybrid printer 210 shown in FIG. 23 has a roll paper P loading opening 221 in the top of the case 220, and a compartment 222 for housing roll paper P inside the case 220. The roll paper P is held freely rotatably inside the compartment 222 with one end of the roll paper P delivered to the front inside the case 220 so that it passes a transportation path 223 formed inside the case 220 when the cover 230 is closed. A thermal print head 224 is disposed along this transportation path 223, and prints to the roll paper P.
The cover 230 opens and closes the loading opening 221, and has a slip insertion face 231 for inserting slips at the top front side of the cover 230. A slip guide 232 is formed along the insertion direction of the slip S along one edge of this slip insertion face 231. When the cover 230 is closed, a roll paper P exit 225 is formed by the gap between the case 220 and edge of the cover 230 when the cover 230 is closed at a position below the slip insertion face 231. A slip printing unit 260 is also disposed at the top back part of the cover 230. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. 2001-341369 (page 5, FIG. 2). Scanners for capturing image data recorded/printed on media such as driver licenses and credit cards with a photograph of the credit card holder are increasingly installed in stores in conjunction with hybrid printers such as described above. This obviously requires sufficient space to install both the hybrid printer and scanner, that is, two separate devices, and thus often requires some modification to create the needed space. More specifically, the scanner and hybrid printer are typically installed at a checkout counter where space is limited, and it can be difficult to provide space sufficient to install both a scanner and printer.
Furthermore, when the scanner and hybrid printer are two discrete devices, the scanner and hybrid printer operate independently. Two devices must therefore be operated, and this reduces overall operating and job efficiency.
When communication between the scanner and hybrid printer is enabled, the separate hybrid printer and scanner must be linked together using another device and cables. This obviously further increases the number of components used in the installation, and puts further pressure on the needed installation space.
The present invention solves the problems identified above with the printer providing both a printer function and a scanner function in one efficient installation.
The medium transportation assembly of the present invention transports a data recording medium which can be externally inserted therein to a scanner mechanism for reading data recorded on the data recording medium. | {
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Conventional Medium Density Fibre boards (MDF), High Density Fibre boards (HDF) and particle boards generally have a brown colour, which may vary with the type of wood raw material used. MDF and HDF are often used as a core material to which a veneer or laminate such as DPL (Direct Pressure Laminate) or HPL (High Pressure Laminate) is adhered. An alternative to attaching a laminate is to print directly on a HDF or MDF in order to reduce cost. However, the colour of the MDF or HDF makes it difficult to print pale décors since the colour of the MDF or HDF shines through the printed décor. Accordingly, it is difficult to print a paler colour than the colour of the HDF or MDF. Furthermore, a comparable large amount of ink may be required to obtain the desired décor due to the underlying colour of the HDF or MDF, which increases the cost of the décor.
It is known from US 2007/0256804 to produce a white wood-based board of bleached wood fibres and/or combined with beater dyeing with a white pigment. However, using bleached wood fibres and pigment result in a board produced to a considerable higher cost compared to a conventional MDF or HDF.
GB 984,170 describes an improved chipboard, which may have a white surface comprising wood flour and titanium dioxide. The white surface is obtained by a large amount of titanium dioxide.
EP 1,250,995 discloses a method of extruding a thermoplastic composite material containing a thermoplastic resin and a vegetable filler. | {
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Information is often exchanged and entertainment content is often broadcast as packetized data over communication networks. Typically, an end user accesses information or entertainment content via a user terminal such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and Internet-enabled mobile phone, or the like. The user terminals may be connected to the network via wireless radiofrequency (RF) connectivity or, with the exception of a mobile phone, via a cable connection. Further, the network typically includes routers and servers for routing the data packets from content providers or other network destinations to the end user through networks, such as the internet.
Organizations and enterprises are becoming more and more dependent upon such networks for day-to-day operations. Further, a significant number of organizations, such as Connexion by Boeing™, are in the business of providing such networks for end users. Because of the importance of maintaining network operations to organizations and to end-users/customers, network management tools have been developed to monitor network operations and status.
In accordance with sound engineering practices, providers of such communications networks manage the configuration of their networks. This configuration management entails planning, implementing, and tracking changes to hardware such as line replaceable units (LRUs) and software revisions.
Conventional network configuration management tools assume that a network is physically stationary—such as being installed in a land-based facility like a building. To that end, conventional configuration management techniques may entail physical audits or hands-on verification of hardware and/or software configuration. Alternately, network configuration management tools may continuously monitor installed hardware and software for configuration reporting. Because terrestrial-based networks may have data rates (also referred to as bandwidth) on the order of up to around 100 Mbits/sec (bps), continuously monitoring for configuration management information does not noticeably affect bandwidth available for carrying data and content for which paying customers are accessing the network.
However, a node of a communication network may be a mobile platform such as an airplane, a maritime vessel, a land vehicle, or the like. In such a mobile network, often the node will be in revenue service. During these times the node may be inaccessible for physical inspections for configuration management purposes.
Further, bandwidth in mobile communications networks is often at least an order of magnitude lower than bandwidth for terrestrial communications networks. For example, data rate from a mobile platform to a ground station in a mobile communications network may be on the order of around 16-128 Kbps. As a result, continuously including configuration management information in the data stream from a mobile platform may significantly detract from bandwidth available for providing data from paying customers.
It would be desirable for a tool to manage configuration of hardware and software onboard a mobile platform. However, there is an unmet need in the art for a tool to dynamically manage configuration of hardware and software onboard a mobile platform without significantly impacting the data stream from the mobile platform. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a display driver integrated circuit (IC) and, more particularly, to a display driver IC that stores an output mode of a driving circuit control signal in a non-volatile memory and a method of outputting the driving circuit control signal, and a display drive IC that fixes the driving circuit control signal value using fixation wires disposed on top layers of the display driver IC and a method of manufacturing the display driver IC.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Conventionally, a display driver integrated circuit (IC) includes a plurality of driving circuits that operate a display panel. The display driver IC requires various control signals to control the driving circuits.
When the display driver IC is tested, the values of the control signals are modified and are input to the driving circuits. As such, a variety of tests are enabled for the display driver IC.
After the tests of the display driver IC are completed and before the display driver IC is assembled into a module, some of the values of the control signals are set to fixed values. The other values of the control signals are not set to fixed values such that the values of the control signals can be changed by a user.
Whether to fix the values of the control signals or not is determined, however, by a signal input through an input/output pin of the display driver IC. Accordingly, whether to fix the values of the control signals or not cannot be changed after the display driver IC is assembled.
Furthermore, when the values of the control signals are set to fixed values, all of a plurality of layers formed in the display driver IC have to be modified in order to change the fixed values of the control signals. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to light emitting diode (LED) packages and more particularly to side-emitting LEDs.
2. Description of Related Art
As illustrated in FIG. 1, many light sources, including many light emitting diode (LED) semiconductor die, produce light in a Lambertian radiation pattern with respect to an axis perpendicular to the base plane of the die. The majority of the light leaving the die is substantially forwardly directed, although much of it is at a wide angle. Many applications, however, require substantially all light to be directed at a wide angle, approaching or somewhat exceeding 90°, with little or no light at forward angles.
In order to obtain a wide angle distribution of light from an LED package, a side-directing lens configured to redirect light may be added to the LED package. FIG. 2 illustrates a known LED package with such a lens. The LED package includes an LED chip, a lens with straight vertical sidewalls and a funnel-shaped top surface. There are two main paths in which light travels through the package. The first light path P1 is desirable. The light emitted from the chip travels to the top surface where total internal reflection (TIR) causes the light to exit through the sidewall at approximately 90° to the longitudinal axis. The second light path P2 is light emitted from the chip towards the sidewall at an angle that causes TIR or reflection from the sidewall toward the top surface at an angle that allows the light to exit through the top surface. This path is not desirable and limits the efficiency of side extracted light.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,286 discloses such another side-directing lens. The lens, which is shown in FIG. 3, includes a sawtooth, refractive portion and a top funnel portion. The sawtooth portion is intended to refract and bend light so that the light exits the lens close to 90° with respect to the longitudinal axis of the LED. The sawtooth feature of this lens, however, makes the lens difficult to manufacture. For example, during an injection molding process, the undercuts of the sawtooth feature necessitate a side action injection mold. | {
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Article inventory control systems are used to authorize, track and control movement of items into and out of a facility. An example is a library circulation control system. In this case, each user is uniquely identified by an identification card containing magnetically or optically detectable data (e.g., a barcode). The items to be tracked, books in the collection of the library, for example, have a similar identifying label such that each item is uniquely identified. A computerized database contains identification data on all registered patrons of the library and identification data on all books, videos, audiocassettes, and other items in the library's collection. When someone desires to remove an item from the library, the library circulation control system first verifies that the person is an authorized patron of the library. The system determines whether the person is authorized to check out any item, or a particular class of items. The system then determines whether the particular item can be removed from the library. Some items which the library may not want removed can include certain reference items, very rare or valuable items, or items that are on reserve. If both the user and the item are authorized by the system, the item may be removed from the library by that user. The system then updates the computerized database to indicate that the particular user has checked out the particular item at issue. The system will also give a visual or audible indication to the user that the item has been checked out, or will give an error message if either the user or the item was not authorized.
To prevent unauthorized removal of items from the facility, electronic article surveillance systems (EAS) may be employed. An EAS system usually includes an EAS marker attached to the items to be protected, a mechanism for interrogating and sensing the marker within an interrogation zone, usually located near the exit of the facility, and a mechanism for preventing unauthorized removal of the article from the facility, such as a locking exit gate or an audible alarm. When an active marker is detected within the interrogation zone, the gate is locked or the alarm is sounded, thus reducing the number of unauthorized removals from the facility.
To allow authorized removal of articles from a facility, dual status markers have been developed. The dual status markers can be deactivated to allow authorized removal, such as check out from a library or video rental store, when the item is returned, the marker can be reactivated.
Resensitizers and desensitizers are used to sensitize or desensitize dual status markers. However, existing re/desensitizers have certain drawbacks. First, many resensitizers heat up rather quickly and therefore cannot be used for long periods of time, or require a fan, which increase both the size, cost and noisiness of the resensitizer. Also, many resensitizers and desensitizers are configured in such a way to require undesirable and even harmful repetitive lifting, rotating, transfer and placement and other movements of the arms and hands of objects to be resensitized. Existing re/desensitizers also require that holes be cut in a countertop, a feature that makes them undesirable. | {
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This invention relates generally to accessories for toy or model railroad layouts and more particularly to an improved combination block signal and train detector for such layouts.
There is a demand for model railroad accessories that simulate signals used on full sized railroads. One such accessory is a block signal. A block signal controls the passage of trains by providing a red or green signal right to the engineer indicating whether it is safe to pass the block signal.
In full size trains, block signals are controlled by a variety of complex mechanisms the precise duplication of which is not practical in model train layouts. Accordingly, it has become common to provide block signals in model train layouts that turn red when a train approaches and turn green after the train has passed. Previously, known block signals have been relatively simple devices including a red light and a green light that can be selectively illuminated by applying appropriate activating signals to inputs of the block signal. The inputs to the block signals have come from a variety of sources generally referred to as train detectors. Known train detectors include detectors that use a section of isolated track that is responsive to a train passing over it and light or magnetic sensors to detect the presence of a passing train.
Heretofore, proving block signals responsive to the passage of trains has required the use of multiple devices and sometimes complex wiring connections between them. It is an object of this invention to provide a combination of a block signal and train detector that greatly simplifies installation compared with known approaches.
It is another object if this invention to provide a combination block signal and train detector that can be easily synchronized with similar devices positioned at remote locations on a model train.
It is another object of the invention to provide a combination block signal and train detector that uses simple inexpensive circuitry that allows the device to be manufactured and sold at reasonable prices
Briefly stated, and in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, a combination model train sensor and block signal includes a train proximity sensor, a red signal light, a green signal light, and a controller connected to the proximity sensor and the red and green signal lights. The controller turns on the green signal light and turns off the red signal light when the proximity sensor indicates the absence of a train, and turns on the red signal light and turning off the green signal light when the train proximity sensor indicates the presence of a train.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the train proximity sensor of the model train sensor and block signal includes a light source, preferably an infrared light source, and a light detector, preferably an infrared light detector, arranged to reflect and detect from a passing train to indicate its presence.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the combination model train sensor and block signal includes an output connected to the train proximity sensor for producing an output signal when the sensor indicates the presence of a train, which output can be used for controlling a remote block signal.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the combination model train sensor and block signal includes an input, responsive to a signal received from a remote sensor, for controlling the illumination of the red and green lights and synchronizing two block signals.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the combination model train sensor and block signal includes a combination input/output connected to the controller, the input/output producing a train present signal when the train proximity sensor indicates the presence of a train and being responsive to an externally applied train present signal for turning the red light on and the green light off even when the local train proximity sensor indicates the absence of a train.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the combination model train sensor and block signal includes a first transistor switch for turning on the green light, the first transistor switch preferably connected to be normally on and a second transistor switch having an input connected to the train proximity sensor and an output connected to the red signal light and to an input of the first transistor switch to turn the red signal light on and apply an off signal to the input of the first transistor switch to turn the green signal off. The second transistor switch is preferably connected to be normally off.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the input/output is connected to the second transistor switch. | {
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The present invention relates to a liquid level indicator and, more particularly, to a liquid level indicator for use in a humidifier which exactly indicates the level of liquid amount in a liquid tank by applying light to the liquid in the liquid tank.
If a humidifier including the conventional liquid level indicator is used in a well-lighted room or in a direct light-source, light more than a necessary amount for indicating the level of the liquid may be applied to liquid in the liquid tank. Therefore, the function of the liquid level indicator is under the influence of a light amount of the surrounding. Accordingly, it is desired that an improved liquid level indicator for a humidifier which exactly indicates the amount of the liquid in the tank by applying low intensity light even with changing light. | {
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This invention relates to an anti-lock control system for vehicle wheel brakes in which the actuator for establishing the braking pressure is provided by operation of an electric motor.
When the brakes of a vehicle are applied, a braking force between the wheel and the road surface is generated that is dependent upon various parameters including the road surface condition and the amount of slip between the wheel and the road surface. For a given road surface, the force between the wheel and the road surface increases with increasing slip values to a peak force occurring at a critical wheel slip value. As the value of wheel slip increases beyond the critical slip value, the force between the wheel and the road surface decreases. Stable braking results when the slip value is equal to or less than the critical slip value. However, when the slip value becomes greater than the critical slip value, braking becomes unstable resulting in sudden wheel lockup, reducing vehicle stopping distance and deterioration in the lateral stability of the vehicle.
U.S. application Ser. No. 789,576 filed on Oct. 21, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,453, and assigned to the assignee of this invention describes a wheel lock control system for preventing the wheels of a vehicle from locking up while being braked. In this system, the wheel brake pressure that results in the wheel slip being at the critical slip value and which produces substantially the maximum braking force between the tire and the road surface is identified. When an incipient wheel lockup condition is detected, the brake pressure so identified is then applied to the wheel brake so as to substantially continuously establish the critical slip value between the wheel and the road surface resulting in the maximum possible braking effort.
The brake pressure producing substantially the critical slip value and therefore substantially the maximum braking force is identified in the above system by repeatedly calculating the braking force between the wheel and the road surface during braking based on an equation defining the motion of a free body consisting of the wheel, tire and the brake. This equation utilizes measured values and system constants that are based on, for example, brake lining coefficient of friction and area and wheel radius. The measured brake pressure corresponding in time to the peak calculated force is stored. When an incipient wheel lockup is detected indicating that the critical wheel slip value establishing the peak braking force between the wheel and road surface has been exceeded, the stored brake pressure is the pressure that produced substantially the peak braking force. After detection of an incipient wheel lockup condition, the process of identifying the brake pressure producing the peak braking force is ended and the brake pressure is dumped to allow the wheel to recover from the incipient wheel lockup condition. When recovery is sensed, the stored brake pressure that produced substantially the peak braking force is reestablished to establish a braking condition in which the wheel slip is substantially at the critical slip value for the existing road-tire interface condition.
The wheel brake pressure is controlled in the aforementioned system by means of a brake pressure control actuator that includes a reversible electric motor and a motor driven actuating mechanism. The actuating mechanism is operatively connected to a piston in a cylinder which is reciprocally movable in the cylinder to increase and decrease the displacement volume in the cylinder and therefore generate brake actuating pressures therein when the actuator is actuated. Also, in the aforementioned system, the control of the electric motor to establish braking pressures is established based on the measurement of the braking pressure established by the actuator and applied to the brakes of the wheel. | {
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(This specification occasionally makes reference to prior published documents. A numbered list of these references can be found at the end of this section, under the sub-heading “References”.)
In integrated circuit manufacture, the accurate measurement of the microstructures being patterned onto semiconductor wafers is highly desirable. Optical measurement methods are typically used for high-speed, non-destructive measurement of such structures. With such methods, a small spot on a measurement sample is illuminated with optical radiation comprising one or more wavelengths, and the sample properties over the measurement spot are determined by measuring characteristics of radiation reflected or diffracted by the sample (e.g., reflection intensity, polarization state, or angular distribution).
This disclosure relates to the measurement of a sample comprising a diffractive structure formed on or in a substrate, wherein lateral material inhomogeneities in the structure give rise to optical diffraction effects. If the lateral inhomogeneities are periodic with a period significantly smaller than the illuminating wavelengths, then diffracted orders other than the zeroth order may all be evanescent and not directly observable, or may be scattered outside the detection instrument's field of view. But the lateral structure geometry can nevertheless significantly affect the zeroth-order reflectivity, making it possible to measure structure features much smaller than the illuminating wavelengths.
A variety of measurement methods applicable to diffractive structures are known in the prior art. Reference 7 reviews a number of these methods. The most straightforward approach is to use a rigorous, theoretical model based on Maxwell's equations to calculate a predicted optical signal characteristic of the sample (e.g. reflectivity) as a function of sample measurement parameters (e.g., film thickness, linewidth, etc.), and adjust the measurement parameters in the model to minimize the discrepancy between the theoretical and measured optical signal (Ref's 10, 14). (Note: In this context the singular term “characteristic” may denote a composite entity such as a vector or matrix. The components of the characteristic might, for example, represent reflectivities at different wavelengths or collection angles.) The measurement process comprises the following steps: First, a set of trial values of the measurement parameters is selected. Then, based on these values a computer-representable model of the measurement sample structure (including its optical materials and geometry) is constructed. The electromagnetic interaction between the sample structure and illuminating radiation is numerically simulated to calculate a predicted optical signal characteristic, which is compared to the measured signal characteristic. An automated fitting optimization algorithm iteratively adjusts the trial parameter values and repeats the above process to minimize the discrepancy between the measured and predicted signal characteristic. (The optimization algorithm might typically minimize the mean-square error of the signal characteristic components.)
The above process can provide very accurate measurement capability, but the computational burden of computing the structure geometry and applying electromagnetic simulation within the measurement optimization loop makes this method impractical for many real-time measurement applications. A variety of alternative approaches have been developed to avoid the computational bottleneck, but usually at the expense of compromised measurement performance.
One alternative approach is to replace the exact theoretical model with an approximate model that represents the optical signal characteristic as a linear function of measurement parameters over some limited parameter range. There are several variants of this approach, including Inverse Least Squares (ILS), Principal Component Regression (PCR), and Partial Least Squares (PLS) (Ref's 1-5, 7, 11, 15). The linear coefficients of the approximate model are determined by a multivariate statistical analysis technique that minimizes the mean-square error between exact and approximate data points in a “calibration” data set. (The calibration data may be generated either from empirical measurements or from exact theoretical modeling simulations. This is done prior to measurement, so the calibration process does not impact measurement time.) The various linear models (ILS, PCR, PLS) differ in the type of statistical analysis method employed.
There are two fundamental limitations of the linear models: First, the linear approximation can only be applied over a limited range of measurement parameter values; and second, within this range the approximate model does not generally provide an exact fit to the calibration data points. (If the calibration data is empirically determined, one may not want the model to exactly fit the data, because the data could be corrupted by experimental noise. But if the data is determined from a theoretical model it would be preferable to use an approximation model that at least fits the calibration data points.) These deficiencies can be partially remedied by using a non-linear (e.g., quadratic) functional approximation (Ref. 7). This approach mitigates, but does not eliminate, the limitations of linear models.
The parameter range limit of functional (linear or non-linear) approximation models can be extended by the method of “range splitting”, wherein the full parameter range is split into a number of subranges, and a different approximate model is used for each subrange (Ref. 7). The method is illustrated conceptually in FIG. 1 (cf. FIG. 2 in Ref. 7), which represents the relationship between a measurement parameter x, such as a linewidth parameter, and an optical signal characteristic y, such as the zeroth-order sample reflectivity at a particular collection angle and wavelength. (In practice one is interested in modeling the relationship between multiple measurement parameters, such as linewidths, film thicknesses, etc., and multiple signal components, such as reflectivities at different wavelengths or collection angles. However, the concepts illustrated in FIG. 1 are equally applicable to the more general case.) A set of calibration data points (e.g., point 101) is generated, either empirically or by theoretical modeling. The x parameter range is split into two (or more) subranges 102 and 103, and the set of calibration points is separated into corresponding subsets 104 and 105, depending on which subrange each point is in. A statistical analysis technique is applied to each subset to generate a separate approximation model (e.g., a linear model) for each subrange, such as linear model 106 for subrange 102 and model 107 for subrange 103.
Aside from the limitations inherent in the functional approximation models, the range-splitting method has additional deficiencies. Although the functional approximation is continuous and smooth within each subrange, it may exhibit discontinuities between subranges (such as discontinuity 108 in FIG. 1). These discontinuities can create numerical instabilities in optimization algorithms that estimate measurement parameters from optical signal data. The discontinuities can also be problematic for process monitoring and control because small changes in process conditions could result in large, discontinuous jumps in measurements.
Another drawback of the range-splitting model is the large number of required calibration points and the large amount of data that must be stored in the model. In the FIG. 1 illustration, each subrange uses a simple linear approximation model of the formy≅a x+b Eq. 1wherein a and b are calibration coefficients. At least two calibration points per subrange are required to determine a and b (generally, more than two are used to provide good statistical sampling over each subrange), and two coefficients (a and b) must be stored for each subrange. If there are M subranges the total number of calibration points must be at least 2 M, and the number of calibration coefficients is 2 M. Considering a more general situation in which there are N measurement parameters x1, x2, . . . xN, the linear approximation would take the formy≅a1x1+a2x2+ . . . aNxN+b Eq. 2If the range of each parameter is split into M subranges, the number of separate linear approximation models required to cover all combinations of parameter subranges would be MN, and the number of calibration parameters per combination (a1, a2, . . . , aN, b) would be N+1. Thus the total number of calibration coefficients (and the minimum required number of calibration data points) would be (N+1) MN. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a parameter space spanned by two parameters, x1 and x2. The x1 range is split into three subranges 201, 202, and 203, and the x2 subrange is split into three subranges 204, 205, and 206. For this case, N=2, M=3, the number of x1 and x2 subrange combinations 207 . . . 215 is 32=9, and the number of linear calibration coefficients would be (2+1) 32=27. Generalizing further, if the optical signal characteristic (y) comprises multiple signal components (e.g., for different wavelengths), the number of calibration coefficients will increase in proportion to the number of components. Furthermore, if a nonlinear (e.g., quadratic) subrange model is used, the number of calibration points and coefficients would be vastly larger.
Another measurement approach, Minimum Mean Square Error analysis (MMSE, Ref's 2-9, 11, 13, 15), provides a simple alternative to the range splitting method described above. With this approach, a database of pre-computed theoretical optical signal characteristics representing a large variety of measurement structures is searched and compared to a samples' measured optical signal, and the best-fitting comparison (in terms of a mean-square-error fitting criterion) determines the measurement result. (The above-noted references relate primarily to scatterometry and spectroscopy, but MMSE-type techniques have also been applied in the context of ellipsometry; see Ref's. 12 and 16.) The MMSE method is capable of modeling strong nonlinearities in the optical signal. But this method, like range-splitting, can exhibit problematic discontinuities in the measurement results due to the database's discrete parameter sampling.
All of these prior-art methods entail a compromise between measurement resolution and accuracy. The MMSE approach is not limited by any assumed functional form of the optical signal, and can therefore have good accuracy. But measurement resolution is fundamentally limited by the parameter sampling density. The functional approximation models, by contrast, are capable of “interpolating” between calibration data points, in the sense that the modeled signal is a continuous and smooth function of measurement parameters across the calibration range; hence such models can have essentially unlimited measurement resolution. However, the term “interpolation” is a misnomer in this context because the functional models do not accurately fit the calibration data points, and their accuracy is limited by the misfit. (For example, Ref. 11 reports a fit accuracy of 5-10 nm for linewidth and thickness parameters.)
References:
1. R. H. Krukar et al, “Using Scattered Light Modeling for Semiconductor Critical Dimension Metrology and Calibration,” SPIE 1926, pp. 60-71 (1993).
2. C. J. Raymond et al, “A scatterometric sensor for lithography,” SPIE Proc. 2336, pp. 37-49 (1994).
3. C. J. Raymond et al, “Metrology of subwavelength photoresist gratings using optical scatterometry,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, Vol. 13(4), pp. 1484-1495 (1995).
4. M. R. Murname et al, “Scatterometry for 0.24 um-0.70 um developed photoresist metrology,” SPIE Proc. 2439, pp. 427-436 (1995).
5. M. R. Murname et al, “Subwavelength photoresist grating metrology using scatterometry,” SPIE Proc. 2532, pp. 251-261 (1995).
6. C. J. Raymond et al, “Multi-parameter process metrology using scatterometry,” SPIE Proc. 2638, pp. 84-93 (1995).
7. J. Bischoff et al, “Photoresist metrology based on light scattering,” SPIE Proc. 2725, pp. 678-689 (1996).
8. C. J. Raymond et al, “Multi-parameter CD measurements using scatterometry,” SPIE Proc. 2725, pp. 698-709 (1996).
9. C. J. Raymond et al, “Scatterometry for CD measurements of etched structures,” SPIE Proc. 2725, pp. 720-728 (1996).
10. B. K. Minhas et al, “Towards sub-0.1 um CD measurements using scatterometry,” SPIE Proc. 2725, pp. 729-739 (1996).
11. J. Bischoff et al, “Light scattering based micrometrology,” SPIE Proc. 2775, pp. 251-259 (1996).
12. Xinhui Niu, “Specular Spectroscopic Scatterometry in DUV Lithography,” SPIE 3677, pp. 159-168 (1999).
13. J. Allgair et al, “Manufacturing Considerations for Implementation of Scatterometry for Process Monitoring,” Proc. SPIE 3998, pp. 125-134 (2000).
14. Conrad, U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,329.
15. McNeil, U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,276.
16. Xu, WO 99/45340.
17. Handbook of Optics, Second Edition, Volume 2, Optical Society of America (1995).
18. “Formulation and comparison of two recursive matrix algorithms for modeling layered diffraction gratings”, Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol. A 13, No. 5, May 1996. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
In general, a touch panel is provided on a topside of a display device such that a user can select information displayed on a screen of the display device by using his/her finger or an object. The touch panel detects a touch position at which the user touches the touch panel using his/her finger or the object, and receives information regarding the touch position on the display device as an input signal. The touch panel is then driven on the basis of the input signal. Display devices with touch panels are being increasingly used since an additional input device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, which is connected to the display device, is not needed.
An apparatus has been developed in which a liquid crystal panel has a touch panel function. For example, a photo-detection touch panel is known in which a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) substrate has a touch panel function (for example, see JP-A-2006-238053). In addition, a liquid crystal display is known in which a change in liquid crystal capacitance when being touched is read for touch sensing (for example, JP-A-2007-48275).
When a touch sensor (touch panel) is provided on a liquid crystal panel, the panel increases in thickness. According to the technology disclosed in JP-A-2006-238053, if a sensing area, which is a non-display area, is provided below a black matrix (BM), photo-detection sensitivity is lowered. If the sensing area is provided outside the BM, contrast is lowered. That is, it is difficult to satisfactorily perform both display and sensing.
According to the technology disclosed in JP-A-2007-48275, a sensing area is disposed near display pixels. Since a sensing signal is generated by reading a change in capacitance, each electrode preferably has a large area. However, the larger the area of each electrode is, the lower the aperture ratio of a display area is. Furthermore, if the sensing area has a high resolution, the aperture ratio is low. | {
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As was mentioned above and is discussed in more detail below, the invention concerns an induced polarization (IP) detector. The IP effect is a current-induced electrical response detected as a delayed voltage in certain minerals and, as described below, the method has been used for some time in the detection of these minerals in the ground. One manifestation of the response is that the voltage on an array of detectors or receivers lags the primary or inducing voltage (produced by a transmitter) by a finite amount of time. This is usually expressed as a phase-shift, i.e., a slight shift of the wave-cycle between the transmitter and receiver, and is usually reported in units of milliradians, where one duty cycle of the transmitter is 2.pi. radians.
For many decades it has been known that pyrite, most other metallic-luster minerals, and certain clays give rise to an IP effect. Geophysicists have taken advantage of this fact to discover and map large disseminated sulfide bodies (primarily copper and molybdenum) since the 1950's. The phenomenon is based on a complex double-layer interaction of ions in the electrolyte (the ground water) and the individual mineral surfaces. Because of this, IP is more sensitive to surface area than to volume and finely disseminated minerals make the best targets. An IP survey typically gathers both resistivity information, which is generally a measure of the porosity of the substrate, and polarization information, which is a measure of the reactivity of certain minerals (i.e., those described above) disseminated throughout the surface. Computer modeling can then be used to arrive at models that best fit the observed data acquired on the surface, with the purpose of providing a true map of the three-dimensional nature of the subsurface. The use of two physical characteristics (resistivity and polarization information) instead of just one makes the interpretation much more reliable.
There are, of course, a number of patents relating to induced polarization detectors for the detection of minerals and other materials, and among these are the following: U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,136 (Willhoit), U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,642 (Givens), U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,372 (Miller, et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,759 (St. Amant, et al.). These patents are not concerned with detectors adapted for use in a subsea environment.
It will be appreciated that the use of IP detection in a subsea environment presents tremendous engineering obstacles, including current channeling in the seawater and noise problems because of the low signal-to-noise ratio of the signals involved. Because of these and other obstacles, to the knowledge of applicant, IP detection systems have not used previously in the detection of minerals and the like on the sea floor. | {
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In existing content processing System on Chip (“SoC”) designs, the incoming content packets are typically directly redirected to external memory storage prior to being processed. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an existing content processing SoC (“SoC 100”) may include two Packet Processing Controllers (“PPC 105” and “PPC 110”), a security accelerator (“SHA 115”), a central processing unit (“CPU 120”) and a memory control unit (“MCU 125”), all coupled via a Central Communications Bus 150 to external memory (“External Memory 130). Examples of PPCs include Gigabit Ethernet controllers, PCI Express graphics adapters and USB controllers.
In a typical content processing scheme today, encrypted packets may be received by PPC 105, stored in External Memory 130, read and processed from External Memory 130 by CPU 120, stored back in External Memory 130, then read and retransmitted by PPC 110. If the incoming packet includes encryption, PPC 105 may again store the packets in External Memory 130, SHA 115 may read and decrypt the packets then store them back in External Memory 130 prior to CPU 120 reading and processing the packets. Again, CPU 120 may store the processed packets back in External Memory 130 and the packets may then be read and retransmitted by PPC 110.
Transferring packets this way imposes significant performance bottlenecks on SoC 100. Each data store and fetch to External Memory 130 has a fixed latency that is typically governed by industry standards and cannot easily be changed. External Memory 130 may, for example, be double data rate (“DDR”) memory, governed by well-known DDR standards. As the number of PPCs in the system increases, the performance bottleneck becomes more pronounced. | {
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The present invention relates to electrical distribution equipment and particularly to an insulating-isolating barrier system for the buswork thereof.
In the interests of safety, it is most desirable to isolate the busbars of switchboards, switchgear, and the like from inadvertent contact, either by humans or foreign objects. Obviously human contact with these live parts can result in fatal electrocution. Of equally hazardous consequences are those situations where a foreign metal object, such as a wrench, is inadvertently dropped onto live bus or left in contact with the bus when voltage is applied. Such happenstances can and often do create a phase-to-phase fault accompanied by explosive arcing injurious to personnel standing by.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an insulating-isolating barrier system for the live parts of electrical distribution equipment.
A further object is to provide a barrier system of the above character wherein components thereof may be readily removed for inspection and maintenance.
Another object is to provide a barrier system of the above character which is effectively impenetrable from without and yet accommodates effective convection cooling of certain current carrying parts.
An additional object is to provide a barrier system of the above character wherein the components thereof are readily fabricated and convenient to assemble.
Other objects will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multibeam scanning system for use in an apparatus for recording an image, such as a laser plotter and a color image scanner. In particular, the present invention relates to a multibeam scanning system with a beam interval adjuster for changing an interval of beam spots on a recording surface while maintaining a spot diameter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An apparatus for recording an image, such as an image scanner and a printer, often includes a multibeam scanning system for focusing a plurality of optical beams on a photosensitive material to expose the same. The use of a multibeam scanning system reduces exposure time. When an image to be reproduced is a halftone image, each halftone dot is formed with a prescribed number of scanning lines.
An image scanner used in a printing process must be able to change an interval of halftone dots formed on a reproduced image. Even when the interval of halftone dots is changed, the number of scanning lines needed to form one halftone dot is not usually changed. Accordingly, the interval of beam spots on photosensitive material should be changed according to the interval of halftone dots.
An apparatus for changing the interval between beam spots is described in Japanese Patent Laying Open Gazette No. 60-169820. Since this apparatus changes the interval between beam spots with a zoom lens, the spot diameter increases as the interval between beam spots increases.
However, when the spot diameter increases, the distribution of the intensity of the beam spots becomes flatter. For example, a spot diameter of 20 .mu.m becomes 60 .mu.m when the interval between beam spots is multiplied by three with a zoom lens. If halftone dots are formed with these large optical beams, the boundaries of the halftone dots are blurred. This problem is especially important in connection with a flat bed type image scanner, which scans a long scanning line in every main scanning operation.
Therefore, it is desirable to change the beam spot interval while maintaining the beam spot diameter, especially in a flat bed type image scanner. | {
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Online transactions have overtaken in-person transactions in many areas of commerce, to the point that even automobiles may now be purchased online. Indeed, an increasing number of services and products are available only online, e.g., downloadable ebooks and music content, news services, data services, and so on. Moreover, far from being the anonymous interconnector that many thought it would be, the Internet has demonstrated an ability to build relationships and serve repeat customers with customized content.
However, one long-standing difficulty presented in maintaining online connections is ensuring that a contact path to a known entity, e.g., a contact path to a customer, remains known. For example, a customer may be identified by his or her email address, and as long as that email address remains the same, the connection to that customer remains stable. However, if that email address changes, the connection becomes lost or unreliable. This compromised connection may result in loss of the customer relationship, and can also give rise to security vulnerabilities.
It should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are sometimes illustrated diagrammatically and in partial views and that details which are not necessary or useful for an understanding of the disclosed methods and apparatuses may be omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the principles of this disclosure are not limited to the specific embodiments illustrated herein. | {
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This invention relates to a programming device or system for an electronically-controlled sewing machine capable of automatic formation of a succession of stitches from prepared sewing instructions.
In the art of a programming system for use on electronically-controlled sewing machines for industrial applications for sewing multiple stitch patterns in spaced and parallel relation with one another, it is required to program in sequence positions of all stitches of those patterns and store the programmed sewing instructions in the programming system one after another. In such programming system, however, a lot of time and labor are required to prepare the sewing instructions by reading each of the stitch positions, particularly when the desired patterns to be formed consists of a multiplicity of stitches. Another shortcoming encountered in the art is the requirement for exact tracing of stitch patterns along their curvatures to read precisely the stitch positions so as to assure neat formation of the curved stitch pattern or seamline. Thus, the conventional programming procedure for preparing sewing instructions is extremely time-consuming and troublesome. | {
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Various imaging techniques in two or more dimensions are now central within many fields of technology. For example, satellite images are used as originals or in processed form for mapping, in demographic, economic and environmental analyses, as well as within community planning. Three-dimensional images is for instance achieved through various medical imaging techniques, and are used to analyze the human body, as support for surgeons during surgery, and so forth, but also within for example the nanotechnological field. Collected image data is analyzed and used in numerous applications to control the behaviour of robots and other technical equipment, with the aim of navigating through space, selecting and handling objects and interacting with other technology as well as with people. Furthermore, two-dimensional imaging techniques are used within microscopy.
In general, the information contained in such an image requires interpretation before use. The goal of such interpretation is typically to identify the structural components in the image, such as an object against a background; different fields that are delimited one to another or volumes of different colour intensity, structure or which are distinct as compared to each other in other ways; or deviating elements. Examples include identifying roads, housing, forest, farm land, etc. from satellite images; distinguishing faces in a photography depicting human beings; separating various types of tissue in a three-dimensional NMR image of a person; and identification of material deviations based upon a photography of a manufactured detail.
It is often for cost reasons desirable to achieve an automatic interpretation of an image. One way to carry out such interpretation starts out from a digital image in two or more dimensions, built up from a number of individual pixels. Each pixel is then associated with one certain respective class of pixels, selected among a number of such classes designed to represent a certain pixel type. When all pixels have been associated with a respective class, an inventory can be made of each class, so as to obtain a collected picture of where in the image pixels of a certain type occur. Herein, such method is denoted a “classification”. Hence, a certain class can for example represent “road”, “muscle tissue” or “material defect”.
Typically, classification techniques are used to locate objects and borders, such as lines, curves, fields, etc., in an image.
Several attempts have been made to achieve a method for automatically performing various useful classifications of images where the knowledge of the image contents is limited before the start of the classification.
For instance, a method has been proposed in which a movable “window” is swept across the image in an attempt to classify a pixel located in the centre of the window to a certain class identity by studying the centre pixel's surrounding pixels and using statistical methods (kernel-based segmentation). For some types of images, such methods can be efficient, but the result of the classification is often very scattered, with classes comprising pixels from many different parts of the image. The result is that it is difficult to obtain useful information from the classification without large amounts of manual work.
An automatic classification of an image has also been proposed with parallel consideration to all pixels, in an iterative method (window-independent classification). One example of an algorithm which can be used in such method is a cluster analysis of K-means type. Even such methods often result in scattered classifications when used to classify digitally stored images.
In the article “Automated Segmentation of MR Images of Brain Tumors”, Kaus, Michael R., et al., Radiology 2001; 218:586-591, an iterative classification of a three-dimensional MR-reproduction of a human skull is disclosed. The classification is performed iteratively, with the help of among other things local segmentation strategies and a distance transform which calculates the distance between a certain voxel (a three-dimensional pixel) and a certain class, and also on the basis of information regarding greyscale intensity of the voxels taking part of the reproduction.
The majority of the steps making up such method must be carried out manually in order to achieve sufficient reliability of the finally classified result. Additionally, a comparatively solid knowledge of the object is required before the classification is started, for example in the form of a comparative image illustrating a “normal case” or the like.
The present invention solves the above described problems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates in general to monitoring systems for chemical laboratories and more particularly to safety systems for crystal growth facilities.
There are a series of experiments scheduled to be conducted at the upcoming Space Station, in outer space. Some of these involve the Space Station's Furnace Facility. They will require monitoring systems to ensure successful experiments, as well as limit the possible hazards to the Space Station and crew. For example, the first furnace facility scheduled for operation will be the crystal growth furnace. Experiments there will center on the crystal growth of inorganic compounds.
In crystal growth operations on Earth, ampoules are typically used to house the components and reaction product. As the initial components are heated during the reaction process, they change phases and the pressure can build dramatically within the fragile ampoule. For example, when pure liquid arsenic is mixed with metal gallium to form gallium arsenide, GaAs, the heated arsenic changes from liquid to gas prior to reaction. This causes the pressure increase, up to about five-to-ten-fold. Rupture of ampoules are therefore common. The contamination problem is reduced on Earth because of gravity and dilution of the gaseous vapors (here, poisonous arsenic)into the atmosphere.
The ampoule rupture problem increases in severity in the Space Station Furnace Facility as the crystal growth furnace reaches its maximum temperature of 1350.degree. C. In order to diminish to possibility of inorganic material escaping the furnace containment area, the ampoule is scheduled to be surrounded by a metal canister (as is sometimes used on Earth). However, this canister has the potential to be breached and, if that occurs unlike on Earth, there is nowhere for the gases to be vented. The minimum requirement would be for the entire furnace facility to be sealed and returned to the Earth for decontamination.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a simple, fast method for determining an ampoule rupture in crystal growth formations at the Space Station.
It is another general object to provide an early detection technique to indicate ampoule rupture, prior to a canister being breached.
It is a more specific object to provide a monitoring system that will automatically shut off the crystal growth furnace if an ampoule ruptures, thereby reducing the internal pressure and maintaining canister containment.
It is yet another to provide a safety device that, while designed for space, has commercial application in the crystal growth field on Earth. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a simple and advantageous process of producing N,N-dimethylamino methane diphosphonic acid. Said acid is distinguished from the known amino alkane diphosphonic acid by its superior properties, more particularly its superior inhibitory effect on scale and deposit formation in aqueous systems and its anticorrosive activity. For this reason it has proved to be useful for many purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of processes to produce amino alkane diphosphonic acids are known. Amino alkane diphosphonic acids are obtained according to German Offenlegungsschrift No. 1,958,123 by reacting monocarboxylic acid amide with phosphorus trihalogenides and subsequently hydrolyzing the resulting reaction product. Working with phosphorus halogenides especially with phosphorus trichloride, however, has a number of disadvantages.
It is known, for instance, that phosphorus trichloride reacts with small amounts of water such as they are encountered as traces of moisture in any apparatus which has not been dried thoroughly, and forms yellow, insoluble decomposition products. These impurities are causing considerable trouble especially when the phosphonic acid is precipitated in crystalline form in the reaction vessel already during the reaction. It is then necessary to again dissolve the precipitated phosphonic acid in order to separate the impurities. It is also well known to an expert that when carrying out the reaction on a semi-technical scale, there are formed frequently not only such insoluble decomposition products but also monomeric phosphine. Phosphine, however, is highly toxic and has a tendency to self-ignition. Therefore, specific precautionary measures must be taken when producing amino alkane diphosphonic acids according to the aforesaid process.
According to German published application No. 2,048,912 carboxylic acid amide dichlorides or dibromides are reacted with phosphorous acid whereby amino alkane diphosphonic acids are obtained. This process, however, is quite complicated because it requires additional process steps in order to produce the starting materials, the carboxylic acid amide dihalogenides. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
The present techniques relate to a Group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting device and a production method therefor.
Background Art
In the semiconductor light-emitting device, electrons and holes are recombined in the well layer of the light-emitting layer to emit light. To improve emission efficiency, the concentrations of electrons and holes in the well layer are preferably increased.
Therefore, the techniques to efficiently inject holes into the light-emitting layer have been developed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2014-027240 discloses a semiconductor light-emitting device in which the bandgap energy of the first portion 41 of the second intermediate layer 46 on the light-emitting layer 30 side is less than the bandgap energy of the second portion 42 of the second intermediate layer 46 on the p-type semiconductor layer 20 side (paragraph [0028]). Thereby, the injection efficiency of carriers into the light-emitting layer 30 increases (paragraph [0030]).
In a deep ultraviolet light-emitting device, generally, the concentration of holes is low. For example, the concentration of holes in p-type AlGaN is extremely low. Therefore, electrons may overflow from the light-emitting layer to the semiconductor layer adjacent to the light-emitting layer. As a result, the carriers existing in the light-emitting layer decease. This causes the decrease of emission efficiency. Therefore, the overflow of electrons is preferably suppressed. | {
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1. Field
This application relates generally to computer graphics, and more specifically to computer systems and processes for rendering scenes using deep-framebuffer rendering techniques.
2. Related Art
Images used in high-quality motion pictures need to be photorealistic. Since the mid-1980s, algorithms utilizing the Reyes rendering architecture have been used for fast, high-quality rendering of complex scenes of motion pictures. The Reyes rendering architecture was developed in the mid-1980s with the specific goal of creating a rendering algorithm that would be applicable to creating special effects for motion pictures. The architecture efficiently achieves several important effects: smooth curved surfaces, surface texturing, motion blur, and depth of field.
However, the Reyes rendering architecture generally requires the entire framebuffer (a buffer that stores the contents of an image pixel by pixel) to be stored in memory since the final image cannot be outputted until all geometric primitives have been processed. Bucket rendering is a memory optimization technique in which the framebuffer is subdivided into buckets. Objects in a scene are placed into the buckets based on their location within the scene. Each bucket is rendered independently, and the data from a previously rendered bucket is discarded before the next bucket is processed. As a result, only the portion of the framebuffer corresponding to the current bucket and the high-level descriptions of all geometric primitives must be maintained in memory. The benefits of bucket rendering include a decrease in the size of the working set of framebuffer memory required during rendering and a reduction of the amount of Z-buffer memory (the buffer for storing the depth of each pixel) required to render high-resolution images with high-depth complexity, motion blur, and/or depth of field. With bucket rendering, the shading step may be deferred until visibility determination is completed within the bucket being rendered, and unnecessary shading of hidden surfaces may be eliminated.
However, using bucket rendering in a Reyes rendering architecture has a number of drawbacks. One drawback is the redundant computations required in processing geometric primitives when the full list of primitives does not fit entirely in memory and when primitives span multiple buckets, as is the case in most complex scenes. Bucket rendering requires careful memory management to handle such complex scenes. In some implementations, the primitive data from a previously rendered bucket is discarded before the next bucket is processed. As a result, re-processing/regeneration of the same geometric primitives that span subsequent buckets results in a significant amount of redundant computation. In some implementations, the geometric primitives spanning multiple buckets may be kept in memory until all the subsequent spanned buckets are rendered. However, when the list of accumulated geometric primitives has filled up the memory devoted to that purpose, some of these geometric primitives are discarded anyways and re-processing/regeneration of these geometric primitives still results in expensive redundant computations. The geometry shaders responsible for generating geometry may be coded to only focus on primitives that span the bucket(s) being rendered so as to reduce the amount of redundant computation associated with bucket rendering. However, the geometry shaders become much more difficult to write.
As an alternative to Reyes rendering, deep-framebuffer rendering algorithms may be employed for fast, high-quality rendering of complex scenes of motion pictures. Unlike a traditional framebuffer, which only stores color, opacity, and depth information per pixel, a deep-framebuffer caches the information of pieces of geometry visible on each pixel of an image from the point of view of a virtual camera. During the rasterization process, pieces of geometry that are fully occluded by other opaque pieces of geometry are removed from the deep frame-buffer. Therefore, the deep-framebuffer only stores pieces of geometry that are visible directly from the camera or visible through other semi-transparent and non-refractive pieces of geometry. Besides defining which pieces of geometry are visible on each pixel of an image, the deep-framebuffer also defines how much the pieces of geometry overlap when viewed from the virtual camera. This extra information stored in the deep-framebuffer, but not in a traditional framebuffer, is useful for evaluating shading later down the rendering pipeline. A scene may be shaded multiple times after adjusting shading parameters without repeating any geometry generation, tessellation, or rasterization steps because the result of these steps is already stored in the deep-framebuffer.
Typically, the information stored in the deep-framebuffer includes a z-sorted list (i.e., sorted by depth from the camera) of visibility masks for each pixel. For example, the visibility mask may be an A-buffer coverage mask. Each visibility mask is a bit mask with each bit representing a particular sub-pixel. Each visibility mask defines which portion of that pixel is covered by a specific piece of geometry; the visibility mask may reference the corresponding geometry data structure, which stores per primitive data and/or per vertex information of the geometry, including the vertices' position, (u, v) texture coordinates, and position derivative vectors with respect to each of the (u, v) texture coordinates. This set of information is sufficient to evaluate shading further down the rendering pipeline.
In some examples, the pieces of geometry as described above are micropolygons. A micropolygon is a quadrilateral or a triangle that is about the size of a pixel when projected onto a screen. At rendering time, a geometric primitive—e.g., parametric surfaces (such as non-uniform rational B-spline, or NURBS, surfaces), subdivision surfaces, parametric curves, or polygons (large triangles or quads)—may be tessellated into micropolygons. Using micropolygons, a highly detailed image may be obtained. Displacement mapping may be applied to micropolygons before they are rasterized. Displacement mapping is a technique where an image texture or a procedural texture or a height map is used to cause an effect where the micropolygon vertices of the textured surface are displaced, often along the local surface normal, according to the value the texture function evaluates to at each point on the surface. It gives surfaces a great sense of depth and detail, permitting in particular self-occlusion, self-shadowing, and complex silhouettes.
It should be recognized that a micropolygon may span multiple pixels, because micropolygons may not be perfectly aligned with pixels. Motion blur and depth of field are other factors that may result in the micropolygon-to-pixel relationship being one-to-many. Therefore, a geometry data structure corresponding to a micropolygon may be referenced by several visibility masks, one for each spanned pixel.
The deep-framebuffer may be saved into a single file (a deep file) and it may be read back from the deep file into memory for further processing. However, saving the deep-framebuffer into a single file at the end of a rendering process may limit the complexity or the richness of the scenes and the productivity of the artists who are generating the scenes. As scenes become more complex, the deep-framebuffer may grow well beyond the amount of memory available on the processing machine. A rendering process that has been running for hours or days may be terminated by the system because the size of the deep-framebuffer exceeds the memory available, and the whole rendering process must be restarted again after manual adjustments are made by human artists. An artist may be forced to choose between limiting the complexity or richness of the scenes, or implementing tedious workarounds, such as manual level-of-detail (LOD) techniques (i.e., techniques that decrease the complexity of 3D object representation based on object importance, eye-space speed, or position) when overly complex or large scenes must be generated by the rendering tools.
As an alternative to saving the deep-framebuffer into a single file at the end of a rendering process, memory optimization techniques may be used to subdivide a deep-framebuffer into tiles. Similar to bucket rendering techniques used in the Reyes rendering architecture, tiling techniques subdivide a scene and the deep-framebuffer corresponding to different parts of the scene into non-overlapping tiles. An object in a scene may span multiple tiles and portions of the object may be placed into each of those tiles. Rasterization is performed one tile at a time. Each tile is rendered independently, and the data from a previously rendered tile is discarded before the next tile is processed. As a result, only the portion of the deep-framebuffer corresponding to the current tile is maintained in memory. Thus, the size of the working set of deep-framebuffer memory required during rendering may be reduced.
However, similar to bucket rendering, one significant drawback of tiling is the redundant computations required in processing geometric primitives when the primitives span multiple tiles. Because the data from a previously rendered tile is discarded before the next tile is processed, re-processing of the same geometric primitives for subsequent tiles results in redundant computations. These redundant computations may be substantial, especially for geometries with long geometry generation, tessellation, and rasterization times or geometries that appear extensively over a scene, such as fur, hair, grass, trees, foliage, and the like. | {
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Media devices may process media content, may run applications, and may send output to display devices. A service provider that provides media content to customers may test new types of media devices and new applications for media devices before the media devices and the applications are made available to customers. Also, particular media devices that are returned from customers due to problems with the particular media devices may be tested to diagnose defects so that the defects can be fixed or otherwise addressed to eliminate occurrence in other media devices.
A tester of media devices may have a number of media devices to be tested. The tester may use a remote control device to send commands to each media device being tested and may observe the results on corresponding display devices. The tester may need to repeat the same actions many times to test a large number of media devices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Server enclosures can be designed to be customizable such that an enclosure can support different numbers and types of electrical components to be housed within the enclosure. If an enclosure is not to full capacity, the enclosure may include one or more unoccupied compartments utilized to store server components, such as blade servers, storage servers, switches, onboard administrative modules, fans, etc. As components are removed and/or replaced from the server enclosure, improper airflow within the enclosure can be created. Improper airflow within a server enclosure can result in overheating and/or failure of components within the enclosure. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a magnetic connector, and more particularly relates to the magnetic connector for connecting an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 8,790,120 issued on Jul. 29, 2014 discloses a plug connector suitable for connecting a receptacle of a portable electronic device. The plug connector comprises a body, a plug, a sliding base, and at least one magnetic component fixed to the sliding base. The receptacle comprises at least one magnetic element, and a location of the magnetic element of the receptacle corresponds to a location of the magnetic component of the plug connector. Therefore, the magnetic component on the plug connector and the magnetic element on the portable electronic device are magnetically attracted. The design aims at that the plug is easily aligned to the receptacle of the portable electronic device so as to obviate the problem of scratching the casing of the portable electronic device at an improper mating angle and damages to the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,351,066 issued on Apr. 1, 2008 discloses a related art. According to the disclosure, a magnetic connector comprises a housing defining a plurality of contact channels and plural receiving spaces, a plurality of electrical contacts disposed on the corresponding contact channels, and plural magnets mounted on the receiving spaces.
Hence, a magnetic connector having an improved magnets installation is desired. | {
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The security of short-range communication systems such as NFC (Near Field Communication) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) systems are vulnerable to attacks such as relay attacks. In relay attacks, messages are relayed from the sender to a valid receiver of the message, often via an alternate communication channel. An illustration of a relay attack is shown in FIG. 1. A family 101 is on holiday and has just left their hotel room. The wife 102 has electronically locked hotel door 105 using a short range communication system keycard and put the keycard (not shown) into her pocket. Two attackers are involved in the relay attack: attacker 110 is holding a counterfeit keycard hidden in briefcase 120 and is standing near hotel door 105; attacker 115 has a keycard reader hidden in briefcase 130 and is standing near family 101. The counterfeit keycard in briefcase 120 and the keycard reader in briefcase 130 are connected via a fast, long distance communication channel which functions as a range extender for keycard reader 112 of hotel room door 105. If attacker 115 is close enough to family 101, hotel room door 105 can be opened because a connection can be established between keycard reader 112 of hotel room door 105 and the keycard in the pocket of wife 102.
Such a relay attack can be prevented if keycard reader 112 could get assurance that keycard 103 in the pocket of wife 102 is in the proximity of keycard reader 112. However, an existing stand-alone proximity check implemented in MIFARE PLUS operating in Security Level 3 violates ISO 14443 compliance because it uses a modified (incomplete) frame structure. Proximity checks that are ISO compliant are typically desired. Additionally, MIFARE PLUS uses a timing solution to determine proximity and is a one-way proximity check only. Only the reader checks for the proximity of the RFID card which means the RFID card has no independent way to verify the proximity of the reader. A two-way proximity check is typically more secure than a one-way proximity check. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a decoding technique, and more particularly to a technique for optimizing efficiency of Huffman decoding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Huffman coding is a prevalent data compression technique in modern multimedia systems. A principle concept of the Huffman coding is that, the coding corresponding to a source symbol is determined according to an estimated probability of the occurrence of each source symbol in a stream of symbols to be compressed—a source symbol with higher probability of occurrence is given a shorter code, while another source symbol with lower probability of occurrence is given a longer code. A relationship between symbols and corresponding codes can be observed in a Huffman tree. Each coded codeword comprises a path data for indicating where the symbol corresponding to the codeword locates in the Huffman tree. A receiving end system then decodes received data according to the known Huffman tree.
Using an arbitrary prior art Huffman tree in FIG. 1 as an example, each leaf node, depicted as a block at a lowest terminal, denotes a symbol, and a code corresponding to each symbol is marked along a path between a root node and the leaf node. In this example, the code of a symbol 1 is 000, the code of a symbol 0 is 001, the code of a symbol 2 is 01, and so forth.
Under certain circumstances, to simplify the hierarchical structure of the Huffman tree, a coding system defines a plurality of source symbols having lower probabilities of occurrence as rare codes, and incorporates the rare codes in a single symbol (the symbol 0 is to be taken as an example below). In the prior art, each time a codeword is received, the decoding system searches bit by bit, from top to bottom, from the root node of the Huffman tree according to the path data of the codeword until the leaf node corresponding to the path data is identified. Supposing the symbol of the identified leaf node is 0, the decoder then performs a rare code decoding procedure on the codeword to retrieve the source symbol. Conversely, supposing the codeword is not a rare code, the decoding system directly regards the symbol identified according to the path data as a decoded result.
However, it remains a drawback in the prior art that, the decoding system is unable to determine whether a codeword is a rare code until fully tracking to a leaf node to identify that the codeword is corresponding to the symbol 0. The process for determining whether a codeword is a rare code is particularly time consuming for a Huffman tree having large or complicated hierarchies. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Some electrical circuits may have a single point of failure meaning that the circuit may fail entirely (e.g., cease to function in a desired or intended manner) when a single component or portion of the electrical circuit fails. Such failures may be caused, for example, by a current and/or voltage exceeding an operational range or threshold of the electrical circuit. One cause of an excessive current and/or voltage may be charged particles striking an electrical circuit. For example, an ionizing radiation particle strike may create electron-hole pairs in an electrical circuit that cause an excessive current to flow through the circuit (e.g., similar to coupling an unwanted current source into the circuit in parallel). Such a failure mode may cause the electrical circuit to fail and thus may be intolerable to other electrical circuits or devices utilizing the failed electrical circuit. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In the manufacturing of integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices, the circuits and devices must be tested in order to ensure that a functional device has been manufactured. These tests are usually performed by contacting a test probe card to the relevant areas of the semiconductor device, sending current to the semiconductor device and performing one or more functional tests.
A probe card typically includes a printed circuit board (PCB), substrates to redistribute contact areas, and a cobra needle head. A tester is usually coupled to the PCB to send electrical signals through the PCB to a semiconductor device that is being tested. The PCB may contact the semiconductor device through the substrate and cobra needle head. The substrate may redistribute contacts on the PCB that may have a large contact area and pitch to contacts on the cobra needle head that may be smaller in contact area and pitch, which may also be similar to the semiconductor device. The cobra needle head may then contact a semiconductor device on a wafer to undergo testing.
To attach and electrically couple the substrate to the PCB, generally, a reflow soldering process is used. However, this process generally has the disadvantageous feature that the PCB and substrate are heated in order to solder the components. The high heat level may cause damage to either component or other components on the PCB. Further, testing on the assembly may require that the assembly be subsequently processed through a reflow oven if contacts are shorted or if contacts are not properly coupled, such as an open circuit. Multiple reflow processes may cause additional problems, such as electrode pads peeling from a substrate or warpage of the substrate. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to couple a substrate to a PCB in a probe card without using a reflow soldering process and to avoid warpage of the substrate. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Some communication apparatus according to the related art are controlled to perform predetermined operations in a state in which they are disposed on a rotary body (for example, see International Patent Publication No. 2010/067838 (Patent Document 1)).
When radio communication with a communication apparatus disposed on a rotary body is performed using the millimeter waveband, electric waves are transmitted using structures such as a column provided in the middle of the rotary body, e.g., using the interior of the column as a waveguide. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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SRSVs are a group of causative viruses of human viral gastroenteritis, the discovery of the first one of which goes back to 1972. They are known to cause infantile acute gastroenteritis and also outbreaks of food poisoning or the like among adults and preschool or elementary school children. Due to the inability to proliferate these SRSVs by cell culture and the lack of animal models capable of exhibiting sensitivity thereto, SRSV antigens and anti-SRSV antibodies are hardly available, resulting in a delay in the development of immunoserologic methods for the detection of the viruses.
Under such circumstances, it was succeeded to clone the gene of the Norwalk virus, an SRSV, in 1993, leading to the determination of the base sequence of its complete genomes [JP(PCT) 6-506823 A]. Subsequently, PCR methods which are useful to amplify a part of an RNA polymerase region were developed, and 14 SRSV-related viruses have been found to date. As a result of analyses of about 120 amino acids in these RNA polymerase regions, SRSVs are considered to be roughly differentiated into two genogroups, that is, Genogroup I including the Norwalk virus strain as a prototype and Genogroup II including the Snow Mountain virus strain as a prototype.
As genetic analyses of SRSV-related viruses proceeded, it came to knowledge that substantial diversity exists even in the same genogroup. As a matter of fact, it was found that with an RT-PCR method making use of primers for the genes of the Norwalk virus and Snow Mountain virus strains as the prototypes of the respective genogroups, every SRSV is not detectable and also that it is very difficult to design primers or set RT-PCT conditions for achieving efficient amplification of SRSVs.
In the meantime, antigens were prepared against some of the viruses, such as the Norwalk virus strain and the Snow Mountain strain, by genetic expression, antibodies were obtained, and ELISA-dependent SRSV detection methods making use of such antibodies were also developed. It was, however, still impossible to detect every gastroenteritis-causing SRSV due to the diversity of the SRSVs.
In Japan, on the other hand, SRSVs were designated in 1997 to be causative factors of food poisoning as defined in the Food Sanitation Act so that, if SRSV food poisoning breaks out, determination of its infection route is required. There is accordingly a desire for a method which easily and surely detects and identifies SRSVs in infected subjects' feces or foods. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In a communication system such as WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), or LTE-A (LTE-Advanced) established by the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) or wireless LAN or WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) established by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), a base station apparatus (a cell, a transmission station, a transmission device, or an eNodeB) and a terminal apparatus (a mobile terminal apparatus, a reception station, a mobile station, a reception device, or UE (user equipment)) each include a plurality of transmission and reception antennas, and use a MIMO (multi-input, multi-output) technique in order to spatially multiplex data signals and realize high-speed data communication.
In order to realize data communication between the base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus in such a communication system, the base station apparatus needs to perform various types of control on the terminal apparatus. Therefore, the base station apparatus performs downlink and uplink data communication with the terminal apparatus by transmitting control information using certain resources. For example, the base station apparatus realizes data communication by transmitting resource assignment information, data signal modulation and coding information, data signal spatial multiplex number information, transmission power control information, and the like to the terminal apparatus. For such control information, a method described in NPL 1 may be used.
In addition, one of various methods may be used as a downlink communication method in which the MIMO technique is used, that is, for example, a multi-user MIMO scheme in which the same resources are assigned to different terminal apparatuses, a CoMP (cooperative multipoint or coordinate multipoint) scheme in which a plurality of base station apparatuses perform data communication in cooperation with one another, or the like may be used.
FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the multi-user MIMO scheme is implemented. In FIG. 35, a base station apparatus 3501 performs data communication with a terminal apparatus 3502 through a downlink 3504 and performs data communication with a terminal apparatus 3503 through a downlink 3505. At this time, the terminal apparatus 3502 and the terminal apparatus 3503 perform data communication in which multi-user MIMO is used. In the downlink 3404 and the downlink 3505, the same resources are used. The resources are configured by resources in a frequency domain and a time domain. In addition, the base station apparatus 3501 uses a precoding technique or the like to control beams for the downlink 3504 and the downlink 3505, thereby maintaining orthogonality between the downlink 3504 and the downlink 3505 and reducing cochannel interference. As a result, the base station apparatus 3501 can realize data communication that uses the same resources for the terminal apparatus 3502 and the terminal apparatus 3503.
FIG. 36 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a downlink CoMP scheme is implemented. In FIG. 36, a case is illustrated in which a radio communication system that uses a heterogeneous network configuration is constructed by a macro base station apparatus 3601 having wide coverage and an RRH (remote radio head) 3602 having narrower coverage than the macro base station apparatus 3601. Here, assume a case in which the coverage of the macro base station apparatus 3601 includes part or the entirety of the coverage of the RRH 3602. In the example illustrated in FIG. 36, the heterogeneous network configuration is constructed by the macro base station apparatus 3601 and the RRH 3602, which perform data communication with a terminal apparatus 3604 through a downlink 3605 and a downlink 3606, respectively, in cooperation with each other. The macro base station apparatus 3601 is connected to the RRH 3602 through a line 3603, and can transmit and receive control signals and data signals to and from the RRH 3602. As the line 3603, a wired line such as an optical fiber or a wireless line that uses a relay technology may be used. At this time, the macro base station apparatus 3601 and the RRH 3602 use similar or exactly the same frequencies (resources) in order to improve total spectral efficiency (transmission capacity) in the area of the coverage constructed by the macro base station apparatus 3601.
When the terminal apparatus 3604 is located close to the base station apparatus 3601 or the RRH 3602, the terminal apparatus 3604 can perform single-cell communication with the base station apparatus 3601 or the RRH 3602. Furthermore, when the terminal apparatus 3604 is located close to an edge (cell edge) of the coverage constructed by the RRH 3602, measures against cochannel interference from the macro base station apparatus 3601 need to be taken. Methods for reducing or suppressing interference with the terminal apparatus 3604 in a cell edge region by using a CoMP scheme in which the macro base station apparatus 3601 and the RRH 3602 cooperate in multi-cell communication (coordinated communication, multipoint communication, or CoMP) of the macro base station apparatus 3601 and the RRH 3602 have been examined. For example, as such a CoMP scheme, a method described in NPL 2 has been examined.
FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating an example in which an uplink CoMP scheme is implemented. In FIG. 37, a case is illustrated in which a radio communication system that uses a heterogeneous network configuration is constructed by a macro base station apparatus 3701 having wide coverage and an RRH (remote radio head) 3702 having narrower coverage than the macro base station apparatus 3701. Here, assume a case in which the coverage of the macro base station apparatus 3701 includes part or the entirety of the coverage of the RRH 3702. In the example illustrated in FIG. 37, the heterogeneous network configuration is constructed by the macro base station apparatus 3701 and the RRH 3702, which perform data communication with a terminal apparatus 3704 through an uplink 3705 and an uplink 3706, respectively, in cooperation with each other. The macro base station apparatus 3701 is connected to the RRH 3702 through a line 3703, and can transmit and receive reception signals, control signals, and data signals to and from the RRH 3702. As the line 3703, a wired line such as an optical fiber or a wireless line that uses a relay technology may be used. At this time, the macro base station apparatus 3701 and the RRH 3702 use similar or exactly the same frequencies (resources) in order to improve total spectral efficiency (transmission capacity) in the area of the coverage constructed by the macro base station apparatus 3701.
When the terminal apparatus 3704 is located close to the base station apparatus 3701 or the RRH 3702, the terminal apparatus 3704 can perform single-cell communication with the base station apparatus 3701 or the RRH 3702. In this case, when the terminal apparatus 3704 is located close to the base station apparatus 3701, the base station apparatus 3701 receives and demodulates a signal received through the uplink 3705. On the other hand, when the terminal apparatus 3704 is located close to the RRH 3702, the RRH 3702 receives and demodulates a signal received through the uplink 3706. Furthermore, when the terminal apparatus 3704 is located close to an edge (cell edge) of the coverage constructed by the RRH 3702 or an intermediate point between the base station apparatus 3701 and the RRH 3702, the macro base station apparatus 3701 receives a signal received through the uplink 3705 and the RRH 3702 receives a signal received through the uplink 3706. Thereafter, the macro base station apparatus 3701 and the RRH 3702 transmit and receive, through the line 3703, the signals received from the terminal apparatus 3704, combine the signals received from the terminal apparatus 3704, and demodulate the combined signals. As a result of this processing, improvement of the performance of the data communication is expected. This is a method called joint reception. By using a CoMP scheme in which the macro base station apparatus 3701 and the RRH 3702 cooperate in uplink multi-cell communication (also referred to as coordinated communication, multipoint communication, or CoMP), the performance of the data communication in a cell edge region or a region around an intermediate point between the macro base station apparatus 3701 and the RRH 3702 can be improved. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an expandable network system and a redundant method for the same, in particular, the network system is formed with one or more sub-networks, and each sub-network has a plurality of network nodes. The system accomplishes fast redundancy by defining the role of each port, and re-defining the roles as the network system changes.
2. Description of Related Art
With growing of widespread applications of networks, the network safety and reliability is continually becomes more and more important, this is particularly so with ring-type networks for special applications. To avoid any interruption resulting from any unexpected event to the network, or to any connection failure of network device's damage, the conventional technology provides some schemes for redundancies.
In practice, at least one network switch is disposed on each node in a local area network for some applications or some other networks for industrial automatic systems. The relevant network devices in the network may be accessed via the network switch. Those network devices can be the networking devices, such as an industrial controller for an industrial automatic system, a conventional computer and a server. In which, an operator may perform a remote control or maintenance through the industrial controller.
Topological types for a variety of network architectures include linear-type, ring-type, bus-type, star-type, mesh-type, and tree-type. The ring-type network is configured to link the nodes in the network in series, and the first node is closed to the last one. Each node in the ring-type network may be communicated with any other node in the network through a ring-type transmission route. However, the transmitted data may be looped in the ring-type network circularly. New arrived data may not be delivered if old data is looped in the ring and occupying the bandwidth. The circular looping data may paralyze the network since it generates broadcast storm. One of the solutions to the program is to set a blocked port on a node in the ring-type network. This blocked port disallows the data to pass, and the mentioned looping data may not be endless.
Further, due to the inherent property of the ring-type network, it may be damaged as one of the nodes in the ring fails. The other nodes are also affected, and even meeting an overall failure. Therefore, it is very important to ensure the connectivity of the network. The conventional redundant scheme for the ring-type network is such as a Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) algorithm, which is used for stabilizing the data routing. According to the RSTP algorithm, when the blocked port is aware of any node or route damages, the predefined blocked port is transformed into a forward port, which allows the data to pass. The RSTP algorithm makes the whole system stay without obstruction. As long as the failed node or route recovers, the system can be restored to the initial state.
Regarding a redundant technology to a ring-type network with multiple rings, a conventional scheme provides a redundant scheme for the ring-type network shown in FIG. 1.
A plurality of network nodes 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 shown in the drawing are separated to form two ring-type networks 11, 12. The two ring-type networks 11, 12 are interconnected over two connections 13, 14. The connection 13 is served by a network node 101 and the other network node 104. The connection 14 is made by interconnecting a network node 103 and a network node 106. In a normal operation, a major connection 13, for example, is regarded as the major route for delivering packets. If any connection meets abnormal situation, such as being broken, failure of node, a redundant connection 14, for example, will be immediately activated. The port states of nodes on each connection may also be changed in order to prevent any interruption of communication between the two ring-type networks 11, 12.
Since it needs time to repair the damaged route or restore the initial state in the above-mentioned technology, the conventional RSTP algorithm for switching the port state may not be quick enough. Therefore, the lost packets during the time to switch the port state may be many and conduct whole system's failure. | {
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Food machinery for stuffing meat such as ham into a protective casing therefor to form a number of individual packages comprises a horn on which a considerable quantity of shirred casing is stored. The forward end of the casing is sealed, a quantity of meat is extruded through the horn into the casing, and the after end of the casing is sealed to complete a cycle. Generally it is required to extrude measured quantities of meat into a casing, and high speed machines such as described in my pending U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 539,575 or 757,999 titled MEAT PACKAGING APPARATUS employ a pneumatically operated ram to expel meat from the horn as part of the cyclic operation. At the beginning of each cycle using machines of this type, the horn is empty. Meat forced through the horn in the first step of a cycle for extrusion into the casing displaces the air from the horn. Where the casing is of a porous nature, this air may escape through the casing wall itself. Increasingly, advantage is being found in using barrier type casings which are substantially impermeable. When using such impermeable casings, the expelled air in this first step of the cycle must be exhausted between the outer wall of the horn and the casing stored thereon. In that the casing is only loosely fitted on the horn for storage purposes, the exhaust of air between the casing and horn does not create a problem. However, it is normally required that the meat be stuffed into the casing under pressure, and a tensioning device is employed to restrict the free movement of the casing from the horn under the influence of the meat being extruded into the casing. The pressure induced within the casing in this manner induces a backflow of meat between the outer surface of the horn and the casing mounted thereon. A backflow restrictor is provided to prevent such backflow. The backflow restrictor may be combined with the tensioning device, or it may be separate therefrom. In all events, the backflow restrictor functions to prevent the exhaust of the expelled air from the horn.
It is then a primary object of this invention to provide improved apparatus for stuffing casings.
It is another object of the invention to provide such apparatus which may have increased throughput.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide apparatus for use in connection with impermeable casings.
It is still another object of the invention to provide apparatus with an improved backflow restrictor.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method which is particularly adapted for high speed stuffing of impermeable casings to provide individual packages. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Pump dispensers for dispensing pharmaceutical products in fluid form must deliver prescribed dosages with high accuracy.
Some pharmaceutical products are formulated as suspensions of particulate matter in fluids or as mixtures of liquids of different densities.
When pharmaceutical pump dispensers are used to dispense such formulations, the solids and similarly the higher density fluids tend to settle to the bottom of the dispenser pump chamber. To prevent improper delivery of the product, the user is instructed to actuate the dispenser several times before use in order to assure proper suspension or proper mixture. However, the user may fail to follow the instructions and the formulation may be delivered improperly, with unpleasant and even dangerous results.
The present invention is directed toward a new type of pharmaceutical dispenser for fluid suspensions or mixtures of fluids of different densities in which a first actuation of the dispenser automatically mixes the precipitate and fluid or fluids of different densities and produces and dispenses a proper fluid suspension or mixture without burdening the user with instructions which may not be followed. | {
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The present invention relates to a stepless speed change gear using one or more one-way clutches.
There have been many kinds of stepless speed change gears according to the prior art such as a chain drive type, a traction drive type, a slide coupling type and so on including a one-way clutch type as illustrated in FIG. 17.
In the stepless speed change gear shown in FIG. 17, a speed change link 7' having a movable support point Q' is connected to a transmission link 5' which is connected to an input shaft 3' and an input side member 4' which rotates about a center p' of an output shaft of a one-way clutch. However, such a stepless speed change gear is insufficient in link mechanism and can be used only for transmission of small power.
There are problems in the other type of stepless speed change gears such as the traction drive type, etc. that not only they have large transmission loss but also they have large size, heavy weight and complicated construction. | {
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Because it is complicated to assemble parts of a conventional bed is complicated, the conventional bed is normally assembled in advance in the factory before transportation to the user's place. In this connection, it is not convenient for transportation of the bulky assembled bed. | {
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The present invention relates to image scanning apparatus and in particular to such apparatus comprising a profiling surface; a feed mechanism for feeding a flexible radiation sensitive record medium across the profiling surface; and a scanning system for scanning a modulated radiation beam across the record medium to expose the record medium.
A conventional internal drum imagesetter is illustrated in the schematic end view of FIG. 5. A drum 50 has a semi-cylindrical internal profiling surface 51. A film 52 is mounted on the surface by attaching one end of the film to a loading carriage 53 which traverses round the drum. After the film has been loaded, it is exposed by a scanning radiation beam 54.
The imagesetter of FIG. 5 suffers from the problem that the film 52 will not conform precisely with the profile of the surface 51. Therefore the loading carriage will load more than the required length of film into the imagesetter.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided image scanning apparatus comprising a profiling surface; a feed mechanism for feeding a flexible radiation sensitive record medium across the profiling surface; a scanning system for scanning a modulated radiation beam across the record medium to expose the record medium; and a pressurizer operable simultaneously with the feed mechanism to generate a pressure difference between opposed sides of the record medium as it is fed across the profiling surface whereby the record medium engages the profiling surface and conforms with the shape of the profiling surface.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of loading a flexible radiation sensitive record medium into an image scanning apparatus, the method comprising feeding a flexible radiation sensitive record medium across a profiling surface; generating a pressure difference between opposed sides of the record medium as it is fed across the profiling surface whereby the record medium engages the profiling surface and conforms with the shape of the profiling surface; and scanning a modulated radiation beam across the record medium to expose the record medium.
By applying a pressure difference to the record medium during the loading operation we ensure that the record medium conforms to the profiling surface during loading, and as a result the correct length of record medium is loaded into the apparatus.
The conventional imagesetter of FIG. 5 also suffers from the problem of dust particlesxe2x80x94ie. dust particles can fall directly onto the film 52 and will either adhere to the film or fall down to the lower region 55 of the imagesetter. Dust particles can also collect on the surface 51 when a film is not present. The loading arrangement of the present invention enables the profiling surface to be oriented in alternative ways to reduce the problems causes by dust particles. For example the profiling surface can be oriented such that the normal to the profiling surface does not point directly upwards at any point. In addition it will be noted that the conventional imagesetter of FIG. 5 is oriented such that the normal to the surface 51 points upwards in the range of angles 0xc2x0-90xc2x0, and 270xc2x0-360xc2x0 (with gravity g pointing directly downwards at 180xc2x0). As a result the surface 51 provides a reaction force to the gravitational force of the film 52 at all points (except at the extreme edges). In contrast, the normal to the profiling surface in the present invention can point in any direction, including downwards, ie. in the range of angles 90xc2x0-270xc2x0 (in which the surface provides no reaction force and the record medium is supported by the pressure difference).
In other words, compared to the orientation of FIG. 5, the profiling surface can be oriented on its side (or even upside down) to prevent dust from falling or collecting on the profiling surface or the record medium. Similarly, a flat-bed scanner with a planar surface can be oriented with its planar profiling surface at an angle, or even upside down.
The pressurizer may generate a vacuum on one side of the record medium. However preferably the pressurizer increases the pressure on one side of the record medium.
Typically the pressurizer comprises a pressure chamber defined by a plurality of walls including the profiling surface, and means for increasing the pressure in the pressure chamber. The use of a pressure chamber ensures a relatively uniform pressure and also reduces the power requirements.
Typically the pressure chamber has one or more openings (e.g., slots) adjacent the profiling surface. This enables gas to exit from the pressure chamber in a controlled manner. By positioning the opening(s) adjacent the profiling surface we ensure that any gas flow acts to force the record medium against the profiling surface.
The profiling surface may be planar but in a preferred embodiment the profiling surface is curved, eg semi-cylindrical. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The subject invention relates to paperboard cartons, and specifically, to paperboard cartons having tear out opening members. Typically, cartons, such as for example, tissue boxes, include a panel member which may be torn from the box in order to obtain access to the contents thereof. In typical cartons the access panel is outlined by perforations that maintain the panel intact in the carton until the contents are removed as needed. However, cartons of this type are generally made of material composed of laminated plys or layers that tend to separate or delaminate and present a ragged and unsightly appearance when the panel is removed. When the contents of the carton are tissues, the tissues have a tendency to become snarled along the ragged edges of the perforations.
Accordingly, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a carton having a tear out opening member or flap which is designed so as to permit the access member to be torn without there being left behind unsightly delaminations or ragged edges which tend to interfere with the removal of tissues. Further objects and advantages of the subject invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a stand for use in pouring concrete. More particularly, the present application involves a movable stand that allows a user to hold a concrete slurry hose to fill a concrete block wall without having to climb onto the wall or use a ladder.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Buildings produced by concrete block construction have walls that are made from concrete blocks. The concrete blocks generally have two open cells and are arranged on top of one another so that the cells extend in a vertical direction. The concrete blocks are staggered with respect to one another but are arranged so that the cells are aligned from the floor to the upper end of the structure. Vertically disposed rebar is located within selected columns of cells and extends through their entire height. The amount and location of rebar can be chosen to achieve a desired amount of reinforcement. In some instances a cage of rebar is formed by attaching horizontal rebar at the top of the structure to the vertical rebar which is likewise attached to rebar protruding from the foundation. Concrete is poured into the cells and around the rebar to form an extremely strong rebar reinforced concrete wall structure once hardened.
The top of the concrete wall is sometimes provided with a tie beam or a bond beam. A tie beam is formed by attaching plywood to the top of the interior and exterior surfaces of the concrete and block wall to form a void into which rebar is placed and that is subsequently filled with concrete. A bond beam is a series of U-shaped blocks that make up the top of the concrete wall. Rebar is placed in the U-shaped blocks and they are subsequently filled with concrete. The rebar reinforced concrete filled tie beam or bond beam acts to further reinforce the structure.
The pouring of concrete into the cells and the tie beam or bond beam can be a difficult and potentially dangerous task. A conventional method of performing this task involves driving a cement truck or other concrete carrying vehicle to the construction site and then transferring concrete into a concrete pump. The concrete pump has a hose with an outlet end through which the concrete slurry can be dispensed. A person sometimes referred to as a hose handler stands on the top of the concrete wall or stands on a ladder and communicates to an operator of the concrete pump for the purpose of starting and stopping the flow of concrete. The hose handler directs the flow of concrete slurry into the cells and the beams. Another individual sometimes referred to as a troweler is located behind the hose handler. The troweler smoothes the concrete and inserts hurricane tie-down straps into the setting concrete.
A problem exists in the conventional pouring of concrete slurry into concrete walls in that the hose handler and troweler are unsupported and can fall from the wall or ladder, which can be from seven to over twenty feet in height. The hose handler is in a particularly unsafe position as he or she must maintain balance and hold and control the concrete hose. One solution to increase safety in pouring concrete slurry into beams or cells in concrete walls is to erect scaffolding around the concrete wall. This approach is undesirable in that it is extremely time and labor intensive. For example, it may take an entire day to set up scaffolding around a single job site whereas a pumping crew can complete two to three average homes in the same day.
Additional solutions to improving the pouring of concrete slurry into concrete walls have been proposed. One prior device includes a holder that is supported on the top of the concrete wall and has an elongated body onto which a length of the concrete hose is strapped. This type of device is advantageous in that the hose handler need only support a shorter length of the hose. Once a column of cells is filled with concrete slurry, the holder is lifted by a user on the ground and moved along the length of the concrete wall to be positioned at another set of cells. This type of device is problematic in that the hose handler is located at the top of the concrete wall and again assumes the risk of falling therefrom. As such, there remains room for variation and improvement within the art. | {
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The present invention relates to novel benzimidazoles, their preparation and the use as inhibitors of the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase or PARP (EC 2.4.2.30) for producing drugs.
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) or, as it is also called, poly(ADP-ribose) synthase (PARS) is a regulatory enzyme found in cell nuclei (K. Ikai et al., J. Histochem. Cytochem. 1983, 31, 1261-1264). It is assumed that PARP is involved in the repair of DNA breaks (M. S. Satoh et al., Nature 1992, 356, 356-358). Damage or breaks in DNA strands activate the enzyme PARP which, when it is activated, catalyzes the transfer of ADP-ribose from NAD (S. Shaw, Adv. Radiat. Biol., 1984, 11, 1-69). During this, nicotinamide is released from NAD. Nicotinamide is converted back into NAD by other enzymes with consumption of the energy carrier ATP. Overactivation of PARP would accordingly result in a non-physiologically large consumption of ATP, and this leads in the extreme case to cell damage and cell death.
It is known that free radicals such as superoxide anion, NO and hydrogen peroxide may lead to DNA damage in cells and thus activate PARP. The formation of large amounts of free radicals is observed in a number of pathophysiological states, and it is assumed that this accumulation of free radicals leads or contributes to the observed cell or organ damage. This includes, for example, ischemic states of organs as in stroke, myocardial infarct (C. Thiemermann et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1997, 94, 679-683) or ischemia of the kidneys, but also reperfusion damage as occurs, for example, after lysis of myocardial infarct (see above: C. Thiemermann et al.). Inhibition of the enzyme PARP might accordingly be a means of at least partly preventing or modifying this damage. PARP inhibitors might thus represent a novel therapeutic principle for treating a number of diseases.
PARP influences the repair of DNA damage and thus might also play a part in the therapy of cancers, since a greater action potential on tumor tissues was observed (G. Chen et al. Cancer Chemo. Pharmacol. 1988, 22, 303) in combination with substances with cytostatic activity.
Non-limiting examples of tumors are leukemia, glioblastomas, lymphomas, melanomas, and carcinomas of the breast and cervix.
It has also been found that PARP inhibitors may show an immunosuppressant effect (D. Weltin et al. Int. J. Immunopharmacol. 1995, 17, 265-271).
It has likewise been discovered that PARP is involved in immunological disorders or diseases in which the immune system plays an important part, such as, for example, rheumatoid arthritis and septic shock, and that PARP inhibits may show a beneficial effect on the course of the disease (H. Krxc3x6ger et al. Inflammation 1996, 20, 203-215; W. Ehrlich et al. Rheumatol. Int. 1995, 15, 171-172; C. Szabo et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1998, 95, 3867-3872; S. Cuzzocrea et al. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 1998, 342, 67-76).
PARP is understood to include for the purpose of this invention isoenzymes of the PARP enzyme described above.
PARP inhibitor 3-aminobenzamide showed protective effects in a model of circulatory failure (S. Cuzzocrea et al., Br. J. Pharmacol. 1997, 121, 1065-1074).
There is also experimental evidence that inhibitors of the enzyme PARP might be of benefit as agents for treating diabetes mellitus (V. Burkart et al. Nature Med. 1999, 5, 314-319).
Benzimidazoles have been described many times. Thus, DE 38 30 060 disclosed alkylated derivatives as inhibitors of erythrocyte aggregation. DE 35 22 230 mentions an ester derivative of 2-phenylbenzimidazole as inhibitor of platelet aggregation. Halogen-substituted 2-phenylbenzimidazoles having substituted amine residues on the phenyl ring have been described in WO 98/06703 as MCP-1 antagonists.
Also known are 2-phenylbenzimidazoles in which the benzimidazole group is substituted by an amide group. 5-Amido derivatives of 2-phenylbenzimidazole with alkoxy radicals on the phenyl ring have been described in WO 94/12461 as inhibitors of cAMP phosphodiesterase. It was found in DE 35 46 575 (e.g. Example 15) for analogous derivatives that these compounds induce positive inotropic effects. 4-Amido derivatives having a pyridyl radical in position 3 are likewise mentioned in WO 97/48697 as inhibitors for cAMP phosphodiesterase.
The synthesis of 2-phenylbenzimidazole-4-carboxamides has been described in J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans 1, 1979, 2303-2307. Analogous compounds which have a substituted alkyl chain on the amid residue and are said to have a cytotoxic effect are mentioned in J. Med. Chem. 1990, 33, 814-819. WO 97/04771 on the other hand mentions benzimidazole-4-carboxamides which inhibit PARS. In particular, derivatives described therein as active have a phenyl ring in position 2, and the phenyl ring may also be substituted by simple substituents such as nitro, methoxy and CF3. Although some of these substances show good inhibition of the enzyme PARP, the derivatives described therein have the disadvantage that they show little or no solubility in aqueous solutions and thus cannot be administered as aqueous solution.
Benzimidazoles with cycloalkyl radicals in position 2 have likewise been described. Thus, 2-cyclohexyl derivatives which may also have alkylamides in position 1 are mentioned in F. Pellicciari et al., Arch. Pharm. 1985, 318, 393-399, or in Ann. 1952, 575, 162, which also described methyl derivatives in which the methyl group is located on the benzimidazole aromatic system. 2-Cycloalkylbenzimidazoles in which the aromatic ring is substituted by chlorine or nitro groups are described, for example, in DE 2649125, E. Seuer et al., Farmaco 1997, 52, 99 and M. Benchidmi et al., Bull. Soc. Chim. Belg. 1995, 104, 605-612. Derivatives of benzimidazole-5-carboxylic acid with cyclopentanedione residues in position 2 are mentioned in Ann., 1893, 273, 320. Benzimidazoles with lactam rings fused to the aromatic ring have been described in DE 2732951 and in W. Saal et al., J. Med. Chem. 1989, 32, 1481-1491. However, benzimidazoles with carbocyclic rings in position 2 having an amide group on the benzimidazole ring or, in particular, position 4 on the benzimidazole ring have not yet been described.
In a number of therapies, such as strokes, the active substances are administered intravenously as infusion solution. For this purpose it is necessary to have available substances, in this case PARP inhibitors, which have adequate solubility in water at physiological pH values or close pH values (for example pH values of 5-8), so that an infusion solution can be prepared. Many of the PARP inhibitors described, especially the more effective PARP inhibitors, have the disadvantage, however, that they have only low or no solubility in water at these pH values and thus are unsuitable for intravenous administration. Active substances of this type can be administered only with excipients intended to promote solubility in water (cf. WO 97/04771). These excipients, for example polyethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide, often cause side effects or are not tolerated. Very effective PARP inhibitors with adequate solubility in water have not previously been described.
Surprisingly, it has been found that benzimidazoles having a saturated or monounsaturated carbocyclic system on the imidazole ring are very effective inhibitors but, owing to the further incorporation of aliphatic amine residues, they can form salts with acids and thus show distinctly improved solubility in water.
The present invention describes benzimidazole derivatives of th general formula I or II which are potent PARP inhibitors and also show adequate solubility in water to allow administration as infusion solution.
The present invention relates to substituted benzimidazoles of the general formula I and II:
in which
A is a saturated or monounsaturated carbocyclic system which has 3 to 8 carbon atoms and may additionally have a fused-on benzene ring, it being possible for the rings also to be substituted by one or two different or identical radicals R3 and also the radical R4, and
R1 is hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine, branched and unbranched C1-C6-alkyl, OH, nitro, CF3, CN, NR11R12, NHxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94R13, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl where
R11 and R12 are, independently of one another, hydrogen or C1-C4-alkyl, and
R13 is hydrogen, C1-C4-alkyl, C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl or phenyl, and
R2 is hydrogen, branched or unbranched C1-C6-alkyl, C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl and
R3 is C1-C6-alkyl, OH, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, NR11R12, phenyl, C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, CF3, COOH, COOC1-C4-alkyl, CONHxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl, CONH2, it being possible for the phenyl rings also to be substituted by a maximum of two identical or different radicals R31, and
R31 is OH, C1-C6-alkyl, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl, chlorine, bromine, iodine, fluorine, CF3, nitro, NR11R12, and
R4 is xe2x80x94(O)pxe2x80x94(CH2)qxe2x80x94B, where
B is NR41R42 and
where
p can be 0 and 1, and
q can be 0, 1, 2 or 3, where if q is 0 p is also 0, and
R41 is hydrogen, C1-C6-alkyl, (CH2)rxe2x80x94E and
R42 is hydrogen, C1-C6-alkyl, xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94R8, SO2xe2x80x94R8, xe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90NH)xe2x80x94R8 and xe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90NH)xe2x80x94NHR8 and
r is 0,1,2,3,4 and
E is phenyl which may also carry a maximum of two radicals R72, and, if rxe2x89xa00,1, also NR11R12, NHxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, pyrrolidine, piperidine, dihydropiperidine, morpholine, homopiperidine, piperazine, which may also be substituted by C1-C6-alkyl and C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, and homopiperazine, which may also be substituted by C1-C6-alkyl and C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, and
R7 is hydrogen, C1-C6-alkyl, phenyl, it being possible for the ring also to be substituted by up to two identical or different radicals R71, and
R71 is OH, C1-C6-alkyl, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl, chlorine, bromine, iodine, fluorine, CF3, nitro, NR11R12, and
R72 is OH, C1-C6-alkyl, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl, chlorine, bromine, iodine, fluorine, CF3, nitro, NR11R12, and
R8 is C1-C6-alkyl, phenyl, C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, it being possible for the ring also to be substituted by up to two identical or different radicals R81, and
R81 is OH, C1-C6-alkyl, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl, chlorine, bromine, iodine, fluorine, CF3, nitro, NR11R12, and
R9 is hydrogen, C1-C6-alkyl, C1-C4-alkyl-phenyl, phenyl, it being possible for the rings also to be substituted by up to two radicals R91, and
R91 can be OH, C1-C6-alkyl, Oxe2x80x94C1-C4-alkyl, chlorine, bromine, iodine, fluorine, CF3, nitro, NR11R12.
Carbocyclic systems which are at least monosubstituted are preferred for A. Preferred carbocyclic systems are: tetralin, indane, cycloheptane, cyclohexane, cyclopentane, cyclobutane and cyclopropane.
Preferred compounds of formulae I and II are those where A is a cyclohexane ring, R1, R2 and R3 are hydrogen, and R4 has the meaning as above, with p being 0 and 1 and q being 0, 1 and 2, R41 and R42 are, independently of one another, hydrogen and C1-C4-alkyl, R7 is hydrogen, C1-C4-alkyl and phenyl, R9 is hydrogen, C1-C4-alkyl and C1-C2-alkyl-phenyl, and R4 can be in position 3 and 4 on the cyclohexane ring including both the cis and the trans forms or mixtures thereof.
Particularly preferred compounds of formulae I and II are those where A is a cyclohexane ring, and R1, R2 and R3 are hydrogen, and R4 has the meaning as above, with p being 0 and 1 and q being 0, 1 and 2, and R41 and R42 being, independently of one another, hydrogen and C1-C4-alkyl, R7 is hydrogen, R9 is hydrogen, C1-C4-alkyl and benzyl, and R4 can be in position 4 on the cyclohexane ring, including both the cis and the trans forms and mixtures thereof.
The compounds of the formula I and II can be employed as racemates, as enantiomerically pure compounds or as diastereomers. Unless enantiomerically pure compounds are required, these can be obtained, for example, by carrying out a classical racemate resolution with a suitable optically active base or acid with the compounds of the formula I and II or their intermediates.
The invention also relates to compounds which are mesomers or tautomers of compounds of formula I.
The invention further relates to the physiologically tolerated salts of compounds I and II which can be obtained by reacting compounds I with a suitable acid or base. Suitable acids and bases are listed, for example, in Fortschritte der Arzneimittelforschung, 1966, Birkhxc3xa4user Verlag, Vol. 10, pp. 224-285. These include, for example, hydrochloric acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, methanesulfonic acid, acetic acid, formic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid etc., and sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and tris.
Prodrugs mean compounds which are metabolized in vivo to compounds of the general formula I and II. Typical prodrugs are phosphates, carbamates of amino acids, esters and others.
The benzimidazoles I and II can be prepared in various ways, as outlined in synthesis schemes 1-3.
Condensation of the aldehyde with phenylenediamines results in the benzimidazole VII, this preferably being done in polar solvents such as ethanol or dimethylformamide with addition of acids such as acetic acid at elevated temperature, ordinarily 80-120xc2x0 C. It is beneficial for the reaction to add weak oxidizing agents such as copper(II) salts, which are added as aqueous solution.
When R in the phenylenediamine VIII is NH2, the condensation results directly in novel compounds I. Otherwise, if R is O-alkyl, this ester can be reacted with ammonia, where appropriate at elevated temperature and under elevated pressure, to give the amide I. Alternatively, the ester VIII can be reacted with hydrazine in polar solvents such as the alcohols butanol and ethanol or else dimethylformamide, at elevated temperatures, preferably 80-130xc2x0 C., resulting in a hydrazide VIII (Rxe2x95x90NHNH2), which can then be reduced, such as with Raney nickel in alcohols under reflux, to the amide I.
R2 is introduced into the benzimidazole residue in I (R2xe2x95x90H) under alkylating conditions as above (see V-VI), although it is necessary to employ the reactant R2xe2x80x94L (L=leaving group as above) (see Scheme 1).
As an alternative to the aldehydes VI shown in scheme 1, it is also possible to employ acids such as XI (see Scheme 2) or nitriles such as XIV (see Scheme 3) in place of the aldehyde. These derivatives are prepared in analogy to the preparation of the substituted aldehydes VI. Starting from XI, the condensation to VII takes place in two stages. Firstly, the acid XI is reacted with the aniline VIII in a peptide-like coupling to give the amide XII. Conventional conditions are used for this, which are listed, for example, in Houben-Weyl, Methoden der organischen Chemie, 4th edition, E5, Chapter V or R. C. Larock, Comprehensive Organic Transformations, VCH Publisher, 1989, pages 972 et seq. The ring closure to the benzimidazole then takes place at elevated temperature, for example 60-180xc2x0 C., with or without solvents such as dimethylformamide, and with the addition of acids such as acetic acid or directly in acetic acid itself.
Reaction of the phenylenediamine VIII with a nitrile XIV likewise takes place under conventional conditions. It is moreover possible to use solvents such as dimethylformamide with the addition of acids or else use polyphosphoric acid at elevated temperature, such as 60-200xc2x0 C. However, it is also possible to use the conventional methods for preparing amidines from benzonitriles, as described in Houben-Weyl, Methoden der organischen Chemie, E5, pages 1304 et seq., J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 1957, 427 and J. Org. Chem. 1987, 1017.
The abovementioned substituted benzimidazoles I and II are inhibitors of the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase or PARP (EC 2.4.2.30).
The inhibitory effect of the aforementioned substituted benzimidazoles I and II can be determined using an enzyme assay disclosed in the literature, with a Ki being determined as gage of the effect. The benzimidazoles I and II were measured in this way for an inhibitory effect on the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase or PARP (EC 2.4.2.30).
The substituted benzimidazoles of the general formulae I and II are inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) or, as it also called, poly(ADP-ribose) synthase (PARS) and can thus be used for the treatment and prophylaxis of diseases associated with an elevated activity of these enzymes.
The compounds of the formulae I and II can be employed to produce drugs for treating damage following ischemias and for the prophylaxis of expected ischemias in various organs.
The present benzimidazoles of the general formulae I and II can accordingly be used for the treatment and prophylaxis of neurodegenerative diseases occurring after ischemia, trauma (craniocerebral trauma), massive bleeding, subarachnoid hemorrhages and stroke and of neurodegenerative diseases such as multi-infarct dementia, Alzheimer""s disease, Huntington""s disease and of epilepsies, in particular of generalized epileptic seizures, such as, for example, petit mal and tonoclonic seizures and partial epileptic seizures such as temporal lobe, and complex partial seizures, and further for the treatment and prophylaxis of damage to the heart after cardiac ischemia and damage to the kidneys after renal ischemia, for example of acute renal insufficiency, of acute kidney failure or of damage occurring during and after a kidney transplant. The compounds of the general formulae I and II can further be used to treat acute myocardial infarct and damage occurring during and after medical lysis thereof (for example with TPA, reteplase, streptokinase or mechanically with a laser or Rotablator) and of microinfarcts during and after heart valve replacement, aneurysm resections and heart transplants. It is likewise possible to use the present benzimidazoles I and II for treatment in cases of revascularization of critically narrowed coronary arteri s, for example in PTCA and bypass operations, and critically narrowed peripheral arteries, for example leg arteries. In addition, the benzimidazoles I and II can be beneficial in the chemotherapy of tumors and metastasis thereof and can be used to treat inflammations and rheumatic disorders such as, for example, rheumatoid arthritis.
The pharmaceutical preparations according to the invention comprise a therapeutically effective amount of the compounds I and II in addition to conventional pharmaceutical excipients.
For local external use, for example in dusting powders, ointments or sprays, the active ingredients can be present in the usual concentrations. The active substances are ordinarily present in an amount of from 0.001 to 1% by weight, preferably 0.001 to 0.1% by weight.
On internal use, the preparations are administered in single doses. From 0.1 to 100 mg are given per kg of body weight in a single dose. The preparation may be administered in one or more doses each day, depending on the nature and severity of the disorders.
Appropriate for the required mode of administration, the pharmaceutical preparations according to the invention comprise conventional carriers and diluents in addition to the active ingredient. For local external use it is possible to use pharmaceutical excipients such as ethanol, isopropanol, ethoxylated castor oil, ethoxylated hydrogenated castor oil, polyacrylic acid, polyethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol stearate, ethoxylated fatty alcohols, liquid paraffin, petrolatum and wool fat. Examples suitable for internal use are lactose, propylene glycol, ethanol, starch, talc and polyvinylpyrrolidone.
It is also possible for antioxidants such as tocopherol and butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene, flavor-improving additives, stabilizers, emulsifiers and lubricants to be present.
The substances present besides the active ingredient in the preparation, and the substances used during production of the pharmaceutical preparations, are toxicologically acceptable and compatible with the particular active ingredient. The pharmaceutical preparations are produced in a conventional way, for example by mixing the active ingredient with conventional excipients and diluents.
The pharmaceutical preparations can be administered in various ways, for example orally, parenterally such as intravenously by infusion, subcutaneously, intraperitoneally and topically. Thus, possible presentations are tablets, emulsions, infusion and injection solutions, pastes, ointments, gels, creams, lotions, dusting powders and sprays. | {
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In the search for a safe, simple, non-medical, but effective aide that relieves or reduces nighttime sinus congestion and thereby helps to reduce snoring that may be associated with such sinus congestion.
Many products approach the problem with chemicals—nasal sprays, sinus pills, etc. Other products try to mechanically open the nasal passages (adhesive strips on the outside of nasal septum, clips that push outward from inside nasal passages). Still other products work on positioning the head; that is, designing pillows or other apparatus that that force one's head into the optimal position for nighttime breathing.
Many products have tried to relieve the nighttime breathing issue. This product's intent is to provide relief and “open airways” using a non-medical, non-chemical remedy involving simple pressure to sinus “pressure points” on the head. | {
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An apparatus having a micromirror that is adjustable with the aid of two electrostatic tilting drives is described in German Patent Application No. DE 102008059634A1. The outer tilting drive has stator electrodes on a rigid outer frame and actuator electrodes on an inner frame. The inner tilting drive includes stator electrodes attached to the inner frame and actuator electrodes that are joined to the micromirror. By suitably controlling the voltages applied between the electrodes of the two tilting drives, the micromirror is intended to be adjustable in two spatial directions. | {
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Gaseous hydrocarbons, particularly propane, are used as coolant to protect nozzles for and bottoms of vessels used in processes, such as those employed for refining pig iron. Liquid hydrocarbons are alternatively added through jackets of jacketed nozzles through which oxygen is introduced into the melt.
Thus introduced hydrocarbons, which are blown into molten metal (in addition to oxygen) have a cooling effect because of their thermal decomposition, and they serve as protection for the nozzles and the floor or base of the refining vessel, e.g. converter.
In such processes a major portion of hydrogen (produced by hydrocarbon decomposition) passes through the metal bath almost completely uncombusted, so that little heat is developed from the added amount of hydrocarbon; moreover, the hydrocarbon decomposition is endothermal. In addition, the liquid steel absorbs hydrogen which must be subsequently removed by a costly cleaning process, for example by rinsing with suitable gas.
When partially or completely uncombusted waste gas is extracted to permit purification of the waste gas and thus keep the cost low, a further serious drawback results; the hydrogen content of the waste gas increases the danger of explosion in the waste gas system when it exceeds certain limits. For this reason, enlargement of the hydrocarbon stream, for example for the purpose of turning over larger quantities of scrap metal, is narrowly confined.
A method for air refining with pure oxygen (German Patent No. 763,185) provides introduction into a converter of gaseous, liquid or, preferably, solid additives, such as carbon dust, by means of separately introduced compressed air by blowing these materials through nozzles in the bottom usually employed in bottom blowing converters. This process cannot be used for blowing with more or less pure oxygen because the carbon would be ignited shortly before it leaves the nozzles and the firing points in the nozzle would move downwardly, thus destroying the nozzle bottom. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic die changing apparatus of a die for rapidly performing a die changing of a die with respect to a molding machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, for obtaining a die cast product having a large size and a complex structure such as a cylinder block, the die requires a slide. Accordingly, a whole of the die becomes heavy (196 kN (about 20 ton) for one example) and large in scale (about 2 m for one example), it is extremely troublesome to take out the die from the molding machine and it is necessary to take out and insert a tie bar connecting a fixed portion to a movable portion, so that there is a problem that an effect of shortening the die changing time is extremely small.
Further, a part of some work, for example, work for attaching and detaching a hose for a die cooling water and a cable for operation control with respect to the die are manually performed. That is, work performed by the die changing apparatus and the manual work are mixed. Further, at a time of the manual works, it is necessary to temporarily shut off a power source of the die changing apparatus completely. In order to safely perform the die changing work, the working procedure is expected to be careful.
The working procedure mentioned above of course requires a lot of time, and causes a decrease of operational availability in the molding machine. Further, in many cases, a portion to be repaired is only a portion constituting a product surface in a whole of the die in most cases, and a lot of time is required for work for taking out the whole of the die from the molding machine despite that such a repair is finished in a comparatively short time. Accordingly, this procedure is a major case for decreasing efficiency of the repairing work.
In this case, in a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-190531, only a part (a core) of the exclusive portion is replaced, with leaving the general portion in the molding machine, however, since a method of fastening the exclusive portion by bolts is employed, it is necessary to perform the fastening operation within the molding machine having a limited space, and a deterioration in operability and an unsafe operation can not be avoided. Further, since the exclusive portion is fastened by the bolts from a front surface thereof, it is impossible to apply the work to the exclusive portion in which the front surface constitutes the cavity forming surface, and an applicable range thereof is limited.
The problem mentioned above is not applied only to the die changing of a casting die, but is a common problem for dies in accordance with the other various casting methods and a die for resin molding. It is conventionally desired to achieve a more effective die changing work. | {
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The present invention relates generally to an inverter for an electric traction motor, and more particularly is an improved inverter with a heat sink that utilizes oil (hydraulic fluid) as the heat transfer fluid.
Traction vehicles, such as locomotives or high power off-road vehicles, are driven by electrically powered traction motors which drive the wheels of the vehicle. The traction motors operate on AC power, but the power generated by the motor of the vehicle is DC. The DC potential generated by the motor must therefore be converted from DC to AC current in an inverter. The electric power generation/inversion requires the use of multiple semiconductor devices, and switches to control the semiconductor devices, all of which generate a great deal of heat. To dissipate the heat produced in the inverter, current art vehicles use either water or air cooling systems, or both in combination. These current art methods of cooling lead to several problems.
For any device to be air cooled, there must be adequate space around the device for air to flow in sufficient volume to remove the heat. Since traction motor applications typically utilize three-phase AC current, six IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) switches must be employed. The power requirements of the motors require that a capacitor bank be present in the inverter, along with the accompanying sensors, etc. The number of components required mandates a significant space requirement which is greatly exaggerated due to the need for space to accommodate air flow around the inverter.
In direct contradiction to the need for open space for cooling air flow is the fact that electrical devices function best in enclosed, non-ventilated environments. This kind of environment reduces the potential of contaminant buildup. Contaminant buildup can not only impede the desired heat transfer, but may also cause an electrical failure of the device. Therefore air cooling directly creates a situation detrimental to the function of the electrical device, in this case an inverter.
Because of the problems caused by air cooling, some current art devices utilize water cooling in the inverter. Water cooled inverters can operate in a more controlled environment, but the water cooling system is generally not readily available. Motors in vehicles of the class which is the subject of this invention, those that utilize electrically powered traction wheels, are usually oil cooled. Thus, utilization of an inverter that requires water cooling leads to the necessity of including a water cooling system in a motor that would not otherwise have it. Still more space is therefore required.
Because of the size requirements demanded by the cooling systems of current art inverters, the inverter comprises a large unit contained in a compartment dedicated only to the inverter. This necessitates that lead wires for control and feedback systems must be fairly long, typically anywhere from 2 to 10 feet. Longer wires are by necessity heavier than shorter wires, both in terms of weight and electrical rating. Longer wires significantly increase the potential for distorted signals.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inverter for an electric traction motor that utilizes the same cooling system used for the motor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an inverter that has significantly reduced space requirements.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an inverter that can be formed with generally planar components, thereby reducing inductance of the inverter.
The present invention is an oil-cooled inverter for an electric traction motor. The inverter comprises six IGBT switches to generate 3-phase AC electrical current as its output. The switches are mounted on heat sinks that use hot motor oil (hydraulic fluid) as the heat transfer fluid. An interior of each of the heat sinks contains a heat transfer medium. In the preferred embodiment, the heat transfer medium is a plurality of silver plated copper balls. The copper balls are brazed to each other and to the walls of the heat sinks in an assembly process. The heat sink housing is made of molybdenum, which has a thermal expansion rate equal to that of silicon. This allows the circuitry of the inverter to be mounted directly on the top surface of the heat sinks, as the expansion and contraction of the heat sink housing will match that of the silicon substrate of the chips. Since both elements, the heat sink housing and the chip substrate, expand and contract at an equal rate during heating and cooling, the problem of the chip substrate cracking and breaking due to thermal flexing is eliminated.
The IGBT switch/heat sink assemblies are mounted in a planar fashion in a laminated bus device. The bus device also houses a bank of capacitors for the inverter. The structure of the bus device allows the IGBT switches and the capacitors of the inverter to be assembled as generally planar elements, thereby reducing inductance of the device. This allows the switches to function more efficiently.
The inverter of the present invention is in most ways electrically equivalent to prior art inverters. One key exception is that the upper surface formed by the bank of heat sinks is electrically hot, and is used as part of the circuitry. This allows the elimination of the insulating plate on which the inverter circuitry is normally mounted, as the chips of the inverter circuitry of the present invention are mounted directly on the upper surface of the heat sinks of the inverter.
One of the chief advantages of the present invention is that it greatly reduces the space required for the inverter in the engine compartment of the vehicle. The inverter module of the present invention requires only 10% the amount of space required by the inverter module of the inventors"" current art. The weight of the inverter module of the present invention is also greatly reduced, being only 20% of that of the current art. This tremendous reduction in size and weight leads to the added benefit of making the inverter module far less expensive and more practical to xe2x80x9csparexe2x80x9d, that is, to stock an entire inverter module for repair use.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the reduced size and compact assembly of the inverter allows it to be mounted directly to the motor (generator). This significantly reduces the length of the lead wires of the feedback and control systems.
A still further advantage of the present invention is that it utilizes the same coolant supply system as does the electric motor of the vehicle, thereby eliminating the necessity of a water cooling system.
Yet another advantage of the inverter of the present invention is that the chips of the inverter circuitry are mounted directly on the surface of the heat sink, thereby eliminating components and space requirements. The surface of the heat sinks is electrically hot, and serves as part of the circuitry.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that the planar structure reduces inductance in the inverter.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the description of the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention as described herein and as illustrated in the drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A construction machine such as a hydraulic excavator includes a boom cylinder (hydraulic cylinder) as an actuator that drives a boom or the like, and a control valve device that controls supply and discharge of working oil to and from the boom cylinder.
JP2010-242796A discloses a control valve device including a regeneration oil passage allowing communication between a bottom chamber of a boom cylinder and a rod chamber, and a boom lowering control valve that opens and closes the regeneration oil passage.
In this control valve device, working speed of the boom cylinder is increased by opening the regeneration oil passage by the boom lowering control valve, and a discharge amount of a hydraulic pump provided in a working oil pressure source is lowered, so that power of the hydraulic pump is saved. | {
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Radiation therapy plans are generated based in large part on a patient's physical parameters. The design of the plan may be complicated as numerous treatment parameters can be defined to address the particular physical characteristics of the patient. If an initial candidate radiation treatment plan can be efficiently devised, overall quality of care may increase correspondingly as it may be simpler and faster for caregivers or computers to modify this initial candidate plan into the final course of treatment that will be used to treat the patient. | {
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Field of the Invention
The present application relates to improved processes for the preparation of triazinyl-substituted oxindoles and their use as intermediates for the synthesis of fine chemicals and of active ingredients in the field of agriculture.
Description of Related Art
Oxindoles substituted in the 3 position are an important structural motif among a series of natural substances and pharmaceutically effective substances. Some of these compounds exhibit biological activity against various pathogens and have e.g. antitumor or anti-HIV properties (Ding et al., J. Med. Chem. 2006, 49, 3432; Jiang et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2006, 16, 2105).
A further subgroup of the oxindoles substituted heteroaromatically in the 3 position are the 3-triazinyloxindoles (3-(1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one. The preparation of these compounds, referred to by the trivial name of “3-triazinyloxindoles”, is the subject of the present invention.
It is known that a hydrogen bonded to an aromatic, heteroaromatic or to an aliphatic carbon backbone can be exchanged for functional substituents which may likewise be aromatic, heteroaromatic or aliphatic.
In this connection, it is interesting that the reaction conditions for the substitution of the hydrogen in the 3 position of oxindoles are different depending on the nature of the substituents. Accordingly, the reaction conditions for the exchange for aliphatic, aromatic and heteroaromatic radicals have been researched and developed independently of one another.
Standard reactions of the substitution of oxindoles in the 3 position include the exchange of hydrogen for aliphatic substituents (Science of Synthesis, 10 (2000), p. 600).
The exchange for aromatic substituents in the presence of palladium was described by Taylor et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131, 9900-9901), and also by Altman et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130 (29), 9613-9620), and also by Durbin et al. (Org. Lett., 2008, 10 (7), 1413-1415).
The synthesis of substituted oxindoles in which the hydrogen have been exchanged for heteroaromatic 6-ring substituents has likewise been described. By way of example, mention is made here of the substitution in the 3 position of N-methyl-oxindole with a substituted pyridazine (Shen et al., Org. Lett., 2006, 8, 1447-1450), the preparation of substituted 3-(quinazolin-4-yl)oxindoles (U.S. Pat. No. 6,265,411), the substitution in the 3 position of oxindole with substituted quinazolines over a solid phase (Hennequin et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 1999, 40, 3881-3884), the substitution with substituted pyridines or pyridine N-oxides (e.g. US 2009/291982, WO 2007/89193, WO 2005/27823, WO 2003/82853), the preparation of substituted 3-(pyrimidin-4-yl)oxindoles (WO 2006/136606, WO 2003/82853, US 2007/281949) or the preparation of substituted 3-(2H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-yl)oxindoles (US 2007/281949).
According to Scheme 1, 3-triazinyloxindoles can be obtained by exchanging a hydrogen atom in the 3 position of an optionally substituted oxindole (1) for an optionally substituted triazine (2) which carries a suitable leaving group X, in the presence of a “suitable” base.
In this connection, it is known that the step of deprotonation of the oxindole that is important for the exchange of the hydrogen can be influenced in a targeted manner through the choice of substituent R3.
A common feature of the reactions disclosed in the aforementioned prior art is that the oxindole used is firstly deprotonated with a strong base and then the heterocyclic component, typically as chlorine compound, is added.
For the purposes of the deprotonation, in the prior art, strong, water-sensitive bases, such as sodium hexamethyldisilazane or lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), sodium hydride or lithium hydride, are used.
Disadvantageously, the use of the bases sodium hydride and lithium hydride leads to the formation of equimolar amounts of elemental hydrogen. Moreover, the solvents used in connection with these bases have to be laboriously dried prior to being used.
An analogous coupling—analogous to the coupling of oxindoles with quinolines described in WO 2005/061519, in which quinoline N-oxides are used in the presence of acidic anhydride—with triazines of formula (2) is not known.
Scheme 2 summarizes a known process for the preparation of substituted 3-triazinyloxindoles. These are characterized in that they carry nitrogen substituent on the triazine ring. The synthesis is disclosed in US 2004/116388, WO 2002/083654 and WO 2001/025220.
In the reaction according to Scheme 2, a substituted 4-chloro-N-phenyl-1,3,5-triazine-2-amine was used as triazine-containing component. The reaction was carried out by deprotonation of the oxindole used in DMF/THF with sodium hydride, followed by the addition of the triazine component and subsequent stirring of the reaction mixture at 80° C.
Disadvantageously, the achieved yields for this known synthesis are only 2.5%, or 7% for the oxindoles unsubstituted on the nitrogen (R2═H), and 29% for N-methyl-oxindole (R2=Me).
As well as the very low yields, the disadvantages of the described process are also the use of strong bases such as sodium hydride, which lead to the formation of equimolar amounts of elemental hydrogen, which are difficult to handle industrially.
Consequently, the described process is not a viable solution for the industrial scale.
In the process, described in US 2004/116388 for the compound with the number 380, for the preparation of substituted 3-triazinyloxindoles, only 0.4 equivalents of the triazine component are used per equivalent of the oxindole component. Based on the oxindole component, this can lead merely to a maximum theoretical yield of 40%. An increase in the yield can be achieved through the use of an excess of oxindole. Since the oxindole component can, depending on the substitution pattern, be the somewhat more valuable starting material, this reaction procedure using a 2.5-fold excess of oxindole on an industrial scale is to be regarded as disadvantageous.
It has already been indicated that the reaction conditions for the exchange of the hydrogen in the 3 position of oxindoles for aliphatic, aromatic and heteroaromatic substituents had to be established in each case independently of one another because the type of substituents to be introduced can heavily influence the reaction.
The same appears to apply in turn to the further branching, i.e. the further substitution of these substituents, in particular to the further substitution of the heteroaromatic substituents.
Thus, the prior art describes no industrially suitable synthesis of 3-triazinyloxindoles which carry alkyl or alkoxy substituents on the triazine ring.
The use of the hitherto known preparation processes in the synthesis of 3-triazinyloxindoles which carry alkyl or alkoxy substituents on the triazine ring does not produce satisfactory results on an industrial scale.
For comparison purposes, the conditions, described in the document US 2004/116388, in the reaction of 7-fluoro-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one (example 1 Variant F), or 1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one (Example 2 Variant B) with 2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine were used.
In this connection, it was found that the yields achieved, in each case based on the oxindole component, are only 39% (Example 1 Variant F), or only 34% (Example 2 Variant B). If these conditions are used in the reaction of the starting materials in an industrially advantageous ratio, namely 1 equivalent of the oxindole component with 1.2 equivalents of the triazine component, then the yields achieved are 39% (Example 1 Variant G) or 30% (Example 2 Variant C).
In Organic Letters (2010) 2306-2309, in the arylation reactions described in Table 4, the starting material used in each case is 3-phenyloxindole, i.e. an oxindole which carries a phenyl substituent in the 3 position. This 3-phenyloxindole is arylated with electron-poor chlorobenzene derivatives and 5-halooxazoles in the presence of caesium carbonate in the 3 position.
As is known, the acidity of methyl groups or methylene groups is usually greatly increased by exchanging a hydrogen substituent for a phenyl substituent. This leads to a reduced pKa value of the remaining hydrogen substituent(s) on methyl group or methylene group by several orders of magnitude.
In a series of publications, corresponding examples can be found in which pKa values of organic or inorganic compounds in water or in organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide are described. The pKa values in organic solvents were either measured directly or extrapolated by means of other methods. For example, in Acc. Chem. Res. 1988, 21, 456 in Table II, for 4-methylpyridine, a pKa value of 35 (extrapolated for DMSO) and for 4-benzylpyridine a pKa value of 26.7 (in DMSO) is given. Likewise in Acc. Chem. Res. 1988, 21, 456 in Table II, for (methylsulfanyl)benzene, a pKa value of 42 (extrapolated for DMSO) is given, for (benzylsulfanyl)benzene, a pKa value of 30.8 (in DMSO) is given, and for diphenylmethyl phenylsulfide, a pKa value of 26.8 (in DMSO) is given. For oxindole, in Acc. Chem. Res. 1988, 21, 456 in Table II, a pKa value of 18.2 (in DMSO) is given.
From the examples given, the increase in acidity of methyl groups or methylene groups by several orders of magnitude as a result of exchanging a hydrogen substituent for a phenylsubstituent becomes very evident.
In the examples of the present application, the starting materials used were only oxindoles which carry two hydrogen atoms in the 3 position. In Organic Letters (2010) 2306-2309, by contrast, 3-phenyloxindoles are used as starting materials. The starting materials therefore differ in their acidity. Oxindoles which carry two hydrogen atoms in the 3 position are less acidic than the 3-phenyloxindole used in Organic Letters (2010) 2306-2309 in the reactions of Table 4.
It is therefore not surprising that in the literature examples in which arylation reactions on oxindoles unsubstituted in the 3 position are described, strong bases such as sodium hydride are used. The fact that also for oxindoles which carry a substituent in the 3 position which reduces the acidity in non-aqueous solvents by several orders of magnitude, relatively weak bases such as caesium carbonate can be used for the deprotonation was to be expected by the person skilled in the art and was confirmed in Organic Letters (2010) 2306-2309.
However, it is surprising to the person skilled in the art that, according to the teaching of the invention, an arylation reaction on oxindoles unsubstituted in the 3 position (oxindoles which have two hydrogens in the 3 position) is possible, contrary to expectations, even with relatively weak bases such as potassium carbonate or sodium hydroxide in good yields.
In order to test the applicability of the conditions described in Organic Letters (2010) 2306 (Supplement page S-12 General Procedure) for the arylation of 3-aryloxindoles with electron-poor chlorobenzene derivatives and 5-halooxazoles (Table 4 in Organic Letters (2010) 2306) also when using chlorotriazines, 3-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one was reacted with 2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine in the presence of caesium carbonate in N,N-dimethylformamide (see Example 10). Since the reaction proceeded very rapidly even at room temperature, an elevated temperature and extended reaction time were dispensed with. The product present in the reaction mixture was purified by column chromatography. Structural elucidation by means of 2D-NMR demonstrates that the product obtained, however, is not the desired product arylated in the 3 position (3-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-3-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one), but the O-arylated product (2-[(4,6-dimethyoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)oxy]-3-phenyl-1H-indole).
Afterwards, again for comparison purposes, the conditions for the arylation described in Organic Letters (2010) 2306 (Supplement page S-12 General Procedure) were likewise applied while using chlorotriazines, and specifically for the arylation of an oxindole unsubstituted in the 3 position. For this purpose, 7-fluoro-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one was reacted with 2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine in the presence of caesium carbonate in N,N-dimethylformamide (Example 1 variant H). However, the title compound arylated in the 3 position with only 22% yield is obtained as reaction product. As main products, polyarylated products were obtained in the isolated solid and also in the concentrated mother liquor. It was also shown, by means of HPLC analysis, that the oxindole used as starting material had not completely fully reacted.
Consequently, the process described in Organic Letters (2010) 2306 (Supplement page S-12 General Procedure) is not suitable for producing 3-triazinyloxindoles on an industrial scale, at least when 2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine is used as arylating reagent. | {
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The present invention will be described with an example application for an Ethernet computer network peripheral device (i.e., a communications network peripheral device) which couples a host computer system to a network of computers (i.e., a communications network). In this example application, the communications network peripheral device issues an interrupt to the host system when the communications network peripheral device has received an information frame, from the communications network, which requires processing by the host system. However, from this example application, it should be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art of electronic systems design that the present invention may be practiced for other computer peripheral devices that issue interrupts to the host system.
Referring to FIG. 1, a communications network peripheral device 102 (which may be an Ethernet computer network peripheral device) allows a host computer system 104 to communicate with other computers within a communications network 106 which is comprised of a network of computers. Such a peripheral device 102 receives and transmits information frames on the communications network 106. If the peripheral device 102 is an Ethernet computer network peripheral device, the peripheral device 102 receives and transmits information frames via the communications network 106 in accordance with standard data communications protocols such as the IEEE 802.3 network standard or the DIX Ethernet standard, as is commonly known to one of ordinary skill in the art of Ethernet computer network peripheral device design.
The host system 104 may be a PC or a workstation and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 108. The CPU 108 further processes an information frame from the communications network 106. Referring to FIG. 2, a time line 200 shows an example timing of events when an interrupt is issued by the peripheral device 102 to the CPU 108 of the host system 104.
When the peripheral device 102 receives an information frame from the communications network 106, the peripheral device 102 issues an interrupt to the CPU 108 at time point t.sub.1 to indicate to the CPU 108 that an information frame needs processing by the CPU 108. The CPU 108 is typically in the midst of performing other tasks when such an interrupt is issued, and such other tasks are broadly referred to as the foreground task. Referring to FIG. 2, the CPU 108 is performing a foreground task during time period 202 before the interrupt is issued to the CPU 108 at time point t.sub.1. At this time point t.sub.1, the interrupt bit 204 goes high.
Upon receiving the interrupt at time point t.sub.1, an in-context switching time 206 is spent by the CPU 108 from time point t.sub.1, to time point t.sub.2. During the in-context switching time 206, the CPU 108 transitions from the first foreground task period 202 into an interrupt service routine 208. During the interrupt service routine 208 which is between time point t.sub.2 and time point t.sub.3, the CPU 108 services the interrupt generated by the peripheral device 102. For example, an information frame received by the peripheral device 102 may be processed by the CPU 108. In addition, the interrupt bit 204 is set low after the CPU 108 starts responding to this high-interrupt bit by entering the interrupt service routine 208.
During the in-context switching time 206, the CPU 108 saves any data that will be useful for returning to any foreground tasks after the interrupt service routine 208. The time duration of the in-context switching time 206 is dependent on the type of the CPU 108 and the type of other resources of the host system 104 such as the type of operating system and the type of memory within host system 104.
After the interrupt service routine 208, an out-context switching time 210 is spent by the CPU 108 from time point t.sub.3 to time point t.sub.4. During the out-context switching time 210, the CPU 108 transitions out of the interrupt service routine 208 back to the foreground task 202 at time point t.sub.4. The time duration of the out-context switching time 210 is dependent on the type of the CPU 108 and the type of other resources of the host system 104 such as the type of operating system and the type of memory within host system 104.
Referring to FIG. 3 (with same reference numbers for similar type of time periods of FIG. 2), the interrupt service routine 208 of FIG. 2 is hereinafter designated as a prior interrupt service routine 208 for servicing a prior interrupt 204. A subsequent interrupt 304 may be generated shortly after the prior interrupt service routine 208 during the out-context switching time 210. In that case, the CPU 108 responds to this subsequent interrupt 304 at time point t.sub.4, at the end of the out-context switching time. Then, the CPU 108 enters a subsequent in-context switching time 306 to enter into a subsequent interrupt service routine 308. The signal for the subsequent interrupt 304 turns back low after the CPU starts responding to the subsequent interrupt 304 by entering the subsequent interrupt service routine 308. At the end of the subsequent interrupt service routine 308, a subsequent out-context switching time 310 is spent by the CPU 108 from time point t.sub.6 to time point t.sub.7. During the subsequent out-context switching time 310, the CPU 108 transitions out of the subsequent interrupt service routine 308 back to the foreground task 202 at time point t.sub.7.
Similarly, referring to FIG. 4 (with same reference numbers for similar type of time periods of FIG. 3), the subsequent interrupt 304 may be generated at time point t.sub.4 after the CPU 108 has returned to the foreground task 202. The subsequent interrupt 304 is still generated shortly after the prior out-context switching time 210. Similarly in this case, the CPU 108 enters the subsequent in-context switching time 306 to transition into the subsequent interrupt service routine 308.
In either the case of FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the subsequent interrupt occurs shortly after the prior interrupt service routine 208. Such situations are likely when a peripheral device asserts a burst of interrupts that are generated closely in time. In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the CPU 108 is operating in an interrupt mode and switches contexts between servicing an interrupt and performing a foreground task. In the interrupt mode, the host system 104 incurs overhead usage of the CPU 108 for any in-context switching time and any out-context switching time. This overhead usage of the CPU 108 may be better spent by the CPU 108 for performing foreground tasks. Thus, a mechanism for reducing this overhead usage of the CPU 108 for in-context switching time and out-context switching time is desired. | {
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Secure transfer of information over a network has been a vital concern since the inception of networked computing. The problem of transferring confidential information from one point to another across an untrusted network has been a fundamental problem of disturbed computing. Various schemes, most involving encryption of some sort have been devised to circumvent this problem. Typically, data to be securely transmitted between one computer and a remote computer is encrypted before transmission to the remote computer using an encryption algorithm, such as public key encryption. Additionally, it is common for a message authentication code to be generated for the data so that a remote computer can confirm the data received and unencrypted is correct.
However, while the data might be secure during the actual transmission of the data between the two computers, any software-to-software solution has a fundamental weakness; the human-to-computer interface. Regardless of how secure the endpoint or remote computer is; regardless of the strength of the encryption algorithm; the sensitive information must somehow be transferred on to the computer before it can be transported across the network.
This weakness can be exploited by looking for sensitive information when a user types the sensitive information into an application, such as when a user fills out a form on a web page while using a web browser. Viral programs can monitor keyboard inputs made to a web browser or other application, attempting to collect sensitive information like a user's credit card number and related information.
Additionally, viral programs can also monitor data passed out of applications that the viral program suspects may contain sensitive information. For example, even if a viral program does not collect information a user inputs into an application, for example the user's sensitive information is gathered by the application itself, the viral program can collect information at it is passed out of the application. If the application is a web browser, the viral program could collect http requests made by the web browser, before the data is encrypted in the hopes of obtaining sensitive information belonging to the user, such as his or her credit card number and related information. | {
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Block copolymers are well-known items of commerce. Specifically, cationic polymerization of isobutylene is well-known and the use of various polyisocyanates in the formation of block copolymers has been described. Thus, Bauer et al. (Can. J. Chem., 48, 1251 (1970); J. Polym. Sci., A-1, 9, 1451 (1971)) describe cationic polymerization of isobutylene using alkyl-substituted phenols as chain-transfer agents. U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,593 discloses formation of graft copolymers by vinyl polymerization of an acrylate in the presence of various thiols, alcohols and amines as chain-transfer agents followed by reaction with a diisocyanate. Vinyl monomers are then polymerized in a solution of the isocyanate-terminated copolymers which are coupled to the polyolefin. Rahman et al. (J. Macromol. Sci.-Chem., A13(7), pp. 953-969 (1979)) describe block copolymers containing hydrophilic and hydrophobic sequences formed by reacting hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene with an isocyanate-terminated polyethylene oxide.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,406 a mixture of hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials (e.g., polybutylene polyols) is admixed with a cross-linking agent and a diisocyanate followed by curing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,915 describes polymers formed from phenols and monomeric hydrocarbons which can be modified with diisocyanates and hydroxy polyethers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,382 describes anionic polymerization of olefins containing cyano, ester, nitro or amine groups followed by reaction with a polyisocyanate and subsequently with polyethers, polyamides etc. to form various block copolymers. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,768 graft copolymers are formed having various backbone segments linked to anionically-polymerized side chains which are said to include isobutylene (col. 9, line). Various linkages are formed by the use of isocyanates.
Numerous polyurethane block copolymers containing both hydrophobic and polyoxyalkylene blocks have also been described, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,772 (col. 2, lines 11-23; col. 3, lines 11-15 and 38; and col. 6, line 16); U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,163 (col. 8, lines 25 and 28; col. 9, line 37; and col. 10, lines 75-col. 11, line 2); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,743 (cols. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and especially col. 6 lines 46-68 and col. 7, line 19).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,373 describes phenol-terminated polymers which are reaction products of various unsaturated petroleum resins with phenols. The phenol-modified resins are further reacted with polyepoxides. U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,473 describes phenol-blocked isocyanate prepolymers and polyurethanes prepared therefrom.
While the above patents and journal articles generally use various agents to couple the copolymer blocks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,359 relates to a process for producing olefin-polyalkylene oxide graft copolymers which are directly joined. U.S. Pat. No. 3,376,361 describes block copolymers containing oxymethylene groups along with co-monomers such as isobutylene.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,434 describes low temperature copolymerization of isobutylene and styrene in the presence of alkyl phenols. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,144 phenolic antioxidants are prepared by admixing a dialkyl phenol, a vinylic monomer (e.g., isobutylene), a Friedel Crafts or Lewis acid type catalyst, and an aprotic solvent; polymerizing the monomer at a temperature below 0.degree. C. and stopping the reaction when the polymer has attained a molecular weight of 1000 to 5000. | {
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This invention relates to apparatus and methods for controlled delivery of cryogenic liquid, such as liquid nitrogen.
In various applications, it is important to deliver a metered amount of cryogenic liquid. For example, thin-wall containers, such as plastic, aluminum or steel beverage cans, can be used for non-carbonated beverages by adding a metered amount of inert cryogenic liquid immediately before capping the can. When vaporized, the inert cryogen increases internal can pressure which strengthens it, helping the can resist collapse, for example, when stacked for storage or for transport.
Controlled delivery is very important in such applications. Too little cryogen will not provide adequate pressure (strength), and the can may fail to withstand forces encountered in stacking and shipping. Too much nitrogen can create excessive internal can pressure, deforming the can and possibly exploding it.
The ability to meter cryogenic liquids is complicated by ambient water vapor which condenses and freezes on surfaces of the delivery apparatus, clogging it and contaminating the containers by dripping into them. In the environment of a production line, there may be extreme temperature and humidity conditions which exacerbate these problems. For example, an automated beverage can assembly line may involve injection of hot, recently pasteurized beverage into the can at a station adjacent to the apparatus for delivering liquid nitrogen. Large amounts of frost can build up on the delivery apparatus.
Another obstacle to metering the flow of liquid cryogen is the tendency of the cryogen to vaporize in delivery conduits, particularly when undergoing a pressure drop, e.g. at an outlet where liquid cryogen is supplied under pressure. Because of the large difference in liquid and vapor density, even a small amount of vaporization dramatically alters the volume ratio of liquid/vapor, thereby altering the rate of cryogen delivered over time.
The ability to meter cryogenic liquids is further complicated by splashing of the cryogen as the can moves along the assembly line rapidly, through sharp turns.
When the cryogen used is liquid nitrogen, which boils slightly below the boiling point of oxygen, another problem is oxygen condensation at the site of the cryogen, which can enrich the oxygen present in packaged food, having a detrimental effect on the food. The further the open container travels with liquid cryogen in it, the more serious this problem becomes, and cryogen delivery apparatus often is too bulky to be placed immediately adjacent the site where the cap is installed. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer networks, data accessing and processing systems. More specifically the present invention relates to a system of computers linked into a neural network which continuously scans and gathers information from, understands, and interacts with, an environment. The system further consolidates its resources to automatically optimize certain parameters in real time, such as to minimize cost, to shunt functions from computers within the network operating at or near capacity and thus having smaller buffers to other computers having larger buffers to maximize efficiency, and to continuously test and optimize selections offered to a human user. This inventive system has applications in securities trading, in telecommunications call routing and in billing.
The system generally includes a hierarchy of individual computers interlinked to form a single unit known as a hive, some of which are dedicated to performing certain tasks while others provide processing power and still others at the peak of the command hierarchy synchronize and delegate tasks among the various interlinked computers with continuous automatic reevaluation and redirection in real time. The real time interlinking of the computers making up the hive permits execution of strategies pre-set by the user and also permits user updating and changing of the strategies as new information becomes available. The intelligent components of the parent or command computers, which are intelligent data warehouses, interrelate. The synergistic interlinking of these several computers multiplies processing power to a level many times greater than that of a single computer running a particular program, such as an investment program for on-line trading. This system is accessible either through terminals within a business such as a utility or through the internet by subscribers such as through a brokerage house.
Where the system is applied to investing, the computer hive includes individual computers which supply a continuous, real time feed from the stock exchange floor, other individual computers which perform what is known as data mining, gathering information from numerous sources about particular companies whose stock is publicly traded, and still others which process this disorganized and voluminous raw data into rapidly comprehensible indicia for human monitoring and evaluation. Other individual computers may be included which provide live interaction with a broker employed by the brokerage house who provides general advice and legally necessary authorization to the user for trades for a pre-established length of time within pre-agreed cost variation parameters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have for some time been individual computers loaded with programs for executing stock trades while on-line and for routing telephone calls and generate billing for telephone and electrical utilities, which rely upon the processing power and data within the single computer. A problem with these single computer applications has been that more processing power and data access capability are needed, together with web and virtual world access.
What is further needed is a system which integrates data flow between production and management by permanently scanning the environment and converting the information into data mining, trending or statistical reports on system integrity. Such a system should provide improved resource logistics, real time data mining, trending and usage analysis.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a computer network system which continuously optimizes certain parameters, such as to achieve cost minimization.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a network system which is better than e-trading because it eliminates the fifteen second wait.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a network system which can provide on-line trading access and gather and process data about companies through a live virtual world server without need for costly software or for the ordinary live feed with a high subscription cost.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a network system which provides visual access to a trading house broker for advice and for required trading authorization to the user, the broker being denied information about commissions on individual stocks to prevent churning and thus make trading friendly to the small investor.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such a network system which incorporates old technology and converts it into common form, so that existing equipment is not wasted and the cost of updating is minimized.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a network system which provides such trading information and real time trading ability at a nominal cost to the end user, due to advertising revenues, and thus which makes available to everyone what has until now been available only to large companies. | {
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This invention relates to a device for unclogging air or pressure lines and more particularly to a device for unclogging the pneumatic pressure lines between a speedometer and its intake in the housing of a boat motor.
In the use of pneumatic pressure for the operation of many types of devices, such as pressure gauges for speedometers used a in power boats, or the like, the pneumatic pressure intake lines are exposed to an environment which contains particulate materials therein. And, it is common for the intake into the pneumatic pressure lines to become clogged. In many applications these intake openings, or ports, are difficult to get to in order to clean or remove the particulate materials plugging the opening. Particularly, in the operation pressure activated speedometers for a power boat, the pneumatic pressure speedometer is in flow communication via a flexible tubing with the intake, the intake into the pneumatic air line being disposed in a direction counter to the flow of water which creates the pressure within the pneumatic line. In rivers, lakes, and the like, it is common for the water to have floating particulate materials therein to clog the pneumatic pressure intakes and lines and therefore prevent operation of the speedometer. In many instances, when the pneumatic pressure line intake is in an outboard motor housing, it requires removing the boat from the water to unclog the line, which is relatively time consuming and costly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for unclogging air lines.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for unclogging pneumatic pressure lines and intakes for the speedometer for power boats.
More particularly, the present invention is directed to a device which includes a pressurized air source in flow communication with a three-port valve wherein two of the ports in the valve are connectable to the tubes connecting a fluid intake opening and a pressure gauge. One port in the valve is connectable to a tube which connects to the pressure gauge and another port is connectable to a tube in flow communication with the intake opening into a pneumatic line. The third port is in flow communication with a pressurized air source. Thus, when the pressurized air source is activated, the position of the valve is positioned so that the air flows through the three-port valve in the direction of the intake opening and when the pressurized air source is in an off or deactivated condition, the three-port valve is positioned so that the intake opening is in flow communication with the pressure gauge (speedometer). | {
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Headphone systems are used in numerous environments and for various purposes, examples of which include entertainment purposes such as gaming or listening to music, productive purposes such as phone calls, and professional purposes such as aviation communications or sound studio monitoring, to name a few. Different environments and purposes may have different requirements for fidelity, noise isolation, noise reduction, voice pick-up, and the like. Some environments require accurate communication despite high background noise, such as environments involving industrial equipment, aviation operations, and sporting events. Some applications exhibit increased performance when a user's voice is more clearly separated, or isolated, from other noises, such as voice communications and voice recognition, including voice recognition for communications, e.g., speech-to-text for short message service (SMS), i.e., texting, or virtual personal assistant (VPA) applications.
Accordingly, in some environments and in some applications it may be desirable for enhanced capture or pick-up of a user's voice from among other acoustic sources in the vicinity of a headphone or headset, to reduce signal components that are not due to the user's voice. | {
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An alkoxybenzene compound and an aryloxybenzene compound are very useful industrially, and, for example, 4-alkoxy-2,5-diacylphenols and 4-aryloxy-2,5-diacylaminophenols recently are attracting attention as a cyan coupler in the field of photographic chemistry [see JP-A ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application) Nos. 35731/1985 and 49336/1985 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,813].
The alkoxybenzene compound and aryloxybenzene compound having a substituted amino group at the ortho position are quite important intermediates for the synthesis of many industrially useful compounds, such as photographic color mixing inhibitors (e.g., JP-A No. 81341/1988), chelate dyes (J. Org. Chem., 47, 2607 (1982)), and antibacterial agents (J. Med. Chem., 28 24 (1985)).
Also, a variety of applications of the alkoxybenzene compound and the aryloxybenzene compound includes use as a synthesis intermediate from which dyes and physiologically active compounds (e.g., pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals) can be derived.
A typical conventional process of synthetically producing these alkoxybenzene compounds and aryloxybenzene compounds is the one represented by the following scheme 1. ##STR1##
In the above scheme, R.sub.11 represents a group that is capable of being substituted onto a benzene ring, R.sub.12 represents an acyl group or the like, R.sub.13 represents an alkyl group or an aryl group, and n is an integer of 0 to 4.
That is, generally, the alkoxybenzene compound or the aryloxybenzene compounds represented by formula (X) are produced by using, as a starting raw material, a phenol compound (III), introducing a nitrogen atom to the ortho position of the phenol by nitration or diazo-coupling, and then carrying out alkylation or amidenation.
In the process of the scheme 1, aniline compound represented by formula (VI) or (VIII) is readily oxidized and colored intensively and thus low in purity in many cases. Under nitration conditions in the process from (III) to (IV), quinone is produced, in many cases, by the oxidation reaction (for example, when a halogen atom or alkoxyl group is present on the benzene ring: see J. Chem. Soc., 1963, 3028; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 71, 3953 (1949); and J. Org. Chem., 4, 555 (1939)). Further, in the synthesis of (VII) from (III) by diazo-coupling, the productivity is low in many cases, since a large amount of solvent is required.
Further, it is quite difficult to convert from (III) to (IV) and from (III) to (VII) selectively with respect to the position. | {
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The invention relates to ignition arrangements for internal combustion engines of the type which operate contact-free, i.e., without the use of mechanical synchronizing switches.
More particularly, the invention relates to ignition arrangements comprised of an electrical fuel-igniting element, such as a spark plug or other equivalent component, connected across the secondary winding of an ignition transformer, with the flow of current through the primary winding of the ignition transformer being alternately permitted to build up and then interrupted, in order to induce voltage surges across the transformer secondary and cause the fuel-ignition element to ignite the combustion mixture in the engine cylinder.
It is known to provide an ignition system of this kind wherein the synchronization of the ignition moment with crankshaft rotation is accomplished by resorting to mechanical switches which are opened and closed in synchronism with crankshaft rotation.
It is also known to provide such systems but without mechanical synchronizing switches, making use instead of inductive means for generating synchronizing signals.
It is known, for example, to make use of an A.C. generator which generates an A.C. voltage waveform. When the generated synchronizing voltage reaches a predetermined level, for instance zero, current flow through the primary of the ignition transformer is interrupted, to create the ignition spark. When the generated synchronizing voltage reaches another value, or else reaches zero again at the end of the same voltage half-cycle, the flow of current through the primary winding is re-established. In theory, therefore, both the times of current establishment and current interruption are crankshaft-synchronized. In practice, however, such synchronizing A.C. voltage generators exhibit speed-dependent performance variations which prevent this mode of operation from actually being achieved. In particular, as a result of rotor reactive effects, eddy current generation and the drawing of load current from the output winding of the synchronizing generator by the control circuitry connected thereto, the zero passage of the generated waveform becomes shifted in such a manner that the duration of 1 voltage half-cycle becomes greater than that of the other voltage half-cycle, and this difference in duration increases with increasing engine speed. As a result, control circuitry synchronized with such a synchronizing A.C. voltage generator, and operative for the purpose mentioned above, will permit current flow through the primary winding of the ignition transformer for a time period, per ignition cycle, which is shorter than the time period during which no current flows through the primary winding. Moreover, with increasing engine speed, the ratio of the conduction time of the primary winding to the non-conduction time of the primary winding decreases with increasing engine speed. As a result, at high engine speeds, the build-up of current flow in the primary winding of the ignition transformer does not proceed to an extent sufficient to produce a satisfactory ignition voltage when the flow of primary winding current is subsequently interrupted.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 15 39 178 describes an ignition system dependent upon engine speed. In that system, current flow is established in the primary winding of the ignition transformer shortly prior to the ignition moment, and in an engine-speed-dependent manner, and the current is then interrupted at the ignition moment to induce the ignition voltage surge. This prior-art construction makes use of a specially configurated rotor adapted to produce a special output voltage waveshape. The disadvantage of this known construction lies in the fact that the rotor is of relatively complicated form and is accordingly rather expensive to produce. Likewise, the remainder of this prior-art system cannot be used unless a rotor having this special configuration is available. A still further disadvantage of this prior-art system is that the slope of the synchronizing voltage waveform at the region of the zero passage is quite small, the voltage waveform changing only slowly in this region. As a result, there is a substantial region centered about the voltage zero-passage where the voltage waveform has values not too different from each other. Consequently, the ignition can easily be triggered rather substantially in advance of or rather substantially after the synchronizing zero-passage of the synchronizing A.C. voltage waveform. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an alignment mark and alignment method using the same, and more particularly to marks and method for multi-layer alignment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic elements, such as MOS or capacitors, are fabricated using integrated circuit fabrication comprising deposition, photolithography, etching, diffusion, and ion implantation.
In general photolithography, a photoresist layer is coated on a wafer, and the wafer is exposed in an exposure system, and then developed to transfer the pattern from the mask to the photoresist layer. Photolithography may be repeated several times to overlay multi-layer interconnect structures.
In the overlay step, inaccuracy of alignment must be controlled within an allowable range. For example, each exclusive mask used on a corresponding layer forms a predetermined pattern, in which a target formed in each mask enables alignment of a current layer with a previous layer.
Overlay error occurs easily during alignment and exposure because the mask on the wafer in the exposure system is not stable or temperature is not controlled.
FIGS. 1a to 1c are cross-sections of the conventional method for multi-layer alignment.
In FIG. 1a, a semiconductor substrate, such as wafer 10, is provided. A metal layer is formed on a chip of the wafer 10. A photoresist layer is formed on the metal layer. A first mask 11 having a pattern is exposed to form the pattern on the photoresist layer by a light source, and the photoresist layer is developed to form a pattern on the photoresist layer. The metal layer is etched to form a first metal wire layer 11a using the photoresist layer as a mask. The photoresist layer is removed. The first metal wire layer 11a matches the pattern of the first mask layer 11, wherein a pair of first marks 111 and 112 in the first metal wire layer 11a correspond to first marks 101 and 102 in the first mask layer 11.
FIG. 1b is a top view of multiple layers formed by the first mask, wherein the layers are the metal wire layers 11a. In FIG. 1b. first marks 101 and 102 are formed on the X and Y axes of the first mask layer 11 respectively. The first marks 101 and 102 align exactly with the alignment mark of the wafer to form the corresponding first marks 111 and 112 of the metal wire layer 11a.
FIG. 1c is a cross section of the wafer with multiple layers formed by the first mask 11 where photolithography is performed.
FIG. 1d is a top view of the multiple layers formed by the second mask, comprising metal wire layers 11a. FIG. 1e is a top view of the pattern formed by the second mask on the pattern formed by the first mask. FIG. 1f is a cross section of the wafer with multiple layers formed by the second mask where photolithography is performed.
In FIG. 1d, the second mask is exposed after the first mask 11. Second marks 121 and 122 are formed on the X and Y axes of the second mask 12 respectively. The second marks 121 and 122 enable a second metal wire layer 12a to correspondingly form on the first metal wire layer 11a.
After photolithography, the wafer is deformed by high temperature in oxidation or thermal process, and the alignment marks of the metal wire layer are also deformed. In FIG. 1g, the position of the first metal wire layer 11a varies from the second metal wire layer 12a because of the difference in the direction of deformation between the first metal wire layer 11a and the second metal wire layer 12a.
In FIG. 1h, the third metal wire layer 13a is formed on the second metal wire layer 12a and corresponds to the first metal wire layer 11a. The third mask, forming the third metal wire layer 13a, cannot align with the first metal wire layer 11a with the second metal wire layer 12a because the position of the alignment mark has changed.
In FIG. 1i, the third metal wire layer 13a is formed on the second metal wire layer 12a and corresponds to the second metal wire layer 12a but not the first wire layer 11a. The pattern is not transferred well if layers are not aligned precisely before exposure of the photoresist layer, making the chip unusable.
In ULSI fabrication, electronic element size is reduced during various steps, such that the quality of resolution and overlay accuracy of the conventional exposure process is sufficient. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to hollow reinforced concrete fence posts and a method and apparatus for making the same.
Fence posts have traditionally been made of wood or metal. Wooden fence posts are combustible and are also subject to rot. Wooden posts thus require painting and other periodic maintenance, which is costly and time consuming. Metal fence posts often bend in use and if made of iron as is usually the case, require periodic painting to prevent rust.
Fence posts have been made from concrete, but those available have been solid and thus quite heavy. Solid concrete posts are made by pouring concrete into a mold, and this method of manufacture is, of course, slow and costly.
It is thus the primary object of the present invention to provide a fence post that does not rot, rust or burn, that is strong and durable and requires a minimum of maintenance.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a concrete fence post that is hollow, wire reinforced, light in weight, strong and durable.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a wire reinforced hollow core concrete fence post that can be quickly and inexpensively manufactured.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for making such fence posts. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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According to the World Health Organization, mortality due to cancer is expected to increase from 7.6 million in 2008 to 12 million deaths in 2030 (1). To address this growing problem, two emerging paradigms that are driving the evolution of newer treatment strategies are: (i) better understanding of oncogenic drivers, leading to the development of molecularly ‘targeted’ therapeutics (2-3); and, (ii) the use of nanotechnology to deliver drugs specifically to the tumor, thereby improving therapeutic index (4-5). However the interface between these two paradigms, which can offer unique opportunities for improving cancer chemotherapy, currently remains largely underexplored. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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When it is attempted to improve productivity by increasing a total fineness of a carbon fiber bundle for the purpose of reducing production cost of a carbon fiber, there are many problems in terms of practical use and production technology and the cost was not reduced sufficiently.
In order to solve these problems, Patent Document 1 has proposed the technology in which a scorch upon a flame proof treatment is reduced using a carbon-fiber-precursor fiber bundle having a high roundness and further a large single-fiber fineness and a carbon fiber bundle which contains few interlaced single fibers, has excellent spreadability and productivity despite of large total fineness is obtained.
Patent Document 2 has proposed a polymer which does not require the flame-proof treatment. Further, Patent Documents 3, 4 and 9 have proposed the technology to enhance oxygen permeability of the carbon-fiber precursor fiber to control an oxygen concentration in a flame-proof fiber evenly and enhance tensile strength and tensile elastic modulus of obtained carbon fiber by using a monomer having a bulky side chain as a copolymerizable component of a copolymer.
Further, Patent Document 5 has proposed the technology to reduce thermal storage inside the fiber bundle by progressing the flame-proof while heated air is penetrated inside the fiber bundle on a mesh-shaped roller for PAN-based carbon-fiber-precursor fiber bundles.
Patent Document 6 has proposed the technology in which by measuring an isothermal exothermic curve of the carbon-fiber-precursor fiber bundle using a heat flow type differential scanning calorimeter, a content of a carboxylic group-containing vinyl monomer is optimized, a cross-section double structure after the flame-proof treatment is reduced even when burning at high speed is performed, and the productivity and the elastic modulus of the carbon fiber bundle can be balanced. Patent Document 7 has proposed the technology to produce the carbon fiber bundle with high performance by copolymerizing acrylamide to obtain a highly hydrophilic polyacrylonitrile copolymer.
Stabilization of the fiber in each step is also very important for reducing the production cost of the carbon fiber. For example, gelation of a spinning neat solution in a spinning step sometimes leads to a step trouble, and it is required to enhance thermal stability of the spinning neat solution. In Patent Document 8, the thermal stability when the spinning neat solution is kept at high temperature of about 80° C. is exponentially enhanced by esterifying methacrylic acid that is an accelerating component of the flame-proof reaction of the polymer.
A technique using a prepreg obtained by impregnating a fiber for reinforcement with a matrix resin composed mainly of a thermosetting resin is available as one of methods of molding fiber-reinforced composite materials, and such a composite material is used for a wide range of uses from sport/leisure-related uses to uses for aircrafts. The fiber-reinforced composite material using an intermediate base material composed of the prepreg is formed by laminating the prepreg followed by heating or heating/pressurizing to cure the thermosetting resin that is the matrix resin.
The technique using the prepreg is more excellent in fiber strength utilization than VARTM method. When the molding in large size is formed, generally it is desirable that the matrix resin be high flow. The matrix resin with low flow causes an occurrence of voids. However, when the matrix resin is high flow, micro ondulation of the fiber occurs and mechanical physical property of the molding in large size is reduced. The mechanical physical property in the molding in large size largely depends on its thickness, and when the thickness of the molding is increased, compression strength is reduced. Patent Documents 10 and 11 have proposed to prevent the reduction of various physical properties by making the matrix resin low flow.
When the fiber-reinforced fabric is used as a fiber base material, a resin film in which a resin was applied onto a film is attached to the fiber-reinforced fabric to make a prepreg, which is laminated in several layers, and the layers are heated and pressurized in an autoclave formation. In that case, the entire fabric is impregnated sufficiently with the resin and a good molding is obtained. The impregnation with the resin is also very good regardless of structure and fiber cross-sectional shape of the fiber-reinforced fabric. However, in RTM molding and vacuum bag formation, the resin is injected into the fiber base material, and thus, the resin having good fluidity and so-called a low viscosity resin is generally used as the resin. Thus, comparing with the conventional autoclave formation, the cost of forming the fiber base material having a larger weight per unit area is described to be advantageous, but the impregnation with the resin is largely influenced by the viscosity of the resin, the weight per unit area of the fiber fabric, inter-fiber voids, a single-fiber diameter, and the like, which was problematic.
Patent Document 12 has proposed the carbon fiber bundle having a ratio of a major axis and a minor axis (major axis/minor axis) of 1.05 to 1.6 in a fiber cross-section of a single-fiber in the carbon fiber bundles composed of a single-fiber of multiple carbon fibers as the carbon fiber bundle that simultaneously satisfies bundle integrity, the impregnation with the resin and cloth quality of obtained cloth and has the high strength.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2008-202207
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H01-132832
Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H02-84505
Patent Document 4: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2006-257580
Patent Document 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H02-6625
Patent Document 6: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2000-119341
Patent Document 7: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H04-281008
Patent Document 8: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2007-204880
Patent Document 9: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H02-84505
Patent Document 10: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H01-161040
Patent Document 11: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H02-169658
Patent Document 12: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2002-242027 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Owing to the development of wireless communication apparatuses, now we can install various kinds of application software in the wireless communication apparatuses depending on the individual demands, e.g., the communication software MSN, QQ, games, music playing software, map software, graphic processing applications, file processing applications and so on. Furthermore, as the kinds of applications become diversified, the number of applications installed in the wireless communication apparatuses also becomes increasingly greater. Therefore, to facilitate the users' operations, widgets of various applications are disposed on the desktop in many systems so that the applications can be operated directly through use of the widgets. For example, a music playing widget allows a user to directly view information and lyrics of a piece of music and perform controlling operations on the music being played. Widgets of different applications are different depending on their functions as well as occupied areas and aspect ratios, and even if the same kind of application desktop widgets may also be categorized into different types, which generally are the simple type (4*1), the complex type (4*4) and other types (e.g., 3*2). For example, the music playing widgets are categorized into the simple type and the complex type depending on the occupied areas. The simple type occupies a smaller desktop space so that more application plug-ins can be disposed on the desktop, but it comprises fewer functions (e.g., it can only be used for music playing control but cannot display the lyrics); and the complex type occupies a larger desktop space which makes the number of widgets that can be disposed on the desktop smaller, but it comprises more functions (e.g., it can display the music lyrics). Therefore, the widgets bring about great conveniences to the users, and the users often need to add widgets of applications or change the type of the widgets in the system.
However, the operations of adding a widget or change the type of a widget of an application are relatively complex. Specifically, the user firstly has to enter into a widget list of applications, and then select a corresponding widget from the widget list. Further, the user who wants to change the type of a widget of a certain application on the current desktop also needs to enter into the widget list and to select a different type before deleting the original widget. This way of adding a widget is relatively complex and inefficient. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a method for constructing a tunnel in a formation under hydraulic pressure, in which method an underground gallery is driven by mechanical rock excavation, the excavated rock is removed and the gallery is sealed against the hydraulic pressure.
Hydraulic pressures, especially high hydraulic pressures approaching about 130.times.10.sup.5 Pa, as are expected to exist at the level of the planned Gotthard base tunnel in the Piora Syncline, for example, represent major problems for tunnel construction. This is further exacerbated when the formation, as in the cited example, is difficult to compact and has poor stability. Hydraulic pressure represents an enormous threat to miners, since in the worst case an inrush of water can very rapidly inundate the gallery. Lowering the hydraulic pressure to alleviate this danger may be extremely difficult, depending on the permeability of the problem formation zone, and it represents an enormous disturbance of the natural hydraulic equilibrium of the formation, with unforeseeable results. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to cleaning devices, and more particularly, to an autonomous surface cleaning robot. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for splicing or connecting the two free ends of electrical cables or the like. More specifically, the present invention offers a means to connect the spliced ends of a cable and to assure a sufficiently good and continuous contact to provide uninterrupted electrical service. The present invention provides a connector housing into which the free ends of the cable are threadably fastened. The present invention provides three alternate means for connecting the spliced cable end together. All three designs offer an outer connection housing within which a conductive camming or crimping element is located to facilitate connection of the cable ends.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is specifically designed to incorporate both a simple and useful connection means to mechanically and electrically splice the free ends of cable conductors together. Though a new and unique method is presented herein, the concept of providing cable connectors is a well-founded art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,806 issued to Francis A. May on Sept. 14, 1978 discloses a cable splicing or connection means for joining the free ends of a flexible conducting cable. The free cable ends are affixed via a deformable metallic annular element and then surrounded by an insulating material. The entire arrangement is encapsulated in a flexible metallic sleeve to protect the connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,058,929 issued to E. R. Vietzen on Dec. 8, 1936 discloses a cable splice connector that is substantially an annular member juxtaposed between the ends of an electrical cable. The annular region is fixed in place by a tape wrapping around both the device and the exposed wire ends.
Though these methods of connecting a electrical cables together are functional, they do not offer the versatibilty nor the functionality of the present invention. There exist a number of deficiencies in the art of connecting the ends of electrical cables together. Primarily, there is a need for an apparatus that can be quickly and readily installed.
As indicated by the prior art, the primary methods for splicing cable together require that the individual compress members together to assure a fixed connection. Also, the individual may need to tape the connected wires to one another to assure an insulated connection that will not be conducive to hazard. These methods are time comsuming. It would be far better if the protective sheath were able both to reduce the possibility of electrical hazard and to provide a reliable connection of the ends of spliced cable.
A further concern in this area is the provision of a flexible housing that can be wound onto a spool. This is a particular concern in the mining industry where cables and wires are laid, wound, and laid again. The major concern is that the connective element be non-abrading. Such a connection prevents the inadvertent cutting of cable that comes into contact with the splice element.
The present invention offers a non-conductive housing wherein a conductive element is placed to connect the free ends of the cables. The housing can be sealed by screwing an end cap in place, thereby providing a reliable connection. The sealed housing prevents the weathering of the wires and corrodible elements within it. Additionally, the present invention offers a means to assure that there will be a complete and lasting connection of the ends of spliced wire. The housing may be composed of a flexible substance, thereby providing a suitable means to connect wire that must be wound onto a spool.
The present invention offers a simple and effective means for joining the spliced ends of a cable in a safe and efficient manner. Moreover, due to the relative simplicity of the present invention, the cable connector can be installed rapidly yet maintain the effectiveness of the connection. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Watering of potted plants has long been an inconvenient task for commercial and at home users. Plants with dense foliage or blossoms are generally watered from the top, using a spray nozzle or a watering bucket. As some potted plants are hung from at an elevated height, the effort required to fully water the plants is even more challenging. Most of the water sprayed onto the plants runs down the dense foliage and end up on the floor. In order to direct most of the water into the soil of each potted plant, the user must push aside the dense foliage, locate the pot and pour water directly into the top soil. Water has to be applied relatively slowly in order to allow for absorption. As users of potted plants, in general, have more than one potted plant, the user is required to replenish the water of multiple potted plants at various points in time. This can often be quite laborious and time consuming. Users often forget the correct times to water certain potted plants, causing the plant to become dehydrated and die or not present well. There is a need in the industry for a viable method of controlling the water within the potted plant and provide a means of maintaining water within the soil so as to decrease the number of times the plant is manually watered. Additionally, there is a need within the industry for potted plant system that maintains water saturation of the soil at an optimum levels thereby providing maximum growth and plant development.
Various attempts have been made to alleviate the inconvenience associated with watering of potted plants. Devices such as: U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,179 (Johnson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,081 (Morrow); and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,193 (Otake), provide such examples of potted plant systems.
Johnson discloses a pot for plants primarily used for a hanging pot. The purpose of the Johnson is to provide for an aesthetically pleasing hanging pot. Johnson attempts to provide an aesthetically pleasing pot by providing numerous openings throughout the pot which are subsequently penetrated by stems and branches of the plant. As such, stems or main branches of the plant protrude through the openings and effectively conceal the pot. The pot described in Johnson contains walls with drainage openings that allow water to flow into the drainage tray. Johnson does not provide a mechanism of storing excess water that is subsequently used to maintain water saturation within the soil of the hanging potted plant. Additionally, the pot described in Johnson does not provide a mechanism for draining the excess liquid from the hanging potted plant.
Morrow discloses an improved plant and flower container of the hanging type comprising a pot having a removable false bottom to provide a compartment for collecting and storing excess water for subsequent absorption by the plant. Additionally, the pot disclosed by Morrow provides a method of providing a hanging means that is centrally located through the middle of the pot. Morrow does not provide a mean of draining excess water, thereby allowing the squelching the pot and essentially the drowning of the plant. Additionally, Morrow does not provide a means of transporting excess water, which is pooling at the base of the pot up to the middle of the soil, thereby ensuring most of the roots of the plant have access to the water. Morrow's pot allows for reabsorption through simple apertures at the bottom of the pot. Depending on the water level in the excess water collection dish, the apertures may provide a means of water reabsorption into the bottom of the soil. Furthermore, Morrow's hanging pot does not provide a means for expelling excess water. The user of Morrow's pot is required to unhang the pot and drain the excess water manually.
Otake discloses a horticultural pot that is constructed of multiple highly absorbent layers which provide increased water retention. The multiple layers of the Otake pot are comprised of a super-absorbent-polymer-powder layer and a peat-moss-powder lawyer, which are interposed between an inner wall material constituted by a jute layer. The material provides a natural material, rich in air permeability, easily compatible with the roots of plants to enter. The pot disclosed in Otake does not provide a means of controlling excess water nor does it provide a means of draining excess water.
As such, there is a need for a potted plant system that can overcome the drawbacks as described above. Indeed, there is a need for a potted plant system that provides a means to control excess water in a manner that allows the water to be reabsorbed by the soil within the pot thereby increasing the time between watering. There is also a need for a potted plant system that provides a quick and efficient means for expelling excess water. | {
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The present invention relates generally to a method and system for inductively heating a workpiece, and more specifically to a method and system for inductively heating a workpiece by a plurality of coiled tubing assemblies.
There are many different approaches in heating a “workpiece” (the material to be heated), and the selected approach depends on many considerations, such as the purpose for the heating, size and specifications of the workpiece, power requirements, and time limitations for the heating process. A few commonly known methods for heating a workpiece include the use of electrical resistance, combustion, and induction. The electrical resistance method generally involves the creation of heat by the flow of electric current through a conductor or element of high resistance. A disadvantage of this method is that it is usually limited to heating smaller workpieces or localized areas on larger workpieces due to the large power requirement and lengthy time to wrap wire and heating elements around the workpiece. Another disadvantage is the fact that the conductor itself becomes very hot, thereby increasing the potential for injury during operation. The combustion method generally involves the creation of heat by the exothermic reaction between a fuel and an oxidant. A disadvantage of this method is that it is usually limited to large workpieces that do not need finite temperature control and heat placement. The induction technique creates heat by applying an induced magnetic field around the workpiece that creates resistance (and heat) in the workpiece. There are many advantages of induction heating over other traditional heating techniques, such as quick heating of the workpiece, heating without direct contact between the coil and the workpiece, narrowly focused heat application, consistent and improved heating results, and efficient power consumption.
In general, the basic principles of induction and the techniques for heating a workpiece through an induction method are well known. It is presently thought that the induction technique heats the workpiece by the result of hysteresis and eddy current losses in the workpiece. Thus, magnetic workpieces are easier to heat than non-magnetic workpieces. The induced magnetic field is created by wrapping a coil around the workpiece and supplying a high frequency alternating current by a remote power source to the coil to create an alternating magnetic field around the workpiece. The frequency of the requisite alternating current depends on the workpiece's size, material type, and coupling (interaction between the workpiece and the coil), and the desired penetration depth of the created heat in the workpiece. The coil is typically made of copper tubing (or another material with good conductivity) and is cooled with a fluid such as water. The diameter, shape, and number of turns of the coil influence the efficiency and field pattern of the magnetic field.
Induction heating has a wide range of heating applications, such as surface hardening, melting, brazing, and soldering. In general, dedicated heating coils can be designed and manufactured for small and regularly shaped workpieces. For example, small rigid heating coils have been designed to heat small components in the automobile industry or small pipes in the steel fabrication industry. As the workpiece is increased in size and/or irregularity in its shape, the design and manufacture of an effective heating coil to produce the required temperature and/or heating profile in the container becomes problematic.
Large metal containers are often used to hold a wide variety of toxic chemicals, such as mustard, lewisite, nerve agents, and various commercial chemicals. Once the chemical is removed from the container, the container still has traces of its previous contents that need to be removed. It is known in the industry that large, metal cylindrical containers that previously held toxic or contaminated chemicals can be decontaminated using induction heating with flexible coils, as shown in FIG. 1. Typically, multiple thermocouples are spot welded on a container in predefined locations for the subsequent monitoring of the container's temperature. A layer of thermal insulation is wrapped around the container to mitigate heat losses from the container as it is heated and to protect the heating coils. A long, flexible coiled tubing is then cylindrically wrapped around the shell face of the insulated container. Because the diameter, shape, and number of turns of the coil influence the efficiency and field pattern of the magnetic field, the flexible coil must be properly-positioned on the container to achieve the optimal magnetic field. A power source supplies an alternating current to the coil that creates resistance in the container as a result of the applied and changing magnetic field. The amount of heating in the container increases as the supplied power increases, and as a result, the supplied power can be adjusted to heat the container to the desired temperature and/or heating profile.
Although this method of “flexible coil” induction heating has been used in industry, it suffers from numerous and significant disadvantages. One primary disadvantage is that installation of the flexible coil around the container is not only time and labor intensive but is prone to inconsistencies. Each wrap of the flexible coil must be operatively positioned next to the adjacent wrap to create an effective magnetic field. This positioning includes not only the distance between each wrap of coiled tubing, but the pitch (or angle) and tightness of the flexible coil around the container. It is a long and laborious process to individually wrap and position the flexible coil around the container, and the placement and effectiveness of the flexible coil often varies significantly between each container as a result of inconsistencies and installation error. The inconsistent spacing between adjacent coil wraps is illustrated in FIG. 1. Another common problem is that there is no good way to heat the ends of the container with the use of the traditional flexible coil method. In the case of a cylindrical container, the flexible coil can (with enough time and labor) be wrapped around the shell face of the container, but it is very difficult to wrap the end faces of the cylindrical container with flexible coils, and much more difficult to wrap the end face with any type of precision and consistency. Usually, the end faces are not even wrapped. The unwrapped end faces further provides for inconsistent and ineffective heating results of the container, and as a result, the container cannot be efficiently and/or effectively decontaminated.
What is needed is a system and method for inductively heating a workpiece that will significantly reduce coil installation time, provide a more efficient design for power and heating time limitations, provide efficient heating to all desired portions of the workpiece, and provide a more standardized coil spacing for repetitive heating and temperature uniformity in the workpiece. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in golf clubs and more particularly, to a putter golf club which can be adjusted and perfectly balanced such that a user can always swing the golf club in a path where a striking face on the head of the golf club is precisely perpendicular to the golf ball.
2. Brief Description of Related Art.
It is well known that in the game of golf, after striking a golf ball with a golf club and causing movement onto a putting green, the player must strike the ball with a “putter” golf club to move the same to a hole in the golf course. Moreover, the player must move the golf ball with a minimum number of swings of the golf club to achieve a winning score.
This invention therefor relates to a golf club such as a putter golf club which allows for consistency and improved accuracy in a swinging movement. This is accomplished by providing a handle for grasping by the player in which the user's hands can be located on the club to insure that the player can always swing the golf club with substantially the same movement and thereby enable the golf balls to consistently follow a fairly constant trajectory.
Even though a player in a game of golf attempts to use a consistent swinging pattern to achieve movement of a golf ball toward a hole that player rarely is able to achieve that consistent swinging pattern. This is largely caused by the pronation and supination of the user's hands while holding the golf club. Each player is different from one another in that each have developed their own grasping patterns. This often results in differences among players in engaging a golf club by the hands of the player. Many players will grasp a golf club differently from day to day. Although the differences may be slight and even unobservable, they are sufficient to cause differences in ball movement. As a result, consistency in the swinging movement by even the same player is difficult to achieve.
It would be desirable to have each putter tailored to the practice of the user, but this would result in a very costly undertaking. In short, the game of golf is a deceptively simple appearing game and when one observes making of the shots, or observes players on a golf course, they often conclude that the moving of a ball across a putting green, and toward a golf course hole, for example, is simple to perform. In reality experienced players can testify that, the putting of a golf ball into a hole of a golf course can be far more difficult.
One of the problems arising in the achieving of a proper putting position is the fact that physical characteristics of the player often interfere and give rise to inaccurate putting shots. As a simple example, it is important to ensure that the striking face or so-called “face” of the golf club is properly arranged with respect to the ball and that the putter shaft is swung in a desired path to achieve the desired ball trajectory.
In addition to the actual physical movements which are observable, other factors which will exert an influence on stance, and even club holding patterns of a player, but which are not necessarily observable, will have a significant effect on the swinging movement of a golf putter. As a simple example, the tension which a player may have in his or her arms on one day may not be present on another day and hence, the holding and even swinging of the golf club can vary from day to day. As a result, the desirably constant and reproduceable swinging of a golf putter is not easily achievable.
It must be recognized that even a slight variance in the angle of the putter head with respect to a desired ball trajectory, can make a significant difference in an attempt to cause the golf ball to follow a particular desired trajectory. Again, as a simple example, if the face of the putter head is off by one half degree, the golf ball will be moved in a path where it may be 4 to 5 inches from the hole of the golf course in a short distance of 4 to 5 feet.
In substance, the real problem lies in the fact that with a standard putter club, the vast majority of people have great difficulty in reproducibly swinging a golf club. Admittedly, each party swings the club differently from one another since some people are taller, or fatter, or for any other reason hold the “putter club” differently. However, as pointed out above, even the same party has difficulty in constantly reproducing a swing.
The club of the present invention literally overcomes these problems when used properly. It allows the player to properly grasp the club and provide a swinging movement such that the club head will always be precisely perpendicular to a desired trajectory of ball movement. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Cutting tools for chip forming metal machining consist of a substrate body of cemented carbide, cermet, ceramics, steel or cubic boron nitride that is usually coated with a single-layered or multi-layered hard coating to improve cutting properties and wear resistance. The hard coating consists of polycrystalline mono-metallic or multi-metallic hard phases. Examples of mono-metallic hard phases are TiN, TiC, TiCN and Al2O3. Examples of multi-metallic hard phases are TiAlN and TiAlCN. The hard phase coating layers are deposited on the substrate by CVD or PVD methods.
Polycrystalline hard phase coatings deposited by CVD or PVD methods can be grown with strong preferential crystallographic orientation, also called fiber texture. In recent developments to improve cutting performance and wear resistance of coated cutting tools, CVD and PVD coatings have been grown with different preferential crystallographic orientations, i. e. fiber textures, each of which may yield favorable performance in different cutting operations due to the anisotropic properties of the coating materials. An example is the use of highly {0 0 1} textured α-Al2O3 coatings in turning operations with the crystallographic planes {0 0 1} preferentially oriented parallel to the substrate surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,767,320 discloses a hard coating deposited by CVD and comprising a layer of face-centered cubic (fcc) Ti1-xAlxN with 0.75<x<0.93 and a process for its production.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,257,841 discloses a hard coating deposited by CVD comprising a layer of TiN, TiCN or TiC deposited directly on the substrate surface, followed by an adhesion layer having a phase gradient and a subsequent layer of TiAlN. The TiAlN layer has a fiber texture with the crystallographic {2 0 0} planes preferentially oriented parallel to the substrate surface.
WO 2009/112116 discloses hard coatings of TiAlN, TiAlC or TiAlCN having a high content of Al and a face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal lattice and being deposited by CVD on top of a TiCN or Al2O3 layer. It is not disclosed whether the coatings have preferential crystallographic orientation. WO 2009/112117 discloses hard coatings comprising a layer of (Ti, Me)Al(C,N) with Me=Zr or Hf to increase the hardness of the layer. WO2009112115A1 teaches a body with a hard coating comprising an outer Al2O3 layer on top of a TiAlN, TiAlC or TiAlCN layer.
The most commonly used CVD coatings to increase the wear resistance of cutting tools are α-Al2O3 coatings and TiCN coatings deposited by moderate temperature CVD (MT-CVD).
Bartsch et al. have obtained TiC coatings with the crystallographic planes {1 1 1} preferentially oriented parallel to the substrate surface by the use of aromatic hydrocarbons as precursors at deposition temperatures ≥1000° C. These coatings provided superior wear resistance compared to TiC coatings with the crystallographic planes {1 0 0} preferentially oriented parallel to the substrate surface in turning of cast iron (K. Bartsch et al., Advances in Inorganic Films and Coatings (1995), 11-18).
For TiCN coatings it is known that good wear resistance, especially resistance against flank wear, can be achieved with coatings produced by the moderate temperature CVD (MT-CVD) process, as opposed to high temperature CVD (HT-CVD) processes. The MT-CVD process is run in a temperature range of 675-950° C., and makes use of nitrile compounds, most commonly acetonitrile, to yield so called MT-TiCN coatings with a columnar microstructure which is considered favorable for metal cutting. MT-TiCN coatings have been reported to have different crystallographic fiber textures.
Larsson and Ruppi (Thin Solid Films 402 (2002) 203-210) compare the metal cutting properties of untextured TiCN coatings deposited by high temperature CVD (HT-CVD) exhibiting a microstructure with equiaxed grains, and {211} textured MT-TiCN coatings with columnar structure. The MT-TiCN coating has a better chipping resistance, but lower resistance to crater wear than the HT-TiCN coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,111 discloses a multi-layer coating with an outer MT-TiCN layer having any one of {110}, {311}, {331} or {211} fiber texture.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,012,535 discloses MT-TiCN coatings obtained in the temperature range of 880-970° C. with the addition of a monocyclic hydrocarbon, e.g. benzene, to the gas phase yielding coatings with {221}, {331} or {110} fiber texture.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,051 discloses MT-TiCN coatings with a preferential crystallographic orientation with the crystallographic planes {1 1 2} preferentially oriented parallel to the substrate surface or with a deviation of less than 10 degrees from that, as determined by EBSD.
EP 2 604 720 A1 discloses a tool with a columnar fine grained MT-TiCN coating layer having an average grain width of 0.05 μm to 0.4 μm and a carbon content (C/(C+N)) of 0.50 to 0.65. The columnar MT-TiCN layer has a strong {211} fiber texture with considerable {311} fiber texture component, and it comprises twinned columnar grains.
Twin formation in TiCN CVD coatings is a well-known phenomenon. Using the coincidence site lattice (CSL) formalism, a twin can be described as Σ3 grain boundary, and high twin formation in TiCN CVD coatings correlates with a high relative length of Σ3 grain boundaries of the sum of grain boundaries of ΣN-type
EP 1 626 105 A1 discloses a TiCN layer of thickness between 3 μm and 20 μm having a high relative length of Σ3 grain boundaries as defined by the ratio of lattice points of Σ3 to ΣN with N=2n+1, 1≤n≤14 in the range of 60% to 80%, in contrast to ≤30% Σ3 grain boundaries found in conventional coatings.
EP 1 897 970 discloses a coated cutting tool comprising a columnar TiCN layer with a carbon content (C/(C+N)) of 0.7 to 0.9, and with an average grain size parallel to the surface (grain width) of 0.05 μm to 0.5 μm. The XRD peak ascribed to the {4 2 2} crystallographic plane has a half width of 0.40° to 0.60°, and is preferably the peak having the highest intensity.
WO 2012/126030 discloses a body with a multi-layer coating comprising an AlxTi1-xN layer deposited on a TiCN layer with elongate crystals. The majority of the AlxTi1-xN layer has the cubic crystal structure, however, it comprises up to 30 mole-% of hexagonal phase AlN. The coating system is described to show enhanced wear resistance compared to PVD AlxTi1-xN coatings.
Generally, for milling of cast iron and steel the use of CVD coated cemented carbide grades is preferred over PVD coated grades, especially for applications using high cutting speeds.
Typical CVD coated milling tools have a multi-layer coating comprising a thin TiN adhesion layer immediately on the substrate surface, an inner MT-TiCN layer and an outermost α-Al2O3 layer as the main wear resistant layer. While CVD coated cutting tools offer good wear resistance at high cutting speeds, the resistance to thermo-mechanical shocks occurring in intermittent cutting is still limited. Therefore a typical wear mechanism of milling tools is the occurrence of thermal cracks or comb cracks, respectively, on the primary cutting edge. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a latch mechanism and, more particularly to rotating body, and with a linkage that is biased and is urged away from the mchanism, and also with a remotely actuatable locking and unlocking assembly having a retractable locking pin.
A need has arisen for a latch mechanism that will satisfy several complicating requirements. The latch mechanism must be operable locally through many cycles; and, must be operable remotely for only one cycle. The allocated location, space, and weight of the latch mechaism, as well as access restrictions, and high "g" and vibration levels are further limitations.
Specifically, the latching mechanism is for use in a system which, in turn, is part of a package to be included in a space satellite. Before the launch into space, the latch mechanism will be frequently latched and unlatched locally to allow other parts of the system to "be checked out" and operated. Since the overall system is weight and volume critical, and also since the latching mechanism is to be a "minor" portion of the system, the latching mechanism has been allocated a minimum of each. Additionally, access to the latch mechanism is complicated by the fact that surrounding components, and covering layers of material, partially block access to it. Further, the latch mechanism must survive the tough launch environment of high "g" loading and severe vibration. Also, the latch mechanism must operate in the zero "g" vacuum of space.
I have invented a unique latching mechanism that satisfies all of these requirements; and, in doing so, I have significantly advanced the state-of-the-art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Conventional motors include delta wound three-phase permanent magnet brushless motors. Conventional motor controllers for delta wound three-phase permanent magnet brushless motors monitor current for the motor based at least on a measured phase current, wherein the measured phase current is derived from using a single current sense resistor. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,544. The motor controller uses the measured phase current to control the amount of current supplied to the motor. However, after each motor commutation, the current measurement derived from a single current sense resistor provides an inaccurately low measured phase current due to recirculating currents in the motor windings. The winding topology of a delta wound three-phase permanent magnet brushless motor allows the current in at least one of the motor phases to improperly increase during the period of inaccurately low measured phase current. Such motor control has a tendency to create a field in a phase winding strong enough to demagnetize the permanent magnets of the rotor of the brushless motor and strong enough to cause excessive thermal stress in the motor and the motor controller when the motor operates in the second and/or fourth quadrants of a motor speed versus motor torque curve of the motor.
What is needed is an improved method for operating a delta wound three-phase permanent magnet brushless motor using a single current sense resistor. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention is in the field of interactive display systems. Embodiments of this invention are more specifically directed to the pairing of a control device with the computer system that is displaying visible output.
The ability of a speaker to communicate a message to an audience is generally enhanced by the use of visual information, in combination with the spoken word. In the modern era, the use of computers and associated display systems to generate and display visual information to audiences has become commonplace, for example by way of applications such as the POWERPOINT presentation software program available from Microsoft Corporation. For large audiences, such as in an auditorium environment, the display system is generally a projection system (either front or rear projection). For smaller audiences such as in a conference room or classroom environment, flat-panel (e.g., liquid crystal) displays have become popular, especially as the cost of these displays has fallen over recent years. New display technologies, such as small projectors (“pico-projectors”), which do not require a special screen and thus are even more readily deployed, are now reaching the market. For presentations to very small audiences (e.g., one or two people), the graphics display of a laptop computer may suffice to present the visual information. In any case, the combination of increasing computer power and better and larger displays, all at less cost, has increased the use of computer-based presentation systems, in a wide array of contexts (e.g., business, educational, legal, entertainment).
A typical computer-based presentation involves the speaker standing remotely from the display system, so as not to block the audience's view of the visual information. Because the visual presentation is computer-generated and computer-controlled, the presentation is capable of being interactively controlled, to allow selection of visual content of particular importance to a specific audience, annotation or illustration of the visual information by the speaker during the presentation, and invocation of effects such as zooming, selecting links to information elsewhere in the presentation (or online), moving display elements from one display location to another, and the like. This interactivity greatly enhances the presentation, making it more interesting and engaging to the audience.
The ability of a speaker to interact, from a distance, with displayed visual content, is therefore desirable. More specifically, a hand-held device that a remotely-positioned operator could use to point to, and interact with, the displayed visual information is therefore desirable.
U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2011/0227827, published Sep. 22, 2011 and entitled “Interactive Display System”, based on commonly assigned and copending application Ser. No. 13/025,015, Feb. 10, 2011, incorporated herein by reference, describes an interactive display system including a wireless pointing device including a camera or other video capture system. The pointing device captures images displayed by the computer, including one or more human-imperceptible positioning targets. The location, size, and orientation of the recovered positioning target identify the aiming point of the remote pointing device relative to the display. Temporal sequencing of the positioning targets (either human-perceptible or human-imperceptible) to position the pointing device is also described.
As is well known in the art, point-to-point communication over a conventional short-range wireless (e.g., “Bluetooth”) channel involves the “pairing” of the two devices that are to communicate with one another. To summarize, conventional pairing involves the recognition of each device by the other device, and authentication in the sense that each device “trusts” the communications received from the other over the short-range wireless channel. Such pairing addresses the issue that conventional short-range wireless devices transmit and receive omnidirectionally. As such, a receiving device may receive wireless signals from devices other than the intended transmitter. Pairing avoids confusion by enabling each device to respond to wireless signals only from its intended transmitting devices, and to have its transmitted signals responded to only by its intended receiving devices.
Of course, certain applications will require some level of security in these wireless communications. In those cases, the pairing process will also include the exchange of encryption keys, so that each of the paired devices can encrypt and decrypt its wireless communications.
Conventional pairing techniques for short-range wireless communication with computer systems often incorporates “out-of-band” techniques (i.e., using both wireless communication and communication by some means other than wireless) to establish the paired relationship. These conventional techniques require each of the paired devices to authenticate the other—in other words, the device initiating the pairing authenticates the responding device, and the responding device also authenticates the initiating device.
In the context of an interactive display system, such as that described in the above-incorporated U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2011/0227827, the pairing of a pointing device with the computer system or graphics subsystem displaying and controlling the displayed output, presents a different situation from that of conventional short-range wireless communications. More specifically, the display system with which communication is desired may be deployed within wireless range of other display systems, such as in different conference rooms or classrooms. While the presenter is only interested in controlling the display system visible to him, the wireless signal transmitted by his pointing device may reach display systems in other rooms within wireless signal range. Conversely, the display system he wishes to control may be receiving control signals from pointing devices in those nearby rooms. As such, some level of pairing is necessary to avoid interference at the desired display system from other pointing devices. However, it is contemplated that the pointing device may not be nominally assigned to a particular display system but may instead belong to the presenter for use with different systems, at different locations, and at different times. For example, the pointing device may belong to a salesman for use in presentations at various customers. In that context, the ability to rapidly and easily pair pointing devices with display systems is useful. Furthermore, it is highly desirable for the pointing device to be simple in its construction and operation, with only one or two buttons (e.g., similar to a computer mouse) to attain a relatively small form factor, and with minimum RF transmission capability to conserve battery power. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The nature of CDMA, which requires a high peak power to average power ratio of 8 dB or higher, makes providing a linear RF path of constant gain, a difficult and costly challenge. Since base station cost is RF amplifier-centric, failure to accurately regulate the RF path either wastes amplifier power or under utilizes the amplifier capacity. The base station cost in terms of size, weight, heat, and direct current (DC) power, is directly affected by the method of regulating the RF path gain.
Furthermore, preserving the nominal path gain is important to maximizing service provider revenue and mobile service availability. If path gain is calibrated too low, the RF amplifier power overload protection acts too soon at a lower air interface call capacity, which implies lower revenue for the service provider and disappointed customers unable to obtain service on demand. For example, if due to losses, the path gain was 1 dB lower than expected, a call that would normally require a gain setting of 60 digital gain units (“dgu”) (a unit of voltage) would require 67 dgus to provide the mobile with the same signal power, measured in dgu2 (e.g., 1.259*602˜=672, where 1 dB˜=1.259). Since the maximum power is nominally 77760 dgu2, about seventeen 60 dgu calls could be supported (e.g., 77760−16800 overhead˜=17*60*60) where as, only about thirteen, 67 dgu calls could be supported (e.g., 77760−16800 overhead˜=13*67*67). Therefore, while the system would try to support seventeen calls, it would be doing so at 67 dgu per call. The RF amplifier overload protection would kick in at about thirteen calls, supporting roughly only three quarters of the number of calls that should be supported.
If, on the other hand, path gain is calibrated too high, equipment life may be shortened and as described below, the FCC can take regulatory action against the service provider for spectral non-compliance. Indeed, a high path gain may cause too much DC current in the power amplifier, blowing the power supply fuse and shutting down the RF path through that amplifier. A high path gain also distorts the RF coverage footprint, which increases interference to neighboring cells and lowers the network air interface capacity. This occurs because: (i) path gain is applied equally to the traffic signals and the pilot signal. The pilot signal is used by mobile stations to determine the base station they are to listen to for their signal. With high path gain, the pilot signal will be too strong, thereby attracting too much traffic away from neighboring cells; (ii) the amplifier is operated at a higher than expected power (e.g., If the RF path gain increased 1 dB higher than the nominal path gain, a 60 dgu call would only need 54 dgu to provide the mobile with the necessary power (e.g., 602/1.259˜=542, where 1 dB˜=1.259). The cell would therefore accept and attempt to support approximately 20 calls, as opposed to 17, before amplifier overload protection kicks in. This in turn could introduce noise and out-of-band emissions. Mobile stations would then require more signal power to overcome the noise and FCC out-of-band emission power limits could be exceeded.
Present art provides individual solutions for each constraint that affects path gain such that they generally do not account for interactions among components in the RF path. Furthermore, most of the solutions are static and non-tunable. These include: using additional semiconductor junctions to improve linearity in each amplification stage over the operational temperature range; matching component parts by selection, which requires extra steps in the manufacturing process; laser trimming of components until their properties satisfy the specifications, which also requires extra production steps; and connecting passive components with inverse thermal characteristics in series to constrain path gain variance over temperature.
Furthermore, current solutions use wide tolerance ranges for path gain, requiring larger and more costly equipment than would be required with tighter tolerances. Much control is essentially open loop, providing no feedback means for adjusting the path gain based on actual performance of the path. Rather, conservative nominal values are assigned to constraints, a priori. Manual adjustment is often required to optimize performance, which only remains optimal over a narrow temperature range.
There are also closed loop control solutions that measure input and output power and adjust the path gain to preserve the nominal gain, which is the desired ratio of output power over input power. This is done within components as well as across a plurality of components.
Accordingly, it is desirable to preserve a nominal RF path gain seamlessly and accurately by compensating for gain changes in multiple physical components, which may be non-linear, without exceeding their physical constraints and in a way that provides for performance tuning and product evolution. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to clump-removal devices for separating clumps from an air stream which also includes substantially individualized fibers therein. More specifically, this invention relates to clump-removal devices which create a unique interaction of aerodynamic and mechanical forces upon a fiber/clump mix for aiding in separating fibers therefrom.
The term "clump", or "clumps", as used throughout this application, refers to both groups of intertangled fibers and other particulate matter which are undesirably large for inclusion in a fibrous web or batt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dry-formed fibrous webs or batts including a large percentage by weight of wood pulp fibers therein are well known in the prior art. These webs are formed by conveying the fibers in an air stream and depositing them in a randomly arranged and intermingled fashion on a foraminous forming surface in the form of a fibrous web or batt. For some uses, such as wipers and cover sheets for sanitary products, the strength and integrity of the web has been enhanced by including a minor proportion, i.e., up to about 25% by weight, of longer, staple-length fibers therein, and by adhesively bonding the fibers together. For other uses, such as internal absorbent components of sanitary products, unbonded fibrous batts including 100% wood pulp fibers have been satisfactorily employed.
As part of the web or batt formation process a densified pulp lap, generally in sheet form, is fed into a fiberizing device in which individual fibers are separated from the lap and directed into an air stream for deposition on a foraminous wire. One fiberizing device which is commonly employed for this purpose is the Joa Fiberizer, manufactured by Joa, Inc. of North Wales, Fl. Regardless of the fiberizing device which is employed, 100% individualization of wood pulp fibers from the lap is not achieved. Specifically, clumps of fibers may be separated from the lap as a unit, and these clumps, along with substantially individualized fibers, are directed through downstream processing equipment and are included in the completed fibrous web or batt. Moreover, other excessively large foreign particles may be included in the lap, and these particles will also be included in the completed web or batt. All of these clumps adversely affect the aesthetic properties of the web or batt, and also provide uncontrolled basis weight and physical property variations.
It is known in the prior art to employ clump-removal devices to remove clumps from an air stream containing a fiber/clump mix, and to direct substantially individualized fibers onto a foraminous forming surface to form a web or batt, as evidenced by the disclosures in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,720,005, issued to Clark et al.; 3,575,749, issued to Kroyer; 3,581,706, issued to Rasmussen and 3,644,078, issued to Tachibana et al.
The devices disclosed in the Kroyer patent ('749) and the Rasmussen patent ('706) employ rotating impellers closely adjacent the surface of a separating screen member to agitate a fiber/clump mix thereon for the purpose of separating fibers from the clumps to permit their passage through the separating member. The Tachibana et al. patent ('078) discloses several devices which employ rotating brushes closely adjacent the surface of a separating member to agitate a fiber/clump mix for the purpose of separating substantially individualized fibers from the clumps to permit their passage through the separating member. In all of these devices a foraminous forming member is positioned in overlying relationship with the separating member, and a partial vacuum is established through the forming member to aid in directing fibers through the separating member and onto said forming member in the form of a fibrous web or batt.
The movement of a mechanical mixing device, such as an impeller or brush, in close association with a foraminous separating member can cause excessive wear of both the mechanical mixing device and the separating member. This mechanical wear can cause undesirable machine downtime for repair and/or replacement of parts. Moreover, the use of mechanical mixing devices has not been entirely satisfactory in effecting the desired vigorous agitation of a fiber/clump mix to permit efficient separation of individual fibers from the mix for passage through the separating member. In fact, the use of rotating impellers can actually cause fibers to ball up into clumps that will not pass through the separating member.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,005, issued to Clark et al., discloses an air scrabbler system in which jets of air are directed against the interior surface of a foraminous, stationary housing to agitate, or sift, substantially individualized fibers within the housing to permit them to pass through the housing wall and onto a foraminous forming member. This device is not intended for use in handling a fiber/clump mix. Specifically, if clumps are directed into the housing and are not broken up they will not pass through the housing wall, and eventually will block the openings in the wall to impair the operation of the device. Stating this another way, the Clark et al. device is not at all concerned with removing clumps from an air stream containing a fiber/clump mix, and in fact, the Clark et al. device will have to be stopped periodically so that clumps which remain in the inside of the housing can be manually removed. The only function that the Clark et al. device is intended to perform is to sift fibers which are already individualized so that they will pass through the stationary housing onto a forming surface. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device which provides an automatic reference point (usually atmospheric pressure) for pressure transducer setups that convert biological pressure signals from various invasive monitoring devices into electrical signals which can then be processed, displayed in various forms using various methods, and(or) stored using various methods.
Current pressure transduction and monitoring systems in use require that the pressure monitoring transducer(s) be connected to the chamber of measurement (e.g. the heart's right atrium, the radial artery, the pulmonary artery, et. al.) via a sealed, ideally non-compliant conduit containing a continuous, uninterrupted line of fluid between the chamber and said monitoring transducer. The fluid is usually 0.9% NaCl in water containing a small amount of the anticoagulant heparin sodium to prevent clotting of the invasive monitoring line. This fluid-containing conduit transmits the pressure impulse from the chamber of measurement to the pressure transducer.
In order that the pressure transduction into the electrical signal not be influenced by the hydrostatic height of the fluid in the conduit, the transducer is usually mounted at the bedside in a fixed position so that it sits at roughly the same horizontal height as the chamber being measured (e.g. the right atrium of the heart). Once set up in this fashion, any artifact due to fluid column height is eliminated. By convention, the hydrostatic height of the right atrium of the heart is generally used as the point of reference for all types of invasive monitoring. Even peripheral arterial lines.
Often, a three-way stopcock is used to temporarily interrupt this fluid continuity and allow the small remaining fluid at the transducer to be exposed to air, hence atmospheric pressure. This maneuver, referred to as "zeroing the transducer," allows, the operator to set the monitoring device to zero during this exposure to air; thus allowing all further pressure measurements once the fluid continuity to body chamber of measurement has been reestablished, to be expressed in relation to atmospheric pressure. This zeroing maneuver is important in that it allows each monitoring channel to be set at zero to match the electrical signal produced by the corresponding pressure transducer when said transducer is exposed to air rather than exposed to the fluid conduit connecting it with the monitoring line transmitting pressure in a bodily chamber.
The present invention provides a method of constant transducer reference with the use of a separate reference transducer and reference chamber thus eliminating the need for precise mounting of monitoring transducers at the level of the chamber of measurement while also providing a constant atmospheric zero reference to the monitoring channels. Such an invention would eliminate the need to "zero the transducer," i.e., expose each transducer to air via a 3-way stopcock while setting each corresponding monitoring channel to zero; during monitor setup and during patient transfer to another monitoring location (e.g. intensive care unit to operating room and back again would require three such setups and monitor zeroing maneuvers).
2. Description of Prior Art
Pressure transducer systems currently in use in clinical and research medicine utilize a variety of methods to convey pressure impulses arising from invasive monitoring devices like indwelling arterial catheters, central venous catheters, pulmonary arterial catheters, and left heart catheters and convert or transduce them into proportional analog and(or) digital electrical signals which can then be processed and(or) displayed on monitoring screens, graph paper, and other information display and recording devices (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,724).
Many recent devices disclosed utilize various methods of electrical signal processing (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,899,760, 4,890,630, 4,530,3265, & 4,190,886) to provide a more reliable and accurate signal display and analysis. None of these prior art references address the issue of simplification of the process of levelling and zeroing the transducer by providing a more constant external reference. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanning electron microscope in which an electron beam is focused by an objective lens producing a magnetic field leaking onto a specimen and in which secondary electrons and other electrons emitted from the specimen are detected. The invention also relates to a method of detecting electrons in this scanning electron microscope.
2. Description of Related Art
In a scanning electron microscope, the geometry of the objective lens is an important factor in determining the resolution of the instrument. To improve the resolution, the aberration coefficient of the objective lens must be reduced. Accordingly, a high-resolution scanning electron microscope is known in which the aberration coefficient is reduced to less than 3 mm, for example, by the use of an objective lens of in-lens or semi-in-lens type in which the magnetic field on the specimen is strengthened.
In the above-described semi-in-lens type objective lens, a single magnetic lens field is formed below the lower end surfaces of the inner and outer polepieces. In this case, the specimen is placed within this lens field, and a high-resolution secondary electron image can be observed.
Furthermore, in an attempt to reduce the effects of objective lens aberration, a retarding method has been put into practical use. In particular, the energy of the primary electron beam is increased, and the beam is introduced into the objective lens range. The beam is decelerated immediately ahead of the specimen. This method has the advantage that the resolution is enhanced further at low accelerating voltages.
In the retarding method described above, it is customary to use a scintillator or microchannel plate placed above the objective lens to detect secondary electrons or back-scattered electrons emitted from the specimen.
Sometimes, a secondary electron detector is placed above deflection coils, which in turn are located above the objective lens. In this case, secondary electrons are deflected by the deflection coils, resulting in a decrease in the detection efficiency.
Where the retarding method is adopted, produced secondary electrons are accelerated by the accelerating field between the specimen to which a negative voltage is applied and surrounding members that are at ground potential. Since the secondary electrons move upward with high energies, it is relatively difficult to direct the secondary electrons toward the detector and detect them within the objective lens. Where a scintillator or microchannel plate is placed near the optical axis between the objective lens and the deflection coil assembly, imaging is hindered, especially at low magnifications. In particular, if the electron beam is deflected through a large angle for low-magnification imaging, the electron beam is scanned beyond the electron passage hole in the microchannel plate or in an aperture plate. Therefore, the beam is cut off by other than the electron beam passage port. As a result, the resulting low-magnification image lacks its peripheral portion and thus consists only of its central portion.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention has been made. It is an object of the present invention to provide a scanning electron microscope which is equipped with a semi-in-lens objective lens and capable of detecting secondary electrons at a high efficiency, the electrons being emitted from a specimen.
A scanning electron microscope in accordance with the present invention has an inner polepiece, an outer polepiece, and an objective lens that form a magnetic lens field leaking onto a surface of a specimen below the lower end surfaces of the polepieces. The objective lens focuses an electron beam onto the specimen. The inner polepiece is provided with a first opening above the lower end surface of the inner polepiece. A detector is mounted outside the inner polepiece to detect secondary electrons passed through the opening. This microscope is characterized in that a negative voltage is applied to the specimen to form a decelerating electric field for decelerating the electron beam near the surface of the specimen and that a conversion electrode is mounted around an electron beam passage within the objective lens. Secondary electrons emitted from the specimen impinge on the conversion electrode. Secondary electrons produced from the conversion electrode are guided to the secondary electron detector via the first opening and detected.
In the present invention, the negative voltage is applied to the specimen to form the electric field that decelerates the electron beam, the field being positioned near the specimen surface. This reduces the effects of the objective lens aberration. The conversion electrode on which secondary electrons emitted from the specimen impinge is mounted around the electron beam passage within the objective lens. Secondary electrons produced from the conversion electrode are guided to the secondary electron detector via the first opening and detected.
Preferably, the conversion electrode is cylindrical and has an inner surface that produces secondary electrons at a high efficiency. It is desirable that the conversion electrode be a single cylindrical electrode. A second opening is preferably formed in the portion of the inner polepiece that faces the first opening. The conversion electrode may be split into upper and lower parts arranged above and below, respectively, the first opening. In this case, it is not necessary to form the first opening in the conversion electrode.
An attracting electrode to which a positive potential is applied to attract secondary electrons may be positioned near the incident surface of the secondary electron detector. A potential between the specimen potential and the potential at the attracting electrode may be applied to the conversion electrode.
Other objects and features of the invention will appear in the course of the description thereof, which follows. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the general field of liquid crystal displays, more particularly to the problem of providing a high aperture ratio without an increase in the complexity of the associated manufacturing process.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the circuit used to control a plurality of individual pixels, each comprising a Liquid Crystal (LC) device, arranged as an X-Y addressable array.
A layer of LC 1 is located between two electrodes, at least one of which is transparent. One of said electrodes is grounded and the other electrode is connected to one of the scan lines 2 and to one of the data lines 3, thus making it uniquely addressable--it will not be activated unless voltage is applied to both the appropriate scan and data lines simultaneously. Power to drive the LC is supplied by the data line but its availability is controlled from the scan line through Field Effect Transistor (FET) 5.
Additionally, a capacitor 4 is included with each pixel for the purpose of extending the time that the pixel is active beyond the very short time during which it receives voltage from both the scan and data lines simultaneously. This is analogous to using a long persistent phosphor in a cathode ray tube.
The physical implementation of the circuit diagrammed in FIG. 1 forms the subject matter of the present invention. Problems that must be overcome in order to achieve a good implementation include improving the aperture ratio of the device, eliminating or reducing places where shorting may occur between different parts of the structure, and providing a cost effective process for its manufacture.
A conventional implementation, typical of the prior art, is shown in FIGS. 2(a) and (b), the former being a cross-section of the latter through AA. LC 15 is sandwiched between two glass substrates. In addition to Thin Film Transistor (TFT) 16, storage capacitor 11 has been located at the same level as scan (or gate) line 14 to increase the opening of aperture 12. Capacitor layer 11 and black matrix layer 13 combine to block out extraneous light. This structure has to allow for extra space to avoid the possibility of side-to-side shorting between capacitor 11 and scan line 14, since they are at the same level. This goes counter to the requirement that space be limited in order to increase pixel density (i.e. keep the pixel pitch small) so only a limited aperture ratio can be achieved with this structure.
FIG. 3(a) shows, in schematic cross-section, an example of an improved approach to the problem that has been described in the prior art by Takahashi et al. (`A high-aperture-ratio pixel structure for high-density a-Si TFT liquid crystal light valves` by N. Takahashi et al. the SID 93 digest pp. 610-613). In this structure, LC 15 is contained between upper and lower glass plates 23 and 27 respectively. The gate electrode 20 and the storage capacitor 21 are located at different levels. Light shields 21 are separated from FET control gate 20 by insulating layer 24, the space beween the light shields defining device aperture 25. This determines the amount of light that is allowed to pass through transparent electrode 26. This design requires the presence of a second light shield 22 that is located on upper glass plate 23. FIG. 3(b) is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 3(a).
This structure allows more latitude in determining the size of aperture 25 (in FIG. 3(a)) but it requires additional process steps relative to other known structures and, in particular, it requires the presence of the secondary light shield 22 in order to avoid illumination of the TFT. Continuing our reference to FIG. 3(a), scan line 20 and transparent pixel electrode 26 are located on the same side as common electrode 21, so the common electrode of storage capacitor 21 cannot be fully utilized to block the electric field of the scan line. This causes some light leakage 30 (in FIG. 3(c)) in one corner of the aperture, requiring light shield 21 to have larger area.
Other prior art that relates to this area includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,122 (July 1991) by Hamada et al. which describes overlapping the gate electrodes with the pixel electrodes so as to provide additional capacitance. This is not the problem solved by the present invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for wet processing photosensitive material, particularly silver halide photosensitive material.
In general, photosensitive material, particularly silver halide photosensitive material after exposure is subjected to a series of wet processing steps including development, fixation or bleach-fixation, and washing. Such a series of processing steps are most often carried out by means of an automatic developing machine having developing, fixing or bleach fixing, and washing tanks built therein. Photosensitive material is successively passed through the solutions in these tanks.
Environmental protection and resource saving are general demands. Photographic processing is not the exception. Saving processing solution, particularly developing solution is one of outstanding tasks in the art. Developing efficiency must be increased before developing solution can be saved. In fact, it is known that developing efficiency can be increased by the use of a plurality of developing tanks each containing a divided portion of developing solution. One known practical procedure capable of development with a less amount of developing solution is a multi-stage counter flow procedure usually including 2 to 9 stages.
Such a procedure utilizes a plurality of juxtaposed processing tanks, resulting in a relatively large size of apparatus requiring a relatively large space for installation. Also a reduction in consumption of developing solution or amount thereof replenished is still insufficient. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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