text
stringlengths 2
806k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic compass systems and more particularly to calibration and compensation of electronic compass systems for use in connection with the indication of a vehicle's heading.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
The electronic compass is classified within a family of instruments referred to as "magnetometers" whose function is to detect and to measure the magnitude and/or direction of magnetic fields. Electronic compasses are used, for example, within vehicles such as automobiles. In a compass for use in a vehicle, it is desirable to compensate the compass to correct for stray magnetic fields and ferromagnetic material in the vicinity of the sensor. For accuracy, a second correction for variations in the earth's magnetic field as a function of the geographic location of the vehicle is desirable. For example, in the United States, the magnetic variation between true north and magnetic north from the east coast to the west coast is approximately 40.degree.. A compass system installed in a vehicle therefore should include means for correcting for the earth's magnetic field variation as well as means for compensating for the particular installation of the compass in an individual vehicle.
One type of electronic compass, commonly known as a "flux gate" magnetometer, is capable of detecting magnetic fields due to a phenomenon of magnetic saturation of an iron alloy core. Referring to FIGS. 1A-1D, the operating principles of the flux gate magnetometer is next explained. When referring to magnetic fields, fictional entities called "lines of flux" are employed. The lines are used to illustrate the direction and intensity of a magnetic field.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an iron alloy strip 10 having a high "permeability" and a very sharp "saturation characteristic" is disposed in parallel to the earth's magnetic field represented by the lines of flux 12. An iron alloy strip having a high permeability with a very sharp saturation characteristic can be analogously understood as having a very low "resistance" to magnetic flux, but, once a certain density of magnetic flux is flowing through it, will "saturate" and thereafter have a very high resistance to the passage of additional flux.
When iron alloy strip 10 is positioned parallel to the earth's magnetic field as in FIG. 1A, some of the lines of flux 12 divert and follow a path through alloy strip 10 since it offers less resistance to the flow of flux than does the surrounding air.
If a coil of wire 14 is placed around alloy strip 10 as in FIG. 1B, and a sufficient amount of electrical current is driven through coil 14 to "saturate" alloy strip 10, the lines of flux 12 due to the earth's field no longer divert to flow through the strip since its permeability is greatly reduced.
Thus, the strip of iron alloy 10 acts as a "flux gate" to the lines of flux 12 of the earth's magnetic field. When alloy strip 10 is not saturated, the "gate is open" and the surrounding lines of flux 12 bunch together and flow through alloy strip 10. When alloy strip 10 is saturated by passing a sufficient electrical current through coil 14, the "gate is closed" and the lines of flux 12 do not divert but instead resume paths along or very near their original paths.
A basic law of electricity dictates that when a line of magnetic flux "cuts", or passes through, an electrical conductor, a current is induced in the conductor. Thus, if an alternating current is passed through coil 14, referred to as a drive winding, the flux gate makes transitions between its opened and closed states at twice the frequency of the alternating current, and therefore the lines of flux 12 from the earth's field move in and out of the alloy strip 10 at twice the frequency of the alternating current. It is possible to arrange the lines of flux 12 to pass through a second electrical conductor, referred to as a sense winding, each time they transit between the alloy strip and the surrounding air, thereby inducing a current in the second conductor. The induced current is proportional to the intensity of that component of the earth's magnetic field which lies parallel to alloy strip 10.
One problem introduced, however, is that when alloy strip 10 is saturated, additional lines of flux are created by the magnetic field induced by current flow through drive winding 14. These additional lines of flux must be considered when devising a scheme to measure the earth's magnetic field.
One scheme used to solve this problem is illustrated in FIG. 1C. Two identical alloy strips 16 and 18 are used, and the saturation, or drive, windings 14A and 14B are arranged such that a closed magnetic circuit is formed. The lines of flux from the earth's field are diverted into and expelled from both alloy strips 16 and 18 each time the strips change between the saturated and unsaturated states. A sense winding 19 is positioned around the entire assembly as shown such that the sense winding is crossed at each passage of the lines of external flux to thus produce a voltage signal indicative of only the external flux lines. This result occurs since the lines of flux induced by drive windings 14A and 14B can build up and collapse without cutting sense winding 19.
A toroidal core 20 as shown in FIG. 1D can be used to serve the same function as the two alloy strips 16 and 18. The toroidal core flux gate includes drive winding 14 and sensing winding 19. With no air gaps at the ends, toroidal core 20 is somewhat more efficient magnetically.
Referring next to FIGS. 2A-2G, the operational details of circuitry within a typical prior art flux gate magnetometer are explained. The drive winding is excited by a square wave of a suitable frequency and amplitude (as shown in FIG. 2A) such that the core is saturated half way through each half-cycle. When the core saturates, the impedance of the drive winding is reduced to a very low value, and virtually shorts out the amplifiers supplying the drive voltage such that the drive voltage is reduced to nearly zero for the remainder of the half-cycle (FIG. 2B). As the polarity of the drive voltage reverses at the end of the first half-cycle, the core unsaturates and allows the drive voltage to reach full amplitude until the approximate center of the second half-cycle, when saturation again occurs and the drive voltage returns to near zero.
As explained above, any external magnetic field in the vicinity will be drawn into the core when the core is unsaturated, and will be expelled when it becomes saturated. Each time the external lines of flux are drawn into the core, they pass through the sense winding and generate a voltage pulse (shown in FIG. 2C) having an amplitude which is proportional to the intensity of that component of the external field which is parallel to the centerline of the sense winding. The polarity of this pulse is determined by the polarity of the external magnetic field with respect to the sense winding. When the lines of flux are expelled from the core, they cut the sense winding in the opposite direction and generate another voltage pulse of the same amplitude but of opposite polarity. Thus, the pulses of FIG. 2C are indicative of both the amplitude and direction of the earth's magnetic field with respect to the sense winding.
It should be noted that the pulse pattern of FIG. 2C is repeated twice for each cycle of the driving frequency of FIG. 2A. Consequently, the information is provided from the magnetometer at twice the frequency of the driving voltage, and thus the designation "second harmonic flux-gate magnetometer" is attached.
Several approaches for measuring the amplitude and direction of the pulse pattern are possible. For one approach, the sense winding is tuned to a frequency of twice the drive frequency to convert the series of pulses into a sine wave as shown in FIG. 2D having an amplitude proportional to the amplitude of the pulses. It should be noted that since the core is driven to saturate halfway through each drive cycle, an even spacing of the positive and negative signal pulses of FIG. 2C results and thus the pulses are efficiently converted into a sine wave by the tuned sense coil.
To convert the sine-wave signal of FIG. 2D into a DC signal, the sine wave signal is passed through a "phase-sensitive demodulator". A reference voltage which consists of a square wave having twice the frequency of and the same phase as the drive voltage as shown in FIG. 2E is required by the demodulator. The phase-sensitive demodulator inverts the polarity of the signal from the sense winding every time the reference voltage goes positive. Thus for the conditions shown in FIGS. 2E and 2F, the negative-going half of the sine wave is inverted positive and the positive-going half is unaltered, thus resulting in the waveform of FIG. 2G. This waveform is passed through a low-pass filter and therefore a positive DC signal results having an amplitude which is proportional to that of the original sine wave signal.
If the direction of the magnetic field is reversed with respect to the magnetometer, the phase of the signal shown in FIG. 2F is shifted by 180 degrees with respect to the reference voltage (FIG. 2E) and the positive half-cycles of the signal voltage are inverted, thus resulting in a negative DC signal.
Another approach for measuring the amplitude and direction of the pulse pattern induced in the sense winding involves a microcomputer. A demodulator controlled by the microcomputer receives the pulse signal through a wide band amplifier. The demodulator processes the pulse signal shown in FIG. 2C and provides a DC output signal having an amplitude proportional to the pulse signal. This approach eliminates phase shift errors due to component value changes and eliminates the need for adjusting tuned circuits in production.
The overall result for either approach is shown in FIG. 3 wherein the DC output signal level variation is recorded as the sensitive axis of the magnetometer (the centerline of the sense winding) is kept horizontal and rotated through 360.degree. with respect to the earth's magnetic field. Orientation reference positions of the flux gate sensor are indicated with reference letters A-E. For example, when the flux gate is positioned with its sensitive axis parallel to the north-south direction as in orientation B, the output signal is maximum.
If a second sense winding 19B is wrapped around a toroidal core in quadrature with respect to the first sense winding 19A as shown in FIG. 1E, a second DC voltage is induced in the additional sense winding. A compass having two sense windings arranged in quadrature is referred to as a two axis compass. As illustrated in FIG. 4, as the orientation of the two axis compass heading is varied (from -180 degrees to 180 degrees with respect to north), the output voltage signals from both windings vary in a manner similar to that of FIG. 3. Extrema in the second sense winding voltage occur wherever the output voltage across the first sense winding is zero. Thus, by monitoring the DC voltage signals generated across the sense windings, the directional heading of the two axis compass can be determined since every directional orientation corresponds to exactly one set of DC voltage levels induced in the sense windings.
When used within a vehicle, the flux gate sensor of such an electronic compass can be mounted on the vehicle such that the axis of one of the sensing windings is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The direction of the vehicle can thereby be determined. For example, if the vehicle is headed due north and the flux gate sensor is mounted on the vehicle such that the axis of the second sensing winding is oriented as in position C parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, it is apparent with reference to FIG. 4 that the output signal from the first sensing winding is zero while the output signal from the second sensing winding is maximum.
Unfortunately, although the theory of operation of an electronic compass having a flux gate sensor is straight-forward, many problems have been encountered in practice when used within vehicles such as automobiles. One problem described earlier is compensation for variations in the earth's magnetic field as a function of geographic location. Another problem described earlier is compensation for stray magnetic fields and ferromagnetic material in the vicinity of the sensor.
To correct for errors in magnetic variations between true north and magnetic north, the automobile is aligned in a direction known to be true north and, after depressing a variation switch, a reading is taken by a microprocessor which monitors the sensor output signals. The angular difference between this reading and what the reading should be for true north represents the variation correction and is stored in a memory for use in adjusting successive directional signals.
To compensate for stray magnetic fields exterior to the vehicle, such as disturbances introduced when driving over railroad tracks or near other large steel structures that have become magnetized, software filtering may be employed. Using software filtering, variations in the sensor signals that are characteristic of the stray disturbances are detected and filtered to prevent unwanted changes in the heading indications of the compass.
Several correction techniques may be used to correct for the effects on the compass of residual magnetic fields present in the particular vehicle to which the compass is mounted. For one method, called a drive in a circle method, the calibration is initiated with a switch or other means. The car is then driven in a circle on a relatively flat road at a constant speed. During this time, the system takes a number (say 100) of readings of the sensor winding output signals, searching for maximum and minimum values. By recording the extrema of each of the sensing winding output signals, the appropriate compensation factor can be applied by the processing unit since the extrema are known to occur at certain flux gate positions relative to magnetic north. The processing unit mathematically derives four compensation factors which are used to adjust the reading from the two axes before computing the relative heading angle. These adjustments compensate for distortions in the magnetic fields caused by magnetic material in the vehicle near the sensor. The adjusted or compensated readings give more accurate readings of the vehicle heading. This calibration technique is well known in the art, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,361 issued Nov. 9, 1976, and in Farr, C. and Anstey, E.; Reduction of Errors In Magnetic Aspect Sensors By A System of Ground Calibration; Royal Aircraft Establishment Technical Report No. 66092; March, 1966. The above documents are incorporated herein by reference.
The four factors referred to above are offset compensation (two values, one for each axis) and gain compensation (two values, one for each axis). Offset compensation is a linear offset of the sensor readings from stray magnetic fields caused by magnetic material in the vicinity of the sensor. Stray magnetic fields cause the largest errors and affect the compass accuracy in all directions. Gain compensation is a scalar correction that corrects for different magnetic sensitivities of the sensor along its two axes caused by shunting effects of ferrous material in the vicinity of the sensor. Gain errors are sometimes called elliptical errors since the locus of points from the sensor describe an ellipse instead of a true circle when one axis has a greater sensitivity than the other. Gain errors are much less critical than offset errors and only affect the compass accuracy when neither flux gate sensor axis is aligned close to magnetic north.
The offset caused by magnetized material in the vehicle is constant for all orientations of the vehicle and thus can be computed as the average of the maximum and minimum values recorded as the vehicle is driven in a circle, i.e. (Vmax+Vmin)/2=offset compensation. The gain errors can be compensated by normalizing the offset compensated readings to a maximum value of +/- 1. This normalizing factor is therefore equal to the reciprocal of one half the difference between the maximum and minimum values recorded as the vehicle is driven in a circle i.e. 2/(Vmax-Vmin)=gain compensation.
In implementing the drive in a circle correction method, extrema in the sensor output voltage of each axis are typically determined by monitoring the zero-voltage crossings of the first derivative with respect to time of the sensor output voltage. However, for a sinusoidal waveform, the slope of the sensor output voltage in the vicinity of the extremum is extremely low. Thus, the exact location and value of an extremum is difficult to determine since the sensing circuitry is subject to the effects of electrical noise. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Structures and techniques have been proposed to enhance the performance of semiconductor devices, such as by enhancing the mobility of the charge carriers. For example, U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0057416 to Currie et al. discloses strained material layers of silicon, silicon-germanium, and relaxed silicon and also including impurity-free zones that would otherwise cause performance degradation. The resulting biaxial strain in the upper silicon layer alters the carrier mobilities enabling higher speed and/or lower power devices. Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0034529 to Fitzgerald et al. discloses a CMOS inverter also based upon similar strained silicon technology.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,685 B2 to Takagi discloses a semiconductor device including a silicon and carbon layer sandwiched between silicon layers so that the conduction band and valence band of the second silicon layer receive a tensile strain. Electrons having a smaller effective mass, and which have been induced by an electric field applied to the gate electrode, are confined in the second silicon layer, thus, an re-channel MOSFET is asserted to have a higher mobility.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,204 to Ishibashi et al. discloses a superlattice in which a plurality of layers, less than eight monolayers, and containing a fractional or binary or a binary compound semiconductor layer, are alternately and epitaxially grown. The direction of main current flow is perpendicular to the layers of the superlattice.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,119 to Wang et al. discloses a Si—Ge short period superlattice with higher mobility achieved by reducing alloy scattering in the superlattice. Along these lines, U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,934 to Candelaria discloses an enhanced mobility MOSFET including a channel layer comprising an alloy of silicon and a second material substitutionally present in the silicon lattice at a percentage that places the channel layer under tensile stress.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,262 to Tsu discloses a quantum well structure comprising two barrier regions and a thin epitaxially grown semiconductor layer sandwiched between the barriers. Each barrier region consists of alternate layers of SiO2/Si with a thickness generally in a range of two to six monolayers. A much thicker section of silicon is sandwiched between the barriers.
An article entitled “Phenomena in silicon nanostructure devices” also to Tsu and published online Sep. 6, 2000 by Applied Physics and Materials Science & Processing, pp. 391-402 discloses a semiconductor-atomic superlattice (SAS) of silicon and oxygen. The Si/O superlattice is disclosed as useful in a silicon quantum and light-emitting devices. In particular, a green electroluminescence diode structure was constructed and tested. Current flow in the diode structure is vertical, that is, perpendicular to the layers of the SAS. The disclosed SAS may include semiconductor layers separated by adsorbed species such as oxygen atoms, and CO molecules. The silicon growth beyond the adsorbed monolayer of oxygen is described as epitaxial with a fairly low defect density. One SAS structure included a 1.1 nm thick silicon portion that is about eight atomic layers of silicon, and another structure had twice this thickness of silicon. An article to Luo et al. entitled “Chemical Design of Direct-Gap Light-Emitting Silicon” published in Physical Review Letters, Vol. 89, No. 7 (Aug. 12, 2002) further discusses the light emitting SAS structures of Tsu.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,895 to Wang et al. discloses a barrier building block of thin silicon and oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, antimony, arsenic or hydrogen to thereby reduce current flowing vertically through the lattice more than four orders of magnitude. The insulating layer/barrier layer allows for low defect epitaxial silicon to be deposited next to the insulating layer.
Published Great Britain Patent Application 2,347,520 to Mears et al. discloses that principles of Aperiodic Photonic Band-Gap (APBG) structures may be adapted for electronic bandgap engineering. In particular, the application discloses that material parameters, for example, the location of band minima, effective mass, etc., can be tailored to yield new aperiodic materials with desirable band-structure characteristics. Other parameters, such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and dielectric permittivity or magnetic permeability are disclosed as also possible to be designed into the material.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,337 to Wang et al. discloses a method for producing an insulating or barrier layer for semiconductor devices which includes depositing a layer of silicon and at least one additional element on the silicon substrate whereby the deposited layer is substantially free of defects such that epitaxial silicon substantially free of defects can be deposited on the deposited layer. Alternatively, a monolayer of one or more elements, preferably comprising oxygen, is absorbed on a silicon substrate. A plurality of insulating layers sandwiched between epitaxial silicon forms a barrier composite.
Despite the existence of such approaches, further enhancements may be desirable for using advanced semiconductor materials and processing techniques to achieve improved performance in semiconductor devices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to a branding device which is useful, for example, for marking the date of manufacture on containers containing food or beverage.
FIG. 8 shows such a device heretofore known which comprises a holder 80 and type blocks 81 removably attached to the holder 80. The holder 80 is in the form of a horizontally elongated rectangular parallelepipedal block made of a metal, such as copper alloy, having good heat conductivity. The holder 80 has two rectangular parallelepipedal type block holding cavities 82 which are horizontally elongated, opened toward the front and arranged longitudinally of the holder, and a heater insertion bore 83 extending through the holder 80 longitudinally thereof. An L-shaped NICHROME wire heater 85 is inserted at its horizontal portion in the bore 83. A plurality of type blocks 81, each in the form of a rectangular to square bar, are arranged side by side horizontally as inserted in each cavity 82, with the forward ends of the type blocks 81 projecting forward beyond the holder 80. A type locking rod 86 bent like a crank is removably attached to the holder 80, whereby the type blocks 81 are removably retained in the holder 80 although a detailed description will not be given.
With the device described above, the holder 80 is heated by the heater 85, and the type blocks 81 are heated with the heat transmitted thereto from the holder 80. Thus, the holder 80 which has an exceedingly greater heat capacity than the type blocks 81 is maintained at a high temperature so as to diminish the variation in the temperature of the type blocks 81 during branding operation. However, the device has the following problems. First, the holder 80 releases a large amount of heat, hence a great heat loss. Second, heat is transferred from the heater 85 to the type blocks 81 through the holder 80, so that the heater 85 needs to produce such an amount of heat as to give a temperature which is higher than the temperature of the type blocks 81 required for branding by an amount corresponding to the heat transfer loss. This is likely to shorten the life of the heater 85. Third, the holder 80 having a high temperature and left exposed is likely to contact the worker to cause a burn, hence a safety problem. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a display apparatus and a backlight scanning method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display apparatus for effectively mitigating motion blur and flicker, and a backlight scanning method for the display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD), which is the representative display apparatus, is generally used to display images on a monitor such as television, notebook computer, and desktop computer. Since the LCD cannot produce light by itself, it has to utilize the light illuminated from a separate light source. Hence, by using a backlight illuminating behind an LCD panel generally, the LCD represents images by adjusting transmittance of the light illuminated from the backlight according to the movement of the liquid crystals.
Mostly, the backlight has been driven in a hold type which maintains an ON state all the time when power is applied to the LCD. However, when changing from one image to another image, this backlight driving method causes image smearing, that is, causes motion blurring. To address this drawback, suggested is a scanning method which sequentially turns on backlights from top to bottom.
FIG. 1 depicts a related art scanning method in which a backlight driver is used. A scanning signal generator 110 of the backlight driver 100 generates scanning signals in synchronization with a vertical synchronizing signal of a video signal. Line block drivers 120 drive line blocks of the backlight based on the generated scanning signals.
FIG. 2 depicts scanning signals for driving the respective line blocks. In FIG. 2, the backlight is divided to five line blocks and sequentially scanned. Each line block manages a certain number of lines. Each line block is turned on and off for a unit time. Accordingly, the scanning signal of the line block has one pulse for the unit time.
The related art scanning method can mitigate the motion blur, but cannot effectively reduce flickering. In detail, when the backlight is generally scanned based on the vertical frequency 60 Hz of the video signal of the NTSC standard, flicker is viewable in the motionless images of bright gradation. This is because the human eye is far more sensitive to flicker in this case. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention refers to an endless tread chassis for heavy vehicles, such as bucket-wheel excavators or wheeled loaders for example, comprising a rotary table traversing gear for cantilever arms, said chassis comprising at least four endless treads, at least two parallel endless treads of which are located at a greater distance from the longitudinal axis of the vehicle than at least two further treads being staggered in longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Vehicles which include rotary tables carry, as a rule, big cantilever arms which are connected with a base frame for being swingable around a substantially vertical swing axis. The cantilever arms are frequently counterbalanced by counterweight arms to such an extent that the supporting forces to be received by the chassis are received in parallel direction to the swing axis of the cantilever arm and approximately coaxially relative to the swing axis of the cantilever arm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is already known a plurality of constructions of endless treads chassis, in which is provided a plurality of endless treads for supporting the forces on ground. By means of such chassis, the supporting forces can be distributed over greater surface areas, so that sinking of the vehicle into ground can be avoided. In addition to vehicles having two endless treads essentially parallely arranged one relative to the other, there are also known vehicles having further endless treads. In case of only two treads, steering of the vehicles is effected by braking or accelerating one of both treads relative to the other. In case of more than two treads can be dirigible treads and be swingably linked to a supporting structure. If there are provided three treads, two treads are, as a rule, arranged in the rear area of the vehicle and in parallel relation one relative to the other and in parallel relation relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, whereas a third tread is designed for being dirigible and is centrally arranged, as seen in longitudinal direction of the vehicle, in front of the not steered treads. In such constructions, the base frame for the rotary table is supported on three points and a supporting triangle is spread out. The swing axis of swivellable cantilever arms supported on such frames has been, as a rule, arranged in the known constructions within the center of gravity of the supporting triangle and thus within the point of intersection of the axes of gravity of the spread-out triangle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The goal of plant breeding is to combine, in a single variety or hybrid, various desirable traits. For field crops, these traits may include resistance to diseases and insects, resistance to heat and drought, reducing the time to crop maturity, greater yield, and better agronomic quality. With mechanical harvesting of many crops, uniformity of plant characteristics such as germination, stand establishment, growth rate, maturity, plant height and ear height, is important. Traditional plant breeding is an important tool in developing new and improved commercial crops. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rotatable equipment such as digger derricks. In particular, the invention relates to a rotational float system that may be selectively operated to permit a digger derrick boom to freely rotate toward a side load to simplify operation of and prevent damage to the digger derrick.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digger derricks, cranes, and other types of rotating equipment are commonly used to perform many different jobs, including digging holes for utility poles and installing screw anchors for supporting the poles. Digger derricks are typically mounted to mobile utility vehicles and include a rotating turntable from which a boom extends. The boom may be raised, lowered, extended, and retracted to position its outboard end in various locations to perform digging or hoisting operations. Digger and auger assemblies may be coupled with the outer end of the boom for digging holes for utility poles and for installing screw anchors. Once installed, anchors are typically connected to guy wires to stabilize the top portion of a pole in a particular direction and therefore are preferably installed into the ground at some angle relative to vertical.
Digger derricks and other rotating equipment are often subjected to excessive and undesirable side loading. Side loading can be applied to a digger derrick boom when, for example, a winch attached to the boom is used to pull a heavy load in from the side of the boom. Side loading also often occurs when an auger-type digger coupled with the boom “corkscrews” into the ground due to the application of excessive pressure in driving the auger or when anchors are improperly installed. Excessive side loading can cause damage or destruction of the digger derrick's boom, turntable, and rotation drive mechanism. Improper installation of an anchor can also significantly reduce its pull-out strength.
Special care must be taken when installing screw anchors to avoid or minimize such side loading. When a screw anchor is to be installed directly behind a truck to which a digger derrick is mounted (so that the truck is in-line with the direction of the anchor), it is necessary for the digger operator to monitor and control at least three functions to ensure that the boom generally follows the path of the anchor. Specifically, the operator must simultaneously operate the digger motor, lower the boom, and retract the boom as the anchor is being driven into the ground. If an anchor is to be installed on either side of the truck, as is common with the majority of roadside pole installations, it is also necessary for the digger operator to rotate the turntable and the boom toward the anchor as the anchor enters the ground to correctly follow the path of the anchor. Those familiar with the operation of digger derricks will appreciate that simultaneously monitoring all of these movements requires a great deal of skill and training. If an operator forgets or otherwise fails to correctly follow the path of an anchor into the ground by manipulating the digging, boom extending/retracting, boom lowering/raising, and rotating functions, the anchor will tend to pull the boom to one side, exerting considerable side loading on the derrick and/or reducing the pull-out strength of the anchor.
Systems have been developed for protecting digger derricks and other rotating equipment against excessive side loads. U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,973 (the '973 patent), hereby incorporated into the present application by reference, discloses a side load protection system that attempts to sense undesired side load levels and respond with appropriate action when pre-established limits have been exceeded. The system uses relief valves that open when pressure increases beyond a desired level in a hydraulic motor to allow the boom driven by the motor to slip or rotate toward the external load, thereby reducing the torque of the side load. Other side load protection systems are being developed that shut down certain digger derrick operations once side load limits have been reached.
Although generally effective, existing side load protection systems are subject to misuse. For example, operators who are aware of side load protection systems may intentionally neglect to rotate a digger derrick's boom to follow an anchor into the ground, knowing that the side load protection system will permit the turntable and boom to slip or rotate toward the side load once an excessive amount of side load has been exerted on the boom. This practice should be discouraged because existing side load protection systems require application of a high degree of side loading before they are activated. Such side load protection systems therefore are intended to provide protection from occasional high side loads, not repeated side loads resulting from everyday operation such as the installation of screw anchors. If an operator routinely relies on a side load protection system during normal operation of a digger derrick, the cumulative effect of the side loading that occurs before the side load protection system is engaged can significantly damage the digger derrick and reduce the holding power of any installed screw anchors. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to a method for detecting the operational readiness of a jump lambda sensor, the internal resistance of the sensor being measured as the criterion for the operational readiness of the sensor. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The invention relates to an endoscopic insertion apparatus for a spinal column implant system. The spinal column implant system essentially comprises at least one anchoring element, a bone plate (also referred to herein as "vertebra plate") connected to the anchoring element, and at least one connection element for connecting at least two bone plates. A screwing-in tool is provided for screwing the anchoring element into a bone part to secure the bone plate in place and an elongated holding device is provided for holding the bone plate.
Spinal column implant systems of the type mentioned in the introduction can be used to fix various bone parts relative to one another; in particular, such an implant can be used for fixing adjacent vertebrae of the spinal column. Such an implant system is attached to the bone parts using a plurality of insertion instruments. Particularly where restricted access points are involved, for example in endoscopic operations, endoscopic insertion apparatus of the type mentioned in the introduction is used. A holding device associated with the insertion apparatus is used to hold the bone plate and the connection element connected to the bone plate and to introduce them into the body. The screwing-in tool is then used to screw the anchoring element into the bone part, for example. A similar procedure is carried out with a second anchoring element and a bone plate associated therewith. A connection element, for example a connection rod or a connection plate, is then brought up to the bone plate. The connection element is then fixed relative to the bone plate. In particular, a clamp element can be used to fix the connection element to the bone plate. Such a clamp element is generally very small, and hence there is a risk of losing it in the operating area. It is also difficult to position the clamp element properly relative to the bone plate. In order to simplify positioning the clamp element, centering pieces are used. The centering pieces are arranged (for example screwed on or latched) on the unit comprising the bone plate, the anchoring element and the connection element before the clamp element is introduced. Only when the centering piece has been positioned properly is the clamp element introduced using the clamp element guide tool.
In this procedure, it is disadvantageous that the centering piece has to be introduced as an independent instrument after the anchoring element and the bone plate have already been fixed on the bone part. In addition, a separately attached centering piece requires at least one actuation unit with which it can be introduced and removed again. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Substations in high and medium-voltage electric power networks include primary devices such as electrical cables, lines, bus bars, switches, power transformers and instrument transformers, which can be arranged in switch yards and/or bays. These primary devices are operated in an automated way via a Substation Automation (SA) system. The SA system includes secondary devices, so-called Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED), responsible for protection, control and monitoring of the primary devices. The IEDs may be assigned to hierarchical levels, i.e. the station level, the bay level, and the process level. The station level of the SA system includes an Operator Work Station (OWS) with a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and a gateway to a Network Control Centre (NCC). IEDs on the bay level, also termed bay units, in turn are connected to each other as well as to the IEDs on the station level via an inter-bay or station bus primarily serving the purpose of exchanging commands and status information. IEDs on the process-level includes sensors, or instrument transformers, for voltage (VT), current (CT) and gas density measurements, contact probes for sensing switch and transformer tap changer positions, and/or intelligent actuators (I/O) for controlling switchgear like circuit breakers or disconnectors. Exemplary process-level IEDs such as non-conventional current or voltage transformers, or dedicated Merging Units (MU) assigned to conventional sensors, include an Analog to Digital (A/D) converter for sampling of analog signals. Process-level IEDs can be connected to the bay units via a process bus replacing a known hard-wired process interface.
A communication standard for communication between the secondary devices of a substation has been introduced by the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) as part of the standard IEC 61850 entitled “Communication Networks and Systems In Substations”. For non-time critical messages, IEC 61850-8-1 specifies the Manufacturing Message Specification (MMS, ISO/IEC 9506) protocol based on a reduced Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocol stack with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) in the transport and network layer, respectively, and Ethernet as physical media. For time-critical event-based messages, IEC 61850-8-1 specifies the Generic Object Oriented Substation Events (GOOSE) directly on the Ethernet link layer of the communication stack. For very fast periodically changing signals at the process level such as measured analogue voltages or currents IEC 61850-9-2 specifies the Sampled Measured Value (SMV) service, which, similar to GOOSE, builds directly on the Ethernet link layer. Hence, the standard defines a format to publish, as multicast messages on an industrial Ethernet, event-based messages and digitized measurement data from current or voltage sensors on the process level. SMV messages are transmitted over a process bus, which may, particularly in cost-effective medium or low voltage substations, extend to neighbouring bays, i.e. beyond the bay to which the sensor is assigned.
SA systems based on IEC 61850 are configured by means of a standardized configuration representation or formal system description called Substation Configuration Description (SCD) which is using a dedicated Substation Configuration Language (SCL). An SCD file contains the logical data flow between the IEDs on a “per data” base, for example, for every data sink/source, required/provided data sets are specified, from which a list of destination or receiver IEDs can be derived. Furthermore, the message size in terms of data set definitions, as well as the message sending rates for all periodic traffic like GOOSE and SMV is defined. The SCD file likewise specifies the distribution of multicast messages into Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) wherein a single IED may send different real time messages for different purposes within different VLANs of the SA communication system.
While IEC 61850 defines the way the SA devices can talk with each other, it does not define the communication architecture, for example, the way the devices are connected to each other. As one consequence of inter-operability, different architectures are nowadays technically feasible. FIG. 1 shows two examples of possible SA architecture for the same substation with two bays. The first example (top) is an architecture in which each bay includes a control IED C and two protection IEDs (e.g. main and backup) P1, P2. The second one (bottom) implements the backup protection functions for both bays onto one single IED P2 outside the bays.
The two above SA architectures may differ in a number of characteristic measures, such as performance, investment cost, maintenance cost, safety, security, and reliability. In this context, calculation of a reliability measure appears to be a highly subjective process and therefore needs to be clearly defined. Indeed, one may consider that the reliability of an SA system is the probability of having access to all, or all minus one, control devices from the station PC, while others will only consider the access to the merging units and breakers from the protection devices. Furthermore, analyzing a given complex architecture may require a reliability specialist, and/or involve a high probability of making mistakes during this process.
In this context, the principles and methods of the present disclosure are by no means restricted to a use in substation automation, but are likewise applicable to other process control systems with a standardized configuration description. In particular, it has to be noted that IEC 61850 is also an accepted standard for Hydro power plants, Wind power systems, and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) as well as for communications outside the substation (inter-substation communication for teleprotection, or substation-to-NCC communication).
The article by B. Yunus et al. entitled “Reliability and Availability Study On Substation Automation System Based on IEC 61850”, IEEE 2ND INTERNATIONAL POWER AND ENERGY CONFERENCE, 1.12.2008, discloses SA system reliability study based on a hierarchical structure involving a bay level includes hardwired IEDs, a station bus and a station level. The station optical fiber ring bus accounts for a lumped communication network reliability based on eight Ethernet switches. Otherwise, parallel and serial connections of components assigned to the different levels are considered for protection or control reliability. Communication path details are not considered. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
As a method of acquiring an elevation value of a current position of a pedestrian or a vehicle, a method using a GPS signal or a method using a barometer is known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a configuration including an atmospheric pressure measurement unit to measure an atmospheric pressure, a GPS reception unit to receive GPS data from a GPS, and an operation unit to calculate a road elevation and/or a road gradient, on the basis of the atmospheric pressure measured by the atmospheric pressure measurement unit and the GPS data received by the GPS reception unit, as a road gradient measurement system for obtaining the road elevation or the road gradient. Here, the GPS data includes elevation data and the operation unit operates a tentative elevation from the atmospheric pressure, corrects the tentative elevation with the elevation data, and calculates the road elevation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This description relates to color gamut mapping.
Color gamut refers to the range of colors that can be reproduced by a medium or processed by a device. Color gamut mapping is useful in processing color data of images that are reproduced in different media or processed by different devices. The color gamut of an image can be compressed or expanded. For example, an image recorded on a color slide film may have colors outside the range of colors that can be shown on a liquid crystal display. To show such an image on the display, some of the colors will have to be clipped or compressed. On the other hand, the color gamut of a dull photo can be expanded to have brighter and more vivid colors.
In one example, a color gamut can be represented as a volume in a color space that uses a cylindrical coordinate system. Each point in the volume represents a color, and the coordinates (height, radius, and azimuthal angle) of the point represent the luminance (L), chroma (C), and hue (H), respectively, of the color. The surface of the volume represents the color gamut boundary, indicating the outer range of the color gamut.
The color gamut of a first medium or device can be represented as a first volume in the color space. The color gamut of a second medium or device can be represented as a second volume in the color space. Color gamut mapping involves mapping (or converting) coordinates of points in the first volume to coordinates of points in the second volume. The human eye is typically more sensitive to changes in hue. One method of gamut mapping is performed by preserving perceived or actual hue values while changing the luminance and/or chroma values. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
(a) Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a mirror apparatus provided with a wiper means, and more particularly it pertains to a mirror apparatus having a wiper means supported on a mirror holder to wipe the surface of the mirror.
(b) Description of the prior art
There have been proposed various kinds of mirror apparatuses having a wiper means. Such conventional mirror apparatuses, in general, have the arrangement that a rubber ribbon is provided in the wiper means adapted for wiping the surface of the mirror. However, as shown in FIG. 1, the surface a of a mirror of such apparatus has a relatively small area, and the mirror is surrounded at its peripheral edges by a frame b. Accordingly, during the wiping operation by the wiper means, the end edge of a rubber ribbon c of the wiper means is brought into contact with certain portions of the frame b per se which frame defining the outermost peripheral edges of the mirror apparatus, and is hampered of its further movement therefrom. Thus, such wiper means is unable to perform the wiping of substantially the entire surface of the mirror, leaving non-wiped regions d indicated by hatched lines in FIG. 1. Such problem has occurred especially in case the rubber ribbon is made with a relatively hard material.
At such instance of wiping operation as stated above, the rubber ribbon becomes unable also to wipe the mirror surface always in close contact with the mirror surface. Thus, there will arise such inconvenience as is represented by an increase in blocked portions in the field of vision on the mirror surface by the rubber ribbon, so that there has been the problem that the visibility at the surface of the mirror is poor. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for extracting biodegradable constituents from a fluid stream by the action of a cell culture, e.g., biomass which digests or assimilates such constituents. In particular, this invention relates to a biomass-based apparatus and method which incorporates a component to monitor and optimize the bioactivity of the system.
Often, it is desirable to remove biodegradable constituents, such as organic constituents and/or gaseous inorganic sulfur-containing or nitrogen-containing constituents, from a fluid stream. In particular, it is often desirable to remove such constituents from fluid process streams prior to their discharge or release.
Thermal oxidizers, incorporated into a vent stack, serve to oxidize organic components of a process stream principally to carbon dioxide and water. Such units require an input of energy, typically in the form of heat, to effect such oxidations. Such an input of energy greatly increases the operating costs of the system.
In contrast, biological systems are passive, i.e., they do not require an input of energy. Upon the passage of a stream containing a biodegradable constituent over a suitable biomass, the biomass consumes and/or degrades the constituent, producing a treated effluent stream. As the biomass is a living system, the maintenance of such factors as pH, temperature, oxygen concentration, carbon dioxide concentration, and nutrient concentration is essential if the biomass is to be sustained. Simple electrodes, probes, and sensors can provide basic information as to the condition of the process stream. Existing systems use the data collected from such instruments to estimate the bioactivity of the system, and the percent purification of the stream. Such estimations are generally made on the basis of samples taken from the process stream to a laboratory for analysis. Such analyses typically take at least thirty minutes per sample to complete. None of the systems known in the art make a real time, i.e., an on-line, measurement of the consumption of biodegradable constituents by the biomass. Such a real time measurement would be particularly advantageous in the control of biological systems to avoid system upsets. Results obtained at times much later than the time of sampling may be too late to prevent deleterious effects on the biomass.
Waste fluid streams often contain more than one constituent to be removed. Such streams also typically contain particulate matter. No known system permits the on-line determination of the amount of a biodegradable constituent removed from a dirty, complex process stream.
Prior activities in the relevant art have focused on the analysis of effluent gas or liquid streams, following the treatment thereof in a reactor. The concept of the on-line analysis of both the influent and effluent streams has not previously been reported. For complete and accurate characterization of a process, it would be preferable to analyze all streams, both influent and effluent, to avoid or minimize errors made from assumptions about the content of the influent streams. This is particularly true in waste water treatment applications, where the influent stream may represent a combination of the discharge streams from a multitude of manufacturing operations.
A biological system for the treatment of fluid streams which utilizes a means for directly measuring the consumption of biodegradable constituents by the biomass would hold significant advantages for industry. The envisioned system would permit the facile analysis of dirty, complex process streams. Further advantages would be realized in a system which utilizes an on-line means for monitoring the concentration and identity of constituents within the aqueous bath for the biomass. Such a system would enhance the detection of anomalies and dead spots within the system, and would improve the monitoring of the health of the biomass. Such a system would further enable the realization of a steady state or equilibrium, which translates to decreased, if not negligible, productions of biosludge. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Compared to paved roads, unpaved or "dirt" roads are relatively inexpensive to build and maintain. Because of their low cost, unpaved roads are particularly suitable for rural roads that have low levels of traffic. Unpaved roads built and maintained utilizing the prior art suffer from numerous disadvantages; all of which add to the cost and shorten the life of the roads. Unpaved roads are prone to loss of fines (fine particles of soil), rutting, and drainage problems all of which result in the degradation of the road driving surface. Unpaved roads must be frequently maintained to provide a satisfactory driving surface.
One way of extending the life of unpaved roads involves chemical treatment of the soil making up the road. In the prior art, there are various methods of chemical treatment of soil, including the use of magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, silicone concrete sealer, and phosphoric acid, but all have proven to be unsatisfactory. Chemical treatments utilizing either magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, or silicone concrete sealer do not adequately stabilize the soil. Chemical treatments using phosphoric acid are rarely used because phosphoric acid is too dangerous and too expensive.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of chemically stabilizing soils, which method is not subject to the disadvantages of the prior art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In designing a substrate for a ball grid array (BGA) package or a chip scale package (CSP) which is hailed as the mainstream of a future LSI (large-scale integrated circuit) packaging system designed for high-density packaging, it will become necessary to improve quality of wiring routes by improving the efficiency of wiring route design, and at the same time, performing the inspection on the conformity to wiring rules. Furthermore, a technology valid for automatic wiring in substrate designing, which rates based on the quality standard for rating quality of wiring routes through introduction of a rating function will be required.
For a BGA substrate shown as one example in FIG. 4, solder ball connection pads 2 are arranged in the center of the BGA substrate, and wire bond pads 5 are arranged around the outside circumference of the solder ball connection pads 2.
Now, let us assume that, in the above BGA substrate, the solder ball connection pads 2 and wire bond pads 5 are connected as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, under such design condition that the wire bond pads 5 can be connected to any of the solder ball connection pads 2 (free connection), there are many combinations of the wire bond pads 5 and solder ball connection pads 2, therefore it took time in determining the wiring route.
The Print Circuit Board Wiring Method, the Japanese Patent Examination SH058-112383, disclosed the method of generating candidates for possible wiring routes based on the connection relationship between the pre-designated wire bond pads and solder ball connection pads, and selecting the wiring route by considering wiring length, and so on.
Another technique disclosed in the Japanese Patent Examination HEI05-67178 is designed to improve wiring processing at higher speed and the wiring performance. The conventional technique is an automatic wiring processing method characterized by estimating the conjestion of wiring on the substrate, setting the area for separating the substrate larger than the specified value when the wiring conjestion is higher than the specified value so that the wiring can be easily succeeded, and setting the area for separating the substrate smaller than the specified value when the wiring conjestion is smaller than the specified value so that the time for wiring processing can be minimized, and by completing the wiring on the entire substrate by wiring for each area having different size. In this conventional technique, after inputting the input-side pin, output-side pin, and the wiring information between the pins on the input side and the output side, and disclosed the method of wiring processing the wiring result satisfied the wiring rule at high speed.
With regard to the improvement of the automatic wiring ratio by uniforming wiring conjestion, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Examination HEI06-45443. This conventional technique is about the layered wiring method in which a reflexive division of a wiring area is repeated, and in each divided layer, in an automatic wiring method of semiconductor integrated circuit which determines the route passing position of a set (hereinafter called the net) of circuit pins (hereinafter called the pins) of a same electric potential on the division line by using an optimization algorithm, the wiring area is divided into four parts by vertically and horizontally at the same time, and determines the passing position of the route of the net on the four division lines. In this leyered wiring method, after the pins on the input side, the pins on the output side, and the wiring information between the pins on the input side and the output side are input, when a cirtuit drawing is made to a wiring substrate drawing, a finalized wiring information is laid out into the wiring substrate drawing, the division of the wiring area into four parts is reflectively repeated so that the wiring substrate is subdivided by 4.times.m, and the route pattern on the area divided into four parts, and the net passing position on the four division lines are determined and the wiring route decision for route optimization (the shortest route determination) is automatically designed.
The conventional art relates to the method of drawing a substrate diagram by automatically designing the wiring route which performs the optimization of the writing route, where the input pin information targeted for connection and the output pin information targeted for connection, and the circuit information such as wiring rules or wiring limitation are already known. Therefore, the conventional art is limited to solving the wiring route optimization problems on the plane, such as the intersection of the wiring routes, overlapping the wiring routes, or the existence of an obstacle area which is forced to detour by the wiring routes.
In this way, in the conventional determination method of wiring routes, the combination of connecting the wire bond pads and solder ball connection pads had to be determined beforehand. Furthermore, it also took much time in determining the candidates for the combination of connections. Therefore, the wiring route determination took a lot of time because there were lots of connection combinations in the method of connecting wiring routes freely without determining the combination of the above connections.
Therefore, in the conventional art, the combination of connecting the wire bond pads and solder ball connection pads had to be firstly made. For example, if the number of wire bond pads is assumed to be n and the number of solder ball connection pads to be m, then there are .sub.m C.sub.n units combinations when m>n. Selecting an optimal connection combination out of the .sub.m C.sub.n units combinations can be regarded as the wiring route optimization problem on the BGA or CSP.
As an example, suppose if an electrode on the semi-conductor chip is the input pin, and an electrode on the semi-conductor package substrate is the output pin, then it is to solve the problem of seeking a possible output pin as well as the possible maximum number of wiring routes on the semiconductor package substrate when only the input pin information is known.
To seek the solution of this problem, first of all, the possible maximum number of wiring routes is obtained, and then the number of output pins which can be connected to the wiring routes is obtained. Then, quality standard is set for the output pins, and the maximum and minimum values of the quality standard are obtained based on the rating function so as to obtain the wiring route determination method which performs optimization of the wiring routes.
As shown in FIG. 4, the wire bond pads 5 are arranged on the outside circumference of the solder ball connection pads 2, and a case in which the wire bond pads 5 and the solder ball connection pads 2 are wired like a wiring 3 is considered. The wire bond pads 5, under the design condition in which they can be connected to any solder ball connection pads 2, which are connected to one wire bond pads 5, there are combinations equivalent to the number of solder ball connection pads 2, and furthermore, there is a plurality of wiring routes regarding the combination of one connection.
The prime objective of this invention is to automatically select a combination of connecting a plurality of first pins and a plurality of second pins, select an optimal route and to layout a wiring route.
Another objective of this invention is to offer a rating result based on which the optimal wiring route is selected by rating the laid out wiring route based on the quality standard. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In recent years, the use of sensor networks for monitoring various kinds of information in order to manage for example residential environments, nature conservation, healthcare and traffic conditions has been increasing. In sensor networks, sensors having a communication function (hereafter, referred to as “sensor terminal devices”) are placed at various locations and the sensor terminal devices autonomously form a network. These sensor terminal devices perform wireless communication with sensor terminal devices in the surrounding area by using a random access scheme. Random access communication is a type of communication in which, when data that is to be transmitted is generated, the data is transmitted from the terminal device that generated the data to another terminal device. Examples of random access communication schemes include a carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) scheme. In this scheme, a sensor terminal device specifies a terminal to transmit data to from among sensor terminal devices in the surrounding area and selects a communication path in accordance with a given communication path selection method. In this way, sensor terminal devices within a sensor network form a wireless multi-hop network. A wireless multi-hop network is a wireless network in which nodes have a function of forwarding data and in which nodes, which are not able to directly communicate with each other, can communicate with each other via nodes interposed therebetween. Each sensor terminal device transmits data to the specified device by using multiple hops. Wireless multi-hop networks are sometimes also called ad hoc networks.
A very large number of wireless terminal devices are used in wireless multi-hop networks such as sensor networks in order to obtain detailed target information. When a network is formed using a very large number of wireless terminal devices, it is desirable that it be possible to purchase the individual wireless terminal devices at a low cost. However, in the manufacture of wireless terminal devices, the individual wireless terminal devices are generally subjected to testing before being shipped out.
In order to reduce costs, wireless terminal devices manufactured at low cost are often only subjected to simple testing. Consequently, there is a risk of there being large manufacturing variations among wireless terminal devices manufactured at low cost. For example, it is thought that reception sensitivity varies greatly among wireless terminal devices manufactured at low cost. Here, reception sensitivity is an index that indicates the minimum reception power at which the reception quality requested for communication can be secured and this minimum reception power is called the “reception sensitivity point”. Wireless terminal devices having a low reception sensitivity point, that is, a high reception sensitivity, are capable of detecting signals at even a small reception power, whereas, it is difficult for wireless terminal devices having a low reception sensitivity to detect signals at a small reception power. Consequently, a situation may occur in which bidirectional communication is difficult between a wireless terminal device in which the reception power is equal to or greater than a reception sensitivity point and another wireless terminal device in which the reception power is less than the reception sensitivity point, despite there being a link therebetween.
In the field of wireless multi-hop networks, the following technologies have been proposed. For example, a related technology has been proposed in which, when a certain terminal is to go offline, the certain terminal searches for a proxy terminal to serve as a substitute for itself and, upon finding such a terminal, the certain terminal instructs the proxy terminal to serve as a substitute for itself. In addition, another related technology has been proposed in which entry permission can be issued to a terminal wishing to newly enter a network by any terminal within an ad hoc network. Yet another related technology has been proposed in which a terminal already placed on a network performs a participation procedure for a terminal that is to be newly placed on the network and assigns a network address to the new terminal.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-258811, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2008/132808 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-206124 disclose examples of the related art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to a tendon cutter and, more specifically, to a cutter particularly adapted to at least partially sever the tendons of a bone-containing anatomical section, thereby facilitating removal of the meat therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,463, issued to Eugene G. Martin on May 4, 1982, entitled SINGLE STATION ANATOMICAL SECTION DE-BONING MACHINE, discloses an apparatus particularly adapted to remove the meat from, or debone, the thighs and drumsticks of fowl such as chickens, turkeys and the like. The device which is the subject of this patent, when utilized to debone drumsticks, mechanically grips the hock knuckle and thereafter pulls the drumstick through a restricted orifice, the orifice functioning to longitudinally strip the meat from the bone.
It has been found that when machines of the general type as disclosed in the aforesaid patent are utilized to debone larger anatomical sections such as turkey legs, the bone sometimes fractures during the pulling process, necessitating thereafter hand-removal of the bone and attendant fragments from the meat. This bone breakage is attributable primarily to the fact that the tendons on occasion if not often have a tension strength exceeding that of the bone to which it is attached.
Bone breakage, on any scale other than a very minor one, is unacceptable. Not only is it often necessary to shut down the machine in order to remove the bone and meat fragments and thereafter discard or debone by hand the resultant pieces. It is also necessary to insure that through the provision of sufficient inspection personnel, etc., no bone fragments are present in the deboned meat. This added expense may render what is otherwise an economical money-saving operation unacceptable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an illuminating unit to produce and emit a beam and a projection-type image display apparatus employing the same, and more particularly, to an illuminating unit with a compact design which is capable of improving collimating characteristics of beams emitted by a plurality of light sources at different locations within the illuminating unit, and a projection-type image display apparatus employing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an illuminating unit including a non-point light source, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and a reflector with a single curvature is used in an illuminating system for emitting uniform white light and collects a beam emitted by the non-point light source and directs the collected beam in one direction. The illuminating unit typically needs to project a collimated beam by focusing the beam emitted by the non-point light source. However, it is difficult to make the collimated beam using the illuminating unit.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional illuminating unit includes an LED package 1 that emits white light, a reflector 3 that reflects a beam emitted by the LED package 1, an entrance aperture 5, and an exit aperture 7. The LED package 1 is constructed to align red, green, and blue LED chips on one plane 3a of the reflector 3 to produce white light by combining beams emitted from the respective LED chips. The plane 3a is parallel to the entrance aperture 5 and the exit aperture 7.
Since the reflector 3 has a polygonal (approximately paraboloidal) cross-section, the beams reflected by the reflector 3 are allowed to exit the reflector 3 through the exit aperture 7 while maintaining good collimating characteristics and color uniformity.
The conventional illuminating unit including the reflector 3 having the polygonal cross-section is advantageous, since the polygonal cross section has improved collimating properties over other illuminating units including mirrors having a parabolic, spherical, or elliptical cross-section.
However, since the conventional illuminating unit having a polygonal reflector has a limitation on reducing its size, a beam spot produced by the conventional illuminating unit has a diameter that is not suitable for use in a projection-type image display apparatus. Thus, the conventional illuminating unit requires a separate focusing system when it is used in a projection-type image display apparatus. Another drawback exists in that it is difficult to realize a compact illuminating unit, since there is a limitation in reducing the size of a reflector. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improvements for tufting machines, and specifically relates to a yarn saving apparatus for tufting machines which inhibits the tufting of a carpet backing web along its outer longitudinal borders by selectively withholding yarn from selected outer groups of needles of a shiftable needle bar, thereby reducing the wastage of yarn which otherwise would be tufted onto the longitudinal borders and cut off when the carpet is trimmed to remove the borders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the tufting of pile fabrics, and particularly carpets, a series of needles are often positioned in a needle bar to carry pile yarns through a backing web or fabric which is advanced over a throat which receives the needles as the web is penetrated. Oscillating loopers positioned underneath the throat engage loops of pile yarn to hold the yarn as the needles are withdrawn, and oscillating knives may be positioned to provide cut pile, if desired.
Many conventional tufting machines often employ laterally shiftable mechanisms for repetitively changing the relative position of the needles and backing web to provide a pattern effect, to eliminate lines or streaks in the fabric which are especially noticeable with multi-colored yarns, and to break up the noticeable alignment of longitudinal rows of tufting that detract from the appearance of the carpet. Some of these mechanisms are shiftable needle bars, while others include shiftable backing web carriers. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,109,395 to Batty, 3,203,388 to Parlin, 3,964,407 to Ingram et al., 3,301,205 to Card, 3,026,830 to Bryant, and 3,964,408 and 3,972,295 to Smith disclose various mechanisms which shift the needle bar laterally as the needle bar is reciprocated toward and away from the web to cause the needles mounted on the needle bar to penetrate the web.
Generally, only a limited amount of lateral shifting is possible in shifting mechanisms due to physical limitations on the length of the needle bar or on the parameters of cam devices which are commonly employed to effectuate shifting. It is quite common to find that the relative shift between the backing web and the needles is limited to less than about six gauge spaces, that is, lateral spaces between needles. In such devices, the pattern effect produced adjacent to the outer longitudinal border of the backing web is a "wave line" of tufting, or a wave of tufted area which borders on a non-tufted portion of the backing web immediately adjacent to the longitudinal border of the backing web. For example, FIG. 28 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,249,078 to Nowicki and FIG. 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,388 to Parlin, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, show wave lines of tufting from the top surface and undersurface, respectively, of carpets which have been laterally shifted a plurality of gauge spaces. It will be understood that the lateral shifting occurs across the entire transverse width of the backing web, and that the wave line itself is most apparent only at the outer longitudinal borders of the backing web which are tufted by groupings of needles at the ends of the needle bar.
In order for the carpet to be commercially saleable, the wave line of tufting on the outer longitudinal border of the backing, together with the non-tufted portion of the backing web adjacent to the edge of the carpet (collectively, the "wastage area") must be cut off. Inevitably, there is wastage of both tufting yarn and of backing web material. It is highly desirable for the patterning effects, streak elimination, and row alignment break-up which result from lateral shifting to dominate the carpet, yet it is also desirable to eliminate the wastage of yarn which is also a result of the shifting. No prior art devices appear to provide a solution to the problem of wastage while maintaining the beneficial effects of lateral shifting.
It is known in the art that various pattern effects can also be produced by varying the height of the loop of pile yarn. Various methods have been proposed for controlling the height of the loop. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,249,078 to Nowicki discloses a method for tufting which combines lateral shifting of a needle bar with pile height control by a "bar type" pattern attachment yarn feed mechanism such as that shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,853,033 and 2,853,034 to Crawford. Nowicki, U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,945, discloses a pattern attachment for tufting machines which controls pile height by means of a contoured feed roller. Methods for making high and low level pile heights for patterning by selective tensioning or locking of the yarn being fed to the tufting needles are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,876,183 to Parlin, 2,876,441 to Boyles, 2,842,079 to Rice, 2,782,905 to Smith, 2,940,405 to Parlin, 3,334,601 to Ellison, 3,110,276 to Penman, 2,866,424 to Masland, and 2,912,945 to Nowicki.
Control of pile height may also be achieved by a related technique in which yarn is fed to tufting needles by a speed control apparatus which selectively feeds yarn at a first rate which produces a tuft of a given height, or at a second rate, slower than the first, which produces shorter tufts than the tufts of the given height. For example, Nix, U.S. Pat. No. 2,875,714 shows that high and low loops can be formed by feeding the pile yarns over high speed and low speed rollers which alternately provide "full feed" and "starving feed" to groups of tufting needles thereby forming alternate rows of high and low pile loops. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,862,465 to Card, 4,193,358 to Woodcock, 2,880,684 to Masland, 3,263,631 to Freeman, 2,966,866 to Card and 2,954,865 to Hackney teach that pile height may be controlled in this manner. In these patents, different heights of pile loops occur because the amount of yarn fed at the slower rate is insufficient to form a loop corresponding to the maximum depth of needle penetration, causing yarn withdrawal or "robbing" from a previously formed loop. By selectively controlling the rate of yarn feed, patterns having varying yarn height can be tufted.
No known prior art devices, however, disclose any methods or devices which allow patterning across the transverse width of the backing but which may be coordinated with the lateral shifting of the needle bar so that yarn robbing, tensioning, or withdrawal occurs only at the outer longitudinal edges of the backing web independently of any patterning control. If tufting can be inhibited or prevented at the edges when the needle bar extends over the wastage area independently of the patterning, the yarn which would otherwise be wasted as the outer groups of needles tuft the wastage area can be saved. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
There are various platforms for toys and video games For example, racing and car customization is popular in many formats, e.g., die cast models, slot cars, radio control vehicles, as well as PC, console and mobile game simulations. While the game play may be similar among the different platforms of games and video games (e.g., the customization of the player's car), each different platform generally requires its own unique controller. In addition, a game experience in one platform tends not to be portable to another platform. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In the practice of digital color image processing, an original color image, such as a photographic negative, is sampled periodically in three colors (e.g. red, green and blue) to produce a digital representation of the original color image. The digital color image is processed by applying digital image processing functions to improve such image qualities as sharpness, tone-scale, and color balance. The processed digital color image is then displayed on a display medium such as photographic film or paper.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating apparatus for digital image processing. Such apparatus includes an input device 1 for sampling the original color image in each of three colors, and analog-to-digital converters 2 for producing the digital color image in the three colors. Commonly employed input devices include drum and flat bed scanners, linear and area solid state image sensing arrays, and CRT and laser flying spot scanners, each being provided with appropriate color filters to produce the color separations.
Each digital color separation image is stored in a mass storage memory 3, such as a solid state memory frame-buffer, magnetic tape or disc storage device. A digital computer 4 applies the various image processing functions to the digital color image to produce the processed digital color image.
The digital computer 4 may comprise a main frame general purpose digital computer, or for higher speed operation, a digital computer specially configured for high speed digital processing of color images.
The processed digital color image is converted to sampled analog form by digital-to-analog converters 5 and is displayed on an output device 6 such as a drum or flat bed graphic arts scanner, or a CRT or laser flying spot scanner. The elements of the image reproduction apparatus communicate via a data and control bus 7.
As noted above, among the processing functions performed by the digital computer are the improvement of the tone-scale and color balance of the color image. In the article entitled "Tone Correction of Color Picture by Histogram Modification" by Yoichi Miyake, Nippon Shashin Sakkaishi, V. 48(2), pp. 94-101, 1980, the author proposes a digital color image processing method wherein the tone-scale corrections are effected by modifying the histogram of color values of the green separation image. Color corrections are implemented by solving a conventional set of color masking equations of the form: EQU R'=a.sub.11 R+a.sub.12 G+a.sub.13 B (1) EQU G'=a.sub.21 R+a.sub.22 G+a.sub.23 B (2) EQU B'=a.sub.31 R+a.sub.32 G+a.sub.33 B (3)
where the matrix of color correction coefficients a.sub.ij are determined primarily by the characteristics of the input and output media.
An improvement to this process wherein both tone scale and color balance are corrected using histogram modification techniques is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 730,627 filed May 6, 1985, by Alkofer.
According to the digital color image processing method of Alkofer, a Laplacian filter is applied to each of the color components of the image to detect local contrast. The color values are divided into contrast intervals, and one of the contrast intervals is selected based on the similarity of the histograms of color values in the selected contrast interval. The histograms of color values in the selected contrast interval are normallized to produce color reproduction functions, and the color reproduction functions are applied to the color components of the digital color image.
The method of Alkofer is based upon two principle observations regarding the statistical properties of the color values in a high quality color image. The first of these principles is that a truly random sample of color values (e.g. photographic density or log radiance) in a high quality color image will form a normal (Gaussian) distribution. The second principle is that the standard deviation of a random sample of color values is invariant with respect to wavelength (i.e. color). A truly random sample of color values of one color will have the same standard deviation as a truly random sample of another color.
The first principle noted above implies that a function that normalizes a random sample of color values will serve well as a color reproduction function, assuming that any deviation from normality in the random sample was caused by some "problem" with the original. The first principle combined with the second principle noted above implies that color values in all three colors having an equal distance in their number of standard deviations from the means of their respective color distributions should always combine to produce a neutral (i.e. gray).
The degree of success (i.e. the appropriateness of the color corrections) achievable by this method is a strong function of the randomness of the sample of color values used to generate the color reproduction functions. Alkofer relied upon the selection of color values from the contrast interval based upon the similarities of the histograms of color values in the contrast interval, to insure the desired randomness in selection of color values from the image. While Alkofer's method represents a subtantial improvement over the prior art, there is still observed to be some situations in which the "randomness" in selecting color values is perturbed by large areas where film grain noise predominates in an image (such as blue sky, causing a subtle yellow shift in the processed image) or areas of fine texture (such as grass or foilage, causing a subtle magenta shift in the processed image).
It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved color digital image processing method, and in particular to provide an improved method for sampling the color values in a color image for use in normalizing the sample of color values to produce color reproduction functions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In general, a reference prior art type of electric motor comprises a casing having inside a stator of the wound type, rigidly constrained to the casing, and a rotor, for example with permanent magnets, rotatably constrained to the casing.
An electronic module or control electronics, connected to the stator, is inserted in the casing for supplying power to the stator.
A cap closes the casing to form a closed container from which connection terminals protrude for the power supply of the control electronics.
The electrical machines used as a reference for this invention are in particular of the brushless enclosed type also known as the sealed type, that is, sealed electrical machines.
It is known that the windings of an electrical machine, whether they are stator or rotor windings, are made using a plurality of coils of conducting material, usually copper, made of a conducting wire wound around two or more pole shoes of the stator and/or the rotor of the electrical machine. The winding, through which electricity flows, is isolated from the pole shoes, which are made of ferromagnetic material. For that purpose, a layer of electrically insulating material is interposed between the winding and the corresponding pole shoe on which it is wound.
An electric current which may even have a high nominal value passes through the winding and that causes heating phenomena due to the Joule effect which extend over the entire dimensions of the winding and in the zones of the electrical machine adjacent to it.
In particular, it has been found that said heating phenomenon causes a deterioration of the conductivity properties of the conducting wire, which consequently produces a greater resistance to the passage of electric current, causing a high and often unacceptable level of energy dissipation.
Moreover, the heating of the winding may cause a rapid deterioration of the insulating characteristics of the above-mentioned layer of electrically insulating material interposed between the winding and the corresponding pole shoe, as well as excessive heating of the electronic module.
That situation is particularly bad in closed type rotary electrical machines, in which the windings are immersed in the container, formed by a casing and cap, which does not have air recirculation.
A solution intended to overcome said difficulty is described in the document WO2009019562 in the name of the same Applicant.
In that solution, the inside of the casing is provided with a plurality of stop portions, in the form of protrusions of a base wall of the casing, against which the stator windings abut, suitably insulated, for more effective heat exchange with the cap.
In the case of high powered motors, at around one kW, the prior art solutions are still not completely satisfactory in terms of dispersing the heat produced in the windings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The device to device proximity service (Device to Device Proximity Service, “D2D ProSe” for short) between user equipments (User Equipment, “UE” for short) has become a hot topic of the Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, “LTE” for short) system.
D2D ProSe relates to a data signal and a control signal, where the control signal is used to indicate a frequency resource occupied by the data signal, and the data signal is used to carry data.
However, in an existing LTE communications system, a receive end cannot determine a time resource occupied by a control signal, and needs to perform blind detection on all possible time resources, so as to obtain the control signal, causing that the receive end needs to consume more time and electric energy to acquire the control signal. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to siphons, in particular, flushing siphons for cleaning a trough of a livestock enclosure by flushing relatively high volumes of water at a relatively high velocity across the trough.
Siphons are quite frequently used in agricultural enclosures for livestock to provide a more or less high velocity and high volume flow of water across a dirt and manure catching trough in a relatively short time so as to flush same. It is often desirable to have these siphons function automatically with a high degree of dependency while being relatively simple in design and inexpensive to produce. It is also important that these siphons have few if any moving parts to be fouled or jammed by the debris in the waste water typically used for such flushing systems.
It is also important for the siphon to repeatedly flush at a predetermined time in the flushing sequence. If the siphon flushes too early, there is an insufficient cleaning of the trough and such early flushing may produce a continuous flowthrough of the siphon such that the flushing sequence must be manually restarted. It is also important that the siphon flush before same fills too full and somewhat vigorously such that there is not a continual runthrough of the flushing water which can also be produced when the siphon is overfilled. In order to initiate the flushing action at the proper point in the flushing sequence, it is important to properly fill the lower liquid trap and an upper air trap of the siphon. It is also desirable to have an automatic trigger mechanism which initiates flushing at a relatively constant point during flushing sequence.
The present invention provides a siphon having a discharge which opens upwardly and relatively flush or in low profile with respect to the floor of the trough being flushed. The upstream end of the siphon discharge may be canted slightly upward to urge the flow of the liquid downstream of the siphon and through the trough. The discharge mouth flairs or diverges substantially so as to reduce the velocity of the flow of liquid flowing through the siphon and to ensure that fluid is retained within the discharge at the end of the flush cycle. This in turn ensures that fluid will be in the liquid trap so as to prime same for the next sequential flushing cycle. A large flared inlet with a weep hole therein also ensures that the air trap will be properly filled with air at the beginning of each flushing cycle. A trigger mechanism is utilized to automatically activate the vigorous flushing action of the siphon preferably before fluid within the fluid storage vessel overflows the air trap into the liquid trap. Other hydraulic principles such as a convergence of the cross-sectional area of the siphon within the region associated with the inlet between the inlet and the air trap, especially in conjuction with continuous generally smooth opposite side walls of the siphon, increases the hydraulic efficiency of the device.
It is also desirable that multiple siphons may be utilized to flush a relatively wide trough simultaneously from a single liquid storage tank.
Further, it is desirable to have a unitized, preferably prefabricated, siphon structure which allows one unskilled in the art of flushing siphons to install such a siphon with a high degree of probability that the siphon will operate. This is especially true, since flushing siphons may be tempermental if poorly designed or built and may fail to operate as desired if improperly built. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In a digital imaging device, such as a digital camera, light is focused on a digital image sensor. Most digital cameras use either a charge-coupled device (CCD), or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip, as an image sensor. When a picture is taken, the image sensor samples the light coming through the lens and converts it into electrical signals. Typically, these signals are boosted by an amplifier and sent to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that changes those signals into digital data. An onboard processor then processes the digital data to produce the final image data, which may be stored on a memory card or sent as a file.
Most digital imaging devices use 12- or 14-bit ADCs and perform a wide variety of processing on the digital data, such as de-mosaicing, white balance, noise reduction, and the like. This processing can consume a significant amount of power and time to perform.
In addition, almost all conventional devices default to saving images in Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format, which is a compressed format. As a result, a digital imaging device down samples the original 12- or 14-bit data back down to 8 bits before performing the JPEG compression. In addition, the processor in the digital image device must perform a large set of calculations on the digital data for JPEG compression. Indeed, some digital imaging devices may include a separate digital signal processor or other form of processor in order to perform JPEG compression. Therefore, support of the JPEG algorithm can consume a large amount of time and power in a digital imaging device.
It may be desirable to reduce the amount processing and power required for JPEG images. Due to their popular acceptance, JPEG images can be generated and handled by a wide variety of devices. For example, devices like video cameras, mobile phones, etc., are now capable of providing JPEG images. JPEG images are also basic components of compressed video standards such as Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG). However, these devices must also conserve space used by the components and the amount of power they consume (since they run on batteries). It may also be desirable to speed the processing related to JPEG images or MPEG video, such as, for a security camera.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to systems and methods that efficiently implement compression algorithms to produce an image, such as a JPEG image. It may also be desirable to provide systems and methods that can acquire a compressed image, such as a JPEG image, more quickly than conventional technologies. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an absolute magnetic encoder for generating absolute signals that indicate an absolute rotational position of a servomotor shaft or other rotational body, and more particularly relates to an absolute magnetic encoder capable of generating high-resolution absolute signals without increasing the number of magnetic pole tracks formed on an external peripheral surface of a magnetic drum and increasing the axial length.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 9A and 9B are a front view and side view showing a configuration of a detection portion of a commonly known absolute magnetic encoder. As shown in the drawings, N tracks, or four magnetic pole tracks 102 to 105 ranging from 20 to 23 are aligned in the direction of a drum axis 101a on the external peripheral surface of a magnetic drum 101 fixed to the motor shaft of the measurement object or another rotational body. Hall sensors or other magnetic sensors 202 to 205 are disposed facing the magnetic pole tracks 102 to 105, respectively. Shown in FIG. 10 are bit signals for each digit obtained from the magnetic sensors 202 to 205 for these digits.
In an absolute magnetic encoder with this configuration, when the number of bits is increased in order to enhance the resolution, the number of tracks increases proportionately and the axial length of the magnetic drum 101 increases as well. This becomes an impediment to reducing the size and weight of a high-resolution absolute magnetic encoder. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Eyewear lens such as glasses, sunglasses, goggles, face shields, visors, helmet shields and the like are used to protect eyes from light, wind, debris, water and to enhance visual acuity. Glasses systems with interchangeable lenses were introduced which allowed a user to change the lenses depending on the lighting conditions, but such systems require the user to bring the expensive, breakable alternative lenses anyplace a change may be needed. Similarly, a user may have different glasses for different activities or even different conditions within the same activity. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Low voltage AC power signals, i.e., up to approximately 1 kV, are typically synthesized using conventional power converters which employ insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switching devices. The switching devices are connected together in a bridge configuration and are controlled to synthesize a single phase or multi-phase AC output signal at a selected frequency and voltage, current, or power level from either a DC signal or an AC signal at a different frequency or at a different voltage, current, or power level. IGBT switching devices may be modulated at a high frequency, e.g., 10-20 kHz, which is typically well above the fundamental frequency of the AC output waveform being synthesized. Pulse width modulation or other similar high frequency modulation techniques may thus be used to control the IGBT switching devices in conventional power converters. The spectral performance of conventional power converters is typically excellent due to this high frequency modulation of the converter switching devices. High frequency modulation of the switching devices in the conventional power converter allows a nearly sinusoidal AC output waveform to be generated which, with minimal passive filtering on the output of the converter, includes very little harmonic, i.e., non-fundamental, frequency content.
Conventional power converters employing IGBT switching devices cannot be used, however, to synthesize high voltage output signals, beyond about 2 kV. This limitation is due to the limited voltage blocking capability, less than 1.5 kV, of most commercially available IGBTs. For high output voltage levels, up to 5 kV, converters employing gate turn-off (GTO) thyristor switching devices can be used. GTO thyristors have much higher voltage blocking capability than IGBTs. However, the switching capability of GTO thyristors is limited. GTO thyristors typically cannot be switched at a frequency much higher than the fundamental frequency of the output signal to be synthesized. Thus, the spectral performance of a high voltage converter employing GTO thyristors is limited. A GTO thyristor converter can only provide harmonic performance similar to an IGBT based converter if an immense, and typically prohibitive, amount of filtering is employed.
There is a growing demand for high voltage power conversion systems capable of providing high voltage output signals and having good spectral performance and control. For example, such a system would be a useful power supply for high voltage electric powered traction locomotives and other transportation systems which are currently in operation in Europe and which are planned for introduction in the United States. Another application for high voltage power conversion systems is harmonic compensation and active filtering in electric power distribution systems. Certain industrial customers of electric power utilities can produce harmonics in the entire electric distribution system. Such harmonics can damage distribution equipment, require the overrating of such equipment, and adversely affect the operations of other industrial customers of the utility. An example of such a "dirty load" is a steel mill operation, wherein rectifiers are used to develop DC bus voltages used in the mill. The switching frequency of the rectifiers can be reflected back onto the power lines providing power to the mill, thereby generating harmonics in the power distribution system. A passive filtering system, composed of capacitors and inductors, may be used to reduce the harmonics fed back into the power distribution system from such a load. However, it has been found that an inverter, either by itself or in combination with passive filtering components, may be controlled to provide harmonic compensation and filtering of such loads. Such "active filtering" can be highly effective in eliminating harmonics from the electric power distribution system. Unlike purely passive filter components, an active filter inverter can be controlled dynamically to respond to changing conditions on the electric power distribution system. It is apparent that, for high voltage active filtering applications in particular, a high voltage power converter having good and controllable spectral performance is required.
A known method for achieving high output voltage levels from a power conversion system is to employ a multilevel power converter topology. The number of converter levels required in any such multilevel topology depends on the output voltage level desired and the type of switching devices employed in the converter. Higher voltage levels can be achieved with fewer converter levels if GTO thyristors are employed in the converter. However, a multilevel converter employing GTO thyristors will have poor spectral performance. Alternatively, a greater number of converter levels, with IGBT switching devices employed in each level, may be employed to achieve a high voltage output level without sacrificing spectral performance. However, increasing the number of converter levels also increases converter circuit control complexity and cost.
An example of a known multilevel converter topology is the diode clamped inverter. An exemplary diode clamped multilevel inverter 20 is illustrated in, and will be described with reference to, FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates a single phase of a three phase diode clamped multilevel inverter. The remaining two phases will have a similar configuration, and share the same DC bus. The exemplary diode clamped inverter 20 includes four DC bus capacitors 22-25 connected in series to form a quadruple DC bus. All of the capacitors 22-25 are identical, and the DC voltage level across each of the capacitors 22-25 is equal. In the present example, the voltage level across each capacitor 22-25 is 2.65 kV. Eight inverter switching devices, 27-34, hereinafter S.sub.1 -S.sub.8, are individually connected in series. The group of series connected switching devices S.sub.1 -S.sub.8 is connected across the series connected DC bus capacitors 22-25. In this case, each switching device 27-34 is implemented as a GTO thyristor 36 and a diode 38 connected in anti-parallel with the GTO thyristor 36. Five tapping points A.sub.1-5 are defined along the quadruple DC bus. Tapping points A.sub.1 and A.sub.5 are at the ends of the quadruple DC bus, and tapping points A.sub.2, A.sub.3 and A.sub.4 are defined at the connecting points between capacitors 22 and 23, 23 and 24, and 24 and 25, respectively. Clamp diodes 40-45 are connected between the tapping points A.sub.2, A.sub.3 and A.sub.4 along the quadruple DC bus and selected points between the series connected switching devices 27-34. Clamp diodes 40 and 41 are connected between tapping point A.sub.2 and points between switching devices S.sub.1 and S.sub.2, and S.sub.5 and S.sub.6, respectively. Clamp diodes 42 and 43 are connected between tapping point A.sub.3 and points between switching devices S.sub.2 and S.sub.3, and S.sub.6 and S.sub.7, respectively. Clamp diodes 44 and 45 are connected between tapping point A.sub.4 and points between switching devices S.sub.3 and S.sub.4, and S.sub.7 and S.sub.8, respectively.
It may be observed from FIG. 1 that a five-level output waveform can be synthesized at output node A, between switching devices S.sub.4 and S.sub.5, by tapping the five tapping points A.sub.1-5 on the quadruple DC bus. Thus, the diode clamped inverter circuit can be thought of as a multiplexer, with switching devices S.sub.1 -S.sub.8 for connecting the output node A to one of five available voltage levels. A peak voltage of, in this case, +/-5.3 kV can be realized by clamping the output node A to the top tapping point A.sub.1 or bottom tapping point A.sub.5 of the DC bus. This is accomplished by closing a set of four switches, either S.sub.1 -S.sub.4, or S.sub.5 -S.sub.8, for obtaining output voltage levels of +5.3 kV or -5.3 kV, respectively. The other three "inner" voltage levels, in this case, 2.65 kV, 0, and -2.65 kV, can be synthesized by closing switching devices S.sub.2 -S.sub.5, S.sub.3 -S.sub.6, or S.sub.4 -S.sub.7, respectively. This creates a current path connecting two of the clamp diodes cathode-to-anode. The other ends of these clamp diodes are connected to one of the voltage-taps A.sub.2, A.sub.3, or A.sub.4, along the DC bus. For example, to realize the 2.65 kV voltage level at the output A of the diode clamped inverter 20, switching devices S.sub.2 -S.sub.5 are closed, connecting the cathode of clamp diode 40 to the anode of clamp diode 41 at output node A. The anode of clamp diode 40 and cathode of clamp diode 41 are connected to tapping point A.sub.2 on the quadruple DC bus. Thus, with switching devices S.sub.2 -S.sub.5 closed, the voltage across DC bus capacitor 23 is connected, via clamp diodes 40 and 41, to the output node A. These diodes also prevent the undesired voltage levels across the other DC bus capacitors from being connected to the output node A.
It has been demonstrated that a diode clamped inverter topology can be used to synthesize three phase line-to-line AC voltage levels of up to 7.46 kV using 4.5 kV GTO thyristor switching devices. However, since, as discussed previously, the switching capability of GTO thyristors is limited at higher frequencies, the spectral performance of such a configuration is limited. IGBT switching devices may be employed in the diode clamped inverter topology to improve spectral performance. However, in order to achieve high output voltage levels using such switching devices, the diode clamped inverter topology must have numerous levels. Although the diode clamped inverter topology works well up to four or five levels, the topology becomes highly cumbersome and difficult to realize beyond this number of levels. It should be noted that the required reverse voltage blocking capability of the clamp diodes in the diode clamped inverter varies with the voltage level at which the diode is employed. Also, it has been demonstrated that for induction machine drive applications the DC bus of a diode clamped inverter is loaded non-uniformly, causing an additional problem of DC bus capacitor voltage balancing.
An example of a variation of the five-level diode clamped inverter topology 20 which provides a solution to the DC bus capacitor voltage balancing problem is the exemplary four-level diode clamped rectifier-inverter topology 50 illustrated in FIG. 2. A single phase of a multi-phase four-level diode clamped rectifier-inverter is illustrated. The remaining phases will have a similar configuration. In order to achieve capacitor voltage balancing, a diode clamp structure is employed on both rectifier and inverter sides of a DC bus. The four-level diode clamped rectifier-inverter 50 includes a triple DC bus formed of three DC bus capacitors 52-54 connected together in series. Rectifier side switching devices 56-61 and inverter side switching devices 62-67 are connected together in series across the triple DC bus. In this case, each switching device 56-67 may be implemented as an IGBT 68 with a diode 70 connected in anti-parallel with the IGBT 68. Rectifier side clamp diodes 72 and 73 are connected between a tapping point on the DC bus between DC bus capacitors 52 and 53 and points between rectifier side switching devices 56 and 57, and 59 and 60, respectively. Rectifier side clamp diodes 74 and 75 are connected between a tapping point on the DC bus between DC bus capacitors 53 and 54 and points between rectifier side switching devices 57 and 58, and 60 and 61, respectively. Inverter side clamp diodes 76 and 77 are connected between the tapping point on the DC bus between DC bus capacitors 52 and 53 and points between inverter side switching devices 62 and 63, and 65 and 66, respectively. Inverter side clamp diodes 78 and 79 are connected between the tapping point on the DC bus between DC bus capacitors 53 and 54 and points between inverter side switching devices 63 and 64, and 66 and 67, respectively.
The rectifier side switching devices 56-61 are controlled to provide rectification of an input voltage signal provided on input node Ain, between rectifier side switching devices 58 and 59, to ensure that a balanced voltage level V is maintained across each DC bus capacitor 52-54. The inverter side switching devices 62-67 are controlled in a manner similar to that of the switching devices in the five-level diode clamped inverter 20 discussed previously. In this case, a four-level waveform may be realized from the triple DC bus, which allows four distinct voltage levels, +2V, +V, -V, and -2V. A set of three of the inverter switching devices 62-67 is closed at any given time to connect the output node A.sub.out, between inverter side switching devices 64 and 65, to one of the four tapping point voltage levels along the triple DC bus. Switching devices 62-64 are closed to provide voltage level +2V at the output node A.sub.out, switching devices 63-65 are closed to provide voltage level +V at output node A.sub.out, switching devices 64-66 are closed to provide voltage level -V at output node A.sub.out, and switching devices 65-67 are closed to provide voltage level -2V at output node A.sub.out.
Although providing a solution to the problem of DC bus capacitor voltage balancing for induction machine drive applications, the four-level diode clamped rectifier-inverter topology 50 is limited by the other limitations of the diode-clamped inverter topology discussed previously. Although the switching devices 56-67 in such a topology may be implemented with IGBTs, which may be switched at a high switching frequency to provide good spectral performance, the use of IGBT switching devices limits the output voltage level of the converter. Numerous levels must be emloyed if IGBTs are to be used for high voltage level applications. The diode clamped topology makes it cumbersome and difficult to realize such a rectifier-inverter beyond four or five levels. Higher output voltage levels can be achieved with fewer inverter levels if GTO thyristor switching devices are employed in the converter topology. However, the limited switching capability at high frequency of GTO thyristors will result in a converter which has poor spectral performance.
As discussed previously, in multilevel diode clamped inverter topologies the required voltage blocking capability of the clamp diodes varies with the level at which the diodes are employed in the circuit topology. Thus, multiple clamp diodes connected in series may be required at higher voltage levels. In order to avoid this requirement, an alternative multilevel inverter structure where the voltage across an open switch is constrained by clamping capacitors, instead of clamp diodes, has been proposed. These inverters are commonly known as flying capacitor inverters. Flying capacitor topology inverters, however, suffer from the other limitations of diode clamped inverter topologies. Poor spectral performance will result if GTO thyristor devices are used to implement the switching devices in the flying capacitor inverter topology. Better spectral performance can be achieved if IGBTs are used for the flying capacitor inverter switching devices. However, once again, numerous levels of IGBT switching devices must be employed to synthesize high voltage level output signals. Although the flying capacitor inverter topology works well for topologies having up to four or five voltage levels, the flying capacitor inverter topology is highly cumbersome to scale for more than this number of levels.
Multiple single phase inverters may be used to synthesize multilevel waveforms. Using multiple single phase inverters to synthesize multilevel waveforms was initially realized through phase shifting of multiple single phase inverter output voltage waveforms and adding the phase shifted waveforms vectorially using series connected transformer windings. However, when the number of phases increases beyond three or five, this approach becomes difficult to realize due to the requirement of multiple transformer windings.
As an alternative approach, a series connection of multiple single phase *inverters with multiple dedicated DC buses may be used to realize multilevel output waveforms. An example of such a modular approach for synthesizing multilevel waveforms is the H-bridge multilevel inverter. An exemplary known modular H-bridge multilevel inverter circuit topology 80 is illustrated in FIG. 3. In the H-bridge multilevel inverter approach, a number of full bridge single phase inverters, with dedicated isolated DC bus capacitors/voltage sources, are connected together in series to form a high voltage inverter for each phase of a multi-phase system. In the exemplary H-bridge multilevel inverter topology 80 illustrated in FIG. 3, two such single phase inverters 82 and 84 are connected in series to form a single phase of a three-phase inverter. (The remaining two phases have a similar configuration and respective independent DC voltage sources.) The first single phase inverter 82 includes a DC voltage source 86 and four inverter switching devices 88-91 connected in an H-bridge configuration across the DC voltage source 86. The second H-bridge inverter 84 includes a DC voltage source 92 and four inverter switching devices 94-97 connected together in an H-bridge configuration across the voltage source 92. The node A between switching devices 88 and 89 of a second leg of the first H-bridge inverter 82 is the output node for this phase of the multi-phase inverter. The node between inverter switching devices 96 and 97 of a first leg of the second H-bridge inverter 84 is connected to the neutral line of the multi-phase inverter. The first 82 and second 84 H-bridge inverters are connected together at a node between switching devices 90 and 91 of a first leg of the first H-bridge inverter 82 and a node between switching devices 94 and 95 of a second leg of the second H-bridge inverter 84. Each of the inverter switching devices 88-91 and 94-97 may be implemented as an IGBT switching device 98 and a diode 100 connected in anti-parallel with the IGBT switching device 98. The voltages across the DC voltage sources 86 and 92 are equal. It may be seen that the H-bridge multilevel inverter 80 is capable of producing five distinct voltage levels (+/-2V, +/-V, and 0V) at output node A. For example, with switching devices 97, 94, 91, and 88 closed, an output voltage level of +2V is provided at output node A. Other switching combinations are employed to provide the other voltage levels at the output node A. Thus, the H-bridge multilevel inverter 80 may be controlled to provide a five level output voltage waveform 102, as illustrated in FIG. 4. (Waveform 104 is the desired AC signal to be synthesized.)
The advantage of the H-bridge multilevel inverter topology is that its modular configuration provides flexibility for easy expansion of the number of levels without introducing undue complexity in the power circuit. This topology requires the same number of switches as in a diode clamped inverter topology to achieve a given number of (odd) voltage levels. However, the H-bridge multilevel inverter topology requires multiple dedicated DC buses, which makes it an expensive solution. On the other hand, since the DC bus voltage sources are independent, the problem of capacitor voltage balancing is eliminated. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates generally to treating plaque deposits and occlusions within major blood vessels, more particularly to an apparatus and method for preventing detachment of mobile aortic plaque within the ascending aorta, the aortic arch, or the carotid arteries, and to an apparatus and method for providing a stent and a filter in a percutaneous catheter for treating occlusions within the carotid arteries.
Several procedures are now used to open stenosed or occluded blood vessels in a patient caused by the deposit of plaque or other material on the walls of the blood vessels. Angioplasty, for example, is a widely known procedure wherein an inflatable balloon is introduced into the occluded region. The balloon is inflated, dilating the occlusion, and thereby increasing intraluminal diameter. Plaque material may be inadvertently dislodged during angioplasty, and this material is then free to travel downstream, possibly lodging within another portion of the blood vessel or possibly reaching a vital organ, causing damage to the patient.
In another procedure, stenosis within arteries and other blood vessels is treated by permanently or temporarily introducing a stent into the stenosed region to open the lumen of the vessel. The stent typically comprises a substantially cylindrical tube or mesh sleeve made from such materials as stainless steel or nitinol. The design of the material permits the diameter of the stent to be radially expanded, while still providing sufficient rigidity such that the stent maintains its shape once it has been enlarged to a desired size.
Generally, a stent having a length longer than the target region is selected and is disposed on a catheter prior to use. The catheter typically has a flexible balloon, near its distal end, designed to inflate to a desired size when subjected to internal pressure. The stent is mounted to the catheter and compressed over the balloon, typically by hand, to assure that the stent does not move as it passes through the blood vessel to the desired location within the patient. Alternatively, self-expanding stents may also be used.
The stent is typically introduced into the desired blood vessel using known percutaneous methods. The catheter, having the stent securely crimped thereon, is directed to the region of the blood vessel being treated. The catheter is positioned such that the stent is centered across the stenosed region. The balloon is inflated, typically by introducing gas or fluid such as saline solution, through a lumen in the catheter communicating with the balloon. Balloon inflation causes the stent to expand radially, thereby engaging the stenosed material. As the stent expands, the material is forced outward, dilating the lumen of the blood vessel.
Due to substantial rigidity of the stent material, the stent retains its expanded shape, providing an open passage for blood flow. The balloon is then deflated and the catheter withdrawn.
Because the stent is often constructed from a mesh material, the stent typically compresses longitudinally as it expands radially. Stenotic material trapped between the stent and the vessel wall may extend into the openings in the mesh and may be sheared off by this longitudinal compression to create embolic debris free. When this material travels downstream, it can cause serious complications. For example loose embolic material released within the ascending aorta, the aortic arch, or the carotid arteries may travel downstream to the brain, possibly causing stroke, which can lead to permanent injuries or even death of the patient.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method for delivering a stent into an arterial occlusion which substantially reduces the risk of embolic material escaping to the vessel and causing a blockage at a downstream location. There is also an apparatus and method for substantially preventing detachment of plaque deposited on the walls of the ascending aorta, the aortic arch, the descending aorta, and the carotid arteries. In addition, there is a need for an apparatus and method to substantially contain loose embolic material within the aorta and the carotid arteries during an interventional procedure, preventing it from reaching the brain.
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for preventing embolic material from escaping a site of intervention within the aorta, the carotid arteries, and other arteries generally, thereafter causing damage to vital organs, such as the brain. More particularly, the present invention involves an apparatus and method for introducing a stent into a region of a major blood vessel within the human body having plaque deposits, such as the ascending aorta, the descending aorta, aortic arch, common carotid artery, external and internal carotid arteries, brachiocephalic trunk, middle cerebral artery, anterior cerebral artery, posterior cerebral artery, vertebral artery, basilar artery, subclavian artery, brachial artery, axillary artery, iliac artery, renal artery, femoral artery, popliteal artery, celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, inferior mesenteric artery, anterior tibial artery, and posterior tibial artery, thereby opening occlusions and/or preventing embolic material from breaking free within the blood vessel.
In a first embodiment, the invention includes a guidewire having an expandable filter attached to it, and a stent catheter. The catheter has an inflatable balloon mounted on or near its distal end, and an inflation lumen extending through the catheter between a proximal region of the catheter and the balloon. A stent is provided on the outer surface of the catheter, substantially engaging the balloon. Generally, the stent comprises an expandable substantially rigid tube, sheet, wire or spring, but preferably a cylindrical mesh sleeve. See Pahnaz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,665, incorporated herein by reference.
Alternatively, the stent may be a self-expanding sleeve, preferably from nitinol. In this case, the stent catheter does not require an inflatable balloon. Instead the stent is compressed over the catheter and a sheath or outer catheter is directed over the stent to hold it in the compressed condition until time of deployment.
The guidewire has a filter assembly attached at or near its distal end, which includes an expansion frame which is adapted to open from a contracted condition to an enlarged condition. Filter material, typically a fine mesh, is attached to the expansion frame to filter undesirable embolic material from blood.
The guidewire with the expansion frame in its contracted condition is provided through a sheath or cannula, or preferably is included directly in the stent catheter. The catheter typically has a second lumen extending from its proximal region to its distal end into which the guidewire is introduced. The filter assembly on the distal end of the guidewire is then available to be extended beyond the distal end of the catheter for use during stent delivery.
The device is typically used to introduce a stent into a stenosed or occluded region of a patient, preferably within the carotid arteries. The catheter is introduced percutaneously into a blood vessel and is directed through the blood vessel to the desired region. If the filter device is provided in a separate sheath, the sheath is percutaneously inserted into the blood vessel downstream of the region being treated, and is fixed in position.
The filter assembly is introduced into the blood vessel, and the expansion frame is opened to its enlarged condition, extending the filter mesh substantially across the blood vessel until the filter mesh substantially engages the walls of the vessel.
The catheter is inserted through the region being treated until the stent is centered across the plaque deposited on the walls of the blood vessel. Fluid, preferably saline solution, is introduced through the inflation lumen, inflating the balloon, and expanding the stent radially outwardly to engage the plaque. The stent pushes the plaque away from the region, dilating the vessel. The balloon is deflated, and the catheter is withdrawn from the region and out of the patient. The stent remains substantially permanently in place, opening the vessel and trapping the plaque beneath the stent.
When the stenosed region is opened, embolic material may break loose from the wall of the vessel, but will encounter the filter mesh and be captured therein, rather than traveling on to lodge itself elsewhere in the body. After the stent is delivered, the expansion frame is closed, containing any material captured in the filter mesh. The filter assembly is withdrawn back into the sheath or the catheter itself, which is then removed from the body.
If a self-expanding stent is used, the stent catheter with the compressed stent thereon is inserted into a sheath, which restrains the stent in a compressed condition. The catheter is introduced into the patient""s blood vessel and directed to the target region. Once the stent is localized across the stenosed region and the filter assembly is in position, the sheath is drawn proximally in relation to the catheter. This exposes the stent, which expands to engage the wall of the blood vessel, opening the lumen. The filter assembly is then closed and the catheter withdrawn from the patient.
The filter assembly has a number of preferred forms. For example, the expansion frame may comprise a plurality of struts or arms attached to and extending distally from the distal end of the guidewire. The struts are connected to each other at each end and have an intermediate region which is biased to expand radially. Filter mesh is attached typically between the intermediate region and the distal ends of the struts, thereby defining a substantially hemispherical or conical shaped filter assembly.
To allow the filter assembly to be inserted into the lumen of the sheath, the intermediate region of the expansion frame is compressed. When the filter assembly is ready to be introduced into a blood vessel, the guidewire is pushed distally. The expansion frame exits the lumen, and the struts automatically open radially. This expands the filter mesh to substantially traverse the vessel. After the stent is delivered, the guidewire is pulled proximally to withdraw the filter assembly. The struts contact the wall of the filter lumen, forcing them to compress, closing the frame as the filter assembly is pulled into the sheath.
In another embodiment, the expansion frame includes a plurality of struts attached to the distal end of the sheath. The struts extend distally from the sheath and attach to the distal end of the guidewire which is exposed beyond the sheath. At an intermediate region, the struts are notched or otherwise biased to fold out radially. Filter mesh is attached to the struts between the intermediate region and the distal end of the guidewire.
The filter assembly is directed into position in the blood vessel, either exposed on the end of the sheath or preferably within a second sheath which is withdrawn partially to expose the filter assembly. With the sheath fixed, the guidewire is pulled proximally. This compresses the struts, causing them to bend or buckle at the intermediate region and move radially outwardly, expanding the filter mesh across the blood vessel. After use, the guidewire is pushed distally, pulling the struts back down and closing the filter mesh.
In an alternative to this embodiment, the struts attached to the distal end of the sheath and to the distal end of the guidewire are biased to expand radially at an intermediate region. The filter mesh is attached to the struts between the intermediate region and the distal end of the guidewire. Prior to introduction into a patient, the guidewire is rotated torsionally in relation to the sheath, twisting the struts axially around the guidewire and compressing the filter mesh. Once in position in the blood vessel, the guidewire is rotated in the opposite direction, unwinding the struts. The struts expand radially, opening the filter mesh. After use, the guidewire is rotated once again, twisting the struts and closing the filter mesh for removal.
In yet another embodiment, the filter assembly comprises a plurality of substantially cylindrical compressible sponge-like devices attached in series to the guidewire. The devices have an uncompressed diameter substantially the same as the open regions of the blood vessel. They are sufficiently porous to allow blood to pass freely through them but to entrap undesirable substantially larger particles, such as loose embolic material.
The devices are compressed into the lumen of the sheath prior to use. Once in position, they are introduced into the blood vessel by pushing the guidewire distally. The devices enter the vessel and expand to their uncompressed size, substantially engaging the walls of the blood vessel. After use, the guidewire is pulled proximally, forcing the devices against the distal end of the sheath and compressing them back into the lumen.
In a second embodiment, a stent catheter and filter assembly are also provided. Unlike the previous embodiments, the filter assembly is not primarily mechanically operated, but is instead, generally fluid operated. Typically, the stent catheter includes a second balloon on or near the distal end of the catheter. A second inflation lumen extends through the catheter from the proximal region of the catheter to the balloon. The balloon is part of the expansion frame or alternatively merely activates the expansion frame, opening the filter assembly to the enlarged condition for use and closing it after being used.
In one form, the balloon has an annular shape. Filter mesh is attached around the perimeter of the balloon, creating a conical or hemispherical-shaped filter assembly. A flexible lumen extends between the balloon and the inflation lumen within the catheter. Optionally, retaining wires are connected symmetrically between the balloon and the catheter, thereby holding the balloon substantially in a desired relationship to the catheter.
When deflated, the balloon substantially engages the periphery of the catheter, holding the filter mesh closed and allowing the catheter to be directed to the desired location. Once the catheter is in position, the balloon is inflated. The balloon expands radially until it engages the walls of the blood vessel, the filter mesh thereby substantially traversing the vessel. After use, the balloon is deflated until it once again engages the perimeter of the catheter, thereby trapping any embolic material between the filter mesh and the outer wall of the catheter.
Alternatively, the balloon of this embodiment may be provided on the catheter proximal of the stent for retrograde use. In this case, the filter mesh is extended between the balloon and the outer surface of the catheter, instead of having a closed end.
In a third embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided in which a stent catheter is used to prevent the detachment of mobile aortic deposits within the ascending aorta, the aortic arch or the carotid arteries, either with or without an expandable filter assembly. A stent catheter, as previously described, is provided having an inflatable balloon and a stent thereon, or alternatively a self-expanding stent and a retaining sheath. The catheter is percutaneously introduced into a blood vessel and is directed to a region having mobile aortic plaque deposits, preferably a portion of the ascending aorta or the aortic arch.
The stent is positioned across the desired region, and the balloon is inflated. This expands the stent to engage the plaque deposits and the walls of the blood vessel, thereby trapping the plaque deposits. The balloon is deflated, and the catheter is removed from the blood vessel. Alternatively if a self-expanding stent is used, the sheath is partially withdrawn proximally, and the stent is exposed, allowing it to expand. The stent substantially retains its expanded configuration, thereby containing the plaque beneath the stent and preventing the plaque from subsequently detaching from the region and traveling downstream.
Optionally, a filter device similar to those already described may be introduced at a location downstream of the treated region. The filter device may be provided in a sheath which is inserted percutaneously into the blood vessel. Preferably, however, a filter device is attached to the stent catheter at a location proximal to the stent. Instead of attaching the filter assembly to a guidewire, it is connected directly to the outer surface of the catheter proximal to the stent. A sheath or cannula is typically provided over the catheter to cover the filter assembly.
Once the catheter is in position within the vessel, the sheath is withdrawn proximally, the filter assembly is exposed and is expanded to its enlarged condition. In a preferred form, the expansion frame includes biased struts similar to the those described above, such that when the filter assembly is exposed, the struts automatically expand radially, and filter mesh attached to the struts is opened. After the stent is deployed, the sheath is moved proximally, covering the expansion frame and compressing the struts back into the contracted condition. The catheter and sheath are then withdrawn from the patient.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for substantially preventing mobile aortic plaque deposited within the ascending aorta, the aortic arch, or the carotid arteries from detaching and traveling to undesired regions of the body.
Another object is to provide an apparatus and method for treating stenosed or occluded regions within the carotid arteries.
An additional object is to provide an apparatus and method for introducing a stent to treat a stenosed or occluded region of the carotid arteries which substantially captures any embolic material released during the procedure. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Various voltage detection circuits, which detect a differential voltage between two input nodes, are proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,143,092 discloses a configuration, which detects a voltage by chopping a MOS transistor switch formed of four N-channel type MOS transistors coupled capacitively.
For a voltage detection circuit used to detect a voltage of a battery cell such as a fuel cell, it is required to be able to detect a differential voltage of both of a positive polarity and a negative polarity and reduce a voltage detection error, which is caused by a leak current flowing through a body diode of a MOS transistor. Conventional voltage detection circuits are not satisfactory to meet these requirements. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Numerous methods of gene transfer are known in the art, and are not reviewed in any great detail here. Suffice it to say that in general, methods of gene transfer in vitro are well known and have been practiced for several decades. Methods of in vivo gene transfer are much more recent, but have been successfully applied in such contexts as gene therapy efforts to overcome genetic disorders, and in disease modeling efforts, such as the production of germ-line transgenic animal models, such as gene knockout mice or transgenic mice and other animals expressing heterologous genes.
In general, the known methods of in vivo gene transfer involve the knockout of single genes present in the genome of an animal model, or the inclusion in the germ-line of a specific transgene in the genome of an animal model. The limitations to such methods include the possibility of inducing terminal illnesses in the animal models, such that either non-viable fetuses are produced, or limited life-span animals are produced. In addition, the effects of multiple gene knockouts or transgenes are extremely difficult to simulate in such systems, due to the complex temporal, gene regulatory and interaction effects in such systems. Furthermore, the germ-line transgenic models currently available tend to provide data on a very slow time scale, and such efforts as drug modeling and disease analysis are delayed by the time-scale of transgenic animal maturation. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for techniques which address and overcome these limitations. This invention is directed to resolving many, if not all, of these limitations in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention comprises a new and distinct Hydrangea cultivar hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘COUMONT’. This new Hydrangea was developed through a breeding program in Moyenmoutier, France. ‘COUMONT’ was selected from a population of seedlings that resulted from a cross of the seed parent, Hydrangea serrata ‘Santiago’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,070, and pollen parent Hydrangea macrophylla ‘The Bride’, unpatented.
The new cultivar was discovered by the inventor in Moyenmoutier, France in 2010. The inventor observed this interesting plant over several years, noting the exceptionally dense flowerheads and later the bronze coloration of the Fall foliage.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘COUMONT’ by softwood cuttings was first performed during the May of 2012, at commercial nursery in Moyenmoutier, France. Subsequent propagation has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention generally relates to the healing of alignments of the human body. More specifically, the present invention relates to manipulation of energy pathways in the human body.
The energy pathways of the human body are referred to as meridians. The energy pathways become congested from the daily living and the consumption of the many pathogens and chemicals that ingested by the human body. Current day to day living appears to be some of the most congesting to the energy pathways that humanity may have ever experienced. The mere act of living today causes the disruption of these pathways leading to sickness both physically and mentally. The stagnation of the human body energies are leading to more auto-immune diseases in younger and younger people.
When the energy can not flow like it should, congestion starts and the coagulation of these energies produce a thickening of the mucous in various parts of the human body. This thickening starts in the muscles and if not relieved will progress to various glands and organs making it difficult for the energies to flow through their normal pathways. When the energies can not take their normal pathway, they seek another route or outlet for their continuing pulsations. When the energies start to move in a direction that is not normal, the human body starts to run down and nothing works like it should. This is referred to as a switching or in kinesiology terms, the human body polarity is said to be reversed. When this happens, what was good for the human body before is now bad for the human body. In kinesiology, when the human body polarity is reversed, the testing will not work or the responses will be erratic. Most of the systems of the human body will now test weak. This weakness will show up as a lack of strength during muscle testing and will also show up as a weakness in the human body, such as labored breathing when walking a very short distance. Digestion will become sluggish along with the assimilations and eliminations. The human body metabolic rate will continue to become slower which will result in the human body becoming larger and over time completely worn out. When the energy can not flow properly, the natural course of flow will build up and sometimes cause a shaking of the human body or create tremors in various body parts or over the entire human body. This switching sometimes causes vertigo or the feeling of unstableness and actually falling down. This condition causes the brain to not function properly, thereby creating confusion, causing the inability to think, causing the inability to put thoughts together, causing memory loss and many other conditions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method of use of such apparatus to manipulate the human body energies along the proper pathways when the human body energies travel improper pathways. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting data, and a recording medium storing a computer program for executing the method, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for encrypting data on the basis of an identity-based encryption system and transmitting the encrypted data, and a recording medium storing a program for executing the method in a computer.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Recently, along with the widespread proliferation of personal smartphones, a message service between terminals is provided by using various forms, such as short message service, multimedia message service, a social network service (SNS), instant chatting service, and so on. As the message service is evolving into a social and business-oriented message service in which personal information should be sensitively handled, there is need for tighter security of data produced by users.
However, security in the current message system is mainly achieved through a network security technique such as a secure socket layer, which is vulnerable to interception of original data by an intermediate device other than a first transmitting terminal and a final receiving terminal, for example, a system server, during transmission and reception.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL), which is most widely used as a message service security technology, allows the data of the network to be encrypted and then moved using an authentication process between a client and a server. That is, in this technology, data is encrypted on the network and decrypted into the original data on the server. However, in most messaging services, a server in charge of SSL serves to store and deliver data to a final receiving terminal at an intermediate stage, not at a final receiving stage. This means that a third party, in addition to the first transmitter and the final receiver, can see the content of the original data, which may be problematic. For example, data transmitted from company A providing a corporate messaging service to company B using the service may be collected by the server. In general, security will be maintained between company A and company B on the basis of a contract. However, from a technical standpoint, the original data is accessible, which poses a potentially serious security problem. Therefore, with an identity-based encryption technique, a server authentication procedure such as SSL can be omitted depending on identity-based code properties, thereby preventing data from being leaked by a third party.
Looking over the related arts, Korean Patent Publication No. 2009-0020869, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHOD OF TRANSMITTING/RECEIVING ENCRYPTED DATA IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM” discloses that each of a plurality of mobile stations receives a public key from a server on the basis of its identity (ID) to generate a secret key, generates a token using the public key from other mobile stations, generates a session key using the public key and the token, and communicates encrypted data with other mobile stations through the generated session key.
Also, Korean Patent Publication No. 2005-0030982, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SAFELY DISTRIBUTING DIGITALCONTENTS THROUGH COMMUNICATION NETWORK BY USING USERPROGRAMS CONTAINING DIFFERENT DIGITAL IDENTIFICATIONS” discloses that a basic process for digital content seller authentication is implemented within an auxiliary device (for example, a semiconductor chip), and different types of authentication data are generated using a secret symmetric encryption algorithm and a secret key and then encrypted using a public key encryption algorithm and a private key. Thus, there is no need for a separate authentication center or clearing house, thereby simplifying the system and reducing operation cost. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to an improvement in level shift circuits for level shifting a low voltage signal to a high voltage signal to perform a signal transfer between two different circuits which are operated by different power supply voltages.
Recent increasing demand for low-power electronic devices has caused the power supply voltage of LSI internal circuits to decrease to 3 volts, to 2.5 volts or to less than 2.5 volts. This produces some necessities. For example, if an LSI external circuit is operated by 5 volts in contrast with the fact that the power supply voltage of a corresponding LSI internal circuit is 3 volts or less, this results in the requirement that an amplitude of 5 volts be provided. To this end, it is required to provide a level shift circuit capable of shifting either an amplitude of 3 volts, an amplitude of 2.5 volts or an amplitude of less than 2.5 volts to an amplitude of 5 volts.
Referring first to FIG. 10, there is shown an example of a conventional level shift circuit. Reference numeral 301 designates a signal input terminal. The signal input terminal 301 receives a low voltage (3 volts) signal from an inverter (an external circuit) 20 which is operated by low voltages (e.g., 3 volts). 302 designates an output signal terminal at which a high voltage (5 volts) signal is output to an operating circuit (not shown in the figure) which is operated by higher voltages (e.g., 5 volts).
Referring still to FIG. 10, 401 designates a first power supply terminal which is coupled to a low voltage power supply (e.g., a 3-V power supply). 402 designates a second power supply terminal which is coupled to a high voltage power supply (e.g., a 5-V power supply). 304 designates an N-channel MOS (Nch) transistor having (i) terminals of which one is coupled to the signal input terminal 301 and (ii) a gate which is coupled to the first power supply terminal 401. 303 designates an inverter made up of an Nch transistor 306 and a P-channel MOS (Pch) transistor 307. The inverter 303 receives its operating voltage from the second power supply terminal 402. The inverter 303 has an input coupled to the other of the terminals of the Nch transistor 304. Further, the inverter 303 has an output coupled to the output signal terminal 302. 305 designates a Pch transistor having terminals, namely a drain, a source, and a gate, wherein the drain terminal is coupled to the input of the inverter 303, the source terminal is coupled to the second power supply terminal 402, and the gate terminal is coupled to the output of the inverter 303. 403 designates an intermediate node between the Nch transistor 304 and the inverter 303.
Referring to FIG. 11(a), the operation of the level shift circuit of FIG. 10 will be described below.
Upon application of a signal which changes in voltage level from LOW (0 volt) to HIGH (3 volts) at the signal input terminal 301, the intermediate node 403 is pulled up to a voltage level (3-Vtn) through the Nch transistor 304 in the ON state, where Vtn represents the threshold voltage of the Nch transistor 304. If the switching voltage of the inverter 303, Vo, is set lower than the voltage (3-Vtn), this causes the output signal terminal 302 to decrease from HIGH (5 volts) towards LOW (0 volt) by signal inversion.
Because of a gate potential drop, the Pch transistor 305 goes into the ON state from the OFF state, and the intermediate node 403 is pulled up to HIGH (5 volts). Accordingly, the potential of the output signal terminal 302 is decreased to a lower value, finally arriving at LOW (0 volt). The Nch transistor 304 comes to have a gate potential equal to or less than its source and drain potentials, as a result of which the Nch transistor 304 changes to the OFF state. Accordingly, there exists no current path extending from the high voltage power supply to the low voltage power supply, which makes it possible to perform a voltage level shifting operation in the steady state with direct currents cut off.
Next, upon application of a signal which changes in voltage level from HIGH (3 volts) to LOW (0 volt) at the signal input terminal 301, the gate potential of the Nch transistor 304 will relatively increase. The Nch transistor 304, therefore, changes to the ON state. The intermediate node 403 is decreased from HIGH (5 volts) towards LOW (0 volt). The Pch transistor 305 is in the ON state and the potential level of the intermediate node 403 is determined by the value of a sum of the ON resistance of the Nch transistor 304 and the ON resistance of the external circuit 20 which drives the signal input terminal 301 with respect to the ON resistance of the Pch transistor 305. That is, as the ON resistance of the Pch transistor 305 relatively increases, the potential level of the intermediate node 403 decreases. Accordingly, if the Pch transistor's ON resistance is set sufficiently greater than the aforesaid sum, this causes the intermediate node 403 to have a potential level below Vo (the inverter's 303 switching voltage) and signal conversion causes the output signal terminal 302 to increase from LOW (0 volt) towards HIGH (5 volts).
Because of such an operation, the Pch transistor 305 continues to be boosted in gate potential, and the ON resistance further increases. As a result, the potential of the intermediate node 403 is decreased to a lower value and the voltage of the output signal terminal increases. Finally, the Pch transistor 305 enters the OFF state and the intermediate node 403 arrives at LOW (0 volt) while the output signal terminal arrives at HIGH (5 volts). Also in this case, there exists no current path extending from the high voltage power supply to the low voltage power supply, which makes it possible to perform a voltage level shifting in the steady state with direct currents cut off.
Because of the foregoing operations, a signal of opposite phase to the input signal at the signal input terminal 301 appears at the output signal terminal 302. Such an inverted signal has an amplitude of 5 volts.
However, the above-described conventional level shift circuit has some drawbacks. One drawback is that both the possibility that the operating speed degrades and the possibility that the malfunction occurs increase when the low voltage power supply is decreased in voltage level to a further extent because of demands for lower power LSI circuits.
In the case the signal input terminal 301 makes a change in voltage level from LOW to HIGH, a voltage level drop occurring in the low voltage power supply results in a speed drop which pulls up the potential of the intermediate node 403, for the drain current is reduced because both the drive performance of the external circuit 20 for driving the signal input terminal 301 and the gate voltage of the Nch transistor 304 in the ON state fall.
The reachable potential of the intermediate node 403 will fall for an amount approximately corresponding to a voltage level drop in the low voltage power supply. If such a reachable potential does not exceed Vo (the switching voltage of the inverter 303), no signal inversion is carried out, which causes the output signal terminal 302 to remain at HIGH. As a result, a malfunction occurs. Such a malfunction may be avoided by reducing the switching voltage. To this end, the gate width of the Nch transistor 306 forming a part of the inverter is required to be set relatively greater than that of the Pch transistor 307. However, the Pch transistor 307 is, of course, required to maintain some drive performance (gate width) and a reduction of the switching potential results in an abrupt increase in LSI pattern area. Therefore, such arrangement cannot be employed.
In addition to the above, if the gate width of the Nch transistor 306 is increased, this results in a gate capacitance load increase. This is a factor of degrading the operating speed.
A drop in the voltage level of the low voltage power supply occurring when the signal input terminal 301 changes in voltage level from HIGH to LOW results in a decrease in operating speed because both the drive performance of the external circuit 20 for driving the signal input terminal 301 and the drive performance of the Nch transistor 304 fall.
Additionally, with respect to the ON resistance of the Pch transistor 305, the foregoing sum increases, which makes it difficult to decrease the level of the intermediate node 403 to a lower value. Accordingly, in this case, it is required to establish a higher switching voltage level in order to ensure that the inverter 303 performs a signal inversion operation. Such a requirement conflicts with the case in which the signal input terminal 301 changes in voltage level from LOW to HIGH. This shows that a voltage level drop in the low voltage power supply results in a reduction in entire operating margin. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Many people communicate with one another and access computer-provided content or resources through computers interconnected by networks. To access the computers, the networks, or the content, services or other resources available through the networks, users typically must authenticate themselves by presenting security credentials (e.g., a password, a personal identification number (PIN), or a secret question/answer). For instance, most Internet service providers (ISPs) (e.g., America Online® (AOL®)) typically require a user to provide a user identifier (also known as a “screenname” or “username”) and password before the user's computer is authorized to access content or services on the ISP's network and/or the Internet.
“Identity thieves” or “scammers” often attempt to illicitly obtain a computer user's security credentials. An identity thief typically seeks a user's security credentials to gain access to the computer, network or resources in a manner that is difficult to trace back to the identity thief. For example, an identity thief may want to access a user's electronic mail (e-mail) so as to send out spam e-mail (i.e., bulk, unsolicited e-mails).
To obtain a user's security credentials, an identity thief engages in a process referred to as scamming. Scamming normally entails an identity thief sending a user an e-mail, instant message (IM), or other communication in which the thief impersonates a trusted party, such as an administrator of the network or resource or a website. The communication contains some ruse (such as needing to reset the user's account after a problem has occurred) to trick the user into giving his or her security credentials to the thief. The user typically is tricked into divulging his or her security credentials to the thief through a communication such as an e-mail, an IM, or an authentic looking website with a login form that submits to the thief instead of to the owner of the network or resource.
Scamming not only inconveniences and harms the direct victims, but also may cause an owner of a network or resource to incur significant costs. The owner may need to spend time and money restoring scammed user accounts (e.g., reset the password and delete thief-created subaccounts). The owner also may incur operational costs resulting from the fraudulent usage of accounts, such as to send spam. Some owners, such as, for example, ISPs, also may incur higher user retention/acquisition costs due to user dissatisfaction with spam and with being scammed.
Scamming is not only confined to obtaining security credentials. Scammers may also try to get other sensitive data, such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, or personal data. For instance, a scammer may send a communication, such as an e-mail, to a user of an online auction site. In the communication, the scammer pretends to be the auction site and indicates to the user that the auction site needs the user to verify his or her billing information. The communication may contain a link to a fake website that is designed to look like the website of the online auction. The fake website requests the user to submit his or her billing information, including credit card number. When the user submits the information, it is sent to the scammer, rather than the online auction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field
The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to systems, methods, and devices for selectively blocking communications in wireless networks.
2. Background
In many telecommunication systems, communications networks are used to exchange messages among several interacting spatially-separated devices. Networks may be classified according to geographic scope, which could be, for example, a metropolitan area, a local area, or a personal area. Such networks would be designated respectively as a wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), local area network (LAN), or personal area network (PAN). Networks also differ according to the switching/routing technique used to interconnect the various network nodes and devices (e.g. circuit switching vs. packet switching), the type of physical media employed for transmission (e.g. wired vs. wireless), and the set of communication protocols used (e.g. Internet protocol suite, SONET (Synchronous Optical Networking), Ethernet, etc.).
Wireless networks are often preferred when the network elements are mobile and thus have dynamic connectivity needs, or if the network architecture is formed in an ad hoc, rather than fixed, topology. Wireless networks employ intangible physical media in an unguided propagation mode using electromagnetic waves in the radio, microwave, infra-red, optical, etc. frequency bands. Wireless networks advantageously facilitate user mobility and rapid field deployment when compared to fixed wired networks.
The devices in a wireless network may transmit/receive information between each other. The devices may communicate at different data rates. Where many devices share a communication network and there are large differences between the communication rates of the devices network, congestion and inefficient link usage may result. As such, systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media are needed for improving communication efficiency in high efficiency wireless networks. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device in which pixel sections including photoelectric conversion sections are arranged in a matrix.
2. Background Art
In recent years, a MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) type solid-state imaging device is gaining attention as a device capable of being driven with low power consumption and shooting at high speed, and is starting to be installed in various fields such as a cell phone camera, an in-vehicle camera and a surveillance camera.
FIG. 6 shows a circuit configuration of a typical MOS type solid-state imaging device. As shown in FIG. 6, pixel sections 100 including photoelectric conversion sections (photodiodes) 101 configure an imaging region by being arranged in a matrix. Charges that are photoelectrically converted by photoelectric conversion sections 101 are transferred to floating diffusion layers (floating diffusion) 102 by transfer transistors 103. The charges that were transferred to floating diffusion layer 102 are amplified in amplifying transistors 104, and are transmitted to output signal line 111 through selected transistors 106 selected by vertical shift register 108. Further, the amplified charges are outputted from output terminal 112 through horizontal shift registers 109. Note that, excessive charges stored in floating diffusion layer 102 are discharged by reset transistors 105 whose drain regions are connected to power lines 107.
FIG. 7 shows a cross sectional configuration of pixel sections 100 according to a conventional example (for example, refer to Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-210919). As shown in FIG. 7, p-type epitaxial layer 203 is formed on p-type semiconductor substrate 201. Each pixel section 100 is partitioned by element isolations 207, and one of green filter 227G that transmits green light, red filter 227R that transmits red light, and blue filter 227B that transmits blue light is arranged.
At an upper portion of p-type epitaxial layer 203, p-type first impurity injection regions 219 and n-type second impurity injection regions 217 at underneath p-type first impurity injection regions 219 are arranged, thereby configuring photodiodes that are the photoelectric conversion sections. Junction portions of n-type second impurity injection regions 217 and p-type epitaxial layer 203 also become the photoelectric conversion sections. At portions of p-type epitaxial layer 203 under each of second impurity injection regions 217, p+-type first embedded barrier layers 205 are continuingly formed. That is, a concentration of p-type impurities doped in first embedded barrier layers 205 is higher than a concentration of p-type impurities doped in p-type epitaxial layer 203.
Second embedded barrier layers 211 are formed above first embedded barrier layers 205 in p-type epitaxial layer 203 for pixel sections 100 provided with green filter 227G and blue filter 227B. Further, third embedded barrier layer 215 is formed on second embedded barrier layer 211 for pixel section 100 provided with blue filter 227B. Here, in second embedded barrier layer 211 and third embedded barrier layer 215, the p-type impurities are doped therein and have concentrations of substantially the same as the impurity concentration of first embedded barrier layer 205. Further, an upper portion of each of embedded barrier layers 205, 211 and 215 is separated from second impurity injection regions 217.
As described above, a crosstalk is prevented by adjusting widths and positions of depletion regions of the photodiodes depending on wavelength of light incident on respective pixel sections 100.
Further, there is a conventional art that prevents the crosstalk which changes an injection depth of the n-type impurities configuring the photodiodes, depending on the wavelength of light incident on the respective pixel sections and adjusts the depletion regions of the photodiodes, for example by forming the photodiode of the pixel section having the blue filter to be shallow and the photodiode of the pixel section having the red filter to be deep. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Surgeons practicing in the field of neurosurgery have been aware for a number of years of the importance of perforating a patient's cranium at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to a plane tangent to the surface thereof. The purpose behind this requirement is actually twofold: first, a burr hole drilled at an orientation of 90.degree. to the surface of the skull prevents injury to the underlying dura and brain tissue which may otherwise be caused due to the continued rotation of the metal bit of the drilling apparatus once the bit tip exits the skull.
That is to say that, at an orientation of other than 90.degree., the drill bit of drilling devices in current use often continues to rotate after the tip portion has pierced the cranium, despite the incorporation of a standard, safety clutch mechanism commonly utilized with these drilling devices. The operation of this standard clutch is such that the drill should automatically stop rotating once the pressure upon the tip of the bit is released, i.e., once the tip of the bit passes entirely through the cranium.
In current state of the art drills, a secondary drill hole is used to prevent forward motion of a drill bit ("plunging") once the cranium has been penetrated. This secondary hole is made by using two concentric dill bits, that is, a primary bit is positioned inside a secondary bit. The secondary hole forms a platform which prevents forward motion once both the primary and secondary drill bits stop rotating.
The type of drill bit commonly utilized during neurological procedures, however, comprises an outer sleeve and a slideable inner sleeve, partially rotatable within the outer sleeve, which extends a minimal distance beyond the outer sleeve. If the burr hole is oriented at some angle other than 90.degree., while the trailing edges upon the outer sleeve of the bit are still engaging the bony surface of the patient's skull, the grinding surfaces upon the inner sleeve, which extend beyond those of the outer sleeve as noted above, can and often do cause serious injury to the underlying tissue within the cranial cavity.
In contrast, however, a burr hole aligned at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface of the skull permits the clutch mechanism to operate properly and thus stops the rotation of the entire bit once the tip has penetrated the bone, preventing accidental injury to the brain and related tissues.
The second and no less important general purpose behind providing a burr hole at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface of the skull is to ensure that a ventricular catheter subsequently inserted into the brain, perpendicular to the curvature of the cranium, will not deviate from its intended path due to a misaligned skull hole. Standard procedures for ventricular catherization are disclosed in the textbook literature (see, for example, Neurosurgery, edited by Robert H. Wilkins and Setti S. Rengachary, Section A, Chapter 13, "Techniques of Ventricular Puncture" (McGraw-Hill 1984).
A recently developed apparatus and procedure for ensuring correct catheter placement was, in fact, disclosed and claimed by one of the present applicants in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,324, issued Sep. 23, 1986. The apparatus comprises a guide assembly which, when positioned over an orifice (previously drilled by other means) above the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle in the cranium, guides a catheter and obdurator through the orifice and into the lateral ventricle at an angle normal to an imaginary plane formed by a tangent to the cranium at the orifice.
Although, as discussed above, the importance of orienting one or more burr holes at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface of the patient's skull during such a surgical procedure is well-known, there is currently no relevant art of which the applicants are aware which teaches how this burr hole through the patient's cranium can be prepared and aligned so as to extend through the skull at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to the surface thereof. The difficulty in producing such a precisely aligned burr hole has thus led to the search for a rapid, simple, inexpensive and accurate method and apparatus for perforating the patient's cranium at the required angle.
Another drawback of current perforators is their lack of re-start capability, that is, the ability to re-start the drill if drilling should stop prior to penetration of the cranium.
Current perforators incorporate a straight slot on the drive stem which engages a pin holding the inner and outer sleeves of the perforator together. The inner sleeve is also spring loaded thus allowing it to move along the axis of the perforator. The mechanism works provided that the inner drill is pressed against the drive stem by the pressure of the skull bone against its tip and subsequent compression of the spring. Once this pressure is relieved either by penetration of the inner table of the skull or by the surgeon relaxing the force on the perforator, the spring forces the drive stem to disengage from the inner drill, thereby preventing any further perforator penetration. Thus, the current design requires a surgeon to remove the apparatus from the burr hole and manually re-align the inner and outer drill sleeves with the drive stem before re-drilling can begin. While it is imperative that the perforator stop immediately after penetration of the inner table of the skull to prevent damaging the dura or the cortex, it is also important that the surgeon be able to stop and start drilling before completing the burr-hole. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In the fabrication of integrated circuit devices, some processes developed depend on the conversion in resistivity of selected portions of a film of an insulator overlying a region to which low resistance electrical connections need to be made, for example, the source and drain regions of an MOS transistor. Such conversion avoids the need for removal of such portions of the insulating film, which removal may be difficult and which may leave openings which are difficult to penetrate reliably for making electrical connection to the underlying regions. One technique previously proposed has been to increase locally the conductivity of the film by the introduction of dopants so that electrical connection can be made to the local portion of the film avoiding the need for making an opening in the film. However, it proves difficult to dope films of insulating materials sufficiently to increase the conductivity to the desired level, because of limitations in available implantation apparatus and the tendency of the substrate to be affected by such heavy doping. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention is made with no United States government support.
The present invention relates generally to medical instruments and medical imaging, and more particularly to, a method and apparatus to provide percutaneous images to assist in performing an accurate tissue biopsy in which nuclear medicine tracer uptake is localized using a radionuclide detector, and then an ultrasound probe is used to obtain anatomical ultrasound images.
In breast cancer patients, the lymph node is a very common site of secondary tumor formation. Evaluation of the lymph node in the ipsilateral side of the patient is used as an early monitor of metastasis. Many patients being treated for breast cancer undergo xe2x80x9caxillary dissectionxe2x80x9d to examine the lymph nodes. Because of their small size and diffuse distribution however, axillary dissection is surgically difficult and often physically traumatic for the patient. That is, one of the most common side effects after a patient undergoes breast cancer surgery is xe2x80x9clymphedemaxe2x80x9d, which causes painful, and often permanent, swelling in the arm on the side of the surgery. Lymphedema results from the removal of the 10-12 lymph nodes nearest the breast. In the past, these lymph nodes were surgically removed to check for the spread of the tumor.
More recently, a technique has been employed call sentinel node biopsy. In this procedure, a small amount of radioactive dye is injected near the tumor. The blood stream leaving the tumor will carry any metastasizing cells to the first lymph node downstream. A radionuclide device, much like a Geiger counter, is then used to locate the node net the tumor, which is known as the sentinel lymph node, by monitoring trace uptake. The sentinel lymph node can then be removed and tested, If the sentinel lymph node is clear of cancerous tissue, no other nodes need to be removed. This procedure has resulted in the avoidance of the removal of all the lymph nodes in approximately two-thirds of women who have had breast cancer surgery. However, the outcome of this procedure and the effects to the patient, are largely dependent upon the palpation skills of the surgeon. The detection of the sentinel node by the Geiger counter-type device helps guide the surgeon, but is anatomically imprecise. Therefore, accurately locating the sentinel lymph nodes is critical in performing such a procedure to eliminate the chances of lymphedema and to make the procedure as non-invasive as possible. However, even with the use of the existing radionuclide probe, when a surgeon performs this procedure, it is still an open surgical procedure, and therefore more invasive than may be necessary.
It would therefore be desirable to have a method and apparatus capable of accurately tracking tracer uptake and determining the depth of maximum tracer uptake, and once the maximum tracer uptake depth is determined, imaging anatomical structure so that a tissue biopsy can be performed as non-invasively as possible.
The present invention relates to an instrument used in a method of providing percutaneous images to assist in performing an accurate tissue biopsy and a system to locate nuclear medicine tracer uptake within a living being, that overcomes the aforementioned problems.
The present invention includes a medical instrument that combines an ultrasound probe with a focusing radionuclide detector that is capable of detecting the depth of tracer uptake to perform ultrasound-guided percutaneous tissue biopsy. The area of maximum tracer uptake is localized by the medical instrument and the depth of the maximum tracer uptake is determined. The resulting image displays the radioactivity detected by the radionuclide detector as a colored representation on a typical grayscale ultrasound image. The color overlay can be either completely shut off, or faded, so that the radiologist or surgeon can perform the ultrasound-guided core biopsy using existing ultrasound biopsy software. Such software superimposes a white line, representing the expected needle track, on the ultrasound image to plan the approach to avoid vital structure and minimize the invasiveness of the procedure.
Therefore, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a medical instrument is disclosed having an ultrasound probe capable of percutaneous detection of anatomical structure within a living being, and a radionuclide detector capable of detecting depth of tracer uptake within the living being. The radionuclide detector is coupled to, and in operable association with, the ultrasound probe such that at least one of the radionuclide detector and the ultrasound probe is pivotally moveable with respect to the other. In order to determine depth of tracer uptake, a fan array of radionuclide detectors can be used in which each of the radionuclide detectors in the fan array are pivotal with respect to one another so that a line of sight extending from each of the radionuclide detectors intersect at a moveable focal point. Alternately, a pair of radionuclide detectors can be arranged on either side of the ultrasound probe with a line of sight from each radionuclide detector converging at a moveable focal point. The moveable focal point is used to determine the precise point of maximum radioactivity.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method of providing percutaneous images to assist in performing an accurate tissue biopsy includes localizing radioactivity within a portion of a living being by passing a radionuclide detector across a surface of the living being and then imaging anatomical structure within the portion of the living being with a probe on the surface of the living being about the localized radioactivity. The method also includes superimposing an image representation of the localized radioactivity with an image of the anatomical structure about the localized radioactivity.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a system is disclosed to locate nuclear medicine tracer uptake within a living being. The system includes a medical instrument having an ultrasound probe producing anatomical structure detection signals and a radionuclide detector producing nuclear detection signals. The radionuclide detector is pivotally connected to the ultrasound probe such that a line of sight from the ultrasound probe and a line of sight from the radionuclide detector converge at a focal point. The focal point is adjustable to determine a depth of tracer uptake in an anatomical structure. An interface unit is provided to integrate the anatomical structure detection signals with the nuclear medicine detection signals to provide a grayscale ultrasound image superimposed with a color image indicative of tracer uptake. A display is provided to receive the integrated anatomical structure detection signals and nuclear medicine detection signals to display the superimposed grayscale ultrasound image and color image.
By combining an ultrasound imaging and radionuclide detection imaging, in real time, a core tissue biopsy can be done under ultrasound visualization by a radiologist, rather than a surgeon, which would lower cost of the procedure while at the same time lessening the physical impact on the patient compared to axillary dissection because the exact depth of the tracer uptake can be determined. One particular application of the present invention includes locating the sentinel lymph node in a breast cancer patient in which the sentinel lymph node can be located precisely by radionuclide imaging and then ultrasound imaging can be added to perform the tissue biopsy. Such a percutaneous biopsy would be less invasive than the aforementioned radionuclide probe procedure, and although complications associated with the radionuclide probe procedure are relatively low, with this percutaneous approach, it is expected that the rate of complications would be further reduced.
Furthermore, by converting sentinel lymph node biopsy from a surgical to a radiological procedure, it is believed that the cost of the procedure can be reduced, which may permit increased access to this procedure for more women. Finally, even if the surgeon and patient decide that complete removal of the sentinel lymph node is desired instead of ultrasound-guided core biopsy, the localization method described herein can be used to guide a marking needle and hookwire into the sentinel lymph node. This is similar to the method used to localize breast lesion. The surgeon can then follow the wire directly to the lymph node, with a significant decrease in surgical dissection, resulting in decreased morbidity.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description and the drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. The Field
This document relates to a refrigerator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, refrigerators are domestic appliances used to keep foods at a low temperature, and the refrigerators are capable of refrigerating or freezing foods depending on the type of the foods. And, cold air to be introduced into a chamber of the refrigerator is produced by heat exchange with refrigerant. That is, the temperature of air is lowered by heat exchange between the refrigerant and air through expansion of the air while the refrigerant repeats a cycle of compression-condensing-expansion-evaporation. And, low temperature air is supplied into the chamber of the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, according to a conventional refrigerator, a depression is formed at an upper surface of a main body, and a control box for controlling the operation of the refrigerator is seated on the depression. And, a lead wire, which is extended from electric components such as a display unit mounted on a refrigerator door, is connected to the control box via a hinge connecting the door with the main body.
Therefore, a plurality of lead wires are extended from the control box and are exposed out of the main body. In this case, in a process of foaming a heat insulating material into the main body, the lead wires have to be temporarily fixed on one side of the main body using a tape or other fixing means. And, after finishing the foaming process of the refrigerator door, the lead wires extended from the control box have to be connected with the electric components mounted on the door by removing the temporary fixing means.
In this way, according to the conventional refrigerator which is not provided with a separate means for processing the lead wires extended from the control box, there are disadvantages in that the number of processing steps is increased while suffering the decreases in productivity. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Previous patient support apparatuses have a patient table and a support plate for supporting a patient. This support plate is supported in such a manner that it can be moved by a guide unit along a longitudinal extension of the patient support apparatus. The patient support apparatus also has a fastening unit for fastening a head coil unit to the support unit. The head coil unit here is fastened to a contact surface of the support unit. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Many varieties of locking devices exist in today's marketplace and are used to lock a variety of different devices or items. Some of these conventional locking devices are cable locks. Such conventional cable locks typically include a housing and a cable having one end connected to the housing and a second end insertable into and locked to the housing. These conventional cable locks typically use a wire cable having a plurality of metal wires twisted around each other to form a single cable. Wire cables typically have a spiraled exterior surface created by the twisting of the wires. Conventional cable locks typically have an unlocked state in which a free end of the cable is not inserted into the housing, and a locked state in which the free end of the cable is inserted into the housing and is locked thereto by an engaging member or locking member positioned within the housing.
Through patience, skill, and (at times) significant resources and ingenuity, thieves have found one or more manners to defeat virtually every cable lock in the marketplace. In many applications suitable for cable locks, success for a thief lies not in the ability to circumvent a cable lock (which can readily be done simply with cable cutters, liquid nitrogen and a hammer, or in other manners employing brute force), but to do so in an undetected manner. By circumventing a cable lock without being detected, efforts of security personnel to detect the theft in a timely manner and to determine when and/or where the theft occurred is compromised. Many different manners of circumventing conventional cable locks have been employed throughout the years, some of which will now be described for purposes of illustration and example.
Some conventional cable locks define an inlet aperture in a wall of the housing to allow insertion of the cable into the housing. Such inlet apertures are typically round. When a cable (such as a wire cable) is inserted into the inlet apertures, gaps are present between the cable and the edge of the inlet aperture due to the gaps created between the spirals of the cable. Such gaps provide a place through which thieves can gain entry into the internal elements of the cable lock (e.g., with picks and other tools) to potentially unlock the cable lock. By unlocking the cable lock in this manner, the thieves can re-lock the cable lock after a theft to reduce the chances that the theft will be quickly detected.
Some conventional cable locks include engaging members or locking members (e.g., balls, pins, discs, tabs, and the like) that are retained within the housing of the cable locks and grip the cable received therein. Such locking members grip the cable and provide resistance to cable withdrawal out of the housing in a direction opposite that of cable insertion. Thieves have bypassed these types of conventional cable locks by repeatedly twisting the cable with force in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions in order to create slippage between the cable and the engaging or locking members until the cable is completely removed from the housing in the insertion direction. In this manner, the cable lock can be re-locked after a theft to delay detection of the theft.
Many conventional cable locks include housings defining an internal cavity having an enclosed end and an open end through which the internal components of the cable lock are inserted into the cavity during manufacturing of the cable lock. The open end is sealed off by positioning an end cap in the open end of the housing and by crimping the housing around the end cap. Such crimping of the housing secures the end cap in place in the open end of the housing. However, crimping the housing to around the end cap can create gaps between the edge of the end cap and the housing through which picks and other tools can be inserted to unlock the lock. In some cases, thieves position a tool or machine within the gap and pry the end cap out from the open end of the housing or uncrimp the open end of the housing in order to remove the end cap from the open end of the housing. In either case, access is thereby provided to the internal components of the cable lock. To delay detection of a theft, the thieves can replace the end cap in the open end of the housing and can re-crimp the housing using a tool or machine to once again secure the end cap in place.
Conventional cable locks typically employ a cable permanently secured with respect to the housing and having a free end for insertion into the housing as described above. In order for the first end of the cable to be permanently secured with respect to the housing, some conventional cable locks have a projection or other body portion connected or integral with the housing. This projection or other body portion has an aperture through which the cable is passed, after which time the projection or other body portion is crimped to secure the cable with respect to the housing. However, thieves have bypassed such cable locks by cutting the cable, using a machine or tool (e.g., a drill) to remove the cut cable from the aperture, inserting a new cable, and re-crimping the new cable in the aperture.
By using the methods discussed above and others on conventional cable locks, it is often difficult to identify that the locks have been bypassed. In some applications (such as for trailers, cargo containers, and other mobile cargo storage units used to move cargo), the popular use of conventional cable locks is exacerbated due to the added difficulty in identifying where the theft took place during transit. Having more prompt information indicating that a theft has occurred could more easily lead law enforcement agencies to the thieves and the stolen goods.
In light of the above problems and issues (as well as others known to those in the art but not discussed herein), an improved cable lock and locking method would be welcome in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combustion control system for an internal combustion engine that uses a plurality of fuels having different octane numbers.
2. Description of Related Art
A related art combustion control system for an internal combustion engine includes fuel injection valves that, respectively, inject a low octane fuel and a high octane fuel into a combustion chamber. During the compression stroke, fuel injection is performed such that the low and high octane fuels substantially do not overlap one another in the combustion chamber. The concentration of the gaseous mixture in the combustion chamber is prevented from being over-concentrated, fuel distributions different in octane number can be generated, and stable ignition and suppression of nitrogen oxide and smoke in compressed self ignition are compatibly implemented. Nevertheless, problems described below still remain unresolved.
In the event that distribution of the plurality of fuels having different octane numbers is generated, while preventing the fuels from substantially overlapping one another, fuel ignition is initiated with the low octane fuel. More specifically, compression self-ignition combustion is performed. Since the plurality of fuels having different octane numbers from one another are combusted independently of one another, ignition is facilitated. On the other hand, however, from the viewpoint of controlling combustion, there is a difficulty similar to other conventional cases of conventional compression self-ignition combustion. More specifically, when there is a change in operation conditions, and in particular, when the engine load is high, difficulties in combustion control are known. More specifically, when control is performed only to start ignition with the ignition of the low octane fuel regardless of the engine load, it is difficult to compatibly accomplish high thermal efficiency and output in a wide range of operation conditions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Many devices are available for automatically dispensing mastic or adhesive coated tape for application to wall forming panel joints, ceiling or corner joints. Most of these devices are not effective and some will not even work. Others are relatively complicated, ineffective and difficult to clean as result of being formed by a plurality of interengaging or moving parts and therefore are relatively expensive. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polyamide compositions. More particularly, the invention relates to oxygen barrier polyamide compositions exhibiting high oxygen scavenging capability as well as good coinjection stretch blow moldability with polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to enable the fabrication of clear, high barrier multilayer PET bottles for long shelf-life packaging applications. Such containers are useful for packaging a variety of oxygen-sensitive food and beverage products such as beer, juices and condiments as well as certain pharmaceutical and health care products.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the art to provide polyamide based packaging articles such as films, bottles, containers, and the like, which are useful for food packaging. Many such articles are made of multiple layers of different plastics in order to achieve the desired barrier properties. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,055,355 and 5,547,765 teach laminates of polyamides and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers which have good oxygen barrier properties.
In order to enhance freshness preservation, it is a standard practice to package food and beverage products within a packaging structure composed of laminated sheets of two or more plastics. Such packaging structures generally include a barrier plastic layer which has a low permeability to oxygen. The packaging structure can be thin, in which case it is wrapped around the item being packaged, or it can be thick enough to form a shaped container body such as a bottle.
It is known in the art to include an oxygen scavenger in the packaging structure. An oxygen scavenger reacts with oxygen that is trapped in the package or that permeates from outside of the package. This is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,536,409 and 4,702,966. U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,409 describes cylindrical containers formed from such packaging plastics.
Various types of oxygen scavengers have been proposed for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,409 recommends potassium sulfite as an oxygen scavenger. U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,875 discloses the use of unsaturated hydrocarbons as oxygen scavengers in packaging films. It is known in the art that ascorbic acid derivatives as well as sulfites, bisulfites, phenolics, and the like can be oxidized by molecular oxygen, and can thus serve as an oxygen scavenging material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,362 discloses the use of ascorbate compounds in containers as oxygen scavengers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,202,052 and 5,364,555 describe polymeric material carriers containing oxygen scavenging material. These polymeric carriers for the oxygen scavenging material include polyolefins, polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyurethanes, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,021,515, 5,049,624 and 5,639,815 disclose packaging materials and processes therefor which utilize a polymer composition which is capable of scavenging oxygen. Such compositions include an oxidizable organic polymer component, preferably a polyamides such as nylon MXD6, and a metal oxidation promoter, such as a cobalt compound. These compositions can be used with PET, for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,833 describes the use of a composition comprising an ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbon oxygen scavenger which is incorporated into a film layer, and used for making packaging for oxygen sensitive products. The oxygen scavenger is catalyzed by a transition metal catalyst and a chloride, acetate, stearate, palmitate, 2-ethylhexanoate, neodecanoate or naphthenate counterion. Preferred metal salts are selected from cobalt (II) 2-ethylhexanoate and cobalt (II) neodecanoate. Because water deactivates the oxygen scavenger composition, the composition can only be used for packaging for dry materials.
Despite these advances in the art, there still remains a need for a barrier polymer material which can provide high oxygen scavenging capability in order to reduce the oxygen permeation into a container. There also is a particular need for oxygen scavenging polymeric materials which meet the processing requirements for coinjection molding and reheat stretch blow molding with PET to permit the fabrication of transparent multilayer barrier PET bottles. For the latter requirement, the material must be (a) melt processable at high temperatures of up to 280xc2x0 C. without degradation, (b) slow to crystallize, like PET, during injection molding such that the molded preform is sufficiently amorphous to permit subsequent reheat, stretch-blow molding into an oriented bottle and (c) low in crystallinity to give a barrier layer with high clarity and delamination-resistance (good adhesion) to PET layer.
The invention provides a polyamide composition which comprises:
a) a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and
c) at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst.
The invention further provides an oxygen barrier film comprising a layer of a polyamide composition which comprises:
a) a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and
c) at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst.
The invention still further provides a multilayer article which comprises:
a) a polyamide composition layer comprising a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst; and
b) a thermoplastic polymer layer on one or both sides of the polyamide composition layer.
The invention still further provides a shaped article which comprises a polyamide composition comprising:
a) a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and
c) at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst.
The invention still further provides a process for producing a polyamide composition which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) blending the molten polyamide blend with at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture; and
c) cooling the mixture.
The invention still further provides a process for producing an oxygen barrier film which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70;
b) blending the molten polyamide blend with at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
c) extruding, casting or blowing the mixture into a film; and
d) cooling the film.
The invention still further provides a process for producing an oxygen barrier polyamide film which comprises:
a) melting a composition which comprises a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst;
b) extruding, casting or blowing the composition into a film; and
c) cooling the film.
The invention still further provides a process for producing a multilayer article which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
b) separately melting a thermoplastic polymer composition;
c) coextruding, casting, blowing, thermoforming, blow molding or coinjecting the mixture and thermoplastic polymer composition into a multilayer article; and
d) cooling the article.
The invention still further provides a process for producing a multilayer article which comprises:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
b) separately melting a thermoplastic polymer composition;
c) coinjecting molding the mixture and thermoplastic polymer composition into a multilayer preform;
d) reheating the perform; and
e) blow molding the perform into a multilayer article.
The invention still further provides a multilayer article formed by a process comprising:
a) melting a slow crystallizing polyamide blend comprising (i) an amorphous, semiaromatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof and (ii) a semicrystalline, aliphatic polyamide homopolymer, copolymer or mixture thereof wherein in the weight ratio of (i):(ii) ranges from about 99:1 to about 30:70; at least one polyamide-compatible, oxidizable polydiene; and at least one oxidation promoting metal salt catalyst to thereby form a mixture;
b) separately melting a thermoplastic polymer composition;
c) coinjecting molding the mixture and thermoplastic polymer composition into a multilayer preform;
d) reheating the perform; and
e) blow molding the perform into a multilayer article.
This invention provides a barrier polymer material which can provide high oxygen scavenging capability in order to reduce the oxygen permeation into the container. This invention further provides oxygen scavenging polymeric materials which meet the processability requirements for coinjection moldability and reheat stretch blow moldability with PET to permit the fabrication of transparent multilayer barrier PET bottles. The polyamide compositions of this invention are suitable for coinjection stretch-blow molding with PET, to thereby form a multilayered film which serves as a barrier layer suitable for bottles for extended shelf-life packaging of oxygen-sensitive food and beverage products. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of oral dentifrices, particularly in the field of toothpastes. More particularly, the present invention relates to expanded toothpastes that have an increased volume-to-mass ratio in order to reduce the overall mass of toothpaste that is dispensed during each use. Such dentifrices deliver a lower absolute quantity of active ingredients while maintaining their legally required concentrations.
2. The Relevant Technology
Toothpastes and other dentifrices are widely used in America and throughout the world to provide good oral hygiene, to prevent tooth decay, remove stains and to treat or minimize other problems associated with oral hygiene, such as gum disease and foul breath odor. Toothpastes typically include an inert carrier gel or paste, abrasive agents for removing plaque and other impurities found on a person's teeth, decay preventing medicaments, such as fluorides flavorants, surfactants, detergents, and other additives to provide a desired consistency and cleansing or medicinal activity. While many ingredients may be added or eliminated according to fads or perceived specialized needs, such as baking soda or tartar removing agents, modern toothpastes almost uniformly include fluoride in one form or another.
Fluoride has been medically proven to aid in the prevention of tooth decay. Typically, tooth decay causing agents generally comprise acids formed by bacterial breakdown of sugars in a person's mouth. Enamel treated with fluoride is much more resistant to such acidic attack compared to enamel that has not been treated with fluoride.
Nevertheless, there are some problems associated with the careless use of fluoride. While topical administration of fluoride to teeth provides reduced tooth decay, fluorides can be harmful if ingested in large enough amounts. Ingesting too much fluoride can lead to fluorosis and even death in some cases. Even if sublethal doses of fluoride are ingested, a person with fluorosis will often develop brown, mottled enamel and/or bone dyscrasia and other abnormalities. Even lower levels of fluoride ingestion can cause significant tooth discoloration. In higher amounts, the fluoride can affect the structural formation of teeth and cause inappropriate development, particularly in children.
While fluorosis can affect persons of any age, it is particularly pronounced in children. This is because children are much smaller and have far less body mass compared to adults. In addition, their bodies are in the development stage so that health problems have a more permanent and long-term effect. Therefore, a quantity of fluoride that is safe when ingested by an adult might be harmful if ingested by a child.
Moreover, because children are generally resistant to certain hygienic practices, including brushing their teeth on a regular basis, toothpaste manufacturers have deliberately developed toothpaste that taste good to encourage brushing. While this might have the beneficial effect of encouraging more brushing by children, it has the negative side effect of enticing children to swallow the toothpaste while they brush. Depending on the taste, children may intentionally or unintentionally swallow substantial amounts of toothpaste. Moreover, children generally do not understand that it is not proper to swallow toothpaste and might swallow large amounts even though many toothpastes for children include a warning label against ingestion of the product. Much of the problem stems from the tendency of children to apply too much toothpaste onto the brush.
Because of the known dangers associated with ingesting high levels of fluoride, toothpaste manufacturers generally recommend that children use only a pea-size quantity of toothpaste on the brush. A "pea-size" amount is typically about 1/3 the amount of toothpaste needed to fully cover an adult-sized toothbrush, as seen on advertisements generally. While such warnings are certainly proper, they are often not understood and ignored by both adults and children alike. In general, children simply do not understand that fluoride, while beneficial in very low doses, can be a poison at higher levels.
In real-life situations, most humans including children will lay a solid strip of toothpaste across the entire length of the toothbrush bristles. This is not surprising since we are all familiar with the ubiquitous television and print advertisements showing an inviting and generous quantity of toothpaste that runs the length of the toothbrush bristles, and even curls artistically and invitingly up and around on the end to form a solid strip across the length of the toothbrush with a "curly-Q" on one end. It is obviously in the toothpaste manufacturer's best interest to encourage the use of larger quantities of toothpaste, even though wasteful, in order to cause faster toothpaste depletion and more subsequent sales.
Because of this reality, the unfortunate result is that children have been found to develop fluorosis, which causes brown, mottled enamel. In addition, even more moderate doses of fluoride can create discoloration affect structural formation of teeth, and cause diseased teeth and bones. It is possible that the dangers of fluoride ingestion by children might actually outweigh the benefits of fluoride in fighting tooth decay, at least in some cases.
In addition to fluoride, toothpastes can include other ingredients which, while beneficial when applied topically in the mouth, might have unwanted side effects if ingested. Other ingredients in toothpaste that should not be ingested include surfactants, agents used to fight gum disease, tartar removal agents, bleachants, and other cleansing or disinfecting agents that are intended for topical application only.
In light of the foregoing, what are needed are compositions and methods for manufacturing toothpastes and other dentifrices which reduced the level of fluoride and other active ingredients that might be ingested by adults or children while still providing their beneficial effects.
It would be an additional improvement in the art to provide compositions and methods for manufacturing toothpastes and other dentifrices that provided the desired concentration of active fluoride and other dental agents while reducing the amount delivered.
Moreover, it would be a marked improvement in the art to provide compositions and methods for manufacturing toothpastes and other dentifrices that yielded compositions having an increased rate of dispersion of the fluoride and/or other active ingredients into saliva or water within a person's mouth compared to conventional toothpastes.
In particular, it would be a tremendous improvement in the art to provide compositions and methods for manufacturing toothpastes and other dentifrices that had increased dispersibility in saliva such that the active dental agent, such as fluoride, is more rapidly available to effect its beneficial activity.
Such compositions and methods for manufacturing improved toothpastes and other dentifrices are disclosed and claimed herein. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-56415, filed on Jul. 20, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packet intrusion detection method and apparatus, and more particularly, to an intrusion detection rule simplification method and apparatus capable of reducing a load involved in an intrusion detection process and performing high-speed intrusion detection and a packet intrusion detection method and apparatus using the simplified intrusion detection rules.
2. Description of Related Art
An intrusion detection technique is classified into network-based and host (computer)-based techniques. In the network-based technique, the intrusion detection is performed by using network packets. On the other hand, in the host-based technique, the intrusion detection is performed by using log data of the associated system. These techniques have been used as an application program technique rather that a kernel-based technique in the system.
A conventional real-time kernel-based intrusion detection technique performs the packet intrusion detection by correcting the kernel based on the aforementioned two techniques and compensates for the kernel-based intrusion detection by using an additional demon program, that is, a monitoring program. However, there are limitations to the conventional kernel-based intrusion detection technique as follows.
1) An effective intrusion detection rule generation method within the kernel is not provided. A large number of intrusion detection rules need to be managed in the kernel memory and the packet intrusion detection need to be performed by using these intrusion detection rules. Therefore, there is a need for an effective intrusion detection rule generation method capable of minimizing a load involved in the inner-kernel intrusion detection process and performing high-speed packet intrusion detection.
2) An intrusion detection method suitable for operations within the kernel is not provided. In general, the inner-kernel intrusion detection process requires a high-cost test process, so that a relatively heavy load may be imposed on the kernel. Therefore, there is a need for an inner-kernel intrusion detection process capable of performing the packet intrusion detection with a minimized test cost and an inexpensive detection cost.
3) An intrusion detection mode adaptable to network situations is not provided. In network nodes such as routers and switches, there is a need to perform simplified intrusion detection or entire intrusion detection using the entire intrusion detection rules in accordance with the network situations or administrator's requests. Therefore, there is a need to modify or control the inner-kernel intrusion detection process at the user's application program level if necessary. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a database search system and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image data representing a number of images is stored in an image database. By providing search conditions, image data representing an image that conforms to the search conditions is retrieved from the database and output. Attribute information regarding an image (incidental information such as date of photography of the image, place of photography and name of the photographer) also is associated with the image data. Depending upon the database, not only the image data but also the attribute information concerning this image data can be obtained.
In an image database from which attribute information is obtained in addition to image data, the image data and attribute information are stored in one-to-one correspondence in the same table within the same database. As a consequence, there are instances where a search is possible with regard to a certain prescribed search condition but is impossible in the case of another search condition. In such instances the database must be reconstructed from the beginning in order to make it possible to search the database under other search conditions as well.
An object of the present invention is to make possible various database searches in a system of a single type.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a database search system comprising: an image database in which image data representing images is stored; an attribute information database in which there is stored an attribute information table for storing attribute information regarding image data, which has been stored in the image database, in association with search items; a link information database in which there is stored link information for linking attribute information that has been stored in the attribute information table and image data that has been stored in the image database; an attribute information search unit (attribute information search means) which, on the basis of a given search condition and link information that has been stored in the link information database, is for retrieving and outputting attribute information conforming to the search condition from the attribute information table that has been stored in the attribute information database; and an image data search unit (image data search means) which, on the basis of a given search condition and link information that has been stored in the link information database, is for retrieving and outputting image data that has been stored in the image database.
The first aspect of the present invention provides also a method suited for use in the system described above. Specifically, the method comprises the steps of: storing image data representing images in an image database; storing, in an attribute information database, an attribute information table for storing attribute information regarding image data, which has been stored in the image database, in association with search items; storing, in a link information database, link information for linking attribute information that has been stored in the attribute information table and image data that has been stored in the image database; on the basis of a given search condition and link information that has been stored in the link information database, retrieving and outputting attribute information conforming to the search condition from the attribute information table that has been stored in the attribute information database; and on the basis of a given search condition and link information that has been stored in the link information database, retrieving and outputting image data that has been stored in the image database.
Thus, in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, the image data is stored in the image database, the attribute information table is stored in the attribute information database and the link information is stored in the link information database.
When a search condition is given, a search is conducted based upon the given search condition and the link information that has been stored in the link information database. Attribute information conforming to the given search condition is retrieved and output from the attribute information table that has been stored in the attribute information table. Further, a search is conducted based upon a search condition and the link information table, and image data that has been stored in the image database is retrieved and output.
The image database in which the image data is stored and the attribute information database in which the attribute information table is stored are separate databases (though they need not necessarily be physically separate and can be separate in logical terms). As a result, it is possible to revise the content of the attribute information table, add to the attribute information table and delete from the attribute information table independently of the image data. A database search that accommodates not only a certain specific search condition but also a variety of search conditions can be conducted.
A plurality of attribute information tables can be stored in the attribute information database. In such case an attribute information table that is to be searched would be searched for among the plurality of attribute information tables, which have been stored in the attribute information database, based upon a given condition and link information that has been stored in the link information database, and attribute information conforming to this search condition would be retrieved and output from the attribute information table that has been found.
Thus, an attribute information table to be searched is found among the plurality of attribute information tables in accordance with a given search condition and a search is conducted using the attribute information table found. This makes possible a database search for accommodating not only a certain specific search condition but also a variety of search conditions.
When an attribute information table conforming to a given search condition and that is to be searched has not been stored in the attribute information database, it will suffice to generate an attribute information table that can be searched in accordance with the given search condition and store this table in the attribute information database. This makes it possible to support searches in accordance with a variety of search conditions without reconstructing the attribute information table from scratch.
Link information that has been stored in the link information database includes first information for linking a given search condition and an attribute information table, and second information for linking a given search condition and image data, by way of example.
Identification codes for identifying the image data may be attached. In such case link data having a plurality of digits for linking the identification codes and the attribute information would be stored in the link information table. The link data and the identification codes would be associated with each other by the data of each digit of the link data.
An arrangement may be adopted in which the attribute information table is generated, it is determined whether the generated attribute information table has been stored in the attribute information database, and in response to a determination that the generated attribute information table has not been stored in the attribute information database, the generated attribute information table is stored in the attribute information database.
A new attribute information table can be stored in the attribute information database. Moreover, since it is determined whether the above-mentioned attribute information table has already been stored in the attribute information database, it will not duplicate an attribute information table that has already been stored in the attribute information database.
An arrangement may be adopted in which the link information that corresponds to the stored attribute information table is generated, responsive to storage of the generated attribute information table in the attribute information database, and the generated link information is stored in the link information database.
Thus, it becomes possible to link the attribute information contained in the attribute information table newly stored in the attribute information database and the image data that has been stored in the image database.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a database search system comprising: an attribute information database in which there have been stored a plurality of attribute information tables for storing attribute information in association with search items; a link information database in which there is stored link information for specifying an attribute information table to be used in accordance with a given search condition from among the plurality of attribute information tables that have been stored in the attribute information database; and an attribute information search unit (attribute information search means) which, on the basis of a given search condition and link information that has been stored in the link information database, is for searching for an attribute information table to be searched among the plurality of attribute information tables that have been stored in the attribute information database, and retrieving and outputting attribute information conforming to the search condition from the attribute information table that has been found.
The second aspect of the present invention provides also a method suited for use in the system described above. Specifically, the method comprises the steps of: storing, in an attribute information database, a plurality of attribute information tables for storing attribute information in association with search items; storing, in a link information database, a plurality of items of link information for specifying an attribute information table to be used in accordance with a given search condition from among the plurality of attribute information tables that have been stored in the attribute information database; and, on the basis of a given search condition and link information that has been stored in the link information database, searching for an attribute information table to be searched among the plurality of attribute information tables that have been stored in the attribute information database, and retrieving and outputting attribute information conforming to the search condition from the attribute information table that has been found.
Thus, in accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, an attribute information table to be searched is found from among a plurality of attribute information tables in accordance with a given search condition, and a search is conducted using the attribute information table that has been found. A database search that accommodates not only a certain specific search condition but also a variety of search conditions can be conducted. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to directional thermal neutron detectors, and more particularly pertains to a directional thermal neutron detector which utilizes the inherent angular response of large area, planar silicon detectors and gadolinium foils to determine the direction of a thermal neutron radiation source. The directional thermal neutron detector can also advantageously utilize the shadowing provided by adjacent thermal neutron detector modules, which are positioned to function as shields, to enhance the directional response thereof.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Nuclear weapon non-proliferation and counter-proliferation have become national priorities, and various nuclear non-proliferation sensors, thermal neutron detectors, and radiation level monitors are required to conduct surveillance and inspection of sites, nuclear power plants, space experiments, etc. in nuclear non-proliferation and treaty-verification programs.
Thermal neutron detection offers an effective method for determining the presence of spontaneously fissionable materials which are used in nuclear weapons. Fission neutrons emitted from such weapons-related materials undergo collisions with their surroundings and readily become "thermalized". Since the natural background of thermal neutrons is very low at the earth's surface (.sup..about. 1 neutron/s per 1000 cm.sup.2), detection of thermal neutrons at a rate significantly above this level is a cause for suspicion of the presence of fissionable nuclear materials. Accordingly, thermal neutrons can be detected to determine the presence and location of fissionable nuclear materials and nuclear weapons.
Conventional portable neutron survey meters are not suitable for low level thermal neutron detection applications because their counting sensitivity is very poor. Only large, unmoderated .sup.3 He proportional tubes can obtain a comparable thermal neutron sensitivity for a limited available area. .sup.3 He tubes, however, cannot easily furnish a source directionality measurement that is unique to the present detector system.
The thermal neutron detector of the present invention offers unique advantages relative to prior art detection systems based upon BF.sub.3 or .sup.3 He proportional counters that are commonly used for neutron detection. It provides comparable neutron sensitivity, and does not require high voltage for operation. The present detector system avoids problems inherent in field deployment of high voltage equipment, such as break down and sparking in a humid environment. The present detector system also has a more compact and rugged design for improved reliability under vibration and mechanical shock. The thermal neutron detector of the subject invention is highly modular and, therefore, less susceptible to single point failures, while systems of proportional counters of comparable area (e.g., 5 or 6 one inch tubes) would suffer greater loss of efficiency if one or more proportional tubes failed. Furthermore, the thermal neutron detector of the present invention provides a directional detecting capability, a feature which is not easily implemented in a portable system using proportional tubes. Existing thermal neutron detectors require special collimation to achieve a directional sensing capability, which results in the addition of weight to the system.
Radiation monitors for thermal neutrons based upon thin gadolinium foils coupled with silicon detectors have been in use in the prior art for several years. Recently the availability of large area silicon photodiodes makes large area monitors feasible, with a potential for arrays of such detectors with active areas well in excess of 100 cm.sup.2. In practice, however, there are limitations to the area of a single detector element and its associated pulse processing electronics. The noise levels in the photodiode and preamplifier system must be sufficiently low such that the low energy (29-200 keV) conversion electrons emitted by thermal neutron capture in gadolinium are detected with sufficient efficiency to obtain a high area-efficiency (A.epsilon.) product for the monitor. For large area silicon detectors, the capacitance of the parallel elements in the detector can reach several hundred picofarads which becomes the dominant factor in the noise of the system, and determines the required low level discriminator threshold setting. As the discriminator threshold is increased, the intrinsic detection efficiency is reduced, and the result is a tradeoff between increased detection area and reduced efficiency. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sludge scraping apparatus that is arranged in a rectangular settling reservoir having short sides as front and rear end walls, long sides as right and left side walls, a bottom wall, and a sludge pit on the side of the front end wall in a sludge scraping direction of the bottom wall.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, sewage flowing into a rectangular settling reservoir settles in the reservoir and accumulates on a bottom wall. The accumulated sediments are scraped up to a pit at one end of the bottom wall and fallen by the sludge scraping apparatus and then, are discharged to the outside.
There are various sludge scraping apparatuses, and one sludge scraping apparatus uses a water cylinder as a driving source. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for synthesizing an electrical and electronic architecture.
More particularly, the invention relates to aircraft, and in particular rotary wing aircraft.
(2) Description of Related Art
In order to make a product that includes electrical and electronic equipment connected together by wired connections, it is necessary to devise the electrical architecture comprising said pieces of equipment and the connections.
It should be observed that the term “equipment” is used to cover any component that sends or receives an electric or electronic signal, i.e. equally well a sensor, a computer, or a battery, for example.
Similarly, the term “wired connections” covers any connection means that serve to pass energy or information, such as an electrical wired connection, or an optical fiber connection, for example.
The drawing up of the electrical and electronic architecture of an aircraft is an important step in the design of the aircraft. The electrical and electronic architecture of a product, and in particular of an aircraft, has a large amount of equipment and thus a large number of wired connections between that equipment. Under such circumstances, it can be understood that each specific architecture stems not only from the various possible positions for each equipment, but also from the interaction between each piece of equipment, while taking account of integration constraints such as safety constraints, environmental constraints, or indeed maintenance constraints, for example.
This complexity explains why it is important to achieve a robust and exhaustive prior definition of the architecture so that the finished product has an architecture that is optimized as a function of predetermined requirements, including, for example: the weight of the components of the harnesses; the centers of gravity of the harnesses; the time required to assemble and to maintain harnesses; and costs which generally decrease with weight and operating time.
Consequently, during the stage of predefining the aircraft, it is difficult to evaluate the characteristics of the future electrical architecture. When designing an aircraft, a manufacturer advantageously investigates various alternative electrical architectures and selects one of them as a function of given requirements. For the selected architecture, it is also advantageous to possess the characteristics of said architecture such as center of gravity, for example, since that has a direct incidence on the operation of the aircraft, or on weight targets to be satisfied for the equipment and the wired connections.
In one technique, an architecture for a future product is extrapolated on the basis of the architecture of an existing product. Although advantageous, that technique does not make it possible to obtain alternative architectures, and thus potentially obtain a final architecture that is optimized.
It should be observed that the technological background includes document US 2007/141899, which makes use of a network made up of equipment of unvarying positions that are interconnected by unvarying pathways along which wired connections pass.
Document FR 2 846 117 seeks to synthesize an architecture of a product part by positioning routing points in a zone.
By way of example, the technological background also includes the following documents: EP 0 696 775; WO 98/31158, US 2004/0098698; U.S. Pat. No. 6,879,941; and US 2009/0063035. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to livestock drenches. More particularly, the present invention relates to a livestock drench adapter for use with a traditional syringe.
Veterinarians and livestock owners oftentimes must orally administer fluids, such as liquid medications, to livestock and other animals. This procedure is oftentimes referred to as drenching. Particularly in the case of liquid medications, the dosage may be relatively low and the liquid may be highly concentrated. Due to the need for proper dosage as well as the expense of the medication, it is desirable to accurately and fully administer the drench solution.
A variety of drenching guns are currently used to deliver drench to the mouth of the animal, such as a cow, sheep or horse. Drenching guns typically comprise a handle and cylinder adapted to deliver a quantity of drench solution to an elongated rod at the end of the device. The elongated rod is inserted into the animal""s mouth. The cylinder usually includes measurement markings so that a measured dose may be given. The elongated rod has one end attached to an outlet end of the cylinder and also a discharge end opposite the cylinder. The elongated rod may be bent at a desired angle to facilitate administration of the drench solution to the animal. A piston within the cylinder is connected to a piston rod which is in turn connected to operating means to control the dosage. A trigger within the handle may be employed as part of the operating means to administer the dosage, and may be configured to incrementally eject a predetermined amount of fluid so that several animals may be drenched before refilling the cylinder. Depending on the drench gun, the rate of flow of the drench solution may be adjusted and one-way valves may be used to prevent backflow into the cylinder.
Although currently used drench guns perform adequately, many livestock owners do not own a drench gun due to cost and storage limitations. Instead, these livestock owners use syringes to drench the animal. Syringes are relatively inexpensive and are used for a variety of other procedures, such as intradermal injections, so it is common for the veterinarian or livestock owner to readily have syringes on hand. However, there are problems associated with using standard syringes. The syringe is usually composed of a plastic which is easily damaged when forced into the mouth of the animal. It is also not uncommon for the animal to chew on the end of the syringe during drenching, rendering the syringe incapable of future use. Another problem experienced when using syringes to drench animals is that syringes have relatively short nozzles. Therefore, in order that the drench solution not be lost, a portion of the syringe itself must be inserted into the animal""s mouth. This also prohibits the viewing of the measurement markings on the syringe during drenching. Insertion of the syringe into the animal""s mouth further requires that the undamaged syringe be cleaned before its next use so as not to contaminate the drench solution.
Accordingly, there is a need for an adapter which provides the benefits of a drench gun while allowing use of traditional syringes. There is also a need for an adapter which is easily stored and transported, economical to manufacture and durable in use. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.
The present invention resides in a syringe drench adapter for livestock which adapts a traditional catheter syringe for use as a drench syringe. The syringe drench adapter of the present invention is economical, easily stored and transported. The syringe drench adapter is also efficient in operation and durable in use.
The present invention is intended to be used with syringes having a barrel, a plunger slidable within the barrel for the intake and expulsion of fluids, a cap formed on the barrel opposite the plunger and an open-ended nozzle extending from the cap.
The syringe drench adapter of the present invention includes a collar removably fittable over the cap and an adjacent portion of the barrel at an end of the syringe. The collar comprises a frustroconical nose and a generally cylindrical skirt extending from the nose. The skirt defines a syringe-receiving opening having an inner diameter which is less than an outer diameter of the syringe barrel so as to form a tight friction fit between the skirt and the syringe. The skirt includes a plurality of longitudinal slots extending from the syringe-receiving opening which provide flexion, and a circumferential ridge which extends radially inwardly and is disposed adjacent to the syringe-receiving opening. The slots are disposed about the periphery of the skirt and are configured so as to reveal syringe measurement markings when the collar is fitted over the end of the syringe.
An elongated tube extends from the nose of the collar and defines a fluid passageway having an inlet removably connected to the nose of the collar and an outlet opposite the inlet for the expulsion of fluids. The nose includes an interiorly threaded aperture for threadably receiving a portion of the elongated tube defining the inlet. The fluid passageway adjacent to the inlet is configured to form-fit the nozzle of the syringe. In one form, the elongated tube includes abutting inlet and outlet sections which are angularly offset from one another to form a bend in the elongated tube.
The collar and elongated tube of the syringe drench adapter are preferably comprised of metal so as to be durable, washable and reusable.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Salmonella are mobile, gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria. The taxonomic classification of Salmonella is based on their somatic (O) antigens and flagellar (H) antigens according to the Kaufmann-White system (a diagnostic antigen table) and results in a classification system in which Salmonella are declared as serovars and are characterized and classified on the basis of a sero formula. Of the more than 2400 Salmonella serovars known, only twenty to thirty are so far of importance in practice as pathogens in epidemiological diseases. These include the pathogens causing typhoid (S. typhi) and paratyphoid (S. paratyphi A, S. paratyphi B, S. paratyphi C) and a large number of enteritis pathogens, the so-called “enteritis Salmonella.” Whereas the typhoid and paratyphoid Salmonella cause serious generalized systematic infections, i.e., infections involving the entire body, an infection with enteritis Salmonella is usually limited locally to the intestines.
Salmonellosis in humans is usually a food-borne disease. The infection generally occurs due to consumption of infected or contaminated foods, whereas transmission to humans through direct contact with animals shedding Salmonella is rare. Direct or indirect human-to-human transfer may take place as a nosocomial infection in predisposed patients or under unfavorable hygiene conditions.
Primary sources of infection include in particular foods originating from poultry, cattle and swine, the animals themselves being sick only in extremely rare cases. Consequently, detection of the pathogens and/or antibodies plays a crucial role not only in human medicine but also in food operations and in veterinary medicine. The infectious dose for an adult human is 104 to 106 microorganisms. The incubation time is 5-72 hours and depends on the size of the infectious dose.
In a case of an enteritis Salmonella infection, a so-called enteritis salmonellosis, the infection usually manifests itself with diarrhea, nausea or vomiting and moderate fever. The symptoms usually last only a few hours or days. In weakened patients, however, this disease may also be fatal.
Shedding of enteritis Salmonella usually lasts an average of three to six weeks but in infants it may continue for several months.
In patients with a pre-existing congenital burden, Salmonella may trigger a reactive arthritis as a secondary illness 2-6 weeks after the enteritis infection; in rare cases, this arthritis may assume a chronic manifestation. At this point in time, no pathogens are usually detectable and/or culturable, so serological methods (Widal agglutination, see below) play a major role in detecting a past Salmonella infection (i.e., with manifestations in the past).
Under the German Infection Prevention Act, a tentative diagnosis or manifestation of acute infectious gastroenteritis must be reported under certain circumstances; ditto for detection of Salmonella. Furthermore, there are various legal requirements in Germany and other EU countries concerning required measures for combating Salmonella (e.g., Bovine Salmonella Regulations, Poultry Salmonella Regulations, various regulations of the feed and food law). In addition, various Salmonella monitoring programs have been established as part of self-monitoring in production.
The main point of emphasis in clinical laboratory diagnostic methods for salmonelloses is in culturing pathogens from fecal stool specimens and classifying them as suspected cases of Salmonella with the help of omnivalent and/or polyvalent Salmonella infectious sera. As a rule, such a tentative diagnosis can only be made approximately one to two days after receiving the sample in the diagnostic laboratory. In most cases another 2-3 days are needed for a confirmed diagnosis of Salmonella infection. In this period of time, suspected individual clones are characterized biochemically (colored series) and serologically. For serological differentiation, O and H antigens are analyzed in the form of microscope slide agglutination (Kaufmann-White system). This is done by first using polyvalent Salmonella test sera to determine the precise antigen formula with monovalent O and H antisera. As a rule, a total of 3-5 days are therefore needed for definitive detection of a Salmonella infection. In a case of salmonellosis caused by contaminated food in particular, the long amount of time required to obtain a diagnosis is a major problem because other people may become infected in the meantime. Therefore, in a suspected case of Salmonella infection, the source of infection must be localized and further dissemination prevented. In addition, patients are also isolated to prevent transmission of the infection. Early diagnosis is of great importance for the success of this measure.
Serological detection of Salmonella antibodies plays a major role in veterinary medicine and in the food industry, especially in the form of ELISA systems. For example, in Germany as well as in neighboring countries, the Salmonella antibody status (mainly anti-LPS immunoglobulin) of animal populations is currently being monitored in particular. Detection is performed on blood or meat juices. However, this method has limitations because it cannot reliably detect all pathogenic Salmonella serovars.
In human medicine however, especially in typhoid Salmonella infections, the so-called Widal agglutination test in particular is used to supplement bacteriological detection of the pathogen. In this test, patient serum is combined with boiled (O-antigen agglutination) or formalinized (H-antigen agglutination) Salmonella suspensions and tested for agglutination of the bacteria. One disadvantage of this is that not all infections are associated with the development of an Anti-O-Antigene titer; secondly, antibodies to H antigens may persist for many years after an infection. However, titer against O antigenes usually drop off again after a few weeks. It is thus impossible to reliably differentiate between an acute infection and an infection that has already been overcome.
Under in vitro culture conditions, Salmonella secretes a panel of proteins into the ambient medium. One of these proteins is the SipC protein.
The publications and other materials, including patents, used herein to illustrate the invention and, in particular, to provide additional details respecting the practice are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The nucleotide sequence of the SipC gene is known and is available to those skilled in the art via gene databanks (e.g., accession no.: U25631 or X82670). WO 03/000935 (see also U.S. Patent Publication 20030022214) discloses the use of PCR primers and FRET hybridization probes against the SipC gene for detection of Salmonella. However, this publication does not mention the use of SipC protein for the same purpose, in particular the use of antibodies to SipC protein.
In Weinrauch et al. “Neutrophil Elastase Targets Virulence Factors of Enterobacteria” (Nature 2002, 417, 6884, 91-4) and Hayward et al. “Direct nucleation and bundling of actin by the SipC protein of invasive Salmonella” (EMBO J. 1999, 18, 18, 4926-34) the use of a polyclonal antibody to SipC protein for detection thereof in Immunoblot is described.
However, the polyclonal antibodies described there are not monospecific for Salmonella and therefore are not suitable for specific detection of Salmonella—as required especially in human diagnostics and in food testing.
In the context of the present invention, it has surprisingly been found (1.) that the SipC protein is a highly preserved molecule, i.e., there are only minor differences among the amino acid sequences of various Salmonella serovars, and (2.) that Salmonella already at a very early point in time produce the proteins of the typ-III-secretion system.
There is a need in the art for a Salmonella detection system that is capable of providing a rapid and reliable yes or no answer to the question of whether a certain sample is currently infected with Salmonella or whether there has been an infection in the past. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Electronic plumbing fixture fittings, such as electronic faucets, are well known. Such electronic plumbing fixture fittings are used in residential and commercial applications, such as in kitchens, bathrooms, and various other locations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Recently, the demand for portable electronic products such as notebooks, video cameras, cellular phones or the like has rapidly increased, and electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites have been actively developed. For this reason, high-performance secondary batteries allowing repeated charging and discharging are being actively studied.
Currently, nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, lithium secondary batteries, and the like are used as commercial secondary batteries. Among them, lithium secondary batteries have little to no memory effect in comparison with nickel-based secondary batteries, and thus lithium secondary batteries are gaining a lot of attention for their advantages of free charging or discharging, low self-discharging, and high energy density.
A lithium secondary battery generally uses lithium oxide and carbonaceous material as a positive electrode active material and negative electrode active material, respectively. The lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate respectively coated with the positive electrode active material and the negative electrode active material are disposed with a separator being interposed between them, and an exterior, namely a battery case, which seals and accommodates the electrode assembly together with an electrolyte.
Generally, a lithium secondary battery may be classified into a can-type secondary battery where the electrode assembly is included in a metal can and a pouch-type battery where the electrode assembly is included in a pouch of an aluminum laminate sheet, depending on the shape of the exterior.
Recently, secondary batteries are widely used not only for small-sized devices such as cellular phones but also middle-sized or large-sized devices such as vehicles and power storages. In particular, along with the exhaustion of carbon energy and the increased interest on environments, hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles attract attention globally, for example in US, Europe, Japan and Korea. In such a hybrid electric vehicle or electric vehicle, a battery pack for giving a driving force to a vehicle motor is the most essential part. Since a hybrid electric vehicle or electric vehicle may obtain a driving force by means of charging and discharging of the battery pack, the hybrid electric vehicle or electric vehicle has many advantages in various aspects, for example excellent fuel efficiency and no or reduced exhaust of pollutants, and for this reason, hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles are used more and more.
The battery pack of such a hybrid electric vehicle or electric vehicle includes a plurality of secondary batteries, and the plurality of secondary batteries is connected to each other in series or in parallel to enhance capacity and output. A general battery pack, including the battery pack for a vehicle, includes a cell assembly having a plurality of secondary batteries in a stacked form and a pack housing for receiving the cell assembly in an internal space thereof. In addition, in order to use the battery pack, the battery pack should be electrically connected to an external device by means of a connection member such as a connection wire and a bus bar, and for this connection, an electrode terminal may be provided at the battery pack. In particular, for easily coupling with the connection member, the electrode terminal is frequently formed to protrude outwards at the pack housing and thus be exposed outwards. Therefore, if one end of the connection member is coupled to contact the electrode terminal and the other end of the connection member extends from one end and is connected to an external device such as a motor, a driving power may be supplied from the battery pack to the motor.
However, in this configuration of the battery pack, since the electrode terminal is exposed outwards, several problems may occur. For example, if the electrode terminal is exposed outwards, a conductive substance such as a bolt, a metallic piece or a wire may come into contact with the electrode terminal, and this may cause an electric short circuit. In addition, such contact of a conductive substance may damage the battery pack or other electric systems and also cause sparks, which may result in fire. Therefore, in an existing technique, various attempts have been made to reduce or eliminate the exposure of the electrode terminal. As a representative example, a terminal cover is provided to cover the electrode terminal.
However, in this configuration, even though the safety may be improved by reducing the exposure of the electrode terminal by means of the terminal cover, the battery pack may not be applied to various kinds of devices. In other words, the connection member for connecting to the electrode terminal of the battery pack may have various approaching or extending directions depending on a device to which the battery pack is applied. For example, on the basis of the same battery pack, a connection wire may approach from a left side to connect to the electrode terminal so as to extend in a left direction of the electrode terminal, or the connection wire may also approach from a front side to connect to the electrode terminal so as to extend in a front direction of the electrode terminal. However, if the battery pack includes the terminal cover, since an exposed portion of the terminal cover is restricted, if an approaching or extending direction of the connection wire is changed, the corresponding terminal cover may not be used, and another kind of terminal cover should be used. Therefore, if the existing configuration as described above is used, the battery pack has deteriorated compatibility depending on the kind of device to which the battery pack is applied. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
As an automobile wheel, for example, a 2-piece type automobile wheel is currently available, in which a substantially cylindrical wheel rim and a substantially disk-shaped wheel disk are fit to each other by welding. The wheel rim which is a component of the 2-piece type automobile wheel includes a bead sheet section for supporting tire bead and a flange section on both its front and rear sides thereof, and additionally a configuration provided with a well section which is dented inward between the front and rear bead sheets has been known. On the other hand, as the wheel disk, there has been known a configuration which includes a circular hub mounting section to be attached to an axle, a plurality of spoke sections provided radially outward from an outer periphery of the hub mounting section and a circular disk flange section which is formed consecutively with an outer end of the spoke section. Here, a plurality of decorative holes is formed between adjacent spoke sections in the wheel disk by the spoke sections and the disk flange section. By fitting the disk flange section of the wheel disk into a well section in the wheel rim and welding both of them, the automobile wheel is formed.
In an example of the above-described automobile wheel, as disclosed in the translation of PCT Application No. 2009-525191 (see FIG. 1, FIG. 2) for example, the wheel disk includes a flat cylindrical disk flange section which is extended substantially in an axial direction, and decorative holes are defined by spoke sections adjacent to the disk flange section. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Aspects of the invention relate generally to request response protocol communication networks, and more particularly, a solution for path-based adaptive prioritization and latency management of messages through such networks.
In complex communication systems, such as traditional telephone, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), session initiation protocol (SIP), and/or the like, messages typically must pass through a variable number of hops, in order to reach their final destination. For example, in a SIP environment, the total time (end-to-end time) that it takes a message to be processed through the plurality of hops often determines as to whether or not the message is ultimately successful in reaching its final destination through the environment. In order to attempt to manage the volume of messages through their environment so they are successfully transmitted, communication system carriers typically allocate a fixed time for each hop of the network (or, system). In this manner, the overall time for the furthest (or, maximum) path (i.e., largest quantity of hops) does not exceed the allotted time, and the overall time equals merely the quantity of hops multiplied against this “per hop” fixed allocated time. This rigid and crude management of messages through the system does not account for message-specific items and is both inefficient and inflexible. For example, there is no prioritization of messages based on any other factors beyond merely allocating the fixed per hop time.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists to overcome one or more of the deficiencies in the related art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Making electrical contacts that extend all the way through an electronic chip (by creating electrically conductive vias) is difficult. Doing so with precision or controlled repeatability, let alone in volume is nearly impossible unless one or more of the following is the case: a) the vias are very shallow, i.e. significantly less than 100 microns in depth, b) the via width is large, or c) the vias are separated by large distances, i.e. many times the via width. The difficulty is compounded when the vias are close enough for signal cross-talk to occur, or if the chip through which the via passes has a charge, because the conductor in the via can not be allowed act as a short, nor can it carry a charge different from the charge of the pertinent portion of the chip. In addition, conventional processes, to the extent they exist, are unsuitable for use with formed integrated circuit (IC) chips (i.e. containing active semiconductor devices) and increase cost because those processes can damage the chips and thereby reduce the ultimate yield. Adding further to the above difficulties is the need to be concerned with capacitance and resistance problems when the material the via passes through has a charge or when the frequencies of the signals to be carried through the vias are very high, for example, in excess of about 0.3 GHz.
Indeed, there are numerous problems that are extant in the semiconductor art including: use of large, non-scaleable packaging; assembly costs don't scale like semiconductors; chip cost is proportional to area, and the highest performance processes are the most expensive, but only fraction of chip area actually requires high-performance processes; current processes are limited in voltage and other technologies; chip designers are limited to one process and one material for design; large, high power pad drivers are needed for chip-to-chip (through package) connections; even small changes or correction of trivial design errors require fabrication of one or more new masks for a whole new chip; making whole new chips requires millions of dollars in mask costs alone; individual chips are difficult and complicated to test and combinations of chips are even more difficult to test prior to complete packaging.
Accordingly, there is a significant need in the art for technology that can address one or more of the above problems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
One method of providing duplex communication is through use of FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) protocols in which frequency allocations in the PCS band is split into a forward sub-band and a reverse sub-band. This split can accommodate FDD where transmission is limited to one of the sub-bands. However, this split presents a problem to coexisting TDD (Time Division Duplex) systems which transmit and receive on the same frequency and can use either of the frequency sub-bands for transmission.
Shown in FIG. 1 is a known implementation of a TDMA-FDD system, such as PCS-1900 or IS-136 with a switch placed between the radio and the antenna. The switch, placed before the forward and reverse channel filters, selectively routes the RF signal path either to the receiver or from the transmitter in response to the mode of the transreceiver (either transmit or receive). The receiver subsystem will typically employ a bandpass filter tuned to the forward channel, and the transmitter subsystem will typically employ a filter tuned to the reverse channel. As a result of this switch placement, only the forward channel path or only the reverse channel path may be selected. This configuration precludes transmission and reception in both the forward channel frequency band or the reverse channel frequency band, thereby limiting the available frequency bands for a TDD system. Other known implementations remove the switch entirely to allow simultaneous transmit and receive (e.g., IS-54 and IS-19) but are still limited to different frequencies.
While a transreceiver operable in FDD or TDD could employ duplexers, or dual filters, for FDD operation plus an additional filter and switch for TDD operation, since either the TDD or FDD mode uses its own set of filters, one set of components will be under utilized rendering the system cost inefficient. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Coextrusion of two or more different polymers or polymer compositions enables forming composite sheet or film products that have components defined by distinct layers or zones corresponding to each material extruded. Depending on how the compositions are extruded, each material may be laminated one on top of another across the film and/or be disposed across the film side-by-side to one another. Some coextrusion techniques include independent temperature control associated with the different polymers in order to accommodate layers having thermally distinct processing requirements or equalize layer thickness when each material is laminated one on top of another across the film. Another issue that arises in particular with respect to side-by-side interfacing of the polymers in the film involves mechanical stability where the different polymers connect. When the different polymers are side-by-side, edge seams provide relatively less surface area to establish lamination than if the polymers are laminated one on top of another across the film.
The films in which the different polymers are edge laminated require selection of the different polymers to ensure compatibility during processing. If the different polymers lack compatibility, the components separate upon extrusion and fail to form a unified film inclusive of each region of the different polymers across the film. This requirement places an undesirable limitation on what polymers may be chosen. Compatibility needs thus dictate the different polymers that can be effectively used, thereby limiting or preventing selection of the different polymers based on other criteria such as costs, physical characteristics or other properties of actual commercial interest.
Therefore, there exists a need for improved cross directional zoned multiple component films, laminates utilizing the films, and systems and methods of coextruding the films. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Detection and identification or at least classification of unknown substances has long been of great interest and has taken on even greater significance in recent years. Among advanced methodologies that hold a promise for precision detection and identification are various forms of spectroscopy, especially those that employ Raman scattering. Spectroscopy may be used to analyze, characterize and even identify a substance or material using one or both of an absorption spectrum and an emission spectrum that results when the material is illuminated by a form of electromagnetic radiation (for instance, visible light). The absorption and emission spectra produced by illuminating the material determine a spectral ‘fingerprint’ of the material. In general, the spectral fingerprint is characteristic of the particular material or its constituent elements facilitating identification of the material. Among the most powerful of optical emission spectroscopy techniques are those based on Raman scattering.
Raman scattering optical spectroscopy employs an emission spectrum or spectral components thereof produced by inelastic scattering of photons by an internal structure of the material being illuminated. These spectral components contained in a response signal (for instance, a Raman signal) may facilitate determination of the material characteristics of an analyte species including identification of the analyte.
The Raman signal level or strength may be significantly enhanced by using a Raman-active material (for instance, Raman-active surface), however. For instance, the Raman scattered light generated by a compound (or ion) adsorbed on or within a few nanometers of a structured metal surface can be 103-1012 times greater than the Raman scattered light generated by the same compound in solution or in the gas phase. This process of analyzing a compound is called surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (“SERS”). In recent years, SERS has emerged as a routine and powerful tool for investigating molecular structures and characterizing interfacial and thin-film systems, and even enables single-molecule detection. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Radio transmission of information traditionally involves employing electromagnetic waves or radio waves as a carrier. Where the carrier is transmitted as a sequence of fully duplicated wave cycles or wavelets, no information is considered to be transmissible. To convey information, historically, the carrier has superimposed on it a sequence of changes that can be detected at a receiving point or station. The changes imposed correspond with the information to be transmitted, and are known in the art as “modulation”.
Where the amplitude of the carrier is changed in accordance with information to be conveyed, the carrier is said to be amplitude modulated (AM). Similarly, where the frequency of the carrier is changed in accordance with information to be conveyed, either rarified or compressed wave cycles are developed, and the carrier is said to be frequency modulated (FM), or in some applications, it is considered to be phase modulated. Where the carrier is altered by interruption corresponding with information, it is said to be pulse modulated.
Currently, essentially all forms of the radio transmission of information are carried out with amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, pulse modulation or combinations of one or more. All such forms of modulation have inherent inefficiencies. For instance, a one KHz audio AM modulation of a Radio Frequency (RF) carrier operating at one MHz will have a carrier utilization ratio of only 1:1000. Similar carrier utilization occurs with corresponding FM modulation. Also, for all forms of currently employed carrier modulation, frequencies higher and lower than the frequency of the RF carrier are produced. Since they are distributed over a finite portion of the spectrum on each side of the carrier frequency, they are called side frequencies and are referred to collectively as sidebands. These sidebands contain all the message information and it has been considered that without them, no message can be transmitted. Sidebands, in effect, represent a distribution of power or energy from the carrier and their necessary development has lead to the allocation of frequencies in terms of bandwidths by governmental entities in allocating user permits within the radio spectrum. This necessarily limits the number of potential users for a given RF range of the spectrum.
To solve the bandwidth crisis in the RF Spectrum, multiple access systems were developed. Multiple Access Systems are useful when more than one user tries to transmit information over the same medium. The use of multiple access systems is more pronounced in Cellular telephony; however, they are also used in data transmission and TV transmission. There are three common multiple access systems. They are: 1. Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) 2. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) 3. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
FDMA is used for standard analog cellular systems. Each user is assigned a discrete slice of the RF spectrum. FDMA permits only one user per channel since it allows the user to use the channel 100% of the time. FDMA is used in the current Analog Mobile Phone System (AMPS).
In a TDMA system the users are still assigned a discrete slice of RF spectrum, but multiple users now share that RF carrier on a time slot basis. A user is assigned a particular time slot in a carrier and can only send or receive information at those times. This is true whether or not the other time slots are being used. Information flow is not continuous for any user, but rather is sent and received in “bursts”. The bursts are re-assembled to provide continuous information. Because the process is fast, TDMA is used in IS-54 Digital Cellular Standard and in Global Satellite Mobile Communication (GSM) in Europe. In large systems, the assignments to the time/frequency slots cannot be unique. Slots must be reused to cover large service areas.
CDMA is the basis of the IS-95 digital cellular standard. CDMA does not break up the signal into time or frequency slots. Each user in CDMA is assigned a Pseudo-Noise (PN) code to modulate transmitted data. The PN code is a long random string of ones and zeros. Because the codes are nearly random there is very little correlation between different codes. The distinct codes can be transmitted over the same time and same frequencies, and signals can be decoded at the receiver by correlating the received signal with each PN code.
The great attraction of CDMA technology from the beginning has been the promise of extraordinary capacity increases over narrowband multiple access wireless technology. The problem with CDMA is that the power that the mobiles are required to transmit goes to infinity as the capacity peak is reached. i.e. the mobiles will be asked to transmit more than their capacity allows. The practical consequence of this is that the system load should really be controlled so that the planned service area never experiences coverage failure because of this phenomenon. Thus CDMA is a tradeoff between maximum capacity and maximum coverage.
Over the previous few decades, electronically derived information has taken the form of binary formatted data streams. These data streams are, for the most part, transmitted through telecommunication systems, i.e., wire. Binary industry communication in general commenced with the networking of computer facilities in the mid 1960s. An early networking architecture was referred to as “Arpanet”. A short time later, Telenet, the first public packet-switched network, was introduced to commerce. As these networks grew, protocols for their use developed. For example, a coding protocol, ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) was introduced in 1964. Next, Local Area Networks (LAN) proliferated during the 1970s, the oldest and most prominent, Ethernet, having been developed by Metcalfe in 1973. Under the Ethernet concept, each station of a local system connects by cable to a transceiver and these transceivers are then inter-linked. In 1983, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) promulgated Ethernet with some modifications, as the first standard protocol for Local Area Networks. The Ethernet protocol remains a standard for essentially all forms of database conveyance or exchange.
It is well known by those skilled in the art that a radio signal consists of at least one electromagnetic energy packet. These packets are comprised of both an electrical field and a magnetic field traveling through space. The mathematical description of each field is that of a sinusoidal shape, with each field conjoined in a transverse relationship, mutually dependant upon one another.
In the traditional usage, when these packets (photons) are generated together into a continuum of sequential sine waves, we have what is referred to as a radio carrier, which if constituted of identical packets, is said to be un-modulated. For the radio spectrum to be pure, which consists of only one single and narrow radio channel when plotted on a spectral diagram, the packets are conjoined temporally so that as the phase angle of a preceding packet crosses the zero-degree end point, the proceeding packet is just beginning at the zero-degree angle. Thus from the perspective of the observer, a continuous 360 degree undulation of both electrical and magnetic fields would be observed.
Any radio system in use today will modify large groups of these conjoined packets in one or more ways to convey information. For example, a modern wireless phone might transmit near a frequency of 1.9 GHz and modulate the carrier at a rate of about 6 KHz to achieve a data throughput of 14.4 kbps. In this example, a portion of the carrier, consisting of about 316,666 individual sine waves is modified as a group to represent a single binary bit.
To represent the simplest form of communication, the binary system, there are several ways to alter at least one of the following four characteristics of the continuum of sine wave packets (referred to herein as sine waves) to indicate to the receiving mechanism that a binary one or zero is conveyed.
Sine waves can be modified in at least the following four basic ways: 1. Amplitude: The amplitude of the electrical and magnetic fields can be increased or decreased to cause either a larger or smaller signal to be detected at the receiving device. The change in amplitude can represent the conveyance of a binary one or a binary zero or even a change in binary state when the previous state is already known. 2. Frequency: The period of the individual sine waves within a group can be increased or decreased to make the same representation as in example one above. This is also called frequency modulation. 3. Interruption: The continuum of sine waves can be interrupted, then re-established to indicate a zero or one condition, or as in example one and two above, the interruption could represent a change in logic state assuming the previous state was known. This is sometimes known as CW or Pulse code modulation. 4. Phase: The phase of a group of sine waves could be altered so that the sine waves are in fact not sine waves any more. They now consist of an amalgamation of two or more frequencies, whose presence indicates the conditional change in logic state.
Many modulation techniques now exist that use any of the above methods either singularly or in combination. Lately a mixing of these methods has been in popular use because by modifying more than one characteristic, more than one single logic state can be represented. For instance the Quadrature Amplitude Modulation system (QAM) can combine the use of both amplitude and frequency modulation to represent multiple binary combinations.
Even though binary data stream transmission by wire has improved substantially in terms of data transfer rates, that improvement has not been as dramatic where transmission is by utilization of the RF spectrum. Current technology in data stream transmission by wire is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,373 titled Binary digital signal transmission system using binary digital signal of electrically discharged pulse and method for transmitting binary digital signal and issued Aug. 26, 1997 to Nishizawa, which discloses a binary digital signal transmission system wherein a transmitter generates a binary digital signal including at least a rise portion where a level of the binary digital signal steeply rises in accordance with inputted binary digital data of a first value, and at least a fall portion where the level of the binary digital signal steeply falls in accordance with the inputted binary digital data of a second value, and then transmits the binary digital signal via a cable to a receiver. On the other hand, the receiver receives the transmitted binary digital signal, and first and second resonance circuits respectively have two resonance frequencies which are even multiples of each other, and extract first and second resonance signals respectively having resonance frequency components of the two resonance frequencies, from the received binary digital signal. Thereafter, a data discriminator discriminates a value of the binary digital data corresponding to the received binary digital signal based on a phase relationship between the extracted first and second resonance signals, and outputs either one of a pulse signal representing the first value and another pulse signal representing the second value.
It is also well recognized by those skilled in the art that in modern radio communications a troubling problem exists in the utilization of spectrum. Many radio communication services exist to support the market needs of many diverse users. Government agencies regulate the usage of radio spectrum among such diverse users as government, military, private business, radio common carriers (RCC) and unlicensed individual users. The need for radio spectrum is an immense problem. The problem is compounded because modern radio systems transport binary digital information using modulation methods that are merely adaptations of methods that were originally designed for conveyance of analog information. Namely, voice, music and video transmissions, which were the sole forms of information in the 20th century, are now quickly being replaced with digital representations of the same. Added to this is the need to allow the user to access digital information from the Internet, corporate databases and other sources. Truly this is a modern problem. Since the means of modulating the radio carrier are still the same as those used in the past the amount of spectral width required by individual transmitters is ever increasing. Well-known theories of modulation define these modulation systems and dictate that as the amount of information increases in a given modulated stream, the number of spectral byproducts, called sidebands will increase. For instance, using common methods of radio modulation, a typical channel width for a digital transmission will be about ½ of the rate of binary state change. Applied in real terms, a radio transmitter that is conveying information at a rate of 100 kilobits per second (KBPS) will require a clear section of radio spectrum of about 50 KHz of width, with the carrier at the center of the channel. In this age, 100 KBPS is a low rate of data transmission, so in practice many services are requiring huge allocations of the limited spectrum resource.
A solution is required that will allow the maximum amount of information to be conveyed, while consuming the least amount of spectral width, and that will allow the concurrent use of large sections of spectrum by numerous services without a high risk of mutual interference.
The coordinated padding and compression method of this disclosure improves the performance of various modulation techniques and helps alleviate this massive and growing problem. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is in the general field of cargo anchoring devices for the tying down of cargo and is more particularly directed to vehicles, or the like, where it is preferred that a fixed position anchoring element be located only in certain positions so that the element will not interfere with normal usage of the vehicle. The retractable capability of the anchoring element will allow the anchoring unit to be placed in numerous locations on the vehicle since the anchoring element can be retracted when not in use.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
There are numerous types of cargo tie down, or anchoring devices including flush mounted units, stationary rings, hooks, and the like. Those skilled in the art are familiar with numerous types of tie down or anchoring devices and these devices essentially protrude above the surface upon which they are used. The result of such a protrusion is that the hook or loop shaped anchor element will interfere with normal use of the vehicle. There are certain flush mounted devices but the installed cost is excessive and the functional use is limited.
I have solved this problem by use of an anchoring device which contains a slideable anchoring element that can be placed in a position which is flush with a surface where the anchoring device is to be used. Therefore, the retracted anchoring element cannot be considered an undesirable obstruction. I have designed a unique and economical structure which allows for retraction of the cargo anchoring device. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
There is a need for so-called “single photon sources” for use in optical quantum cryptography where, for example, the security key for an encryption algorithm is formed by sending a stream of single photons which are regularly spaced in time. It is essential for the security of this technique that each bit is encoded on just a single photon. This is because an eavesdropper trying to intercept the communication will be forced to measure and thereby alter the state of some photons. Therefore, the sender and the intended recipient can determine if their communication has been intercepted.
Such a source is also useful as a low-noise source for optical imaging, spectroscopy, laser ranging and metrology. Normal light sources suffer from random fluctuations in the photon emission rate at low intensities due to shot noise. This noise limits the sensitivity of many optical techniques where single photons are detected. A single photon source which produces photons at regular time intervals has a reduced shot noise.
Recently, advances have been made in making such single photon sources from semiconductor quantum dot structures. Michler et al in “A Quantum Dot Single-Photon Turnstile Device” Science 290 p 2282 to 2284 (2000) and Santori et al “Triggered Single Photons from a Quantum Dot” Physics Review Letters 86 p 1502 to 1505 (2001) also describe single photon sources which operate by optically pumping a single quantum dot.
The above devices all concentrate on the production of a photon from the decay of a single neutral exciton (simple exciton) where prior to emission of the single photon there is a single electron in the ground state of the conduction band of the quantum dot and a single hole in the valence band of the quantum dot.
However, photons can also arise from the decay of more exotic excitons such as charged excitons or higher order excitons such as bi-excitons, triexcitons, quad excitons etc. Warburton et al, Nature 405 p926 to 929 describes photons arising from neutral and single, double, triple, quadruple and quintuple negatively charged single excitons in a quantum ring.
Findeis et al, Phys Rev B 63 p 121309-1 to 121309-4 (2001) and Finley et al, Phys Rev B 63 073307-1 to 073307-4 (2001) report observations of charged excitons from quantum dots.
Finally, Hartmann et al, Phys Rev Lett 84 p 5648 to 5651 describes experiments where they observe the presence of bi-excitons and higher order excitons in quantum dots.
In every single photon source where a photon is emitted due to recombination of an electron and a hole, there is always some uncertainty in the actual time when the photon will be emitted. This is usually referred to as the “jitter”. The applicants have surprisingly found that by using photons resulting from the decay of higher order excitons or charged excitons, the jitter of the photon source can be reduced. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The disclosed subject matter relates generally to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to a device having bias temperature instability test structures and a system for measuring the test structures.
Bias Temperature Instability (BTI) is an issue in deep submicron technologies. BTI affects devices which are kept in an active state for extended periods of time. For example, a custom array, or any domino circuit, often requires a keeper to hold the voltage on pre-charged bitlines if none of the pull-down transistors fire. To be properly sized, the keeper should be large enough to compensate the pull down leakage under worst process corners and noise considerations and should also be small enough to ensure fast evaluation when pull-down transistors do fire. However, negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) effectively weakens the keeper PFET over time. Positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) also has the potential to weaken pull-down NFETs over time.
Current testing methodology for determining the effects of BTI requires the use of automated die stepping on individual devices. This testing technique may require long periods of time to generate data for a single test condition. Also, automated test equipment requires significant capital expenditures. Hence, the available testing resources may be limited, further increasing the potential for delay in ascertaining BTI test results.
This section of this document is intended to introduce various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the disclosed subject matter described and/or claimed below. This section provides background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the disclosed subject matter. It should be understood that the statements in this section of this document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. The disclosed subject matter is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In process measurements and automation technology, for measuring physical parameters—e.g. mass flow, density and/or viscosity—of media flowing in pipelines—for instance, a medium in the form of an aqueous liquid, a gas, a liquid-gas mixture, a vapor, an oil, a paste, a slurry or other flowable material—such in-line measuring devices are often used, which, by means of a measuring transducer of vibration type flowed through by the medium and a measuring and operating circuit connected thereto, effect reaction forces in the medium, e.g. Coriolis forces corresponding to the mass flow, inertial forces corresponding to the density of the medium and/or frictional forces corresponding to the viscosity of the medium, etc., and derived from these, produce a measurement signal representing the respective mass flow, the respective viscosity and/or the respective density of the medium. Such measuring transducers, which are especially embodied as Coriolis mass flow meters or Coriolis mass flow/densimeters, are described at length and in detail in, for example, EP-A 1 001 254, EP-A 553 939, US-A 2002/0157479, US-A 2006/0150750, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,370,002, 5,796,011, 6,308,580, 6,415,668, 6,711,958, 6,920,798, 7,134,347, 7,392,709, or WO-A 03/027616.
Each of the measuring transducers includes a transducer housing, of which an inlet-side, first housing end is at least partially formed by means of a first flow divider having exactly two circularly cylindrical or conical flow openings mutually spaced apart from one another, and an outlet-side, second housing end at least partially formed by means of a second flow divider having exactly two flow openings mutually spaced apart from one another. In the case of some of the measuring transducers shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,011, 7,350,421, or US-A 2007/0151368, the transducer housing comprises a rather thick-walled, circularly cylindrical tube segment, which forms at least a middle segment of the transducer housing.
For conveying medium flowing at least at times, and, in given cases, also extremely hot, the measuring transducers furthermore comprise, in each case, exactly two, bent, measuring tubes, which are connected for parallel flow, which are made of metal, especially steel or titanium, and which are placed within the transducer housing and held oscillatably therein by means of the aforementioned flow dividers. A first of the measuring tubes (which are most often equally constructed and extend parallel to one another) opens with an inlet-side, first measuring tube end into a first flow opening of the inlet-side, first flow divider, and opens with an outlet-side, second measuring tube end into a first flow opening of the outlet-side, second flow divider, and a second of the measuring tubes opens with an inlet-side, first measuring tube end into a second flow opening of the first flow divider, and opens with an outlet-side, second measuring tube end into a second flow opening of the second flow divider. Each of the flow dividers includes, additionally, flanges with sealing surfaces for fluid-tight connecting of the measuring transducer to tube segments of the pipeline serving, respectively, for supplying medium to and for removing medium from the measuring transducer.
For producing the above-mentioned reaction forces, the measuring tubes are caused to vibrate during operation, driven by an exciter mechanism serving for producing or maintaining mechanical oscillations, especially bending oscillations, of the measuring tubes in the so-called driven or wanted mode. The oscillations in the wanted mode are most often, especially in the case of application of the measuring transducer as a Coriolis mass flow meter and/or densimeter, at least partially embodied as lateral bending oscillations, and in the case of medium flowing through the measuring tubes, as a result of Coriolis forces induced therein, are superimposed upon by additional, equal-frequency oscillations in the so-called Coriolis mode. Accordingly, the—here most often electro-dynamic—exciter mechanism is embodied in such a manner that, therewith, the two measuring tubes are differentially excitable—thus via entry of exciter forces acting simultaneously along a shared line of action, but in opposed directions—in the wanted mode at least partially, especially also predominantly, to opposite-equal bending oscillations.
For registering vibrations (especially bending oscillations excited by means of the exciter mechanism) of the measuring tubes, and for producing oscillation signals representing vibrations, the measuring transducers additionally in each case have a sensor arrangement, which reacts to relative movements of the measuring tubes, and is most often likewise electrodynamic. Typically, the sensor arrangement is formed by means of an inlet-side oscillation sensor registering oscillations of the measuring tubes differentially—thus registering only relative movements of the measuring tubes—as well as an outlet-side oscillation sensor also registering oscillations of the measuring tubes differentially. Each of the oscillation sensors, which are usually constructed equally to one another, is formed by means of a permanent magnet held on the first measuring tube and a cylindrical coil held on the second measuring tube and permeated by the magnetic field of the magnet.
In operation, the above-described tube arrangement formed by means of the two measuring tubes is excited by means of the electro-mechanical exciter mechanism at least at times in the wanted mode to execite mechanical oscillations at least one dominating, wanted, oscillation frequency. In such case, usually selected as the oscillation frequency for the oscillations in the wanted mode is a natural, instantaneous resonance frequency of the tube arrangement, which, in turn, is dependent essentially both on the size, shape and material of the measuring tubes, as well as also on an instantaneous density of the medium; in given cases, this wanted oscillation frequency can also be significantly influenced by an instantaneous viscosity of the medium. As a result of the fluctuating density of the medium to be measured and/or as a result of media changes performed during operation of the measuring transducer, the wanted oscillation frequency is variable at least within a calibrated—and in this respect predetermined—wanted frequency band, which correspondingly shows a predetermined lower and a predetermined upper limit frequency.
For defining a wanted oscillatory length of the measuring tubes and, in association therewith, for adjusting the wanted frequency band, measuring transducers of the above-described type additionally most often comprise: At least one inlet-side coupling element for forming inlet-side oscillation nodes for opposite-equal vibrations, especially bending oscillations, of the two measuring tubes, wherein this inlet-side coupling element is affixed, spaced from both flow dividers, to both measuring tubes; as well as at least one outlet-side coupling element for forming outlet-side oscillation nodes for opposite-equal vibrations, especially bending oscillations, of the measuring tubes, wherein this outlet-side coupling element is affixed to both measuring tubes and spaced both from the two flow dividers as well as also from the inlet-side coupling element. In the case of curved measuring tubes, the length of a section of a bend line of the respective measuring tube extending between the inlet-side and the outlet-side coupling element, consequently an imaginary center line of said measuring tube connecting the areal centers of gravity of all imaginary cross sectional areas of the respective measuring tube, corresponds, in such case, to the wanted oscillatory length of the measuring tubes. By means of the coupling elements belonging, in this respect, to the tube arrangement, also an oscillation quality factor of the tube arrangement, as well as also the sensitivity of the measuring transducer as a whole, can additionally be influenced in such a manner that, for a minimum required sensitivity of the measuring transducer, at least one minimum wanted oscillatory length is to be provided.
Development in the field of measuring transducers of vibration type has by this point reached such a state that modern measuring transducers of the described type can, for practical purposes, satisfy highest requirements as regard precision and reproducibility of measurement results for a broad spectrum of applications in the field of flow measurement technology. Thus, such measuring transducers are in practice used for mass flow rates of only some few g/h (gram per hour) up to some t/min (tons per minute), at pressures of up to 100 bar for liquids or even over 300 bar for gases. The accuracy of measurement achieved in such case usually lies, for instance, at 99.9% of the actual value, or more, and, respectively, a measuring error of, for instance, 0.1%, wherein a lower limit of the guaranteed measurement range can, by all means, lie, for instance, at 1% of the measurement range end value. Due to the great bandwidth of opportunities for use, industrial grade measuring transducers of vibration type are available with nominal diameters (corresponding to the caliber of the pipeline to be connected to the measuring transducer or the caliber of the measuring transducer measured at the connecting flange), which lie in a nominal diameter range of between 1 mm and 250 mm, and in the case of a maximum nominal mass flow rate of 1000 t/h, are specified respectively for pressure losses of less than 3 bar. A caliber of the measuring tubes lies, in such case, in a range between, for instance, 80 mm and 100 mm.
In spite of the fact that, by this point, measuring transducers are available for use in pipelines with very high mass flow rates and, in association therewith, very large calibers of far over 100 mm, there still exists significant interest to use measuring transducers of high precision and low pressure loss also for still larger pipeline calibers, for instance, of 300 mm or more, or mass flow rates of 1500 t/h or more, for instance, for applications in the petrochemical industry or in the field of transport and handling of petroleum, natural gas, fuels, etc. This leads in the case of correspondingly scaled enlargement of measuring transducer designs known and already established in the state of the art, especially from EP-A 1 001 254, EP-A 553 939, US-A 2002/0157479, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,370,002, 5,796,011, 6,308,580, 6,711,958, 7,134,347, 7,350,421, or WO-A 03/027616, to geometric dimensions assuming exorbitantly high magnitudes, especially geometric dimensions due to the desired oscillation characteristics, the required load capacity as well as the maximum allowed pressure loss, especially the installed length corresponding a distance between the sealing surfaces of the two flanges and, in the case of curved measuring tubes, to a maximum lateral expanse of the measuring transducer. Associated therewith, the empty mass of the measuring transducer also increases unavoidably, wherein conventional measuring transducers of large nominal diameter are already implemented with an empty mass of, for instance, 400 kg. Investigations, which have been performed for measuring transducers with two bent measuring tubes—for instance, according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,350,421 or 5,796,011—as regards their scaled adapting to still greater nominal diameters, have, for example, had the result that, for nominal diameters of more than 300 mm, the empty mass of a conventional measuring transducer enlarged to scale would lie far over 500 kg, along with an installed length of more than 3000 mm and a maximal lateral expanse of more than 1000 mm. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Hybrid Tea rose. The varietal denomination of the new variety is `Wekjoe`. The plant is a bushy upright seedling cultivated for outdoor garden decoration. It has as its seed parent the variety known as `Gold Medal` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,177`) and its pollen parent is unknown. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention generally relates to digital magnetic tape drives and more particularly concerns the loading of a tape cartridge in a tape drive in accordance with ANSI/ECMA standards.
It is important in high capacity products, such as magnetic tape cartridges, that when the cartridge is loaded sideways into the tape drive that it be fixed in position. The fixed positioning provides the basis for accuracy and stability of the position of the magnetic head relative to the magnetic tape.
Prior art end-loading drives are known in which the magnetic head and tape drive motor are shifted into engagement after the cartridge is loaded in order to actuate the drive. This shifting is required since normal end-loading does not permit engagement of the components with the tape cartridge. This requires expensive and complex support mechanisms to provide accuracy for the engagement of the head and the motor with respect to the tape cartridge. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The invention pertains generally to the field of computing devices and, more particularly, to port replicators used with computing devices.
When a user travels with his or her portable computing unit, he or she often requires the use of a peripheral device such as a printer, scanner, or other computing unit such as a personal digital assistant. Thus, users often travel with a port replicator, which enables connection to a peer or peripheral device without requiring the user to bring the entire portable computing unit docking station. However, although port replicators are typically less bulky than conventional computer docking stations, they are far from being optimized for travel and portability.
Additionally, when a port replicator is used, the device may attach to a rear connector of the notebook or portable computing unit. Thus, because of the ability of the computing unit and the port replicator to move relative to each other, the connection between the portable or notebook computing unit and the port replicator may be, at best, only marginally stable. This lack of a stable connection between the two devices can cause interruptions in the connection between the computing unit and the equipment to which the computing device is connected.
Thus, what is needed is a mobile and portable port replicator that provides a stable connection between the portable computing unit and any attached device. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Efficient and successful farming operations require careful cultivation of the soil between the rows of planted or growing crop. For example, the soil must be aerated or rearranged and residues from prior crops remaining in the field must be cut or mulched. Weed populations must be controlled by uprooting or cutting beneath the ground level.
Field cultivators, and/or chisel plows, are conventional soil-working implements, which are typically equipped with shanks, often called tines, to which the soil-engaging components, usually called sweeps or shovels, are attached.
Historically, row-upon-row of a plurality of the shovel (or sweep) elements have been fastened to respective shanks of conventional soil-engaging implements and held in place by one or more fasteners, such as plow bolts. Two such bolts are generally used. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,461 to Cochrane, assigned to Case Corporation.
While chisel plows are mostly used for primary tillage, field cultivators are used for secondary tillage, seed-bed preparation, weed control and incorporation of chemicals.
Since a function of the sweeps is to work the ground, it can be appreciated that when in use, the sweeps and bolts are typically submerged in soil as they are urged by the shanks, which are typically made of heat-treated spring steel, to pass through the soil.
Abrasive soils, such as sandy or rocky soils, cause shovels as well as plow bolts to wear out sooner than would be the case if the soil did not contain abrasive components.
Moreover, when sizable rocks are met, considerable damage can result to sweeps as well as to plow bolts.
Accordingly, the quick and efficient changing of sweeps and/or plow bolts is a matter of concern to conventional farmers because such changes, with state-of-the-art technology, is both time consuming and labor intensive.
"Knock-on" sweeps, which rely on mated tapered surfaces portions of a shank and a shovel to hold the shovel on the shank, have used at least one pin to temporarily hold the sweep onto the shank. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,796 to Buescher.
Moreover, in recent years, "knock-on" sweeps have been developed in various configurations. Usually, current sweep designs do not require the use of any fasteners. Rather, the sweep is driven by impact force onto a tapered adaptor which is fastened to the shank. In an alternative design, the shank itself is tapered to accept the sweep.
While some of the state-of-the-art sweep/shovel element designs offer secondary fastening mechanisms including pins, hooks, and so forth, most "knock-on" sweep/shovel elements rely strictly on the friction between two conventionally-matched steel parts.
As noted above, soil-engaging components, especially shovels and plow bolts, are usually made of a durable, economical metal; and steel is typically the metal of choice.
Due to unavoidable manufacturing variations, inadvertent sweep mis-installation, and/or currently ineffective sweep-attachment design, the reliability and performance of state-of-the-art "knock-on" sweeps is not satisfactory to reputable agricultural implement manufacturers!
Presently, too many sweeps fall off due to looseness and/or vibration and are lost. Occasionally, those that are not lost may become imbedded in a tractor tire.
In the 1,000 to 5,000 acre fields of the Dakotas, for example, such failure of shovels to remain attached to shanks, especially during 14-hour days when farmers are concerned with meeting planting and/or harvesting deadlines, can result in catastrophic effects.
The present invention, however, solves the "problem" of the shovels (or sweeps) falling off undesirably from their associated shanks of current soil-engaging implements.
The sweep-attachment design of the invention, described in full below, has overcome the shortcomings of the prior art sweep-attachment designs by incorporating relatively-stiff elastomeric materials, such as commercially-available, pliable thermoplastic polymeric elements made of rubber into the sweep-attachment design.
A preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrated herein, presents the novel elastomeric element as releasably retained in a recess of an adapter element which in turn is releasably attached to an associated shank. In this way, the attached shovel is not only held firmly in place for as long as desired, but also manufacturing variations are bridged and any looseness or vibration is avoided.
The adaptor disclosed and described herein is especially designed to fit shanks which are either curved or straight in their sweep-attaching area. The step of attaching a "knock-on" type sweep (or shovel) element to a shank of current agricultural implements is often rather difficult.
To overcome any such problem, a special, suitable tool (illustrated herein) is used to enable quick-attachment of a sweep element to an associated shank in a matter of seconds and with very little effort. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a light adjusting device and light adjusting method thereof, especially relates to a day/night switchable light adjusting device and light adjusting method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Melatonin is a kind of Hormone that exists in a human body. In the human body, Melatonin is produced by a pineal. Melatonin has great influence on a sleep/awake mode, a day/night adjusting mode or a season adjusting mode of a human. High quantity of Melatonin increases drowsiness, and low quantity of Melatonin influences excitation factor of a people.
The quantity of Melatonin is influenced by various factors. In a physiological cycle, the quantity of Melatonin is different in a day time and a night time. In a day time, the quantity of Melatonin is low. On the contrary, in a night time, the quantity of Melatonin is increased rapidly. Another factor that influences the quantity of Melatonin is related with a wavelength region and intensity of a light. It is known that a cyan region light (550 nm˜540 nm) and a blue region light (480 nm˜500 nm) will decrease the quantity of Melatonin.
However, in a daily life, a lighting device usually utilizes a white light source, which contains various wavelength regions, such as the cyan region light or the blue region light as described above. Therefore, the quantity of Melatonin will be decreased by the white light source. In some situations, reduction of the quantity of Melatonin has bad influence. For example, some night workers should keep awake in the night time. Thus a day/night switchable lighting device is necessary. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Magnetization prepared magnetic resonance imaging is a commonly used methodology whereby a combination of radio frequency (RF) pulses, gradient pulses, and temporal delays are used to prepare the longitudinal magnetization (Mz) of a spin system to a target state. The prepared longitudinal magnetization is converted to an image, in which the signal intensities are related to the starting Mz, using an imaging readout that comprises a train of RF pulses with constant flip angles. In quantitative magnetization prepared imaging, multiple magnetization prepared images are usually acquired using a systematically varied preparation scheme to result in prepared Mz that is a known function of the physical parameter of interest. The signal intensities from the resulting images can be fit to this function to determine the parameter of interest.
An underlying assumption made in quantitative magnetization prepared imaging is that the image signal intensity is directly proportional to the longitudinal magnetization prior to the imaging readout. Typical imaging comprises a series of RF pulses of constant flip angle, with single lines of k-space acquired sequentially between RF pulses. Image signal intensity is determined by the transverse magnetization when the center line of k-space is acquired, usually after numerous RF pulses when k-space is acquired linearly starting from the outer edge of k-space. While the transverse magnetization after the first imaging RF pulse is proportional to the starting Mz, subsequent acquisitions are not directly proportional due to cumulative effects of multiple preceding RF pulses and increased time for T1 relaxation. The magnitude of error in this relationship is affected by the flip angles and excitation phases of all preceding readout RF pulses, the patterns of gradients, as well as the relaxation properties of the spin system.
Imaging readouts may begin with a small number of “catalyzation” or “dummy” RF pulses that may have different flip angles from the rest of the imaging RF pulses and for which k-space data is not acquired. The primary purpose of these catalyzation pulses is to reduce oscillations in transverse magnetization during the subsequent constant flip angle train where k-space is acquired to reduce image artifacts.
Variable flip angle (VFA) readouts during the imaging RF train itself have been proposed to maximize the signal yield in hyperpolarized imaging experiments, to maintain constant transverse magnetization during imaging to reduce image blurring, or to optimize contrast between tissues with different relaxivities. In these approaches, a magnetization time-course is specified and a VFA scheme is designed to achieve it. For quantitative magnetization prepared imaging, VFA schemes should instead be formulated to improve the proportional relationship between the starting magnetization and the image signal intensity for a wide range of starting Mz and relaxation values.
Reduced flip angles can be used to lessen the effect of the RF pulses on the system's magnetization at the expense of reduced signal to noise or the desired image contrast. Therefore while a reduced, but still constant, flip angle readout may result in more accurate quantitative measurements, the loss of precision or image contrast may not be an acceptable tradeoff. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color filter and more particularly, to a color filter whose light-shielding sections are formed by overlapping two different color layers without using a black matrix, a method of fabricating the color filter, and a Liquid-Crystal Display (LCD) device using the said color filter.
The present invention is applicable to not only LCD devices of various types but also any other devices using a color filter, such as field-emission type display devices, vacuum fluorescent display devices, plasma display devices and image pickup devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the color filter used for LCD devices comprises colored materials of red (R), blue (B) and green (G) arranged in the respective openings for the pixels to have a predetermined layout (e.g., mosaic, stripe, or delta layout), and a patterned black matrix (which is made of black resin or metal oxide) formed in the light-shielding sections other than the openings. The main reason why the black matrix is used is to raise the contrast, to prevent the mixture among the red, blue, and green colored materials, and to shield the light toward the semiconductor films of the TFTs (Thin-Film Transistors).
With the LCD devices for cellular phones and small-sized LCD devices, essential contrast is not so high. Therefore, no black matrix is used; alternatively, light-shielding sections are formed by partially overlapping the colored materials located in the adjoining openings to realize a light-shielding function similar to that of the black matrix. This is because there is an advantage that the materials, process steps and fabrication cost are reduced since the black matrix is not used.
On the other hand, with the LCD devices for display monitors for personal computers or televisions (TVs), high contrast is essential. Therefore, to omit the black matrix, a structure having an equivalent light-shielding function to that of the black matrix is required. However, if an equivalent light-shielding function to that of the black matrix is obtained by overlapping the colored materials located in the adjoining openings in the typical color filter including colored materials of three primary colors (i.e., red, blue and green), the light-shielding performance of the overlapped parts (stacked parts) of the red and green colored materials is lower than that of the overlapped parts of the other colored materials. This means that the backlight is unable to be shielded sufficiently. For this reason, various ideas have ever been presented and announced to solve this problem.
For example, the Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 2000-29014 discloses a color filter substrate, which realizes the light-shielding function in the frame area that surrounds the effective display region without the black matrix. With this color filter substrate, three colored layers of red, green and blue are formed in the effective display region and at the same time, two or three of the red, green and blue colored layers are overlapped to form the light-shielding layers in the frame area. In the Publication No. 2000-29014, it is said that the red and blue colored layers are preferably overlapped to realize the light-shielding function. This is because when the red and blue colored layers are overlapped with each other, its transmittance of light can be lowered compared with the areas where the green and blue colored layers are overlapped or the red and green ones are overlapped. In addition, it is said in the Publication No. 2000-29014 that the inter-pixel shielding of light in the effective display region is conducted by overlapping the red and green colored layers, the green and blue colored layers, or the blue and red colored layers (See claims 1 to 2 and FIG. 1).
Therefore, with the color filter substrate of the Publication No. 2000-29014, the inter-pixel light-shielding sections in the effective display region have a two-layer structure of two adjacent ones of the red, blue, and green colored layers. On the other hand, the light-shielding sections in the frame area have a three-layer structure of the red, blue, and green colored layers or a two-layer structure of two adjacent ones thereof.
The Japanese Non-Examined Utility-Model Publication No. 62-181927 discloses a color LCD device, where color images are displayed with three primary colors (i.e., red, green and blue) while the background region is made black. The feature of this device is as follows: Three color filters are provided to realize three primary colors on different surfaces of the substrate and polarizer. One of these color filters is formed on the whole surface for a display color and the two remaining color filters are formed in the background region alone. The background region is made black with a three-layer structure of the three color filters overlapped (See claim 1 and FIG. 1).
With the LCD device of the Publication No. 62-181927, since the background region to be made black is constituted by the three-layer structure of the three primary color filters, the inter-pixel light-shielding sections have a three-layer structure of the said color filters.
The Japanese Patent No. 2590858 (which corresponds to the Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 63-187277) discloses a color filter, which comprises colored patterns of red, green and blue, and black patterns, all of which are arranged on a transparent support. The black patterns, which are placed in the peripheral area of the screen, are formed by overlapping the three colored layers of red, green and blue, or the two colored layers thereof. The feature of this color filter is as follows: In the boundary and adjacent areas of the respective colored patterns of red, green and blue, the black patterns are formed by overlapping the three colored layers of red, green and blue. On the other hand, in the peripheral area of the screen, the black patterns are formed by overlapping the two colored layers of red and blue (See claim 1 and FIGS. 1 to 4).
Therefore, with the color filter of the U.S. Pat. No. 2,590,858, the inter-pixel light-shielding sections in the display region have a three-layer structure of the red, blue, and green colored layers, and the frame area is formed by a two-layer structure of red and blue colored layers.
The Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 08-095021 discloses a method of fabricating a color filter, where the black matrix layer is formed by overlapping the transparent colored layers during the process of forming the respective colored layers to obtain a color filter with good flatness. The feature of this method is as follows: The three-layered black matrix layer is formed by using a photomask with half-tone masking regions corresponding to the light-shielding sections at the same time as the formation of the three colored layers of red, green and blue (See claim 1 and FIGS. 1 to 2).
With the color filter fabricated by the method of the Publication No. 08-095021, both the inter-pixel light-shielding sections in the display region and the light-shielding sections in the frame area have a three-layer structure of the red, blue, and green colored layers.
The Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 2003-014917 discloses three color filters as follows (See claims 1 to 3 and FIGS. 1 to 2).
(i) A first one of the color filters comprises pixels formed and arranged by colored layers on a transparent substrate, where the frame area, which is located in the periphery of the display region, is formed by at least two ones of the colored layers. The feature of this color filter is that the red colored layer has an average transmittance of 1% or less in the wavelength region of 460 to 570 nm.
(ii) A second one of the color filters comprises pixels formed and arranged by colored layers on a transparent substrate, where the frame area is formed by at least two ones of the colored layers. The feature of this color filter is that the blue colored layer has an average transmittance of 1% or less in the wavelength region of 560 to 750 nm.
(iii) A third one of the color filters comprises pixels formed and arranged by colored layers on a transparent substrate, where the frame area is formed by at least two ones of the colored layers. The feature of this color filter is that each of the red and blue colored layers has an average transmittance of 2.5% or less in the wavelength region of 555 to 575 nm.
In the Publication No. 2003-014917, it is said that high OD (Optical Density) values can be obtained by only the stacked or overlapped structure of the colored layers in the frame area and the light-shielding sections opposite to the TFTs. With these filters, the frame area, the inter-pixel light-shielding sections, and the light-shielding sections opposite to the TFTs are formed by a three-layer structure of the red, blue, and green colored layers, or a two-layer structure thereof.
The Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 2002-082630 discloses two electrooptic devices as follows (See claims 1 to 2 and FIGS. 1 to 2):
(i) A first one of the electrooptic devices comprises TFTs, and light-shielding sections formed by overlapping a first colored layer and a second colored layer, wherein the light-shielding sections are overlapped with at least the channel formation regions of the TFTs.
(ii) A second one of the electrooptic devices comprises pixel electrodes, and light-shielding sections formed by overlapping a first colored layer and a second colored layer, wherein the light-shielding sections are by overlapped with the intervening areas between one of the pixel electrodes and another adjacent thereto.
In the Publication No. 2002-082630, it is said that the first colored layer is preferably blue and the second colored layer is preferably red. With these two electrooptic devices, the light-shielding sections corresponding to the channel formation regions of the TFTs or the inter-pixel light-shielding sections have a two-layer structure formed by two of the red, blue, and green colored layers.
As described above, various ideas have ever been presented and announced to realize sufficient shielding performance of backlight without the black matrix.
By the way, according to the sRGB (standard RGB) or EBU (European Broadcasting Union) standard, required color reproductivity for the display monitors for personal computers and the LCD devices for TV is 72% of the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard or higher. Therefore, in the case of the combination of a color filter using photosensitive color resists formed by the popular pigment dispersion method and a backlight unit using cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs), each of the red, green, and blue color layers has a thickness of 1.8 to 2.0 μm. For this reason, if the whole black matrix is replaced with the three-layered light-shielding sections formed by overlapping the red, green, and blue color layers, the level difference will be 3.6 to 4.0 μm at the maximum in the vicinities of the frame area. Here, the level difference means the difference between the thickness of the pixels (which are formed by one of the red, green, and blue color layers) and the thickness of the light-shielding sections (which are formed by three of the red, green, and blue color layers).
In recent years, there is the growing need to speed the response characteristic of the LCD device up. To answer this need, it is necessary for the cell gap (i.e., the thickness of the liquid-crystal layer) of the LCD panel to be equal to 4.0 μm or lower, preferably, at approximately 3.0 μm. If the cell gap is decreased to such a value, the thickness difference (3.6 to 4.0 μm at the maximum), i.e., the level difference between the pixels and the light-shielding sections, will be greater than the cell gap (3.0 μm or less). Thus, with the color filters for the display monitors for personal computers and the LCD devices for TV that necessitates high-speed response characteristics, the light-shielding sections are unable to be formed by the layered structure of the three color layers. This means that the light-shielding sections need to be formed by the layered structure of the two color layers.
FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C show an example of the prior-art color filters used for the LCD devices of this type, where the light-shielding sections are formed by two different color layers overlapped. FIG. 1A is an explanatory partial plan view showing the pattern of the red color layer used in this color filter, FIG. 1B is an explanatory partial plan view showing the pattern of the blue color layer thereof, and FIG. 1C is an explanatory partial plan view showing the pattern of the green color layer thereof. FIG. 2 is an explanatory partial plan view of the prior-art color filter constituted by the red, blue and green color layers shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C.
The red color layer 101 used for this prior-art color filter is formed on a surface (X-Y plane) of a transparent glass plate (not shown). The layer 101 comprises stripe-shaped red pixel formation sections 101R and connection sections 101L, as shown in FIG. 1A.
The stripe-shaped red pixel formation sections 101R are extended along the Y direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1A) and arranged along the X direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1A) at predetermined intervals. The sections 101R are used for forming rectangular red pixels arranged in the Y direction at predetermined intervals. Thus, it may be said that each of the sections 101R is formed by red pixels and red inter-pixel parts that interconnect the adjoining red pixels.
The connection sections 101L interconnect the adjoining red pixel formation sections 101R. Moreover, the connection sections 101L define rectangular blue pixel windows 101B arranged along the Y direction at predetermined intervals and rectangular green pixel windows 101G arranged along the Y direction at predetermined intervals. Each of the blue pixel windows 101B is located at a position where a blue pixel is to be formed. Each of the green pixel windows 101G is located at a position where a green pixel is to be formed.
Accordingly, the red pixels are aligned along the Y direction at predetermined intervals. The green pixels are aligned along the Y direction at the same intervals as the red pixels in such a way as to be adjacent to the red pixels. The blue pixels are aligned along the Y direction at the same intervals as the red pixels in such a way as to be adjacent to the green pixels. This layout or arrangement of the red, green and blue pixels thus aligned is repeatedly aligned along the X direction.
The blue color layer 102 used for the prior-art color filter of FIGS. 1A to 1C is formed on the surface of the glass plate to be overlapped with the red color layer 101. The layer 102 comprises stripe-shaped blue pixel formation sections 102B and connection sections 102L, as shown in FIG. 1B.
The stripe-shaped blue pixel formation sections 102B are extended along the Y direction and arranged along the X direction at predetermined intervals. The sections 102B, which are located on such positions as to be superposed on the corresponding blue pixel windows 101B of the red color layer 101, are used for forming rectangular blue pixels arranged in the Y direction at predetermined intervals. Thus, it may be said that each of the sections 102B is formed by blue pixels and blue inter-pixel parts that interconnect the adjoining blue pixels.
The connection sections 102L interconnect the adjoining blue pixel formation sections 102B. Moreover, the connection sections 102L define rectangular red pixel windows 102R arranged along the Y direction at predetermined intervals and rectangular green pixel windows 102G arranged along the Y direction at predetermined intervals. Each of the red pixel windows 102R is located at a position where a red pixel is to be formed. Each of the green pixel windows 102G is located at a position where a green pixel is to be formed.
Accordingly, the red pixel windows 102R are located at such positions as to be superposed on the corresponding red pixel formation sections 101R of the red color layer 101. The green pixel windows 102G are located at such positions as to be superposed on the corresponding green pixel windows 101G of the red color layer 101.
The green color layer 103 used for the prior-art color filter of FIGS. 1A to 1C is formed on the surface of the glass plate to be overlapped with the red and blue color layers 101 and 102. The layer 103 comprises stripe-shaped green pixel formation sections 103G, as shown in FIG. 1C. Unlike the red and blue color layers 101 and 102, the green color layer 103 does not have connection sections like the connection sections 101L and 102L.
The stripe-shaped green pixel formation sections 103G are extended along the Y direction and arranged along the X direction at predetermined intervals. The sections 103G, which are located on such positions as to be superposed on the corresponding green pixel windows 101G of the red color layer 101 and the corresponding green pixel windows 102G of the blue color layer 102, are used for forming rectangular green pixels arranged in the Y direction at predetermined intervals. Thus, it may be said that each of the sections 103G is made of green pixels and green inter-pixel parts that interconnect the adjoining green pixels.
The above-described prior-art color filter of FIGS. 1A to 1C, which is fabricated by overlapping the red, blue, and green color layers 101, 102, and 103 with the above-described patterns in this order, has the structure as shown in FIG. 2.
As seen from FIG. 2, the stripe-shaped red pixel formation sections 101R of the red color layer 101 are overlapped with the corresponding red pixel windows 102R of the blue color layer 102, thereby defining the red pixels. This means that the exposed parts of the red pixel formation sections 101R from the corresponding red pixel windows 102R form the red pixels.
Similarly, the stripe-shaped blue pixel formation sections 102B of the blue color layer 102 are overlapped with the corresponding blue pixel windows 102B of the red color layer 101, thereby defining the blue pixels. This means that the parts of the blue pixel formation sections 102B located inside the corresponding blue pixel windows 102B form the blue pixels.
The stripe-shaped green pixel formation sections 103G of the green color layer 103 are overlapped with the corresponding green pixel windows 101G of the red color layer 101 and the corresponding green pixel windows 102G of the blue color layer 102, thereby defining the green pixels. This means that the parts of the green pixel formation sections 103G located inside the overlapped, corresponding green pixel windows 101G and 102G form the blue pixels.
The red inter-pixel parts of the stripe-shaped red pixel formation sections 101R of the red color layer 101 are overlapped with the corresponding connection sections 102L of the blue layer 102 or the corresponding blue inter-pixel parts of the stripe-shaped blue pixel formation sections 102B thereof, thereby forming two-layer-structured light-shielding sections. These light-shielding sections, which have the two-layer structure formed by overlapping the red and blue color layers 101 and 102, have the same pattern as the black matrix. However, the green inter-pixel parts of the green color layer 103 are overlapped with both the corresponding connection sections 101L of the red color layer 101 and the corresponding connection sections 102L of the blue color layer 102. Therefore, the light-shielding sections located at these positions have the three-layer structure of the red, blue and green color layers 101, 102 and 103.
The cross-sectional structure along the IIIA-IIIA line of FIG. 2 (i.e., the cross-sectional structure of the part including the green pixel formation section 103G) is shown in FIG. 3A. As shown in FIG. 3A, the red, blue and green color layers 101, 102 and 103 are overlapped in this order on the surface of the glass plate 109. An overcoat layer 123 is formed on the green color layer 103. At the positions located over the three-layered light-shielding sections 133 (which are disposed right over the corresponding green inter-pixel parts of the green color layer 103), photo spacers 120 are formed on the overcoat layer 123. These photo spacers 120 are formed by patterning a known photoresist (photosensitive resin) film.
As clearly seen from FIG. 3A, the light-shielding section 133 has the three-layer structure formed by overlapping the red, blue, and green color layers 101, 102 and 103. The photo spacers 120 are formed on the overcoat layer 123 that covers the color layers 101, 102 and 103. Thus, there is a level difference “h” between the green pixel formed by the green color layer 103 (i.e., the green pixel formation section 103G) and the adjoining light-shielding section 133 thereto, where the level difference “h” is approximately equal to the sum of the thicknesses of the red and blue color layers 101 and 102.
The widths of the blue inter-pixel parts of the blue color layer 102 and the connection sections 102L thereof are slightly larger than the widths of the red inter-pixel parts of the red color layer 101 and the connection sections 101L thereof. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3A, the both edges of the blue inter-pixel parts of the blue color layer 102 and the connection sections 102L thereof, which are placed on the red inter-pixel parts of the red color layer 101 or the connection sections 101L thereof, are contacted with the surface of the glass plate 109.
The state where a TFT substrate 126 is coupled with the color filter with the structure of FIG. 3A is shown in FIG. 3B. In this state, as clearly seen from FIG. 3A, the cell gap “c” is equal to the sum of the level difference “h” and the height of the photo spacers 120.
FIG. 4A shows the state where the positions of the photo spacers 120 are changed to those located over the blue color layer 102 in the above-described prior-art color filter of FIG. 2. The cross-sectional structure along the VA-VA line in FIG. 4A (i.e., the cross-sectional structure of the part including the blue pixel formation section 102B of the layer 102) is shown in FIG. 5A.
At the positions shown in FIG. 5A, the light-shielding sections 133a have the two-layer structure comprising the red and blue color layers 101 and 102. Thus, the level difference “i” between the blue pixels and the light-shielding sections 133a adjoining thereto is approximately equal to the thickness of the red color layer 101. The level difference “i” is smaller than the level difference “h” (see FIGS. 3A and 3B) between the green pixels and the light-shielding sections 133 adjoining thereto by the thickness of the green color layer 103.
The state where the TFT substrate 126 is coupled with the color filter of FIG. 4A is shown in FIG. 5B. In this state, as clearly seen from FIG. 5B, the cell gap “c” is equal to the sum of the level difference “i” and the height of the photo spacers 120. However, the level difference “i” is smaller than the level difference “h”. Therefore, the height of the photo spacers 120 can be increased by the gap between the differences “h” and “i”.
The cross-sectional structure along the VIA-VIA line of FIG. 4A (i.e., the cross-sectional structure of the part including the green pixel formation section 103G) is shown in FIG. 6A. This structure is the same as that of FIG. 3A except that the photo spacers 120 do not exist. Therefore, the level difference “j” of FIG. 6A is the same as much as the level difference “h” of FIG. 3A. The state where the TFT substrate 126 is coupled with the structure of FIG. 6A is shown in FIG. 6B. In this case, if the cell gap “c” is set to be equal to that of FIG. 5B, the gap “e” over the light-shielding sections 133 is equal to the subtraction result of the level difference “j” from the cell gap “c”. Accordingly, the gap “e” is considerably smaller than the gap over the light-shielding sections 133a (which is equal to the height of the photo spacers 120).
In this way, when the photo spacers 120 are placed on the green pixel formation sections 103G (see FIG. 2), the level difference “h” will be large. Thus, to obtain a desired value of the cell gap “c”, the height of the photo spacers 120 needs to be decreased. Since the gap “e” over the light-shielding sections 133 is equal to the height of the photo spacers 120, the gap “e” is decreased by the decreased height of the photo spacers 120. On the other hand, when the photo spacers 120 are placed on the blue pixel formation sections 102B (see FIG. 4A), the level difference “i” between the blue pixels and the light-shielding sections 133a is smaller than the level difference “h” between the green pixels and the light-shielding sections 133 (i.e., i<h). Accordingly, the gap “e” over the light-shielding sections 133 can be increased by increasing the height of the photo spacers 120.
In addition, the photo spacers 120 may be formed at the positions over the red pixel formation sections 101R, as shown in FIG. 4B. In this case, the cross-sectional structure is the same as that of the case where the photo spacers 120 are located over the blue pixel formation sections 120B (see FIG. 5A). Therefore, the explanation about it is omitted here.
As the TFT substrate 126, for example, a TFT substrate of the IPS (In-Plane Switching) type having the structure of FIG. 7 may be used. This structure is approximately the same as that illustrated in FIG. 6 of the Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication No. 2005-241923. FIG. 7 shows the structure in one of the pixel regions.
As shown in FIG. 7, the TFT substrate 126 comprises a common electrode line 143 made of metal, a contact hole 145 for a common electrode, a transparent common electrode 146, a transparent pixel electrode 147, a contact hole 148 for the pixel electrode 147, a scanning line 149, a data line 150, a TFT 151, a source electrode 152 of the TFT 151, a drain electrode 153 of the TFT 151, an island-shaped amorphous silicon (a-Si) film 154 for forming an active layer of the TFT 151, and a pixel auxiliary electrode 156.
The pixel electrode 147 has three zigzag-shaped comb teeth. The common electrode 146 has four zigzag-shaped comb teeth. The pixel electrode 147 and the common electrode 146 are arranged in such a way as to be alternately engaged with each other in the region surrounded by the adjoining scanning lines 149 and the adjoining data lines 150. The two teeth of the common electrode 146 at its each side are overlapped with the corresponding data lines 150, respectively. The pixel auxiliary electrode 156 has one comb tooth superposed on the central tooth of the pixel electrode 147.
Each of the data lines 150 is electrically connected to the drain electrode 153 of a corresponding one of the TFTs 151. Each of the scanning lines 149 is electrically connected to the gate electrode (not shown) of a corresponding one of the TFTs 151. Each of the pixel electrodes 147 is electrically connected to the source electrode 152 of a corresponding one of the TFTs 151 by way of a corresponding one of the contact holes 148. Each of the common electrodes 146 is electrically connected to a corresponding one of the common electrode lines 143 by way of a corresponding one of the contact holes 145.
The above-described prior-art color filter shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 has the three problems explained below.
The first problem is that the level difference “h” (see FIGS. 3A and 3B) between the green pixels and the adjoining three-layered light-shielding sections 133 thereto is so large that the freedom of designing the cell gap “c” may be damaged.
Specifically, the level difference “h” between the green pixels and the light-shielding sections 133, which varies dependent on the width of the said sections 133, is likely to be excessively large. In the case of the thickness of the overlapped parts of the red and green color layers 101 and 103 being set at 70 to 90% (these values are determined in consideration of the thickness averaging due to flow during the coating process of the resist for each color) of the thickness of the red pixel formation sections 101R and that of the green pixel formation sections 103G, supposing that the red pixel formation sections 101R are 2.0 μm in thickness, the blue pixel formation sections 102B are 2.0 μm in thickness, the green pixel formation sections 103G are 2.0 μm in thickness, and the overcoat layer 123 is 1.0 μm in thickness, the overall thickness of the light-shielding sections 133 will be approximately 5 μm to approximately 6 μm while the overall thickness of the respective pixel formation sections will be 3.0 μm. (At this time, the overcoat layer 123 will be considerably thin, although it depends on the viscosity.) This means that the level difference “h” will be approximately 2.0 μm to approximately 3.0 μm, which is extremely large. For example, if the height difference “h” is 3.0 μm, the cell gap “c” over the green pixel is difficult to be set at 3.0 μm or less, which means that that the freedom of designing the cell gap “c” is damaged vastly.
To reduce the level difference “h”, the parts of the green color layer 103 (i.e., the green inter-pixel parts of the green pixel formation sections 103G) that form the three-layered light-shielding sections 133 may be selectively removed by polishing. However, the green pixel formation sections 103G of the green color layer 103 are arranged on the almost entire surfaces of the corresponding light-shielding sections 133, and the total area of the green color layer 103 to be polished and removed is very wide. Therefore, even if a polishing machine is used to polish the entire surface of the said color filter, the said parts are difficult to be removed. Moreover, since such the polishing operation necessitates a long time, the tact time increases extensively and the mass productivity is damaged.
The second problem is that local gap defects are likely to occur due to plastic deformation or breakdown of the photo spacers 120 and that the color layers are difficult to be thickened to raise the color reproductivity.
Specifically, when the cell gap “c” is constant, the height of the photo spacers 120 is determined by the level difference “h” between the green pixels and the three-layered light-shielding sections 133. The level difference “h” is approximately equal to the sum of the thicknesses of the red and blue color layers 101 and 102. Therefore, thickening the red and blue color layers 101 and 102 to raise the color reproductivity leads to the increase of the level difference “h” and the height decrease of the photo spacers 120. Accordingly, it is difficult to raise the color reproductivity by thickening the red and blue color layers 101 and 102 (and the green color layer 103).
Moreover, the amount of possible elastic deformation of the photo spacers 120 decreases as their height decreases. Thus, the more the height of the spacers 120 is reduced due to the increase of the difference “h”, the less the deformation margin of the spacers 120 against the local pressure stress applied to the display surface from the outside of the LCD panel. As a result, local gap defects are likely to occur due to plastic deformation or breakdown of the photo spacers 120.
The third problem is that the two-layered light-shielding sections 133a in the effective display region do not utilize effectively the operation characteristics in the normally black mode of the IPS or VA (Vertically Aligned) type LCD device and the light-shielding effect for the backlight with the metal lines on the TFT substrate 126.
Specifically, with the above-described prior-art color filter of FIGS. 1A to 6B, the two-layered light-shielding sections 133a comprising the red and blue color layers 101 and 102 (where the OD value is maximized) are placed in not only the region where a high OD value is necessary but also the region where an OD value may be low. Therefore, the three-layered light-shielding sections 133 comprising the red, blue and green color layers 101, 102 and 103 are formed at the positions adjacent to the green pixels. As a result, the cell gap “c” has to be determined in conformity with the large level difference “h” between the green pixels and the light-shielding sections 133. For this reason, the gap “e” (see FIG. 6B) between the three-layered light-shielding sections 133 and the TFT substrate 126 may be very narrow if the cell gap “c” is set at particular values. This means that a problem that foreign objects are likely to be caught in the narrowed gap “e” occurs. This is because if foreign objects are caught in the narrowed gap “e”, gap defect will be generated in the light-shielding sections 133, which gives bad effects to the display quality. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to methods of detection and use of polarized spin transport in semiconductors and semiconductor devices.
Semiconductor devices rely upon two different types of charge carriers, electrons and holes. The concentrations of these two types of carriers can be controlled by doping intrinsic semiconductors, such as silicon, germanium or gallium arsenide, with electron donors or electron acceptors. This doping creates n-type or p-type semiconductors that are the building blocks of diodes, transistors, photocells and many other high speed, compact integrated circuits used in information processing, logic, control and communications circuits. Semiconductor efficiency decreases below a certain device size, which depends upon (1) diffusion length that determines the depth of the doped layer, (2) the screening length that determines the distance over which a charge perturbation is neutralized, and (3) the small charge carrier concentrations in a semiconductor that lead to shot noise and reduced signal-to-noise ratios. The behavior of a metal is distinguishable from semiconductor behavior: a metal does not depend upon doping layers, has a much smaller screening length, has much larger charge carrier concentrations, and thus has a lower size limit than does a semiconductor.
In order to fabricate a metallic device that has the versatility of a semiconductor device, one needs an approach for distinguishing between two populations of charge carriers in a metallic device. In many ferromagnetic materials, including ferromagnetic metals, ferromagnetic oxides, some ferromagnetic-semiconductors and some insulators, charge transport occurs by two substantially independent channels, the spin-up channel and spin-down channel, each having different electrical conductivities. These two classes of conductivities can be modified independently, using alloying. New devices based on these two sets of charge carriers in magnetic metals have revolutionized the information storage industry in the early 1990s, through use of magnetoresistive read heads that are significantly more sensitive than, and smaller than, the preceding generations of inductive thin film read heads. This trend continues with the recent introduction of spin valve heads based on the giant magnetoresistive effect. Also, spin tunnel junctions, in which tunneling between two metal electrodes is different fro spin-up and spin-down electrons, are being developed for transducers and for magnetic random access memories.
Presently, some workers are focusing on means of fabricating ferromagnetic and semiconductor components for a new class of devices that combine the spins of a ferromagnetic metal, injected into a semiconductor, with many known functions of a semiconductor device.
What is needed is an approach for separately monitoring transport of electrons with polarized spins (up/down) that are injected into and tracked in a semiconductor material.
These needs are met by the invention, which provides a method for estimating the concentration of free electrons with a selected spin polarization in a semiconductor material. In one approach, a static magnetic field with a selected field strength is impressed on a semiconductor in a first selected direction on a semiconductor material. A selected time varying electromagnetic field (e.g., a microwave field) is impressed on the material in a direction transverse to the first selected direction. One or more spin-polarized free electrons from an adjacent ferromagnetic material (metal, oxide, semiconductor or other) is introduced into the semiconductor, and the magnetic moment is allowed to move under the influence of the magnetic field and electromagnetic field. A Hall voltage is measured in a second selected direction across the semiconductor at two or more selected, spaced apart locations in a direction parallel to the second selected direction. The measured Hall voltages are then analyzed to estimate the concentration of free electrons with a selected spin polarization within the semiconductor at one or more of the two or more selected locations. In some embodiments, an oxide film (non-magnetic or magnetic) is positioned between the ferromagnetic material and the semiconductor material. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Packaging machines are known that integrate into a single unit the various components necessary to form a container, fill the container with a liquid product, and seal the container. Such packaging machines typically feed carton blanks into the machine, seal the bottoms of the cartons, fill the cartons with a product dispensed from a product storage tank through a filling tube, seal the tops of the cartons, and off-load the filled cartons for shipping.
Where the liquid product dispensed into the cartons is a liquid foodstuff it may be necessary to maintain a sterile filling environment. The sterile filling environment must be maintained in the product storage tank, the filling tube, and in a region surrounding a terminus of the filling tube from which the product is dispensed. The region surrounding the terminus of the filling tube can be partially enclosed, for example, by a casing. Further, the sterile filling environment must be maintained in an area below the terminus of the filling tube, extending as far below the terminus as is necessary to ensure that non-sterile air is effectively prevented from penetrating the area surrounding the terminus of the filling tube.
In order to prevent bacteria from forming in parts of the packaging machine that come into contact with certain liquid foodstuffs it is known to circulate a cleaning fluid through those parts. However, any liquid product remaining in the product tank at the end of the production cycle must be drained from the product tank before the cleaning cycle can begin.
Typically, the remaining product is drained from the product tank by opening the pump valves in the system such that the remaining product flows out of the product tank and into the casing, or where a casing is not provided, onto a draining floor, at atmospheric pressure under the force of gravity. As the remaining liquid product is drained from the product tank in this manner it tends to splash in the casing and becomes unsuitable for reuse. Specifically, the remaining product tends to foam and may become contaminated as it is drained from the product tank. Therefore, the remaining product is disposed of once it is drained from the system. Since packaging machines must be frequently cleaned, regularly disposing of the remaining product is costly. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates in general to portable electric testing devices and more particularly to a pocket size meterless device having a Light Emitting Diode indicator for testing capacitors as to whether they are shorted, open, leaky, or capable of holding a capacitive charge, for testing continuity of electric circuits, and for indicating presence of a wide range of voltages.
Prior electric testing devices of this general character are dependent upon relatively expensive construction, including electric meter movements for indicating capacitance values, are relatively large and bulky for handling in close quarters and subject to failure from mishandling or shock. Others utilize a neon indicator as the heart of the tester which necessitates use of voltages in excess of 60 volts which can be hazardous to the operator. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to materials handling and, more particularly, to mounting materials handling tools (e.g., buckets, blades, rippers, augers and the like) on, for example, dippersticks of backhoes.
The changing of materials handling tools mounted on a backhoe dipperstick traditionally has been a laborious and timeconsuming job. Some have suggested simplifying this task by connecting different tools to, rather than replacing, the bucket; or by providing connecting mechanisms on the tool and dipperstick which reduce the time and effort required for tool change-over. Such schemes have suffered from various drawbacks, principally the need for precise vertical alignment of the tool and dipperstick, the inability of the backhoe operator to change tools himself, the danger presented by improperly or incompletely connected tools, and the requirement that a different set of tools be provided for each size or type of backhoe. The system shown in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,738, issued Jan. 27, 1976, permits any of a wide range of materials handling tools to be connected to any type of backhoe, permits a single operator to change tools, often without leaving his seat; eliminates the danger of falling tools, and permits the same tools to be used with either a fixed or a swinging connector. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to refurbishment and repair of gas turbine components and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method utilizing a multi-axis robotic arm welder for refurbishing and repairing gas turbine components.
Nickel-base, cobalt-base, and iron-base superalloys have been used in the hot sections of gas turbine engines due to their ability to withstand high operating temperatures while retaining significant strength at up to 80% of the alloy""s melting temperature. Because these alloys are used to such extremes, they tend to suffer different types of damage in operation such as thermal fatigue, oxidation, corrosion, creep, etc. It is often desirable to repair the components rather than replace them due to economic concerns.
Manual use of arc-welding processes such as TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas), MIG (Metal Inert Gas), and PTA (Plasma Transferred Arc) has been performed in the weld repair of gas turbine components. However, as the performance of gas turbine engines increases, use of highly alloyed (increased gamma) ni-base superalloys (including directionally solidified and single crystal) has been required. This class of alloys has found popular use in large frame size industrial gas turbines. Examples include alloys such as GTD-222, IN-939, IN-738, GTD-111 (EA and DS), Mar-M-247 (DS), CMSX-4(SC), and Rene N5 (SC). These alloys, however, also become less weldable or even nearly impossible to weld manually as they are alloyed to the highest strength levels.
Manual TIG welding can be successful with the use of weld fillers like IN-625 and Hast X in low restraint weld geometries and a highly skilled welder. These weld fillers, however, tend to exhibit poor oxidation and creep resistances at the higher temperatures at which today""s modern industrial gas turbines operate. Moreover, even if manual welding is successful, it is difficult to control a multiple pass, three-dimensional manual weld at the tip of a turbine blade (a typical repair location at the first engine overhaul). These geometrical inconsistencies of a manual weld such as a squealer tip wall thickness lead to increased machining or hand grinding times as well as decreased yield at subsequent inspection operations such as FPI (fluorescent penetrant inspection) and X-Ray.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a gas turbine component refurbishment apparatus includes a robotic arm disposed adjacent the gas turbine component, and a welding torch assembly coupled to an end of the robotic arm. A wire feeder cooperates with the welding torch assembly. A robotic arm controller communicates with the robotic arm and controls a position of the robotic arm relative to the gas turbine component. A vision system is coupled with the robotic arm controller for identifying the gas turbine component, defining a weld path according to the gas turbine component contour, and calculating a trajectory for the robotic arm to follow. The vision system communicates the trajectory to the robotic arm. The welding torch preferably includes an arc length voltage controller, a wire feed guide, and a plasma welding torch. The weld path may be provided with a sine wave with a set wavelength and a set amplitude to reduce heat input and to provide a weld width sufficient for the gas turbine component. The apparatus may further include a water-cooled chill fixture that secures the gas turbine component for welding and effects inter-pass temperature control. The robotic arm is preferably a 6-axis robotic arm.
In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method of refurbishing a gas turbine component includes the steps of securing the gas turbine component, identifying the gas turbine component, defining a weld path according to the gas turbine component contour, calculating a trajectory for the robotic arm to follow, and welding with the robotic arm and attached welding torch assembly along the weld path. The method may further include welding with an alloy weld filler wire. After the welding step, the method may include the steps of machining the gas turbine component to final dimensions, vacuum heat treating the gas turbine component, and inspecting the gas turbine component. Prior to the securing step, the method may include the step of heat treating the gas turbine component for welding. In this context, the welding step may be performed at room temperature. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Millions of computer users utilize electronic mail (email) on a daily basis, in order to electronically send and receive messages. Email communications allow users to stay in touch with each other, and to communicate easily, rapidly, and in a non-expensive manner even if the users are located many miles apart from each other.
Some email services, sometimes referred to as “web-mail” services, are web-based and allow the user to utilize an Internet browser in order to access his email account. Other email services may allow the user to utilize an email application which may be installed on the user's personal computer, for example, in order to utilize the user's email account using Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), using Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), or using other suitable email-related protocols or standards.
In some email services, e.g., in a web-mail service, the user may be required to enter his unique username (or his unique login-name, or his unique email address), as well as a password, in order to obtain access to his email account. Once the user logs-in to his email account, the user is able to read incoming email messages, compose new email messages and send them, reply to incoming email messages, forward email messages to third parties, perform search operations on email messages, manage or add or delete or edit personal contacts, move email messages between folders, and perform all other email-related operations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an output circuit of a charge mode sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Output circuits for charge mode sensors such as piezoelectric elements in related art include charge-voltage conversion circuits (charge amplifier circuits) that accumulate the charge of the sensors in capacitors to acquire output voltages from the capacitors and current-voltage conversion circuits that measure the amount of current passing through resistors as the amount of charge of the sensors to acquire output voltages from the current.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-51930 discloses a signal processing apparatus for a charge mode sensor. In the signal processing apparatus, abnormality of the charge mode sensor is detected in a charge-voltage conversion circuit (charge amplifier circuit).
Since the insulation resistance of a sensor cable and the input impedance of an operational amplifier are practically finite in the charge-voltage conversion circuit (charge amplifier circuit) in the related art, part of the charge generated in the charge mode sensor leaks through the insulation resistor of the sensor cable or the input terminal of the operational amplifier. As a result, measurement error (reduction in sensitivity and/or zero-point drift), particularly, the measurement error at low frequencies or in long-time measurement is increased.
It is not possible to avoid or reduce the problem of the measurement error with the signal processing apparatus using the charge-voltage conversion circuit (charge amplifier circuit) disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-51930. In contrast, it is possible to reduce the measurement error (reduction in sensitivity) due to the insulation resistance and the input impedance with the current-voltage conversion circuit in the related art.
However, with the current-voltage conversion circuit in the related art, it is not possible to detect any fault (break or short circuit) occurring in the charge mode sensor or the sensor cable circuit if no charge is made. Accordingly, in order to confirm any fault before the measurement of the charge, it is necessary to additionally prepare a fault detection circuit that has no effect on the circuit.
In addition, use of the measured temperature of the charge mode sensor in temperature compensation of measurement data is not considered in the conversion circuits in both modes in the related art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Doctor blades have been used for years in various different applications. Typically, a doctor blade is used to help separate a material from a piece of equipment. For example, a doctor blade may be used to help remove a web of material from a drum or plate to which the material has been attached. Doctor blades may also be used to clean equipment and/or to impart one or more characteristics into the product being manufactured by the equipment.
In the paper industry, for example, doctor blades are often used to help remove the paper web from a drying drum, such as a Yankee dryer to which the paper web is adhered. In certain papermaking processes, the doctor blade that removes the paper web from the drying drum or any other drum may also be used to crepe the paper to some degree. Such doctor blades are often referred to as “creping blades”. In other papermaking processes, the doctor blade may be used to remove waste material from various pieces of equipment. Such doctor blades are often referred to as “cleaning blades”. The present invention is directed to doctor blades, and more particularly to creping blades and cleaning blades used in papermaking and other web making processes.
The surface profile of bevel surface of the doctor blade, in addition to the geometry of the doctor blade and the particular set-up configuration of the doctor blade with respect to the equipment with which it interacts, can provide for variations in the way the creping blade performs its intended function. For example, it has been discovered that microscopic bumps, machine marks, or surface abnormalities on the creping blade bevel surface can affect the blade's performance and/or the physical characteristics of the material being removed by the blade.
The present prior art methods of improving the performance of doctor blades include changing the geometry of the leading edge of the blade, introducing grooves into the leading edge of the blade, using composite materials, and treating the surface of the blade. Unfortunately, the current methods of improving doctor blades fail to account for the imperfections in the bevel surface of the blade that result from the machine marks left from the processing of the blade itself after conventional finishing.
There are generally two methods to prepare the finished bevel surface of a doctor blade. One is by the conventional use of abrasive media, typically by grinding methods using abrasive stones, wheels, or other abrasive media. Another is to pare material off the surface of the bevel in single or multiple strokes in order to create a working edge or bevel surface. This paring method is known in the art as “skiving.” Bumps and other imperfections are not limited to blades which have been machined in perpendicular to the z-axis of the leading edge of the blade itself; even blades prepared by a skiving process in which the tool marks are parallel with the z-axis of the leading edge of the blade exhibit microscopic bumps along the surface. An emphasis must be placed on machine tool directionality of the effect that it has on the process removing or separating material (for example, a cellulose web) from a rotating drying drum or other equipment. The machine tool mark orientation in papermaking processes are often arranged in the machine direction (MD) (the same direction of web movement) as opposed to the cross direction (CD) (perpendicular to the web movement) because of factors such as lower sheet drag or friction and pitch (residual material from the raw material or processing steps) build up.
Despite the vast amount of information available relating to the manufacture of doctor blades, there is still a need to improve the performance of creping blades and to provide creping blades that can uniquely affect the physical attributes of the materials with which they interact. Due to the way that a creping blade is typically used in the web making process (i.e., the web is removed from a drying roll at high speed by impacting the web against the creping blade), the creping blade can, and often does, cause problems with throughput, tearing of the web, reducing the strength of the web, generating dust, etc.
The present invention provides improved creping blades that address many of the problems presented by currently available creping blades. Specifically, it has been newly discovered that the bevel surface of the blade can be modified to provide unique benefits to the processes and/or materials with which the creping blade interacts. More specifically, it has been found that a step-like polishing process can be used to super-finish the bevel surface of the doctor blade. The super-finished doctor blades exhibit dramatic improvements in performance. Examples of such improvements include, but are not limited to, line speed increases, increased line run times, increased line reliability, improvement in sheet stability, reduction in the amount of dust or other material derived from the web interacting with the blade and/or can provide the product being manufactured with unique physical attributes or improvements of existing desirable attributes not easily attainable by using the doctor blades that are currently commercially available. This includes higher sheet strength or tensile in both the CD and MD direction, and more consistent product attributes especially in the CD direction of the sheet such as caliper and tensiles versus a higher variability with blades that have smoothness imperfections.
Further, the blades of the present invention can provide a less traumatic interaction with the paper web, which can help reduce the amount of material needed to form a particular end product in certain circumstances and/or allow for the use of less expensive materials to produce the desired end product.
The present invention addresses one or more of the disadvantages of currently available creping blades and methods using such creping blades by providing a smoother bevel surface for the creping blade. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In many environments it is desirable to temporarily hold and clamp parts together while other operations, such as drilling and riveting operations, are performed. For example, in the aircraft industry, it is becoming increasingly desirable to perform the drilling of holes and insertion of fasteners using a one-up assembly process. Traditionally, many parts are subject to disassembly after drilling to clean and deburr the parts, resulting in increased labor hours, and often creating damage to the components induced during disassembly and rework associated with mismatched holes after disassembly.
A one-up assembly process, by contrast, involves drilling and fastening multiple layers of a workpiece at one time, without having to disassemble the parts for other operations, such as deburring, cleaning, sealing, and other suitable operations. The layers may be parts of a workpiece that are to be fastened to each other, such as, for example, a skin panel to be fastened to a spar or spar cap, or a skin panel to be attached to a frame of a fuselage. Future production strategies contemplate a “lights out” one-up assembly process, which involves more automation and less human involvement than traditional manufacturing processes.
Tack fasteners are widely used in the aircraft industry to attach the parts of a workpiece together temporarily to perform operations on a workpiece. Since it is time consuming and sometimes difficult (and, therefore, expensive) to fasten parts together temporarily using conventional mechanical devices, such as nuts and bolts, tack fasteners have been developed to avoid these problems.
While various tack fasteners have been developed, “blind” tack fasteners (i.e., fasteners that can be fully installed from a single side of a structural assembly) are frequently desirable, at least in the aircraft industry. Pop rivets and one-sided installation (OSI) bolts are two known types of blind fasteners. Frequently, tack fasteners are made out of relatively soft metals, such as aluminum, to allow the tack fasteners to be removed easily by drilling once the desired operations have been completed on the workpiece. Although tack fasteners made of soft metals can be removed easily, one disadvantage of such tack fasteners is that they may not provide sufficient clamp-up force to attach certain parts together, particularly in an automated one-up assembly process.
In the past, designers have employed various approaches to address this disadvantage. For example, in some cases, such nuts and bolts have been utilized in regions where high clamp-up forces are desired. However, the installation of nuts and bolts is time consuming, and frequently involves the services of two workers, rather than a single worker. Another approach has been to utilize a large number of closely spaced tack fasteners, but this approach often involves many more fasteners and much more labor than desired. Yet another approach has been to utilize tack fasteners made of a harder material, such as steel (e.g., the Blind Bolt marketed by ALLFAST Fastening Systems, Inc. in City of Industry, Calif., or the Maxibolt® Blind Bolt system marketed by Cherry Aerospace in Santa Ana, Calif.). While such tack fasteners may exhibit a higher clamp-up force than aluminum fasteners, the harder material makes the fasteners more difficult to remove by drilling without damaging drill bits. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Due to the limited summer work period in Arctic regions, it frequently is desirable to lay offshore pipelines during the wintertime. This usually necessitates cutting ice slots so that the pipeline may be laid through the ice slot and down to the sea bottom. However, once the ice slot is cut, it quickly freezes back over, necessitating the use of some technique for keeping the ice slot free of newly formed ice during the time span in which the pipeline is being laid. Inasmuch as the Arctic regions present severe working conditions both to men and machinery, it is desirable that the ice removal apparatus be relatively simple, free of maintenance and resistant to breaking down. In addition, it is desirable that the apparatus be relatively light in weight since the ice may not support heavy structures, and that the forces that it transmits to the ice surrounding the slot as a result of removing the newly formed ice, be relatively low.
Applicant is not aware of any prior references which, in his judgment as one skilled in the pipeline art, would anticipate or render obvious the novel method and apparatus of the instant invention; however, for the purposes of fully developing the background of the invention and establishing the state of the requisite art, the following is set forth: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,373,836; 4,205,928; 4,129,011; 4,126,013; 4,094,149; 4,053,406; 3,977,345 and 3,950,955. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fixing apparatus and an image forming apparatus having the fixing apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A fixing apparatus conventionally makes a recording medium, on which developer images are formed by development of latent images formed on an image carrier with a developing agent, pass though and fixes the developer images formed on the recording medium by a fixing member. Such a fixing apparatus tends to include a metal separation member for separating the recording medium to which the developer image is attached, from the surface of the fixing member (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-37567).
With such a prior art fixing apparatus, there raises a problem that printing quality made by the image forming apparatus having such a fixing apparatus cannot be good as expected. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a fixing apparatus improving the printing quality when printing is made with an image forming apparatus having such a fixing apparatus. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to technologies for achieving automation of orientation work at the preceding stage of making three-dimensional measurement from different camera positions, automatic acquisition of initial values for stereo matching, and automation of the three-dimensional measurement.
2. Prior Art
In performing three-dimensional measurement in close-range photogrammetry the measurement is carried out through the flow of processes as shown in FIG. 1. Namely, it is required to perform processes of taking a pair of stereo images of a subject (a)→position detection (b)→orientation (c)→stereo model formation (d)→three-dimensional measurement (e). Although these processes are performed mainly by operations of a computer, the processes of the position detection (b) and the three-dimensional measurement (e) have so far been performed manually. The position detection (b) is a preprocess of the orientation, which is a process to obtain position, inclination, and the like of the cameras for taking images.
By obtaining the relative position between the cameras and the subject in the process of the orientation (c), it becomes possible to form a stereo model providing a stereo view and achieve the three-dimensional measurement. The process of the position detection (b) preceding the orientation (c) is such work as to obtain coordinate positions, on each camera, of six or more corresponding points taken by separate cameras.
In the three-dimensional measurement (e), there are two kinds: point measurement and planar measurement.
In the case of the point measurement, the point to be measured on the subject is generally measured manually. However, when automatic measurement is planned or improvement in accuracy is desired, it is practiced to glue a mark onto the subject.
In the case of the planar measurement, automatic measurement is carried out by using a method of stereo matching through image processing. Then, however, it was required to make such initial setting as determination of a template image and setting up of the searched width through manual work.
In the work of the position detection (b), the operator selects six or more points of measurement on the subject in the left and right images and, while observing each image, correlates the points of measurement on the subject with each other and detects the coordinates of the positions. However, since the operator basically had to do such work while taking a stereo view, it required skill and, in addition, it was complicated, difficult, and problematic.
Especially, in such work as to correlate the left and right images with each other upon determination of the points of measurement and detect the detailed coordinates of the positions, personal errors were liable to occur, results were different from operator to operator, and sufficient accuracy was difficult to obtain. There were even cases where such measurement was unachievable by some operators. To obviate the difficulties, such a method as to glue a mark onto the subject is sometimes practiced.
However, it is an unfavorable thing for such work as gluing a mark onto the subject to increase, and there are even such cases where, depending on the subjects, gluing a mark onto the subject is very difficult. Therefore, this method has not come into wide use.
There is also such a method to perform three-dimensional measurement with two cameras firmly fixed onto a stereo pan tilt head thereby eliminating the orientation work.
In this case, however, there should absolutely be no deviation in the relative position between two cameras on the pan tilt head, and therefore the measurement environment and the subject for measurement are greatly limited. At the same time, such apparatus becomes large, heavy, and difficult to handle and, besides, expensive. Hence, this method also is not used so widely.
Further, in the point measurement in the three-dimensional measurement (e), when a mark or the like is not glued onto the subject for measurement, the operator had to indicate the point of measurement while observing the taken image in the course of the measurement. Therefore, much labor and time were required when there were many points of measurement. Further, when it was attempted to make precise measurement, personal errors were liable to occur and, in the worst case, measurement itself became unachievable.
Such things as described above can be obviated if measurement is carried out after gluing a mark onto a subject, but in that case, as described above, the labor for attaching the mark was newly required and, depending on the subjects, it was difficult to glue a mark onto the subject and sometimes it became impossible to make measurement.
In the case of the planar measurement, it was required to manually make such work as to determine the template image and determine an optimum searched width as a preprocess in making automatic measurement through stereo matching. Further, when mismatched points or the like occurred, correction had to be made manually. Thus, it was difficult to realize automation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Fuses have found wide applications in industry and the home and are designed to prevent an excessive overload of current from damaging electrical equipment. In the most basic form an electrical fuse comprises a fusible link or fuse element connected between electrical conducting members which are intended to be inserted in series with the circuit serving the electrical equipment. In operation the fuse element functions in response to an excessive amount of current by opening the circuit to prevent damage of the equipment.
More advanced types of fuses have mechanical operating apparatus combined with fuse elements to effect the opening of a protected electrical circuit. For example, one such type of fuse device utilizes a disk contact structure to open the electrical circuit. The disk contact is controlled by the melting and voluminous expansion of a temperature sensitive member responding to an excessive amount of electrical current. Other types of fuse devices employ spring apparatus in combination with a fuse element to form a contact structure that operates to open the protected circuit when excessive current melts the fuse element. A problem with these types of fuse devices is that the mechanical operating apparatus and fuse elements are positioned within an electrical conducting casing or housing that prevents a visual inspection as to the operative or inoperative state of the fuse.
Alarm indicating fuses have been disclosed in the prior art and are designed to provide a visual indication when the fuse element operates to open the protected electrical circuit. Such a fuse device typically comprises a pair of electrical conducting members each located on the end of an insulative housing having a fuse element positioned therein. The fuse element coupled to one of the electrical conducting members is connected through a spring member located outside the insulative housing to the other electrical conducting member. An electrical path extends from the one electrical conducting member through the fuse element and spring member to the other electrical conducting member. Excess current flowing through the path opens the fuse element to interrupt the protected electrical circuit and release the spring member to visibly indicate the inoperative state of the fuse. A problem arises with this type of fuse device in that the conducting spring member adds resistance in the electrical path and increases the temperature of the fuse device thereby limiting use to specific applications.
Accordingly, a need exists for an alarm indicating fuse for both low and high current electrical circuit applications. A need also exists for an alarm indicating fuse designed to both lower the resistance of the electrical path and the total wattage output of the fuse to thereby improve use for both low and high current circuit applications. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates clock generators and, more particularly, to a clock generation system for generating a first clock signal at a first clock frequency and a second clock signal at a second clock frequency with a predetermined ratio to said first clock frequency, where the system comprises a clock signal generator providing the first clock signal, a frequency divider device having at least one frequency divider for dividing the first clock frequency by a first integer to produce a first auxiliary signal and for dividing the second clock signal by a second integer to produce a second auxiliary signal, a phase/period comparator configured to generate an error signal by comparing the first and second auxiliary signals, and a voltage-controlled oscillator controlled in dependence on the error signal to generate the second clock signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
EP 2 207 263 A1 discloses two clock generator systems for generating second clock signals with slightly different frequency ratios to the first clock signal so that the second clock signals have slightly different frequencies. Given suitable selection of integer divisors of the clock system, a single such system may be used to generate the second clock signal with the desired slightly different frequency to the first clock signal.
In such a conventional system, the first and second clock signals are processed by different circuit sections before reaching the phase/period comparator. Therefore, any mismatch between the different circuit sections, such as different propagation delay times or offset voltages due to manufacturing tolerances, thermal drift or aging, may result in an error of the wanted frequency ratio between the first and second clock signals. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defined signaling protocol, used for controlling multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol (IP). The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party (unicast) or multiparty (multicast) sessions consisting of one or several media streams. The modifications can involve changing addresses or ports, inviting more participants, adding or deleting media streams, etc. Other application examples include video conferencing, streaming multimedia distribution, instant messaging, presence information and online gaming.
The SIP protocol is an IP-based Application Layer protocol. SIP is designed to be independent of the underlying transport layer. SIP can run on Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), or Stream Control Transmission Control Protocol (SCTP). SIP is a text-based protocol (e.g., ASCII text encoded). SIP incorporates many elements of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
SIP employs design elements similar to the HTTP request/response transaction model. Each transaction consists of a client request that invokes a particular method or function on the server and at least one response. SIP reuses most of the header fields, encoding rules and status codes of HTTP and providing a readable text-based format.
SIP works in concert with several other protocols and is only involved in the signaling portion of a communication session. SIP clients typically use TCP or UDP on port numbers 5060 and/or 5061 to connect to SIP servers and other SIP endpoints. SIP is primarily used for setting up and tearing down voice or video calls. The voice and video stream communications in SIP applications are carried over another application protocol such as Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). Parameters (e.g., port numbers, protocols, codecs) for corresponding media streams are defined and negotiated using the Session Description Protocol (SDP) which is transported in the SIP packet body. SIP and SDP are defined in the IETF Request For Comment (RFC) documents 3261 and 4566 each of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.
A SIP user agent (UA) is a logical network end-point used to create or receive SIP messages and thereby manage a SIP session. A SIP UA can perform the role of a User Agent Client (UAC), which sends SIP requests, and a User Agent Server (UAS), which receives the requests and returns a SIP response. These roles of UAC and UAS typically only last for the duration of a SIP transaction. A SIP phone is a SIP UA that provides the traditional call functions of a telephone, such as dial, answer, reject, hold/unhold, and call transfer. SIP phones may be implemented by dedicated hardware controlled by the phone application directly or through a combination of hardware, software and firmware. SIP phones can be any phone with IP connectivity including traditional desktop phones, cell phones, smart phones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), etc.
Each resource of a SIP network, such as a User Agent or a voicemail box, is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), based on the general standard syntax also used in Web services and e-mail. A typical SIP URI is of the form: sip:username:password@host:port. The URI scheme used for SIP is sip:. If secure transmission is required a message may be encrypted and a scheme of sips: is used and corresponding messages are transported over Transport Layer Security (TLS).
SIP also defines server network elements as outlined in RFC 3261. A “proxy server” is an intermediary entity that acts as both a server and a client for the purpose of making requests on behalf of other clients. A proxy server primarily plays the role of routing, which means its job is to ensure that a request is sent to another entity “closer” to the targeted user. Proxies are also useful for enforcing policy (e.g., making sure a user is authorized to make a call). A proxy interprets, and if necessary, rewrites specific parts of a request message before forwarding the message. A registrar is a server that accepts REGISTER requests and places the information it receives in those requests into the location service for the domain it handles. The RFC for SIP specifies that it is an important concept that the distinction between types of SIP servers is logical, not physical. In practice, different logical capabilities of SIP can be performed by one server or split across a plurality of physical devices as required by design choices.
As mentioned above, SDP is a format for describing streaming media initialization parameters in an ASCII string. SDP is intended for describing multimedia communication sessions for the purposes of session announcement, session invitation, and parameter negotiation. SDP does not deliver media itself but is used for negotiation between end points of media type, format, and all associated properties. The set of properties and parameters are often referred to as a session profile.
A Session Description is a well defined format for conveying sufficient information to discover and participate in a multimedia session. A session is described by a series of attribute/value pairs, one per line. The attribute names are single characters, followed by “=”, and a value. Optional values are specified with “=*”. Values are either in an ASCII string, or a sequence of specific types separated by spaces. Attribute names are only unique within the associated syntactic construct, i.e., within the Session, Time, or Media only.
FIG. 1A shows a typical network topology (diagram 100) for a SIP based phone environment as may be found in the prior art. Network diagram 100 shows a pair of SIP phones (105, 106) connected to IP network 110 and configured for Voice over IP (VoIP) phone calls. SIP Proxy and SIP Registrar functions are provided by SIP Proxy/Registrar server 120. In this example both of these logical functions have been included with a single server 120, however, these functions may also be implemented on two distinct hardware servers.
FIG. 1B shows a timeline 150 of a typical prior art process of utilizing SIP to signal from a first phone to a second phone to establish a call utilizing example pieces of network 100. Initially (time 155), each phone will register with a SIP Registrar/Proxy server via a REGISTER message. The information for this registration can be preconfigured into the device or each device can be provisioned utilizing a mechanism similar to Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). After, the phones have established their connection to the Proxy/Registrar infrastructure they are each capable of making/receiving phone calls. In timeline 150, phone 1 (105) calls phone 2 (106) by sending (time 160) an INVITE message to the Proxy/Registrar server 120 with the INVITE message addressed to phone 2 (106). The Proxy/Registrar server will interrogate the message and locate/forward the INVITE message toward a network destination “closer” to phone 2 (106). Upon receipt at phone 2 (106), phone 2 (106) will respond with an OK message (time 165) if it is ready and able to accept the phone call. The INVITE message and the OK response include information about the audio capabilities of each of devices 105 and 106 such that a negotiation for a particular type of transmission of data may take place. Phone 1 (105) responds with an ACK message (time 170) to phone 2 (106) indicating how to establish the data transfer communication session for a VoIP phone call as shown at time 175.
Prior art networks such as 100 primarily consist of SIP endpoints configured for a particular function and having hardware components compatible with that particular function. Upgrading of endpoints to support enhanced functionality typically requires replacing a hardware component that is acting as an endpoint. Alternatively, there have been prior art devices which split the audio and video processing between devices, however those devices involve two devices with required embedded information and having a private means of communication and coordination between each of the two devices. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and device capable of augmenting capabilities at an existing endpoint without being required to replace a legacy (or less capable) endpoint device and without requiring a private means of communication and coordination between devices. For example, a SIP audio-only phone (e.g., 105, 106) may be augmented to a video phone while still providing its original audio-only capability by using the methods and systems disclosed herein. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Traditional RDMA allows data to move directly from one computer system into the memory of another without involving either one's CPU (central processing unit), and specifically, either one's operating system, during the data transfer. This permits high-throughput, low-latency networking by eliminating the need to copy data between application memory and the data buffers in the operating system.
A virtual computing environment refers to a computer system in which a single physical machine may be observed as multiple virtual machines, and where a set of physical hardware resources can be used as multiple virtual resources. Each virtual machine (VM) can run its own operating system that may control the set of virtual hardware resources. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates generally to knee and elbow braces and in particular to knee and elbow braces which are of the "one-size-fits-all" type, that is, they can fit a large range of sizes of limbs of persons wearing the brace.
Various types of knee and elbow braces are disclosed in the patent literature and are commercially available for helping to immobilize or support and stabilize the knee or elbow of persons to protect the joint against further injury and promote healing while allowing continuous use of the joint in sport or other activities. Examples of elbow braces in the patent literature are the following: U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,084 (Lehman) discloses a knee brace in the form of a planar pad arranged to be wrapped around the knee and having a central flap which utilizes a Velcro.RTM. fastener to extend about the brace in one direction to apply tension to the brace in that direction and a pair of upper and lower flaps which are fixed to the brace and are used to apply tension in the opposite direction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,744 (Palumbo) discloses a knee brace in the form of a sleeve having two straps which wrap around the brace to apply tension thereto in one direction above and below the knee and a central flap which wraps around the brace in the opposite direction to apply tension in that direction. Other patents disclosing various types of knee braces are U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,318,305 (Schultz); 3,463,147 (Stubbs); 3,473,527 (Spiro); 4,201,203 (Applegate); 4,287,885 (Applegate); 4,693,241 (Trznadel); and 5,168,577 (Detty).
Elbow braces are also disclosed in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,457 (Korzenoski) discloses an elbow brace in the form of a sleeve having a tensioning strip secured to it. The brace is arranged to stiffen the elbow when swinging a golf club. U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,867 (Moore) discloses an elastic elbow protector in the form of a pad from which a pair of opposed straps expand to extend about the elbow.
While the aforementioned prior art knee and elbow braces may be generally suitable for their intended purposes, they nevertheless leave much to be desired from the standpoints of accommodating various sized limbs, and also supplying sufficient support to the joint to be braced. Thus, a need presently exists for knee and elbow braces which are of-the one-size-fits-all type and which have means to adjust and customize the support applied by the brace to provide good bracing support for various sized users. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
Split hair ends are quite frequent symptoms for hair damage, particularly after stressing the hair by permanent waving, sun radiation, or thermal treatment, but also by mechanical or environmental influences.
A variety of compositions has already been suggested for the treatment of split hair ends or hair lengths, especially those basing on higher-grade viscous oils which, while inducing a certain adhesive effect, also produce an unattractive greasy appearance of the hair.
2. The Prior Art
European Patent Application 285,364 discloses compositions for treating split hair lengths or ends comprising a highly molecular silicone preferably in a solution with an oil or a silicone having a low-boiling point. To a certain degree, these compositions are also suitable for sealing split hair lengths or ends, however, due to their great hydrophobicity, they have the disadvantage that they cannot be rinsed out of the hair after treatment. Thus, these compositions provide the hair not only with an unesthetic look but also influence any optional subsequent hair treatments, particularly permanent-waving or hair dyeing.
Accordingly there was a need for hair treatment compositions which do not have these disadvantages. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to advertising systems and, more particularly, to a vehicle mounted, mobile merchandise showroom.
Over the past decade, various patents have issued for vehicle based advertising systems. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,850 describes a mobile billboard system in which a plurality of display panels are mounted integrally to the sides and/or rear of a motor vehicle. The display panels are constructed of transparent material and a light source is used for providing rear lighting.
Window-mounted advertising signs that are vehicle-based are further described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,711, including a special mechanism for easy attachment of such advertising to vehicle windows.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,924 to Cowan describes a mobile multi-message billboard advertising system which essentially consists of a plurality of tri-visional, action display units that are affixed to a superstructure mounted on a truckbed. The advertising system is capable of displaying a plurality of different messages sequentially through movement of the tri-visional, action display units in a manner that is intended to draw attention to the displayed messages.
A scrolling display sign for vehicles is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,892 for use on vehicles such as taxis and the like. The system includes dispensing and take up rollers containing a strip of material having a series of advertising or messages thereon. The advertising display strip is installed within the transparent, peripheral sides of the device, thereby providing for omnidirectional display of messages. The messages can be viewed by daylight or through internal illumination. U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,756 described an advertising vehicle which has opposing and spaced apart walls comprising television screens and associated power sources and electronics that enable messages to be displayed to pedestrians through television monitors facing in different directions.
A xe2x80x9cmoving-adxe2x80x9d vehicle serving as an advertising system is described on the Internet website of the Motionmarketing.com company. This known advertising system enables the display of numerous messages via a computer controlled electromechanical assembly. The system is marketed by Brands In Motion, which is a division of Safehouse Media Inc.
In the mobile advertising systems described above, the public is always exposed to only pictorial renditions of merchandise, not to the merchandise itself. Many customers like to see the actual merchandise that is the subject of the advertising messages. Indeed, this is the reason that most retail establishments have showrooms that display actual merchandise, rather than pictorial renditions of merchandise.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an advertising system that includes the benefits of mobility.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an advertising system that provides the advantages of showcasing merchandise in a mobile system.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an advertising system that increases the exposure of merchandise to the purchasing public.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide an advertising system that combines the advantages of mobility, showcasing of merchandise and a scrolling display of advertising messages, in a system that can be implemented with known technology.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized by the mobile advertising system of the present invention, which essentially comprises a truck-style vehicle, having side wall panels constructed of transparent panels, enabling seeing into the interior of the truck. The interior of the truck is arranged in the manner of a retail showroom, or show window, comprising an arrangement of merchandise of a particular class of goods, e.g., furniture, tools, clothing and the like. The interior of the truck is provided with various hardware for securing the merchandise in place, to protect against vehicular sudden motions, as during stops, sharp turns and the like. The vehicle is optionally outfitted with special lighting systems mounted in the ceiling, floor and/or side panels that enable illuminating the merchandise in an attention attracting fashion, e.g., with either steady or colorful lighting for obtaining special daytime or nighttime effects.
Optionally, one or more of the rear, left-hand or right-hand side panels is fitted with scrolling display signs in the form of an elongated strip of material having a series of advertising and/or other messages thereon and including see-through or transparent panels that enable seeing into the interior of the vehicle and therefore, the showroom itself.
The sign scrolling system is generally similar to it the system described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,892, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. The inventors herein further incorporate by reference the contents of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,263,756; 5,918,924; 5,974,711; and 6,122,850, the disclosure of which may be usable to construct subcomponents of the present invention.
As further optional features, the invention may include a section of the truck located between the cab and the showroom, which is closed off and serves as a storage space. In this manner, the invention provides the ability of live showcasing of merchandise over short and long distances, changing the merchandise in the showroom or selling merchandise to customers directly from the truck. The advertising truck of the present invention may be deployed adjacent to halls, hotels or trade centers that host trade shows, fairs, events and other markets that advertisers may wish to reach. The invention realizes savings in use of manpower and time in planning and implementing advertising presentations.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Effective heat dissipation is one of the major challenges in design of high-power optoelectronic emitters, such as VCSELs. Such devices generate large amounts of heat in the emitter active regions, resulting in high emitter junction temperatures, which tend to reduce VCSEL efficiency and lead to a reduced optical power output at a given drive current, shift the emission wavelength, degrade the quality of the laser modes, and reduce operating lifetime and reliability. In VCSEL array devices, inefficient heat dissipation causes temperature non-uniformity among emitters, leading to variations in emitter optical power and wavelength across the array.
In some designs, the VCSEL chip is thinned substantially in order to reduce the thermal resistance between the emitter junction and the heat sink on the back side of the chip. For good heat dissipation, however, the chip must be made very thin (typically on the order of 100 μm or less), which weakens its mechanical strength and causes difficulties in handling both the semiconductor substrate and the chip, and in the packaging of the chip. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present disclosure relates to heat exchangers, and more specifically, to an evaporator heat exchanger for use in aerospace applications.
Heat exchangers are used to cool fluids, such as fluids used in engines. One type of heat exchanger is the plate heat exchanger which includes multiple plates that are separated from each other. Plate heat exchangers are generally used in heating, venting and air-conditioning applications. The plates include fluid flow passages for heat transfer. Aerospace environments provide a number of challenges to the design of the plate heat exchanger. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Angular measurements are required in a wide variety of aerospace platforms such as airplanes, missiles, satellites etc. Typically, measurement of the angular rotation rates of such aerospace platforms is carried out by Attitude Heading Reference Systems (AHRS) or Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) that utilize three orthogonal rotation rate sensors (e.g. rate gyros) which are adapted for measuring the rotation rates of the aerospace platform with respect to three rotation axes. Typically, three orthogonal rotation rate sensors are aligned along the roll, pitch and yaw rotation axes of the platform and are thus adapted for sensing the rotation rate of the platform with respect to these axes.
Generally, having a priori knowledge of the platform's orientation, the orientation of the platform during its movement may be monitored by integration of the platform's rotation rates measured by respective rotation rate sensors (gyros) along three rotation axes of the platform. However, the accuracy of systems that determine the platform's orientation based on the initial platform orientation, and on continuous sensing and integration of the platform's kinematics depends on the accuracy of the priory knowledge of the initial state and is generally deteriorating during the platform's motion. This is due to errors of which the existing rotation rate sensors suffer (called bias drift effect) that impair their measurement accuracy. In particular, when using integration of measured rotation rates over extensive periods of time to determine changes in the platform's angular position, the bias drift may accumulate to substantial bias measurement errors which require repeated bias corrections.
Various techniques for compensating or reducing bias measurement error have been suggested. One method is to minimize the amount of bias corrections required by utilizing highly accurate rate gyros exploiting technologies such as ring laser gyros or fiber optic gyros. These types of gyros typically have small bias drift rates which enable to obtain accurate orientation readings (i.e. by integrating the rotation rate measurements) for substantial periods of time without requiring any external bias correction. However, implementing an AHRS or INS with these types of rate gyros is extremely costly.
Less-costly rotation rate sensors (such as MEMS gyros), which have high bias drift rates, require frequent bias corrections in the form of information from other sources relating to aerospace platform orientation. AHRS or INS systems utilizing these types of lower accuracy rate sensors are typically hybrid systems combining inertial measurements that provide continuous data relating to the orientation of the platform (i.e. based on an integration of the measured platform's rotation rates taken from aboard the platform) with data received from other sources (on-board or remote) providing, occasionally, additional accurate data relating to the platform's orientation about the pitch and yaw axes. The actual platform orientation is typically determined by utilizing statistical filtering algorithms, such as the Kalman Filter, to combine continuous data measured by the on-board rotation rate sensors and occasional data received from the additional sources. The additional accurate data relating to the platforms orientation enables to determine the bias drift of the on-board pitch and yaw rotation rate sensors and/or to correct the bias error accumulated during integration of the rotation rate measurements. Such techniques are limited at least because they provide correction only to the measurement of the pitch and yaw rotation rates measurement, while not providing correction to the measured roll rotation rate.
For example, some existing AHRS and INS systems are integrated with external (e.g. remote from the platform) measurement facilities, such as GPS-based positioning systems, which are adapted to measure and provide to the platform, occasional data indicative of the platform's orientation and/or location. However, relying on remote systems, such as GPS-based systems, does not provide sufficient integrity for driving systems with catastrophic failure modes, such as an AHRS.
According to other known techniques, inertial rotation rate measurement systems are integrated with on-board direct measurement systems, such as global positioning systems (GPS), that enable to accurately determine, from time to time, the platform's orientation. For example, rate gyro integrations are used to compute a platform's orientation while parameters obtained from other sensors or from direct measurement of the platform's orientation are compared, from time to time, with the computed platform orientation to determine proper bias values of the three rate gyroscopes. This allows compensation of measurement errors that are introduced by the bias drifts of the sensors. It should be noted that in many cases, direct measurement to systems provide better results when they are utilized during low dynamic motion of the platform. Accordingly, in some cases, during high dynamic movement (maneuvering) of the aerospace platform, inertial rotation rate measurement systems as used to determine the orientation of the platform, while when the platform is in lower dynamic motion, the results from direct measurement systems are used to compensate bias drifts of the inertial rotation rate sensors (gyros).
Direct measurements of the orientation of the platform with respect to the pitch and yaw axes are relatively straightforward (e.g. for the pitch rate gyro, using measurements of the earth's magnetic flux provides a reliable and accurate method for determining bias of the pitch and yaw gyros). However, determining the bias of the roll rate gyro bias is not nearly so straightforward.
Many systems rely on a human operator for the provision of roll angle corrections during platform movement. The main disadvantages of this method are the need of the foreknowledge of the initial/intermediate roll angle which is often based on human judgment, which makes such systems cumbersome and susceptible to human error.
Other techniques for determining the roll angle of an aerospace platform are based on the measurements of the earth's magnetic field. An example of such a method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,641. This patent describes an aircraft operating in a gravitation field and having conventional sensors for measuring true air speed, angles of incidence and yaw, rotation about x, y and z axes, and acceleration therealong is provided with means for calculating the inertial component of the acceleration from data concerning the true air speed, heading and rotation of the aircraft obtained from the sensors, and means for comparing the inertial component with the total acceleration sensed, thereby to deduce the orientation of the gravitation component and hence obtain an estimate of the pitch and bank angles of the aircraft.
The above techniques, however, generally require accurate positioning information and determination of variations in the earth's magnetic field. Also, they have relatively poor accuracy in the vicinity of the earth's magnetic poles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,641 discloses an aircraft operating in a gravitational field and having conventional sensors for measuring true air speed (sensors 10, 11), angles of incidence and yaw (sensors 13, 12), rotation about x, y and z axes and acceleration therealong (sensors 14, 15, 16) is provided with means for calculating the inertial component of the acceleration from data concerning the true air speed, heading and rotation of the aircraft obtained from the sensors, and means for comparing the inertial component with the total acceleration sensed, thereby to deduce the orientation of the gravitational component and hence obtain an estimate of the pitch and bank angles of the aircraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,257 discloses three rate gyros mounted to a ballistic body to provide an autonomous navigation system. A roll gyro, a yaw gyro and a pitch gyro are rigidly fixed to the ballistic body. Each gyro is arranged to be responsive to a roll rate about an input axis that is substantially orthogonal to any other gyro. The roll-rate gyro has its input axis aligned parallel to the body spin axis. An on-board processor utilizes recursive Kalman-filtering to determine the roll angle, i.e., the local vertical direction, from the gyro outputs. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A number of resin compositions have been developed for use in a variety of applications. As described later, propylene-based resin compositions are employed for some applications, but further improvements are requested on the properties required in each application.
For instance, various materials have been used in components or parts and sheets for automobile components, industrial machine components, electrical and electronic components, building materials, and cap liners where rubber elasticity is required. An example of such material is vulcanized rubber. Vulcanized rubber is generally produced by kneading rubber with crosslinkers, crosslinking auxiliaries, additives, auxiliaries, and others to prepare an unvulcanized rubber blend, followed by vulcanization with heating. Therefore, vulcanized rubber encounters problems of complicated production processes and a high cost. In addition, due to thermosetting nature, vulcanized rubber cannot be recycled.
On the other hand, vinyl chloride resin is known as a material that does not require vulcanization but has rubber-like properties. However, vinyl chloride resin is inferior in rubber elasticity to vulcanized rubber, resulting in limited application. Recently, development of a material substituting vinyl chloride resin has been awaited for reasons such as the difficulty in incineration.
A thermoplastic elastomer is known as a polymer material that is plasticized and moldable like plastics at high temperatures while exhibiting rubber elasticity at normal temperature. As a recyclable olefinic thermoplastic elastomer, a dynamically crosslinked product of polypropylene and ethylene/α-olefin copolymer is known. However, in this case, there is also a problem of an increased cost due to the need of using crosslinkers and crosslinking auxiliaries.
In order to overcome these shortcomings, Patent Document 1 proposes a polyethylene-based resin composition mainly composed of an olefinic elastomer mainly derived from ethylene and its use. However, the heat resistance is insufficient because the major component is polyethylene.
As another measure, compositions comprising propylene-based polymers have recently been studied (see Patent Document 2).
However, the composition in Patent Document 2 still has room for improvement in mechanical properties, oil acceptance, or others. In addition, neither rubber elasticity nor permanent compression set at high temperature is described in Patent Document 2.
On the other hand, as described above, a thermoplastic elastomer is known as a polymer material that is plasticized and moldable like plastics at high temperatures while exhibiting rubber elasticity at normal temperature. Examples thereof include, besides the dynamically crosslinked product of polypropylene and ethylene/α-olefin copolymer, a composition of polypropylene and a styrene-based elastomer (see Patent Document 3). This material is excellent in strength, flexibility, and heat resistance, and hence, can suitably be used for cap liners and others.
A thermoplastic olefinic elastomer comprising polypropylene and ethylene/α-olefin copolymer is also used because flexibility can be further improved (see Patent Document 4).
However, the above olefinic thermoplastic elastomers are insufficient in balance of flexibility and scratch resistance, causing a problem that scratch resistance and whitening resistance are deteriorated if sufficient flexibility is attained. These are the background art for the first and second aspects of the present invention.
Polypropylene-based resin compositions are used in various applications such as electrical and electronic components, industrial materials, furniture, stationery, convenience goods, containers and packages, toys, leisure goods, and medical articles because of their excellent heat resistance, transparency, and moldability. As a technology of improving the flexibility and impact resistance of polypropylene-based resin compositions, addition of various soft materials is also known.
For instance, Patent Document 5 describes that a composition composed of a polypropylene-based resin and a specific propylene/ethylene/α-olefin copolymer elastomer is excellent in transparency and usable, for example, for stretch films.
Patent Document 6 describes a composition composed of polypropylene and a specific α-olefin copolymer elastomer in which the propylene content is more than 20 wt % and not more than 80 wt %, the ethylene content is more than 10 wt % and not more than 45 wt %, and the α-olefin content is more than 10 wt % and not more than 45 wt %.
Patent Document 7 describes a composition composed of polypropylene and a specific propylene/butene/ethylene copolymer is usable for industrial shrink films and wrap films for service.
Patent Document 8 describes, for example, that a composition composed of amorphous propylene/butene random copolymer and crystalline propylene-based polymer is excellent in whitening resistance on folding and usable for molded articles, transparent boxes, and others.
Patent Document 9 describes a sheet excellent in whitening resistance and transparency made of a composition mainly composed of a styrene-based elastomer and polypropylene.
When polypropylene is used in applications where transparency is required, such as stretch films, the film is sometimes required to maintain transparency when stretched or after treated at high temperatures.
However, the compositions in Patent Documents 5 and 6 are insufficient in whitening resistance on stretching or heating. Further, the compositions in Patent Documents 7 and 8 are poor in strength and have difficulties in practical use.
The composition comprising the styrene-based elastomer described in Patent Document 9 is excellent in whitening resistance, flexibility, and transparency, but styrene-based elastomers are generally immiscible with polypropylene, whereby molded articles of such composition are whitened under some service conditions. Moreover, the composition containing the styrene-based elastomer has excellent rubber elasticity at room temperature, but its rubber elasticity is poor at high temperatures. These are the background art for the third aspect of the present invention.
As a material widely used for heat-shrinkable films, polyvinylchloride resin and polystyrene resin are known. There is, however, concern about adverse effects on human bodies and environment of byproducts generated on disposal of these resins. Therefore, development of heat-shrinkable films using polyolefin is now underway. Conventional heat-shrinkable films made of polyolefin-based resin are inferior to heat-shrinkable films made of vinyl chloride resin in mechanical strength and heat shrink ratio at low temperatures. In particular, when this film is used as heat-shrinkable labels for beverage PET bottles, the film is often subjected to shrinking process together with a PET bottle in a heat-shrink tunnel using steam or others, and therefore, there is demand for a heat-shrinkable film having a high shrink ratio at lower temperatures.
Further, for separating PET bottles and label resins on recycling PET bottles, PET bottles and label resins are pulverized together and gravitationally separated in liquid phase based on the difference between these materials in buoyancy in water. For example, the specific gravity of polystyrene-based resin is about 1.03 to about 1.06, so that polystyrene-based resin sinks in water together with PET resin, which has a specific gravity of 1.3 to 1.5. Therefore, the label made of such resin having a specific gravity of 1 or higher is difficult to separate from PET resin by the above method. For this reason, a low-temperature heat-shrinkable film made of polyolefin having a specific gravity smaller than 1 is awaited to be developed.
As an attempt to meet this demand, for example, Patent Document 10 discloses a heat-shrinkable film obtained from crystalline polypropylene and propylene/1-butene random copolymer. This film has a high heat shrink ratio and is excellent in transparency. However, since the propylene/1-butene random copolymer (optionally containing 10 mol % or less of another α-olefin unit) is poor in impact resistance, the film obtained from this copolymer is also insufficient in flexibility or impact resistance.
Patent Document 11 discloses a heat-shrinkable film made of propylene/α-olefin random copolymer and petroleum resin wherein the copolymer is obtained from propylene and a C2-C20 α-olefin and has a melting point of 40 to 115° C. as measured with a DSC. This film possesses a higher heat shrink ratio than the film in Patent Document 10, but it is still insufficient in flexibility and impact resistance.
Patent Document 12 discloses a heat-shrinkable film having a film mainly composed of a propylene/α-olefin random copolymer (propylene/ethylene random copolymer) as an intermediate layer.
In the propylene/α-olefin random copolymer, 2 to 7 mol % of a co-monomer (ethylene or α-olefin) is copolymerized with propylene. The propylene/α-olefin random copolymer (propylene/ethylene random copolymer) alone cannot attain a sufficient heat shrink ratio, and impact resistance of films obtained therefrom is also poor.
Patent Document 12 also discloses a technology of adding linear low-density polyethylene and ethylene-based rubber to a propylene/α-olefin random copolymer (propylene/ethylene random copolymer). This technology improves heat shrink ratio and impact resistance of the film, but has a problem that film transparency is lowered.
Patent Document 13 discloses that a composition consisting of 20 to 50 parts by weight of polypropylene and 80 to 50 parts by weight of propylene/butene/ethylene copolymer is usable for stretch films and others. However, the document does not describe film drawing or use for heat-shrinkable films. These are the background art for the fourth aspect of the invention.
As a sheet for surface decoration or protection in building materials, home electric appliances, automobile interior and exterior materials, and others, there have conventionally been used films mainly composed of vinyl chloride resin, which have well-balanced scratch resistance, whitening resistance on folding, wrinkle resistance, transparency, and others.
However, since such films have disadvantages such as difficulty in incineration as described above, a focus has been made in the art on polyolefin-based materials with less burden on environment.
For instance, Patent Document 14 discloses a decorative sheet having a polypropylene film as an essential component layer. Patent Document 15 discloses a decorative sheet having a thermoplastic olefinic elastomer as an essential component layer.
However, in the decorative sheet proposed in Patent Document 14, which has a polypropylene film as a component layer, the high crystallinity and the melting point of polypropylene cause problems such as lowering in flexibility and occurrence of cracks or whitening at bended faces during folding processing. The decorative sheet proposed in Patent Document 15, which has a thermoplastic olefinic elastomer as a component layer, is excellent in flexibility and hardly encounters cracking or whitening at bended faces, but has problems of insufficient transparency and mechanical strength, and others.
In order to solve these problems, Patent Document 16 proposes a decorative sheet having a layer made of a resin composition containing a specific non-crystalline polyolefin and a crystalline polypropylene at a specific ratio.
This decorative sheet was less liable to cracks and whitening at bended faces but insufficient in mechanical strength, scratch resistance, and heat resistance.
Patent Document 17 proposes a decorative sheet having a polyester film as a surface protective layer.
Using a polyester film as a surface protective layer significantly improved mechanical strength and scratch resistance, but such material containing a polar group in its molecular chain had a problem of poor water resistance (resistance against water vapor permeation). These are the background art for the fifth aspect of the invention.
Polypropylene-based resin is a more excellent material than polyethylene-based resin (polyethylene-based elastomer) in heat resistance, mechanical resistance, and scratch resistance, and molded articles obtained from polypropylene-based resin are used in various applications. Molded articles prepared from a conventional polypropylene and inorganic filler are excellent in heat resistance and mechanical strength, but poor in flexibility and impact resistance. For this reason, in uses where such properties as flexibility and impact resistance are required, polyethylene-based resin is mainly employed. However, the problem is that molded articles of polyethylene-based resin are insufficient in scratch resistance.
As a molded article obtained from polypropylene-based resin and inorganic filler (flame retardant), an electric cable or wire harness is known, which requires scratch resistance. Patent Document 18 discloses an insulated electrical wire for automobiles using a specific propylene polymer. The molded article used in Patent Document 18 was excellent in flexibility and impact resistance but insufficient in scratch resistance. These are background art for the sixth aspect of the invention.
As a resin material having a low specific gravity, which means light in weight, and is excellent in flexibility and mechanical strength, a crosslinked foam is widely used in building interior and exterior materials, automobile components such as interior materials and door glassruns, packaging materials, convenience goods, and others. This is because, while mechanical strength of a resin is lowered when merely foamed for reducing its weight, foaming with crosslinking can attain weight reduction without lowering mechanical strength by bonding the molecular chains to each other through crosslinking reaction of the resin.
Crosslinked foams of resins are also used for footwear and footwear components, for example, shoe soles (mainly mid-soles) for sports shoes and others. This results from demand for a material that is lightweight, less deformed in long-term use, mechanically strong enough to be durable in use under severe conditions, low resilient so as to absorb impact on landing, and scratch resistance.
Conventionally, a crosslinked foam formed from ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer has been widely used for shoe soles. However, the crosslinked foam formed from ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer composition has a high specific gravity and a large permanent compression set. Therefore, when the foam is used for shoe soles, there are problems of heavy weight and significant abrasion caused by loss of mechanical strength due to compression during long-term use.
To overcome these disadvantages, Patent Documents 19 and 20 disclose a crosslinked foam obtained from ethylene/α-olefin copolymer and a crosslinked foam obtained from a mixture of ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer and ethylene/α-olefin copolymer, respectively. In these foams, the specific gravity and permanent compression set are reduced, but satisfactory performances have not been attained.
As a material obtained by dynamic crosslinking of olefinic rubber, a thermoplastic elastomer is known (see Patent Document 21). However, Patent Document 21 does not suggest foaming. In addition, it is difficult to foam the thermoplastic olefinic elastomer at a high foaming ratio for providing foams with a low specific gravity. Therefore, the thermoplastic olefinic elastomer is not suitable for the above applications.
As described above, it has been hard to obtain foams having low specific gravity, low permanent compression set (CS), excellent tear strength, low resilience, and good scratch resistance. These are the background art for the seventh aspect of the invention.
Since films or sheets of soft polypropylene-based resin are superior to those of soft polyethylene-based resin in heat resistance, flexibility, and mechanical strength, it is expected that their use will be developed in automobile components, building materials, food industry, and others. In these fields, the film or sheet is used as laminates with inorganic material, such as metal (including aluminum, copper, iron, stainless steel, etc.) and glass, or various plastics in many cases, so that the film or sheet is required to have excellent adhesion to various materials. In particular, soft polypropylene-based resin that exhibits adhesion to inorganic materials such as metal has been awaited.
It is difficult to graft polypropylene-based resin with a polar monomer using an organic peroxide or the like, and such grafting greatly decreases the molecular weight, significantly lowering heat resistance and mechanical properties.
Patent Document 22 describes a technology of adding an organosilicon compound to polypropylene for improving adhesion to metal and others. However, the laminate obtained using this technology is poor in transparency, flexibility, and rubber elasticity, and hence, its use is limited. The polyethylene resin obtained by this technology has improved adhesion as compared with conventional unmodified polypropylene. However, the polypropylene-based resin obtained by this technology had high crystallinity, and therefore, it was sometimes easily peeled off since peeling stress was concentrated when peeling. These are the background art of the eighth aspect of the invention.
In conventional sheets for sealing a solar cell between front and back plates or sheets made of glass, plastics, or others (solar cell-sealing sheet), ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer (in this specification, often abbreviated as “EVA”) has been commonly used. This is because EVA is flexible and highly transparent and provides long-term durability when blended with appropriate additives such as a weathering stabilizer and an adhesion promoter.
However, EVA has a low melting point, causing problems in heat resistance such as thermal deformation at environmental temperatures where solar cell modules are used. To resolve this problem, a crosslinked structure is formed by adding an organic peroxide to impart heat resistance.
Solar cell-sealing sheets are prepared by a known sheet molding process applicable to molding polyolefin. There has been a problem that addition of an organic peroxide disables high-speed production because low-temperature molding is inevitable to avoid decomposition of the organic peroxide.
The production process of a solar cell module configured as (glass or plastics)/(solar cell-sealing sheet)/(solar cell)/(solar cell-sealing sheet)/(back sheet) generally includes two steps: a temporary bonding step by vacuum heat lamination and a crosslinking step using a high-temperature oven. Since the crosslinking step using the organic peroxide takes several tens of minutes, omitting or speed-up of the crosslinking step is strongly required.
In long-term use of solar cells, gas generated by decomposition of EVA (acetic acid gas) or the vinyl acetate group in EVA itself may have adverse effects on the solar cell and lower its power generation efficiency.
To resolve such problems, a solar cell-sealing sheet using ethylene/α-olefin copolymer has been proposed (see Patent Document 23). With the proposed materials, the adverse effects on solar cell elements are considered to decrease, but balance of heat resistance and flexibility is insufficient. Furthermore, the crosslinking is hard to omit since desirable heat resistance is not attained without crosslinking. These are the background art for the ninth aspect of the invention.
Recent advancement in electrical/electronics elements is remarkable, and they have been widely used in every aspect of social, industrial, and domestic circumstances. Generally, electrical/electronics elements are easily affected by moisture, oxidants, and others, and hence, they are sealed in many applications to attain stable operation and long service life.
Nowadays, various materials for sealing electrical/electronics elements are produced and supplied in the market. Among them, a sealing sheet made of an organic polymer is very useful because of its applicability to relatively wide area and ease in use. In addition, transparency can be attained relatively easily, and hence, the sealing sheet is particularly suitable for sealing electrical/electronics elements using light, especially solar cells.
Solar cells are generally used in sealed solar cell modules, because they are used outdoors such as on the roof of buildings in many cases. The solar cell module has a structure in which a solar cell element made of polycrystalline silicon or others is sandwiched between solar cell-sealing materials made of a soft transparent resin to form a stack, of which the front and back surfaces are covered with solar cell module protective sheets. That is, a typical solar cell module has a layered structure, solar cell module protective sheet (front protective sheet)/solar cell-sealing sheet/solar cell element/solar cell-sealing sheet/solar cell module protective sheet (back protective sheet). Owing to this structure, the solar cell module has weatherability and is suitable for use outdoors such as on the roof of buildings.
As a material forming the solar cell-sealing sheet (solar cell-sealing material), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) has been widely used from the viewpoint of transparency, flexibility, or others as described above (for example, see Patent Document 24). When used as the solar cell-sealing material, EVA is generally crosslinked to attain heat resistance. However, the crosslinking takes a relatively long time of about one to two hours, lowering the production speed and productivity of solar cell elements. Further, there has been a concern about possible adverse effects of acetic acid gas or other chemicals generated by decomposition of EVA on solar cell modules.
As one of the methods for solving the above-mentioned technical problems, use of a solar cell-sealing sheet made of non-crosslinked resin has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 25). However, with an increase in requested levels of the productivity, durability under severe conditions, and service life of solar cells, all of the transparency, heat resistance, and flexibility have become required to have levels higher than those attainable with EAA, EMAA, or other resins proposed specifically in Patent Document 25. If such a request is satisfied, the sealing sheet would be quite useful for electrical/electronics elements besides solar cells.
When the sealing sheet is used for solar cell modules and others, since the sheet is laminated with glass or others in many cases, adhesion to glass and others is practically important. Some conventional sealing sheets have insufficient adhesion to glass and others, and hence, the improvement has been strongly desired. These are the background art for the tenth aspect of the present invention.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-088164
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H08-302093
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H07-076360
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-349753
Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H08-302093
Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H08-113681
Patent Document 7: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-348417
Patent Document 8: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-47944
Patent Document 9: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H08-269271
Patent Document 10: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H09-278909
Patent Document 11: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-306587
Patent Document 12: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 2002-234115
Patent Document 13: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H08-302093
Patent Document 14: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H06-198830
Patent Document 15: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H06-16832
Patent Document 16: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-281807
Patent Document 17: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H10-258488
Patent Document 18: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-313377
Patent Document 19: Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H09-501447
Patent Document 20: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-206406
Patent Document 21: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-171439
Patent Document 22: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-201375
Patent Document 23: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-91611
Patent Document 24: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H08-283696
Patent Document 25: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-068703 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Human process sounds received at two ears, which perform similar to microphones. The sounds is processed to distinguish different sound sources both by types of the sound sources and location of the sound sources. The human brain performs this processing, which may be referred to as binaural processing, in an efficient and effective manner.
Computer science, on the other hand, has not yet mastered binaural processing. Instead of two ears, computer science techniques rely on many more microphones in order to estimate the location of a sound source. When multiple sound sources are present, the problem becomes increasingly difficult. In addition, where there is a loudspeaker, which is likely the case in videoconferencing environments, the speaker is often located very close to the microphones.
The loudspeaker is a constant noise source because it plays room and comfort noise from the far end participants. The noise may not be heard by the local participants because the local participants are likely located a couple meters or more away from the constant noise source. However, the microphones may only be a few centimeters from the constant noise source. Thus, the constant noise source may significantly impact calculations for estimating the source of the local sound (i.e., the local participants) based on the output of the microphones. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.